Method and apparatus for operating a single CPU computer system as a multiprocessor system
US5490279A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 21, 1993 |
| Grant date | Feb 6, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 21, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F15/167
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for upgrading a uniprocessor system to a multiprocessing system simply by the insertion of a second microprocessor integrated circuit. The computer system is provided with an upgrade socket for receiving the second processing unit, as well as a private communications bus between the upgrade socket and the existing processor for handling interprocessor communications, bus arbitration and cache coherency, etc. The addition of the second processor is transparent to the system which maintains its memory management unit and caching system and other arrangements as though it were still a uniprocessing system. Therefore, an inexpensive method and apparatus are provided for greatly enhancing the speed of a uniprocessing system to that of a multiprocessing system without the cost traditionally associated with multiprocessing systems.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.