Interface Protocols · All levels

Protocols Glossary

Shared vocabulary for bus, memory, serial, and verification discussions.

Terms to use precisely

  • Beat: one data transfer unit on a channel.

  • Burst: multiple related beats controlled by one request.

  • Outstanding: transactions issued before earlier transactions complete.

  • Credit: receiver-advertised capacity for future transfers.

  • Ordering: rules that constrain observation order across requests and responses.

  • Payload efficiency: useful data divided by total transferred protocol overhead.

  • Compliance: evidence that implemented behavior maps to required spec features.