International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Paul J Brown

Thomas Anthony Gregg

Robert S Capowski

Joseph C Elliott

Martin W Sachs

Gregory Salyer

Louis T Fasano

Kenneth R Lynch

Neil G Bartow

Douglas W Westcott

Robert J Dugan

Vincent P Zeyak, Jr

Richard R Guyette

Karl H Hoppe

Matthew J Kalos

William Frank Micka

Peter Anthony Franaszek

Benjamin V Booher

Eugene P Hefferon

Allan Samuel Meritt

Patrick John Sugrue

Bernhard Laubli

Kenneth J Fredericks

Leon Skarshinski

Gerald T Moffitt

Douglas W Wescott

David L Strong

An anti-tangling coupling device has an inner portion which is rotatably engaged with an outer portion. Fluid containment devices such as hoses can be coupled at either end of the device. One hose is secured to the inner portion while a second hose is secured to the outer portion, with the hoses being positioned at opposite ends of each other. Fluid communication is maintained throughout the inner portion and the outer portion, allowing water to flow between hoses coupled with the device. The rotational engagement is achieved by a bearing assembly, the bearing assembly including an inner race, and outer race, and ball bearings secured in cages. The ball bearings are capable of rotational movement (imparted from contact with the first race and second race), but are prevented from translational movement by a cage. As a result the likelihood of tangling between coupled hoses is greatly reduced.

Anti-tangling coupling device

A system and method for asynchronously transmitting data blocks, in parallel, across multiple fibers in a serial manner. Frame groups are provided as a mechanism to transmit associated data serially on each fiber and tie the data being transmitted together. The frame groups do not have sequence numbers, therefore, the receiver determines which frames are part of a frame group by the arrival times of the individual frames. The transceivers for each member of the parallel bus asynchronously achieve synchronism from either end of the fiber. Thus the need for a common clock is eliminated. The receivers on each side of the bus determine the relative skew for each conductor by performing skew measurements on a calibration message generated by the transmitters on the other side of the bus. When the skew on all conductors, viewed from both sides of the bus, has been determined, the skew values are exchanged across the bus, thus enabling the transmitters to set proper frame spacing.

Frame group transmission and reception for parallel/serial buses

A mechanism for controlling the powering-on and powering-off of control units in a data processing system having a plurality of channels, a plurality of control units, and a communications network of links for linking the channels to the control units. Each control unit includes a power-control table for recording power-control allegiance of the control unit to the channels. Where a control unit receives a power-on command from a channel, it records the identity of the channel in its power-control table. When a channel orders a control unit to power-off, the control unit checks to see if it owes power-control allegiance to the ordering channel. If it does, the control unit deletes the identity from its power-control table. The control unit will not power-off unless its power-control table is empty, indicating that it does not owe allegiance to any other channel.

Controlling power sequencing of a control unit in an input/output system

A computer I/O system which includes a dynamic switch having a plurality of ports and a plurality of link-level facilities, with each link-level facility being attached to an individual one of the ports. Whenever the state of a port or its attached link-level facility is changed in such a way that the attached link-level facility's ability to communicate with another link-level facility might be affected, this fact is recognized by a dynamic switch control unit which causes a state change notification (SCN) frame to be transmitted to all other link-level facilities which might be affected. The link-level facilities receiving such a state change notification then determine if any of the associations or potential associations with the link-level facility which caused the state change notification are affected.

Notification and verification of state changes in a data processing

Buffers are provided in two elements between which data is to be transferred wherein both buffers are managed solely by the originator of the data transfer. Only one transfer is required to transmit a message, and a second transfer acknowledges the completion of the function because message delivery to the receiver is guaranteed under the implemented protocol. When a request is sent, a message timer is started at the sender. When the normal response for the request is received, the timer is reset; however, if the duration of the message operation exceeds the timeout value, a message-timeout procedure is initiated. When the cancel command is issued, a second timer is set. If this timer is exceeded, subsequent cancel commands can be issued. If subsequent cancel commands are issued, a cancel complete command must be sent and responded to. Since the commands must be executed in the sequence in which they are received, a response to the cancel complete command ensures that there are no other cancel operation commands remaining in the receiver, allowing subsequent operations to start without danger of being canceled.

Communications system having plurality of originator and corresponding

A method for acquiring the node identifier of a node in a data processing input/output (I/O) system having a plurality of nodes. This procedure is part of the initialization of each node in the I/O system and may be used to establish the configuration of the I/O system such that if a connection breaks or a fault occurs between nodes, the configuration can be confirmed after the break or fault is corrected. This prevents data from being sent to the wrong device if lines were connected in a different configuration during the correction of a fault. The node identifier is a worldwide-unique identifier such that only one node is identified by a node identifier. The node identifier contains a validity code that specifies if the node identifier is valid. Also disclosed is a retry procedure for retrying the acquisition of a node identifier if the acquired node identifier is not valid, and a deferral procedure which defers the retry procedure if a link is not available.

Method for requesting identification of a neighbor node in a data

A throw toy includes a pair of soft, spongy weights separated by a flat flexible and stretchy web. Upper and lower hour-glass shaped layers are fastened around their periphery around the pair of spaced apart weights to form the web and enclose the weights to complete the throw toy. A sickle-shaped throwing member can be used with the throw toy.

Throw toy with two spongy weights and energy storing stretchy web

A system and method for asynchronously transmitting data blocks, in parallel, across multiple fibers in a serial manner. Frame groups are provided as a mechanism to transmit associated data serially on each fiber and tie the data being transmitted together. The frame groups do not have sequence numbers, therefore, the receiver determines which frames are part of a frame group by the arrival times of the individual frames. In one embodiment, the transceivers for each member of the parallel bus asynchronously achieve synchronism at each end of the fiber. Thus the need for a common clock is eliminated. The receivers on each side of the bus determine the relative skew for each conductor by performing skew measurements on a calibration message generated by the transmitters on the other side of the bus. When the skew on all conductors, viewed from both sides of the bus, has been determined, the skew values are exchanged across the bus, thus enabling the transmitters to set proper frame spacing.

Frame-group transmission and reception for parallel/serial buses

A connection recovery apparatus for placing a dynamic connection of a dynamic switch of a computer I/O system in a known state upon the detection of a possible switching error. The I/O system includes transmitting stations each having a link-level facility attached by a link to a dynamic-switch port of a dynamic-switch. The dynamic-switch makes dynamic connections between any two of the stations. Upon the detection of a possible switching error, the detecting link-level facility of a station or its attached dynamic-switch port starts a switch recovery procedure which places any dynamic connection to that station in a known disconnected state.

Recovery from a possible switching error in a computer I/O system

A dynamic switch and its protocol for establishing dynamic connections in a link by the use of frames, each frame having an identification of the source of the frame, an identification of the destination of the frame for the requested connection, and link controls to maintain, initiate or terminate a connection between the source and the destination. The frames are bounded by a start of frame delimiter and an end of frame delimiter which may also act as a connect link control and a disconnect link control, respectively, and the connections are made through the dynamic switch having dynamic-switch ports. The state of a dynamic-switch port is changed dependent on its present state, the dynamic connection requested, and the direction and type of frames passing through the dynamic-switch port.

Switch and its protocol for making dynamic connections

A new instruction called Test Subchannel assures that one processor will not begin an I/O operation with device status information that has been outdated by an operation of another processor. When a device has status to present, a status pending bit and an interruption pending bit are set in the channel subsystem and an interruption request is made. When a processor accepts an interruption, the channel system resets the interruption pending bit but not the status pending bit. The processor that accepts the interruption updates the unit control block (UCB) in main store and resets the status pending bit in the subchannel unless the UCB has been locked by another processor that is starting an I/O operation on the same device. This invention prevents the other processor from operating with outdated status information in the UCB. A processor that has locked the UCB uses Test Subchannel to test the Status Pending bit in the subchannel. If status is pending, the processor executes a routine to update the UCB. Optionally, when a processor that is handling an interruption finds the UCB locked, it sets a flag bit in the UCB lock word. Before a processor resets the UCB lock, it checks the lock word and executes the Test Subchannel instruction if the flag is set.

Independent handling of I/O interrupt requests and associated status

Program instruction TPI (Test Pending Interruption) and associated data processor sequence controls for its execution enable interruption handling programs to operate in a shortened recursive mode relative to interruptions pending while such programs are in control of a data processor system. Execution of a TPI instruction sets a condition code distinguishing between pendency and non-pendency of a request for interruption in one associated class of interruptions. If an interruption request in that class is pending, the instruction execution controls clear (terminate) it. If more than one request is pending, a selected one is cleared. The selection is based on a predetermined priority ordering. Interruption code information is stored by the execution controls, indicating the source of the cleared request. The interruption handling program branches on the condition code and the interruption code information, to attend to the interruption task associated with the cleared request. Since that program is in control of the system when the TPI instruction is executed, the branch sequence may omit status saving operations and other operations associated with the handling of interruptions.

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Poughkeepsie, NY, United States of America

Paul J Brown