Address packets with variable-size mask format
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorRobert E. Cypher
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system may include a device configured to initiate a transaction by sending an address packet and an additional device configured to respond to the address packet. The additional device is coupled to receive the address packet from the device via an address network. The address packet includes a mask field configured to indicate which of N quantities of data are targeted by the transaction. The address packet also includes a granularity field configured to indicate a size of each of the N quantities of data. If the size is less than a maximum size, a portion of the granularity field stores additional address bits of an address of the N quantities of data. If the size is the maximum size, none of the granularity field stores any additional address bits of the address of the N quantities of data.
Claims21
A system, comprising:
- a device configured to initiate a transaction by sending an address packet including an address corresponding to stored data, wherein the address includes address bits;
- and
- an additional device configured to respond to the address packet, wherein the additional device is coupled to receive the address packet from the device via an address network;
- wherein the address packet further includes a mask field configured to indicate which of N quantities of the data are targeted by the transaction, where N comprises a non-zero whole number;
- wherein the address packet includes a granularity field configured to indicate a size, in bytes, of each of the N quantities of the data, wherein if the size is less than a maximum size, a portion of the granularity field stores additional address bits of an address of the N quantities of the data;
- and
- wherein if the size is the maximum size, none of the granularity field stores any additional address bits of the address of the N quantities of the data.
A system, comprising:
- a device configured to initiate a transaction to access data by sending an address packet including an address corresponding to stored data, wherein the address includes address bits;
- and
- an additional device configured to respond to the address packet, wherein the additional device is coupled to receive the address packet from the device via an address network;
- wherein the address packet includes a mask field configured to indicate which of N quantities of the data are to be accessed, where N comprises a non-zero whole number;
- wherein the address packet includes a granularity field configured to indicate a size, in bytes, of each of the N quantities of the data, wherein the device is configured to encode a value in the granularity field indicating one of a plurality of sizes;
- and
- wherein the device is configured to send an additional address packet to initiate an additional transaction to access additional data, wherein the additional address packet does not include a mask field and does not include a granularity field.
A method, comprising:
- a device initiating a transaction by sending an address packet including an address corresponding to stored data, wherein the address includes address bits;
- and
- an additional device receiving the address packet from the device via an address network;
- wherein the address packet includes a mask field configured to indicate which of N quantities of the data are targeted by the transaction, where N comprises a non-zero whole number;
- wherein the address packet includes a granularity field configured to indicate a size, in bytes, of each of the N quantities of the data, wherein if the size is less than a maximum size, a portion of the granularity field stores additional address bits of an address of the N quantities of the data;
- and
- wherein if the size is the maximum size, none of the granularity field stores any additional address bits of the address of the N quantities of the data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.