Patent ID: 7698483
Filing Date: 2010-04-13
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A switching apparatus for sharing input/output endpoints, the switching apparatus comprising: a first plurality of I/O ports, coupled to a plurality of operating system domains through a load-store fabric, each configured to route transactions between said plurality of operating system domains and the switching apparatus; a second I/O port, coupled to a first shared input/output endpoint, wherein said first shared input/output endpoint is configured to request/complete said transactions for each of said plurality of operating system domains according to a variant of a protocol, wherein said variant comprises encapsulating an OS domain header within a transaction layer packet that otherwise comports with said protocol, and wherein a particular OS domain header associates a particular transaction layer packet with a particular one of said plurality of operating system domains; and link training logic, coupled to said second I/O port, configured to initialize a link between said second I/O port and said first shared input/output endpoint to support said transactions corresponding to said each of said plurality of operating system domains, wherein said link is initialized in a manner that is transparent to said plurality of operating system domains.