Method and apparatus for preservation of data structures for hardware components discovery and initialization
US6745269B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 11, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jun 1, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 1, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/4403
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus preserve the data structures established in the earliest stage of initial power load, rather than each system firmware component rediscovering the hardware components of the system. Thus, the data structure is available at later stages for other firmware components. In a logical partitioning machine, the open firmware partition manager can utilize the data structure to support the partition's open firmware device tree construction. The partition manager customizes the copies of these data structures residing in the partition's memory. For hardware devices in the system but not belonging to the partition, the device information is cleared and marked invalid. After the data structures are established and updated by the earliest firmware I/O configuration component, the addresses of these structures are provided to the open firmware component. The open firmware copies these data structures to its internally safe working area and uses the copies for its normal operation. When runtime abstraction service firmware component is instantiated, the addresses of the structures of open firmware's copies are provided by the open firmware component to runtime abstraction s…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.