Communication among partitioned devices
First Claim
1. A computing device having partitions, wherein at least one partition comprises:
- at least one cell;
at least one register that in normal use of the device is accessible to other partitions and capable of defining an accessible address area; and
the at least one partition is arranged to permit other partitions to access at least one accessible address area defined by the at least one register and to deny other partitions access to address areas other than the at least one accessible address area;
wherein the at least one partition comprises information associated with the at least one register and specifying which other partitions are permitted to access the accessible address area identified by the at least one register; and
wherein the at least one register comprises a sharing set register within the at least one partition containing the information specifying which other partitions are permitted to access the accessible address area.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computing device having partitions, and a method of communicating between partitions, are disclosed wherein at least one partition comprises: at least one register substantially always accessible to other partitions and capable of defining an address area; at least one address area that may be accessible to other partitions and is capable of being defined by the at least one register; and address areas other than the at least one accessible address area that are not accessible to other partitions. A method of processing interrupts comprising receiving an interrupt, assessing the origin of the interrupt, accepting, rejecting, or further assessing the interrupt, depending on its origin, when further assessing the interrupt, accepting or rejecting the interrupt depending on its contents, and forwarding accepted interrupts but not rejected interrupts to a target processor, and a device carrying out that method are also disclosed.
43 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A computing device having partitions, wherein at least one partition comprises:
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at least one cell; at least one register that in normal use of the device is accessible to other partitions and capable of defining an accessible address area; and the at least one partition is arranged to permit other partitions to access at least one accessible address area defined by the at least one register and to deny other partitions access to address areas other than the at least one accessible address area; wherein the at least one partition comprises information associated with the at least one register and specifying which other partitions are permitted to access the accessible address area identified by the at least one register; and wherein the at least one register comprises a sharing set register within the at least one partition containing the information specifying which other partitions are permitted to access the accessible address area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of communicating between partitions, comprising:
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providing in a partition at least one register accessible to other partitions and defining an accessible address area, wherein the at least one register in the partition comprises a register specifying which other partitions are permitted to access the accessible memory area to which that register refers; permitting at least one other partition to access at least one accessible address area defined by the at least one register; and preventing other partitions from accessing address areas other than the at least one accessible address area. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A computing device having partitions, wherein at least one partition comprises:
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at least one first means accessible to other partitions and capable of defining an accessible address area; and second means within the partition for permitting other partitions access to at least one accessible address area defined by the at least one first means and preventing other partitions from accessing other address areas. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computing device comprising partitions, wherein each partition comprises:
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a set of registers, normally readable by other partitions, and addressable memory, the set of registers comprising at least one bounds register arranged to give the location of a shared memory window, and an associated sharing set register within its partition arranged to specify other partitions authorized to read the shared memory window; and a memory controller that in operation permits the shared memory window to be read by partitions specified in the associated sharing set register as being authorized to read that shared memory window and denies other access to the addressable memory from outside the partition.
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34. A device for use as a partition in a partitioned multiprocessor system, the device comprising at least a processor, addressable memory, and at least one register defining a local address area, the at least one register including at least one sharing set register specifying which of a plurality of other partitions are permitted to read the at least one accessible local address area, and being arrangeable in use to:
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make the at least one register readable to other partitions; make at least one accessible local address area defined by the at least one register readable to other partitions; maintain address areas other than the at least one accessible local address area and prevent access to those other address areas from other partitions; maintain information giving the location of at least one remote register in another partition; obtain from the at least one remote register the address of at least one accessible remote address area in the other partition accessible to the processor; read and respond to data in the at least one accessible remote address area; and place data for a processor in the other partition in the at least one accessible local address area. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification