Multiple function interface device for option card

Claim 2

For a computer system having an expansion bus and a BIOS coupled with said expansion bus, said BIOS containing an initialization sequence for said computer system, a device for interfacing said expansion bus with an option card installed on said expansion bus, comprising: a dual ported RAM having a first port coupled to said expansion bus and a second port coupled to said option card; and a first circuit for loading said dual ported RAM with an expansion BIOS, said expansion BIOS thereafter containing an initialization sequence for said option card, wherein said computer system: scans said dual ported RAM for an indication that said expansion BIOS is stored in said dual ported RAM, if said expansion BIOS is stored in said dual ported RAM, executes said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS, and thereafter executes said initialization sequence contained in said BIOS.

Claim 3

The device according to claim 1 further comprising a processor coupled to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor controlling bi-directional exchanges of data and control signals between said expansion bus and said option card via said dual ported RAM.

Claim 4

The device according to claim 2 further comprising a non-volatile memory, containing said expansion BIOS, coupled to said processor and to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor transferring said expansion BIOS from said non-volatile memory to said dual ported RAM.

Claim 5

The device according to claim 1 further comprising: a second circuit for loading said dual ported RAM with a preselected pattern; said computer system scanning said dual ported RAM for said preselected pattern and executing said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS upon detection of said pattern.

Claim 6

The device according to claim 4 wherein said expansion BIOS is loaded into a first portion of said dual ported RAM and said pattern is loaded into a second portion of said dual ported RAM, said computer system scanning said second portion of said dual ported RAM for said preselected pattern and executing said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS stored in said first portion of said dual ported RAM upon detection of said pattern stored in said second portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 7

The device according to claim 5 further comprising a processor coupled to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor controlling bi-directional exchanges of data and control signals between said expansion bus and said option card via a third portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 8

The device according to claim 6 further comprising a non-volatile memory coupled to said processor and to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor respectively transferring said expansion BIOS and said preselected pattern from said non-volatile memory to said first and second portions of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 9

The device according to claim 7 wherein said non-volatile memory is a FLASH memory.

Claim 10

The device according to claim 7 wherein said dual ported RAM further comprises a fourth portion for storing data acquired during execution of said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS.

Claim 11

The device according to claim 9 wherein said option card is a disk controller card and wherein disk geometry is stored in said fourth portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 12

The device according to claim 9 further comprising a circuit for updating said expansion BIOS.

Claim 13

The device according to claim 11 wherein said computer system places updates to said expansion BIOS into said third portion of said dual ported RAM and said processor transfers said updates placed in said third portion of said dual ported RAM to said non-volatile memory.

Claim 14

For a computer system having an expansion bus and a BIOS coupled with said expansion bus, said BIOS containing an initialization sequence for said computer system, a device for interfacing said expansion bus with an option card installed on said expansion bus, comprising: a dual ported RAM having a first port coupled to said expansion bus, a second port coupled to said option card and memory space configurable into first, second, third and fourth portions thereof: a processor coupled to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor controlling bi-directional exchanges of data and control signals between said expansion bus and said option card via said third portion of said dual ported RAM; a non-volatile memory coupled to said processor and to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor respectively transferring an expansion BIOS containing an initialization sequence for said option card and a preselected pattern from said non-volatile memory to said first and second portions of said dual ported RAM, said computer system placing updates to said expansion BIOS into said third portion of said dual ported RAM and said processor transferring said updates placed in said third portion of said dual ported RAM to said non-volatile memory, wherein said computer system: scans said second portion of said dual ported RAM for said preselected pattern, executes said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS stored in said first portion of said dual ported RAM upon detection of said pattern stored in said second portion of said dual ported RAM, and thereafter, executes said initialization sequence contained in said BIOS, wherein data acquired during execution of said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS is stored in said fourth portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 15

