JP5054716B2 - Communication protocol processing circuit, information processing apparatus, and communication protocol processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To implement a consistent communication protocol process, while achieving a high-speed throughput which is close to an improving communication media band. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of transmission packet creation parts that create transmission packets, transmission packet analysis parts that analyze the transmission packets, and sequence processing parts that control communication information to decide the measures for the transmission packets and the transmissions of the packets are respectively included and respectively processed in parallel. Moreover, a contention arbitration part that arbitrates memory accesses by a plurality of sequence processing parts and creation requests, and the like, of the transmission packets is included. The contention arbitration part includes a register that shows the memory area where the respective sequence processing parts temporarily occupy, and the respective sequence processing parts temporarily monopolize the communication information control memory area and release it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The technology disclosed in the present specification relates to a technology for processing a communication protocol, and more particularly, to a communication protocol processing technology for easily realizing high-speed communication throughput.

  Communication services and communication traffic using the Internet are increasing year by year, and the bandwidth and processing capability of communication media and communication terminals for realizing the communication service are also improved. Currently, the bandwidth of communication media is increasing at an annual rate of approximately twice, and the processing capability of communication terminals (general-purpose processors that perform main processing) is increasing at an annual rate of approximately 1.5 times. As an example, the network interface provided by many PCs (Personal Computers) as a standard has previously been 100BASE with a bandwidth of 100 Mbps, but now has 1000BASE with a bandwidth of 1 Gbps. In the future, 10GBASE with a bandwidth of 10 Gbps is expected to be adopted.

  In order to communicate with a communication partner using the Internet or a network based on the technology, a communication terminal is not only a physical data link layer communication protocol such as Ethernet (registered trademark, the same applies hereinafter), but also a network layer (so-called IP (Internet Protocol), transport layer (so-called UDP (User Datagram Protocol) or TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)) and application layer communication protocols also need to be processed. In communication terminals, the physical data link layer communication protocol is generally processed by dedicated hardware. On the other hand, other communication protocols called TCP / IP are generally processed in software by a general-purpose processor.

  Currently, it is difficult for a PC that processes communication protocols in software using a general-purpose processor to process these communication protocols with a throughput of 1 Gbps, and thus to efficiently use a 1 Gbps Ethernet bandwidth. In the future, if the growth rate of the communication media bandwidth and general-purpose processor processing capacity progresses according to the above-mentioned trend, the difference between the communication media bandwidth and the processing throughput of the communication terminal will further widen, and the use efficiency of the communication media by the communication terminal will further deteriorate It is.

A technique for processing a communication protocol with dedicated hardware is described in Patent Document 1, for example. The communication control processor described in Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of communication control units that perform unique protocol processing, and a protocol determination unit that determines a field of packet data and passes the packet data to a corresponding communication control unit. Thereby, it is possible to communicate functionally with a plurality of communication protocols.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-292147

  For example, when realizing a communication service that requires high-speed throughput that follows the improvement of the communication media bandwidth according to one protocol, the following problems occur according to the above background art. In contrast to the assumed one-protocol communication, in the above background art, one communication control unit and protocol discriminating unit process all received packet data, and the remaining communication control units do not process packet data during that time and are idle. State. For this reason, one communication control unit or protocol discriminating unit that continues the processing operation becomes a bottleneck of processing, and it is difficult to achieve high-speed throughput.

  In order to achieve high throughput, it is one idea to improve the frequency of the operation clock at the bottleneck. However, since the element delay and power consumption of the semiconductor are serious problems, the frequency of the operation clock cannot be easily improved. In fact, it is likely to be difficult to achieve communication throughput of 10 Gbps or higher by improving the frequency of the prior art operating clock.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to achieve a high-speed throughput close to an increasing communication media band, and to process a communication protocol without impairing coherency. The realization problem is to provide circuits and devices that are relatively small.

  A representative invention disclosed in the present application includes a plurality of transmission packet generation units, a plurality of sequence processing units, a contention arbitration unit, and a memory, and communication information is stored in the memory. Whether the transmission packet generator includes information for identifying a packet to be generated and output, and whether or not the contention arbitration unit is exclusively controlled by any of a plurality of sequence processing units to refer to and update communication information. Each transmission packet generation unit generates and outputs a packet based on a command from each sequence processing unit, and each sequence processing unit refers to communication information to transmit packet generation unit Judges the packet to be generated and output, instructs the transmission packet generator to generate and output the packet to be generated and output, and identifies that the communication information is instructed to generate and output Whether the reference and update of the communication information is exclusively controlled by another sequence processing unit based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit before the communication information is referred to and updated. If the reference and update of the communication information is exclusively controlled by another sequence processing unit, the communication information reference and update are waited until the exclusive control is released. And the update of the information stored in the contention arbitration unit is started by starting the exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. After the reference and update are executed and the reference and update of the communication information are completed, the exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information is released by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. The features.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily achieve a high-speed throughput close to a communication media band that is being improved while keeping the problems of semiconductor device delay and power consumption relatively small. Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to process communication protocols with consistency by performing exclusive control of communication information with high efficiency between parallel parts.

  In order to easily achieve a high-speed throughput close to the improved communication media bandwidth, the communication protocol processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention has a portion where the processing logic amount is relatively large and the element delay of the circuit tends to be deep. Parallelized. Specifically, as described later, the communication protocol processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention manages a transmission packet generation unit that generates a transmission packet, a reception packet analysis unit that analyzes a reception packet, and communication information. A plurality of sequence processing units that determine the correspondence to the received packet and the transmission of the packet are provided, and each is operated in parallel at a low frequency.

  Furthermore, the communication protocol processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a mechanism for performing exclusive control with high efficiency between parallel parts. Specifically, as will be described later, the communication protocol processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a contention arbitration unit that arbitrates communication information management memory access and transmission packet generation requests by a plurality of sequence processing units. . The contention arbitration unit includes a register indicating the area of the communication information management memory temporarily occupied by each sequence processing unit, and each sequence processing unit performs temporary monopolization and release of the communication information management memory area. .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication apparatus and a communication protocol processing circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The communication protocol processing circuit should be provided in the communication device. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, the communication device is divided into the communication host device 101 and the communication protocol processing circuit 102.

  First, the communication host device 101 will be described. The communication host device 101 alone can be realized by a known technique. The communication host device 101 is connected to the network 104 via the communication protocol processing circuit 102 and implements a communication service with one or more communication partners (not shown) via the network 104.

