Application for diagnosing and reporting status of an adapter

• US 20050257100A1
• Filed: 04/22/2004
• Published: 11/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anglin, Debbie Ann, Anglin, Howard Neil
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,214 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/48
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0745 in an input/output transactions management context input/output processing in general G06F13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0772 Means for error signaling, e.g. using interrupts, exception flags, dedicated error registers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3636 by tracing the execution of the program

Abstract

Method, apparatus, system and computer program product for analyzing and reporting the status of an adapter in a data processing system. The system includes a service application having the capability of providing a variety of service functions to permit data to be captured regarding the status of the adapter, and a communication structure to permit data to be transmitted to and received from the service application. The analyzing and reporting system of the invention facilitates the reporting and diagnosis of adapter problems so that encountered problems can be better understood and more easily corrected.

Claims

1. An apparatus for analyzing and reporting the status of an adapter in a data processing system, comprising:

an adapter;

a service application on said adapter, said service application providing at least one service function for capturing data regarding the status of the adapter; and

a communication structure for transmitting data to and receiving data from said service application.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said service application resides on a service processor chip on said adapter.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, and further including:

at least one register on said adapter; and

means for providing communication between said service application and said at least one register for enabling said service application to provide said at least one service function.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said at least one service function comprises at least one of gathering, setting and clearing said at least one register.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said service application includes at least one secondary device driver for providing said at least one service function, said at least one secondary device driver capable of operating in parallel with a device driver of said adapter.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said at least one service function includes at least one of configuration, open, close, transmit and receive.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said communication structure includes:

a communication interface on said adapter; and

means for connecting said service processor chip to said communication interface for enabling communication between said service application and an external device through said communication interface.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said communication interface comprises a cable interface for providing a cable connection between said adapter and said external device.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said communication interface comprises a wireless communication interface for providing wireless communication between said adapter and said external device.

10. A system for analyzing and reporting the status of an adapter in a data processing system, comprising:

an adapter;

a service application on said adapter, said service application providing at least one service function for capturing data regarding the status of the adapter;

means for communicating with said service application; and

communication structure for transmitting data between said communicating means and said service application.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein said service application resides on a service processor chip on said adapter.

12. The system according to claim 10, and further including:

at least one register on said adapter; and

means for providing communication between said service application and at least one register for enabling said service application to provide said at least one service function.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said at least one service function comprises at least one of gathering, setting and clearing said at least one register.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein said service application includes at least on secondary device driver for providing said at least one service function, said at least one secondary device driver capable of operating in parallel with a device driver of said adapter.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein said at least one service function includes at least one of configuration, open, close, transmit and receive.

16. The system according to claim 11, wherein said communication structure includes:

a communication interface on said adapter;

means for connecting said service processor chip to said communication interface; and

wherein said communicating means comprises an external device for communicating with said service application through said communication interface.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein said communication interface comprises a cable interface for providing a cable connection between said adapter and said external device.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein said communication interface comprises a wireless communication interface for providing wireless communication between said adapter and said external device.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein said wireless communication between said adapter and said external device utilizes Bluetooth wireless technology.

20. A method for analyzing and reporting the status of an adapter in a data processing system, comprising:

providing a service application on an adapter, said service application providing at least one service function for capturing data regarding the status of the adapter; and

communicating with said service application for transmitting data to and receiving data from said service application.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said adapter includes at least one register, and wherein said providing at least one service function comprises at least one of gathering, setting and clearing said at least one register.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein said service application includes at least one secondary device driver, wherein said at least one secondary device driver operates in parallel with a device driver of said adapter to provide said at least one service function.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein said at least one service function provided by said at least one secondary device driver includes at least one of configuration, open, close, transmit and receive.

24. The method according to claim 20, wherein said communicating comprises communicating with said service application from an external device through a communication interface on said adapter without going through an operating system of said data processing system.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein said communicating comprises communicating with said service application from said external device through a cable connection between said adapter and said external device.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein said communicating comprises communicating with said service application from said external device through a wireless connection between said communication interface and said external device.

27. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for analyzing and reporting the status of an adapter in a data processing system, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for enabling a service application on the adapter to provide at least one service function for capturing data regarding the status of the adapter; and

second instructions for enabling communication with said service application for transmitting data to and receiving data from said service application.

28. The computer program product according to claim 27, wherein said adapter includes at least one register, and wherein said first instructions include instructions for at least one of gathering, setting and clearing said at least one register.

29. The computer program product according to claim 27, wherein said service application includes at least one secondary device driver capable of operating in parallel with a device driver of said adapter, and wherein said first instructions include instructions for enabling said at least one secondary device driver to perform at least one of configure, open, close, transmit and receive.

30. The computer program product according to claim 27, wherein said second instructions include instructions for enabling communication with said service application from an external device.