JPH03129430A - Processor capable of repeatly designating parameter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute a command of (n) parameter format without necessitating a means to manage and count the number of repetition of a parameter at a processor side by providing a command holding means and a parameter holding means. CONSTITUTION:A command is inputted from the outside, and a processor receives it with the command holding means 12. Next, a parameter block is inputted, and the processor receives it with the parameter holding means 14. A controller 16, when receiving a transfer completion signal, executes the command held in the command holding means 12 by using the parameter block held in the parameter holding means 14. Therefore, the same command can be executed repeatedly only by storing the command in the command holding means 12 and inputting the parameter to the parameter holding means 14. Thereby, it is possible to execute the command of (n) parameter format without necessitating the means to manage and count the number of repetition of the parameter at the processor side.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Required] Regarding a processor that operates by receiving commands and parameters from the outside, an n-parameter format is provided that does not require a means for managing and counting the number of repetitions of parameters on the processor side. It has a command holding means and a parameter holding means, each specified by a selection means, and is activated by a transfer end signal sent when a parameter is transferred to the parameter holding means. The configuration includes a control device that executes commands stored in the command storage means using parameters stored in the parameter storage means.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a processor that operates by receiving commands and parameters from the outside, and is capable of repeatedly specifying parameters.

VL that operates by giving commands and parameters from the outside
When using an SI (VERY LARGE 5CALE IC) processor, if the same command is repeated consecutively, is it simply the same command? ! It is possible to transfer the information several times, but it is also complicated. The present invention relates to processing in this case.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when the same command occurs consecutively, the same command is transferred to the processor multiple times.

Taking a drawing processor as an example, if you try to draw three straight lines 1 to 3 as shown in Figure 5, 1
A straight line in a book is drawn using a straight line command and two parameters: the starting point EIEI and the ending point coordinates, so the 6th
As shown in the figure, it is necessary to send three commands and parameters for straight lines 1 and 2°3, totaling 9 steps and 9
Bus cycle required. Generalizing, to draw 0 straight lines, it is necessary to send 3n commands and parameters, and 3n steps are necessary.

However, all commands are "linear commands" and are common to each, so in order to save storage space, transfer time, etc., information on the number of repetitions (n parameter) is included in the command, and the processor side only uses the n parameter. A method of repeatedly executing the same command n times as a count has also been considered. This is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the command is "straight line command, n=341, and only the start/end point coordinate pair is sent n times. In this case, it can be processed in 7 steps, or 2n+1 steps in -M.

When drawing straight lines, it is rare to draw one or two straight lines and be done with it; it is normal to draw several tens or hundreds of lines. Therefore, 3n steps are changed to 2n+1 steps, and n
Saving -1 step is also a great advantage when n is several 10 to several 100.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The method shown in FIG. 7 can reduce the number of steps compared to the method shown in FIG. It is necessary to manage n.And every time a command (draw a straight line) is executed for a parameter (start/end point coordinates), n must be decremented by 1, and the process must end when n=o.This increases the hardware and software on the processor side.

It is an object of the present invention to improve the above points and to make it possible to execute commands in the n-parameter format without requiring means for managing and counting the number of parameter repetitions on the processor side.

[Means for Solving the Problems] As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides command holding means 12 and parameter holding means 14. These can be specified externally using a selection means, for example, an address.

From the outside, specify the address and input commands. The command holding means t2 designated by this address basically receives the command into the register. Next, specify the address again and input parameter blocks [3 and 7] from the outside. The processor receives the parameter block to the parameter holding means 14, eg, a register, specified by this address. When this parameter transfer is completed, a transfer end signal is sent from the outside. When the processor control device 16 receives this transfer end signal, the processor controller 16 updates the parameter processor 7 stored in the parameter holding means 14.
■ Execute the command stored in the command holding means 12 using the command.

When repeatedly executing the same command, send only the parameter block without sending the next command, and send a transfer end signal when the transfer is completed. Upon receiving this, the control device 16
(2) executes the command stored in the command storage means 12 using the parameter storage stored in the parameter storage means 14;

In this example, the command has not changed, so the same command as before will be executed with only the parameters changed.

(Function) As described above, in the present invention, the same command can be executed many times by simply inputting a command into the command holding means and then inputting parameters into the parameter holding means. There is no need to include the number of repetitions n in the command,
There is no need for the processor to manage or count this number of repetitions.

In the conventional n-parameter format command shown in Figure 7, the fourth
As shown in the figure, when the command is received, the counter is initialized to O, and the count value of the counter is checked to see if it is the number of repetitions n included in the command. Receive the parameter block (of course not n) and execute the command. After executing the command, the counter is incremented by 1. Returning to step 2, it is checked whether the contents of the counter are n or not. If not, the command is executed and incremented by 1. If this is repeated, the count value of the counter will eventually reach n, and the processing of the command in question is now complete, and the next command will be waited for (■). Therefore, the processor must have a counter and have the function of incrementing the counter each time a command is executed and checking whether the count is n.

