JP2011044114A - Microprocessor and debugging method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the survey of illegal logic operation inside a microprocessor. <P>SOLUTION: An instruction string producing illegality of logic operation is stored in a comparison instruction storage buffer 40. By the operation of a program, an instruction comparison unit 41 compares an instruction actually in execution with the instruction stored in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40. When an instruction having a copy indication is detected, even numbers of copy instructions are generated. As to the subsequent even numbers of copied instructions, each instruction interval thereof is set so that each instruction is not executed before the preceding instructions are completed, and accordingly, the illegality of logic operation due to timing or conflict does not occur. An instruction producing the illegality of logic operation is identified by the execution of the program with a shift of the copy indication from the final instruction in the instruction string to the preceding instruction on an instruction-by-instruction basis, and by the confirmation of a majority processing check result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a microprocessor and a debugging method of the microprocessor, and particularly relates to facilitating investigation of internal logic illegal operations.

  In recent years, with the miniaturization of semiconductor processes, the number of logic circuits in a microprocessor has increased dramatically, and the control logic has increased in complexity. Checking methods and simulation environments for designing and developing microprocessors have been enhanced. However, unlike the simulation, it is difficult to observe the internal state of the very rare logic operation fraud that occurs due to timing and race conditions. Therefore, it takes a long time to investigate, identify, and resolve the instruction sequence that causes the logic operation fraud. Often required for a period.

  The technology to collect and store the operation history inside the microprocessor is to collect and store the operation history inside the microprocessor and output it to the outside to observe the internal state and investigate the logic operation fraud. There are things that make it easier. As for the avoidance means after specifying the instruction sequence, there is a technique for operating the bug avoidance code by software by comparing and detecting the instruction sequence causing the illegal logic operation and causing the hardware to generate an interrupt (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-76579 A

  However, with only the technology that collects and stores the operation history inside the microprocessor and observes it, it takes time to analyze the collected information, and it often takes time to investigate the cause of the logic operation fraud. In addition, in the case of a technique for generating an interrupt, it is not possible to avoid an illegal logical operation with hardware alone, and an OS (Operating System) or compiler modification and application recompilation are required to execute the avoidance code. become. Furthermore, since an interrupt is used as an avoidance means, there has been a problem that the execution speed of the application is remarkably reduced.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a microprocessor and a microprocessor debugging method that can facilitate the investigation of internal illegal logic operations.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and includes an instruction sequence to be compared as an inspection target, a dependency relationship with an instruction before the instruction, a copy instruction indicating whether or not to copy the instruction, and Comparison instruction storage means for storing information including the set value of the instruction issue interval, and instruction comparison means for determining whether or not the instruction indicated by the information stored in the comparison instruction storage means matches the instruction being executed And a command control means for generating a plurality of copy instructions that are duplicates of the instruction when the instruction comparison means determines that the instructions match and the copy instruction indicates that the instruction is duplicated, and the set value A schedule setting unit that issues an instruction according to an issuance interval set in the command, a command that is the source of the copy issued by the schedule setting unit, and the plurality of copy commands, Line results is a microprocessor, characterized in that it comprises a majority processing check means for checking by the majority processing.

  In addition, the present invention provides information including an instruction sequence to be compared as an inspection target, a dependency relationship with an instruction before the instruction, a copy instruction indicating whether or not the instruction is to be copied, and a setting value of an issue interval of the instruction If it is determined that the registered instruction and the instruction being executed match, and if the instruction matches and the copy instruction indicates to copy the instruction, A step of generating a plurality of copy instructions that are copies of the instruction, a step of issuing an instruction according to an issue interval set in the set value, and executing the instruction that is the source of the copy and the plurality of copy instructions, And a step of checking the execution result by majority processing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to specify an instruction in which a logical operation error occurs in a single microprocessor without special analysis, and the investigation can be facilitated. In addition, by observing the result of the majority processing check, it can be confirmed whether the logical operation fraud is correctly avoided. In addition, it is possible to avoid an illegal logic operation only with hardware. In addition, by setting the scheduler issue condition and setting it to the minimum timing that does not cause logical operation fraud, the effect of performance degradation can be minimized, and the performance improves compared to analysis by means of interrupts and software. .

