Universal peripheral controller self-configuring bootloadable ramware
First Claim
1. A computer peripheral controller system having at least a system bus, at least a control subsystem (CSS), said CSS also including an erasable programmable memory (EPROM), and at least one random access memory (RAM) all coupled to the system bus, said computer peripheral controller system for controlling different types of peripheral devices (e.g. tape drives, disk drives, diskette drives, unit record drives, printers, etc.) coupled to said system bus, said peripheral computer system controller comprising:
- (a) adapter means coupled to said computer peripheral controller for coupling said peripheral devices to said system bus;
(b) processor means coupled to said computer peripheral controller for controlling access to said system bus;
(c) Ramware means in one of said peripheral devices for providing at least one configuration of peripheral devices for coupling to said system bus, from a plurality of configurations of peripheral devices capable of being coupled to said system bus;
(d) utility loading means for automatically loading said Ramware means from one of said peripheral devices into said RAM; and
,(e) instruction means in said computer peripheral controller system for servicing said configuration of peripheral devices coupled to said system bus.
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Abstract
In a computer system having at least a bus with at least one central processing unit (CPU), one random access memory (RAM), and a first configuration of a plurality of different types of peripheral units (e.g. tape drives, disk drives, diskette drives, printers, unit record peripherals, etc.) coupled to the bus, an apparatus for controlling the first configuration and also capable of controlling a predetermined number of other configurations of different types of peripheral units when any of that predetermined number of configurations of peripheral units is coupled to the bus.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A computer peripheral controller system having at least a system bus, at least a control subsystem (CSS), said CSS also including an erasable programmable memory (EPROM), and at least one random access memory (RAM) all coupled to the system bus, said computer peripheral controller system for controlling different types of peripheral devices (e.g. tape drives, disk drives, diskette drives, unit record drives, printers, etc.) coupled to said system bus, said peripheral computer system controller comprising:
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(a) adapter means coupled to said computer peripheral controller for coupling said peripheral devices to said system bus; (b) processor means coupled to said computer peripheral controller for controlling access to said system bus; (c) Ramware means in one of said peripheral devices for providing at least one configuration of peripheral devices for coupling to said system bus, from a plurality of configurations of peripheral devices capable of being coupled to said system bus; (d) utility loading means for automatically loading said Ramware means from one of said peripheral devices into said RAM; and
,(e) instruction means in said computer peripheral controller system for servicing said configuration of peripheral devices coupled to said system bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 15)
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- 4. A computer system comprising a central processor and peripheral device coupled to a system bus and further comprising a universal peripheral controlled (UPC) coupled between the bus and a plurality of peripheral devices, the UPC having a plurality of communication channels, for coupling a peripheral device and the system bus, a processing unit for controlling communication through the communication channels and random access memory having locations associated with respective channels for storing software required by the processing unit for controlling communications through the channels, the system further comprising means for scanning identifiers associated with peripheral devices coupled to the channels and, responsive to the identifiers, storing in the respective locations in random access memory software specific to the peripheral devices required for control of communications with the peripheral devices through the channels, such that the UPC is able to control access to the system bus of different peripheral devices coupled to the UPC in different configurations.
Specification