6.42
IDT70V26S/L
High-Speed 16K x 16 Dual-Port Static RAM Industrial and Commercial Temperature Ranges
15
standard Static RAM. Each of the flags has a unique address which
can be accessed by either side through address pins A0 – A2. When
accessing the semaphores, none of the other address pins has any
effect.
When writing to a semaphore, only data pin D
0 is used. If a LOW
level is written into an unused semaphore location, that flag will be set
to a zero on that side and a one on the other side (see Truth Table IV).
That semaphore can now only be modified by the side showing the
zero. When a one is written into the same location from the same side,
the flag will be set to a one for both sides (unless a semaphore request
from the other side is pending) and then can be written to by both sides.
The fact that the side which is able to write a zero into a semaphore
subsequently locks out writes from the other side is what makes
semaphore flags useful in interprocessor communications. (A thor-
ough discussion on the use of this feature follows shortly.) A zero
written into the same location from the other side will be stored in the
semaphore request latch for that side until the semaphore is freed by
the first side.
When a semaphore flag is read, its value is spread into all data bits
so that a flag that is a one reads as a one in all data bits and a flag
containing a zero reads as all zeros. The read value is latched into one
side’s output register when that side's semaphore select (SEM) and
output enable (OE) signals go active. This serves to disallow the
semaphore from changing state in the middle of a read cycle due to a
write cycle from the other side. Because of this latch, a repeated read
of a semaphore in a test loop must cause either signal (SEM or OE) to
go inactive or the output will never change.
A sequence WRITE/READ must be used by the semaphore in
order to guarantee that no system level contention will occur. A
processor requests access to shared resources by attempting to write
a zero into a semaphore location. If the semaphore is already in use,
the semaphore request latch will contain a zero, yet the semaphore
flag will appear as one, a fact which the processor will verify by the
subsequent read (see Truth Table IV). As an example, assume a
processor writes a zero to the left port at a free semaphore location. On
a subsequent read, the processor will verify that it has written success-
fully to that location and will assume control over the resource in
question. Meanwhile, if a processor on the right side attempts to write
a zero to the same semaphore flag it will fail, as will be verified by the
fact that a one will be read from that semaphore on the right side during
subsequent read. Had a sequence of READ/WRITE been used
instead, system contention problems could have occurred during the
gap between the read and write cycles.
It is important to note that a failed semaphore request must be
followed by either repeated reads or by writing a one into the same
location. The reason for this is easily understood by looking at the
simple logic diagram of the semaphore flag in Figure 4. Two sema-
phore request latches feed into a semaphore flag. Whichever latch is
first to present a zero to the semaphore flag will force its side of the
semaphore flag low and the other side HIGH. This condition will
continue until a one is written to the same semaphore request latch.
Should the other side’s semaphore request latch have been written to
a zero in the meantime, the semaphore flag will flip over to the other
side as soon as a one is written into the first side’s request latch. The
second side’s flag will now stay low until its semaphore request latch
is written to a one. From this it is easy to understand that, if a
semaphore is requested and the processor which requested it no
longer needs the resource, the entire system can hang up until a one
is written into that semaphore request latch.
The critical case of semaphore timing is when both sides request
a single token by attempting to write a zero into it at the same time. The
semaphore logic is specially designed to resolve this problem. If
simultaneous requests are made, the logic guarantees that only one
side receives the token. If one side is earlier than the other in making
the request, the first side to make the request will receive the token. If
both requests arrive at the same time, the assignment will be arbitrarily
made to one port or the other.
One caution that should be noted when using semaphores is that
semaphores alone do not guarantee that access to a resource is
secure. As with any powerful programming technique, if semaphores
are misused or misinterpreted, a software error can easily happen.
Initialization of the semaphores is not automatic and must be
handled via the initialization program at power-up. Since any sema-
phore request flag which contains a zero must be reset to a one, all
semaphores on both sides should have a one written into them at
initialization from both sides to assure that they will be free when
needed.
Using Semaphores—Some Examples
Perhaps the simplest application of semaphores is their applica-
tion as resource markers for the IDT70V26’s Dual-Port RAM. Say the
16K x 16 RAM was to be divided into two 8K x 16 blocks which were
to be dedicated at any one time to servicing either the left or right port.
Semaphore 0 could be used to indicate the side which would control
the lower section of memory, and Semaphore 1 could be defined as the
indicator for the upper section of memory.
To take a resource, in this example the lower 8K of Dual-Port RAM,
the processor on the left port could write and then read a zero in to
Semaphore 0. If this task were successfully completed (a zero was
read back rather than a one), the left processor would assume control
of the lower 8K. Meanwhile the right processor was attempting to gain
control of the resource after the left processor, it would read back a one
in response to the zero it had attempted to write into Semaphore 0. At
this point, the software could choose to try and gain control of the
second 8K section by writing, then reading a zero into Semaphore 1.
If it succeeded in gaining control, it would lock out the left side.
Once the left side was finished with its task, it would write a one to
Semaphore 0 and may then try to gain access to Semaphore 1. If
Semaphore 1 was still occupied by the right side, the left side could
Figure 4. IDT70V26 Semaphore Logic
D
2945 drw 17
0
D
Q
WRITE
D
0
D
Q
WRITE
SEMAPHORE
REQUEST FLIP FLOP
SEMAPHORE
REQUEST FLIP FLOP
RPORT
SEMAPHORE
READ
SEMAPHORE
READ
