System and method for arbitrated loop recovery
First Claim
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1. In a computer system with a Fibre Channel (FC) communication environment, which environment includes a plurality of FC devices disposed in an Arbitrated Loop, each FC device comprising at least a controller, a method for managing the Arbitrated Loop, comprising the steps of:
- sensing an unresponsive state associated with said Arbitrated Loop;
responsive to said sensing step, re-initializing said Arbitrated Loop; and
if said re-initializing step was unsuccessful, resetting said controller and subsequently re-initializing the Arbitrated Loop.
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Abstract
A computer system with a plurality of devices compatible with the Fibre Channel Protocol. The computer system is provided with the capability to recover from a loop hang condition resulting from an unresponsive communication link in an Arbitrated Loop. This capability is realized by providing a sense mechanism for detecting a no-change condition in the states associated with a controller arranged in the Arbitrated Loop.
73 Citations
9 Claims
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1. In a computer system with a Fibre Channel (FC) communication environment, which environment includes a plurality of FC devices disposed in an Arbitrated Loop, each FC device comprising at least a controller, a method for managing the Arbitrated Loop, comprising the steps of:
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sensing an unresponsive state associated with said Arbitrated Loop; responsive to said sensing step, re-initializing said Arbitrated Loop; and if said re-initializing step was unsuccessful, resetting said controller and subsequently re-initializing the Arbitrated Loop. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. In a computer system with a Fibre Channel (FC) communication environment, which environment includes a plurality of FC devices disposed in an Arbitrated Loop, each FC device comprising at least a controller, a system for managing the Arbitrated Loop, comprising:
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sense means for sensing an unresponsive state associated with said Arbitrated Loop; means for re-initializing said Arbitrated Loop responsive to a sense signal provided by said sense means; and reset means for resetting the controller, said reset means being actuatable upon detecting a failure condition associated with said means for re-initializing. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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7. A method for recovering from a loop hang condition associated with an Arbitrated Loop, which Arbitrated Loop includes at least a controller, comprising the steps of:
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sensing said loop hang condition by detecting a time-out condition in a state machine associated with said controller; responsive to said sensing step, re-initializing said Arbitrated Loop to remove said loop hang condition; and resetting said controller, if said re-initialization step was not successful in removing said loop hang condition. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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Specification