  Specifically, the communication host device 101 actively or passively determines the communication partner and the communication service based on the result of the communication protocol processing circuit 102 analyzing the packet received from the communication partner via the network 104. Is specified in the communication protocol processing circuit 102 to start communication. During the execution of the communication service, the communication host device 101 instructs the communication protocol processing circuit 102 to transmit the transmission target data stored in the host memory 112, and the host extracts the data extracted from the packet received from the communication partner. The communication protocol processing circuit 102 is instructed to store in the memory 112.

  In parallel with this, the communication host device 101 reads the transmission target data from the storage device 103 via the host peripheral interface 113 and the host bus 114, stores it in the host memory 112, and the received extracted data stored in the host memory 112. Is stored in the storage apparatus 103. Further, at the end of the communication service, the communication host device 101 instructs the communication protocol processing circuit 102 to end the communication actively or passively. These determinations and controls performed by the communication host device 101 are realized by a software program (not shown) executed by the host processor 111.

  Next, details of the communication protocol processing circuit 102, which is a main feature of the present invention, will be described. The communication protocol processing circuit 102 includes a communication control unit 121, a host temporary buffer unit 122, a network temporary buffer unit 123, a DMA control unit 124, a network interface 125, a plurality of transmission packet generation units 131 to 133, and a plurality of reception packet analysis units. 141-143. FIG. 2 shows three transmission packet generation units 131 to 133 and three reception packet analysis units 141 to 143 as an example, but the number of these is not limited to three.

  The communication control unit 121 includes a contention arbitration unit 151, a communication information management memory 152, an upload command queue 153, a download command queue 154, a received packet analysis storage result queue 155, and a transmission packet generation command queue 156. The host temporary buffer unit 122 includes a plurality of host temporary buffer memories 161 to 163, and the network temporary buffer unit 123 includes a plurality of network temporary buffer memories 171 to 173.

  FIG. 1 shows an example in which the host temporary buffer unit 122 includes 12 host temporary buffer memories from the first host temporary buffer memory 161 to the twelfth host temporary buffer memory 163 (however, the third (The illustration from the host temporary buffer memory to the eleventh host temporary buffer memory is omitted). However, the number of host temporary buffer memories is not limited to twelve. The same applies to the network temporary buffer memories 171 to 173.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the communication control unit 121 in the communication protocol processing circuit 102 according to the embodiment of this invention.

  2, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 represent the same elements as those shown in FIG. The communication control unit 121 includes a plurality of sequence processing units 201 to 203 and a timer 291 in addition to the contention arbitration unit 151 and the like illustrated in FIG. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the communication control unit 121 includes nine sequence processing units from the first sequence processing unit 201 to the ninth sequence processing unit 203 (however, the third sequence processing unit to the eighth sequence The illustration up to the sequence processing unit is omitted). However, the number of sequence processing units is not limited to nine.

  The contention arbitration unit 151 in the communication control unit 121 includes a plurality of temporary exclusive communication information entry registers 211 to 221, a communication information entry offset register 231, and a communication information entry size register 232. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the contention arbitration unit 151 includes ten sequence processing units from the first temporary exclusive communication information entry register 211 to the ninth temporary exclusive communication information entry register 221 (however, the third (The illustration from the temporary exclusive communication information entry register to the eighth temporary exclusive communication information entry register is omitted). However, the number of temporary exclusive communication information entry registers is not limited to ten.

  The communication information management memory 152, the upload command queue 153, the download command queue 154, the received packet analysis storage result queue 155, and the transmission packet generation command queue 156 in the communication control unit 121 each include a plurality of communication information entries 241 to 243, a plurality of Upload command entries 251 to 253, a plurality of download command entries 261 to 263, a plurality of received packet analysis storage result entries 271 to 273, and a plurality of transmission packet generation command entries 281 to 283.

  FIG. 2 shows the first communication information entry 241 to the 10,000th communication information entry 243, the first upload command entry 251 to the third upload command entry 253, and the first download command entry 261 to the fifth download command. An entry 263, a first received packet analysis storage result entry 271 to a sixth received packet analysis storage result entry 273, and a first transmission packet generation instruction entry 281 to a fifth transmission packet generation instruction entry 283 are shown (however, The third to 9999th communication information entries, the third to fourth download command entries, the third to fifth received packet analysis storage result entries, and the third to fourth transmission packet generation command entries are not shown. ). However, the number of entries is not limited to the example shown in FIG.

  A transmission / reception operation of the communication protocol processing circuit 102 will be described. Before the communication protocol processing circuit 102 performs a transmission / reception operation, predetermined values are set in advance in the communication information entry offset register 231 and the communication information entry size register 232 by a software program executed by the host processor 111. Specifically, the communication control unit 121 receives a write request from the host processor 111 to each register via the host bus 114 and the DMA control unit 124, and the communication control unit 121 assigns a value to each register according to the write request. Write.

  These values represent the address of the area of the communication information management memory 152 corresponding to the number of the communication information entry. More specifically, if the value set in the communication information entry offset register 231 is A and the value set in the communication information entry size register 232 is B, the Nth communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152 is set. Corresponding storage addresses are from A + B × (N−1) to A + B × N−1.

  In addition, information regarding a communication partner, a communication service, and a storage area of data to be transmitted in the host memory 112 is set as a communication information entry by a software program executed by the host processor 111.

  One or more communication information entries are assigned to one communication service. Each communication information entry 241 to 243 includes a valid flag of the entry, a network address (for example, a physical address or an IP address) of the communication host device 101, a network address of a communication partner, a service number of the communication host device 101 itself (for example, UDP or (TCP port number), service number of communication partner, communication state, communication processing state, address (memory address) of the area storing the transmission target data in the host memory 112, reception extraction data in the host memory 112 are stored It includes the address of the area to be transmitted, the transmitted data length, the response confirmed data length, the received data length, and the like. Based on these information, whether there is a packet to be generated and transmitted next, the type of the packet, the storage area address of the transmission target data embedded in the payload portion of the packet, the size of the entire area, Of these, the length of transmitted data can be specified. Also, the presence / absence of the packet to be received, the type of the packet, the storage area address of the received data extracted from the payload portion of the packet, the size of the entire area, the length of the received data, etc. are also specified. can do.

  In addition, the first sequence processing unit 201 is activated in advance by a software program executed by the host processor 111. The first sequence processing unit 201 continuously refers to the communication information entries 241 to 243 and the timer 291 stored in the communication information management memory 152 to determine packet transmission and complete the instruction from the host processor 111. The sequence of reporting and reporting the interrupt to the host processor 111 in a communication abnormal state is continued.

  1 and 2, the plurality of transmission packet generation units 131 to 133, the plurality of reception packet analysis units 141 to 143, and the plurality of sequence processing units 201 to 203 are typically dedicated. Realized by hardware. However, these may be realized by a general-purpose processor executing a program stored in a memory.

  A detailed operation from when the communication protocol processing circuit 102 determines packet transmission until transmission is described.

  FIG. 3 is a timing chart illustrating the transmission operation of the communication protocol processing circuit 102 according to the embodiment of this invention.

  The first sequence processing unit 201 refers to each communication information entry 241 to 243 in the communication information management memory 152 (and updates as necessary), and makes a packet transmission determination (301). When the first sequence processing unit 201 determines that a packet is to be transmitted regarding the Xth communication information entry (for example, the first communication information entry 241), the second sequence processing unit 202 that has been in the idle state. Is started as a subsequence, and an instruction is given to transmit a packet regarding the Xth communication information entry. Thereby, the second sequence processing unit 202 starts the sequence (302) of the first transmission packet generation process.

  First, the second sequence processing unit 202 refers to and updates the Xth communication information entry to know the area of the host memory 112 in which the transmission target data is stored, the type of transmission packet, and the like. At this time, the second sequence processing unit 202 performs exclusive control so that other sequence processing units 202 cannot refer to and update the Xth communication information entry. For this exclusive control, the second temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212 is used.

  3 and FIG. 4 to be described later, each sequence processing unit uses the temporary exclusive communication information entry register corresponding to each sequence processing unit when referring to and updating the communication information entry. Execute exclusive control. These exclusive controls will be described later in detail.

  Next, the second sequence processing unit 202 issues a download (that is, data copy from the host memory 112 to the host temporary buffer unit 122). The download command includes the start memory address and data length of the transmission target data stored in the host memory 112. These addresses and data lengths are obtained from the Xth communication information entry.

  The issued download command becomes the first download command entry 261 in the download command queue 154 in the empty state, and is issued to the host bus 114 via the host temporary buffer unit 122 and the DMA control unit 124. As a result, the first transmission target data stored in the host memory 112 is input (303) to the host temporary buffer unit 122 via the host bus 114 and the DMA control unit 124. The host temporary buffer unit 122 stores the input data in the first host temporary buffer memory 161 which is in an empty state.

  When the storage of the first transmission target data is completed, the host temporary buffer unit 122 performs communication control using entry information (first data entry) of the host temporary buffer unit 122 indicating that the data is stored in the first host temporary buffer memory 161. Report to Part 121.

  When the download completion report is received, the download instruction queue 154 deletes the first download instruction entry 261. The second sequence processing unit 202 subsequently issues a transmission packet generation command. The transmission packet generation command includes a transmission packet type, information such as a network address constituting the header of the transmission packet, and entry information (first data entry) of the host temporary buffer unit 122.

  The issued transmission packet generation instruction becomes the first transmission packet generation instruction entry 281 in the transmission packet generation instruction queue 156 that has been in an empty state, and is sent to the first transmission packet generation unit 131 that has been in the idle state. publish.

  The first transmission packet generation unit 131 that has received the transmission packet generation instruction starts generation and output (304) of the first transmission packet in accordance with the instruction. The first transmission packet generation unit 131 first constructs a header of the transmission packet while instructing the host temporary buffer unit 122 to pass data corresponding to the entry information (first data entry) of the host temporary buffer unit 122. The header of the transmission packet is generated and output from the information to be transmitted. The host temporary buffer unit 122 performs first transmission of data corresponding to the designated entry information (first data entry), that is, first transmission target data stored in the first host temporary buffer memory 161. The first transmission packet generation unit 131 outputs the first transmission target data transferred from the host temporary buffer unit 122 as the payload of the transmission packet.

  The first transmission packet generated and output in this manner is transferred to the network temporary buffer unit 123. When the generation of the first transmission packet is completed, the first transmission packet generation unit 131 reports completion to the communication control unit 121 and shifts to an idle state.

  When the transmission packet generation completion report is received, the transmission packet generation instruction queue 156 deletes the entry of the instruction. The second sequence processing unit 202 that issued the command subsequently refers to and updates the Xth communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152, and reflects that the packet has been transmitted to the communication information entry. Further, the second sequence processing unit 202 instructs the host temporary buffer unit 122 to delete the entry information (first data entry) in the host temporary buffer unit 122. The host temporary buffer unit 122 shifts the first host temporary buffer memory 161 to an empty state in accordance with the instruction.

  The second sequence processing unit 202 instructed to execute the sub-sequence of the first sequence processing unit 201 finally finishes its role and shifts to an idle state.

  In parallel with the above, the network temporary buffer unit 123 stores the first transmission packet generated and output by the first transmission packet generation unit 131 in the first network temporary buffer memory 171 that is in an empty state. To do. When the storage of the first transmission packet is completed, the network temporary buffer unit outputs it (305), and transmits the transmission packet to the network 104 via the network interface 125. When the transmission is completed, the network temporary buffer unit 123 moves the first network temporary buffer memory 171 to an empty state.

  The first sequence processing unit 201 instructs the second sequence processing unit 202 to transmit a packet regarding the Xth communication information entry (for example, the first communication information entry 241), and then further performs communication information management memory. The communication information entries 241 to 243 in 152 are referred to and updated to determine packet transmission. When it is determined that a packet is to be transmitted with respect to the Yth communication information entry (for example, the second communication information entry 242), the second sequence processing unit 202 is being executed at this time. Activates the third sequence processing unit (not shown) in the idle state as a subsequence, and instructs to transmit a packet regarding the Yth communication information entry. Thereby, the third sequence processing unit starts a sequence (312) of the generation process of the second transmission packet.

  After that, the first sequence processing unit 201 continues to determine packet transmission and activates a sub-sequence as necessary.

  The activated third sequence processing unit refers to the Y-th communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152, updates the corresponding download, as in the case of the second sequence processing unit 202 described above. A command and a transmission packet generation command are issued to instruct to delete the corresponding entry information in the host temporary buffer unit 122. The behaviors of the upload command queue 153 and the transmission packet generation command queue 156 are the same as described above.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the downloaded second transmission target data is stored in the host temporary buffer unit 122 and the generated second transmission packet is stored in the network temporary buffer unit 123 at a time when execution is performed. , Entries related to the Xth communication information entry exist in the first host temporary buffer memory 161 and the first network temporary buffer memory 171, respectively. For this reason, the downloaded second transmission target data and the generated second transmission packet are stored in the second host temporary buffer memory 162 and the second network temporary buffer memory 172 which are free, respectively. Is done.

  At the time when the second transmission packet is generated, the first transmission packet generation unit 131 is executing processing related to the Xth communication information entry. For this reason, the second transmission packet generator 132 in the idle state generates the second transmission packet. As described above, in the communication protocol processing circuit 102 according to this embodiment, a plurality of functional blocks execute transmission processing while operating in parallel.

  As shown in FIG. 3, according to the communication protocol processing circuit 102 of the present embodiment, the output from the network temporary buffer unit 123 to the network interface 125 and the transmission of the packet from the network interface 125 to the network 104 are performed in the communication media band. It can be seen that near high throughput can be achieved.

  Specifically, as an example, it is assumed that the communication medium is 10 GBASE with a bandwidth of 10 Gbps, and 32-bit width data is output from the network temporary buffer unit 123 to the network interface 125 at an operating frequency of 312.5 MHz. . In this case, the throughput is 32 bits × 312.5 MHz = 10,000 Mbps = 10 Gbps. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, although a small margin time exists between the transmission packets, a high-speed transmission throughput close to the communication media band can be achieved.

  Also, the operations of the communication control unit 121 and the plurality of transmission packet generation units 131 to 133, and between the communication control unit 121, the plurality of transmission packet generation units 131 to 133, the host temporary buffer unit 122, and the network temporary buffer unit 123. For the connection, it is possible to operate at a frequency lower than the above 312.5 MHz. Specifically, even if the data width is set to 32 bits as described above, since the three transmission packet generation units 131 to 133 are used in parallel, they are operated at 312.5 ÷ 3 = 104.2 MHz. The operation shown in the timing chart of FIG. 3 is also realized.

  If the operating frequency is lowered, the time required for processing increases in inverse proportion to the operating frequency. In FIG. 3, the generation time of each transmission packet by the transmission packet generation unit is shown to be about three times longer than the time required for output to the network interface 125. According to the communication protocol circuit of the present invention, since the processing logic amount is relatively large, the device operating delay of the circuit, which tends to be deep, can be lowered. The problem can be made relatively small.

  Furthermore, according to the above processing, the consistency is maintained by the exclusive control. This will be described in detail later.

  Next, a detailed operation from when the communication protocol processing circuit 102 receives a packet until the corresponding processing is performed will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating the reception operation of the communication protocol processing circuit 102 according to the embodiment of this invention.

  When the first received packet is received from the network 104 via the network interface 125 (401), the network temporary buffer unit 123 stores the first packet in the seventh network temporary buffer memory (not shown) that has been vacant. Stores received packets.

  When the reception and storage of the first received packet is completed, the network temporary buffer unit 123 passes the stored first received packet to the first received packet analysis unit 141 that has been in the idle state (402). When the network temporary buffer unit 123 finishes delivering the first received packet, the network temporary buffer unit 123 moves the seventh host temporary buffer memory to an empty state.

  The first received packet analysis unit 141 analyzes the first received packet while receiving the first received packet, extracts necessary information from the header of the packet, passes it to the communication control unit 121, and transmits the communication host from the payload. Data to be transferred to the apparatus 101 is extracted and transferred to the host temporary buffer unit 122 (403). When reception and analysis of the packet are completed, the first reception packet analysis unit 141 reports the analysis result (that is, the type of the packet) to the communication control unit 121, and shifts to an idle state.

  The host temporary buffer unit 122 stores the data extracted from the first received packet in a seventh host temporary buffer memory (not shown) that is in an empty state. When the storage of the data is completed, the host temporary buffer unit 122 informs the communication control unit 121 that the data has been stored in the seventh host temporary buffer memory as entry information (second data entry) of the host temporary buffer unit 122. Report.

  Header information and analysis result passed from the first received packet analysis unit 141 to the communication control unit 121, and storage result passed from the host temporary buffer unit 122 to the communication control unit 121 (that is, stored as a second data entry) Is held as the first received packet analysis storage result entry 271 in the received packet analysis storage result queue 155 that is in an empty state. In response to the occurrence of a new entry in the received packet analysis storage result queue 155, the seventh sequence processing unit (not shown), which has been in an idle state, is activated to execute the response (404) of the received packet. Is done.

  The seventh sequence processing unit first refers to the type of the first received packet held in the received packet analysis storage result queue 155, and receives the received packet from a plurality of communication information entries in the communication information management memory 152. It is determined that a search is made for a matching item. Then, the seventh sequence processing unit refers to the header information held in the received packet analysis storage result queue 155 and searches for the Xth communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152 that matches the header information.

  Then, the seventh sequence processing unit refers to (and updates as necessary) the Xth communication information entry (for example, the third communication information entry (not shown)) that has been found, and receives the received packet extraction data. Know the area of the host memory 112 to be stored. Next, the seventh sequence processing unit issues an upload (data copy from the host temporary buffer unit 122 to the host memory 112). This upload command includes the top memory address and data length of the received packet extraction data to be stored in the host memory 112, and entry information (second data entry) in the host temporary buffer unit 122.

  The issued upload command becomes the first upload command entry 251 in the upload command queue 153 that has been vacant, and is issued to the host bus 114 via the host temporary buffer unit 122 and the DMA control unit 124. At this time, the host temporary buffer unit 122 prepares first received packet extraction data. As a result, the first received packet extraction data is stored in the host memory 112 via the DMA controller 124 and the host bus 114 (405). When the first received packet extraction data has been passed to the host memory 112, the host temporary buffer unit 122 reports to the communication control unit 121 that the upload has been completed in accordance with the upload command.

  Upon receiving the upload completion report, the upload command queue 153 deletes the first upload command entry 251. The seventh sequence processing unit subsequently refers to and updates the Xth communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152, and reflects that the packet has been received and corresponding to the Xth communication information entry.

