Patent US5704055A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
US5704055A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Dynamic Reconfiguration of main storage and expanded storage by means of a service call logical processor

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1996-04-22
•
Granted: 1997-12-30
•
Expires: 2016-04-22
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A data processing system has a processing unit and a memory which provides a common pool of physical storage. This storage is initially assigned as either main storage or expanded storage during power on. Subsequent to the initial assignment, storage assigned as main storage or expanded storage may be unassigned and thus returned to the common pool. Once returned to the common pool, the storage may be reassigned as either main storage or expanded storage. The storage reassignment is done dynamically without requiring a reset action and transparent to the operating system and any active application programs.

Inventors

  • 👤 Jonel George
  • 👤 Steven Gardner Glassen
  • 👤 Matthew Anthony Krygowski
  • 👤 Moon Ju Kim
  • 👤 Allen Herman Preston
  • 👤 David Emmett Stucki

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 08:31
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F12/00; G06F12/02; G06F12/0223

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 4
Claim 1
Independent Claim 342 words
A data processing system including a processing unit for program execution and for data processing, an operating system program for controlling the operation of said data processing system, and a service call logical processor, said data processing system comprising in combination: a pool of increments of physical memory, from which pool, increments of main memory address locations and increments of expanded memory address locations are assigned; a configuration table including flags which indicate the assigned status of an increment in said pool of increments of physical memory as an increment of main memory address locations, as an increment of unassigned main memory address locations, as an increment of expanded memory address locations, or as an increment of unassigned expanded memory address locations; said service call logical processor dynamically changing an increment status in said pool of increments of physical memory by means of a service call instruction which changes a flag associated with the increment to be changed without disruption of the operating system program or any application program; said service call instruction including an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as main memory address locations to the status of unassigned main memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as main memory address locations to the status of assigned as expanded memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of unassigned expanded memory address locations, and an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of assigned as main memory address locations; wherein in hypervisor mode, when a logical partition is activated, said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations are assigned from the increment physical memory pool as specified by memory assignment parameters for said logical partition; and after said logical partition is activated, portions of said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations for said logical partition is unassigned in multiples of increments.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 342 words
A data processing system including a processing unit for program execution and for data processing, an operating system program for controlling the operation of said data processing system, and a service call logical processor, said data processing system comprising in combination: a pool of increments of physical memory, from which pool, increments of main memory address locations and increments of expanded memory address locations are assigned; a configuration table including flags which indicate the assigned status of an increment in said pool of increments of physical memory as an increment of main memory address locations, as an increment of unassigned main memory address locations, as an increment of expanded memory address locations, or as an increment of unassigned expanded memory address locations; said service call logical processor dynamically changing an increment status in said pool of increments of physical memory by means of a service call instruction which changes a flag associated with the increment to be changed without disruption of the operating system program or any application program; said service call instruction including an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as main memory address locations to the status of unassigned main memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as main memory address locations to the status of assigned as expanded memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of unassigned expanded memory address locations, and an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of assigned as main memory address locations; wherein in hypervisor mode, when a logical partition is activated, said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations are assigned from the increment physical memory pool as specified by memory assignment parameters for said logical partition; and after said logical partition is activated, portions of said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations for said logical partition is unassigned in multiples of increments.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 326 words
A data processing system including a processing unit for program execution and for data processing, an operating system program for controlling the operation of said data processing system, said data processing system comprising in combination: a pool of increments of physical memory, from which pool, increments of main memory address locations and increments of expanded memory address locations are assigned; a configuration table which indicate the assigned status of an increment in said pool of increments of physical memory as an increment of main memory address locations, as an increment of unassigned main memory address locations, as an increment of expanded memory address locations, or as an increment of unassigned expanded memory address locations; means for dynamically changing an increment status in said pool of increments of physical memory by means of instruction which changes said configuration table for the increment to be changed without disruption of the operating system program or any application program; said instruction including an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as main memory address locations to the status of unassigned main memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as main memory address locations to the status of assigned as expanded memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of unassigned expanded memory address locations, and an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of assigned as main memory address locations; wherein in hypervisor mode, when a logical partition is activated, said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations are assigned from the increment physical memory pool as specified by memory assignment parameters for said logical partition; and after said logical partition is activated, portions of said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations for said logical partition is unassigned in multiples of increments.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 326 words
A data processing system including a processing unit for program execution and for data processing, an operating system program for controlling the operation of said data processing system, said data processing system comprising in combination: a pool of increments of physical memory, from which pool, increments of main memory address locations and increments of expanded memory address locations are assigned; a configuration table which indicate the assigned status of an increment in said pool of increments of physical memory as an increment of main memory address locations, as an increment of unassigned main memory address locations, as an increment of expanded memory address locations, or as an increment of unassigned expanded memory address locations; means for dynamically changing an increment status in said pool of increments of physical memory by means of instruction which changes said configuration table for the increment to be changed without disruption of the operating system program or any application program; said instruction including an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as main memory address locations to the status of unassigned main memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as main memory address locations to the status of assigned as expanded memory address locations, an instruction for changing the status of an increment assigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of unassigned expanded memory address locations, and an instruction for changing the status of an increment unassigned as expanded memory address locations to the status of assigned as main memory address locations; wherein in hypervisor mode, when a logical partition is activated, said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations are assigned from the increment physical memory pool as specified by memory assignment parameters for said logical partition; and after said logical partition is activated, portions of said main memory address locations and said expanded memory address locations for said logical partition is unassigned in multiples of increments.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2000-12-29 2001-06-30 2001-12-30 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2004-12-29 2005-06-30 2005-12-30 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2008-12-29 2009-06-30 2009-12-30 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag