Virtual general-purpose I/O controller
US9417801B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 27, 2014 |
| Grant date | Aug 16, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 27, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/385
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Technologies for virtual general purpose I/O (GPIO) include a computing device having a virtual GPIO controller driver, a virtual GPIO controller firmware interface, and a virtual GPIO controller. The driver receives a GPIO command from an operating system of the computing device. The GPIO command specifies an operation to be performed by a GPIO pin. The driver sends the GPIO command to the firmware interface. In response to the firmware interface receiving the command, the virtual GPIO controller emulates a virtual GPIO pin to implement the GPIO command. The firmware interface may trigger an interrupt that can be received by the operating system. The virtual GPIO controller may emulate the virtual GPIO pin using firmware-reserved backing memory, an embedded controller, or an interface to a peripheral device of the computing device. The firmware interface may be an ACPI control method. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.