INPUT/OUTPUT CONTROL APPARATUS, INPUT/OUTPUT CONTROL SYSTEM, AND INPUT/OUTPUT CONTROL METHOD

• US 20080307440A1
• Filed: 08/12/2008
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Takashi, Ohta, Ken, Fujimoto, Hiroshi
• Application Number:
  US12/190,081
• Publication Number:
  US 20080307440A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

An input/output control apparatus includes: a request acceptance unit configured to accept a switch request for requesting to change an operating system occupying any one of the input device and the output device; a control information generator unit configured to generate control information including any one of input destination information and output enable information in response to the switch request; and a control information output unit configured to output any one of the input destination information and the output enable information. The input destination information includes at least information for specifying an input destination operating system to which information inputted from the input device is inputted; and the output enable information includes at least information for specifying whether or not each of the plurality of operating systems can output information to the output device.

Claims

1. An input/output control system including at least one input device, at least one output device, an input/output control apparatus which controls an input of the input device and an output of the output device, and a host system including a function of simultaneously running a plurality of operating systems and a communications function between the plurality of operating systems;

wherein

the input/output control apparatus comprises;

a request acceptance unit configured to accept a switch request for requesting to change an operating system occupying any one of the input device and the output device;

a control information generator unit configured to generate control information including any one of input destination information and output enable information in response to the switch request; and

a control information output unit configured to output the input destination information and the output enable information, and

each of the plurality of operating systems which operate on the host system comprises;

an input device controller unit configured to determine whether or not to input, to the operating system, information inputted from the input device, by referring to the input destination information outputted from the input/output control apparatus; and

an output device controller unit configured to determine whether or not to output information outputted from the operating system to the output device, by referring to the output enable information outputted from the input/output control apparatus.

2. An input/output control system including at least one input device, at least one output device, an input/output control apparatus which controls an input of the input device and an output of the output device, and a host system including a function of simultaneously running a plurality of operating systems and a communications function between the plurality of operating systems;

wherein

the input/output control apparatus comprises;

a request acceptance unit configured to accept a switch request for requesting to change an operating system occupying any one of the input device and the output device;

a control information generator unit configured to generate control information including any one of input destination information and output enable information in response to the switch request; and

a control information output unit configured to output any one of the input destination information and the output enable information;

each of the plurality of operating systems comprises;

an input device controller configured to control the input device; and

an output device controller configured to control the output device; and

the host system comprises an input and output controller unit configured to enable or disable the input device controller unit of the operating system on the basis of the input destination information outputted from the input/output control apparatus, and to enable or disable the output device controller unit of the operating system on the basis of the output enable information outputted from the input/output control apparatus.

3. An input/output control system including at least one input device, at least one output device, an input/output control apparatus which controls an input of the input device and an output of the output device, and a host system including a function of simultaneously running a plurality of operating systems and a communications function between the plurality of operating systems;

wherein

the input/output control apparatus comprises;

a request acceptance unit configured to accept a switch request for requesting to change an operating system occupying any one of the input device and the output device;

a control information generator unit configured to generate control information including any one of input destination information and output enable information in response to the switch request; and

a control information output unit configured to output any one of the input destination information and the output enable information;

the host system comprises an interrupt notification unit configured to notify the operating system of an interrupt for the input device when the interrupt occurs; and

the interrupt notification unit is configured to specify a notification destination to which the interrupt is notified, in accordance with the input destination information outputted from the input/output control apparatus.

4. An input/output control system including at least one input device, at least one output device, an input/output control apparatus which controls an input of the input device and an output of the output device, and a host system including a function of simultaneously running a plurality of operating systems and a communications function between the plurality of operating systems;

wherein

the input/output control apparatus comprises;

a request acceptance unit configured to accept a switch request for requesting to change an operating system occupying any one of the input device and the output device;

a control information generator unit configured to generate control information including any one of input destination information and output enable information in response to the switch request; and

a control information output unit configured to output any one of the input destination information and the output enable information; and

the host system comprises a QoS controller unit configured to perform QoS control for the operating system, in accordance with any one of the input destination information and the output enable information which are outputted from the input/output control apparatus.