Patent ID: 6141711
Filing Date: 2000-10-31
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for allowing insertion and removal of a device into an operational computer system without disrupting processing on the computer system, comprising the steps of:providing a secondary bus for receiving devices to be inserted and ejected from the computer system;providing a secondary bus controller coupled to a primary bus in the computer system;receiving, in the secondary bus controller, a first signal indicating a device is to be inserted or removed;stopping a bus clock on the secondary bus in response to the first signal so as to halt processing on devices coupled to the secondary bus;allowing insertion and removal of a device from the secondary bus;receiving a second signal indicating that a device has been inserted or removed;restarting the bus clock on the secondary bus in response to the second signal;reconfiguring the computer system for devices present on the secondary bus;determining, in the secondary bus controller, whether a device is to be inserted or removed and setting a bit in the secondary bus controller indicating whether a device is to be inserted or removed; andsignalling, in response to the first signal, an interrupt routine in the host processor, said interrupt routine comprising the steps of:determining, from the first signal and the bit, whether a device is to be removed or inserted;determining, if a device is to be inserted, whether the device has been inserted into the secondary peripheral bus in response to the second signal;setting, in the secondary peripheral bus controller, a bit indicating the secondary peripheral bus controller clock is to be started for the newly inserted device; andsetting in the secondary bus controller a bit indicating that the reset signal to the device inserted is to be deasserted.