METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERFACING A SYSTEM CONTROL UNIT FOR A MULTI-PROCESSOR SYSTEM WITH INPUT/OUTPUT UNITS

摘要

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERFACING A SYSTEM CONTROL UNIT FOR A MULTI-PROCESSOR In the field of high speed digital computers it is common for the computer to be interfaced to a plurality of input/output (I/O) units. These I/O units allow the computer to interact with the external world and are typically purchased as off-the-shelf units. As the capabilities and speed of computers increase, so too must the rate of data transfer between the computer and its I/O units. This increased rate of transfer is effected without altering the physical connection to the I/O units by an interface having a transmitter and a receiver wherein the transmitter includes a counter which keeps track of the condition of a buffer in the receiver. The counter maintains a record of the number of packets of data sent to the receiver and the amount of remaining free buffer space. In this manner, the transmitter is free to continually send data without waiting for permission to do so from the receiver.