Methods and systems for efficient connection of I/O devices to a channel-based switched fabric

• US 20040107304A1
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Published: 06/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Paul Grun
• Original Assignee: Paul Grun
• Inventors: Grun, Paul
• Application Number:
  US10/448,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20040107304A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/128 for dedicated transfers to a network for protocol converters G06F13/387

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system is provided. The system of this embodiment may include at least one I/O controller, at least one initiating unit connected to a channel-based switched fabric, at least one channel adapter, and a physical interface between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter. The at least one channel adapter may allow connection of the at least one I/O controller to the channel-based switched fabric. The at least one channel adapter may support transferring of messages and/or data between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one initiating unit. The physical interface may allow transfer of command primitives that communicate information between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter via the physical interface. Many modifications are possible.

Claims

1. A method for interfacing at least one Input/Output (I/O) controller to a channel-based switched fabric comprising:

providing at least one channel adapter, the at least one channel adapter allowing connection of the at least one I/O controller to a channel-based switched fabric, the at least one channel adapter supporting transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and at least one initiating unit connected to the channel-based switched fabric;

providing a physical interface between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter; and

defining a set of command primitives, the command primitives communicating information between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter via the physical interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of messages from one of the at least one initiating unit to one of the at least one I/O controller includes:

allocating at least one buffer to receive inbound messages, the allocation performed by the one of the at least one I/O controller;

passing control of the at least one buffer from the one of the at least one I/O controller to the channel adapter;

receiving an inbound message, the inbound message being received by the channel adapter from the one of the at least one initiating unit;

storing the inbound message in one of the at least one buffer; and

passing control of the one of the at least one buffer from the channel adapter to the one of the at least one I/O controller.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of messages from one of the at least one I/O controller to one of the at least one initiating unit includes:

constructing a message in at least one buffer, the constructing being performed by the one of the at least one I/O controller;

passing control of the at least one buffer from the one of the at least one I/O controller to the channel adapter;

transferring the message to the one of the at least one initiating unit by the channel adapter; and

passing control of the at least one buffer from the channel adapter to the one of the at least one I/O controller.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of data includes:

passing control of at least one block of memory in one of the at least one initiating unit to one of the at least one I/O controller;

transferring the data between the one of the at least one initiating unit and the one of the at least one I/O controller, the data being transferred one of from the at least one block of memory and to the at least one block of memory; and

passing control of the at least one block of memory from the one of the at least one I/O controller to the one of the at least one initiating unit.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of data includes:

passing control of at least one block of memory in one of the at least one I/O controller to one of the at least one initiating unit;

transferring the data between the one of the at least one initiating unit and the one of the at least one I/O controller, the data being transferred one of from the at least one block of memory and to the at least one block of memory; and

passing control of the at least one block of memory from the one of the at least one initiating unit to the one of the at least one I/O controller.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of data includes:

loading the data in at least one buffer in one of the at least one initiating unit;

sending the data from the buffer to one of the at least one I/O controller; and

receiving the sent data at the one of the at least one I/O controller.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transferring of data includes:

loading the data in at least one buffer in one of the at least one I/O controller;

sending the data from the buffer to one of the at least one initiating unit; and

receiving the sent data at the one of the at least one initiating unit.

8. The method according to claim 1, the channel adapter being a part of an I/O unit.

9. The method according to claim 1, the at least one I/O controller being a part of an I/O unit.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising providing a unit management service (UMS), the UMS being a part of the channel adapter, the UMS managing at least one of initialization operations, discovery operations, and connection configuration operations related to at least one of the at least one I/O controller, the channel adapter, and the I/O unit.

11. The method according to claim 8, further comprising providing a message and data service (MDS), the MDS being a part of the channel adapter, the MDS performing the transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one initiating unit.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the physical interface is adaptable to the at least one I/O controller.

13. The method according claim 1, wherein the command primitives is adaptable to the at least one I/O controller and the transferring of at least one of messages and data.

14. The method according to claim 1, at least one of the at least one I/O controller, the physical interface, and the at least one channel adapter detecting errors that occur during the communicating of information between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter.

15. The method according to claim 1, the at least one channel adapter detecting errors that occur during the transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one initiating unit, the at least one channel adapter reporting errors detected to the at least one I/O controller.

19. The method according to claim 1, the initialization operations comprising at least one of:

initializing the physical interface between each at least one I/O controller and the adapter;

naming each at least one I/O controller; and

initializing each at least one I/O controller.

20. The method according to claim 1, the discovery operations comprising at least one of:

retrieving a unit profile for the I/O unit, the unit profile information being retrieved by the adapter and sent to at least one I/O resource manager, each at least one I/O resource manager being part of the at least one initiating unit;

retrieving a controller list for the I/O unit, the controller list being retrieved by the adapter and sent to the at least one I/O resource manager; and

retrieving an I/O controller profile for each at least one I/O controller, each I/O controller profile being retrieved by the adapter and sent to the at least one I/O resource manager.

21. The method according to claim 1, the connection configuration established by at least one of:

establishing a unit control connection between the I/O unit and an I/O resource manager, the I/O resource manager being part of the at least one initiating unit; and

creating service connections between at least one driver of the at least one initiating unit and the at least one I/O controller.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the unit control connection is destroyed upon completion of the creating service connections.

23. The method according to claim 21, the service connections comprising channels in the channel-based switched fabric, the channels handling the transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one initiating unit and the at least one I/O controller.

24. The method according to claim 23, the service connections being used for the transferring of messages only.

25. The method according to claim 23, the service connections being used for the transferring of data only.

26. The method according to claim 23, the service connections being used for the transferring of both messages and data.

27. The method according to claim 21, wherein the destroying is initiated by the I/O resource manager.

28. The method according to claim 21, wherein the destroying is initiated by the I/O unit.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the destroying is initiated when the at least one I/O controller decides to abandon use of the service connections.

30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the destroying is initiated when the I/O adapter detects errors on the service connection.

31. The method according to claim 21, wherein the creating includes:

determining a message queue size of a message queue in the I/O unit, the message queue capable of buffering messages transferable between one of the at least one I/O controller and one of the at least one initiating unit;

determining a data queue size of a data queue in the I/O unit, the data queue capable of buffering data transferable between the one of the at least one I/O controller and the one of the at least one initiating unit; and

sending the message queue size, the data queue size, and an initiating unit identification for the one of the at least one initiating unit to the one of the at least one I/O controller.

16. A method for interfacing at least one Input/Output (I/O) controller to an adapter, the at least one I/O controller being part of an I/O unit, the adapter providing an interface for the I/O unit to a channel-based switched fabric, comprising:

executing initialization operations related to the at least one I/O controller and the adapter;

executing discovery operations related to the at least one I/O controller and the adapter;

establishing a connection configuration between at least one initiating unit and the I/O unit;

sending an I/O service request from the at least one initiating unit to the I/O unit;

transferring at least one of messages and data between the at least one initiating unit and the at least one I/O controller; and

sending an I/O completion message from the at least one I/O unit to the at least one initiating unit after completion of the transferring,

wherein the first sending, transferring, and second sending occur across a channel-based switched fabric.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the I/O service request comprises:

an I/O controller identification for one of the at least one I/O controller;

an initiating unit identification for one of the at least one initiating unit; and

at least one pointer to at least one buffer in the one of the at least one initiating unit, the at least one pointer being used by the one of the at least one I/O controller to identify where to one of transfer data to and transfer data from the at least one buffer.

18. A method for interfacing at least one Input/Output (I/O) controller to an adapter, the at least one I/O controller and the adapter being part of an I/O unit, the adapter providing an interface for the at least one I/O controller to a channel-based switched fabric, comprising:

providing a physical interface between the at least one I/O controller and the adapter, the physical interface being adaptable to the at least one I/O controller;

defining a set of command primitives, the command primitives communicating commands between the at least one I/O controller and the adapter, the command primitives being transferred between the at least one I/O controller and the adapter via the physical interface;

providing a unit management service (UMS), the UMS being a part of the adapter, the UMS managing at least one of initialization operations, discovery operations, and connection configuration operations related to at least one of the at least one I/O controller, the adapter, and the I/O unit; and

providing a message and data service (MDS), the MDS being a part of the adapter, the MDS supporting transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and at least one initiating unit connected to a channel-based switched fabric.

32. A system for interfacing at least one Input/Output (I/O) controller to a channel-based switched fabric comprising:

at least one I/O controller;

at least one initiating unit connected to a channel-based switched fabric;

at least one channel adapter, the at least one channel adapter allowing connection of the at least one I/O controller to a channel-based switched fabric, the at least one channel adapter supporting transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one initiating unit; and

a physical interface between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter, the physical interface allowing transfer of command primitives that communicate information between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter via the physical interface.

33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the channel adapter is part of an I/O unit.

34. The system according to claim 32, the channel adapter further comprising a unit management service (UMS), the UMS managing at least one of initialization operations, discovery operations, and connection configuration operations related to at least one of the at least one I/O controller and the adapter.

35. The system according to claim 32, the channel adapter further comprising a message and data service (MDS), the MDS performing the transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and at least one initiating unit.

36. An Input/Output (I/O) unit comprising:

at least one I/O controller;

at least one channel adapter, the at least one channel adapter allowing connection of the at least one I/O controller to a channel-based switched fabric, the at least one channel adapter supporting transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and at least one initiating unit connected to a channel-based switched fabric; and

a physical interface between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter, the physical interface allowing transfer of command primitives that communicate information between the at least one I/O controller and the at least one channel adapter via the physical interface.

37. The unit according to claim 36, the channel adapter further comprising a unit management service (UMS), the UMS managing at least one of initialization operations, discovery operations, and connection configuration operations related to at least one of the at least one I/O controller and the adapter.

38. The unit according to claim 36, the channel adapter further comprising a message and data service (MDS), the MDS performing the transferring of at least one of messages and data between the at least one I/O controller and at least one initiating unit.