Patent · US Expired

Dedicated processor for task I/O and memory management

US5481707A · kind A · utility

49Cited by
21References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 11, 1995
Grant dateJan 2, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 11, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2209/509
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A computer system performs memory to memory transfer, task scheduling and I/O request handling via a group of dedicated processors (e.g. a memory interface unit, an I/O unit, a data transfer unit, and a task control unit). The memory interface unit facilitates data interaction between the memory and the remainder of the system. The I/O unit is coupled to the memory interface unit and performs high level I/O job functions including I/O job scheduling, I/O job path selection, gathering of job statistics and device management. The data transfer unit is coupled to the memory interface unit and moves data between memory locations. The task control unit, coupled to the memory interface unit, allocates and deallocates events, maintains the status of tasks running on the system and schedules the execution of tasks. A hierarchical error reporting scheme is used by all of the processors.

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