One system counter or eight?

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

The answer to this quesiton has no bearing on anything I'm doing, not could it ever; I'm asking merely to satisfy my morbid curiosity. I was wondering about the system counter, which is available via each cog's CNT register without requiring a hub access. If it were a single counter, all thirty-two data lines would have to be routed to each cog, which could be expensive from a layout standpoint. OTOH, if each cog had its own system counter, and all were reset simultaneously on system reset, thirty-two lines get reduced to one (reset) line, and programmers would be none the wiser.

So what's really behind the curtain? One system counter or eight?

Thanks,
-Phil

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'Just a few PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!

Post Edited (Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)) : 11/18/2008 9:46:15 PM GMT

Paul Baker

I believe there is one system counter and it is routed to the cogs, but Beau or Chip could give you a definitive answer.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Beau Schwabe

Phil,

By looking at the layout, all thirty-two data lines are routed to each cog.



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Beau Schwabe

IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Thanks, guys. My curiosity is satisfied.

-Phil

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'Just a few PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!

Bean

This is what I love about Parallax !
Try asking Intel a question like that and see when or if you EVER get a straight answer.
But Parallax responded with an answer in 8 hours.
Truely unbelievable!!!

Bean

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Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Agreed! How many other semiconductor companies' layout engineers would answer at all, let alone with the actual layout artwork?!!

-Phil

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'Just a few PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!