Patent ID: 6990545

Claim:
A data processing system comprising: a first processing unit comprising an interconnect fabric interconnecting components internal to said first processing unit, wherein said interconnect fabric comprises at least one hot plug connector; a second processing unit capable of being electrically and logically connected to said first processing unit via said hot plug connector; means for completing an electrical and logical connection between said first processing unit and said second processing unit without disrupting operations occurring on said first processing unit, said means comprising a service element operatively coupled to said interconnect fabric within said first processing unit and which triggers a series of integration-ready tests on said second processing unit in response to a detection of an electrical connection of said second processing unit to said interconnect fabric, wherein said logical connection is completed only after said integration-ready tests returns a positive result; and means, operationally coupled to said service element, for automatically sharing a workload of said first processing unit with said second processing unit following the electrical and logical connection, wherein a configuration response is implemented on the interconnect fabric of said first processing unit to support said second processing unit sharing said workload on said interconnect fabric without disrupting said operations on said first processing unit.