Apparatus and method for data transfer

An apparatus for transferring data packets from a peripheral module to a memory via a memory-controller, the apparatus comprising the memory and the memory-controller, the memory-controller being arranged:

• a) to receive a request from the peripheral module, the request being a request for the peripheral module to transmit a data packet;
• b) to determine whether there is space available in the memory to store the data packet;
• c) to send an acknowledgement to the peripheral module, the acknowledgement indicating that the peripheral module can transmit the data packet;
• d) to receive the data packet from the peripheral module;
• and
• e) to store the data packet in the memory if there is space available in the memory and to discard the data packet if there is not space available in the memory.

An apparatus for transferring data packets from a peripheral module to a memory via a memory-controller, the apparatus comprising the memory, the memory-controller and the peripheral module,

• the memory controller being arranged:
• a) to receive a request from the peripheral module, the request being a request for the peripheral module to transmit a data packet;
• b) to determine whether there is space available in the memory to store the data packet;
• c) to send an acknowledgement to the peripheral module, the acknowledgement indicating that the peripheral module can transmit the data packet;
• d) to receive the data packet from the peripheral module;
• and
• e) to store the data packet in the memory if there is space available in the memory or to discard the data packet if there is not space available in the memory;
• and
• the peripheral module being arranged:
• to send the request to the memory-controller;
• to receive the acknowledgement from the memory-controller;
• and
• on receipt of the acknowledgement, to transmit the data packet to the memory-controller.