JP2009163658A - Input/output controller and its firmware update method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input/output controller capable of updating firmware within time monitoring on the program side requesting input/output operation and within time monitoring with respect to an asynchronous event from an input/output device. <P>SOLUTION: The input/output controller 30 is provided with a control unit 34 which queues an input/output start instruction from a computer 10 in an input/output operation start instruction queuing storage region 32 while firmware stored in a firmware storage region 31 is being updated, queues an asynchronous event reported by an input/output device 40 in an asynchronous event queuing storage region 33, dequeues an input/output operation start instruction queued in an input/output operation start instruction queuing storage region 32 and an asynchronous event from the input/output device 40 queuing in an asynchronous event queuing storage region 33 after the firmware has been updated, and restarts them. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an input / output control device that performs an input / output operation for each input / output device to be connected in accordance with an input / output command from an input / output driver, and more particularly, to a technique for performing firmware update during system operation.

  Conventionally, in an input / output control device that performs input / output operations to each connected input / output device in accordance with an input / output command from an input / output driver, it is possible to update the firmware of the input / output control device during the input / output operation. For example, there is an avoidance method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3437083 (Patent Document 1).

  The technology described in Patent Document 1 is an input / output control device having a function of updating firmware during connection with a host device, and performing a busy response to the host device during firmware update A first interrupt control unit having a function as an interrupt processing function, and a busy response for performing a busy response to a higher-level device on behalf of the first interrupt control unit during a firmware update for the first interrupt control unit The present invention relates to an input / output control device that has a second interrupt control unit that has only a function as an interrupt processing function, and issues a busy release report to the host device that has made a busy response after firmware update.

According to the technique of Patent Document 1, since the input / output instruction from the upper level during the firmware update is busy-responseed, the input / output operation is not executed until the busy state is canceled, and the firmware is not updated even during system operation. Updates can be made.
Japanese Patent No. 3437083

  However, Patent Document 1 requires an interrupt control unit that performs a busy response separately from firmware, and an input / output control device that does not have such a control unit can update the firmware during system operation. Can not.

  Even if the I / O operation is suppressed by a busy response, it takes time to update the firmware. On the program side that requested the I / O operation before the busy release, the timeout is detected by monitoring the waiting time for busy release and the I / O operation is performed. There was a problem that ended abnormally. In addition, even if a busy response is made to an asynchronous event reported from the input / output device, there is a problem that the input / output device side detects a timeout and terminates abnormally.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an input / output control device capable of performing firmware monitoring within time monitoring on a program side that has requested an input / output operation and time monitoring for an asynchronous event from the input / output device, and a firmware updating method thereof. Is to provide.

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  Of the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  In other words, the outline of a typical one is that, during the update of the firmware stored in the firmware storage area, the input / output operation start instruction from the computer is queued to the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area and reported from the input / output device. I / O operation start instruction and asynchronous event queuing storage area that have been queued in the I / O operation start instruction queuing storage area after the firmware update is completed. And a control unit that performs a process of dequeuing and restarting an asynchronous event from the input / output device that has been queued.

  Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, effects obtained by typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  In other words, the effect obtained by a typical one is that in a system having an input / output control device, even when the system is operating, the time monitoring on the program side that requested the input / output operation and the asynchronous event from the input / output device The firmware of the input / output control device can be updated within the time monitoring.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

  With reference to FIG. 1, an outline of the configuration and operation of an input / output control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an input / output control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, an input / output control device 30 is connected to a computer 10 via an input / output driver 20 holding an update firmware temporary save area 21, and is connected to an input / output device 40 that performs input / output operations. .

  The computer 10 stores an input / output program 12 for issuing an input / output command to the input / output device 40 and a firmware update program 13 for updating the firmware of the input / output control device 30 in the internal system memory 11. The computer 10 performs input / output processing and firmware update processing by executing the input / output program 12 and the firmware update program 13 in the system memory 11 by a CPU or the like.

  The input / output control device 30 includes a firmware storage area 31 in which firmware for controlling input / output operations is stored, an input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area 32 for queuing input / output operation start instructions from the input / output driver 20, An asynchronous event queuing storage area 33 for queuing asynchronous events from the input / output device 40 and a control unit 34 for controlling the entire input / output control device 30 are held. The control unit 34 is stored in the firmware storage area 31. I / O operations are controlled by the firmware.

  In FIG. 1, the input / output driver 20 and the input / output control device 30 are separated, but the configuration of the input / output control device 30 including the input / output driver 20 may be used.

