WO1996037821A1 - Non-arithmetical circular buffer cell availability status indicator circuit - Google Patents

Non-arithmetical circular buffer cell availability status indicator circuit Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1996037821A1
WO1996037821A1 PCT/US1996/007589 US9607589W WO9637821A1 WO 1996037821 A1 WO1996037821 A1 WO 1996037821A1 US 9607589 W US9607589 W US 9607589W WO 9637821 A1 WO9637821 A1 WO 9637821A1
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Prior art keywords
cell
signal
circular buffer
availability status
available
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PCT/US1996/007589
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French (fr)
Inventor
Christopher E. Phillips
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National Semiconductor Corporation
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Application filed by National Semiconductor Corporation filed Critical National Semiconductor Corporation
Priority to KR1019970700557A priority Critical patent/KR970705066A/en
Priority to EP96920448A priority patent/EP0772810A1/en
Publication of WO1996037821A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996037821A1/en

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F7/00—Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled
    • G06F7/76—Arrangements for rearranging, permuting or selecting data according to predetermined rules, independently of the content of the data
    • G06F7/764—Masking
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F5/00—Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled
    • G06F5/06—Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled for changing the speed of data flow, i.e. speed regularising or timing, e.g. delay lines, FIFO buffers; over- or underrun control therefor
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F5/00—Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled
    • G06F5/06—Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled for changing the speed of data flow, i.e. speed regularising or timing, e.g. delay lines, FIFO buffers; over- or underrun control therefor
    • G06F5/10—Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled for changing the speed of data flow, i.e. speed regularising or timing, e.g. delay lines, FIFO buffers; over- or underrun control therefor having a sequence of storage locations each being individually accessible for both enqueue and dequeue operations, e.g. using random access memory
    • G06F5/12—Means for monitoring the fill level; Means for resolving contention, i.e. conflicts between simultaneous enqueue and dequeue operations
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F2205/00—Indexing scheme relating to group G06F5/00; Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled
    • G06F2205/12—Indexing scheme relating to groups G06F5/12 - G06F5/14
    • G06F2205/126—Monitoring of intermediate fill level, i.e. with additional means for monitoring the fill level, e.g. half full flag, almost empty flag

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to status indicator circuits for use with circular buffers and, in particular, to a status indicator circuit that indicates which cells of a circular buffer are available for access, without the need for complicated arithmetic logic.
  • Circular buffers are well known in the art.
  • An example of a ten-cell circular buffer 10 (i.e., an N- cell circular buffer, where N is equal to 10) is shown in Fig. 1.
  • Circular buffers such as circular buffer 10 are typically accessed sequentially. For example, CB -, is accessed after CBCg. After the last circular buffer cell is accessed, a "wrap-around" occurs such that the next circular buffer cell to be accessed is the first circular buffer cell. That is, referring to circular buffer 10, CBCQ is accessed after CBC 0 is accessed.
  • each circular buffer cell, CBC ⁇ is accessed after CBC// ⁇ _ j + - - j j yj jy i -
  • "REM" is a function that yields, in a division operation, the number that is the undivided part of the dividend (i.e., the remainder).
  • Circular buffers are of particular utility in data communications devices. For example, in a data receiver, received data would typically be inserted sequentially into a circular buffer. Once data is inserted into a particular cell of the circular buffer, this cell becomes unavailable for access until the received data is processed. At that point, this cell again becomes available for access.
  • the circular buffer 10, of Fig. 1 has a ten-cell availability status circuit 20, associated with it.
  • the state of a particular status cell, CAS ⁇ , of the availability status circuit 20 indicates whether the corresponding circular buffer cell, CBC ⁇ , is available for access.
  • the states of the status cells, CAS ⁇ , of the cell availability status circuit 20 are determined by CAS determination logic 30.
  • the CAS determination logic 30 responds to an available address indicator signal, AV ADD, that indicates which of the circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell available for access; and to an unavailable address indicator signal, UNAV_ADD, that indicates which of the circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access.
  • CAS determination logic 30 sets cell availability status circuits CAS 2 , CAS3, and CAS 4 to indicate that corresponding circular buffer cells CBC2, CBC3, and CBC 4 are available for access.
  • cell availability status circuits CAS 0 , CASJ, CAS5, CASg, CAS 7 , CASg, and CAS 9 to indicate that corresponding circular buffer cells CBC Q , CBC j , CBC 5 , CBCg, CBC ? , CBCg, and CBCQ are not available for access.
  • Conventional CAS determination logic circuits employ arithmetic circuitry to determine how to set the availability status circuits.
  • arithmetic circuitry is complicated.
  • circular buffers "wrap-around"
  • the arithmetic circuitry of conventional CAS determination logic circuits must perform complicated modular arithmetic. Therefore, what is desired is an availability status indicator circuit with CAS determination logic circuitry that can determine, without complex arithmetic circuitry or high-overhead masking logic, how to set availability status circuits.
  • N cell status circuits are provided that correspond to the separate circular buffer cells.
  • Each cell status circuit includes an output terminal at which a cell availability status signal is provided to indicate the availability status of the corresponding circular buffer cell.
  • a first input terminal of the cell status circuit is connected to receive the cell availability status signal from the previous cell status circuit.
  • the ceil availability status signal is generated in response to the cell availability status signal of the previous cell, to an available address indicator signal that indicates whether the corresponding circular buffer ceil is a first circular buffer cell available to be accessed, and to an unavailable address indicator signal that indicates whether the corresponding circular buffer cell is a last circular buffer cell available to be accessed.
  • the cell availability status signal has a first state if the corresponding circular buffer cell is available for access and has a second state if the corresponding circular buffer cell is not available for access.
  • Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a circular buffer circuit and an associated cell availability status circuit, with cell availability status determination logic for setting the cell availability status circuit.
  • Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a cell determination logic circuit in accordance with the present invention.
  • Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a first embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, of a cell status circuit of the cell determination logic circuit of Fig. 2.
  • Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a second embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, of a cell status circuit of the cell determination logic circuit of Fig. 2.
  • Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a third embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, of a cell status circuit of the ceil determination logic circuit of Fig. 2.
  • Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a cell determination logic circuit 130 in accordance with the present invention.
  • the cell determination logic circuit 130 shown in Fig. 2 indicates the availability of the cells of a four cell circular buffer (i.e., N equals 4).
  • a first decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 receives a two bit start address signal
  • First decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 operates in a conventional manner. That is, first decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 asserts one of its output bits, AV_ADD_DEC [0..3], in response to the available address signal, AV_ADD.
  • Each cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ provides the corresponding cell availability status signal, CAS ⁇ , at its output.
  • a second decoder (UNAV_DECODE) 134 receives a two bit end address signal (U AV_ADD [0..1]) that indicates which of the N corresponding circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access. For example, if circular buffer cell 3 is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access, then UNAV_ADD has the value of 03h.
  • Second decoder (U AV DECODE) 134 operates in a conventional manner.
  • second decoder (UNAV_DECODE) 134 asserts one of its outputs, UNAV_ADD_DEC ⁇ , in response to the unavailable address signal, UNAV_ADD.
  • the separate bits of the second decoder (UNAV_DECODE) 134 output, UNAV_ADD_DEC, are provided to the separate corresponding cell status circuits, CSC ⁇ .
  • each cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ is additionally connected to receive the cell availability status signal generated by the "previous" cell status circuit.
  • Previous is meant in the “circular” sense. That is, each cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ , is connected to receive CAS// ⁇ .
  • CSC ⁇ is configured such that the cell availability status signal, CAS ⁇ , that it provides to its output, is identical to the cell availability status signal, CAS// ⁇ _ j ⁇ + js j ⁇ REM N. P rov 'ded by the "previous" cell availability status circuit, CSC (( ⁇ . 1 ⁇ + N RE M N , unless:
  • UNAV_ADD_DEC ⁇ does not indicate that the CBC ⁇ is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access. Otherwise, if AV_ADD_DEC ⁇ does indicate that CBC ⁇ is the first circular buffer cell available for access in which case the cell availability status signal, CAS ⁇ , provided by the cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ , has a first state, to indicate that CBC ⁇ is available for access. Finally, if UNAV_ADD_DEC ⁇ does indicate that the CBC ⁇ is the last circular buffer cell available for access, the cell availability status signal, CAS ⁇ , provided by the cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ , has a second state to indicate that CBC ⁇ is unavailable for access.
  • Figs. 3-5 illustrates different embodiments (300, 400, and 500, respectively) of a cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ , of the cell determination logic circuit 130.
  • the cell availability status signal indicates availability with a "high” level and indicates non ⁇ availability with a “low” level.
  • the decoded available and unavailable address indicators, AV_ADD_DEC ⁇ and UNAV_ADD_DEC ⁇ are active low.
