Patent · US Expired

Apparatus for transferring blocks of information from one node to a second node in a computer network

US4777595A · kind A · utility

173Cited by
6References
37Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 24, 1986
Grant dateOct 11, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 24, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F15/167
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Method and apparatus for transfer of packet-type information from the memory (24B) of one node (14) in a computer network to the memory (24C) of another node (16) in the network. The invention is of particular utility in transfers over serial buses (e.g., 18). Packets are sent from a named memory buffer (25A) at a first node (14) to a named memory buffer (25C) at a second node (16), allowing random access by the first node to the memory of the second node without either node having to have knowledge of the memory structure of the other, the source and destination buffer names are contained right in the transmitted packet. The first node (14) can both write to and read from the second node (16). An opcode (40A) sent in each packet signifies whether a read or write operation is to be performed. For reading from the second node, the opcode actually causes the second node to write back to the first node; in this situation, the second node, upon detecting the appropriate opcode, places the remainder of the received packet on a command queue (202), to be executed with the commands locally generated at the second node, without need for host interruption.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.