Shared-memory controller for use in a multimedia processor system
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsKong Mun Chow, Michael Mi Bi, Takeshi Tanaka
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Abstract
With a shared common memory, internal requests of a multimedia processor (70) is processed to generate a request (140) optimized in format. Each internal request is selected by the request controller according to a system priority. Each of external requests is independently subjected to an analyzing process for each format adapter (160), and is converted into a format compatible with a predetermined internal format of the multimedia processor. Thus, one or more external processors share a common memory to enable the external processors to access a bulk memory storage of a multimedia processor.
Claims16
A multimedia processor system enabling one or more external processors to access a bulk memory device of a multimedia processor, comprising:
- memory controller for accepting and arbitrating an external memory request from the external processors located outside of said multimedia processor and an internal request issued in said multimedia processor, and for performing a control process for the arbitrated requests;
- a main memory shared by all processors in said multimedia processor system;
- multimedia controller for accessing said main memory through said memory controller;
- and
- a system controller for accessing said main memory through said memory controller,
- wherein one or a plurality of external processors share one unit of said main memory.
A shared-memory controller which uses an external request from an external processor associated with a multimedia processor and an internal request of said multimedia processor to enable the external processor to perform memory access to a main memory, comprising:
- internal-request control means for sequentially controlling in selection of the individual internal requests;
- formatter means for format-optimizing the selected internal request to generate an optimally-formatted request;
- format-adapter means for format-adapting the external request to generate an adapted request suitable to a predetermined internal format of the shared-memory controller;
- prioritizing means receiving the format-optimized request and the format-adapted request and performing priority arbitration for memory access requests;
- and
- request/command converting means for converting the priority-arbitrated request into a memory-access command.
A DVD player system enabling one or more external processors to access a main memory, of an audio/video decoder, comprising:
- a front-end processor for accessing said main memory through a memory controller included in a back-end processor;
- a host CPU for accessing said main memory through said memory controller of said back-end processor;
- wherein said back-end processor is capable of performing acceptance and arbitration for an external memory request from the external processor and an internal request issued in said back-end processor;
- and
- wherein said main memory is a synchronous dynamic main memory shared by all processors in said DVD player system.
A multimedia memory controller enabling each of external processors to perform memory access to an associated local memory by receiving memory access requests issued by the external processors and internal requests and transmitting memory access commands to the associated local memory therefrom, comprising:
- an internal memory-request controller for receiving the internal requests and selecting a request among from the received requests and generating a selected internal request;
- a format converter for performing a format conversion for the selected request to generate a formatted request fixed to be a first predetermined format;
- a format adapter for adapting a format of each of the external memory access requests sent from the external processors to a second predetermined internal format compatible with said multimedia memory controller, thereby generating an adapted request;
- a priority allocator for performing prioritization and arbitration control for the memory request;
- and
- a command converter for converting the prioritized request into the memory-access command.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.