Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for associating the reception of reset pulses by a microprocessor with access to different subprograms

US5386576A · kind A · utility

2Cited by
13References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 19, 1993
Grant dateJan 31, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 19, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F1/24
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method of associating the reception of a reset pulse by a microprocessor with access to a specific subprogram depending on whether the reset pulse is associated with a system incorporating the microprocessor being switched on for the purposes of "waking up" the microprocessor, or whether it constitutes a request coming from some other unit in the system, the method being wherein it comprises the following steps: on switch-on, causing a logical data item accessible by the microprocessor to change from a first state to a second state only after a certain time interval has elapsed since the switch-on; on each occasion that a reset pulse is received, reading the logical data item before the time interval has elapsed; and depending on whether the logical data item is in its first state or in its second state, branching either to an initialization subprogram appropriate to switch-on, or else to a subprogram appropriate to processing the request.

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