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.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 24, 1999

Filed:

Oct. 20, 1997
Applicant:
Inventors:

Ivan E Sutherland, Santa Monica, CA (US);

Robert F Sproull, Newton, MA (US);

William S Coates, Redwood City, CA (US);

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
395553 ; 39580041 ;
Abstract

In certain systems where a series of stages are employed, it is desirable to control the action of a stage without possibility of interference form adjacent stages. A circuit of linked mutual exclusion elements is described which renders inactive the stages adjacent to an active stage, or inhibits action in a stage if any of its neighbors is active. This ensures that the stages adjacent to an active stage remain inactive, thereby avoiding problems associated with input events changing while an adjacent stage is active.


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