Patents by Inventor Nicholas Peter Holt

Nicholas Peter Holt has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Authentication device
    Patent number: 6404862
    Abstract: An authentication device consists of a hand-held unit having a receptacle for a smart card and an audio interface for communication with a telephone line. A challenge-and-response authentication procedure is performed between the smart card and a remote service. The device is dedicated solely to said authentication procedure and has no display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: International Computers Limited
    Inventor: Nicholas Peter Holt
  • System and method for allocating a write request on the same cylinder as a most recent read request on a rotating memory
    Patent number: 5696921
    Abstract: A rotating memory system (e.g. a disk memory) in which a write request is allocated a physical block preferentially on the cylinder on which read/write heads are currently located. This reduces the amount of head movement and hence speeds up the access time. A block map is maintained to convert between the logical block numbers used by read and write requests and the physical block numbers which identify the physical locations of the blocks in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 9, 1997
    Assignee: International Computers Limited
    Inventor: Nicholas Peter Holt
  • Data processing apparatus with improved mechanism for executing register-to-register transfer instructions
    Patent number: 5644746
    Abstract: A data processing apparatus, having a visible register map for associating physical registers with logical registers. Instructions involving register-to-register transfers are executed by altering the association between the physical registers and the logical registers, without actually transferring data between the registers, so as to avoid logically redundant operations and to take such instructions out of the critical path of execution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Assignee: International Computers Limited
    Inventors: Nicholas Peter Holt, John Richard Eaton