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From: fgd3@jc3b21.UUCP (Fabbian G. Dufoe)
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari16,net.micro.amiga,net.micro.68k
Subject: Re: 68000 Memory Managment
Message-ID: <462@jc3b21.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 14-Sep-86 22:33:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: jc3b21.462
Posted: Sun Sep 14 22:33:45 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 19-Sep-86 23:06:17 EDT
References: <508@elmgate.UUCP> <64@mit-prep.ARPA> <510@elmgate.UUCP> <79@mtxinu.UUCP>
Organization: St. Petersburg Jr. College, St. Petersburg FL
Lines: 35
Summary: I thought patents could only be granted for specific, working devices or processes.
Xref: mnetor net.micro.atari16:1983 net.micro.amiga:4709 net.micro.68k:1236

In article <79@mtxinu.UUCP>, ed@mtxinu.UUCP writes:
> >> I hate to tell you folks, but Andy Bechtolsheim here at Sun has a patent 
> >> (applied for and granted) on using the untranslated addresses as the 
> >> RAS addresses and doing the MMU address translation before the column 
> >> addresses are needed for CAS.
> >
> >How the hell can the patent office grant patents like this?  It's sort
> >of like patenting the idea of grounding DTACK on a 68000 or putting
> >chocolate ice cream in root beer; the idea is too obvious.  To coin a
> >phrase, it's patently ridiculous.
> 
> ...
> The person who first put chocolate ice cream into root beer probably
> didn't realize what they'd done.  They should have patented it, too!
> (Unless, of course, someone had already done the same thing with
> vanilla ice cream.  Then *they* should have pattented it.)

Using the untranslated addresses as the RAS addresses and doing the MMU
address translation before the column addresses are needed for CAS sounds
pretty general to me.  I am sure the process Andy Bechtolsheim patented is
quite a bit more specific.  A patent cannot be granted for a general idea.
It requires a specific implementation of an idea, either in a device or
process.  Think about it.  Without that provision patents would stifle
development.  They are intended to do just the opposite.  A patent is
supposed to protect the inventor of a process from those who would use his
work as their own.  But it is not supposed to prevent people from using a
concept the inventor has brought to light in their own inventions, so long
as they don't plaigiarize from the original work.

Fabbian Dufoe
  350 Ling-A-Mor Terrace South
  St. Petersburg, Florida  33705
  813-823-2350

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