Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for hardware enforced data protection mechanisms to protect software data structures. Software data structures can be protected against malicious software or software code errors that may result in data/buffer overruns or failures in computing systems. Software data structures are identified that need to be validated before they are used by software programs. A hardware mechanism receives instructions from various security privilege levels and validates an entire software data structure before the software data structure is used by software programs. Being able to detect whether a software data structure is corrupted improves defenses and security against malicious or erroneous code, provides a method for early identification, isolation, ease of debugging of software, and protects overall system integrity in computer systems and applications thereof.

Abstract: A system and method are presented for transmitting data upon an address portion of a computer system bus during periods of maximum or near-maximum utilization of a data portion of the bus. One embodiment of the computer system includes at least one central processing unit (CPU) and a main memory coupled to a processor bus. The main memory stores data, and the CPU executes instructions stored within the main memory. The processor bus is a split transaction bus. The processor bus is divided into an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus including address, data, and control signal lines, respectively. The CPU and the main memory each include a bus interface, and are coupled to the processor bus via the bus interface. The bus interface includes a transaction queue coupled to an interface unit. The interface unit is coupled to the address, data, and control buses, and performs bus transactions (i.e., read and/or write transactions) upon the processor bus.

Abstract: An automated voice mail/answering machine greeting system includes a computer system having a real time clock, a CPU, and persistent memory that stores data representing appointment text data for potential callees. The text data may be downloaded into the memory from PIMs associated with the callees. The stored text identifies each callee, appropriate dates, time ranges, and message text, including message text flagged as personal. The stored data can also include global data such as holidays. If a callee does not answer an incoming telephone call, the present date and time are compared against any stored appointment text data for the callee. If no such data is stored, a telephone answering machine can play a default message. But if stored data exists for the present date and time, the data is retrieved from persistent memory and preferably buffered. Absent a user-input flag marking it as personal, the buffered data is converted from text to synthesized voice.