JP7006151B2 - Reboot system and information processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a reboot system and an information processing apparatus.

Conventionally, image formation for detecting the occurrence of a communication failure between the control unit and the operation unit by periodically communicating between the CPU (Central Processing Unit) included in the control unit and the CPU provided in the operation unit. The device is known. This image forming apparatus detects the occurrence of communication failure by detecting periodic interruption of communication between CPUs, automatically reboots, and eliminates the occurrence of communication failure.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus, there is a problem that power consumption increases because the entire apparatus is rebooted every time a communication failure is detected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reboot system and an information processing apparatus capable of rebooting a portion corresponding to a cause of a communication failure that has occurred.

A reboot system according to an embodiment includes an operation unit including a first CPU that periodically transmits a confirmation message, a second CPU that returns a response message to the first CPU when the confirmation message is received, and a third CPU. A control unit is provided, and if the first CPU cannot receive the response message from the second CPU during the operation of the operation unit and the control unit, a communication failure occurs between the operation unit and the control unit. When the third CPU is notified of the fact that the communication failure has occurred, the third CPU executes a specific process for identifying the cause of the communication failure, and the portion corresponding to the identified cause. When the control unit is started, the third CPU executes the specific process before the second CPU notifies the occurrence of the communication failure, and the second CPU notifies the occurrence of the communication failure. , Reboot the part corresponding to the cause identified by the specific process executed before the notification .

According to each embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a reboot system and an information processing apparatus capable of rebooting a portion corresponding to a cause of a communication failure that has occurred.

The figure which shows an example of the structure of an image forming apparatus. The flowchart which shows an example of the processing which the image forming apparatus performs during operation. The figure which shows an example of the specific processing table. The figure which shows an example of the identification process of the cause of a communication failure schematically. A flowchart showing an example of the processing executed by the control panel at startup. The figure which shows an example of the identification process of the cause of a communication failure schematically. The figure which shows an example of the identification process of the cause of a communication failure schematically. The figure which shows an example of the identification process of the cause of a communication failure schematically. The figure which shows an example of the identification process of the cause of a communication failure schematically.

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Regarding the description of the specification and the drawings according to each embodiment, the components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, and the superimposed description will be omitted.

<First Embodiment>
The information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The information processing device 100 according to the present embodiment is a device that processes information, and is, for example, an image forming device, a PC (Personal Computer), a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like. The image forming apparatus includes a multifunction device (MFP: Multi-Function Peripheral), a printing apparatus, a copying apparatus, a FAX apparatus, and the like.

The information processing device 100 includes a reboot system that reboots at least a part of the device. The reboot system includes an operation unit and a control unit. The operation unit is a user interface (input / output device) of the information processing device 100, and the control unit is a control device that controls the entire information processing device 100. Hereinafter, a case where the information processing apparatus 100 is an image forming apparatus will be described as an example. The information processing device 100 is referred to as an image forming device 100.

First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 is an MFP including an operation panel 1, a control panel 2, a printing apparatus 3 that realizes a printing function, and a scanner device 4 that realizes a reading function.

The operation panel 1 is an example of an operation unit, and constitutes a reboot system together with the control panel 2. The operation panel 1 of FIG. 1 includes an operation CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a touch panel 14, a display 15, a connection interface 16, and a bus. 17 and.

The operation CPU 11 (first CPU) is a CPU that controls each configuration of the operation panel 1 by executing a program and realizes the function of the operation panel 1. The ROM 12 stores various information including a program executed by the operation CPU 11. The RAM 13 provides a working area for the operating CPU 11. The touch panel 14 is an input device, receives an operation from a user, and inputs information according to the accepted operation. The image forming apparatus 100 may include an input device such as a hardware key, a mouse, and a keyboard in addition to the touch panel 14. The display 15 is a display device, and displays an operation screen for operating the image forming apparatus 100, a message to be notified to the user, and the like. The connection interface 16 is an interface for connecting to the control panel 2. The bus 17 connects the operation CPU 11, the ROM 12, the RAM 13, the touch panel 14, the display 15, and the connection interface 16.

The operation unit in this embodiment is not limited to the operation panel 1. The operation unit may be any device including an operation CPU, an input device, an output device, and a connection interface.

The control panel 2 is an example of a control unit, and constitutes a reboot system together with the operation panel 1. The control panel 2 of FIG. 1 includes a main CPU 21, a sub CPU 22, a connection interface 23, a ROM 24, a RAM 25, an engine 26, a power supply unit 27, and a bus 28.

The main CPU 21 (second CPU) and the sub CPU 22 (third CPU) are CPUs that control each configuration of the control panel 2 by executing a program and realize the functions of the control panel 2. The main CPU 21 controls the entire image forming apparatus 100. The sub CPU 22 controls the image forming apparatus 100 when a communication failure occurs. The connection interface 23 is an interface for connecting to the operation panel 1. The main CPU 21 and the sub CPU 22 can communicate bidirectionally with the CPU 11 of the operation panel 1 via the connection interfaces 16 and 23.

The ROM 24 stores various information including programs executed by the main CPU 21 and the sub CPU 22. The RAM 25 provides a work area for the main CPU 21 and the sub CPU 22. The engine 26 controls the printing device 3 and the scanner device 4 according to the instructions from the main CPU 21. The power supply unit 27 controls the power supplies of the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 according to the instructions from the main CPU 21 and the sub CPU 22. The bus 28 connects the main CPU 21, the sub CPU 22, the connection interface 23, the ROM 24, the RAM 25, the engine 26, and the power supply unit 27.

The control unit in this embodiment is not limited to the control panel 2. The control unit may be any device including a main CPU, a sub CPU, a connection interface 23, and a power supply unit 27. Further, the power supply unit 27 may be provided separately from the control unit.

Next, the process executed by the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the image forming apparatus 100 during operation (after activation).

First, the operation CPU 11 transmits a confirmation message to the main CPU 21 at a predetermined timing (step S101). The confirmation message is a message for confirming whether the communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is normally performed. When the main CPU 21 receives the confirmation message from the operation CPU 11, it responds to the received confirmation message and returns the response message to the operation CPU 11.

When the operation CPU 11 receives the response message from the main CPU 21 (YES in step S102), the operation CPU 11 determines that the communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is normally performed, and waits for a predetermined time (step S103). ). After that, the process returns to step S101, and the operation CPU 11 again transmits a confirmation message to the main CPU 21.

On the other hand, when the operation CPU 11 cannot receive the response message from the main CPU 21 (NO in step S102), the operation CPU 11 determines that a communication failure has occurred between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2, and informs the sub CPU 22 to that effect. Notify (step S104). That is, the operation CPU 11 notifies the sub CPU 22 that a communication failure has occurred between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the operation CPU 11 periodically sends a confirmation message to the main CPU 21 and periodically receives a response message from the main CPU 21 during the operation of the image forming apparatus 100. Thereby, the operation CPU 11 can confirm whether the communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is normally performed.

When the operation CPU 11 notifies that the communication failure has occurred, the sub CPU 22 executes a specific process for identifying the cause of the communication failure (step S105). Possible causes of communication failure include, for example, a hang-up of the main CPU 21 and a failure of the signal line between the operation CPU 11 and the main CPU 21 (disconnection or poor contact). If the main CPU 21 hangs, the main CPU 21 cannot reply to the confirmation message. Further, when a failure of the signal line occurs, the confirmation message does not reach the main CPU 21, and the response message does not reach the operation CPU 11.

The sub CPU 22 reads a specific processing table in which the cause of the communication failure as described above and the process for determining whether the event causing the cause are associated with each other from the ROM 24 or expands the specific processing table into the RAM 25. By reading the processing table and executing each processing, the cause of the communication failure is identified.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a specific processing table. In the specific processing table of FIG. 3, hang-up of the main CPU 21 and failure of the signal line are stored as causes of communication failure. The cause of the communication failure and the corresponding processing are not limited to the example of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a process for identifying the cause of a communication failure. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows a process for determining whether or not the main CPU 21 is hung up. As described above, when the operation CPU 11 cannot receive the response message from the main CPU 21, the operation CPU 11 notifies the sub CPU 22 of the occurrence of a communication failure. When the operation CPU 11 notifies the operation CPU 11 that a communication failure has occurred, the sub CPU 22 transmits a confirmation message to the main CPU 21 and receives a response message to the confirmation message from the main CPU 21. When the response message can be received from the main CPU 21, the sub CPU 22 determines that the main CPU 21 is not hung. On the other hand, when the response message cannot be received from the main CPU 21, the sub CPU 22 identifies the hangup of the main CPU 21 as the cause of the communication failure. The process of FIG. 4 corresponds to the process of the first row of the specific process table of FIG.

When the cause of the communication failure cannot be identified by the identification process (NO in step S106), the sub CPU 22 reboots the entire image forming apparatus 100 including the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 (step S107). Specifically, the sub CPU 22 requests the power supply unit 27 to reboot the entire image forming apparatus 100. In response to this request, the power supply unit 27 performs an entire reboot of the image forming apparatus 100. When the generated communication failure can be resolved by rebooting, the communication failure can be resolved by the reboot regardless of where the cause exists in the image forming apparatus 100. When the communication failure is resolved by rebooting the entire image forming apparatus 100, normal communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is resumed.

On the other hand, when the cause of the communication failure can be identified in the specific process (YES in step S106), the sub CPU 22 stores the identified cause as history information in the built-in non-volatile memory or ROM 24. This history information can be used for repairing and managing the image forming apparatus 100.

Next, the sub CPU 22 confirms whether the identified cause is a cause that can eliminate the communication failure by rebooting (step S109). The sub CPU 22 may store in the above table whether or not the communication failure can be resolved by rebooting, in association with each cause.

When the identified cause is a cause in which the communication failure cannot be resolved by rebooting (NO in step S109), the sub CPU 22 notifies the operation CPU 11 to that effect (step S110). That is, the sub CPU 22 notifies the operation CPU 11 that the communication failure that has occurred cannot be resolved by rebooting. At this time, the sub CPU 22 may notify the operation CPU 11 of the cause of the communication failure. As a cause of the communication failure that can be resolved by rebooting, a failure of the signal line between the operation CPU 11 and the main CPU 21 may be considered.

The operation CPU 11 notified that the communication failure that has occurred cannot be resolved by the reboot informs the user that the communication failure that cannot be resolved by the reboot has occurred or the cause of the communication failure is displayed on the display 15 of the operation panel 1. Display a message (step S111). The operation CPU 11 may display a message notifying the user that a serviceman call error has occurred. A serviceman call error is an error that is difficult for the user to recover and requires repair by a maintenance worker (serviceman). By confirming the message, the user can grasp the state of the image forming apparatus 100 and take appropriate measures such as calling a serviceman.

On the other hand, when the identified cause is a cause that can eliminate the communication failure by rebooting (YES in step S109), the sub CPU 22 reboots the part corresponding to the cause (hereinafter referred to as "corresponding part") (step). S112). Specifically, the sub CPU 22 requests the power supply unit 27 to reboot the corresponding portion. In response to this request, the power supply unit 27 executes a reboot of the corresponding unit. At this time, the sub CPU 22 does not reboot any part other than the corresponding part. A hang-up of the main CPU 21 may be considered as a cause of communication that can be resolved by rebooting.

The corresponding part is the part that includes the part where the cause is occurring among the parts that can be rebooted independently. For example, consider a case where the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 can be rebooted independently. At this time, when the cause occurs inside the operation panel 1 (operation CPU 11 or the like), the sub CPU 22 reboots the corresponding operation panel 1 and does not reboot other parts including the control panel 2. Further, when the cause occurs inside the control panel 2 (main CPU 21 or the like), the sub CPU 22 reboots the control panel 2 which is the corresponding portion, and does not reboot the other parts including the operation panel 1. When the communication failure is resolved by rebooting the corresponding portion, normal communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is resumed.

When the corresponding portion is rebooted, the sub CPU 22 may reboot the corresponding portion or notify the operation CPU 11 of the cause of the communication failure. Upon receiving this notification, the operation CPU 11 may display a message notifying the user of the cause of the communication failure or rebooting the corresponding portion on the display 15. By confirming the message, the user can grasp the state of the image forming apparatus 100.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the occurrence of communication failure is detected, the reboot is automatically executed, so that the occurrence of communication failure can be automatically resolved. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the corresponding portion according to the cause of the communication failure can be selectively rebooted, the power consumption due to the reboot can be reduced as compared with the case where the entire image forming apparatus 100 is rebooted. Can be done. Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the distrust of the user as compared with the case where the entire image forming apparatus 100 is rebooted every time a communication failure occurs.

<Second Embodiment>
The image forming apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9. In this embodiment, the processing at the time of starting the control panel 2 will be described. The configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 in this embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by the control panel 2 at startup. Since steps S204 to S209 in FIG. 5 are the same as steps S106 to S111 in FIG. 2, description thereof will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, when the control panel 2 is started, the sub CPU 22 starts the identification process for identifying the cause of the communication failure (step S201). At this point, it is unknown whether communication failure occurs, and if communication failure does not occur, the cause is not specified.

6 to 9 are diagrams schematically showing an example of a process for identifying the cause of a communication failure. Specifically, FIGS. 6 to 8 show a process for determining whether or not the signal line between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is out of order. Further, FIG. 9 shows a process for determining whether the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) is out of order.

In the example of FIG. 6, the signal line is connected to the pull-up resistor in the operation panel 1 and connected to the pull-down resistor in the control panel 2. When the signal line of FIG. 6 is normal, an H level signal is input to the sub CPU 22 when the control panel 2 is started. Therefore, the sub CPU 22 can detect a failure of the signal line by monitoring the level of the signal input when the control panel 2 is started. In the example of FIG. 6, when the control panel 2 is started, the sub CPU 22 determines that the signal line is normal when the H level signal is input, and when the L level signal is input, the signal line fails. You just have to judge that. When it is determined that the signal line is out of order, the failure of the signal line is identified as the cause of the communication failure. The above H level and L level may be reversed.

In the example of FIG. 7, the sub CPU 22 detects a failure of the signal line by monitoring the communication performed on the signal line between the operation CPU 11 and the main CPU 21 when the control panel 2 is started. In the example of FIG. 7, the sub CPU 22 determines that the signal line is normal when communication is performed on the signal line at the time of starting the control panel 2, and when communication is not performed on the signal line, the signal line fails. You just have to judge that you are doing it. When it is determined that the signal line is out of order, the failure of the signal line is identified as the cause of the communication failure.

The period from when the sub CPU 22 starts monitoring communication to when it is determined that the signal line is out of order can be arbitrarily set. Further, the method of FIG. 7 is suitable when communication between the operation CPU 11 and the main CPU 21 is performed by a single-ended method. This is because, in the case of the single-ended method, the presence / absence and contents of communication can be easily confirmed by monitoring the signal on the signal line.

In the example of FIG. 8, when the main CPU 21 starts the control panel 2, when the communication with the operation CPU 11 is established, the main CPU 21 notifies the sub CPU 22 to that effect. By confirming this notification, the sub CPU 22 can detect the failure of the signal line. In the example of FIG. 8, the sub CPU 22 determines that the signal line is normal when the main CPU 21 notifies the establishment of communication when the control panel 2 is started, and the signal line when the main CPU 21 does not notify the establishment of communication. Should be determined to be out of order. When it is determined that the signal line is out of order, the failure of the signal line is identified as the cause of the communication failure. The process of FIG. 8 corresponds to the process of the second row of the specific process table of FIG.

The period from when the sub CPU 22 starts accepting notifications from the main CPU 21 until when it is determined that the signal line is out of order can be arbitrarily set. Further, the method of FIG. 8 can be used regardless of whether the communication between the operation CPU 11 and the main CPU 21 is a single-ended method or a differential method.

