Abstract: The present invention may be embodied in a method, performed in a computer system having a disk drive, for installing an application program for execution under a user's preferred operating system without requiring user intervention. A command is received by the disk drive for reading a first data block to initiate a bootload of the user's preferred operating system. The disk drive detects the command and transfers a second data block which bootloads an installer program for installing the application program. The installer program is executed in the computer system to transfer the application program from a protected area of the disk drive to a user area of the disk drive, to modify a parameter of the user's preferred operating system to cause the application program to be loaded during a bootload of the user's preferred operating system, and to reboot the system to bootload the user's preferred operating system.

Abstract: A method of operating a mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen is disclosed. Web pages are received by the mobile terminal and stored in the local memory. A cache status of each web page identified by each link is determined, wherein the cache status is evaluated to control the display of the links of a web page on the screen of the mobile terminal.

Abstract: A network switch is disclosed for resolving requests from a plurality of host initiators by scheduling access to a plurality of disk storage devices. The network switch comprises a switched fabric comprising a plurality of switching elements. Each switching element comprises a plurality of bi-directional switched fabric ports, and a control input connected to receive switch control data for selectively configuring the switching element in order to interconnect the bi-directional switched fabric ports. The network switch further comprises a memory for storing a routing and scheduling program, and a microprocessor, responsive to the requests, for executing the steps of the routing and scheduling program to generate the switch control data to transmit scheduled requests through the bi-directional switched fabric ports. At least one of the plurality of switching elements comprises a disk storage interface for connecting to a selected one of the disk storage devices.

Abstract: A distributed method of establishing a path in a multi-dimensional computer network comprising a plurality of nodes for transmitting isochronous data from a source node to a destination node is disclosed. A request packet is injected into the network, the request packet specifying a request to transmit the isochronous data from one of a plurality of source nodes. The request packet is routed to at least one the plurality of source nodes, and the source node determines whether it has sufficient resources to support transmitting the isochronous data. If the source node comprises sufficient resources to support transmitting the isochronous data, the source node reserves resources within the source node to support transmitting the isochronous data, and transmits an ack packet from the source node to a first neighboring node. The first neighboring node determines whether it has sufficient resources to support transmitting the isochronous data.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for transmitting advertising information comprising a plurality of banner ads to a mobile terminal over a first connection during a synchronization session and storing the advertising information in a local memory of the mobile terminal. A web page is transmitted to the mobile terminal over a second connection, wherein the web page comprises web page content including a banner ad display area for displaying a banner ad. During a first time interval, a first one of the banner ads is retrieved from the local memory and the web page content is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the first one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area. During a second time interval, a second one of the banner ads is retrieved from the local memory and the web page content is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the second one of the banner ads in the banner ad display area.

Abstract: A device is disclosed comprising encryption circuitry for encrypting plaintext data into ciphertext data. A memory stores an initial spectral signature representing an initial spectral characteristic of the device, and a signal generator for generating an operating spectral signature representing an operating spectral characteristic of the device. A comparator compares the operating spectral signature to the initial spectral signature and enables the encryption circuitry if the operating spectral characteristic substantially matches the initial spectral characteristic.

Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for managing information storage among plural disk drives. In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the system includes plural host interfaces and first and second elements. The first and second elements each comprise a set of disk drives for storing information. Each of the first and second elements is associated with an element frame. Each disk drive included in the first element is connected to a different one of the plural host interfaces during the element frame of the first element. The system includes a switch controller, configurable by at least one of the plural host interfaces, for selecting among the first and second elements, and for directing information from a first one of the plural host interfaces to a selected disk drive within the first element. The system also includes a frame controller for controlling a duration of each element frame.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a disk drive which can assert control over the information content supplied in response to a read request from the host by performing a selective translation of addresses received from the host. The disk drive can include hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof, to unambiguously detect a command block to read a predetermined location on the drive. The drive, upon detecting occurrence of a predetermined address included in the command block, translates the address to initiate a read from an alternate, substitute location information stored at the substitute location is returned to the requesting host in satisfaction of the host's request. The information can be blocks of data, such as audio/video data, or can be executable code including, but not limited to, code used to boot a substitute operating system stored at a location known only to the drive.

Abstract: A switched node for use in a multi-dimensional switched fabric network is disclosed. The switched node comprises adapter circuitry connected to receive asynchronous and isochronous packets from an external entity. Each asynchronous packet comprises destination node routing information and data, and each isochronous packet comprises a path ID corresponding to a reserved path through the network, an arrival time parameter identifying a target arrival time of the isochronous packet into the switched node, and data. An asynchronous-to-isochronous converter converts the asynchronous packets into isochronous packets comprising the data from the asynchronous packets.

Abstract: A disk drive comprising a disk for storing encrypted data is disclosed. The disk drive comprises a first circuit for providing plaintext data to a second circuit. The second circuit comprises controllable encryption circuitry for encrypting the plaintext data into the encrypted data. The controllable encryption circuitry comprises a data input, an enable input, and a data output. The second circuit further comprises a plaintext input for providing the plaintext data to the data input, an encrypted text output for providing the encrypted data from the data output, and a first control input for receiving a first device authentication signal for authenticating the first circuit. The second circuit comprises a first verification circuit, responsive to the first device authentication signal, for producing a first verification signal for use in controlling the enable input of the encryption circuitry to enable the encryption circuitry to provide the encrypted data via the encrypted text output.

