Patent ID: 7058738

Claim:
A configurable PCI Express switch, comprising: a plurality of upstream PCI-to-PCI ports; a plurality of downstream PCI-to-PCI ports; an internal PCI bus associated with each upstream port; and a controller that configures which upstream port communicates to which downstream port, wherein a CPU in communication with a predetermined one of said upstream ports is configurable to communicate with any of said downstream ports, wherein said CPU discovers devices by reading a PCI configuration space registry and enumerates devices found on a PCI bus associated with said CPU, wherein said devices are connected to downstream ports in communication with said predetermined one of said upstream ports, wherein if a second CPU requests access to a device enumerated to said CPU, said controller initiates a request to said CPU to release a downstream port to which said device is connected, and wherein if said request is granted, said CPU acquiesces said device and initiates a grant to said controller for the release of the downstream port.