System for executing first and second independently executable programs until each program relinquishes control or encounters real time interrupts

Claim 2

Apparatus for executing first and second independently executable programs on an interactive network board coupled between a LAN and a peripheral, comprising: a ROM, disposed on said board for storing a non-preemptive real-time interruptable monitor program and said first and second programs, said first and second programs each being real-time interruptable, each including a relinquish command, and each for executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of real-time interrupts, until the relinquish command is reached; a RAM disposed on said board; and a processor, disposed on said board, for (1) downloading said monitor program and said first and second programs from said ROM to said RAM, (2) responding to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt, (3) executing the first program in said RAM until the first program relinquish command is reached, (4) beginning executing the monitor program when said first program relinquishes control, (5) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said first program, (6) thereafter, executing the second program in said RAM until the second program relinquish command is reached, (7) beginning executing the monitor program when said second program relinquishes control, (8) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said second program, and (9) recommencing execution of said first program.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processor recommences execution of said second program when either the first program has ended or when a further first program relinquish command is reached whichever occurs first.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an SCSI interface, disposed on said board, for transmitting information to the peripheral, the transmitted information comprising data generated by said first program.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said SCSI interface receives information from the peripheral, the received information comprising data used by said second program during execution of said second program.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a LAN interface, disposed on said board, for transmitting further information to the LAN, said further information comprising data generated by said second program.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ROM comprises a flash EPROM, and wherein said processor comprises a microprocessor.

Claim 8

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after said processor commences execution of the first program in said RAM it thereafter executes only the first program, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the first program relinquish command is reached, and wherein after said processor commences execution of the second program in said RAM it thereafter executes only the second program, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the second program relinquish command is reached.

Claim 9

A multi-tasking interactive network board coupled to a peripheral, comprising: a processor; a network interface; a bi-directional interface coupled to the peripheral; a non-preemptive multi-tasking monitor which is real-time interruptable and which distributes processor usage among plural application tasks; a memory for storing a first application task which queries a network file server via said network interface to obtain a queue of files from the file server, and which channels the files to the peripheral through the bi-directional interface; said memory storing a second application task which receives remote status inquiries over said network interface, which interrogates the peripheral over said bi-directional interface to obtain status information in response to the received status inquiries, and which provides the status information over the network interface; said first and second application tasks each being real-time interruptable and each including relinquish commands which cause the currently executing application task periodically to relinquish control to the monitor; said first and second application tasks each executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, from initiation or resumption of execution of an application task until a relinquish command is reached; and said monitor saving the state of a relinquishing task, restoring the state of a non-relinquishing task, and resuming execution of the non-relinquishing task.

Claim 10

A multi-tasking interactive network board coupled to a peripheral, comprising: a processor; a network interface; a bi-directional interface coupled to the peripheral; a non-preemptive multi-tasking monitor which is real-time interruptable and which distributes processor usage among plural application tasks; a memory for storing a first application task which queries a network file server via said network interface to obtain a queue of files from the file server, and which channels the files to the peripheral through the bi-directional interface; said memory storing a second application task which receives remote status inquiries over said network interface, which interrogates the peripheral over said bi-directional interface to obtain status information in response to the received status inquiries, and which provides the status information over the network interface; said first and second application tasks each being real-time interruptable and each including relinquish commands which cause the currently executing application task periodically to relinquish control to the monitor; said first and second application tasks each executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, from initiation or resumption of execution of an application task until a relinquish command is reached; and said monitor saving the state of a relinquishing task, restoring the state of a non-relinquishing task, and resuming execution of the non-relinquishing task.

Claim 11

A board according to claim 8, wherein said monitor comprises a program stored in said memory.

Claim 12

A board according to claim 9, further comprising a ROM, disposed on said board, for storing said monitor program and said first and second application tasks, and wherein said processor downloads said monitor program and said first and second application tasks from said ROM to said memory upon power-up of said board.

Claim 13

A board according to claim 10, wherein said memory comprises a RAM, wherein said ROM comprises a flash EPROM, and wherein said processor comprises a microprocessor.

Claim 14

A board according to claim 8, wherein said processor commences execution of the first application task and thereafter executes only the first application task, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the first application task relinquishes control, and wherein said processor commences execution of the second application task and thereafter executes only the second application task, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the second application task relinquishes control.

Claim 17

A method according to claim 13, wherein said step of recommencing execution of said first program includes the step of recommencing the first program from the point at which the first program relinquished control using the information stored in RAM regarding the execution state of the first program.

Claim 18

A method according to claim 13, wherein said peripheral comprises a printer, and wherein said step of executing the first program includes the step of sending data to said printer over an SCSI interface disposed on said board.

Claim 19

A method according to claim 15, wherein said step of executing the first program includes the step of receiving data from said printer over said SCSI interface.

Claim 20

A method according to claim 13, wherein said peripheral comprises a printer, and wherein said step of executing the first program includes the step of sending data to the LAN over a LAN interface disposed on said board.

Claim 21

A method according to claim 17, wherein said step of executing the first program includes the step of receiving data from the LAN over said LAN interface.

Claim 22

A method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of downloading over the LAN and to the board the first and second programs.

Claim 23

A method according to claim 19, further comprising the step of downloading the monitor program over the LAN and to the board, and wherein the monitor program and said first and second programs are stored in an EPROM disposed on the board.

Claim 24

A method according to claim 20, further comprising the step of transmitting the monitor program and the first and second programs to the RAM upon a power-up of said board.

Claim 25

A method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of running one of said first and second programs on a PC using DOS.

Claim 26

A method according to claim 22, further comprising the steps of: executing the first program on the PC until the first program relinquishes control; passing control to a dummy monitor program which immediately returns control to the first program; and recommencing execution of said first program.

Claim 27

A method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of recommencing execution of said second program when the recommenced first program reaches either the end of the first program or the first program again relinquishes control, whichever occurs first.

Claim 28

A method according to claim 13, wherein after execution of the first program commences only the first program executes, other than processing of any real-time interrupts, until the first program relinquishes control, and wherein after execution of the second program commences only the second program executes, other than processing of any real-time interrupts, until the second program relinquishes control.

Claim 29

Computer-executable process steps stored on a computer-readable medium for executing first and second independently executable programs on an interactive network board coupled between a LAN and a peripheral, comprising: a first executing step to execute the first program until the first program relinquishes control; a first control passing step to pass control to a non-preemptive monitor program which stores in a RAM information regarding the execution state of the first program; a second executing step to thereafter execute the second program until the second program relinquishes control; a second control passing step to pass control to the non-preemptive monitor program which stores in the RAM information regarding the execution state of the second program; an execution recommencing step to thereafter recommence execution of the first program until either an end of the first program or the first program again relinquishes control, whichever occurs first; and a responding step to respond to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the non-preemptive monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt.

Claim 30

Computer-executable process steps stored on a computer-readable medium for executing first and second independently executable programs on an interactive network board coupled between a LAN and a peripheral, comprising: a first executing step to execute the first program until the first program relinquishes control; a first control passing step to pass control to a non-preemptive monitor program which stores in a RAM information regarding the execution state of the first program; a second executing step to thereafter execute the second program until the second program relinquishes control; a second control passing step to pass control to the non-preemptive monitor program which stores in the RAM information regarding the execution state of the second program; an execution recommencing step to thereafter recommence execution of the first program until either an end of the first program or the first program again relinquishes control, whichever occurs first; and a responding step to respond to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the non-preemptive monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt.

Claim 31

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein said execution recommencing step includes a step to recommence the first program from the point at which the first program relinquished control using the information stored in RAM regarding the execution state of the first program.

Claim 32

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein said peripheral comprises a printer, and wherein said first executing step includes a step to send data to said printer over an SCSI interface disposed on said board.

Claim 33

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 28, wherein said first executing step includes a step to receive data from said printer over said SCSI interface.

Claim 34

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, wherein said peripheral comprises a printer, and wherein said first executing step includes a step to send data to the LAN over a LAN interface disposed on said board.

Claim 35

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 30, wherein said first executing step includes a step to receive data from the LAN over said LAN interface.

Claim 36

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, further comprising a step to download over the LAN and to the board the first and second programs.

Claim 37

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 32, further comprising a step to download the monitor program over the LAN and to the board, and wherein the monitor program and said first and second programs are stored in an EPROM disposed on the board.

Claim 38

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 33, further comprising a step to transmit the monitor program and the first and second programs to the RAM upon a power-up of said board.

Claim 39

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, further comprising a step to run one of said first and second programs on a PC using DOS.

