Pipeline Arbiter Priority Upgrade Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
In deep pipelined devices, high-priority requests often get stuck behind lower-priority requests, leading to prolonged pending periods due to the arbitration schemes' responsiveness to component priorities, which results in inefficient service access to shared resources.
Innovation Solution
A device and method that include an arbiter and pipeline stages capable of updating transaction request priorities based on priority upgradeability and time-based priority upgrade mechanisms, ensuring higher-priority requests are serviced more efficiently by upgrading their priority levels if they are pending for extended periods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If arbitration schemes respond to component priority, then important components receive preferential service, but high-priority requests get stuck behind lower-priority requests in pipeline queues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic priority adjustment by allowing priority levels to change based on waiting time. The arbiter dynamically upgrades the priority of requests that have been waiting in the pipeline for extended periods, transforming the static priority assignment into a dynamic system that adapts to actual service needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the priority parameter of requests based on their waiting time in the pipeline. By monitoring how long a request has been queued and adjusting its priority level accordingly, the system transforms the fixed priority parameter into a variable that responds to service delays.
2Adaptability or versatility
If requests propagate through many pipeline stages, then deep pipelined devices can interface with many components, but lower-priority requests can be located before high-priority requests in the request queue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the arbiter monitors the waiting time of requests in the pipeline and uses this information to adjust priority levels. This feedback loop allows the system to detect when high-priority requests are blocked by lower-priority ones and correct the situation through priority upgrading.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary priority upgrading for requests that are anticipated to be delayed. By proactively increasing the priority of requests before they complete their pipeline traversal, the system prevents potential service delays rather than reacting to them after occurrence.
Data Source
AI summary
A device having priority update capabilities and a method for updating priorities, the method includes: receiving a request to update to a requested priority, priorities of transaction requests stored within a first sequence of pipeline stages that precede an arbiter; updating a priority level of a transaction request stored in the first sequence to the requested priority if the transaction request is priority upgradeable and if the requested priority is higher that a current priority of the transaction request; and arbitrating between transaction requests in response to priority attributes associated with the transaction requests.