Patent · US Active

Emulating a line-based interrupt transaction in response to a message signaled interrupt

US7979619B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
2References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 2008
Grant dateJul 12, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 6, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/45533
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing interrupt services in hypervisor and hypervisor-related environments in Message Signaled Interrupts are emulated as other type(s) of interrupt.According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of executing a program includes receiving a MSI (message signaled interrupt). Responsively, a virtual interrupt is generated and an ISR (interrupt service routine) is invoked that handles a line-based virtual interrupt transaction. A surrogate or virtual peripheral device status may also be provided and may be associated with the virtual interrupt. A single device interrupt event may, in certain circumstances, be serviced both as a line-based interrupt and also as an MSI, or as either responsive to run-time context.Embodiments of the present invention enable superior tradeoffs in regards to the interrupt sharing to a greater and more flexible extent than with previous implementations. Moreover, it makes possible interrupt sharing using an ISR that was not expressly designed for interrupt sharing.

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