Pre-Grant Publication Number: 20090150590
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Prior Art Detail
Summary / Description
| Summary / Description | Reconfiguration of computer system which interrupts program execution on insertion of adapter and controls flow of data to adapter to avoid data loss. |
Basic Information
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 5386567 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | International Business Machines Corp. |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | Col. 1 line 51 - Col. 2 line 2 |
| URL | |
| Filing Date | October 14, 1992 |
| Additional Information | |
Notes / To Do
| Notes | |
Excerpt
Excerpt In accordance with the invention, these objects are realized by providing the system with a detection mechanism, that detects insertion or removal of an adapter at any connection port, coupling control means for physically and electrically completing connection between the system and adapter, and "resource manager" means for monitoring the running state of an adapter undergoing insertion or removal so as to properly coordinate operations of the coupling control means with I/O operations being conducted between the system and adapter, so that I/O operations relative to an adapter being plugged in are not started until the adapter is properly and fully connected, and connection to an adapter being unplugged is not prematurely broken while an I/O operation is under way relative to that adapter.
When an adapter is plugged into the system, the detection mechanism indicates that occurrence to the resource manager means, via an interrupt or the like, and the latter unit actuates the coupling means to secure physical connection and complete electrical connection between the system and the adapter. The securing function may include locking the adapter in place so as to prevent its physical removal. When these connections are properly secure and complete, the resource manager performs the operations required to adjust the internal configuration of the system to conform to the presence of the adapter. In accordance with the invention, these operations may include: reading adapter/device attribute information stored on the adapter, setup of associated configuration information in system registers, assignment of memory address space to the adapter, and activation of device drivers if needed; so that an application program running on the system just prior to the insertion can be immediately and automatically prepared to address and use the adapter for I/O transfers.
When a user wants to remove an adapter, he or she signals the system (e.g. via an "adapter remove" switch, or by an equivalent request signal). The "removal request" associated with that signal is transferred to the resource manager means, which then checks the running state of the adapter. If the adapter is in a running state consistent with removal, the resource manager completes the actions for disconnecting the adapter and isolating it from the system, and then signals the user that the adapter can be physically removed. If the adapter is in a running state inconsistent with removal (e.g. if an I/O transfer is being conducted between the system and the adapter), the resource manager delays completion of the removal actions until the inconsistent running state ends. When the adapter is removed, the device driver is either deactivated or conditioned to conform to the removal (so that if an I/O request is issued relative to a device that has been effectively removed, the driver is incapable of responding, and an indication that the device is unavailable will be returned to the requesting application or other program). |
Relevance
Claims
22
Relevance
See the Excerpt.
'setting the data connection to an idle and hot-swap ready state' is diclosed:
" When a user wants to remove an adapter, he or she signals the system (e.g. via an "adapter remove" switch, or by an equivalent request signal). "
See the Excerpt.
'setting the data connection to an idle and hot-swap ready state' is diclosed:
" When a user wants to remove an adapter, he or she signals the system (e.g. via an "adapter remove" switch, or by an equivalent request signal). "
Claim Chart
Some
25
Relevance
'branching within a program on the computing device so that the program......is capable of running in the absence of such device.....' is disclosed:
"If the adapter is in a running state inconsistent with removal (e.g. if an I/O transfer is being conducted between the system and the adapter), the resource manager delays completion of the removal actions until the inconsistent running state ends. When the adapter is removed, the device driver is either deactivated or conditioned to conform to the removal (so that if an I/O request is issued relative to a device that has been effectively removed, the driver is incapable of responding, and an indication that the device is unavailable will be returned to the requesting application or other program). "
'branching within a program on the computing device so that the program......is capable of running in the absence of such device.....' is disclosed:
"If the adapter is in a running state inconsistent with removal (e.g. if an I/O transfer is being conducted between the system and the adapter), the resource manager delays completion of the removal actions until the inconsistent running state ends. When the adapter is removed, the device driver is either deactivated or conditioned to conform to the removal (so that if an I/O request is issued relative to a device that has been effectively removed, the driver is incapable of responding, and an indication that the device is unavailable will be returned to the requesting application or other program). "
Claim Chart
Some