  In the input / output operation, an input / output command is issued by the input / output program 12 on the system memory 11 of the computer 10, and the input / output driver 20 in the input / output control device 30 reads the contents of the input / output command and instructs the start of the input / output operation. .

  Thereafter, an input / output operation is executed between the firmware stored in the firmware storage area 31 and the input / output device 40. When the input / output operation ends, the firmware notifies the input / output driver 20 of the completion of the input / output operation. This is done by the driver 20 reporting the completion to the input / output program 12.

  The firmware update starts when the firmware update program 13 on the system memory 11 of the computer 10 issues an update instruction. The input / output driver 20 that has received the update instruction reads the firmware to be updated from the system memory 11 and saves it in the update firmware temporary save area 21.

  Temporarily stored is that the firmware file to be updated can be read asynchronously with the input / output operation without affecting the input / output operation, eliminating the time required to read the file when updating the firmware. This is because the update is performed at high speed.

  Then, the input / output driver 20 instructs the firmware update start. When the control unit 34 of the input / output control device 30 receives a firmware update instruction from the input / output driver 20 by the firmware stored in the firmware storage area 31, the input / output operation ends if there is an input / output operation being executed. Wait for

  When the input / output operation ends, the input / output driver 20 is notified that the firmware update can be started. Upon receiving the update start notification from the input / output control device 30, the input / output driver 20 temporarily stops the input / output start instruction and writes the update firmware saved in the update firmware temporary save area 21 to the firmware storage area 31. An instruction is given to update the firmware and instruct to restart the firmware.

  Thereafter, the input / output driver 20 notifies the firmware update program 13 of the completion, thereby completing the firmware update.

  Updating the firmware while the system is operating means that the input / output operation from the input / output program 12, the asynchronous event from the input / output device 40, and the firmware update are executed exclusively and affect the input / output operation and the asynchronous event. It is necessary to update the firmware.

  Next, the firmware update process of the input / output control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a processing flow showing processing up to firmware update of the input / output control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. An input / output instruction (hereinafter referred to as input / output instruction 1) issued from the input / output program 12 is shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows the processing in the input / output control device 30 from the time the firmware update instruction is received from the firmware update program 13 to the firmware update during execution, and FIG. 3 shows after the firmware update of the input / output control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a processing flow which shows this process.

  First, the input / output driver 20 that has received the input / output command 1 instructs the input / output control device 30 to start the input / output command 1 (step 101). The input / output control device 30 that has received the input / output command 1 starts an input / output operation for the input / output device 40 (step 201).

  Next, the input / output driver 20 that has received the firmware update instruction reads the updated firmware and stores it in the temporary area (step 102).

  The reason for temporarily holding is to eliminate the time required for file reading and to update the firmware at high speed. Thereafter, it instructs the input / output control device 30 to start firmware update (step 103).

  The control unit 34 of the input / output control device 30 that has received the firmware update start instruction instructs the hardware in the input / output control device 30 to start a new input / output from the input / output driver 20 and asynchronously from the input / output device. Instruct to queue the event (step 202).

  Subsequent instructions for starting a new input / output operation 2 from the input / output driver 20 (step 104) are queued in the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area 32 by the hardware in the input / output control device 30 (step 203). Similarly, an asynchronous event from the input / output device 40 is queued in the asynchronous event queuing storage area 33 (step 204).

  During this time, the input / output operation 1 is continuously performed between the input / output control device 30 and the input / output device 40. When the input / output operation 1 is completed, the input / output control device 30 reports an end notification to the input / output driver 20 (step 205), and the input / output driver 20 reports the end of the input / output operation 1 to the input / output program 12 (step 105). .

  The input / output control device 30 notifies the input / output driver 20 that the firmware can be updated when the input / output operation 1 is completed (step 206), and enters an update waiting state (step 207). The input / output driver 20 that has received the firmware update availability notification temporarily stops the input / output operation start instruction and updates the firmware (step 106).

  The reason why Step 203 and Step 204 are executed is that the firmware accepts an instruction to start a new input / output operation from the input / output program 12 and an asynchronous event from the input / output device 40 by the end of the input / output operation 1. This is because the update instruction cannot be performed until the accepted operation is completed, and this prevents the phenomenon that the firmware update is suspended for a long time.

  In this embodiment, the case where one input / output operation is being executed before firmware update is shown as an example, but a plurality of input / output operations may be executed. When a plurality of input / output operations are being executed, the firmware update is notified to the input / output driver 20 after all the input / output operations in progress are completed.

