Management of an IOV adapter through a virtual intermediary in an IOV management partition
US8141093B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 15, 2007 |
| Grant date | Mar 20, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 26, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2009/45579
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Mechanisms that address the situation where an input/output (I/O) fabric is shared by more than one logical partition (LPAR) and where each LPAR can share with the other LPARs an I/O adapter (IOA) are provided. In particular, each LPAR is assigned its own separate address space to access a virtual function (VF) assigned to it such that each LPAR's perception is that it has its own independent IOA. Each VF may be shared across multiple LPARs. Facilities are provided for management of the shared resources of the IOA via a Physical Function (PF) of the IOA by assignment of that PF to an I/O Virtualization Management Partition (IMP). The code running in the IMP acts as a virtual intermediary to the VFs for fully managing the VF error handling, VF reset, and configuration operations. The IMP also acts as an interface to the PF for accessing common VF functionality.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.