System for configuring a computer with or without an operating system to allow another computer to remotely exchange data and control the computer

• US 6,609,151 B1
• Filed: 08/31/1999
• Issued: 08/19/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Naru, Mahesh S., Khanna, Rahul
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Le Hien
• Application Number:
  US09/387,614
• Time in Patent Office: 1,449 Days
• Field of Search: 709/222, 709/220, 709/208, 709/202, 709/227, 713/1, 713/154, 713/2
• US Class Current: 709/222
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4812 by interrupt, e.g. masked
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4825 Interrupt from clock, e.g. time of day
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/544 Buffers; Shared memory; Pipes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/12 Protocol engines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols

Abstract

A technique for providing communication between two computers through a network in a way to allow one computer to control the other.

Claims

1. A method for exchanging data between two computers connected to a network, comprising:

configuring a network interface card (NIC) of a first computer to communicate with a network;

generating a timer interrupt based on a timing signal in the first computer; and

configuring the BIOS of the first computer to communicate with a second computer connected to the network according to the timer interrupt to allow the second computer to control the first computer both when the first computer has a running operating system, wherein the timing signal includes a periodic clock signal, and the BIOS is configured to control data exchange between the first and second computers by;

intiating the timer interrupt at a periodic timer tick of the clock signal;

determining whether an acknowledgment signal for a previous data packet sent from the first computer to the second computer is received;

terminating the timer interrupt when the acknowledgment is pending;

determining whether any data packet from the second computer is received by the first computer when the acknowledgment is not pending;

when a data packet is received, unpacketizing the data packet and sending associated unpacketized data to one or more devices in the first computer; and

when there is no received data from the second computer, packetizing data generated by the first computer according to a network communication protocol and sending a resultant data packet to the second computer.

2. A method for controlling a computer to communicate with another computer in a network, comprising:

configuring a basic input and output system (BIOS) of a computer to control communication between the computer and a network both when the computer has a running operating system, and when the computer does not have a funning operating system;

using a periodic timer interrupt generated by the computer according to a periodic clock signal to execute an operation of the BIOS for sending data from the other computer; and

producing an asynchronous interrupt to inform the BIOS whenever the computer receives a data packet from the network;

establishing a communication link between the computer and the network to obtain a network address for the computer;

initiating the timer interrupt at a periodic timer tick of the clock signal;

determining whether an acknowledgment signal for a previous data packet sent from the computer to the other computer is received;

terminating the timer interrupt when the acknowledgment is pending;

determining whether any data packet from the other computer is received by the computer when the acknowledgment is not pending;

when a data packet is received, unpacketizing the received data packet and sending associated unpacketized data to one or more devices in the computer; and

when a data packet is not received, packetizing data generated by the computer according to a network communication protocol and sending a resultant data packet to the other computer.

3. A method for controlling a computer to communicate with another computer in a network, comprising:

setting a network interface card (NIC) in a computer to a desired status;

informing a basic input and output system (BIOS) of the computer hardware parameters of the NIC including an access address;

linking the NIC to an interrupt controller of the computer to handle each event of receiving a data packet by the NIC from the network as an asynchronous interrupt;

connecting the computer to the network to obtain a network address from a network server;

establishing a communication link between the computer and the network to obtain a network address for the computer;

using a periodic timer interrupt generated by the computer according to a periodic clock signal to execute an operation of the BIOS for sending data from the computer to the network and processing received data from the other computer;

determining whether an acknowledgment signal for a previous data packet sent from the computer to the other computer is received;

terminating the timer interrupt when the acknowledgment is yet to be received;

determining whether any data packet from the other computer is received by the computer when the acknowledgment is not pending;

when a data packet is received, unpacketizing the received data packet and send associated unpacketized data to one or more devices in the computer; and

when a data packet is not received, packetizing data generated by the computer according to a network communication protocol and sending a resultant data packet to the other computer.

4. A method as in claim 3, further comprising using Preboot Execution Environment protocol to control the NIC.

5. A method as in claim 3, wherein the network address for the computer is an Internet Protocol address based on the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

6. A method as in claim 3, wherein the network communication protocol for sending data to the network includes the User Datagram Protocol.

7. A computer having a storage device containing executable routines as a part of the BIOS that, when executed by a computer processor, causes the computer to:

control communication between the computer and a network both when the computer has a running operating system, and when the computer does not have a running operating system;

generate a periodic timer interrupt according to a timer signal to send data from the computer to the network and to process received data from another computer linked to the network; and

produce an asynchronous interrupt to indicate that a data packet is received from the network, wherein the executable routines cause the computer processor to;

establish a communication link between the computer and the network to obtain a network address for the computer;

initiate the timer interrupt at a periodic timer tick of the clock signal;

determine whether an acknowledgment signal for a previous data packet sent from the computer to the other computer is received;

terminate the timer interrupt when the acknowledgment is pending;

determine whether any data packet from the other computer is received by the computer when the acknowledgment is not pending;

when a data packet is received, unpacketize the received data packet and send associated unpacketized data to one or more devices in the computer; and

when a data packet is not received, packetize data generated by the computer according to a network communication protocol and send a resultant data packet to the other computer.

8. A machine-readable medium having thereon instructions which are executable by a processor of a machine to cause the machine to:

control communication between a computer and a network both when the computer has a running operating system, and when the computer does not have a running operating system;

generate a periodic timer interrupt according to a timer signal to send data from the computer to the network and to process received data from another computer linked to the network; and

produce an asynchronous interrupt to indicate that a data packet is received from the network, wherein the routines cause the machine to;

establish a communication link between the computer and the network to obtain a network address for the computer;

initiate the timer interrupt at a periodic timer tick of the clock signal;

determine whether an acknowledgment signal for a previous data packet sent from the computer to the other computer is received;

terminate the timer interrupt when the acknowledgment is pending;

determine whether any data packet from the other computer is received by the computer when the acknowledgment is not pending;

when a data packet is received, unpacketize the received data packet and send associated unpacketized data to one or more devices in the computer; and

when a data packet is not received, packetize data generated by the computer according to a network communication protocol and send a resultant data packet to the other computer.