  While updating the firmware from the input / output driver 20, the firmware operation in the input / output control device 30 is stopped. Even during this firmware update, a new I / O operation start request and asynchronous event reception may occur, but all the hardware in the I / O controller 30 is queued (step 208).

  When the firmware update by the input / output driver 20 is completed, the input / output driver 20 issues a firmware restart instruction (step 107), and notifies the firmware update program 13 of the firmware update completion (step 108).

  In the input / output control device 30 whose firmware has been restarted, the queuing instruction for the hardware in the input / output control device 30 is canceled (step 209), and the asynchronous event from the input / output device queued by the hardware is asynchronously executed. Dequeue from the event queuing storage area 33 and notify the input / output device of a response to the asynchronous event (step 210).

  Also, the input / output operation start instruction queued by the hardware in the input / output control device 30 is dequeued from the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area 32 and the input / output operation with the input / output device 40 is started. .

  In this embodiment, since the input / output operation 2 start instruction is queued in step 203, the input / output operation 2 start instruction is dequeued from the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area 32 and I / O operation 2 is started (step 211).

  When the operation of the input / output operation 2 is completed, the input / output driver 20 is notified of the end of the input / output operation 2 (step 212). Step 109).

  Thereafter, if there are other asynchronous events and input / output operation start instructions queued in hardware in the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area 32 and asynchronous event queuing storage area 33, they are dequeued and processed (step 213). ).

  As a result of this processing, an input / output operation from the input / output program 12 during firmware update and an asynchronous event from the input / output device 40 are queued in the input / output control device 30, so that a time that cannot be processed occurs.

  However, the time required for updating the firmware when the input / output operation is not performed can be executed in a shorter time than the time-out time of the input / output operation and the time-out time of the asynchronous event from the input / output control device 30, and therefore the time-out occurs. Firmware update can be completed before.

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when the system is in operation, the time of monitoring on the program side that requested the input / output operation and the time monitoring for the asynchronous event from the input / output device are included in the input / output control device 30. Firmware updates can be performed.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  The present invention relates to an input / output control device that performs an input / output operation with respect to an input / output device, and can be widely applied to devices that perform firmware update during system operation.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the input / output control apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a processing flow which shows the process until the firmware update of the input / output control apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a processing flow which shows the process after the firmware update of the input / output control apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Computer, 11 ... System memory, 12 ... Input / output program, 13 ... Firmware update program, 20 ... Input / output driver, 21 ... Update firmware temporary save area, 30 ... Input / output control device, 31 ... Firmware storage area, 32 ... Input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area, 33... Asynchronous event queuing storage area, 34... Control unit, 40.

Claims (3)

An input / output control device that performs input / output operations with an input / output device according to instructions from a computer,
An input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area for queuing an input / output operation start instruction request from the computer;
An asynchronous event queuing storage area for queuing asynchronous events reported from the I / O device;
Firmware storage area for storing firmware,
A controller that controls the input / output operation of the input / output control device by the firmware stored in the firmware storage area;
While the firmware stored in the firmware storage area is being updated, the control unit queues an input / output operation start instruction from the computer to the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area and reports from the input / output device. The asynchronous event queuing storage area is queued to the asynchronous event queuing storage area, and the input / output operation start instruction and the asynchronous event queued in the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area after the firmware update is completed An input / output control apparatus that performs processing of dequeuing and restarting an asynchronous event from the input / output apparatus queued in a queuing storage area. The input / output control device according to claim 1,
An input / output control apparatus comprising: an update firmware temporary saving unit that temporarily saves update firmware to be stored in the firmware storage area when the firmware is updated; and an input / output driver that processes an instruction from the computer. I / O operation start instruction queuing storage area for queuing I / O operation start instruction requests from computers, asynchronous event queuing storage area for queuing asynchronous events reported from I / O devices, and firmware I / O control that has a firmware storage area and a control unit that controls input / output operations by firmware stored in the firmware storage area, and that performs input / output operations with the input / output device according to instructions from a computer A device firmware update method,
While the firmware stored in the firmware storage area is being updated by the control unit, an input / output operation start instruction from the computer is queued to the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area and reported from the input / output device. The asynchronous event queuing storage area is queued to the asynchronous event queuing storage area, and the input / output operation start instruction and the asynchronous event queued in the input / output operation start instruction queuing storage area after the firmware update is completed A firmware update method for an input / output control apparatus, comprising: dequeuing an asynchronous event from the input / output apparatus queued in a queuing storage area and restarting the process.

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