JPH0353345A - Controller with automatic self-diagnostic function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To early detect the troubles by providing an access monitor timer part, a self-diagnostic start control part, and a self-diagnostic circuit part to automatically start a self-diagnostic action for detection of the abnormality without receiving any diagnostic instruction from a CPU. CONSTITUTION:When a power supply is applied, a timer of an access monitor timer part 6 is started and monitors the access interval time sent from a CPU 1. If no access is received for a fixed time, a self-diagnostic start signal 7 is outputted to a self-diagnostic start control part (diagnostic start part) 5 from the part 6. The part 5 confirms an inactive state of a data input/output control part 13 by reference to a signal 8 showing the working state of the part 13. Then the part 5 outputs a diagnostic start signal 10 to a self-diagnostic circuit part 11 and starts a diagnostic action. Thus the troubles early are detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a control device with an automatic self-diagnosis function, and particularly to an automatic self-diagnosis function of various control devices that constitute an information processing device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of control device with an automatic self-diagnosis function has a self-diagnosis activation section and a diagnosis circuit section as a self-diagnosis function, and the self-diagnosis function operates only once, immediately after the power is turned on and before the start of control operation. There are some that start diagnosis upon receiving a diagnosis start command from the basic processing unit.

Therefore, there are two types of diagnostic operations: those that are completed only once immediately after the power is turned on, and those that are not performed unless the central processing unit activates the diagnosis. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned conventional control device with a self-diagnosis function has two conditions for performing self-diagnosis: the self-diagnosis function operates only once immediately after the power is turned on and before the start of control operation, and the central processing There are two ways in which the self-diagnosis function operates upon receiving a diagnosis activation command from the device.

Therefore, when considering the case where the above-mentioned control device fails, there is a drawback that failures that occur after the diagnosis cannot be detected if only the diagnosis is performed immediately after the power is turned on.

In addition, regarding diagnostic commands from the central processing unit, failures cannot be detected until the central processing unit executes the diagnostic commands, and in order to detect failures early, the central processing unit must This has the disadvantage that it has to be executed frequently, which places a burden on the control of the central processing unit, leading to a decrease in overall performance.

[Means to solve the problem]

The control device with an automatic self-diagnosis function of the present invention includes a self-diagnosis circuit unit that performs self-diagnosis on the control device, and a central processing unit that monitors whether or not there is access for data input/output, and also monitors whether there is an access for data input/output from a central processing unit and within a time monitored by a timer. By providing a part of an access monitoring timer that generates a self-diagnosis activation factor if there is no access to the self-diagnosis activation factor, and a self-diagnosis activation control section that generates a start/stop signal for diagnosis activation immediately after power is turned on and in accordance with the self-diagnosis activation factor, Immediately after the power is turned on and when there is no data input/output operation (hereinafter referred to as access) from the central processing unit for a certain period of time, self-diagnosis is automatically started at a certain time interval. By performing self-diagnosis automatically, failures in the control device can be detected early before and after access from the central processing unit.Furthermore, the failure of the control device can be detected early even without the central processing unit issuing a command for diagnosis. , since diagnosis is started, the burden on the central processing unit can be reduced.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an input/output control device with an automatic self-diagnosis function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a central processing unit, 2 is a system bus, 3 is a main storage device, 4 is an input/output control device equipped with an automatic self-diagnosis function, and 5 is a diagnostic startup circuit for the self-diagnosis circuit section 11. A self-diagnosis control unit for controlling start and stop, 6 is a part of an access monitoring timer for monitoring access from the central processing unit, 7 is a self-diagnosis start signal from the access monitoring timer part 6, 8 is data A signal indicating the operating state of the input/output control section, 9 is a system initialization signal generated when the power is turned on, 10 is a diagnosis start/stop signal to the self-diagnosis circuit section 1l, and 11 is for diagnosing the data input/output control section 13. 12 is a control signal for diagnosis; 13 is a data input/output control unit that controls data input/output with peripheral devices and the main storage device; 14 is a peripheral device; 15 is a control bus for the peripheral device; 16 is a control bus for the peripheral device; This is an error flag indicating the diagnosis result.

The operation of the device configured as described above will be explained as follows.

The conditions for the input/output control device (hereinafter referred to as the control/0 control device 4) equipped with automatic self-diagnosis to perform self-diagnosis are once immediately after the power is turned on, and when access from the central processing unit l is poor for a certain period of time. Begins.

First, the diagnosis immediately after the power is turned on will be explained. When the power is turned on, a system initialization signal 9 is output from the system bus 2. This initialization signal 9 is transmitted to the self-diagnosis activation control section 5.
and sends a self-diagnosis start signal 10 to the self-diagnosis circuit section 11 to start self-diagnosis.

Note that the diagnosis performed by the self-diagnosis circuit section 11 is based on the diagnostic ROM.
(read-only memory) etc., and the diagnosis is assumed to be completed in a certain fixed period of time. Then, the diagnostic result is set to error flag 16. Initialization signal 9 at power-on is generated only immediately after power-on, so 1
It ends as a one-time diagnosis.

Next, the operation of automatically starting self-diagnosis will be explained.

When the power is turned on, the timer of the access monitoring timer part 6 is activated and starts monitoring the access interval time from the central processing unit 1. If there is no access for a certain period of time, a self-diagnosis activation signal 7 is sent from the access monitoring timer section 6.
is output to the self-diagnosis activation control section 5 (hereinafter abbreviated as diagnosis activation section 5).

The diagnosis starting unit 5 looks at the signal 8 (hereinafter referred to as hinge signal) indicating the operating state of the data input/output control unit, confirms that it is not in operation, and sends a diagnosis start signal 1 to the self-diagnosis circuit unit l1.
Outputs 0 and starts diagnosis.

Next, a case where there is an access from the central processing unit 1 will be explained.

If the access monitoring timer part (hereinafter referred to as "timer part") is in the process of counting and there is an access from the central processing unit 1 while the self-diagnosis activation is not activated, the timer part 6 will indicate that there has been an access. Detected, the counting timer is reset, and the timer starts again. Therefore, if an access occurs before the timer part 6 finishes counting, self-diagnosis will not start.

If there is an access from the central processing unit 1 while the self-diagnosis is being executed, when the timer section 6 detects the access, the self-diagnosis activation signal 7 is disabled for the diagnosis activation section 5;
The diagnosis start unit 5 sends a diagnosis stop signal to the self-diagnosis circuit unit 1.
1 and cancel the diagnosis. Immediately after the diagnosis result at the time of abort, an error flag shall be set based on the diagnosis result up to the time of abort.

? FIG. 2 shows an example of the control circuit of the timer part 6 and the diagnosis starting part 5, and explains the timing relationship.

In FIG. 2, a1 is a circuit constituting the timer part 6, a2 is a diagnostic activation unit 5, a3 is an access detection unit, a4 is a timer for counting access intervals, a5 is a flip-flop for generating diagnostic activation, a6, a7 is an access signal from the central processing unit 1, a8 is a constant clock signal for timer counting, a9 is a diagnosis end signal output from the self-diagnosis circuit section l1, and alo is a system initialization signal generated when the power is turned on (see Fig. 1). (same as 9), all starts diagnosis.
This is a stop signal (same as IO in FIG. 1).

Regarding the operation timing, first turn on the power
The o signal becomes valid, the a2 flip-flop is set, the all signal is output, and self-diagnosis is started. When the diagnosis is completed, the signal a9 becomes valid, the flip-flop a2 is reset, and the diagnosis activation signal becomes invalid.

Regarding the timing when there is no access from the central processing unit 1, the timer &4 operates in response to the clock of a8, and outputs a set signal to a5 when counting for a certain period of time or more. Then, a diagnostic activation signal is sent from a5 to a2.
The all signal is output, and diagnosis begins. When the diagnosis is completed, the signal a9 becomes valid, a reset signal is input to the flip-flop a5, and the diagnosis activation signal becomes invalid.

Next, regarding the timing when there is an access from the central processing unit 1, first, the signals of a6 and a7 are taken into the access detection section of a3, and by decoding them inside a3, it is determined whether the access is for itself. do. At this time, if it is determined that the access is to itself, the signal of al2 is enabled and a4 and a5 are reset, respectively. This reset causes the timer a4 to start counting from zero again. If the flip-flop a5 were to output a diagnosis activation signal, the signal would be reset and the diagnosis would be stopped midway.

The operations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 described above are an example of an input/output control device with an automatic self-diagnosis function.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention includes a portion of an access monitoring timer, a self-diagnosis start control section, and a self-diagnosis circuit section, as described in FIGS. 1 and 2, and receives diagnosis commands from a central processing unit. By automatically starting a self-diagnosis and detecting an abnormality even if the system is not installed, there are various effects such as early detection of failures, improved reliability of the device, and furthermore, a reduction in the burden on the central processing unit.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electrical configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an example of a configuration circuit for the access monitoring timer section 6 and self-diagnosis activation control section 5 shown in FIG. 1...Central processing unit, 2...System bus, 3...Main storage device, 4...Automatic self-diagnosis function output control device, 5...Self-diagnosis start control unit, 6...Part of access monitoring timer, 7...Self-diagnosis start signal from part of access monitoring timer, 8... ... Signal indicating the operating state of the data input/output control unit, 9 ... System initialization signal generated when power is turned on, 10 ... Diagnosis start, stop signal, 11 ...・Self-diagnosis circuit section, 1
2... Control signal for diagnosis, 13... Data input/output control unit, 14... Peripheral equipment, 15...
...Peripheral device control bus, a1...Circuit forming part of the access monitoring timer, a2...Diagnosis starting section (same as 5 in Fig. 1), a3... ... Access detection S, a4 ... Timer for access interval counter a5 ... Flip-flop for diagnosis activation generation, a6, a7 ... Access signal from central processing unit 1 , a8... Constant clock signal for timer count, a9... Diagnosis end signal, alO...
...System initialization signal (same as 9 in Figure 1), a
ll...Diagnosis start, stop signal (same as 10 in Figure 1).

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a control device that is connected to a central processing unit and has a self-diagnosis function, a self-diagnosis circuit unit that performs self-diagnosis on the control unit and access for data input/output from the central processing unit are monitored for a certain period of time. an access monitoring timer section that generates a self-diagnosis activation factor if there is no access to the control device; and a self-diagnosis activation control that generates a start/stop signal for self-diagnosis activation immediately after power is turned on to the control device and when the self-diagnosis activation factor occurs. A control device with an automatic self-diagnosis function, characterized by comprising: