Pre-Grant Publication Number: 20070118658
Please help the USPTO examine the application by evaluating the relevance of the publicly submitted prior art to the patent application.
Peer-to-Patent forwards the Top 10 most relevant prior art submissions and their annotations to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Review this prior art and click on the thumbs up (or down) to indicate whether this submission should be forwarded to the USPTO.
If you login then you can add an annotation by typing in the box at the bottom of the screen to comment on the relevance of the prior art to the claims of the patent application.
Review this prior art and click on the thumbs up (or down) to indicate whether this submission should be forwarded to the USPTO.
If you login then you can add an annotation by typing in the box at the bottom of the screen to comment on the relevance of the prior art to the claims of the patent application.
Prior Art Detail
Summary / Description
| Summary / Description | It's GRUB for BIOS! |
Basic Information
| Type of Prior Art | Source Code |
| Name/Title | GNU GRUB |
| Publication Date | January 1, 1999 |
| Author | Yoshinori K. Okuji |
| URL | http://www.gnu.org/software/gru... |
| System Type | Application Program |
| Printed Materials (Documentation, Manual, Training Guide, Literature, et cetera) | No |
| Online Source Code Repository | Yes |
| Online project documentation | Yes |
| Storage Media (Floppy disk, CD-ROM, Tape, et cetera) | No |
| Other | No |
| How to Locate the Evidence (e.g. Location of the System Documentation -- Product Manual, User Guide, or Training Guide) | http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/ |
| URL for Software Repository | http://www.gnu.org/software/gru... |
| URL for Product Description | http://www.gnu.org/software/gru... |
| Licensing Model | Open Source |
| Programming Language | C, shell scripts |
Notes / To Do
| Notes | |
Excerpt
Excerpt Briefly, a boot loader is the first software program that runs when a computer starts. It is responsible for loading and transferring control to an operating system kernel software (such as Linux or GNU Mach). The kernel, in turn, initializes the rest of the operating system (e.g. a GNU system). |
Relevance
Claims
1
A computer system, comprising:
a processor;
a basic input/output system (BIOS) including logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
initiate power on self test (POST) processing in the basic input/output system of a computing device;
present one or more management alert formats in a user interface;
receive a selection signal from the user interface identifying one of the management alert formats presented in the user interface; and
configure a device coupled to the computing system with the identified management alert format.
Relevance
Describes the main GRUB screen where you can select the Operating System image to load
Describes the main GRUB screen where you can select the Operating System image to load
Claim Chart
All
2
The computer system of Claim 1, wherein the BIOS further comprises logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
select a firmware image based on the selection signal; and
transmit the firmware image to the device during post processing.
Relevance
Could equally say "configure the operating system to select the application based on the selection signal (i.e. mouse clicks, button presses, etc) and transmit the file to the application during post processing (of said mouse clicks)". e.g. open Microsoft Word (or any other word processor) when double-clicking on a document file. In other words, it is describing nothing more than normal behaviour of a computer: the system is responding to input
Could equally say "configure the operating system to select the application based on the selection signal (i.e. mouse clicks, button presses, etc) and transmit the file to the application during post processing (of said mouse clicks)". e.g. open Microsoft Word (or any other word processor) when double-clicking on a document file. In other words, it is describing nothing more than normal behaviour of a computer: the system is responding to input
Claim Chart
All
3
The computer system of Claim 1, wherein the logic instructions and the management alert formats are stored in a non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Nothing fancy about non-volatile memory. That's a ROM, EEPROM or flash-memory chip and all PC's have at least one of them. The "logic instructions" and "management alert formats" are embedded as data in the ROM chip. There can only be a finite number of "management alert formats" that are machine-readable or human-readable. Similar to dates, D/M/Y or M/D/Y, there can be only a finite number of permutations. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-volatile_memory
Nothing fancy about non-volatile memory. That's a ROM, EEPROM or flash-memory chip and all PC's have at least one of them. The "logic instructions" and "management alert formats" are embedded as data in the ROM chip. There can only be a finite number of "management alert formats" that are machine-readable or human-readable. Similar to dates, D/M/Y or M/D/Y, there can be only a finite number of permutations. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-volatile_memory
Claim Chart
All
5
The computer system of Claim 1, wherein the BIOS further comprises logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
receive a new management alert format; and
load the new management alert format into non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard. There is a a similar, equally normal procedure for those in their field, for programming a FPGA
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard. There is a a similar, equally normal procedure for those in their field, for programming a FPGA
Claim Chart
All
6
A method, comprising:
initiating power on self test (POST) processing in the basic input/output system (BIOS) of a computing device;
presenting one or more management alert formats in a user interface;
receiving a selection signal from the user interface identifying one of the management alert formats presented in the user interface; and
configuring a device coupled to the computing system with the identified management alert format.
Relevance
Almost describes what happens when using GRUB. POST, GRUB loads with the list of operating system images to choose from, select the desired operating system image, configure the system to receive the operating system image then boot up. See http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Almost describes what happens when using GRUB. POST, GRUB loads with the list of operating system images to choose from, select the desired operating system image, configure the system to receive the operating system image then boot up. See http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Claim Chart
All
7
The method of Claim 6, further comprising:
selecting a firmware image based on the selection signal; and
transmitting the firmware image to the device during post processing.
Relevance
User input again. http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/ as selecting the next group of processor instructions to execute based on user input
User input again. http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/ as selecting the next group of processor instructions to execute based on user input
Claim Chart
All
8
The method of Claim 6, further comprising:
receiving a new management alert format; and
loading the new management alert format into a non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Claim Chart
All
9
A computer program product comprising logic instructions stored on a computer-readable medium which, when executed by a computer processor, configure the processor to:
initiate power on self test (POST) processing in the basic input/output system (BIOS) of a computing device;
present one or more management alert formats in a user interface;
receive a selection signal from the user interface identifying one of the management alert formats presented in the user interface; and
configure a device coupled to the computing system with the identified management alert format.
Relevance
Almost describes what happens when using GRUB. POST, GRUB loads with the list of operating system images to choose from, select the desire operating system image, configure the system to receive the operating system image then boot up. See http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Almost describes what happens when using GRUB. POST, GRUB loads with the list of operating system images to choose from, select the desire operating system image, configure the system to receive the operating system image then boot up. See http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Claim Chart
All
10
The computer program product of Claim 9, further comprising logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
select a firmware image based on the selection signal; and
transmit the firmware image to the device during post processing.
Relevance
Describes normal processing in a computer
Describes normal processing in a computer
Claim Chart
All
11
The computer program product of Claim 9, wherein the logic instructions and the management alert formats are stored in a non-volatile memory.
Relevance
All PC's have BIOS chip that stores the BIOS in non-volatile memory
All PC's have BIOS chip that stores the BIOS in non-volatile memory
Claim Chart
All
13
The computer program product of Claim 9, further comprising logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
receive a new management alert format; and
load the new management alert format into non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Claim Chart
All
14
A method, comprising:
presenting, in a user interface, one or more devices coupled to a computer system and one or more management alert formats applicable to one or more devices;
receiving a selection signal from the user interface identifying one of the management alert formats presented in the user interface; and
configuring the one or more devices coupled to the computing system with the identified management alert format.
Relevance
Describes nothing more than a computer program that allows users to select one of a finite number of items from a menu
Describes nothing more than a computer program that allows users to select one of a finite number of items from a menu
Claim Chart
All
15
The method of Claim 14, further comprising:
selecting a firmware image based on the selection signal; and
transmitting the firmware image to the device.
Relevance
Describes normal processing in a computer
Describes normal processing in a computer
Claim Chart
All
16
The method of Claim 14, further comprising:
receiving a new management alert format; and
loading the new management alert format into a non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Claim Chart
All
17
A computer system, comprising:
a processor;
a basic input/output system (BIOS) including logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
present, in a user interface, one or more devices coupled to a computer system and one or more management alert formats applicable to one or more devices;
receive a selection signal from the user interface identifying one of the management alert formats presented in the user interface; and
configure one or more devices coupled to the computing system with the identified management alert format.
Relevance
Almost describes what happens when using GRUB. POST, GRUB loads with the list of operating system images to choose from, select the desire operating system image, configure the system to receive the operating system image then boot up. See http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Almost describes what happens when using GRUB. POST, GRUB loads with the list of operating system images to choose from, select the desire operating system image, configure the system to receive the operating system image then boot up. See http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Claim Chart
All
18
The computer system of Claim 17, wherein the BIOS further comprises logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
select a firmware image based on the selection signal; and
transmit the firmware image to the device.
Relevance
Describes normal processing in a computer
Describes normal processing in a computer
Claim Chart
All
19
The computer system of Claim 17, wherein the logic instructions and the management alert formats are stored in a non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard
Claim Chart
All
21
The computer system of Claim 17, wherein the BIOS further comprises logic instructions which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
receive a new management alert format; and
load the new management alert format into non-volatile memory.
Relevance
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard. Otherwise, describes normal operation of a computer
Non-volatile memory generally means you can't change it. The claim is trying to do the opposite. If it mean flash memory then it is nothing more than writing a file, the same as you can do on any PC. If it means EEPROMs then it is functionally the same as flashing the BIOS on a motherboard. Otherwise, describes normal operation of a computer
Claim Chart
All