  • a first two-to-one data selector 310 has its first data input "DO” connected to receive a constant signal having a level at ground, and its second data input “Dl” connected to receive the cell availability signal, CAS v ⁇ . n + N REM N' Se nerated bv the "previous" cell availability status circuit, CSC ⁇ _ n + N) REM N-
  • One of the signals provided to first data input "DO” and second data input "Dl” of the first data selector 310 is selected to be provided to the output "Q" of data selector 310 under the control of AV_ADD_DEC ⁇ , provided to the select input "S" of data selector 310.
  • a second two-to-one data selector 320 has its first input "DO” connected to receive a constant signal having a level at V cc , and its second input “Dl” connected to receive the signal output from the output "Q" of the first data selector 310.
  • One of the signals provided to first data input “DO” and second data input “Dl” of the second data selector 320 is selected to be provided to the output "Q" of data selector 320 under the control of UNAV_ADD_DEC ⁇ , provided to the select input "S” of data selector 310.
  • the signal provided to the output "Q" of data selector 320 is the cell availability signal, CAS ⁇ .
  • Fig. 4 illustrates a further embodiment 400 of a cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ , of the cell determination logic circuit 130.
  • a first two-input NAND device 410 is connected to receive UNAV_ADD_DEC ⁇ at its first input "DO" and is connected to receive the cell availability signal, CAS / ⁇ _ i + N*) REM ] 8 enerated by the "previous" cell availability status circuit,
  • a second two-input NAND device 420 is connected to receive AV_ADD_DEC ⁇ at its first data input "DO" and is connected to receive the signal output from the "Q" output of the first two-input
  • the second two-input NAND device 420 subjects the signal provided to the inputs "DO" and “Dl” to a NAND logic function, and the result of the NAND logic function is provided to the output "Q" of the second two-input NAND device 420 as the cell availability signal, CAS ⁇ .
  • the Fig. 4 embodiment 400 has an advantage over the Fig. 3 embodiment 300 that there is less "ripple" delay through the two NAND devices 410, 420 of the Fig. 4 embodiment 400 than there is through the two data selectors 310, 320 of the Fig. 3 embodiment 300.
  • Fig. 5 illustrates a still further embodiment 500 of a cell status circuit, CSC ⁇ , of the cell determination logic circuit 130.
  • a four-to-one data selector 510 has its first and second data inputs, "DO" and “Dl” connected to receive a constant signal having a level at V...
  • the four-to-one data selector 510 has its third data input, "D2" connected to receive a constant signal having a level at ground.
  • the four-to-one data selector 510 has its fourth data input, "D3" connected to receive the cell availability signal, CAS, .
  • the Fig. 5 embodiment 500 has an even further advantage over the Fig. 3 embodiment 300 than the Fig. 4 embodiment 400.

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  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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Abstract

An availability status indicator circuit simultaneously indicates which of N circular buffer cells (CBCx, for x = 0 through N-1) are available for access. N cell status circuits are provided that correspond to the separate circular buffer cells. Each cell status circuit includes an output terminal at which a cell availability status signal is provided to indicate the availability status of the corresponding circular buffer cell. A first input terminal of the cell status circuit is connected to receive the cell availability status signal from the previous cell status circuit. The cell availability status signal is generated in response to the cell availability status signal of the previous cell, to an available address indicator signal that includes an indicator of whether the corresponding circular buffer cell is a first circular buffer cell available to be accessed, and to an unavailable address indicator signal that includes an indicator of whether the corresponding circular buffer cell is a last circular buffer cell available to be accessed. The cell availability status signal has a first state if the corresponding circular buffer cell is available for access and has a second state if the corresponding circular buffer cell is not available for access.

Description

NON-ARITHMETICAL CIRCULAR BUFFER CELL AVAILABILITY STATUS INDICATOR CIRCUIT
Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to status indicator circuits for use with circular buffers and, in particular, to a status indicator circuit that indicates which cells of a circular buffer are available for access, without the need for complicated arithmetic logic.
Background of the Invention
Circular buffers are well known in the art. An example of a ten-cell circular buffer 10 (i.e., an N- cell circular buffer, where N is equal to 10) is shown in Fig. 1. Circular buffer 10 has ten circular buffer cells (CBCχ, for x = 0 through 9). Circular buffers such as circular buffer 10 are typically accessed sequentially. For example, CB -, is accessed after CBCg. After the last circular buffer cell is accessed, a "wrap-around" occurs such that the next circular buffer cell to be accessed is the first circular buffer cell. That is, referring to circular buffer 10, CBCQ is accessed after CBC0 is accessed. Thus, for a circular buffer cell of arbitrary length N, each circular buffer cell, CBCχ is accessed after CBC//χ_j + - -j jyjjyi -| where "REM" is a function that yields, in a division operation, the number that is the undivided part of the dividend (i.e., the remainder).
Circular buffers are of particular utility in data communications devices. For example, in a data receiver, received data would typically be inserted sequentially into a circular buffer. Once data is inserted into a particular cell of the circular buffer, this cell becomes unavailable for access until the received data is processed. At that point, this cell again becomes available for access.
The circular buffer 10, of Fig. 1, has a ten-cell availability status circuit 20, associated with it. Each status cell of ten-cell availability status circuit 20 (CASχ, for x = 0 through 9) corresponds to one of the circular buffer cells (CBCχ, for x = 0 through 9, respectively). The state of a particular status cell, CASχ, of the availability status circuit 20 indicates whether the corresponding circular buffer cell, CBCχ, is available for access.
As shown in Fig. 1, the states of the status cells, CASχ, of the cell availability status circuit 20 are determined by CAS determination logic 30. The CAS determination logic 30 responds to an available address indicator signal, AV ADD, that indicates which of the circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell available for access; and to an unavailable address indicator signal, UNAV_ADD, that indicates which of the circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access. For example, if AV ADD indicates that CBC2 is the first circular buffer cell available for access, and if UNAV_ADD indicates that CBC^ is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access, then CAS determination logic 30 sets cell availability status circuits CAS2, CAS3, and CAS4 to indicate that corresponding circular buffer cells CBC2, CBC3, and CBC4 are available for access. Likewise, CAS determination logic 30 sets cell availability status circuits CAS0, CASJ, CAS5, CASg, CAS7, CASg, and CAS9 to indicate that corresponding circular buffer cells CBCQ, CBCj, CBC5, CBCg, CBC?, CBCg, and CBCQ are not available for access. O 96/37821 PC17US96/ 07589
Conventional CAS determination logic circuits employ arithmetic circuitry to determine how to set the availability status circuits. However, such arithmetic circuitry is complicated. In particular, since circular buffers "wrap-around", the arithmetic circuitry of conventional CAS determination logic circuits must perform complicated modular arithmetic. Therefore, what is desired is an availability status indicator circuit with CAS determination logic circuitry that can determine, without complex arithmetic circuitry or high-overhead masking logic, how to set availability status circuits.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention is an availability status indicator circuit for simultaneously indicating which of N circular buffer cells (CBCχ, for x = 0 through N-l) are available for access.
N cell status circuits are provided that correspond to the separate circular buffer cells. Each cell status circuit includes an output terminal at which a cell availability status signal is provided to indicate the availability status of the corresponding circular buffer cell. A first input terminal of the cell status circuit is connected to receive the cell availability status signal from the previous cell status circuit. The ceil availability status signal is generated in response to the cell availability status signal of the previous cell, to an available address indicator signal that indicates whether the corresponding circular buffer ceil is a first circular buffer cell available to be accessed, and to an unavailable address indicator signal that indicates whether the corresponding circular buffer cell is a last circular buffer cell available to be accessed. The cell availability status signal has a first state if the corresponding circular buffer cell is available for access and has a second state if the corresponding circular buffer cell is not available for access.
A better understanding of the features and advantages of the invention will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth an illustrative embodiment in which the principles of the invention are utilized.
Brief Description of the Figures
Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a circular buffer circuit and an associated cell availability status circuit, with cell availability status determination logic for setting the cell availability status circuit.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a cell determination logic circuit in accordance with the present invention.
Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a first embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, of a cell status circuit of the cell determination logic circuit of Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a second embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, of a cell status circuit of the cell determination logic circuit of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a third embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, of a cell status circuit of the ceil determination logic circuit of Fig. 2. Detailed Description
Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a cell determination logic circuit 130 in accordance with the present invention. For simplicity of illustration, the cell determination logic circuit 130 shown in Fig. 2 indicates the availability of the cells of a four cell circular buffer (i.e., N equals 4). Referring to Fig. 2, a first decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 receives a two bit start address signal
(AV ADD [0..1] that indicates which of the N corresponding circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell available for access. For example, if circular buffer cell 1 is the first circular buffer cell available for access, then AV_ADD has the value of Olh. First decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 operates in a conventional manner. That is, first decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 asserts one of its output bits, AV_ADD_DEC [0..3], in response to the available address signal, AV_ADD. The separate output bits of the first decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 output, AV_ADD_DEC, are provided to separate corresponding cell status circuits, CSCχ (for x = 0 through 3, respectfully).
