Controller and resource management system and method with improved security for independently controlling and managing a computer system

In a personal computer, having a plurality of personal computer resources including a processor and memory, a controller and resource management system, wherein said controller and resource management system is implemented in electronic hardware that is physically separate and functionally independent of said processor, said controller and resource management system comprising:

• a watchdog timer function for monitoring the health and operation of said controller and resource management system;
• a configuration and device driver function for configuring said plurality of personal computer resources;
• a plurality of personal computer input/output interfaces for coupling said controller and resource management system to said plurality of personal computer resources, including a personal computer input/output interface for communicatively coupling control messages to said processor;
• a plurality of buffers for buffering data coupled to said plurality of personal computer input/output interfaces, including an application program interface (API) buffer for communicatively coupling control messages to said processor;
• a memory controller for controlling memory data communications between said memory and said controller and resource management system;
• an input/output controller for coupling said controller and resource management system to said plurality of personal computer input/output interfaces;
• event priority and scheduler logic which inputs said memory data via said memory controller, and inputs personal computer events via said input/output controller, and responsive to said inputs, outputs data comprising:
• prioritized and scheduled personal computer events, prioritized and scheduled personal computer memory data;
• and
• security filter logic which inputs said prioritized and scheduled data, and responsive to said inputs, outputs data comprising:
• filtered and verified personal computer events, filtered and verified personal computer memory data, and responsive to said output, communicatively couples said output to said processor such that prioritized, and scheduled, and verified personal computer events and personal computer memory data is coupled to said processor through said controller and resource management system;
• and, wherein said controller and resource management system does not require processor executable instructions to operate.

A method for controlling and managing a plurality of computer resources, including a processor for performing a plurality of processes, and handling a plurality of computer events and memory data such that said method is functionally independent of said processor, said method comprising:

• controlling and receiving said memory data communications via a memory controller;
• controlling input/output interfaces via an input/output controller;
• receiving said plurality of computer events via said input/output controller;
• providing a security function for filtering and verifying said plurality of computer events and said memory data, and further notifying said plurality of computer resources of said plurality of computer events and said memory data such that said security function is functionally independent of said processor, and such that said plurality of computer events and said memory data are filtered and verified prior to arrival at said processor;
• managing and scheduling said plurality of processes performed by said processor;
• prioritizing said plurality of processes performed by said processor;
• configuring a watchdog timer and reacting to a timeout event of said watchdog timer;
• and
• configuring said plurality of computer resources via a configuration and device driver function.