Patents by Inventor John E. Hickman

John E. Hickman 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).

  • Controller port switch arrangement for sharing stored data among different systems
    Patent number: 4381543
    Abstract: A switching arrangement is disclosed which permits storage devices to be shared by two separate controllers, each controller in turn receives commands and transfers the stored data to a different data processing system. The arrangement involves a plurality of subchannels, each of which comprises at least one addressable storage device and two addressable interlocked port switches, each of which functions to connect one side of the subchannel and the device to one of the controllers. The subchannel switching arrangement is characterized by each switch being addressable as if it were another device, which permits the port switches to be implemented with minimal changes to either the controller or the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1983
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Roland J. Bunten, III, John E. Hickman