JP2000172549A - Information processor used together with eprom - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor which includes an overwriting memory to register only the necessary sectors and performs the overwriting management to decrease the number of writing times into an EPROM with use of a small number of memories. SOLUTION: In a constitution including an EPROM which can be rewritten in every sector and a memory pool of large capacity, a sector management table which secures memories corresponding to the number of sectors from the memory pool and performs the associating management including the presence or absence of the overwriting is added together with a reading means which reads the memory of the corresponding sector in response to a sector reading request as long as the EPROM is already read by a memory and a writing means which overwrites the corresponding memory that is already read after the EPROM is read out of the corresponding sector when a writing request is received to a sector.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus using a flash EEPROM which can be electrically erased and rewritten electrically as a file storage location.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a nonvolatile memory capable of erasing and rewriting data, there is a flash EEPROM capable of electrically erasing and rewriting data collectively. Flash EEP
The ROM can electrically write data and erase stored contents, and retain data stored in the memory even when power supply to the memory is cut off. It has the feature of being done.
For this reason, it has attracted attention as a storage device of an information processing device. However, the flash EEPROM has a disadvantage that the number of times of erasing data is limited, and the erasable number of flash EEPROMs currently on the market is about 100,000. Therefore, it is necessary to write necessary data as few times as possible.

As a method of reducing the number of times of writing, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-75836. It has flash EEPROM and RAM,
Only specific files with a large number of rewrites, R
It is developed on the AM, writing during operation is performed only on the RAM, and the data on the RAM is flashed at the end of operation.
It is to write on ROM.

[0004]

In the information processing apparatus using a flash EEPROM in the above-mentioned prior art, since a specific file is all loaded on a memory at the beginning of operation, a memory for the specific file is always required during operation. In addition, there is a problem that it is necessary to know in advance which files are frequently written. In addition, writing is always performed on the RAM, and writing to the flash EEPROM is performed only at the end of operation. Therefore, if the information processing apparatus stops due to a power failure, the data being written is lost. Data and Flash EEP
There is also a problem that data on the ROM cannot be consistent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. A memory pool and a sector management table are provided, a memory for one sector is secured from the memory pool, and the address of the memory is stored in the sector management table. By registering, it is an object to obtain an information processing device in which a memory is used only when writing occurs, the memory use efficiency is high, and it is not necessary to know in advance a file with a large number of writings. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus which has an area for holding a sector number and registers a sector number corresponding to the same memory at the same time, thereby reducing the memory usage as a memory for the sector where writing has occurred. .

Further, the write data and the flash E
An object is to obtain consistency of data stored in an EPROM. It is still another object of the present invention to obtain an information processing device with a higher reading speed, an apparent writing speed, and higher reliability.

[0007]

An EPRO according to the present invention
The M-combination information processing apparatus has a configuration including a rewritable EPROM in sector units and a large-capacity memory pool, and secures a memory corresponding to the number of sectors from the memory pool and associates the memory including the presence / absence of overwriting. When there is a sector management table to be managed and a request to read the sector,
Reading means for reading the memory of the corresponding sector if the EPROM has already been read into the memory; and writing means for reading the corresponding sector of the EPROM or overwriting the already read corresponding memory when there is a write request to the sector. With.

Further, the sector management table is provided with a memory management area so as to simultaneously manage the correspondence between the EPROM sector and the address of the memory smaller than the number of sectors.

[0009] Still further, an EPROM writing means is provided so that when a write request is made at a predetermined timing or a predetermined corresponding sector, the corresponding sector of the EPROM is overwritten after updating the data.

Further, the EPROM writing means includes
After overwriting the corresponding sector of the PROM, the memory is released to the memory pool.

Further, a sector management table monitoring means is provided to monitor the memory usage and, if the usage exceeds a certain amount, overwrite the corresponding sector of the EPROM with the memory overwrite and then store the memory in the memory pool. Was opened to the public.

Further, a thread generating / starting means is provided, and when a write request is issued from the system, writing is performed in a corresponding sector of the EPROM in which the sector management table is overwritten during the idle time of the processing of the processor.

Still further, the reading means is arranged such that, when there is a sector read request from the system, if the EPROM has not been read into the memory yet, the EPROM is read from the corresponding sector into the memory.

[0014] Still further, a sector designating means or a sector registering means for designating a write sector is provided so that when an EPROM write request is made by designating a specific sector, the EPROM-compatible sector is overwritten only for the designated sector. did.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a flash EEPROM and a memory in the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the figure, 101 is a flash EE
PROM, 102 indicates a sector management table, 103 indicates a memory pool, and 104 indicates a memory secured from the memory pool. The flash EEPROM 101 stores sectors 1, 2, 3,. . . , N, and the index of the sector management table 102 corresponds to this sector. The memory pool 103 is managed by the OS, can secure / release an arbitrary size, and is used not only for holding data in the flash EEPROM 101 but also for OS resources. In this information processing apparatus, the memory pool 103 is used for storing data in the flash EEPROM 101 from the memory pool 103.
To secure. When the memory 104 is taken out of the memory pool 103, the sector data of the flash EEPROM 101 is copied and the write data from the user is overwritten. Then, the address of the memory 104 is registered in an area corresponding to the sector to be written in the sector management table 102. That is, the memory 10
4 indicates that the data has been updated.

Next, a system configuration diagram of the present information processing is shown in FIG.
Shown in In the figure, 111 is an information processing device, 112 is a user program, 113 is an OS, 114 is a reading means provided in the OS, and 115 is a writing means provided in the OS. The reading means 114 reads the contents of the flash EEPROM 101 or the memory 104 in response to a flash EEPROM reading instruction from the user program 112 of the system.
Returns data to The reason for reading the memory 104 is that the sector that the user program 112 was trying to read is
If the data has already been updated by the write instruction, the data in the memory 104 is new sector data. The writing unit 115 secures the memory 104 from the memory pool 103 in response to the flash EEPROM writing instruction from the user program 112, and
4 to write the update data. At the end of operation, the memory 104 registered in the sector management table is used.
Is written to the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101.

Next, the operation of the reading means 114 of the OS 113 will be described with reference to FIG. The reading means 114
Flash EEPROM1 from user program 112
First, when a read instruction is received with respect to 01, in step S101 (hereinafter, step description is omitted),
Flash EEP required by user program 112
Sector management table 1 corresponding to a sector in ROM 101
With reference to the area 02, a search is made as to whether the memory 104 is registered. If the memory 104 is registered, it indicates that the data has already been updated by writing, and the memory 104 becomes the latest data of the same sector.
In S102, the contents of the memory 104 are stored in the user program 1
Return to 12. If the memory 104 is not registered in the sector management table 102, the latest data of the sector exists in the flash EEPROM 101,
Returns the data of the sector in the flash EEPROM 101 to the user program 112. The above is the operation of the reading unit 114.

Next, the operation of the writing means 115 of the OS 113 will be described with reference to FIG. The writing means 115 reads the flash EEPROM 10 from the user program 112.
When a write instruction is received with respect to No. 1, first, S111
Then, the user program 112 refers to the area of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 to be written, and searches whether the memory 104 is registered. If the memory 104 is registered, it indicates that the data has already been updated by writing.
Overwrites the data passed from the user to the end.
If the memory 104 is not registered in the sector management table 102 in S111, the memory 104 having the same size as the sector is secured from the memory pool 103 in S113. Next, in S114, the data of the sector of the corresponding flash EEPROM 101 is copied to the secured memory 104. Then, in S115, the memory 1 in which the contents of the flash EEPROM 101 are written
04, the write data passed from the user program 112 is overwritten on the memory 104. Finally, S
At 116, the address of the memory 104 is registered in the area of the index corresponding to the sector which has been processed in the sector management table in the memory 104, and the process ends. The above is the operation of the writing unit 115.

According to the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, a memory pool that can be secured / released to an arbitrary size by the information processing apparatus is prepared, and the flash E
A sector management table corresponding to the EPROM sector and holding the address of the memory is provided. At the time of a write instruction from the user, a memory for one sector is secured from the memory pool, and the data from the user is written to the secured memory.
By registering the address of the same memory in the sector management table, only the memory corresponding to the sector in which writing occurs is used, so that the memory use efficiency is high and there is no need to know in advance the file whose writing frequency is large. A device can be obtained. EEP that needs overwriting
Since the data only needs to be updated in the ROM, it is possible to reduce the number of times of erasing a portion that does not need to be updated.

Embodiment 2 Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention having a reduced memory capacity will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a flash EEPROM and a memory in the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the sector management table 102b stores the memory management area 2
02 and the sector number management area 201. The memory management area 202 stores the memory pool 10 similarly to the sector management table 102 in the first embodiment.
3 is stored in the memory 104. The sector number management area 201 stores the secured memory 1
A sector number indicating which sector 04 corresponds to the sector in the flash EEPROM 101 is stored. Embodiment 2
Is different from the sector management table of the first embodiment, the index value of the table does not correspond to the sector number. In normal operation, the number of sectors in which writing occurs is small. For example, the sector management table 102b is used so that the sector numbers in which writing has occurred are allocated in order from the head of the secured memory area.

Next, the operation of the reading means 114 of the OS 113 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the memory address is obtained from the memory management area 202 of the sector management table and the data at the corresponding address in the memory is read. That is, when the reading unit 114 receives a reading instruction from the user program 112 to the flash EEPROM 101, first, in S201, the reading unit 114 reads the sector management table 10
2b, the sector number management area 201 is searched, and the flash EEPROM 10 required by the user program 112 is searched.
It is checked whether one sector is registered in the same area. If the sector is registered, the data at the address of the memory 104 registered in the memory management area 202 becomes the latest data of the same sector because the data has already been updated by writing. 10
4 is returned to the user program 112. If the sector is not registered in the memory management area 202 of the sector management table 102, the latest data of the sector is in the flash EEPROM 101, so that in S203,
The data of the sector in the flash EEPROM 101 is returned to the user program 112.

Next, the operation of the writing means 115 of the OS 113 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This is the same as the first embodiment except that the address of the memory is obtained from the memory management area of the sector management table. That is, the writing means 115
Upon receiving a write instruction to the OM 101, S21
In step 1, the sector number management area 201 of the sector management table 102 is searched to determine whether the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 to be written by the user program 112 is registered in the area. If the sector has been registered, in S212, the data passed from the user is overwritten on the corresponding memory 104, and the process ends. If the sector is not registered in the memory management area 202 of the sector management table 102 in S211, first, the memory 104 having the same size as the sector is secured in S213, and then, in S214, the corresponding flash EEPROM
The data of the sector of the OM 101 is copied to the secured memory 104. Then, in S215, the write data passed from the user program 112 to the memory 104 is overwritten on the memory 104. Next, in order to register the memory 104 in the sector management table, an unused area is searched from the sector management table 102 in S216. In the sector management table 102, only sectors in which writing has occurred are registered in order, and unused areas remain behind. If a free area is found in S216, the writing means 115 registers the address of the memory 104 in the memory management area 202 of the free area in S217, and writes the sector number in the sector number management area 201 of the free area in S218. Register and end the process.

According to the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment, the sector management table is provided with an area for holding a sector number in addition to an area for holding a memory address. Flash EEPROM
It is not necessary to provide a table for all sectors in the sector management table, and the amount of memory used by the information processing apparatus can be reduced as compared with the first embodiment.

Embodiment 3 FIG. Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the flash EE is newly added to the OS 113 of the first embodiment.
PROM writing means 301 is added. The flash EEPROM writing unit 301 is started by the user program 112 according to an instruction (for example, ioctl or the like) different from the normal flash EEPROM writing. Hereinafter, a normal write instruction from the user program 112 is subjected to a write process, a flash EEPROM
An instruction from the user program 112 that activates the writing unit 301 is called an ioctl instruction. In response to an ioctl instruction from the user program 112, the OS 11
The flash EEPROM writing means 301 of the third memory is a memory 10 registered in the sector management table 102.
4 is sequentially written to the flash EEPROM.

Next, the operation of the flash EEPROM writing means 301 of the OS 113 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Io from user program 112
Upon receiving the ctl instruction, the flash EEPROM writing means 301 first initializes the sector number referring to the sector management table to 1 in S301. next,
In S302, it is determined whether the memory 104 is registered in the same area with reference to the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number. If the memory 104 has not been registered, the process proceeds directly to S305, but if the memory 104 has been registered, the contents of the memory 104 are flash-EEP
The data is written to the corresponding sector of the ROM 101, and the memory 104 is released in S304, that is, returned to the memory pool 103.
Thus, the memory 104 can be used for another purpose by the OS 113. Next, flash EEPROM
In step S305, the OM writing unit checks whether the sector number has reached the end of the sector management table.
If it has arrived, the process ends. If not reached, the process proceeds to S306, the sector number is incremented by 1, and the process from S302 onward is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102.

In the information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment, the contents of the memory registered in the sector management table are written in the flash EEPROM by an ioctl instruction different from a normal write instruction from a user program, and The memory after writing is returned to the memory pool. By doing so, the write data and flash E
The data in the EPROM can be made consistent.

Embodiment 4 Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a flash EEPROM and a memory of the information processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, in the third embodiment,
The sector management table 102 is divided into a memory management area 402 and a written flag area 401. The written flag area 401 indicates whether the memory 104 stored in the corresponding memory management area 402 has already been written to the flash EEPROM 101. In other words, when the written flag area 401 has a value indicating unwritten, the data of the memory 104 registered in the corresponding memory management area 402 and the data of the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM are not the same. And the written flag area 40
If 1 is a value indicating that the data has been written, it indicates that both data are the same.

Next, the operation of the reading means 114 of the OS 113 according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
When the reading unit 114 receives a read instruction from the user program 112 to the flash EEPROM 101, first, in S401, the user program 11
Reference is made to the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 required by the device 2 to search whether the memory 104 is registered. If the memory 104 is registered, it indicates that the data has already been updated by writing, and the memory 104 becomes the latest data of the same sector.
Returns the contents of the memory 104 to the user program 112. If the sector management table 102 has the memory 104
Is not registered, the latest data of the same sector is in the flash EEPROM 101, so in S403
The data of the sector in the flash EEPROM 101 is returned to the user program 112.

Next, the operation of the writing means 115 of the OS 113 according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
When the writing means 115 receives a write instruction from the user program 112 to the flash EEPROM 101, first, in S411, the writing means 115
2 refers to the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 to be written, and searches whether the memory 104 is registered. If the memory 104 is registered,
Since this indicates that the data has already been updated by writing, the data passed from the user to the corresponding memory 104 is overwritten in S412. And S413
Then, the corresponding written flag area of the sector management table 102 is set to a value meaning not yet written, and the process ends. If it is determined in S411 that the sector management table 1
02, if the memory 104 is not registered,
At 414, a memory 104 of the same size as the sector is secured from the memory pool 103. Next, in S415, the data of the sector of the corresponding flash EEPROM 101 is copied to the secured memory 104. And S416
Then, the write data passed from the user program 112 is overwritten on the memory 104 in which the content of the flash EEPROM 101 is written. Finally, in step S417, the address of the memory 104 is registered in the memory management area 402 of the index corresponding to the sector for which the sector management table has been processed.
In S413, a value indicating unwritten is set in the written flag area 401 of the index corresponding to the sector, and the process ends.

Next, the operation of the flash EEPROM writing means 301 of the OS 113 according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. I from the user program 112
Upon receiving the octl instruction, the flash EEPROM writing means 301 first initializes the sector number referring to the sector management table to 1 in S421. Next, in S422, it is checked whether the memory 104 is registered in the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number. If the memory 104 has not been registered, the process proceeds directly to S426, but if the memory 104 has been registered, S423 is processed. In S423, it is checked whether the written flag of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number has not been written. If this value is not unwritten, that is, if it has been written, the memory 1
Since the data of No. 04 and the data on the flash EEPROM are the same and the flash EEPROM writing operation is not necessary, the process skips to S426. If the area has not been written, the contents of the memory 104 are written to the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101 at S424.
Then, in S425, the written flag area 401
To the written value. Next, flash EE
In step S426, the PROM writing unit 301 checks whether the sector number has reached the end of the sector management table 102. If it has arrived, the process ends. If not, the process proceeds to S427 and sets the sector number to 1
The processing after S422 is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102. The above is Flash EE
This is the operation of the PROM writing means 301.

In the information processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, a written area indicating that the data of the memory and the data of the sector of the flash EEPROM do not correspond to each other is provided in the sector management table.
At the time of e, data was written to the memory, and at the same time, the written area of the corresponding sector management table was set to a value indicating unwritten. Also, ioctl from the user
At the time of the instruction, the written area of the sector management table corresponding to the memory is set to a value indicating the written state, and the memory is not returned to the memory pool. By doing so, even if the amount of memory is small for reading data, a faster memory can be selected if the corresponding data is present, so that the reading speed of the information processing device can be improved.

Embodiment 5 Hereinafter, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a flash EEPROM and a memory according to the fifth embodiment. In the fifth embodiment, in the fourth embodiment, the sector management table 102 has only the memory management area 402,
02 in the memory address storage area 501,
The lower bits are written bits 502. Since the address of the memory is basically a multiple of 4 in a 32-bit computer and the lower 2 bits are always 0,
The area is used as the written bit 502.

Next, the operation of the reading means 114 of the OS 113 according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
When the reading unit 114 receives a read instruction from the user program 112 to the flash EEPROM 101, first, in S501, the user program 11
2 refers to the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 that is required, and from that area to the memory address storage area 5
01, and obtains a memory address. This is because the written bit 502
What is necessary is just to obtain a value in which the part is set to 0. Next, in S502, it is searched whether the memory 104 is registered in the memory address storage area 501. If the memory 104 has been registered, it indicates that the data has already been updated by writing. Since the memory 104 becomes the latest data of the same sector, the contents of the memory 104 are transmitted to the user program 112 in S503. return. If the memory 104 is not registered in the memory address storage area 501,
The latest data in the sector is flash EEPROM 101
Therefore, in S504, the flash EEPROM 1
01 is returned to the user program 112.

Next, the operation of the writing means 115 of the OS 113 in the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
When the writing unit 115 receives a write instruction from the user program 112 to the flash EEPROM 101, first, in S511, the writing unit 115
2 refers to the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 to be written, extracts the memory address storage area 501 from the area, and acquires the memory address. Then, in S512, it is searched whether the memory 104 is registered in the memory address storage area 501. If the memory 104 has been registered, it indicates that the data has already been updated by writing. Therefore, in S513, the data passed from the user to the corresponding memory 104 is overwritten. Then, in S514, the memory management area 40
The value of the written bit 502 of No. 2 is set to a value meaning not yet written, and the process ends.

If the memory 104 is not registered in the memory address storage area 501 in S512, the memory 104 having the same size as a sector is secured from the memory pool 103 in S515. Next, in S516, the data of the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101 is copied to the secured memory 104. And
In S517, the user program 112 is stored in the memory 104 in which the content of the flash EEPROM 101 is written.
Is overwritten on the memory 104. Finally, in S518, the memory 104 stores the memory address storage area 5 in the memory management area 402 of the index corresponding to the sector processed in the sector management table.
01, the address of the memory 104 is registered, and in S514, the written bit 50 of the memory
A value indicating unwritten is set to 2 and the process is terminated.

Next, the operation of the flash EEPROM writing means 301 of the OS 113 according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. I from the user program 112
Upon receiving the octl instruction, the flash EEPROM writing means 301 first initializes the sector number referring to the sector management table to 1 in S521. next,
In step S <b> 522, it is determined whether the memory 104 is registered in the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number with reference to the memory address storage area 501. If the memory 104 has not been registered, the process proceeds directly to S526, but if the memory 104 has been registered, S523 is processed. In S523,
It is checked whether the written bit 502 of the memory storage area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number has not been written. If the value is not an unwritten value, that is, if it has been written, the data in the memory 104 and the data in the flash EEPROM are the same, and there is no need to perform a flash EEPROM writing operation, so the process skips to S526. If the area has not been written, the contents of the memory 104 are written to the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101 in S524. Then, in S525, the written bit 502 of the memory management area 402 is set to a written value. Next, flash EEPROM writing means 301
Indicates that in S526, the sector number is
Check if the end of 02 has been reached. If it has arrived, the process ends. If not reached, S52
In step 7, the sector number is incremented by 1, and the process from step S522 is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102.

The information processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment utilizes the fact that the lower 2 bits of the area for storing the memory address of the sector management table are always 0,
By providing an area for a written flag in the lower bits, the memory usage of the information processing apparatus can be reduced.

Embodiment 6 FIG. Hereinafter, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 18 is a system configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment. In the sixth embodiment, a thread generation / activation unit 601 that can generate and activate a process as a thread in the OS is added to the OS 113 in the third embodiment. At the time of ioctl instruction from the user program 112, the flash EEP
The control is transferred to the thread generating / starting means 601 instead of the ROM writing means 301.

Next, the operation of the thread generating / starting means 601 of the OS 113 according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Upon receiving the ioctl instruction from the user program 112, the thread generation / activation unit 601 executes S6.
01, the flash EEPROM writing means 301
Is generated as a thread in the OS 113 and activated. Then, the process ends. The memory 104 registered in the sector management table 102 is stored in the flash EEPROM 101
Is written by the flash EEPROM writing means 301. Since the flash EEPROM writing means is started as a thread in the OS 113,
It is executed in parallel with other processing in the OS 113. For this reason,
Since the write processing to the flash EEPROM is performed using the idle time of the CPU without synchronizing with the user program 112, the flash EEPROM write processing time is apparently reduced.

In the information processing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment, the flash EEPROM writing process is started as a thread, and the writing process is performed in the idle time of the CPU, thereby apparently reducing the processing time required for writing the flash EEPROM. can do.

Embodiment 7 FIG. Hereinafter, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 20 is a system configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment. In the seventh embodiment, a thread wake-up unit 701 according to the sixth embodiment that causes the OS 113 to wake up a thread in the OS at regular intervals.
Is added. Also, a thread generation / activation unit 601
Is not executed by the ioctl instruction from the user program 112, but is automatically executed at the time of booting or the like.

