Patent · US Expired

Fault containment system for multiprocessor with shared memory

US5761413A · kind A · utility

24Cited by
80References
35Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 5, 1995
Grant dateJun 2, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 5, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L2012/562
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A multiprocessor system has a plurality of processing cells, each including a processor and memory, interconnected via a network. The memories respond to requests by the processors for accessing data and, absent fault, transmitting it in response packets to at least to the requesting processors. A fault containment element responds to at least certain faults during access or transmission of a datum for including within the respective response packet a fault signal that prevents the requestor from accessing the datum. If a fault is detected in a datum not previously detected as faulty, a marking element can include a "marked fault" signal in the response packet. Whereas, it can include an "unmarked fault" signal when it detects a fault associated with a requested datum, but not specifically isolated to that datum. When a request is made for a datum which had previously been detected as faulty, the marking element can include in the response packet a "descriptor fault" signal. This facilitates identification of a particular source of an error and prevents that error from propagating to other processing cells.

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