Patents by Inventor Tony D Pierce

Tony D 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: 7328279
    Abstract: A system for adding multiple GPE blocks (in addition to the system/root GPE block device) to a computing system by creating a device entry in the ACPI namespace, and using a _CRS object to describe the system resources consumed by the device is described. The GPE block device may then access associated hardware devices through a well known mechanism (either I/O or Memory Mapped accesses). By creating additional GPE block devices within the ACPI namespace, general purpose events may be delivered using more traditional hardware interrupt mechanisms than with existing systems (e.g., wiring GPE blocks together). Moreover, by putting GPE block devices in the ACPI namespace, hardware components having hardware registers may be “hot plugged” to the computing system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Jacob Oshins, Stephane G. Plante, Tony D Pierce
  • Patent number: 7228444
    Abstract: A mechanism is provided for a personal computer to preserve user and system state data in the event of an AC power failure when the computer is in a standby state. When the AC power failure occurs, a switchover circuit connects a rechargeable energy storage medium, such as a rechargeable battery, to the power supply of the computer for powering components of computer, and the computer is awaken. A critical battery alarm is then issued to trigger the operating system of the computer to perform a transition into a hibernation state, during which the state data of the computer are persistently stored. The energy storage medium is disconnected from the power supply after the computer system has entered hibernation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2007
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: William J. Westerinen, Jason M. Anderson, Allen Marshall, Tony D. Pierce
  • Patent number: 7131011
    Abstract: A mechanism is provided for a personal computer to preserve user and system state data in the event of an AC power failure when the computer is in a standby state. When the AC power failure occurs, a switchover circuit connects a rechargeable energy storage medium, such as a rechargeable battery, to the power supply of the computer for powering components of computer, and the computer is awaken. A critical battery alarm is then issued to trigger the operating system of the computer to perform a transition into a hibernation state, during which the state data of the computer are persistently stored. The energy storage medium is disconnected from the power supply after the computer system has entered hibernation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: William J. Westerinen, Jason M. Anderson, Allen Marshall, Tony D. Pierce, Shaun Wiley
  • Patent number: 6907474
    Abstract: A system for adding multiple GPE blocks (in addition to the system/root GPE block device) to a computing system by creating a device entry in the ACPI namespace, and using a _CRS object to describe the system resources consumed by the device is described. The GPE block device may then access associated hardware devices through a well known mechanism (either I/O or Memory Mapped accesses). By creating additional GPE block devices within the ACPI namespace, general purpose events may be delivered using more traditional hardware interrupt mechanisms than with existing systems (e.g., wiring GPE blocks together). Moreover, by putting GPE block devices in the ACPI namespace, hardware components having hardware registers may be “hot plugged” to the computing system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2005
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Jacob Oshins, Stephane G. Plante, Tony D Pierce
  • Publication number: 20040088589
    Abstract: A mechanism is provided for a personal computer to preserve user and system state data in the event of an AC power failure when the computer is in a standby state. When the AC power failure occurs, a switchover circuit connects a rechargeable energy storage medium, such as a rechargeable battery, to the power supply of the computer for powering components of computer, and the computer is awaken. A critical battery alarm is then issued to trigger the operating system of the computer to perform a transition into a hibernation state, during which the state data of the computer are persistently stored. The energy storage medium is disconnected from the power supply after the computer system has entered hibernation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2003
    Publication date: May 6, 2004
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: William J. Westerinen, Jason M. Anderson, Allen Marshall, Tony D. Pierce
  • Publication number: 20020059473
    Abstract: A system for adding multiple GPE blocks (in addition to the system/root GPE block device) to a computing system by creating a device entry in the ACPI namespace, and using a_CRS object to describe the system resources consumed by the device is described. The GPE block device may then access associated hardware devices through a well known mechanism (either I/O or Memory Mapped accesses). By creating additional GPE block devices within the ACPI namespace, general purpose events may be delivered using more traditional hardware interrupt mechanisms than with existing systems (e.g., wiring GPE blocks together). Moreover, by putting GPE block devices in the ACPI namespace, hardware components having hardware registers may be “hot plugged” to the computing system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2001
    Publication date: May 16, 2002
    Inventors: Jacob Oshins, Stephane G. Plante, Tony D. Pierce