JPH02287652A - Bus tracer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the effective availability of an information saved-area and to improve the reliability by providing a clock function part, an information extracting means for extracting the information flowing to a bus through a bus connecting part, an information saving means and an information output means. CONSTITUTION:By connecting a connector 4 to a bus 1 and turning on a prescribed switch on a panel of a console 11, an operation of a bus tracer main body 5 is started. Subsequently, when information flows to the bus 1, a trace control part 7 extracts the information from the bus 1 through a bus driver 6 and a trace adaptor 8, reads in a time counting time of a clock mechanism part 12 by its extraction timing, and saves it together with extracted information in a trace memory 9. Next, when the control part 7 confirms formation of a prescribed condition for ending the trace, and ends the trace after a prescribed time elapses, all the information saved in the memory 9 is read out automatically or a prescribed operation on the console panel, and printed out by a printer 10. In such a way, the effective availability of an information saved-area is enhanced, and the reliability can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a path tracer that is applied, for example, to a local area network system in which a plurality of computers are connected using a bus.

(Prior Art) In recent years, LAN (Local Area Network), which connects multiple computers using a bus, has been widely used as a means to realize advanced office automation within a limited area such as a building. There is.

By the way, recently it has been used to connect to such systems, and by extracting the information flowing on the bus, storing it in a predetermined information storage area, and printing it out, it is possible to contribute to elucidating the cause in the event of a failure. Development of path tracers for this purpose is underway.

This path tracer uses a method that periodically retrieves information on the time when a failure occurred from the system side and stores it in trace memory, which is useful for determining the cause of the failure.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in this method, time information is stored in the trace memory regardless of whether data exists on the bus, so if tracing is continued for a long time, the time information will be stored in the trace memory. The proportion of information occupied becomes high, and there is a risk that the trace memory will become full before the important information at the time of failure is saved.

The present invention is intended to solve such problems, and aims to provide a bus tracer that can improve the reliability by increasing the degree of effective use of the information storage area.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the path tracer of the present invention is a device used in a system in which a plurality of computers are connected using a bus, A clock function section, an information extraction means for extracting information flowing on the bus via the bus connection section, and reading the time measured by the clock function section at the timing when information is extracted by the information extraction means, and transmitting this time information on the bus. The information storage device includes an information storage means for storing the extracted information in a predetermined information storage area, and an information output means for outputting the information stored in the information storage area.

(Function) The path tracer of the present invention reads the time measured by the clock function section at the timing when information is extracted from the bus, and stores this time information in the information storage area together with the information extracted from the bus. Since the information and time information stored in this information storage area are output from the information output means, the degree of effective use of the information storage area can be increased and reliability can be improved.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a bust l mesa according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a bus for connecting a plurality of computers 25.3 to configure a system such as a LAN, and 4 is a connector equipped with a bus driver 6 for connecting the bus tracer body 5 to the bus 1. .

Reference numeral 7 denotes a trace control unit that performs overall control of the path tracer 5, and signal input/output between this trace control unit 7 and the bus driver 6 of the connector 4 is performed by a trace adapter 8.
It is now done through. Furthermore, 9 is bus 1
88 information (data, control signals, etc.) imported from
10 is a printer for printing out the contents stored in the trace memory 9;
Reference numeral 11 denotes a console through which an operator can intervene in the operation of the path tracer 5, monitor the path tracer 5, and the like. Reference numeral 12 denotes a clock function section built into the bus tracer, and the trace control section 7 reads the clock time of this clock function F412 at the timing when the information flowing on the bus 1 is extracted, and stores the time information in the trace memory 9. It has been like saving.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of this path tracer 5.

As shown in the figure, the path tracer 5 is constructed by housing each component in a trunk-shaped case 13. The case 13 consists of a lid body 13a and a component storage body 13b. Furthermore, the open surface of the component storage body 13b is connected to the console panel 1.
4, various operation switches and fault indicator lamps,
Numeric keys, etc. are gathered here. Furthermore, although not shown in the figure, the above-mentioned printer 10 is also built into this component storage body 13b.

Next, the operation of this path tracer will be explained.

The operation of this bus tracer is started by connecting the connector 4 to the bus 1 and turning on a predetermined switch on the console panel 14.

When information flows to the bus 1, the trace control unit 7 first transfers the information from the bus 1 to the bus driver 6 and the trace adapter 8.
Further, at the information extraction timing, the time measured by the clock function section 12 is read, and this time information is stored in the trace memory 9 together with the information extracted from the bus 1.

In addition, the information taken into the path tracer 5 here is as follows:
For example, data, acknowledgement, address, command, data available, data request, status request, attention, synchronous, system clear, parity available, parity
Examples include control signals such as errors.

Thereafter, when the trace control unit 7 confirms that a predetermined condition for terminating the trace is satisfied, the trace control unit 7 terminates the trace after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Note that the conditions for terminating this trace include, for example,
This may occur if a device timeout, false sync, illegal red address, device initialization, parity error occurs, a match occurs in output data or input data at a specified address, or an external input signal occurs. . However, if an error other than the trace termination conditions set here occurs, the error indicator lamp on the console panel 14 is blinked to notify the operator of this fact.

When tracing is completed, all the information stored in the trace memory 9 is read out automatically or by a predetermined operation on the console panel 14 and printed out by the printer 11.

In this case, the trace control unit 7 analyzes and edits each information.
It is also possible to carry out the process and output the results.

A specific example in that case is shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the printed content in this case consists of an address printing section, an information content printing section, and a time information printing section.

In each printing section, TRP is a trap occurrence display,
The position where a trap occurs (when the trace end condition is met) is indicated with an asterisk. CNT is a control signal display, command (CHD), status request (
5RQ), data request (DRQ), data
It is indicated as available (DAY) or acknowledged (ACK). Further, DT is a data display. Further P
BT is a parity bit, and when the data is an even number, the parity error occurs as "1 degree".Furthermore, IL
L is illegal address bit, AGR is data match bit, SCR is system conflict clear bit, p, s
is the false sync bit, T, 0 is the instrument time bit.
Out pin I', LPE is L bus order parity bit, EXT is external signal input bit, PAY is parity bit.
The available bit and ATN are attention e bits, and their occurrence is indicated by "1". Furthermore, TM is a time information display, and this time information display represents, for example, hours, minutes, and seconds each in two-digit hexadecimal numbers. Further, in this case, the time may be expressed using a normal time display.

Thus, according to the path tracer of this embodiment, the path tracer itself is provided with the clock function section 12, and the time measured by the synchronization function section is read at the timing when information is extracted from the path 1, and the time information is also included. Since the data is stored in the trace memory 9, the trace memory 9 can be used more effectively and reliability can be improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the path tracer of the present invention, it is possible to increase the degree of effective utilization of the information storage area and improve reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a path tracer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the path tracer in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an output of the path tracer. It is a figure showing an example. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Path, 2.3...Computer, 4...Connector, 5...Path tracer body, 6...Path driver, 7...Trace control unit, 8...Trace adapter, 9...Trace control unit, 10...Printer,
11...Console, 12...Clock function section. Applicant Toshiba Engineering Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Satoshi Suyama - (1 idiot) Figure 2 Address Printing Section Information Contents Printing Section Figure 5 Time Genshin Report

Claims (1)

[Claims] A device used in a system in which a plurality of computers are connected using a bus, comprising: a clock function section; and an information extraction means for extracting information flowing on the bus via a bus connection section. , an information storage means for reading the time measured by the clock function section at the timing when the information is extracted by the information extraction means, and storing this time information in a predetermined information storage area together with the information extracted from the bus; A bus tracer comprising: information output means for outputting information stored in an information storage area.