Granted Patent B2

US 8,160,084 · App. 11/525,125 · Granted Apr 17, 2012

Abstract

Claims (73)

1. A method, comprising:

queuing a message into a buffer at an initial time;

generating a time stamp message that indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time;

transmitting the message to a trace apparatus; and

transmitting the time stamp message to the trace apparatus,

wherein the trace apparatus is configured to calculate a queue time,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the time stamp message comprises generating the time stamp message in a trace interface module.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the trace interface module is positioned on an application specific integrated circuit with the buffer.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the queuing the message is conducted in the trace interface module.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trace apparatus comprises a trace interface module positioned on an application specific integrated circuit.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving trace information in a trace interface module on board an application specific integrated circuit across a trace bus that is in communication with an arbiter.

7. A system, comprising:

a trace interface device positioned on an integrated circuit and configured to queue a message into a buffer at an initial time and to generate a time stamp message that indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time; and

an output connecting the trace interface device with an external trace device, wherein the external trace device is configured to calculate a queue time based upon the time stamp message, the initial time, and an amount of data in the buffer,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a queuing module configured to queue a message into a buffer at an initial time;

a time stamp generating module configured to generate a time stamp message that indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the message and the time stamp message to a trace apparatus, wherein the trace apparatus is configured to calculate a queue time,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the time stamp generating module comprises a trace interface module and the buffer.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the trace interface module is in communication with the queuing module.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:

at least one memory or peripheral device in communication with the queuing module via a hardware interface; and

at least one processor or direct memory access controller in communication with the queuing module via an operating system monitor.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

queuing means for queuing a message into a buffer at an initial time;

time stamp generating means for generating a time stamp message that indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time;

transmitting means for transmitting the message and time stamp message to a trace apparatus, wherein the trace apparatus is configured to calculate a queue time,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

13. A computer program embodied on a computer readable non-transitory medium, the computer program being configured to control a processor to execute operations, comprising:

queuing a message into a buffer at an initial time;

generating a time stamp message that indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time;

transmitting the message to a trace apparatus;

transmitting the time stamp message to the trace apparatus,

wherein the trace apparatus is configured to calculate a queue time,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving a message that was queued into a buffer at an initial time;

receiving a time stamp message, wherein the time stamp message indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time; and

calculating a queue time based upon the time stamp message, the initial time, and an amount of data in the buffer,

wherein the queue time is the time, the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the calculating is conducted in at least one of a trace interface module positioned on an application specific integrated circuit, an external trace device in communication with the application specific integrated circuit, or in a computing device external to the application specific integrated circuit and being in communication with the external trace device and the trace interface module.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a message that was queued into a buffer at an initial time and to receive a time stamp message, wherein the time stamp message indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time; and

a trace module configured to calculate a queue time based upon the time stamp message, the initial time, and an amount of data in the buffer,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the trace module comprises at least one of a trace interface module positioned on an application specific integrated circuit, an external trace device in communication with the application specific integrated circuit, or a computing device external to the application specific integrated circuit and being in communication with the external trace device and the trace interface module.

18. A computer program embodied on a computer readable non-transitory medium, the computer program being configured to control a processor to execute operations, comprising:

receiving a message that was queued into a buffer at an initial time;

receiving a time stamp message, wherein the time stamp message indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time; and

calculating a queue time based upon the time stamp message, the initial time, and an amount of data in the buffer,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and an arrival time of the message.

19. A method comprising:

receiving a message that was queued into a buffer at an initial time;

receiving a time stamp message wherein the time stamp message indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time;

calculating a queue time based upon the time stamp message, and an arrival time of the message,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and the arrival time of the message.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a message that was queued into a buffer at an initial time and configured to receive a time stamp message wherein the time stamp message indicates a number of messages stored in the buffer at the initial time;

a trace module configured to calculate a queue time based upon the time stamp message and an arrival time of the message,

wherein the queue time is the time the message was in the buffer before the message was transmitted, and

wherein the queue time is calculated based on a time to transmit the number of the messages stored in the buffer and the arrival time of the message.

Assignments (10)