Direct Memory Access (DMA) - 2 | Embedded Systems (Web) - Computer Science Engineering (CSE) PDF Download

Functional Description 
The 82C37A direct memory access controller is designed to improve the data transfer rate in systems which must transfer data from an I/O device to memory, or move a block of memory to an I/O device. It will also perform memory-to-memory block moves, or fill a block of memory with data from a single location. Operating modes are provided to handle single byte transfers as well as discontinuous data streams, which allows the 82C37A to control data movement with software transparency. The DMA controller is a state-driven address and control signal generator, which permits data to be transferred directly from an I/O device to memory or vice versa without ever being stored in a temporary register. This can greatly increase the data transfer rate for sequential operations, compared with processor move or repeated string instructions. Memory-to-memory operations require temporary internal storage of the data byte between generation of the source and destination addresses, so memory-to-memory transfers take place at less than half the rate of I/O operations, but still much faster than with central processor techniques. The block diagram of the 82C37A is shown in Fig.16.6. The timing and control block, priority block, and internal registers are the main components. The timing and control block derives internal timing from clock input, and generates external control signals. The Priority Encoder block resolves priority contention between DMA channels requesting service simultaneously.

DMA Operation 
In a system, the 82C37A address and control outputs and data bus pins are basically connected in parallel with the system busses. An external latch is required for the upper address byte. While inactive, the controller’s outputs are in a high impedance state. When activated by a DMA request and bus control is relinquished by the host, the 82C37A drives the busses and generates the control signals to perform the data transfer. The operation performed by activating one of the four DMA request inputs has previously been programmed into the controller via the Command, Mode, Address, and Word Count registers. For example, if a block of data is to be transferred from RAM to an I/O device, the starting address of the data is loaded into the 82C37A Current and Base Address registers for a particular channel, and the length of the block is loaded into the channel’s Word Count register. The corresponding Mode register is programmed for a memoryto-I/O operation (read transfer), and various options are selected by the Command register and the other Mode register bits. The channel’s mask bit is cleared to enable recognition of a DMA request (DREQ). The DREQ can either be a hardware signal or a software command. Once initiated, the block DMA transfer will proceed as the controller outputs the data address, simultaneous MEMR and IOW pulses, and selects an I/O device via the DMA acknowledge (DACK) outputs. The data byte flows directly from the RAM to the I/O device. After each byte is transferred, the address is automatically incremented (or decremented) and the word count is decremented. The operation is then repeated for the next byte. The controller stops transferring data when the Word Count register underflows, or an external EOP is applied.

To further understand 82C37A operation, the states generated by each clock cycle must be considered. The DMA controller operates in two major cycles, active and idle. After being programmed, the controller is normally idle until a DMA request occurs on an unmasked channel, or a software request is given. The 82C37A will then request control of the system busses and enter the active cycle. The active cycle is composed of several internal states, depending on what options have been selected and what type of operation has been requested. The 82C37A can assume seven separate states, each composed of one full clock period. State I (SI) is the idle state. It is entered when the 82C37A has no valid DMA requests pending, at the end of a transfer sequence, or when a Reset or Master Clear has occurred. While in SI, the DMA controller is inactive but may be in the Program Condition (being programmed by the processor). State 0 (S0) is the first state of a DMA service. The 82C37A has requested a hold but the processor has not yet returned an acknowledge. The 82C37A may still be programmed until it has received HLDA from the CPU. An acknowledge from the CPU will signal the DMA transfer may begin. S1, S2, S3, and S4 are the working state of the DMA service. If more time is needed to complete a transfer than is available with normal timing, wait states (SW) can be inserted between S3 and S4 in normal transfers by the use of the Ready line on the 82C37A. For compressed transfers, wait states can be inserted between S2 and S4. Note that the data is transferred directly from the I/O device to memory (or vice versa) with IOR and MEMW (or MEMR and IOW) being active at the same time. The data is not read into or driven out of the 82C37A in I/O-to-memory or memory-to-I/O DMA transfers. Memory-to-memory transfers require a read-from and a write-to memory to complete each transfer. The states, which resemble the normal working states, use two-digit numbers for identification. Eight states are required for a single transfer. The first four states (S11, S12, S13, S14) are used for the read-from-memory half and the last four state (S21, S22, S23, S24) for the write-to-memory half of the transfer.

16(IV) Conclusion 
This lesson has given an overview of DMA controller. The controllers are normally used in highperformance embedded systems where large bulks of data need to transferred from the input to the memory. One such system is a on-board Digital Signal Processor in a mobile telephone. Besides fast digital coding and decoding at times this processor is required to process the voice signals to improve the quality. This has to take place in real time. While the voice message is streaming in through the AD-converter it need to be transferred and windowed for filtering. DMA offers a great help here. For simpler systems DMA is not normally used.

The signals and functional architecture of a very familiar DMA controller(8237) used in personal computers has been discussed. For more detailed discussions the readers are requested to visit www.intel.com or any other manufactures and read the datasheet.