Port Initialization Bypass for Boot Time Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of hardware devices connected to computing devices prolongs boot time and increases the chances of hardware failures during the booting process, which can delay or prevent the loading of the operating system.
Innovation Solution
A system that skips the initialization of certain ports by bypassing the power-on self-test (POST) process in the BIOS layer, reducing the number of ports being initialized during the booting process, thereby reducing boot time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all ports are initialized during the booting process, then hardware reliability is ensured through complete testing, but boot time is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by selectively initializing only certain ports that are determined to be in use, rather than initializing all ports during the booting process. The system identifies which ports are actively used and limits initialization to those specific ports, thereby reducing overall boot time while maintaining reliability for the actually used hardware components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements skipping by bypassing the initialization process for ports that are not in use. During the booting process, the system quickly determines which ports are active and skips the detailed testing and initialization routines for inactive ports, thus significantly reducing boot time without compromising the reliability of the functional ports.
2Reliability
If all ports are tested during the booting process, then hardware failures are detected, but the number of testing operations increases boot time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs partial testing by conducting power-on self-tests only on ports that are determined to be in use during the booting process. Instead of uniformly testing all ports, the system identifies active ports and applies testing operations selectively, thereby maintaining hardware failure detection capability while reducing the total number of testing operations and associated boot time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by first determining which ports are in use before conducting detailed testing and initialization. The system performs a quick assessment of port usage status at the beginning of the booting process, then uses this information to guide subsequent testing operations, ensuring that testing is focused only on relevant ports and avoiding unnecessary delays from testing inactive ports.
3Loss of time
If the number of initialized ports is reduced, then boot time is decreased, but the risk of missing functional ports increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using the results of port usage determination to dynamically adjust the initialization process. The system determines which ports are in use based on feedback from the booting process itself, then uses this information to guide which ports require full initialization and which can be skipped, ensuring that functional ports are not missed while optimizing boot time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary determination of port usage status before committing to the initialization strategy. By assessing which ports are actively used in advance, the system can confidently reduce initialization scope without risking the omission of functional ports, thus achieving both reduced boot time and maintained reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus to initialize a port includes a first input-output port to connect to a first device and a control unit to initialize all input-output ports of the apparatus when the apparatus is booted and to skip a power-on self-test (POST) of the first input-output port in response to a request to skip initialization of the first input-output port while the first input-output port is enabled.