Controlling I/O devices independently of a host processor
US6502156B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 27, 1999 |
| Grant date | Dec 31, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 27, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/387
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An input/output device on a bus may be controlled to enable advanced features such as RAID to be implemented on a system board which is not otherwise specially adapted in any fashion to implement such features. The system board need not include, in its basic configuration, a host bus adapter such as one using an I/O processor, or standard BIOS instructions which assist in the implementation of the advanced features. The advanced features may be implemented by plugging an appropriate host bus adapter into an appropriate bus slot to provide the advanced functionality. By using special logic and signals on the host bus adapter, the advanced functionality may be achieved in a platform independent system board implementation and without the added cost of an I/O device on the host bus adapter.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.