JP2924732B2 - Self-diagnosis method for information processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-diagnosis method for an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a self-diagnosis method for an information processing apparatus having an operation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in modern society, information processing devices are operated as a key component in various systems, and an important role that can cause fatal and serious damages due to a malfunction of the information processing device. Has been fulfilled. Therefore, in order to increase the reliability of the information processing device and maintain the function of the system normally, the self-diagnosis function for the information processing device is an indispensable element. As an example of a conventional self-diagnosis method of an information processing apparatus, for example, self-diagnosis is performed for an abnormality when a task (the smallest unit of an independently operating program) falls into a permanent loop due to some factor. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 171544/1991 and "Hardware Fundamentals for Software Engineers (Kazushi Onose, Ohmsha)" for self-diagnosing memory failures using dedicated hardware are known. . Hereinafter, these two self-diagnosis methods will be described.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-171544.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a self-diagnosis device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No.
A plurality of level operation diagnosis modules 2 (C1, C2, C3
, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8,..., Ci)
And a plurality of operation monitoring timers 3 (T1, T2, T
3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8,..., Ti)
, A level operation monitoring register 4, a task operation time memory 5, a system diagnosis device 6, and an abnormality display device 7. As shown in FIG. 8, under the control of the operation system 1, a level operation diagnosis module 2 and an operation monitoring timer 3 are provided for each operation level of all tasks, and the level operation diagnosis module 2 It is started periodically by the control, whereby a predetermined fixed time is set in the corresponding operation monitoring timer 3. When the operation monitoring timer 3 times out, an abnormality is stored in the level operation monitoring register 4. In the operation system 1, the operation time of each task is monitored, and this value is set in the task operation time memory 5. The system diagnosis device 6 periodically enters an operating state, the abnormal state is analyzed, a direct cause of the failure is searched, and a request to stop the task is issued to the operation system 1. In addition, the content of the failure that has become abnormal is displayed on the external abnormality display device 7, and self-diagnosis is performed. On the other hand, the level operation diagnosis module 2 is configured to perform an operation equivalent to a task, and is connected to an operation queue. The operation enabled or disabled state at each level is detected by the operation monitoring timer 3.

[0004] In a self-diagnosis method for a memory of an information processing apparatus described in "Hardware Basics for Software Engineers", an error correction code (hereinafter referred to as ECC) is used.
This is implemented by using In this self-diagnosis method, at the time of writing to a memory, a check bit generation circuit creates check bits from information bits based on the ECC, and writes these information bits and check bits into the memory. When reading these information bits and check bits from the memory,
In the check bit generation circuit, another check bit is created from the information bit based on the ECC, and the check bit is input to the syndrome generation circuit together with the check bit already written in the memory to create a syndrome. From the syndrome obtained in this way, a failure determination is made in the syndrome analysis circuit, and if an error exists in the information bit read from the memory, the error correction circuit corrects the erroneous information bit.

[0005]

In the above-described conventional method of self-diagnosis of an information processing apparatus, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-1715 discloses a method.
In the self-diagnosis method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44-44,
The operation monitoring timer monitored by the operation system needs to be provided for each task, and there is a disadvantage that the processing content of the corresponding operation system becomes complicated.

Further, since the self-diagnosis function is started from a state where an abnormal task is executed, there is a disadvantage that a failure cannot be diagnosed beforehand.

Further, in the self-diagnosis, there is a disadvantage that repair of a failure is ineffective.

In the self-diagnosis method for the memory of the information processing apparatus described in "Hardware Basics for Software Engineers", when performing the self-diagnosis, special methods are used for failure detection and error correction. There is a drawback that it is necessary to provide a special dedicated circuit, and the cost required for hardware increases.

