Robert J Major

Title: Robert J. Major and His Patent for a Fixed Address Space

Introduction

Robert J. Major is an inventor associated with Red Hook, New York, and International Business Machines Corporation. His work includes a patent for a computer architecture that coordinates pluggable adapters through a shared address space.

Latest Patents

Major is credited with 1 patent: “Data Processing Apparatus with Fixed Address Space.” The invention describes a central processing unit that initializes pluggable adapters using built-in identities and conditional read-only storage. It creates hardware and software first-level interrupt-handler tables, linking adapter identities to status-register addresses and system functions.

The system stores these tables with a control module in enabled memory on a keyboard adapter. When an adapter receives a broadcast of its identity, its conditional read-only storage becomes enabled. Adapter interrupts are combined, and the control module steps through the hardware interrupt-handler table to check adapter status and service adapters in sequence. The enabled adapter appears to the central processor as a single entity, using one shared address-space window at a time. System functions are accessed through the interrupt-handler table.

Career Highlights

Major’s listed patent reflects work on adapter initialization, interrupt handling, and efficient use of a computer’s address space. The patent is associated with International Business Machines Corporation, commonly known as IBM.

Collaborations

The provided information names Ronald S. Harter and Jeffrey S. Lucash as Major’s coworkers. Their names are included here as reported, without further details about their roles in the patent.

Conclusion

Robert J. Major’s patent describes a coordinated approach to managing multiple pluggable adapters through shared memory, identity-based activation, and sequential interrupt servicing.