IP Library Granted Patent US 11,307,869
Granted Patent B2
US 11,307,869 · App. 16/507,611 · Granted Apr 19, 2022

Identifying a transport route using an information handling system firmware driver

Inventors: William Carl Edwards, III (Round Rock, TX); Sankara Rao Gara (Cedar Park, TX); Aniruddha Suresh Herekar (Bangalore, IN)
Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
G06F9/445
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,307,869
App. No.
16/507,611
Granted
Apr 19, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer programs for receiving, by an information handling system firmware driver, a request for a feature associated with information handling system firmware, the feature stored in a baseboard management controller; determining a transfer size associated with the feature; identifying a plurality of connectivity points, each of the plurality of connectivity points communicatively coupling the information handling system firmware driver to the baseboard management controller, and each of the plurality of connectivity points associated with a bandwidth; selecting a transport route from the plurality of connectivity points based in part on the transfer size associated with the feature; and in response to selecting the transport route: transmitting the request for the feature to the baseboard management controller via the transport route; receiving the feature from the baseboard management controller via the transport route; and providing the feature to the information handling system firmware for execution.

Claims (89)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by an information handling system firmware (IHSFW) driver, a request for a feature associated with IHSFW, the feature stored in a first baseboard management controller (BMC) of an information handling system (IHS);

determining, by the IHSFW driver, a transfer size associated with the feature;

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, a plurality of connectivity points, each of the plurality of connectivity points communicatively coupling the IHSFW driver to the first BMC, and each of the plurality of connectivity points associated with a bandwidth;

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, a transport route from the plurality of connectivity points, the selecting based in part on the transfer size associated with the feature; and

in response to selecting the transport route by the IHSFW driver:

transmitting, by the IHSFW driver, the request for the feature to the first BMC via the transport route;

receiving, by the IHSFW driver, the feature from the first BMC via the transport route; and

providing, by the IHSFW driver, the feature to the IHSFW for execution.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting by the IHSFW driver the request for the feature to the first BMC via the transport route further comprises:

bypassing, by the IHSFW driver, a universal serial bus (USB) communicatively coupling the IHSFW to the first BMC.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting by the IHSFW driver the transport route from the plurality of connectivity points comprises:

determining, by the IHSFW driver, the bandwidth associated with each of the plurality of connectivity points;

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, from the plurality of connectivity points, a first connectivity point having a bandwidth that accommodates the transfer size associated with the feature;

determining, by the IHSFW driver, whether the first connectivity point is in use by the IHS; and

in response to determining by the IHSFW driver that the first connectivity point is not in use by the IHS,

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, the first connectivity point to serve as the transport route.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining by the IHSFW driver whether the first connectivity point is in use by the IHS further comprises:

in response to determining by the IHSFW driver that the first connectivity point is in use by the IHS:

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, from the plurality of connectivity points, a second connectivity point that is not in use by the IHS, the second connectivity point having the bandwidth that accommodates the transfer size associated with the feature; and

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, the second connectivity point to serve as the transport route.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the bandwidth that accommodates the transfer size associated with the feature comprises a bandwidth in which a least amount of data packets may be transferred from the first BMC to the IHSFW driver, wherein each data packet comprises a portion of the feature.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transport route comprises at least one of:

a common internet file system (CIFS);

a network interface controller (NIC) buffer;

a network file system (NFS);

a shared memory of the IHS;

a video frame buffer of the IHS;

a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) layer; and

a hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) layer.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feature associated with the IHSFW is at least one of:

a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) executable file;

diagnostics firmware;

one or more configuration files; and

one or more log files.

8. A system comprising a processor having access to memory media storing executable instructions that are executed by the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by an information handling system firmware (IHSFW) driver, a request for a feature associated with IHSFW, the feature stored in a first baseboard management controller (BMC) of an information handling system (IHS);

determining, by the IHSFW driver, a transfer size associated with the feature;

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, a plurality of connectivity points, each of the plurality of connectivity points communicatively coupling the IHSFW driver to the first BMC, and each of the plurality of connectivity points associated with a bandwidth;

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, a transport route from the plurality of connectivity points, the selecting based in part on the transfer size associated with the feature; and

in response to selecting the transport route by the IHSFW driver:

transmitting, by the IHSFW driver, the request for the feature to the first BMC via the transport route;

receiving, by the IHSFW driver, the feature from the first BMC via the transport route; and

providing, by the IHSFW driver, the feature to the IHSFW for execution.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein transmitting by the IHSFW driver the request for the feature to the first BMC via the transport route further comprises:

bypassing, by the IHSFW driver, a universal serial bus (USB) communicatively coupling the IHSFW to the first BMC.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein selecting by the IHSFW driver the transport route from the plurality of connectivity points comprises:

determining, by the IHSFW driver, the bandwidth associated with each of the plurality of connectivity points;

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, from the plurality of connectivity points, a first connectivity point having a bandwidth that accommodates the transfer size associated with the feature;

determining, by the IHSFW driver, whether the first connectivity point is in use by the IHS; and

in response to determining by the IHSFW driver that the first connectivity point is not in use by the IHS,

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, the first connectivity point to serve as the transport route.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining by the IHSFW driver whether the first connectivity point is in use by the IHS further comprises:

in response to determining by the IHSFW driver that the first connectivity point is in use by the IHS:

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, from the plurality of connectivity points, a second connectivity point that is not in use by the IHS, the second connectivity point having the bandwidth that accommodates the transfer size associated with the feature; and

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, the second connectivity point to serve as the transport route.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the bandwidth that accommodates the transfer size associated with the feature comprises a bandwidth in which a least amount of data packets may be transferred from the first BMC to the IHSFW driver, wherein each data packet comprises a portion of the feature.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the transport route comprises at least one of:

a common internet file system (CIFS);

a network interface controller (NIC) buffer;

a network file system (NFS);

a shared memory of the IHS;

a video frame buffer of the IHS;

a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) layer; and

a hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) layer.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the feature associated with the IHSFW is at least one of:

a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) executable file;

diagnostics firmware;

one or more configuration files; and

one or more log files.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon execution by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by an information handling system firmware (IHSFW) driver, a request for a feature associated with IHSFW, the feature stored in a first baseboard management controller (BMC) of an information handling system (IHS);

determining, by the IHSFW driver, a transfer size associated with the feature;

identifying, by the IHSFW driver, a plurality of connectivity points, each of the plurality of connectivity points communicatively coupling the IHSFW driver to the first BMC, and each of the plurality of connectivity points associated with a bandwidth;

selecting, by the IHSFW driver, a transport route from the plurality of connectivity points, the selecting based in part on the transfer size associated with the feature; and

in response to selecting the transport route by the IHSFW driver:

transmitting, by the IHSFW driver, the request for the feature to the first BMC via the transport route;

receiving, by the IHSFW driver, the feature from the first BMC via the transport route; and

providing, by the IHSFW driver, the feature to the IHSFW for execution.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein transmitting by the IHSFW driver the request for the feature to the first BMC via the transport route further comprises:

bypassing, by the IHSFW driver, a universal serial bus (USB) communicatively coupling the IHSFW to the first BMC.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the transport route comprises at least one of:

a common internet file system (CIFS);

a network interface controller (NIC) buffer;

a network file system (NFS);

a shared memory of the IHS;

a video frame buffer of the IHS;

a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) layer; and

a hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) layer.

Assignments (9)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053311/0169) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 060438/0742 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (050724/0571) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 060436/0088 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL 050406 FRAME 421 Recorded Nov 2, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 058213/0825 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 053311/0169 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Oct 15, 2019
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 050724/0571 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 17, 2019
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
Reel/Frame 050406/0421 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 10, 2019
From: EDWARDS, WILLIAM CARL, III; GARA, SANKARA RAO; HEREKAR, ANIRUDDHA SURESH
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 049715/0503 →