Multiprocessing system having means for partitioning into independent processing subsystems

Claim 2

A multiprocessing system comprising: a plurality of separate processing groups, each group including a processing unit and an I/O control unit; a plurality of sensing means, one for each processing group, each sensing means being coupled to each of said units in said respective group to sense the status of signals which represent malfunctions in any particular unit; a programmable control means coupled to said sensing means and responsive thereto to selectively supply different functional designation signals to said units of said processing group for operation thereof as a system; each of said sensing means including a detection means coupled to said respective units to receive signals therefrom representing malfunctions and a signal means coupled to said detection means and said programmable control means to signal said programmable control means of the receipt of a malfunction signal; a plurality of control buses, one for each processing group, each bus being permanently coupled to each unit of the corresponding group said respective buses being electrically isolated from one another for information transfer simultaneously on each of said buses between units in the respective separate groups; and a control bus interconnection unit for selectively coupling any control bus to any of the other control buses for information transfer between units of different processing groups.

Claim 3

A multiprocessing system according to claim 1 wherein: the control bus interconnection unit is a selective switching system coupled to each of the respective control buses.

Claim 4

A multiproCessing system according to claim 2 wherein: the selective switching system is a plugboard arrangement of connectors coupled to each of the control buses.

Claim 5

A multiprocessing system according to claim 2 wherein: said control bus interconnection unit includes means coupled to each of the processing groups to transmit configuration status signals to each processing group which signals represent the control bus interconnections.

Claim 6

A multiprocessing system comprising: a plurality of separate processing groups, each group including a processing unit and an I/O control unit; a plurality of sensing means, one for each processing group, each sensing means being coupled to each of said units in said respective group to sense the status of signals which represent malfunctions in any particular unit; a programmable control means coupled to said sensing means and responsive thereto to selectively supply different functional designation signals to said units of said processing group for operation thereof as a system; each of said sensing means including a detection means coupled to said respective units to receive signals therefrom representing malfunctions and a signal means coupled to said detection means and said programmable control means to signal said programmable control means of the receipt of a malfunction signal; a plurality of control buses, one for each processing group, each bus being permanently coupled to each unit of the corresponding group but electrically isolated from said other buses for the simultaneous transmission of commands from the respective processing units of each processing group to another unit in the respective group; and a control bus interconnection unit for selectively coupling any control bus to any of the other control buses to form one of more multiprocessing subsystems, each multiprocessing sub-system including at least one processing group.

Claim 7

A multiprocessing system comprising: a plurality of separate processing groups, each group including a processing unit and an I/O control unit; a plurality of sensing means, one for each processing group, each sensing means being coupled to each of said units in said respective group to sense the status of signals which represent malfunctions in any particular unit; a programmable control means coupled to said sensing means and responsive thereto to selectively supply different functional designation signals to said units of said processing group for operation thereof as a system; each of said sensing means including a detection means coupled to said respective units to receive signals therefrom representing malfunctions and a signal means coupled to said detection means and said programmable control means to signal said programmable control means of the receipt of a malfunction signal; a plurality of control buses, one for each processing group, each bus being permanently coupled to each unit of the corresponding group but electrically isolated from said other buses for the simultaneous transmission of commands from the respective processing units of each processing group to another unit in the respective group; and a control bus interconnection unit for selectively coupling any control bus to any of the other control buses to form one of more multiprocessing subsystems, each multiprocessing sub-system including at least one processing group.

Claim 8

A multiprocessing system according to claim 5 wherein: said control bus interconnection unit includes means to selectively couple all of the control buses together to form a single system of all of the processing groups.

Claim 9

A multiprocessing system according to claim 5 wherein: the control bus interconnection control unit includes means to selectively couple separate sets of control buses to form two or more sub-systems.

Claim 10

A multiprocessing system according to claim 5 wherein: the control bus interconnection unit is a selective switching system coupled to each of the respective control buses.

Claim 11

A multiprocessing system according to claim 8 wherein: the selective switching system is a plugboard arrangement of connectors coupled to each of the control buses.

Claim 12

A multiprocessing system comprising: a plurality of separate processing groups, each group including a processing unit and I/O control unit; a plurality of sensing means, one for each processing group, each sensing means being coupled to each of said units in said respective group to sense the status of signals which represent malfunctions in any particular unit; a programmable control means coupled to said sensing means and responsive thereto to selectively supply different functional designation signals to said units of said processing group for operation thereof as a system; each of said sensing means including a detection means coupled to said respective units to receive signals therefrom representing malfunctions and a signal means coupled to said detection means and said programmable control means to signal said programmable control means of the receipt of a malfunction signal; a plurality of control buses for each processing group, each bus being permanently coupled to each unit of the corresponding group but electrically isolated from said other buses for the simultaneous transmission of commands from the respective processing units of each processing group to another unit in the respective group; and a control bus interconnectiOn unit for selectively coupling any control bus to any of the other control buses to form one or more multiprocessing subsystems, each multi-processing subsystem including at least one processing group; said control bus interconnection unit including means for transmission of configuration status signals to each of said processing groups which signals represent the control bus interconnection.

Claim 13

A multiprocessing system comprising: a plurality of separate processing groups, each group including a processing unit and I/O control unit; a plurality of sensing means, one for each processing group, each sensing means being coupled to each of said units in said respective group to sense the status of signals which represent malfunctions in any particular unit; a programmable control means coupled to said sensing means and responsive thereto to selectively supply different functional designation signals to said units of said processing group for operation thereof as a system; each of said sensing means including a detection means coupled to said respective units to receive signals therefrom representing malfunctions and a signal means coupled to said detection means and said programmable control means to signal said programmable control means of the receipt of a malfunction signal; a plurality of control buses for each processing group, each bus being permanently coupled to each unit of the corresponding group but electrically isolated from said other buses for the simultaneous transmission of commands from the respective processing units of each processing group to another unit in the respective group; and a control bus interconnectiOn unit for selectively coupling any control bus to any of the other control buses to form one or more multiprocessing subsystems, each multi-processing subsystem including at least one processing group; said control bus interconnection unit including means for transmission of configuration status signals to each of said processing groups which signals represent the control bus interconnection.

Claim 14

A multiprocessing system according to claim 10 wherein: the control bus interconnection unit is a selective switching system coupled to each of the respective control buses.

Claim 15

A multiprocessing system according to claim 11 wherein: the selective switching system is a plugboard arrangement of connectors coupled to each of the control buses.