EP0752646A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Data access implementation of device driver interface
Assignee: Sun Microsystems Inc
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Filing: 1996-06-27
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-06-27
Abstract
Abstract A device driver interface (DDI, 118) for achieving portability of device drivers (110) for operating with full source level compatibility across multiple instruction set architectures and platforms. The device driver interface (DDI, 118) makes transparent to the driver (110) the actual data access mechanisms of the host computers (108, 130) on which the driver (110) is compiled. <IMAGE>
Inventors
- 👤 S. Pun Sherman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 22:04
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F13/00; G06F13/10; G06F13/102
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
174 words
A method for achieving portability of a device driver between at least two host computers for communicating with a device having first data access attributes, the driver having computer instructions for execution by a host computer having second data access attributes and a memory storing the computer instructions of the driver, the method comprising the steps of: allocating memory space in a device driver interface (DDI) environment for a handle; selecting, by the DDI environment, at least one of at least two DDI data access function implementations, wherein the selected implementation accounts for differences between the first and second data access attributes; storing, by the DDI environment, information in the handle for accessing the selected DDI data access function implementation; and passing, by the DDI environment, a handle pointer to the driver for opaque access by the driver to the device through the DDI environment, the DDI environment using the information in the handle for invoking the selected DDI data access function implementation, the driver having no information about the second data access attributes.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of storing information in the handle comprises storing an address of the selected DDI data access function implementation in the handle.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the handle has a host specific portion, and wherein the step of storing the address comprises storing the address in the host specific portion of the handle.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the handle has a bus specific portion, further comprising the step of storing data for identifying the device's bus parameters in the bus specific portion of the handle.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of passing the handle pointer from the driver to a function call in the DDI environment for indirectly calling the selected DDI data access function implementation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of passing the handle pointer from the driver to a function call in the DDI environment for direct data access to the device with host hardware.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of passing, by the driver, the first data access attributes from the device driver to the DDI environment.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the handle comprises a common portion for storing the first data access attributes.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
198 words
An apparatus for achieving portability of a device driver between at least two host computers for communicating with a device having first data access attributes, the driver having computer instructions for execution by a host computer having second data access attributes and a memory storing the computer instructions of the driver, the apparatus comprising: a device driver interface (DDI) environment; a setup mechanism in the DDI environment configured to allocate memory space in the DDI environment for a handle; a selector in the DDI environment configured to select at least one of at least two DDI data access function implementations, wherein the selected implementation accounts for differences between the first and second data access attributes; a storage medium in the DDI environment configured to store information into the handle for accessing the selected DDI data access function implementation; and a return function mechanism configured to have the DDI environment pass a handle pointer to the driver for opaque access by the driver to the device through the DDI environment, the DDI environment using the information in the handle for invoking the selected DDI data access function implementation, the driver having no information about the second data access attributes.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the information for accessing the selected DDI data access function implementation comprises an address of the selected DDI data access function implementation in the handle.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
34 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 10, wherein the handle has a host specific portion, and wherein the storage medium is configured to store the address in the host specific portion of the handle.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the handle has a bus specific portion, further comprising a storage medium configured to store data for identifying the device's bus parameters in the bus specific portion of the handle.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 9, further comprising a function calling mechanism configured to pass the handle pointer from the driver to a function call in the DDI environment for indirectly calling the selected DDI data access function implementation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 9, further comprising a function calling mechanism configured to pass the handle pointer from the driver to a function call in the DDI environment for direct data access to the device with host hardware.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 9, further comprising a function calling mechanism configured to pass from the driver to the DDI environment the first data access attributes.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 15, wherein the handle comprises a common portion for storing the first data access attributes.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
202 words
A computer program product comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for causing portability of a device driver between at least two host computers each having a memory, the computer program product comprising: computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect allocating memory space in a device driver interface (DDI) environment for a handle; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect selecting, by the DDI environment, at least one of at least two DDI data access function implementations, wherein the selected implementation accounts for differences between the first and second data access attributes; computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect storing, by the DDI environment, information in the handle for accessing the selected DDI data access function implementation; and computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect passing, by the DDI environment, a handle pointer to the driver for opaque access by the driver to the device through the DDI environment, the DDI environment using the information in the handle for invoking the selected DDI data access function implementation, the driver having no information about the second data access attributes.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
44 words
A computer program product as recited in claim 17, wherein the computer readable program code devices effecting storing information in the handle comprises computer readable program code devices to effect storing an address of the selected DDI data access function implementation in the handle.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
48 words
A computer program product as recited in claim 18, wherein the handle has a host specific portion, and wherein the computer readable program code devices effecting storing the address comprises computer readable program code devices to effect storing the address in the host specific portion of the handle.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
42 words
A computer program product as recited in claim 17, wherein the handle has a bus specific portion, further comprising computer readable program code devices to effect storing data for identifying the device's bus parameters in the bus specific portion of the handle.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
43 words
The computer program product as recited in claim 17, further comprising computer readable program code devices to effect passing the handle pointer from the driver to a function call in the DDI environment for indirectly calling the selected DDI data access function implementation.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
43 words
The computer program product as recited in claim 17, further comprising computer readable program code devices to effect passing the handle pointer from the driver to a function call in the DDI environment for direct data access to the device with host hardware.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
35 words
The computer program product as recited in claim 17, further comprising computer readable program code devices to effect passing, by the driver, the first data access attributes from the device driver to the DDI environment.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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