JP2003046454A - Communication operation test equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication operation test equipment that can efficiently test a communication operation with respect to the front end of an electronic device. SOLUTION: A data transmission/reception processing section 12c transmits an optical command one by one to a front end 2 according to a request from a key entry processing section 12a on the basis of an entry from a key entry section 11 and receives a message from the front end 2 in response to the command. Further, a state transition processing section 12b requests a data transmission/reception processing section 12c to conduct communication processing so that a prescribed operation transition takes place in the front end 2. A display processing section 12d allows an LCD 14 to simultaneously display the command sent in the data transmission/reception processing 12c and the received message.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication operation test device and a communication operation test method for testing a communication operation of a front end of an electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only)
Memory) drives, tape streamers, and other devices other than hard disks can be connected to the IDE (In
A conventional communication interface standard for connecting to a telligent Device Electronics interface.
TAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet In)
terface) standard is known. In recent years, for example, D
VD (Digital VersatileDisc), SACD (Super Aud)
With the advent of high-capacity recording media such as io-CD (registered trademark) and the spread of audio and moving image contents using digital data, higher-speed data transmission is being demanded. (Audiovisual)
A standard called VSTEM (registered trademark) has been proposed as a communication interface for devices.

[0003]

By the way, VSTEM
DVD, SACD, VCD using the interface
In the development stage of optical disc devices such as (Video-CD) and CD, when performing an operation evaluation test for communication with the front end (drive unit) of these devices, conventionally, for example, PCI of a PC (personal computer) is used.
By inserting a communication interface board dedicated to testing into a (Peripheral Components Interconnect) bus slot, for example, MPEG (Moving Picture Expert) included in a PC
Group) is connected to a back end such as a board, and commands are transmitted from the PC to the front end through the communication interface board to evaluate the operation. For this reason, in the conventional operation evaluation test, it took a lot of time to set the device, and the test work could not be performed efficiently.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication operation test apparatus capable of efficiently performing a communication operation test on a front end of an electronic device.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a communication operation test apparatus for testing a communication operation of a front end of an electronic device, wherein an operation at the front end is requested. Command transmitting means for transmitting an arbitrary command, message receiving means for receiving a message transmitted from the front end according to the transmitted command, and display for displaying each content of the transmitted command and the received message And a communication operation test device.

[0006] In such a communication operation test apparatus, the command transmitting means can transmit an arbitrary command to the front end of the electronic equipment, and the message receiving means can generate a message corresponding to the transmitted command. The contents of the received command and the received message are displayed by the display means, and the communication contents can be confirmed.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a communication operation test device 1 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a communication operation test device 1
Is a device that is connected to the interface block 21 provided in the front end 2 of the electronic device by a cable and performs an evaluation test of the communication operation with the front end 2. The communication operation test device 1 includes a key input unit 11 for inputting various data by a user, a CPU 12 that controls the communication operation test device 1 as a whole,
EEP in which the data set by the CPU 12 is stored
ROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable-R
OM) 13 and an LCD (Liqu
id Crystal Display) 14.

Further, the CPU 12 requests the key input unit 11 to perform various processes in response to an input from the key input unit 11.
2a, a state transition processing unit 12b that performs a predetermined process for a state transition in the front end 2 in response to a request from the key input processing unit 12a, and various data transmission / reception processes such as command transmission and message reception to the front end 2. It includes a data transmission / reception processing unit 12c for performing and a display processing unit 12d for performing control processing for the display of the LCD 14.

The key input unit 11 is provided with ten keys and keys corresponding to various operations such as storage, reading, determination, initialization, mode switching, etc., and a command transmission operation is performed by a user operating these keys. And various settings are made.

Further, in the CPU 12, the key input processing unit 12a requests the state transition processing unit 12b for operation transition in the front end 2 or transmits / receives data based on the input from the key input unit 11. It directly requests the processing unit 12c to send an arbitrary command. Further, at the time of such a request, the set values of the parameters stored in the EEPROM 13 are read. further,
The parameters of each command are set based on the input from the key input unit 11 and stored in the EEPROM 13.

The state transition processing unit 12b changes the operation state of the front end 2 in response to a request from the key input processing unit 12a, so that the data transmission / reception processing unit 1b.
2c is requested to communicate with the front end 2. For example, the state transition processing unit 12b is the data transmission / reception processing unit 1
2c monitors the operation transition state of the front end 2 from the communication state, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c as necessary.
To issue a command to.

The data transmission / reception processing unit 12c responds to requests from the key input unit 11 and the state transition processing unit 12b.
Send command data to the front end 2,
Receives the message data for this command.
Further, the front end 2 is requested to transmit a message in response to the occurrence of an IRQ interrupt described later in the front end 2. Further, the reference clock of each data to be transmitted and received is transmitted to the front end 2. The frequency of this reference clock is 1 MHz at maximum.

The display processing unit 12d is a key input processing unit 12
a, state transition processing unit 12b, data transmission / reception processing unit 12c
The LCD 14 is controlled so as to display information such as the data content of the transmitted command, the data content of the received message, the setting value of the parameter of the command, the operation transition state in the front end 2 and the like based on the processing in (1).

The EEPROM 13 has a key input processing section 12
The setting values such as the parameters of the command set in a are stored, and the print data is output based on the request from the key input processing unit 12a. The LCD 14 displays various information under the control of the display processing unit 12d and notifies the user of the information.

Further, the interface block 21 provided in the front end 2 complies with VSTEM which is a communication interface standard for AV equipment, and a cable including 20 pins is connected to the communication operation test apparatus 1
Or connect with the backend. Interface block 2
In 1, the information assigned to each pin is, for example, “DRVTX” for sending a message to the communication operation test device 1 and the back end, and “DRVR” for receiving a command.
X ", reception of the reference clock of each data is performed by" DRVCLK ", and detection of an IRQ interrupt described later is performed by" DRVIRQ ".

In the data structure of the command transmitted by "DRVTX", the command length is described in the first 1 byte, and the command code designating the type of the command is described in the next 1 byte, followed by a variable. A long byte describes a parameter of a command called "Augment", and is followed by "Checksum" and "Ac."
"knowledge" is described.

In the following description, it is assumed that the front end 2 is, for example, an optical disk drive for recording / reproducing on / from an optical disk for recording audio and moving image data such as DVD and SACD. For example, the front end 2 controls a modulation / demodulation circuit of data for recording / reproduction with respect to an optical disc, a recording data generation unit, a data extraction unit, a mechanical deck unit provided with a rotation mechanism and a pickup mechanism of the optical disc, and operations thereof. It includes a control circuit and the like.

The communication operation test apparatus 1 described above has modes 0 to 0.
It has four operation modes up to 3. Mode 0 is
In the normal operation mode for realizing the basic functions of a normal optical disk drive, with respect to the front end 2,
Commands necessary for operations such as playback and stop are issued sequentially. Mode 1 is a command transmission mode in which arbitrary commands can be issued one by one, and the message from the front end 2 for each command transmission is
It can be confirmed in real time by the CD 14. Further, in mode 1, the parameter of the command can be set and stored in the EEPROM 13. Mode 2 is an operation mode in which a test command for debugging the front end 2 can be transmitted, and mode 3 is an operation mode for initializing the operation of the communication operation test device 1.

In order to evaluate the communication operation with the front end 2, tests are usually conducted mainly using mode 0 and mode 1. For example, in the early stage of development of the interface block 21 of the front end 2, first, mode 1 is used to check the content of the message returned by transmitting arbitrary commands one by one from the communication operation test device 1. To do. First, it is verified whether basic commands and messages are correctly transmitted and received, and then it is verified whether correct messages can be received for all commands.

After that, using mode 0, commands for performing basic functions of the optical disk drive such as reproduction and stop are sequentially issued to confirm the operation. If there is no problem in this operation, an actual back end such as an MPEG board is connected to the front end 2 to check the operation.

When a problem occurs in the operation due to the connection with the actual backend, the communication operation test apparatus 1 is connected and the various commands issued by the actual backend are sequentially output in mode 1. Send to verify operation of front end 2.

Next, the operation of the communication operation test device 1 in the mode 0 will be described. When the mode 0 is selected and the key input unit 11 requests the front end 2 to perform an operation, the key input processing unit 12a sets the parameter setting data for the necessary command to EEPRO.
While reading from M13 and requesting the state transition processing unit 12b to perform a predetermined operation in response to the request,
The setting data read from the EEPROM 13 is supplied to the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c.

The state transition processing unit 12b causes the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c to continuously issue commands so that the requested state transition occurs in the front end 2 in response to a request from the key input processing unit 12a. . For example,
When the optical disk is set in the tray of the optical disk drive and the reproduction is started, the state transition processing unit 12b closes the tray, sets the optical disk inside the drive, reads the information that needs to be acquired from the optical disk in advance, and then reproduces the information. The data transmission / reception processing unit 12c is controlled to continue the communication with the front end 2 until the operation transition such as the start of the operation is completed.

In response to a request from the state transition processing unit 12b, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c transmits a command to the front end 2 using "DRVRX", and a message according to the transmitted command is "DRVTX". Is used to notify the state transition processing unit 12b. When the front-end 2 makes a one-step state transition, an IRQ interrupt is generated, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c detects this through “DRVIRQ” and sends a message to confirm the state of the front-end 2. Issue the command you request.

In the display processing unit 12d, the state transition processing unit 1
2b supplies information indicating the state of the front end 2, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c supplies information indicating the issued command and the content of the message received in response thereto, and these information is displayed on the LCD 14 To display.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a communication sequence between the communication operation test device 1 and the front end 2 in the mode 0. In the communication sequence shown in FIG. 2, as an example, commands and messages according to the VSTEM interface standard when the operation is normally performed after the optical disc is placed on the tray in the front end 2 until the preparation for reproduction is completed. It shows the flow.

In the initial state of FIG. 2, the communication operation test device 1
After the power of the front end 2 is turned on and the initialization process is performed, the tray of the front end 2 is opened and the optical disc is placed. At the timing of T201, the communication operation test device 1 transmits a “SetMode” command for requesting playback preparation to the front end 2. In T202, the front end 2 transmits a “CMD_OK” message to the communication operation test device 1 to indicate that the “SetMode” command has been received. At the same time, the operation of closing the tray and setting the optical disk is performed.

At the timing of T203, the front end 2 notifies the communication operation test apparatus 1 that the operation transition of closing the tray has occurred.
The signal is set to "L" level. At the timing of T204, the communication operation test apparatus 1 detects the occurrence of the operation transition in the front end 2 because the DRVIRQ signal becomes the “L” level, and confirms which state the operation transition is. For this purpose, the “GetMsg” command is sent to the front end 2.

At the timing of T205, the front end 2 returns the DRVIRQ signal to the "H" level in response to the reception of the "GetMsg" command, and
A “TrayClosed” message for notifying that the tray is currently closed is transmitted to the communication operation test device 1. Also, after sending, the front end 2
TOC (Table Of Content) of the loaded optical disc
s) is read to obtain information necessary for reproduction, and other operations for reproduction preparation are performed. At the timing of T206, the front end 2 notifies the communication operation test device 1 that the operation transition of preparing for reproduction has occurred, and the DRVI
The RQ signal is set to "L" level.

At the timing of T207, the communication operation test device 1 detects the occurrence of the operation transition in the front end 2 from the change of the DRVIRQ signal to the “L” level, and confirms the current state by the “GetMsg” command. Is transmitted to the front end 2. At the timing of T208, the front end 2 has “GetMsg”.
In response to the reception of the command, the DRVIRQ signal is returned to the “H” level, and a “WokeUp” message notifying that the playback preparation is currently completed is transmitted to the communication operation test device 1.