Next, the operation of the thread generating / starting means 601 of the OS 113 according to the seventh embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the thread generating / starting unit 601 is executed by the OS 113 at the time of booting, the thread generating / starting unit 601 generates and starts the flash EEPROM writing unit 301 as a thread in the OS 113 in S701 as in the sixth embodiment. ,finish. Thereafter, the flash EEPROM writing means 301 is executed as a thread in parallel with other processing of the OS 113.

Next, the operation of the flash EEPROM writing means 301 of the OS 113 according to the seventh embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Thread generation / startup means 601
Flash EEPROM started as thread from
First, in step S711, the writing unit 301 initializes the sector number referring to the sector management table to 1.
Next, in S712, it is checked whether the memory 104 is registered in the same area with reference to the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number. If the memory 104 has not been registered, the process proceeds to S715 as it is.
Is registered, the contents of the memory 104 are written to the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101 in S713, and the memory 104 is released, that is, returned to the memory pool 103 in S714. Thereby, the memory 104
The OS 113 can be used for other purposes. Next, the flash EEPROM writing means executes S715
It is checked whether the sector number has reached the end of the sector management table. If not reached, S71
The process proceeds to step S6, where the sector number is incremented by one, and the process from step S712 is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102. If it has reached the end of the sector management table 102 in S715, the self-thread sleeps for a certain period of time using the thread wake-up means 701 in S717. Since the CPU is not used while sleeping, other threads are operating. After a certain period of time, the thread wake-up means 701 wakes up the thread of the flash EEPROM writing means 301. Flash EE
The PROM writing means 301 starts operation from the continuation of sleeping, returns to S711, and again executes the sector management table 1.
02, and the process of writing to the flash EEPROM 101 is executed.

According to the information processing apparatus of the seventh embodiment, the thread for writing to the flash EEPROM is woken up for a certain period of time, and when the thread wakes up, the contents of the memory registered in the sector management table are stored in the flash EEPROM. By writing, consistency between the flash EEPROM and the write data can be automatically obtained without an instruction from the user.

Embodiment 8 FIG. Hereinafter, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 23 is a system configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment. In the eighth embodiment, a sector management table monitoring unit 801 that refers to the sector management table is added to the OS 113 in the sixth embodiment. Also, the thread generation / startup means 601
Instead of being executed according to the ioctl instruction from the user program 112, it is automatically executed at the time of booting or the like.

Next, the operation of the thread generating / starting means 601 of the OS 113 according to the eighth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the thread generating / starting unit 601 is executed by the OS 113 at the time of booting, the thread generating / starting unit 601 generates and starts the flash EEPROM writing unit 301 as a thread in the OS 113 in step S801 as in the sixth embodiment. And exit. Thereafter, the flash EEPROM writing means 301 is executed as a thread in parallel with other processing of the OS 113.

Next, the operation of the flash EEPROM writing means 301 of the OS 113 according to the eighth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Thread generation / startup means 601
Flash EEPROM started as thread from
First, in S811, the writing unit 301 obtains the number of memories registered in the sector management table 102 by using the sector management table monitoring unit 801. The sector management table monitoring means 801 controls the sector management table 1
02, and how many addresses of the memory 104 are registered in the management table.
The value is returned to the OM writing means. Next, Flash EEP
In step S812, the ROM writing unit 301 checks whether the number returned by the sector management table monitoring unit 801 exceeds a certain number. This fixed number is not particularly defined, and is set to a certain value in consideration of the mounting amount of the memory pool 103. If it does not exceed the predetermined amount in S812, the process returns to S811, and the number of registered memories is obtained by using the sector management table monitoring means 801.

If it is determined in step S812 that the amount of memory has exceeded the predetermined amount, first, in step S813, the sector number referring to the sector management table is initialized to 1. Next, S81
At 4, the sector management table 10 corresponding to the sector number
2 to check whether the memory 104 is registered in the same area. If the memory 104 is not registered,
The process directly proceeds to step S817. If the memory 104 has been registered, the content of the memory 104 is written to the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101 in step S815, and the process proceeds to step S81.
6, the memory 104 is released, that is, the memory pool 10 is released.
Return to 3. Thus, the memory 104 can be used for another purpose by the OS 113. Next, in step S817, the flash EEPROM writing unit checks whether the sector number has reached the end of the sector management table. If it has not reached, the process proceeds to S818, the sector number is incremented by 1, and the process from S814 onward is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102. If S
If it is determined at 817 that the end of the sector management table 102 has been reached, the process returns to S811 and returns to the process of obtaining the number of registered memories using the sector management table monitoring means 801.

In the information processing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment, the thread that writes to the flash EEPROM monitors the sector management table, and when the number of memories registered in the table exceeds a certain number, the registered memory Is automatically written to the flash EEPROM, so that the flash EEPROM is automatically
The consistency between the OM and the write data can be obtained.

Embodiment 9 FIG. Hereinafter, a ninth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 26 is a system configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the ninth embodiment. In the ninth embodiment, a sector designating unit 901 is added to the flash EEPROM writing unit 301 in the third embodiment. In the ninth embodiment, at the time of ioctl from the user program 112, the sector number is passed along with the instruction. The sector specifying means 901 refers to the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number, and performs a process of writing the memory 104 to the flash EEPROM 101 when the memory 104 is registered in the same area.

Next, the flash E according to the ninth embodiment
The operation of the EPROM writing means 301 will be described with reference to FIG. When receiving the ioctl instruction from the user program 112, the flash EEPROM writing means 30
In step S901, 1 checks whether a sector number is attached to ioctl. If it is attached, the control is transferred to the sector designating means 901 in S902, and the process ends when the control returns to the flash EEPROM writing means 301 again. If not attached, the operation is the same as in the third embodiment. First, S
In 903, the sector number referring to the sector management table is initialized to 1. Next, in S904, it is checked whether the memory 104 is registered in the same area with reference to the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number. If the memory 104 has not been registered, the process proceeds directly to S905, but if the memory 104 has been registered, the memory 10
4 is written to the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101, and the memory 104 is released, that is, returned to the memory pool 103 in S906. Thereby, the memory 1
04 can be used by the OS 113 for other purposes. Next, the flash EEPROM writing means:
In S907, it is checked whether the sector number has reached the end of the sector management table. If it has arrived, the process ends. If not reached, the process proceeds to S908,
The sector number is incremented by 1, and the process from S904 is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102.