It is the cell status circuits, CSCχ which generate the cell availability status signals, CASχ. Each cell status circuit, CSCχ provides the corresponding cell availability status signal, CASχ, at its output. Similar to the first decoder (AV_DECODE) 132 a second decoder (UNAV_DECODE) 134 receives a two bit end address signal (U AV_ADD [0..1]) that indicates which of the N corresponding circular buffer cells is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access. For example, if circular buffer cell 3 is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access, then UNAV_ADD has the value of 03h. Second decoder (U AV DECODE) 134 operates in a conventional manner. That is, second decoder (UNAV_DECODE) 134 asserts one of its outputs, UNAV_ADD_DECχ, in response to the unavailable address signal, UNAV_ADD. The separate bits of the second decoder (UNAV_DECODE) 134 output, UNAV_ADD_DEC, are provided to the separate corresponding cell status circuits, CSCχ.
As is discussed below with reference to the several described embodiments of the invention (Figs. 3-5), it is an important feature of the present invention that each cell status circuit, CSCχ, is additionally connected to receive the cell availability status signal generated by the "previous" cell status circuit. "Previous" is meant in the "circular" sense. That is, each cell status circuit, CSCχ, is connected to receive CAS//χ . 1) + N) REM N- Furt*hermore> -^-h ∞H status circuit, CSCχ, is configured such that the cell availability status signal, CASχ, that it provides to its output, is identical to the cell availability status signal, CAS//χ _ j \ + jsj\ REM N. Prov'ded by the "previous" cell availability status circuit, CSC((χ . 1 } + N REM N, unless:
(1) AV_ADD_DECχ does not indicate that CBCχ is the first circular buffer cell available for access; and
(2) UNAV_ADD_DECχ does not indicate that the CBCχ is the first circular buffer cell unavailable for access. Otherwise, if AV_ADD_DECχ does indicate that CBCχ is the first circular buffer cell available for access in which case the cell availability status signal, CASχ, provided by the cell status circuit, CSCχ, has a first state, to indicate that CBCχ is available for access. Finally, if UNAV_ADD_DECχ does indicate that the CBCχ is the last circular buffer cell available for access, the cell availability status signal, CASχ, provided by the cell status circuit, CSCχ, has a second state to indicate that CBCχ is unavailable for access.
Figs. 3-5 illustrates different embodiments (300, 400, and 500, respectively) of a cell status circuit, CSCχ, of the cell determination logic circuit 130. Throughout the foregoing description, it is assumed that the cell availability status signal indicates availability with a "high" level and indicates non¬ availability with a "low" level. Also, it is assumed that the decoded available and unavailable address indicators, AV_ADD_DECχ and UNAV_ADD_DECχ, respectively, are active low. However, based on the teaching provided herein, it would be well within the ability of one skilled in the art to implement the invention utilizing reverse polarity from that described above. Referring now to Fig. 3, a first two-to-one data selector 310 has its first data input "DO" connected to receive a constant signal having a level at ground, and its second data input "Dl" connected to receive the cell availability signal, CAS vχ . n + N REM N' Senerated bv the "previous" cell availability status circuit, CSC χ _ n + N) REM N- One of the signals provided to first data input "DO" and second data input "Dl" of the first data selector 310 is selected to be provided to the output "Q" of data selector 310 under the control of AV_ADD_DECχ, provided to the select input "S" of data selector 310.
A second two-to-one data selector 320 has its first input "DO" connected to receive a constant signal having a level at Vcc, and its second input "Dl" connected to receive the signal output from the output "Q" of the first data selector 310. One of the signals provided to first data input "DO" and second data input "Dl" of the second data selector 320 is selected to be provided to the output "Q" of data selector 320 under the control of UNAV_ADD_DECχ, provided to the select input "S" of data selector 310. The signal provided to the output "Q" of data selector 320 is the cell availability signal, CASχ.
