Channel buffer for data processing system

Claim 2

A shift register having an input and an output path comprising a plurality of stages intermediate the input and output paths, each stage including a latch of the polarity hold type, means for entering data into the register by way of its input path, means for transferring data from the register by way of its output path, storage means for representing the presence or absence of stored data in each stage, and logical circuit means connected to and coacting with said means for representing and effeCtive at selected time intervals to control the shifting of data through succeeding stages within the register, said logical circuit means including means for preventing the shifting of data from one stage to any succeeding stage when the stage next succeeding said one stage has data stored therein, means for transferring data from one stage to the next succeeding stage when the next succeeding stage is empty and the stage succeeding said next succeeding stage has data stored therein, and means for transferring data from one stage through at least the next succeeding stage to a desired stage when the desired stage and all stages intermediate said one stage and said desired stage do not have data stored therein.

Claim 3

A shift register having an input and an output comprising a plurality of stages intermediate the input and output paths, each stage including a plurality of latches of the polarity hold type for storing a plurality of data bits, means for entering data into the register by way of its input, means for transferring data from the register by way of its output, a storage means provided for each stage for representing the presence or absence of stored data in the stage, and a logical circuit means provided for each storage means, having its output connected to and coacting with its respective storage means and having its inputs connected to selected outputs of storage means provided for preceding and succeeding stages for controlling at selected intervals the shifting of data through succeeding stages within the register, said logical circuit means including means for preventing the shifting of data from one stage to any succeeding stage when the stage next succeeding said one stage has stored data therein, means for transferring data from one stage to the next succeeding stage when the next succeeding stage is empty and the stage succeeding said next succeeding stage has stored data therein, and means for transferring data from one stage through at least the next succeeding stage to a desired stage when the desired stage and all stages intermediate said one stage and said desired stage to not have stored data therein.

Claim 4

A shift register having an input and an output comprising a plurality of stages intermediate the input and output paths, each stage including a plurality of latches of the polarity hold type for storing a plurality of data bits, means for entering data into the register by way of its input, means for transferring data from the register by way of its output, a storage means provided for each stage for representing the presence or absence of stored data in the stage, and a logical circuit means provided for each storage means, having its output connected to and coacting with its respective storage means and having its inputs connected to selected outputs of storage means provided for preceding and succeeding stages for controlling at selected intervals the shifting of data through succeeding stages within the register, said logical circuit means including means for preventing the shifting of data from one stage to any succeeding stage when the stage next succeeding said one stage has stored data therein, means for transferring data from one stage to the next succeeding stage when the next succeeding stage is empty and the stage succeeding said next succeeding stage has stored data therein, and means for transferring data from one stage through at least the next succeeding stage to a desired stage when the desired stage and all stages intermediate said one stage and said desired stage to not have stored data therein.

Claim 5

A shift register having an input and an output and comprising a plurality of stages connected in series intermediate the input and output, each stage having an input and an output including a plurality of latches of the polarity hold type for storing a plurality of data bits therein, means for entering data into the register by way of its input, means for transferring data from the register by way of its output, a series of full latches, one for each stage, having first and second logical states, means, including one of said full latches, provided for each of at least certain stages and effective when the full latch is set to its first logical state to cause the respective stage to be latched up in accordance with the data input thereto, and effective when the latch is set to its second logical state to cause the respective stage to reproduce at its output data applied to its input, timing means switching each full latch from its second to its first logical state in the event that its next preceding full latch is in said first state and its next succeeding full latch is in said second state and in the event that the next preceding full latch is in said second state and the full latch preceding said next preceding full latch is in said first state, and timing means further including means for switching each full latch from its first to its second state in the event that its next succeeding full latch is in its second state.

Claim 6

A shift register having an input and an output and comprising a plurality of stages connected in series intermediate the input and output, each stage having an input and an output including a plurality of latches of the polarity hold type for storing a plurality of data bits therein, means for entering data into the register by way of its input, means for transferring data from the register by way of its output, a series of full latches, one for each stage, having first and second logical states, means, including one of said full latches, provided for each of at least certain stages and effective when the full latch is set to its first logical state to cause the respective stage to be latched up in accordance with the data input thereto, and effective when the latch is set to its second logical state to cause the respective stage to reproduce at its output data applied to its input, timing means switching each full latch from its second to its first logical state in the event that its next preceding full latch is in said first state and its next succeeding full latch is in said second state and in the event that the next preceding full latch is in said second state and the full latch preceding said next preceding full latch is in said first state, and timing means further including means for switching each full latch from its first to its second state in the event that its next succeeding full latch is in its second state.

Claim 7

A data processing system of the type in which the transfer of data between a main storage device and high-speed input/output devices is effected by way of a shift register buffer under control of logical circuits in response to program instructions, and in which the buffer is effective for receiving data from the input/output devices serially by byte and for shifting the data through the buffer serially by byte and is further effective for transferring data from the buffer to the main storage device word by word, wherein the buffer comprises a plurality of stages, each stage including a plurality of polarity hold latches, one for each bit of data in a byte; and control means effective during each data advance cycle of the buffer for causing data stored in each stage other than the last to be transferred alternatively one or more stages or not transferred as a function of the full or empty condition of each said stage and stages preceding and succeeding said stage to right justify data within buffer; said control means further including means for permitting the transfer of data from certain of the stages during an advance cycle while preventing the transfer of data from other stages during said cycle, said control means further including means for advancing bytes of data through the buffer stages at a significantly higher rate than the maximum rate at which data can be received from and sent to the input/output devices.

Claim 8

A data processing system of the type in which the transfer of data between a main storage device and high-speed input/output devices is effected by way of a shift register buffer under control of logical circuits in response to program instructions, and in which the buffer is effective for receiving data from the input/output devices serially by byte and for shifting the data through the buffer serially by byte and is further effective for transferring data from the buffer to the main storage device word by word, wherein the buffer comprises a plurality of stages, each stage including a plurality of polarity hold latches, one for each bit of data in a byte; and control means effective during each data advance cycle of the buffer for causing data stored in each stage other than the last to be transferred alternatively one or more stages or not transferred as a function of the full or empty condition of each said stage and stages preceding and succeeding said stage to right justify data within buffer; said control means further including means for permitting the transfer of data from certain of the stages during an advance cycle while preventing the transfer of data from other stages during said cycle, said control means further including means for advancing bytes of data through the buffer stages at a significantly higher rate than the maximum rate at which data can be received from and sent to the input/output devices.

Claim 9

The processing system of claim 4 further comprising means for controlling the transfer of bytes selectively into those stages of the buffer from which data is transferred on a word basis to the main storage device whereby the transfer involves a selected number of bytes equal to or less than the number of bytes which comprise a word.

Claim 10

The data processing system of claim 4 further comprising means for causing the transfer of data from the buffer to the main storage device to be in the forward or backward direction.

Claim 11

The data processing system of claim 4 further comprising means for transferring data from the main storage device to the buffer a word or any portion thereof at a time, said control means thereafter effective to transfer the data serially by byte through the buffer to an output stage for transfer to a selected input/output device.

Claim 12

A data processing system of the type in which the transfer of data between a main storage device and high-speed input/output devices is effected by way of a shift register buffer under control of logical circuits in response to program instructions, in which means are effective when the last byte of a first group is received in the buffer for preventing the transfer of bytes of a second group to the buffer until a new main storage address is determined, and in which the buffer is effective for receiving data from the input/output devices serially by byte and for shifting the data through the buffer serially by byte and is further effective for transferring data from the buffer to the main storage device word by word, wherein the buffer comprises a plurality of stages, each stage including a plurality of polarity hold latches, one for each bit of data in a byte; control means effective during each data advance cycle of the buffer for causing data stored in each stage other than the last to be transferred alternatively one or more stages or not transferred as a function of the full or empty condition of each said stage and stages preceding and succeeding said stage to right justify data within buffer; said control means further including means for permitting the transfer of data from certain of the stages during an advance cycle while preventing the transfer of data from other stages during said cycle, said control means effective for advancing bytes of data through the buffer stages at a significantly higher rate than the maximum rate at which data can be received from and sent to the input/output devices; means for partitioning the buffer into first and second sections; and means effective when the last byte of said first group has been transferred from the first section to the second section for preventing the transfer of data from the first section to the second section and for permitting the transfer of bytes of said second group to the first section before said new address is determined.

