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:
Oct. 03, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 10, 1998
Applicant:
Inventors:
Brian J Decker, Round Rock, TX (US);
Matthew B Mendelow, Austin, TX (US);
Assignee:
Dell USA, L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
711103 ; 711170 ;
Abstract
A method of correcting identification data stored in an EEPROM is described. Identification data stored in an EEPROM of a device such as a NIC is programmed into a flash ROM in which the host computer's BIOS is stored. During boot up of the host computer, the BIOS checksums the identification data stored in the EEPROM to determine whether it is valid. If the identification data is determined to be invalid, the EEPROM is reprogrammed with the identification data stored in the flash ROM. Optionally, a flag is set in a CMOS RAM for use by a network administrator to monitor the health of the EEPROM.