Claim 40

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 35, further comprising: a PC executing step to execute the first program on the PC until the first program relinquishes control; a third control passing step to pass control to a dummy monitor program which immediately returns control to the first program; and a step to recommence execution of said first program.

Claim 41

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, further comprising a step to recommence execution of said second program when the re-executing first program reaches either the end of the first program or the first program again relinquishes control, whichever occurs first.

Claim 42

Computer-executable process steps according to claim 26, said steps being structured such that after execution of the first program commences only the first program executes, other than processing of any real-time interrupts, until the first program relinquishes control, and wherein after execution of the second program commences only the second program executes, other than processing of any real-time interrupts, until the second program relinquishes control.

Claim 43

Apparatus capable of being coupled to a LAN comprising: an interactive network board having a peripheral interface and a LAN interface, and further including: a ROM, disposed on said board, for storing a non-preemptive real-time interruptable monitor program and first and second programs, said first and second programs each being real-time interruptable, each including a relinquish command, and each for executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of real-time interrupts, until the relinquish command is reached, a RAM disposed on said board, and a processor, disposed on said board, for (1) downloading said monitor program and said first and second programs from said ROM to said RAM, (2) responding to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt, (3) executing the first program in said RAM until the first program relinquish command is reached, (4) beginning executing the monitor program when said first program relinquishes control, (5) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said first program, (6) thereafter, executing the second program in said RAM until the second program relinquish command is reached, (7) beginning executing the monitor program when said second program relinquishes control, (8) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said second program, and (9) recommencing execution of said first program; and a peripheral device coupled to the peripheral interface of said board, wherein at least one of said first and second programs includes a program for carrying out peripheral communications over the LAN.

Claim 44

Apparatus capable of being coupled to a LAN comprising: an interactive network board having a peripheral interface and a LAN interface, and further including: a ROM, disposed on said board, for storing a non-preemptive real-time interruptable monitor program and first and second programs, said first and second programs each being real-time interruptable, each including a relinquish command, and each for executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of real-time interrupts, until the relinquish command is reached, a RAM disposed on said board, and a processor, disposed on said board, for (1) downloading said monitor program and said first and second programs from said ROM to said RAM, (2) responding to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt, (3) executing the first program in said RAM until the first program relinquish command is reached, (4) beginning executing the monitor program when said first program relinquishes control, (5) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said first program, (6) thereafter, executing the second program in said RAM until the second program relinquish command is reached, (7) beginning executing the monitor program when said second program relinquishes control, (8) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said second program, and (9) recommencing execution of said first program; and a peripheral device coupled to the peripheral interface of said board, wherein at least one of said first and second programs includes a program for carrying out peripheral communications over the LAN.

Claim 45

Apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said processor recommences execution of said second program when either the first program has ended or when a further first program relinquish command is reached, whichever occurs first.

Claim 46

Apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said peripheral device comprises a printer, and wherein said peripheral interface comprises an SCSI interface, disposed on said board, for transmitting information to the printer, the transmitted information comprising data generated by said first program.

Claim 47

Apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said SCSI interface receives information from the printer, the received information comprising data used by said second program during execution of said second program.

Claim 48

Apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said ROM comprises a flash EPROM, and wherein said processor comprises a microprocessor.

Claim 49

Apparatus according to claim 39, wherein after said processor commences execution of the first program in said RAM it thereafter executes only the first program, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the first program relinquish command is reached, and wherein after said processor commences execution of the second program in said RAM it thereafter executes only the second program, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the second program relinquish command is reached.

Claim 50

Apparatus capable of being coupled to a LAN comprising: a peripheral device; and a multi-tasking interactive network board having a peripheral interface to which said peripheral device is connected and a LAN interface, and further including: a processor, a non-preemptive multi-tasking monitor which is real-time interruptable and which distributes processor usage among plural application tasks, a memory for storing a first application task which queries a network file server via said network interface to obtain a queue of files from the file server, and which channels the files to the peripheral through the bi-directional interface, said memory storing a second application task which receives remote status inquiries over said network interface, which interrogates the peripheral over said bi-directional interface to obtain status information in response to the received status inquiries, and which provides the status information over the network interface, said first and second application tasks each being real-time interruptable and each including relinquish commands which cause the currently executing application task periodically to relinquish control to the monitor, said first and second application tasks each executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, from initiation or resumption of execution of said application task until a relinquish command is reached, and said monitor saving the state of a relinquishing task, restoring the state of a non-relinquishing task, and resuming execution of the non-relinquishing task, wherein at least one of said first and second programs includes a program for carrying out peripheral communications over the LAN.

