JP2011210117A - Pos terminal device and pos terminal control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a POS system that operates with minimum functions required for operation even if an error occurs in a storage due to the end of life or the like.SOLUTION: The POS terminal apparatus includes a control unit that selectively executes processing based on a normal program or processing based on an emergency program after start-up, a readable and writable first storing unit that stores the normal program, a second storing unit that stores in advance the emergency program, an error detecting unit that detects a read/write error with respect to the first storing unit. The control unit sequentially reads normal programs from the first storing unit to execute processing while accessing the first storing unit, and executes processing based on the emergency program by reboot when the read/write error with respect to the first storing unit is detected by the error detecting unit. The emergency program causes the control unit to process a part of the function of the normal program and execute the processing without accessing the first storing unit.

Description

  The present invention relates to a POS terminal device using a storage and a POS terminal control method.

  There is known a POS system that processes inventory / order management, sales statistics, etc. of a store etc. by a central computer host and one or more POS terminals connected thereto. Among them, in a POS terminal used in an environment where there is a lot of dust in the air, such as a gas station or a coffee shop, a flash memory is often used as a storage device (storage) for system software. This is because flash memory is expected to be able to reduce the failure caused by dust because there are no mechanical driving parts. However, many of such POS terminals do not multiplex storage for storing the same data in a plurality of storage areas. This is to reduce the price of the system.

  On the other hand, there is known a method for detecting a storage error or an access error that occurs when the life of a storage device for storing electronic data reaches the end of the life and informing the user or administrator to take a countermeasure. In particular, in recent years, storages such as hard disk drives and flash memories that are supposed to be replaced before the end of the useful life of the device body are frequently used in various electronic devices. As a means for avoiding such a crash of an electronic device in advance, a means for predicting the storage life in advance and issuing a warning to a user or the like before a malfunction occurs in the operation of the electronic device has been proposed. .

  One of them is the number of data processed between loading and unloading data and the number of errors that occurred at that time in removable media that use storage media with a relatively short life, such as flash memory. (See, for example, Patent Document 1). Specifically, an error rate is calculated based on the counted number of data and the number of errors, and is compared with a preset error rate threshold. If the error rate exceeds the threshold, it is determined that the removable medium is defective.

In addition to this, a countermeasure has been proposed in the case where data cannot be correctly written to the block that is the write target of the flash memory. Normally, the flash memory is designed so that when a block that cannot be written is generated, data is written to the “rewrite replacement area” secured in advance, and as a result, data can be stored in the flash memory. In contrast, the above proposal sets the remaining number of “rewrite replacement area” blocks as a threshold in advance, and if the remaining number of “rewrite replacement area” blocks falls below the threshold, the lifetime of the flash memory is reduced. This is a warning (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
There has been proposed a storage system that bypasses a component at a problem location and restarts the system (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

JP-A-4-268625 JP 2003-85054 A JP 2009-9200 A

As mentioned above, POS terminals that use storage that has a shorter lifespan than the main unit's useful life, such as flash memory, and that do not have redundant storage, etc., operate normally when the storage reaches its end of life. The POS system goes down.
POS system users and administrators contacted the support center when the system went down, and the POS system was restored after the replacement parts arrived.

  Or, in a conventional POS system, the storage life of the POS terminal is detected and compared with a predetermined error rate threshold to determine whether the storage is normal or abnormal. A warning was issued to encourage replacement. This makes it possible to contact a support center before the system goes down.

However, it is difficult to accurately predict the period from when a warning is issued until the system goes down. On the other hand, if you set a sufficient margin to avoid system down and set the warning timing early, the life of storage Becomes shorter, which increases the cost burden on the user and is unacceptable. Also, even if a warning is issued, the system will eventually go down if the user does not deal with it quickly.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and even if a read and / or write abnormality (hereinafter referred to as a read / write error or simply an error) occurs in the storage due to the lifetime or the like, the operation is minimal. It is intended to provide a POS terminal device and a POS terminal control method that can operate with limited functions.

