Computer system
US5572685A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 3, 1995 |
| Grant date | Nov 5, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 3, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/36
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A computer system has a backplane including a SCSI (small computer system interface) bus for connecting a host processor to a number of disk drive units. The bus operates in a conventional manner to set up a connection, until the stage where the initiator selects a target. Then backplane control logic intervenes, and isolates all units on the bus other than the initiator and the target. Isolation is achieved by means of a set of bus switches on the backplane, controlled by the backplane control logic. This ensures that data transfer takes place over a simple one-to-one connection, reducing bus capacitance and reflections. The backplane also includes power switches that can be operated to power down any disk unit while it is being hot-swapped, and LEDs to indicate when it is safe to hot-swap a disk unit.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.