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. 06, 2001
Filed:
May. 22, 1998
David Robert Brown, San Jose, CA (US);
Christopher Hume Lamb, Weston, MA (US);
3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
In a computer system having a plurality of peripheral devices, a data transfer system for implementing transparent direct communication between the devices and the computer system. The system of the present invention includes a switch having a plurality of ports. Each of the plurality of ports is adapted to couple to a respective one of a plurality of devices. Each of the plurality of ports is further adapted to accept data from its respective device and transmit data to its respective device in a bi-directional manner. The switch communicatively couples a first pair of the plurality of ports to enable communication between their respective devices and communicatively couples a second pair of the plurality of ports to enable communication between their respective devices such that communication between the first pair of ports and communication between the second pair of ports occurs simultaneously and independently, thereby implementing efficient switched data transfers between the respective devices and greatly increasing the total data transfer bandwidth of the computer system.