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:
Jul. 27, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 08, 2001
Michael Anton Barenys, Austin, TX (US);
Robert Allan Faust, Austin, TX (US);
Joel Gerald Goodwin, Austin, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method system, and computer program product for determining the source of a fault within a bus, such as, for example, an inter integrated circuit (I2C) bus is provided. In one embodiment, a bus driver monitors the bus for faults. If a fault occurs on the bus, the bus driver resets each switch on the bus and then turns on the first switch connected to the bus driver. If the fault is encountered after turning on the first switch, then it is determined that the fault was caused by either the first switch, a device connected to the bus as a result of turning on the first switch, or one of the bus connectors just switched on as a result of turning on the first switch. If the fault is not encountered, the next switch is turned on and the process is repeated until the fault is encountered. The fault when encountered will be caused by either the most recently turned on switch or a device or bus connectors switched in by the turning on of the last switch. Thus, the fault can be isolated to a few devices, switches, or bus connections rather than the large number of potential devices, switches, or bus connections that could have potentially caused the fault.