[0009]

Self-diagnosis method of the present onset light of the information processing apparatus [Means for Solving the Problems], as a self-diagnosis method for an information processing apparatus comprising an operation system, through the control of the operation system by the information processing apparatus Yoo A first step of executing the process; and, in the course of the first step, determining whether or not the number of user processes sequentially executed by the information processing apparatus has decreased to n (any positive integer) or less. A second step of determining;
When the number of user processes sequentially executed by the information processing apparatus is reduced to n or less in the determination result of the step (b), by executing the self-diagnosis program as a process under the management of the operation system, the information A third step of performing a self-diagnosis of a memory included in the processing device, wherein in the second step, the number of sequentially executed user processes has not decreased to n or less. When the determination is made and after the end of the self-diagnosis of the memory in the third step, the process returns to the first step.

[0010]

[0011] In this onset bright, as a self-diagnosis method for a memory included in the information processing apparatus in the third step, a fourth step of detecting whether the failure in the memory is present A fifth step of, when a failure is detected in the memory in the fourth step, transmitting the detection of the failure to the operation system; and A sixth step of determining whether or not the block is included in the occupied area of the memory; And the sixth step for forcibly terminating the execution process occupying the corresponding block of the faulty memory if In flop determination result, after the block of the failure memory, if not included in the occupied area of the memory of running processes, and to forcibly terminate the execution process in the seventh step,
An eighth step of correcting the data in the failed memory block to perform the repair, and determining whether or not the repair is completed;
If the result of the determination in the eighth step indicates that the failed memory block has been repaired, a ninth step of transmitting the repair completion to the operating system; Transmitting a non-recoverable portion of the memory to the operating system when the memory block obtained is unrecoverable, after the fourth step is completed or the ninth step. The self-diagnosis of the memory may be ended after the end of the step or after the end of the tenth step.

[0012]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a self-diagnosis method for a memory of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, first, the information processing apparatus is started to be activated, and a user process is executed under the control of the operation system (step 11). Then
It is determined whether the number of user processes executed by the information processing apparatus has decreased to n (arbitrary positive integer) or less (step 12). If the number has not decreased to n or less, step 11 is performed again. When it is determined that the number has decreased, the operation system executes the self-diagnosis program as a process to perform the self-diagnosis of the memory (step 13). When the execution of the self-diagnosis program in step 13 is completed, the process returns to step 11 again.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a self-diagnosis procedure of the memory in step 13 of the flowchart shown in FIG. With the start of the self-diagnosis of the memory, first, the presence or absence of the failure of the memory is detected (step 21). If it is determined in step 21 that there is no failure, the self-diagnosis of the memory ends.
If a memory failure is detected in step 21, the detection of the failure is transmitted to the operation system (step 22). Next, it is determined whether or not the block of the faulty memory is included in the occupied area of the memory of the currently executing process (step 23). If so, the execution process occupying the corresponding failed memory block is forcibly terminated (step 24). In step 23, if the faulty memory block is not included in the occupied area of the memory of the process being executed, and after the procedure of step 24 is completed, the data in the faulty memory block is corrected and repaired. It is determined whether or not the repair has been completed (step 25). If the failed memory block is determined to have been repaired, the fact that the repair has been completed is transmitted to the operation system (step 26). The self-diagnosis ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 25 that the failed memory block cannot be repaired, the unrecoverable portion of the memory is transmitted to the operation system (step 27), and the self-diagnosis of the memory is performed. finish.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which, when the present invention is not applied, a user process is executed as a failed process due to a memory failure, and an abnormal operation occurs in the information processing apparatus. In FIG.
The vertical axis indicates the execution level of the process (in this example, set to 8 levels), and the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed time. In the time period of time t ₀ ~t _4, user process 101 to 104 are executed normally, the level of higher order level (young suffix number as high.
That is, the level value sequentially decreases in the order of L ₁ , L ₂ ,..., L ₈ . ) User process is being executed with priority.
The user process 105 is performed from time t _5. In some or all areas of the memory block occupied by the user process, a failure occurs for some reason, the user process 105 enters a permanent loop state, and the failure process is executed. After that, the user process 109 becomes the failed user process 105.
Normal operation continues because the user process is a higher-level user process.
The user processes 110 to 113 are in a waiting state because they are lower-level user processes than the failed user process 105, and the information processing apparatus enters an abnormal operation state. Further, the user process 10 to be executed from the time t ₁₂
8 is also placed in a state of a permanent loop failure process due to a memory failure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the abnormal operation state of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is returned to a normal operation state by the processing procedure in the first embodiment.
Here, as the condition for starting execution of the self-diagnosis of the memory, the number of reduced user processes is three (when n = 3).
Set as below. 4, from time t _5, the user process 105 of the failed endless loop is executed. User process 104 is terminated at time t _6, when the user process 103 at time t ₇ is completed, execution of the user process number 3 (execution start condition of the self-diagnosis), and at time t _a, the control of the operating system The self-diagnosis program is executed as a self-diagnosis process 201, and the self-diagnosis of the memory is started. By the self-diagnosis process 201, a failure in the memory block occupied by the user process 105 placed in the permanent loop state is detected, and the detection of the failure is transmitted to the operation system.

Further, even if a failure occurs in the memory block occupied by the user process 108 by the self-diagnosis process 201, the failure is simultaneously detected and the failed memory block is repaired. Time t _b after completion of self-diagnosis process 201
Thus, the user processes placed in the wait state in FIG. 3 are also sequentially executed, and the user process 108 that has been in the permanent loop state due to the memory failure also has the time t _d.
, The information processing apparatus enters a normal operation state. Also, from time t _{c to} t _e , the number of executing user processes is three or less, so the self-diagnosis process 202 is executed.

That is, in the self-diagnosis method according to the above-described first embodiment, a self-diagnosis program is used without providing special hardware for self-diagnosis in the information processing apparatus, and the operation system can be used. When the number of executing user processes is reduced to three or less, the self-diagnosis of the memory is automatically executed to prevent an abnormal state of the information processing apparatus due to a failure, to recover the abnormal state, and to repair a failed part. The included function is executed effectively.

Next, a self-diagnosis method according to the related art of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a self-diagnosis method for a memory of an information processing apparatus according to the related art of the present invention . In FIG. 5, first, the information processing apparatus is started up, and a user process is executed under the control of the operation system (step 31). Next, in a state where the number of user processes executed by the information processing apparatus is 0, it is determined whether or not a predetermined designated time has elapsed (step 32). Returning to step 31 again, if the specified time has already elapsed, the operation system executes the self-diagnosis program as a process to perform self-diagnosis of the memory (step 3).
3). Then, when the execution of the self-diagnosis program in step 33 is completed, the process returns to step 31 again. In other words, this
This self-diagnosis method differs from the self-diagnosis method according to the above-described first embodiment in the content of the determination processing procedure in step 32.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the user process is executed as a failure process due to a memory failure when the related technique is not applied, and an abnormal operation occurs in the information processing apparatus. As in the case of FIG. 3, the vertical axis indicates the execution level of the process, and the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed time. From time t1, user processes are sequentially executed. At time t7, the user process 114 ends, and thereafter, the state in which the number of user processes is 0 continues. Further, the user process is executed at time t8, but the user process 119 executed at time t10 is a failure process in a permanent loop state due to a memory failure. Hereafter,
The user process 120 and the user process 121 enter a waiting state, and an abnormal state occurs in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which an abnormal operation state of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is returned to a normal operation state by the self-diagnosis method of the related art described above. In FIG. 7, the user process 114 ends at time t7, and the state in which the number of user processes becomes 0 continues. At time tf, assuming that a specified time specified in the self-diagnosis method of the related technology has elapsed, the time tf
In, under the control of the operation system, the self-diagnosis program is executed as the self-diagnosis process 203, and the self-diagnosis of the memory is started. The self-diagnosis process 203 detects a failure in the memory block occupied by the user process 119 placed in the permanent pool state. After the detection of the failure is transmitted to the operation system, the failed memory block is repaired, the completion of the repair is transmitted to the operation system, and the self-diagnosis process 203 ends at time t8. Thereafter, at time t10, the user process 119 placed in the permanent loop state is executed, and terminates normally at time th. Along with this, the user process 120 and the user process 121 put in the waiting state are also normally executed, and the information processing apparatus is brought into a normal operation state.

