Apparatus for supporting a logically partitioned computer system
US6993640B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 23, 2004 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 23, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F12/1491
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A processor supports logical partitioning of hardware resources including real address spaces of a computer system. An ultra-privileged supervisor process, called a hypervisor, regulates the logical partitions and can dynamically re-allocate resources. Preferably, the processor supports hardware multithreading, each thread independently capable of being in either hypervisor, supervisor, or problem state, and is capable of entering hypervisor state only upon occurrence of certain pre-defined events. A logical partition identifier is stored in a processor register, and can be altered by the processor only when in hypervisor state. Certain bus communications contain a logical partition identifier tag, and the processor ignores such communications if the tag does not match its own logical partition identifier in its register.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.