Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of computer systems, and specifically, to a method and apparatus for dynamically changing draining priority of a receive FIFO. 
     2. Background Information 
     Generally, first-in/first-out devices (“FIFOs”) are used to buffer data that originates from one bus architecture and is targeted to a device in another bus architecture. For example, a computer system may include a processor, memory, and one or more peripheral devices coupled together by a first bus architecture (e.g., a system bus). A second bus architecture may include a serial peripheral bus (e.g., a universal serial bus “USB”, a 1394 serial bus, IEEE 1394-1995 High Performance Serial Bus IEEE, 1995, etc.) with one or more peripheral devices coupled thereto. A bus bridge containing FIFOs therein is typically used to bridge and buffer transactions between the first and second bus architectures. 
     Data that is received in a receive FIFO from a peripheral device on the serial bus must be placed in memory for processing by the processor. If data is not placed in memory fast enough, a data over-run condition may occur (i.e., when data is received by a full FIFO to cause data already contained therein to be overwritten). Typical prior art receive FIFOs generate a request to drain the FIFO into memory when the FIFO becomes almost full (e.g., 90% full) and do not appear to have any programmable features to change this. However, before data can be drained from the FIFO into memory, access to the bus is required. The time that it takes to gain access to the bus (referred to as “bus latency”) is non-deterministic and depends on several factors including the bus speed, the number of devices requesting access to the bus, and the like. Thus, since the bus architecture is susceptible to bus latencies and the serial peripheral device that is originating the data cannot be throttled, an over-run condition may occur, thereby resulting in a loss of data. 
     The depth of the receive FIFO is one factor in determining the bus latency that the FIFO can handle without an over-run condition occurring. The issue of bus latency is exacerbated by the fact that prior to writing data from the receive FIFO into memory, one or more commands may need to be fetched from memory. That is, a typical data packet received in a FIFO may require a command fetch, data storage, and status write-back, all to different locations in memory. 
     One possible solution is to provide first and second FIFOs where when one FIFO becomes full with data, the data is switched to the other FIFO while the first FIFO drains. However, this possible solution requires two buffers which adds complexity to the system and decreases the granularity for draining the FIFOs. Moreover, this solution may still cause an over-run condition when using a high speed serial bus (e.g., a 1394 serial bus). 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus to dynamically change draining priority of a receive FIFO to prevent data over-run conditions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect, the present invention is a method of dynamically changing draining priority in a first-in/first out (“FIFO”) device to prevent over-run errors. The method includes the steps of detecting data received in the FIFO, asserting a request to drain the FIFO, detecting when an amount of data received in the FIFO has reached a predetermined high watermark value, and asserting a higher priority request to drain the FIFO. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention in which: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computer system suitable for use with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the south bridge in accordance to the teachings of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a receive module of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary timing diagram of various signals of the priority generation circuit. 
     FIG. 5A illustrates a state diagram which represent the operation of the priority generation circuit of FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary priority generation circuit of the present invention in accordance to the state diagram of FIG.  5 A. 
     FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process for implementing the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the present invention. As discussed herein, a “computer system” is a product including circuitry capable of processing data. The computer system may include, but is not limited or restricted to, a conventional computer (e.g., laptop, desktop, palmtop, server, mainframe, etc.), hard copy equipment (e.g., printer, plotter, scanner, fax machine, etc.), banking equipment (e.g., an automated teller machine), wireless communication equipment, and the like. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computer system  100  suitable for use with the present invention. The computer system  100  includes a processor  105  coupled to a host bridge  115  (hereinafter referred to as a “north bridge”) by way of host bus  110 . Processor  105  may be any type of processor such as a microcontroller or a general purpose microprocessor. In the embodiment shown, the north bridge  115  is a host to peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) bridge, although other bridges may be used in lieu thereof. The north bridge  115  is coupled to system memory  120  (e.g., dynamic random access memory “DRAM”, static RAM “SRAM”, etc.), PCI bus  130 , and graphics interface  125 . The north bridge  115  is responsible for bridging processor transactions to either system memory  120 , PCI bus  130 , or graphics interface  125 . The north bridge  115  also bridges graphics interface  125  or PCI mastered transactions to system memory  120  while initiating processor  105  cache snoop cycles. 
     The PCI bus  130  provides a communication path between processor  105  or system memory  120  and one or more peripheral devices  135   1 - 135   M  (e.g., a network interface card, a SCSI controller card, etc.), where “M” is a positive whole number. The PCI bus  130  further provides a communication path between the processor  105  or system memory  120  and a second bridge  140  (hereinafter referred to as a “south bridge”). 
     In one embodiment, the south bridge  140 , among other things, serves two major purposes. First, south bridge  140  bridges transactions between PCI bus  130  and an expansion bus  145 . In the embodiment shown, the expansion bus  145  is an industry standard architecture (“ISA”) bus, although any other type of bus architecture may be used in lieu thereof. The expansion bus  145  provides a communication path between PCI bus  130  and a plurality of expansion peripheral devices  150   1 - 150   N  (e.g., a disk drive controller, a sound card, a modem, a serial and parallel port controller, etc.), where “N” is a positive whole number. 
     Second, south bridge  140  bridges transactions from PCI bus  130  and a serial bus  160 . In the preferred embodiment, the serial bus  160  is a 1394 serial bus in accordance with “IEEE 1394-1995 High Performance Serial Bus” published in 1995, although any other serial bus architecture may be used. The south bridge  140  is coupled to a 1394 physical interface  155 . The physical interface  155  is coupled to a plurality of nodes  165   1 - 165   P  (where “P” is a positive whole number) by way of 1394 serial bus  160 . It is to be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the specific architecture of the computer system  100  is not critical in practicing the present invention, as variations may be made to the computer system  100  without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the south bridge  140  in accordance to the teachings of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the south bridge  140  includes a PCI interface module  205  which interfaces with a PCI to ISA bridge  210  and an arbitration module  215 . The PCI to ISA bridge  210  allows transactions between one or more expansion peripheral devices  150   1 - 150   N  and devices coupled to the PCI bus  130 , processor  105 , and system memory  120 . The arbitration module  215  is coupled to asynchronous transmit module  220  (referred to as “ATX module”), isochronous transmit module  225  (referred to as “ITX module”), and receive module  230  by way of a plurality of signal lines  240 . The arbitration module  215  performs the necessary arbitration between the ATX, ITX, and receive modules  220 ,  225 , and  230  to access the PCI bus  130 . 
     The ATX, ITX, and receive modules  220 ,  225 , and  230  are coupled to a 1394 link interface  235  which provides the necessary interface to the 1394 serial bus. In particular, The 1394 link interface  235  serializes and de-serializes data streams. For example, the 1394 link interface  235  translates data buses having different data widths (e.g., quadlet to byte bus width translations). The 1394 link interface  235  is coupled to the physical link interface  155  which is connected to the 1394 serial bus. The ATX module  220  transmits asynchronous data packets to serial peripheral devices on the 1394 serial bus while the ITX module  225  transmits isochronous data packets to serial peripheral devices on the 1394 serial bus. The receive module  230 , on the other hand, receives both asynchronous and isochronous data packets from serial peripheral devices on the 1394 serial bus. In another implementation, separate asynchronous and isochronous receive modules may be used. Asynchronous transmission of data places emphasis on guaranteed delivery of data over guaranteed timing whereas isochronous transmission of data places emphasis on guaranteed timing of data over delivery of data. An example of an isochronous serial peripheral device is a digital camera used for video conferencing. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a receive module  230  of the present invention. In particular, the present invention describes a circuit that increases the arbitration priority of a receive FIFO for draining data based on a programmable high watermark value. Further, the present invention includes a mechanism for maintaining the arbitration priority for draining the receive FIFO below the high watermark value based on a programmable hysteresis watermark value. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the receive module  230  includes a data packet decoder  305  which is coupled to the physical link interface  235  of FIG.  2 . The data packet decoder  305  decodes data packets received from the 1394 serial bus and determines whether the data packets are addressed to the receive module  230 . If the data packets are addressed to the receive module  230 , the data packet decoder  305  forwards the data packets to a receive FIFO  310 , otherwise the data packets are ignored. In one embodiment, the receive FIFO  310  is a circular buffer being a quadlet (four bytes) of data wide and two kilo bytes deep, although other arrangements are possible. The receive FIFO  310  receives asynchronous and isochronous data packets from the 1394 serial bus. The output of the receive FIFO  310  is coupled to an asynchronous direct memory access (“DMA”) engine  315  (hereinafter referred to as an “async DMA engine”) and an isochronous DMA engine  320  (hereinafter referred to as an “isoc DMA engine”). In another embodiment, more than two DMA engines may be used. The output of the receive FIFO  310  is also coupled to an internal arbiter  385  which detects the type of data packet received (e.g., asynchronous or isochronous). 
     The receive FIFO  310  is coupled to a FIFO fill pointer register  330  and a FIFO drain pointer register  325 . The FIFO fill pointer register  330  is a marker that indicates the location in the FIFO  310  where the next quadlet of data is to be written to and the FIFO drain pointer register  325  is a marker that indicates the location in memory where the next quadlet of data is to be drained from. The FIFO fill pointer register  330  and the FIFO drain pointer register  325  are coupled to a quadlet count circuit  335  which determines the number of quadlets contained in the receive FIFO  310  at any one time by mathematical manipulation of the FIFO fill pointer register  330  and the FIFO drain pointer register  325 . 
     The output of the quadlet count circuit  335  is coupled to the internal arbiter  385  from which the internal arbiter  385  can determine the number of quadlets of data contained in the receive FIFO  310 . In one embodiment, as soon as the internal arbiter  385  detects a predetermined amount of data (e.g., a cache line or 8 quadlets of data) received by the receive FIFO  310 , the internal arbiter  385  either signals the async DMA engine  315  by way of an IAGNT signal on signal line  390  or the isoc DMA engine  320  by way of an IIGNT signal on signal line  395 , depending on the type of data packet received. Assertion of the IAGNT signal causes the async DMA engine  315  to assert a normal async request (AREQ) signal on signal line  365  to access the PCI bus  130  of FIG.  1 . Correspondingly, the assertion of the IIGNT signal causes the isoc DMA engine  320  to assert a normal isoc request (IREQ) signal on signal line  375  to access the PCI bus  130  of FIG.  1 . The IAGNT and the IIGNT signals are mutually exclusive in that they are never asserted at the same time. 
     Although the assertion of the IAGNT signal or the IIGNT signal necessarily causes the assertion of the AREQ signal or the IREQ signal, respectively, the async DMA engine  315  may assert AREQ independent of whether IAGNT is asserted and the isoc DMA engine  320  may assert IREQ independent of whether IIGNT is asserted. This is because the DMA engines perform other tasks besides draining the receive FIFO  310 . In particular, either DMA engine may, among other things, fetch commands (or command descriptors) from memory, write-back status information to memory, and perform any other non-FIFO related functions. 
     The output of the quadlet count circuit  335  is also coupled to a first input of a first comparator  340  with an output of a high watermark programmable register  345  being coupled to a second input of the first comparator  340 . In one embodiment, the high watermark programmable register  345  is three bits wide to define eight-256 byte increments (for a 2K-byte FIFO), although a higher or lower granularity may be used in lieu thereof. That is, each increment represents 64 quadlets of data. Thus, if the high watermark programmable register  345  is programmed with a “7” hexadecimal, the high watermark programmable register output is 448 quadlets of data, which is referred to as a high watermark boundary (see FIG.  4 A). If the output of the quadlet count circuit  335  is greater than (or equal to) the output of the high watermark programmable register  345 , the output (HWM) of the first comparator  340  is asserted (e.g., active high) on signal line  343 . 
     The output of the high watermark programmable register  345  is also coupled to a first input of a subtractor  342  with an output of a hysteresis programmable register  355  being coupled to a second input of the subtractor  342 . The output of the subtractor  342  is the difference between the output of the high watermark programmable register  345  and the output of the hysteresis programmable register  355 . The output of the subtractor  342  is coupled to a first input of a second comparator  350  with the output of the quadlet count circuit  335  being coupled to a second input of the comparator  350 . In one embodiment, the hysteresis programmable register  355  is three bits wide to define eight-32 byte increments, although a higher or lower granularity may be used in lieu thereof. That is, each increment represents eight quadlets of data. Thus, if the hysteresis programmable register  355  is programmed with a “7” hexadecimal, the hysteresis programmable register output is 56 quadlets of data. This value is subtracted from the high watermark boundary and the result of this subtraction is referred to as a hysteresis boundary (see FIG.  4 A). If the output of the quadlet count circuit  335  is greater than (or equal to) the hysteresis boundary, the output (HYS) of the second comparator  350  is asserted (e.g., active high) on signal line  353 . Both the first and second comparator outputs HWM and HYS are fed to a priority generation circuit  360 . 
     The priority generation circuit  360  asserts a priority drain (“PD”) signal on signal line  362  when the quadlet count in the receive FIFO  310  is equal to (or greater than) a high watermark boundary (i.e., the value programmed in the high watermark programmable register). When the quadlet count in the receive FIFO  310  falls below the high watermark boundary, the PD signal continues to be asserted until the quadlet count falls below the hysteresis boundary, at which point the PD signal is deasserted. The signal line  362  of the priority generation circuit  360  is coupled to the async and isoc DMA engines  315  and  320 . When PD is asserted, either the async DMA engine  315  or the isoc DMA engine  320  (depending on the type of data that is on top of the receive FIFO to be drained) dynamically changes the draining priority of the receive FIFO  310  to the highest priority, as will be described below. 
     For example, if asynchronous data is at the top of the receive FIFO  310  when the high watermark boundary is reached, the PD signal is asserted to cause the async DMA engine  315  to assert an async priority request (“APREQ”) signal on signal line  370 , indicating to the arbitration module  215  of FIG. 2 that the async DMA engine  315  has the highest priority to access the PCI bus and, among other things, drain the receive FIFO  310  into memory  120 . On the other hand, if isochronous data is at the top of the receive FIFO  310  when the high watermark boundary is reached, the PD signal is asserted to cause the isoc DMA engine  320  to assert an isoc priority request (“IPREQ”) signal on signal line  380 , indicating to the arbitration module  215  of FIG. 2 that the isoc DMA engine  320  has the highest priority to access the PCI bus and, among other things, drain the receive FIFO  310  into memory  120 . Thus, with PD asserted, either the async DMA engine  315  asserts APREQ or the isoc DMA engine  320  asserts IPREQ, depending on the type of data that is on top of the receive FIFO  310 . The APREQ and the IPREQ signals are mutually exclusive signals in that both are never asserted at the same time. 
     FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary timing diagram of various signals of the priority generation circuit  360 . Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, when the quadlet count in the receive FIFO  310  reaches the high watermark boundary (e.g., 448 quadlets of data), the HWM signal is asserted at time  410 . Prior to time  410 , the HYS signal may be asserted, however, at time  410 , HYS is asserted. The assertion of the HWM signal causes the PD signal to be asserted, which indicates the highest priority. At time  420 , as the receive FIFO is drained to the point that the quadlet count falls below the high watermark boundary, the PD signal remains asserted. The draining of the receive FIFO remains the highest priority until the quadlet count falls below the hysteresis boundary (e.g., 392 quadlets of data), as shown at time  430 . At this time, the HYS and PD signals are deasserted. 
     FIG. 5A illustrates a state diagram which represent the operation of the priority generation circuit  360  of FIG.  3 . Referring to FIGS. 3,  4 A, and  5 A, the state diagram commences in an idle state  505 . As long as the HWM signal is deasserted, the priority generation circuit  360  remains in the idle state  505  as shown by arrow  510 . In the idle state  505 , the PD signal is deasserted. When the HWM signal is asserted (indicating that the quadlet count has reached the high watermark boundary), the state changes to a HWM state  520  as shown by arrow  515 . In the HWM state  520 , the PD signal is asserted. As long as the HWM signal is asserted, the state remains at the HWM state  520 , as shown by arrow  525 . When the HWM signal becomes deasserted, indicating that the quadlet count in the receive FIFO  310  has fallen below the high watermark boundary, the state changes to a HYS state  535  as shown by arrow  530 . 
