Method and apparatus for designing a communication mechanism between embedded cable modem and embedded set-top box

An apparatus for digital communication, the apparatus comprising:

• an embedded Cable Modem (eCM) including a first System-On-Chip (SoC) comprising a Direct Memory Access (DMA) unit and a central processing unit, wherein the central processing unit is configured to access a shared memory within the eCM SoC;
• an embedded Set-Top Box (eSTB) coupled to the eCM by a packet transfer interface, the eSTB including a second SoC having a central processing unit coupled to the DMA unit configured to access the shared memory within the eCM SoC as a local memory for the eSTB, wherein communication between the eCM and the eSTB adds no header overhead;
• and
• at least one buffer table configured to facilitate communication between the eCM and eSTB using the shared memory.

A method of digital communication, the method comprising:

• transferring packets between an embedded Cable Modem (eCM) including a first System-On-Chip (SoC) comprising a Direct Memory Access (DMA) unit and a central processing unit wherein the central processing unit is configured to access a shared memory within the eCM SoC and an embedded Set-Top Box (eSTB) coupled to the eCM by a packet transfer interface and including a second SoC having a central processing unit coupled to the DMA unit and configured to access the shared memory within the eCM SoC as a local memory for the eSTB using the shared memory, wherein communication between the eCM and the eSTB adds no header overhead;
• configuring the eCM and the eSTB to receive direct memory access (DMA) data transfers through the eCM;
• and
• employing at least one buffer table to facilitate communication between the eCM and eSTB using the shared memory.