Component Interfacing

COMPONENT INTERFACING:

Building the logic to interface a device to a bus is not too difficult but does take some attention to detail. We first consider interfacing memory components to the bus, since that is relatively simple, and then use those concepts to interface to other types of devices.

1. Memory Interfacing

If we can buy a memory of the exact size we need, then the memory structure is simple. If we need more memory than we can buy in a single chip, then we must construct the memory out of several chips. We may also want to build a memory that is wider than we can buy on a single chip; for example, we cannot generally buy a 32-bit-wide memory chip. We can easily construct a memory of a given width (32 bits, 64 bits, etc.) by placing RAMs in parallel.

We also need logic to turn the bus signals into the appropriate memory signals. For example, most busses won’t send address signals in row and column form. We also need to generate the appropriate refresh signals.

2. Device Interfacing

Some I/O devices are designed to interface directly to a particular bus, forming glueless interfaces. But glue logic is required when a device is connected to a bus for which it is not designed.

An I/O device typically requires a much smaller range of addresses than a memory, so addresses must be decoded much more finely. Some additional logic is required to cause the bus to read and write the device’s registers.