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:
Aug. 26, 2003
Filed:
May. 04, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H03M 7/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H03M 7/00 ;
Abstract
A method for encoding a data mask that consists of a given total number of bits and includes a selected group of contiguous bits within the total number, the selected group having a left end and a right end. The method includes dividing the data mask into a plurality of segments, and representing the segments by respective segment codes, each code indicating whether the bits in the respective segment fall entirely outside the selected group, entirely within the selected group, or include the left end or the right end of the group. The segment codes are combined so as to generate a mask code, which can be decoded to reconstruct the data mask.