Fig. 4 illustrates a further embodiment 400 of a cell status circuit, CSCχ, of the cell determination logic circuit 130. Referring now to Fig. 4, a first two-input NAND device 410 is connected to receive UNAV_ADD_DECχ at its first input "DO" and is connected to receive the cell availability signal, CAS /χ _ i + N*) REM ] 8enerated by the "previous" cell availability status circuit,
CSC«χ _ i + N REM N- ^"e *"rst two"'nPut NAND device 410 subjects the signal provided to the first data input "DO" and the second data input "Dl" to a NAND logic function, and the result of the NAND logic function is provided to the output "Q" of the NAND device 410.
A second two-input NAND device 420 is connected to receive AV_ADD_DECχ at its first data input "DO" and is connected to receive the signal output from the "Q" output of the first two-input
NAND device 410. The second two-input NAND device 420 subjects the signal provided to the inputs "DO" and "Dl" to a NAND logic function, and the result of the NAND logic function is provided to the output "Q" of the second two-input NAND device 420 as the cell availability signal, CASχ.
The Fig. 4 embodiment 400 has an advantage over the Fig. 3 embodiment 300 that there is less "ripple" delay through the two NAND devices 410, 420 of the Fig. 4 embodiment 400 than there is through the two data selectors 310, 320 of the Fig. 3 embodiment 300.
Fig. 5 illustrates a still further embodiment 500 of a cell status circuit, CSCχ, of the cell determination logic circuit 130.. Referring now to Fig. 5, a four-to-one data selector 510 has its first and second data inputs, "DO" and "Dl" connected to receive a constant signal having a level at V... The four-to-one data selector 510 has its third data input, "D2" connected to receive a constant signal having a level at ground. Finally, the four-to-one data selector 510 has its fourth data input, "D3" connected to receive the cell availability signal, CAS, . n + N) REM N' generated °y the "previous" cell availability status circuit, CSC,,χ _ n + N REM N" One of the signals provided to first through fourth data inputs, "DO" through "D3", respectively, of the four-to-one data selector 510 is selected to be provided to the output "Q" of data selector 510 under the control of UNAV_ADD_DECχ, provided to the select input "SO" of data selector 510 and
AV_ADD_DECχ, provided to the select input "SI" of data selector 510.
The Fig. 5 embodiment 500 has an even further advantage over the Fig. 3 embodiment 300 than the Fig. 4 embodiment 400. In particular, there is even less "ripple" delay through the four-to-one data selector 510 of the Fig. 5 embodiment than there is through the two NAND devices 410, 420 of the Fig. 4 embodiment 400.
The invention embodiments described herein have been implemented in an integrated circuit which includes a number of additional functions and features which are described in the following co-pending, commonly assigned patent applications, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference: U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "DISPLAY CONTROLLER
CAPABLE OF ACCESSING AN EXTERNAL MEMORY FOR GRAY SCALE MODULATION
DATA" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-62700); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled
"SERIAL INTERFACE CAPABLE OF OPERATING IN TWO DIFFERENT SERIAL DATA TRANSFER MODES" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-62800); U.S. patent application Serial No.
08/ , entitled "HIGH PERFORMANCE MULTIFUNCTION DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS
(DMA) CONTROLLER" (atty. docket no. NSC1-62900); U.S. patent application Serial No.
08/ , entitled "OPEN DRAIN MULTI-SOURCE CLOCK GENERATOR HAVING
MINIMUM PULSE WIDTH" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63000); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "INTEGRATED CIRCUIT WITH MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS SHARING
MULTIPLE INTERNAL SIGNAL BUSES ACCORDING TO DISTRIBUTED BUS ACCESS AND CONTROL ARBITRATION" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63100); U.S. patent application Serial No.
08/ , entitled "EXECUTION UNIT ARCHITECTURE TO SUPPORT x86 INSTRUCTION
SET AND x86 SEGMENTED ADDRESSING" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63300); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "BARREL SHIFTER" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63400); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "BIT SEARCHING THROUGH 8, 16, OR 32-BIT
OPERANDS USING A 32-BIT DATA PATH" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63500); U.S. patent application
Serial No. 08/ , entitled "DOUBLE PRECISION (64-BIT) SHIFT OPERATIONS USING A
32-BIT DATA PATH" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63600); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "METHOD FOR PERFORMING SIGNED DIVISION" (atty. docket no.
NSC 1-63700); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "METHOD FOR
PERFORMING ROTATE THROUGH CARRY USING A 32-BIT BARREL SHIFTER AND
COUNTER" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63800); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled
"AREA AND TIME EFFICIENT FIELD EXTRACTION CIRCUIT' (atty. docket no. NSC 1-63900); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "NON-ARITHMETICAL CIRCULAR
BUFFER CELL AVAILABILITY STATUS INDICATOR CIRCUIT" (atty. docket no. NSC1-64000);
U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "TAGGED PREFETCH AND
INSTRUCTION DECODER FOR VARIABLE LENGTH INSTRUCTION SET AND METHOD OF OPERATION" (atty. docket no. NSC1-64100); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "PARTITIONED DECODER CIRCUIT FOR LOW POWER OPERATION" (atty. docket no.
NSC1-64200); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "CIRCUIT FOR
DESIGNATING INSTRUCTION POINTERS FOR USE BY A PROCESSOR DECODER" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-64300); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "CIRCUIT FOR GENERATING A DEMAND-BASED GATED CLOCK" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-64500); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "INCREMENTOR/DECREMENTOR" (atty. docket no.
NSC 1-64700); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/. , entitled "A PIPELINED
MICROPROCESSOR THAT PIPELINES MEMORY REQUESTS TO AN EXTERNAL MEMORY" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-64800); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "CODE BREAKPOINT DECODER" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-64900); U.S. patent application Serial No.
08/ , entitled "TWO TIER PREFETCH BUFFER STRUCTURE AND METHOD WITH
BYPASS" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-65000); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled
"INSTRUCTION LIMIT CHECK FOR MICROPROCESSOR" (atty. docket no. NSC1-65100); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "A PIPELINED MICROPROCESSOR THAT MAKES MEMORY REQUESTS TO A CACHE MEMORY AND AN EXTERNAL MEMORY
CONTROLLER DURING THE SAME CLOCK CYCLE" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-65200); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENT COMPUTATION OF A 486™ MICROPROCESSOR COMPATIBLE POP INSTRUCTION" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-65700); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENTLY DETERMINING ADDRESSES FOR MISALIGNED DATA STORED IN MEMORY" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-65800); U.S. patent application Serial No.
08/ , entitled "METHOD OF IMPLEMENTING FAST 486™ MICROPROCESSOR
COMPATIBLE STRING OPERATION" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-65900); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "A PIPELINED MICROPROCESSOR THAT PREVENTS THE CACHE FROM BEING READ WHEN THE CONTENTS OF THE CACHE ARE INVALID" (atty. docket no.
NSC 1-66000); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "DRAM CONTROLLER
THAT REDUCES THE TIME REQUIRED TO PROCESS MEMORY REQUESTS" (atty. docket no.
NSC 1-66300); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "INTEGRATED PRIMARY
BUS AND SECONDARY BUS CONTROLLER WITH REDUCED PIN COUNT' (atty. docket no. NSC 1-66400); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "SUPPLY AND INTERFACE
CONFIGURABLE INPUT/OUTPUT BUFFER" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-66500); U.S. patent application
Serial No. 08/ , entitled "CLOCK GENERATION CIRCUIT FOR A DISPLAY
CONTROLLER HAVING A FINE TUNEABLE FRAME RATE" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-66600); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "CONFIGURABLE POWER MANAGEMENT SCHEME" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-66700); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled
"BIDIRECTIONAL PARALLEL SIGNAL INTERFACE" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-67000); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD) PROTECTION
CIRCUIT" (atty. docket no. NSC1-67100); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "IN-CIRCUIT EMULATOR STATUS INDICATOR CIRCUIT" (atty. docket no. NSC1-67400); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "DISPLAY CONTROLLER CAPABLE OF
ACCESSING GRAPHICS DATA FROM A SHARED SYSTEM MEMORY" (atty. docket no.
NSC 1-67500); U.S. patent application Serial No. 08/ , entitled "INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
WITH TEST SIGNAL BUSES AND TEST CONTROL CIRCUITS" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-67600); U.S. patent application Serial no. 08/ , entitled "DECODE BLOCK TEST METHOD AND
APPARATUS" (atty. docket no. NSC 1-68000).
It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that methods and apparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.

