Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method for fault tolerant operation of a multiprocessor data processing system

US5919266A · kind A · utility

32Cited by
9References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 2, 1993
Grant dateJul 6, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 2, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F11/2023
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A fault tolerant multiple processor data processing system is described. The system includes a number of processors linked together in a network. One processor is designated the master processor and coordinates the operation of all of the processors. The network is coupled to a number of memory devices which store information which is utilized by the processors. The apparatus includes a redundant mechanism for identifying a failure of a processor. If the master processor fails, a new master processor is selected, in a dynamic manner, from the remaining operative processors. The selection of a new master processor is based upon a contention operation in which the operative processors contend to become the new master processor.

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