US 6,633,938 B1Granted

Independent reset of arbiters and agents to allow for delayed agent reset

AssigneeBroadcom Corporation

InventorsJoseph B. Rowlands, David L. Anderson, James Y. Cho

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Abstract

A system includes two or more agents and a distributed arbitration scheme for the bus to which the agents are connected. Thus, an arbiter corresponding to each agent is provided. The arbiters are reset using a first reset signal, while the agents are reset using a separate reset signal or signals. The arbiters are concurrently released from reset when the first reset signal is deasserted, and may have a consistent reset state to provide for synchronization of the arbiters. The agents may be independently released from reset by the separate reset signals. Accordingly, the arbiters may be synchronized and may remain synchronized even if the corresponding agents are released from reset at different times, or are temporarily held in reset for any reason.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a reset control circuit configured to generate a first reset signal, a second reset signal different from said first reset signal, and a third reset signal different from said first reset signal and said second reset signal, wherein said reset control circuit is configured to transmit said first reset signal, said second reset signal, and said third reset signal in parallel;
a first agent coupled to receive said first reset signal and configured to reset in response to an assertion of said first reset signal;
a first arbiter configured to determine if said first agent wins an arbitration for a bus, wherein said first arbiter is coupled to receive said second reset signal and is configured to reset in response to an assertion of said second reset signal;
a second agent coupled to receive said third reset signal, and wherein said second agent is configured to reset in response to an assertion of said third reset signal;
and
a second arbiter coupled to receive said second reset signal and configured to reset in response to said assertion of said second reset signal, wherein said second arbiter is configured to determine if said second agent wins an arbitration for said bus.

3 more elements

A carrier medium comprising a database which is operated upon by a program executable on a computer system, the program operating on the database to perform a portion of a process to fabricate an integrated circuit including a system described by the database, the system described in the database including:

a reset control circuit configured to generate a first reset signal, a second reset signal different from said first reset signal, and a third reset signal different from said first reset signal and said second reset signal, wherein said reset control circuit is configured to transmit said first reset signal, said second reset signal, and said third reset signal in parallel;
a first agent coupled to receive said first reset signal and configured to reset in response to an assertion of said first reset signal;
a first arbiter configured to determine if said first agent wins an arbitration for a bus, wherein said first arbiter is coupled to receive said second reset signal and is configured to reset in response to an assertion of said second reset signal;
a second agent coupled to receive said third reset signal, and wherein said second agent is configured to reset in response to an assertion of said third reset signal;
and
a second arbiter coupled to receive said second reset signal and configured to reset in response to said assertion of said second reset signal, wherein said second arbiter is configured to determine if said second agent wins an arbitration for said bus.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.