System of distributed microprocessor interfaces toward macro-cell based designs implemented as ASIC or FPGA bread boarding and relative common bus protocol

摘要

A distributed interface between a microprocessor or a standard bus and user macro-cells belonging to an ASIC, or FPGA, or similar silicon devices includes a main module connected to the microprocessor bus on one side and to a COMMON-BUS inside the interface on which a cluster of peripheral modules is appended on the other side. Peripheral modules are also connected to the user macro-cells through as multiple point-to-point buses to transfer signals two directions. A set of hardware and firmware resources such as registers, counters, synchronizers, dual port memories (e.g. RAM, FIFO) either synchronous or asynchronous with respect to macro-cells clock is encompassed in each peripheral module. Subsets of the standard resources are diversely configured in each peripheral module in accordance with specific needs of the user macro-cells.