EP0123783A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for compressing and buffering data
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1984-01-17
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2004-01-17
Abstract
Abstract Apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data, transferring the buffered data to a slower speed storage device and controlling the stopping and starting of the central processing unit CPU (10) is provided for a virtual storage computer system where the data is collected in real time; the data being collected are all storage addresses to facilitate address tracing. Each real main storage address is collected at the external interface between the CPU (10) and main storage (50) and converted to a virtual address. The virtual address is compressed and entered into a large buffer (500) via buffer control logic (400). The buffer control logic sends a signal (441) to stop the CPU when the buffer becomes full and a signal (442) to restart it at the exact point it had stopped after the buffer (500) has been emptied by the transfer of data from it to a slower speed storage device.
Inventors
- 👤 Lam Quang Dang
- 👤 Charles Porter Geer
- 👤 Merle Edward Houdek
- 👤 Eugene Reese Jones
- 👤 Frank Gerald Soltis
- 👤 John Arthur Soyring
- 👤 Thomas Milton Walker
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 17:28
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/30; G06F11/34; G06F11/3466; G06F11/3476
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
245 words
An apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data collected in real time from a computer system having a central processing unit (CPU), control means for starting and stopping said CPU, virtual storage addressed by virtual storage addresses and real storage addressed by real storage addresses formed by converting the virtual addresses to real storage addresses, characterized in that it further comprises : means for converting said real storage addresses to virtual storage addresses where said virtual storage addresses include a segment identifier and an offset; compression means for compressing said virtual storage addresses formed by converting said real storage addresses, said compression means including means for adding leading bits to said offset to distinguish said offset from said segment identifier, means for adding other bits to said offset to relate said offset to a segment identifier and means for temporarily storing only unique segment identifiers of said virtual storage addresses formed by converting said real addresses and for temporarily storing all offsets including said added bits; buffer means for storing said segment identifiers and said offsets temporarily stored by said compression means; monitoring means for monitoring the fullness of said buffer means and providing a stop CPU signal to said control means upon said buffer means having reached a predetermined level of fullness; and emptying means for emptying said buffer means after it has been filled and for providing a start CPU signal to said control means after said buffer has been emptied.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
245 words
An apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data collected in real time from a computer system having a central processing unit (CPU), control means for starting and stopping said CPU, virtual storage addressed by virtual storage addresses and real storage addressed by real storage addresses formed by converting the virtual addresses to real storage addresses, characterized in that it further comprises : means for converting said real storage addresses to virtual storage addresses where said virtual storage addresses include a segment identifier and an offset; compression means for compressing said virtual storage addresses formed by converting said real storage addresses, said compression means including means for adding leading bits to said offset to distinguish said offset from said segment identifier, means for adding other bits to said offset to relate said offset to a segment identifier and means for temporarily storing only unique segment identifiers of said virtual storage addresses formed by converting said real addresses and for temporarily storing all offsets including said added bits; buffer means for storing said segment identifiers and said offsets temporarily stored by said compression means; monitoring means for monitoring the fullness of said buffer means and providing a stop CPU signal to said control means upon said buffer means having reached a predetermined level of fullness; and emptying means for emptying said buffer means after it has been filled and for providing a start CPU signal to said control means after said buffer has been emptied.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 1 characterized in that a segment identifier or an offset is read from said temporary storage means of said compression means if no data is present to be written into said temporary storage means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 2 characterized in that segment identifiers and offsets are written into said temporary storage means asynchronously and are read therefrom at a rate not to exceed a predetermined rate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 3 characterized in that said predetermined rate is dependent upon the rate at which data can be stored in said buffer means.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
45 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of any of Claims 1-4 characterized in that said compression means includes overflow detecting means for detecting if said temporary storage means will overflow if a segment identifier or offset is to be written therein.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
61 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 5 characterized in that it further comprises means for inhibiting the writing of a segment identifier or offset into said temporary storage means in response to an overflow condition and for initiating the reading of the contents of said temporary storage means whereby said temporary storage means is emptied.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 6 characterized in that it further comprises means for forming a special data word after all of the segment identifiers and offsets have been read from said temporary storage means in response to said overflow condition and transferring said special word to said buffer means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
80 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 7 characterized in that it further comprises means for detecting when all segment identifiers and offsets have been read from said temporary storage means and said special word has been formed; said detecting means providing a signal to said overflow means to indicate that said special word has been formed whereby said overflow detecting means enables the writing of segment identifiers and offsets into said temporary storage means.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
79 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of any of Claims 1-8 characterized in that said monitoring means for monitoring the fullness of said buffer means includes detecting means for detecting first and second levels of fullness of said buffer means, said first level of fullness being used by said monitoring means to provide said Stop CPU signal and said second level of fullness being used for signalling said emptying means for emptying said buffer means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of Claim 9 characterized in that the writing of data into said buffer means in inhibited when said second level of fullness is reached.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
68 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of any of Claims 1-10 characterized in that said stop CPU signal is provided to said control means at the output thereof so as to be logically combined to change the output indication of said control means, said control means normally being operated manually whereby said stop CPU signal causes said control means to simulate a mechanical operation.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
54 words
The apparatus for compressing and buffering large amounts of data of any of Claims 1-11 characterized in that said start CPU signal is provided to said control means at the output thereof to be logically combined therewith to change the output indication of said control means and thereby simulate operation of said control means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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