Patents by Inventor Bernard Pierce

Bernard Pierce 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).

  • Patent number: 9262236
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9218211
    Abstract: A method for priority promotion of a service request comprises receiving the service request for a target address space into a set of work requests, the set of work requests comprising a plurality of service requests for the target address space, the service request originating from a source address space, the service request having a priority equivalent to a priority of the target address space, the source address space having a higher priority than the target address space; determining a number of service requests for the target address space in the set of work requests; and, in the event the number of service requests for the target address space exceeds a predetermined value, promoting the priority of the service request to the priority of the source address space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Jacob W. Friedman, Bernard Pierce, Peter J. Relson
  • Publication number: 20150339174
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2015
    Publication date: November 26, 2015
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, JR., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9110741
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9110878
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9104508
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9104509
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9098358
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9098478
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20140317325
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2014
    Publication date: October 23, 2014
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, JR., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 8850450
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, Jr., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20130185735
    Abstract: A program (e.g., an operating system) is provided a warning that it has a grace period in which to perform a function, such as cleanup (e.g., complete, stop and/or move a dispatchable unit). The program is being warned, in one example, that it is losing access to its shared resources. For instance, in a virtual environment, a guest program is warned that it is about to lose its central processing unit resources, and therefore, it is to perform a function, such as cleanup.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Publication date: July 18, 2013
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark S. Farrell, Charles W. Gainey, JR., Jeffrey P. Kubala, James H. Mulder, Bernard Pierce, Robert R. Rogers, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 8352950
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for use in a computing environment to run a variety of applications in logical partitions. The apparatus includes one or more logical processors (LPs), one or more logical partitions (LPARs) configured to each access a share of processing resources of the LPs in accordance with predefined instructions, and an LPAR manager configured to determine an operational mode of each of the LPARs and any available amount of an excess of the share of the processing resources of the LPs and to dispatch the processing resources of at least a subset of the LPs to the LPARs in accordance with the respective predetermined shares and with respect to the determined operational mode of the respective LPARs and the amount, if any, of the excess share.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Donna N. Dillenberger, Jeffrey P. Kubala, Bernard Pierce, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 8312465
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of operating a central processing unit (CPU) including a plurality of processors, is provided and includes collecting real-time statistics relating to the processors during dispatching activities, identifying give-help processors from the real-time statistics when the real-time statistics indicate that one or more of the nodes is overworked, and implementing help to be provided by the give-help processor to relieve the overworked node of a portion of the work to be distributed thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Bernard Pierce, Daniel V. Rosa, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20100174873
    Abstract: A method for priority promotion of a service request comprises receiving the service request for a target address space into a set of work requests, the set of work requests comprising a plurality of service requests for the target address space, the service request originating from a source address space, the service request having a priority equivalent to a priority of the target address space, the source address space having a higher priority than the target address space; determining a number of service requests for the target address space in the set of work requests; and, in the event the number of service requests for the target address space exceeds a predetermined value, promoting the priority of the service request to the priority of the source address space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 2, 2009
    Publication date: July 8, 2010
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Jacob W. Friedman, Bernard Pierce, Peter J. Relson
  • Publication number: 20090183166
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for use in a computing environment to run a variety of applications in logical partitions. The apparatus includes one or more logical processors (LPs), one or more logical partitions (LPARs) configured to each access a share of processing resources of the LPs in accordance with predefined instructions, and an LPAR manager configured to determine an operational mode of each of the LPARs and any available amount of an excess of the share of the processing resources of the LPs and to dispatch the processing resources of at least a subset of the LPs to the LPARs in accordance with the respective predetermined shares and with respect to the determined operational mode of the respective LPARs and the amount, if any, of the excess share.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2008
    Publication date: July 16, 2009
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Donna N. Dillenberger, Jeffrey P. Kubala, Bernard Pierce, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20090182978
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of operating a central processing unit (CPU) including a plurality of processors, is provided and includes collecting real-time statistics relating to the processors during dispatching activities, identifying give-help processors from the real-time statistics when the real-time statistics indicate that one or more of the nodes is overworked, and implementing help to be provided by the give-help processor to relieve the overworked node of a portion of the work to be distributed thereto.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2008
    Publication date: July 16, 2009
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bernard Pierce, Daniel V. Rosa, Donald W. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20060240764
    Abstract: An air vent insert for boosting circulation and/or purifying the air in the room in a safe and cost effective manner is disclosed. The insert includes a housing configured to be inserted into an air duct and covered by a face plate. The housing has a flange portion that rests on the wall or floor surrounding the duct opening and a body portion recessed in the duct to achieve a low profile design. The body portion contains one or more fans and/or air purification units coupled to an electronic control unit. For increased safety, the entire unit operates on low voltage DC power supplied from an AC/DC converter plugged into a standard 3 prong wall outlet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2005
    Publication date: October 26, 2006
    Inventors: Christopher Pierce, Bernard Pierce, Larry Elkins
  • Publication number: 20050240925
    Abstract: Exemplary embodiments include a method, system, and storage medium for managing computer processing functions in a multi-processor computer environment that includes a standard logical processor and an assist logical processor, each of which share the same operating system instance within a logical partition. The method includes invoking a switch-to service by standard code. The standard code is running on a standard logical processor and is executing a task. The switch-to service checks to see if an assist logical processor is online, and it if finds one, the switch-to service updates an integrated assist field of a work element block associated with the task and assigns a queue to the work element block. The task is dispatched, in accordance with business rules identified in a system control block, on either of said assist logical processor or said standard logical processor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2004
    Publication date: October 27, 2005
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Donald Ault, Jose Castano, Jeffrey Kubala, Robert Maddison, Bernard Pierce, Gary Puchkoff, Peter Relson, Robert Rogers, Donald Schmidt, Leslie Wyman
  • Publication number: 20050222988
    Abstract: A method of searching for work elements for processing in a computing system having a primary queue of work elements and at least one secondary queue of work elements. A numerical priority value is associated with each of the work elements. The method includes setting an initial priority bar and processing work elements from the primary queue until reaching a work element having a priority less than the initial priority bar. A priority bar is set equal to a minimum of a priority limit and a priority on the at least one secondary queue. If the primary queue contains a work element having a priority greater than or equal to the priority bar, then the work element is processed. If the primary queue contains a work element having a priority less than the priority bar, then a work element from the at least one secondary queue is processed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2004
    Publication date: October 6, 2005
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bernard Pierce, Robert Rogers