Intel Corporation

Michael J Karas

Amit Kumar Srivastava

Ramamurthy Krithivas

Malay Trivedi

Anand K Enamandram

James Mitchell

Chung-Chi Wang

Majid Shushtarian

Jeffrey A Pihlman

Divya Gupta

Christine Watnik

Jared W Havican

In one embodiment, an apparatus includes: a plurality of cores to execute instructions; a firmware agent to execute a first firmware; a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface to communicate with a device via a PCIe link; and a boot agent coupled to the PCIe interface to download the PCIe firmware from a non-volatile memory and provide the PCIe firmware to the PCIe interface. The PCIe interface may receive a PCIe firmware for the PCIe interface before the firmware agent is to receive the first firmware. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Systems, apparatus and methods for rapid peripheral component interconnect express (PCIE) system boot

Methods to dynamically configure, monitor and govern PCH Chipsets in platforms as extended IO-expander(s) and associated apparatus. A multi-role PCH is provided that may be dynamically configured as a legacy PCH to facilitate booting for platforms without bootable CPUs and as IO-expanders in single-socket and multi-socket platforms. A control entity is coupled to the PCHs and is used to effect boot, reset, wake, and power management operations by exchanging handshake singles with the PCHs and providing control inputs to CPUs on the platforms. The single-socket platform configurations include a platform with a CPU with bootable logic coupled to an IO-expander and a platform with a legacy CPU coupled to a legacy PCH. The multi-socket platforms include a platform with a bootable CPU coupled to one or more non-legacy CPUs and employing multiple IO-expanders and platform with a legacy CPU coupled to one or more non-legacy CPUs and coupled to a legacy PCH, and further including one or more PCHs coupled to the non-legacy CPU(s) implemented as IO-expanders.

Platform controller hub (PCH) chipsets in platforms as extended IO expander(s)

Chair

Growing community of inventors

Beaverton, OR, United States of America

Michael J Karas