Dock Protocol Conversion for Vendor Defined Message Bridging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing information handling systems lack the ability to bridge vendor-defined messages (VDMs) between connected devices, limiting their capability to configure or communicate effectively between devices in a network, especially in out-of-band communication scenarios.
Innovation Solution
An information handling system that includes a dock capable of receiving a VDM from a host device, converting it to a different protocol message, and designating an embedded controller as a virtual destination, allowing the message to be regenerated and sent to the intended device via a physical communication link, thereby enabling VDM bridging between connected devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a dock bridges vendor-defined messages between devices using protocol conversion, then communication capability between devices is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dock acts as an intermediary device between the host device and connected devices. It receives vendor-defined messages from the host device, converts them to appropriate protocols, and forwards them to the intended connected devices. This mediator approach enables protocol translation and message routing without requiring each connected device to directly support all host device protocols, thus improving communication capability while containing complexity within the dock.
2Adaptability or versatility
If protocol conversion is performed at the dock, then message routing flexibility is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dock performs protocol conversion and message routing in advance before messages need to be delivered to connected devices. By pre-converting vendor-defined messages to the appropriate protocols and pre-routing them to the correct destinations, the system eliminates delays that would occur if conversion and routing were performed on-demand or at the receiving devices, thus reducing overall processing time while maintaining routing flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system includes a first device, a host device, and a dock. The dock communicates with the first device over a first physical communication link, and with the host device over a second physical communication link. The dock receives a vendor defined message from the host device over the second physical communication link. In response to the first device being a destination device for the vendor defined message, the dock converts the vendor defined message to a second message having a different protocol as compared to the vendor defined message and designates an embedded controller of the dock as a virtual destination for the second message. In response to the first device being the destination device, the embedded controller regenerates the second message as a second vendor defined message and provides the second vendor defined message to the first device via the second physical communication link.