HU205214B - Control unit for coupling a computer and several outer magnetic data stores, particularly disk data stores - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control unit for connecting a computer and a plurality of external magnetic data storage devices, in particular a disk, for use by personal computers, in particular the PCM / AT and PS / 2 machines 50; 60; 70; The range of memory for 80 versions can be upgraded under Novell NetWare, UNIX, OS / 2 and DOS. It is an object of the invention to have a function selector (1) connected to its input interface (100), an input data bus (40), an address bus (41) and a control bus (42), and a central unit (200) to a function selector (1) and a central unit (200) the communication register (5) connected to the function selector (1) via the communication channel (13), the status register (4) connected to the command register (3) connected to the instruction channel (11) and the status channel (12) and the communication storage (5) ), a central controller (21) connected to the command register (3) and the status register (4). External magnetic disk storage units (19 / 1.19 / 2.19 / 3 -19 / n) connector output interface (300) from data storage (24) connected to the central controller (21), output command storage (25), and output status storage (26) available. (Figure 1) C T T <M 10 O CM Figure 1 Scope of the description: 8 pages (including 4 sheets)

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control unit for connecting a computer and a plurality of external magnetic data storage devices, in particular disk drives, for use with personal computers, in particular IBM PC / AT and PS / 2 machines 50; 60; 70; You can expand the memory range of your 80s on Novell NetWare, UNIX, OS / 2 and DOS operating systems. Expanding the memory range of computers, including personal computers, by adding additional magnetic tape or disk storage is a general trend in the art, and many solutions have become known, especially in the large computer category.

Closest to the present invention is the Novell Controller which is described in NetWare / 286 Installations 3-16. pages (NOVELL Incorporated 748 Nortb WestOremUtab84057SA; January 1986).

The disadvantage of this known solution is that it can only be used under special conditions in the Novell NetWare environment and only on IBMPCZAT 386 PCs and is not suitable for newer and advanced PS / 2 PCs.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above disadvantage by providing a control unit capable of connecting a plurality of magnetic data storage devices, preferably disk drives, to various types of computers, especially PS / 2 computers, the commonly used MS-DOS; PC-DOS OS / 2 and similar operating systems.

The present invention has led to the discovery that, under different conditions and environments, allowable (interpretable, compatible) modes of operation can be predetermined, thereby rendering the apparatus universal.

According to the invention, a control unit having an input interface unit connected to the computer, a central processing unit connected thereto and an output interface unit connected to the central processing unit is used to connect a computer and several external magnetic data storage devices, in particular a disk. The inbound interface has a function selector connected to a data store, an address bus and a control bus, the central unit has a communication store, a status register connected to the function selector via an instruction channel, and a central controller connected to the communication store, the command register and the status register. The output magnetic interface connected to the external magnetic data storage consists of a data storage connected to a central controller, an output command storage, and an output status storage.

In addition to various functions, automatic interoperability without manual control can be achieved if the input interfaces have an interrupt code connected to a functional selector and status register and connected to the computer through an interrupt request output.

The function distribution between the magnetic data storage devices is preferably provided by a command memory and parameter memory connected to the central controller of the central unit.

The invention will now be described in more detail by way of illustration. In the drawing, Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a control unit according to the invention, and Figures 2, 3, 4, 5 are flow diagrams of operation.

As shown in Figure 1, the function selector (1) on the input interface (100) is connected to a computer (400) via an input data bus (40), an address bus (41) and a control bus (42). The function selector (1) is connected via a configuration channel (2) to a programmable selector (2). The programmable selector (2) is connected to an interrupt encoder (15) via an interrupt coding channel (10).

The output of the interrupt request (43) is also connected to the computer (400).

The central unit (200) also includes a central controller (21), a communication store (5), a command register (3), a status register (4), a command store (22), and a command store (23). The output of the interrupt end transmitter (4) of the static register (4) is connected to the interrupt end input (7) of the interrupt limiter (10) and through the status channel (12) to the function selector (1). The input (28) of the status register (4) is connected to the control status output (31) of the central controller (21) and is connected to the control input (30) of the central controller (21) up to the output terminal (27). The communication store (5) is also connected to the function selector (1) via the communication channel (13) and the command register (3) via the instruction channel (11). However, the communication store (5) is also connected to the central controller (21) via the communication channel (18) and the parameter store (23) via the parameter channel (8). The output (39) of the command store (22) is connected to the stored command input (38) of the central controller (21).

The output interface (300) has a data store (24), an output command store (25), and an output status store (26). The data storage means (24) is connected to a central controller (21) via a data buffer storage channel (29) and a magnetic disk (19/1, 19 / 2,19 / 3, ... 19 / n) connected in parallel via a disk data bus. connected to storage units. However, the output command store (25) and the output status store (26) are connected to the central controller (21) via an output control channel (32) or an output status channel (33). The command output (9) of the output command store (25) to the command inputs (17) of the magnetic disk storage units (19/1, 19 / 2,19 / 3, ... 19 / n) and the status input (34) of the output status store (26) the status inputs of the (19 / 1,19 / 2,19 / 3, ... 19 / n) magnetic disk storage units (20) are connected

As shown in FIG. a flow chart of the control unit's operation can be followed to select from a number of possible modes and interrupt requests to suit the particular configuration. This is achieved by the configuration state of the cone bus (41) and the control bus (42). The configuration parameter from the input data bus (40) is written to the programmable selector (2) via the function selector (1) via the configuration channel (14).

GB 205214 történik This is done automatically after the desired parameters have been selected and the PC has been turned on (400).

Communication between the central unit (200) and the computer (400) is effected by means of the function selector (1). The computer (400) can write the command register (3) of the central unit (200), read the status register (4), write and read its communication store (5), and thus perform the following modes:

By writing the command register (3), the computer (400) can influence the operation of the central unit (200). The command address on the address bus (41) and the write status of the control bus (42) writes the data received on the input data bus (40) via the function selector (1) to the command register (3) via the instruction channel (11). Writing the command register (3) changes the following functions; Who:

· '«Reset (slot) of the central controller (21). The central controller (21) executes its own self-test program, the execution of which is indicated by the end of the status register function (4). For the computer (400), the test success is indicated by an error code written to the communication store (5).

The function terminated by the central unit (200) and displayed in the status register (4) causes an interrupt request to be made at the interrupt request outputs (43) if it was previously enabled for the computer (400).

The computer (400) grants access to the communication store (5) and clears the end of the status register function (4). Simultaneously, the computer (400) reads the contents of the communication memory (5).

Allows the computer (400) to execute flawless, advanced test functions.

The status register (4) is read by reading the status address from the address bus (41) and the control bus (42) by means ^of the functional selector (1). .

By reading the status register (4), the control computer (400) can obtain the following information about the controller:

On the basis of the function end signal, the computer (400) can decide whether the function it has previously started has already been completed by the central controller (21) and can identify any previously configured configuration parameters.

The operation of the communication store (5) enables intelligent data exchange between the computer (400) and the central controller (21). The communication store (5) operates as follows:

Command register (3) allows access to the communication store (5) and gives its initial address. The storage address on the address bus (41) and the write status of the control bus (42) writes or reads the initial address information on the input data bus (40) to the communication store (5) via the function selector (1).

After setting the initial storage address of the communication storage (5), the data in the communication storage (5) can be read or read. Writing and reading takes place on the same communication storage data address from the computer (400). The communication store (5) is continuously accessed, the addresses are automatically incremented after each read and write.

As shown in FIG. in the case of writing on the flowchart, the computer (400) places the communication storage data address on the address bus (41) and sets the control bus (42) to the write state. The function selector (1) writes the data on the data bus (40) to the communication store (5) via the communication channel (13) under the influence of the address bus (41) and the control bus (42). As shown in FIG. flowchart illustrates that when read, the computer (400) places the communication storage data address on the address bus (41) and sets the control bus (42) to read. The function selector (1) causes the address bus (41) and the control bus (42) to move the data from the communication memory (5) through the communication channel (13) to the input data bus (40).

The exchange of data between the central unit (200) and the external 19 / 1n magnetic disk storage units via the outgoing interface (300) is illustrated in FIG. flowchart. The basic condition for managing the magnetic disk storage unit (19) is to set the parameters according to the type used. During setup, the parameters of the magnetic disk storage unit are stored in parameter storage (23). Two-way data communication with the external magnetic disk storage units (19) is performed via the data buffer storage (24) via the output command store (25) and the output status register (26).

As the data is being written, the central unit (200) writes the data to the data buffer (24) via the data buffer storage channel (29) and sets the data validity signal to the output command store (25) via the command link channel of the output control (32), causing the information displayed on the command output (17) to indicate that a data bus or command is being received on the data bus (16). This signal causes the selected external magnetic disk storage unit (19 / i) to lose the data written to the data buffer storage (24). The data acquisition is signaled by the magnetic disk storage unit 19 / i to the central unit 200 by adjusting the corresponding bit of the output status store 26 which can be read by the central controller 21 via the output status channel 33.

When reading data, the magnetic disk storage unit (19 / i) places the data in the data buffer (24) via the data bus (16) while indicating at the status output (20) that the data bus (16) has status or data. The validity of the data in the output status store 26 is indicated by a valid signal which causes the central unit 200 to read the data from the data buffer store 24 through the data buffer store channel 29. Reading of the data is signaled by the central unit (200) to the output command storage (25) for the magnetic disk storage unit (19 / i).

As can be seen from the above embodiment, see FIG

Controller HU 205214 ítja accomplishes its purpose in every way, and even provides the opportunity to operate the connected magnetic data storage at any time, optimized for the configuration, during the subsequent expansion and modification of a given configuration. 5

Claims (3)

A control unit for connecting a computer and a plurality of external magnetic data storage devices, in particular a disk, to an input interface connected to a computer, to a central processing unit connected to an input interface, and to a central processing unit switching output interface. A function selector (1) connected to an input data bus (40), an address bus (41) and a control bus (42), and a communication store (5) of the central unit (200) to the function selector (1) via a communication channel (13), a command register (3) connected via an instruction channel (11) and a status register (4) connected via a status channel (12) and a central controller (21) connected to the communication store (5), the command register (3) and the status register (4). , when used on magnetic disk storage units ((19 / 1.19 / 2, 19/3, ... 19 / n), the output interface (300) comprises a data storage (24) connected to the central controller (21), an output command storage (25) and an output status storage (26). The control unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the programmable selector (2) connected to the function selector (1) of the input interface (100) and the programmable selector (2) connected to the status register (4) and having an interrupt request output ( 43) has an interrupt code (10) connected to the computer (400). 3. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, as-, zal characterized in that the central unit (200) (21) parancstárolója connector (22) and paramétertárolója (23) the public point ^F controller. «