Claim 51

Apparatus capable of being coupled to a LAN comprising: a peripheral device; and a multi-tasking interactive network board having a peripheral interface to which said peripheral device is connected and a LAN interface, and further including: a processor, a non-preemptive multi-tasking monitor which is real-time interruptable and which distributes processor usage among plural application tasks, a memory for storing a first application task which queries a network file server via said network interface to obtain a queue of files from the file server, and which channels the files to the peripheral through the bi-directional interface, said memory storing a second application task which receives remote status inquiries over said network interface, which interrogates the peripheral over said bi-directional interface to obtain status information in response to the received status inquiries, and which provides the status information over the network interface, said first and second application tasks each being real-time interruptable and each including relinquish commands which cause the currently executing application task periodically to relinquish control to the monitor, said first and second application tasks each executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, from initiation or resumption of execution of said application task until a relinquish command is reached, and said monitor saving the state of a relinquishing task, restoring the state of a non-relinquishing task, and resuming execution of the non-relinquishing task, wherein at least one of said first and second programs includes a program for carrying out peripheral communications over the LAN.

Claim 52

An apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said monitor comprises a program stored in said memory.

Claim 53

An apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising a ROM, disposed on said board, for storing said monitor program and said first and second application tasks, and wherein said processor downloads said monitor program and said first and second application tasks from said ROM to said memory upon power-up of said board.

Claim 54

An apparatus according to claim 47, wherein said memory comprises a RAM, wherein said ROM comprises a flash EPROM, and wherein said processor comprises a microprocessor.

Claim 55

An apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said processor commences execution of the first application task and thereafter executes only the first application task, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the first application task relinquishes control, and wherein said processor commences execution of the second application task and thereafter executes only the second application task, other than for processing of any real-time interrupts, until the second application task relinquishes control.

Claim 56

Apparatus for executing first and second independently executable programs on an interactive network board coupled between a LAN and a peripheral, comprising: a ROM, disposed on said board, for storing a non-preemptive real-time interruptable monitor program and said first and second programs, said first and second programs each being real-time interruptable, each including a relinquish command, and each for executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of real-time interrupts, until the relinquish command is reached; a RAM disposed on said board; and a processor, disposed on said board, for (1) downloading said monitor program and said first and second programs from said ROM to said RAM, (2) responding to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt, (3) executing the first program in said RAM until the first program relinquish command is reached, (4) beginning executing the monitor program when said first program relinquishes control, (5) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said first program, (6) thereafter, executing the second program in said RAM until the second program relinquish command is reached, (7) beginning executing the monitor program when said second program relinquishes control, (8) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said second program, and (9) recommencing execution of said first program, wherein at least one of said first and second programs is for communicating over the LAN, and wherein at least one of said first and second programs is for communicating with the peripheral.

Claim 57

Apparatus for executing first and second independently executable programs on an interactive network board coupled between a LAN and a peripheral, comprising: a ROM, disposed on said board, for storing a non-preemptive real-time interruptable monitor program and said first and second programs, said first and second programs each being real-time interruptable, each including a relinquish command, and each for executing independently and without interruption, other than for processing of real-time interrupts, until the relinquish command is reached; a RAM disposed on said board; and a processor, disposed on said board, for (1) downloading said monitor program and said first and second programs from said ROM to said RAM, (2) responding to a real-time interrupt by interrupting whichever one of the monitor program and the first and second programs is executing, so as to process the real-time interrupt, (3) executing the first program in said RAM until the first program relinquish command is reached, (4) beginning executing the monitor program when said first program relinquishes control, (5) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said first program, (6) thereafter, executing the second program in said RAM until the second program relinquish command is reached, (7) beginning executing the monitor program when said second program relinquishes control, (8) causing the monitor program to store in said RAM information which indicates the execution state of said second program, and (9) recommencing execution of said first program, wherein at least one of said first and second programs is for communicating over the LAN, and wherein at least one of said first and second programs is for communicating with the peripheral.