A DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR SYNCHRONIZING DATA TRAFFIC

摘要

The invention relates to a data processing system and a method for synchronizing data traffic. The data processing system according to the invention comprises a conversion unit, which conversion unit is arranged to convert a first flow control scheme applied in a first sub-network into a second flow control scheme applied in a second sub- network. The conversion unit may cooperate with or be integrated with another component, for example a component which performs conversion of operating frequency between sub¬ networks (clock-domain crossing). For the correct functioning of flow control it is necessary that separate flow control schemes are used for respectively the first sub-network and the second sub-network. The conversion unit performs a conversion between these schemes. For example, if the flow control schemes are credit-based the conversion unit computes the correct amount of credits for the first flow control scheme, based on the amount of credits available in the second flow control scheme. If necessary, credit conversion is performed. The latter is necessary when the flit sizes are different in the first and second sub-network, for example. The conversion unit translates the credits from the second sub-network (which credits represent a certain amount of data elements) into credits for the first sub-network. The number of credits may be different in respectively the first and second sub-network, for the same amount of data elements.