Extended Systems, Inc.

Charles M Jopson

Daniel P Axtman

Ted L Wimer

Craig K Boobar

Vanessa L Hutchison

A system ling client computers, particularly client notebook computers, to communicate with a computer local area network (LAN) using infrared or other transparent links. The system includes a pseudo nic driver, transparent communication hardware, and a transparent link in a network interface unit. The pseudo nic driver hides the technical details of the transparent communications by presenting itself as a traditional nic driver to the client networking software. The network interface unit bi-directionally communicates via the transparent link with an, for example, an infrared enabled client computer and performs the necessary bridging between the low level infrared signals and traditional LAN system such as Ethernet.

Apparatus to connect a client computer to a computer data network

A data base information engine subsystem which examines data on the fly as it is retrieved from a mass storage device (i.e., disk), and before storing it in memory, to select only the specified elements of data required by the host computer according to criteria set forth by the host computer. A page mapper circuit separates the host command processing from the data access processing for the command. The instruction set used by the information engine subsystem contains optimizing algorithms to parse and reorder the required operation to be most efficient (with respect to time). The information engine subsystem also contains a high speed processor which is a special purpose processor designed and optimized for data retrieval while doing operations on the data at high speed.

Database management coprocessor for on-the-fly providing data from disk

A high-speed long-line data interface is provided which employs two pre-configured parallel connectors coupled by four lines. One connector is a convert/transmit connector and the other is an unconvert/receive connector. Each connector includes a processor which buffers incoming data. The four lines include an RS-422 pair of differential transmission lines, an RS-232 status line and a ground line. Incoming parallel data is converted to serial format, then transmitted over the differential transmission lines to the unconvert/receive connector. The serial data then is unconverted back to parallel format and output to the peripheral device. Status information is sent from the peripheral to the host computer over the status line as a multi-byte pulse encoded signal. Power for the convert/transmit connector is derived parasitically from the unconvert/receive connector via the status line. Storage capacitors store charge from the status line for driving the connector during a status transmission. The convert/transmit connector self-paces its power consumption. A voltage level sensor is included for monitoring the voltage level of the parasitically-derived power signal. If the voltage goes below a threshold level (i.e., 4.5 volts), then data transmission is delayed for a programmable time period.

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Kuna, ID, United States of America

Charles M Jopson