Patents by Inventor Thomas James Fox
Thomas James Fox 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).
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Patent number: 7752495Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for reporting and recovering from an internal processor error in a multiprocessor system supporting system management mode. In accordance with the method of the present invention one or more replacement agents are allocated such as during system startup within the multiprocessor system. Machine specific error-reporting registers are monitored for one or more active processor agents during system operation. In response to detecting a faulty agent via the monitoring, a system management interrupt (SMI) request is issued to one or both the faulty agent and a selected replacement agent. In response to receiving the SMI request, the operating state of the faulty agent is copied to the selected replacement agent in system management mode. Operating system processing is then resumed using the replacement agent.Type: GrantFiled: March 11, 2008Date of Patent: July 6, 2010Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Edward Victor Zorek, Sr., Thomas James Fox, Eric Richard Kern, Michael Scott Rollins, William Bradley Schwartz
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Patent number: 7673183Abstract: A method and system for ordering and aggregating log streams. Log streams for events from different sources are received. If different sources have different recording cycles, or time epochs, that lead to different temporal granularities, then all of the log streams are combined into a single time epoch that is equal to the longest time epoch. Log streams from sources having shorter time epochs continue to retain information about their original time epochs, in order to retain information about the order of the events in those log streams. The log streams are re-ordered, both before and after being integrated into the aggregate log, by acquiring additional data from the different sources, thus permitting the likely cause/effect relationship between events.Type: GrantFiled: March 14, 2008Date of Patent: March 2, 2010Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Fred Allison Bower, III, Rodney Hugh Brown, Tushar Dasharath Fadale, Thomas James Fox, Richard Edwin Harper, David Bryan Roberts, Ketan K. Shah
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Patent number: 7650538Abstract: A method and system for ordering and aggregating log streams. Log streams for events from different sources are received. If different sources have different recording cycles, or time epochs, that lead to different temporal granularities, then all of the log streams are combined into a single time epoch that is equal to the longest time epoch. Log streams from sources having shorter time epochs continue to retain information about their original time epochs, in order to retain information about the order of the events in those log streams. The log streams are reordered, both before and after being integrated into the aggregate log, by acquiring additional data from the different sources, thus permitting the likely cause/effect relationship between events.Type: GrantFiled: March 14, 2008Date of Patent: January 19, 2010Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Fred Allison Bower, III, Rodney Hugh Brown, Tushar Dasharath Fadale, Thomas James Fox, Richard Edwin Harper, David Bryan Roberts, Ketan K. Shah
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Patent number: 7426657Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for reporting and recovering from an internal processor error in a multiprocessor system supporting system management mode. In accordance with the method of the present invention one or more replacement agents are allocated such as during system startup within the multiprocessor system. Machine specific error-reporting registers are monitored for one or more active processor agents during system operation. In response to detecting a faulty agent via the monitoring, a system management interrupt (SMI) request is issued to one or both the faulty agent and a selected replacement agent. In response to receiving the SMI request, the operating state of the faulty agent is copied to the selected replacement agent in system management mode. Operating system processing is then resumed using the replacement agent.Type: GrantFiled: July 9, 2004Date of Patent: September 16, 2008Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Edward Victor Zorek, Sr., Thomas James Fox, Eric Richard Kern, Michael Scott Rollins, William Bradley Schwartz
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Publication number: 20080184271Abstract: A method of providing diagnostic service for a data processing system includes retrieving product data identifying a data processing element in response to an alert generated by the element. The retrieved product data is forwarded to a networked diagnostic site. A diagnostic package is retrieved, the diagnostic package including diagnostic code appropriate for the alerting element. The diagnostic package is forwarded to the data processing system. The diagnostic code is then installed and executed to perform diagnostic testing of the element. Results generated during execution of the diagnostic code may then be used to take machine initiated corrective action. After the results have been generated, the diagnostic software is uninstalled from the data processing system.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 28, 2008Publication date: July 31, 2008Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATIONInventors: Thomas James Fox, Eric R. Kern, Charles Christian Queen, Celia Anne Schreiber
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Publication number: 20080162084Abstract: A method and system for ordering and aggregating log streams. Log streams for events from different sources are received. If different sources have different recording cycles, or time epochs, that lead to different temporal granularities, then all of the log streams are combined into a single time epoch that is equal to the longest time epoch. Log streams from sources having shorter time epochs continue to retain information about their original time epochs, in order to retain information about the order of the events in those log streams. The log streams are reordered, both before and after being integrated into the aggregate log, by acquiring additional data from the different sources, thus permitting the likely cause/effect relationship between events.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 14, 2008Publication date: July 3, 2008Inventors: Fred Allison Bower, Rodney Hugh Brown, Tushar Dasharath Fadale, Thomas James Fox, Richard Edwin Harper, David Bryan Roberts, Ketan K. Shah
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Publication number: 20080162083Abstract: A method and system for ordering and aggregating log streams. Log streams for events from different sources are received. If different sources have different recording cycles, or time epochs, that lead to different temporal granularities, then all of the log streams are combined into a single time epoch that is equal to the longest time epoch. Log streams from sources having shorter time epochs continue to retain information about their original time epochs, in order to retain information about the order of the events in those log streams. The log streams are re-ordered, both before and after being integrated into the aggregate log, by acquiring additional data from the different sources, thus permitting the likely cause/effect relationship between events.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 14, 2008Publication date: July 3, 2008Inventors: Fred Allison Bower, Rodney Hugh Brown, Tushar Dasharath Fadale, Thomas James Fox, Richard Edwin Harper, David Bryan Roberts, Ketan K. Shah
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Publication number: 20080162988Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for reporting and recovering from an internal processor error in a multiprocessor system supporting system management mode. In accordance with the method of the present invention one or more replacement agents are allocated such as during system startup within the multiprocessor system. Machine specific error-reporting registers are monitored for one or more active processor agents during system operation. In response to detecting a faulty agent via the monitoring, a system management interrupt (SMI) request is issued to one or both the faulty agent and a selected replacement agent. In response to receiving the SMI request, the operating state of the faulty agent is copied to the selected replacement agent in system management mode. Operating system processing is then resumed using the replacement agent.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 11, 2008Publication date: July 3, 2008Inventors: EDWARD VICTOR ZOREK, Thomas James Fox, Eric Richard Kern, Michael Scott Rollins, William Bradley Schwartz
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Patent number: 7380173Abstract: A method and system for ordering and aggregating log streams. Log streams for events from different sources are received. If different sources have different recording cycles, or time epochs, that lead to different temporal granularities, then all of the log streams are combined into a single time epoch that is equal to the longest time epoch. Log streams from sources having shorter time epochs continue to retain information about their original time epochs, in order to retain information about the order of the events in those log streams. The log streams are re-ordered, both before and after being integrated into the aggregate log, by acquiring additional data from the different sources, thus permitting the likely cause/effect relationship between events.Type: GrantFiled: August 3, 2004Date of Patent: May 27, 2008Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Fred Allison Bower, III, Rodney Hugh Brown, Tushar Dasharath Fadale, Thomas James Fox, Richard Edwin Harper, David Bryan Roberts, Ketan K. Shah
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Patent number: 7350112Abstract: A method of providing diagnostic service for a data processing system includes retrieving product data identifying a data processing element in response to an alert generated by the element. The retrieved product data is forwarded to a networked diagnostic site. A diagnostic package is retrieved, the diagnostic package including diagnostic code appropriate for the alerting element. The diagnostic package is forwarded to the data processing system. The diagnostic code is then installed and executed to perform diagnostic testing of the element. Results generated during execution of the diagnostic code may then be used to take machine initiated corrective action. After the results have been generated, the diagnostic software is uninstalled from the data processing system.Type: GrantFiled: June 16, 2003Date of Patent: March 25, 2008Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Thomas James Fox, Eric R. Kern, Charles Christian Queen, Celia Anne Schreiber
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Patent number: 7251746Abstract: A method and system for dynamically replacing a failing processor in a server system configured with IA-32 architecture without requiring hardware changes to the IA-32 architecture or administrative effort. At least one processor of the multiprocessor system (MP) is initially provided as a reserve (or hot-spare) processor that remains in an idle, off, or low-power mode. While in that mode, the OS is prevented from initially utilizing the hot-spare processor. When a processor failure is detected, SMI code running on a good processor instructs the OS to hold off allocating processes to the failing processor. Contemporaneously, the SMI (and OS) activates and completes an initialization of the hot-spare processor to prepare it to begin receiving the held-off processes. Control is then returned to the OS, which updates the “active” processor list and allocates the threads that were running on the failing processor to the hot-spare processor.Type: GrantFiled: January 21, 2004Date of Patent: July 31, 2007Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Thomas James Fox, Eric R. Kern, Michael Scott Rollins
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Publication number: 20040255191Abstract: A method of providing diagnostic service for a data processing system includes retrieving product data identifying a data processing element in response to an alert generated by the element. The retrieved product data is forwarded to a networked diagnostic site. A diagnostic package is retrieved, the diagnostic package including diagnostic code appropriate for the alerting element. The diagnostic package is forwarded to the data processing system. The diagnostic code is then installed and executed to perform diagnostic testing of the element. Results generated during execution of the diagnostic code may then be used to take machine initiated corrective action. After the results have been generated, the diagnostic software is uninstalled from the data processing system.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 16, 2003Publication date: December 16, 2004Applicant: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Thomas James Fox, Eric R. Kern, Charles Christian Queen, Celia Anne Schreiber