Apparatus for controlling an I/O port by queuing requests and in response to a predefined condition, enabling the I/O port to receive the interrupt requests
US5819112A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 8, 1995 |
| Grant date | Oct 6, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 8, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/24
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An improved operating system for a personal computer including a method for controlling a parallel I/O port for peer-to-peer communication is disclosed. The improved operating system includes a port driver which supports communication with multiple peripheral devices through a single parallel port. The peripheral devices are connect to the parallel port via a multiplexer and may include non-interrupt devices, master/slave devices, and peer-to-peer devices. The parallel port driver includes a port arbitrator and a plurality of class device drivers to control access to the parallel port. Each class device driver communicates with a particular class of devices connected to the port. The port arbitrator controls access to port by the various class device drivers. The parallel port includes configurable control registers that include interrupt control bits for enabling and disabling interrupts communicated by peripheral devices. A device driver may set the interrupt control bits so as to disable the port for receiving certain interrupt requests from peer-to-peer devices. The port arbitrator monitors the status of the port and enables the port to receive interrupt requests from peer-to-p…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.