Claim 13

A data processing system of the type in which the transfer of data between a main storage device and high-speed input/output devices is effected by way of a shift register buffer under control of logical circuits in response to program instructions, in which means are effective when the last byte of a first group is received in the buffer for preventing the transfer of bytes of a second group to the buffer until a new main storage address is determined, and in which the buffer is effective for receiving data from the input/output devices serially by byte and for shifting the data through the buffer serially by byte and is further effective for transferring data from the buffer to the main storage device word by word, wherein the buffer comprises a plurality of stages, each stage including a plurality of polarity hold latches, one for each bit of data in a byte; control means effective during each data advance cycle of the buffer for causing data stored in each stage other than the last to be transferred alternatively one or more stages or not transferred as a function of the full or empty condition of each said stage and stages preceding and succeeding said stage to right justify data within buffer; said control means further including means for permitting the transfer of data from certain of the stages during an advance cycle while preventing the transfer of data from other stages during said cycle, said control means effective for advancing bytes of data through the buffer stages at a significantly higher rate than the maximum rate at which data can be received from and sent to the input/output devices; means for partitioning the buffer into first and second sections; and means effective when the last byte of said first group has been transferred from the first section to the second section for preventing the transfer of data from the first section to the second section and for permitting the transfer of bytes of said second group to the first section before said new address is determined.

Claim 14

A data processing system of the type in which the transfer of data between a main storage device and high-speed input/output devices is effected by way of a shift register buffer having a plurality of stages under control of logical circuits in response to program instructions, in which means are effective when the last byte of a first group is received in the buffer for preventing the transfer of bytes of a second group to the buffer until a new main storage address is determined, and in which the buffer is effective for receiving data from the input/output devices serially by byte and for shifting the data through the buffer serially by byte and is further effective for transferring data from the buffer to the main storage device word by word, wherein the buffer comprises a set of latches of the polarity hold type for each stage, each latch having a first latched state for latching up data therein and a second unlatched state for continuously transferring data from its input to its output, means for indicating the states of each set of latches, a first circuit means responsive to said indicating means at a predetermined time during each data shift cycle for switching the set of latches of each stage which are in their latched states to their unlatched states only in the event that the set of latches of the next succeeding stage are in their unlatched states, a second circuit means responsive to said indicating means at a predetermined time during each data shift cycle for switching the set of latches of each stage which are in their unlatched states to their latched states only in either event (1) that the latches in one of a predetermined number n of the preceding stages and the latches of the next succeeding stage are in their latched states, or (2) that the latches in the n preceding stages are in their unlatched states and the latches in the n+1 preceding stage are in their latched states, where n+1 is equal to maximum number of stages that data is to be transferred in any one data shift cycle, said circuit means further including means for advancing bytes of data through the buffer stages at a higher rate than the maximum rate at which data can be received from and sent to the input/output devices, means for partitioning the buffer into first and second sections, and means effective when the last byte of said first group has been transferred from the first section to the second section for preventing the transfer of data from the first section to the second section and for permitting the transfer of bytes of said second group to the first section before said new address is determined.

Claim 15

A data processing system of the type in which the transfer of data between a main storage device and high-speed input/output devices is effected by way of a shift register buffer having a plurality of stages under control of logical circuits in response to program instructions, in which means are effective when the last byte of a first group is received in the buffer for preventing the transfer of bytes of a second group to the buffer until a new main storage address is determined, and in which the buffer is effective for receiving data from the input/output devices serially by byte and for shifting the data through the buffer serially by byte and is further effective for transferring data from the buffer to the main storage device word by word, wherein the buffer comprises a set of latches of the polarity hold type for each stage, each latch having a first latched state for latching up data therein and a second unlatched state for continuously transferring data from its input to its output, means for indicating the states of each set of latches, a first circuit means responsive to said indicating means at a predetermined time during each data shift cycle for switching the set of latches of each stage which are in their latched states to their unlatched states only in the event that the set of latches of the next succeeding stage are in their unlatched states, a second circuit means responsive to said indicating means at a predetermined time during each data shift cycle for switching the set of latches of each stage which are in their unlatched states to their latched states only in either event (1) that the latches in one of a predetermined number n of the preceding stages and the latches of the next succeeding stage are in their latched states, or (2) that the latches in the n preceding stages are in their unlatched states and the latches in the n+1 preceding stage are in their latched states, where n+1 is equal to maximum number of stages that data is to be transferred in any one data shift cycle, said circuit means further including means for advancing bytes of data through the buffer stages at a higher rate than the maximum rate at which data can be received from and sent to the input/output devices, means for partitioning the buffer into first and second sections, and means effective when the last byte of said first group has been transferred from the first section to the second section for preventing the transfer of data from the first section to the second section and for permitting the transfer of bytes of said second group to the first section before said new address is determined.