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a microprocessor according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the instruction detection control part in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the data check control part of the load / store instruction pipe in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the data check control part of the arithmetic instruction pipe in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the instruction format in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the setting value which can be registered of the comparison instruction storage buffer in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the command sequence which the logic operation injustice sent from the instruction decoder in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention generate | occur | produces. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the registration content of the comparison instruction storage buffer at the time of debugging in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the registration content of the normal time comparison instruction storage buffer in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the command sequence after performing the copy process of the command in the command detection control part in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the command sequence after performing the copy process of the command in the command detection control part in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart used for description of the execution process in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart used for description of the execution process in the microprocessor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration of a microprocessor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the microprocessor according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an instruction cache 10, a decoder 11, an instruction detection control unit 12, a scheduler 13, a computing unit 20, a data cache (AA). : Address array) 21, data check control unit 22, data cache (DA: data array) 23, request control unit 24, computing unit 30, data check control unit 31, and register 32. Yes. In addition, signal lines 100, 110, 120, 130, 131, 200, 210, 220, 221, 230, 240, 241, 242, 243, 300, 310, and 320 are connected to the respective components.

The instruction cache 10 stores an instruction fetched from a main memory (not shown) by a fetch unit (not shown).
The decoder 11 analyzes an instruction stored in the instruction cache 10 according to a program counter (not shown).
The instruction detection control unit 12 stores, in an internal buffer, information including an instruction sequence to be compared as an inspection target and a dependency relationship with an instruction before the instruction, and the stored information and an instruction output from the decoder 11 And compare. The information stored in the internal buffer of the instruction detection control unit 12 includes a copy instruction flag indicating whether or not to output a copy instruction that is a duplicate of the instruction output from the decoder 11. When the copy instruction flag indicates “valid”, that is, when a copy instruction is output, when the information including the copy instruction flag matches the instruction output from the decoder 11, the instruction detection control unit 12 A copy instruction of the instruction output from 11 is output.
The scheduler 13 schedules instruction issue intervals.

The arithmetic unit 20, the data cache (AA) 21, the data check control unit 22, and the data cache (DA) 23 constitute a load / store pipe. The load / store pipe is a configuration for executing a load instruction / store instruction by pipeline processing.
The data check control unit 22 checks the data address by majority processing. Specifically, the data check control unit 22 compares the instruction output by the instruction detection control unit 12 processed by the arithmetic unit 20 and the execution result of the copy instruction of the instruction, and a different value is output for each instruction. In such a case, the output results that are often the same value are adopted as the execution results.
The request control unit 24 inputs and outputs requests with the outside.

The arithmetic unit 30, the data check control unit 31, and the register 32 constitute an arithmetic instruction pipe. An arithmetic instruction pipe is a configuration that executes arithmetic instructions by pipeline processing.
The data check control unit 31 checks data by majority processing. This will be described later.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the instruction detection control unit 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the instruction detection control unit 12 includes a comparison instruction storage buffer 40, an instruction comparison unit 41, an instruction tracer 42, and an instruction control unit 43. In addition, signal lines 400, 401, 402, 410, 411, 420, and 430 are connected to the respective components.

In the comparison instruction storage buffer 40, information including an instruction sequence to be compared as a check target and dependency relations is registered. Note that the instruction sequence and dependency relationship registered in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 will be described later.
The instruction comparison unit 41 checks whether the actual instruction matches the setting registered in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40. If the comparison results match, the instruction comparison unit 41 stores the next entry in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40. Instructs the command to be output. When the copy instruction is “valid”, the instruction is output to the instruction control unit 43 so as to perform the copy operation.
The instruction tracer 42 acquires a history of executed instructions and stores it in an internal memory. The data registered in the internal memory is used for analysis of illegal logic operation.
The instruction control unit 43 outputs an instruction to the scheduler 13.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the data check control unit 22 of the load / store instruction pipe. As shown in FIG. 3, the data check control unit 22 includes a copy instruction check unit 50, a data address buffer 51, and a majority decision check unit 52. In addition, signal lines 500, 501, 502, 503, 510, 520, 521, 522, and 523 are connected to each component.

The copy instruction check unit 50 checks whether the instruction executed by the computing unit 20 is a copy instruction.
The data address buffer 51 stores the data address of the executed instruction.
The majority check unit 52 performs majority processing, selects one instruction from an odd number of instructions, and writes it to the data cache (DA) 23. The multi-connection processing check unit 52 outputs a store instruction (instruction / data / address) to the request control unit 24.

  FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the data check control unit 31 of the operation instruction pipe. As shown in FIG. 4, the data check control unit 31 includes a copy instruction check unit 60, a data buffer 61, and a majority decision check unit 62. In addition, signal lines 600, 601, 602, 603, 610, 620, 621, and 622 are connected to the respective components.

The copy instruction check unit 60 checks whether the instruction executed by the arithmetic unit 30 is a copy instruction.
The data buffer 61 stores data of executed instructions.
The majority check unit 62 performs majority processing, selects one instruction from an odd number of instructions, and outputs data to the register 32.