In the example of FIG. 9, the sub CPU 22 detects the failure of the BIOS by monitoring the execution of the BIOS by the main CPU 21 when the control panel 2 is started. In the example of FIG. 9, the sub CPU 22 may determine that the BIOS is normal when the main CPU 21 executes the BIOS when the control panel 2 is started and the main CPU 21 starts normally. On the other hand, if an error occurs during execution of the BIOS by the main CPU 21, and the main CPU 21 does not start normally, the sub CPU 22 may determine that the BIOS is out of order. When it is determined that the BIOS is out of order, the failure of the BIOS is identified as the cause of the communication failure.

Instead of monitoring the execution of the BIOS by the main CPU 21, the sub CPU 22 may execute the BIOS and notify the sub CPU 22 to that effect after the main CPU 21 executes the BIOS and starts normally.

In the present embodiment, the sub CPU 22 executes the above-mentioned specific processing while the control panel 2 is running. After that, when the control panel 2 starts normally and the communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 starts (YES in step S202), the process at the time of starting ends. After that, the process of FIG. 2 is started. In this case, since no communication failure occurs, the cause of the communication failure cannot be identified.

On the other hand, when the control panel 2 is not normally started and the communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is not started (NO in step S202), the operation CPU 11 is between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2. It is determined that a communication failure has occurred, and the sub CPU 22 is notified to that effect (step S203). That is, the operation CPU 11 notifies the sub CPU 22 that a communication failure has occurred between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2. After that, the processes after step S204 are executed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the operation CPU 11 monitors whether or not the communication between the operation panel 1 and the control panel 2 is started when the control panel 2 is started, and if not, the operation panel 1 is not started. It is determined that a communication failure has occurred between the control panel 2 and the control panel 2. The period from the start of the operation CPU 11 to the determination that a communication failure has occurred can be arbitrarily set. Further, in the present embodiment, the process of identifying the cause of the communication failure is executed in advance by the sub CPU 22 before the communication failure is detected by the operation CPU 11.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the identification process of the cause of the communication failure is executed in advance when the control panel 2 is started, the communication failure is worse than the case where the identification process is executed after the communication failure is detected. The time required for processing after detection can be shortened. Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to identify the cause of a communication failure that can be specified only when the control panel 2 is started, such as a BIOS failure.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations shown here, such as combinations with other elements in the configurations and the like described in the above embodiments. These points can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form thereof.

1: Operation panel 2: Control panel 11: Operation CPU
21: Main CPU
22: Sub CPU
100: Image forming apparatus

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-049731

Claims (8)

An operation unit equipped with a first CPU (Central Processing Unit) that periodically sends a confirmation message,
A control unit including a second CPU and a third CPU that return a response message to the first CPU when the confirmation message is received.
Equipped with
During the operation of the operation unit and the control unit,
When the response message cannot be received from the second CPU, the first CPU notifies the third CPU that a communication failure has occurred between the operation unit and the control unit.
When the third CPU is notified of the occurrence of the communication failure, the third CPU executes a specific process for identifying the cause of the communication failure, reboots the portion corresponding to the identified cause, and reboots .
When the control unit is started,
The third CPU executes the specific process before the second CPU notifies the occurrence of the communication failure, and when the second CPU notifies the occurrence of the communication failure, the third CPU is specified by the specific process executed before the notification. A reboot system that reboots the part corresponding to the above cause . The reboot system according to claim 1, wherein the third CPU reboots the operation unit when the cause is caused by the operation unit. The reboot system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the third CPU reboots the control unit when the cause occurs in the control unit. The reboot system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the third CPU notifies the first CPU that the portion corresponding to the cause is rebooted. The reboot system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the third CPU reboots the operation unit and the control unit when the cause cannot be specified. The reboot system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the third CPU notifies the first CPU when the communication failure cannot be resolved by rebooting. The reboot system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the third CPU stores the history information of the identified cause. An information processing apparatus including the reboot system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 .

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