This class provides, within a computer or digital data processing system, for the following subject matter:
A. Processes or apparatus for transferring data from one or more peripherals to one or more computers or digital data processing systems for the latter to process, store, or further transfer or for transferring data from the computers or digital data processing systems to the peripherals;
B. Processes or apparatus for interconnecting or communicating between two or more components connected to an interconnection medium (e.g., a bus) within a single computer or digital data processing system;
C. Processes or apparatus for preventing access to a shared resource of a computer or digital data processing system;
D. Processes or apparatus for granting access to a shared resource of a computer of digital data processing system by one of a plurality of components of the computer or digital data processing system by interrogating each of the components in a predetermined order;
E. Processes or apparatus for determining which of a plurality of components of a computer or digital data processing system contending for access to a shared resource shall be granted access at any one time based upon a predetermined criteria; and
F. Processes or apparatus for stopping, halting, or suspending a current processing function within a computer or digital data processing system.
(1) Note. This class is one of the generic classes for electrical computers and digital data processing systems and corresponding data processing processes including processes and apparatus for controlling operations of computers and digital data processing systems.
(2) Note. Classification herein requires more than nominal recitation of "peripheral devices," "peripherals," "input/output," or "I/O," or of intrasystem connections or communications.
(3) Note. Processes and apparatus wherein the peripherals are memories are classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
(4) Note. Although this class includes functions in which peripherals are addressed or accessed in a computer, internal elements and circuitry for memories are classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
(5) Note. Processes and apparatus for error detection and correction and fault detection and recovery, per se, are classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
(6)
Note. Processes and apparatus for enhancing the security of peripherals and of computers and digital data processing systems, per se, are classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
(7) Note. Processes and apparatus for transferring data "directly" between memories of different computers are classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
(8) Note. Processes and apparatus for a specific end use of data are classified in the class for the external device. For example, processes and apparatus for processing, by a computer for control purposes, data from sensors is classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
235, Registers, various subclasses for basic machines and associated indicating mechanisms for ascertaining the number of movements of various devices and machines, plus machines made from these basic machines alone (e.g., cash registers, voting machines), and in combination with various perfecting features, such as printers and recording means, and various data bearing record controlled systems.
326, Electronic Digital Logic Circuitry, 30, for bus or line terminating circuitry, and subclasses 62+ for generic digital logic, gate level interface circuitry.
340, Communications: Electrical,
825+, for controlling one or more devices to obtain a plurality of results by transmission of a designated one of plural distinctive control signals over a smaller number of
communication lines or channels, particularly subclass 825.02 for tree or cascade selective communication, subclasses 825.03+ for channel selection, subclass 825.05 for a plurality of controlled devices connected by a communication line in a closed series configuration, 825.06+ for communication systems where status of a controlled device is communicated, particularly subclass 825.08 for selective communication address polling control, subclasses 825.2+ for synchronizing selective communication systems, subclasses 825.3+ for security (e.g., authorization) in selective communication systems, subclasses 825.5+ for lockout or priority in selective communication systems, subclasses 825.52+ for addressing in selective communication systems, and subclasses 825.57+ for pulse responsive actuation in selective communication systems.
341, Coded Data Generation or Conversion,
22+, for code conversion in transferring codes from a keyboard peripheral to a computer.
345, Computer Graphics Processing, Operator Interface Processing, and Selective Visual Display Systems, appropriate subclasses for selective electrical control of image data for display, including the transferring of data to be displayed via an input peripheral (e.g., keyboard, joystick, mouse, touch tablet, etc.) to a computer and subsequently transferring image data to a display peripheral via a display memory or display controller; various subclasses for the selective control of two or more light generating or light controlling display elements in accordance with a received image signal; and
1+, for visual display systems with selective electrical control including display memory organization and structure for storing image data and manipulating image data between a display memory and display peripheral.
358, Facsimile,
400+, for transmitting data from a facsimile machine peripheral to a computer (e.g., by modem) for transmission over a telephone line to another computer (e.g., by modem) for transmission to another facsimile machine peripheral.
360, Dynamic Magnetic Information Storage or Retrieval, appropriate subclasses for record carriers and systems wherein data are stored and retrieved by interaction with a medium and there is relative motion between a medium and a transducer, for example, magnetic disk drive devices and control thereof, per se.
361, Electricity: Electrical Systems and Devices, 1+, for safety and protection of systems and devices.
364, Electrical Computers and Data Processing Systems,
130, 194 for data processing control systems of the generic type (i.e., not limited to a particular application) and subclasses 468.01-479.14 for control systems controlling or controlled by a particular art device or environment.
365, Static Information Storage and Retrieval, various subclasses, for addressable static singular storage elements or plural singular storage elements of the same type (i.e., the internal elements of memory, per se) particularly
189.05, for buffering or latching data being read from or written to memory and subclass 230.08 for buffering and latching address data being employed to access memory.
369, Dynamic Information Storage or Retrieval, various subclasses for record carriers and systems wherein data are stored and retrieved by interaction with a medium and there is relative motion between a medium and a transducer.
370, Multiplex Communications, appropriate subclasses for the simultaneous transmission of two or more signals over a common medium such as time division multiplexing (TDM).
375, Pulse or Digital Communications, various subclasses for generic pulse or digital communication systems and synchronization of clocking signals from input data.
377, Electrical Pulse Counters, Pulse Dividers, and Shift Registers: Circuits and Systems, various subclasses for generic circuits for pulse counting.
379, Telephonic Communications, various subclasses for two-way electrical communication of intelligible audio data of arbitrary content over a link including an electrical conductor.
