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:
Apr. 06, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 12, 1996
Ruth McGuffey, Plano, TX (US);
David Binford, Plano, TX (US);
Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of memory space allocation, performed within a coherent memory of a computer system, for allocating a line of the memory to a device using an ownership-only command, which transfers ownership of the line of memory without transferring the data contained within the line. After receiving the command, the memory then determines if the line was previously allocated to a second device using a conventional read command, the memory sends a flush command to the second device, and retrieves the contents of the line from the second device. After retrieving the contents of the line, or if the second device used the ownership-only command, the memory sends an ownership acknowledgment for the line to the first device, receives replacement data for the line from the first device, and then releases ownership of the line.