Native and non-native I/O virtualization in a single adapter
US8103810B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 5, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jan 24, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 28, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/102
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Mechanisms for enabling both native and non-native input/output virtualization (IOV) in a single I/O adapter are provided. The mechanisms allow a system with a large number of logical partitions (LPARs) and system images to use IOV to share a native IOV enabled I/O adapter or endpoint that does not implement the necessary number of virtual functions (VFs) for each LPAR and system image. A number of VFs supported by the I/O adapter, less one, are assigned to LPARs and system images so that they may make use of native IOV using these VFs. The remaining VF is associated with a virtual intermediary (VI) which handles non-native IOV of the I/O adapter. Any remaining LPARs and system images share the I/O adapter using the non-native IOV via the VI. Thus, any number of LPARs and system images may share the same I/O adapter or endpoint.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.