System for remotely waking a sleeping computer in power down state by comparing incoming packet to the list of packets storing on network interface card
First Claim
1. In a computer network including a plurality of interconnected computers, one of said computers being a sleeping computer in a power down state, a method of waking the sleeping computer from the computer network, said method comprising the steps of:
- storing on a network interface card associated with the sleeping computer a list of packets to listen for while the sleeping computer is in the power down state;
transmitting an incoming packet of information from one of said plurality of computers in the computer network to the sleeping computer;
detecting the incoming packet in the network interface card associated with the sleeping computer;
comparing the incoming packet to the list of packets stored on the network interface card;
if the incoming packet matches one of the packets in the list of packets stored on the network interface card, then waking the sleeping computer and processing the incoming packet; and
otherwise, discarding the incoming packet.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a computer network including a plurality of interconnected computers, one of the computers being a sleeping computer in a power down state, the sleeping computer having a list of packets to listen for stored on a network interface card associated with the sleeping computer, a method of waking the sleeping computer from the computer network. An incoming packet of information is transmitted from one of the computers in the network to the sleeping computer. When the network interface card of the sleeping computer detects the incoming packet, it compares the incoming packet to the list of packets stored on the network interface card. If the incoming packet matches one of the packets in the list of packets stored on the network interface card, or if the incoming packet is directly addressed to the sleeping computer, then a signal is issued to wake the sleeping computer. Otherwise, the incoming packet is discarded and the sleeping computer is not awaken.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. In a computer network including a plurality of interconnected computers, one of said computers being a sleeping computer in a power down state, a method of waking the sleeping computer from the computer network, said method comprising the steps of:
-
storing on a network interface card associated with the sleeping computer a list of packets to listen for while the sleeping computer is in the power down state; transmitting an incoming packet of information from one of said plurality of computers in the computer network to the sleeping computer; detecting the incoming packet in the network interface card associated with the sleeping computer; comparing the incoming packet to the list of packets stored on the network interface card; if the incoming packet matches one of the packets in the list of packets stored on the network interface card, then waking the sleeping computer and processing the incoming packet; and otherwise, discarding the incoming packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A computer, comprising:
-
a central processing unit; a first memory storage area connected to said central processing unit, said first memory storage area storing an operating system; a network interface card connected to said central processing unit, said network interface card having a second memory storage area for storing a list of packets to listen for while the computer is in a power down state, each packet in the list of packets having a corresponding comparison mask; said network interface card responsive to commands from the computer to; detect an incoming packet of information, said incoming packet including a plurality of fields; compare the incoming packet to the list of packets; if the incoming packet matches any of the packets in the list of packets stored on the network interface card, then transmit a predetermined signal to the operating system operative to wake the computer from the power down state; and otherwise, discard the incoming packet. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A network interface card for providing an interface between a computer and a network, said network interface card comprising:
-
a bus interface for connecting to a system bus associated with the computer, a connector for connecting to the network; a memory storage area, said memory storage area storing a list of packets to listen for while the computer is in a power down state; and a comparator for comparing an incoming packet to the list of packets stored in the memory storage area, said incoming packet including a plurality of fields; wherein if the incoming packet matches one of the packets in the list of packets stored in the memory storage area, then said network interface card is operative to transmit a predetermined signal to the computer operative to wake the computer from the power down state; otherwise, said network interface card is operative to discard the incoming packet. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification