Patent US 5,459,858

A method for allowing data to be transferred in parallel over several input/output channels simultaneously. When a file is opened within an application program, a system library routine tasked with allocating input/output channels checks to see if multiple channels have been defined by control commands separate from the application. If the multiple channels have been so defined, the driver will open multiple channels for data transfer in a manner independent of the application. Existing applications can use this technique to perform striped input/output without requiring modification.