Computer system and control method of the same

A device, comprising:

• a general purpose input/output (GPIO) interface for receiving an input that sets a value in a register of the device to specify a process to be carried out by an information processing apparatus;
• a universal serial bus (USB) interface for receiving a command block wrapper (CBW) that includes a small computer system interface (SCSI) command;
• and
• a processing unit configured to receive a command block wrapper (CBW) that includes a small computer system interface (SCSI) command, and that is issued based on a Bulk-Only-Transport (BOT) protocol of a mass storage class, and said CBW including a particular vendor-specific SCSI command being periodically issued;
• the processing unit configured to determine whether the SCSI command is (i) a normal type of SCSI command to read data from or write data to a specific device or (ii) the particular vendor-specific SCSI command to read the value from the register, based at least partially on a code included in the SCSI command;
• and
• the processing unit configured to transmit information about the value in the register through the USB interface to the information processing apparatus in a case where the value is set by the input and then the particular vendor-specific SCSI command is received.

A method performed by an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

• transmitting, through a universal serial bus (USB) interface to a device based on a Bulk-Only-Transport (BOT) protocol of a mass storage class, a command block wrapper (CBW) comprising a small computer system interface (SCSI) command that includes a code to indicate whether the SCSI command is (i) a normal type of SCSI command to read data from or write data to a storage device or (ii) a vendor-specific SCSI command to read a value from a register of the device, said code set in the SCSI command to indicate that the SCSI command is the vendor-specific SCSI command, and said CBW including the particular vendor-specific SCSI command being periodically transmitted;
• receiving, through the USB interface from the device in response to the SCSI command, information about a value that has been set in the register by an input to a general purpose input/output (GPIO) interface of the device;
• and
• carrying out a process specified by the value.

An information processing apparatus, comprising:

• a processing unit;
• and
• a universal serial bus (USB) interface;
• said processing unit configured to transmit, through the USB interface to a device based on a Bulk-Only-Transport (BOT) protocol of a mass storage class, a command block wrapper (CBW) comprising a small computer system interface (SCSI) command that includes a code to indicate whether the SCSI command is (i) a normal type of SCSI command to read data from or write data to a storage device or (ii) a vendor-specific SCSI command to read a value from a register of the device, said code set in the SCSI command to indicate that the SCSI command is the vendor-specific SCSI command being periodically transmitted;
• said processing unit configured to receive, through the USB interface from the device in response to the SCSI command if the SCSI command is the vendor-specific SCSI command, information about a value in the register that has been set by an input to a general purpose input/output (GPIO) interface of the device;
• and
• said processing unit configured to carry out a process specified by the value.

A computer system comprising an information processing apparatus and a peripheral apparatus,

• wherein said information processing apparatus comprises:
• a processing section configured to execute an application program to issue a particular vendor-specific SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) command or a normal type SCSI command, wherein said information processing apparatus is configured to execute a device driver to incorporate the issued particular vendor-specific SCSI command or the issued normal type SCSI command into a CBW (Command Block Wrapper);
• and
• a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface configured to transmit said CBW based on a Bulk-Only-Transport (BOT) protocol of a mass storage class, said CBW including the particular vendor-specific SCSI command being periodically transmitted, and
• wherein said peripheral apparatus comprises:
• a GPIO (general purpose input/output) interface;
• and a register configured to hold a register value indicating a state of said GPIO interface,
• wherein said peripheral apparatus is configured to receive said CBW from said information processing apparatus, and execute a SCSI processing program based on the received CBW to transmit the register value to said information processing apparatus, when said particular vendor-specific SCSI command is incorporated in the received CBW, and
• wherein said information processing apparatus is configured to execute said application program to execute a first process corresponding to the register value when the register value is received.

An operation method of a computer system comprising an information processing apparatus and peripheral apparatus, said operation method comprising:

• executing an application program by said information processing apparatus to issue a particular vendor-specific SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) command or a normal type SCSI command;
• executing a device driver by said information processing apparatus to incorporate said issued particular vendor-specific SCSI command or said issued normal type SCSI command into a CBW (Command Block Wrapper);
• transmitting said CBW from a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface of said information processing apparatus to said peripheral apparatus based on a Bulk-Only-Transport (BOT) protocol of a mass storage class, said CBW including the particular vendor-specific SCSI command being periodically transmitted;
• receiving said CBW from said information processing apparatus by said peripheral apparatus to execute a SCSI processing program;
• transmitting a register value of a register indicating a state of a GPIO (general purpose input/output) interface to said information processing apparatus by said peripheral apparatus, when said particular vendor-specific SCSI command has been incorporated in the received CBW;
• and
• executing said application program to execute a first process corresponding to the register value by said information processing apparatus when the register value is received.