  The seventh sequence processing unit instructs the host temporary buffer unit 122 to delete the entry information (second data entry) in the host temporary buffer unit 122. The host temporary buffer unit 122 erases the entry information according to the instruction. As a result, the seventh host temporary buffer memory shifts to an empty state.

  The seventh sequence processing unit activated to execute the corresponding process on the entry of the received packet analysis storage result queue 155 finally finishes its role and shifts to the idle state. In response to the transition, the received packet analysis storage result queue 155 deletes the corresponding received packet analysis storage result entry 271.

  After the network interface 125 receives the first received packet from the network 104, the reception (411) of the second received packet starts. The network temporary buffer unit 123 stores the second received packet in an eighth network temporary buffer memory (not shown) that is in an empty state. When the reception and storage of the second received packet are completed, the network temporary buffer unit 123 passes the stored second received packet to the second received packet analysis unit 142 that has been in the idle state (412). After that, the network temporary buffer unit 123 is in a waiting state for receiving subsequent packets, as in the case of the first received packet.

  The operation of the second received packet analyzing unit 142 that has received the second received packet is the same as the operation of the first received packet analyzing unit 141 that has received the first received packet. The behaviors of the host temporary buffer unit 122 and the received packet analysis storage result queue 155 are also the same as described above.

  At the time when the second received packet extraction data is stored in the host temporary buffer unit and the header information, the analysis result, and the storage result are held in the received packet analysis storage result queue, the first received packet is related. The entries exist in the seventh host temporary buffer memory and the first received packet analysis storage result entry 271 respectively. Therefore, the second received packet extraction data is stored in an eighth host temporary buffer memory (not shown), and the header information, analysis result, and storage result are held as a second received packet analysis storage result entry 272. Is done.

  In the example of FIG. 4, the seventh sequence processing unit is executing processing corresponding to the first received packet at the time when a new entry related to the second received packet occurs in the received packet analysis storage result queue 155. . Therefore, the eighth sequence processing unit (not shown) that has been in the idle state until that time is activated for the process (413) corresponding to the second received packet. The process corresponding to the second received packet (413) executed by the eighth sequence processor is the same as the process corresponding to the first received packet (404) executed by the seventh sequence processor described above. It is. As described above, in the communication protocol processing circuit 102 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of functional blocks perform reception processing while operating in parallel.

  As shown in FIG. 4, according to the communication protocol processing circuit 102 of this embodiment, it can be seen that even if the network interface 125 continuously receives received packets, the receiving process can be executed without impairing the consistency.

  Specifically, similarly to the example described with reference to FIG. 3, it is assumed that 32-bit data is output from the network interface 125 to the network temporary buffer unit 123 at an operating frequency of 312.5 MHz. In this case, the throughput is 32 bits × 312.5 MHz = 10,000 Mbps = 10 Gbps. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, although there is a minute margin time between each received packet, a high-speed transmission throughput close to the communication media band can be achieved.

  In addition, the operations of the plurality of received packet analysis units 141 to 143 and the communication control unit 121, and between the plurality of reception packet analysis units 141 to 143, the communication control unit 121, the host temporary buffer unit 122, and the network temporary buffer unit 123. For the connection, it is possible to operate at a frequency lower than the above 312.5 MHz. Specifically, even if the data width is set to 32 bits as described above, since the three received packet analysis units 141 to 143 are used in parallel, they are operated at 312.5 ÷ 3 = 104.2 MHz. The operation shown in the timing chart of FIG. 4 is also realized.

  If the operating frequency is lowered, the time required for processing increases in inverse proportion to the operating frequency. In FIG. 4, the analysis time of each received packet by the received packet analysis unit is shown to be about three times longer than the time required for input from the network interface 125. According to the communication protocol circuit of the present invention, since the processing logic amount is relatively large, the device operating delay of the circuit, which tends to be deep, can be lowered. The problem can be made relatively small.

  The transmission operation and the reception operation of the communication protocol processing circuit 102 described above operate in parallel while maintaining the consistency of the communication protocol processing. Such an operation is achieved when the plurality of sequence processing units 201 to 203 and the contention arbitration unit 151 in the communication control unit 121 execute contention mediation (exclusive control) of access to the communication information management memory 152. The Hereinafter, such contention arbitration (exclusive control) will be described.

  In addition to the simultaneous execution of up to nine sequence processes in the communication control unit 121, there is an access path from the communication host device 101 via the DMA control unit 124. On the other hand, the first temporary exclusive communication information entry register 211 is associated with the first sequence processing unit 201, and the second temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212 is associated with the second sequence processing unit 202. The third to eighth sequence processing units (not shown) are associated with the third to eighth temporary exclusive communication information entry registers (not shown), respectively. 9 temporary exclusive communication information entry registers 213 are associated with each other, and an access path from the communication host apparatus 101 is associated with a tenth temporary exclusive communication information entry register 221. If none of the values of the plurality of temporary exclusive communication information entry registers 211 to 221 is valid, it means that none of the communication information entries 241 to 243 is temporarily exclusive. When there are a plurality of access requests to the communication information management memory 152 by the plurality of sequence processing units 201 to 203 and the communication host device 101, arbitration is performed according to a predetermined rule. One is selected.

  On the other hand, there is a temporary monopoly request for one of the communication information entries in the communication information management memory 152 by the plurality of sequence processing units 201 to 203 or the communication host device 101, and the number of the communication information entry is another temporary monopoly. If the request and temporary exclusive communication information entry registers 211 to 221 do not conflict with valid values held therein, the communication information entry number is set as a valid value in the temporary exclusive communication information entry register corresponding to the request source. Is done.

  The number of the communication information entry requested to be temporarily exclusive does not conflict with a valid value held in the temporary exclusive communication information entry registers 211 to 221, but is determined to conflict with other temporary exclusive requests. As a result of arbitration in accordance with the above rule, one of a plurality of temporary exclusive requests for the communication information entries with the same number is selected. Then, the number of the selected communication information entry is set as a valid value in the temporary exclusive communication information entry register corresponding to the request source of the temporary exclusive request.

  If the number of the communication information entry for which the temporary monopoly is requested conflicts with a valid value held in the temporary monopoly communication information entry registers 211 to 221, the request is in a competition waiting state.

  As described above, when the sequence processing units 201 to 203 or the communication host device 101 temporarily monopolizes the communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152, the contention arbitration unit 151 includes the number held in the temporary exclusive communication information entry register, Based on the values of the communication information entry offset register 231 and the communication information entry size register 232, the storage address of the communication information entry temporarily occupied is derived, and another sequence processing unit 201 to 203 or the communication host device for the address is derived. The access request from 101 is put in a competition wait state.

