Mechanism for enabling a program to be executed while the execution of an operating system is suspended
First Claim
1. A method implemented in a computer system, the computer system having an operating system executing thereon, the method comprising:
- a processor accessing a basic input output system (BIOS) upon power-up or reboot;
the BIOS, during the power-up or reboot, causing the processor to set a trap for a particular power-down instruction for the operating system;
the BIOS, during the power-up or reboot, causing the operating system to reserve a portion of memory for other use;
receiving a request to execute an auxiliary program, allocating a second portion of memory that is currently free for use by the auxiliary program for storing execution-generated data, and passing information pertaining to the second memory allocation to the auxiliary program;
the operating system providing the particular power-down instruction to the processor in response to the request to execute the auxiliary program;
the processor executing an associated trap handling routine of the BIOS in response to receiving the particular power-down instruction;
suspending execution of the operating system; and
executing the auxiliary program from the portion of memory that is allocated for other use while execution of the operating system is suspended, the auxiliary program comprising a self-contained program that contains all components for operating the auxiliary program.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mechanism is provided for enabling an auxiliary program to be executed in a computer system, after an operating system has been loaded and executed, without rebooting the computer system. This may be achieved by suspending execution of the operating system, executing the auxiliary program while execution of the operating system is suspended, and then resuming execution of the operating system. In suspending execution of the operating system, state information defining a current state of the computer system is saved. In resuming execution of the operating system, the saved state information is used to restore the computer system to the current state. No state information or data should be lost as a result of suspending and resuming execution of the operating system. From the viewpoint of the operating system and the applications (if any) executing within the environment provided by the operating system, execution of the auxiliary program is transparent.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method implemented in a computer system, the computer system having an operating system executing thereon, the method comprising:
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a processor accessing a basic input output system (BIOS) upon power-up or reboot; the BIOS, during the power-up or reboot, causing the processor to set a trap for a particular power-down instruction for the operating system; the BIOS, during the power-up or reboot, causing the operating system to reserve a portion of memory for other use; receiving a request to execute an auxiliary program, allocating a second portion of memory that is currently free for use by the auxiliary program for storing execution-generated data, and passing information pertaining to the second memory allocation to the auxiliary program; the operating system providing the particular power-down instruction to the processor in response to the request to execute the auxiliary program; the processor executing an associated trap handling routine of the BIOS in response to receiving the particular power-down instruction; suspending execution of the operating system; and executing the auxiliary program from the portion of memory that is allocated for other use while execution of the operating system is suspended, the auxiliary program comprising a self-contained program that contains all components for operating the auxiliary program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer system, comprising:
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a processor for accessing a basic input output system (BIOS) upon power-up or reboot; a mechanism for the BIOS, during the power-up or reboot, to cause the processor to set a trap for a particular power-down instruction for an operating system; a mechanism for causing the BIOS, during the power-up or reboot, to cause the operating system to reserve a portion of memory for other use; a mechanism for receiving a request to execute an auxiliary program, for allocating a second portion of memory that is currently free for use by the auxiliary program for storing execution-generated data, and for passing information pertaining to the second memory allocation to the auxiliary program; a mechanism for the operating system to provide the particular power-down instruction to the processor in response to the request to execute the auxiliary program; a mechanism for executing an associated trap handling routine of the BIOS in response to the received particular power-down instruction; a mechanism for causing execution of an operating system to be suspended; and a mechanism for causing the auxiliary program to be executed from the portion of memory that is allocated for exclusive other use while execution of the operating system is suspended, the auxiliary program comprising a self-contained program that contains all components for operating the auxiliary program. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification