Microsoft Corporation
Shell PCIe bridge and shared-link-interface services in a PCIe system

Abstract:

Methods, systems, and computer storage media for providing a Shell PCIe Bridge (SPB) and shared-link-interface services that support a shared common PCIe physical link between SPB clients in a PCIe system. In operation, shared-link-interface operations include accessing, at a Shell PCIe Bridge (SPB), an outbound transaction for a PCIe endpoint vendor IP or an inbound transaction for an SPB client. The SPB supports a shared common PCIe physical link based on a shared-link-interface comprising vendor-agnostic downstream custom interface and a vendor-specific upstream PCIe endpoint interface. The shared-link-interface operations further include processing the outbound transaction or the inbound transaction based on shared-link-interface services. In this way, processing transaction comprises executing shared-link-interface operations that provide protection enhancements associated with sharing a physical PCIe link. The shared-link-interface operations further include communicating the outbound transaction to the PCIe endpoint vendor IP or the inbound transaction to the SPB client.