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. 24, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 19, 1999
Richard D. Beckert, Lake Stevens, WA (US);
Mark M. Moeller, Bellingham, WA (US);
Patrick Mullarky, Belleve, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A hardware-implemented interrupt handler external to a processor handles interrupts destined for the processor. The interrupt handler has a programmable prioritized interrupt array with programmable registers that identify priority levels and handling processes for handling one or more interrupts. The interrupt handler also has an interrupt scanning state machine that scans the prioritized interrupt following receipt of an interrupt to extract the priority level and handling process associated with the interrupt. The interrupt handler is designed to handle interrupts in significantly less time than software implementations, thereby making the handler favorable for real time systems.