  The present invention provides a control unit that selectively executes processing based on a normal program or processing based on an emergency program after startup, a first storage unit that stores the normal program and is readable and writable, and stores the emergency program in advance. A second storage unit; and an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality in reading and writing with respect to the first storage unit, wherein the control unit sequentially reads the normal program from the first storage unit and accesses the first storage unit. When an abnormality in reading and writing with respect to the first storage unit is detected by the abnormality detection unit, the process is switched to the execution of the process based on the emergency program by restarting, and the emergency program is POS characterized in that it is a program that processes only part of the functions and executes the processing without accessing the first storage unit To provide an end device.

  Further, from a different point of view, the present invention provides that the control unit that can selectively execute the processing based on the normal program or the processing based on the emergency program after startup accesses the first storage unit after the first startup, and Sequentially reading a program, executing a process involving access to the first storage unit based on the normal program, and receiving a notification of an abnormality from an abnormality detection unit detecting a reading / writing abnormality with respect to the first storage unit; , Setting program selection data based on the notification, whereby the control unit accesses the second storage unit after the second activation, reads out the emergency program, and performs processing based on the emergency program And a process for executing processing based on the emergency program based on the setting of the program selection data after performing the second restart. And the emergency program is a program in which the control unit processes only a part of the functions of the normal program and executes the processing without accessing the first storage unit. A terminal control method is provided.

In the POS terminal device according to the present invention, the emergency program is a program in which the control unit processes only a part of the function of the normal program and executes the process without accessing the first storage unit. Functions that are minimally necessary for the operation of the POS system can be executed, and the processing can be performed without using the first storage unit in which an abnormality is detected.
The POS terminal control method of the present invention also has the same effect.

  That is, according to the POS terminal device of the present invention, a normal boot program, an OS, and a system application program are prepared in the storage as normal programs. In addition, a pre-boot program as an emergency program is implemented separately. When the CPU executes the pre-boot program, the POS terminal performs the minimum functions necessary for system operation.

In the present invention, the control unit is a CPU that performs operation and data processing of the POS terminal.
The first storage unit is a storage device that stores at least a normal program, and may store data used when executing processing based on the normal program. The first storage unit is the storage, and as the hardware, for example, a flash memory is used.
The second storage unit is a storage device that can normally read and write even when an abnormality is detected in the first storage unit, and stores an emergency program. The second storage unit may be a storage device different from the first storage unit, but may be provided in different areas of the same storage device. In an embodiment described later, the second storage unit is provided in the same flash memory as the first storage unit. However, the second storage unit is stored in advance in a write-protected area protected in a circuit manner so that writing by the CPU is not possible. The lifetime of the flash memory is substantially determined by the number of times the high voltage is applied to the memory cell. Therefore, it can be said that the write-prohibited region does not need to be substantially concerned with the abnormality caused by the deterioration of the memory cell.
The abnormality detection unit detects a writing abnormality in the first storage unit. For example, in the case of a flash memory, the on-chip control circuit generally has a function of storing the number of read / write errors. The same function is usually built in the hard disk drive device. You may use these functions as an abnormality detection part.

It is a block diagram which shows one form of the hardware constitutions of the POS terminal which implement | achieves this invention. In this invention, it is the 1st explanatory view showing an example of processing which detects a storage error and shifts to a preboot environment. In this invention, it is the 2nd explanatory view showing an example of processing which detects a storage error and shifts to a preboot environment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  The normal program and the emergency program may each include a boot program, an operating system program, and an application program to be executed by the control unit at startup. In this way, the emergency program includes a boot program, an operating system program, and an application program in addition to the normal program. Therefore, even if the first storage unit in which an abnormality is detected is not accessed, the POS terminal device is minimized. It can be operated with limited functions (pre-boot environment).

