JPH0773045A - Mpu emulator device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To verify a program of interrupt processing by intentionally generating an interrupt signal in an emulator device which executes the operation of an MPU having an external interrupt signal. CONSTITUTION:An operator preliminarily sets the position of the program, where a state storage part 102 is interrupted, as the address value. Next, he gives the instruction of the emulating state to an execution control part 104 by an execution restart signal 105. The execution control part 104 switches an MPU part 101 to the emulating state in accordance with the instruction. The emulator device starts the operation equivalent to that of the MPU. When the program executes the position of the address set to the state storage part 102 in this state, a state discriminating part 103 detects this execution and issues a signal of this detection and an instruction, which instructs a signal distribution part 106 to output this signal to an interrupt generation part 107. The interrupt generation part 107 outputs an interrupt signal 108 matched to the MPU as the object to the MPU part 101. As the result, the operator intentionally realizes the state that the interrupt accidentally occurs in the arbitrary execution place of the program.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an MPU emulator device, and more particularly to an MPU (microprocessor unit) having an external signal (hereinafter referred to as an external interrupt signal) for temporarily suspending the execution of a program and executing another program. The configuration of the function for effectively supporting the development of the program of the external interrupt processing unit of the emulator device acting on behalf of the above).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Referring to FIG. 5, which shows the basic configuration of a conventional emulator device, this emulator device is an MP that substitutes the operation of an MPU to be emulated.
The U unit 101, the state storage unit 502 that presets the operating state of the MPU, and various signals output from the MPU unit 101 and the operating state of the MPU preset in the state storage unit 502 are compared. The state determination section 503 and the MPU section 101 by inputting the determination signal from the state determination section 503.
And the execution control unit 104 that restarts the operation of the MPU unit 101 again by an execution restart signal 105 from the outside.

The basic operation of the emulator device in this configuration will be described. In a state in which the emulator device performs the same operation as the operation of the target MPU (hereinafter referred to as emulation state), the execution control unit 104 maintains the emulation state. , MPU section 101 performs the same operation as the operation of the target MPU under the control.

The state storage unit 502 also stores a state value in which the operation of the MPU is desired to be interrupted.

The operating state of the MPU unit 101 is the state storage unit 5
While there is no match with the state value stored in 02, the execution control unit 104 does not send a signal indicating that the states match to each other.
01 is held in the emulation state, during which the emulator device continues to operate as though it is the target MPU.

In this state, the operating state of the MPU unit 101 is stored in the state storage unit 502 in advance.
When the state value matches the state value of U, the state determination unit 503 detects the match and sends a signal indicating that the states match to the execution control unit 104.

The execution control unit 104 interrupts the emulation state of the MPU unit 101 by receiving the sent coincidence signal. This interrupted state is hereinafter referred to as a break state.

In the break state, the MPU unit 101 is the MPU.
The normal operation of is suspended, and the running program is stopped at the point of suspension. In this break state, the emulator device refers to and changes the internal information of the MPU unit 101 and the contents of the memory managed by the MPU while the execution of the program is interrupted by an instruction from the operator, and
The state value of the MPU set in the state storage unit 502 is updated.

The execution control unit 104 returns the MPU unit 101 to the emulation state in response to an instruction from the operator to restart the MPU operation.

As described above, with the above-described configuration, the operator interrupts the execution of the program of the MPU in an arbitrary state, acquires the information about the MPU at that time, changes the information, and then executes the program again. Alternatively, the program can be easily developed by executing it for each instruction of the MPU to check the detailed execution of the program.

Each emulator device is devised by devising the types of MPU states that can be set in the above-mentioned state storage unit 502, increasing the number of states that can be set, and devising a method of performing coincidence detection managed by the state determination unit 503. It was improving performance and functions.

[0012]

However, although the above-mentioned emulator device has made it possible to strongly support the execution confirmation of the program which executes the sequential processing, a plurality of programs are alternately run by the interrupt function. ,
In the operation confirmation regarding the interaction between the programs of the software system in which the programs are executed as if multiple programs were executing at the same time, whether the actual interrupt function was operated in the emulation state and the result was the expected result. I had no choice but to confirm.

Therefore, in reality, it is necessary to repeat the test operation for a long period of time in order to confirm all the interrupt operations that occur with a specific probability.

That is, even for an event for which it is known that it is necessary to verify an event having a very low probability, an emulator device and a development target system exist in order to intentionally generate the state. It was impossible to verify just by operating the emulator device.

[0015]

According to the present invention, in an emulator device acting on behalf of the operation of an MPU having an external interrupt signal, a state storage section for presetting and storing the operating state of the MPU, and the state storage section is set. When the judgment of the condition judging unit for judging whether the operating state of the MPU and the operating state of the MPU unit in the emulator device match, and the judgment of the condition judging unit are the same, an interrupt signal is sent to the MPU unit in the emulator device. And an interrupt generating unit for generating the interrupt.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 showing an MPU emulator device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in this embodiment, an interrupt generating unit 107 in which an output of a state judging unit 103 is newly added to the prior art is used. Also, the main feature is that it is given through the signal distribution unit 106.

Therefore, in the state storage unit 102, in the state storage unit 502 of the prior art, for each state of the MPU to be set, in the case of that state, execution information is interrupted or an interrupt is generated. Need to be added.

Further, the state determination unit 103 inputs the output from the signal distribution unit 106 to the execution control unit 104, as compared with the state determination unit 503 of the prior art, or the interrupt generation unit 10.
It is necessary to add a means to specify whether to input to 7.

Although not shown, in order to realize the same effect, the conventional state storage unit 502 and state determination unit 503 are provided separately for the interrupt generation unit 107 and the execution control unit 104. A configuration in which the signal distributing unit 105 is omitted is also an embodiment of the present invention.

Next, in order to simplify the description of the operation of the emulator device in the configuration of FIG. 1, a case where a specific position of a program is set as an address value in the state storage unit 102 will be described.

The operator sets the position of the program for which an interrupt is to be generated in the state storage unit 102 in advance as the value of the address. Of course, the address value is set as a set with information indicating that the information causes an interrupt.

Next, the operator issues an instruction to the execution control unit 104 to the emulation state, and the execution restart signal 105
Through. The execution control unit 104 follows this instruction and
The MPU unit 101 is transited to the emulated state, and the emulator device shifts to an operation equivalent to that of the MPU.

While the MPU unit does not execute the program position set in the state storage unit 102, it performs the same operation as a normal emulator device.

In this state, the program is stored in the state storage unit 102.
When the position of the address set to is executed, the state determination unit 103 detects it and issues a signal indicating the detection and an instruction to the interrupt generation unit 107 to output the signal indicating the detection. The interrupt generation unit 107 outputs an interrupt signal 108 matching the target MPU to the MPU unit 101.

As a result, the operator can intentionally realize a situation in which an interrupt accidentally occurs at an arbitrary execution location of the program.

Conventionally, in order to realize a situation in which an interrupt is generated at an intended place of a program, two situations, that is, a situation in which a program passes the place and a situation in which an interrupt is generated, are realized, and a long-term test operation is performed. However, it is necessary to confirm the result, but the emulation device of the present embodiment makes it possible to confirm the interrupt function only by realizing the situation where the program passes through the place.

Next, in response to an interrupt request, a function that allows a plurality of interrupt processes to be selected from an external interrupt request unit at the time of interrupt (hereinafter referred to as a vector interrupt function)
An emulator device for an MPU having the above, that is, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the state setting unit 202 is provided with a vector storage unit 222 for designating not only the state of the MPU but also the type of interrupt, together with the MPU state storage unit 221, and the type of interrupt is given to the MPU. Vector inserter 21
The point having 0 is a feature.

Regarding the operation of the emulator device of this embodiment, since the basic operation is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description will focus on the differences.

Generally, an MPU having a vector interrupt function
When an interrupt input occurs, it requests the selection of an interrupt process to be performed for the interrupt by outputting a signal called an interrupt vector request signal 209 in this embodiment to the outside.

When the interrupt vector request signal 209 is received, the normal MPU has an interrupt control device which outputs a vector signal 211 designating an interrupt process to be executed to the MPU.

In this embodiment, when an interrupt is generated from the interrupt generation unit 107, the vector insertion unit 210 incorporated in the emulator device is used instead of outputting the interrupt vector request signal 209 from the MPU unit 101 to the outside of the emulator device. In addition to this, the feature is that an external interrupt control device is substituted.

Next, the MPU set in the state storage unit 202
The operation when an interrupt occurs depending on the state of MPU state storage unit 2 of state storage unit 202 will be described in advance.
21 and the vector storage unit 222, it is considered that the place where the interrupt is desired to occur and the type of the interrupt desired to be caused are set.

When the MPU enters the state set in the MPU state storage section 221, the same process as in the first embodiment is performed,
The interrupt signal 108 is added to the MPU unit 201.

The MPU unit 201 outputs an interrupt vector request signal 209 to it. When the interrupt signal 108 is generated from the interrupt generation unit 107, the vector insertion unit sends the vector information preset in the vector storage unit 222 in the state storage unit 202 to the MPU unit 201 via the vector signal 211. insert.

According to the method described above, this embodiment can be applied to the MPU having the vector interrupt function.

Next, as an extension of the function of the present invention, a third embodiment in which a plurality of interrupts are continuously inserted in a specific state of the MPU is shown in FIG. 3, and the function of this embodiment is interrupt processing. This is an effective function for pre-testing that the abnormal operation of the software system that uses is often caused by the excessive load of interrupt processing.

In order to realize this function, the MPU unit 1
The condition is that there is some form of interrupt processing completion signal 309 in 01 that the completion of interrupt processing can be known from the outside.

However, in the general MPU, the above-mentioned function is generally present in the control of the double interrupt because it is necessary to prevent malfunction due to multiple interrupts.

The operation of this embodiment will be described. In comparison with the first embodiment, the state storage unit 302 has a number-of-times storage unit 322 for setting the number of interrupts, and that a plurality of interrupts can be realized. The feature is that the interrupt control unit 307 is inserted between the signal distribution unit 106 and the interrupt generation unit 107.

Next, the interrupt operation in this embodiment will be described. The state of the MPU section 101 is the state storage section 30.
When the state matches the state set in the MPU state storage unit 221 in No. 2, a request to generate an interrupt is input to the interrupt control unit 307 by the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

The interrupt controller 307 is used by the signal distributor 10
When the interrupt request from the 6 is input, the state storage unit 30
The number of interrupts stored in the number-of-times storage unit 322 that is paired with the state of the MPU that is the cause of the interrupt request set in the MPU state storage unit 221 in 2 is fetched.

Then, interrupt requests for the number of interrupts designated by the interrupt generating unit 107 are continuously generated each time the interrupt processing completion signal 309 is output from the MPU unit 101.

As a result, it becomes possible to continuously cause an interrupt operation when the MPU section 101 enters a specific state.

Next, as an example in which the state setting unit and the state determination unit of the present invention are expanded so as to be able to generate an interrupt other than the state of the MPU, the fourth example is expanded to the function of generating an interrupt at a specified time. An embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the MP is used instead of the state determination unit.
The point that the time signal generating unit 402 that generates an interrupt request by itself by the built-in clock function without inputting the state of U is used is different from the configuration requirements of the other embodiments.

In this embodiment, instead of generating an interrupt for a specific MPU state, an interrupt is generated at a specific time interval to check the stability of the software system under test against the load of interrupt processing. Easy to do.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, the interrupt operation of the software system realized by having the interrupt function is intentionally realized only by the operation of the emulator device, and the verification and operation of the software system in advance are performed. It has the effect of facilitating testing.

In particular, it is possible to intentionally generate an operation check in an overload state in which interrupt processing frequently occurs and a situation in which an interrupt event that occurs infrequently occurs in a rare part of a program that is not executed. This makes it easier to check the operation in situations that are difficult to realize.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an emulator device according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention having a vector interrupt function.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention expanded so that the number of interrupts can be designated.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention expanded so that time can be set in a state.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a prior art emulator device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 MPU unit 201 MPU unit with interrupt vector function 102 State storage unit 202 Interrupt vector built-in state storage unit 302 Interrupt count built-in state storage unit 103 State determination unit 104 Execution control unit 105 Execution restart signal 106 Signal distribution unit 107 Interrupt generation unit 108 Interrupt Signal 209 Interruption vector request signal 210 Vector insertion unit 211 Vector signal 221 MPU state storage unit 307 Interruption control unit 222 Vector storage unit 322 Count storage unit 309 Interrupt processing completion signal 402 Time signal generation unit 502 State storage unit 503 of conventional technology Conventional technology State determination part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A state in which an operating state of the MPU is preset and stored in an MPU emulator device which substitutes the operation of an MPU having an external interrupt signal input for temporarily suspending the execution of a program and executing another program. The storage unit, the condition determination unit that determines whether the operating state of the MPU set in the state storage unit and the operating state of the MPU unit in the emulator device match, and the determination of the condition determination unit are the same. In this case, the MPU emulator device is provided with an interrupt generation unit for generating an interrupt signal to the MPU unit in the emulator device.