Patents by Inventor David James Lau

David James Lau has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9329847
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for implementing a programmable chip using a high-level language. Code sequences such as high-level language software critical loops are converted into read/transform/write (RXW) processes with buffer based flow control between the processes. Having separate read and write processes allows an arbitrary number of sequential reads/writes to occur in any order, subject to buffer size, allowing bursting/sequential transactions that are more efficient than random accesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: ALTERA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jeffrey Orion Pritchard, Jarrod Colin James Blackburn, David James Lau, Philippe Molson, James L. Ball, Jesse Kempa
  • Patent number: 8578356
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for implementing a programmable chip using a high-level language. Code sequences such as high-level language software critical loops are converted into read/transform/write (RXW) processes with buffer based flow control between the processes. Having separate read and write processes allows an arbitrary number of sequential reads/writes to occur in any order, subject to buffer size, allowing bursting/sequential transactions that are more efficient than random accesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey Orion Pritchard, Jarrod Colin James Blackburn, David James Lau, Philippe Molson, James L. Ball, Jesse Kempa
  • Patent number: 8291396
    Abstract: Various high-level languages are used to specify hardware designs on programmable chips. The high-level language programs include pointer operations that may have same iteration and future iteration dependencies. Single loop iteration pointer dependencies are considered when memory accesses are assigned to clock cycles. Multiple loop iteration pointer dependencies are considered when determining how often new data can be entered into the generated hardware pipeline without causing memory corruption. A buffer can be used to forward data from a memory write to a future read.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: David James Lau, Jeffrey Orion Pritchard, Philippe Molson
  • Patent number: 8140883
    Abstract: Pipelined loop operations are efficiently scheduled. A preliminary as soon as possible (ASAP) schedule for a data operation in a pipelined loop is determined. A producer operation clock cycle associated with a producer operation in the pipelined loop is determined. The producer operation provides a data value for use by the data operation in a subsequent loop. A consumer operation clock cycle associated with a consumer operation in the pipelined loop is determined. The consumer operation obtains the data value from the data operation in a previous loop. The data operation is scheduled at the half-way point between the producer operation clock cycle and the consumer operation clock cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventor: David James Lau
  • Patent number: 7873953
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for implementing a programmable chip using a high-level language. Code sequences such as high-level language software critical loops are converted into read/transform/write (RXW) processes with buffer based flow control between the processes. Having separate read and write processes allows an arbitrary number of sequential reads/writes to occur in any order, subject to buffer size, allowing bursting/sequential transactions that are more efficient than random accesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey Orion Pritchard, Jarrod Colin James Blackburn, David James Lau, Philippe Molson, James L. Ball, Jesse Kempa
  • Patent number: 7346863
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for implementing a programmable device including a processor core, a hardware accelerator, and secondary components such as memory. A designer efficiently selects one or more code sequences for acceleration. A hardware accelerator is generated with multiple master ports to allow efficient access to memory. Profiling information can be provided to allow efficient selection of code sequences.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2008
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey Orion Pritchard, David James Lau, Timothy P. Allen