Patent ID: 8359442
Filing Date: 2013-01-22
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A computer system comprising: a central processing unit; an input/output control hub connected to the central processing unit by a bus or a hub interface; and a storage device; wherein: the input/output control hub comprises a direct data access control connected to the storage device; the direct data access control including lock registers having values that correspond to the ranges of locked sectors of the storage device, the lock registers checking whether a storage device access request is targeted for ranges of sectors of the storage device that are locked, a chipset is provided having an embedded controller for authenticating the storage device access request and for managing configuration of the storage device, the input/output control hub further comprises an interface for semantic control of data access that stores custom configuration data that can be loaded into the interface for the semantic control of data access only by a dedicated service that controls protected code running on the central processing unit, and an auxiliary input/output control AIOC subsystem is provided between the input/output control hub and the storage device that manages, maintains, and controls access to the storage device, the auxiliary input/output control AIOC being connected to the input/output control hub by separate channels to provide access to data in unprotected areas of the storage device using the direct data access control and to data in protected areas of the storage device using the semantic control of data access.