Abstract: Aspects of the present invention provide a method of specifying a device driver design for a board device. The method includes receiving a board device with various functional elements and on-board storage to be operatively coupled to a computing device through an interconnect. The device driver design is specified through the identification of one or more device driver parameters. The device driver parameters are to be used subsequently to customize an adaptive device driver that interfaces with the board device and each of the one or more functional elements. Device driver parameters are stored in a predetermined storage construct allocated from the board device. These device driver parameters remain stored in the storage construct until there is a need for the board device and corresponding device driver. Customizing the adaptive device driver is done after the device driver parameters have been stored and typically when a computer device starts or ‘boots”.

Abstract: In general, the present invention provides a computer-implemented hypervisor file system (HVFS) comprising (among other things): a HVFS Manager, a Source File System Implementation, Hypervisor API, and HVFS Driver implemented in conjunction with a set (e.g., one or more) of virtual machines. Running a virtual machine on top of complex software systems like hypervisors allows the virtual machine to be presented with virtual storage devices which operate in the file system abstraction layer, instead of the block device layer traditionally presented by hardware. Doing so allows the file system abstraction to be implemented in the hypervisor, and not in the individual virtual machines, giving the hypervisor much greater access and control over the file system elements used by virtual machines, as well as giving it new capabilities such as sharing file system elements across virtual machines.

Abstract: Software program or application can determine if the storage device it was launched from is connected to the host computer system on an internal bus or an external bus. The ability of a software application to determine from where it and the operating system was launched allows it to perform a plurality of actions based on the launch location such as limiting the functionality of an application depending on its launch location. If a software company does not want its software to be installed or executed from an external drive or executed on multiple computers then it can limit the users ability to moved the software from one computer to another on a portable drive connected through a USB or IEEE-1394 port.

Abstract: A simulator of WBEM/CIM indication providers conforming to the CIM Indication Provider object specification simulates both the CIM indication provider and the means to drive the associated CIM events. The simulator comprises three functionally unique pieces: one or more CIM indication provider drivers, one or more CIM event trigger drivers, and a control application. This modularization creates flexibility in configuring the simulator to stress test different aspects of an operating system's underlying support for CIM indications. Modularization also makes the simulator design operating system independent. Provision is made in the simulation for generation of additional CIM events as background activity on the operating system.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes a system memory, a device controller, a basic input/output system and a device driver. The device driver of the information processing apparatus forms its own data structure for communication control in the system memory separately from the basic input/output system, saves the address set in the register of the device controller when the device controller executes the communication with the various externally connected devices, sets an address for referring to the own data structure in the register of the device controller in order to make the device controller communicate with the various externally connected devices, and resets the saved address in the register of the device controller after the communication is completed.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described herein to provide for secure host resource management on a computing device. Other embodiments include apparatus and system for management of one or more host device drivers from an isolated execution environment. Further embodiments include methods for querying and receiving event data from manageable resources on a host device. Further embodiments include data structures for the reporting of event data from one or more host device drivers to one or more capability modules.

Abstract: A system and method of configuring a USB device connected to a client machine includes detecting, by a local low level device insertion detection system of a client machine, a USB device connected to the client machine by a USB port, the client machine in communication with a remote machine via a remoting protocol; establishing, by the low level device insertion detection system of the client machine, a low-level connection by a USB remoting with a low level device insertion detection system executing in the remote machine; executing, by the remote machine, an application to determine whether to use a driver on the client machine or a driver on the remote machine to configure the device.

Abstract: A smart scheduler is provided to prepare a machine for a job, wherein the job has specific requirements, i.e., dimensions. One or more config jobs are identified to configure the machine to meet the dimensions of the job. Information concerning the machine's original configuration and groupings of config jobs that change the machine's configuration are cached in a central storage. The smart scheduler uses information in the central storage to identify a suitable machine and one or more config jobs to configure the machine to meet the dimensions of a job. The smart scheduler schedules a run for the config jobs on the machine.

Abstract: Certain aspects of a method and system for protocol offload in paravirtualized systems may be disclosed. Exemplary aspects of the method may include preposting of application buffers to a front-end driver rather than to a NIC in a paravirtualized system. The NIC may be enabled to place the received offloaded data packets into a received data buffer corresponding to a particular GOS. A back-end driver may be enabled to acknowledge the placed offloaded data packets. The back-end driver may be enabled to forward the received data buffer corresponding to the particular GOS to the front-end driver. The front-end driver may be enabled to copy offloaded data packets from a received data buffer corresponding to a particular guest operating system (GOS) to the preposted application buffers.

Abstract: An external device is used with a backend host operated with an operating system. The external device has a program and receives incoming data. The external device is operated with the backend host according to an operating method including the following steps. Firstly, the external device is connected to the backend host, and the external device is recognized by the operating system. Then, the external device is reconnected to the backend host to have the operating system recognize the external device as a memory device when the external device is unrecognizable by the operating system, so that the program is accessible and executable by the operating system to control the external device, or the external device converts the incoming data into at least one data file complying with the access format of a certain program in the operating system.

Abstract: The graphics co-processing technique includes loading a shim layer library. The shim layer library loads and initializes a device driver interface of a first class on the primary adapter and a device driver interface of a second class on an unattached adapter. The shim layer also translates calls between the first device driver interface of the first class on the primary adapter and the second device driver interface of the second class on the unattached adapter.

Abstract: The state of the communication socket is maintained at a network device and communicated to a device driver for the network device. The device driver can send messages to an interface program in application space, which stores the state information in dedicated application space memory. In response to a query from a peer program requesting the state of the communication socket, the interface program retrieves the state information from the dedicated memory. Because the state information and the interface program are located in application space, the number of kernel transitions required to determine the socket state is reduced, improving communication efficiency.

Abstract: When a device on a network is detected with network plug and play and its driver is installed, a function installed by the device information is uniquely decided. The high priority device function is selected based on information of client and the device function is automatically decided with network plug and play based on the selection of the high priority device function to install the driver. In this situation, a criterion can be selected by a user among most installed criterion, recently installed criterion, currently installed criterion, etc.

Abstract: Generating device drivers for different user systems to facilitate communication with a hardware device. A device specification containing a program logic specifying the manner in, which external devices can communicate with the hardware device, is received as one input. A software specification specifying various characteristics of a runtime environment (e.g., operating system, processor, hardware components) is received as another input. A device driver generator then programmatically parses the input specifications and automatically generates the device driver code.

Abstract: An operating system including a host module and a periphery device is disclosed. The host module includes a plurality of processing units and a first lookup table. The periphery device includes an executive program and a plurality of drivers. The executive program reads the first lookup table and installs a portion of drivers required by the processing units according to the reading result.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a peripheral device interface, an interface driver configured to control the peripheral device interface, a platform configured to provide a runtime environment for a program written in a predetermined language on an operating system, and a device driver configured to operate on the platform and to cause the interface driver to control a peripheral device while performing communications with the peripheral device through the peripheral device interface.

Abstract: In a Local Area Network (LAN) system, an ethernet adapter exchanges data with a host through programmed I/O (PIO) and FIFO buffers. The receive PIO employs a DMA ring buffer backup so incoming packets can be copied directly into host memory when the PIO FIFO buffer is full. The adapter may be programmed to generate early receive interrupts when only a portion of a packet has been received from the network, so as to decrease latency. The adapter may also be programmed to generate a second early interrupt so that the copying of a large packet to the host may overlap reception of the packet end. The adapter to begin packet transmission before the packet is completely transferred from the host to the adapter, which further reduces latency.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus is directly connected to a local image recording apparatus and connected to network image recording apparatuses through a network. An image recording apparatus searching section searches the local image recording apparatus and the network image recording apparatuses. An image recording apparatus specifying section specifies a desired image recording apparatus from among the local and network image recording apparatuses searched by the image recording apparatus searching section. An information obtaining section obtains information on the desired image recording apparatus, and writes the information on the desired image recording apparatus into driver software. An installing section installs the driver software into the information processing apparatus, the driver software containing the information for the desired image recording apparatus.

Abstract: A protocol-based communication between a host device (e.g., MP3 player, digital camera, palmtop, etc.) and an interface (e.g., flash mass storage card) is established automatically by providing protocol-supporting facilities in the interface, each facility supporting communication with the host device based on a respective protocol, by sending a query message from the host device to the interface specifying at least one protocol for use in protocol-based communication, by searching, within the plurality of protocol-supporting facilities provided in the interface one protocol-supporting facility supporting the protocol proposed in the query message, and if such protocol-supporting facility is found within the plurality of protocol-supporting facilities provided in the interface, by setting up the protocol-based communication between the host device and the interface based on the protocol proposed in the query message issued from the host device.

Abstract: The invention relates to access to a platform independent input method editor or IME from an underlying operating system. Keystrokes received at an operating system input may be formed into a character sequence, and an operating system-based IME service module may call the platform independent IME to convert the character sequence to a corresponding code point. The transferred code point may then be returned to an operating system output.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable memory media for performing various computer configuration tasks are disclosed. One such configuration task is dissimilar system restore (DSR). Another such task is software deployment. In various embodiments, these configuration tasks operate on a target computer system using a utility operating system to perform detection of certain target system devices, determination of critical device classes on the source computer system, and updating of target computer configuration settings. Other tasks may be performed upon a computer system such as a backup server. These tasks include locating device drivers for the target operating systems and the installing utility operating system, as well as creating device driver packages that are usable to install device drivers for a plurality of devices.

Abstract: A computer system includes a receiver configured to pair with a set of peripheral devices and have active connections with a first subset of the peripheral devices and inactive connections with a second subset of the peripheral devices. The first and the second subsets of peripheral devices are subsets of the set of peripheral devices. If a select one of the peripheral devices in the inactive set of peripheral devices is operated, the receiver is configured to activate a connection with the select one of the peripheral devices in a latency period that is below human perception levels of the latency period.

Abstract: A secure mobile wireless device in which executable code to be installed on the device is assigned a set of capabilities which define the protected resource(s) on the device which it can access. Hence, the present invention takes the idea of capabilities (known in the context of defining the capabilities or access privileges of different users in a multi-user system) and applies it to defining the capabilities or access privileges of different native executable code for secure, single-user mobile wireless devices.

Abstract: A method for updating a program section is disclosed; the method is used for an electronic system. The electronic system comprises a control unit and a storage device; the control unit is electrically connected with the storage device; the storage device comprises a program section; the program section comprises an application section and a boot section; the application section comprises a first bootloader and application information, wherein the first bootloader comprises a first driver. The method comprises the following steps of: connecting a data source device, wherein the data source device comprises update data; determining whether the first driver is able to drive the data source device or not; and if the first driver is able to drive the data source device, the first driver performs an updating procedure according to the update data.

Abstract: Translators are provided that enable automated and remote device configurations in an efficient and abstract manner. In one aspect, a device configuration system is provided. A configuration component stores one or more remote configuration trees for various devices. A translator component maps the remote configuration trees to at least one device configuration tree associated with the respective devices to enable device configuration in an automated manner.

Abstract: Provided are a method, system, and program for configuring a device using information from a device table. Device information is obtained for a device coupled to a system. The device information is provided to a device driver executing in the system. The device driver calls a method in response to determining the device driver does not support the device identified by the device information. The method provides device configuration information from a device table to the device driver. The device driver uses the device configuration information in the device table to configure the device for use in the system.

Abstract: A software updating system enables a user to automatically identify and obtain a device description for use with an application and to update the application with the device description. The system communicates with a device to obtain device description identification information identifying the device description that is required to communicate with the device. Once the device description identification is obtained, the system downloads the device description from a device description database connected to, for example, the Internet. Subsequently, the system updates the application with the device description so that the application may communicate with the device.

Abstract: A virtual driver is enabled and a class driver is bypassed to provide at least one functionality different than that of the bypassed class driver. A filter driver is initialized in the stack of a class driver in order to bypass the class driver. The filter driver receives inputs associated with the input device and/or application emulating an input device and passes the input data to a virtual driver. The virtual driver provides data to an operating system for functionality that is at least partially different than that of the bypassed class driver.

Abstract: An arbiter component receives a request from a media control object for control of a media resource. The arbiter determines whether a media resource is available, and if a media resource is available, forwards the request to the available media resource. The control object may lock control of the media resource to maintain control of the media resource until the media control unlocks control of the media resource.

Abstract: A configuration tool and method of updating a pointer entry in a Java archive (JAR) file pointing to a peripheral configuration file comprises generally continuously listening for an event signifying deployment of a peripheral configuration file and in response to the event, automatically updating the pointer entry in the JAR file that points to the deployed peripheral configuration file.

Abstract: A computer system, and related components including network interface devices, as well as methods for implementing and/or operating network interface devices to achieve network-based communications, are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the computer system includes a network interface device, and a bus driver in communication with the network interface device. The bus driver has access to a plurality of driver programs, and the bus driver is capable of causing an installation of one such driver program on the network interface device. Also, in at least some embodiments, the bus driver facilitates communications between multiple network interface devices and an operating system of the computer system, and/or between the network interface devices and user mode applications implementing graphical user interfaces. Further, in at least some embodiments, the bus driver governs operation of the network interface devices, for example, in relation to power management and/or interrupt handling.

Abstract: A method and system for verifying computer system drivers such as kernel mode drivers. A driver verifier sets up tests for specified drivers and monitors the driver's behavior for selected violations that cause system crashes. In one test, the driver verifier allocates a driver's memory pool allocations from a special pool bounded by inaccessible memory space to test for the driver's accessing memory outside of the allocation. The driver verifier also marks the space as inaccessible when it is deallocated, detecting a driver that accesses deallocated space. The driver verifier may also provide extreme memory pressure on a specific driver, or randomly fail requests for pool memory. The driver verifier also checks call parameters for violations, performs checks to ensure a driver cleans up timers when deallocating memory and cleans up memory and other resources when unloaded. An I/O verifier is also described for verifying drivers use of I/O request packets.

Abstract: A system for importing, from a host computer, a device driver into a guest computing environment provided by an external media device which does not include the device driver, includes a first computing environment, a second computing environment, a device discovery agent, a device driver discovery agent, and a device driver installation agent. A device driver associated with a device available to a first computing environment is installed on a computing device. The second computing environment is executed by a virtual machine on the computing device, based upon data retrieved from an external media device. The device discovery agent identifies a device available to the second computing environment. The device driver discovery agent determines that the installed device driver is associated with the device available to the second computing environment. The device driver installation agent imports the installed device driver into the second computing environment without user input.

Abstract: With a system in which a plurality of OSs run on a multi-core processor and which is based on a client-server approach where one OS performs device access on behalf of the other OSs, if a device is to be accessed from tasks on the plurality of OSs, there have been problems of a reduction in performance and an increase in design and manufacturing cost due to the necessity of providing proxy servers. In a multiprocessor system with a plurality of OSs 40, 50 running thereon, each of the plurality of OSs has a device driver 41, 51 which accesses devices for shared use among the OSs, wherein the device driver has at least either of a device interface part 45 or a task interface part 44, 54 which performs inter-OS communication at the OS kernel layer, and wherein the device interface part 45 accesses a device 14 to be operated by the device driver and the task interface part receives a device access request from a task running on each OS and returns a device access result to the task.

Abstract: A mobile terminal and a method for controlling the mobile terminal to be used through a host device are disclosed. The method for controlling the mobile terminal to be used through the host device includes transmitting a virtualization engine and driver programs of user modes of the mobile terminal to the host device; selecting one of the user modes; and transmitting information of the selected one user mode to the host device, wherein the transmitted virtualization engine is recognized as a part of an operating system (OS) of the host device, and is programmed to drive a driver program corresponding to each of the user modes within the host device.

Abstract: A system employing a storage device and a host for configuration information exchange between the host and the storage device. In operation, the host manages host configuration information in a data management layer of a communication model, and communicates the host configuration information to the storage device by one or more data communication layers of the communication model. Likewise, the storage device manages storage device configuration information in the data management layer of the communication model, and communicates the storage device configuration information to the host by one or more data communication layers of the communication model.

Abstract: A controller and a control method for a controller can simplify application development and can improve the performance of device control processes. When a request is received from an application 1 and the received process request is an initialization request, whether or not the received request is the first initialization request received after the application 1 started running is determined. If the received initialization request is the first initialization request, the request is passed to the device driver 3 and initialization settings information describing the configuration of the device driver 3 after the initialization process ends is stored. If an error has occurred in the device driver 3 when the device driver 3 status is detected, an error handling process is executed according to the device driver 3 state. When the device driver 3 has recovered, a request for setting the device driver 3 state to the state based on the initialization settings information is asserted.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes a monitoring module which periodically transmits a message to a device driver which controls a device controller in accordance with an instruction issued by a program executed by a CPU to drive a peripheral device, and initializes the device driver when a response to the message is not issuedreceived. The information processing apparatus further includes a setting module which sets an interval of transmission of the message based on a predetermined rule.

Abstract: A storage device includes a first storage unit and a second storage unit. The first storage unit stores a driver program and driver program information. The second storage unit includes a detection module, a comparing module, and a taking module. The detection module is capable of detecting information of a driver program in an electronic device. The comparing module is capable of comparing the electronic device driver program information with the first storage unit driver program information to determine which is older. The taking module is capable of taking the electronic device driver program from the first storage unit if the electronic device driver program information is newer than the first storage unit driver program information.

Abstract: A communication method for storage device on the basis of file access is provided. When a storage controller is added with a nonstandard control function, a command file and a response file are virtually produced in the memory as the communicating interface with an application program. The virtual files can then be read and written using the standard storage control protocol. This avoids modifying the communicating interface between the driver program and the application program for the newly added nonstandard control protocol.

Abstract: Improved computer interface system using multiple independent hardware and virtual human-computer input devices and related enabling subroutines is disclosed. Multiple independent data input devices allow users to input data independently from multiple independent data input devices to operating system. Input device driver decodes input from multiple independent input devices. Operating system interface software interprets data from input device driver. Operating system software further generates and controls multiple cursors or control points. Input device aware program obtains and interprets input devices event message, and controls input device aware objects.

Abstract: A method of installing a device driver for a system including a multifunction device, a first terminal device and a second terminal device. The multifunction device is connected to the first terminal device. The first and second terminal devices are connected through a network. The first terminal device is installed with first and second device drivers respectively for first and second functions of the multifunction device. According to the method, when the second device is set to connect with the multifunction device through the first terminal device with respect to the first function, the first device driver is installed in the second terminal device with the second device driver installed as a part of the first device driver. When the first device driver installed in the second terminal device is initialized, and the second device driver is also initialized.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus decides, in response to an information request transmitted from an information processing apparatus, a priority image forming unit from a plurality of image forming units in accordance with the states of image forming units. The image forming apparatus transmits identification information containing an identifier of the decided image forming unit.

Abstract: An apparatus for controlling at least one electronic device is coupled to a host. The apparatus includes a controller and a non-volatile storage unit. The controller is controlled by a driver of the host to thereby control the operation of the electronic device. The non-volatile storage unit is externally coupled to the controller and used for storing data. When the driver is activated, it is determined whether the non-volatile storage unit stores a setting data utilized for the driver. If the setting data for the driver is stored in the non-volatile storage unit, the setting data of the driver is read out for setting the driver.

Abstract: A controller for an instrument includes a control program, an object that interfaces between the control program and the device, and a discovery process. The control program is used by the controller to provide software control of a device within the instrument. The object contains control information about the device so that the control information does not need to be known by the control program. The control information is needed to control the device. The discovery process, upon discovery that the device is within the instrument, obtains the control information from data storage within the instrument and instantiates the object.

Abstract: Disclosed is a computer implemented method, computer program product, and apparatus to enqueue one or more packets in a device driver for an I/O adapter. A device driver receives, by a processor executing the device driver, a reference to a list of transmit packets. The device driver may then atomically fetch and set a transmit active flag, wherein atomically setting comprises determining a former status of the transmit active flag. Responsive to a determination that a former status of the transmit active flag is different than a current status of the transmit active flag, the device driver atomically removes, by a processor executing the device driver, any packets referenced by a host machine transmit queue reference. The device driver pre-pends transmit packets referenced by the host machine transmit queue reference to the list of transmit packets to form an augmented list of transmit packets. The device driver builds a work request based on the augmented list of transmit packets.

Abstract: The invention is directed towards a system and method that utilizes external memory devices to cache sectors from a rotating storage device (e.g., a hard drive) to improve system performance. When an external memory device (EMD) is plugged into the computing device or onto a network in which the computing device is connected, the system recognizes the EMD and populates the EMD with disk sectors. The system routes I/O read requests directed to the disk sector to the EMD cache instead of the actual disk sector. The use of EMDs increases performance and productivity on the computing device systems for a fraction of the cost of adding memory to the computing device.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed to provide generic USB drivers. More particularly, a generic USB device driver architecture is described which enables development through a user-mode USB library that accesses a generic kernel-mode driver. In a described implementation, a method includes loading a kernel-mode generic device driver in response to a plug-in event of a device. A user software component accesses the device by utilizing routines provided by the generic user-mode library (e.g., a dynamic link library (DLL)) that communicates with the generic device driver.

Abstract: Improved computer interface system using multiple independent graphical data input devices is disclosed. Multiple independent graphical data input devices allow users to input data independently from multiple independent graphical data input devices to operating system. Graphical input device driver decodes input from multiple independent graphical input devices. Operating system interface software interprets data from graphical input device driver. Operating system software further generates and controls multiple cursors or control points. Graphical input device aware program obtains and interprets graphical input devices event message, and controls graphical input device aware objects.

Abstract: A setup method of an information processing apparatus in which a module as a control program for expanding a printer driver has been installed. A plurality of modules are detected and the information processing apparatus is set up so that the plurality of detected modules execute processes in predetermined operating order.