INTERNAL INTERRUPT CONTROLLER FOR A PERIPHERAL CONTROLLER

摘要

An interrupt driven peripheral controller (103) for use in an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) compatible computer provides a system to minimize power consumption as compared to conventional peripheral controllers. The peripheral controller (103) utilizes an internal interrupt controller (110) which responds to inputs from an ISA compatible microprocessor host (102), a keyboard (112), a mouse, and other devices connected to the I/O ports of the ISA compatible computer. The interrupt controller (110) provides an interrupt register for the peripheral controller (103) and generates an interrupt any time one or more of the devices controlled by the peripheral controller (103) is activated. The peripheral controller (103) enters a low power consumption mode if no interrupts are detected for a predetermined period of time. When the interrupt controller (110) generates an interrupt, the peripheral controller (103) is activated from its low power mode and services the device or devices which have caused the interrupt.