Driver Object Stack for Serial ATA Hot Plug
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard IDE drivers lack support for the hot plug function, which is essential for efficiently managing and communicating with serial ATA devices, particularly due to limitations in signal transmission and noise disturbance in parallel transmission interfaces.
Innovation Solution
A structure of object stacks for drivers is designed to incorporate filter device objects that monitor bus status and facilitate signal transmission, enabling the hot plug function by integrating with standard IDE drivers, allowing communication between IDE and serial ATA devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard IDE driver is used for serial ATA devices, then compatibility is improved, but hot plug function is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces filter device objects as intermediary components between the IDE driver and serial ATA devices. These filter objects intercept and process I/O requests, enabling hot plug functionality while maintaining compatibility with the standard IDE driver architecture. The filter objects act as a mediator layer that adds advanced features without replacing the existing driver structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The driver structure is segmented into multiple device stacks (bus device stack, port device stack, IDE device stack) with filter device objects inserted at specific levels. This segmentation allows the hot plug function to be implemented in isolated modules without affecting the entire driver system, enabling incremental enhancement of functionality.
2Speed
If parallel transmission interface is used, then transmission speed is improved, but noise disturbance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the parallel transmission interface (mechanical/electrical system with multiple signal lines) with a serial transmission interface. This substitution reduces the number of physical signal lines from multiple parallel channels to a single serial channel, thereby reducing noise disturbance while maintaining transmission capability through sequential data transfer.
3Ease of operation
If serial ATA interface is implemented, then hot plug function is improved, but compatibility with standard IDE driver deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The filter device objects are designed with universal functionality that works across different device types and driver versions. They implement a standardized interface that can handle both traditional IDE devices and modern serial ATA devices, allowing the same filter object to serve multiple purposes and maintain broad compatibility while enabling hot plug functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A structure of object stacks for driver with hot plug function is provided, wherein the hot plug function is with serial ATA device, which can be supported by standard IDE driver. The structure comprises a bus device stack, at least one port device stack and at least one serial ATA device stack, which are connected to serial ATA devices at each of channels of the bus and each of channels within the bus respectively, wherein each of bus device stacks comprises an upper-level filter bus device object, and each of port device stacks comprises respectively a lower-level filter port device object and an upper-level filter port device object. Thus, the hot plug function can be supported according to the massage transmission interface and status monitoring for the bus by each of filter device objects.