Systems and method for assigning unique addresses to agents on a system management bus
US5636342A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 17, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jun 3, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 17, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/4081
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for automatically assigning addresses to agents on a system management bus in a computer system without requiring user intervention, i.e., without requiring the user to manually or programmatically set physical or logical switches. The computer system includes a system management bus which preferably uses the I.sup.2 C serial protocol. The bus includes at least one SMB master and a plurality of slaves for performing desired monitoring and control functions in the computer system. According to the present invention, the SMB master assigns unique addresses to each of the SMB slaves automatically and without user intervention. This provides a simpler, more efficient, and less error prone method for assigning addresses to SMB agents. In addition, the system of the present invention automatically assigns unique addresses to new devices inserted on the bus while the bus is operating and thus allows for hot pluggable devices.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.