Patents by Inventor Kalvin E. Williams

Kalvin E. Williams 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: 7254716
    Abstract: A circuit generally comprising a plurality of master modules and a supervisor module is disclosed. The supervisor module may be configured to (i) detect a target address and a particular master module of the master modules initiating a transaction on a bus, (ii) identify a predetermined authorization in response to the particular master module, the target address and a current security mode of at least three security modes and (iii) subvert the transaction in response to the predetermined authorization restricting the transaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: LSI Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher M. Giles, Simon Bewick, Kalvin E. Williams
  • Patent number: 7254720
    Abstract: A circuit generally comprising a first memory, a processor and a logic block is disclosed. The first memory may store (i) a write instruction to store a non-highest security value of at least three security values in a register and (ii) a jump instruction to a second memory. The processor may have a pipeline and may be configured to (i) bootstrap to the first memory while the register stores a highest security value of the security values and (ii) execute the jump instruction following the write instruction. The logic block may be configured to (i) detect the write instruction in an execution stage of the pipeline and (ii) store the non-highest security value in the register in response to detecting the write instruction in a write back stage of the pipeline.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: LSI Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher M. Giles, Simon Bewick, Kalvin E. Williams
  • Patent number: 7228440
    Abstract: A circuit generally comprising a logic module and a security module is disclosed. The logic module may be configured to set a plurality of values to a plurality of predetermined values respectively while in a scan mode. The security module may be configured to (i) disable a scan capability of the values while in a non-lowest security mode of at least three security modes and (ii) enabling the scan capability while in a lowest security mode of the security modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2007
    Assignee: LSI Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher M. Giles, Simon Bewick, Kalvin E. Williams
  • Patent number: 7117352
    Abstract: A circuit generally comprising a debug port and a processor is disclosed. The processor may be configured to (i) bootstrap to a first memory, (ii) disable said debug port while in a first mode of at least three modes, (iii) authenticate said debug port while in a second mode of said modes and (iv) disable said debug port in response to failing said authentication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher M. Giles, Simon Bewick, Kalvin E. Williams
  • Patent number: 7035908
    Abstract: An apparatus comprising a shared memory and a multiprocessor logic circuit. The shared memory may be configured to store data. The multiprocessor logic circuit may comprise a plurality of processors and a message circuit. The message circuit may be configured to pass messages between the processors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2006
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventors: Kalvin E. Williams, John S. Holcroft, Christopher J. Lane
  • Patent number: 6968420
    Abstract: A circuit generally comprising a first memory, a second memory and a processor is disclosed. The first memory may store an instruction to read an updated security value of at least three security values. The second memory may store (i) the updated security value and (ii) information related to security of the circuit. The processor may be configured to (i) execute the instruction while a register stores a highest security value of the security values, (ii) copy the information from the second memory to a third memory in response to the update security value being greater than a current security value of the security values stored in the third memory and (iii) ignore the information in the second memory in response to the updated security value being no greater than the current security value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2005
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher M. Giles, Simon Bewick, Kalvin E. Williams
  • Patent number: 6892258
    Abstract: A circuit generally comprising a memory element and a controller. The memory element may define a semaphore allocatable to a resource. The controller may be configured to (i) present a granted status in response to a processor reading a first address while the semaphore has a free status, (ii) set the semaphore to a busy status in response to presenting the granted status, and (iii) present the busy status in response to the processor reading the first address while the semaphore has the busy status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventors: Kalvin E. Williams, John S. Holcroft, Christopher J. Lane