Patent US5136594A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
US5136594A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method and apparatus for providing bus parity

Assignee: Wistron Corp
•
Filing: 1990-06-14
•
Granted: 1992-08-04
•
Expires: 2010-06-14
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A method for checking parity on, for example, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. In a 32-bit information bus, four parity pins may be provided. During a first clock cycle the pins are all driven high and during a second clock cycle the pins are all driven low. This characteristic pattern is detected by a slave device and provides an indication that parity data will be transmitted on the four parity pins. After an indication of parity support the pins are provided with parity bits for error detection.

Inventors

  • 👤 Ben L. Sharp

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 08:48
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/08; G06F11/10

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim 313 words
In a computer system including a bus having a plurality of signal transmission means; a master device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom; and a slave device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom, a method of transmitting parity information from the master device to the slave device during a bus master write operation, said method comprising the steps of: a) at the master device, placing a first characteristic set of signals on a set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; b) at the slave device, detecting the presence of said first characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; c) at the master device, placing a second characteristic set of signals on said set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; d) at the slave device, detecting the presence of said second characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, the sequence of said first set of characteristic signals followed by said second set of characteristic signals indicating to the slave device that said master device will be transmitting parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; e) at the master device, placing parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, said parity data indicating parity of bits placed on associated bus signal transmission means; and f) at the slave device, receiving the parity data from the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, and receiving the bits from the associated bus signal transmission means, and using said parity data to detect errors in bits received on the associated bus signal transmission means only when said master device has previously indicated that it would be transmitting parity on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 313 words
In a computer system including a bus having a plurality of signal transmission means; a master device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom; and a slave device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom, a method of transmitting parity information from the master device to the slave device during a bus master write operation, said method comprising the steps of: a) at the master device, placing a first characteristic set of signals on a set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; b) at the slave device, detecting the presence of said first characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; c) at the master device, placing a second characteristic set of signals on said set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; d) at the slave device, detecting the presence of said second characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, the sequence of said first set of characteristic signals followed by said second set of characteristic signals indicating to the slave device that said master device will be transmitting parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; e) at the master device, placing parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, said parity data indicating parity of bits placed on associated bus signal transmission means; and f) at the slave device, receiving the parity data from the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, and receiving the bits from the associated bus signal transmission means, and using said parity data to detect errors in bits received on the associated bus signal transmission means only when said master device has previously indicated that it would be transmitting parity on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 20 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said associated bus signal transmission means are data bus signal transmission means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 49 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said first characteristic set of signals is indicated by driving at least one of said parity-designated bus signal transmission means high and said second characteristic set of signals is indicated by driving all of said parity-designated bus signal transmission means low.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 35 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said parity-designated bus signal transmission lines comprise four bus signal transmission lines, said four bus signal transmission lines providing byte-wide parity checks for a 32-bit information bus.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method as recited in claim 4 wherein said four bus signal transmission lines are designated as manufacturer-specific pins.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 24 words
The method as recited in claim 4 wherein said parity data are used only if said slave device is capable of receiving 32-bit transfers.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 41 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said first characteristic set of signals is providing during a first half of a clock cycle and said second characteristic set of signals is provided during a second half of the clock cycle.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method as recited in claim 7 wherein said parity data are placed on said parity-designated bus signal transmission means during a second clock cycle.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 114 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of at the master device, placing a first characteristic set of signals on a set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means is performed during a first half of a clock cycle in which at the master device, a start signal is placed on a corresponding start signal transmission means, and wherein further, the step of at the slave device, detecting the presence of said first characteristic set of signals on the set or parity-designated bus signal transmission means is performed during a first half of a clock cycle in which at the slave device, the start signal is detected on the corresponding start signal transmission means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 311 words
In a computer system including a bus having a plurality of signal transmission means; a master device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom; and a slave device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom, a method of transmitting parity information from the slave device to the master device during a bus master read operation comprising the steps of: a) at the slave device, placing a first characteristic set of signal on a set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; b) at the master device, detecting the presence of said first characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; c) at the slave device, placing a second characteristic set of signal on said set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; d) at the master device, detecting the presence of said second characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, the sequence of said first set of characteristic signals followed by said second set of characteristic signals indicating to the master device that said slave device will be transmitting parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; e) at the slave device, placing parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, said parity data indicating parity of bits placed on associated bus signal transmission means; and f) at the master device, receiving the parity data from the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, and receiving the bits from the associated bus signal transmission means, and using said parity data to detect errors in bits received on the associated bus signal transmission means only when said slave device has previously indicated that it would be transmitting parity on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 311 words
In a computer system including a bus having a plurality of signal transmission means; a master device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom; and a slave device coupled to the bus for placing signals on the signal transmission means, and for reading signals therefrom, a method of transmitting parity information from the slave device to the master device during a bus master read operation comprising the steps of: a) at the slave device, placing a first characteristic set of signal on a set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; b) at the master device, detecting the presence of said first characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; c) at the slave device, placing a second characteristic set of signal on said set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; d) at the master device, detecting the presence of said second characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, the sequence of said first set of characteristic signals followed by said second set of characteristic signals indicating to the master device that said slave device will be transmitting parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means; e) at the slave device, placing parity data on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, said parity data indicating parity of bits placed on associated bus signal transmission means; and f) at the master device, receiving the parity data from the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means, and receiving the bits from the associated bus signal transmission means, and using said parity data to detect errors in bits received on the associated bus signal transmission means only when said slave device has previously indicated that it would be transmitting parity on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 114 words
The method of claim 10, wherein the step of at the slave device, placing a first characteristic set of signals on a set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means is performed during a first half of a clock cycle in which at the master device, a start signal is placed on a corresponding start signal transmission means, and wherein further, the step of at the master device, detecting the presence of said first characteristic set of signals on the set of parity-designated bus signal transmission means is performed during a first half of the clock cycle in which at the master device, the start signal is placed on the corresponding start signal transmission means.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4511975A Cited
US4383317A Cited
US4644546A Cited
US4737949A Cited
US4876686A Cited
US4823347A Cited
US5033050A Cited
US4894826A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-08-04 1996-02-03 1996-08-04 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-08-04 2000-02-03 2000-08-04 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-08-04 2004-02-03 2004-08-04 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag