This class provides for process or apparatus for detecting
and correcting errors in electrical pulse or pulse coded data.
This class also provides for process or apparatus for detecting
and recovering from faults in electrical computers and digital data
processing systems, as well as logic level based systems.
Electricity: Measuring and Testing, appropriate subclasses for process and apparatus
for measuring, testing or sensing of electric properties or measuring,
testing or sensing of nonelectric properties by electric means.
Coded data Generation or Conversion, appropriate subclasses for process and apparatus
utilizing electrical pulse coding techniques without error correcting/detecting
functions for the generating or conversion of coded data.
Facsimile and Static Presentation Processing, appropriate subclasses for process and apparatus
for testing and performance monitoring of facsimile devices.
Static Information Storage and Retrieval,
subclass 200 and 201, for process and apparatus including the
specifics of memory devices which are tested for defects or erroneous
information.
Data Processing: Artificial Intelligence,
subclasses 1+ for fuzzy logic, subclasses 15+ for neural
networks and subclasses 45+ for knowledge processing systems.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Multicomputer Data Transferring or Plural Processor Synchronization, appropriate subclasses for multiple computer or
computer process systems.
Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing
Systems: Input/Output, appropriate subclasses for process and apparatus
for computer input or output systems.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Memory,
subclasses 133+ for entry replacement strategies and page fault
recovery, and subclasses 161+ for data archiving.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architectures and Instruction Processing(e.g., processors), appropriate subclasses for process and apparatus
for computer structure and program execution systems.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Support, appropriate subclasses for process and apparatus
for computer cases, housing and supports.
Information Security,
subclasses 1 through 36for information security in computers or digital processing
system.
SECTION III - GLOSSARY
BUS
A conductor used for transferring data, signals or power.
COMPUTER
A machine that inputs data, processes data, stores data, and
outputs data.
DATA
Representation of information in a coded manner suitable
for communication, interpretation, or processing.
ADDRESS DATA
Data that represent or identify a source or destination.
INSTRUCTION DATA
Data that represent an operation and identify its operands,
if any.
STATUS DATA
Data that represent conditions of data, digital data
processing systems, computers, peripherals, memory, etc.
USER DATA
Data other than address data, instruction data, or status data.
DATA PROCESSING
See PROCESSING, below.
DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM
An arrangement of processor(s) in combination with either
memory or peripherals, or both, performing data processing.
ERROR
Manifestation of a fault as an undesired event that occurs
when actual behavior deviates from the behavior that is required
by initial specification. This includes a change in information
content of pulse or pulse coded data to a state or value other than
the normal state or value of a properly operating device or system.
FAULT
A flaw in a functional unit (hardware or software).
INFORMATION
Meaning that a human being assigns to data by means of the
conventions applied to that data.
MEMORY
A functional unit to which data can be stored and from which
data can be retrieved.
PERIPHERAL
A functional unit that transmits data to or receives
data from a computer to which it is coupled.
PROCESSING
Methods or apparatus performing systematic operations upon
data or information exemplified by functions such as data or information
transferring, merging, sorting, and computing (i.e., arithmetic
operations or logical operations).
(1)
Note. In this class, the glossary term data is used to modify
processing in the term data processing; whereas the term digital
data processing system refers to a machine performing data processing.
PROCESSOR
A functional unit that interprets and executes instruction data.
RECOVERY
Responding to a fault in a system by either returning
a system to a previous level of correct operation, achieving a degraded
level of correct operation, or safely shutting down the system.
SECURITY
Extent of protection for system hardware, software, or data
from maliciously caused destruction, unauthorized modification,
or unauthorized disclosure.
This subclass is indented under subclass 100. Subject matter further including means or steps for increasing
a probability of correctly performing services (e.g., data processing) throughout
a time interval, given correct performance at the beginning of the
interval, or for increasing the probability of correctly performing
services at any given instant.
(1)
Note. Reliability features in a data processing control system
are classified elsewhere.
Cryptography,
subclass 4 for stored digital data access or copy prevention in
combination with data encryption; e.g., software program protection
or computer virus detection in combination with data encryption.
Data Processing: Generic Control Systems or Specific
Applications,
subclasses 79 through 82for reliability features in a data processing generic
control system.
This subclass is indented under subclass 1. Subject matter further including means or steps for responding
to a failure by either returning a system to a previous level of
correct operation, achieving a degraded level of correct operation,
or safely shutting down the system after detecting the error or
locating the fault.
(1)
Note. Classification here requires significant data processing
features claimed. For fault recovery in a system without significant
data processing method or apparatus, classification is elsewhere. See
the SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS and SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
notes below.
(2)
Note. Classification here requires notification or detection
of the fault, its location, and a further action. Subcombinations
used in the process of fault recovery; e.g., fault locating, are classified
below.
(3)
Note. "Page faults" are a species of faults peculiar to memory
accessing and are classified elsewhere in this class. See the SEE
OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS notes below.
This subclass is indented under subclass 2. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
by selecting a correct output from a concurrently active redundant
functional unit in place of the output of the failed functional unit,
or by replacing or isolating the failed functional unit.
(1)
Note. This subclass is for fault recovery by masking or reconfiguration
in combination with significant data processing. Generic fault recovery
is classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
This subclass is indented under subclass 3. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
at a network level (e.g., recovery from nodal failures).
Communications: Electrical, various subclasses for residual electrical communication
systems,
subclass 2.23 for alternate routing in a plural stage communication
system, and see related Class 342 and Class 343.
Communications: Directive Radio Wave Systems
and Devices (e.g., Radar, Radio Navigation), various subclasses for alternate routing in a plural
stage radar network.
Multiplex Communications,
subclasses 216+ for fault recovery and subclasses 229+ for
data flow congestion prevention and control in a multiplex communication
system.
This subclass is indented under subclass 3. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
from a fault of a memory function level or the peripheral function
level, or for recovery limited to a specialized processor accessing
either memory, peripheral, or other I/O device.
(1)
Note. "Page faults" are a species of faults peculiar to memory
accessing and are classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH THIS
CLASS, SUBCLASS notes below.
Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing
Systems: Input/Output,
subclasses 1+ , for transferring data from one or more peripherals
to one or more computers for the latter to process, store, or further
transfer or for transferring data from the computers to the peripherals
(i.e., Input/Output data processing).
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Memory,
subclasses 100+ for means (e.g., processor, controller, etc.) or
steps for governing memory in a digital data processing system or
the passage (e.g., reading or writing) of data thereto and subclasses
133+for entry replacement strategies and page fault recovery.
This subclass is indented under subclass 5. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
by accessing redundant stored data.
(1)
Note. This and indented subclasses rely on information which
is a function of the actual data of concern as exemplified in one
simple form by parity data. The species of fault recovery or avoidance
concerned with storing archival verbatim copies of data is classified
elsewhere. See SEE OR SEARCH CLASS notes below.
(2)
Note. Parity and error-correction coded storage of general
utility in a system without data processing features claimed are
classified elsewhere in this class. See SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS,
SUBCLASS notes below.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Memory,
subclasses 161+ for preventing the corruption, loss, alteration,
or disclosure of data by storing, as in making backup copies.
This subclass is indented under subclass 6. Subject matter further including means or steps for statically
replacing a failed memory component.
(1)
Note. Classification here requires more than selecting a correct
output from a concurrently active redundant functional unit in place
of the output of the failed component.
This subclass is indented under subclass 5. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
by disabling access to a failed memory location.
(1)
Note. Classification here requires more than selecting a correct
output from a concurrently active redundant functional unit in place
of the output of the failed component.
This subclass is indented under subclass 5. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
from fault of an access processor (e.g., memory management unit
(MMU), direct memory access (DMA) processor, I/O processor,
etc.).
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architectures and Instruction Processing (e.g., processors), appropriate subclasses for digital data processing
system architecture, per se.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architectures and Instruction Processing (e.g., processors), appropriate subclasses for digital data processing
system architecture, per se.
This subclass is indented under subclass 10. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
employing redundant processors substantially simultaneously performing
the same operation.
Data Processing: Generic Control Systems or Specific
Applications,
subclass 3 for master/slave processors in a data
processing generic control system, and subclasses 79-82 for protection
or reliability in a digital data processing control system.
This subclass is indented under subclass 11. Subject matter further including means or steps for maintaining
processor state synchronization to achieve redundancy of operation.
(1)
Note. Classification here requires a redundant processor for
the purpose of reliability, such as by consideration of state of
internal registers and the like of the redundant processors and
thus the machines themselves. Synchronization in the form of
timing and clock skew is classified elsewhere. See the SEE OR SEARCH
THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS notes below.
(2)
Note. Classification here requires the existence of a fault
condition. Synchronization maintenance at the clock level, however,
is classified elsewhere. See the search class notes below.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Multicomputer Data Transferring or Plural Processor Synchronization, appropriate subclasses for multicomputer and synchronizing,
and for synchronization maintenance of plural processors, per se.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architectures and Instruction Processing (e.g., processors), appropriate subclasses for task management, per
se.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Support,
subclasses 400+ , for clock synchronization, per se, subclasses
500+, for digital data processing system clock, pulse and timing
interval generation, per se.
This subclass is indented under subclass 10. Subject matter further including means or steps for readying
a backup processor or digital data processing system to replace
a failed primary processor or digital data processing system, or to
receive recent processing result(s) from a backup processor or digital
data processing system that may be relied upon.
(1)
Note. Classification here allows for the backup processor
or digital data processing system to be performing operations unrelated
to backup operation before or after failure of the primary processor
or digital data processing systems.
Data Processing: Generic Control Systems or Specific
Applications,
subclasses 2 through 7for data processing control system applications employing
plural processors, and subclasses 79-82 for protection or reliability
in a digital data processing system based control system .
This subclass is indented under subclass 3. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
using power supply subsystem component redundancy.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Support,
subclasses 300+ , for power control in a digital data processing
system environment, and subclass 321 for electrical digital calculating
computer (i.e., calculator) with power saving feature.
This subclass is indented under subclass 2. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
by restoring data in a data file, or data for a process, to data
at a previous point in time.
(1)
Note. The species of fault recovery or avoidance concerned
with storing verbatim copies of data is classified elsewhere. See
the SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS notes below.
(2)
Note. Parity and error-correction coded storage of general
utility in a system without data processing features claimed is
classified elsewhere.
(3)
Note. This state recovery subclass provides for reliability
and availability recovery under the condition of a fault. Data management,
per se, is classified elsewhere. See the search class notes below.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Memory,
subclasses 141+ for cache memory coherency, per se; subclasses
147+ for shared memory data processing which may employ
data management principles; and subclasses 161+ for preventing
the corruption, loss, alteration, or disclosure of data by storing, as
in making backup copies.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architectures and Instruction Processing (e.g., processors),
appropriate subclasses for source code management and software version
management.
This subclass is indented under subclass 15. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
by re-executing an operation in response to detecting an error in
an operation.
(1)
Note. Recovery by operation retry or error detection by sequential
repetition in a system without data processing features is classified
elsewhere.
This subclass is indented under subclass 15. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
of a communication process (e.g., a session) using a record.
Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing
Systems: Input/Output, appropriate subclasses for I/O processing
and communication between computers and peripherals.
This subclass is indented under subclass 15. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
of data in the presence of uncommitted action using a record of
the data created before the action.
Data Processing: Database and File Management
or Data Structures,
subclasses 200 through 206for database and file maintenance in the absence
of a fault condition.
Data Processing: Presentation Processing of Document,
Operator Interface Processing, and Screen Saver Display Processing, appropriate subclasses for a word data processing application
on computer, particularly
subclasses 255 through 272for editing in a text data processing application.
This subclass is indented under subclass 15. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
using sets of sequenced or linked recovery data containing set sequencing
or linking data.
This subclass is indented under subclass 15. Subject matter further including means or steps wherein
recovery is controlled by verifying the accuracy of the state data.
This subclass is indented under subclass 15. Subject matter further including means or steps wherein
recovery is controlled by a power supply status monitor.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Support,
subclass 321 for electrical digital calculating computer (i.e.,
calculator) with power saving feature, and subclass 340, for generic
power control monitoring in a digital data processing system environment.
This subclass is indented under subclass 2. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
using clearing or initializing of a processor register.
This subclass is indented under subclass 2. Subject matter further including means or steps for recovery
including termination of a system component to a safe condition.
