Direct Memory Access (DMA)

8237 DMA Controller

DMA
• DMA is an I/O technique used for High-speed data transfer
– e.g. between system memory and a floppy disk
• Data transfer through microprocessor using status check I/O
or interrupt I/O is relatively slow because each instruction
needs to be fetched and executed.
• In DMA, MPU releases the control of the buses to DMA
controller .
• DMA controller manages data transfer between memory and
a peripheral and thus bypassing the MPU.
DMA
• DMA makes use of two signals on 8085 HOLD and HLDA
• HOLD:
– Active high Input signal to 8085 from DMA requesting the use of
address and data busses.
– On receiving HOLD request-> MPU completes present M/c cycle -> All
buses are tristated (high Impedance state) -> relinquish bus -> issue
Hold Acknowledge (HLDA) signal.
– MPU regains control of the buses after HOLD goes low.
• HLDA (Hold Acknowledge):
– Active high output signal indicating that MPU is relinquishing control
of the buses.
DMA
• DMA first communicates with the MPU as a peripheral and
subsequently gains control of the buses and plays the role of
processor for data transfer.
• To complete data transfer DMA should have
– Data bus
– Address bus
– Read/Write control Signals
– Control Signals (to switch role as peripheral and master unit)
8237 DMA Controller
• 8237 is programmable 40 Pin IC
• 4 independent channels each capable of transferring 64K byte
• Discussing on DMA is divided into five sections
1. DMA Channels and Interfacing
2. DMA signals
3. System Interface
4. Programming
5. DMA Execution
 1. DMA Channels and Interfacing
• 8237 has four channels CH0
to CH3 •
• Each channel has 2-16 bit
registers
– Starting address (16 bit)
– Count (216 = 64 K) No of bytes
– 8 such registers for 4 channels
– A0 – A3 = 0000b CH0 MAR
– A0 – A3 = 0001b CH0 Count
• Last 8 registers are used to
write commands or read
status
• Addr of reg range from 00H
to 0FH using CS signal.
 2. DMA Signals
• Signals are divided into two
groups Left (MPU) and right •
(peripheral)
• DREQ0-DREQ3 – DMA
Request: 4x, Input to DMA from
peripheral to obtain DMA
services.
• DACK0-DACK3 – DMA Ackn:
Output to inform peripheral of
DMA is granted
• AEN and ADSTB – Addr
Enable & Addr Strobe: active
high, used to latch high order
addr byte.
 2. DMA Signals
• Signals are divided into two
groups Left (MPU) and right •
(peripheral)
• MEMR and MEMW –
Memory read and memory
write: Read and write from
memory
• A0–A3 & A4–A7: A0 – A3 are
bidirectional – Access registers
and generate low-order address
• HRQ and HLDA: Hold Request
and Hold Acknowledge. HRQ
output to MPU (HOLD) and MPU
issues HLDA.
 3. System Interface
• DMA has 8 address lines.
• To access 64K bytes, 16
address lines are required.
• DMA place low-order byte
on addr bus high-order byte
on the data bus and asserts
AEN (Address Enable) and
ADSTB signals.
• Latch high order byte from
data bus & make 16bit addr
• After the transfer of first
byte latch is updated when
the lower byte generates a
carry.
 4. Programming 8237
• To implement the DMA
transfer 8237 should be •
configured by writing into
Control Registers
1. Write control word (CW) in
Mode register 0B that select
channel and transfer type
2. CW in command register 08 –
channel priority, enable 8237
3. Write Starting addr of data
block in channel MAR.
4. Write the count of data in
channel Count reg.
 4. Programming 8237
• Example:
•
1. Disable the DMA controller
and write initialization
instructions
2. Initialize CH3 to transfer 1K
of byte from the system
memory to the floppy disk
assigned to CH3
4. Programm
ing 8237 •
 5. DMA Execution
• Data transfer through DMA – Slave Mode and Master Mode
• Slave Mode: DMA controller is treated as peripheral
1. MPU selects the DMA controller through CS
2. MPU writes the control word in Channel Register and
Command Register by using control signals IOW and IOR
3. Output signals of 8237 such as A4 – A7, MEMW & MEMR are
in tri-state (High Impedance).
 5. DMA Execution
• Data transfer through DMA – Slave Mode and Master Mode
• Master Mode: After initialization DMA controller keeps checking for
DMA request
1. Peripheral sends high DRQ
2. On receiving DRQ, HRQ is issued to 8085
3. 8085 relinquish buses in next m/c cycle and issue HLDA
4. Receiving HLDA, DMA asserts AEN signal – disables latch 2
disconnects A0-A7 of the MPU and enables Latch 1. DMA asserts
ADSTB and places contents of data bus to A15-A8. DMA also
outputs low order address A7-A0.
5. Entier addr is available DMA sends DACK to peripheral
6. DMA completes data transfer by asserting necessary control
signals (IOR, IOW, MEMR, MEMW) until DACK remain high.
7. At the end DMA asserts EOP (End of Process) to inform peripheral
that data transfer is complete.