Hardware-driven clock with object-oriented interface
US5526515A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 30, 1994 |
| Grant date | Jun 11, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 30, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F1/14
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Timing apparatus for use with a computer system works with clock hardware which periodically generates a tick update signal. The timing apparatus uses a floating point number to maintain a total tick count for representing absolute time so that both a large range and a high resolution can be accommodated. However, since floating point operations can not always be used at hardware, or interrupt, levels and there are some cases where a hardware-dependent time representation will produce performance gains, a hardware dependent clock system is also provided. The clock system is provided with a flexible interface by using object-oriented programming techniques and providing three clock objects that provide for three different clock representations. Each of the objects provides its own methods for converting between the time representation that it uses and the time representations used by the other objects.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.