Abstract: Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a data storage device and associated method for reproducing a stored data stream with at least one data storage media having addressable storage locations storing data segments and pointers. The data segments define the stored data stream, and the pointers indicate addressable storage locations for other segments in the stored data stream. Each pointer includes a field for identifying whether the data stored includes the addressable storage location of the segment indicated by the pointer. A controller is responsive to the data segments for reproducing a stored data stream in accordance with an autonomously-defined sequence determined by the pointers.

Abstract: A system and method for performing disk drive diagnostics and restoration using a host-inaccessible partition are disclosed. The system includes a disk drive including: a host-accessible user partition; a host-inaccessible hidden partition independent of the host-accessible user partition; and a disk controller. The user partition includes: a user partition address range; a host-selected operating system; and a host-selected master boot record.

Abstract: A switched node is disclosed for use in a switched fabric network. The switched node comprises a disk and a head actuated over the disk. An integrated disk controller within the switched node comprises more than two bi-directional ports for simultaneously transmitting data in multiple directions through the switched fabric network, each port comprising an input port and an output port. The disk controller circuitry further comprises interface circuitry for interfacing with the head, a data buffer for storing data received from the input ports and data received from the head via the interface circuitry, and routing circuitry responsive to header data received from the input ports and header data received from the interface circuitry.

Abstract: The invention may be embodied in a method and a related computer system. The computer system includes a host computer with a native drive-access routine having a limited address range, and a disk drive with a protected area that is inaccessible to a user's preferred operating system. The protected area also lies beyond the limited address range. The method includes receiving and detecting a command in the disk drive for reading a master boot record to initiate a bootload of the operating system. In response to detecting the command, the method includes transferring a drive-selected master boot record that, when executed in the computer system, initiates a process that enables address spoofing, loads an extended-address drive-access routine from the protected area using spoofed addresses within the limited address range, and executes the extended-address drive-access routine to replace the native drive-access routine for providing access to the protected area.

Abstract: A network switch is disclosed for resolving requests from a plurality of host initiators by scheduling access to a plurality of storage systems. The network switch comprises a plurality of multi-port switches interconnected to form a switched fabric, the multi-port switches for routing requests to the plurality of storage systems and for receiving scheduling data from each of the plurality of storage systems. The network switch further comprises a memory for storing the scheduling data, and a microprocessor, responsive to the scheduling data stored in the memory, for executing a scheduling algorithm to schedule the requests. The scheduling data is transferred automatically from each storage system to the memory through the multi-port switches without the microprocessor requesting the scheduling data from each storage system.

Abstract: A computer system having a host computer is connected to a disk drive for providing a key to enable a feature controlled by the disk drive. The disk drive validates the key using private validation means which are accessed by a disk drive microprocessor. The validation means include drive-dependent identification means which are used to derive a seed for generating an internal key to validate the key provided by the host computer. An exemplary feature enabled by the key validation is an expansion area of the disk drive which is enabled to provide extended user data storage without requiring internal physical access by the user.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method and associated device for storing stream and non-streaming data in common memory space of a data storage device. The method includes steps of organizing addressable locations of a data storage in a logical sequence, and initially storing streaming data by accessing the logical sequence of addressable locations in a first direction, and for storing non-streaming data by accessing the logical sequence of addressable locations in a second direction which is opposite the first direction.

Abstract: A disk drive provides head position information as position status variables to a host. The position status variables are derived from information formatted on a disk and processed by a media controller for storage in a position register set. The position information includes both radial and circumferential position references. The disk drive is connected to the host over a host interface which enables the position information to be stored automatically in a host memory so that the host can scan the position information to determine an optimum order of data transfer commands to be sent to the disk drive. A method for selecting a next command to transmit to a disk drive employs the position variables to optimize the command selection. In an alternative method, a host selects a command to be executed by one of an array of disk drives and then determines the disk drive to receive the command based on position information variables which have been stored and updated by the disk drives in the array.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for accessing data in a hidden area of a physical disk drive. The physical disk drive reports a user logical address range during booting the host computer or configuring an operating system for maintaining a file system, but does not report a hidden logical address range. A virtual disk drive is created that has a virtual logical address range that is reported to the operating system. A driver program is invoked for remapping addresses of the virtual logical address range with addresses of the hidden logical address range. When the file system makes a disk request directed to accessing a file in the virtual logical address range, the disk request is remapped from the virtual logical address range to the hidden logical address range. A command is transmitted to the physical disk drive using the remapped file address range.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a method for processing file system service requests in a computer having an attached disk drive that in response to commands from the computer can write data to or read data from disk locations to reproduce stream data and non-stream data. The method comprises the steps of responding to a first file system service request by recording whether the first file system service request is for non-stream data or stream data, associating a first set of disk locations of the disk drive with the first file system service request, and preparing a first command that requires access to the first set of disk locations, the first command including control data categorizing the command as a non-stream access command or as a stream access command in response to the step of recording. The method includes transmitting the first command to the disk drive.