Next, the operation of sector specifying means 901 in the ninth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In S902 of the flash EEPROM writing means 301, when the control is shifted to the sector specifying means, first in S911, the sector management table 102 corresponding to the specified sector number is checked. Then, in S912, the memory 104 is stored in the same area.
Check if is registered. If it has not been registered, the process proceeds to S915, but if it has been registered,
A process for writing to the flash EEPROM is performed. This means that the contents of the memory 104 are flashed in S913.
The data is written to the EPROM 101, and in step S914, the memory 10 in which the data is reflected in the flash EEPROM 101
4 is returned to the memory pool 103. Next, in S915, the sector designating unit 901 checks whether all the sectors requested by the user program 112 have been completed. This check is necessary because a plurality of sector numbers passed by ioctl are possible. if,
When all the requested sectors are completed, the process is terminated. If there are any more requested sectors, the next requested sector is set as a write target sector in S916, and the processes in S911 and thereafter are performed again.

In the information processing apparatus according to the ninth embodiment, upon receiving a sector number from the user at the time of ioctl instruction from the user, the information processing apparatus operates the memory registered in the sector management table corresponding to the specified sector number. By writing only the contents to the flash EEPROM, the consistency between the write data of only the necessary sectors and the data of the flash EEPROM can be immediately obtained.

Embodiment 10 FIG. Hereinafter, a tenth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 29 is a configuration diagram of a flash EEPROM and a memory according to the tenth embodiment. In the tenth embodiment, a write sector management table 1001 is added to the third embodiment. The write sector management table 1001 holds a sector number that is passed from the user program 112 at the time of ioctl.

Next, a system configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the tenth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The tenth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that the flash EEP
Sector registration means 1002 is added to ROM writing means 301, and management table reference means 1003 is added to writing means 115. The sector registration unit 1002 performs a process of registering a sector number, which is passed at the time of ioctl from the user program 112, in the write sector management table 1001. The management table reference means 1003
At the time of writing from the user program 112, processing is performed to check whether or not the sector number passed from the user program 112 is registered in the write sector management table 1001.

Next, the operation of the flash EEPROM writing means 301 in the tenth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Upon receiving an ioctl instruction from the user program 112, the flash EEPROM writing means 3
01 first checks in S1001 whether ioctl is accompanied by a sector number. If it is attached, the control is transferred to the sector registration unit 1002 in step S1002, and the flash EEPROM writing unit 301 is re-entered.
When the control returns to, the process ends. If not attached, the operation is the same as in the third embodiment.
First, in S1003, the sector number for referring to the sector management table is initialized to 1. Next, in S1004, it is checked whether the memory 104 is registered in the same area with reference to the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number. If the memory 104 has not been registered, the process proceeds directly to S1005, but if the memory 104 has been registered, the contents of the memory 104 are stored in the flash EEPROM 1
01, and write to the memory 1 in S1006.
04 is released, that is, returned to the memory pool 103. Thus, the memory 104 can be used for another purpose by the OS 113. Next, in step S1007, the flash EEPROM writing unit checks whether the sector number has reached the end of the sector management table. If it has arrived, the process ends. If not,
Proceeding to S1008, the sector number is incremented by 1, and the processing from S1004 onward is continued for the next sector in the sector management table 102.

Next, the operation of sector registration means 1002 in the tenth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the control is transferred from the flash EEPROM writing unit 301, the sector registration unit first checks the sector number registered in the writing sector management table 1001 in S1011. Next, it is checked whether the number checked in S1011 matches the sector number passed from the user program 112. That is, here, it is checked whether the sector number has already been registered. If the numbers match in S1012, the process skips to S1015. If they do not match in S1012, processing is performed to register the sector number passed from the user program 112 in the write sector management table 1001. This is because, in S1013, an empty area in the write sector management table 1001 is searched,
In step S1014, when a free area is found, the processing is to register the sector number passed from the user program 112 in the same area. When these processes are completed, the sector registration unit 1002 checks in S1015 whether all the sector numbers passed from the user program 112 have been completed. If there is a sector that has not been processed yet, the process moves to the next requested sector in S1016, and the processes in S1011 and thereafter are repeated. If all the processes have been completed, the process of the sector registration unit 1002 is completed.

Next, the operation of the writing means 115 in the tenth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The writing unit 115 reads the flash E from the user program 112.
Upon receiving a write instruction to the EPROM 101,
First, in S1021, the sector number passed from the user program 112 is passed to the management table reference means 1003, and it is checked whether the sector is registered in the write sector management table 1001. The management table reference means 1003 returns true if the sector is registered in the write sector management table 1001, and returns false if it is not registered. In S1022, the return value of the write sector management table 1001 is checked, and the processing is divided. If the return value is true in S1022,
In S1023, the data coming from the user program 112 is directly written into the flash EEPROM 101, and the processing ends. If the value is false in S1022,
In step S1024, the memory 1 refers to the area of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector of the flash EEPROM 101 to which the user program 112 is to write.
Search whether 04 is registered. If memory 104
Is registered, it indicates that the data has already been updated by writing. In S1025, the data passed from the user is overwritten in the corresponding memory 104, and the process ends.

