Patent•
Method for quickly booting a computer system
12 Aug 2004-
TL;DR: In this paper, a method for quickly booting a personal computer system using boot configuration information on memory and the attached devices that was created and saved in a hard disk at the preceding boot process is presented.
Abstract: A method for quickly booting a personal computer system using boot configuration information on memory and the attached devices that was created and saved in a hard disk at the preceding boot process. The method for a quick boot process includes the steps of performing a power-on self test POST) operation when a personal computer system is powered on or a reset button is pressed; performing a normal boot process after the POST operation; saving the contents of memory and the status of the attached devices to a hard disk; checking if a reboot is requested; restoring the saved boot configuration information from the hard disk, after POST is completed during the reboot process; checking whether or not an initial device configuration file and/or an automatic batch file were changed; and executing commands in the two files and saving a newly created boot configuration information to the hard disk for future boot. The personal computer system, may reboot quickly because of omission of execution of the initial device configuration filed and the automatic batch file.
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Patent•
01 Sep 2006
TL;DR: In this article, a system and method for conducting a wagering game on a plurality of gaming machines is disclosed, which comprises the act of triggering a community event while conducting the game on the plurality of games.
Abstract: According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system and method for conducting a wagering game on a plurality of gaming machines is disclosed. The method comprises the act of triggering a community event while conducting the wagering game on the plurality of gaming machines. Two or more gaming machines are selected to participate in the community event. The community event is selected from a plurality of independent community events. The gaming system comprises a plurality of gaming machines, at least one community display, and at least one controller. The controller is operative to select the two or more gaming machines to participate in the community event, and select the community event from the plurality of independent community events to display on the at least one community display.
286 citations
Patent•
03 May 2005TL;DR: In this article, the non-volatile memory is used as a write buffer and a read cache for writes and reads to the long-term storage media and a direct mapping for specified sectors of the LSTM is provided.
Abstract: In order to provide a more efficient persistent storage device, one or more long-term storage media are included along with a non-volatile memory. In one embodiment, one portion of the non-volatile memory is used as a write buffer and a read cache for writes and reads to the long-term storage media. Interfaces are provided for controlling the use of the non-volatile memory as a write buffer and a read cache. Additionally, a portion of the non-volatile memory is used to provide a direct mapping for specified sectors of the long-term storage media. Descriptive data regarding the persistent storage device is stored in another portion of the non-volatile memory.
278 citations
Patent•
19 Oct 2006
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a method for providing accelerated loading of operating system and application programs upon system boot or application launch, which consists of: maintaining a list of boot data associated with an application program, preloading the application data upon launching the application program; and servicing requests for application data from a computer system using the preloaded boot data.
Abstract: Systems and methods for providing accelerated loading of operating system and application programs upon system boot or application launch are disclosed. In one aspect, a method for providing accelerated loading of an operating system comprises the steps of: maintaining a list of boot data used for booting a computer system; preloading the boot data upon initialization of the computer system; and servicing requests for boot data from the computer system using the preloaded boot data. In another aspect, a method for providing accelerated launching of an application program comprises the steps of: maintaining a list of application data associated with an application program; preloading the application data upon launching the application program; and servicing requests for application data from a computer system using the preloaded application data.
207 citations
Patent•
20 Jun 2003TL;DR: In this article, a memory module includes a memory hub that monitors utilization of the memory module and directs devices of memory module to a reduced power state when the module is not being used at a desired level.
Abstract: A memory module includes a memory hub that monitors utilization of the memory module and directs devices of the memory module to a reduced power state when the module is not being used at a desired level. System utilization of the memory module is monitored by tracking system usage, manifested by read and write commands issued to the memory module, or by measuring temperature changes indicating a level of device activity beyond normal refresh activity. Alternatively, measured activity levels can be transmitted over a system bus to a centralized power management controller which, responsive to the activity level packets transmitted by remote memory modules, direct devices of those remote memory modules to a reduced power state. The centralized power management controller could be disposed on a master memory module or in a memory or system controller.
201 citations
Patent•
01 Jun 2002TL;DR: In this article, a disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk for storing initial host requested (IHR) data requested by a host computer during a start-up process of the host computer, a head actuated radially over the disk, and a non-volatile semiconductor memory (NVSM) for caching at least part of the IHR data.
Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk for storing initial host requested (IHR) data requested by a host computer during a start-up process of the host computer, a head actuated radially over the disk, and a non-volatile semiconductor memory (NVSM) for caching at least part of the IHR data. The disk drive transmits the cached IHR data from the NVSM to the host computer during the start-up process thereby avoiding the delay associated with initializing the mechanics of the disk drive as well as conserving battery power for mobile applications.
188 citations
References
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Patent•
13 Apr 1999TL;DR: In this paper, a virtualization of the configuration settings for a base system configuration is used to quickly initiate the operating system in its base configuration, for example, using an executive.
Abstract: An operating system may be more efficiently initiated and restarted by making a virtual image of the configuration settings for a base system configuration. These settings may be stored and may be used to quickly initiate the system in its base configuration, for example, using an executive. The base configuration may be automatically modified response to system hardware or software configuration changes. These changes may be stored with the base configuration information. When a crash occurs, the virtual image may be used to quickly restore the system without the necessity for rebooting the operating system.
199 citations
Patent•
30 Jun 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, a shadow memory system is proposed which is able to survive multiple fast sequence power failures and includes a volatile main memory and shadow memory subsystem which continually monitors write accesses to the main memory.
Abstract: A highly reliable shadow memory system is able to survive multiple fast sequence power failures and includes a volatile main memory and a shadow memory subsystem which continually monitors write accesses to the main memory. The shadow memory subsystem includes a disk drive or shadow memory storing a copy of the data in main memory. As the main memory contents are altered, the shadow memory is continually updated to reflect the changes while main utility power is available. In the event of a main utility power failure, backup power is required to store main memory data in the shadow memory for only a few storage locations for which the updating of the shadow memory may lag main memory data changes. Consequently, only a small portion of available battery backup power is required to preserve all main memory data and the system can withstand multiple rapid succession power failures without loss of data.
184 citations
Patent•
12 Mar 1996TL;DR: In this article, a portable, software-controlled system for managing power consumption in a computer system is presented, which is integrated with the operating system of the computer and is extensible to any add-on devices that are installed into the computer system.
Abstract: A portable, software-controlled system for managing power consumption in a computer system. The power management system is integrated with the operating system of the computer system and is extensible to any add-on devices that are installed into the computer system. Upon the detection of a power down condition indicating that the computer system should be powered down, the power management system may verify that the computer system can be powered down without causing any of the devices that are connected to the computer to lose application data. If all of the devices agree that the computer system can be powered down, then each device has its state saved into memory and is powered down. Next, the state of each processor is saved into memory and power to the processors is disabled. In order to suspend the computer system, power to the memory is maintained, allowing each device state and processor state to be restored upon reboot. The computer system may be hibernated by writing all of the active memory (including each device state and processor state) to a secondary storage area and then powering off the entire computer system, including memory.
173 citations
Patent•
22 Mar 1991
TL;DR: In a computer system, when the system is first booted in a normal mode, the main memory data stored in a main memory immediately after the system boot, is stored as backup data in a backup memory or the like as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In a computer system, when the system is first booted in a normal mode, main memory data stored in a main memory immediately after the system is booted, is stored as backup data in a backup memory or the like A backup flag representing whether or not the backup data can be restored is set and the system is rebooted When the system is next booted in the normal mode, the backup data stored in the backup memory or the like is restored as the main memory data in the main memory The backup flag is automatically reset in a maintenance mode
164 citations
Patent•
21 Jun 1996
TL;DR: In this article, a computer utility automatically monitors changes in configuration files stored on the computer hard disk and provides the option to restore the configuration files to their state before they were changed if the computer system operates improperly.
Abstract: A computer utility automatically monitors changes in configuration files stored on the computer hard disk. The recovery tool indicates to the user when changes are detected in the configuration files and provides the option to restore the configuration files to their state before they were changed if the computer system operates improperly. In addition, the recovery tool monitors selected application files for changes in the files or missing files, and prompts the user when a change is detected. The recovery tool also provides for monitoring of the CMOS memory which stores computer system operating functions and parameters. If possible corruption of the CMOS memory is detected, the recovery tool restores the contents of the CMOS to their proper state. Finally, the computer utility provides the option of making a bootable floppy diskette containing the computer system configuration. The floppy diskette also stores files from the utility necessary to provide for restoration of the configuration, if necessary, from the floppy diskette.
150 citations