Patent · US Active

Switching apparatus and method for providing shared I/O within a load-store fabric

US8102843B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
79References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 19, 2004
Grant dateJan 24, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 27, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L49/602
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided that enable I/O devices to be shared among multiple operating system domains. The apparatus has a first plurality of I/O ports, a second I/O port, and core logic. The first plurality of I/O ports is coupled to a plurality of operating system domains through a PCI Express fabric. Each of the first plurality of I/O ports is configured to route PCI Express transactions between said plurality of operating system domains and the switching apparatus. The second I/O port is coupled to a first shared input/output endpoint, where the first shared input/output endpoint is configured to request/complete said PCI Express transactions for each of the plurality of operating system domains. The core logic is coupled to the first plurality of I/O ports and the second I/O port. The core logic routes the PCI Express transactions between the first plurality of I/O ports and the second I/O port.

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