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:
Dec. 04, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 31, 1998
Gregory P. Burdett, Georgetown, CA;
Michel Paquet, Aylmer, CA;
Rene Imbeau, Nepean, CA;
John O'Neill, Foxrock, IE;
Mark Stubberfield, Basildon, GB;
Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent, CA;
Abstract
A fault tolerant modular computing or communications system is disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of primary processing modules and at least one spare module. These modules are preferably interconnected with a data network to switch and process network traffic. A control processing module controls overall operation of primary and spare modules. Upon failure of a primary processing module the control module senses the failure and determines if it is a recoverable fault, by preferably resetting the failed module. If fault is not recoverable, as manifested by an unsuccessful reset in a first sparing interval, data at the failed module is switched to a spare module. If the fault is recoverable and the reset is successful, data is not switched. If a subsequent failure of that module occurs in a second stability interval, data is immediately switched to the spare module. The system is particularly well suited for distinguishing software faults from non-recoverable hardware faults.