A processor has means (registers) for storing commands and parameters, which are visible from the outside as one. Whether it is a command or a parameter is determined by the order in which it is sent. In other words, the processor has a command analysis means, and for this command, it knows several parameters (for a straight line command, there are two parameters, the start point and the end point), and since the first thing sent is a command, it stores it in its storage section. However, since the second and third messages are parameters, they are stored in the storage section. and the fourth is the sixth
If it is the method shown in the figure, it should be a command, so it will be sent to the storage section, and if it is the method shown in FIG. 7, it should be a parameter, so it will be stored in the storage section.

This is why, in the present invention, the command/parameter holding means can be specified by an address from the outside, because if the command is simply sent, the command and parameter may be confused.

In the present invention, by dividing the command and parameter input ports into two, and by providing a transfer end signal for each parameter block transfer, you can
The same command can be executed repeatedly until the command register is rewritten, and no device/function such as a counter for n parameters is required.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a drawing processor. As shown in the figure, the drawing processor 20 mainly includes a host bus interface unit 22 that receives drawing commands and parameters from an external host CPU 30, and a drawing calculation unit 24 that analyzes the commands and generates drawing addresses for figures such as straight lines and circles. and external graphics memory 4
2, a graph interface section 26 that performs drawing processing; Note that 32 is a system memory, 34 is a host bus, 40 is a display device, and 4
4 is a graphic bus.

As shown in FIG.
8. It is equipped with a work register 29, etc., and performs both address calculation processing by the microcontroller based on commands and parameters given from the outside.2.
1 is an internal lotus, and PENDX is a parameter transfer end signal. Next, the functions and operations of each part are listed.

Command register 23: Stores drawing commands given from the external CPU. The previously transferred commands are retained unless rewritten.

Parameter register 25: Stores multiple parameters in a register file.

Microcontroller 27: Has an internal microprogram and sequencer, and executes processing of commands indicated by the command register 23 in response to a start signal PENDX.

PENDX signal: This is a parameter block transfer end signal given from the outside (host bus IF section). This signal causes the microcontroller 27 to start executing one command.

Control signal C3: output from the microcontroller 27,
Controls each operation and register.

Arithmetic unit 28: Performs arithmetic operations for tij image processing. It is composed of an ALU (addition/subtraction unit), a multiplier, a shifter, etc.

Work register 29: Holds calculation results, etc.

Internal bus 21: This bus transfers data within the R1f image calculation section.

Next, the operation of the drawing calculation section 24 will be explained.

(2) When a drawing command is given to the drawing processor 20 from the suburban host CPU 30, it is transferred to the command register 23 by the host path IF section 22.

(2) When a parameter block accompanying a command is given to the drawing processor 20 from the external host CPU 30, it is sent to the parameter register 25 from the host bus IF.
The signal PENDX indicating the end of the transfer is asserted.

(2) The microcontroller 27 is activated by the PENDX signal, each register 23.25 and the arithmetic unit 28 are controlled by the control signal C5, and the arithmetic results are sent to the graph ink path I.
Transferred to section F.

If the same command is not repeatedly executed, the operations ① to ② above are repeated. On the other hand, when using the aforementioned n parameter, taking as an example the case where three straight lines are drawn, the result is as follows.

(2) A straight line command is transferred from the host bus IF section 22 to the command register 23, and then the first parameter block (two parameters, starting point coordinate P1 and ending point coordinate P2) is transferred. At this point, PENDX is asserted, and the drawing operation section executes. That is, the address of each point on the straight line is calculated and transferred to the graphic bus IF unit 26.

■, second parameter block is external host) CPU
30 to the drawing processor 20, the host bus IF section 22 transfers it to the parameter register 25,
A signal +)ENDX indicating the end of transfer is asserted. At this time, the command register 23 has not been rewritten since point (3), so it remains a linear command. Therefore, the drawing calculation unit executes the straight line command (parameter is the second block) in the same way as in (2).

■, the third block is an external host CPU
When the image is given to the If image processor, the operation (2) is repeated.

After executing the processes ① and ②, the n parameter is completed externally, and the next drawing command is given to the drawing processor from the external host CPU. In this case, the host and bus IF section 2
2, the command is transferred to the command register 23 and the command is rewritten, so the 11π image calculation section executes the next (W changed) command.

As mentioned above, in the configuration of this circuit, the n parameter is
It becomes possible to operate unconsciously within the sensor (in this case, the drawing calculation section).

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, when a command is executed by the [] sensor, it is possible to support a command format of n parameters without internally referencing the number of parameters, and a counter etc. of the number of parameters can be used. The hardware can be reduced, and internal control can also be simplified. The number of repetitions n is 300
If it becomes 0, etc., the counter that counts this becomes quite large, but this can be omitted in the present invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the drawing operation section of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is an example of processing of the conventional method. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing example, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of command and parameter transfer methods 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, 12 is a command holding means, 14 is a parameter holding means, and 16 is a control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. It has a command holding means and a parameter holding means, each designated by the selection means, and is activated by a transfer end signal sent when a parameter is transferred to the parameter holding means, and the parameters stored in the parameter holding means are activated. 1. A processor capable of repeatedly specifying parameters, characterized in that it has a control device that executes a command stored in a command holding means using a controller.