JP3355224B2 - Library 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 library apparatus using a magnetic tape cartridge or the like as a storage medium, and more particularly to a library apparatus in which two media transport apparatuses are simultaneously driven.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the increase in the amount of information in computer systems, many fully automated library devices that do not require an operator have appeared as information storage warehouses. These library devices are
In order to automate the transfer of the storage medium, a medium handling robot called an accessor is arranged inside the library device, and a storage medium is inserted into and ejected from a medium storage, or a medium storage and a storage / playback apparatus (MTU). Automatically mounts and demounts.

FIG. 16 schematically shows a conventional library apparatus. In FIG. 16, the library device 50 is used as an information storage of the host computers 48-1 and 48-2. Inside the library device 50, a cell block 10 as a medium storage for storing a medium such as a magnetic tape cartridge is provided, and two accessors 12-1, 12 running on rails 14 along the cell block 10 are provided.
12-2 are provided.

The accessors 12-1 and 12-2 are directly controlled by the controller 156-1, and the accessors 121
-2 is directly controlled by the machine controller 156-2. Accessor controllers 154-1 and 154 are provided above the machine controllers 156-1 and 156-2.
-2 is provided. Normally, the accessor controller 154-1 functions to execute the transport control, and the accessor controller 154-2 does not function.

[0005] This is because the two accessors 12-1 and 12-2 operate on one rail 14, so that they do not operate at the same time and operate independently by the exclusive control method. This is for the purpose of management. For this reason, the accessor controller 154-2 exists as a substitute spare machine when the accessor controller 154-1 becomes inoperable due to a failure or the like.

[0006]

In the meantime, with respect to the conventional library apparatus which has been completely automated as described above, in recent years, while demands from users have increased, it has been strongly desired that the efficiency of transporting a medium by an accessor be improved. ing. However, the conventional apparatus has two accessors, but two accessors operate on one rail, so only one operates, and even if the performance of the accessor itself is enhanced, the transfer efficiency is increased. There is a limit to the improvement of

Therefore, it has been considered that the transfer efficiency is dramatically improved by operating two accessors simultaneously. However, the operation program used in the conventional accessor controller is based on the condition that the two accessors do not operate at the same time, and it is not possible to control the two accessors simultaneously using this program. It was possible.

That is, under the control of one accessor controller, a transport operation command can be issued as an I / O command to only one accessor machine controller.
After the issuance of the transfer operation command, the accessor controller monitors the state until the execution of the command is completed, and waits for the execution to be completed before proceeding to the execution of the next command. Therefore, even if the two accessors are operated separately, the busy ratio of the accessor to the mount request from the next host computer increases, and the response as a library device is reduced.

Further, in order to realize simultaneous operation of two accessors by the accessor controller, the operation program must be completely rewritten, and there is a problem that the accumulated software resources cannot be effectively used. The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and a library apparatus having improved processing performance by enabling simultaneous operation of two accessors by directly using one accessor operation program. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. First, the present invention relates to a storage / reproducing device (MTU) 58 for reading / writing a storage medium such as a magnetic tape cartridge.
An input / output device 20 for inputting / outputting a storage medium;
Medium storage (cell block) 1 for storing a plurality of storage media
0, and at least two media transporters (accessors) 12- for transporting the storage medium between the media storage 10 and the storage / reproducing device 58 or between the media storage 10 and the loading / unloading device 20.
1, 12-2 and two transfer control devices 12-1, 12-
A transport control device (accessor / controller) that issues and controls an operation command based on a control command from a higher-level device to one of the two devices.
Controller) 54-1.

According to the present invention, in the present invention, the transfer control unit 54-1 includes a transfer operation execution unit 10 operated by a single command system from a host device.
4, the actual table means 82 storing control information used by the transport operation executing means 104, and the two medium transport devices 12
-1 and 12-2, two virtual table means 84 and 86 for selectively storing control information corresponding to a control command from a higher-level device, and a virtual table means when the transfer operation executing means 104 operates. Table switching means 1 for selecting one of 84 and 86 and copying the same to the real table means 82 for use, and copying the real table means 82 to the original virtual table means at the end of the operation of the transfer operation executing means 104
02 is provided.

Further, the transfer operation executing means 104 of the library apparatus of the present invention includes two medium transfer apparatuses 12-1 and 12-1.
Actual input / output table means 88 storing switching information for switching and connecting any one of the input / output ports to 2-2;
Operation of two virtual input / output table means 90 and 92 provided corresponding to the two medium transfer devices 12-1 and 12-2 and selectively storing input / output port switching information, and operation of the transfer operation execution means 104 Sometimes virtual input / output table means 90, 92
Is selected and copied to the actual input / output table means 88, and 2 is selected according to the switching information of the actual input / output table means 88.
One of the input / output ports for the two medium transport devices 12-1 and 12-2 is switched and connected, and when the operation of the transport operation executing means 104 is completed, the actual input / output table means 88 is copied to the original virtual input / output table means. And an input / output port switching means 120 for causing the input / output port to be switched.

Further, two medium transport devices 12-1 and 12-
2 side control unit (machine controller) 56-1,
A simulation means 122 for returning a pseudo response to the simultaneous operation command from the transport control device 54-1 in 56-2.
-1 and 122-2 are provided. The simulation means 122-1 and 122-2 respond to the operation command from the transport control means 54-1 by randomly generating a command normal end or a command abnormal end during command execution.

Here, the transport operation executing means 104 includes a plurality of instruction sequences for instructing the medium transport devices 12-1 and 12-2 to perform a predetermined operation.
The number of one or a plurality of instruction sequences to be sequentially executed in accordance with a control instruction from a higher-level device is stored at the end of each preceding instruction sequence. Parse and execute the corresponding instruction sequence.

The instruction sequence provided in the transport operation executing means 104 includes an initialization sequence 108, a command issuing sequence 110, a state monitoring sequence 112, a retry sequence 114, a normal end sequence 116, an abnormal end sequence 118, and the like. For example, the transport operation executing unit 104 stores the number of the status monitoring sequence 112 to be executed next in the real table unit 82 when the execution of the command issuing sequence 110 is completed.

[0016]

According to the library apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration, a virtual table to be used for executing instructions is provided corresponding to two accessors, and the virtual table is switched to operate one device. By copying to the actual table used in the program, the conventional operation program that can only operate with one instruction system is used as it is, for example, alternately issuing I / O instructions to two accessors to realize simultaneous operation can do.

[0017] This point also applies to the switching of the I / O port to the accessor side in which only one can be selected. Similarly, the virtual I / O port designating one of the I / O ports corresponding to the two accessors. I / O table is provided and virtual I / O
One of the two I / O ports is switched and connected by copying one of the tables to the real I / O table,
For example, input / output instructions can be issued alternately to two accessors to operate them simultaneously.

Therefore, the busy rate can be reduced by the simultaneous operation of the accessors, and the performance of the library device can be greatly improved. In addition, by merely switching the virtual table and the virtual I / O table without modifying the conventional operation program itself, one operation program is regarded as two operation programs, and two accessors can be operated simultaneously. Software assets accumulated in a conventional library device can be effectively used.

In addition, the machine controller of the accessor
The provision of the simulation means for simulating the transfer operation in response to the operation command from the accessor controller allows the function of the operation program of the accessor controller to be checked in a short time.

[0020]

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the system configuration of the library apparatus of the present invention in a see-through state. In FIG. 2, the library device is divided into a plurality of frames, and the device can be configured by combining components of these frames. First, the library device is provided with a cell block 10 as a medium storage, and stores a large number of recording media such as magnetic tape cartridges.

The storage position of the medium cartridge in the cell block 10 is defined as a cell address. In the library device, rails 14 are provided on the left and right sides of the frame, and two handling robots, accessors 12-1 and 12-2, are provided on the rails 14. Here, the left accessor is the primary accessor 12-
1 and the right accessor is the secondary accessor 1
2-2.

On the opposite side of the cell block 10 across the rail 14, deck units 16-1 and 16-2 and control units 18-1 and 18-2 are installed. The deck units 16-1 and 16-2 are provided with a plurality of recording / reproducing devices (MTUs) as will be described later. Further, a medium loading / unloading device 20 is provided on the front surface of the frame of the library device so that a medium cartridge can be inserted into and removed from the library device.

FIG. 3 shows the accessor of FIG. 2 taken out. Primary accessor 12-1 and secondary accessor
The accessor 12-2 is installed on the two rails 14 such that the accessor 12-2 can travel by a traveling unit 22 having a traveling motor 13. A column 24 is erected on the running portion 22, and a robot hand 28 that can move up and down along the column 24 is provided.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show details of the robot hand 28.
Is shown in The robot hand 28 is mounted on the lift unit 26, and the lifting operation of the lift unit 26 with respect to the column 24 is performed by the rotation of the screw shaft 32. The lift unit 26 is provided with a turning pulley 34, which transmits the rotation of the turning motor 36 by a wire belt 38 to rotate the robot hand 28 horizontally.

At the turning portion of the robot hand 28, there is provided a medium holding section 42 having a fixing plate 45 which can be seen with the upper cover of FIG. 4 removed. The medium holding unit 42 can move horizontally from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the front direction shown in FIG. 5 by driving the wire belt 44 by driving the slide motor 104. In a state where the medium holding section 42 is fed out in the horizontal direction, the medium cartridge housed in each cell of the cell block can be gripped between the fixed plate 46 and the lower movable plate (not shown) to be taken in and out.

In FIG. 3, the primary accessor 1
The moving directions of the 2-1 and the secondary accessor 12-2 are the X-axis direction along the rail 14, the Y-axis direction up and down along the column 24, and the horizontal direction of the robot hand 28 shown in FIG. The direction is the Z-axis direction. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment showing a hardware configuration of the library device of the present invention. In this embodiment, four host computers 48-1 to 48-4 are provided as the upper level device in the library device 50 of the present invention. Each of the host computers 48-1 to 48-4 is connected to the library device 50 by channel interface buses 60-1 to 60-4. As the channel interface buses 60-1 to 60-4, for example, a block multiplexer channel interface (BMC interface) is provided.

The library device 50 is provided with, for example, four directors 52-1 to 52-4. Director 5
2-1 to 52-4 are the same four channels A, B, C, and D
Or have E, F, G, H. The director 52
The number of channels from -1 to 52-4 can be set to a maximum of 6 in an actual device. Directors 52-1 and 52
-3 channel A is connected to a channel interface bus 60-1 from the host computer 48-1.
Channel B is connected to a channel interface bus 60-2 from the host computer 48-2. The channel E of the directors 52-2 and 52-4 is connected to the channel interface bus 60-3 from the host computer 48-3, and the channel F is connected to the channel interface bus 60-60 from the host computer 48-4. 4 are connected. The directors 52-1, 5
2-3 channels C and D and directors 52-2 and 52
-4 channels G and H are not used in this embodiment.

Two channels a and b are provided on the terminal side of the directors 52-1 to 52-4. Channel a is for a recording / reproducing device, and channel b is for accessor control. The directors 52-1 and 2522 include six recording / reproducing units (MTUs) 58-1 to 58-6 provided on the left side.
And the device bus 62 from the channel a.
-1, 62-2 are connected. Therefore the director 52
-1, 52-2 are the recording / reproducing devices 5 on the left side of the channel a.
A write access or a read access can be executed for 2-1 to 58-6.

The directors 52-3 and 52-4 are also provided with six recording / reproducing devices 58-7 to 58-
12 and the device bus 62-
3, 62-4. Therefore, the director 52-
Reference numerals 3, 52-4 denote recording / reproducing devices 58-1 to 58-1 on the right side.
2 can perform write access or read access. In the actual device, a maximum of 16 recording / reproducing devices can be mounted on one side.

Subsequent to the directors 52-1 to 52-4, a primary accessor controller 54-1 and a secondary accessor controller 54-2 are provided. Usually, the primary accessor controller 54
-1 functions, and the secondary accessor controller 54-2 is provided as a spare unit for replacement. Primary accessor controller 54-1 and secondary accessor controller 54-1
A primary machine controller 56-1 and a secondary machine controller 56-2 are provided under the accessor controller 54-2.

Primary machine controller 56-1
And the secondary machine controller 56-2 are cross-connected to the primary accessor controller 54-1 and the secondary accessor controller 54-2. That is, the primary accessor controller 54-1 and the secondary accessor controller 54-2 are provided with two I / O ports, and are switched to one of the ports to switch between the primary machine controller 56-1 and the secondary machine controller. An operation instruction is issued to 56-2, and the corresponding primary accessor 12-1 or secondary accessor 1
2-2 can be controlled and driven. In the following description, the primary accessor controller 54-1 functioning normally will be described in detail.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing the hardware configuration of the primary accessor controller 54-1 provided in the library device 50 of FIG. In FIG. 7, a CPU 70 is provided in the primary accessor controller 54-1. Internal bus 7 of CPU 70
2 is an upper interface unit 74 and a program ROM 7
6, control RAM 78, control register unit 80 and I / O
A port 98 is provided.

The upper interface unit 74 includes channels a,
From b, the higher-level directors 52-1 to 52-4 receive the medium transport information having the source cell address and the destination cell address received as command parameters following the moom command. Further, a response such as a status indicating the state of the primary accessor controller 54-1 and the state of the lower-level device is returned. The I / O port unit 98 has ports a and b, and the primary machine controller 56 is provided on the port a side.
-1, and the secondary machine controller 56-2 is connected to the port b side.

Primary machine controller 56-
1. The secondary machine controller 56-2 includes a primary accessor 12-1 and a secondary accessor 12-2.
96-1, a y-axis motor 94-2, 96-2, and a Z-axis motor 94-3, 96-3. The control register unit 80 of the primary accessor controller 54-1 has a master control table 82 used for command execution operation by the CPU 70 and a master I / O table used for switching ports a and b in the I / O port unit 98. 88 are provided.