By the above processing, the preparation for reproducing the optical disc in the front end 2 is completed, and the front end 2
Communication operation test apparatus 1 that detects such a state in
Then, thereafter, in response to an instruction input for the next operation from the key input unit 11, for example, a command for starting the reproduction operation of the optical disc is transmitted.

Here, the LCD 1 in the mode 0 is shown in FIG.
4 shows a screen display example of No. 4. In the screen display example shown in FIG. 3, the command transmitted from the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c to the front end 2 and the message from the front end 2 in response to this command are simultaneously displayed.
In "Sync Cmd" and "SyncMsg",
Commands sent in synchronous communication mode (Synchronou
s Command) and the message (S
ynchronous Message) is displayed. Also, "Asy
nc Cmd ”and“ Async Msg ”are also transmitted in the asynchronous communication mode (Asyn
chronous Command) and the received message (Asynch
ronous Message) is displayed.

By such a display on the LCD 14, until the operation transition requested to the front end 2 is completed, the contents of both the command transmitted from the communication operation test device 1 and the message received in response thereto are displayed.
It is possible to check in real time on the same screen.

In addition to the screen display shown in FIG. 3, in mode 0, for example, reproduction, stop, and
A status display that displays the TOC channel being played, the title of the optical disc, the track name, etc. from the operating status such as pause and the information read from the TOC of the optical disc, the relative time, absolute time, and remaining time of the optical disc being played. It is possible to select a screen display such as a time display for displaying time information such as the TOC display, a TOC display for displaying recorded information in the TOC such as playing time and start time of each track recorded on the optical disc, and title name. There is.

Next, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication operation test apparatus 1 in the mode 0. In step S401, the communication operation test apparatus 1 performs an initial setting process by, for example, turning on the power or performing a reset input. Step S40
2, the cycle of 1 msec is monitored. If this cycle is detected, the process proceeds to step S403, and if not detected, the process proceeds to step S404. In step S403, display processing is performed by the display processing unit 12d. In this display processing, in the display processing unit 12d, the data regarding the display from the key input processing unit 12a, the state transition processing unit 12b, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c is 1 m.
The data received is monitored by the LCD 14 every sec.
To display.

In step S404, 10 msec
Is monitored, and if this cycle is detected, the process proceeds to step S405; otherwise, step S40 is performed.
Go to 8. In step S405, the process for transitioning the operation of the front end 2 is the state transition processing unit 12
b. In this processing, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c performs data transmission / reception with the front end 2 at a cycle of 10 msec, and the state transition processing unit 12b receives a message from the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c or changes the level of the DRVIRQ signal, or The request signal from the key input processing unit 12a is monitored. In response to the request for operation transition from the key input processing unit 12a, the state transition processing unit 12b recognizes the state to which the front end 2 should finally transition, and based on this state and the information from the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c. Frontend 2 detected
The current state of the above is compared to determine the next state to transition to.

In step S406, the state transition processing section 12b determines the front end 2 based on the determination of the state in which the operation should transition next in step S405.
It is determined whether or not it is necessary to send a command to the command. If it is necessary, the process proceeds to step S407, and if not, the process returns to step S402. In step S407, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c is requested to transmit a predetermined command that is next necessary for transition of the operation, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c performs transmission / reception processing of the command and message in accordance with the request. Be seen.

In step S408, 20 m
The period of sec is monitored. If this period is detected, the process proceeds to step S409, and if not detected, the process returns to step S402. In step S409, various inputs from the key input unit 11 are monitored by the key input processing unit 12a, and when there is a key input, a signal corresponding to this is input to the state transition processing unit 12b, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c, or the display processing. It is output to the unit 12d.

As described above, in the communication operation test apparatus 1, in the mode 0, the display processing unit 12d performs the display processing on the LCD 14 at a cycle of 1 msec, and the display processing is performed for 10 ms.
In the cycle of ec, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c performs transmission / reception processing of a command, a message, etc., and the state transition processing unit 12b performed in response to this processing to transition the state of the front end 2 is performed. Then, the key input processing unit 12a performs a process according to the input from the key input unit 11.

In an actual operation, when a signal for changing the state of the front end 2 is received by the key input processing unit 12a at a cycle of 20 msec and an operation request signal is output, the operation request signal is output to, for example, a buffer. The signal is stored and read by the state transition processing unit 12b at a cycle of 10 msec, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 1
2c is requested to perform a predetermined command transmission process. Also in the display processing unit 12d, a signal related to the display output from the key input processing unit 12a, the state transition processing unit 12b, and the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c and stored in the buffer or the like is set to 1
The display state of the LCD 14 is changed by reading out in the msec cycle.

Next, the operation of the communication operation test device 1 in the mode 1 will be described. As mentioned above, mode 1
In, it is possible to issue arbitrary commands to the front end 2 one by one. The command issuance at this time is performed in the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c in response to a direct request from the key input processing unit 12a based on the input from the key input unit 11, and the state transition processing unit 12b is executed.
Does not work. In the mode 1, the key input processing unit 1
In 2a, edit the parameter of the command and EEP
It can also be registered in the ROM 13.

When the mode 1 is selected, the key input unit 1
When an arbitrary command transmission request is made to the front end 2 from the key input processing unit 1, the key input processing unit 12a sends the parameter setting data for the necessary command to the EEPROM 1
3, and requests the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c to transmit a predetermined command in response to the request.

Further, the key input processing section 12a changes the parameter of an arbitrary command based on the input from the key input section 11 and stores it in the EEPROM 13. At this time, command and parameter values are output to the display processing unit 12d to display these data on the LCD 14.

In response to a request from the key input processing unit 12a, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c sends a command to the front end 2 using "DRVRX", and at the same time, sends this command to the display processing unit 12d. To notify you. In addition, the message corresponding to the transmitted command is displayed as "D
RVTX ”is used to receive the message and the display processing unit 12d is notified of this message.

In the display processing unit 12d, the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c supplies the issued command and the information indicating the content of the message received in response to the issued command and displays the information on the LCD 14. When the parameter of the command is set in the key input processing unit 12a, the information such as the command name and the set value is displayed on the LCD 14 based on the information output from the key input processing unit 12a.

Here, the LCD 1 in the mode 1 is shown in FIG.
4 shows a screen display example of No. 4. FIG. 5A shows a command and message display screen, and FIG. 5B shows a command parameter edit screen.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the mode 1, the LCD
The display screen of 14 is divided into left and right. In FIG. 5A, on the left screen 51, a plurality of command names transmitted to the front end 2 are displayed. Also,
The arrow “→” on the left side of the command name indicates that the command is selected, and the symbol “*” indicates that there is a screen in which the parameter (Argment) of this command can be edited, Is possible.

On the screen 52 on the right side, the command name transmitted to the front end 2, the message name received from the front end 2 in response to the reception of this command, and the contents thereof are displayed. On this screen 52, it is also possible to issue a command by directly inputting the numerical value of the number possessed by the command with the ten keys provided in the key input unit 11.

As described above, on the screen 52, by displaying the arbitrary command transmitted and the message received from the front end 2 in response to this command transmission, the communication operation of the front end 2 in response to the command transmission is commanded. It is possible to easily check each item.

When the command name displayed on the screen 51 is marked with the symbol "*", for example, this command is selected by the arrow "→" and "EDI" of the key input unit 11 is selected.
By pressing the "T" key, the screen is switched to the screen of FIG.

In FIG. 5B, the screen 53 on the left side is a parameter editing screen, and the screen 54 on the right side is shown in FIG.
It is the same as the screen 52 of (A). On screen 53,
The numerical value (Augment value) set as the parameter of the selected command is displayed. In the display state of the screen 53, for example, by using the numeric keypad of the key input unit 11,
Editing is performed by directly inputting the numerical values of the parameters. For example, when the "SAVE" key of the key input unit 11 is pressed, the input parameters are stored in the EEPROM.
13 is stored.

Next, the operation of the communication operation test apparatus 1 in the mode 1 is performed by the display processing unit 12d at a cycle of 1 msec as in the case of the mode 0 shown in FIG.
The display process for D14 is performed, and the process corresponding to the input from the key input unit 11 is performed by the key input processing unit 12a at a cycle of 20 msec. In the data transmission / reception processing unit 12c, the request signal for command transmission from the key input processing unit 12a is monitored at a cycle of 10 msec, and the transmission / reception processing of the command and the message is performed according to the request signal.

As described above, the communication operation test apparatus 1 transmits an arbitrary command one by one and receives the message from the front end 2, and the command and message according to the actual operation in the front end 2. It is possible to efficiently perform an evaluation test of the communication operation with respect to the front end 2 if necessary. Further, since the parameter of the command to be transmitted can be easily changed by key operation and the command can be transmitted, the test under various conditions according to the VSTEM specifications can be easily performed. Furthermore, LC
In D14, the transmitted command and the message received accordingly are displayed at the same time, so that it is possible to easily confirm the operation of the front end 2 with respect to the command transmission. Further, the communication operation test apparatus 1 capable of such an operation can be tested by connecting it to the front end 2 with a cable. Therefore, for example, a dedicated communication board is inserted into a PCI bus of a PC to perform communication. Compared with the conventional test method that has been carried out, setting is easier and it is convenient to carry, so the work efficiency during the test can be improved.

[0055]

As described above, in the communication operation test apparatus of the present invention, the command transmitting means can transmit an arbitrary command to the front end of the electronic equipment, and the message receiving means can transmit the command. The message corresponding to the transmitted command is received, and the contents of the transmitted command and the received message are displayed by the display means, so that the communication contents can be confirmed. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently test the communication operation with respect to the front end of the electronic device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication operation test device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence between a communication operation test device and a front end in mode 0.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an LCD screen display in mode 0.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the communication operation test device in mode 0.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing a screen display example of the LCD in mode 1, where FIG. 5A shows a command and message display screen, and FIG. 5B shows a command parameter edit screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... communication operation test device, 2 ... front end, 11
...... Key input unit, 12 ... CPU, 12a ... Key input processing unit, 12b ... State transition processing unit, 12c ... Data transmission / reception processing unit, 12d ... Display processing unit, 13 ... EEP
ROM, 14 ... LCD, 21 ... Interface block

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication operation test device for testing a communication operation of a front end of an electronic device, comprising: a command transmitting unit for transmitting an arbitrary command for requesting an operation in the front end; and the transmitted command. A communication operation test apparatus comprising: a message receiving unit that receives a message transmitted from the front end in response to the command; and a display unit that displays the transmitted command and each content of the received message. 2. The communication operation test device according to claim 1, wherein the display means can simultaneously display each content of the command and the message on a display screen. 3. The communication operation according to claim 1, further comprising input means for inputting the arbitrary command, wherein the command transmitting means transmits the command in response to an input from the input means. Test equipment. 4. The operation of transmitting the command by the command transmitting means and the operation of receiving the message by the message receiving means can be performed according to an actual operation procedure in the front end. Item 1. The communication operation test device according to item 1. 5. The apparatus further comprises interrupt receiving means for receiving an interrupt signal from the front end, and the command transmitting means transmits to the front end the command requesting transmission of the message in response to the interrupt signal. The communication operation test device according to claim 1, wherein 6. The communication operation test device according to claim 1, wherein transmission and reception of the command and the message conform to a VSTEM (registered trademark) interface standard.