Patents by Inventor William D. Westaway

William D. Westaway 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).

  • System for selectively aborting operation or waiting to load required data based upon user response to non-availability of network load device
    Patent number: 5226176
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods are disclosed having application for use in data processing systems which include a plurality of data processing devices ("agents") coupled to a communication network and at least one system software resource. The system software resource may comprise a floppy disk drive, hard disk drive, magnetic tape, optical storage device or other data storage device. All programs, data and the like accessible to the system software resource are indexed and "clustered", such that the data/programs are grouped as they relate to one another to assure full functionality of the software being loaded. In the event that the desired program/data to be accessed by an agent is not stored in the system software resource, the method of the present invention includes the steps of suspending any further data processing operations by the agent. The system software resource, by scanning through the index of all available data/programs accessible to the system software resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 6, 1993
    Assignee: Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: William D. Westaway, David P. Roberts, Thomas R. Caron