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`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
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`
`UTILITY
`
`PATENT APPLICATION
`
`TRANSMITTAL
`
`Attorney Docket No.
`First Inventor
`
`1 13189
`Michael L. Tasler
`
`(Only for new nonprovisional applications under 37 CFR 1. 5302))
`
`Express Mail Label No.
`
`APPLICATION ELEMENTS
`See MPEP chapter 600 concerning utility patent application contents.
`
`ADDRESS TO.‘
`
`An Analog Data Generating and
`
`Commissioner for Patents
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria VA 22313-1450
`
`11:] Fee Transmittal Form (e.g., PTO/SB/17)
`
`ACCOMPANYING APPLICATION PARTS
`
`3.
`
`2. I:I Applicant claims small entity status.
`See 37 CFR 127.
`24
`[Total Pages
`Specification
`Both the claims and abstract must start on a new page
`(Forlnlonnalion on the preferred arrangement, see MPEP 608.01(a))
`Drawing(s) (35 U.S. C. 113)
`[Total Sheets
`2
`4.
`5. Oath or Declaration
`[Total Sheets
`a. I Newly executed (original or copy)
`b.
`A copy from a prior application (37 CFR 1.63(d))
`for continuation/divisional with Box 18 completed)
`DELETION OF INVENTOR(S)
`Signed statement attached deleting inveniorls)
`name in the prior application, see 37 CFR
`1.63(d)(2) and 1.83(b).
`
`i.
`
`9. I::I Assignment Papers (cover sheet & documeni(s))
`
`Name of Assignee
`
`10.
`
`37 CFR 3.73(b) Statement
`(when there is an assignee)
`
`Power of
`Attorney
`
`11. E] English Translation Document (If applicable)
`
`12. |:| lnfogtion Disclosure Statement (PTO/SBIOB or PTO-1449)
`Copies of citations attached
`
`Application Data Sheet. See 37 CFR 1.76
`6.
`7. [3 CD-ROM or CD-R in duplicate, large table or
`puter Program (Appendix)
`Landscape Table on C D
`
`‘ 8. Nucleotide andlor Amino Acid Sequence Submission
`(if ap Iicable, items a. - c. are required)
`a.
`Computer Readable Form (CRF)
`D}
`Specification sequence Listing on;
`
`13 1:] Preliminary Amendment
`
`14. El Return Receipt Postcard (MPEP 503)
`(Should be specifically itemized)
`
`15' El
`
`Certified copy of Priority Document(s)
`(if 7079/'9” PFIOWU’ I5 C/aimed}
`
`16. [:1 Nonpublication Request under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i).
`Applicant must attach form PTO/SB/35 or equivalent.
`
`i. :I CD-ROM or CD42 (2 copies); or
`ii. :] Paper
`
`17, C] Other:
`
`c. I:I Statements verifying identity of above copies
`18. If a CONTINUING APPLICATION, check appropriate box, and supply the requisite information below and in the first sentence of the
`specification following the title, or in an Application Data Sheet under 37 CFR‘ 1.76:
`
`Continuation
`
`Prior application lnfonnelion:
`
`I:I Divisional
`
`E Continuation-In-part (CIP)
`Examiner C.K. Lee
`
`of prior application No.:’I.'I/928.283..
`An‘ Unit: 2181
`
`19. CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS
`
`The address associated with Customer Number:
`Name
`
`24628
`
`OR I: Correspondence address below
`
`State
`I
`Telephone
`
`Date September 27, 2010
`Registration No.
`Attorne IAeni
`
`This collection of information is required by 37 CFR ‘l.53(b). The information is required to obtain or retain a benefit by the public which is to file (and by the
`USPTO to process) an application. Confidentiality is governed by 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.11 and 1.14. This collection is estimated to take 12 minutes to
`complete, including gathering, preparing, and submitting the completed application form to the USPTO. Time will vary depending upon the individual case. Any
`comments on the amount of time you require to complete this form andlor suggestions for reducing this burden, should be sent to the Chief Information Officer,
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. DO NOT SEND FEES OR COMPLETED
`FORMS TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND TO: Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
`ifyou need assistance in completing the form, call 1~800-PTO-9199 and select option 2.
`
`HUAWEI EX. 1002 - 1/2201
`
`

`
`APPLICATION DATA SHEET
`
`APPLICATION INFORMATION
`
`Application Type:
`
`Title:
`
`Attorney Docket Number:
`
`Request for Early Publication?:
`
`Request for Non-Publication?:
`
`Suggested Drawing Figure:
`
`Total Drawing Sheets:
`
`Small Entity?:
`
`Preliminary Amendment
`
`APPLICANT INFORMATION
`
`Applicant Authority Type:
`
`Primary Citizenship:
`
`Inventor One Given Name:
`
`Family Name:
`
`City of Residence:
`
`State or Province of Residence:
`
`Street of Mailing Address:
`
`City of Mail Address:
`
`Country of Mailing Address:
`
`Postal or Zip Code of Mailing Address:
`
`Utility
`
`AN ANALOG DATA GENERATING
`AND PROCESSING DEVICE FOR
`USE WITH A PERSONAL
`COMPUTER
`
`Inventor
`
`GERMANY
`
`Michael
`
`L.
`
`Tasler
`
`CronthalstraB3 6c
`
`Wiirzburg
`
`GERMANY
`
`D-97074
`
`HUAWEI EX. 1002 - 2/2201
`
`

`
`Attorney Docket No. 1 13 189
`
`CORRESPONDENCE INFORMATION
`
`U.S.P.T.O. Customer Number:
`
`24628
`
`Phone Number:
`
`Facsimile Number:
`
`E—Mail Address:
`
`312-655-1500
`
`312-655-1501
`
`jasdool(et@we1shl<atz.com
`
`REPRESENTATIVE INFORMATION
`
`Those attorneys under Customer No. 24628
`
`DOMESTIC PRIORITY INFORNIATION
`
`Application:
`This Application
`
`Continuity Type:
`Continuation
`
`Parent Application: Parent Filing Date:
`11/928,283
`October 30, 2007_-J
`.4
`
`Continuation
`
`11/467,073
`
`August 24, 2006
`
`Continuation
`
`11/078,778
`
`March 11, 2005
`
`Continuation
`
`10/219,105
`
`August 15, 2002
`
`Continuation
`
`09/331,002
`
`June 14, 1999
`
`FOREIGN PRIORITY INFORMATION
`
`Foreign Application No.:
`
`Filing Date:
`
`Country:
`
`Priority Claimed:
`
`PCT Application No.:
`
`International Filing Date:
`
`Receiving Office:
`
`Priority Claimed:
`
`19708755.8
`
`March 4, 1997
`
`GERMANY
`
`Yes
`
`PCT/EP/9 8/01 187
`
`March 3, 1998
`
`Yes
`
`ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION
`
`Assignee Name:
`
`Papst Licensing GmbH & Co. KG
`
`HUAWEI EX. 1002 - 3/2201
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`

`
`Attorney Docket No. 1 13 189
`
`Assignee Address:
`
`Bahnhofstrasse 33
`
`Assignee City:
`
`Assignee Postal Code:
`
`Assignee Country:
`
`St. Georgen
`
`78112
`
`GERMANY
`
`HUAWEI EX. 1002 - 4/2201
`
`

`
`AN ANALOG DATA GENERATING AND PROCESSING DEVICE
`
`FOR USE WITH A PERSONAL COMPUTER
`
`CROSS—REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`[0001]
`
`This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/467,073, filed August
`
`24, 2006, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/078,778, filedAMarch 11, 2005, now
`
`expressly abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/219,105, filed August
`
`15, 2002, now Pat. No. 6,895,449, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/331,002, filed
`
`Jun. 14, 1999, now Pat. No. 6,470,399.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0002]
`
`The present invention relates to the transfer of data and in particular to interface
`
`devices for communication between a computer or host device and a data transmit/receive device
`
`from which data is to be acquired or with which two-way communication is to take place.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0003]
`
`Existing data acquisition systems for computers are very limited in their areas of
`
`application. Generally such systems can be classified into two groups.
`
`[0004]
`
`In the first group host devices or computer systems are attached by means of an
`
`interface to a device whose data is to be acquired. The interfaces of this group are normally
`
`standard interfaces which, with specific driver software, can be used with a variety of host
`
`systems. An advantage of such interfaces is that they are largely independent of the host device.
`
`However, a disadvantage is that they generally require very sophisticated drivers which are prone
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`to malfunction and which limit data transfer rates between the device connected to the interface
`
`and the host device and vice versa. Further, it is often very difficult to implement such interfaces
`
`for portable systems and they offer few possibilities for adaptation with the result that such
`
`systems offer little flexibility.
`
`‘[0005]
`
`The devices from which data is to be acquired cover the entire electrical
`
`engineering spectrum. In a typical case, it is assumed that a customer who operates, for example,
`
`a diagnostic radiology system in a medical engineering environment reports a fault. A field
`
`service technician of the system manufacturer visits the customer and reads system log files
`
`generated by the diagnostic radiology system by means a portable computer or laptop for
`
`example. If the fault cannot be localized or if the fault is intermittent, it will be necessary for the
`
`service technician to read not only an error log file but also data from current operation.
`
`It is
`
`apparent that in this case fast data transfer and rapid data analysis are necessary.
`
`[0006]
`
`Another case requiring the use of an interface could be, for example, when an
`
`electronic measuring device, e.g. a multimeter, is attached to a computer system to transfer the
`
`data measured by the multimeter to the computer. Particularly when long-term measurements or
`
`large volumes of data are involved is it necessary for the interface to support a high data transfer
`
`rate.
`
`[0007]
`
`From these randomly chosen examples it can be seen that an interface may be put
`
`to totally different uses.
`
`It is therefore desirable that an interface be sufficiently flexible to
`
`permit attachment of very different electrical or electronic systems to a host device by means of
`
`the interface. To prevent operator error, it is also desirable that a service technician is not
`
`required to operate different interfaces in different ways for different applications but that, if
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`possible, a universal method of operating the interface be provided for a large number of
`
`applications.
`
`[0008]
`
`To increase the data transfer rates across an interface, the route chosen in the
`
`second group of data acquisition systems for the interface devices was to specifically match the
`
`interface very closely to individual host systems or computer systems. The advantage of this
`
`solution is that high data transfer rates are possible. However, a disadvantage is that the drivers
`
`for the interfaces of the second group are very closely matched to a single host system with the
`
`result that they generally cannot be used with other host systems or their use is very ineffective.
`
`Further, such types of interface have the disadvantage that they must be installed inside the
`
`computer casing to achieve maximum data transfer rates as they access the internal host bus
`
`system. They are therefore generally not suitable for portable host systems in the form of laptops
`
`whose minimum possible size leaves little internal space to plug in an interface card.
`
`[0009]
`
`A solution to this problem is offered by the interface devices of IOtech (business
`
`address: 25971 Cannon Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44146, USA) which are suitable for laptops such
`
`as the WaveBook/512 (registered trademark). The interface devices are connected by means of a
`
`plug—in card, approximately the size of a credit card, to the PCMCIA interface which is now a
`
`standard feature in laptops. The plug-in card converts the PCMCIA interface into an interface
`
`known in the art as IEEE 1284. The said plug-in card provides a special printer interface which
`
`is enhanced as regards the data transfer rate and delivers a data transfer rate of approximately 2
`
`MBps as compared with a rate of approx. 1 MBps for known printer interfaces. The known
`
`interface device generally consists of a driver component, a digital signal processor, a buffer and
`
`a hardware module which terminates in a connector to which the device whose data is to be
`
`acquired is attached. The driver component is attached directly to the enhanced printer interface
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`thus permitting the known interface device to establish a connection between a computer and the
`
`device whose data is to be acquired.