For a computer system having an expansion bus and a BIOS coupled with said expansion bus, said BIOS containing an initialization sequence for said computer system, a device for interfacing said expansion bus with an option card installed on said expansion bus, comprising: a dual ported RAM having a first port coupled to said expansion bus, a second port coupled to said option card and memory space configurable into first, second, third and fourth portions thereof: a processor coupled to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor controlling bi-directional exchanges of data and control signals between said expansion bus and said option card via said third portion of said dual ported RAM; a non-volatile memory coupled to said processor and to said second port of said dual ported RAM, said processor respectively transferring an expansion BIOS containing an initialization sequence for said option card and a preselected pattern from said non-volatile memory to said first and second portions of said dual ported RAM, said computer system placing updates to said expansion BIOS into said third portion of said dual ported RAM and said processor transferring said updates placed in said third portion of said dual ported RAM to said non-volatile memory, wherein said computer system: scans said second portion of said dual ported RAM for said preselected pattern, executes said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS stored in said first portion of said dual ported RAM upon detection of said pattern stored in said second portion of said dual ported RAM, and thereafter, executes said initialization sequence contained in said BIOS, wherein data acquired during execution of said initialization sequence contained in said expansion BIOS is stored in said fourth portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 16

The device according to claim 13 wherein said option card is a disk controller card and wherein disk geometry is stored in said fourth portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 17

The device according to claim 14 wherein said non-volatile memory is a FLASH memory.

Claim 20

The method according to claim 16 wherein the step of said computer system searching for said expansion BIOS, further comprises the steps of: executing a second initialization sequence contained in said BIOS if said expansion BIOS is not detected; and after executing said first initialization sequence, said computer system executing said second initialization sequence contained in said BIOS.

Claim 21

The method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of: prior to loading said expansion BIOS in said dual ported RAM, storing said expansion BIOS in a non-volatile memory coupled with said dual ported RAM; and after loading said expansion BIOS in said dual ported RAM, updating said expansion BIOS by writing to said non-volatile memory.

Claim 22

The method according to claim 18 wherein the step of executing a first initialization sequence stored in said dual ported RAM, further comprises the steps of: acquiring data during said execution of said first initialization sequence; and storing said acquired data in said dual ported RAM.

Claim 23

The method according to claim 16 wherein the step of said computer system searching for said expansion BIOS, further comprises the steps of: searching a predefined address space for a preselected pattern; and detecting said expansion BIOS by locating said preselected pattern stored in said predefined address space.

Claim 24

The method according to claim 20 wherein the step of updating said expansion BIOS by writing to said non-volatile memory, further comprises the steps of: storing information related to said updated expansion BIOS in said dual ported RAM; and transferring said information related to said updated expansion BIOS from said dual ported RAM to said non-volatile memory.

Claim 25

The method according to claim 21 further comprising the step of storing said acquired data in said non-volatile memory.

Claim 28

The method according to claim 23 wherein the step of said computer system searching for said expansion BIOS, further comprises the steps of: executing a second initialization sequence contained in said BIOS if said expansion BIOS is not detected; after executing said first initialization sequence, said computer system executing said second initialization sequence contained in said BIOS; and after completing said first initialization sequence, said expansion bus exchanging data and command signals with said option card via a second portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 29

The method according to claim 24 wherein the step of said computer system searching for said expansion BIOS, further comprises the steps of: searching a predefined address space of said dual ported RAM for a preselected pattern; and detecting said expansion BIOS by locating said preselected pattern stored in said predefined address space of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 30

The method according to claim 25 wherein the step of loading said expansion BIOS into a first portion of said dual ported RAM further comprises the step of loading said preselected pattern into a third portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 31

The method according to claim 26 wherein the step of searching said predefined address space for said preselected pattern further comprises the step of searching said third portion of said dual ported RAM for said preselected pattern.

Claim 32

The method according to claim 27 wherein the step of loading said expansion BIOS into said first portion of said dual ported RAM further comprises the step of loading a pointer to said expansion BIOS into a fourth portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 33

The method according to claim 28, further comprising the step of, prior to loading said expansion BIOS in said dual ported RAM, storing said expansion BIOS in a non-volatile memory coupled with said dual ported RAM.

Claim 34

The method according to claim 29 further comprising the steps of: acquiring data during said execution of said first initialization sequence; and storing said acquired data in a fifth portion of said dual ported RAM.

Claim 35

The method according to claim 30 further comprising the step of updating said expansion BIOS by writing to said non-volatile memory.

Claim 36

The method according to claim 31 wherein the step of updating said expansion BIOS by writing to said non-volatile memory further comprises the steps of: storing information related to said updated expansion BIOS in said second portion of said dual ported RAM; and transferring said information related to said updated expansion BIOS from said second portion of said dual ported RAM to said non-volatile memory.