Patent · US Expired

Interrupt mechanism on an IO adapter that supports virtualization

US7260664B2 · kind B2 · utility

51Cited by
6References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 25, 2005
Grant dateAug 21, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 2, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2213/0024
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A mechanism for handling event notifications or interrupts in a logically partitioned computing system having IO adapters that support adapter virtualization are provided. A virtual adapter associated with a physical IO adapter detects an event, identifies a logical partition associated with the event, and writes an event notification entry in a partition interrupt control block (PICB) of the logical partition memory space. The virtual adapter notifies shared control point logic on the physical IO adapter of the update to the PICB which may then write an entry to a logical partition manager interrupt control block (LPAR manager ICB) identifying the update to the PICB and the operating system associated with the PICB. The LPAR manager may then inform the operating system of the logical partition of the updates to the PICB which may then read the entries in the PICB, process them and inform appropriate application instances of the events.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.