Bios memory and multimedia data storage combination
US5999476A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 21, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 7, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 21, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10H7/002
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A shared interface to a non-volatile memory including a first storage area for BIOS and a second storage area (e.g., for multimedia data) provides an integrated configuration which saves the cost and space of duplicating memory elements to support multiple data and program types in personal computers. The BIOS information is shadowed from the non-volatile memory to a second memory (e.g., a PC main memory). Thereafter, the BIOS information is accessed in the second memory and the information of the second storage area is accessed via the shared interface. The storage may be integrated upon personal computer system boards without a degradation in performance or an increase in pin count of the board memory because the same pins are used at different times for different memory portions. Accordingly, a storage system is provided to meet the demands of increasing storage requirements without a corresponding increase in cost, space or performance.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.