The master control table 82 and the master I
The / O table 88 is a real table used in an operation program for operating one accessor. On the other hand, in the present invention, the primary accessor 12-1
As a virtual table, a primary control table 84 and a secondary control table 86 are provided for the master control table 82 in order to simultaneously operate both the secondary accessor 12-2 and the secondary accessor 12-2. Also, a primary I / O table 90 and a secondary I / O table are provided for the port switching master I / O table in the I / O port unit 98.
A table 92 is provided.

FIG. 8 shows the master primary and secondary control tables 8 provided in the control register section 80 of FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which showed the structure of 2,84,86. The control table shown in FIG. 8 is composed of, for example, an 128-bit 8-bit register table. In this control table, based on the medium transport information from the higher-level director, the sequence status of the task monitor that manages the operation program The command receiving port a / b in the higher-level interface 74 The source address of the move command Move command Destination address of sequence Next, the sequence number to be executed by the operation program Various control flags Type status flags are stored.

FIG. 9 shows each of the master primary and secondary I / O tables of FIG. 7, in which the designation of the switching I / O port for the lower level machine controller designated for the I / O port unit 98 is stored. ing. FIG. 10 shows the primary accessor controller 54-1 of FIG.
5 is an explanatory diagram showing a simultaneous operation function of two accessors realized by the operation program in FIG. In FIG. 10, the primary accessor controller 54-1
The operation program includes an idle processing unit 100, a table switching unit 102, an accessor operation execution unit 104, and an I / O
It has a program structure shown separately for the port switching unit.

The idle processing unit 100 is a waiting routine for executing an instruction based on medium transport information from a higher-level director. Upon receiving a transport instruction including medium transport information from a higher-level director, the idle processing unit 100 starts the processing of the table switching unit 102 and subsequent steps. The table switching unit 102 replaces the primary accessor 12-1 with respect to the real table originally held by the accessor operation execution unit 104.
And the two virtual tables provided for each of the secondary accessors 12-2 are switched and selected and copied to perform the program operation.

When the table switching unit 102 determines the designation of the primary mode by a command from the host,
Primary control table 84 of control register unit 80-1
The data shown in FIG. 8 based on the received transport command is expanded, and the contents of the expanded primary control table 84 are copied to the master control table 82 used by the accessor operation execution unit 104.

When the secondary mode is designated by the upper command, the data shown in FIG. 8 based on the upper command is stored in the secondary control table 86, and then the secondary control table 86 is selected to execute the accessor operation execution section. The contents of the secondary control table 86 are copied to the master control table 82 used in 104. The accessor operation execution unit 104 is provided with a task monitor unit 106, and the task monitor unit 106 selects and executes a plurality of predetermined command sequences based on a result of analyzing a command from a higher order. In this embodiment, the task monitor 106 is provided with an initialization sequence 108, a command issuing sequence 110, a status monitoring sequence 112, a retry sequence 114, a normal end sequence 116, and an abnormal end sequence 118. Sequence numbers SEQ1 to SEQ6 to be stored above are assigned.

The initialization sequence 108 is executed when the library device starts up.
The secondary machine controller 56-2 is initialized and the primary accessor 12-1 and the secondary accessor 12-2 are automatically stopped at the initial positions. The command issuing sequence 110 sends an I / O command based on the medium transport information received from the higher-level director to the primary machine controller 56-1 or the secondary machine controller 56-2 to execute a command execution operation.

The status monitoring sequence 112 issues a status I / O command after issuing a command in the command issuing sequence 110, and
6-1 or secondary machine controller 56-2
And performs a process corresponding to the received status response. In the retry sequence 34, after the I / O command is issued once, the retry operation is performed when the execution of the command fails, and the retry operation is repeated until a predetermined number of retries is reached.

The normal end sequence 116 performs a process when the normal end is performed in response to the retry operation by the retry sequence 114. The abnormal end sequence 118 performs an abnormal end process in the case of abnormal end even after performing a predetermined number of retries in the retry sequence. Of course, an appropriate command sequence can be provided in advance in the task monitor 106 as needed.

Further, with regard to the execution of each command sequence provided in the task monitor unit 106, the connection with the primary machine controller 56-1 or the secondary machine controller 56-2 is made at the time of command execution, and the connection is made after the command is sent. Adopts disconnect disconnect method. For this reason, the accessor operation execution unit 104 disconnects the connection after issuing the move command to the primary machine controller 56-1 by the command issuing sequence 110, and in the next cycle, executes another move command by the command issuing sequence 110 to the secondary machine controller. It can be issued to the controller 56-2 to break the connection. Thereby, the primary machine controller 56-1 and the secondary machine controller 5
6-2 simultaneous operation is enabled.

The I / O port switching unit 120 provided following the accessor operation execution unit 104 is a table switching unit 10
2 performs port switching using each I / O table provided in the control register unit 80-2. Table switching unit 10
2 receives the primary mode medium transport information (source cell address and destination cell address) from the higher-level director, and specifies the I / O port a for the primary machine controller 56-1 in the primary I / O table 90. The information is registered, and then the primary I / O table 90 is selected and copied to the master I / O table 88.

Upon receiving an I / O request from accessor operation executing section 104, I / O port switching section 120 receives a master I / O request.
Referring to the O table 88, one of the registered I / O ports a and b is switched and connected. Further, when the table switching unit 102 receives the medium transport information in the secondary mode from the higher-level director, the table switching unit 102
Secondary machine controller 5 in / O table 96
The switching information to the I / O port a for 6-2 is registered.

For this reason, the accessor operation execution unit 104 operated by the move command in the secondary mode outputs the I
When the I / O port switching unit 120 receives the / O request, the I / O port switching unit 120 refers to the master I / O table 88 to which the secondary I / O table 92 has been transferred, and refers to the port a or b registered in the master I / O table 88. Switch connection. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a command issuance processing operation from the directors 52-1 to 52-4 shown in FIG. 6 to the primary accessor controller 54-1.
In the library device of the present invention, since the primary accessor 12-1 and the secondary accessor 12-2 can be operated simultaneously, the directors 52-1 to 52-1 are used.
On the 2-4 side, an instruction queue for stacking a plurality of medium transport information issued from the host computers 48-1 to 48-4 is provided, and a primary mode or a secondary mode is applied to the medium transport information stored in the instruction queue. And issues a transport operation command to the lower order primary accessor controller 54-1.

The exchange of instructions between the channels of the host computers 48-1 to 48-4 and the directors 52-1 to 52-4 is as follows. The host computer issues a move command by designating a logical address from a specific channel. Upon receipt of the move command, the director checks the space in the instruction queue and returns a zero status response if there is space. If there is no space, return a busy response.

In response to the zero status response, the host computer issues medium transport information as a command parameter having a source cell address (From Address) and a destination cell address (To Address). The director stores the media transport information in the command queue. In this way, one or a plurality of medium transport information is stacked in the instruction queue on the director side.

In FIG. 11, first, in step S1, it is checked whether or not the instruction queue has a stack of medium transport information having a source cell address and a destination cell address issued as command parameters following a move command from a channel. I do. If there is a stack of the media transport information, the process proceeds to step S2, and the current primary accessor 1
It is checked whether 2-1 is operating. If the primary accessor 12-1 has stopped and is in the ready state, the process proceeds to step S3, where it is checked whether the secondary accessor 12-2 is operating or not. If the secondary accessor 12-2 has also stopped and is in the ready state. Proceeding to step S6, a transport operation command is issued in the primary mode.

On the other hand, in step S3, the secondary
If the accessor 12-2 is operating, the process proceeds to step S4, where the primary accessor 12 to be issued this time is executed.
It is checked whether or not the moving area performed at -1 overlaps with the moving area of the currently executed secondary accessor 12-2. If there is no overlap, the process proceeds to step S6, and a transport operation command based on the medium transport information is issued in the primary mode. If they overlap, the process proceeds to step S5, and waits for a ready response due to the end of the operation of the currently operating secondary accessor, and issues a transport operation command in the primary mode in step S6.

On the other hand, if the primary accessor 12-1 is operating in step S4, the transport operation command is issued in the secondary mode at this time, and the process proceeds to step S7, where the currently operating primary accessor 12-1 is operated. 12-1 movement area and secondary / new
It is checked whether the moving areas of the accessor 12-2 overlap. If there is no area overlap, the process proceeds to step S9, and a transport operation command is issued in the secondary mode. If there is an area overlap, the process proceeds to step S8, and waits for a ready response due to the end of the operation of the currently operating primary accessor 12-1, and issues a transport operation command in the secondary mode in step S9.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the simultaneous processing of the primary accessor 12-1 and the secondary accessor 12-2 by the primary accessor controller 54-1 shown in FIG. 12, when the medium transport information is received from a higher-level director in an idle routine in the idle processing unit 100, the processing in FIG. 12 is started. First, in step S1, the medium transport information is analyzed to check whether the mode is the primary mode.

If the mode is the primary mode, the process proceeds to step S2, in which the primary control table 84 in which data based on the medium transport information from the upper level is expanded is copied to the master control table 82, and the I / O port to the primary side is copied. Is copied to the master I / O table 88. Then, step S4
And the primary machine controller 56-1 operates the primary accessor 12-1.

When the operation of the primary accessor 12-1 is completed, it is checked in step S5 whether or not the mode is the primary mode. If the mode is the primary mode, the master control table 82 is changed to the primary control table 84 in step S6.
Copy to The contents of the master control table 82 may have been rewritten in the execution of the accessor operation program in step S4. Subsequently, in a step S7, the master I / O table 88 is copied to the primary I / O table 90.

