Serial data transmitters
AssigneeZarlink Semiconductor Inc.
InventorGeoffrey Edward Floyd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of providing data for transmission on a time division multiplexed (TDM) serial data stream. The method comprises mapping channels of the TDM stream to contexts, each context comprising a set of memory buffers for storing data to be transmitted. Data is extracted from the contexts in a sequence defined by said mapping and transmitting the extracted data on the TDM stream. When a buffer or buffers of a context become empty, a buffer refill request is generated to cause data to be read from a memory to refill the buffer, wherein each buffer refill request is assigned a priority. The context buffers are refilled in an order defined by the respective priorities of the refill requests.
Claims9
A method of providing data for transmission on a time division multiplexed (TDM) serial data stream, the method comprising:
- mapping channels of the TDM stream to contexts, each context comprising a set of memory buffers for storing data to be transmitted;
- extracting data from the contexts in a sequence defined by said mapping and transmitting the extracted data on the TDM stream;
- when a buffer or buffers of a context become empty, generating a buffer refill request to cause data to be read from a memory to refill the buffer, wherein each buffer refill request is assigned a priority;
- and
- handling buffer refill requests according to their relative priorities to refill the context buffers.
A serial data transmitter for transmitting data on a time division multiplexed (TDM) serial data stream, the transmitter comprising:
- a data cache arranged in use to provide a set of contexts, each context comprising a set of memory buffers for storing data to be transmitted
- means for storing a mapping of TDM channels to contexts;
- first processing means for extracting data from the contexts in a sequence defined by said mapping and for transmitting the extracted data on the TDM stream;
- second processing means for generating a buffer refill request to cause data to be read from a memory to refill a buffer when a buffer or buffers of a context become empty, and for assigning each buffer refill request a priority;
- and
- third processing means for handling the buffer refill requests and for refilling the context buffers.
A switch for coupling a time division multiplexed (TDM) network to a packet switched network, the switch comprising a serial data transmitter for transmitting data on a TDM serial data stream, the transmitter comprising:
- a data cache arranged in use to provide a set of contexts, each context comprising a set of memory buffers for storing data to be transmitted
- means for storing a mapping of TDM channels to contexts;
- first processing means for extracting data from the contexts in a sequence defined by said mapping and for transmitting the extracted data on the TDM stream;
- second processing means for generating a buffer refill request to cause data to be read from a memory to refill a buffer when a buffer or buffers of a context become empty, and for assigning each buffer refill request a priority;
- and
- third processing means for handling the buffer refill requests and for refilling the context buffers, wherein the data cache, means for storing a mapping of TDM channels to contexts, first processing means, second processing means, and third processing means, are integrated into a single device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.