Abstract: A support chip includes substantially all the AT core logic, namely most of the X-bus peripherals (except for the keyboard controller), memory controllers, and swapper. The normal AT data paths are altered to reduce the pin count, with a resulting surprising improvement in capability. The chip interfaces to the microprocessor's local address and data buses and provides a 16-bit data bus corresponding to a 16-bit version of the X-bus data portion (XD-bus). External buffers coupled to the XD-bus provide a system data bus (SD-bus) corresponding to the S-bus data portion. The I/O channel is coupled to the SD-bus while system ROM is coupled to the XD-bus. To accommodate the fact that the swapper is internal, the support chip provides independent direction control of the high and low order buffers between the XD-bus and the SD-bus.

Abstract: The present invention provides a contrast enhancing method and circuit for mapping color signals into signals for driving a display which is capable of displaying shades of gray. With the present invention a preliminary translation is first made between a foreground-background color combination and the various shades of gray that can be displayed. The contrast or separation between the foreground level of gray and the background level of gray produced by this preliminary translation is then compared to parameters set by the operator.

Abstract: A support chip includes substantially all the AT core logic, namely most of the X-bus peripherals (except for the keyboard controller), memory controllers, and swapper. The normal AT data paths are altered to reduce the pin count, with a resulting surprising improvement in capability. The chip interfaces to the microprocessor's local address and data buses and provides a 16-bit data bus corresponding to a 16-bit version of the X-bus data portion (XD-bus). External buffers coupled to the XD-bus provide a system data bus (SD-bus) corresponding to the S-bus data portion. The I/O channel is coupled to the SD-bus while system ROM is coupled to the XD-bus. To accommodate the fact that the swapper is internal, the support chip provides independent direction control of the high and low order buffers between the XD-bus and the SD-bus.

Abstract: The present invention provides a memory organization scheme for a high-performance memory controller. The memory organization of the present invention combines page mode techniques and interleaving techniques to achieve high-performance.Sequential pages of memory are interleaved between memory banks so that memory accesses which are a page apart will be to two different memory banks. A page is preferably defined by a single row, with 2K columns per row defining the number of bits in a page. Accesses to bits in the same page as a previous access omit the row pre-charge cycle, thus speeding up the memory cycle. Accesses to a separate bank of memory chips from the previous access are likewise speeded up since there is no need to wait for the completion of the cycle in the previous bank before initiating the cycle in the separate bank.

Abstract: The present invention provides a memory addressing system that can accommodate multiple size DRAMS. DRAMS of various sizes can be mixed in a variety of ways. The present invention provides a hardware register associated with each pair of banks of DRAMS. This hardware register is programmable to indicate the type of DRAMS that have been inserted in the particular memory banks and to indicate the starting address of the particular set of memory banks. Using this technique, it is necessary to insert the largest memory chips in the first memory bank. Memory chips of either size can be inserted in either set of memory banks and the information in the programmable register is used to control circuitry which appropriately modifies the accessing signals which are sent to the memory system.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the invention, a novel control circuit is coupled to a pin at a circuit node. The circuit node has a particular default condition of one of two logic states. The control circuit stores the default value and subsequently attempts to drive an alternate logic state onto the pin. The circuit then reads the logic state at the pin to determine if there has been a change of logic state registered. If a change has been registered, then the existence of a third condition or fourth condition is indicated, depending upon the default logic state.

Abstract: The present invention provides a contrast enhancing method and circuit for mapping color signals into signals for driving a display which is capable of displaying shades of gray. With the present invention a preliminary translation is first made between a foreground-background color combination and the various shades of gray that can be displayed. The contrast or separation between the foreground level of gray and the background level of gray produced by this preliminary translation is then compared to parameters set by the operator.