Lsi Logic Corporation

Alan Thomas Pfeifer

Darin Scott Frazier

Roger T Clegg

Bonnie C Mills

A cable isolator is provided for automatically performing cable breaks for testing of host bus adapters. A workstation includes a host bus adapter, such as a Fibre Channel storage controller, to be tested. The host bus adapter is connected to one or more storage modules through the cable isolator. The cable isolator includes two transceivers, one of which is connected to the host bus adapter and the other being connected to the storage modules. The two transceivers are also connected to each other internally. The cable isolator also includes a programmable logic device or controller that is used to enable and disable the two transceivers at set intervals. The one or more output disable signals are then provided to the transceivers to perform the cable break. The cable isolator may be an expansion card installed within the workstation. Thus, the workstation may communicate with the cable isolator through an expansion bus. The workstation may have a cable isolator driver and software application installed thereon. An operator may set periodic on-time and off-time values through the cable isolator software application. The workstation may then control the programmable logic device through the expansion bus. The cable isolator may also include memory and a programmable read-only memory to allow the cable isolator to operate autonomously. Thus, a program may be loaded into the memory on the cable isolator and the program may run without using the resources of the workstation.

Method for providing cable isolation in a fibre channel test environment using a software driven PCI device

A cable isolator is provided for automatically performing cable breaks for testing of host bus adapters. A workstation includes a host bus adapter, such as a Fibre Channel storage controller, to be tested. The host bus adapter is connected to one or more storage modules through the cable isolator. The cable isolator includes two transceivers, one of which is connected to the host bus adapter and the other being connected to the storage modules. The two transceivers are also connected to each other internally. The cable isolator also includes a programmable logic device or controller that is used to enable and disable the two transceivers at set intervals. When the cable connection is to be broken, the programmable logic device generates one or more output disable signals. The one or more output disable signals are then provided to the transceivers to perform the cable break. An on-time and an off-time may be set using switches or dials.

Method for providing cable isolation in a fibre channel test environment

A method and apparatus for generating a system specific test by providing sophisticated error tracking mechanisms to trigger on a specific system event. The present invention addresses the problem of monitoring network traffic and isolating a point of error at the testing stage. The present invention defines a specific system event to be monitored. A trigger is created in the host system and routed to the analyzer, wherein the trigger is used to allow the analyzer to capture information related to the specific system event. When a signal is received at the analyzer, the signal automatically triggers the analyzer to capture and store a predetermined amount of data related to the specific system event before and after the trigger is executed.

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Kechi, KS, United States of America

Alan Thomas Pfeifer