CY7C027V/028V
CY7C037V/038V
Document #: 38-06078 Rev. *A
Page 5 of 18
Also, an active busy to a port prevents that port from reading
its own mailbox and, thus, resetting the interrupt to it.
If an application does not require message passing, do not
connect the interrupt pin to the processor’s interrupt request
input pin.
The operation of the interrupts and their interaction with Busy
are summarized in Table 2.
Busy
The CY7C027V/028V and CY7037V/038V provide on-chip ar-
bitration to resolve simultaneous memory location access
(contention). If both ports’ CEs are asserted and an address
match occurs within tPS of each other, the busy logic will determine
which port has access. If tPS is violated, one port will definitely gain
permission to the location, but it is not predictable which port will get
that permission. BUSY will be asserted tBLA after an address match
or tBLC after CE is taken LOW.
Master/Slave
A M/S pin is provided in order to expand the word width by configur-
ing the device as either a master or a slave. The BUSY output of the
master is connected to the BUSY input of the slave. This will allow the
device to interface to a master device with no external components.
Writing to slave devices must be delayed until after the BUSY input
has settled (tBLC or tBLA), otherwise, the slave chip may begin a write
cycle during a contention situation. When tied HIGH, the M/S pin al-
lows the device to be used as a master and, therefore, the BUSY line
is an output. BUSY can then be used to send the arbitration outcome
to a slave.
Semaphore Operation
The CY7C027V/028V and CY7037V/038V provide eight
semaphore latches, which are separate from the dual-port
memory locations. Semaphores are used to reserve resources
that are shared between the two ports.The state of the sema-
phore indicates that a resource is in use. For example, if the
left port wants to request a given resource, it sets a latch by
writing a zero to a semaphore location. The left port then ver-
ifies its success in setting the latch by reading it. After writing
to the semaphore, SEM or OE must be deasserted for tSOP before
attempting to read the semaphore. The semaphore value will be
available tSWRD + tDOE after the rising edge of the semaphore write.
If the left port was successful (reads a zero), it assumes control of the
shared resource, otherwise (reads a one) it assumes the right port
has control and continues to poll the semaphore. When the right side
has relinquished control of the semaphore (by writing a one), the left
side will succeed in gaining control of the semaphore. If the left side
no longer requires the semaphore, a one is written to cancel its re-
quest.
Semaphores are accessed by asserting SEM LOW. The SEM
pin functions as a chip select for the semaphore latches (CE must
remain HIGH during SEM LOW). A0–2 represents the semaphore
address. OE and R/W are used in the same manner as a normal
memory access. When writing or reading a semaphore, the other
address pins have no effect.
When writing to the semaphore, only I/O0 is used. If a zero is
written to the left port of an available semaphore, a one will appear at
the same semaphore address on the right port. That semaphore can
now only be modified by the side showing zero (the left port in this
case). If the left port now relinquishes control by writing a one to the
semaphore, the semaphore will be set to one for both sides. Howev-
er, if the right port had requested the semaphore (written a zero) while
the left port had control, the right port would immediately own the
semaphore as soon as the left port released it. Table 3 shows sam-
ple semaphore operations.
When reading a semaphore, all sixteen/eighteen data lines
output the semaphore value. The read value is latched in an
output register to prevent the semaphore from changing state
during a write from the other port. If both ports attempt to
access the semaphore within tSPS of each other, the semaphore
will definitely be obtained by one side or the other, but there is no
guarantee which side will control the semaphore.