Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
261 words
A data processing system comprising: a peripheral storage device having at least one recording medium and means for writing data onto and reading data from said recording medium; a controller coupled to said peripheral storage device and responsive to predetermined instructions and command data for controlling the writing of data onto and reading of data from said recording medium; a main memory storage device coupled to said controller and having a plurality of addressable storage locations, at least some of said storage locations capable of storing data to be written onto or that has been read from said recording medium, and at least some other of said storage locations capable of storing said command data, said command data including a portion thereof defining a verification word; and a central processing unit coupled to said controller and to said main memory storage device and including (a) means for supplying said predetermined instructions to said controller, (b) means for addressing the storage locations of said main memory storage device, (c) means for examining said portion of command data accessed from said main memory storage device in order to verify the validity of said accessed command data, said means for examining comprising constant memory means having a predetermined verification word stored therein and means for comparing said portion of said accessed command data with said predetermined verification word, said accessed command data being verified as valid only when the verification word in said first portion thereof matches said predetermined verification word, and (d) means for supplying to said controller command data verified as valid.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
261 words
A data processing system comprising: a peripheral storage device having at least one recording medium and means for writing data onto and reading data from said recording medium; a controller coupled to said peripheral storage device and responsive to predetermined instructions and command data for controlling the writing of data onto and reading of data from said recording medium; a main memory storage device coupled to said controller and having a plurality of addressable storage locations, at least some of said storage locations capable of storing data to be written onto or that has been read from said recording medium, and at least some other of said storage locations capable of storing said command data, said command data including a portion thereof defining a verification word; and a central processing unit coupled to said controller and to said main memory storage device and including (a) means for supplying said predetermined instructions to said controller, (b) means for addressing the storage locations of said main memory storage device, (c) means for examining said portion of command data accessed from said main memory storage device in order to verify the validity of said accessed command data, said means for examining comprising constant memory means having a predetermined verification word stored therein and means for comparing said portion of said accessed command data with said predetermined verification word, said accessed command data being verified as valid only when the verification word in said first portion thereof matches said predetermined verification word, and (d) means for supplying to said controller command data verified as valid.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
81 words
The data processing system of claim 1, wherein said means for comparing includes an arithmetic logic unit adapted to receive said portion of said command data as a first signal and said predetermined verification word from said constant memory means as a second signal, and means for controlling said arithmetic logic unit to perform an Exclusive-OR operation upon said first and second signals whereby said command data is verified as valid if a resultant third signal has the value of zero.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
The data processing system of claim 1, wherein said peripheral storage device is a disk drive and said controller is a disk drive controller.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
39 words
The data processing system of claim 1, wherein said command data is stored in said main memory storage device as a chain of command data blocks, each block containing a word pointing to the next block in the chain.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
The data processing system of claim 4, wherein each command data block includes a command word, said portion of said command data being included as part of the command word of each command data block.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The data processing system of claim 5, wherein each command word is 16-bits in length and said portion of said command data includes the high order 8-bits of each 16-bit command word.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
The data processing system of claim 6, wherein said peripheral storage device is a disk drive and said controller is a disk drive controller.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
The data processing system of claim 7, wherein each command data block contains a word pointing to a section of the main memory storage device containing data to be written onto said recording medium or into which data read from said recording medium is to stored.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
The data processing system of claim 7, wherein each command data block contains a disk address word.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
17 words
The data processing system of claim 7, wherein each command data block contains a disk status word.