  Next, an outline of the debugging operation of the microprocessor according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The feature of the microprocessor according to the first embodiment of the present invention is that it has an instruction detection control unit 12, a data check control unit 22, and a data check control unit 31, as shown in FIG. . Thereby, it is possible to easily analyze an instruction in which a logical operation error occurs in a single microprocessor.

  In other words, in the first embodiment of the present invention, an instruction sequence in which a logical operation error occurs is stored in advance in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 (see FIG. 2) of the instruction detection control unit 12, and the operation error occurs. Run the program. By the operation of the program, the instruction comparison unit 41 compares the instruction actually executed with the instruction stored in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40, and detects the instruction whose copy instruction is “valid”. A copy command is generated in the control unit 43. At this time, the instruction control unit 43 generates an odd number of copy instructions, that is, an even number of copy instructions together with the original instruction in order to perform majority processing.

  When performing debugging, an instruction issue interval stored in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 of the instruction detection control unit 12 is set in advance to an interval at which all the instructions existing in the front are completed. As a result, the instruction originally present in the program operates at the normal timing, but the subsequent copied even number of instructions are not executed until the instruction existing ahead is completed. By operating in this way, the subsequent even number of copy instructions occupy the microprocessor and operate only one instruction, so that the logical operation fraud due to timing and contention does not occur. Therefore, when the data is finally checked by majority processing, the incorrect result of the originally existing instruction is discarded, and the correct result at the time of the copy instruction operation is obtained.

  The functions as described above are used after narrowing down the number of instructions that can be stored in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 to the instruction sequence in which the logical operation error occurs. In particular, the program is executed while moving the copy instruction from the last instruction in the instruction sequence to the previous instruction one by one, and the result of the majority processing check is checked to specially analyze the instruction in which the logical operation error occurs It becomes possible to specify mechanically without. Further, by including such a function, the microprocessor according to the present invention can avoid the illegal logic operation only by hardware. Furthermore, by setting the interval for issuing subsequent copy instructions to the minimum timing that does not cause incorrect logical operation, it is possible to minimize performance degradation and improve performance compared to methods using interrupts. it can.

  Next, the contents set in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 of the instruction detection control unit 12 will be specifically described. FIG. 5 shows an instruction format used in the microprocessor according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the three-operand format has two source registers (registers (S1) and (S2)) and one destination register (register (D)).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating parameters of information stored in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 of the instruction detection control unit 12. As a setting method for the comparison instruction storage buffer 40, the following can be considered. As a method of setting information by software (SW), there is a method of setting from the decoder 11 via the signal line 400. Further, as a method for setting information by hardware (HW), there is a method for setting from the outside via a signal line 401. Alternatively, a command collected in advance by the command tracer 42 may be set via the signal line 420. The above setting method is an example, and other setting methods are also conceivable.

  In FIG. 6, whether the entry is “valid” or “invalid” is set in the item of Vbit (Valid bit). An operation code is set in the operation code item. In the register number (D), the value of the destination register D of the instruction format shown in FIG. 5 is set. In the register number (S1) item, the value of the source register S1 is set. In the register number (S2) item, the value of the source register S2 is set. However, if it is not necessary to set the register number, it is possible to make comparison unnecessary by setting “no designation”.

  In the item of dependency (D), when the destination register has a dependency relationship with the preceding instruction, an entry number in which the instruction of the dependency source is registered is set. In the item of the dependency relationship (S1), when the source register (S1) has a dependency relationship with the preceding instruction, an entry number in which the dependency source instruction is registered is set. In the item of the dependency relationship (S2), an entry number in which the dependency source instruction is registered when the source register (S2) has a dependency relationship with the preceding instruction is set. When there is no dependency relationship, “no dependency” is set.

In the item of the copy instruction, “valid” or “invalid” is set. If “valid”, the instruction detection control unit 12 generates a copy instruction when the corresponding instruction is detected. In order to perform majority processing, the number of copy instructions to be generated is an odd number including the original instruction, that is, the number of instructions to be copied is an even number. In the following example, the number of instructions to be copied is described as two, but a configuration of four or more may be used. When the number of instructions to be copied is two, it becomes (original instruction (1) + copy instruction (2)), so the same instruction is executed three times. The issue interval item is a setting of an issue interval with the immediately preceding instruction when the scheduler 13 inputs a copy instruction to the computing unit. The copy command is issued after waiting for the set clock time.
The instruction detection control unit 12 rewrites the copy source bit indicating the copy source instruction to a value indicating “valid” in the copy instruction frame. Further, the instruction detection control unit 12 rewrites the copy bit indicating the copy instruction to a value indicating “valid” in the frame of the copy instruction.

Next, the processing of the microprocessor will be described using a specific example.
FIG. 7 shows an example of a program executed by the microprocessor, and FIG. 8 shows an example of registered contents of the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 during debugging. In FIG. 7, LD is a load instruction, ADD is an addition instruction, and ST is a store instruction.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the registered contents are set in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 for each entry according to the setting example shown in FIG. In this case, since the instruction that causes the illegal operation of the logic has not been completely specified, the ST instruction with the entry number “4” that is the last instruction in the instruction sequence that may cause the incorrect operation is copied. The instruction is “valid”. At the time of debugging, since the copy instruction needs to be operated after the immediately preceding instruction is completed, the issue interval is set to a sufficiently large value, for example, a value of 4096 clocks. Thereafter, the program is actually operated, the majority process check is performed, and the copy instruction is moved to the previous instruction one by one, thereby mechanically specifying the instruction in which the fraud occurs.

  After identifying the illegal instruction, detailed analysis may be performed to determine the issuance interval at which logical operation fraud does not occur theoretically, or the issue interval setting value may be determined mechanically from (issue interval = 1). It is also possible to increase the setting value and find a setting value that does not cause fraud while checking the result of the majority processing check. After debugging is completed as in the above example, the normal operation is set.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the registered contents of the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 at the normal time. As shown in FIG. 9, by setting a minimum value (for example, “2” in FIG. 9) in which the logical operation does not occur, the issuance interval performs as much as possible without causing fraud by majority processing check. Can be improved.

  Next, the operation of the instruction detection control unit 12 during debugging will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the instruction detection control unit 12 includes a comparison instruction storage buffer 40, an instruction comparison unit 41, an instruction tracer 42, and an instruction control unit 43.

  In FIG. 2, the instruction is sent from the decoder 11 to the comparison instruction storage buffer 40, the instruction comparison unit 41, the instruction tracer 42, and the instruction control unit 43 via the signal line 400. The signal line 400 to the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 is used for writing the setting by software (SW).

  The instruction comparison unit 41 checks whether the instruction sent from the decoder 11 via the signal line 400 matches the setting sent from the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 via the signal line 402. If the comparison results match, an instruction is given to output the next entry instruction to the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 via the signal line 411. If the copy instruction is “valid”, a copy command is generated and output to the command control unit 43 via the signal line 410. If the comparison results do not match, the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 is instructed to return to the output of the first entry via the signal line 411. In this case, the fact that the comparison results do not match is output to the instruction control unit 43 via the signal line 410.

  The instruction tracer 42 acquires a history of executed instructions and stores it in an internal memory. The data registered in the instruction tracer 42 is used for analyzing a logical operation error. The observation method may be output by a software (SW) command via the signal line 420, or may be output to the outside of the LSI by hardware (HW) creation.

  The instruction control unit 43 outputs an instruction to the scheduler 13 via the signal line 430 after determining whether to use a copy instruction or a normal instruction using the instruction comparison result. Specifically, when the instruction comparison unit 41 determines that the instruction sent from the decoder 11 matches the setting indicated by the information sent from the instruction storage buffer 40, the instruction comparison unit 41 obtains the instruction from the comparison instruction storage buffer 40. When the information copy instruction is “valid”, it is determined that the copy command is used, and when the information is “invalid”, it is determined that the copy command is not used.

  Next, the control of the instruction issue interval by the scheduler 13 will be described. The scheduler 13 checks the issue interval for the instruction sent from the instruction detection control unit 12. An instruction whose issue interval is not “0” delays the issuance of an instruction for a designated clock time. For example, when the issue interval is “2”, the corresponding instruction is issued after waiting for two clocks with respect to the instruction issued immediately before. At the time of debugging, this issue interval is set to a sufficiently large value to create a state in which the corresponding instruction occupies the microprocessor and operates only one instruction, and prevents the occurrence of illegal logic operation due to timing or contention. Depending on the type of instruction, a load / store instruction is issued to the arithmetic unit 20 via the signal line 130. Further, a normal calculation instruction is issued to the calculator 30 via the signal line 131.

  Next, the operation of each command will be described. In FIG. 1, the arithmetic unit 20 and the arithmetic unit 30 respectively input data via a signal line 320 in the case of register read according to the input operand. When using forwarding data, data is input via the signal line 310. After that, the specified operation is performed. When the arithmetic unit 20 is used, the instruction that has performed the calculation is sent to the data cache (AA) 21, the data check control unit 22, and the data cache (DA) 23 via the signal line 200. Further, when the arithmetic unit 30 is used, it is sent to the data check control unit 31 via the signal line 300. After this, since the operation differs depending on the instruction, it will be described separately.

(1) Operation of Load / Store Pipe The data check control unit 22 performs data check only when the internal state changes by writing to an internal resource such as a register or a data cache. Here, there are two types of writing to the data cache, that is, when the store instruction hits the cache and when the load instruction cache miss (write due to cache fill).

a. Store Instruction When the store instruction is executed, the data check control unit 22 accesses the data cache (AA) 21 and acquires cache hit / miss information via the signal line 210.
In the following, the operation when the writing method to the main memory is the write-back method and when the write-through method is used will be described.

In the case of the write back method The data check control unit 22 first performs a check by majority processing. Thereafter, when the cache hit / miss information acquired by the data check control unit 22 indicates a cache hit, the data check control unit 22 writes to the data cache (DA) 23 via the signal line 220. On the other hand, when the cache hit / miss information acquired by the data check control unit 22 indicates a cache miss, an instruction is output to the request control unit 24 via the signal line 221. The request control unit 24 outputs the instruction to the outside of the microprocessor via the signal line 240.

In the case of the write-through method The data check control unit 22 first performs a check by majority processing. Thereafter, when the cache hit / miss information acquired by the data check control unit 22 indicates a cache hit, the data is written to the data cache (DA) 23 via the signal line 220. Further, the data check control unit 22 outputs an instruction to the request control unit 24 via the signal line 221 regardless of cache hit / miss. The request control unit 24 outputs the instruction to the outside of the microprocessor via the signal line 240.

The detailed operation of the data check control unit of the load / store instruction pipe will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 3, the instruction / data / address is sent from the arithmetic unit 20 to the copy instruction check unit 50 via the signal line 500. Further, cache hit / miss information is sent from the data cache (AA) 21 to the copy instruction check unit 50 via the signal line 501.

  The copy instruction check unit 50 determines whether the instruction sent from the computing unit 20 is a copy source instruction or a copy instruction regardless of a cache hit / miss (a copy source bit is “valid” or a copy bit is “valid”). Check if it is. If neither of the copy source instruction or the copy instruction applies, the copy instruction check unit 50 outputs the same to the majority decision check unit 52 via the signal line 503 as it is. If the instruction is a copy source instruction or a copy instruction, the copy instruction check unit 50 registers the data address of the instruction in the data address buffer 51 via the signal line 502. When the last instruction (third instruction) is detected in the copy instruction, the copy instruction check unit 50 outputs the instruction and cache hit / miss information to the majority check unit 52 via the signal line 503.

  If it is not a copy instruction, the majority decision checking unit 52 outputs the instruction as it is to the data cache (DA) 23 and the request control unit 24 via the signal lines 521 and 522 without performing the majority process. If the instruction is a copy instruction, the data address buffer 51 is requested to output the data address of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 520. The data address buffer 51 outputs the data address of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 510.

  The majority check unit 52 performs majority processing, selects one instruction from the three instructions in the copy instruction, and writes to the data cache (DA) via the signal line 521. Further, a store instruction (instruction / data / address) is output to the request control unit via the signal line 522.

  The result of the majority processing check may be output by a software (SW) command via the signal line 523, or may be output to the outside of the microprocessor by creating hardware (HW). By providing an observation function for outputting the result of majority vote check to the outside in this way, it becomes possible to facilitate analysis of logic operation fraud and to confirm the operation.

Next, the operation of the load / store pipe when the load instruction is executed will be described.
b. Load Instruction In FIG. 1, when a load instruction is executed, the data check control unit 22 accesses the data cache (AA) 21 and acquires cache hit / miss information via the signal line 210. At the same time, the data check control unit 22 accesses the data cache (DA) 23.

  When the acquired cache hit / miss information indicates a cache hit, the data check control unit 22 outputs an instruction / data to the data check control unit 31 via the signal line 230. On the other hand, if the acquired cache hit / miss information indicates a cache miss, the data check control unit 22 performs majority processing check processing and outputs a cache fill request to the request control unit 24 via the signal line 221.

  The request control unit 24 outputs a cache fill request to the outside via the signal line 240. The cache fill data is returned via the signal line 241. The request control unit 24 writes the cache fill data to the data cache (AA) 21 and the data cache (DA) 23 via the signal line 242. The target data of the load instruction is checked in the cache fill data and output to the data check control unit 31 via the signal line 243.

The detailed operation of the data check control unit of the load / store instruction pipe will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 3, an instruction / address is sent from the arithmetic unit 20 to the copy instruction check unit 50 via the signal line 500. Further, cache hit / miss information is sent from the data cache (AA) to the copy instruction check unit 50 via the signal line 501.
Here, in the case of a cache hit, the copy instruction check unit 50 does nothing because the majority processing check is performed by the data check control unit 31 of FIG. 1 immediately before the register write. In the case of a cache miss, it is checked whether the instruction sent from the computing unit 20 is a copy source instruction or a copy instruction (a copy source bit is valid or a copy bit is valid).

  If the instruction is not a copy source instruction or a copy instruction, the copy instruction check unit 50 outputs the same to the majority check unit 52 via the signal line 503 as it is. If the instruction is a copy instruction, the copy instruction check unit 50 registers the instruction address in the data address buffer 51 via the signal line 502. Further, when the copy instruction check unit 50 detects the last instruction (third instruction) in the copy instruction, it outputs the instruction and cache miss information to the majority decision check unit 52 via the signal line 503.

  If it is not a copy command, the majority decision checking unit 52 outputs the signal as it is through the signal line 522 without performing the majority process. On the other hand, if the instruction is a copy instruction, the data address buffer 51 is requested to output the address of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 520. The data address buffer 51 outputs the address of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 510. The majority check section 52 performs majority processing, selects one instruction from the three instructions in the copy instruction, and outputs a cache fill request instruction (instruction / address) to the request control section 24 via the signal line 522.

  The result of the majority processing check may be output by a software (SW) command via the signal line 523, or may be output to the outside of the LSI by creating hardware (HW). By providing an observation function in this way, it becomes possible to facilitate the analysis of the logic operation fraud and to confirm the operation.

  In the above description, a cache fill request is output to the outside after a majority processing check. However, if a cache fill majority processing check control unit is provided in the request control unit 24, the cache fill data is returned after the cache fill data is returned. It is also possible to perform data majority processing check. In this case, the target data is sent to the data check control unit 31 for three instructions including the copy instruction via the signal line 243, and after majority processing is checked, the target data is written to the register 32 via the signal line 310.

(2) Operation of the operation instruction pipe The data check is performed only when the internal state is changed by writing to an internal resource such as a register or a data cache. In the embodiment of the present invention, writing to a register occurs in two ways: an operation instruction and a load instruction.

c. Arithmetic Instruction In FIG. 1, the operation of the arithmetic instruction is performed by the data check control unit 31 performing majority processing check processing and writing to the register 32 via the signal line 310. Further, the forwarding data is transferred to the arithmetic unit 20 and the arithmetic unit 30 via the signal line 310.

  The detailed operation of the data check control unit 31 of the operation instruction pipe will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, an instruction / data is sent from the arithmetic unit 30 via the signal line 600. The copy instruction check unit 60 checks whether the instruction sent from the computing unit 20 is a copy source instruction or a copy instruction (a copy source bit is valid or a copy bit is valid).

  If it is not a copy command, the copy command check unit 60 outputs the same to the majority decision check unit 62 via the signal line 603 as it is. If the instruction is a copy instruction, the instruction data is stored in the data buffer 61 via the signal line 602. When the last instruction (third instruction) in the copy instruction is detected, the instruction is output to the majority decision check unit 62 via the signal line 603.

  If it is not a copy command, the majority decision check unit 62 outputs the acquired command as it is through the signal line 621 without performing the majority process. If the instruction is a copy instruction, the data buffer 61 is requested to output the data of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 620. The data buffer 61 outputs the data of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 610. The majority check unit 62 performs majority processing, selects one instruction from three instructions in the copy instruction, and outputs data to the register via the signal line 621.

  The result of the majority processing check may be output by a software (SW) command via the signal line 622, or may be output to the outside of the microprocessor by creating hardware (HW). By providing an observation function in this way, it becomes possible to facilitate the analysis of the logic operation fraud and to confirm the operation.

Next, the operation of the operation instruction pipe when the register write operation of the load instruction is executed will be described.
d. Register Write Operation of Load Instruction In FIG. 1, the operation of the load instruction differs depending on cache hit / miss. At the time of a cache hit, the data check control unit 31 performs majority processing check processing and writes to the register 32 via the signal line 310. Further, the forwarding data is transferred to the arithmetic unit 20 and the arithmetic unit 30 via the signal line 310. When a cache miss occurs, the data check control unit 31 writes to the register 32 via the signal line 310 without performing majority processing check.

  The detailed operation of the data check control unit 31 of the operation instruction pipe will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, an instruction / data is sent from a data cache (DA) via a signal line 601. The copy instruction check unit 60 checks whether it is a copy instruction (a copy source bit is valid or a copy bit is valid).

  If it is not a copy command, it is output as it is to the majority check unit 62 via the signal line 603. If the instruction is a copy instruction, the instruction data is stored in the data buffer 61 via the signal line 602. When the last command (third command) is detected in the copy command, the command is output to the majority check unit 62 via the signal line 603.

  If it is not a copy command, the majority decision checking unit 62 outputs the signal as it is through the signal line 621 without performing the majority process. If the instruction is a copy instruction, the data buffer 61 is requested to output the data of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 620. The data buffer 61 outputs the data of the corresponding instruction via the signal line 610. The majority check unit 62 performs majority processing, selects one instruction from three instructions in the copy instruction, and outputs data to the register via the signal line 621.

  The result of the majority processing check may be output by a software (SW) command via the signal line 622, or may be output to the outside of the LSI by creating hardware (HW). If an observation function is provided, it becomes possible to facilitate analysis of logic operation fraud and to confirm operation.

  Next, the operation of each unit during debugging of the microprocessor according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described. First, it is assumed that the microprocessor executes the program shown in FIG. It is assumed that the setting as shown in FIG. 8 is registered in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40. Here, it is assumed that the instruction causing the logical operation fraud is the ADD instruction having the entry number “3”.

  In FIG. 1, when a program in which an illegal logic operation occurs is executed, an instruction is fetched from the instruction cache 10 and sent to the decoder 11 via the signal line 100. The decoder 11 decodes the instruction and outputs the instruction to the instruction detection control unit 12 via the signal line 110.

  7 is input as an actual instruction to the instruction comparison unit 41 (see FIG. 2) of the instruction detection control unit 12 via the signal line 400 from the decoder 11. At the same time, the contents of the entry number “1” in FIG. 8 are input from the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 via the signal line 402 as a set instruction. When comparing the actual instruction with the set instruction, the instruction comparison unit 41 detects that the operation code, the register number (D, S1, S2), and the dependency relationship (D, S1, S2) match. However, since the copy instruction is “invalid” here, no copy command is generated.

  The instruction comparison unit 41 instructs the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 to output the contents of the next entry via the signal line 411 in preparation for the next comparison. Next, the LD instruction with the number “2” in FIG. 7 is compared with the contents of the entry number “2” in FIG. In this case, similar to the instruction “1”, a match is detected and various processes are performed, but no copy instruction is generated.

  Next, the ADD instruction with the number “3” in FIG. 7 is compared with the contents of the entry number “3” in FIG. In this case, as in “1” and “2”, since a match is detected, various processes are performed, but no copy command is generated.

  Next, the ST instruction with the number “4” in FIG. 7 is compared with the contents of the entry number “4” in FIG. In this case, a match is detected. Further, since the copy instruction is “valid” for the entry number “4” in FIG. 8, the instruction comparison unit 41 sends the comparison result to the instruction control unit 43 via the signal line 410. , The copy instruction is “valid”, and the issuance interval is “4096”. Also, two copy instructions are generated for the ST instruction with the number “4” in FIG. 8 and output to the instruction control unit 43 via the signal line 410.

  The instruction control unit 43 issues a copy source bit (a bit indicating a command in which the copy instruction is valid and existing in the instruction sequence of the original program) to the ST command with the number “4” in FIG. The interval is given “0” and is output to the scheduler 13 via the signal line 430. Next, a copy instruction of ST instruction is given for two instructions, a copy bit (bit indicating a newly generated copy instruction with a valid copy instruction) is “valid”, an issue interval is “4096”, and a signal is given. The data is output to the scheduler 13 via the line 430. The instruction sent from the instruction control unit 43 to the scheduler 13 by performing the above processing is as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 12 shows a timing chart regarding the above operation. An operation error occurs at the data forwarding timing from the LD instruction with the number “2” to the ADD instruction with the number “3”. In this example, since the ST instruction with the number “4” is the copy target, even when the majority process check is performed at the time “8202”, all the three instructions become the store instruction in which the same operation error occurs, and the logical operation error is It cannot be avoided.

  Since the illegal logic operation cannot be avoided, the registered contents of the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 are reset. The copy instruction is moved to the ADD instruction with the number “3” one instruction before in the instruction sequence. However, since debugging is in progress, the issue interval is “4096”.

  Thereafter, when the program is re-executed, the ADD of the number “3” becomes invalid, but the two copy instructions of the ADD of the number “4” and the ADD of the number “5” operate correctly. Therefore, even if a logical operation error occurs, a correct result can be obtained by the majority processing check circuit.

  Here, in order to reduce the influence of avoiding the logical operation fraud, if the above operation is analyzed on the desk using the result of the instruction tracer 42 or the majority decision check, the issue interval is theoretically set to “2”. Suppose you know it works correctly. By making this ideal setting the normal operation setting, the influence of the performance degradation can be minimized.

