Bus Bridge Flush Control Circuit for Data Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Data inconsistency issues arise in computer systems with bus bridges due to data buffering, leading to performance degradation when synchronization events occur and data remains posted in the bridge.
Innovation Solution
A flush request control circuit is implemented within the bridge to detect and record the flushing of buffers, generating a flush acknowledge signal once all buffers are cleared, allowing the system to continue processing transactions without interruption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If data buffering is utilized in the bridge to enhance performance through packetizing and pre-fetching, then system performance is improved, but data consistency deteriorates when synchronization events occur and data remains posted in the bridge
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge performs preliminary flushing of buffers before synchronization events occur. The flush request control circuit proactively manages buffer contents by initiating flush operations to ensure data is transferred from the bridge to the memory bus before synchronization events, preventing data inconsistency while maintaining performance benefits of buffering
Solution Approach 2:
The flush request control circuit implements feedback mechanisms by monitoring buffer status and generating flush acknowledge signals. When buffers are flushed, the circuit receives feedback through idle signals from buffers and generates corresponding flush acknowledge signals to the master device, ensuring data consistency is restored after buffering operations
2Productivity
If data remains posted in the bridge during synchronization events, then buffering performance is maintained, but data inconsistency occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge dynamically adjusts its buffering behavior based on synchronization events. The flush request control circuit monitors system state and dynamically switches between normal buffering operation and flush mode when synchronization events occur, allowing the system to adapt buffer management strategies to maintain both performance and consistency
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and separates the data consistency management function from the general buffering function. By implementing a dedicated flush request control circuit that independently manages buffer flushing operations, the system can maintain buffering performance while separately addressing data consistency requirements through targeted flush operations
3Reliability
If external master devices retry transactions when data inconsistency is detected, then data consistency is restored, but system performance deteriorates due to transaction retries
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge performs preliminary flush operations before synchronization events to prevent data inconsistency from occurring in the first place. By proactively flushing buffers before synchronization events, the system eliminates the need for subsequent transaction retries, maintaining both consistency and performance
Solution Approach 2:
The flush request control circuit acts as an intermediary between the master device and the buffers. It receives flush requests from master devices, coordinates buffer flushing operations, and generates flush acknowledge signals, thereby mediating the data consistency management process and eliminating the need for master devices to retry transactions
Data Source
AI summary
A bridge capable of preventing data inconsistency without degrading system performance is provided, in which a buffering unit comprises a plurality of buffers, a first master device outputs a flush request to flush the buffering unit, and a flush request control circuit records the flushed buffer(s) in the buffering unit when receiving the flush request and outputs a flush acknowledge signal to indicate to the first master device that the buffering unit has been flushed when all the plurality of buffers have been flushed once after the flush request has been received.