1. A slave device for use in a microprocessor system, comprising:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus; and
a controller processor that executes a program for controlling the processing on the slave device in response to an access request from a master device.
2. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the program that the controller processor executes converts between a communications protocol to be used by a master device for access requests to the slave device and a communications protocol for the slave device’s hardware resources.
3. The slave device of claim 1, wherein the program that the controller processor executes:
generates native readable data for use by resources of the slave device in response to commands and data received from a master device for slave device operations.
4. A slave device for use in a microprocessor system, comprising:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus; and
a programmable processor that is programmed to configure the communications protocol to be used by the slave device.
5. The slave device of claim 4, wherein the programmable processor is programmed to carry out one or more of the data processing functions carried out by a master device in relation to accesses to the slave device.
6. The slave device of claim 4, wherein the slave device also acts as a master device.
7. The slave device of claim 4, wherein the programmable processor is programmed to execute a respective slave device part of a matched set of software that controls the communications protocol to be used between a master device and the slave device.
8. A microprocessor system comprising:
a slave device comprising:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus; and
a programmable processor; and
a master device comprising:
a programmable processor; and
an interface configured to communicate access requests for slave resources to the slave device via a communications bus;
wherein:
the slave device and the master device each execute respective parts of a matched set of software that controls the communications protocol to be used between the master device and the slave device.
9. A method of configuring a slave device for a microprocessor system, which slave device comprises:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus; and
a programmable processor that can be programmed to configure the communications protocol to be used by the slave device; the method comprising:
programming the programmable processor of the slave device to configure the format of communications that can be accepted by the slave device from a master device to access the slave device’s resources.
10. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to execute a respective slave device part of a matched set of software that controls the communications protocol to be used between a master device and the slave device.
11. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to be able to accept communications under two or more different communications protocols at the same time, wherein one of the communications protocols uses communication formats unreadable to the internal hardware resources of the slave device.
12. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to carry out one or more of the data processing functions normally carried out by a master device in relation to accesses to the slave device.
13. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to carry out some or all of the intermediate operations necessary to place commands and data from an application on the master device requiring slave resources in a format suitable for the hardware resources on the slave device.
14. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device so as to transfer slave device driver processing functions from a master device to the slave device.
15. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to allow a master device to send slave device commands and data to the slave device using higher level descriptions of the data and commands.
16. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to accept commands and data at an immediate stage between native readable slave hardware resource commands and data and raw or near raw slave device driver API calls.
17. The method of claim 9, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to be able to accept raw or near raw slave device driver API calls.
18. A method of configuring a microprocessor system comprising a slave device and a master device;
the slave device comprising:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus; and
a programmable processor; and
the master device comprising:
a programmable processor; and
an interface configured to communicate access requests for slave resources to the slave device via a communications bus;
the method comprising:
programming the programmable processors of the slave device and the master device respectively to each execute respective parts of a matched set of software that controls the communications protocol to be used between the master device and the slave device.
19. The method of claim 18, comprising programming the programmable processor of the slave device to offload some of the master device’s normal slave device driver functions andor other routines to the slave device.
20. A method of operating a slave device in a microprocessor system, the slave device comprising:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus;
and a controller processor;
the method comprising:
the controller processor of the slave device controlling processing on the slave device in response to an access request from a master device.
21. The method of claim 20, comprising: the controller processor converting between a communications protocol to be used by a master device for access requests to the slave device and a communications protocol for the slave device’s hardware resources.
22. The method of claim 21, comprising the controller processor:
determining whether data received from a master device is native readable data; and
when it is determined that the data received from a master device is native readable data, passing that data to the relevant slave device resource; and
when it is determined that the data received from a master device is not native readable data, generating native readable data from data and commands received from the master device.
23. A computer program product comprising computer software code stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium for performing, when the software code is run on a data processor, a method of operating a slave device in a microprocessor system, the slave device comprising:
one or more internal resources;
an interface configured to couple the slave device to a communications bus via which the internal resources of the slave device may be accessed by a master device by addressing those resources via the bus; and
a controller processor;
the method comprising:
the controller processor of the slave device controlling processing on the slave device in response to an access request from a master device.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising steps of:
forming a substrate; and
forming a first dielectric layer on the substrate in an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber, wherein the formed substrate is kept in vacuum before forming the first dielectric layer.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising steps of:
providing a modular track connected with a substrate-forming chamber for forming the substrate and connected with the ALD chamber;
keeping the modular track, the substrate-forming chamber and the ALD chamber in ultra-high vacuum; and
providing a surface-reconstruction chamber connected with the modular track.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising steps of:
performing a surface reconstruction process to the substrate in the surface-reconstruction chamber; and
providing a second dielectric layer on the substrate in the surface-reconstruction chamber prior to forming the first dielectric layer.
4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the step of forming the first dielectric layer includes a sub-step of
depositing the first dielectric layer on the substrate to a first thickness of 0.5\u02dc1.5 nm, and the method further comprises steps of:
performing a vacuum annealing treatment at a temperature in a range of 300 to 700\xb0 C. in the surface-reconstruction chamber after depositing the first dielectric layer to the first thickness; and
further depositing the first dielectric layer to a second thickness in the ALD chamber.
5. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising steps of:
controlling a first pressure ranged from 10\u22129 to 10\u221211 Torr in the modular track; and
controlling a second pressure ranged from 10\u22126 to 10\u221211 Torr in the substrate-forming chamber.
6. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising steps of:
providing a metal deposition chamber connected with the modular track via a buffer chamber; and
providing a metal layer on the first dielectric layer in the metal deposition chamber.