     In the HYS state  535 , the PD signal remains asserted. As long as the HYS signal remains asserted, the state remains in the HYS state  535 , as shown by arrow  540 . While in the HYS state  535 , if the HWM signal is again asserted, indicating that the quadlet count in the receive FIFO  310  has risen to (or above) the high watermark boundary, the state changes back to the HWM state  520  as shown by arrow  545 . On the other hand, if the HYS signal is deasserted, indicating that the quadlet count in the receive FIFO  310  has fallen below the hysteresis boundary, the state changes back to the idle state  505  (as shown by arrow  550 ) and the PD signal becomes deasserted. 
     FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary priority generation circuit  360  of the present invention in accordance to the state diagram of FIG.  5 A. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5B, the priority generation circuit  360  includes first and second flip flops (“FFs”)  555  and  560  with a clock signal, CLK, coupled to the clock inputs. These FFs (e.g., D-type)  555  and  556  are clocked with a master clock, however, it is to be noted that the priority generation circuit  360  may be implemented without the need for a clock signal. The HWM signal on signal line  343  is coupled to the input of the second FF  560  with a logic circuit including the HYS signal on signal line  353 , AND gates  565  and  575 , OR gate  570 , and inverter  580  coupled to the input of the first FF  555 . In the idle state, the output of the FFs  555  and  560  and the HWM and HYS signals are low, thus proving a low output on the PD signal. As HWM goes high, output B goes high on the next clock, thus driving the PD signal high. As HWM goes low and HYS remains high, output B goes low and output A goes high (on the next clock), thus maintaining PD high. As HYS goes low, output A follows on the next clock, thus driving PD low. 
     FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process  600  for implementing the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the process  600  commences at Step  605  where the quadlet count in the receive FIFO is determined. At Step  610 , a determination is made as to whether the quadlet count is greater than (or equal to) a predetermined amount (e.g., a cache line of data or 32 quadlets). If the quadlet count is not greater than (or equal to) the predetermine amount, the process moves to Step  660  where the asserted normal request (async or isoc), if any, is deasserted. The process then jumps back to Step  605 . 
     If the quadlet count is greater than (or equal to) the predetermined amount, the process proceeds to Step  615 . At Step  615 , a further determination is made as to whether the data on top of the receive FIFO is asynchronous data or isochronous data. If the data is asynchronous data, the process proceeds to Step  620  where an async DMA engine is signaled (see IAGNT signal of FIG. 3) to assert an async normal request for accessing the system bus and draining the asynchronous data from the receive FIFO. On the other hand, if the data is isochronous data, the process proceeds to Step  625  where an isoc DMA engine is signaled (see IIGNT signal of FIG. 3) to assert an isoc normal request for accessing the system bus and draining the isochronous data from the receive FIFO. As mentioned above, the IAGNT and IIGNT signals are mutually exclusive in that both are never asserted at the same time. This is to be distinguished from the AREQ and IREQ signals which may both be asserted at the same time (see discussion above with respect to FIG.  3 ). 
     The process then continues to Step  630 , where a determination is made as to whether the quadlet count is greater than (or equal to) a programmed high watermark value. If so, the process continues to Step  635 , otherwise the process jumps back to Step  605 . At Step  635 , if the data on top of the receive FIFO is asynchronous data, the process moves to Step  640  where the async DMA engine is signaled to assert an async priority request to access the system bus and drain the FIFO (e.g., in memory). However, if the data on top of the receive FIFO is isochronous data, then the process proceeds to Step  645  where the isoc DMA engine is signaled to assert an isoc priority request to access the system bus and drain the FIFO. 
     Continuing to refer to FIG. 6, the process then continues to Step  650 , where a determination is made as to whether the quadlet count is greater than (or equal to) a programmed hysteresis value. If so, the process jumps back to Step  635 . If the quadlet count becomes equal to (or less than) the programmed hysteresis value, the process moves to Step  655 . At Step  655 , the priority request is deasserted (async or isoc). The process then jumps back to Step  605 . 
     The advantage of the present invention is that the arbitration priority of a receive FIFO may be dynamically changed based on the quadlet count. This allows for a FIFO to slowly reach a threshold prior to requesting a high priority drain. Moreover, the present invention includes hysteresis on the FIFO which reduces thrashing of bandwidth requests if the quadlet count in the FIFO oscillates around the high watermark boundary. In addition, having programmable registers allows software or basic input/output system (“BIOS”) to change the high watermark and hysteresis mark boundaries to fine tune system performance. 
     While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

Technology Category: g