  The setting shown in FIG. 9 is registered in the comparison instruction storage buffer 40 and the program is executed. In this case, the command sent from the command control unit 43 to the scheduler 13 is as shown in FIG. A timing chart concerning the above operation is as shown in FIG. When the majority processing check is performed at the time “11”, the ADD instruction with the number “3” causes an illegal logic operation, but the ADD instruction with the number “4” and the two ADD copy instructions with the number “5” operate normally. Therefore, when the majority processing check is performed, the ADD instruction operates correctly, and the performance is improved as compared with debugging.

As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has the following effects.
(1) It is possible to specify an instruction in which a logical operation error occurs in a single microprocessor without special analysis, and the investigation can be facilitated.
(2) By observing the result of the majority processing check, it can be confirmed whether the logical operation fraud is correctly avoided.
(3) Incorrect logic operation can be avoided only by hardware.
(4) By setting the issue condition of the scheduler and setting it to the minimum timing that does not cause the logical operation fraud, the influence of the performance degradation can be minimized, and the performance is improved as compared with the analysis by the interrupt and software.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the instruction cache 10, the data cache (AA) 21, and the data cache (DA) 23 in FIG. 1 may be directly connected to the memory without being configured. In the above-described embodiment, a two-pipe configuration of an operation instruction pipe and a load / store instruction pipe is used. However, a one-pipe configuration or a three-pipe configuration or more may be used. Further, the instruction tracer 42 may not be configured in FIG. Alternatively, a plurality of comparison instruction storage buffers and instruction comparison units may be prepared and two or more comparisons may be performed simultaneously.

  In FIG. 6, the issue interval may be set finely for each copy command. In this case, further improvement in performance can be expected. The issue condition is not the issue interval time. For example, when the arithmetic unit is not operating, when the data cache is not accessed, when there is no instruction requesting a cache fill, or when there is an instruction in the microprocessor. Control may be performed by detecting the internal state of the microprocessor, such as the state when everything is complete.

  In addition, if a mechanism that can automatically execute a series of operations such as setting and registering the comparison instruction storage buffer, executing a program in which an illegal operation occurs, and confirming the result of the majority processing check using a script or the like is used manually, It is possible to specify an illegal instruction without performing the above operation.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

10: Instruction cache 11: Decoder 12: Instruction detection control unit 13: Scheduler 20: Calculator 21: Data cache (AA)
22: Data check control unit 23: Data cache (DA)
24: request control unit 30: arithmetic unit 31: data check control unit 32: register 40: comparison instruction storage buffer 41: instruction comparison unit 42: instruction tracer 43: instruction control unit 50: copy instruction check unit 51: data address buffer 52: Majority check unit 60: Copy command check unit 61: Data buffer 62: Majority check unit

Claims (5)

Comparison instruction storage for storing information including instruction sequence to be compared as an object to be inspected, dependency with an instruction before the instruction, a copy instruction indicating whether or not the instruction is duplicated, and a setting value of the issue interval of the instruction Means,
Instruction comparing means for determining whether or not the instruction indicated by the information stored in the comparison instruction storage means matches the instruction being executed;
An instruction control means for generating a plurality of copy instructions that are duplicates of the instruction when the instruction comparison means determines that the instructions match and the copy instruction indicates that the instruction is to be duplicated;
Schedule setting means for issuing an instruction according to an issue interval set in the set value;
A microprocessor comprising: a majority voting process checking unit that executes the copy source instruction issued by the schedule setting unit and the plurality of copy instructions and checks the execution result by a majority voting process.   The microprocessor according to claim 1, wherein an even number of instructions are generated as the copy instructions.   3. The microprocessor according to claim 2, wherein the majority processing check means selects one instruction by majority processing from the instruction that is the source of the copy and the even number of copy instructions. Registering information including an instruction sequence to be compared as an inspection target, a dependency relationship with an instruction before the instruction, a copy instruction indicating whether or not to copy the instruction, and a setting value of an issue interval of the instruction;
Determining whether the registered instruction and the instruction being executed match;
Generating a plurality of copy instructions that are duplicates of the instructions if the instructions match and it is determined that the copy instruction indicates to duplicate the instructions;
Issuing a command according to an issue interval set to the set value;
A method of debugging a microprocessor, comprising: executing an instruction that is a source of the copy and the plurality of copy instructions, and checking a result of the execution by a majority process. The copy instruction is set to an issuance interval that is not executed until an instruction existing ahead is completed,
The program is executed while the copy instruction is moved to the previous instruction one by one from the last instruction in the instruction sequence, and the result of the majority processing check is identified to identify the instruction in which the logical operation error occurs. The microprocessor debugging method according to claim 4.

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