Universal boot code for a computer network
US6643772B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 13, 2000 |
| Grant date | Nov 4, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 6, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/4416
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method of and software for booting a network computer with universal boot code is disclosed. Initially, the type of a boot device is determined from among a set of possible boot devices. A command in a high level boot code segment of the boot code software is then translated to a command executable by the boot device based upon the determined device type. The converted command is then executed on the boot device to transfer data between the network computer and the boot device. The boot code is preferably compatible with a variety of boot devices including a hard disk boot device, an NFS server boot device, as well as a TFTP server boot device. In an embodiment in which the boot device is a TFTP boot device, a READ command from the high level boot code is translated to a TFTP read request. The data transferred by the TFTP read request may be stored in a file cache on the network computer. During a subsequent high level boot code READ command, the software interface may determine if the requested data is cached in the file cache, and if so, it may retrieve the data from the file cache. If the high level boot command is a SEEK command, and the boot device is a TFTP device, the conv…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.