Plug-and-play
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system comprising:
- a processor;
a mass storage device, coupled to the processor;
a BIOS, the BIOS including a structure defining a packed structure in a nonvolatile memory; and
the non-volatile memory, each entry in the packed structure including a reduced number of bits sufficient to encode a configuration number that corresponds to a device'"'"'s configuration state, the reduced number of bits being consecutively packed, wherein the number of configuration states and the number of bits necessary to store the configuration number depend on the number of potential configurations the device can assume.
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Abstract
The present invention enhances the robustness of the Plug-and-Play BIOS, and reduces the amount of ROM work required to support each product, by rearchitecting the static support, conflict resolution, and initialization of system board devices to combine such functionality into fewer software components having greater product independence.
113 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a processor; a mass storage device, coupled to the processor; a BIOS, the BIOS including a structure defining a packed structure in a nonvolatile memory; and the non-volatile memory, each entry in the packed structure including a reduced number of bits sufficient to encode a configuration number that corresponds to a device'"'"'s configuration state, the reduced number of bits being consecutively packed, wherein the number of configuration states and the number of bits necessary to store the configuration number depend on the number of potential configurations the device can assume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a system comprising a processor, a mass storage device coupled to the processor, and a BIOS within a nonvolatile memory, a method comprising the steps of:
defining a packed structure in the memory, each entry in the packed structure including a reduced number of bits sufficient to encode a configuration number that corresponds to a device'"'"'s configuration state, the reduced number of bits being consecutively packed, wherein the number of configuration states and the number of bits necessary to store the configuration number depend on the number of potential configurations the device can assume. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. In a system comprising a processor and a mass storage device coupled to the processor, a BIOS within a nonvolatile memory, the BIOS comprising:
a structure defining a packed structure in the memory, each entry in the packed structure includes a reduced number of bits sufficient to encode a configuration number that corresponds to a device'"'"'s configuration state, the reduced number of bits being consecutively packed, wherein the number of configuration states and the number of bits necessary to store the configuration number depend on the number of potential configurations the device can assume. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer system comprising:
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a processor; a plurality of devices coupled to said processor; and a memory, the memory containing a first data structure and a second data structure, at least one device having a bit sequence representing an integer in the first data structure corresponding thereto, the device further having an ordered plurality of alternative devnodes in the second data structure corresponding to the device, the integer for selecting a devnode from the plurality of devnodes corresponding to the device, each alternative devnode representing a possible configuration state for the device. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. In a computer system having at least one configurable device and further having a memory, a method of storing the configuration state of a device, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining whether a data structure exists in the memory corresponding to configuration states of devices; if the data structure does not exist, creating the data structure; if the data structure exists, determining whether the data structure contains at least two regions, including a first and second region, corresponding to the device; if the data structure does not contain at least two regions corresponding to the device, allocate additional memory such that the data structure contains at least two regions including a first and second region corresponding to the device; determining whether the second region contains a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device; if the second region does not contain a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device, adding a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device to the second region; among the devnodes in the second region corresponding to the device, determining an ordinal number identifying the current configuration state of the device; converting the ordinal number into a sequence of bits; determining the number of devnodes in the second region corresponding to the device; if the first region corresponding to the device does not have allocated sufficient memory to accommodate the sequence of bits, allocating additional memory to the first region sufficient memory to accommodate the sequence of bits; and writing to the first region the sequence of bits. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. In a computer system having at least one configurable device and further having a memory, a method of recalling a programmed configuration state of a device, said method comprising the steps of:
if a data structure exists in the memory corresponding to configuration states of devices, and if the data structure contains at least two regions, including a first and second region, corresponding to the device, and if the second region contains a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device, and if sequence of bits identifying the current configuration state of the device exists in the first region, then selecting a devnode from the plurality of devnodes according to the bit sequence, the devnode representing the programmed configuration state of the device.
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37. In a computer system having at least one configurable device and further having a memory, a method of storing the configuration state of a device, said method comprising the steps of:
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ensuring that a data structure exists in the memory corresponding to configuration states of devices, including a step of creating the data structure if the data structure does not exist; ensuring that the data structure contains at least a first region and a second region corresponding to the device, including a step of allocate additional memory such that the data structure contains at least two regions including a first and second region corresponding to the device if the data structure does not contain at least two regions corresponding to the device; ensuring that the second region contains a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device, including a step of adding a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device to the second region if the second region does not contain a devnode corresponding to the current configuration state of the device; converting an ordinal number, identifying the current configuration state of the device among the devnodes in the second region corresponding to the device, into a sequence of bits; ensuring that the first region corresponding to the device has allocated thereto sufficient memory to accommodate the sequence of bits, including a step of allocating additional memory to the first region sufficient memory to accommodate the sequence of bits determining the number of devnodes in the second region corresponding to the device if the first region corresponding to the device would otherwise have allocated thereto insufficient memory to accommodate the sequence of bits; and writing to the first region the sequence of bits.
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Specification