Patent Grant
7216265
The present invention relates to a software monitoring scheme, and more particularly to the monitoring of a state of an operating system.
Blade server systems are known in the art.
One conventional method for determining the state of the operating system 103 utilizes a driver 104 of the operating system 103 that periodically resets a watchdog circuitry 105 added to the blade server 101. If the watchdog circuitry times out without a reset, then this indicates that the operating system 103 has ceased to function properly. However, this solution requires specialized software (the driver 104) and specialized hardware (the watchdog circuitry 105), adding to the cost of the system.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system for determining the state of an operating system. The improved method and system should not require special hardware or software. The present invention addresses such a need.
An improved method and system for determining the state of an operating system includes an operating system, a USB host controller that is driven by the operating system to send a polling signal to a USB device, and a management module that monitors the polling signal. If the polling signal has stopped, then the management module takes corrective action to restore the operating system. No specialized software or specialized hardware is required to determine the state of the operating system. The state of the operating system can be determined quickly and efficiently without adding to the costs of the system.
The present invention provides an improved method and system for determining the state of the operating system. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
To more particularly describe the features of the present invention, please refer to
For example, the USB stack 204 drivers the USB host controller 205 to constantly poll for data from the USB keyboard 207. The microcontroller 208 of the management module 202 monitors the USB traffic, including the polling signal, via step 301. Assume then that a keystroke from a remote keyboard arrives at the server 201. The microcontroller 208 receives the keystroke and then sends the keystroke to the USB host controller 205. In sending the keystroke, the microcontroller 208 emulates a local keyboard, so that it appears to the USB host controller 205 that the keystroke is from a local USB device. The USB host controller 205 then sends the keystroke to the operating system 203, which processes the keystroke. However, assume then that the operating system 203 stops functioning properly and the system freezes. Since the operating system 203 is frozen, its USB stack 204 cannot keep driving the USB host controller 205 to poll the USB keyboard 207. Thus, the polling stops, via step 302. The microcontroller 208 determines that the polling has stopped, so it takes correction action to restore the operating system 203, via step 303.
In this manner, no specialized software, such as the driver 104 (
Although the preferred embodiment is described above in the context of a blade server, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the present invention is applicable to other systems utilizing a universal serial bus without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
An improved method and system for determining the state of an operating system has been disclosed. The method and system includes an operating system, a USB host controller that is driven by the operating system to send a polling signal to a USB device, and a management module that monitors the polling signal. If the polling signal has stopped, then the management module takes corrective action to restore the operating system. No specialized software or specialized hardware is required to determine the state of the operating system. The state of the operating system can be determined quickly and efficiently without adding to the costs of the system.
Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050278586 A1 | Dec 2005 | US |
