Computer with remote wake up and transmission of a status packet when the computer fails a self test

• US 6,134,665 A
• Filed: 01/20/1998
• Issued: 10/17/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Digital Equipment Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Shvimmer, Sarit, Klein, Philippe, Ben-Michael, Simoni, Menachem, Avraham
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Application Number:
  US09/009,809
• Time in Patent Office: 1,001 Days
• Field of Search: 714/15, 713/300-340, 709/200
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40032 Details regarding a bus interface enhancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

An apparatus for use in a computer has a network interface subsystem having power applied thereto when power is removed from other components of the computer. A receiver in the network interface subsystem receives a packet directed to the computer from the network, and in response to receipt of a selected packet, restores power to the other components of the computer. Upon restoration of power to the other components of the computer, a signalling device reports status of at least one of the other components of the computer to the network interface subsystem. A transmitter in the network interface subsystem sends, in response to the signalling device, a status packet onto the network giving a status of the computer in the event that a component is not functional, following restoration of power to the other components of the computer. The computer has a processor which executes a self test upon restoration of power to the processor, and a self test signalling device to signal to the network interface subsystem the results of the self test, to initiate transmission of a status packet by the network interface onto the network in the event that the computer fails the self test. The signalling device may be a management bus, and the management bus may operate under the I2C protocol. The receiver uses imperfect filtering to identify a wake up packet, and also may use a mask in performing imperfect filtering.

Claims

1. An apparatus suitable for use in a computer connected to a network, the computer having a power management subsystem, said apparatus comprising:

a network interface subsystem connected to a power source, said network interface subsystem comprising;

a receiver connected to the network, for receiving data packets directed to the computer from the network, said receiver comprising filtering means to pass a selected one of said data packets to said network interface subsystem, said filtering means comprising,

mask means and offset means for filtering a portion of said received data packet;

means for computing the hash value of said filtered portion of said received data packet;

means for comparing said computed hash value with at least one predetermined hash value;

means for passing said received data packet to said network interface subsystem if said computed hash value matches said at least one predetermined hash value;

means for commanding the power management subsystem to power at least one computer component when said filtering means passes a received data packet; and

a transmitter connected to the network, for sending a status packet to the network; and

a signaling device in electrical communication with the computer and with said network interface subsystem, for providing said status packet to said transmitter if the power management subsystem has powered said at least one computer component.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising:

a processor which executes a self test upon application of power to said processor; and

a self test signaling device to signal to said network interface subsystem the results of said self test.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said signaling device comprises a management bus.

4. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said signaling device comprises a bus operating with the I2C protocol.

5. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said filtering means comprises imperfect filtering means.

6. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said transmitter comprises a management bus interface, said management bus interface for receiving data from said management bus, for transferring said data to a media access controller (MAC) machine, and for passing data from a logical link control (LLC) layer to said MAC machine.

7. A method of operating a computer having a power management subsystem and connected to a network, said method comprising the steps of:

maintaining power to a network interface subsystem in the computer;

receiving a data packet directed to the computer by the network;

filtering said received data packet by means of a filter mask used in conjunction with an offset value to obtain a filtered portion of said received data packet;

computing the hash value of said filtered data packet portion;

comparing said computed hash value with a predetermined hash value;

commanding the power management subsystem to restore power to at least one computer component if said computed hash value matches said predetermined hash value;

signaling the status of said at least one computer component to said network interface subsystem upon restoration of power to said at least one computer component; and

,

transmitting by said network interface subsystem, in response to said step of signaling the status, a status packet onto the network giving a status of said at least one computer component in the event that said at least one component is not functional.

8. The method as in claim 7 wherein said step of signaling comprises the step of using a management bus for said signaling.

9. The method as in claim 7 wherein said step of signaling comprises the step of using a bus employing the I2C protocol for said signaling.

10. The method as in claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

transferring data by a management bus interface from a management bus to a media access controller (MAC) machine and passing data from a logical link control (LLC) layer to said MAC machine.

11. A computer suitable for use in a network, said computer comprising:

a network interface subsystem having power applied thereto even when power is removed from at least one other component of said computer, said network interface subsystem comprising

a receiver to receive a data packet directed to said computer from the network, and in response to receipt of a selected said data packet, to restore power to said at least one other component;

a transmitter;

at least one system bus;

a signaling device in electrical communication with said network interface subsystem via a management bus, and with said at least one other component, for reporting the status of said at least one other component to said network interface subsystem upon restoration of power to said at least one other component; and

,

multiplexing means in electrical communication with said at least one system bus and with said management bus, said multiplexing means functioning to pass data packets from said signaling device to said transmitter and from said computer to said transmitter;

said transmitter in said network interface subsystem operating to send onto the network, in response to said signaling device, a status packet giving a status of said computer in the event that said at least one component is not functional, following restoration of power to said at least one component.