That is, in the self-diagnosis method of the related art described above, similar to the first embodiment, there is no need to provide special hardware for the self-diagnosis in the information processing apparatus, and the self-diagnosis method is not required. By using the program,
The operating system automatically executes the self-diagnosis of the memory when the specified time has elapsed with the number of executing user processes being 0, preventing the abnormal state of the information processing apparatus due to a failure, recovering the abnormal state, and Functions including restoration of a portion are effectively executed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the self-diagnosis including the presence / absence of a failure is automatically performed through a predetermined diagnosis condition in accordance with the operation state of the processor by the control operation of the operation system. Therefore, there is an effect that it is not necessary to perform a self-diagnosis through interrupt processing by the operation system.

In a state where the operating state of the processor is high, the self-diagnosis process is not executed,
Therefore, there is an effect that the execution state of the user process is not deteriorated.

Further, since the self-diagnosis is performed before the information processing apparatus falls into an abnormal state, the abnormal state of the information processing apparatus can be prevented beforehand, and the self-diagnosis can repair the fault. There is an effect that can be performed.

Further, the self-diagnosis program can automatically perform the self-diagnosis, so that there is no need to provide special hardware for the self-diagnosis, and it is possible to eliminate the cost required for the hardware equipment. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a processing procedure of a self-diagnosis method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a processing procedure for executing a self-diagnosis of a memory in the self-diagnosis method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of each process in the information processing apparatus in an abnormal state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of each process when the information processing apparatus is returned to a normal operation state by the self-diagnosis method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a processing procedure of a self-diagnosis method according to a related technique of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of each process in the information processing apparatus in an abnormal state.

The self-diagnosis method according to FIG. 7 5 is a diagram showing an operation state of each process when returning the information processing apparatus to a normal operating state.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a diagnostic system in a conventional self-diagnosis method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 operation system 2 level operation diagnosis module 3 operation monitoring timer 4 level operation monitoring register 5 task operation time memory 6 system diagnosis device 7 abnormality display device 11 to 13, 21 to 27, 31 to 33 step 101 to 121 user process 201, 202 , 203 Self-diagnosis process

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06F 11/22-11/26 G06F 9/46-9/46 360

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A self-diagnosis method for an information processing apparatus having an operation system, wherein: a first step of executing a user process by the information processing apparatus through control of the operation system; A second step of determining whether or not the number of user processes sequentially executed by the information processing apparatus has decreased to n (arbitrary positive integer) or less, and in the determination result of the second step, When the number of user processes sequentially executed by the information processing device is reduced to n or less, the memory included in the information processing device is executed by executing a self-diagnosis program as a process under the management of the operation system. And a third step of performing a self-diagnosis of the second step. If the number of user processes being sequentially performed is determined as not is reduced to n or less, and the third in the self-diagnosis after the end of the memory in the step, the first
A self-diagnosis method for the information processing apparatus, wherein the method returns to the step of: 2. A self-diagnosis method for a memory included in the information processing apparatus in the third step, wherein a fourth step of detecting whether or not a failure exists in the memory; and a fourth step of A fifth step of transmitting the detection of the failure to the operating system when a failure is detected in the memory, and setting the block of the failed memory in the occupied area of the memory of the process being executed. A sixth step of determining whether or not the block is included; and in the determination result of the sixth step, a block of the faulty memory is included in the occupied area of the memory of the currently executing process. A seventh step of forcibly terminating the execution process occupying the corresponding block of the faulty memory; When the block of the failed memory is not included in the occupied area of the memory of the process being executed, and after forcibly terminating the execution process in the seventh step, the data in the failed memory block is deleted. An eighth step of correcting and repairing and determining whether or not the repair has been completed; and, in the determination result of the eighth step, if the failed memory block has been repaired, the repair completion is determined by the operation system. A ninth step of transmitting a non-recoverable portion of the memory to the operation system when the failed memory block cannot be repaired in the determination result of the eighth step. And after the end of the fourth step or after the end of the ninth step or before After completion of the tenth step, the self-diagnosis method according to claim 1 Symbol placement of the information processing apparatus is characterized in that to end the self-diagnosis of the memory.