  When the sequence processing units 201 to 203 or the communication host device 101 that temporarily monopolized the communication information entry do not need to monopolize after referring to and updating the monopolized communication information entry in the communication information management memory 152, the monopoly is released. Request. As a result, the temporary exclusive communication information entry register corresponding to the sequence processing units 201 to 203 or the communication host device 101 that has requested cancellation becomes an invalid value.

  A specific example of the contention arbitration (exclusive control) will be described with reference to FIG.

  Hereinafter, a case will be described as an example in which all transmission packets shown in FIG. 3 are packets related to the same service (in other words, related to the same communication information entry).

  For example, when the first sequence processing unit 201 determines to transmit a packet with respect to the first communication information entry 241, the first sequence processing unit 201 activates the second sequence processing unit 202 and transmits a packet with respect to the first communication information entry 241. Instruct. A packet transmitted in accordance with this instruction is hereinafter referred to as a first transmission packet.

  Receiving this instruction, the second sequence processing unit 202 refers to the first temporary exclusive communication information entry register 211 to the tenth temporary exclusive communication information entry register 221 to which temporary exclusive communication information entry register. Also, it is confirmed that the number for identifying the first communication information entry 241 is not registered.

  When a number identifying the first communication information entry 241 is registered in any of the temporary exclusive communication information entry registers, the first communication information entry 241 is received by a sequence processing unit other than the second sequence processing unit 202. Exclusive control. In other words, the first communication information entry 241 is exclusively used by sequence processing units other than the second sequence processing unit 202. In this case, the second sequence processing unit 202 cannot refer to or update the first communication information entry 241. For this reason, the second sequence processing unit 202 waits in an idle state until the exclusive control of the first communication information entry 241 is completed.

  When the number identifying the first communication information entry 241 is not registered in any temporary exclusive communication information entry register, the second sequence processing unit 202 selects the second sequence processing unit 202 corresponding to the second sequence processing unit 202. A number for identifying the first communication information entry 241 is registered in the temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212. As a result, the first communication information entry 241 is exclusively controlled. In other words, the first communication information entry 241 is stored in the second sequence until the number identifying the first communication information entry 241 is registered in the second temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212 and then deleted. Used exclusively by the processing unit 202. Meanwhile, sequence processing units other than the second sequence processing unit 202 are prohibited from referring to and updating the first communication information entry 241.

  The second sequence processing unit 202 refers to and updates the first communication information entry 241 after starting exclusive control of the first communication information entry 241. Specifically, the management information of the transmission packet included in the first communication information entry 241 is updated. The transmission packet management information includes information for identifying a transmission packet for which generation has been started and information for identifying a transmission packet for which transmission has ended. In the following description, the management information of the transmission packet is described in the format (A, B). In this case, “A” is the number of the transmission packet that has been generated, and “B” is the number of the transmission packet that has been output to the network temporary buffer unit 123. The initial value of the management information of the transmission packet is (0, 0).

  When instructed to transmit the first transmission packet as described above, the second sequence processing unit 202 refers to the management information of the transmission packet. When the management information of the referred transmission packet is (0, 0), the second sequence processing unit 202 updates the management information of the transmission packet to (1, 0). (1, 0) indicates that the generation of the first transmission packet has started, but its output has not yet ended.

  After referring to and updating the management information of the transmission packet in this way, the second sequence processing unit 202 deletes the number for identifying the first communication information entry 241 from the second temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212. Specifically, the second sequence processing unit 202 registers an invalid value in the second temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212. As a result, the number for identifying the first communication information entry 241 is deleted from the second temporary exclusive communication information entry register 212. As a result, the second sequence processing unit 202 performs exclusive control of the first communication information entry 241. finish.

  Thereafter, as already described, the second sequence processing unit 202 instructs the download of the first transmission target data (303) and the generation of the first transmission packet (304).

  In the example of FIG. 3, while the download of the first transmission target data and the generation of the first transmission packet are being executed, the first sequence processing unit 201 instructs to transmit the second transmission packet, An instruction for transmitting the fourth transmission packet, an instruction for transmitting the fourth transmission packet, and an instruction for transmitting the fifth transmission packet are sequentially issued.

  Upon receiving an instruction to transmit the second transmission packet, the third sequence processing unit (not shown) starts exclusive control of the first communication information entry 241 as with the second sequence processing unit 202 described above. Refer to its contents. In the example of FIG. 3, the management information of the transmission packet is (1, 0) at this time. The third sequence processing unit updates the management information of the transmission packet to (2, 0).

  Similarly, a fourth sequence processing unit (not shown), a fifth sequence processing unit (not shown), and a sixth sequence processing unit (not shown) respectively transmit management information of transmission packets to (3, 0). , (4, 0) and (5, 0) are sequentially updated.

  On the other hand, when the generation (304) of the first transmission packet ends and the output of the generated first transmission packet to the network temporary buffer unit 123 ends, the second sequence processing unit 202 performs the first communication. The management information of the transmission packet included in the information entry 241 is referred to and updated. However, when the first communication information entry 241 is exclusively controlled by the sixth sequence processing unit at that time, the second sequence processing unit 202 stands by in an idle state until the exclusive control is finished.

  When the exclusive control by the sixth sequence processing unit ends, the second sequence processing unit 202 starts the exclusive control of the first communication information entry 241 and refers to and updates the management information of the transmission packet. At this time, since the management information of the referenced transmission packet is (5, 0), the second sequence processing unit 202 updates it to (5, 1). This indicates that the generation of the first to fifth transmission packets is started and the output of the first transmission packet is finished.

  As described above, in the example of FIG. 3, during the period from when each sequence processing unit refers to the communication information entry to when the referenced communication information entry is updated, other sequence processing units can also refer to the communication information entry. It is controlled exclusively so that it cannot be updated.

  Here, a problem that occurs when the above exclusive control is not executed will be described.

  As described above, the sixth sequence processing unit refers to the value (4, 0) of the management information of the transmission packet and updates it to (5, 0). When the exclusive control of the first communication information entry 241 is not performed, the second sequence processing unit 202 ends the output from the reference to the update by the sixth sequence processing unit when the output of the first transmission packet is completed. The management information of the transmission packet can be referred to. As a result, for example, the sixth sequence processing unit refers to the transmission packet management information (4, 0), and then the second sequence processing unit 202 refers to the transmission packet management information (4, 0). Next, the sixth sequence processing unit may update the management information of the transmission packet from (4, 0) to (5, 0).

