Novell, Inc.

Mark Dakins

Monte L Johnson

Michael E Rex

Troy Thomas

Rey R Furner

Prabhakar Krishnaswami

Karl G Jorgensen

Jeffrey A Nordin

Lori Olson Gauthier

An automatic identification system in a computer system having a plurality of hardware instances located on hardware devices in the computer system. The computer system includes a plurality of physical slots each configured to receive a hardware device and referenced by a slot number. The system comprises means for assigning a hardware instance value to each of the plurality of hardware instances, the hardware instance value being unique within the computer system when two or more of the plurality of physical slots are assigned a slot number that is not unique within the computer system. Advantageously, the hardware instance value is unique within the computer system when two or more of the plurality of hardware instances are located on one of the hardware devices or when one or more of the hardware devices is installed in an expansion chassis coupled to the computer system. The hardware instance value is also unique within the computer system when one of the hardware devices includes one or more of the hardware instances coupled to an I/O bus within the hardware device or when one or more of the hardware devices is installed on a system board in the computer system. In one embodiment of the invention, the hardware instance value is a hardware instance number. In another embodiment, the hardware instance value is a hardware instance name that is easily identifiable by the user.

System for automatic hardware identification and configuration where

A system and method separate the order in which event handlers register from the order in which the event handlers are notified of events. This allows any convenient registration order to be used together with a notification order that corresponds to a network architecture, a memory hierarchy, or another familiar scale. The notification order is determined by the event producers, and therefore may be reversed without re-registering the event handlers. Events may be broadcast, may carry data between event handlers, and may be consumed to prevent further notifications.

Event notification in a computer system

Growing community of inventors

Springville, UT, United States of America

Mark Dakins