JPH04107717A - Electromagnetically coupled computer module device and computer device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily comprise a computer system provided with a desired function by housing a microprocessor, memory, a medium for electromagnetic coupling communication, and a battery in a hexahedral container, and providing six pairs of electromagentic coupling parts connected to the medium for electromagnetic coupling communication at each plane of the hexahedral container. CONSTITUTION:The microprocessor 1, the memory 2, the medium 3 for electromagnetic coupling communication, and the battery 4 are all housed in the hexahedral container 5, and six electromagentic coupling parts 31-36 connected to the medium 3 for electromagentic coupling communication are provided at each plane of the hexahedral container, respectively. Each element housed in the container 5 is the one to perform a function as the minimum computer module, and those plural modules are stacked up without generating a gap, and communication with neighboring computers modules is performed by using the medium 3 for electromagnetic coupling communication at planes coming in contact with each other. In such a way, required information processing can be performed with one computer module, and also, a required computing power can be obtained by stacking up the required number of computer modules corresponding to the quantity of processing, and applying the electromagnetic coupling to them with each other.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is a new system in which the basic elements of each element constituting a computer are modularized and these are electromagnetically coupled to each other to configure a system. Regarding the idea of an electromagnetic coupling computer module device.

<Prior Art> Conventional computer components control a large amount of information, multi-bit data addresses, and control signals, as typified by multi-pin LSIs, and are constructed by interconnecting a large number of LSIs. Computer systems and the like were constructed by interconnecting each component using physical signal lines.

<Invention or Problem to be Solved> The method of constructing such a system may have started from the idea of high-speed processing by operating many logic elements in parallel, or it may have solved the following problems. had.

(a) A large number of printed circuit boards equipped with a large number of logic elements are required.

(b) Since the configuration on the printed board cannot be changed, it is difficult to respond to increases and decreases in the amount of information processing.

On the other hand, in recent years, workstations, servers, etc. connected by local area networks (LANs) are independent computer systems, and these systems have been designed to prevent new computer systems from being added to the network depending on the load. It is designed to be able to respond flexibly to changing loads.

However, in these systems, the scale is large and there are many resources that overlap with each other, so it cannot be said that they are utilized effectively, and they cannot be applied to simple purposes.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and it is possible to easily create a computer system having desired functions by preparing in-cylinder and clear modules constituting a computer system, and stacking these modules by electromagnetically coupling them to each other.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electromagnetically coupled computer module device that can be constructed in multiple ways.

Means for Solving the Problems> FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of an electromagnetically coupled computer module device based on the present invention.

In the figure, ] is a microprocessor, n is a memory connected to the microprocessor 1 via bus BS, 3 is a communication medium that is connected to a bus and is capable of electromagnetic coupling of at least six systems, and 4 is a microprocessor. Processor 1. This is a battery for operating the memory 2 and the electromagnetic coupling communication medium 3.

The microprocessor 1, memory 2, electromagnetic coupling communication medium 3, and battery 4 are all housed in a hexahedral container 5,
Six electromagnetic coupling parts 31 to 36 connected to the electromagnetic coupling communication medium 3 are installed on each side of the hexahedral container.

Each element housed in the container functions as the smallest computer module, and multiple of these modules are stacked without any gaps, and the surfaces in contact with each other are separated from adjacent computer modules. Communication is performed using an electromagnetically coupled communication medium.

In this way, one computer module performs the necessary information processing, and the required number of computer modules are added and stacked according to the amount of processing and are electromagnetically coupled to each other, thereby obtaining the necessary computing power.

<Example> Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

10 is a printed board, 11 is an LSI integrated with a microprocessor, memory, and 6 serial I10 ports mounted on this printed board, and 20 is an electromagnetic coupling part that forms part of the electromagnetic coupling communication medium 3. The triver/receiver 30 of the micro antenna module is an oscillator of a clock provided to the LSI. 4 is a battery for supplying power to drive each of these elements. The electromagnetic coupling parts 31 to 36 are constructed by stacking two antenna coils ab formed in a figure 8 shape at an angle of 90 degrees, and are connected to the electromagnetic coupling communication medium 3. Here, one antenna coil a is in charge of transmission, and the other antenna coil b is in charge of reception.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the hexahedral container 5 in which each part shown in FIG. 1 is housed.

In this example, the container has a substantially cubic shape, and electromagnetic coupling sections (antenna coils) 31 to 36 are installed inside each surface.

The electromagnetically coupled computer module device configured in this manner is configured to function as a single computer device as a whole by inputting and outputting data to and from an external device via the electromagnetic coupling section.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how a transmitting/receiving electromagnetic coupling section composed of two antenna coils a and b is connected to the triver/receiver 20.

These antenna coils a and b are connected to the driver/receiver via the antenna changeover switch circuit 21, and the switch circuit 21 switches between the driver/receiver and the driver/receiver as shown in FIGS. 5(a) to (C). antenna coil a
, b can be freely switched, and signals can be sent and received with other modules.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration when constructing a large computer device CD using such a computer module device.

A plurality of electromagnetically coupled computer module devices CM housed in a hexahedral container 5 are stacked without any gaps as shown in the figure, and the electromagnetic coupling portion is used to establish communication between adjacent electromagnetically coupled computer module devices on their contact surfaces. This is done using

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the connection state of the computer device configured in this way with the outside.

For the computer device CD, a serial I10 adapter 6 contacts one surface of one computer module CM.A parallel I10 adapter 7 contacts each surface of a plurality of modules arranged in a row, each surface of a plurality of modules arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions. An image display (manual power) adapter 8 is also available.