If the memory 104 is not registered in the sector management table 102 in S1024, first,
In S1026, a memory 104 having the same size as a sector is secured from the memory pool 103. Next, in S1027, the data of the corresponding sector of the flash EEPROM 101 is copied to the secured memory 104. And
In step S1028, the user program 11 is stored in the memory 104 in which the content of the flash EEPROM 101 is written.
2 is overwritten on the memory 104. Finally, in S1029, the address of the memory 104 is registered in the area of the index corresponding to the sector which has been processed in the sector management table in the memory 104, and the process ends.

Next, the operation of the management table reference means 1003 in the tenth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The management table reference unit 1003 is a writing unit 115
In step S1031, the first index value of the write sector management table 1001 is set to 0 in step S1031. In S1032, based on the index value, the write sector management table 10
01, and acquires the registered sector number.
Next, in S1033, the obtained sector number is compared with the sector number passed from the user program 112. S
If the sector numbers match in 1033, the process proceeds to S103.
At 4, the return value of the management table reference means 1003 is set to true, and the process is terminated. If it is determined in step S1033 that the received sector does not match, the process proceeds to step S1035, where the index value is checked. If the index value reaches the end of the write sector management table 1001, the process proceeds to step S1036.
The process is terminated with the return value of the management table reference unit 1003 set to false. If it is determined in S1035 that the index value has not yet reached the end of the write sector management table 1001, the index is moved to the next index in S1037, and the processing in S1032 and thereafter is repeated.

In the information processing apparatus according to the tenth embodiment, when a sector number is received from a user, the information processing apparatus stores the number in a write sector management table and, when a normal write instruction is issued from the user, the same write command is issued. Referring to the sector management table, if the specified sector number is registered in the write sector management table, by writing directly to the flash EEPROM, important sectors can always be written to the flash EEPROM.

Embodiment 11 FIG. Hereinafter, an eleventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 35 is a configuration diagram of a flash EEPROM and a memory according to the eleventh embodiment. In the eleventh embodiment, the write sector management table 1001 in the tenth embodiment is abolished, and the memory management area 40 of the sector management table 102 is replaced.
2, the area is divided into two areas, a memory address management area 501 and a constant write bit 1101. The address of the memory 104 is basically a multiple of 4, and the lower 2 bits of the address are always 0. Therefore, of the 32 bits of the memory management area 402, the upper 30 bits are assigned as the memory address management area 501 and the lower 2 bits are assigned as the always-write bit 1101. When the value of the constant write bit indicates a constant write, data is written directly to the flash EEPROM 101 in response to a write instruction from the user.

Next, the operation of sector registration means 1002 in the eleventh embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the control is transferred from the flash EEPROM writing means 301, the sector registration means 1002 first sets the constant write bit 1101 of the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number passed from the user program 112 in S1101. Set it to always indicate writing. Then, in S1102, it is checked whether all sector numbers passed from the user program 112 have been processed. If all the numbers have not been processed yet, the next sector number is obtained in S1103, and the processing from S1101 is continued. If all the numbers have been processed, the process ends.

Next, the operation of the management table reference means 1003 in the eleventh embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The management table reference unit 1003 is a writing unit 115
In step S1111, the constant write bit in the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number passed from the user program 112 is passed. Reference is made to 1101. And S1
If it is determined in step 112 that the bit area has a value that means that data is always written, in step S1113, the return value of the management table reference unit 1003 is set to true, and the process ends.
In step S12, if the constant write bit 1101 is not a value indicating constant write, the process returns to step S1114 with the return value of the management table referencing unit 1003 set to false.

In the information processing apparatus according to the eleventh embodiment, the lower bits of the memory address area of the sector management table are always provided with write bits, which are associated with the write sector management table, and when the user receives a sector number, The information processing apparatus sets the constant write bit corresponding to the sector number in the sector management table to a value indicating the meaning of writing, and refers to the constant write bit at the time of a normal write instruction from the user, and sets a value indicating the write. If it is, direct flash EEP
Important sectors by writing to the ROM can always be written to the flash EEPROM.

Embodiment 12 FIG. Hereinafter, a twelfth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 38 is a system configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the twelfth embodiment. In the twelfth embodiment, the reading means 114 is provided with the management table reference means 1201 in the fourth embodiment. The management table reference means 1201 refers to the sector management table 102, and if the memory 104 corresponding to the sector specified by the user program 112 is not registered in the sector management table 112, Secure Flash E
The process of copying the sector data of the EPROM 101 to the same memory 104 and registering the memory 104 in the sector management table 112 is performed.

Next, the operation of the reading means 114 in the twelfth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Upon receiving a reading instruction from the user program 112, the reading unit 114 firstly reads the user program 1 in S1201.
It is checked whether the memory 104 is registered in the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number passed from No. 12. In step S1201, if the memory 104 already exists, in step S1202, the contents of the
Return to 12. If the memory 104 does not exist in S1201, the management table reference unit 1201 is activated in S1203. Management table reference means 120
1 starts, the flash EEP is stored in the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102 corresponding to the sector number.
The memory 104 to which the ROM sector data is copied is registered. As a result, the reading unit 114 performs the processing in S12
02, the contents of the memory 104 are stored in the user program 112.
To return.

Next, the operation of the management table reference means 1201 in the twelfth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The management table reference means 12 is read by the reading means 114.
When 01 is started, the memory 104 for one sector is secured from the memory pool 103 in S1211. Next, in S1212, the flash EEPROM 1 corresponding to the sector number passed from the user program 112 is read.
01 data is copied to the secured memory 104. In step S1213, the secured memory 104 is registered in the memory management area 402 of the sector management table 102. In step S1214, a value indicating that writing has been completed is set in the written flag area 401 corresponding to the memory management area 402. . Since the management table reference means 1201 merely copies the data of the flash EEPROM 101 to the memory 104, the written flag area 401 has a value indicating that writing has been completed.

