PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

STO is engaged in the development of tools to syntactically and semantically analyze patent claim language. Such tools will be used to derive data to feed into other programs for analyzing the quality of the claims, the validity of the claims, and therefore the commercial value of the claims.

What follows are modified claims from US patent 4,467,421, which had claims that a few lawyers feel to have more than a few questionably constructed claims. At some point, we will be adapting our tools to allow you to type in the number of a US patent, and have the claims retrieved from the PTO Web site for analysis and display.

Claims

1. Apparatus for the storage of digital data organized into records
comprising:

host interface means for receiving data from a host computer;

cache means connected to said host interface means for temporary storage
of said data;

storage device interface means for connecting said cache means to one or
more memory storage devices of one or more classes of storage devices
for comparatively long-term storage of said data; and

controller means including address recall means, for:

(a) determining where said data is to be stored on said storage devices;

(b) controlling flow of said data from said host interface means through
said cache means and said storage device interface means onto said
storage devices; and

whereby a given user-defined data set may be stored on a plurality of
storage devices, selected from one or more classes of storage devices
by said controller means.

2. An apparatus of claim 1 wherein each said data set is divided into
pages of length convenient for storage on devices of said classes by said
controller, which operates individually on each of said pages to determine
where and on what class of storage devices said page shall be stored.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said host interface means comprises
channel adapter means for compression of said data by replacing successive
identical bytes of data by a compressed data word comprised of one of
said identical bytes together with a character indicative of the number
of times said identical byte was repeated in the uncompressed data.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said compressed data word
additionally comprises a character for identification of said
compressed data word - as such.

5. A data processing and storage system, comprising:
at least one host computer for performing arithmetic and logic operations
on digital data, an extremely high speed, relatively low capacity memory
means in said computer, and interface means for transmitting and
receiving data from external memory means; and

a virtual storage system, comprising:

relatively low speed, high capacity storage devices;

host interface means for receiving data from and transmitting data
to said host;

a high speed, relatively low capacity cache memory means connected to
said host interface means; and

a controller for allocating appropriate storage locations on said
relatively low speed, high capacity storage devices for data received
from said host and stored in said cache, for accordingly controlling the
flow of data from said cache to said relatively low speed, high capacity
storage devices, and for storing said storage locations.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said relatively low speed, high
capacity storage devices means include devices of plural classes.

7. The system of either of claims 5 or 6, in which said host computer
does not control the location of storage of the said data on said
relatively low speed, high or highest capacity storage devices, nor the
choice of class of device on which said data is stored.

8. The system of claim 5 wherein said data is divided by said controller
into a multiplicity of pages of convenient length for storage on said
relatively low speed, high capacity storage devices and the location
for storage of each said page is determined individually by said controller.

9. The system of claim 5 wherein said controller operates to store a
single user-defined data set over plural storage devices as required,
whereby a user of said system is not required to define the extent of
storage locations for the containment of data sets operated on by said host.

10. The system of claim 5 wherein a single user identified data set may
be divided seriatim into pages by said controller and stored on differing
ones of said relatively low speed storage devices, preferably disk drives.

11. The method of operation of a data processing and storage system, said
system comprising data processing means for outputting results of said
processing for storage, and a data storage unit, said data storage unit
comprising:

plural types of addressable storage devices for long-term storage of said
data; and

controller means for allocating long-term storage locations within said
long-term storage devices to said data and for controlling flow of data
from said data processing means to said long-term storage devices;

wherein the improvement comprises performing the step of determining where
and on what type of addressable data storage device(s) the data is to be
stored in said controller means, exclusive of the function of said data
processing unit.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein data is stored on relatively higher
speed storage devices, and is periodically copied to relatively lower
speed storage devices.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein only that data stored on said relatively
higher speed storage device in the interim following the last previous
copying operation is copied.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said data is simultaneously stored on
differing ones of storage devices of the same type upon receipt in said
data storage unit.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein said data is supplied by said
processing unit to said storage unit in user-defined data sets, and
said data sets are divided into pages by said controller for storage
in said storage unit.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the length of each said page is
determined in accordance with the characteristics of the type of storage
device on which storage locations for said pages are allocated.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of temporarily
storing said data in said short-term memory means within said data storage
unit during said step of determining at what long-term storage location
said data is to be stored.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of compressing said
data prior to said step of determining at what long-term storage location
said data is to be stored.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said data is divided into nearly equal
pages for storage assignment after said compressing step is performed.

20. A magnetic data storage system comprising means for receiving data
from a host computer, means for temporary storage of said data, means
for allocating locations on long-term storage media for said data, and
for controlling flow of said data through said system, memory means for
recall of said locations for long-term storage of said data, and means
for periodically duplicating data stored in a first long-term storage
location by copying it to a second long-term storage means, wherein said
means for duplicating data is controlled such that said copying step is
performed with respect to only that data which has been operated upon in
the interim since the last preceding copying step, as indicated by said
memory means for recall.

21. A data storage and recall system, comprising means for receiving data
from means for processing data, means for long-term storage of said data,
means for temporary storage of said data, means for allocating locations on
long-term storage media for said data, means for controlling flow of said
data through said system, memory means for recall of said locations for
long-term storage of said data, and means for outputting said data upon
instruction.

22. A data storage system for connection to a host computer, said host
computer being adapted to indicate to said storage system that a particular
data access request is one of a sequence of such requests to be directed
to a particular user data set during execution of a particular user
program, wherein said data storage system comprises:

long-term, lower speed data storage means and shorter term, higher speed
data storage means, where upon receipt from said host computer by said data
storage system of a first data access command request directed to a portion
of a user data set, said data storage system transfers a larger portion
of said user data set than that requested from said large capacity,
slower speed memory means into said smaller capacity, higher speed
memory means in anticipation of further host access requests directed
to said user data set.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein said user data set is divided into
pages by controller means comprised in said storage system, said pages
being stored on plural ones of long-term data storage devices, the
locations of storage of said pages being retained in address memory
means.

24. Method of operation of a data processing and storage system comprising
a host computer system and a data storage system, said data storage
system comprising:

long-term magnetic storage media of relatively high capacity and
relatively low speed, and

short-term semi-conductor memory means of relatively low capacity and
relatively high speed, wherein said host indicates to said storage system
that a particular data access request is one of a series of access requests
directed to a particular user-defined data set in execution of a user
program, wherein said data storage system comprises processor means for
responding to said indication by transferring portions of said user defined
data set not called for by said host from said large capacity, slow speed
magnetic storage means to said low capacity, high speed semi-conductor
memory means in anticipation of further requests directed to said data
set by said host in execution of said program.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said user-defined data set is divided
into pages, said pages being individually assigned to storage locations on
plural ones of said long-term magnetic memory devices by said processor
means.

26. A data storage subsystem for connection to a host computer by way
of a channel comprising:
magnetic disk data storage means;
magnetic tape data storage means;
solid-state cache data storage means;
data bus means for transmission of data from said channel to said disk
means,
from said disk means to said cache means and from said cache means to said
tape means; and
controller means for directing the flow of data along said data bus means
connecting said cache means, said channel means and said tape means unit,
whereby a data set can be copied from a disk memory means into said cache
and thence to said tape means.

27. The subsystem of claim 26 further comprising means for determining where
and on what type of magnetic storage media said data is to be stored.

28. The subsystem of claim 26 wherein said means for determining further
comprises means for division of a user data set into subportions sized in
accordance with the physical characteristics of the media on which said
subportions are to be stored.

29. The subsystem of claim 28 further comprising means for recall of the
location at which said subportions are stored, and for reassembly of said
subportions into a complete data set.

30. In a data storage subsystem adapted to be connected to a channel
interfacing a host computer system with a data storage subsystem, the
improvement which comprises:

said data storage subsystem comprising:

controller means;
disk storage means;
tape storage means; and
solid state cache memory means, said cache means being effectively
connected to said magnetic disk storage means and to said magnetic
tape storage means, said controller means controlling flow of data
between said disk means and said cache means and between said cache
means and said tape means, whereby upon indication that a given data
set or portion of a data set should be copied to tape media for backup
purposes, said data set or portion data set may be copied from said
disk to said cache and thence to said tape.