Method and system for a self-booting Ethernet controller
US7689819B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 14, 2005 |
| Grant date | Mar 30, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 9, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L67/34
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Certain embodiments for a self-booting Ethernet controller chip (NAC) may comprise a processor within the NAC that determines whether legacy boot code is present in memory external to the NAC. If legacy boot code is present in the external memory, the NAC may boot from the legacy boot code. If the legacy boot code is not present in the external memory, the processor may boot the NAC from the self-boot code in the ROM within the NAC. The processor may also read network configuration data from the external memory. The network configuration data may be stored, for example, in a NVRAM. The processor may copy the network configuration data from the NVRAM to a RAM within the NAC while booting.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.