The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 10, 1982
Filed:
Apr. 14, 1980
William C Bruce, Jr, Austin, TX (US);
Fuad H Musa, Austin, TX (US);
Terry F Ritter, Austin, TX (US);
Motorola, Inc., Schaumburg, IL (US);
Abstract
A digital processor capable of responding to a sync instruction for high-speed synchronization of hardware and software is provided. The sync instruction places the procesor in a stopped state and lets the processor start up again only upon receipt of an interrupt. If the interrupt is disabled by being masked, the stopped state is simply cleared and the sequencing of instructions continues without vectoring to the interrupt service routine. However if the interrupt is not disabled, the processor will handle the interrupt just as it would if it were not in the stopped state. Upon return from the interrupt service routine, the stopped state is cleared and the sequencing of instructions continues. In this way, the sync instruction provides a mechanism for synchronizing software with hardware external to the processor without the delays associated with interrupts or busy-wait loops.