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:
Feb. 15, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 19, 1997
Binh Thai Hoang, Round Rock, TX (US);
Cuong Thanh Nguyen, Austin, TX (US);
Howard Carl Tanner, Austin, TX (US);
Gary Yuh Tsao, Austin, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A module type distinguishing apparatus and method for differentiating between modules based upon the presence or absence of a pulling resistor at a specified pin connection of the modules. A high impedance pulling resistance is connected to the line and is subject to sensing while a tri-state mode of operation is initiated in the module. The presence or absence of the pulling resistor in the module is detected and recorded in a register. Differentiation between module types is accomplished based upon the binary state of the data in the register. In a particularized implementation, industry standard L2 cache modules are distinguished as to tag bit size depending on the presence or absence of a pulling resistor as detected during tri-state operation of a tag output pin.