TWI684872B - System management bus device management system and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A system management bus (SMB) device management system and method thereof are provided. The SMB device management system includes: multiple SMB devices and a SMB utility module coupled to the SMB devices. The SMB utility module obtains an external file, the external file including addressing information of the SMB devices. The SMB utility module establishes a hierarchical structure corresponding to the SMB devices through the external file such that each of the SMB devices has a unique address trace.

Description

System management bus device management system and method

The present invention relates to a system management bus device management system and method thereof, and in particular to a system management bus device management system and method capable of effectively addressing a system management bus (SMB) device.

Due to the birth of SMB switch, users cannot see all SMB devices at once. If you open all the channels of the SMB switch, you may encounter problems such as duplicate address of the SMB device or overload of the SMB device, resulting in abnormal read and write functions of the SMB host. The working status and the physical meaning of the device linked to the temporary memory of each SMB device are defined by each manufacturer, and there is no unified specification. Therefore, the user needs to carefully confirm the specifications of the SMB device to know how to use the SMB device. In addition, when the firmware reads and writes the SMB device, it is not easy to control due to the lack of a general management method. Therefore, how to effectively address the SMB device and give the corresponding physical meaning to the SMB device register is the goal that those skilled in the art should devote to.

The present invention provides a system management bus device management system and method thereof, which can effectively address SMB devices and give the SMB device temporary registers corresponding physical meanings

The present invention provides an SMB device management system, including: multiple SMB devices; and an SMB function module, coupled to the SMB device. The SMB function module obtains external files, which include addressing information of the SMB device. The SMB function module creates a hierarchical structure corresponding to SMB devices through external files, so that each SMB device has a unique address track.

In an embodiment of the invention, the SMB function module scans the SMB device through a hierarchical structure, and displays the scanned SMB device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the hierarchical structure is a tree structure.

In an embodiment of the invention, the external file includes physical meaning information corresponding to a plurality of register values of each SMB device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the SMB device management system further includes a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware module coupled to the SMB function module and the SMB device. The SMB function module generates an encoded file based on the SMB device's temporary memory configuration and unique address track. The UEFI firmware module decodes the encoded file and identifies the SMB device through the unique address track, and then writes the register data in the register configuration to the corresponding SMB device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the register configuration includes register values in the configuration space, and the SMB function module receives a register change command to change one of the register values.

The present invention provides an SMB device management method, including: obtaining an external file through an SMB function module, the external file includes addressing information of the SMB device; and creating a hierarchical structure corresponding to the SMB device through the external file through the SMB function module, Each SMB device has a unique address track.

In an embodiment of the invention, the SMB function module scans the SMB device through a hierarchical structure, and displays the scanned SMB device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the hierarchical structure is a tree structure.

In an embodiment of the invention, the external file includes physical meaning information corresponding to a plurality of register values of each SMB device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above SMB device management method further includes: generating an encoding file according to the SMB device's register configuration and unique address track by the SMB function module; and decoding the encoding by the UEFI firmware module File and identify the SMB device through the unique address track, and then write the register data in the register configuration to the corresponding SMB device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the register configuration includes register values in the configuration space, and the SMB function module receives a register change command to change one of the register values.

Based on the above, the system management bus device management system and method of the present invention can establish a hierarchical structure of SMB devices through external files so that each SMB device has a unique address track, allowing users to see each SMB device and Its connection. In addition, the SMB function module can generate a code file according to the SMB device's register configuration and unique address track, then decode the code file through the UEFI firmware module and identify the SMB device through the unique address track, and then configure the register The scratchpad data in is written to the corresponding SMB device. In this way, the user can quickly give the physical meaning of the SMB device register by modifying the register value of the SMB device.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the embodiments are specifically described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings for detailed description as follows.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an SMB management system according to an embodiment of the invention. 2 is a comparison diagram before and after establishing a hierarchical structure of an SMB device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an SMB management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a physical server 110, an SMB function module 130, and a UEFI firmware module 160. The physical server 110 includes a first SMB device 111, a second SMB device 112, and a third SMB device 113. Here, the number of SMB devices is just an example. The physical server 110 may include fewer or more SMB devices. The first SMB device 111, the second SMB device 112, and the third SMB device 113 belong to an unknown SMB device before the hierarchical structure of the SMB device is established. The unknown SMB device represents the address, offset, and register meaning of the SMB device. There is no unified specification, so the physical server 110 cannot address and register multiple unknown SMB devices. Unified management of attributes. The SMB function module 130 can be implemented by firmware or hardware circuits.

Through SMB existing functions and external files 120, a virtual server 140 can be created in the SMB function module 130. The virtual server 140 includes an SMB device identifier (ID) one 141, an SMB device identifier two 142, and an SMB device identifier three 143 corresponding to the first SMB device 111, the second SMB device 112, and the third SMB device 113, respectively. The external file 120 includes the addressing information of the SMB device. Therefore, the SMB function module 130 can establish a hierarchical structure corresponding to the SMB device through the external file 120 so that each SMB device has a unique address track.

Taking FIG. 2 as an example, before establishing the hierarchical structure of the SMB device, the SMB host 210 is coupled to other SMB devices 220 through the hardware circuit 230. Due to the lack of a unified management specification, the SMB device 220 will be recognized by the SMB host 210 as the "unknown SMB device" defined above. However, after the hierarchical structure of the SMB device 250 is established through the external file 120, the SMB host 240 and the SMB device 250 may form a hierarchical structure (eg, a tree structure). In this way, the SMB device 250 may have a uniformly defined identifier.

[SMB device hierarchical structure creation method]

In one embodiment, the user needs to create an external file according to the SMB device specification (Spec) and the SMB function, and execute the program in the shell environment provided by UEFI to automatically load the external file. After loading the external file, the hierarchical structure of the SMB device will be created based on the addressing information of the SMB device in the external file. Finally, the SMB function module 130 can scan the SMB device through the hierarchical structure and display the scanned SMB device.

FIG. 3 is an example of a hierarchical structure of an SMB device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the hierarchical structure of the SMB device, the scanned address 310, location 320, address trace 330, type 340, and device identifier 350 of the SMB device are displayed. Each SMB device will correspond to a unique address 310 (or address segment), and each SMB device will have a unique address track 330. The unique address track 330 of each device forms a hierarchical structure of SMB devices.

[The corresponding name and physical meaning given to the SMB device register]

In one embodiment, the user needs to create an external file according to the SMB device specification and SMB function, and execute the program in the shell environment provided by UEFI to automatically load the external file. In addition to the addressing information of the SMB device, the external file also includes the name and physical meaning information corresponding to the register value of each SMB device. The SMB function module 130 can create a name and physical meaning information corresponding to the register value of each SMB device according to an external file, and present it to the user with a graphical user interface combined with a configuration space.

4 is an example of configuring a spatial layout register according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the configuration space 400 of the SMB device with the address 0xB0 may include registers with offset values of 0 to 255, and there are 256 registers in total. For example, the register 410 can correspond to the name 420 whose text content is "CH0-CHA_1_VOD", where VOD represents the physical meaning information of Voltage Drop. When the value of the register 410 is "01", it represents the physical meaning of a voltage drop of 0.8V. With the different definitions of SMB device specifications, when the value of the register 410 is changed from "01" to other values, it can also correspond to the physical meaning of different voltage drop values. It is worth noting that “Smbus Address: 0xB0” at the bottom of FIG. 4 represents that the configuration space 400 in FIG. 4 is the configuration space of the SMB device with the address 310 of 0xb0 in FIG. 3. Although the value of the register in FIG. 4 is a byte as a display unit, in another embodiment, the value of the register may also be a word as a display unit, where one word is equal to two Bytes.

[Feedback read and write SMB device register value]

When the user wants to modify the register value of the SMB device (that is, the SMB function module 130 receives the register change command to change one of the register values), the user can use the user interface of FIG. 4, for example Modify the register value, and generate an encoded file (for example, the BIN file in Figure 5) according to the register configuration of the SMB device "0xB0" and the unique address track. The UEFI firmware decodes the encoded file and recognizes the SMB device "0xB0" through the unique address track, and then writes the register data in the register configuration to the SMB device "0xB0". It is worth noting that one or more BIN files can be compiled by the SMB function module 130 at the same time. At the next boot, the value stored in the BIN file can be written back to the corresponding SMB device register.

Please refer to FIG. 1 again, after the user modifies the value of the register, the SMB function module 130 can generate the corresponding code file 150. The file decoding module 161 of the UEFI firmware module 160 decodes the encoded file 150 to generate the address, unique address track and register configuration of the SMB device, and then the SMB module 162 writes the register configuration to the SMB Device.

6 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the basic structure of the encoded file and the UEFI firmware module according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the content of the encoding file 650 corresponding to each SMB device may include a header part 610 and a configuration part 620. The header portion 610 includes the address and address track of the SMB device, and the address track may include SMB device classification information such as switches, nodes, and devices. The configuration part 620 may include data such as registers and their values in the configuration space of the SMB device. The encoded file 650 may be stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) 630 corresponding to the UEFI firmware module 640. At the next boot, the UEFI firmware module 640 will decode the encoded file 650 and write the decoded value back to the corresponding SMB device register.

7 is a system architecture diagram of an SMB management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The system architecture 700 of the SMB management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a hardware 710 and a UEFI firmware module 740. The UEFI shell 743 can provide an environment execution program to automatically load external files, and create a hierarchical structure of SMB devices and give the corresponding names and physical meanings to the SMB device registers. When the user modifies the value of the register and generates the corresponding encoded file 750, the encoded file 750 is decoded by the file decoding module 742 and the decoded register data is written into the hardware 710 by the SMB module 741. The decoded register data is sent to the SMB device host 733, and sent to the slave SMB device 722 (ie, other SMB devices other than the SMB device host 733) through the unique address track of the SMB device. In addition, the hardware 710 may further include necessary components such as a motherboard 721, a processor 731, and a memory 732.

8 is a flowchart of an SMB device management method according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in step S801, an external file is obtained, and the external file includes addressing information of the SMB device.

In step S802, a hierarchical structure corresponding to the SMB device is established through an external file, so that each SMB device has a unique address track.

In step S803, an encoded file is generated according to the register configuration of the SMB device and the unique address track.

In step S804, the encoded file is decoded and the SMB device is identified through the unique address track, and then the scratchpad data in the scratchpad configuration is written to the corresponding SMB device.

In summary, the system management bus device management system and method of the present invention can create a hierarchical structure of SMB devices through external files so that each SMB device has a unique address track, allowing users to see each SMB Device and its connection. In addition, the SMB function module can generate a code file according to the SMB device's register configuration and unique address track, then decode the code file through the UEFI firmware module and identify the SMB device through the unique address track, and then configure the register The scratchpad data in is written to the corresponding SMB device. In this way, the user can quickly give the physical meaning of the SMB device register by modifying the register value of the SMB device.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with examples, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope defined in the appended patent application.

100‧‧‧SMB management system

110‧‧‧Physical server

111‧‧‧The first SMB device

112‧‧‧Second SMB device

113‧‧‧ Third SMB device

120‧‧‧External files

130‧‧‧SMB function module

140‧‧‧Virtual Server

141‧‧‧SMB device identifier one

142‧‧‧SMB device identifier two

143‧‧‧SMB device identifier three

150‧‧‧ Encoding file

160‧‧‧UEFI firmware module

161‧‧‧File decoding module

162‧‧‧SMB module

210‧‧‧SMB host

220‧‧‧SMB device

230‧‧‧ hardware circuit

240‧‧‧SMB host

250‧‧‧SMB device

310‧‧‧Address

320‧‧‧Location

330‧‧‧ Address track

340‧‧‧Type

350‧‧‧ device identifier

400‧‧‧Configuration space

410‧‧‧register

420‧‧‧Name

610‧‧‧ header part

620‧‧‧Configuration

630‧‧‧Read-only memory

640‧‧‧UEFI firmware module

650‧‧‧ encoding file

700‧‧‧System architecture

710‧‧‧Hardware

721‧‧‧Motherboard

722‧‧‧Slave SMB device

731‧‧‧ processor

732‧‧‧Memory

733‧‧‧SMB device host

740‧‧‧UEFI firmware module

741‧‧‧SMB module

742‧‧‧File decoding module

743‧‧‧UEFI shell

750‧‧‧ encoding file

S801~S804‧‧‧‧SMB device management method steps

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an SMB management system according to an embodiment of the invention. 2 is a comparison diagram before and after establishing a hierarchical structure of an SMB device according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is an example of a hierarchical structure of an SMB device according to an embodiment of the invention. 4 is an example of configuring a spatial layout register according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is an example of reading and storing SMB device register values according to an embodiment of the invention. 6 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the basic structure of the encoded file and the UEFI firmware module according to an embodiment of the invention. 7 is a system architecture diagram of an SMB management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 8 is a flowchart of an SMB device management method according to an embodiment of the invention.

210‧‧‧SMB host

220‧‧‧SMB device

230‧‧‧ hardware circuit

240‧‧‧SMB host

250‧‧‧SMB device

Claims (12)

A system management bus (System Management Bus, SMB) device management system includes: multiple SMB devices; and an SMB function module, coupled to the SMB devices, wherein the SMB function module obtains an external file, the The external file includes addressing information of the SMB devices. The SMB function module uses the external file to create a hierarchical structure corresponding to the SMB devices, so that each of the SMB devices has a unique address track. One of the SMB devices is located above the other SMB devices in the hierarchical structure. The SMB device management system as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the SMB function module scans the SMB devices through the hierarchical structure and displays the scanned SMB devices. The SMB device management system as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the hierarchical structure is a tree structure. The SMB device management system as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the external file includes physical meaning information corresponding to a plurality of register values of each of the SMB devices. The SMB device management system as described in item 4 of the patent application scope further includes a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware module coupled to the SMB functional module and the SMB devices , Where the The SMB function module generates an encoded file according to a register configuration of the SMB devices and the unique address track, the UEFI firmware module decodes the encoded file and identifies the SMB devices through the unique address track, and Write the scratchpad data in the scratchpad configuration to the corresponding SMB devices. The SMB device management system as described in item 5 of the patent scope, wherein the register configuration includes the register values of a configuration space, and the SMB function module receives a register change command to change the register One of these register values. An SMB device management method includes: obtaining an external file through an SMB function module, the external file including addressing information of a plurality of SMB devices; and creating corresponding SMB through the external file through the SMB function module The hierarchical structure of the device enables each of the SMB devices to have a unique address track, and one of the SMB devices is located above the other of the SMB devices in the hierarchical structure. The SMB device management method as described in item 7 of the patent application scope, wherein the SMB function module scans the SMB devices through the hierarchical structure and displays the scanned SMB devices. The SMB device management method as described in item 7 of the patent application scope, wherein the hierarchical structure is a tree structure. The SMB device management method as described in item 7 of the patent application scope, wherein the external file includes physical meaning information corresponding to a plurality of register values of each of the SMB devices. The SMB device management method as described in item 10 of the patent application scope further includes: generating an encoded file by the SMB function module according to a register configuration of the SMB devices and the unique address track, by a The UEFI firmware module decodes the encoded file and identifies the SMB devices through the unique address track, and then writes the register data in the register configuration to the corresponding SMB devices. The SMB device management method as described in item 11 of the patent application scope, wherein the register configuration includes the register values of a configuration space, and the SMB function module receives a register change command to change the register One of these register values.

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