Apparatus and method for modeling behavior of expansion boards in a computer system
First Claim
1. Apparatus for use in a computer system having a memory, a plurality of system resources, and a computer viewer for adding an expansion card to the computer system, the apparatus comprising:
- (a) a mechanism in the computer viewer for constructing in the memory, a card object specific to the expansion card and representing the behavior of the expansion card, the card object having a plurality of methods for manipulating system resource assignments for I/O functions on the expansion card;
(b) a mechanism in the computer viewer for using the card object to obtain system resource requirements;
(c) a central resource manager having a consistent interface to the card object and access to system resource allocation information for all I/O functions in the computer system;
(d) a mechanism in the computer viewer for using the central resource manager to obtain conflict free system resource assignments for I/O function on the expansion card each time the computer system is booted; and
(e) a mechanism in the computer viewer for using the card object to store system resource assignment data in the memory.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
When an expansion card is installed in a computer system using a computer viewer, an object is created by the computer viewer to represent the card. The computer viewer uses the card object to examine the card for I/O functions present on the card and to obtain resource requirements for each function. The resource requirements are also provided to a resource conflict resolver object which attempts to assign resources to each I/O function on the cards. If the resource conflict resolver is successful in assigning resource to each I/O function, then the resource assignments are also stored in objects. The computer viewer then uses the card objects to store the resource objects in a persistent storage. During a later system boot operation, the booting system creates bus and card recognizer objects which identify expansion buses and cards present in the system and retrieve the function resource objects from the persistent storage to represent each expansion card.
28 Citations
30 Claims
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1. Apparatus for use in a computer system having a memory, a plurality of system resources, and a computer viewer for adding an expansion card to the computer system, the apparatus comprising:
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(a) a mechanism in the computer viewer for constructing in the memory, a card object specific to the expansion card and representing the behavior of the expansion card, the card object having a plurality of methods for manipulating system resource assignments for I/O functions on the expansion card; (b) a mechanism in the computer viewer for using the card object to obtain system resource requirements; (c) a central resource manager having a consistent interface to the card object and access to system resource allocation information for all I/O functions in the computer system; (d) a mechanism in the computer viewer for using the central resource manager to obtain conflict free system resource assignments for I/O function on the expansion card each time the computer system is booted; and (e) a mechanism in the computer viewer for using the card object to store system resource assignment data in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for use in a computer system having a memory, a plurality of system resources, and a computer viewer for adding an expansion card to the computer system, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) using the computer viewer to construct in the memory, a card object specific to the expansion card and representing the behavior of the expansion card, the card object having a plurality of methods for manipulating resource assignments for I/O functions on the expansion card; (b) using the card object under control of the computer viewer to obtain system resource requirements; (c) creating a central resource manager having a consistent interface to the card object and access to system resource allocation information for all I/O functions in the computer system; (d) using the central resource manager under control of the computer viewer to obtain conflict free system resource assignments for I/O function on the expansion card each time the computer system is booted; and (e) using the card object under control of the computer viewer to store system resource assignment data in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program product for use in a computer system having a memory, a plurality of system resources, and a computer viewer for adding an expansion card to the computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, including:
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(a) program code for using the computer viewer to construct in the memory, a card object specific to the expansion card and representing the behavior of the expansion card, the card object having a plurality of methods for manipulating system resource assignments for I/O functions on the expansion card; (b) program code for using the card object under control of the computer viewer to obtain system resource requirements; (c) program code for creating a central resource manager having a consistent interface to the card object and access to system resource allocation information for all I/O functions in the system; (d) program code for using the central resource manager under control of the computer viewer to obtain conflict free system resource assignments for I/O function on the expansion card each time the computer system is booted; and (e) program code for using the card object under control of the computer viewer to store system resource assignment data in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification