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:
Mar. 24, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 29, 1996
David Randal Johnson, Oakdale, MN (US);
Wayne Douglas Ward, New Brighton, MN (US);
Unisys Corporation, Blue Bell, PA (US);
Abstract
A multiple-word virtual address flexibly expands the virtual address space of a computer system without requiring the modification of the word size of the computer system. In a memory system having a virtual memory mapped to an absolute memory, the virtual memory is divided up into multiple levels each having a plurality of memory banks. Each memory bank has a plurality of words. The multiple-word virtual address provides a plurality of words for specifying the virtual memory level, memory bank, and offset word within the memory bank, to describe a selected memory location. Special instructions are added to the instruction set architecture to set up a window of program visibility, called a peephole, into a selected area of the expanded virtual memory. Existing programs are compatible with the multiple-word addressing scheme, and can also reference virtual memory through a defined peephole. New programs using multiple-word virtual addresses can still call procedures requiring single word virtual addresses.