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:
Jun. 04, 1996
Filed:
Mar. 25, 1993
Greg Woods, San Jose, CA (US);
Carol Bassett, Cupertino, CA (US);
Robert Campbell, Cupertino, CA (US);
Hewlett Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A control unit is assigned to each microprocessor of a multiprocessor (MP) system. Each control unit is in communication with its associated microprocessor and the system bus. Each control unit comprises a register set having bit registers and word registers. Messages can be sent to one or more of the microprocessors concurrently via a select function. Specifically, a data byte is bit sliced or bit masked so that the select register associated with one or more processors is activated. The bit registers which are activated, enable associated word registers for subsequent accesses. Consequently, one or more processors may be accessed concurrently. Moreover, bit pause registers are utilized so as to simultaneously pause one or more processors. Finally, bit identification registers may be read by any processor to determine the location of the processor.