On the other hand, when the medium transport information of the secondary mode is received from the higher-level director, step S8 is executed.
To replace the secondary control table 86 with the master control table 8
In step S9, the secondary I / O table 92 is copied to the master I / O table 88. In step S4, the secondary machine controller 56-
The accessor operation program is executed by issuing a command to the accessor 2.

When the operation on the secondary accessor 12-2 side is completed, the flow advances to step S10 according to the determination of the secondary mode in step S5, and the master control table 82
Is copied to the secondary control table 86, and the master I / O table 88 is copied to the secondary I / O table 88 in step S11.
The data is copied to the O table 92, and the process returns to the idle routine of the idle processing unit 100.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of the accessor operation program in step S4 of FIG. 12, and shows details of the command issuing sequence 110 and the state monitoring sequence 112 of FIG. In FIG. 13, first, in step S1, the task monitor 10
6 refers to the master control table 82 at that time, and FIG.
The next sequence number in the control table is analyzed as shown in FIG.

The next sequence number is stored in advance for the first medium transport information based on the analysis result of the medium transport information. Here, the medium transport information is received from the higher-level director in the primary mode, and the primary control table 84 is copied to thereby execute the master control table 8.
It is assumed that the data shown in FIG. At this time, the next sequence number is the command issuing sequence 110.
Is the sequence number SEQ2. Therefore,
In step S1, the sequence number SEQ2 of the master control table 82 is analyzed, and the command monitor 110 selects the command issuing sequence 110 as the execution sequence. Next, in step S2, the master I / O table 8
See FIG.

At this time, the primary machine controller 5 in the primary mode is stored in the master I / O table 88.
The I / O port a to 6-1 is stored in the transfer of the primary I / O table 90, so the primary I / O port is determined in step S3, and the process proceeds to step S4, where the I / O port switching unit 120 Switches the I / O port to the primary machine controller 56-1 side.

Subsequently, the path to the primary machine controller 56-1 specified by the switching of the I / O port by the execution of the command issuing sequence 110 of the accessor operation execution unit 104 is connected in step S6. Next, the process proceeds to step S7. At this time, since the sequence is the command issuing sequence 110, the process proceeds to step S9 to issue a transport execution instruction as an I / O command to the primary machine controller 56-1.

This medium transport command is based on the media transport information in which the source address and the destination cell address of the media cartridge are specified. When the transport execution command is issued in step S8, the primary machine is executed in the next step S9. Disconnect the connection with the controller 56-1, store the sequence number SEQ3 of the status monitoring sequence 112 to be executed next in the master control table 88 in step S10, and return to the main routine of FIG.

For this reason, in step S6 of FIG. 12, the sequence number SE of the next status monitoring sequence 112 newly stored in the master control table 82 is executed.
Q3 will be copied to the primary control table 84. The primary machine controller 56-1 that has received the transport operation command in step S8 moves the primary accessor 12-1 by motor driving to the source address specified by the command and positions it. Then, the medium cartridge is moved to the position of the destination address specified by the instruction, positioned, and the held medium cartridge is inserted into the specified position.

Specifically, the medium cartridge taken out of the cell block 10 is automatically conveyed to the recording / reproducing apparatus and loaded. Further, the medium cartridge which has been read and written by the recording / reproducing apparatus is carried back to the cell block 10. Further, transport between the cell block 10 and the medium input / output device 20 is also performed. After the issuance of the move command in the primary mode, the accessor is programmed at regular intervals by a timer interrupt. Also in this case, the task monitor unit 106 analyzes the next sequence number of the master control table 82 obtained by copying the primary control table 84 in step S1. The status monitoring sequence 112 in the previous move command issuance process
Is the sequence number SEQ3.

For this reason, the processor operation execution unit 104 executes the state monitoring sequence 112. The selection of the I / O port in the primary mode is the same as the previous one. In step S6, the primary machine
When the I / O port is connected to the controller 56-1, the process proceeds to step S11, where the state monitoring sequence is determined, and a state I / O command is issued in step S12.

In response to the status I / O command, a status response from the primary machine controller 56-1 is received in step S13. Subsequently, step S18
In step S15, the master control table 82 is left as it is to disconnect the connection with the primary machine controller 56-1, and the main routine shown in FIG. Return to

If it is determined in step S14 that the status has changed from the status response, the flow advances to step S16 to check whether the processing of the transport operation command has been completed. If the processing of the transport operation command is completed, the connection with the primary machine controller 56 is disconnected in step S17, and the sequence number SEQ3 of the master control table 82 is cleared in step S18, and the process returns to the main routine of FIG. .

