Methods, circuits, and computer program products for variable bus arbitration

A method for providing arbitration for a communications channel comprising:

• granting access to one of a plurality of requestors to a communications channel shared by the plurality of requestors based on a current priority vector including current priority values for each of the plurality of requestors;
• providing an indication of which of the plurality of requestors is granted access to the communications channel during a current time to a programmable table of priority vectors including the current priority vector;
• providing a next priority vector from the programmable table using the indication;
• updating the current priority vector using the next priority vector to provide an updated current priority vector;
• and
• providing a grant for access to the communications channel to one of the plurality of requestors responsive to requests therefrom based on the updated current priority vector.

A circuit for providing arbitration for a communications channel comprising:

• a grant decision unit configured to grant access to one of a plurality of requestors to a communications channel shared by the plurality of requestors based on a current priority vector including current priority values for each of the plurality of requestors and configured to provide an indication of which of the plurality of requestors is granted access to the communications channel during a current time;
• programmable table of priority vectors, including the current priority vector, configured to provide a next priority vector from the programmable table using the indication;
• a priority update unit configured to update the current priority vector using the next priority vector to provide an updated current priority vector;
• and
• a priority register file unit configured to provide the current priority vector for the current time and configured to store the updated current priority vector for use in granting access to the communications channel to one of the plurality of requestors responsive to requests therefrom during a future time.

A computer program product for providing arbitration for a communications channel comprising:

• a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program product comprising:
• computer readable program code configured to grant access to one of a plurality of requestors to a communications channel shared by the plurality of requestors based on a current priority vector including current priority values for each of the plurality of requestors;
• computer readable program code configured to provide an indication of which of the plurality of requestors is granted access to the communications channel during a current time to a programmable table of priority vectors including the current priority vector;
• computer readable program code configured to provide a next priority vector from the programmable table using the indication;
• computer readable program code configured to update the current priority vector using the next priority vector to provide an updated current priority vector;
• and
• computer readable program code configured to provide a grant for access to the communications channel to one of the plurality of requestors responsive to requests therefrom based on the updated current priority vector.