(1)
Note. Isolating (i.e., disabling) an output of a failed network,
processor, memory, peripheral, I/O, or power supply component
is classified elsewhere. See SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS notes
below.
This subclass is indented under subclass 1. Subject matter further including means or steps for pinpointing
a fault using either a reactive diagnosing or a proactive testing,
including testing for developmental stage fault avoidance, for assurance,
or for maintenance.
(1)
Note. An invention directed to locating a fault in a digital
data processing system including more than nominal data processing,
or where the fault is specific to a nongeneral use of a digital
data processing system, is classified here. fault locating in combination
with a specific art device not of the basic subject matter of this
class is classified with the art device.
This subclass is indented under subclass 25. Subject matter wherein the testing is performed using an
artificial intelligence technique; e.g., fault tree, reasoning rules,
self-learning.
This subclass is indented under subclass 25. Subject matter further including means or steps related
to an access structure specialized for observing or controlling
a test or diagnosis.
This subclass is indented under subclass 27. Subject matter further including means or steps for using
a tester component that can emulate (i.e., functionally operate
as) a normal component in the tested system.
This subclass is indented under subclass 28. Subject matter further including means or steps for using
memory that can functionally replace a system component.
(1)
Note. For classification here the replaced component need
not be a memory.
Data Processing: Structural Design, Modeling,
Simulation, and Emulation, appropriate subclasses for general purpose simulation
or emulation of system components.
This subclass is indented under subclass 27. Subject matter further including means or steps for testing
or diagnostic access using specialized testing or diagnosing hardware
permanently built into a component of the system being tested or
diagnosed.
This subclass is indented under subclass 27. Subject matter further including an additional processor
for controlling all or part of in-system testing or diagnosis.
This subclass is indented under subclass 25. Subject matter further including means or steps for selection
or generation of a signal (i.e., data) for testing or diagnosing.
This subclass is indented under subclass 32. Subject matter further including means or steps for deriving
a test or diagnosis program based on an analysis of specification,
design, or output of the system to be tested or diagnosed.
Data Processing: Structural Design, Modeling,
Simulation, and Emulation,
subclasses 13 through 22for simulating electronic device and electrical
system.
Data Processing: Design and Analysis of Circuit
or Semiconductor Mask, appropriate subclasses for designing and analyzing
circuit or semiconductor mask.
This subclass is indented under subclass 32. Subject matter further including means or steps for controlling
a processor or digital data processing system to be tested or diagnosed
by applying an interrupt, halt, or clock signal to a processor or
digital data processing system.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Memory,
subclass 204 for virtual address branch or jump address predicting;
and subclasses 213 for generalized prefetch, look-ahead, jump, or
predictive address generating.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architecture and Instruction Processing (e.g., Processors),
subclass 227 , for instruction processing in support of testing,
debugging, emulation, etc.
This subclass is indented under subclass 32. Subject matter further including means or steps for substituting
or adding a testing or diagnosing instruction into a program or
instruction data stream of a processor or digital data processing
system being tested or diagnosed.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Processing Architecture and Instruction Processing (e.g., Processors), appropriate subclasses for instruction processing, per se,
including instruction alignment, fetching and decoding, and for
processing control at the processor level, per se, particularly
subclass 227 , for instruction processing in support of testing,
debugging, emulation, etc.
This subclass is indented under subclass 32. Subject matter further including means or steps for performing
a sequence of tests automatically in response to a power-up or initialization action.
Electrical Computers and Digital Data Processing
Systems: Input/Output, appropriate subclasses, for assigning operating characteristics
to peripherals, particularly
subclass 104 , for utilizing a hardware structure for providing
a processor with an arrangement of the digital data processing system including
characteristics of the digital data processing system’s
components.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Memory,
subclass 170 for automatically determining and allocating memory
space or specifying an allocation.
Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems:
Support,
subclasses 1 through 100,for digital data processing system initialization
and configuration at boot-time.
This subclass is indented under subclass 25. Subject matter further including means or steps for evaluating
the output, state, or design, of a computer system or a processor
or a program, for fault locating.
Data Processing: Structural Design, Modeling,
Simulation, and Emulation,
subclasses 13 through 22for the use of database in simulating electronic
device and electrical system.