Patent · US Expired

Apparatus for selecting a user programmable address for an I/O device

US5748982A · kind A · utility

13Cited by
9References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 15, 1996
Grant dateMay 5, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 15, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F13/4068
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Manual insertion of hardware jumpers to configure I/O device selection and addressing is eliminated through the implementation of specialized hardware which allows for program control over several addressing paths. A register file is utilized within a programmable device to configure demultiplexers and multiplexers which map I/O address control line signals to set up various communication paths for address I/O exchanges. I/O configuration is entirely removed from add-on cards through the use of the programmable device. Accordingly, such add-on cards only require minimum circuitry, thus facilitating the use of miniature or baby cards as option cards which are much smaller than standard add-on cards.

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