Granted Patent B2

US 7,966,379 · App. 11/469,267 · Granted Jun 21, 2011

Abstract

Claims (44)

1. A computer system comprising:

a first bus;

a plurality of slave devices coupled to the first bus; and

a master device comprising an event polling controller and an embedded processor, and coupled to the first bus, and configured to initiate a polling transaction over the first bus to poll at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices for event information used for conveying a plurality of distinct asynchronous event types;

wherein, in response to the polling transaction, at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices is configured to transmit first event information to the master device over the first bus, wherein the first event information corresponds to a first event type of the plurality of distinct asynchronous event types, and indicates an associated asynchronous event of the first event type in the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices;

wherein the master device is configured to receive the first event information from the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices over the first bus, and determine where to forward the received first event information based on the first event type, wherein if the first event type is an event notification for the embedded processor, the event polling controller is configured to forward the received first event information to the embedded processor;

wherein the first bus is configured to carry synchronous data transactions between the master device and the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices.

2. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein if the first event type is an event notification for a device external to the master device, the master device is configured to translate the received first event information to a protocol associated with the event type and forward the first event information to the external device.

3. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein if the first event type is a SIRQ, the master device is configured to translate the received first event information to a protocol associated with SIRQ and forward the first event information to a device external to the master device.

4. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein if the first event type is a DMA request, the master device is configured to translate the received first event information to a protocol associated with DMA and forward the first event information to a device external to the master device.

5. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the master device includes a mapping mechanism configured to read the received first event information and determine the first event type, wherein the master device is configured to forward the received first event information to one or more destinations based on the first event type.

6. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the received first event information includes mapping information indicative of the first event type, wherein the master device is configured to read the mapping information to determine the first event type and also determine where to forward the received first event information.

7. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the received first event information includes a plurality of data bits, wherein the plurality of data bits correspond to one or more of the plurality of distinct asynchronous event types, wherein the forwarding of a particular bit or a particular subset of bits to a particular destination is independent of the forwarding of another bit or another subset of bits.

8. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the first bus has a reduced pin count relative to an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , further comprising a second bus and a host processor, wherein if the first event type is an event notification for the host processor, the master device is configured to translate and forward the first event information to the host processor via the second bus.

10. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the second bus is an LPC bus.

11. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of slave devices are configured to transmit event information corresponding to the plurality of distinct asynchronous event types to the master device via a single bus and a single protocol.

12. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the rate at which the master device polls the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices is programmable.

13. A method for event polling in a system including a master device coupled to a plurality of slave devices by a first bus, the method comprising:

sending synchronous data transactions between the master device and one or more of the plurality of slave devices over the first bus;

the master device polling at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices over the first bus for event information used for conveying a plurality of distinct asynchronous event types;

in response to said polling, at least one of the at least one of the subset of the plurality of slave devices transmitting first event information to the master device over the first bus, wherein the first event information corresponds to a first event type of the plurality of distinct asynchronous event types, and indicates an associated asynchronous event of the first event type in the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices;

the master device receiving the first event information transmitted by the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices over the first bus;

the master device determining where to forward the received first event information based on the first event type; and

the master device forwarding the received first event information to an embedded processor within the master device, if the first event type is an event notification for the embedded processor.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein if the first event type is a SIRQ, the master device translating the received first event information to a protocol associated with SIRQ and forwarding the first event information to a device external to the master device.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein if the first event type associated with the received event information is a DMA request, translating the received first event information to a protocol associated with DMA and forwarding the first event information to a device external to the master device.

16. A master device comprising:

an embedded processor;

a transmission mechanism configured to initiate a polling transaction to poll at least a subset of a plurality of slave devices over a first bus for event information used for conveying a plurality of distinct asynchronous event types, and further configured to send synchronous data transactions to one or more of the plurality of slave devices over the first bus; and

an event polling controller configured to receive first event information transmitted by at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices over the first bus in response to being polled for event information, wherein the first event information corresponds to a first event type of the plurality of distinct asynchronous event types, and indicates an associated asynchronous event of the first event type in the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices;

wherein the event polling controller is configured to determine where to forward the received first event information based on the first event type; and

wherein if the first event type is an event notification for the embedded processor, the event polling controller is configured to forward the received first event information to the embedded processor.

17. A computer system comprising:

a host processor;

a low pin count (LPC) bus coupled to a logic chipset;

a master device coupled to the LPC bus and comprising an embedded processor;

a second bus coupled to the master device, wherein the second bus has a reduced pin count relative to the LPC bus; and

a plurality of slave devices coupled to the second bus;

wherein the master device is configured to initiate a polling transaction to poll at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices for event information used for conveying a plurality of distinct asynchronous event types via the second bus, and is further configured to send synchronous data transactions to one or more of the plurality of slave devices over the second bus;

wherein, in response to the polling transaction, at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices is configured to transmit first event information to the master device via the second bus, wherein the first event information corresponds to a first event type of the plurality of distinct asynchronous event types, and indicates an associated asynchronous event of the first event type in the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices;

wherein the master device is configured to receive the first event information from the at least one of the at least a subset of the plurality of slave devices and determine where to forward the received first event information based on the first event type;

wherein if the first event type is an event notification for the embedded processor of the master device, the master device is configured to forward the received first event information to the embedded processor; and

wherein if the first event type is an event notification for the host processor of the computer system, the master device is configured to translate the received first event information to a protocol associated with the first event type and forward the first event information to the host processor.

Assignments (10)