Apple Inc.

Network Equipment Technologies, Inc.

Krishna Viswanadham

Dennis Joseph Boyle

David Law

Robert L Bailey

Mary B Johnson

Mahesh Veerina

Mark H Seibert

Lesley A Bird

Ranganathan Kothandapani

Multilayer switching device and associated technique enables simultaneous wire-speed routing at OSI layer wire-speed switching at layer and support multiple interfaces at layer Implementation may be embodied using one or more integrated circuits (ASIC), RISC processor, and software, thereby providing wire-speed performance on interfaces, in various operational modes.

Multi-layer switching apparatus and method

A media ejection system includes a peripheral unit having a housing, an ejection mechanism, and a memory wire coupled to the ejection mechanism. The system further includes a digital processor for issuing ejection commands, and a controller responsive to the ejection command for controlling a current flow through the memory wire. When sufficient current flows through the memory wire, it contracts to activate the ejection mechanism, thereby ejecting a removable medium (such a PCMCIA card) from the housing of the peripheral unit. A method of the invention includes the steps of receiving an ejection request, issuing a ejection command in response to the ejection request, where the ejection command includes parameters for controlling current flow through the metal alloy, and electrically energizing the memory alloy in accordance with the parameters such that the memory alloy undergoes a dimensional change to activate a removable medium ejection mechanism.

Removable media ejection system

Round-robin arbitration circuit selects in clock cycle channel contending for arbitration; each arbitrated channel having channel number in sequence of channel numbers. Channel is designated as currently arbitrated; designated channel having designated number. Channels are masked from arbitration with designated channel, such that designated and unmasked channels are arbitrated to select channel. Channels having numbers sequenced after designated number are masked from arbitration, and channels having, numbers sequenced earlier than designated are also masked from arbitration. During subsequent cycle, designated channel is shifted to next channel in sequence of channel numbers by incrementing designated number. When designated number is last in sequence, designated channel is shifted to next having first number in sequence.

Method and apparatus for round-robin flash channel arbitration

An input/output interface apparatus that allows a computer system to have less ports and greater safety with the connection of peripheral devices to the ports is disclosed. The input/output interface apparatus enables the computer system to supply multiple bus standards to a single flexible port of the computer system. The input/output interface apparatus permits safe connection of a peripheral device to a port of the computer system when the computer system is powered-on (so called hot-plugging or hot-docking).

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Krishna Viswanadham