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:
Oct. 19, 2004
Filed:
May. 15, 2000
Stephen J. Billick, Austin, TX (US);
Mark Joseph Palasz, Austin, TX (US);
Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for accessing POST 80h codes using a USB or other port of a computer are described. In one embodiment, POST 80h data is sent in a serial format to a general purpose I/O (“GPIO”) port of the computer. This data is output from the GPIO port on one of the data lines (e.g., D+) of the USB port. Additionally, a soft clock is output from the GPIO port on another of the data lines (e.g., D−) of the USB port. An external plug-in device is connected to the USB port via an appropriate connector for receiving the POST 80h data and clock signals and displaying the POST 80h codes on several seven segment display elements thereof. In an alternative embodiment, the data output via the USB port is read into a portable device and transmitted to a technical center for review and analysis.