Network communications subsystem and method for digital computer system employing protocol stack having diverse lower-level network driver components optimized for each of base and enhance operating systems

Claim 2

A communication subsystem for a digital computer system, the digital computer system processing application programs under a base operating system in a first processor operational mode, the digital computer system further processing application programs under an enhanced operating system during an enhanced operating system session under a second processor operational mode, the enhanced operating system during said enhanced operating system session making use of at least some selected elements of the base operating system, the communication subsystem enabling the digital computer system to transfer messages, each comprising a series of characters, over a communications network, the communication subsystem comprising: an upper level communication driver and a base lower level communications driver both forming part of the base operating system and an enhanced lower level communications driver forming part of the enhanced operating system, the upper level communications driver and the base lower level communications driver forming part of a protocol stack which transmits and receives respective ones of said messages over the communications network while the digital computer system is operating under control of the base operating system, the upper level communications driver, while the protocol stack is transmitting one of said messages, iteratively providing characters of the message being transmitted to the base lower level communications driver for transmission, and the base lower level communications driver, while the protocol stack is receiving one of said messages, iteratively providing characters of the message being received to the upper level communications driver, the upper level communications driver and the enhanced lower level communications driver forming at least part of another protocol stack which transmits and receives respective ones of said messages over the communications network during a session under which the digital computer system is operating under control of the enhanced operating system, the upper level communications driver, while the other protocol stack is transmitting one of said messages, providing a transmit buffer containing a plurality of characters of the message being transmitted to the enhanced lower level communications driver for transmission, and the enhanced lower level communications driver, while the other protocol stack is receiving a message, providing a receive buffer containing a plurality of characters of the message being received to the upper level communications driver.

Claim 3

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 1 in which the base operating system is the MS-DOS operating system.

Claim 4

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 1 in which the enhanced operating system is the Windows operating system.

Claim 5

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 1 in which the base operating system is operating prior to initiation of said enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver assisting the enhanced operating system to load the enhanced lower level communications driver at a beginning of said enhanced operating system session.

Claim 6

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 1 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session start notification at a beginning of an enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver responding to receipt of said enhanced operating system start notification by providing a pointer to a file containing a program for the enhanced lower level communications driver, the enhanced operating system using the pointer to load the enhanced lower level communications driver and enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to initialize.

Claim 7

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 5 in which the enhanced lower level communications driver, during initialization, obtains selected communications parameter information from the upper level communications driver.

Claim 8

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 5 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal transmitter for transmitting signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal transmitter generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal transmitter has finished transmitting signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the message character signal transmitter to be provided with an subsequent character, prior to an enhanced operating system session the base lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, during initialization of the enhanced lower level communications driver the digital computer system being conditioned to provide the interrupt indication to the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 9

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 5 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal receiver for receiving signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal receiver generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal receiver has finished receiving signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to receive the character, prior to an enhanced operating system session the base lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, during initialization of the enhanced lower level communications driver the digital computer system being conditioned to provide the interrupt indication to the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 10

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 5 in which the enhanced operating system also generates an indication after the enhanced operating system has loaded the enhanced lower level communications driver, the upper level communications driver following receipt thereof transferring the message characters with the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 11

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 1 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session end notification at an end of an enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver following receipt thereof transferring the message characters with the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 12

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 1 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session end notification at an end of an enhanced operating system session, the enhanced lower level communications driver following receipt thereof transferring the message characters with the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 13

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 11 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal transmitter for transmitting signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal transmitter generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal transmitter has finished transmitting signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the message character signal transmitter to be provided with an subsequent character, prior to receipt of an enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, and in response to the enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver conditioning the digital computer system to provide the interrupt indication to the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 14

A communication subsystem as defined in claim 11 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal receiver for receiving signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal receiver generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal receiver has finished receiving signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to receive the character, prior to receipt of an enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, and in response to the enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver conditioning the digital computer system to provide the interrupt indication to the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 17

A method as defined in claim 14 in which the base operating system is the MS-DOS operating system.

Claim 18

A method as defined in claim 14 in which the enhanced operating system is the Windows operating system.

Claim 19

A method as defined in claim 14 in which the base operating system is operating prior to initiation of said enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver assisting the enhanced operating system to load the enhanced lower level communications driver at a beginning of said enhanced operating system session.

Claim 20

A method as defined in claim 14 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session start notification at a beginning of an enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver being enabled to respond to receipt of said enhanced operating system start notification by providing a pointer to a file containing a program for the enhanced lower level communications driver, the enhanced operating system being enabled to use the pointer to load the enhanced lower level communications driver and enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to initialize.

