Patent ID: 6560641
Filing Date: 2003-05-06
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A system for providing from a remote computer system, over a network, remote control of a peripheral device of a host computer system, wherein the host computer system has a processor, a memory, and a binary input/output system (BIOS) that supports the loading of BIOS extensions into the host memory for execution by the host processor, the system comprising:an adapter card comprising: a processor; a network interface controller providing an interface to the network; a peripheral device interface controller to which the peripheral device is connected; a communications client program executing on said processor of the adapter card; and at least one computer-readable medium having stored therein a BIOS extension for said peripheral device interface comprising first program code and second program code, the second program code being embedded within the first program code and defining a separate server program, the BIOS extension being loaded into the host memory during execution of the host computer system BIOS, the first program code of the BIOS extension, when executed by the host processor, performing the following steps: (i) copying the second program code defining the server program to a new location in the host memory; and (ii) hooking the new location of the server program to an interrupt of the host computer system to cause the host processor to initiate execution of the server program on the host computer system upon a subsequent occurrence of that interrupt, the server program, when executed on the host processor, establishing communications with the communications client program on the adapter card; and a remote client program executing on the remote computer system from which a user can instruct, via the network interface to the adapter card, the communications client program to request the server program to invoke the functionality of the host computer system BIOS to control the peripheral device.