Computing systems, such as laptops, netbooks, workstations, and desktop computers typically include a central processing unit (CPU), also known as a host processor, running an operating system for carrying out various functionalities of the computing system. The host processor generally includes a class of software modules, known as drivers, which interact with and control various peripheral devices connected to the computing systems for providing the functionalities. The peripheral devices include, for instance, mass storage devices for reading and writing data, media devices like audio players for providing output of audio files playing in the computing system, and network interfaces for connecting to a network environment. One example of a network interface may be a Wi-Fi interface.
The system drivers generally interact with the peripheral devices through hardware interfaces, known as device controllers provided in the computing systems for controlling the peripheral devices. For example, a computing system may include a network interface controller for controlling the Wi-Fi interface of the computing system.
With the advent of technology, computing systems with multiple processors supporting different operating systems have come into existence. In order to reduce system costs and power consumption, and often times to maintain compactness of the computing systems, the host processors are configured to share the same peripheral devices.