  In this case, since the second sequence processing unit 202 has already referred to (4, 0) as the management information of the transmission packet, without knowing that it has been updated to (5, 0), (4, Update from 0) to (4, 1). As a result, although the generation of the fifth transmission packet has actually started, information indicating that fact is lost. As described above, when the exclusive control of the communication information entry is not executed, the consistency of the processing of the communication protocol may be lost.

  However, by exclusively controlling the communication information entry as described above, the consistency of the communication protocol processing is maintained even when the generation of a plurality of transmission packets is processed in parallel.

  Similarly, the exclusive control of the communication information entry is executed when the received packet is processed (see FIG. 4). In this case, each communication information entry includes received packet management information. The received packet management information includes information for identifying a packet received by the received packet analysis unit, and information for identifying a packet that has been output (ie, uploaded) from the host temporary buffer unit 122 to the host bus 114. For example, when the received packet management information is displayed in the format of (C, D), “C” is the number of the packet received by the received packet analysis unit, and “D” is the number of the packet that has been uploaded.

  In the example of FIG. 4, the first received packet analysis unit 141 finishes the process of receiving the first received packet (that is, the output of the data extracted from the payload of the first received packet to the host temporary buffer unit). Then, the seventh sequence processing unit (not shown) refers to and updates the communication information entry corresponding to the first received packet. For example, based on the port number specified by the first received packet, the first received packet is associated with the service, and the communication information entry (for example, the first communication information entry 241) corresponding to the service is specified. Is done.

  When the management information of the received packet referred to is (0, 0), the seventh sequence processing unit updates the management information of the received packet to (1, 0). (1, 0) indicates that the first received packet has been received, but the upload of data extracted from the first received packet has not yet been completed.

  In the example of FIG. 4, after the first received packet analysis unit 141 receives the first received packet, before the extraction of data from the first received packet ends, the second received packet analysis unit 142. Can receive the second received packet. In this case, an eighth sequence processing unit (not shown) refers to the management information of the received packet and updates its value to (2, 0).

  Thereafter, when the upload of the data extracted from the first received packet is completed, the seventh sequence processing unit refers to the communication information entry. If the management information of the received packet in the referenced communication information entry is (2, 0), the seventh sequence processing unit updates the value to (2, 1).

  Also in the processing of FIG. 4, exclusive control is performed so that other sequence processing units cannot refer to or update the communication information entry between each sequence processing unit referring to the communication information entry and updating it. The Thereby, even when processing of a plurality of received packets is executed in parallel, the consistency of communication protocol processing is maintained.

  Another specific example of contention arbitration (exclusive control) will be described. Of the fields of the first communication information entry 241, the information field to be exclusively controlled in order to maintain consistency is already determined to be transmitted (as a result, downloaded, transmitted, and reached the communication partner). Data length) and the reception confirmation response number for transmission data that has been received and analyzed / interpreted from the other end of communication, the reference and update of the information field by each sequence processing unit is excluded from the above The same as the control. In this exclusive control, exclusive control is performed between a sequence processing unit that commands transmission of a packet and a sequence processing unit that determines the corresponding processing by receiving a packet.

  As described above, the communication protocol circuit according to the present embodiment processes the communication protocol while maintaining consistency without causing information breakdown by performing exclusive control of the communication information with high efficiency between the parallel parts. be able to.

  The present invention is not limited to a circuit that performs communication protocol processing, but can also be applied to a communication protocol processing expansion board, a communication terminal device, or a communication relay device connected to a host terminal.

It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the communication apparatus and communication protocol processing circuit of embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the detailed structure of the communication control part in the communication protocol processing circuit of embodiment of this invention. 6 is a timing chart illustrating a transmission operation of the communication protocol processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a timing chart illustrating a reception operation of the communication protocol processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

102 Communication Protocol Processing Circuit 121 Communication Control Unit 122 Host Temporary Buffer Unit 123 Network Temporary Buffer Unit 124 DMA Control Unit 125 Network Interface 151 Contention Arbitration Unit

Claims (9)

A plurality of transmission packet generation units, a plurality of sequence processing units, a contention arbitration unit, and a memory,
Communication information is stored in the memory,
The communication information includes information for identifying a packet to be generated and output by the transmission packet generator,
The contention arbitration unit stores information indicating whether reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by any of the plurality of sequence processing units,
Each transmission packet generation unit generates and outputs a packet based on an instruction from each sequence processing unit,
Each of the sequence processing units
With reference to the communication information, the transmission packet generator determines a packet to be generated and output,
Instructing the transmission packet generator to generate and output the packet to be generated and output;
Updating the communication information to information for identifying that the generation and output are instructed;
Before referring to and updating the communication information, it is determined based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit whether the reference and update of the communication information is exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit And
When reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, waiting for reference and update of the communication information until the exclusive control is released,
When reference and update of the communication information are not exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, exclusive control of reference and update of the communication information by updating information stored in the contention arbitration unit After starting, the communication information is referenced and updated,
After the reference and update of the communication information is completed, the communication protocol processing circuit is configured to release exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. . A plurality of received packet analysis units, a plurality of sequence processing units, a contention arbitration unit, and a memory,
Communication information is stored in the memory,
The communication information includes information for identifying a received packet to be subjected to corresponding processing,
The contention arbitration unit stores information indicating whether reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by any of the plurality of sequence processing units,
Each received packet analyzer receives the packet, analyzes the received packet,
Each of the sequence processing units
Each received packet analysis unit receives and analyzes the packet and then refers to the communication information to determine the corresponding processing of the received packet,
The corresponding processing of the received packet is performed,
Updating the communication information to information for identifying that the packet has been received;
Before referring to and updating the communication information, it is determined based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit whether the reference and update of the communication information is exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit And
When reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, waiting for reference and update of the communication information until the exclusive control is released,
When reference and update of the communication information are not exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, exclusive control of reference and update of the communication information by updating information stored in the contention arbitration unit After starting, the communication information is referenced and updated,
After the reference and update of the communication information is completed, the communication protocol processing circuit is configured to release exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. . The contention arbitration unit includes a plurality of registers each corresponding to the plurality of sequence processing units,
Each of the sequence processing units
By storing information for identifying that each sequence processing unit exclusively controls reference and update of the communication information in the register corresponding to each sequence processing unit, Start exclusive control of reference and update,
By deleting information for identifying that each sequence processing unit exclusively controls reference and update of the communication information from the register corresponding to each sequence processing unit, 3. The communication protocol processing circuit according to claim 1, wherein exclusive control of reference and update is canceled. An information processing apparatus connected to a network,
The information processing apparatus includes an interface connected to the network, a plurality of transmission packet generation units that generate packets transmitted via the interface, a plurality of sequence processing units, a contention arbitration unit, a memory, With
Communication information is stored in the memory,
The communication information includes information for identifying a packet to be generated and output by the transmission packet generator,
The contention arbitration unit stores information indicating whether reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by any of the plurality of sequence processing units,
Each transmission packet generation unit generates a packet based on an instruction from each sequence processing unit,
The interface outputs the packet generated by each transmission packet generation unit to the network,
Each of the sequence processing units
With reference to the communication information, the transmission packet generator determines a packet to be generated and output,
Instructing the transmission packet generator to generate and output the packet to be generated and output;
Updating the communication information to information for identifying that the generation and output are instructed;
Before referring to and updating the communication information, it is determined based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit whether the reference and update of the communication information is exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit And
When reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, waiting for reference and update of the communication information until the exclusive control is released,
When reference and update of the communication information are not exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, exclusive control of reference and update of the communication information by updating information stored in the contention arbitration unit After starting, the communication information is referenced and updated,
An information processing apparatus, wherein after the reference and update of the communication information is completed, exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information is canceled by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. An information processing apparatus connected to a network,
The information processing apparatus includes: an interface connected to the network; a plurality of received packet analysis units that analyze packets received via the interface; a plurality of sequence processing units; a contention arbitration unit; and a memory. Prepared,
Communication information is stored in the memory,
The communication information includes information for identifying a received packet to be subjected to corresponding processing,
The contention arbitration unit stores information indicating whether reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by any of the plurality of sequence processing units,
The interface receives packets from the network;
Each received packet analysis unit analyzes a packet received by the interface;
Each of the sequence processing units
Each received packet analysis unit receives and analyzes the packet and then refers to the communication information to determine the corresponding processing of the received packet,
The corresponding processing of the received packet is performed,
Updating the communication information to information for identifying that the packet has been received;
Before referring to and updating the communication information, it is determined based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit whether the reference and update of the communication information is exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit And
When reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, waiting for reference and update of the communication information until the exclusive control is released,
When reference and update of the communication information are not exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, exclusive control of reference and update of the communication information by updating information stored in the contention arbitration unit After starting, the communication information is referenced and updated,
An information processing apparatus, wherein after the reference and update of the communication information is completed, exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information is canceled by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. The contention arbitration unit includes a plurality of registers each corresponding to the plurality of sequence processing units,
Each of the sequence processing units
By storing information for identifying that each sequence processing unit exclusively controls reference and update of the communication information in the register corresponding to each sequence processing unit, Start exclusive control of reference and update,
By deleting information for identifying that each sequence processing unit exclusively controls reference and update of the communication information from the register corresponding to each sequence processing unit, 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein exclusive control of reference and update is canceled. A communication protocol processing method executed by a communication protocol processing circuit,
The communication protocol processing circuit includes a plurality of transmission packet generation units, a plurality of sequence processing units, a contention arbitration unit, and a memory,
Communication information is stored in the memory,
The communication information includes information for identifying a packet to be generated and output by the transmission packet generator,
The contention arbitration unit stores information indicating whether reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by any of the plurality of sequence processing units,
The communication protocol processing method includes:
Each transmission packet generation unit generates and outputs a packet based on an instruction from each sequence processing unit;
Each sequence processing unit refers to the communication information, and determines a packet that the transmission packet generation unit should generate and output;
Each sequence processing unit instructs the transmission packet generation unit to generate and output the packet to be generated and output;
The sequence processing unit updates the communication information to information for identifying that the generation and output are instructed;
Before each sequence processing unit refers to and updates the communication information, based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit, the reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit. A procedure for determining whether or not
When reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, each sequence processing unit waits for reference and update of the communication information until the exclusive control is released Procedure and
When the reference and update of the communication information are not exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, the sequence processing unit references the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. And a procedure for performing reference and update of the communication information after starting exclusive control of the update,
After each reference and update of the communication information is completed, each sequence processing unit releases the exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit; And a communication protocol processing method. A communication protocol processing method executed by a communication protocol processing circuit,
The communication protocol processing circuit includes a plurality of received packet analysis units, a plurality of sequence processing units, a contention arbitration unit, and a memory,
Communication information is stored in the memory,
The communication information includes information for identifying a received packet to be subjected to corresponding processing,
The contention arbitration unit stores information indicating whether reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by any of the plurality of sequence processing units,
The communication protocol processing method includes:
When each received packet analysis unit receives a packet, a procedure for analyzing the received packet;
Each sequence processing unit refers to the communication information after each received packet analysis unit receives and analyzes the packet, and determines the corresponding processing of the received packet;
Each sequence processing unit performs a procedure for handling the received packet;
Each sequence processing unit updates the communication information to information for identifying that the packet has been received,
Before each sequence processing unit refers to and updates the communication information, based on the information stored in the contention arbitration unit, the reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit. A procedure for determining whether or not
When reference and update of the communication information are exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, each sequence processing unit waits for reference and update of the communication information until the exclusive control is released Procedure and
When the reference and update of the communication information are not exclusively controlled by the other sequence processing unit, the sequence processing unit references the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit. And a procedure for performing reference and update of the communication information after starting exclusive control of the update,
After each reference and update of the communication information is completed, each sequence processing unit releases the exclusive control of the reference and update of the communication information by updating the information stored in the contention arbitration unit; And a communication protocol processing method. The contention arbitration unit includes a plurality of registers each corresponding to the plurality of sequence processing units,
Each of the sequence processing units
By storing information for identifying that each sequence processing unit exclusively controls reference and update of the communication information in the register corresponding to each sequence processing unit, Start exclusive control of reference and update,
By deleting information for identifying that each sequence processing unit exclusively controls reference and update of the communication information from the register corresponding to each sequence processing unit, 9. The communication protocol processing method according to claim 7, wherein exclusive control of reference and update is canceled.

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