380, Cryptography, 3+, for stored data access or copy prevention (e.g., software program protection or computer virus detection) in combination with data encryption, subclass 4 for stored digital data access or copy prevention in combination with data encryption (e.g., software program protection or computer virus detection in combination with data encryption), and subclasses 22 through 25 and 50 for electric signal modification and other appropriate subclasses.
381, Electrical Audio Signal Processing Systems and Devices, various subclasses for wired one-way audio systems, per se.
382, Image Analysis, various subclasses for operations performed on image data with the aim of measuring a characteristic of an image, detecting variations, detecting structures, or transforming the image data, and for procedures for analyzing and categorizing patterns present in image data.
388, Electricity: Motor Control Systems, cross-reference art collection 907.5 for computer or processor control of motor acceleration or speed.
395, Information Processing System Organization,
101+, for transferring data to peripherals for presenting the data on a fixed medium (i.e., a hard copy).
455, Telecommunications, appropriate subclasses for modulated carrier wave communication, per se, and
26.1, for subject matter which blocks access to a signal source or otherwise limits usage of modulated carrier equipment.
701, Data Processing: Vehicles, Navigation, and Relative Location, appropriate subclasses for applications of computers in vehicular and navigational environments.
702, Data Processing: Measuring, Calibrating, or Testing, appropriate subclasses for applications of computers in measuring and testing.
704, Data Processing - Speech Signal Processing, Linguistics, Language Translation, and Audio Compression/Decompression, 1+, for applications of computers in linguistics, subclasses 200+ for applications of computers in speech signal processing, and subclasses 500-504 for applications of computers in audio compression/decompression.
705, Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, or Cost/Price Determination, appropriate subclasses for applications of computers and calculators in business and management environments.
706, Data Processing: Artificial Intelligence, appropriate subclasses for artificial intelligence type computers and digital data processing systems.
707, Data Processing: Database and File Management, Data Structures, or Document Processing, appropriate subclasses for data processing apparatus and corresponding methods for the retrieval of data stored in a database or as computer files; or data processing means or steps wherein human perceptible elements of electronic information (i.e. text or graphics) are gathered, associated, created, formatted, edited, and prepared.
708, Electrical Computers: Arithmetic Processing and Calculating;
1+, for hybrid computers; subclasses 100+ for calculators, digital signal processing, and arithmetical and logical processing, per se; and subclasses 800+ for electric, analog
computers.
709, Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing Systems: Multiple Computer and Process Coordinating, appropriate subclasses for transferring data between a plurality of computers even if the transferring employs peripherals (e.g., modems, line adapters, etc.), particularly
212, for computer-to-computer direct memory accessing.
711, Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems: Memory, appropriate subclasses, for accessing or controlling memories that are peripherals, for caching data, for addressing combined with specific memory configurations (e.g., extended, expanded, dynamic, etc.) in a computer, and for generalized address forming in a computer.
712, Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing Systems: Processing Architectures and Instruction Processing (e.g. processors), appropriate subclasses for processing architectures including virtual processors; multiple-instruction-multiple-data (MIMD), vector, and array processors, and single-chip microprocessors; and for fetching, buffering, decoding, or executing instruction data for operations other than I/O (e.g., logic functions).
713, Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing Systems: Support, 200, 201 for furthering the security of computers, digital data processing systems, and peripherals.
714, Error Detection/Correction and Fault Detection/Recovery; various subclasses for detecting or correcting errors in generic electrical pulse or pulse coded data and for detecting and recovering from faults of computers, digital data processing systems, and logic level based systems; particularly
712+, for transmission facility testing, subclasses 718+ for memory testing, subclasses 763+ for memory access block coding, subclass 43 for bus and I/O channel fault recovery, subclass 44 for peripheral fault recovery, and subclass 56 for bus or I/O channel error detection or notification.
III GLOSSARY:
BUS
A conductor used for transferring data, signals, or power.
COMPUTER
A machine that inputs data, processes data, stores data, and outputs data.
DATA
Representation of information in a coded manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.
Address data - Data that represent or identify a source or destination. Instruction data - Data that represent an operation and identify its operands, if any.
Status data - Data that represent conditions of data, computers, peripherals, memory, etc.
User data - Data other than address data, instruction data, or status data.
data processing
See PROCESSING, below.
DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM
An arrangement of processor(s) in combination with either memory or peripherals, or both, performing data processing.
ERROR
Manifestation of a fault as an undesired event that occurs when actual behavior deviates from the behavior that is required by initial specifications.
FAILURE
Manifestation of an error as a nonperformance of an expected system service as required by the initial specifications.
FAULT A flaw in a functional unit (hardware or software).
INFORMATION
Meaning that a human being assigns to data by means of the conventions applied to that data.
MEMORY
A functional unit to which data can be stored and from which data can be retrieved.
PERIPHERAL
A functional unit that transmits data to or receives data from a computer to which it is coupled.
PROCESSING
Methods or apparatus performing systematic operations upon data or information exemplified by functions such as data or information transferring, merging, sorting, and calculating (i.e., arithmetic operations or logical operations).
(1) Note. In this class, the glossary term data is used to modify processing in the term data processing; whereas the term digital data processing system refers to a machine performing data processing.
(2) Note. In an effort to avoid redundant constructions, in this class, where appropriate, the term address data processing is used in place of address data data processing. PROCESSOR
A functional unit that interprets and executes instruction data.
RECOVERY
Responding to a fault in a system by either returning a system to a previous level of correct operation, achieving a degraded level of correct operation, or safely shutting down the system.
SECURITY
Extent of protection for system hardware, software, or data from maliciously caused destruction, unauthorized modification, or unauthorized disclosure.