In the information processing apparatus according to the twelfth embodiment, at the time of reading, the sector management table is referred to, and if the sector to be read is not registered, a memory is secured from the memory pool and the flash EEPROM to be read is read. By copying the data to memory and setting the written area to a value indicating that writing has been completed, the reading speed for data reading is reduced by flash E.
The opportunity to select a faster memory than an EPROM can be increased.

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention, since a sector management table, a means for reading data from a sector, and a means for writing data to a sector or a memory are provided, it is necessary to obtain a file efficiently with a small memory pool. No, E
This has the effect of reducing the number of rewrites of the PROM.

Further, since the memory management area is provided and the association is performed, there is an effect that the memory capacity can be further reduced in addition to the above basic effects.

Further, when a predetermined write request is issued, E
Since the data is written to the PROM, in addition to the basic effect, there is an effect that data consistency is improved and reliability is improved.

Further, after writing to the EPROM, the used memory is released to the memory pool.
In addition to the basic effect, there is an effect that the memory capacity can be further reduced.

Further, since the memory usage monitoring means is provided, there is an effect that the capacity of the memory can be further reduced in addition to the basic effect.

Further, the provision of the thread generating / starting means has an effect that the apparent writing time can be shortened in addition to the basic effect.

Further, since the reading means reads the data into the memory when there is a sector reading request, in addition to the basic effect, the already read data is read from the memory, and the effect of reducing the apparent reading time can be obtained. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an EPROM and a memory according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an EPROM combined information processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a reading unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a writing unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an EPROM and a memory according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a reading unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a writing unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an EPROM combined information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the EPROM writing means in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an EPROM according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of a combined information processing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a reading unit according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a writing unit according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of an EPROM writing means according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an EPROM according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of a combined information processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a reading unit according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a writing unit according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an operation of EPROM writing means according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 18 is an EPROM according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of a combined information processing apparatus.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of the thread generation / startup means in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is an EPROM according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of a combined information processing apparatus.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a thread generation / startup unit in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the operation of the EPROM writing means in FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 shows an EPROM according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of a combined information processing apparatus.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the operation of the thread generation / startup means in FIG. 23;

25 is a flowchart showing the operation of the EPROM writing means in FIG.

FIG. 26 shows an EPROM according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of a combined information processing apparatus.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the operation of the EPROM writing means in FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sector designating means in FIG. 26;

FIG. 29 shows an EPRO according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of M and a memory.

FIG. 30 shows an EPRO according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a lineblock diagram of an M combination information processor.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing the operation of the EPROM writing means in FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sector registration means in FIG. 30.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the operation of the writing means in FIG. 30;

FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing the operation of the management table reference means in FIG. 30;

FIG. 35 shows an EPRO according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of M and a memory.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing an operation of a sector registration unit according to the eleventh embodiment.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a management table reference unit according to the eleventh embodiment.

FIG. 38. EPRO in Embodiment 12 of the present invention.
It is a lineblock diagram of an M combination information processor.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing an operation of a reading unit according to the twelfth embodiment.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a management table reference unit according to the twelfth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 EPROM, 102, 102b Sector management table, 103 memory pool, 104 memory, 11
4 reading means, 115 writing means, 201 sector number management area, 202 memory management area, 301
EPROM writing means, 401 written flag area, 402 memory management area, 501 memory address storage area, 502 written bit area, 601
Thread generation / startup means, 701 thread wake-up means,
801 sector management table monitoring means, 901 sector designation means, 1001 write sector management table, 1
002 Sector registration means, 1003 management table reference means, 1101 constant write bit area, 1201
Management table reference means.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A rewritable EPRO in sector units.
M and a large-capacity memory pool, a sector management table that secures a memory corresponding to the number of sectors from the memory pool and manages the association including the presence or absence of overwriting, and a request to read the sector. If there is, the above-mentioned EPRO
Reading means for reading the memory of the corresponding sector if M has been read into the memory; and EPROM if there is a write request to the sector.
Writing means for reading from the corresponding sector or overwriting the already read corresponding memory. 2. The sector management table according to claim 1, wherein a memory management area is provided so as to simultaneously manage the correspondence between EPROM sectors and memory addresses smaller than the number of sectors. EPROM combined information processing device. 3. An EPROM writing means, wherein when a write request to a predetermined sector or a predetermined corresponding sector is made, a corresponding sector of the EPROM is overwritten after updating the data. E
PROM combined information processing device. 4. An EPROM writing means, comprising:
4. The EPR according to claim 3, wherein the memory is released to the memory pool after overwriting a corresponding sector of the EPR.
OM combined information processing device. 5. Sector management table monitoring means is provided,
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the memory usage is monitored, and if the usage exceeds a certain amount, the memory is overwritten on a corresponding sector of the EPROM having an overwrite, and the memory is released to a memory pool. EPROM combined information processing apparatus as described in the above. 6. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a thread generation / starting means, wherein when a write request is issued from the system, the sector management table is overwritten during an idle time of processor processing.
2. The information processing apparatus with EPROM according to claim 1, wherein writing is performed in a sector corresponding to M. 7. A reading means for reading a sector from a corresponding sector of the EPROM if the EPROM has not yet been read into the memory when a read request for a sector is issued from the system. Item 4. An EPROM combined information processing apparatus according to Item 1. 8. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a sector designating means or a sector registering means for designating a write sector, wherein when a specific sector is designated and an EPROM write request is issued, the EPROM-compatible sector is overwritten only for the designated sector. 4. The information processing apparatus with EPROM according to claim 3, wherein: