Computer system bridge employing a resource control mechanism with

Abstract

A bridge for a computer system comprising at least a first processing set and a second processing set each connected to the bridge via an I/O bus. A resource control mechanism in the bridge comprises: an interface for exchanging signals with one or more resource slots of a device bus that is capable of being connected to the bridge, each of the resource slots being capable of communicating with a system resource; and a register associated with each system resource, the register having switchable indicia that indicate an operating state of the associated system resource, the control mechanism being operable in use to direct signals to and/or from respective system resources of the computer system.