  Moreover, the said control part may perform a restart when the said abnormality exceeding a predetermined frequency | count is detected after starting. In this way, a threshold value corresponding to the characteristics of the hardware that constitutes the first storage unit is determined in advance, and whether the abnormality of the first storage unit is a single occurrence or a tendency that is associated with deterioration of the lifetime or the like. Judgment can be made appropriately.

Furthermore, the second storage unit may be a storage area into which the control unit cannot write data. In this way, the emergency program is stored in advance in a write-protected area that cannot be written by the command from the control unit, so even if the CPU runs out of control due to a storage read / write error, etc. Will not be rewritten unintentionally.
The first storage unit may be a flash memory. Alternatively, the first storage unit may be a hard disk device.
The various preferable aspects shown here can also be combined.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following description is an illustration in all the points, Comprising: It should not be interpreted as limiting this invention.

≪POS system hardware configuration≫
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a hardware configuration of a POS terminal that implements the present invention. The POS terminal 100 includes the following blocks shown in FIG.
The control unit 101 includes a CPU, and controls the operation of the entire POS terminal 100 and performs data processing. The display unit 102 (display) includes a POS terminal and a liquid crystal display device that displays information related to the POS system. The operation unit 103 is a keyboard or a touch panel for inputting to the POS system.

The temporary storage unit 107 is a storage device configured with DRAM, and is used as a working storage area of the control unit 101. The temporary storage unit 107 does not correspond to the storage according to the present invention. The temporary storage unit 107 includes a first error event storage area 112 and a second error event storage area 113.
The first error event storage area 112 is a data storage area under the management of an error event monitoring process, which will be described later, and is a storage area that holds the number of errors that occur when the POS terminal 100 is activated.
The communication unit 115 is an interface circuit for the POS terminal 100 to communicate with an external host (not shown). The control unit 101 controls communication with the host on the POS terminal 100 side.

  The boot program storage unit 105 is a storage area provided using a flash memory. The boot program storage unit 105 is one of the storages whose lifetime is shorter than the useful life of the main body and replacement during the useful life is assumed. The boot program storage unit 105 holds a normal boot program in a writable area. This is because the boot program can be upgraded. Further, the boot program storage unit 105 includes a write-protect area 111 that is configured in a circuit configuration so that writing by CPU control is impossible in a part of the storage area. Hold the preboot program.

  The normal boot program is a boot program that activates the POS terminal 100 so that all the functions operate when the storage is operating normally. On the other hand, when the storage error is detected and the control unit 101 determines that there is a storage error, the preboot program restarts the POS terminal 100 (preboot) to operate with the minimum necessary functions. It is a program. That is, the boot program, OS, and system application program to be executed by the control unit 101 after the restart are held in the write protected area 111.

  The first memory control unit 104 is an interface circuit that enables the control unit 101 to control reading and writing of data with respect to the boot program storage unit 105. Further, a logic circuit for detecting a read / write error occurrence state of the flash memory is included. In FIG. 1, the boot program storage unit 105 and the first memory control unit 104 are shown as different blocks. However, as one aspect, the first memory control unit 104 and the boot program storage unit 105 are mounted on the same flash memory. May be. That is, the on-chip control circuit of the flash memory may function as the first memory control unit 104. According to a different aspect, the first memory control unit 104 is mounted outside the flash memory.

  The storage unit 106 is a storage area provided by a hard disk drive (HDD), and stores an OS and a program for system applications. Furthermore, data relating to inventory, ordering, and sales handled by the POS system may be stored. The data is updated by communication with an external host. The storage unit 106 is the storage that is assumed to be replaced before the main unit has expired.

  The second memory control unit 114 is a circuit that controls reading and writing of data in the storage unit 106. Further, a logic circuit for detecting the occurrence state of the HDD read / write error is included. In FIG. 1, the storage unit 106 and the second memory control unit 114 are shown as different blocks, but may be mounted integrally with the HDD. That is, the control circuit of the hard disk drive device may serve as the function of the second memory control unit 114.

  The abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 is a storage area managed by the error event monitoring process realized by the control unit 101 executing the OS, and stores data relating to errors detected by the first memory control unit 104 Provide a working storage area for management. The error event monitoring process will be described in detail later. The abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 is a nonvolatile and rewritable storage area, and includes at least the abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 as a storage area. The abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 is preferably mounted on or multiplexed with a non-volatile storage element having a sufficiently long lifetime other than the boot program storage unit 105 and the storage unit 106.

The abnormal start flag storage unit 110 holds a flag indicating whether the start should normally start the system or the “pre-boot” environment every time the system starts.
When the boot program storage unit 105 and the storage unit 106 that are the storages are in a normal state, the POS terminal 100 executes the above-described normal boot program when the system is started up. The detailed procedure is as follows.
After the system power is turned on, the control unit 101 loads the normal boot program held in the writable area of the boot program storage unit 105 into the temporary storage unit 107 using the first memory control unit 104.

  The control unit 101 executes a normal boot program loaded in the temporary storage unit 107. Along with the execution, first, initialization processing of hardware and a storage area necessary for booting is performed. Subsequently, the second memory control unit 114 is used to perform processing for loading the OS and system application program stored in the storage unit 106 into the temporary storage unit 107.

  Thereafter, the normal boot program shifts execution of the control unit 101 to execution of processing of the OS and system application program. Accordingly, the control unit 101 starts the operation of the POS terminal 100. At the stage of starting the operation of the POS terminal 100, the control unit 101 activates the error event monitoring process described above. The error event monitoring process is one of OS or application processing executed by the control unit 101.

The started error event monitoring process then monitors error events that occur when the system is started. Here, the detected error events are an error in the boot program storage unit 105 detected by the first memory control unit 104 and an error in the storage unit 106 detected by the second memory control unit 114. The error event monitoring process holds errors in the boot program storage unit 105 in the first error event storage area 112. Further, the error of the storage unit 106 is held in the second error event storage area 113.
The error event monitoring process resides in the system not only at the time of startup but also after the normal system startup, and monitors error events that occur when the OS and system application programs are executed.

  The error in the boot program storage unit 105 is detected by the first memory control unit 104. The detailed contents of the error are (1) memory read error, (2) memory write error for each write, and (3) memory write error for a predetermined number of times. It is an error when it was written but could not be written. (2) is an error relating to the partial lifetime of the flash memory, and (3) is an error relating to the overall lifetime of the flash memory.

  When an error is detected by the first memory control unit 104, a predetermined register (not shown) provided in the first memory control unit 104 is incremented or a predetermined flag (not shown) is set. This is notified to the outside. In order for it to be captured as an error event by the error event monitoring process, the error event monitoring process must be notified by an interrupt or polling process triggered by the increment of the register or the setting of the flag. I must. If an error notification mechanism included in the OS and system application can be used for this notification, it can be used. Otherwise, an error notification routine for performing the notification in response to the change of the register or flag is prepared in a lower layer of the error event monitoring process so that the error event is captured by the error event monitoring process. To do.

For example, when an error in the boot program storage unit 105 occurs during the OS startup process, the error event monitoring process captures the generated error as an error event. Then, the data in the first error event storage area 112 is incremented.
Note that the data in the first error event storage area 112 is reset every time in the initialization process at the time of booting.

  When an OS or system application program loaded from the storage unit 106 to the temporary storage unit 107 is loaded or when the loaded OS or system application program is normally operated, the second memory control Detected by the unit 114. The detailed contents of the error are (1) read error, (2) write error for each write, and (3) write error for a predetermined number of times, that is, the write location is changed to another position due to the occurrence of the write error, This is an error when writing is not possible.

  When an error in the storage unit 106 is detected, a predetermined register (not shown) provided in the second memory control unit 114 is incremented or a predetermined flag (not shown) is set. The process of notifying the error event monitoring process in response to the change in the register or the flag is realized by the same mechanism as that in the case of the error in the boot program storage unit 105 described above.

For example, when an error in the storage unit 106 occurs during the OS startup process, the error event monitoring process captures the generated error as an error event. Then, the data in the second error event storage area 113 is incremented.
Note that the data in the second error event storage area 113 is reset every time in the initialization process at the time of booting.

If the value of the first error event storage area 112 exceeds a predetermined first threshold value or the value of the second error event storage area 113 exceeds a predetermined second threshold value, the control unit 101 is abnormal. The system is restarted after setting the flag of the startup flag storage unit 110. Here, the value in the first error event storage area 112 is updated by an error in the boot program storage unit 105, and the value in the second error event storage area 113 is updated by an error in the storage unit 106.
Since the abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 is a nonvolatile memory, the flag is retained at the time of restart. If the flag of the abnormal start flag storage unit 110 is set after the restart, the control unit 101 loads the preboot program from the write protected area 111 of the boot program storage unit 105 to the first memory control unit 104. And run. When activated by the pre-boot program, the POS terminal 100 operates with a minimum function necessary for operation. This operating environment is called a pre-boot environment in this specification.
As a function that can be executed in the pre-boot environment, for example, there is a function of reading a barcode in a specific format or adding a product price. As a result, the user of the POS terminal 100 cannot execute sufficient functions for inventory management, but does not need to stop the core business such as sales of products.

≪Explanation of Operation Diagram (Flowchart) ≫
2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of processing for detecting a storage error and shifting to a pre-boot environment in the present invention.
Hereinafter, the processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  After the system of the POS terminal 100 is turned on, the control unit 101 first performs initialization processing of hardware and storage areas necessary at the time of booting. As one of the initialization processes, the values of the first error event storage area 112 and the second error event storage area 113 are set to zero (step S200 in FIG. 2).

Next, the control unit 101 confirms the state of the flag in the abnormal activation flag storage unit 110. That is, it is confirmed whether the current activation is a normal activation or an abnormal activation immediately before (step S203).
If the abnormal start flag storage unit 110 is not flagged and is a normal start (No in Step S205), the control unit 101 downloads the normal boot program from the boot program storage unit 105 to the temporary storage unit 107. This is executed (step S207).
The control unit 101 loads the OS and the system application program from the storage unit 106 to the temporary storage unit 107 in accordance with the normal boot program command (step S209), and then starts executing the loaded OS.

  At the beginning of OS execution, the control unit 101 starts an error event monitoring process (step S211). The error event monitoring process monitors error events that occur in the subsequent OS startup and system application startup (step S213). When the error event monitoring process captures an error event related to the boot program storage unit 105, 1 is added to the value of the first error event storage area 112, and when the error event related to the storage unit 106 is captured, the second error 1 is added to the value of the event storage area 113 (step S241), and the activation is continued (step S213).

  After the activation of the OS and the system application is completed, the error event monitoring process continues to monitor error events related to the boot program storage unit 105 and the storage unit 106. When the error event is captured, the first error event storage area 112 and / or the second error event storage area 113 is updated according to the occurrence location. The values of the first error event storage area 112 and the second error event storage area 113 are inspected (step S217 in FIG. 3), and if either one or both exceeds a predetermined threshold (determination is Yes) ) After raising the flag of the abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 (step S219), the POS terminal 100 is restarted (step S221).

  An error occurs when the boot program storage unit 105 and / or storage unit 106 reaches the end of its life. For example, if an error occurs in the storage unit 106, the OS or system application program cannot be correctly loaded into the temporary storage unit 107, and if the control unit 101 executes an illegally loaded program, a system crash may occur. Alternatively, when data relating to inventory, ordering, and sales is stored in the storage unit 106, the data may be read and written as erroneous values. The aforementioned restart is a process for shifting the POS terminal 100 to the pre-boot environment before falling into such a state.

  The restarted POS terminal 100 executes the process again from the top of FIG. After the initialization process (step S200), when the flag in the abnormal activation flag storage unit 110 is confirmed (step S203), the flag is set (Yes in step S205), so the routine proceeds to step S231 and the write protected area The preboot program is loaded from 111 into the temporary storage unit 107 (step S231). Thereafter, the control unit 101 executes the preboot program loaded in the temporary storage unit, and operates the POS terminal 100 with a minimum function (step S233).

  When an error in the storage unit 106 is detected and data relating to inventory, ordering, and sales is stored in the storage unit 106, it cannot be guaranteed that the reading and writing of these data is normally performed. Therefore, in the pre-boot environment, the control unit 101 communicates with the central computer to acquire the minimum necessary data related to inventory, ordering, and sales, downloads it to the temporary storage unit 107, and performs processing using the data .

  The process returns to step S217 again. In step S217, the values of the first error event storage area 112 and the second error event storage area 113 are inspected. As a result of the inspection, if none of them exceeds the threshold value (No in step S217), the control unit 101 determines that the activation of the POS terminal 100 has been completed without any problem. In this way, the startup process is completed (step S251), and then the POS system operates in a normal state (step S253). Under normal conditions, all functions of all OSs and system applications operate.

  Even after starting normal operation, the error event monitoring process continues to monitor error events (step S255). If an error event is captured during normal operation (Yes in step S255), the value of the first error event storage area 112 and / or the second error event storage area 113 is incremented according to the occurrence location (step S255). Step S257).

Then, the values in the first error event storage area 112 and the second error event storage area 113 are inspected (step S259). As a result of the inspection, if either one or both exceed a predetermined threshold (determination is Yes), the routine proceeds to step S219 and sets an abnormal activation flag in the abnormal activation flag storage unit 110. Thereafter, the POS terminal 100 is restarted (step S221).
If none of the determinations in step S259 exceeds a predetermined threshold value, normal operation of the system is continued (step S253).

  In addition to the embodiments described above, there can be various modifications of the present invention. These modifications should not be construed as not belonging to the scope of the present invention. The present invention should include the meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims and all modifications within the scope.

100: POS terminal
101: Control unit
103: Operation unit
104: First memory control unit
105: Boot program storage
106: Memory
107: Temporary storage
110: Abnormal start flag storage
111: Write-protected area
112: First error event storage area
113: Second error event storage area
114: Second memory control unit

Claims (7)

A control unit that selectively executes processing based on a normal program or processing based on an emergency program after startup;
A first storage unit that stores the normal program and is readable and writable;
A second storage unit for storing the emergency program in advance;
An abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality in reading and writing with respect to the first storage unit,
The control unit sequentially reads a normal program from the first storage unit, executes a process involving access to the first storage unit, and a reading / writing abnormality with respect to the first storage unit is detected by the abnormality detection unit , Switch to execution of processing based on emergency program by restart,
The emergency program is a POS terminal device in which the control unit processes only a part of functions of a normal program and executes the processing without accessing the first storage unit.   2. The POS terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the normal program and the emergency program each include a boot program, an operating system program, and an application program to be executed by the control unit at startup.   3. The POS terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit restarts when the abnormality exceeding a predetermined number of times is detected after startup. 4.   The POS terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second storage unit is a storage area into which the control unit cannot write data.   The POS terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first storage unit includes a flash memory.   The POS terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first storage unit includes a hard disk device. A control unit that can selectively execute processing based on a normal program or processing based on an emergency program after startup accesses the first storage unit after the first startup, sequentially reads the normal program, and based on the normal program Performing a process involving access to the first storage unit;
Receiving a notification of an abnormality from an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality in reading and writing with respect to the first storage unit;
Setting data for program selection based on the notification, whereby the control unit accesses the second storage unit after the second activation, reads out the emergency program, and performs processing based on the emergency program; ,
A step of performing a process based on the emergency program based on the setting of the program selection data after performing the second restart,
The POS terminal control method, wherein the emergency program is a program in which the control unit processes only a part of the functions of the normal program and executes the processing without accessing the first storage unit.

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