Method and system for improved communication between central processing units and input/output processors
OwnerCraig F. Russ, Matthew A. Curraninventors
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Abstract
A method and system for communicating information regarding input/output (IO) processing in a shared access to memory environment is disclosed. A central processing unit (CPU) and an input/output processor (IOP) are configured to write to and read from predetermined memory locations to manage the detection, performance, and completion of IOs. The CPU and the IOP may read from and write to memory as desired.
Claims16
A method for communicating information regarding processing of inputs/outputs (IOs) in shared access to memory environments, the method comprising the steps of:
- initiating at least one IO in a central processing unit (CPU);
- storing control information for processing the IO in an input/output control block (IOCB);
- writing the location of the IOCB by the CPU to a shared memory, without having to lock the shared memory to write the location of the IOCB;
- polling the shared memory by an input/output processor (IOP) to determine if there are any pending IO requests by reading the IOCB location from the shared memory;
- reading the IOCB by the IOP if there are pending IO requests;
- storing the location of the IOCB in the shared memory by the IOP after the IO operation is complete, without having to lock the shared memory to store the location of the IOCB;
- polling the shared memory by the CPU to determine if there are any completed IOs;
- and
- reading the IOCB by the CPU if there are completed IOs.
-23. (canceled)
A system for communicating information regarding input/output (IO) processing, comprising:
- a shared memory including an input/output control block (IOCB), said IOCB including control information for processing an IO, wherein said shared memory does not need to be locked to write to said shared memory and to read from said shared memory;
- a central processing unit (CPU), configured to write a location of said IOCB to said shared memory and to read a location of said IOCB from said shared memory;
- and
- an input/output processor (IOP), configured to write a location of said IOCB to said shared memory and to read a location of said IOCB from said shared memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.