Claims

WHA T IS CLAIMED IS: 1. An availability status indicator circuit for simultaneously indicating which of N circular buffer cells (CBCχ, for x = 0 through N-l) are available for access, where the N circular buffer cells are sequentially accessible, with CBCχ being accessed after
Figure imgf000010_0001
R NV e c'rcu'1 comprising: N cell status circuits (CSCχ, for x = 0 through N-l) that correspond to the separate circular buffer cells (CBCχ) for x = 0 through N-l, respectively), each cell status circuit, CSCχ, including: a. an output terminal at which a cell availability status signal CASχ is provided to indicate the availability status of the corresponding circular buffer cell CBCχ; b. a first input terminal connected to receive the cell availability status signal, CAS y _ n + N . REM N ^om tne 0UtPut terminal of the previous cell status circuit, CSC((X - 1) + N) REM N; c. a cell availability status signal generator that generates the cell availability status signal, CASχ, in response to the cell availability status signal, CAS χ . n + N RE N' t0 an available address indicator signal that includes an indicator of whether CBCχ is a first circular buffer cell available to be accessed, and to an unavailable address indicator signal that includes an indicator of whether CBCχ is a last circular buffer cell available to be accessed, the cell availability status signal, CASV, having a first state if the corresponding circular buffer cell, CBCV, is available for access and having a second state if the corresponding circular buffer cell, CBCχ is not available for access.
2. The availability status indicator circuit of claim- 1, wherein the cell availability status signal generator of each cell status circuit, CSCχ, provides one of the cell availability status signal, CAS, . n + >n REM N' ^om tne 0UtPut terminal of the previous cell status circuit, CSC vχ . n + N REM N' ^ tne ce" availability status signal, CASχ, if the available address indicator signal does not indicate that circular buffer cell, CBCχ, is the first circular buffer cell available for access and if the unavailable address indicator signal does not indicate that the circular buffer cell, CBCχ, is the last circular buffer cell available for access, a signal having the first state as the cell availability status signal, CASχ, if the available address indicator signal indicates that circular buffer cell, CBCχ, is the first circular buffer cell available for access; and a signal having the second state as the cell availability status signal, CASχ) if the unavailable address indicator signal indicates that the circular buffer cell, CBCχ, is the last circular buffer cell available for access.
3. The availability status indicator circuit of claim 2, wherein the cell availability status signal generator of at least one of each cell status circuit, CSCχ, includes a first data selector having a select input, first and second data inputs, and a data output, and that provides to the data output, in response to the available address indicator, received at the select input, one of a constant signal having the first state, received at the first data input, and CAS^χ _ j) + N) R M N' received at the second data input; and a second data selector having a select input, first and second data inputs, and a data output, and that provides to the data output, in response to the unavailable address indicator, received at the select input, one of a constant signal having the second state, received at the first data input, and the signal provided to the data output of the first data selector, received at the second data input, wherein the signal provided at the data output of the second data selector is the cell availability status signal, CASχ.
4. The availability status indicator circuit of claim 2, wherein the cell availability status signal generating means of at least one of the cell status circuits, CSCχ,includes a first NAND device having first and second inputs and an output, the first input being connected to receive the unavailable address indicator and the second input being connected to receive CAS((χ . ,) + N) REM N; and a second NAND device having first and second inputs and an output, the first input being connected to receive a signal output from the first NAND device and the second input being connected to receive the available address indicator, wherein the signal provided at the output of the second NAND device is the cell availability status signal, CASχ.
5. The availability status indicator circuit of claim 2, wherein the cell availability status signal generating means of at least one of the cell status circuits, CSCχ, includes a data selector having at least four data inputs and two select inputs, wherein the first and second data inputs are connected to receive a constant signal having the first state, the third data input is connected to receive a constant input having the second state, and the fourth data input is connected to receive
Figure imgf000011_0001
wherein the first select input is connected to receive the available address indicator signal and wherein the second select input is connected to receive the unavailable address indicator signal.
PCT/US1996/007589 1995-05-26 1996-05-23 Non-arithmetical circular buffer cell availability status indicator circuit WO1996037821A1 (en)

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KR1019970700557A KR970705066A (en) 1995-05-26 1996-05-23 Non-arithmetic circular buffer cell availability status indicator circuit (Non-Arithmetic Circular Buffer Cell Availability Status Indicator Circuit)
EP96920448A EP0772810A1 (en) 1995-05-26 1996-05-23 Non-arithmetical circular buffer cell availability status indicator circuit

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US08/451,535 US5617543A (en) 1995-05-26 1995-05-26 Non-arithmetical circular buffer cell availability status indicator circuit

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