Claim 21

A method as defined in claim 18 in which the enhanced lower level communications driver, during initialization, is enabled to obtain selected communications parameter information from the upper level communications driver.

Claim 22

A method as defined in claim 18, the digital computer system including a message character signal transmitter for transmitting signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal transmitter generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal transmitter has finished transmitting signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the message character signal transmitter to be provided with an subsequent character, prior to an enhanced operating system session the base lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, during initialization of the enhanced lower level communications driver being enabled to condition the digital computer system to provide the interrupt indication to the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 23

A method as defined in claim 18, the digital computer system including a message character signal receiver for receiving signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal receiver generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal receiver has finished receiving signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to receive the character, prior to an enhanced operating system session the base lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, during initialization of the enhanced lower level communications driver being enabled to condition the digital computer system to provide the interrupt indication to the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 24

A method as defined in claim 18 in which the enhanced operating system also generates an indication after the enhanced operating system has loaded the enhanced lower level communications driver, the upper level communications driver following receipt thereof being enabled to transfer the message characters with the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 25

A method as defined in claim 14 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session end notification at an end of an enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver following receipt thereof being enabled to transfer the message characters with the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 26

A method as defined in claim 14 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session end notification at an end of an enhanced operating system session, the enhanced lower level communications driver following receipt thereof being enabled to transfer the message characters with the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 27

A method as defined in claim 24, the digital computer system including a message character signal transmitter for transmitting signals representative of a message characters over the communications network, the message character signal transmitter generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal transmitter has finished transmitting signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the message character signal transmitter to be provided with an subsequent character, prior to receipt of an enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, and in response to the enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver being enabled to condition the digital computer system to provide the interrupt indication to the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 28

A method as defined in claim 25, the digital computer system including a message character signal receiver for receiving signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal receiver generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal receiver has finished receiving signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to receive the character, prior to receipt of an enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver receiving the interrupt indication, and in response to the enhanced operating system session end notification the enhanced lower level communications driver being enabled to condition the digital computer system to provide the interrupt indication to the base lower level communications driver.

Claim 29

A communication subsystem computer program product for use in connection with a digital computer system, the digital computer system processing application programs under a base operating system in a first processor operational mode, the digital computer system further processing application programs under an enhanced operating system during an enhanced operating system session under a second processor operational mode, the enhanced operating system during said enhanced operating system session making use of at least some selected elements of the base operating system, the communication subsystem enabling the digital computer system to transfer the messages, each comprising a series of characters, over a communications network, the communication subsystem computer program product comprising: a digital computer system usable medium having digital computer system readable code embodied therein, the digital computer system readable code comprising upper level communication driver program code devices and base lower level communications driver program code devices both used in connection with the base operating system and enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices used in connection with the enhanced operating system, the upper level communications driver code devices and the base lower level communications driver code devices enabling the digital computer system to establish part of a protocol stack which enables the digital computer system to transmit and receive respective ones of said messages over the communications network while the digital computer system is operating under control of the base operating system, the upper level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is transmitting one of said messages, enabling said digital computer system to iteratively provide characters of the message being transmitted for processing by the digital computer system under control of the base lower level communications driver code devices, and the base lower level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is receiving one of said messages, enabling said digital computer system to iteratively provide characters of the message being received for processing by the digital computer system under control of the upper level communications driver code devices, the upper level communications driver code devices and the enhanced lower level communications driver code devices enabling the digital computer system to establish part of another protocol stack which enables the digital computer system to transmit and receive respective ones of said messages over the communications network during a session under which the digital computer system is operating control of the enhanced operating system, the upper level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is transmitting one of said messages, enabling the digital computer system to provide a transmit buffer containing a plurality of characters of the message being transmitted for processing by the digital computer system under control of enhanced lower level communications driver code devices, and the enhanced lower level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is receiving a message, enabling the digital computer system to provide a receive buffer containing a plurality of characters of the message being received for processing under control of the upper level communications driver code devices.

Claim 30

A communication subsystem computer program product for use in connection with a digital computer system, the digital computer system processing application programs under a base operating system in a first processor operational mode, the digital computer system further processing application programs under an enhanced operating system during an enhanced operating system session under a second processor operational mode, the enhanced operating system during said enhanced operating system session making use of at least some selected elements of the base operating system, the communication subsystem enabling the digital computer system to transfer the messages, each comprising a series of characters, over a communications network, the communication subsystem computer program product comprising: a digital computer system usable medium having digital computer system readable code embodied therein, the digital computer system readable code comprising upper level communication driver program code devices and base lower level communications driver program code devices both used in connection with the base operating system and enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices used in connection with the enhanced operating system, the upper level communications driver code devices and the base lower level communications driver code devices enabling the digital computer system to establish part of a protocol stack which enables the digital computer system to transmit and receive respective ones of said messages over the communications network while the digital computer system is operating under control of the base operating system, the upper level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is transmitting one of said messages, enabling said digital computer system to iteratively provide characters of the message being transmitted for processing by the digital computer system under control of the base lower level communications driver code devices, and the base lower level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is receiving one of said messages, enabling said digital computer system to iteratively provide characters of the message being received for processing by the digital computer system under control of the upper level communications driver code devices, the upper level communications driver code devices and the enhanced lower level communications driver code devices enabling the digital computer system to establish part of another protocol stack which enables the digital computer system to transmit and receive respective ones of said messages over the communications network during a session under which the digital computer system is operating control of the enhanced operating system, the upper level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is transmitting one of said messages, enabling the digital computer system to provide a transmit buffer containing a plurality of characters of the message being transmitted for processing by the digital computer system under control of enhanced lower level communications driver code devices, and the enhanced lower level communications driver code devices, while the digital computer system is receiving a message, enabling the digital computer system to provide a receive buffer containing a plurality of characters of the message being received for processing under control of the upper level communications driver code devices.

Claim 31

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 27 in which the base operating system is the MS-DOS operating system.

Claim 32

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 27 in which the enhanced operating system is the Windows operating system.

Claim 33

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 27 in which the base operating system is operating prior to initiation of said enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver program code devices enabling the digital computer system to assist the enhanced operating system to load the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices at a beginning of said enhanced operating system session.

Claim 34

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 27 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session start notification at a beginning of an enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver program code devices enabling the digital computer system to respond to receipt of said enhanced operating system start notification by providing a pointer to a file containing a program for the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices, the enhanced operating system using the pointer to enable the digital computer system to load and initialize the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices.

Claim 35

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 31 in which the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices, during initialization, enables the digital computer system to obtain selected communications parameter information maintained by the digital computer system under control of the upper level communications driver program code devices.

Claim 36

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 31 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal transmitter for transmitting signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal transmitter generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal transmitter has finished transmitting signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the message character signal transmitter to be provided with an subsequent character, prior to an enhanced operating system session the digital computer system, under control of the base lower level communications driver program code devices, receiving the interrupt indication, during initialization of the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices the digital computer system being conditioned to receive the interrupt indication under control of the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices.

Claim 37

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 31 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal receiver for receiving signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal receiver generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal receiver has finished receiving signals representative of said message character thereby to enable the enhanced lower level communications driver to receive the character, prior to an enhanced operating system session the digital computer system, under control of the base lower level communications driver program code devices, receiving the interrupt indication, during initialization of the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices the digital computer system being conditioned to receive the interrupt indication under control of the enhanced lower level communications driver.

Claim 38

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 31 in which the enhanced operating system also generates an indication after the enhanced operating system has loaded the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices, the upper level communications driver program code devices enabling the digital computer system, following receipt thereof, to transfer the message characters with the digital computer system under control of the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices.

Claim 39

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 27 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session end notification at an end of an enhanced operating system session, the upper level communications driver program code devices enabling the digital computer system, following receipt thereof, to transfer the message characters with the digital computer system under control of the base lower level communications driver program code devices.

Claim 40

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 27 in which the enhanced operating system generates an enhanced operating system session end notification at an end of an enhanced operating system session, the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices enabling the digital computer system, following receipt thereof, to transfer the message characters with the digital computer system under control of the base lower level communications driver program code devices.

Claim 41

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 37 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal transmitter for transmitting signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal transmitter generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal transmitter has finished transmitting signals representative of said message character, prior to receipt of an enhanced operating system session end notification the digital computer system, on receipt of the interrupt notification, using the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices to provide the message character signal transmitter with a subsequent character, and after receipt of the enhanced operating system session end notification the digital computer system using the base lower level communications driver program code devices to provide the message character signal transmitter with a subsequent character.

Claim 42

A communication subsystem computer program product as defined in claim 37 in which the digital computer system includes a message character signal receiver for receiving signals representative of the message characters over the communications network, the message character signal receiver generating an interrupt indication when the message character signal receiver has finished receiving signals representative of said message character, prior to receipt of an enhanced operating system session end notification the digital computer system, on receipt of the interrupt notification, using the enhanced lower level communications driver program code devices to receive the character, and after receipt of the enhanced operating system session end notification the digital computer system using the base lower level communications driver program code devices to receive the character.