`
`[0010]
`
`In order to work with the said interface, an interface-specific driver must be
`
`installed on the host device so that the host device can communicate with the digital signal
`
`processor of the interface card. As described above, the driver must be installed on the host
`
`device. If the driver is a driver developed specifically for the host device, a high data transfer
`
`rate is achieved but the driver cannot be easily installed on a different host system. However, if
`
`the driver is a general driver which is as flexible as possible and which can be used on many host
`
`devices, compromises must be accepted with regard to the data transfer rate.
`
`[0011]
`
`Particularly in an application for multi—tasking systems in which several different
`
`tasks such as data acquisition, data display and editing are to be performed quasi-simultaneously,
`
`each task is normally assigned a certain priority by the host system. A driver supporting a
`
`special task requests the central processing system of the host device for processor resources in
`
`order to perform its task. Depending on the particular priority assignment method and on the
`
`driver implementation, a particular share of processor resources is assigned to a special task in
`
`particular time slots. Conflicts arise if one or more drivers are implemented in such a way that
`
`they have the highest priority by default, i.e. they are incompatible, as happens in practice in
`
`many applications.
`
`It may occur that both drivers are set to highest priority which, in the worst
`
`case, can result in a system crash.
`
`[0012]
`
`EP 0685799 A1 discloses an interface by means of which several peripheral
`
`devices can be attached to a bus. An interface is connected between the bus of a host device and
`
`various peripheral devices. The interface comprises a finite state machine and several branches
`
`each of which is assigned to a peripheral device. Each branch comprises a data manager, cycle
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`control, user logic and a buffer. This known interface device provides optimal matching between
`
`a host device and a specific peripheral device.
`
`[0013]
`
`The specialist publication IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 38, No. 05,
`
`page 245; "Communication Method between Devices through FDD Interface" discloses an
`
`interface which connects a host device to a peripheral device via a floppy disk drive interface.
`
`The interface consists in particular of an address generator, an MFM encoder/decoder, a
`
`serial/parallel adapter and a format signal generator. The interface makes it possible to attach not
`
`only a floppy disk drive but also a further peripheral device to the FDD host controller of a host
`
`device. The host device assumes that a floppy disk drive is always attached to its floppy disk
`
`drive controller and communication is initiated if the address is correct. However, this document
`
`contains no information as to how communication should be possible if the interface is
`
`connected to a multi-purpose interface instead of to a floppy disk drive controller.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0014]
`
`It
`
`is the object of the present
`
`invention to. provide an interface device for
`
`communication between a host device and a data transmit/receive device whose use is host
`
`device-independent and which delivers a high data transfer rate.
`
`[0015]
`
`The present invention is based on the finding that both a high data transfer rate
`
`and host device-independent use can be achieved if a driver for an input/output device customary
`
`in a host device, normally present in most commercially available host devices, is utilized.
`
`Drivers for input/output devices customary in a host device which are found in practically all
`
`host devices are, for example, drivers for hard disks, for graphics devices or for printer devices.
`
`As however the hard disk interfaces in common host devices which can be, for example, IBM
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`PCs, lBM—compatible PCS, Commodore PCs, Apple computers or even workstations, are the
`
`interfaces with the highest data transfer rate, the hard disk driver is utilized in the preferred
`
`embodiment of the interface device of the present invention. Drivers for other storage devices
`
`such as floppy disk drives, CD-ROM drives or tape drives could also be utilized in order to
`
`implement the interface device according to the present invention.
`
`[0016]
`
`As described in the following, the interface device according to the present
`
`invention is to be attached to a host device by means of amulti-purpose interface of the host
`
`device which can be implemented, for example, as an SCSI interface or as an enhanced printer
`
`interface. Multi~purpose interfaces comprise both an interface card and specific driver software
`
`for the interface card. The driver software can be designed so that it can replace the BIOS driver
`
`routines. Communication between the host device and the devices attached to the rnulti-purpose
`
`interface then essentially takes place by means of the specific driver software for the multi-
`
`purpose interface and no longer primarily by means of BIOS routines of the host device.
`
`Recently however drivers for multi—purpose interfaces can also already be integrated in the BIOS
`
`system of the host device as, alongside classical input/output interfaces, rnulti—pu1pose interfaces
`
`are becoming increasingly common in host devices.
`
`It is of course also possible to use BIOS
`
`routines in parallel with the specific driver software for the multi-purpose interface, if this is
`
`desired.
`
`[0017]
`
`The interface device according to the present invention comprises a processor
`
`means, a memory means, a first connecting device for interfacing the host device with the
`
`interface device, and a second connecting device for interfacing the interface device with the
`
`data transmit/receive device. The interface device is configured by the processor means and the
`
`memory means in such a Way that the interface device, when receiving an inquiry from the host
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`device via the first connecting device as to the type of a device attached to the host device, sends
`
`a signal, regardless of the type of the data transmit/receive device, to the host device via the first
`
`connecting device which signals to the host device that it is communicating with an input/output
`
`device. The interface device according to the present invention therefore simulates, both in
`
`terms of hardware and software, the way in which a conventional input/output device fimctions,
`
`preferably that of a hard disk drive. As support for hard disks is implemented as standard in all
`
`commercially available host systems, the simulation of a hard disk, for example, can provide
`
`host device—independent use. The interface device according to the present invention therefore
`
`no longer communicates with the host device or computer by means of a specially designed
`
`driver but by means of a program which is present in the BIOS system (Basic Input/Output
`
`System) and is normally precisely matched to the specific computer system on which it is
`
`installed, or by means of a specific program for the multi-purpose interface. Consequently, the
`
`interface device according to the present invention combines the advantages of both groups. On
`
`the one hand, communication between the computer and the interface takes place by means of a
`
`host device-specific BIOS program or by means of a driver program which is matched to the
`
`n1ulti—purpose interface and which could be regarded as a "device-specific driver". On the other
`
`hand, the BIOS program or a corresponding multi—purpose interface program which operates one
`
`of the common input/output interfaces in host systems is therefore present in all host systems so
`
`that the interface device according to the present invention is host device-independent.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0018]
`
`In the following, preferred embodiments of the present
`
`invention will be
`
`explained in more detail with reference to the drawings enclosed, in which:
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`[0019]
`
`FIG.
`
`1 shows a general block diagram of the interface device according to the
`
`present invention; and
`
`[0020]
`
`FIG. 2 shows a detailed block diagram of an interface device according to a
`
`preferred embodiment of the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`[0021]
`
`It should be understood that the title of this section of this specification, namely,
`
`“Detailed Description Of The Invention”, relates to a requirement of the United States Patent
`
`Office, and does not imply, nor should be inferred to limit the subject matter disclosed herein.
`
`[0022]
`
`FIG. 1 shows a general block diagram of an interface device 10 according to the
`
`present invention. A first connecting device 12 of the interface device 10 can be attached to a
`
`host device (not shown) via a host line ll. The first connecting device is attached both to a
`
`digital signal processor 13 and to a memory means 14. The digital signal processor 13 and the
`
`memory means 14 are also attached to a second connecting device 15 by means of bi-directional
`
`communication lines (shown for all lines by means of two directional arrows). The second
`
`connecting device can be attached by means of an output line 16 to a data transmit/receive device
`
`which is to receive data from the host device or from which data is to be read, i.e. acquired, and
`
`transferred to the host device. The data transmit/receive device itself can also communicate
`
`actively with the host device via the first and second connecting device, as described in more
`
`detail in the following.
`
`[0023]
`
`Communication between the host system or host device and the interface device is
`
`based on known standard access commands as supported by all known operating systems (e.g.
`
`DOS, Windows, Unix). Preferably, the interface device according to the present invention
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`simulates a hard disk with a root directory whose entries are "virtual" files which can be created
`
`for the most varied functions. When the host device system with which the interface device
`
`according to the present invention is connected is booted and a data transmit/receive device is
`
`also attached to the interface device 10, usual BIOS routines or multi-purpose interface programs
`
`issue an instruction, known by those skilled in the art as the lNQUIR_Y instruction, to the
`
`input/output interfaces in the host device. The digital signal processor 13 receives this inquiry
`
`instruction via the first connecting device and generates a signal which is sent to the host device
`
`(not shown) again via the first connecting device 12 and the host line ll. This signal indicates to
`
`the host device that, for example, a hard disk drive is attached at the interface to which the
`
`INQUIRY instruction was sent. Optionally, the host device can send an instruction, known by
`
`those skilled in the art as "Test Unit Ready", to the interface device to request more precise
`
`details regarding the queried device.
`
`[0024]
`
`Regardless of which data transmit/receive device at the output line 16 is attached
`
`to the second connecting device, the digital signal processor 13 informs the host device that it is
`
`communicating with a hard disk drive.
`
`If the host device receives the response that a drive is
`
`present, it then sends a request to the interface device 10 to read the boot sequence which, on
`
`actual hard disks, normally resides on the first sectors of the disk. The digital signal processor
`
`13, whose operating system in stored in the memory means 14, responds to this instruction by
`
`sending to the host device a virtual boot sequence which, in the case of actual drives, includes
`
`the drive type, the starting position and the length of the file allocation table (FAT), the number
`
`of sectors, etc., known to those skilled in the art. Once the host device has received this data, it
`
`assumes that the interface device 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present
`
`invention is a hard disk drive.
`
`In reply to an instruction from the host device to display the
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`i directory of the "virtual" hard disk drive simulated by the interface device 10 with respect to the
`
`host device, the digital signal processor can respond to the host device in exactly the same way
`
`as a conventional hard disk would, namely by reading on request the file allocation table or FAT
`
`on a sector specified in the boot sequence, normally the first writable sector, and transferring it to
`
`the host device, and subsequently by transferring the directory structure of the virtual hard disk.
`
`Further, it is possible that the FAT is not read until immediately prior to reading or storing the
`
`data of the "virtual" hard disk and not already at initialization.
`
`[0025]
`
`In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the digital signal processor
`
`13, which need not necessarily be implemented as a digital signal processor but may be any other
`
`kind of microprocessor, comprises a first and a second command interpreter. The first command
`
`interpreter carries out the steps described above whilst the second command interpreter carries
`
`out the read/write assignment to specific functions. If the user now wishes to read data from the
`
`data transmit/receive device via the line 16, the host device sends a command, for example "read
`
`file xy", to the interface device. As described above, the interface device appears to the host
`
`device as a hard disk. The second command interpreter of the digital signal processor now
`
`interprets the read command of the host processor as a data transfer command, by decoding
`
`whether "xy" denotes,
`
`for example, a "real-time input" file, a "configuration" file or an
`
`executable file, whereby the same begins to transfer data from the data transmit/receive device
`
`via the second connecting device to the first connecting device and via the line 11 to the host
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`device.
`
`[0026]
`
`Preferably, the volume of data to be acquired by a data transmit/receive device is
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`specified in a configuration file described in the following by the user specifying in the said
`
`configuration file that a measurement is to last, for example, five minutes. To the host device the
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`"rea1—time input" file then appears as a file whose length corresponds to the anticipated volume
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`of data in those five minutes. Those skilled in the art know that communication between a
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`processor and a hard disk consists of the processor transferring to the hard disk the numbers of
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`the blocks or clusters or sectors whose contents it wishes to read. By reference to the FAT the
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`processor knows which information is contained in which block.
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`In this case, communication
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`between the host device and the interface device according to the present invention therefore
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`consists of the very fast transfer of block numbers and preferably of block number ranges
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`because a Virtual "real-time input" file will not be fragmented. If the host device now wants to
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`read the "real—time input" file, it transfers a range of block numbers to the interface device,
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`whereupon data commences to be received via the second connecting device and data
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`commences to be sent to the host device via the first connecting device.
`
`[0027]
`
`In addition to the digital signal processor instruction memory, which comprises
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`the operating system of the digital signal processor and can be implemented as an EPROM or
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`EEPROM, the memory means 14 can have an additional buffer for purposes of synchronizing
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`data transfer from the data transmit/receive device to the interface device 10 and data nansfer
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`from the interface device 10 to the host device.
`
`[0028]
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`buffer.
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`Preferably, the buffer is implemented as a fast random access memory or RAM
`
`[0029]
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`Further, from the host device the user can also create a configuration file, whose
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`entries automatically set and control various functions ofthe interface device 10, on the interface
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`device 10 which appears to the host device as a hard disk. These settings can be, for example,
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`gain, multiplex or sampling rate settings. By creating and editing a configuration file, normally a
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`text file which is simple to understand with little prior knowledge, users of the interface device
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`10 are able to perform essentially identical operator actions for almost any data transmit/receive
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`devices which can be attached to the second connecting device via the line 16, thus eliminating a
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`source of error arising from users having to know many different command codes for different
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`applications.
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`In the case of the interface device 10 according to the present invention it is
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`necessary for users to note the conventions of the configuration file once only in order to be able
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`to use the interface device 10 as an interface between a host device and almost any data
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`transmit/receive device.
`
`[0030]
`
`As a result of the option of storing any files in agreed formats in the memory
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`means 14 of the interface device 10, taking into account the maximum capacity of the memory
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`means, any enhancements or even completely new functions of the interface device 10 can be
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`quickly implemented. Even files executable by the host device, such as batch files or executable
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`files (BAT or EXE tiles), and also help files can be implemented in the interface device, thus
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`achieving independence of the interface device 10 from any additional software (with the
`
`exception of the BIOS routines) of the host device. On the one hand, this avoids licensing and/or
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`registration problems and, on the other hand,
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`installation of certain routines which canbe
`
`frequently used, for example an FFT routine to examine acquired time-domain data in the
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`frequency domain, is rendered unnecessary as the EXE files are already installed on the interface
`
`device 10 and appear in the virtual root directory, by means of which the host device can access
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`all programs stored on the interface device 10.
`
`[0031]
`
`In a preferred embodiment of the present invention in which the interface device
`
`10 simulates a hard disk to the host device, the interface device is automatically detected and
`
`readied for operation when the host system is powered up or booted. This corresponds to the
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`plug-and-play standard which is currently finding increasingly widespread use. The user is no
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`longer responsible for installing the interface device 10 on the host device by means of specific
`
`drivers which must also be loaded; instead the interface device 10 is automatically readied for
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`operation when the host system is booted.
`
`[0032]
`
`For persons skilled in the art it is however obvious that the interface device 10 is
`
`not necessarily signed on when the computer system is powered up but that a special BIOS
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`routine or a driver for a multi-purpose interface can also be started on the host device during
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`current operation of the computer system in order to sign on or mount the interface device 10 as
`
`an additional hard disk. This embodiment is suitable for larger workstation systems which are
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`essentially never powered down as they perform, e.g. mail functions or monitor processes which
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`run continuously, for example, in multi—tasking enviromnents.
`
`[0033]
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`In the interface device according to the present invention an enormous advantage
`
`is to be gained, as apparent in the embodiment described in the following, in separating the
`
`actual hardware required to attach the interface device 10 to the data transmit/receive device
`
`from the communication unit, which is implemented by the digital signal processor 13, the
`
`memory means 14 and the first connecting device 12, as this allows a plurality of dissimilar
`
`device types to be operated in parallel in identical manner. Accordingly, many interface devices
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`10 can be connected to a host device which then sees many different "virtual" hard disks.
`
`In
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`addition, any modification of the specific hardware symbolized by the second connecting device
`
`15 can be implemented essentially without changing the operation of the interface device
`
`according to the present invention. Further, an experienced user can intervene at any time on any
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`level of the existing second connecting device by making use of the above mentioned option of
`
`creating a configuration tile or adding or storing new program sections for the second connecting
`
`device.
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`[0034]
`
`An important advantage of the interface device 10 of the present invention is that
`
`it also permits extremely high data transfer rates by using, for data interchange, the host device-
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`own BIOS routines which are optimized for each host device by the host device manufacturer or
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`BIOS system manufacturer, or by using driver programs which are normally optimized and
`
`included by the manufacturers of multi-purpose interfaces. Furthermore, due to the simulation of
`
`a virtual mass storage device, the data is managed and made available in such a way that it can
`
`be transferred directly to other storage media, eg. to an actual hard disk of the host device
`
`wi