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:
Sep. 15, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 01, 1996
Erik P Staats, Brookdale, CA (US);
Robin D Lash, Milpitas, CA (US);
Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A computer system comprises a plurality of nodes interconnected by point-to-point links and forms a serial bus. Upon system initialization, the bus is scanned and device-specific identification information is retrieved from command and status configuration ROMs associated with each of the plurality of nodes. In one embodiment, a search routine is used to retrieve the device specific information. The search routine begins with the definition of an iterator which is used as a place holder during the search. A simple search begins at the root directory of a hierarchical tree data structure and continues until all directories within the tree have been searched. In more complex embodiments, search relationships (i.e., direction) parameters are defined. Search criteria such as node spec.sub.-- ID and software version numbers are specified and the search is commenced. The search continues until all matching device specific information entries have been returned. The device specific information can be used to load and configure associated drivers for nodes.