Therefore, the sequence number of the primary control table 84 is returned to the clear state by copying the master control table 82 to the primary control table 84 in step S6. On the other hand, in the secondary mode, the process proceeds to step S5 in FIG. 13, and the difference is that the I / O port is switched to the secondary machine controller 56-2. Otherwise, the operation is exactly the same as in the primary mode. . That is, when the operation program is executed by the accessor operation execution unit 104, the operation of the primary accessor 12-1 or the operation of the secondary accessor 12-
2 can be executed without being conscious of the operation.

Although the accessor operation process shown in FIG. 13 uses the command issuing sequence and the status monitoring sequence as an example, the remaining initialization sequence, retry sequence, normal end sequence, and abnormal end sequence also correspond to the master at that time. By switching the I / O port according to the analysis result of the sequence number in the control table 82 and the primary or secondary mode, the corresponding command sequence is executed in the same manner.

Further, if the status change of the status response is not the end of the processing of the transport operation command in step S16 of FIG. 13, the sequence number SEQ4 of the retry sequence 114 of FIG. 10 is registered as the next command sequence in the master control table. If the retry sequence does not end normally after performing the retry sequence a predetermined number of times, the process shifts to an abnormal end sequence.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing another embodiment of the present invention in which a simulation function used for verifying the simultaneous operation of two accessors in the accessor controller is provided in the machine controller. In FIG. 14, the primary accessor controller 54-1
Have the same operation functions as shown in FIG. The accessor simulation programs 122-1 and 122-2 are mounted on the primary machine controllers 56-1 and 56-2 connected to the primary accessor controller 54-1 via the I / O port switching unit 120. Have been.

The accessor simulation programs 122-1 and 122-2 are simultaneously executed by the primary accessor controller 54-1 without the accessors 12-1 and 12-2 shown in FIGS. Used to verify the functionality of the operation. Accessor simulation programs 122-1 and 122-
2 is a primary accessor, as shown in FIG.
When the operation command from the controller 54-1, that is, the status I / O command is determined in step 1 and 1, the three statuses of command execution, command normal end, and command abnormal end are generated at random and returned as a status response in steps S2 to It has the function shown in S7. Therefore, the primary accessor controller 54-1 issues a transport operation instruction as an I / O command, and the accessor simulation program 122-1 or 122-2 responds to the state I / O command in the next state monitoring sequence. During command execution, command normal end or command abnormal end is generated and returned as a status response. In response to the pseudo status response from the accessor simulation programs 122-1 and 122-2, the primary accessor controller 54-1 assigns the next sequence number to the master control table 8.
2 and the same control operation as when two accessors are actually driven simultaneously can be performed.

Accordingly, the primary machine controller 56-1 and the secondary machine controller 56
-2 accessor simulation program 12
Using 2-1 and 122-2, the total processing time in the simultaneous operation of the two accessors, the average time of the loading transport from the processing block to the recording / reproducing device, and the return transport from the recording / reproducing device to the cell block. Evaluation data such as the average time can be obtained.

Of course, such an accessor simulation program is not developed in the control unit of the actual library device as shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, but the accessor operation program and the accessor simulation program are stored on a computer as a mother machine. The program may be developed and processed in a software manner so as to be used for checking or improving the performance of the accessor operation program. Then, when the adjustment is completed on the computer as the mother machine, this program may be ported to the primary accessor controller 54-1 of the actual library device.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, only the primary accessor controller 54-1 side is described. However, the same operation program is also mounted on the secondary accessor controller 54-2 side, and when the primary side fails. Will be provided as a spare machine for replacement. Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the director is provided with an instruction queue for storing a plurality of medium transport information issued by the host computer. However, the instruction queue may be provided on the accessor controller side.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, a virtual table and a virtual I / O port table corresponding to two accessors are provided without modifying an operation program for operating one accessor. Only by replacing the actual table and the actual I / O port table used for actual program operation and I / O port switching, 1
One operation program can be regarded as two operation programs, and the simultaneous operation of the two accessors can be easily executed to greatly improve the processing performance of the library device.

