Web-based interface to access a function of a basic input/output system

• US 9,448,810 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2011
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Ali, Valiuddin Y., Pires, Jose Paulo Xavier, Mann, James M, Balacheff, Boris, Dalton, Chris I
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Vincent
• Application Number:
  US14/352,424
• Publication Number:
  US 20140298003A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,796 Days
• Field of Search: 713/2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45575 Starting, stopping, suspending or resuming virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/14 for detecting or protecting against malicious traffic

Abstract

A web-based interface in an electronic device receives a request to access a function of a Basic Input/Output System.

Claims

1. A method of an electronic device, comprising:

receiving, while an operating system is running in the electronic device, a request to access a function of a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), the request containing an address of the function of the BIOS; and

routing, based on the address of the function of the BIOS, the request through a web-based interface to a domain that includes the function of the BIOS, the routing of the request to the domain to cause access of the function of the BIOS without entering a system management mode (SMM) of the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the request to the domain comprises routing the request to the domain that is inside the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein routing the request to the domain inside the electronic device comprises routing the request to a privileged domain in the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein routing the request to the domain comprises routing the request to the domain that is outside the electronic device, wherein the domain is accessible by the electronic device over a network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein routing the request to the domain outside the electronic device comprises routing the request to the domain in a server computer accessible over the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request according to a format according to one selected from among a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and a Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the domain, whether to execute the function based on identifying at least one selected from among a source of the request and a context of the request.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request to access the function of the BIOS comprises receiving the request to invoke a service selected from the group consisting of:

a service to update code of the BIOS;

a service to update a setting of the BIOS;

a thermal management service to perform thermal management in the electronic device;

a service to transition the electronic device between different power states;

a power management service to control power of a component in the electronic device;

a service to process activation of a button or button sequence of the electronic device;

a service associated with an ambient light sensor of the electronic device;

a service to modify a setting of a hardware component in the electronic device;

a service to change a boot order of bootable devices of the electronic device;

a service for handling a call between an operating system and the BIOS; and

a service to execute a command of an embedded controller.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is received from an entity executing in a virtual machine in the electronic device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the entity is the operating system.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending, by a virtual BIOS in the virtual machine, the request from the entity to the web-based interface.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the web-based interface is part of the domain, the domain being a privileged domain started by a virtual machine monitor (VMM).

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

intercepting, by the VMM, the request; and

routing, by the VMM, the request to the web-based interface.

14. An electronic device comprising:

a web-based interface;

at least one processor; and

an operating system executable on the at least one processor to submit a request to the web-based interface for accessing a function of a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) without entering a system management mode (SMM) of the electronic device, the request containing a web address of the function of the BIOS, and

the web-based interface to direct the request containing the web address to the function of the BIOS.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, further comprising a domain in the electronic device, wherein the domain includes the function of the BIOS, and wherein the web-based interface is to forward the request to the domain in the electronic device.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the domain includes a privileged domain started by a virtual machine monitor (VMM).

17. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the web-based interface is to forward the request to a domain outside the electronic device, the domain including the function of the BIOS.

18. An article comprising at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause an electronic device to:

receive, while an operating system is running in the electronic device, a request to access a function of a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), the request containing an address of the function of the BIOS; and

route, based on the address of the function of the BIOS, the request through a web-based interface to a domain that includes the function of the BIOS, the routing of the request to the domain to cause access of the function of the BIOS without entering a system management mode (SMM) of the electronic device.

19. The article of claim 18, wherein the request is received from the operating system executing in a virtual machine in the electronic device.