| 摘要 |
A method and an apparatus is present for dynamically allocating a set of output interrupt lines at a host adapter to a set of input interrupt lines for card slots controlled by the host adapter. If the number of input interrupt lines is greater than the number of output lines, then interrupt sharing is necessary. The number of input interrupt lines can be determined automatically by scanning all the card slots or can be determined by values stored in lookup tables. The algorithm to determine a logical mapping of the input interrupt lines to the output lines, in cases where interrupt sharing is required, can be based on a number of factors. A simple approach is to distribute the interrupts as equally as possible. Another algorithm may take into account the expected frequency of interrupts based on the device involved. Yet another approach may use a set of predetermined priorities. Since these algorithms are implemented in firmware or software, they can be changed to meet a particular set of needs. Once the mapping is determined, the input interrupt lines are electronically connecting to the output interrupt lines using "glue logic" associated with the host adapter. After this mapping is accomplished, an interrupt mapping table is built and sent to the operating system.
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