Also, since the operation program developed for the conventional one accessor can be used as it is, the utilization of software functions is achieved, and the development cost and equipment cost for realizing the simultaneous operation of the two accessors are greatly reduced. Can be reduced. Further, the function of the operation program of the accessor controller can be checked in a short time by providing the machine controller of the accessor with a simulation function of simulating a transfer operation in response to an operation command from the accessor controller.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the apparatus configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the accessor of FIG. 2 taken out therefrom;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing details of the robot hand of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing details of a robot hand with an upper lid removed in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment showing a hardware configuration of a library device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing hardware of the accessor machine controller of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a control table used in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an I / O table used in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing processing functions of the accessor / machine controller of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a command issuing process by the director of FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a table switching process by the accessor controller of FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of an accessor operation program of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a simulation function of an accessor according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the simulation processing of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Cell block (medium storage) 12-1: Primary accessor 12-2: Secondary accessor 14: Rail 16-1, 16-2: Deck unit 18-1, 18-2: Control unit 20: Media input Discharge port 22: Traveling part 24: Strut 26: Lifting part 28: Robot hand 30: Traveling motor 32: Screw shaft 34: Revolving pulley 36: Revolving motor 38: Wire belt 40: Sliding motor 42: Medium holding part 44: Belt 46: Fixed plate 48-1 to 48-3: Host computer 50: Library device 52-1 to 52-4: Director 54-1: Primary accessor controller 54-2: Secondary accessor controller 56-1: Primary Machine Controller 56-2: Second Re-machine controllers 58-1 to 58-12: recording / reproducing device (MTU) 70: CPU 72: internal bus 74: host interface unit 76: program ROM 78: control RAM 80: control register unit 82: master control table ( 84: Primary control table (virtual table means) 86: Secondary control table (virtual table means) 88: Master I / O table (real input / output table means) 90: Primary I / O table (virtual input / output table) Means) 92: Secondary I / O table (virtual input / output table means) 94-1, 96-1: X-axis motor 94-2, 96-2: Y-axis motor 94-3, 96-3: Z-axis motor 98 : I / O port unit 100: Idle processing unit 102: Table switching unit (table switching unit) 04: accessor operation unit (transport operation execution means) 106: task monitor unit 108: initialization sequence 110: command issuing sequence 112: state monitoring sequence 114: retry sequence 116: normal end sequence 118: abnormal end sequence 120: I / O Port switching units 122-1 and 122-2: accessor simulation program (simulation means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroki Ohashi 35 Saho, Kato-gun, Hyogo Prefecture Fujitsu Peripheral Machine Co., Ltd. 56) References JP-A-4-221454 (JP, A) JP-A-1-279329 (JP, A) JP-A-4-125584 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , (DB name) G06F 3/06-3/08 G11B 15/68 G06F 12/00-12/16

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A storage reproducing apparatus for reading and writing 1. A magnetic tape cartridge such as the storage medium, and on and the insertion-discharge equipment for performing discharging of said storage medium, and the medium repository for storing a plurality of said storage medium, said storage the media and the media vault storage playback instrumentation
置又 the control command from the host device and the at least two media conveying equipment, one <br/> either transport control equipment of two said to transport between injection and ejection equipment and media vault in the library apparatus that includes a transport control equipment to be issued to control the operation command based on, the transport control equipment, a conveying operation execution means to operate by a single chain of command from the host device, selectively storing control information corresponding to the control command from the carrying operation performed with a hand-stage base table hand stage which stores control information to be used in the upper provided corresponding to the two medium transport equipment device Do 2
One of the virtual table hand stage, the virtual table hand stage during operation of the transport operation performed manually stage
Either by one choose to use are copied to the real table hand stage, and a table switching hands stage to copy the original virtual table means the actual table hand-stage operating at the end of the transport operation performed manually stage , The control unit on the two media transport devices side
Returns a pseudo response to the simultaneous operation command from the controller
A library device comprising simulation means . 2. The library device according to claim 1, wherein:
The carrying operation performed manually stage) includes a further, actual input and output tables hand stage which stores switching information for switching connection to one of the input and output ports against the two media transport <br/> equipment, and two virtual output table <br/> hand stage stored selectively switching information of the input and output ports provided corresponding to the two media transport equipment, the during operation of the transport operation performed manually stage virtual output table hand selects either stage of the input and output ports against the two media transport equipment according to switching information copied to said actual output table hand stage to the actual output table hand stage 1 One was switched connection, characterized by comprising a input-output port switching hands stage to copy the original virtual input table means the actual output table hand stage during operation completion of the conveying operation performed manually stage Library device. 3. In the library apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said simulation hand stage, the transport control hand stage
To the operation instruction of the pressurizing et al, during instruction execution, the library apparatus characterized by responding instruction normal completion or instructions abend-randomly generated. 4. In the library apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said transport operation performed manually stage includes a plurality of instruction sequences that direct the predetermined operation on the medium conveying instrumentation 置側, the real table hand stage to the number of one or more instruction sequences to be executed sequentially in accordance with a control command from the host device,
Stored in the end of every preceding instruction sequence, and executes a sequence of instructions by analyzing a sequence <br/> scan numbers of the real tables hand stage during operation of the next transport operation performed manually stage corresponding Library device. 5. In the library apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, as an instruction sequence to the transport operation performed manually stage,
Initialization sequence, the command issue sequence, state monitoring <br/> sequence, retries sequence, normal termination sequence
Scan, the library apparatus characterized in that a abend sequence. 6. The library device according to claim 5 , wherein
The transport operation execution hand stage, the command issue sequence
Library apparatus in the execution completion and to store the state monitoring sequence number to be executed next to the real table hand stage.