US3593297A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Diagnostic system for trapping circuitry
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1970-02-12
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Granted: 1971-07-13
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Expires: 1990-02-12
Abstract
Abstract A diagnostic system locates faults in the trapping circuitry by forcing a branch to a storage address other than that specified in the trap address while preserving the trap address, the address of the forced branch containing successive instructions of a test routine by which the trap address is read out for comparison testing at successive stages until the trap address has been through all the hardware by which it is processed in a normal trap operation.
Inventors
- 👤 Karl Kadner
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-22 17:50
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/22; G06F11/2205; G06F11/2236
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
251 words
In a data-handling system having control means for directing operation of the system, storage means containing information in the form of words of bits, accessing means, normally responsive to said control means, to locate and retrieve information from said storage means, transfer means to transmit control information words to said control means for execution during said operation, and trapping means, normally responsive to operating conditions of said system or to requests originating externally, for generating a command directing said accessing means to locate and retrieve information at an address specified in said command, a diagnostic system for locating and indicating faults in said trapping means, comprising means to initiate operation of said trapping means to generate a said command, inhibiting means to prevent said accessing means from responding to said command, diagnostic control means for directing said accessing means to locate for transfer to said control means information at an address different from the address specified in said command, and comparison means under the control of said information transferred to said control means to compare said command with the known correct command and to indicate results of said comparison, whereby the information retrieved by said accessing means and transmitted to said current control means for execution is not determined by the operation of said trapping means, but is specified by said diagnostic system, so that erroneous commands generated by said trapping means are available for detecting errors in said trapping means without controlling and misdirecting the operation of said datahandling system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
251 words
In a data-handling system having control means for directing operation of the system, storage means containing information in the form of words of bits, accessing means, normally responsive to said control means, to locate and retrieve information from said storage means, transfer means to transmit control information words to said control means for execution during said operation, and trapping means, normally responsive to operating conditions of said system or to requests originating externally, for generating a command directing said accessing means to locate and retrieve information at an address specified in said command, a diagnostic system for locating and indicating faults in said trapping means, comprising means to initiate operation of said trapping means to generate a said command, inhibiting means to prevent said accessing means from responding to said command, diagnostic control means for directing said accessing means to locate for transfer to said control means information at an address different from the address specified in said command, and comparison means under the control of said information transferred to said control means to compare said command with the known correct command and to indicate results of said comparison, whereby the information retrieved by said accessing means and transmitted to said current control means for execution is not determined by the operation of said trapping means, but is specified by said diagnostic system, so that erroneous commands generated by said trapping means are available for detecting errors in said trapping means without controlling and misdirecting the operation of said datahandling system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
A data-handling system according to claim 1 wherein said diagnostic system also includes means for preventing said trapping means from generating any other command while said diagnostic system is diagnosing a given command.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
114 words
A data-handling system according to claim 1 wherein said accessing means comprises storage address registers for storing bits indicating the module and word address of the next word to be accessed and means for alternately setting said registers with address bits and resetting the same to zero and said inhibiting means includes means for preventing the setting and resetting of said register containing the bits indicating module address and preventing the setting only of said register containing the bits indicating the word address, whereby the different address to which said accessing means is directed by said diagnostic control means is the zero word address of the module address last in said storage address registers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
83 words
A data-handling system according to claim 3 wherein said trapping means includes a plurality of registers to and in which an address specified in a command generated thereby is differently manipulated in successive cycles of a normal trap operation and said zero address contains the first control word of a plurality thereof forming a test routine in which said address of a said command under test is comparison tested by said comparison means after each different manipulation thereof in and to said registers.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
121 words
A data-handling system according to claim 4 in which each of said control words of said test routine except the last contains bits indicating the word address of the next word of said routine in the same module, said bits of each word being made available for setting into said storage address register for word addresses by its set signal when said word has been transmitted to said control means, said means for preventing the setting of said last-named register prevents the setting thereof only once and said means for preventing the setting and resetting of said storage address register for module addresses prevents the setting and resetting thereof until all the control words of said test routine have been executed.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
A data-handling system according to claim 5 wherein the last control word of said test routIne contains the word address of a control word which causes the control means to alter the module address bits of the trap command under test to conform to the module address bits in the storage address register.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-07-12 | 1975-01-11 | 1975-07-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-07-12 | 1979-01-11 | 1979-07-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-07-12 | 1983-01-11 | 1983-07-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |