JPH09190366A - System control method - Google Patents

Abstract

Kind Code: A1 The present invention relates to a system control method for a system including a host controller and a lower device that is monitored and controlled by an instruction from the host controller, and a command is created by the host controller. , Only the difference sent last time is DPR
An object of the present invention is to realize a system management method capable of efficiently editing a command by creating it on the AM and further reducing the hardware configuration. A high-order control device includes a storage device, a difference extraction unit, a processing device, a communication control device, and a dual port RAM, and a low-order device includes a communication control device and an EEPROM.
When a superordinate control device monitors and controls a subordinate device, all commands to the subordinate device are created and expanded on the DPRAM, and next time from the previous time, the storage device and the processing device are provided. Only the difference of the difference is transferred to the DPRAM, and the created command is updated.
Configure to send to ROM.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a host controller,
The present invention relates to a system control method of a system including a lower-level device that is monitored and controlled by an instruction from a higher-level controller.

When a system is composed of a plurality of information processing devices, communication devices, etc., it often takes a hierarchical structure in order to operate the system efficiently. In such a configuration, one device is positioned as an upper control device, and the lower control device constituting the system is monitored and controlled by the upper control device.

With the sophistication and large scale of the information processing system, the importance of the system is increasing, and even when the information processing system is stopped, it is required to hold various data being operated as the system. There are many cases. In order to hold such data, the EEP
ROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Onl
y Memory) is used. The EEPROM is a ROM that can retain data even when the power is cut off and that can electrically erase the data. It is an effective device for holding the data when the power is cut off, and is used in various systems. Has been done.

In a system composed of such a lower device using the EEPROM, it is required that the upper control device efficiently monitor and control the lower device.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example. Reference numeral 100 in the drawing denotes a host controller, and the processor 110 monitors and controls the entire system according to a program stored in the storage device 140. Also, DPRA
M (Dual Port RAM) 121 and 122 are RAMs having two sets of ports, and are a processing unit 110 and a communication LS, respectively.
The configuration is accessible from I 151 and 152.

Reference numeral 200 denotes a lower device, and the upper control device 1
00 is transmitted through the communication LSIs 241 and 242, and the received command is temporarily stored in the EEPROM 22.
After writing to 0, the processing unit 210 causes the EEPROM 22 to
The command of 0 is read and the lower device 200 is monitored and controlled.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of command generation in the conventional example. Steps in the flow chart below (S in the figure)
Operation) will be described. S1: A command transmission request is issued from the upper task of the processing device 110.

S2: The processor 110 sends a command (CM in the figure) to an internal buffer memory (shown as a buffer in the figure) 111.
Create 0) (denoted D). S3: Copy the command 0 to the DPRAM 121.

S4, S5: The same process as S2, S3 is performed for command 1. S6, S7: The same process as S2, S3 is performed for the command n. Command 1 to command n are DPRAM 121
After being copied, the data is sent to the lower device 200 through the communication LSI 151 and waits for a response.

S8: Receive a response from the lower device 200. S9: Sends a response to the upper task. Through such processing, the command is sent from the upper control device 100 to the lower device 200 to control the lower device 200.

[0011]

In the above-mentioned conventional example, when the upper control device 100 sends a command for monitoring and controlling to the lower device 200, the processing device 1
Numeral 10 creates a control command on the internal buffer memory 111, and creates the created command one by one in the DPRAM1.
Since it is sent after being copied on the screen 21, it takes time to send the command.

A DPRAM 121 for accessing the EEPROM 220, communication LSIs 151 and 241 and a control signal, a DPRAM 122 for collecting fault information, and a communication LS.
I152 and 242 are separated, so communication LSI
The use efficiency of 151, 152, 241, 242 is low, and the hardware configuration also becomes large.

Further, since all log information and failure information are stored in the storage device 140 of the host controller 100, when a failure occurs and failure analysis is performed, it takes a long time to search for target data. And even more,
Occasionally, it was necessary to stop the system and obtain information.

According to the present invention, the command is efficiently edited by creating a command in the host controller for only the difference sent last time on the DPRAM, and for command transmission / reception, control signal, and failure information collection. For DPR
An attempt is made to realize a system management method capable of reducing the hardware configuration by sharing the AM and the communication LSI.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. 100 in the figure is for monitoring the entire system,
Reference numeral 200 denotes a higher-level control device that performs control. Reference numeral 200 denotes a higher-level control device that receives monitoring and control signals from the higher-level control device 100, and obtains information on the results of monitoring and control according to the monitoring and control information and failure information. It is a lower device that transmits to 100.

The host controller 100 of the present invention stores a command transmitted to the lower device 200 last time, a storage device 140, a difference extractor 130 for extracting the difference between the command transmitted this time and the command transmitted last time. Then, the processing device 110 that creates all the commands to be transmitted to the lower-level device 100 at the first time, and only the command of the difference from the previous time extracted by the difference extracting unit 130 from the next time Communication control device 150 for controlling communication with 200, and host device 100 to lower device 2
00, the failure information transmitted from the lower device 200 to the upper control device 100 is stored, and the processing device 11
0 and a dual port RAM 120 accessible from the communication control device 150.

The lower device 200 is the upper control device 1.
00 and the lower device 200, a communication control device 240 for controlling communication, an EEPROM 220 for storing commands received from the upper control device 100, a storage device 230 for storing various data of the lower device 200, and a storage device 23.
0, and a processor 210 that monitors and controls according to the commands on the EEPROM 220.

In such a configuration, the host controller 100
When monitoring and controlling the lower level device 200 from the first time, all commands to be sent to the lower level device 200 are created for the first time,
The command is expanded in the DPRAM 120, and from the next time, only the difference from the previous time is transferred and created in the DPRAM 120, and the command in which only the difference is updated is transmitted to the lower device 200. Can be done.

[0019]

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment (1) of the present invention.
FIG. In the figure, 100 is a host controller, 1
10 is a processing device, 111 is an internal buffer memory in the processing device 100, 120 is DPRAM, 140 is a storage device,
Reference numeral 151 denotes a communication LSI having a function as the communication control device 150 described in principle with reference to FIG. Further, 200 is a lower device, 210 is a processing device, and 220 is EEPRO.
M and 230 are storage devices, and 241 is a communication LSI.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the command creation of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a flowchart of command creation. S1: The command creation request is issued from the higher-level task of the processing device 110.

S2: It is determined whether or not the command is first created. S3; if it is not the first command creation, the difference extraction unit 1
At 30, the difference between the previous command and the current command is extracted.

S4: Only the difference extracted by the difference extracting section 130 is transferred to the DPRAM 120, and a command to be sent this time is created on the DPRAM 120. S5: In the case of the first command creation, all commands are created.

S6: The created command is sent to the lower device 200.
To send to. S7: Receive a response from the lower device 200, edit the response, and send it to the upper task.

In this way, all commands are created for the first command creation, and for the second and subsequent command creation, only the difference between the previous command and the previous command is transferred to the DPRAM 120, and only the difference is rewritten to create the command. The processing speed can be increased.

(B) DPRAM 120 created in the first time
The above commands 10 to 1n (here, the system is assumed to be composed of a plurality of lower-level devices 200) are shown. The command of the present invention is composed of 2 bytes, and (a) to (n) in the figure each represent 8-bit data. The header is information for identifying the lower-level device 200 that is the transmission destination of each command.

(C) is an extraction of the difference from the first command. Only commands 21 to 22 are different from the previous command, and (c) to (f) are (c ') to (f). ′) Has been changed.

(D) Only the difference is transferred to the DPRAM 120, and the commands 21 to 22 are (c ') to (f').
The command which is rewritten (indicated by shading in the figure) and which is transmitted the second time is shown.

As described above, since the command created on the DPRAM 120 is created in the command format executed by the lower-level device 200, the conversion of the command format is not required, and the monitoring and control of the lower-level device 200 can be performed efficiently. Can be done.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the embodiment (2) of the present invention. In the embodiment (2), the DPRA is added to the host controller 100 of the embodiment (1) described in FIG.
A configuration including a busy flag 141 indicating that the M120 and the communication LSI 151 are in use, an exclusive control unit 161 that performs exclusive control by referring to the busy flag 141, and a timer 162 for confirming normal writing to the EEPROM 220. I am trying.

The busy flag 141 indicating the busy status is
A plurality of tasks are DPRAM 120, communication LSI 151
This is for the purpose of preventing contention when accessing the device. When an access request is issued to the DPRAM 120 and the communication LSI 151, the exclusive control unit 161 first confirms that the busy flag 141 is empty. To start processing.

Further, the writing time of the EEPROM 220 is longer than that of a normal RAM. Therefore,
After sufficient time has passed to write normally,
Read the data written in the EEPROM 220,
It is necessary to determine whether or not writing has been normally performed, and the timer 162 counts the passage of this writing time.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the EEPROM table of the lower device of the present invention. EEPR of lower device 200
The command ij (commands (a) (b) to command (m)) sent from the host controller 100 is sent to the OM 220.
A command ij is written on behalf of (n). Further, addresses (n-3), (n-2), (n-
1) and n are identifiers and codes for each lower device 200,
The fault history and the number of times of writing are written.

The EEPROM 220 has a property of deteriorating each time writing is performed. Therefore, EEPROM2
It is possible to predict the deterioration state by writing the number of times writing has been performed in the writing operation 20 every time the writing operation is performed and periodically reading the number of times of writing.

As described above, by writing the failure information in the EEPROM 220, for example, when a failure occurs in the lower device 200 installed in a remote place, the suspected device, for example, the printed board is replaced and brought back.
The failure analysis can be performed in detail and quickly by analyzing the failure information for each lower device 200 written in the EEPROM 220.

FIG. 6 is a DPRAM of the host controller of the present invention.
The figure explaining a table is shown. D of host controller 100
A command created by the processing device 110 and a response signal received from the lower device 200 are written in the PRAM 120.

The CMD area in the figure is created by the processing unit 110 and transferred to the DPRAM 120 CMD10 to CMD1.
n is written, and ST0 to STn are written in the ST (abbreviation of Status, indicating a response signal) area of the response signal received from the plurality of lower devices 200 in the numerical order of the lower devices 200.

In the present invention, both the command and the response are constructed as 2-byte data, and each is 1 in the table.
The data of the row can be of any data length.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the host controller of the present invention. The figure is an operation flowchart of the host controller 100 of the embodiment (2) described in FIG. S1: A command transmission request is issued from the higher-level task of the processing device 110.

S2: In-use flag 1 in the exclusive control unit 161
It is determined whether 41 is "1". If the busy flag 141 is “1”, the DPRAM 120 or the communication LSI 151 is being accessed, and thus the busy flag 1
Wait until 41 becomes "0".

S3: If the busy flag 141 is "0", the task requesting the command transmission can be used, so the busy flag 141 is set to "1". S4: The difference extracting unit 130 extracts the difference between the previous command and the current command. (Here, the command is transmitted from the second time onward.) S5: The extracted command is transferred to the DPRAM 120,
Rewrite the difference.

S6: The upper control device 100 sends the created command to the lower device 200. S7: After sending the command, the standby mode is set, and the lower device 2
Receive a response from 00.

S8: The transmitted information is the E of the lower device 200
It is determined whether the EPROM 220 is written. S9: Timer 1 when writing to EEPROM 220
Start 62 and wait for a specified time.

S10: EEPROM after a designated time
The contents of 220 are read. S11: The read data is checked to determine whether the writing was done normally.

S12: The in-use flag 141 is reset to "0". S13: The response is sent to the upper task. By this processing, the upper control device 100 to the lower device 2
It is possible to communicate the control information to be sent to 00 and the write information to the EEPROM 220 through one communication LSI 151 and 241, and the DPRAM 120 can be configured by one, and the hardware configuration can be reduced.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the embodiment (3) of the present invention. In the embodiment (3), the system control data editing unit 170 is provided in the host controller 100 of the embodiment (2) described in FIG.

In the present invention, as described with reference to FIG. 5, an identifier and a code for identifying each lower device 200 are written in the EEPROM 220 of the lower device 200. When the system is started up, the host controller 100
Can read the identifier and code in the EEPROM 220 of the lower device 200, edit the system configuration data, and always keep the latest state.

Reference numeral 171 in the figure shows the system configuration data created by such a procedure. For example, the device number 0 of this system shows the A package with the identifier xxx, and the failure history shows that no failure has occurred in the past. There is. Also,
By changing the data format, it is possible to store the version number management data of each device.

[0048]

According to the present invention, when a command is sent from the upper control device to the lower device, only the difference from the previous time is edited and sent to the lower device, so that command editing can be performed at high speed. .

Further, by sharing the communication LSI for control signals, communication of fault information and EEPROM writing, the hardware structure can be simplified and downsized, and the reliability of the system can be improved.

By writing the failure information in the EEPROM of the lower device, the failure information can be efficiently managed and analyzed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment (1) of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating command creation according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment (2) of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an EEPROM table of a lower device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a DPRAM table of the host controller of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flowchart of the host controller of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates Embodiment (3) of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of command creation of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Upper control device 110, 210 Processing device 111 Internal buffer memory 120 DPRAM 130 Difference extraction part 140, 230 Storage device 141 In-use flag 150, 240 Communication control device 151, 152, 241, 242 Communication LSI 161 Exclusive control part 162 Timer 170 System Configuration Data Editing Unit 171 System Configuration Data 200 Lower Device 220 EEPROM

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A host controller for monitoring and controlling the entire system, and information on the result of monitoring and control information received from the host controller and monitored and controlled according to the monitor and control information. In a system including a lower device that transmits fault information to a higher control device, the higher control device stores a command that was previously transmitted to the lower device, a command that is transmitted this time, and a command that was transmitted last time. A difference extracting unit for extracting the difference between the first and the first, which creates all commands to be transmitted to the lower-level device, and from the next time, a processing device which creates only the command of the difference from the previous time extracted by the difference extracting unit, A communication control device that controls communication between the upper control device and the lower device, a command transmitted from the higher control device to the lower device, and the lower device From the processing device and the communication control device, a dual port ram that stores failure information to be transmitted from the higher control device to the higher control device is stored, and the lower device performs communication between the higher control device and the lower device. A communication control device to control, and an EE that stores a command received from the host control device
A PROM, a storage device that stores various data in the lower device, and a processing device that monitors and controls various data on the storage device and commands of the EEPROM are provided. When monitoring and controlling, first create all the commands to be sent to the lower-level device, expand on the DPRAM, and from the next time, transfer only the differences from the previous time to the DPRAM to create and update only the differences. And transmitting the command to the lower device. 2. The system control method according to claim 1, wherein the command expanded on the DPRAM is held in a command format executed by the lower device. 3. The system control method according to claim 1, wherein exclusive control is performed by referring to a busy flag indicating that the processing device and the communication control device are accessing the DPRAM, and the busy flag. An exclusive control unit is provided, and when the processing device edits a command and sends the edited result to the DPRAM, the exclusive control unit refers to the in-use flag, and if the in-use flag is set, The system control method according to claim 1, wherein exclusive control is performed. 4. The system control method according to claim 1, wherein the EEPROM of the lower-level device is changed from the upper-level control device.
A timer is provided to confirm that the writing process is completed when the writing process is performed on the EEPROM. When the writing process is performed from the host controller to the EEPROM, after the predetermined time is elapsed by the timer, the EEPROM is 2. The system control method according to claim 1, wherein the information of 1 is read to confirm that the writing process has been normally performed. 5. The system control method according to claim 1, wherein an area for writing a device identifier of the lower-order device is written in the EEPROM of the lower-order device, and a system configuration for reading the device identifier of the EEPROM and editing system configuration data. A data editing unit is provided, and when the system is started up, the system configuration data editing unit of the upper-level control device causes the EEPRO of the lower-level device.
The system control method according to claim 1, wherein the device configuration information of M is read to create system configuration data. 6. The system control method according to claim 5, wherein the EEPROM of the lower device is provided with an area for writing a failure history of the lower device, and the failure history is managed in units of the lower devices. The system control method according to claim 1. 7. The system control method according to claim 5, wherein an area for writing the number of write accesses is provided in the EEPROM of the lower device to manage the number of write operations.
Described system control method.