Indirect memory addressing
AssigneeWestern Electric Company, Inc.
InventorGary L. Knipper
Life of this patent
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AssigneeWestern Electric Company, Inc.
InventorGary L. Knipper
Estimating the term…
In order to provide indirect memory addressing for a stored-program digital processor which is not normally equipped with facilities for indirect memory addressing, a multiplexer (electronic gang switch) is interposed between the memory address output register of a central processing unit (CPU) and the address input of the memory. Several memory locations are dedicated to the indirect addressing function. When one of these dedicated locations is addressed, a decoder stops the CPU while the memory fetches the contents of the addressed, dedicated memory location. This dedicated memory location contains the address of the desired data. This actual address of the desired data is read from memory and stored in a register. The multiplexer directs the output of the register to the address input of the memory. The memory then addresses the actual location of the desired data, and the CPU reads the desired data from the memory.
In a system for indirectly addressing dedicated locations in a memory 34, wherein each of said dedicated locations contain a data address signal to another location in said memory, and said system includes a central processing unit (CPU) 12 for interrogating or writing into said memory and for generating indirect address signals comprising most significant bits addressed to said dedicated location and least significant bits not addressed to said dedicated location:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.