Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/ – Intrasystem connection – Bus access regulation
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-01
2001-06-05
Beausoleil, Robert (Department: 2181)
Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/
Intrasystem connection
Bus access regulation
C710S104000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06243773
ABSTRACT:
APPENDICES
Appendix A, which forms a part of this disclosure, is a list of commonly owned copending U.S. patent applications. Each one of the applications listed in Appendix A is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
COPYRIGHT RIGHTS
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer systems. Additionally, the invention relates to configuration space management for computer servers.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A server is a central computer in a network which manages the common data and supplies this data to workstations in the network. Current operating systems for servers do not by themselves provide the support users need to hot add and swap devices. Hot add refers to the addition of a device on a bus on the server while the server continues to operate. Hot replace refers to the replacement of a device on a bus of the server while the server continues to operate. Hot swap refers to a hot replace with the replacement device being identical to the replaced device. There is a need for the hot add and hot swap capabilities in order to avoid expensive server down time when replacing or adding devices to the server. Such devices include various peripheral devices such as mass storage and network adapters. Such devices are commonly interfaced with the server through various bus systems such as Peripheral Component Interconnect, CardBus, Microchannel, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA), and Extended ISA (EISA).
One aspect of hot adding and hot swapping of devices that needs to be addressed is the system configuration. In the past in certain bus architectures, the system configuration was fixed prior to system initialization. However, such an approach does not support hot add or hot swap. Such systems also do not provide the ability to change the configuration parameters dynamically through a software interface. When performing a hot swap or hot add on a PCI bus, care must be taken to ensure that resources, such as, memory and I/O space, allocated to the new device do not conflict with concurrently assigned devices. Prior systems have required that for the replacement of a device or the addition of a device, the entire system be powered down, devices be replaced or added, and then the system be powered up and reconfigured.
There is a need for a methods and systems which facilitate the replacement and adding of a devices on a bus on the server while the server continues to operate.
There is also a need for systems and methods to ensure that resources, such as, memory and I/O space, allocated to the replacement devices and added devices do not conflict with concurrently assigned devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a configuration system and method, which in one embodiment includes a configuration manager that creates a memory structure containing configuration information for a bus and devices located on the bus within the computer system in which it operates. When a device on the bus is replaced, the configuration manager retrieves the configuration information for the replacement device from the memory structure and uses that information to configure the replacement device. In another aspect of the invention, when a device is added on the bus in the computer system, the configuration manager retrieves selected configuration information for the added device from the memory structure and uses that information to configure the added device.
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Beausoleil Robert
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Micron Electronics Inc.
Vo Tim
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