Importance

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Abstract

A bus arbitration method for use in a multiprocessor system having a plurality of agents and a system bus, for determining a sampling point at which bus arbitration-related signals on the system bus are latched and arbitration-related signals on the system bus based on the latched arbitration-related signals, each of the bus arbitration-related signals representing a bus request signal asserted on the system bus by one of the agents for gaining an access to the system bus, wherein the system bus is arbitrated during an arbitration period in synchronization with a bus clock signal formed by a train of clock pulses generated at each clock period, the arbitration period being greater than N but not greater than (N+1) clock periods with N being a positive integer. At a first step, an initial sampling point is set at a predetermined point on a clock pulse. At a second step, the bus arbitration-related signals are latched at the initial sampling point to thereby select, as a subsequent sampling point, the predetermined point on an (N+1)st clock pulse generated after the clock pulse on which the initial sampling point is set, if one or more bus request signals are asserted, and the predetermined point on a next clock pulse, if no bus request signal is asserted.

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First Claim