Patent · US Expired

Logic circuit for task processing

US5280616A · kind A · utility

13Cited by
4References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 26, 1992
Grant dateJan 18, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 26, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F11/14
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In a logic circuit having clocked state latches and combinatorial logic for functional processing of a task in response to functional clocking of the state latches, the state latches are additionally interconnected to form a scannable chain of latches, and task switching logic is provided for suspending task processing by interrupting the functional clocking of the state latches and, during such suspension, scanning the state latches such that existing contents of the state latches defining a task state can be saved from the state latches or new contents defining a task state can be loaded into the state latches. The invention provides an efficient means for switching tasks being performed by a logic circuit in a multiprocessing enviornment.

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