Abstract: A computer system is disclosed which has a master, such as a processor, a memory, and I/O device, a first transfer path, which includes a bus, and a second transfer path, which includes a transfer interconnection. Transfers between the memory and the I/O device are effected via the first path while transfers between the processor and the I/O device are transferred via the second path. The disparate treatment between these two types of transfers reduces the likelihood that the transfer via the second path is delayed and thereby reduces the likelihood that the master is totally blocked from operation.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for efficiently transferring a sequence of data words from an I/O device to sequential addresses in a main memory via an I/O bridge. The sequence of data words to be transferred includes one or more subsequences of data words. Each subsequence of data words include only data words destined to addresses of the main memory in which data words of only one data line are stored. The I/O bridge has control logic for receiving a first subsequence of data words corresponding to a currently owned data line and for claiming ownership in one or more of the very next data lines corresponding to the next subsequences of data words to be transferred from the I/O device. The I/O bridge also has a buffer memory for storing a subsequence of the sequence of data words received from the I/O device.

Abstract: A memory reflection scheme is disclosed including a snarfing agent provided with efficient memory reflection circuitry for snarfing data. The memory reflection circuitry is for snarfing particular data written back from a write back agent to a memory subsystem agent. In response to unsuccessfully snarfing the particular data written back from the write back agent to the memory subsystem agent, the memory reflection circuitry issues a command to read the particular data from the memory subsystem agent. However, the memory reflection circuitry only issues such a command if the write back agent successfully writes back the particular data to the memory subsystem agent.