The I10 adapter 6 is used when connecting to a data input/output terminal device TTY equipped with a CRT or keyboard, a printer PRT, a system control adapter 60, and the like. Here, the system control adapter 60
is provided when inputting a system reset signal, inputting a power-on signal, or connecting to an external storage device such as a disk.

Each of these 110 adapters is designed to exchange information using the same method used for communication between individual computer modules CM.

Important information such as system reset signals and power on/off signals are input via the system control adapter 60 and broadcast to the entire group of computer modules as needed.

When changing the system configuration, i.e. the placement of each computer module.

The connections between each computer module are reestablished only in the event of a change in number, I10 adapter, etc.

In the computer device configured in this manner, each computer module has six communication channels on each side of the hexahedron. Each communication channel is connected point-to-point between adjacent computer modules, and carries out start-stop synchronized full-duplex communication with a carrier by electromagnetic coupling using two antennas.

Point-to-point communication links have the following advantages over multiprocessor buses:

That is, there is no contention for the communication mechanism, regardless of the number of computer modules in the system. No loss due to capacitive loads when added to a computer module or system. This is due to the communication bandwidth and the fact that it does not become saturated even when the system size increases.

The point-to-point communication protocol is a handshake based on 1-byte transmission and acknowledgment code reception, which is known as an INMOS link, and does not have a communication buffer.

This 1NMOS link consists of two channels, one in the input direction and one in the output direction, and synchronizes communication on a byte-by-byte basis, so data and link control information can be transferred between computer modules of different speeds with high reliability. It is possible to transmit data while maintaining it.

Next, the construction of the system will be explained.

Booting up the system is performed from a system control adapter 60 connected via a serial I10 adapter 6, for example.

■ The mass system control adapter 60 initializes the computer modules by broadcasting a message that initializes all computer modules according to an internally stored boot-up sequence.

(2) A computer module connected to the system controller adapter 60 reads a boot-up program from the system controller adapter 60, sends it to another computer module with an address, and puts it on standby.

(2) The system controller adapter 60 broadcasts a startup message after completing all programs.

■ After receiving the system reset, each computer module sets all antenna coils to the receiving side as shown in Figure 5(c), waits for information on determining the transmitting/receiving antenna to be notified from upstream, and then transmitting/receiving. Decide on the combination and communicate this to the downstream side as instructed.

Note that the above procedure (2) is absolutely necessary during initialization and disassembly because each computer module is completely symmetrical, so if the arrangement changes, the orientation of the antenna coil will also change.

Figure 8 shows the signal flow when operating as a computer, performing specified calculations and outputting signals to the specified I10 device based on instructions from the computer device CD or the terminal device TTY using the man-machine interface. FIG.

Instructions from the terminal device TTY are first transmitted to the computer module CMI via the serial I10 adapter 6. Upon receiving this instruction, the computer module CMI instructs the computer module group CMm to process the specified calculation in parallel. Computer module group CM m performs parallel processing with a 3-stage x 3 pipeline and sends the result to computer module CM3. This computer module CM3 has serial I
The processing result is output to the I10 device via the I10 adapter 6.

Although the above explanation assumes the operation of a normal computer, a neural network or the like may be implemented using the uniformity that all computer modules have the same structure.

<Effects of the Invention> As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since there is no constraint such as a printed board, the hardware configuration can be changed freely, and the type of Ilo can be changed depending on the purpose.

Increases and decreases in numbers can be easily accommodated. Furthermore, an increase or decrease in the amount of data to be processed can be responded to by increasing or decreasing the number of computer modules.

Additionally, a dedicated device can be easily constructed.

Furthermore, since it does not have mechanisms or contacts, it is highly reliable, and since it is only necessary to produce computer modules of the same standard, it is possible to mass-produce it, and it has remarkable effects such as reducing costs.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of an electromagnetically coupled computer module device based on the present invention, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a 6 in which each part shown in FIG. A perspective view showing the external appearance of the face piece container 5. Fig. 4 is a drawing showing the state of connection of the transmitting/receiving electromagnetic coupling unit composed of two antenna coils to the tri-bar/receiver. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the connection relationship between the driver/receiver and the antenna coil; Figure 6 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration when constructing a large computer device using the computer module device according to the present invention; Figure 7 is the same as Figure 6; FIG. 8 is an operational conceptual diagram showing the flow of signals when the computer device shown in FIG. 7 operates as a computer. . 1... Microprocessor 2... Memory 3... Communication medium 4... Battery 5. Hexahedral container 31-36... Electromagnetic coupling unit (antenna coil) 6...
Serial I10 adapter 60...System control adapter 7...Parallel I10 adapter 8...Image display adapter

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A microprocessor, a memory connected to the microprocessor via a bus, a communication medium connected to the bus and capable of electromagnetic coupling of at least six systems, the microprocessor, the memory, and the electromagnetic and a battery for operating the coupled communication medium, wherein the microprocessor, memory, electromagnetic coupled communication medium, and battery are all housed in a hexahedral container, and six sets of electromagnetic cells connected to the electromagnetic coupled communication medium are provided. An electromagnetically coupled computer module device characterized in that coupling parts are installed on each side of a hexahedral container. (2) A plurality of electromagnetically coupled computer module devices according to claim (1) are stacked without any gaps, and communication between adjacent electromagnetically coupled computer module devices on the contact surfaces is performed using an electromagnetic coupling section. A computer device characterized by: