JP7121456B2 - game machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a game machine that performs lottery processing based on game operations and executes image effects corresponding to the lottery results, and more particularly to a game machine that can stably execute powerful image effects.

A pinball game machine such as a pachinko machine is equipped with a pattern starting port provided on a game board, a pattern display section for displaying a series of pattern variations by a plurality of display patterns, and a prize winning port in which an opening/closing plate is opened and closed. configured as follows. When the detection switch provided at the symbol start port detects the passage of the game ball, the winning state is entered, and after the game ball is paid out as a prize ball, the displayed symbols are changed in the symbol display unit for a predetermined period of time. After that, when the symbols stop in a predetermined manner such as 7, 7, 7, etc., a big hit state is entered, and the big winning opening is repeatedly opened to generate a game state advantageous to the player.

Whether or not to generate such a game state is determined by a jackpot lottery that is executed on the condition that a game ball has entered the symbol start opening, and the above-described symbol variation operation is based on the results of this lottery. It is a thing. For example, when the lottery result is a winning state, a performance operation called reach action is executed for about 20 seconds, and then the special symbols are arranged. On the other hand, a similar ready-to-win action may be executed even in the case of a losing state, and in this case, the player will pay attention to the transition of the performance action while strongly hoping for a big win state. Then, when the predetermined symbols are aligned on the stop line at the end of the symbol variation operation, the player is guaranteed a big hit state.

JP 2017-093633 A JP 2017-093632 A JP 2016-159030 A JP 2016-159029 A

In this type of game machine, there is a desire to make various effects more complex and rich, and there is a high demand for image effects in particular. Therefore, the applicant has made various proposals (cited documents 1 to 4), but further enhancement of image effects and further improvement of various effect control operations centering on image effect control are needed. This is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming machine in which various effects control operations centered on image effect control are further improved.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention incorporates a plurality of VDP registers, a VDP circuit capable of read-accessing a CGROM for storing image data, and a set value to the VDP register and to the VDP circuit. and a CPU circuit for controlling the VDP circuit based on a display list, wherein a predetermined effect operation including image effect and sound effect is executed, wherein the CGROM is one. , or configured by combining a plurality of memory devices with the same characteristics or different characteristics, and the bus width when the VDP circuit accesses the memory device, the memory a first means for setting an operation parameter for realizing a READ access operation suitable for a device in a predetermined VDP register corresponding to the operation parameter; and after the first means, a predetermined VDP indicating an operation state. and second means for READ-accessing a register , confirming that the setting operation by the first means has been executed, and proceeding to subsequent processing . Incidentally, in the embodiment, the operation of the VDP (Video Display Processor) is realized by various internal circuits (72 to 77, etc.) forming the VDP circuit 52. FIG.

According to the present invention described above, the CGROM can be read-accessed optimally, so that the image control operation is optimized.

It is a perspective view showing the pachinko machine of the present embodiment. 2 is a front view showing a game area of the gaming machine of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall circuit configuration of the gaming machine of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing in some detail the circuit configuration of an effect control unit in the gaming machine of FIG. 1; FIG. It is drawing explaining the composite chip|tip which comprises a production|presentation control part. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a CPU circuit shown in FIG. 4; FIG. The memory map of built-in CPU (production control CPU) of the CPU circuit is illustrated. 4 is a drawing for explaining various transfer operation modes (a) to (b) and transfer operation procedures (c) to (e) for the DMAC; 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining an index space, an index table, a virtual drawing space, and a drawing area; 2 is a block diagram describing the internal configuration of a data transfer circuit together with related circuit configurations; FIG. 2 is a block diagram describing the internal configuration of a display circuit together with related circuit configurations; FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining power reset operation after CPU reset; 13 is a flowchart illustrating memory section initialization processing, which is a part of FIG. 12; 13 is a flowchart illustrating main control processing and interrupt processing that are part of FIG. 12; 10 is a flowchart for explaining CGROM initialization processing, which is part of the main control processing; FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a part of processing contents of another interrupt processing; FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the control operation of production|presentation control CPU63 about the case where a preloader is not used. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a display list; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing DL issuing processing for issuing a display list DL; FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the DMAC is involved in the operation of FIG. 19; FIG. FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining an operation following the processing in FIG. 20; FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the control operation of production|presentation control CPU63 about the case where a preloader is used. FIG. 23 is a flow chart explaining a part of FIG. 22; FIG. FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating another part of FIG. 22; FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the operation of each part of the VDP in an example that does not use a preloader; 4 is a time chart showing the operation of each part of the VDP in an example using a preloader; FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the overall circuit configuration of another embodiment; Figure 28 is a block diagram showing a portion of Figure 27 in slightly more detail; 9 is a flow chart for explaining the operation content of another embodiment. It is drawing explaining another Example. It is drawing explaining the Example which sets a setting value repeatedly. It is a drawing explaining a circuit configuration of an embodiment using a built-in audio circuit. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the initial setting operation of the audio circuit; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the power reset operation after CPU reset; 4 is a time chart showing an example of memory READ operation and memory WRITE operation;

The present invention will be described in detail below based on examples. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the pachinko machine GM of this embodiment. This pachinko machine GM comprises a rectangular wooden outer frame 1 detachably attached to an island structure, and a front frame 3 pivotally attached to the outer frame 1 through hinges 2 so as to be openable and closable. It is configured. A game board 5 is detachably attached to the front frame 3 not from the back side but from the front side, and a glass door 6 and a front plate 7 are pivotally attached to the front side thereof so as to be freely opened and closed.

Illuminated lamps such as LED lamps are arranged in a substantially C shape around the outer periphery of the glass door 6 . On the other hand, a total of three speakers are arranged on the upper left and right positions of the glass door 6 and on the lower side. The two upper speakers are configured to output left and right channel R and L sounds, respectively, and the lower speaker is configured to output bass sounds.

An upper plate 8 for storing game balls to be shot is attached to the front plate 7, and a lower plate 9 for storing game balls overflowing or extracted from the upper plate 8 and a shooting handle are provided at the lower part of the front frame 3. 10 are provided. A shooting handle 10 is interlocked with a shooting motor, and a game ball is shot by a hitting mallet that operates according to the rotation angle of the shooting handle 10.例文帳に追加

A chance button 11 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the upper plate 8. - 特許庁The chance button 11 is provided at a position where it can be operated with the player's left hand, and the player can operate the chance button 11 without releasing the right hand from the shooting handle 10.例文帳に追加The chance button 11 does not function normally, but when the game state becomes the button chance state, the built-in lamp lights up and becomes operable. Note that the button chance state is a game state provided as necessary.

A rotary switch-type volume switch VLSW is arranged below the chance button 11, and the player operates the volume switch VLSW to change the level from silent level (=0) to maximum level (=7). The speaker volume can be adjusted in eight steps. The volume of the speaker is initially set by a setting switch (not shown) that can be operated only by the staff, and the initially set volume is maintained unless the player operates the volume switch VLSW. Also, the abnormal notification sound for notifying that an abnormal situation has occurred is emitted at the maximum volume regardless of the initial volume set by the staff or the volume set by the player.

On the right side of the upper plate 8, an operation panel 12 for ball lending operation for the card-type ball lending machine is provided, and a frequency display section for displaying the remaining card amount in three digits and a predetermined amount of game balls are provided. A ball lending switch for instructing lending and a return switch for instructing card return at the end of the game are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the surface of the game board 5, a guide rail 13 consisting of an outer rail and an inner rail made of metal is provided in an annular shape, and a central opening HO is provided substantially in the center thereof. Under the central opening HO, a movable effect body (not shown) is housed in a concealed state. We have realized the preview performance. Here, the notice performance is a performance that uncertainly notifies the occurrence of a big win state advantageous to the player, and the reliability of the notice performance means the probability of the occurrence of the big win state.

A main display device DS1 composed of a large liquid crystal color display (LCD) (for example, 1280 pixels wide by 1024 pixels long) is arranged in the central opening HO. A movable sub-display device DS2 composed of a liquid crystal color display of 480×800 pixels is arranged. The main display device DS1 is a device that variably displays specific symbols related to a big win state and also displays a background image, various characters, and the like in an animated manner. This display device DS1 has special symbol display portions Da to Dc in the central portion and a normal symbol display portion 19 in the upper right portion. Then, in the special pattern display parts Da to Dc, a ready-to-win performance to expect the arrival of a big hit state is sometimes executed, and in and around the special pattern display parts Da to Dc, an appropriate advance notice performance is executed.

The sub-display device DS2 normally displays image information in a stationary state in which the display screen is tilted at an angle that is easy for the player to see. However, during a predetermined notice effect, it moves to the left side of the drawing while changing the tilt angle to an angle that is easy for the player to see, and displays a predetermined notice image.

In other words, the sub-display device DS2 of the embodiment functions not only as a display device but also as a movable effect body for executing the advance notice effect. Here, the advance notice effect by the sub-display device DS2 is set to have a high degree of reliability, and the player pays attention to the moving action of the sub-display device DS2 with great anticipation.

By the way, the game area where the game ball falls and moves includes the first symbol starting port 15a, the second symbol starting port 15b, the first big winning port 16a, the second big winning port 16b, the normal winning port 17, and the gate 18. are arranged. Each of these winning holes 15 to 18 has a detection switch inside so that the passage of a game ball can be detected.

Above the first symbol starting port 15a, a production stage 14 is arranged so that the first symbol starting port 15 can win after the game ball entering from the introduction port IN moves in a seesaw or roulette shape. there is Then, when a game ball wins the first symbol starting port 15, the special symbol display portions Da to Dc are configured to start varying operations.

The second symbol start port 15b is configured to be opened and closed by an electric tulip provided with a pair of left and right opening and closing claws, and when the stop symbol after the change of the normal symbol display unit 19 is displayed as a winning symbol, a predetermined The opening/closing claw is opened for a period of time or until a predetermined number of game balls are detected.

The normal symbol display unit 19 displays normal symbols, and when a game ball that has passed through the gate 18 is detected, the normal symbol changes for a predetermined period of time, and is extracted when the game ball passes through the gate 18. A stop pattern determined by the selected random number for lottery is displayed and stopped.

The first big prize winning port 16a has a sliding board that advances and retreats in the front-rear direction, and the second big prize winning port 16b has an opening/closing plate whose lower end is pivotally supported and which opens forward. . Although the operations of the first big winning hole 16a and the second big winning hole 16b are not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the first big winning hole 16a corresponds to the first symbol starting hole 15a, and the second big winning hole 16b is configured to correspond to the first symbol starting port 15b.

That is, when the game ball wins in the first symbol start port 15a, the special symbol display portions Da to Dc start to fluctuate, and after that, when the predetermined jackpot symbols are arranged in the special symbol display portions Da to Dc, the first jackpot. A special game is started, and the slide board of the first big winning hole 16a is opened forward to facilitate the winning of game balls.

On the other hand, as a result of the fluctuation operation started by the winning of the game ball to the second symbol starting port 15b, when the predetermined big winning symbols are arranged in the special symbol display parts Da to Dc, the second big winning special game is started. The opening/closing plate of the second prize winning port 16b is opened to facilitate winning of game balls. The game value of the special game (jackpot state) varies depending on the jackpot symbols to be arranged, but which game value is given is determined in advance based on the lottery result corresponding to the winning timing of the game ball. It is determined.

In a typical jackpot state, after the opening/closing plate of the big winning hole 16 is opened, the opening/closing plate closes when a predetermined time elapses or when a predetermined number (for example 10) of game balls win. Such actions are continued up to, for example, 15 times, and are controlled in a state advantageous to the player. In addition, when the stop symbol after the change of the special symbol display parts Da to Dc is a specific symbol among the special symbols, there is a privilege that the game after the special game ends will be in a high probability state (definite variable state). Granted.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall circuit configuration of the pachinko machine GM that implements the operations described above, and FIG. 4(a) shows a portion thereof in detail.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pachinko machine GM includes a power board 20 that receives AC24V and outputs various DC voltages and power failure signals ABN1 and ABN2, and a main control board 21 that centrally and centrally performs game control operations. , an effect interface board 22 on which a circuit element SND for sound effect is mounted, and an effect control board 23 for uniformly executing lamp effect, sound effect, and image effect based on the control command CMD received from the main control board 21. Then, based on the control command CMD' received from the main control board 21 and the liquid crystal interface board 24 located between the performance control board 23 and the display devices DS1 and DS2, the payout motor M is controlled to pay out the game balls. It is mainly composed of a payout control board 25 and a shooting control board 26 for shooting game balls in response to player's operation.

In the case of this embodiment, the effect interface board 22, the effect control board 23, and the liquid crystal interface board 24 are directly connected by male connectors and female connectors without wiring cables. Therefore, even if the circuit configuration of each electronic circuit is complicated and advanced, the storage space for the entire board can be minimized, and noise resistance can be enhanced by shortening the connection line.

As shown, the control command CMD' output by the main control board 21 is transmitted to the payout control board 25 via the main board relay board 33. On the other hand, the control command CMD output by the main control board 21 is transmitted to the effect control board 23 via the effect interface board 22 . Each of the control commands CMD and CMD' has a 16-bit length, but is divided into two 8-bit lengths and transmitted in parallel.

A computer circuit including a one-chip microcomputer is mounted on the main control board 21 and the payout control board 25 . Also, the performance control board 23 is equipped with a composite chip 50 in which computer circuits such as a VDP circuit (Video Display Processor) 52 and a built-in CPU circuit 51 are built. Therefore, these control boards 21, 25, 23, the circuits mounted on the effect interface board 22 and the liquid crystal interface board 24, and the operations realized by these circuits are collectively functionally referred to in this specification as , the main control unit 21, the performance control unit 23, and the payout control unit 25. Note that the effect control unit 23 and the payout control unit 25 are sub-control units for the main control unit 21 .

Further, the pachinko machine GM is roughly divided into a frame-side member GM1 surrounded by a dashed line in FIG. The frame-side member GM1 includes a front frame 3 to which a glass door 6 and a front plate 7 are pivotally attached, and a wooden outer frame 1 on the outside thereof, so that the game hall can be used for a long time regardless of model changes. fixedly installed in the On the other hand, the board-side member GM2 is replaced in response to the model change, and the new board-side member GM2 is attached to the frame-side member GM1 instead of the original board-side member. All except the frame side member 1 are board side members GM2.

3, the frame-side member GM1 includes a power supply board 20, a payout control board 25, a firing control board 26, and a frame relay board 36. These circuit boards are Each is fixed to the proper place of the front frame 3. On the other hand, on the back surface of the game board 5, a main control board 21 and an effect control board 23 are fixed together with the display devices DS1, DS2 and other circuit boards. The frame-side member GM1 and the board-side member GM2 are electrically connected by connectors C1 to C4 centrally arranged in one place.

The power board 20 is connected to the main board relay board 33 through the connector C2, and is connected to the power relay board 34 through the connector C3. The power supply substrate 20 is provided with a power monitoring unit MNT for monitoring whether the AC power is turned on or off. When the power monitoring unit MNT detects the interruption of the AC power, it immediately changes the power failure signals ABN1 and ABN2 to the L level. The power failure signals ABN1 and ABN2 quickly become H level after the power is turned on.

The main board relay board 33 outputs the power failure signal ABN1, the backup power supply BAK, and DC5V, DC12V, and DC35V output from the power board 20 to the main control section 21 as they are. Also, the power supply relay board 34 outputs the AC and DC power supply voltages DC 5V, DC 12V, and DC 35V received from the power supply board 20 to the presentation interface board 22 as they are.

As shown in the drawing, the effect interface board 22 is equipped with a sound circuit SND such as a sound processor 27, and the effect control board 23 is a composite chip 50 in which computer circuits such as a VDP circuit 52 and a built-in CPU circuit 51 are built. is installed. Hereinafter, the built-in CPU circuit may be abbreviated as a CPU circuit.

The performance interface board 22 is equipped with reset circuits RST3 and RST4 for detecting an increase in the power supply voltage and generating various reset signals RT3 and RT4 when the power is turned on. First, the reset circuit RST3 generates a reset signal RT3 based on the DC voltages of 12V and 5V distributed from the power supply board 20. FIG. The reset signal RT3 resets only the voice memory 28 and is transmitted to the effect control board 23 as it is.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the reset signal RT3 transmitted to the performance control board 23 is AND-operated with the output of the WDT (Watch Dog Timer) circuit 58 in the AND gate G1, and is output to the CPU circuit as the system reset signal SYS. 51 and the VDP circuit 52 are reset (see FIGS. 4A and 4D).

After the power is turned on, the reset signal RT3 generated by the reset circuit RST3 maintains the L level for a predetermined time as a power reset signal, and then rises to the H level. However, if one or more of the DC voltage of 12 V or DC voltage of 5 V subsequently drops (usually when power is cut off), the system reset signal SYS also drops to L level in response to the level drop of the reset signal RT3. As a result, the CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52 of the effect control board 23 are put into a non-operating state.

Since this system reset signal SYS also changes based on the output of the WDT circuit 58 (which is normally H level), the output of the WDT circuit 58 may change when the reset signal RT3=H due to program runaway or the like. Corresponding to the drop to L level, the system reset signal SYS also changes to L level to abnormally reset the CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52 (see FIG. 4(d)).

On the other hand, the reset circuit RST4 generates a reset signal RT4 based on 3.3V generated by dropping the 5V distributed from the power supply board 20 . This reset signal RT4 resets the power of the audio processor 27 as a power reset signal when the power is turned on.

As illustrated, the reset circuit RST4 is also supplied with the system reset signal SYS sent back from the performance control board 23, so that when the CPU circuit 51 or the VDP circuit 52 is abnormally reset, the system is synchronized with the abnormal reset of these circuits. Then, the audio processor 27 is also abnormally reset. As a result, the sound effect returns to the initial state together with the image effect and the lamp effect, and there is no possibility that the unnatural sound effect will continue.

Next, the payout control board 25, which is the frame-side member GM1, is directly connected to the power supply board 20 without going through the relay board, and outputs the same power failure signal ABN2 as the main control unit 21 receives, the backup power supply BAK, and the like. is received with the supply voltage of In addition, reset circuits RST1 and RST2 are installed in the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25, respectively, and a power reset signal is generated when power is turned on, and each computer circuit is power reset. .

Thus, in this embodiment, the reset circuits RST1 to RST4 are arranged in the main control section 21, the payout control section 25, and the performance interface board 22, respectively, and the system reset signal SYS is generated between the circuit boards. never transmitted. That is, since there is no wiring cable for transmitting the system reset signal SYS, the risk of abnormal resetting of the computer circuit due to noise superimposed on the wiring cable is eliminated.

However, the reset circuits RST1 and RST2 provided in the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25 each incorporate a watchdog timer, and do not receive regular clear pulses from the CPUs of the control units 21 and 25. If so, each CPU is forced to reset.

Further, the main control unit 21 is provided with an initialization switch SW that can be operated by a staff member. It is configured. This RAM clear signal CLR is transmitted to the one-chip microcomputers of the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25, and determines whether or not to initialize the entire area of the built-in RAM of the one-chip microcomputers of the control units 21 and 25. ing.

In addition, the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25 receive the power failure signals ABN1 and ABN2 from the power supply board 20, and start necessary end processing prior to the power outage or closing of business. In addition, the backup power supply BAK is a DC 5V DC power supply that retains the data in the built-in RAM of the one-chip microcomputer of the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25 even after the AC power supply 24V is cut off due to the end of business or power failure. Therefore, the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25 can resume the game operation before the power shutdown after the power is turned on (power backup function). This pachinko machine is designed so that the memory contents of the RAM of each one-chip microcomputer are retained for at least several days.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main control unit 21 receives, from the payout control unit 25, a prize ball counting signal indicating the payout operation of game balls, a status signal CON related to an abnormality in the payout operation, and an operation start signal BGN. there is The status signal CON includes, for example, a supply shortage signal, a dispensation shortage error signal, and a lower tray full signal. The operation start signal BGN is a signal that notifies the main control unit 21 that the initial operation of the payout control unit 25 has been completed after the power is turned on.

Also, the main control unit 21 is connected to each game component of the game board 5 via the game board relay board 32 . While receiving the switch signal of the detection switch built into each of the winning holes 16 to 18 on the game board, it drives solenoids such as an electric tulip. Solenoids and detection switches are configured to operate with the power supply voltage VB (12 V) distributed from the main control unit 21 . In addition, each switch signal indicating the winning state to the symbol start port 15 is converted into a switch signal of TTL level or CMOS level by an interface IC that operates with power supply voltage VB (12V) and power supply voltage Vcc (5V). After that, it is transmitted to the main control unit 21 .

As described above, the effect interface board 22, the effect control board 23, and the liquid crystal interface board 24 are integrated by connector connection. DC voltages (5 V, 12 V, 35 V) of various levels are received from the substrate 20 (see FIGS. 3 and 4(a)). A DC voltage of 12 V is used as a power supply voltage for the digital amplifier 29 and as a drive voltage for LED lamps and the like. A DC voltage of 35V is used as a drive voltage for the motor.

On the other hand, the DC voltage of 5V is supplied as a power supply voltage for circuit elements in various locations on the production interface board 22, and is also supplied to two DC/DC converters DC1 and DC2 to generate 3.3V and 1.0V ( See FIG. 4(a)). The generated DC voltages of 3.3 V and 1.0 V are supplied to the audio processor 27 as power supply voltages for I/O (input/output) and chip core, respectively. Also, the DC voltage of 3.3 V is the base voltage of the power reset signal RT4 generated by the reset circuit RST4.

The DC voltage of 5V distributed to the effect interface board 22 is distributed to the effect control board 23 together with 3.3V generated by the DC/DC converter DC1. Then, the DC voltage of 3.3V distributed to the performance control board 23 is supplied to the composite chip 50, the PROM 53 and the CGROM 55 as a power supply voltage.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), two DC/DC converters DC3 and DC4 are arranged on the effect control board 23, and based on the DC voltage 5V supplied to each, 1.5V and 1.05V is generating Here, the DC voltage of 1.05 V is the power supply voltage for the chip core of the composite chip 50 , and the DC voltage of 1.5 V is the power supply voltage for I/O (input/output) with the DRAM 54 . Therefore, the DC voltage of 1.5 V is also supplied to the DRAM 54 as a power supply voltage.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the effect interface board 22 receives the control command CMD and the strobe signal STB from the main control section 21 and transfers them to the effect control board 23 . More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the control command CMD and strobe signal STB are transferred to the composite chip 50 (CPU circuit 51) of the effect control board 23 via the input buffer 40. . Here, the strobe signal STB is the received interrupt signal IRQ_CMD, and the effect control CPU 63 acquires the control command CMD based on the interrupt processing program (interrupt handler) started upon receiving the received interrupt signal IRQ_CMD.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the input buffer 44 of the effect interface board 22 receives switch signals for the chance button 11 and the volume switch VLSW from the frame relay boards 35 and 36, and outputs each switch signal to the CPU of the effect control board 23. It is transmitting to circuit 51 . Specifically, the 3-bit length of the encoder output indicating the contact position (0 to 7) of the volume switch VLSW and the 1-bit length indicating the ON/OFF state of the chance button 11 are transmitted to the CPU circuit 51 .

The effect interface board 22 is connected to the lamp drive board 30 and the motor lamp drive board 31, and is also connected to the lamp drive board 37 via the frame relay boards 35 and . As shown, an output buffer 42 is arranged corresponding to the lamp driving board 30 , and an input buffer 43 a and an output buffer 43 b are arranged corresponding to the motor lamp driving board 31 . Note that in FIG. 4A, the input buffer 43a and the output buffer 43b are collectively referred to as an input/output buffer 43 for the sake of convenience. The input buffer 43a receives the outputs SN0 to SNn of the origin sensors for grasping the current positions of the characters as movable effects (rotational positions of the effect motors M1 to Mn), and transmits the outputs to the CPU circuit 51 of the effect control board 23. there is

The lamp drive board 30, the motor lamp drive board 31, and the lamp drive board 37 are equipped with driver ICs of the same kind. is forwarding to Specifically, the serial signals are a lamp (motor) drive signal SDATA and a clock signal CK. , the performance motors M1 to Mn perform a role performance.

In the case of this embodiment, the lamp effect is executed by three lamp groups CH0 to CH2, and the lamp drive board 37 outputs the lamp drive signal SDATA0 of CH0 via the frame relay boards 35 and 36 as a clock. It is received in synchronization with the signal CK0. A series of lamp drive signals SDATA0 transmitted as a serial signal are output from the driver IC to the lamp group CH0 at the timing when the operation control signal ENABLE0 changes to the active level, thereby updating the lighting state all at once.

The above points also apply to the lamp drive board 30. The driver IC of the lamp drive board 30 receives the lamp drive signal SDATA1 of the lamp group CH1 in synchronization with the clock signal CK1, and the operation control signal ENABLE1 is at the active level. , the lighting state of the lamp group CH1 is updated all at once.

On the other hand, the driver IC mounted on the motor lamp drive board 31 receives the lamp drive signal transmitted in clock synchronization to drive the lamp group CH2, and receives the motor drive signal transmitted in clock synchronization to A performance motor group M1 to Mn composed of a plurality of stepping motors is driven. The lamp driving signal and the motor driving signal are a series of serial signals SDATA2, which are serially transmitted in synchronism with the clock signal CK1. , the driving states of the lamp group CH2 and the motor groups M1 to Mn are updated.

Next, the audio circuit SND will be explained. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the effect interface board 22 includes a voice processor (voice synthesis circuit) 27 that reproduces voice signals based on instructions received from the CPU circuit 51 (performance control CPU 63) of the effect control board 23. , an audio memory 28 for storing compressed audio data, which is the original data of the audio signal to be reproduced, and a digital amplifier 29 for receiving the audio signal output from the audio processor 27 are mounted.

The voice processor 27 includes a WDT circuit that automatically resets the set value of the internal circuit to a default value (initial value) when the internal circuit malfunctions, and a voice control register SRG. Then, the audio processor 27 accesses the audio memory 28 based on the operation parameters (set values by the audio commands) received from the effect control CPU 63 to the audio control register SRG, and reproduces and outputs the necessary audio signals. .

As shown in FIG. 4A, the audio processor 27 and the audio memory 28 are connected by a 26-bit audio address bus and a 16-bit audio data bus. Therefore, the audio memory 28 can store data of 1 Gbit (=2 ²⁶ *16).

The voice control register SRG is divided into register banks 1 to 6, which are specified by register numbers 00H to FFH, respectively. Therefore, the predetermined setting operation is realized by specifying the register bank and then writing the operation parameter of 1 byte length to the voice control register SRG of the predetermined register number (1 byte length) by the effect control CPU 63. be.

In the case of this embodiment, the register numbers (00H to FFH) of the voice control register SRG correspond to the address space CS3 of the effect control CPU 63. For example, the voice control register SRG of the register number XXH is set to the operating parameter YYH. In this case, the effect control CPU 63 writes XXH to the zero address of the address space CS3, and then writes YYH to the first address. That is, the effect control CPU 63 writes XXH and YYH to the data bus in this order. In this specification, the suffix H and the prefixes 0X/0x indicate that the numerical values are represented in hexadecimal notation.

Further, in this specification, the address spaces CS0 to CS7 refer to external memories for the CPU circuit 51 that can respectively define the memory type including the presence or absence of volatility and the data bus width (8/16/32 bits). means (excluding internal memory). These address spaces CS0-CS7 are selected by different chip select signals CS0-CS7, and are configured so that the READ/WRITE control signals that function during READ/WRITE access can be optimized according to the memory type. Note that this setting operation is executed for the bus state controller 66 .

FIG. 4(e) illustrates the setting operation to the voice register SRG by the effect control CPU 63, and shows the contents of the 2-bit length address bus A1-A0 and the 1-byte length data bus D7-D0. there is In this embodiment, the chip select signal CS3 is set at power-on so as to automatically become active when accessing the address space CS3, which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 6 and 12. FIG.

In any case, in the case of this embodiment, the compressed audio data stored in the audio memory 28 is phrase compressed data specified by a 13-bit length phrase number NUM (000H to 1FFFH), and a series of background data. A maximum of 8192 types (=2 ¹³ ) of one piece of music (BGM), a group of dramatic sounds (announcement sounds), etc. are stored in association with the phrase number NUM. This phrase number NUM is specified by a set value (operating parameter) of a voice command transmitted from the performance control CPU 63 to the voice control register SRG of the voice processor 27 .

As described above, the audio memory 28 having the above configuration is power reset by the reset signal RT3, and the audio processor 27 is power reset by the reset signal RT4. As shown in FIG. 4(c), the reset signal RT4 rises to H level after a predetermined assertion period ASRT (L level section) after power-on. function automatically to perform initialization sequence processing. This initialization sequence process is an internal operation that is executed according to a predetermined procedure, and the effect control CPU 63 cannot access the sound register SRG during the operation of the initialization sequence process.

When the initialization sequence processing as an internal operation is completed, the interrupt signal IRQ_SND to the CPU circuit 51 changes to L level, and the CPU circuit 51 (effect control CPU 63) executes the interrupt processing program based on the interrupt signal IRQ_SND. Then, the interrupt signal IRQ_SND is returned to H level based on a predetermined instruction, the details of which will be described later with reference to FIG. 14(c).

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the data bus and address bus of the CPU circuit 51 of the effect control section 23 extend to a clock circuit (real time clock) 38 and effect data memory 39 mounted on the liquid crystal interface board 24. I'm listening. The clock circuit 38 is connected to the lower 4 bits of the address bus of the CPU circuit 51 and the lower 4 bits of the data bus. (having an address value) can be accessed arbitrarily.

The effect data memory 39 is a memory element SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) that can be accessed at high speed, and is connected to the 16-bit address bus of the CPU circuit 51 and the lower 16-bit data bus. In the state where the chips are selected in , game performance information and other information stored in the SRAM (performance data memory) 39 are appropriately R/W-accessed from the CPU circuit 51 . In the address space CS4 selected by the chip select signal CS4, since addresses 0 to 15 are assigned to the clock circuit 38, the SRAM 39 does not use them.

The clock circuit 38 and the performance data memory 39 are driven by a secondary battery (not shown), and this secondary battery is appropriately charged by the power supply voltage from the power supply board 20 during game operation. Therefore, even after the power is turned off, the timekeeping operation of the clock circuit 38 is continued, and the game performance information stored in the performance data memory 39 is permanently stored (imparted non-volatility). The clock circuit (RTC) 38 is configured to output an interrupt signal IRQ_RTC to the CPU circuit 51 (RTC interrupt). The RTC interrupt includes an alarm interrupt that can specify the date, day of the week, hour, minute, and second, and a timer interrupt that is activated after a predetermined time has elapsed. Uses alarm interrupts to update game performance information.

As shown on the right side of FIG. 4A, the effect control board 23 includes a composite chip 50 containing a CPU circuit 51 and a VDP circuit 52, a control memory (PROM) 53 for storing a control program for the CPU circuit 51, A DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 54 capable of accessing a large amount of data at high speed, and a CGROM 55 storing a large amount of CG data required for control of effects are installed.

As will be described later with respect to FIG. 7, control memory (PROM) 53 is located in address space CS0 selected by chip select signal CS0 in this embodiment. A DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 54 composed of DDR (Double-Data-Rate 3) is positioned in an address space CS5 selected by a chip select signal CS5.

FIG. 5(a) is a circuit block diagram illustrating the composite chip 50 that constitutes the effect control section 23, including related circuit elements. As shown, the composite chip 50 of the embodiment includes a CPU circuit 51 that issues a display list DL at predetermined time intervals, and a CPU circuit 51 that generates image data based on the issued display list DL to drive the display devices DS1 and DS2. A VDP circuit 52 is built in. The CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52 are connected through a CPUIF circuit 56 that relays transmission/reception data between them.

Although the VDP circuit 52 incorporates an audio circuit SND that exhibits the same function as the audio processor 27, the audio circuit SND is not utilized in the first embodiment described below. However, if the audio circuit SND incorporated in the VDP circuit 52 is utilized as in the last-described embodiment, the arrangement of the audio memory 28 and the audio processor 27 becomes unnecessary.

First, the CPU circuit 51 receives the oscillation output (for example, 100/3 MHz) of the oscillator OSC1 at the HCLKI terminal and multiplies the frequency (for example, by 8) to obtain a CPU operating clock of about 266.7 MHz. Here, the oscillator OSC1 is configured to output a spread spectrum wave, thereby taking measures against EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) for preventing radio interference/electromagnetic interference.

On the other hand, the VDP circuit 52 receives the oscillation output (for example, 40 MHz) of the oscillator OSC2 at the PLLREF terminal, and after appropriately multiplying the frequency by a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit, the system clock of the VDP circuit 52 and the display device It is used as a display clock (dot clock, etc.) and a DDR clock for the external DRAM 54 . That is, the output of oscillator OSC2 functions as a reference clock for the entire VDP circuit 52. FIG. Note that the frequency multiplication ratio of the PLL circuit is defined by a set value to a predetermined setting terminal.

Therefore, in consideration of the importance of this reference clock, in this embodiment, the oscillator OSC2 is operated at the same power supply voltage of 3.3 V as the VDP circuit 52, and the output enable terminal OE is at H level (=3.3 V). It is configured to oscillate and output the reference clock on the condition that there is. In the unlikely event that the power supply voltage 3.3V falls below a predetermined level, normal performance operation cannot be expected thereafter, so that a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) is generated.

Also, the composite chip 50 is provided with an HBTSL terminal, and based on the logic level of the HBTSL terminal, whether a boot program (initial setting program) to be executed after power-on (CPU reset) is stored in the CGROM 55 (HBTSL =H) or stored in other memory (HBTSL =L). As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, HBTSL is set to L level, and address zero in the address space CS0 of the effect control CPU 63 is assigned outside the CGROM. assigned to.

On the other hand, when the HBTSL terminal is set to H level (see the broken line), zero address in the address space CS0 of the effect control CPU 63 is assigned to the CGROM 55 . In this case, the memory type and bus width (64/32/16 bits) of the CGROM 55 are specified based on the input values to the HBTBWD terminal of 2-bit length and the HBTRSL terminal of 4-bit length, respectively. These points will be further described later with reference to FIG.

Next, the CPUIF circuit 56 that relays transmission/reception data between the CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5A, the CPUIF circuit 56 includes a control memory (PROM) 53 for nonvolatilely storing control programs and necessary control data, and a work memory (RAM) 57 having a storage capacity of about 2 Mbytes. , and are configured to be accessible from the CPU circuit 51 . As described above, the control memory (PROM) 53 is positioned in the address space CS0 selected by the chip select signal CS0, and the work memory (RAM) 57 is positioned in the address space CS6 selected by the chip select signal CS6. It is

The work memory (RAM) 57 reserves a DL buffer BUF for temporarily storing a display list DL containing a series of instruction commands specifying one frame of each of the display devices DS1 and DS2. In the case of this embodiment, the series of instruction commands include a texture load command such as a TXLOAD command for reading and decoding image materials (textures) from the CGROM 55, and a VRAM area (index texture setting commands such as the SETINDEX command, which has functions such as specifying the space) in advance, and primitive drawing commands such as the SPRITE command for placing the decoded (expanded) image material at a predetermined position in the virtual drawing space. , environment setting commands such as the SETDAVR command and SETDAVF command for specifying the drawing area to be actually drawn on the display device among the images drawn in the virtual drawing space by the drawing commands, and the index table IDXTBL for managing the index space. includes an index table control command (WRIDXTBL) for

Note that FIG. 9C shows a virtual drawing space (±8192 in the horizontal X direction and ±8192 in the vertical Y direction), a drawing area that can be arbitrarily set in the virtual drawing space, and outputs to the display devices DS1 and DS2. The relationship between the actual drawing areas in the frame buffers FBa and FBb that temporarily store the image data to be processed is shown.

Next, the CPU circuit 51 is a circuit having performance equivalent to that of a general-purpose one-chip microcomputer. A watchdog timer (WDT) that forcibly resets the CPU, a built-in RAM 59 that has a storage capacity of about 16 kbytes and is used as a work area for the CPU, and a DMAC (Direct Memory Access) that realizes data transfer without going through the CPU 63. Controller) 60, a serial input/output port (SIO) 61 having a plurality of input ports Si and output ports So, a parallel input/output port (PIO) 62 having a plurality of input ports Pi and output ports Po, and It includes an operation control register REG in which set values are set to control the operation. However, in this embodiment in which the external WDT circuit 58 is provided, the watchdog timer (WDT) built in the CPU circuit 51 is not utilized.

In this specification, for the sake of convenience, the term input/output port is used, but in the effect control unit 23, the input/output port includes an input port and an output port that operate independently. This point also applies to the input/output circuit 64p and the input/output circuit 64s described below.

The parallel input/output port 62 is connected to an external device (effect interface board 22) through an input/output circuit 64p. It receives the switch signal of the button 11, the control command CMD, and the interrupt signal STB. A 3-bit encoder output and a 1-bit switch signal are supplied to a parallel input/output port (PIO) 62 via an input/output circuit 64p.

Similarly, the received control command CMD is supplied to the parallel input/output port (PIO) 62 via the input/output circuit 64p. Further, the strobe signal STB is supplied to the interrupt terminal of the effect control CPU 63 via the input/output circuit 64p, thereby activating the reception interrupt process. Therefore, the effect control CPU 63, which grasps the control command CMD based on the reception interrupt process, controls the sound effect, the lamp effect, the motor effect, and the image effect corresponding to the control command CMD through the effect lottery and the like in a unified manner. will do.

Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the SMC (Serial Management Controller) 78 of the VDP circuit 52 is used for the lamp effect and the motor effect. The SMC unit 78 is a composite controller incorporating an LED controller and a motor controller, and is configured to output a serial signal in clock synchronization. Also, the motor controller is configured to output latch pulses at arbitrary timings based on the values set in the predetermined control register 70, and to input serial signals in a clock-synchronized manner.

Therefore, in this embodiment, while the motor drive signal and the LED drive signal are output from the SMC unit 78 in synchronization with the clock signal, the latch pulse is output as the operation control signal ENABLE at an appropriate timing. . Further, the origin sensor signals SN0 to SNn from the performance motor groups M1 to Mn are serially input in a clock synchronous manner.

As described with reference to FIG. 4A, clock signals CK0-CK2, drive signals SDATA0-SDATA2, and operation control signals ENABLE0-ENABLE2 pass through output buffers 41-43 to predetermined drive substrates 30, 31, . 37. Further, the origin sensor signals SN0 to SNn are serially input to the SMC section 78 from the motor lamp driving board 31 via the input/output buffer 43. FIG.

However, it is not essential to use the SMC unit 78 in this embodiment. That is, since the CPU circuit 51 has a built-in general-purpose serial input/output port SIO61, it is also possible to use these ports to execute lamp effects and motor effects.

Specifically, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 5A, in the configuration shown by the dashed lines, the clock signals CK0 to CK2, CK2, Drive signals SDATA0 to SDATA2 are output, and operation control signals ENABLE0 to ENABLE2 are output via the input/output circuit 64p. For convenience, they are expressed as input/output ports and input/output circuits, but what actually functions are output ports and output circuits.

Here, the serial output port SO is configured with a built-in 16-stage FIFO register. Then, the DMAC circuit 60 is activated upon receiving an operation start instruction (see FIG. 17(b) ST18) from the effect control CPU 63, and from the lamp/motor drive table (see FIG. 17(b)), the necessary driving data is sequentially and DMA transferred to the FIFO register of the serial output port SO. The drive data stored in the FIFO register are serially output from the serial output port SO in clock synchronization. The DMAC circuit has a plurality of (for example, 7) DMA channels. Lamp driving data is DMA-transferred by the third DMA channel with lower priority, and the motor is driven by the first DMA channel with the highest priority. It is configured to DMA transfer data.

The operation control register REG built in the CPU circuit 51 is an 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit length register with a register number (address value) after 0xFF400000. (see FIG. 7). Therefore, there is a possibility that an irrational value is set in the operation control register REG due to the influence of noise or the like.

However, for example, the composite chip 50 can be abnormally reset by intentionally executing an infinite loop process to activate the external WDT circuit 58 . In this case, the value of the operation control register REG is returned to the same default value (initial value) as after power-on, and the value of the VDP register RGij of the VDP circuit 52 is also returned to the default value (initial value). This eliminates the abnormal state.

FIG. 4(b) is a circuit configuration related to this reset operation, and is a drawing for explaining a reset mechanism that is characteristic of this embodiment. In this specification, the VDP register denoted as RGij is not the operation control register REG built in the CPU circuit 51, but any one of the control register group 70 (see FIG. 7) that controls the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52. means Also, the system control circuit 520 shown in FIG. 4B means an internal control circuit of the VDP circuit 52 that functions based on the set value of the VDP register RGij (one of the control registers 70 of FIG. 7). (See FIG. 4(a)). The VDP register RGij is positioned in the address space CS7 selected by the chip select signal CS7 in the address map of the effect control CPU63.

Based on the above, the reset mechanism will be described. As shown in FIG. is configured to be resettable. However, in this embodiment, the built-in WDT is not activated as indicated by the dashed line, so the input terminal and the output terminal of the OR gate G2 are directly connected.

In any case, a pattern check circuit CHK is provided between the CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52, and the pattern check circuit CHK receives from the parallel input/output port (PIO) 62 a predetermined keyword string (a code string for resetting). ), the reset signal RST is output.

The internal circuit of the composite chip 50 is divided into three parts: (1) the CPU circuit 51, (2) the display circuit 74 of the VDP circuit 52, and (3) the circuits other than the display circuit of the VDP circuit 52. It is configured to receive reset signals of the first to third reset paths from gates G2 to G4.

First, the OR gate G2 whose input/output terminals are directly connected is related to the first reset path, and is configured to system-reset the entire CPU circuit 51 based on the system reset signal SYS bar. Also, the OR gate G3 is related to the second reset path, and receives the system reset signal SYS bar and the reset signal RST from the pattern check circuit CHK, and can reset the entire VDP circuit 52 based on the OR logic. is configured to

This second reset path is used not only for the power reset operation when the power is turned on, but also for the effect control CPU 63 that detects a predetermined abnormality to abnormally reset the entire VDP circuit 52 to return it to its initial state. Specifically, when it is determined that a serious abnormality has occurred based on a predetermined status register RGij that indicates the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52, the reset signal RST is generated from the pattern check circuit CHK. , the entire VDP circuit 52 is abnormally reset. The display circuit 74 is abnormally reset in the second reset path→the third reset path via the OR gate G4.

On the other hand, the internal circuits built in the VDP circuit 52 are configured to be able to be reset individually when necessary through the fourth reset path. The individually resettable internal circuits include an index table IDXTBL, a data transfer circuit 72, a preloader 73, a display circuit 74, a drawing circuit 76, an SMC circuit 78, and an audio circuit SND shown in FIG. An ICM circuit shown at 10 is included.

A method of realizing individual reset operations is as described in the lower part of FIG. Thus, it is reset via the fourth reset path 4A→the third reset path.

Each internal circuit (72, 73, 74, 76, SND, . After writing, (2) a predetermined VDP register RGij (system command register) is reset individually by writing a second reset value (fourth reset path 4B). Although not used in this embodiment, the audio circuit SND can be reset not only by the fourth reset path 4B, but also by writing a reset value to a predetermined VDP register (circuit setting command register). 4 reset path 4C).

Since this embodiment has the above-described configuration, not only does the entire VDP circuit 52 automatically return to the initial state when the power is turned on or when the program runs out of control, but each part is returned to the initial state as necessary to prevent an abnormal situation from occurring. recovery can be achieved. For example, when the drawing circuit 76 is frozen without READ/WRITE access to the built-in VRAM 71 for a certain period of time, the drawing circuit 76 is individually initialized via the fourth reset path 4B (Fig. 17(d) ST16a reference). The same applies to the preloader 73 and the data transfer circuit 72. In the event of a predetermined abnormality, the preloader 73 is initialized via the fourth reset path 4B (see ST27 in FIG. 24), and is reset via the fourth reset path 4B. Then the data transfer circuit 72 is initialized (see ST27 in FIG. 19 and FIG. 24).

As for the display circuit 74, when the display timing of every 1/60th of a second continues underrun (Underrun), in which display data cannot be generated in time, the fourth reset path 4A or the fourth reset path 4B is switched. The display circuit 74 is individually initialized via this (see ST10c in FIG. 17). Note that these individual reset operations will be further described later with respect to the program processing described after FIG.

The reset mechanism that is characteristic of this embodiment has been described above. The setting value of returns to the same default value after power-on.

Next, returning to the internal configuration of the CPU circuit 51, the description of the characteristic circuit configuration will be continued. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing in some detail the internal configuration of the CPU circuit 51. As shown in FIG. The CPU circuit 51 includes many characteristic circuits in addition to the built-in RAM 59, DMAC circuit 60, SIO 61, PIO 62, and WDT described above.

First, CPU circuit 51 implements the Harvard architecture by having separate CPU fetch buses for instructions and CPU memory access buses for data. Therefore, the fetch operation in which the CPU core (rendering control CPU) 63 reads an instruction from the memory and the memory access operation do not conflict with each other, and high-speed processing is realized by continuing the fetch operation.

Further, the CPU core 63 is configured with a plurality of (for example, 15) register banks RB0 to RB14, and is configured to select whether or not to use them. In an operating state in which the use of the register bank RBi is permitted, at the start of interrupt processing, the register values (each 32-bit length) of the internal registers of the CPU (eg, 19 registers) are automatically saved in the empty register bank RBi. be done.

Further, when a predetermined return instruction is executed at the end of interrupt processing, for example, 19 pieces of saved data are automatically restored to the corresponding built-in registers. Therefore, it is not necessary to execute the PUSH instruction 19 times at the start of interrupt processing and the POP instruction 19 times at the end of interrupt processing as in a normal configuration, and high-speed processing is realized.

Further, the CPU circuit 51 of the embodiment realizes a Harvard cache operation by providing an instruction cache memory 67, an operand cache memory 89, and a cache controller 69, and when accessing the same address, cached By using this data, we are aiming to further speed up program processing. By providing the bus bridge 65, the controller for the peripheral bus (1), the controller for the peripheral bus (2), and the controller for the peripheral bus (3), the internal bus and the peripheral bus (1) are provided. ), peripheral bus (2), and peripheral bus (3) are connected as appropriate.

Next, in the circuit configuration of FIG. 6, the bus state controller 66 operates based on appropriate set values in the operation control register REG to perform memory READ operations with various memory devices connected to the CPU circuit 51 and memory read operations. This is the part that optimizes WRITE operations. The memory READ operation and memory WRITE operation are executed, for example, at the operation timings illustrated in FIG. The operation timing of WRITE data written to the WRITE data bus (32 bits) and control signals such as chip select signals CS0 to CS7 is based on the values set in the operation control register REG, corresponding to the characteristics of each memory device. Defined as appropriate.

Since the READ data bus and the WRITE data bus are provided separately, high-speed operation is realized by the Harvard architecture described above. In this specification, the address bus (28 Bit), READ data bus (32 Bit), and WRITE data bus (32 Bit) are referred to as the internal bus, peripheral bus (1) to peripheral bus (3), etc. shown in FIG. In order to distinguish it from the external bus, it may be generically called an external bus.

FIG. 7 shows the address spaces CS0-CS7 selected by the chip select signals CS0-CS7, and shows the address map for the effect control CPU 63 accessed via the bus state controller 66. FIG. . First, each of the address spaces CS0 to CS7 is defined to have a maximum of 64 Mbytes (=0x4000000H=67108864).

As described above, the address spaces CS0 to CS7 mean external memories for the CPU circuit 51, which can define the memory type including the presence or absence of volatility, and the data bus width (8/16/32 bits). do. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 7, the control memory (PROM) 53 has an address space CS0, the audio control register SRG of the audio processor 27 has an address space CS3, the internal registers of the clock circuit 38 and The SRAM 39 is positioned in the address space CS4, the external DRAM (DDR) 54 is positioned in the address space CS5, the work memory 57 is positioned in the address space CS6, and the VDP register RGij is positioned in the address space CS7. A description of the address spaces CS1 and CS2 will be omitted.

By the way, as can be seen from FIG. 7, the address spaces CS0 to CS7 are secured not only at address values 0x00000000 to 0x1FFFFFFF (cache valid space) but also at address values 0x20000000 to 0x3FFFFFFF (cache invalid space). When the address bit A29=1, the cache is invalidated according to the internal operation of the CPU circuit 51, while when the address bit A29=0, the cache is validated. It is designed to

Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the value of bit A29 is either 1 or 0 in all 32-bit address information (bits A31 to A0), the remaining 31 bits (bits A31 to A30 and bits A28 to A0) If the values are the same, they point to the same location in the same memory. For example, the same data is read from the zero address of the work memory 57 even if the address 0x18000000 is read-accessed and the address 0x38000000 is read-accessed. When the address 0x18000000 is read-accessed, the read data is stored in the cache, and FIG. 6B illustrates the cache valid/invalid access operation.

However, it is also possible to invalidate the cache operation of the instruction cache and/or the operand cache based on the value set in the predetermined operation control register REG. However, in this embodiment, after the power is turned on, the cache operations of the instruction cache and the operand cache are validated, and the cache invalidation space is accessed as necessary to invalidate the cache operations.

Continuing the description of the memory map in FIG. 7, from 0x40000000 onwards is an internal memory space where the bus state controller 66 does not function, and addresses 0xF0000000 to 0xFF3FFFFF are assigned to the cache address array space. Addresses 0xFF400000 to 0xFFF7FFFF and 0xFFFC0000 to 0xFFFFFFFF are assigned to built-in peripheral modules, specifically, to the operation control register REG of the CPU circuit. The address range of the internal RAM 59 is 0xFFF80000 to 0xFFFBFFFF.

Continuing the description of the internal configuration of the CPU circuit 51, the compare match timer CMT and the multi-function timer unit MTU count external signals supplied to the CPU circuit 51, or count by multiplying or dividing the internal clock. This is a circuit that counts clocks and generates an interrupt signal or the like when the counted result reaches a predetermined value. Although not particularly limited, this embodiment utilizes the multifunction timer unit MTU to generate a 1 ms interrupt signal and a 20 μS interrupt signal.

Next, the interrupt controller INTC receives internal interrupts from the VDP circuit 52, the DMAC circuit 60, the multi-function timer unit MTU, etc., and external interrupts such as IRQ_CMD, IRQ_SND, IRQ_RCT, etc., and based on a predetermined priority. It is a circuit that activates interrupt processing (interrupt handler). IRQ_CMD is a command reception interrupt signal for receiving the control command CMD, IRQ_SND is a termination interrupt signal indicating that the voice processor 27 has completed the initialization sequence, and IRQ_RCT is an alarm interrupt signal.

In this embodiment, the command reception interrupt IRQ_CMD has the highest level of interrupt priority. The order is IRQ_RCT (see FIG. 14(d)). All of these are maskable interrupts, and the unmaskable interrupt NMI is output to the effect control CPU 63 when the reference clock is not output from the oscillator OSC2, as described above.

In any interrupt process, the register values (32-bit length each) of a plurality of built-in registers of the CPU are automatically saved in any one of the empty register banks RBi. Then, when a predetermined restore instruction is executed at the end of interrupt processing, the saved data is automatically restored to the corresponding built-in register.

Next, the DMAC circuit 60 will be explained. The DMAC circuit 60 of the embodiment transfers from the transfer source (Source) to the transfer destination (Destination) in a predetermined DMA transfer mode for each predetermined data transfer unit based on the set value in the predetermined operation control register REG. In addition, it is a circuit that repeats data transfer a predetermined number of times. A plurality of channels of DMAC0 to DMACn having the same internal configuration are prepared and can operate in parallel. However, the priority is determined (channel 0 > . . . > channel n), and during parallel operation in the channel arbitration operation mode, the operation of DMACi with a higher priority is prioritized by channel arbitration at predetermined timing.

As for the utilization of the DMAC circuit 60, for example, in the embodiment in which the serial output port SO functions (see the dashed line in FIG. 7A), the operation control register REG of the CPU circuit 51 stores the top address of the lamp/motor drive table. (head value of transfer source address), address of input register of serial output port SO (fixed value of transfer destination address), data transfer unit (8 bits), and number of transfers are specified. Then, the DMAC circuit 60, which has received the operation start instruction from the predetermined operation control register REG, DMA-transfers the driving data to the predetermined transfer destination address while updating the transfer source address. Then, when all DMA transfers are completed, a DMAC interrupt (operation end interrupt) is generated.

This point is substantially the same in the case of the embodiment in which the DMAC circuit 60 issues the display list DL (FIGS. 20 and 24(c)). That is, the effect control CPU 63 stores the head address of the transfer source (DL buffer BUF), the address of the transfer destination (transfer port TR_PORT), the DMA transfer mode, and the data transfer unit in a predetermined operation control register REG of the CPU circuit 51. Then, the number of transfers and other conditions are set. Note that these points will be discussed further below with respect to FIG.

By the way, in general, DMA transfer modes include a cycle steal transfer mode in which DMA operations do not occupy the memory bus, such as releasing the bus control right in the middle of a unit operation (R operation/W operation) of DMA transfer, and a cycle steal transfer mode in which DMA operations do not occupy the memory bus. Burst transfer (pipeline transfer) mode in which the bus control right is not released until the specified number of transfers is completed, such as continuous operation or W operation, and while DMA transfer requests (demands) received from other devices are active A demand transfer mode that continues the DMA operation can be considered. However, the DMAC circuit 60 of this embodiment functions in a cycle steal transfer mode in which at least one cycle of memory release period is provided between read access activation (R operation) and write access activation (W operation) during DMA transfer. By doing so, the operation of the effect control CPU 63 is prevented from being hindered.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the cycle steal transfer operation (a1) and the pipeline transfer (a2). As shown in FIG. 8(a1), the DMAC circuit 60 functioning in the cycle steal transfer mode operates with at least one cycle between read access activation (R) and write access activation (W) of one data transfer. In this empty cycle, the effect control CPU 63 can use the bus. As is clear from the comparison between FIG. 8(a1) and FIG. 8(a2), in pipeline transfer, the bus is not released to the CPU until one cycle (one-operand transfer) is completed. In the transfer mode, the bus is released to the CPU for each read access, so the operation of the CPU is not greatly delayed.

Then, for example, when the display list DL is issued to the VDP circuit 52, in an embodiment using the DMAC circuit 60, the data transfer unit (1 operand) of one cycle is set to 32×2 bits, and the display list DL is stored. While appropriately increasing the source address of the built-in RAM 59 (+8 for each operand transfer), the DMA transfer operation is performed for the transfer port register TR_PORT (see FIG. 10) of the data transfer circuit 72 specified by the fixed address. running

As will be described later, in the embodiment, by adding the required number of NOP (no operation) commands to the display list DL, the overall data size is set to a fixed value (for example, 4×64=256 bytes, or its integer 32 bits×2 times of one operand transfer is repeated 32 times (or an integer multiple thereof) to complete the issue of the display list DL. Note that execution of the NOP command by the drawing circuit 76 does not, in fact, cause any change.

Further, when classifying operation modes with respect to DMA transfer conditions, generally, single operand transfer (see FIG. 8(b1)), continuous operand transfer (see FIG. 8(b2)), and non-stop transfer (see FIG. 8(b3) See).

Here, the single-operand transfer is a point in time when the byte count, which counts the number of transfer bytes, reaches zero, as shown in FIG. and means the mode of operation in which a DMA interrupt request occurs. Next, continuous operand transfer means an operation mode in which DMA transfer is repeated until the byte count becomes zero with one DMA request, as shown in FIG. 8(b2).

In these continuous operand transfers (b2) and single operand transfers (b1), channel arbitration is performed each time a single operand transfer is completed. transfer continues (channel arbitration mode of operation). Therefore, in this embodiment, the single operand transfer method is adopted for issuing the display list DL to the VDP circuit and for DMA transfer of lamp drive data and motor drive data. During parallel operation, the DMACi of the optimum channel is used so as to achieve channel arbitration with the priority of, for example, motor data>display list DL>lamp data.

On the other hand, non-stop transfer is an operation mode in which channel arbitration is not executed, and DMA transfer is continuously repeated until the byte count reaches zero with one DMA request, as shown in FIG. be In this embodiment, in the memory section initialization process (SP8 in FIG. 12) at power-on, programs and data are DMA-transferred by non-stop transfer.

The CPU circuit 51 has been described above. Next, the VDP circuit 52 will be described. , a main display device DS1, and a sub display device DS2 are connected. The DRAM 54 is preferably composed of DDR3 (Double-Data-Rate3 SDRAM).

Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the CGROM 55 is composed of a flash SSD (solid state drive) composed of a NAND flash memory with a storage capacity of about 62 Gbits. is configured to obtain Therefore, the problem of skew (difference in transmission speed for each bit data) that inevitably occurs in parallel transmission is resolved, and extremely high-speed transmission operation becomes possible. Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the CGROM 55 is accessed at high speed by the HSS (High Speed Serial) method conforming to SerialATA.

Regardless of whether or not the HSS method conforming to SerialATA is adopted, the NAND type flash memory is mechanically more stable than the hard disk and is capable of high-speed access. Compared with DRAM and SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), there is a problem in random accessibility. Therefore, in this embodiment, a group of compressed data (CG data) is preloaded into the DRAM 54 prior to the drawing operation, thereby realizing smooth random access of the CG data during the drawing operation. ing. Incidentally, the access speed decreases in the order of built-in VRAM>external DRAM>CGROM.

More specifically, the VDP circuit 52 includes a control register group 70 in which various operating parameters that define the operation of the VDP (Video Display Processor) can be set by an effect control CPU 63, and image data to be displayed on the display devices DS1 and DS2. A built-in VRAM (video RAM) 71 of about 48 Mbytes used at the time of generation, a data transfer circuit 72 for executing data transmission/reception between each part inside the chip and data transmission/reception with the outside of the chip, and the built-in VRAM 71 have Source and Destination. An index table IDXTBL capable of specifying address information, a preloader 73 capable of executing a preload operation for READ access to the CGROM 55 prior to the drawing operation, and a graphics decoder for decoding (decoding/decompressing/decompressing) compressed data read from the CGROM 55. (GDEC) 75, a rendering circuit 76 for generating image data for one frame of each of the display devices DS1 and DS2 by appropriately combining still image data and moving image data after decoding (expanding), and operation of the rendering circuit 76. A geometry engine 77 that generates a stereoscopic image by appropriate coordinate transformation, and a three-system system that reads image data from the frame buffers FBa and FBb generated by the drawing circuit 76 and executes appropriate image processing in parallel. (A/B/C) display circuits 74A to 74C, an output selection unit 79 that appropriately selects and outputs the outputs of the three-system (A/B/C) display circuits 74, and an image output by the output selection unit 79 LVDS section 80 for converting data into LVDS signals, SMC section 78 capable of transmitting and receiving serial data, CPUIF section 81 for relaying data transmission and reception with CPUIF circuit 56, and CG bus IF section 82 for relaying data reception from CGROM 55. , a DRAMIF section 83 for relaying data transmission/reception with the external DRAM 54 , and a VRAMIF section 84 for relaying data transmission/reception with the built-in VRAM 71 . An audio circuit SND is also incorporated.

FIG. 5B shows the relationship between the CPUIF section 81, the CG bus IF section 82, the DRAMIF section 83, the VRAMIF section 84, the control register group 70, the CGROM 55, the DRAM 54, and the built-in VRAM 71. FIG. As shown, the CG data acquired from the CGROM 55 is transferred to the preload area of the external DRAM 54 via the data transfer circuit 72 and the DRAM IF unit 83 as preload data, for example.

However, the above-described preload operation is not an essential operation, and the data transfer destination is not limited to the external DRAM 54, and may be the built-in VRAM 71 as well. Therefore, for example, in an embodiment in which no preload operation is performed, the CG data is transferred to the built-in VRAM 71 via the data transfer circuit 72 and VRAMIF section 84 (FIG. 5(b)).

By the way, in this embodiment, the built-in VRAM 71 stores the image data specifying the expansion area of the compressed data read from the CGROM 55 and the ARGB information (32 bits=8×4) of each of W×H display pixels of the display device. A frame buffer area to store the depth information of each display pixel and a Z buffer area to store the depth information of each display pixel are required. In the ARGB information, A means 8-bit α-plane data, and RGB means 8-bit data of three primary colors.

Here, each area of the built-in VRAM 71 is indirectly accessed based on various instruction commands (textures, sprites, etc. described above) described in the display list DL by the effect control CPU 63, but the READ/WRITE access , it is troublesome to specify the destination address and the source address of the built-in VRAM 71 one by one. Therefore, in this embodiment, in the initial processing after resetting the CPU, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional logical address space (hereinafter referred to as an index space) required for the drawing operation is secured, and an index number is assigned to each index space. allows access based on the index number.

Specifically, after resetting the CPU, the built-in VRAM 71 is roughly divided into three types of memory areas, and the necessary number of index spaces are secured in each memory area. By constructing an index table IDXTBL (see FIG. 9A) that stores index spaces and index numbers in association with each other, subsequent operations based on the index numbers are realized.

This index space needs to be (1) added after initial processing, and conversely (2) freed. Therefore, when the addition/release effect control CPU 63 operates, a flag that can determine whether or not it is the timing at which the addition/release processing can be performed, and whether or not the processing such as addition/release has actually been completed. A region FG is provided in the index table IDXTBL. The built-in VRAM 71 is roughly divided into three types of memory areas: two AAC areas (a1, a2), a page area (b), and an arbitrary area (c). The index table IDXTBL is divided into three sections corresponding to (a1,a2)(b)(c) (FIG. 9(a)). As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the first AAC area (a1) and the second AAC area (a2) are secured as the AAC area (a). But it's okay. In the following description, the first and second AAC areas (a1, a2) may be collectively referred to as the AAC area (a).

In this embodiment, the built-in VRAM 71 comprises (a) an AAC area having an index space and its index number automatically assigned by internal processing and having a memory cache function, and (b) a two-dimensional space of, for example, 4096 bits×128 lines. The unit space is divided into a page area in which an index space can be secured within the range of integral multiples thereof, and (c) an arbitrary area in which the start address (space start address) STx and horizontal size Hx can be set arbitrarily. (See FIG. 9(b)). However, in order to facilitate the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52, the space head address STx of the index space arbitrarily set in the arbitrary area (c) has 0 in the lower 11 bits, and has a predetermined number of bits (2048 bits=256 bytes). Must be in units.

After resetting the CPU, the maximum value of the address space required for each area and the top address of the area (lower 11 bits=0) are defined, and the AAC area (a1), the second AAC area (a2), and the page area ( b) is secured, and the remaining memory area becomes the arbitrary area (c). In order to facilitate the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52, the maximum value of the address space of the AAC area is defined in units of 2048 bits, and the maximum value of the address space of the page area is an integer multiple of the unit space of 4096 bits×128 lines. It is said that

Next, the necessary number of index spaces are set in each of the areas (a1, a2), (b), and (c) thus secured. When the optional area (c) is used, the horizontal size Hx of the index space handling two-dimensional data can be arbitrarily set as a multiple of 256 bits in order to facilitate the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52. Its vertical size is a fixed value (eg, 2048 lines).

In any case, the first and second AAC areas (a1, a2) are automatically given an index space and an index number by the VDP circuit 52. Therefore, for example, the SETINDEX command, which is a texture setting command, If the AAC area (a) is specified as the decoding destination, the TXLOAD (texture load) command for reading CG data from the CGROM 55 only needs to specify the source address of the CGROM 55 and the horizontal and vertical sizes after expansion (decoding). It will be. Therefore, in the present embodiment, still images (textures) such as characters that temporarily appear in advance notice effects and I-stream moving images are decoded to the AAC area (a).

Since this AAC area (a) is provided with a memory cache function, for example, when the same texture in the CGROM 55 is read out to the AAC area (a) a plurality of times, from the second time onwards: The decoded data cached in the AAC area (a) can be used, and redundant READ accesses and decode processing can be suppressed. However, when the AAC area (a) is used up, the old data is automatically destroyed. Only specific textures that are used repeatedly are acquired in the second AAC area (a2).

Examples of repeatedly used textures include a character that appears repeatedly during a predetermined advance notice effect, and a background image when the background screen is composed of a still image. In such a case, set the decoding destination to the second AAC area (a2) with the SETINDEX command of the texture setting commands, and decode the textures such as characters and background images to the second AAC area (a2) with the TXLOAD command. After that, the decoding result is protected by not using the second AAC area (a2).

Then, after specifying the decoding destination to the second AAC area (a2) with the SETINDEX command, if you execute the same TXLOAD command to reacquire the acquired texture, the acquired texture will hit the cache. , READ access to the CGROM 55 and the time required for the decoding process can be eliminated. As will be described later, such a cache hit function is exhibited even in preload data prefetched in the preload area. A cache hit in the area is meaningful in that it is the decompressed data after decoding.

By the way, the term "texture" generally refers to the texture and feel of the surface of an object. , is used as a concept including not only image data to be pasted on drawing primitives such as triangles and squares, but also image data after decoding. When image data is to be copied (hereinafter referred to as movement for convenience) within the built-in VRAM 71, the original image data is set as a texture by the SETINDEX command of the texture setting commands, and then the SPRITE command is executed. will be executed.

By executing the sprite command, the Source image data of the movement source is formally drawn in the virtual drawing space shown in FIG. 9(c). If the correspondence relationship between the area and the index space that becomes the frame buffer is set in advance by environment setting commands (SETDAVR, SETDAVF) and texture setting commands (SETINDEX), for example, the sprite command can be used to access the virtual drawing space. By drawing, the Source image data of the movement source is drawn in a predetermined index space (frame buffer) (see FIG. 9(c)).

In any case, in this embodiment, the built-in VRAM 71 is roughly divided into an AAC area (a1, a2), a page area (b) and an arbitrary area (c), each of which has an appropriate number of index spaces. and each index space is specified by an independent index number for each region (a)(b)(c). The index number is, for example, 1 byte long, and the page area (b) (excluding the AAC area (a) automatically assigned by the internal circuit) and the arbitrary area (c) are rendered in the range of 0 to 255. The control CPU 63 can freely assign index numbers.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9(a), a pair of frame buffers FBa are secured in an arbitrary area (c) for the display device DS1, and index numbers 255, 254 is given. That is, an index space 255 and an index space 254 that are toggled to be used are secured as the frame buffer FBa for the main display device DS1. Although not particularly limited, the index spaces 255 and 254 have a horizontal size of 1280 corresponding to the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the display device DS1. Since each pixel is specified by 32-bit ARGB information, the horizontal size 1280 means 32×1280=40960 bits (a multiple of 256 bits).

For the display device DS2, another pair of frame buffers FBb are secured in the arbitrary area (c), and index numbers 252 and 251 are assigned to both of the double buffer structures. That is, the index space 252 and the index space 251 are secured as the frame buffer FBb for the sub display device DS2. The index spaces 252 and 251 have a horizontal size of 480 corresponding to the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the display device DS2. Also in this case, each pixel is specified by 32 bits of ARGB information, so the horizontal size 480 means 32×480=15360 bits (a multiple of 256 bits).

The reason why the frame buffers FBa and FBb are secured in the arbitrary area (c) is that the arbitrary horizontal size can be set in the arbitrary area (c) as a multiple of 32 bytes (= 256 bits = 8 pixels). This is because, as described above, by matching the number of horizontal pixels of the display devices DS1 and DS2, no waste occurs in the reserved area. On the other hand, in the page area (b), only horizontal/vertical sizes that are integral multiples of the unit space of 128 pixels×128 lines can be set.

However, the vertical size of the two-dimensional index space secured in the arbitrary area (c) is a fixed value (for example, 2048 lines). Therefore, in the frame buffer FBa, only the area of horizontal size 1280×vertical size 1024 is the valid data area for the main display device DS1. This point is the same for the sub-display device DS2, and in the frame buffer FBb, only the area of horizontal size 480×vertical size 800 becomes an effective data area for the sub-display device DS2 (FIG. 9C, FIG. 17(e)).

The above points will be further described later, but in any case, the frame buffers FBa and FBb are alternately used as the drawing areas for the drawing circuit 76, and the double buffers (255/254, 252/251) are alternately used. Each double buffer (255/254, 252/251) is alternately used as a display area for the display circuits 74A, 74B. In this embodiment, since the Z-buffer for storing the depth information of the display pixels is not used, a missing number (253) occurs. Index spaces 253 and 250 provide Z-buffers for display devices DS1 and DS2.

Also, in this embodiment, when an additional index space (memory area) is to be secured in the optional area (c) in which the frame buffers FBa and FBb are secured, an index number starting from 0 is given. . Although it is not limited in any way, in this embodiment, as a work area for the notice effect, in which a effect image composed of a character or other still image is made to appear in a part of the display screen in an appropriate rotational posture as necessary, An index space (0) is secured in the arbitrary area (c).

However, the use of a work area is not essential, and an index space as a work area may be secured in the page area (b) instead of the arbitrary area (c). If the page area (b) is used, it is possible to secure an index space with dimensions that are multiples of a square unit space of horizontal size 128 (=4096 bits)×vertical size 128, so it is suitable for handling small-sized effect images.

By the way, in this embodiment, the background image is composed of moving images, and the image effects are realized almost exclusively by moving images. In particular, a large number (usually 10 or more) moving images are drawn at the same time during the variable presentation. Each of these moving images is stored in the CGROM 55 in a compressed state as a series of moving image frames. and Here, an I frame (Intra coded frame) means a frame in which an input image is directly compressed independently of other screens. On the other hand, a P-frame (Predictive coded frame) means a frame for which forward predictive coding is performed, and requires an I-frame or P-frame positioned in the past in terms of time.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the IP stream moving image is developed in the page area (b) instead of the AAC area (a) where there is a concern that the old data will be destroyed. That is, a number of index spaces (IDX ₀ to IDX _N ) are secured in the page area (b) that can secure index spaces of multiple dimensions of horizontal size 128×vertical size 128, and a series of video frames are The same index space IDXi corresponding to MVi is always used for decoding. That is, the moving picture MV1 is developed in the index space IDX1, the moving picture MV2 is developed in the index space IDX2, and similarly, the moving picture MVi is developed in the index space IDXi.

More specifically, the moving picture MVi is specified in advance by the SETINDEX command that "the decoding destination of the IP stream moving picture MVi is the index space (i) of the index number i in the page area (b)". A TXLOAD command is executed to acquire one moving image frame of the IP stream moving image MVi.

Then, one moving image frame (either of a series of moving image frames) on the CGROM 55 specified by the TXLOAD command is first acquired in the AAC area (a), and then automatically activated by the GDEC (graphics decoder) 75. , one frame of the acquired moving image is decoded and developed in the index space (i) of the page area (b).

On the other hand, in this embodiment, I-stream moving pictures are handled in the same way as still pictures. Run the TXLOAD command. As a result, the moving image frame is acquired in the first AAC area (a1), and then the automatically started GDEC 75 develops the decoded data in the first ACC area (a1). As explained above, the index space for the AAC area (a) is automatically generated, so there is no need to specify the index number. Note that the expansion volume required for the index space, that is, the horizontal size and vertical size of the decoded texture (video frame), is TXLOAD regardless of whether the expansion destination is the AAC area (a) or the page area (b). Identified by command.

By the way, IP stream moving images MVi and I stream moving images MVj are generally composed of N moving image frames (I frames and P frames). Therefore, the TXLOAD command specifies, for example, the source address of the CGROM 55 in which the k-th (1≤k≤N) video frame is stored and the horizontal/vertical size after development. Although not limited in any way, in an embodiment in which still pictures are hardly used, most of the 48 Mbyte address space (approximately 30 Mbytes) of the built-in VRAM 71 is assigned to the page area (b). In an embodiment in which still images are hardly used, only the first AAC area (a1) is secured as the AAC area, the second AAC area (a2) is not secured, and the cache hit function of the AAC area is used. do not use either.

It is also conceivable to provide a dedicated GDEC (graphics decoder) circuit in order to speed up the decoding process of compressed video data. If a dedicated GDEC circuit is incorporated in the VDP circuit 52, it is sufficient to instruct the GDEC circuit of the head address of the compressed moving image data in the decoding process of the compressed moving image data composed of N compressed moving image frames. It is no longer necessary to specify the start address for each of the N compressed video frames.

However, incorporating a plurality of such dedicated GDEC circuits for each compression algorithm further complicates the internal configuration of the VDP circuit 52 . Therefore, in this embodiment, software GDEC is used, and decoding processing is realized by software processing corresponding to each compression algorithm for data such as IP stream moving images, I stream moving images, still images, and other α values. The processing time difference between the hardware processing and the software processing does not matter so much, and the processing time that matters is mainly the access (READ) time from the CGROM 55 .

Next, returning to FIG. 5A to continue the description, the data transfer circuit 72 uses the resource (storage medium) inside the VDP circuit and the external storage medium as a transfer source port or a transfer destination port, and transfers data between them. This is a circuit that performs data transfer operations in a DMA (Direct Memory Access) manner. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of this data transfer circuit 72 together with related circuit configurations.

As shown in FIG. 10, the data transfer circuit 72 is configured to transmit/receive data to/from the CGROM 55, DRAM 54, and built-in VRAM 71 via an integrated connection bus ICM having a router function. The CGROM 55 and DRAM 54 are accessed via the CG bus IF section 82 and the DMAM IF section 83 .

On the other hand, the CPU circuit 51 issues the display list DL to the drawing circuit 76 and the preloader 73 via the transfer port register TR_PORT incorporated in the data transfer circuit 72 . The CPU circuit 51 and the data transfer circuit 72 are bi-directionally connected. When the display list DL is issued, the transfer port register TR_PORT is used as a data write port for receiving one unit of data constituting the display list DL. Function. The write unit (one unit data length) of the transfer port register TR_PORT is 32 bits corresponding to the FIFO structure of the CPU bus control section 72d.

As shown, the effect control CPU 63 can WRITE access the transfer port register TR_PORT via the CPUIF unit 81, while the DMAC circuit 60 directly accesses the transfer port register TR_PORT when utilizing the DMAC circuit 60. WRITE access. A series of instruction commands written in the transfer port register TR_PORT (that is, a series of instruction commands forming the display list DL) are processed in 32-bit units by a CPU bus containing a FIFO buffer with a FIFO structure (32 bits x 130 stages). It is configured to be automatically stored in the control unit 72d.

In addition, the data transfer circuit 72 executes data transmission/reception operations on transmission paths of three channels ChA to ChC, and has a FIFO buffer of FIFO structure (64 bits×N stages) ChA control circuit 72a (N=130 stages), a ChB control circuit 72b (N=1026 stages), and a ChC control circuit 72c (N=130 stages).

Then, the instruction command string (display list DL) accumulated in the CPU bus control unit 72d is sent to the drawing circuit 76 or It is transferred to the preloader 73 . As indicated by the arrow, the display list DL is transferred from the CPU bus control section 72d to the drawing circuit 76 via the FIFO buffer of the ChB control circuit 72b, and transferred to the preloader 73 via the FIFO buffer of the ChC control circuit 72c. configured to be

In this embodiment, the ChB control circuit 72b and the ChC control circuit 72b are specialized for the transfer operation of the display list DL. 72b or ChC control circuit 72c, respectively, to the drawing circuit 76 or the display list analyzer of the preloader 73 as part of the display list DL.

The drawing circuit 76 then starts a drawing operation based on the transferred display list DL. On the other hand, the preloader 73 performs necessary preload operations based on the transferred display list DL. The CG data in the CGROM 55 is read ahead into the preload area secured in the DRAM 54 by the preload operation, and a display list DL (hereinafter referred to as a rewrite list DL') in which the source address of the texture is changed in relation to the TXLOAD command is secured in the DRAM 54. stored in the DL buffer area BUF'.

On the other hand, a ChA control circuit 72a and a connection bus access arbitration circuit 72e function for data transfer between storage media such as the CGROM 55, the DRAM 54, and the built-in VRAM 71. FIG. In addition, the IDXTBL access arbitration circuit 72f functions when accessing the built-in VRAM 71 that requires the address information of the index table IDXTBL. Specifically, the ChA control circuit 72a, for example, (a) transfers the compressed data of the CGROM 55 to the built-in VRAM 71, or (b) preloads (prefetches) the compressed data of the CGROM 55 and transfers it to the external DRAM 54. and (c) transferring pre-read data in the preload area to the built-in VRAM 71 .

Here, the ChA control circuit 72a is configured to be able to operate in parallel with the ChB control circuit 72b and the ChC control circuit 72c. 17, PT11 in FIG. 22) and the transfer operation of the rewrite list DL' (PT10 in FIG. 22). In addition, the ChB control circuit 72b and the ChC control circuit 72c can also be executed simultaneously. For example, the processing of step PT10 in FIG. can be executed by However, since there is only one transfer port register TR_PORT, at the timing when one of the transfer port registers TR_PORT is being used by one of them (72b/72c), the other (72c/72b) can access the transfer port register TR_PORT. can't.

During operation of the ChA control circuit 72a, the connection bus access arbitration circuit 72e arbitrates data transmission with each storage element (CGROM 55, DRAM 54) via the integrated connection bus ICM. On the other hand, the IDXTBL access arbitration circuit 72f arbitrates data communication with the built-in VRAM 71 by controlling the ChA control circuit 72a based on the index table IDXTBL. In the embodiment in which the preloader 73 functions, the rewrite list DL' stored in the DL buffer area BUF' of the DRAM 54 is transferred to the drawing circuit 76 via the connection bus access arbitration circuit 72e and the ChB control circuit 72b. (See FIG. 23(b)).

As described above, the data transfer circuit 72 of this embodiment has a data transfer source arbitrarily selected from various storage resources and a data transfer destination arbitrarily selected from various storage resources. It provides high-speed data transfer between As can be seen from FIG. 10, the storage resources on which the data transfer circuit 72 functions include not only the built-in VRAM 71 but also external devices via the CPUIF section 56, CG bus IF section 82, and DRAMIF section 83. FIG.

And, like the amount of data to be acquired at one time from the CGROM 55 (memory sequential READ), the amount of data transfer with the external device in which the ChA control circuit 72a functions is the display in which the ChB control circuit 72b and the ChC control circuit 72c function. The list DL is huge compared to the case of the list DL, and the amount of data transfer is greatly different from each other.

Here, it is conceivable that the unit data amount and the total transfer data amount can be finely set for these various types of data transfer. inhibited. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the minimum data amount Dmin for data transfer is uniquely defined, and the total transfer data amount is limited to an integral multiple of the minimum data amount DTmin, thereby achieving high-speed and smooth data transfer operations. Realized. Although not particularly limited, in the data transfer circuit 72 of the embodiment, the minimum data amount Dmin (unit data amount) is set to 256 bytes, and the total transfer data amount is limited to integral multiples of this.

Therefore, the instruction command string of the display list DL accumulated in the FIFO buffer of the CPU bus control section 72d for each 32 bits is transferred to the ChB control circuit 72b and the ChC control circuit 72b at the timing when the total amount reaches the minimum data amount Dmin. and stored in each FIFO buffer.

The display list DL consists of a series of instruction commands. In this embodiment, the command length of the display list DL is an integer N times 32 bits corresponding to the write unit (32 bits) of the transfer port register TR_PORT. It is composed only of (N>0) instruction commands. Therefore, the drawing circuit 76 and the preloader 73 that receive the instruction command of the display list DL via the data transfer circuit 72 can quickly and smoothly start command analysis processing (DL analyze). It should be noted that the command length of 32-bit integer N times does not necessarily mean that all of them are significant bits, but that it is 32-bit integer N times including non-significant bits (Don't care bits).

Next, the preloader 73 will be explained. As outlined above, the preloader 73 interprets the display list DL transferred from the data transfer circuit 72 (ChC control circuit 72b), and preloads the CG data on the CGROM 55 referenced by the TXLOAD command to the DRAM 54. It is a circuit that transfers to the preload area of . In addition, the preloader 73 stores in the DL buffer BUF' of the DRAM 54 the rewrite list DL' in which the reference destination of the CG data is rewritten to the address after transfer in relation to this TXLOAD command. Note that the DL buffer BUF' and the preload area are secured in advance during the initial processing after CPU reset (ST3 in FIG. 17).

The rewrite list DL' is transferred to the display list analyzer (DL Analyzer) of the drawing circuit 76 via the connection bus access arbitration circuit 72e of the data transfer circuit 72 and the ChB control circuit 72b when the drawing operation of the drawing circuit 76 is started. ). The drawing circuit 76 then executes the drawing operation based on the rewrite list DL'. Therefore, based on the TXLOAD command or the like, the CG data that should originally be obtained from the CGROM 55 is obtained from the preload area of the DRAM 54 as preload data preloaded in the preload area. In this case, the preload data can be used repeatedly as long as it is not overwritten, and the preload data hit in the preload area is reused repeatedly.

In this embodiment, since the preload area is set in the external DRAM 54 having a sufficient storage capacity, the above cache hit function works effectively. Also, since the external DRAM 54 has a large storage capacity, it is possible to preload multiple frames of CG data at once, for example. That is, regarding the operation period of the preloader 73, the operation period of a series of preload operations including the read-ahead operation of the CG data is appropriately set within the range of integral multiples of the operation period δ during the intermittent operation of the VDP circuit 52. Multiple preloading is realized with

However, in the following description, for the sake of convenience, an embodiment without multiple preloading will be described, so the preloader 73 of the embodiment completes the preloading operation for one frame during one operation period (.delta.). As will be described later with reference to FIG. 17, in this embodiment, the operation cycle δ of the VDP circuit 52 during intermittent operation is 1/30 second, which is twice the cycle of the vertical synchronization signal of the display device DS1.

Next, the drawing circuit 76 sequentially analyzes the instruction command strings of the display list DL and the rewrite list DL' transferred via the data transfer circuit 72, and cooperates with the graphics decoder 75, the geometry engine 77, and the like. This is a circuit for drawing an image of one frame of each of the display devices DS1 and DS2 in a frame buffer formed in the VRAM 71. FIG.

As described above, in the embodiment in which the preloader 73 functions, the reference destination of the CG data of the rewrite list DL' is not the CGROM 55 but the preload area set in the DRAM 54. FIG. Therefore, sequential access to CG data that occurs during execution of drawing by the drawing circuit 76 can be executed quickly, and high-resolution moving images with rapid motion can be drawn without problems. In other words, according to this embodiment, it is possible to use an inexpensive SATA module as the CGROM 55 and execute complex and advanced image effects.

By the way, regardless of whether the preloader 73 is activated or not, the drawing circuit 76 cannot detect any garbled data when the display list DL or the rewrite list DL' is transferred. In addition, it is possible that the drawing circuit 76 freezes due to noise or the like, and the READ/WRITE access to the built-in VRAM 71 stops abnormally. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the drawing circuit 76 detects an irrational instruction command (analyze-disabled bit arrangement) or when there is no READ/WRITE access to the built-in VRAM 71 for a certain period of time, a drawing abnormal interrupt (drawing error interrupt is enabled). This point will be described later with reference to FIG. 17(d).

Next, as described with reference to FIG. 9, the frame buffer FB secured in the arbitrary area (c) of the VRAM 71 is a double buffer divided into a drawing area and a readout area, and the two areas are alternately switched between uses. to use. In this embodiment, since two display devices DS1 and DS2 are connected, two partitions of frame buffers FBa/FBb are secured as shown in FIG. Therefore, the drawing circuit 76 draws image data for one frame in the drawing area (writing area) of the frame buffer FBa for the display device DS1, and draws the drawing area (writing area) of the frame buffer FBa for the display device DS2. Then, one frame of image data is drawn. Note that when image data is written in the drawing area, the display circuit 74 reads the image data in the other read area (display area) and outputs it to each of the display devices DS1 and DS2.

The display circuit 74 is a circuit that reads the image data in the frame buffers FBa and FBb, performs final image processing, and outputs the data (see FIG. 11). The final image processing includes, for example, scaler scaling processing for enlarging/reducing the image, subtle color correction processing, and dithering processing for minimizing the quantization error of the entire image. Digital RGB signals (total of 24 bits) that have undergone these image processes are output together with the horizontal synchronizing signal and the vertical synchronizing signal. As shown in FIG. 11, this embodiment is provided with three systems of display circuits A/B/C for executing the above operations in parallel. The image data of FBa/FBb/FBc are read out and the final image processing described above is executed. However, since there are two display devices in this embodiment, the frame buffer FBc is not secured and the display circuit 74C does not function.

In relation to this operation, the output selection section 79 of this embodiment transmits the output signal of the display circuit 74A to the LVDS section 80a, and transmits the output signal of the display circuit 74B to the LVDS section 80b (Fig. 11). Then, the LVDS unit 80a converts the image data (24-bit digital RGB signals in total) into LVDS signals, adds a pair for transmitting a clock signal, and outputs all five pairs of differential signals to the main display device DS1. ing. The main display device DS1 incorporates an LVDS signal conversion/reception unit RV, which restores the RGB signals from the LVDS signals and displays an image corresponding to the output of the display circuit 74A.

In this respect, the LVDS section 80b is the same. For a total of 24 bits of each 8-bit digital RGB signal, a pair for transmitting a clock signal is added, and all five pairs of differential signals are output to the conversion receiving section RV. The display device DS2 realizes image display by a total of 24-bit RGB signals received from the conversion receiving unit RV. Therefore, the sub display device DS2 and the main display device DS1 have a resolution of ²⁸ * ²⁸ * ²⁸ .

Note that the LVDS signal is not necessarily required. For example, when the transmission distance is short, the digital RGB signal is directly transmitted to the display device via the digital RGB unit 80c. converts a digital RGB signal into a V-By-one (registered trademark) signal in a conversion transmitting section TR', transmits the V-By-one (registered trademark) signal to a conversion receiving section RV', and converts it back to a digital RGB signal in a conversion receiving section RV'. is also suitable. Although the dashed lines in FIG. 11 indicate this mode of operation, the above operation is possible for any of the output signals of the display circuits 74A to 74C by appropriately setting the operation of the output selection section 79. becomes.

By the way, in the case of this embodiment, each of the display circuits 74A to 74B is provided with underrun counters URCNTa to URCNTc for counting Underrun abnormalities in which the generation of display data is not in time for the display timing (see FIG. 11). reference). The counter values of the underrun counters URCNTa to URCNTc are automatically added for each VBLANK when an underrun abnormality occurs.

Next, the SMC section 78 (Serial Management Controller) is a composite controller containing an LED controller and a Motor controller. Then, it outputs an LED drive signal and a motor drive signal in synchronization with the clock signal to the LED/Motor driver (driver IC with a built-in shift register) mounted on the external board, while outputting the latch pulse at an appropriate timing. configured for output.

Regarding the internal circuit and its operation of the VDP circuit 52 described above, the operation contents to be executed by the internal circuit are defined by the operation parameters (set values) set in the control register group 70 by the effect control CPU 63, and the execution of the VDP circuit 52 The state can be specified by reading the operation status value of the control register group 70 . The control register group 70 means a large number of VDP registers RGij mapped in an address space (0 to FFFFFH) of about 1 Mbyte on the memory map of the effect control CPU 63. WRITE (setting) operation of operation parameters and READ operation of operation status values are executed (see FIG. 5(b)).

The control register group 70 (VDP register RGij) includes "system control registers" in which initial setting values related to system operations such as interrupt operations are written, and the AAC area (a) and page area (b) in the built-in VRAM. , an "index table register" relating to building or changing the index table IDXTBL, and a "data transfer a "GDEC register" for specifying the execution status of the graphics decoder 75; a "drawing register" in which instruction commands and setting values relating to the drawing circuit 76 are written; and setting values relating to the operation of the preloader 73 are written. A "preloader register", a "display register" in which setting values relating to the operation of the display circuit 74 are written, an "LED control register" in which setting values relating to the LED controller (SMC unit 78) are written, a motor controller (SMC 78), and a "sound control register SRG" into which settings for the audio circuit SND are written. However, in this embodiment, the audio circuit SND is not utilized.

In any event, in the following description, one or a plurality of registers RGij included in the control register group 70 may be referred to by the individual names described above, or may be generically referred to as VDP registers RGij. The effect control CPU 63 controls the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52 by writing an appropriate set value to a predetermined VDP register RGij. Specifically, the effect control CPU 63 realizes a predetermined image effect based on the display list DL updated at appropriate time intervals and the set value in the predetermined VDP register RGij. In this embodiment, since the effect control CPU 63 is in charge of the lamp effect and the motor effect, the VDP register RGij also includes an LED control register and a motor control register.

Next, a unified effect control operation for image effect, sound effect, motor effect, and lamp effect realized by the composite chip 50 incorporating the CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52 will be described.

In the case of this embodiment, the operation of the composite chip 50 is started by a power-on reset operation (see FIG. 12A) due to power-on or an abnormal reset, and an initial setting process (SP1 to SP1) by an initial setting program (boot program) Pinit. Through SP9), it is configured to shift to the main control process (SP10) by the effect control program Main and the interrupt processing program (vector handler) Vopt. As for the main control process, FIG. 14(a) describes the processing contents of the introduction part, and FIG. 17(a) describes the processing contents of the main control part. The processing of step SP27 in FIG. 14 includes the processing of steps ST1 to ST3 in FIG. 17(a).

Based on the above, the power-on reset operation will be described with reference to FIG. 12(a). When the system reset signal SYS maintains the L level for a predetermined period (assertion period) such as when power is turned on, all the operation control registers REG and all the VDP registers RGij are automatically set to predetermined default values. Then, after that, when the system reset signal SYS changes to H level (negate level), in this embodiment, first, 32-bit data from the head address of the address space CS0 is set in the program counter PC of the effect control CPU 63, The following 32-bit data is configured to be set in the stack pointer SP. In FIGS. 7 and 13C, the head area of the memory that stores the initial values of the program counter PC and stack pointer SP is called the vector table VECT.

As shown in FIG. 12(b), the vector table VECT stores vector numbers identifying priority levels, interrupt factors, etc., and address information in association with each other. The smaller the vector number, the higher the priority. For example, vector number 11 is a non-maskable interrupt (NMI), and the start address of the interrupt processing program executed at the time of the NMI interrupt is stored as address information. It is A vector number 64 is an internal interrupt (VDP_IRQ0) from the VDP, and as address information, the start address of the interrupt processing program executed at the time of the VDP_IRQ0 interrupt is stored.

Since the interrupt priority is as shown in FIG. 14(d), in the columns of vector numbers smaller than vector number 64, the control command reception interrupt IRQ_CMD, the 20 μS timer interrupt, and the 1 mS timer interrupt are shown in the interrupt processing program. Each head address is stored. On the other hand, in columns of vector numbers larger than vector number 64, start addresses of interrupt processing programs (IRQ_SND, IRQ_RTC, etc.) having lower priority than VDP_IRQ1 are stored.

In the vector table VECT, vector numbers 0 and 1 define setting values that should be automatically set to the program counter and stack pointer of the CPU at power-on reset. As shown in FIG. 12B, in this embodiment, 4-byte data "****" is set in the program counter PC as an internal operation at power-on reset (reset assertion period), and 4-byte data " ++++" is set to the stack pointer SP. Note that "****" is the top address value of the initial setting program Pinit (SP1 to SP9 in FIG. 12) nonvolatilely stored in the address space CS0, and "++++" is reserved in the internal RAM 59. It is also the address value of the top or end of the stack area that functions in the LIFO (Last-In First-Out) method.

In this embodiment, since the register bank RBi is effectively utilized, the stack area is not consumed during interrupt processing, and a large memory capacity is not required. That is, in this embodiment, the stack area is exclusively used for function processing and subroutine processing.

As a result of the above operations, the effect control CPU 63 then executes the initial setting program Pinit described after the address value "****". However, the memory READ operation of the address space CS0 is executed based on the default value (initial value) of the operation control register REG that defines the operation of the bus state controller 66 (FIG. 6). The initial value of this operation control register REG is a value that is automatically set during the reset assert period (the period shown in FIG. 4(d) in which the system reset signal SYS maintains the L level). The slowest READ access operation (default access operation) is set so that READ access can be performed without problems even when configured with memory devices.

Therefore, in order to change this default access operation to an optimum access operation, first, an optimum value is set in a predetermined operation control register REG that defines the operation of the bus state controller 66 (FIG. 6) with respect to the address space CS0 ( SP1). That is, the initial setting program Pinit (SP1 to SP9), the production control program MainB (SP10), the memory READ operation when accessing the PROM53 storing constant data, etc., in order to optimize according to the memory device, the bus width and In addition to setting the presence/absence of page access, the chip select signal CS0, READ control signal, WRITE control signal and other operation timings are optimally set (see FIG. 35).

As a result of the above settings, the processing after step SP2 is executed by optimally memory READing the program stored in the address space CS0. Therefore, next, the performance control CPU 63 performs predetermined operation control that defines the operation of the bus state controller 66 (FIG. 6) for the VDP register RGij in order to optimize the READ/WRITE access operation when accessing the VDP register RGij. An optimum value is set in the register REG (SP2).

As described above, in this embodiment, the VDP register RGij is located in the address space CS7 of the effect control CPU 63. Therefore, a predetermined operation timing of the chip select signal CS7 and other control signals is optimally set. A predetermined value is written in the operation control register REG.

Subsequently, the register value of a specific VDP register RGij is read, and it is determined whether or not the value is a predetermined value (device code) (SP3). This is confirmation determination that the system clock of the VDP circuit 52 has stabilized. That is, the VDP circuit 52 operates based on the oscillation output of the oscillator OSC2 supplied to the PLLREF terminal. It is a judgment whether or not it is possible to accept it.

Then, if it can be confirmed that the system clock has stabilized by the device code reading process (SP3), the normal operation of the VDP circuit 52 can be expected thereafter, so the setting process for the predetermined VDP register RGij is executed (SP4 ~SP6). Specifically, first, the endian setting (big/little) when accessing the VDP register RGij from the effect control CPU 63 and the data bus width are set (SP4).

In this embodiment, the most significant bit of the setting value is set to big endian to be stored in the most significant bit of the VDP register RGij, and the data 32 bus width is set to 32 bits. If the values are the same as the default values, these setting processes can be omitted (the same applies to the following processes).

Next, for the internal interrupts (VDP_IRQ0, VDP_IRQ1, VDP_IRQ2, VDP_IRQ3) from the VDP circuit to the CPU circuit, the interrupt significance level (H/L) is set, and the clock signal ( DDR (DRAM 54) is set to function (SP4). As described with reference to FIG. 5A, the reference clock of the oscillator OSC2 is supplied to the PLLREF terminal.

Subsequently, address spaces CS1 to CS6 are defined to implement the memory map shown in FIG. 7 (SP5). As described above, the address space CS3 is assigned to the internal registers of the audio processor 27, the address space CS4 is assigned to the internal registers of the RTC 38 and the address space of the SRAM 39, and the address space CS5 is assigned to the external DRAM (DDR). 54, and the address space CS6 is assigned to the work memory 57 of the built-in CPU.

Since it is fixedly defined that the VDP register RGij is assigned to the address space CS7, definition processing of the address space CS7 is unnecessary. Further, the address space CS0 is preliminarily defined to be located at the address 0x000000000 or later in the memory map of the CPU circuit 51. Based on this definition, the address space CS0 is secured in the CGROM 55 or other memory. The H/L level of the HBTSL terminal determines whether it is applied to the device.

As described above, in this embodiment, the HBTSL terminal=L, indicating that the address space CS0 is defined in addition to the CGROM 55. FIG. Since the specific bus width of the control memory 53 other than the CGROM 55 and the optimum access operation have already been set in step SP1, the processing of step SP5 is unnecessary for the address space CS0.

Subsequently, for the address spaces CS1 to CS6 defined in the process of step SP5, a predetermined value is written in a predetermined operation control register REG regarding the bus width and presence/absence of page access when accessing each address space CSi (SP6 ). Also, in order to optimally set the chip select signal CSi and others, a predetermined value is written in a predetermined operation control register REG (SP6). These processes are the same as the processes of steps SP1 and SP2, and the chip select signal CSi, the READ control signal, and the WRITE signal are written to the operation control register that defines the operation of the bus state controller 66 (FIG. 6). Control signals and other operation timings are optimally set.

Subsequently, the abnormal reset is avoided by outputting a clear signal to the WDT circuit 58 (SP7). This is in consideration of the fact that the WDT circuit 58 automatically starts operating after the power is turned on, and after that, the same processing is repeatedly executed. The processing of step SP9 is stored in the control memory 53 as a subroutine SP7, but until the end of step SP9, the subroutine SP7 of the control memory 53 is called. Another transferred subroutine SP7' is called and executed.

Subsequently, among the programs and data stored in the address space CS0, the vector handler Vopt (interrupt processing program) shown in FIG. 12(b) and FIG. The variable D with an initial value and the constant data C are transferred to the external DRAM 54 and internal RAM 59 (SP8). The variable D with an initial value means initial value data stored in a predetermined variable area. This memory section initialization process (SP8) is a process of transferring programs and data in order to speed up the effect control process, and is a process of avoiding access to the ROM, which is inferior in access speed.

Then, a setting is made to indicate that the register bank RBi is to be used (SP9). Therefore, after that, the register banks RB0 to RB14 function during interrupt processing, which speeds up the interrupt processing and reduces the consumption of the stack area.

The above processing is realized by executing the "initial setting program Pinit" stored in the control memory 53, which is the address space CS0 (see FIG. 13(c)). After the execution of the initial setting program Pinit is finished, the main control process by the effect control program Main is executed (SP10). Here, execution of the main control process means execution of the "production control program Main" transferred from the control memory 53 to the external DRAM 54 by the transfer process of step SP8 (see FIG. 12(b)).

The specific contents of the main control process (effect control program Main) will be described with reference to FIG. 14(a) and FIG. 17(a). will be explained. As shown in FIG. 13(a), in the memory section initialization process (SP8), first, the DMACs of a plurality of channels are initialized to stop operation. It should be noted that this process is merely a formal process just in case.

When the above processing is completed, the DMACi of the predetermined channel is activated, and the vector handler Vopt (interrupt processing program) stored in the control memory 53 is transferred to the internal RAM 59 by a non-stop transfer method (see FIG. 8(b3)). DMA transfer. In this embodiment, since the interrupt processing program Vopt is transferred to the built-in RAM 59, even when the external DRAM 54 malfunctions, an appropriate abnormality handling process can be performed.

Subsequent processing is also the same, and is executed by a non-stop transfer method using the DMACi of a predetermined channel, and the error recovery processing program Piram is DMA-transferred to the built-in RAM 59 (SP62). In this embodiment, since the error recovery processing program Piram is transferred to the built-in RAM 59, the peripheral circuits can be reliably reset in the error recovery processing. For example, if the error recovery processing program Piram is transferred to, for example, the external DRAM 54 other than the internal RAM 59, the external DRAM 54 cannot be reset during the error recovery processing.

Next, the effect control program Main is DMA-transferred to the external DRAM 54 (SP63), and the constant data C is DMA-transferred to the external DRAM 54 (SP64). The constant data includes lottery data used for effect lottery, and lamp drive data and motor drive data in various drive data tables shown in FIG. 17(b). Also, the variable D having an initial value is DMA-transferred to the external DRAM 54 (SP65).

Finally, the clear data is written to the beginning of the variable area B of the external DRAM (SP66). Assuming that this head address is ADb, in the subsequent DMA transfer processing, after initializing the transfer source address as ADb and the transfer destination address as ADb+1, each address value ADb, ADb+1 is incremented and this clear data is diffused, the variable area B is cleared (SP67).

The processes of steps SP61 to SP66 and step SP67 described above are all similar operations, as shown in FIG. 13(b). That is, first, regarding the DMACi of a predetermined channel, the DMA transfer conditions are (1) cycle steal transfer mode, (2) non-stop transfer method, and (3) update the address values of Source and Destination by increments. SP68).

Next, the initial values of the source address of the transfer source and the destination address of the transfer destination are set (SP69), the transfer size is set, interrupts are disabled (SP70), and the DMA transfer operation is started (SP71). ). Note that the settings in steps SP68 to SP71 are all realized by a setting operation to a predetermined operation control register REG.

In the initialization processing of this memory section, interrupts for the end of DMA transfer are disabled (SP70). and waits for the end of the DMA transfer (SP72). However, considering the processing time until the end of the operation, the clear signal is repeatedly output to the WDT circuit 58 (SP73). At the end of the DMA transfer, the DMACi is set to stop based on the setting operation to the predetermined operation control register REG.

Next, the operation contents of the main control process will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 17. FIG. As described above, for the main control process, FIG. 14(a) describes the processing contents of the introduction part (SP20 to SP27), and the processing contents of the main part (ST4 to ST14) are shown in FIG. a). The processing of step SP27 in FIG. 14 includes the processing of steps ST1 to ST3 in FIG. 17(a).

As shown in FIG. 14A, in the main control process (introductory part), first, the bus width and the type of ROM device of the CGROM 55 are specified (SP20). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15(a), a predetermined VDP register RGij (for example, CG bus Status register) specifying the operating state of the CG bus that controls the interface with the CGROM 55 is read-accessed (SP80 ), it is determined whether or not the CG bus can be set for operation (SP81).

Here, if the value of the CG bus Status register is 1, it means that the internal circuit of the CG bus is in the process of resetting, meaning that the set value to the VDP register RGij cannot be accepted. Therefore, after confirming that the value of the CG bus Status register has changed from 1 to 0 (SP81), ( Operation parameters such as 1) enable/disable of each device section SPAi, (2) ROM device type, and (3) data bus width are set in a predetermined VDP register RGij (SP82).

As shown in FIG. 14(a), in this embodiment, the CGROM 55 can be divided into a plurality of areas (device sections). can be selected. As memory devices, for example, (1) SATA module (AHSI/F) adopted in this embodiment, (2) memory element adopting parallel I/F (Interface) type, (3) sequential I/F type adopting Although they are roughly classified into memory devices, etc., memory devices can be specifically selected for each of the roughly classified memory devices, and the data bus width and the like can be arbitrarily defined.

Next, predetermined operation parameters are set in predetermined VDP registers RGij in order to optimize memory READ operations with memory devices selected for each device section (SPA0 to SPAn) (SP83). The operation parameters include set values that define the operation timings of the chip select signal and other control signals (such as the READ control signal). Also, when a memory element adopting the sequential I/F format is selected, the output timing of the address latch, the number of read clocks, etc. are also specified in order to realize the operation shown in FIG. 15(b).

Therefore, the CGROM 55 can be configured by combining different types of memory devices. However, in this embodiment, the CGROM 55 is configured using only SATA modules, only the device section (SPA0) is enabled, and the other device sections (SPA1 to SPAn) are disabled.

In any case, when the setting processing of steps SP82 and SP83 is completed, a predetermined value is written in a predetermined VDP register RGij in order to make the setting processing effective (SP84). This is in consideration of the fact that it takes a certain amount of time for the internal circuits of the CG bus to operate in response to the setting processing of steps SP82 and SP83. (see SP80) becomes 0.

Therefore, after that, the CG bus Status register is repeatedly read-accessed (SP85), and the process is finished after confirming that the value of the Status register returns from 1 to 0 (SP86). It should be noted that the process of step SP66 may be ended when the value of the Status register does not return from 1 to 0 regardless of the number of determinations made a predetermined number of times. However, in that case, since the game process starts in a state in which the CGROM cannot be normally accessed, the WDT circuit 58 is activated at some timing after that, and the composite chip 50 enters an abnormal reset state. In this case, the power-on reset operation is executed again.

On the other hand, after the process of step SP20 in FIG. 14 is normally executed, internal circuits of the CPU circuit 51, such as the interrupt controller INTC, the DMAC circuit 60, and the multifunction timer unit MTU, are individually initialized by software processing. (SP21).

Next, for the multi-function timer unit MTU, after starting a predetermined timer measurement operation (SP22), the internal interrupt and the internal interrupt are set to an interrupt enabled state by writing a permission setting value to a predetermined operation control register REG. (SP23).

As a result, after that, various interrupts shown in FIG. 14(d) can occur. Normally, at this timing, the audio processor 27 has finished its initialization sequence, so the end interrupt signal IRQ_SND should have fallen to the L level as shown in FIG. 4(c). Therefore, the interrupt processing shown in FIG. 14(c) is started, and the effect control CPU 63 initializes the error flag ERR to 1, and READ-accesses the address space CS3 (SP30), and the predetermined sound of the sound processor 27 The value of the register SRG is obtained and it is determined whether the initialization sequence has ended normally (SP31).

If the initialization sequence is not completed normally, the effect control CPU 63 writes a reset command to a predetermined voice register SRG of the voice processor 27 (SP32), and is initialized to 1. set the error flag ERR to 2 (SP33). This error flag ERR defines whether or not to execute the speech processor initialization process (SP26), and the error flag ERR=1 is the execution condition of step SP26.

On the other hand, in response to receiving the reset command, the audio processor 27 restarts the initialization sequence with the end interrupt signal IRQ_SND=H level. Lower to L level. As a result, the process of FIG. 14(c) is re-executed.

The above describes an exceptional case in which the initialization sequence is not normally completed, but normally, following step SP31, the process of step SP32 is executed, and the effect control CPU 63 stores a predetermined sound register SRG, By writing a predetermined value, the termination interrupt signal IRQ_SND is returned from L level to H level (SP34).

Finally, by writing a predetermined value to a predetermined voice register SRG, READ/WRITE access to all voice registers SRG is permitted (SP35). As a result of this processing, necessary setting processing can be executed in the subsequent voice processor initialization processing (SP26).

An example of the Maskable Interrupt corresponding to the interrupt permission setting in step SP23 has been described above, but a non-maskable interrupt based on the oscillation stop of the oscillator OSC2 can be activated at any timing. As described above, the operating clocks of the circuits other than the built-in CPU (performance control CPU 63) are generated by frequency-multiplying the output clock of the oscillator OSC2 by PLL (Phase Locked Loop), and the oscillation of the oscillator OSC2 is stopped. If so, normal operation of the VDP circuit 52 after that is impossible.

On the other hand, the operation clock of the effect control CPU 63 is generated by multiplying the output clock of the oscillator OSC1 by the PLL, and the program processing can be continued. Moreover, the interrupt processing program is stored in the built-in RAM 59 . Therefore, the effect control CPU 63 notifies the occurrence of the abnormal situation by sound or lamp (SP28), and continues outputting the clear signal to the WDT circuit 58 (SP29). The anomaly notification is, for example, a voice notification saying, "An abnormal situation has occurred. Please contact the person in charge as soon as possible." The reason why the clear signal is continuously output to the WDT circuit 58 is to avoid an abnormal reset operation. That is, in the event of a serious abnormality in which the oscillator OSC1 stops operating, even if the abnormality reset processing is repeated, the device cannot be expected to return to normal.

14(b) and 14(c) have been described above, the description will be continued by returning to FIG. 14(a). At step SP24, in order to protect the program area of the external DRAM, the required area is set to be write-inhibited. Next, the clock circuit 38, which is battery-powered when the power is cut off, is checked for normal operation when the power is turned off, and the alarm interrupt is set again just in case (SP25).

Then, under the condition that the error flag ERR=1, necessary set values are written into the built-in register (speech register SRG) of the speech processor 27 to execute initialization processing (SP26). When the error flag ERR=0, the process waits for a predetermined time until the error flag ERR=1, but when the limit time is exceeded, the WDT circuit 58 is activated to shift to infinite loop processing.

Next, the VDP circuit 52 is initialized by writing necessary set values to the VDP register RGij (SP27). The processing of step SP27 includes the processing of ST1 to ST3 of FIG.

Although the embodiment in which the termination interrupt signal IRQ_SND is received from the audio processor has been described above, it is also preferable to omit the interrupt processing of FIG. 14(c). FIG. 16 shows a modified embodiment, in which a 1 ms timer interrupt signal generated by the multifunction timer unit MTU is used instead of the end interrupt signal IRQ_SND.

FIG. 16 illustrates part of the 1ms timer interrupt processing, and realizes four stages of operation based on the value (0/1/2/3) of the operation management flag FLG whose initial state is zero. is doing. The IRQ_SND output terminal of the audio processor 27 is in an open state, and the IRQ_SND input terminal of the CPU circuit 51 is fixed at H level.

In the 1mS timer interrupt processing, first, when it is determined that the operation management flag FLG=0 in the processing of step SP42, it is confirmed that the initialization sequence of the audio processor 27 has been completed normally (SP43). If the operation has been completed normally, the interrupt signal (IRQ_SND) is cleared by writing a predetermined value to a predetermined voice register SRG (SP46), and the operation management flag FLG is set to 1 (SP47). The processing of steps SP43 and SP46 is the same as the processing of steps SP31 and SP34 in FIG. 14(c).

On the other hand, if the initialization sequence has not ended normally, the voice processor 27 is caused to start the initialization sequence by writing a reset command to a predetermined voice register SRG (SP44), and the operation management flag FLG is set to zero. Return (SP45). The processing of step SP44 corresponds to the processing of step SP32 in FIG. 14(c).

Normally, after the processing of step SP47, the operation management flag FLG=1, so in the next 1 ms timer interrupt, writing a predetermined value to a predetermined voice register permits access to all voice registers (SP48). ), and the operation control flag FLG is set to 2 (SP49). The processing of step SP48 corresponds to the processing of step SP35 in FIG. 14(c).

Next, in the 1 ms timer interrupt with the operation control flag FLG=2, as in the case of step SP26 in FIG. Initialization processing is executed (SP50), and the operation management flag FLG is set to 3.

The operation management flag FLG=3 means a normal voice control state, and by setting the necessary operation parameters in the necessary voice register SRG, the voice control is advanced (SP52).

As described above, the normal end of the initialization sequence of the audio processor 27 is confirmed by the interrupt processing caused by the interrupt signal (IRQ_SND) (SP31 in FIG. 14(c)) and by the 1 ms timer interrupt processing (FIG. 16). SP43) of the method has been described, but the method is not limited to these methods in any way. For example, as part of the processing of step SP26 in FIG. 14, it is also preferable to determine whether the initialization sequence of the audio processor 27 has been completed normally.

Since the introduction part (SP20 to SP27 in FIG. 14) of the main control process has been described above, the operation of the main part of the main control process will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 17, the operation of the effect control CPU 63 is the main control process (a), the timer interrupt process (b) that starts every 1 ms, and the reception interrupt process (not shown) that starts in response to the control command CMD. , VBLANK interrupt processing (c) that is activated by receiving the VBLANK signal generated at the start timing of the V blank (vertical blanking period) of the display device DS1, and drawing abnormal interrupt processing ( d) and Note that the description of the 20 μs interrupt processing is omitted.

In the reception interrupt process, the control command CMD received from the main control section 21 is stored in a predetermined reception buffer so that it can be referred to in the main control process (ST13), and the process ends. In the VBLANK interrupt processing (FIG. 17(b)), the interrupt counter VCNT is incremented (ST15) for each VBLANK interrupt. After grasping the operation start timing, the interrupt counter VCNT is cleared to zero (ST4).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17(b), the timer interrupt processing includes progress processing (ST18) for ramp effects and motor effects, and sensor signal acquisition processing for acquiring origin sensor signals SN0 to SNn signals, chance button signals, and the like. (ST19). The lamp effect and the motor effect are controlled based on the effect scenario that centrally manages all the effect operations, and when the effect start time managed by the effect counter EN is reached, the motor drive table and the motor drive table are changed in the effect scenario update process (ST11). A lamp drive table is specified.

After that, the motor effect progresses based on the specified motor drive table, and the lamp effect progresses based on the specified motor drive table. As explained above, in some embodiments, the DMAC circuit (first and second DMA channels) 60 functions during the operation of step ST18. Note that the motor effect progresses every 1 ms, but the ramp effect progresses at an appropriate timing longer than 1 ms.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17(d), in the abnormal drawing interrupt process, the status register RGij indicating the operating state of the drawing circuit 76 is read-accessed to identify the cause of the interrupt. Specifically, (1) the abnormal drawing interrupt due to the detection of an abnormal instruction command (bit garbled) or (2) the abnormal drawing interrupt due to the abnormal operation (freeze) of the drawing circuit 76 is specified (ST16a). If the abnormal drawing interrupt is detected based on the detection of an abnormal instruction command, the drawing circuit 76 is initialized by writing a predetermined value to a predetermined system control register RGij (ST16b). This operation is nothing but the individual reset operation of the reset path 4B shown in FIG. 4(b).

Next, after confirming the normal completion of the individual reset operation with a predetermined status register RGij, a group of operation parameters that define the operation of the drawing circuit 76 are reset in the predetermined drawing register RGij, and the process ends (ST16c). . After adjusting the stack area for storing the return address (clearing process for erasing the return address after the interrupt processing), the process proceeds to step ST13 (ST16c).

On the other hand, in the case of an abnormal drawing interrupt due to an abnormal operation of the drawing circuit 76, the WDT circuit 58 is activated and the entire composite chip 50 is reset by shifting to infinite loop processing (ST16d). If it is not desired to reset the CPU circuit 51, a predetermined keyword string may be output to the pattern check circuit CHK, and only the VDP circuit 52 may be reset by the reset signal RST (see FIG. 4B). . In this case, after confirming the normal completion of the reset operation of the VDP circuit 52, the processing of steps ST4 and ST13 is performed. In order to avoid reading the control command CMD as much as possible, it is better to proceed from step ST4 to step ST13, including other cases.

When the entire composite chip 50 is reset, the presentation up to that point disappears and the presentation control is completely returned to the initial state (power-on state), but when only the VDP circuit 52 is reset, the reset operation of the VDP circuit 52 Although a predetermined standby time occurs until is completed, a series of effect control can be continued. In addition, since the effect control CPU 63 controls the image effect, the lamp effect, and the sound effect in a unified manner, there is no unnatural deviation in each effect.

Next, the main control process (a) will be described for an embodiment in which the preloader does not function. As shown in FIG. 17(a), the main control process consists of an introduction initial process (ST1 to ST3) executed after the CPU is reset, and then a regular process (ST4 to ST14) repeatedly executed every 1/30th of a second. classified into Note that the initial processing (ST1 to ST3) is part of the introductory part of the main control processing, and the regular processing means the body of the main control processing.

Since the steady process is started at the timing when the interrupt counter VCNT becomes VCNT≧2 (ST4), the operation period δ of the steady process is 1/30 second. This operating cycle δ is nothing but the substantial operating cycle δ of the VDP circuit 52 that operates intermittently under the control of the effect control CPU 63 . The reason why the judgment condition is set to VCNT≧2 is to take into account the possibility that the steady process (ST4 to ST14) is abnormally prolonged and the timing of VCNT=2 is missed. is designed so that it does not occur.

Continuing the description of the main control process (FIG. 17(a)) based on the above, in the present embodiment, in the initial process, the built-in VRAM 71 with a storage capacity of 48 Mbytes is used as the ACC area (a) having an appropriate storage capacity. , a page area (b) and an arbitrary area (c) (ST1). Specifically, for the ACC area (a1, a2) and the page area (b), the head address of each area and the required total data size are set in a predetermined index table register RGij (ST1). Then, the reserved ACC area (a1, a2) and the remaining area not included in the page area (b) become the arbitrary area (c).

Here, the lower 11 bits of the area start addresses of the first and second ACC areas (a1, a2) and the page area (b) must be 0, but they can be arbitrarily selected in units of 2048 bits. (1 address = 1 byte, selection for each 256 addresses). Also, the total data size is arbitrarily selected within the range of integral multiples of the unit size. Although not particularly limited, the unit size of the ACC area (a) is 2048 bits, and the unit size of the page area (b) is 512 kbits.

Thus, in this embodiment, certain conditions are set for setting the ACC area (a1, a2) and the page area (b). This is for the purpose of facilitating the internal operation of the VDP circuit 52 while eliminating the area. In other words, if the storage capacity of the built-in VRAM 71 is recklessly increased, there is concern that the manufacturing cost will rise and the chip area will increase. This is because the processing time for VRAM access cannot be shortened due to complication. It is for the same reason that certain restrictions are placed on securing the index space described below.

Continuing the explanation based on the above, following the processing of step ST1, necessary index spaces IDXi are secured for the page area (b) and the arbitrary area (c) (ST2). Specifically, by setting necessary information in a predetermined index table register RGij, an index space IDXi for each area (b) and (c) is secured.

For example, when index space IDXi is provided in page area (b), multiple information of arbitrary horizontal size Hx and arbitrary vertical size Wx (vertical and horizontal multiple information for unit space) ) is set in a predetermined index table register RGij (ST2).

As described above, the index space IDXi of the page area (b) has a horizontal size of 128×vertical size of 128 lines as a unit space, and one pixel is specified by 32-bit information. Based on the setting of the size Wx, an index space IDXi of data size (bit length)=32×128×Hx×128×Wx is secured. The head address (space head address) of the index space IDXi in the page area (b) is automatically assigned internally.

When the index space IDXi is provided in the arbitrary area (c), an arbitrary start address (space start address) STx and information on multiples of an arbitrary horizontal size Hx corresponding to an arbitrary index number i are specified. is set in the index table register RGij (ST2). Arbitrary means that the horizontal size Hx is arbitrarily determined in units of 256 bits, the lower 11 bits of the start address STx are 0, and is arbitrarily determined in units of 2048 bits. As described above, the vertical size of the arbitrary area is fixed to 2048 lines, so based on the setting of the horizontal size Hx, after the start address STx, the data size (bit length) = 2048 × Hx index A space has been secured.

Specifically, as the frame buffer FBa of the main display device DS1, a pair of index spaces each having a horizontal size of 1280×vertical lines of 2048 are set in one or a plurality of predetermined index table registers RGij, each specifying an index number. , as the frame buffer FBb of the sub-display device DS2, a pair of index spaces of horizontal size 480×vertical lines 2048 are set in one or more predetermined index table registers RGij, each specifying an index number. If the number of horizontal pixels of the display device does not match the integer multiple of 256 bits/32 bits, the horizontal size of each index space should be larger than the number of horizontal pixels of the display device and 256/32=8 , to minimize wasted memory space.

As described above, the necessary number of index spaces IDXi are generated by setting the necessary size information and address information in the predetermined index table registers RGij for the page area (b) and the arbitrary area (c). (ST2). In response to this setting process (ST2), an index table IDXTBL for specifying the address information and size information of each index space IDXi is automatically constructed. As shown in FIG. 9A, the index table IDXTBL stores the head address of each index space IDXi together with other necessary information. ) is referred to when acquiring data from (see FIG. 10). The index space IDXi of the AAC area (a) is automatically generated when necessary and is automatically deleted, so the setting process of step ST2 is unnecessary.

As shown in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), a pair of frame buffers FBa and FBb are secured in the arbitrary area (c), and index numbers are assigned to each pair. In an embodiment that does not use the Z-buffer, a pair of index spaces 255 and 254 assigned index numbers 255 and 254 are reserved as the frame buffer FBa. A pair of index spaces 252 and 251 to which index numbers 252 and 251 are assigned are secured as the frame buffer FBb. In this embodiment, a work area with index number 0 (index space 0) is also secured in the arbitrary area (c).

Also, in this embodiment, the necessary number of index spaces IDXi for decoding IP stream moving images are secured in the page area (a), and the index number i is assigned. However, initially, only the index space IDX ₀ for the background moving image (IP stream moving image) is reserved. Then, according to the necessity of the image effect (fluctuation effect and advance notice effect), the index space IDXj of the page area (a) is increased based on the setting process to the index table register RGij and the instruction command of the display list DL, After that, when it becomes unnecessary, the index space IDXj is released. That is, FIG. 9A shows the index table IDXTBL during normal operation.

The index space of the ACC area (a) is automatically generated when necessary based on the instruction command described in the display list DL. and other necessary information are automatically set. In this embodiment, this AAC area (a) is used as a decoding area for textures such as still images.

The above operation of securing the index space is realized mainly by setting the index table register RGij included in the control register group 70. Following the processing of steps ST1 and ST2, another VDP register RGij is set to: By executing the necessary setting operation, the steady operation (intermittent operation) of the VDP circuit 52 shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 is made possible.

For example, by writing predetermined operation parameters (the number of lines and the number of pixels) in a predetermined display register RGij that defines the operation of the display circuit 74, the number of display lines and the number of horizontal pixels are set for each of the display devices DS1 and SD2. (SS30). As a result, in each of the frame buffers FBa and FBb, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the valid data area (broken line portion in FIG. 17(e)) to be read-accessed by the display circuit 74 are specified.

Next, a predetermined operation parameter (address value) is written in a predetermined display register RGij to specify the vertical display start position and horizontal display start position for each of the frame buffers FBa and FBb (SS31). As a result, the effective data area whose vertical and horizontal dimensions are specified in the process of step SS30 is determined on the frame buffers FBa and FBb. Here, the vertical display start position and the horizontal display start position are relative address values in each index space, and the display start position is (0, 0) in the example shown in FIG. 17(e).

Subsequently, the display register RGij (DSPAINDEX) relating to the display circuit 74A driving the main display device DS1 and the display register RGij (DSPBINDEX) relating to the display circuit 74B driving the sub-display device DS2 are respectively set to "display area (0)". and "display area (1)" are set to define each display area (SS32).

Here, the "display area" means an index space (frame buffers FBa, FBb) from which image data should be read in order for the display circuits 74A, 74B to drive the display devices DS1, DS2. means either one of the double buffers in the frame buffers FBa and FBb. However, the display circuits 74A and 74B actually read the image data only in the "effective data area" specified in steps SS30 to SS31 in the display area (0) or the display area (1).

Although not limited in any way, in this embodiment, for the frame buffer FBa, the index space 254 of the index number 254 in the VRAM arbitrary area (c) is defined as "display area (0)", and the index number in the VRAM arbitrary area (c) 255 index space 255 is defined as "display area (1)" (SS32).

As for the frame buffer FBb, the index space 251 of the index number 251 in the VRAM arbitrary area (c) is designated as "display area (0)", and the index space 252 of the index number 252 in the VRAM arbitrary area (c) is designated as "display area ( 1)” (SS32). It should be noted that defining the "display area" in the initial processing (SS3) is not particularly limited. You can switch.

In this embodiment, after the above initial processing (SS30 to SS32) is completed, next, the set value of the predetermined system control register RGij is set to the first type prohibition setting so as not to be changed by the influence of noise or the like. A predetermined prohibition value is set in the register RGij (first prohibition setting SS33).

Here, the setting values for which future writing is prohibited include (1) setting values related to the display clocks of the display devices DS1 and DS2, (2) setting values related to the LVDS sampling clock, and (3) selection of the output selection circuit 79. (4) a synchronous relationship between the plurality of display circuits DS1 and DS2 (that the display circuit 74B is subordinate to the operation cycle of the display circuit 74A); Although there is software processing for canceling the first prohibition setting, it is not used in this embodiment. However, it is also suitable to use it as needed.

Next, by setting a predetermined prohibition value in the type 2 prohibition setting register RGij, the VDP register RGij of the initial setting system is write-prohibited (second prohibition setting SS34). Here, the prohibited registers include the VDP registers RGij related to steps SS30 to SS32.

On the other hand, by setting a predetermined prohibition value in the third type of prohibition setting register RGij, it is possible to prohibit many VDP registers, including the VDP registers related to the setting process of steps ST1 to ST3 (see the 3 prohibition setting). However, it is not used in principle in this embodiment. In any case, the second prohibition setting and the third prohibition setting can be arbitrarily released by writing a release value to a predetermined release register RGij, and the set value can be changed during steady operation. is also possible.

The initial setting processing of steps ST1 to ST3 described above is executed based on the initial value setting table SETTABLE (see FIG. 31) that associates the register address value of the VDP register RGij with the setting value of the register RGij. be done. Since the initial setting process has been described above, next, before describing the steady process (ST4 to ST14), the steady operation (intermittent operation) of the VDP circuit 52 controlled by the effect control CPU 63 is shown in FIGS. A schematic description will be given based on FIG. 26(b).

The intermittent operation of the VDP circuit 52 is as shown in FIGS. 25 and 26. In the embodiment in which the preloader 73 is not used, the display list DLi completed by the effect control CPU 63 is as shown in FIG. In the operation cycle (T1), the drawing circuit 76 is issued, and the drawing circuit 76 completes the image data in the frame buffers FBa and FBb by the drawing operation based on the display list DLi. Then, the image data completed in the frame buffers FBa and FBb are output by the display circuit 74 to the display devices DS1 and DS2 in the next operation cycle T1+δ, so that the image data are displayed on the basis of the subsequent drawing operations of the display devices DS1 and DS2. , becomes a display screen that the player perceives.

On the other hand, in the embodiment using preloader 73, as shown in FIG. , interprets the display list DLi, performs the necessary look-ahead operations, and rewrites a portion of the display list DLi to complete the rewrite list DL'. The pre-read CG data and rewrite list DL' are stored in appropriate locations in the DRAM 54. FIG.

Next, the drawing circuit 76 acquires the rewriting list DL' from the DRAM 54 in the next operation period (T1+.delta.), and completes the image data in the frame buffers FBa and FBb by the drawing operation based on the rewriting list DL'. . Then, the image data completed in the frame buffers FBa and FBb are output by the display circuit 74 to the display devices DS1 and DS2 in the next operation cycle (T1+2δ), thereby enabling subsequent drawing of the display devices DS1 and DS2. Based on the action, it becomes a display screen that the player perceives.

The intermittent operation of the VDP circuit 52 has been briefly described above, but in order to realize the operations of FIGS. is repeatedly referred to, until the operation start timing is reached, and when the operation start timing (V blank start timing skipped by one) is reached, the interrupt counter VCNT is cleared to zero (ST4).

After that, steady operation is started. In this embodiment, first, it is determined whether or not an operation start condition for starting steady operation is satisfied (ST5). The determination timing is the timing of T1, T1+.delta., T1+2.delta., . . . shown in FIGS. The display timing of the display device DS2 is set at the initial setting (ST3) so as to follow the display timing of the display device DS1.

Since the operation start condition determined by the start timing of the vertical blanking interval (VBLANK) differs depending on whether or not the preloader 73 is used, an embodiment (FIG. 17) in which the preloader 73 is not used will be described first. In this case, the circuit configuration and program are originally designed so that the internal operation of the VDP proceeds as shown in the time chart of FIG. 25(a). That is, based on the display list DL1 completed in the operating cycle (T1), the drawing circuit 76 should finish the drawing operation during the operating cycle (T1 to T1+δ). However, for example, like the display list DL3 completed in the operation cycle (T1+2δ) of FIG. In addition, regarding the display circuit 74, there is a possibility that an underrun abnormality has occurred in which display data is not generated in time with respect to the display timing.

The determination process of step ST5 takes this situation into consideration, and the effect control CPU 63 accesses the status register RGij (a kind of the control register group 70) indicating the operation state of the drawing circuit 76, and at the timing of step ST5, The drawing circuit 76 determines whether or not necessary operations have been completed, and whether or not there is an Underrun abnormality. The presence or absence of Underrun abnormality is determined based on underrun counters URCNTa to URCNTc. Also, in an embodiment that does not use the preloader 73, for example, at timing T1+.delta. in FIG. to confirm.

Then, if the operation start condition is not satisfied (abnormal/unsuitable), the abnormality flag ER that counts the number of abnormalities is incremented, and steps ST6 to ST8 are skipped. The abnormality flag ER is determined in the processing of steps ST9 and ST10 together with other serious abnormality flags ABN. On the premise that the serious abnormality flag ABN is in a reset state, if the number of consecutive abnormalities is not large (ER≤2), Effect command analysis processing is executed in the same manner as in the normal state (ST13).

In the case of an underrun abnormality, steps ST6 to ST8 are similarly skipped. Then, by writing a predetermined clear value to a predetermined system control register RGij, the display clock (frequency) and the display circuit 74 are initialized (ST10c). After confirming the normal completion of this initialization process, the frequency of the display clock and the values of the group of system control registers RGij that define the operation of the display circuit 74 are reset to the specified values (ST10c). Effect command analysis processing is executed (ST13).

In the effect command analysis process (ST13), it is determined whether or not the control command CMD is received from the main control board 21. If the control command CMD is received, the control command CMD is analyzed and necessary processing is executed. (ST13). Here, the necessary processing includes start preparation processing for a new variable performance based on the control command CMD instructing the start of the variable performance, and error notification start processing based on the control command CMD indicating the occurrence of an error. Subsequently, a clear pulse is output to the WDT circuit (ST14), and the process returns to step ST4.

In the above, the case where the minor underrun abnormality or the operation start condition is not met and the abnormality flag ER is ER≤2 has been described. In such a case, the display circuit 74 Toggling the display area read by (ST6) and display list creation processing (ST7) are skipped, and the production scenario does not progress (see ST8 to ST12). This is to prevent output of image data in the frame buffers FBa and FBb that are incomplete. Therefore, for example, in the operation cycle (T1+3δ) of FIG. 25(a), the image effect does not progress, and the original screen (the screen based on DL2) is redisplayed, causing a frame drop.

Here, in order to avoid dropping frames, a configuration of waiting until an operation start condition is satisfied is also conceivable. However, there are many control processes (ST6 to ST12) to be executed by the effect control CPU 63, and it is necessary to secure the processing time for each. there is

However, even if a frame drop occurs, the progress of the image rendering will only be delayed by about 1/30 to 2/30 of a second compared to the ramp rendering and motor rendering progressing by the interrupt processing (FIG. 17(b)). Yes, and the player is unaware of this. Moreover, when a frame is dropped, the effect scenario process (ST11) including the process of updating the effect counter EN and the sound progress process (ST12) are also skipped, so that the ready-to-win effect, the advance notice effect, and the accessory that are started after that are skipped. In the production, there is no possibility that the start timing of the image production, sound production, lamp production, motor production, etc. is shifted.

That is, in the production scenario, the start timing of image production, sound production, lamp production, and motor production and the content of production to be executed thereafter are centrally managed. Since the timing is controlled, the synchronization of various effects will not be lost. For example, when there is an effect operation that combines an explosion sound, an explosion image, a character object movement, and a lamp flash operation, each of the above effect operations is correctly started in synchronization even after a frame drop occurs. be.

In the above, the case of a relatively minor abnormality has been explained. After the determination, an infinite loop state is established (ST10b). As a result, the timing operation of the WDT circuit 58 progresses, the composite chip 50 including the effect control CPU 63 is abnormally reset, and then the initial processing (ST1 to ST3) is re-executed, thereby preventing the occurrence of an abnormal situation. It is hoped that the root cause will be eliminated.

Since this reset operation is executed by activating the WDT circuit 58, the entire composite chip 50 including the CPU circuit 51 is reset (FIG. 4(b)). Therefore, in order to avoid resetting the CPU circuit 51, the effect control CPU 63 outputs a predetermined keyword string (for example, three pieces of 1-byte data) to the pattern check circuit CHK, and outputs the reset signal RST to the VDP circuit 52. is also suitable (see ST100 in FIG. 31). Also in this case, after confirming the normal completion of the reset operation of the VDP circuit 52 (ST101), the processing of steps ST4 and ST13 is performed.

In any event, since the sound circuit SND is also abnormally reset at the time of this abnormality, the image effect, sound effect, lamp effect, and motor effect all return to their initial states. However, since these reset operations have no effect on the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25, there is no danger of disappearance of the big win state or disappearance of prize balls.

Abnormalities have been described above, but in reality, the abnormalities described above rarely occur, even if they are minor. Based on this, the "display areas" of the frame buffers FBa and FBb for storing the image data to be read by the display circuit 74A and the display circuit 74B are toggled (ST6). As described above, "display area (0)" and "display area (1)" are defined in advance in the initial processing (ST3). 'display area' specifies which of display area (0)/display area (1).

By executing step ST6, the display circuit 74A alternately outputs image data from the index space 254 (display area (0)) and the index space 255 (display area (1)) at each operation cycle δ. The data is read out to drive the display device DS1. Similarly, the display circuit 74B alternately reads image data from the index space 251 (display area (0)) and the index space 252 (display area (1)) every operation cycle δ, and displays the sub display device DS2. will drive. As described above, the display circuit 74 actually performs READ access only to the effective data area in the display area (0)/display area (1).

In any case, in this embodiment, since the "display area" is switched for each operation cycle, the display circuits 74A and 74B display the image data completed by the drawing circuit 76 in the immediately preceding operation cycle on the display devices DS1 and DS2. will start the output process to However, since the process of step ST5 is started at the start of the vertical blanking period (V blank) of the main display device DS1, the image data output process actually starts after the vertical blanking period is completed. will be In FIG. 25(a), the arrows shown in the display circuit column indicate the operation cycle of this output process.

When the processing of step ST6 having the above significance is completed, the effect control CPU 63 subsequently completes the display list DL specifying the image data to be output to the display device by the display circuit 74 in the next operation cycle. (ST7). Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, a list buffer area (DL buffer BUF) of the RAM 59 is secured and the display list DL is completed there (see FIG. 10).

The display list DL is configured by listing a series of instruction commands in an appropriate order, and is configured to end with an EODL (End Of DL) command. In this embodiment, in order to realize smooth operation of the data transfer circuit 72, the drawing circuit 76, and the preloader 73, all the instruction commands including the EODL command are set to an integer N times the command length of 32 bits (N>0). It is limited to only instruction commands for As described above, an instruction command composed of 32-bit integer N times may include a Don't care bit.

In this way, the display list DL of the embodiment is composed only of instruction commands whose command length is an integer N times 32 bits (N>0). It is always an integral multiple of the minimum command length unit (32 bits=4 bytes). Furthermore, in this embodiment, considering the minimum data amount Dmin of the data transfer circuit 72, the data volume value of the display list DL is set to an integer multiple (1 or more) of the minimum data amount Dmin and Adjusted to be an integral multiple of the minimum unit (4 bytes). For example, if Dmin=256 bytes, the data volume value of the display list DL is adjusted to any value of 256 bytes, 512 bytes, and so on.

Here, depending on the complexity of the content of the presentation, it is also suitable to adjust to 256 bytes or 512 bytes as appropriate. The data volume value of the display list DL is always adjusted to 256 bytes in consideration of not executing such complicated image effects.

However, this method is not limited in any way, and if the number of display devices is three or more, or if the game machine executes complicated image effects including the sub-display device DS2, it is adjusted to 512 bytes or 768 bytes. be done. In addition, the data volume value of the display list DL is adjusted to 256 bytes at the time of normal rendering, and the data volume value of the display list DL is adjusted to 512 bytes or 768 bytes only when executing a special rendering. is also preferred.

However, in the case of this embodiment, the data volume value of the display list DL is adjusted to a predetermined byte length (256 bytes) in each operation cycle δ. As an adjustment method, after the 32-bit length EODL command, a simple method (A) that fills the missing area with a 32-bit length NOP (No Operation) command, or after filling the missing area with a 32-bit length NOP command , and finally a standard method (B) that describes a 32-bit long EODL command. The data volume value (total amount of data) of the display list DL is terminated by the EODL command without any adjustment, and dummy data is additionally transferred during the operation of the data transfer circuit 72 to obtain an integral multiple of the minimum data amount Dmin. A non-adjustment method (C) that secures the transfer amount of is also conceivable.

Here, when adopting the standard method (B), first, the command counter CNT is initialized to a specified value (64-1 corresponding to 256 bytes), and every time a significant instruction command is written to the DL buffer area BUF Another possible method is to decrement the command counter CNT as appropriate, write a NOP command until the command counter CNT becomes zero, and write an EODL command at the end after writing a series of significant instruction commands. In the case of this embodiment, the instruction command is limited to a command length N times an integer of 32 bits (N>0). Subtraction processing corresponding to N is performed.

On the other hand, when the simplified method (A) is adopted, when creating the display list DL, it is sufficient to first fill the entire list buffer area (DL buffer BUF) with NOP commands. seems to be excellent. Also, from the viewpoint of simplicity, the no-adjustment method (C) seems to be superior. However, in this embodiment, the standard method (B) is basically adopted, and the actual amount of data from the top of the display list DL to the EODL command, that is, the amount of data up to the EODL command is always transferred to the data transfer circuit 72. is adjusted to be an integral multiple of the minimum data amount Dmin.

This takes into consideration an embodiment that utilizes the preloader 73. If the simple method (A) or non-adjustment method (C) is adopted, the amount of actual data in the display list DL up to the EODL command will be random. This is because the transfer of the rewrite list DL′ rewritten by the preloader 73 to the DRAM 54 and the transfer of the rewrite list DL′ from the DRAM 54 to the drawing circuit 76 are hindered. The ChA control circuit 72a of the data transfer circuit 72 functions when the rewrite list DL' is transferred to the DRAM 54, and the ChB control circuit 72b functions when the rewrite list DL' is transferred to the drawing circuit 76 (FIG. 23). ), in either case, only the rewrite list DL' up to the EODL command is transferred.

The advantages of the standard method (B) for adjusting the data volume values of the display list DL have been described above. Therefore, the use of the simplified method (A) and the no-adjustment method (C) is not prohibited at all.

However, in the following description, the details of the display list DL will be described with reference to FIG. 18 on the premise that the standard method (B) is adopted in principle regardless of whether the preloader 73 is used.

Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the display list DL first describes an instruction command string (L11 to L16) for the main display device DS1, and then writes an instruction command string (L17 to L20) for the sub display device DS2. I am trying to describe it. Also, the standard method (B) is adopted to adjust the data volume value of the display list DL to a fixed length (256 bytes). Incidentally, FIG. 18 actually shows the procedure by which the effect control CPU 63 writes the instruction command in the list buffer area of the RAM 59 and the operation of the drawing circuit 76 based on the display list DL.

As shown in FIG. 18, at the top of the display list DL, an environment setting instruction command (SETDAVR) is written to set the upper left base point address (X, Y) on the index space IDX for the frame buffer FBa of the display device DS1. Define (L11). As described with reference to FIG. 9A, in this embodiment, a pair of frame buffers FBa are reserved in the arbitrary area (c) for the display device DS1. Usually, by setting the base point address (X, Y)=(0, 0) corresponding to the effective data area for the display circuit 74, the frame buffer FBa is used by the drawing circuit 76 from the head position. .

In FIG. 9(c), the actual drawing area on the lower left side is indicated by L11. This is because the instruction command L11 causes the actual drawing area on the frame buffer FBa to move to the base point address (0, 0) means specified starting from position. However, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the actual drawing area and the index number that specifically specifies the actual drawing area are not yet determined, and are determined by an instruction command (SETINDEX) L13, which will be described later. The instruction command L11 also designates whether or not to use the Z buffer.

Next, the upper left base point coordinates (Xs, Ys) and the lower right diagonal point coordinates (Xe, Ye) are set in the virtual drawing space by the instruction command (SETDAVF) of the environment setting system, and the W x H dimension is set. is defined (L12). Here, the virtual drawing space is a virtual two-dimensional space of ±8192 in the X direction and ±8192 in the Y direction that can be drawn by a drawing instruction command (such as a sprite command) (see FIG. 9(c)). .

By means of this instruction command L12 (SETDAVF), the virtual drawing space is divided into a drawing area in which drawing contents are actually reflected on the display device DS1 and other non-drawing areas. The instruction command L12 (SETDAVF) associates the actual drawing area whose starting position (base point address) is defined by the instruction command L11 with the drawing area in the virtual drawing space.

In other words, the instruction command L12 defines a W×H real drawing area starting from the base point address corresponding to the drawing area in the virtual drawing space in the frame buffer FBa (the index space is undecided). It will be. Therefore, the drawing area specified by the instruction command L12 must be equal to or smaller than the horizontal size of the frame buffer FBa. Normally, the drawing area and the actual drawing area are defined to have the same dimensions as the effective data area for the display circuit 74 (FIG. 17(e)).

After the drawing circuit 76 executes the instruction commands L11 and L12, of the drawing contents drawn in the virtual drawing space, only those included in the drawing area are reflected in the actual drawing area of the frame buffer FBa. become. Therefore, the drawn contents of the part protruding from the drawing area and the part described as the work area in FIG. 9(c) are not directly reflected in the frame buffer. Note that when a work area is secured in the virtual drawing space, a non-drawing area in the virtual drawing space is used.

Next, in the current operation cycle, the drawing circuit 76 defines where the content to be drawn should be drawn based on the display list DL to be completed (L13). Specifically, for the frame buffer FBa of the double-buffered display device DS1, an index space IDX that serves as a "writing area" for drawing content based on the current display list DL is specified (L13). Specifically, the SETINDEX command, which is a command of the texture setting system, requires that (1) the frame buffer FBa is secured in an arbitrary area, and (2) an arbitrary index space IDX _N serving as a "write area" is set. An index number N on the region is specified.

For example, when N=255 is specified by this instruction command L13, the actual drawing area corresponding to the drawing area defined in the virtual drawing space is specifically would have been defined to be index space IDX ₂₅₅ .

In the case of this embodiment, the index number of the frame buffer FBa is 255 or 254 (FIG. 9(a)), and one of them is designated by switching in a toggle manner (L13). This index number is the index number other than the display area (0)/(1) specified in step ST6 of the main control process. For example, when the display area (0) is specified for the display circuit 74 in the process of step ST6, the display area (1) becomes the “write area” for the drawing circuit 76. FIG.

As described above, after the correspondence relationship between the actual drawing area (W×H logical space) and the drawing area (W×H virtual space) is generally defined by the instruction command L11 and the instruction command L12, The instruction command L13 (SETINDEX) specifically specifying the index space IDX associates the W×H virtual space with the W×H logical space in the specific index space IDX.

In other words, the contents to be virtually drawn in the W×H virtual space based on a series of instruction commands from now on are the internal VDP that defines the correspondence between the virtual space and the internal VRAM 71 real addresses. Based on the conversion table, it becomes the image data of the built-in VRAM 71 (frame buffer).

Subsequently, an instruction command for executing a frame buffer clear process for filling the specified index space IDX with black, for example, is described as a "write area" (L14, L15). This is nothing but erasing processing of the image data written in the frame buffer FBa two operation periods before.

Specifically, the SETFCOLOR command, which is a type of environment setting command, is used to select, for example, black color, and the RECTANGLE command, which is a primitive drawing command, is used to specify that the rectangular area should be filled. The RECTANGLE command specifies the XY coordinates of the upper left end point and the lower right end point of the drawing area set in the virtual drawing space (virtual space corresponding to the frame buffer FBa) (see FIG. 9(c)). .

With the above processing, the rendering preparation processing is completed. Next, instruction commands for rendering appropriate textures such as still images and one frame of moving images in the virtual rendering space are listed. Typically, first, the index space IDX to which the texture is to be developed is specified by the SETINDEX command of the texture setting system, and then the TXLOAD command, which is the instruction command of the texture load system, is written, and the predetermined Textures are described in the display list DL so as to be developed in a predetermined index space IDX.

As described above, in this embodiment, the background moving image is composed of IP stream moving images. Therefore, for example, the index space IDX in which the background video should be developed is specified as the index space IDX ₀ of the page area (b) by the SETINDEX command of the texture setting system, and then the TXLOAD command of the texture load system is described. do. In the TXLOAD command, it is necessary to specify the start address of the CGROM 55 (texture source address) and the data size after expansion (horizontal×vertical) for the video frame to be loaded this time.

When the TXLOAD command is executed in the VDP circuit 52, one moving image frame (texture) of the background moving image is first captured in the AAC area (a), and then transferred to the page area ( b) in the index space IDX ₀ . Next, this one animation frame will be drawn in the virtual drawing space. In this case, the SETINDEX command (texture setting system) may be used to set "the index space IDX ₀ of the page area (b) is the texture to be processed subsequently", but the If you do, you can omit this SETINDEX command.

In any case, in a state where "the index space IDX ₀ of the page area (b) is the texture to be processed later" is specified, next, parameters for alpha blend processing are set, and so on. Write an instruction command for an appropriate inter-rendering operation system. Note that the α-blending process relates to a transparent/semi-transparent process between an image already written in the drawing area (frame buffer FBa) and an image to be overwritten from now on. Therefore, like the moving image frame of the background moving image, it is not necessary to use the instruction command of the inter-rendering arithmetic system in the drawing operation of the first image.

Next, by using the sprite command, which is a primitive drawing system instruction command, "the texture of the index space IDX ₀ of the page area (b) (one video frame of the background video)" is placed in the appropriate place (rectangular destination area) in the virtual drawing space. Describe the sprite command to draw in. For the sprite command, it is necessary to specify the upper left corner point and the lower right corner point of the destination area of the virtual drawing space.

This destination area is the whole or a part of the drawing area (virtual space defined on the virtual drawing space) previously associated with the actual drawing area (FBa) by the instruction commands L11 and L12. However, since the background moving image is usually drawn on the entire display screen, the destination area in such a case is the entire drawing area or more. Note that the case where the Destination area is larger than the entire rendering area is, for example, the case where the background moving image is zoomed up.

With the above processing, the drawing of the moving image frame of the background moving image is completed. The display list DL is configured to draw various textures superimposed on the background moving image. As described above, a large number of moving images are required during the variable rendering. The command (NEWPIX) will be described.

For example, regarding the second IP stream video, after allocating an additional index space IDX ₁ in the page area (b) with the NEWPIX command, this index space IDX ₁ is specified (SETINDEX), and the second Instruct the development of one frame of the video (TXLOAD), and place the developed texture in the appropriate place in the drawing area (SPRITE). Normally, the Destination area in this case will be part of the drawing area.

After that, the index space IDX _k is secured one after another by the NEWPIX command, and then, while executing appropriate α-blending processing, if a plurality of IP streams are drawn in the drawing area, the drawing contents in the drawing area are , is sequentially stored as image data in the frame buffer FBa, which is the actual drawing area. When a plurality of N IP stream moving images are rendered, a plurality of N index spaces are functioning in the page area (b).

Then, when a series of variable effects is completed, the DELPIX command is used to release the index space IDX that is deemed unnecessary among the many index spaces IDX ₁ to _IDXk secured in the page area (b). The unnecessary index space IDX should be deleted.

When drawing a still image or an I-stream video, use the SETINDEX command to specify that these textures are to be decoded in the AAC area (a), and then execute the TXLOAD command to load the AAC area. The texture acquired in (a) is then developed in the ACC area (a) by the automatically activated GDEC 75 . Then, the developed texture can be drawn in the proper place of the drawing area by the sprite command. The first AAC area (a1) or the second AAC area (a2) is used depending on whether or not the cache hit function is used.

In the explanation so far, each texture is directly drawn in the drawing area of the main display device DS1, but the operation is not necessarily limited to this. For example, if an appropriate drawing area is provided so as not to overlap the drawing area already reserved for the display device DS1 (FIG. 9(c)), and this drawing area is associated with the work area of the built-in VRAM 71, an intermediate A suitable drawing area can be constructed to complete an appropriate effect image. Here, the reason why the drawing area for the display device DS1 does not overlap is that the later association setting is prioritized for the overlapping area, and the drawing contents for that area are not reflected in the frame buffer FBa.

As shown in FIG. 9(c), the working area of this embodiment is the index space IDX ₀ in the arbitrary area (c). Then, at the performance timing for using this working area, an instruction command for associating the rendering area for the rendering image (see FIG. 9C) with the working area (actual rendering area of index space IDX ₀ ) is issued first. Note the columns (SETDAVR, SETDAVF, SETINDEX). As shown in FIG. 9C, the rendering area for the effect image is secured in an area that is not included in the rendering area for the main display device DS1.

After that, it is sufficient to list instruction commands similar to the instruction command string L16 regarding the frame buffer _FBa to complete an appropriate effect image in the index space IDX0. In the case of this embodiment, since the effect image is composed of a still image, an instruction command ( _SETINDEX ) is written so that the decoded data is developed in the first AAC area (a1). A primitive drawing system instruction command (SPRITE) with a suitable place in the drawing area as the Destination is used. It should be noted that such an operation is repeated once or multiple times according to the content of the effect.

Then, after positioning index space IDX ₀ , which completes the effect image, as a texture (SETINDEX), the effect image (texture) of index space IDX ₀ is drawn in the proper place of the drawing area of DS1 for the main display device by the sprite command. do it. In such a case, it is conceivable to decompose the effect image in the index space IDX ₀ into triangular drawing primitives, rotate them to an appropriate angle, and draw them in the drawing area. Note that the texture rotation angle is associated with, for example, the reliability of the advance notice effect.

The instruction command sequence (L11 to L16) for completing one frame of the main display device DS1 has been described above. It is the same. That is, the starting XY coordinates of the frame buffer FBb are specified, (L17) is defined (usually X=0, Y=0), and the sub-display device DS2 is displayed in the virtual drawing space shown in FIG. 9(c). A drawing area is defined (L18).

By the way, in this embodiment, after the generation of the image data for the main display device DS1 is completed, the process shifts to the generation processing for the sub display device DS2. You can freely set the drawing area without any problem even if it overlaps with the drawing area of . Therefore, when developing a display list DL generation program, for example, when pasting an appropriate texture to a newly set drawing area with the SPRITE command, the setting of the operation parameter (Destination area) of the SPRITE command, etc. It can be standardized to some extent.

After the definition of such an arbitrary drawing area is completed (L18), next, for the frame buffer FBb of the double-buffered display device DS2, an index space that serves as a "write area" for drawing contents based on the current display list DL. Identify the IDX (L19). The index number of this index space IDX is the index number of the frame buffer FBb that does not correspond to the display area (0)/(1) specified in step ST6 of the main control process.

After that, instruction command strings L20 to L22 for the sub display device DS2 are listed in the same manner as the instruction command strings L14 to L16 for the main display device DS1. It is also possible to use the effect image completed in the index space _IDX0 .

As described above, the instruction commands L11 to L22 forming the display list DL are all limited to commands having an integral multiple of 32 bits in the present embodiment. As described above, the data volume value (total amount of data) of the display list DL in this embodiment is adjusted to a fixed length (256 bytes), and the necessary number of NOP commands (L23) as dummy commands are added. After that, it ends with the EODL command (L24). That is, the embodiment of FIG. 18 adopts the standard method (B) described above.

However, even if the standard method (B) is adopted, it is not essential to fix the total data amount of the display list DL to 256 bytes in all operation cycles. That is, in another embodiment, if the total data amount of the display list DL excluding the NOP command exceeds 256 bytes (for example, during a special performance period), the total data amount of the display list DL may be added with the NOP command. , adjusted to N×256 bytes of 512 bytes or more. As described above, when the standard method (B) is adopted, the end of N×256 bytes is terminated with the EODL command.

The configuration of the display list DL has been described in detail above, and the effect control CPU 63 issues the completed display list DL of fixed byte length to the VDP circuit (ST7-ST8). FIG. 19 is a flow chart for explaining the DL issuing process (ST8 in FIG. 17) in which the effect control CPU 63 directly WRITE-accesses the transfer port register TR_PORT of the transfer circuit 72 and issues the display list DL to the drawing circuit 76. FIG. The transfer port register TR_PORT is a kind of data transfer register RGij that defines the operation contents of the data transfer circuit 72 .

In order to implement the DL issuing process, first, it is necessary to set necessary set values in a plurality of data transfer registers RGij that define the operation contents of the data transfer circuit 72 . Specifically, the transfer operation mode of the data transfer circuit 72 and the transmission route inside the data transfer circuit 72 are specified in a predetermined data transfer register RGij. Although the contents of the setting are not particularly limited, here, it is assumed that the data transfer operation is executed while checking the remaining amount of the FIFO buffer in relation to the CPU IF section 56 via the ChB control circuit 72b and the CPU bus control section 72d. Set (ST20). In the following description, the ChB control circuit 72b may be abbreviated as "transfer circuit ChB" for convenience.

Next, the total transfer size is set in a predetermined data transfer register RGij. As described above, in this embodiment, the total data amount of the display list DL is adjusted to an integral multiple of 256 bytes, so that value is set. Note that the total amount of data=256×N is also integer N times the minimum data amount Dmin of the data transfer circuit 72 . Normally, the multiple N is 1 or 2, but in the following explanation, it will be explained as N=1.

Here, since the transfer port register TR_PORT (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as transfer port) is a 32-bit long register, the effect control CPU 63 executes a register WRITE operation to the transfer port TR_PORT every 32 bits. It will be. Therefore, the value of the management counter CN for managing the number of times of register WRITE is initialized to 64 (ST21). If the non-adjustment method (C) is adopted, at this timing, the data transfer amount that is an integral multiple of the minimum data amount Dmin is determined and the management counter CN is set.

Since the initial setting is completed by the above processing, next, the data transfer operation via the transfer circuit ChB is set to the start state (ST22), and the predetermined drawing register RGij that defines the operation of the drawing circuit 76 is set. Based on the value, the drawing operation is started (ST23). As a result, after that, the effect control CPU 63 guarantees quick and smooth Analyze processing by the drawing circuit 76 (display list analyzer) with respect to the instruction command sequence for register WRITE operation to the transfer port TR_PORT.

It should be noted that the fact that the instruction commands listed in the display list DL are limited to those with a command length of 32-bit integral multiples also effectively contributes to the quick and smooth Analyze processing. Timings t1, t2, t3, and t4 in FIG. 25(a) indicate the operation timings of step ST23. Since the display list DL issuing process (ST8) ends quickly, FIGS. 25 and 26 do not show the time required for the issuing process.

Subsequently, it is confirmed whether or not the setting in step ST22 has functioned (ST24). This is because the initial setting of each part of the data transfer circuit 72 takes more processing time than the register WRITE operation (setting operation) by the effect control CPU 63. because there is no If the operation does not start even after waiting for a predetermined period of time, the serious abnormality flag ABN is set and the DL issuing process ends (ST25). As a result, the WDT circuit 58 then functions and the composite chip 50 is abnormally reset (ST10).

In order to avoid resetting the CPU circuit 51, the effect control CPU 63 may output a predetermined keyword string to the pattern check circuit CHK, and may abnormally reset only the VDP circuit 52 based on the reset signal RST. As mentioned above.

However, since the setting in step ST22 is normally completed quickly, the FIFO buffer (32 bits×130 stages) of the CPU bus control section 72d is confirmed not to be full (ST26). , the instruction command is written to the transfer port TR_PORT line by line from the top line constituting the display list DL (ST28).

Then, while decrementing the management counter CN (ST29), the processing of steps ST26 to ST29 is repeated until the management counter CN becomes zero (ST30). In the case of this embodiment, the minimum data amount Dmin is defined in the data transfer circuit 72, so the data transfer operation is executed at the timing when the minimum data amount Dmin is accumulated in the FIFO buffer. transfer operation.

In any case, in this embodiment, the DL issuance processing (ST28) is quickly completed. In the determination, there may be cases where the FIFO buffer Full state is not resolved even after waiting for a predetermined time. In such a case, after setting initialization data in a predetermined VDP register RGij to initialize the drawing circuit 76 and the data transfer circuit 72, the serious abnormality flag ABN is set and DL issuance processing is started. Finish (ST27).

By the way, at this timing, the data transfer circuit 72 and the drawing circuit 76 have already started operating and have completed a certain amount of processing. (1) set all internal parameters that may be set by the display list DL to their initial values, (2) set all internal control circuits to their initial states, and (3) (4) initializing the cache state of the AAC area; Similarly, the initialization processing of the data transfer circuit 72 includes initialization processing of the entire data transfer up to that point, such as clearing the FIFO buffer. As a result, the status information indicating the operating state of the data transfer circuit 72 changes to a predetermined value (a value indicating that the entire data transfer is being initialized).

Although the contents of the drawing register RGij are maintained in the initialization process of step ST27, the contents of a predetermined drawing register may be initialized. Predetermined drawing registers cleared to initial values include (a) an execution control register for setting the start of drawing execution (see ST23 in FIG. 19), (b) a status register indicating the execution status of the drawing circuit 76, and ( c) Contains a status register that identifies the position of the display list currently being processed.

In any case, as a result of setting the serious anomaly flag ABN, the WDT circuit 58 and the effect control CPU 63 then function, and the composite chip 50 or the VDP circuit 52 is abnormally reset (ST10a), so the drawing circuit 76 and the data transfer circuit 72 are not necessarily required. On the other hand, when the drawing circuit 76 and the data transfer circuit 72 are initialized, as a result, recovery from the abnormality can be expected. It is also preferred to do

This point is the same in the processing of step ST25, and after initializing the data transfer circuit 72 and the drawing circuit 76, it is preferable to return to the processing of step ST20 without setting the serious abnormality flag ABN. However, in such a case, the number of re-executions of the DL issuance process is counted, and if the number of re-executions exceeds the limit value, the serious abnormality flag ABN is set and the DL issuance process is terminated.

FIG. 19(b) is a confirmation illustration of a normal operating state. As shown in the figure, the issued display list DL is analyzed by the drawing circuit 76 (display list analyzer) in the order of the listed instruction commands, and an operation based on each instruction command is executed. This operation is executed in parallel with the display list DL issuing process and the data transfer operation of the data transfer circuit 72 (ST26 to ST30).

For example, when the instruction command (TXLOAD) is executed, the necessary texture is read out from the CGROM 55 and acquired in the AAC area (a). Later data is expanded in a predetermined index space. Also, depending on the instruction command, the geometry engine 77 and others function, but in any case, the image data corresponding to the display list DL is completed in the frame buffers FBa and FBb by the cooperation of each part of the drawing circuit 76. will be

Next, a case where the display list DL is issued through the DMAC circuit 60 will be described with reference to FIG. Of the first to fourth DMA channels built in the DMAC circuit 60, the third DMA channel is used, although not limited in any way.

In the embodiment of FIG. 20, first, a predetermined data transfer register RGij and a predetermined drawing register RGij are each set to a clear value to initialize the data transfer circuit 72 and the drawing circuit 76 (ST20). This processing is the same as the error processing of step ST27 in FIG. 19, the internal circuits of the data transfer circuit 72 including the FIFO buffer are initialized, and the status bit of the data transfer register indicating the progress of data transfer is initialized. Thus, the bit indicating that the entire data transfer is being initialized has a predetermined value.

The same applies to the drawing circuit 76, and (1) setting the internal parameters to the initial values, (2) setting the internal control circuit to the initial state, (3) initializing the GDEC 75, (4) ) includes processing to initialize the cache state of the AAC area. Also, in the initialization processing of the drawing circuit (ST20 in FIG. 20), the predetermined drawing register RGij may be initialized. In addition, in the process of FIG. 19, such an initialization process may be executed first.

In the process of FIG. 20, the normal completion of the initialization process is confirmed by reading a predetermined status register RGij that specifies the operating states of the data transfer circuit 72 and the drawing circuit 76 (ST21). If the initialization is not possible, the serious abnormality flag ABN is set and the process ends (ST22). However, such a situation almost never occurs in practice.

Next, the transfer operation mode of the data transfer circuit 72 and the transmission route inside the data transfer circuit 72 are set in a predetermined data transfer register RGij. Although the contents of the setting are not particularly limited, here, the transfer protocol from the CPUIF section 56 to the ChB control circuit 72b and the transfer protocol to the CPU bus control section 72d are set to follow the settings in the DMAC circuit 60 (ST23). ).

Next, the total transfer size is set in a predetermined data transfer register RGij. As in the case of FIG. 19, the data total amount=256. Note that when the non-adjustment method (C) is adopted, at this timing, the total transfer size that is an integer multiple of the minimum data amount Dmin is determined and set. Next, the drawing operation of the drawing circuit 76 is started based on the set value in the predetermined drawing register RGij (ST25). Timings t1, t2, t3, and t4 in FIG. 25(a) are also operation timings of step ST25. Then, after starting the operation of the DMAC circuit 60 (ST26), the data transfer operation of the data transfer circuit 72 is started (ST27).

The processing for starting the operation of the DMAC circuit 60 is as shown in FIG. ST40). The detailed contents of the operation are the same as the process shown in FIG. 21, and are divided into the process of prohibiting DMAC transfer (ST53) and the subsequent standby process (ST54).

Such processing is provided because (1) in other embodiments, the DMAC circuit 60 (third DMA channel) may be used in main control processing and timer interrupt processing (FIG. 17); and (2) in another embodiment in which the process of step ST5 in FIG. 17 is not provided, even if the DMAC circuit 60 that has started issuing the display list DL cannot finish the DL issuing operation within its operation period (δ). Considering what is possible.

In such an exceptional situation, if a new setting value (such as a contradictory setting value) is additionally set to the DMAC circuit 60 in operation, normal DMA operation cannot be ensured at all, and serious trouble may occur. Although it is a concern, providing the process of step ST40 ensures normal operation based on subsequent set values. That is, even in the modified embodiment that partially modifies the present embodiment, it is possible to realize normal DMA operation thereafter regardless of the preceding trouble.

After executing the processing of step ST40 having the above significance, next, the operating conditions of the DMAC circuit 60 are set (ST41). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the cycle steal transfer mode is selected and one operand transfer is 32-bit transfer×2 times. Also, the Source address is the address of the list buffer area (DL buffer BUF) of the RAM 59 and should be recognized as increasing sequentially, while the Destination address is the transfer port TR_PORT and should be a fixed value. .

Next, the top address of the DL buffer BUF of the RAM 59 is set in a predetermined operation control register REG that defines the operation of the DMAC circuit 60 (ST42), and the address of the transfer port TR_PORT, which is the transfer destination address, is set (ST43). ). Also, after setting the total transfer size, that is, the total amount of data of the display list DL to 256 bytes (ST44), the DMA operation of the DMAC circuit 60 is started (ST45).

By the way, the explanation so far is based on the premise that the actual bit length of all instruction commands is an integral multiple of 32 bits. However, since the display list DL and the configuration of the instruction command are not necessarily limited, such a case will be described below.

For example, when the total data amount X of the display list DL is an arbitrary value X that is not an integral multiple of 32 bits, including the case of adopting the non-adjustment method (C), in the process of step ST44, this arbitrary value X is adjusted to an appropriate transfer amount MOD, and then the total transfer size setting process is executed. Here, an appropriate transfer amount MOD is defined based on the settings for one-operand transfer and the minimum data amount Dmin (bytes) of the data transfer circuit 72 .

Specifically, if the one-operand transfer setting is N bytes×M times, the transfer amount MOD is adjusted to an integer multiple of N×M (bytes) and an integer multiple of Dmin (bytes). be done. For example, if N×M=8×4 and Dmin=256, the arbitrary value X (=300) bytes is adjusted to the transfer amount MOD (=512) bytes.

As described above including the general theory, the DMA operation of the DMAC circuit 60 starts the cycle steal transfer operation as shown in FIG. In that case, every 32 bits are transferred to the transfer port TR_PORT. The transferred data is transferred to the drawing circuit 76 via the transfer circuit ChB.

In order to realize such an operation, in this embodiment, subsequent to the process of step ST45, the transfer operation of the data transfer circuit 72 is started and the process ends (ST27). After that, the data transfer circuit 72 receives the instruction command string of the display list DL from the DMAC circuit 60 in units of the minimum data amount Dmin, and transfers it to the drawing circuit 76 . The drawing circuit 76 then executes the drawing operation based on the instruction command of the display list DL. Therefore, after the process of step ST27, the effect control CPU 63 can start the process of step ST11 in FIG. , lamp effects and motor effects can be controlled.

FIG. 20(c) illustrates the content of this operation. Prior to DMA transfer, the operation of the drawing circuit is started (ST25), the display list analyzer of the drawing circuit 76 quickly and smoothly executes the Analyze processing, and other operations such as the GDEC 75 and the geometry engine 77 Based on this, one frame of image data is generated for each of the display devices DS1 and DS2 in the frame buffers FBa and FBb.

By the way, the configuration of FIG. 20 in which the DL issuing process ends with the process of step ST27 is not necessarily limited. For example, as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, when another CPU controls the sound effect, the lamp effect, and the motor effect, normal operation of the DMAC circuit 60 and the data transfer circuit 72 is performed after the process of step ST27. It is preferable to check FIG. 21 is an operation subsequent to step ST27 in FIG. 20, and is a flowchart for explaining normal operation confirmation processing.

First, a predetermined status register is referred to confirm that the transfer operation of the DMAC circuit 60 has been completed normally (ST50). It also confirms that the data transfer circuit 72 has completed the transfer operation (ST51). Normally, the DL issuing process of FIG. 20 is completed through such a route.

On the other hand, even if it waits for a predetermined time, . If the operation of the DMAC circuit 60 is not completed or the transfer operation of the data transfer circuit 72 is not completed, a clear value is set in a predetermined VDP register RGij for the drawing circuit 76 and the data transfer circuit 72. to initialize the DL issuing process (ST52). This is an operation based on the fact that the processing for issuing the display list DL has not ended normally. be.

That is, in this case as well, the drawing circuit 76 has already started operating and has completed a certain amount of processing. (2) to set all internal control circuits to the initial state; (3) to initialize the GDEC 75; (4) to initialize the cache state of the AAC area It includes converting

Next, after prohibiting a new DMA transfer operation (ST53), it waits for the completion of the transfer operation of one operand being executed (ST54). As described above, in this embodiment, 32-bit transfer×2 times is used as one operand to avoid abrupt initialization of the DMAC circuit 60 in operation.

After this preparatory work is completed, the DMAC circuit 60 is initialized by setting a clear value in a predetermined operation control register REG that defines the operation of the DMAC circuit 60 (ST52). Then, the serious anomaly flag ABN is set, and the DL issuing process ends. In this case, since recovery from the abnormality can be expected by the processing of steps ST52 and ST55, it is preferable to return to step ST20 in FIG. 20 and re-execute the DL issuance processing without setting the serious abnormality flag ABN. be. However, if the number of re-executions of the DL issuance processing (ST23 to ST27) is counted and the number of re-executions exceeds the limit value, it is necessary to set the serious abnormality flag ABN and finish the DL issuance processing.

Next, main control processing when using the preloader 73 will be described with reference to FIG. The processing of FIG. 22 is similar to the processing of FIG. 17, but first, the contents of the start condition determination (ST5') are different. That is, in the embodiment using the preloader, at the start of each operation cycle, READ access is made to the status information of the drawing circuit 76 and the preloader 73 to confirm that the drawing operation based on the display list DL1 is completed and that the display list DL2 is completed. is completed (ST5').

As shown in the time chart of FIG. 26(a), the preloader 76, for example, based on the display list DL1 issued in the operation period (T1), performs a prefetch operation (preload operation) during the operation period (T1 to T1+δ). should have finished. Also, the drawing circuit 76 should have completed the drawing operation based on the display list DL1 during the operation cycle (T1+δ to T1+2δ) based on the operation start command specified in the operation cycle (T1+δ), for example.

Therefore, in (ST5'), the status information of the VDP register RGij relating to the drawing circuit 76 and the preloader 73 is read-accessed to confirm the normal operation. FIG. 26(a) shows a state in which normal operation is confirmed at the determination timings of the operation cycles T1, T1+δ, T1+2δ, and T1+4δ, but the preload operation is not completed at the determination timing of the operation cycle T1+3δ. .

Then, when such an abnormality occurs, the abnormality flag ER is incremented (ER=ER+1), and the process of step ST9 is performed. Therefore, as in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 17, frame drop occurs. That is, the same screen is displayed again because the display area switching process (ST6) is skipped. The operating period (T1+3δ to T1+4δ) shown in FIG. 25(a) indicates the operating state.

If the start condition is not satisfied in step ST5', the drawing circuit 76 is not operated because the drawing operation start instruction (PT10) based on the rewrite list DL' is not executed for the drawing circuit 76. state and no new display list is generated. In FIG. 26A, timings t0, t2, and t4 indicate the operation timings of the drawing operation start instruction (PT10), more precisely, the timings of step ST26 in FIG.

The case where the judgment in step ST5' is not suitable has been described above, but in the normal case, after the display areas of the frame buffers FBa and FBb are toggled (ST6), the rewrite list DL is sent to the drawing circuit 76. ' is started (PT10). The specific contents are as shown in FIG. The rewrite list DL' is acquired and the drawing operation is executed.

Before describing the flowchart of FIG. 23 for realizing this operation, the operation of the preloader 73 is confirmed. has been completed, and the prefetched data has already been stored in the preload area secured in the external DRAM 54 . Also, the source address of the texture load command (TXLOAD) described in the display list DL is rewritten to the address of the preload area, and stored in the DL buffer BUF' of the external DRAM 54 as the rewrite list DL'. ing.

In this rewriting process, the total data amount of the display list DL does not change, and the total data amount of the rewriting list DL' is the same as that of the display list DL. Also, the display list DL is created by the standard method (B), and the end of the rewrite list DL' is the EODL command as in the case of the display list DL.

Based on the above, when explaining FIG. Initialize (ST20). This process has the same content as the process of ST20 in FIG. Next, it is confirmed that the initialization processing has been completed normally (ST21), and if the initialization is not completed even after a predetermined time has passed, the serious abnormality flag ABN is set and the processing ends (ST21). ST22).

Since the initialization of the data transfer circuit 72 and the drawing circuit 76 normally ends normally, the transmission route inside the data transfer circuit 72 is set to a predetermined data transfer register RGij (ST23). Specifically, data is set to be transferred from the external DRAM 54 to the drawing circuit 76 via the ChB control circuit 72b (ST23). Next, the start address of the DL buffer BUF' of the external DRAM 54 storing the rewrite list DL' is set in a predetermined data transfer register RGij (ST24).

Also, for this rewrite list DL', the total transfer size is set in a predetermined data transfer register RGij (ST25). As described above, the total data amount of the rewrite list DL' is the same as the total data amount of the display list DL, specifically, 256 bytes, for example.

Next, the drawing operation of the drawing circuit 76 is started based on the set value in the predetermined drawing register RGij (ST26). Timings t1, t2, t3, and t4 in FIG. 25(a) are also operation timings of step ST26. Then, the data transfer circuit 60 is started to operate based on the set value in the predetermined data transfer register RGij, and the process is finished (ST27). After that, the effect control CPU 63 is not particularly concerned with the operation of the data transfer circuit 72 or the drawing circuit, and shifts to the display list generation process (ST7) that will be executed in the next operation cycle.

On the other hand, the drawing circuit 76, which starts operating at the timing of step ST26, executes a drawing operation based on the rewrite list DL' to generate image data based on the rewrite list DL' in the frame buffers FBa and FBb. In this operation, the drawing circuit 76 does not make READ access to the CGROM 55, but only makes READ access to the preload area, so that a series of drawing operations can be completed quickly.

The contents of the processing of step PT10 have been described above. Returning to FIG. 22, the description will be continued. It is created based on the standard method (B) (ST7). For example, in the operation period (T1) shown in FIG. 26A, the display list DL to be referred to by the drawing circuit 76 is created in the operation period (T1+.delta.), which is the next cycle.

Next, the effect control CPU 63 issues the created display list DL to the preloader 73 instead of the drawing circuit 76 (PT11). Specific operation contents are as shown in FIG. First, with respect to the embodiment (FIG. 17) that does not use the preloader 73, the effect control CPU 63 issues the display list DL directly to the drawing circuit 76 (FIG. 19) and via the DMAC circuit 60. 24(b) and 24(c) show almost the same operation except that the issue destination is the preloader 73. .

FIG. 24(a) is a flow chart for explaining the operation of FIG. 24(b), which is substantially the same as the flow chart of FIG. However, it is set that data will be transferred from the CPUIF section 56 via the ChC control circuit 72c, and that the CPU bus control section 72d will perform the data transfer operation while checking the remaining capacity of the FIFO buffer (ST20). In the following description, the ChC control circuit 72c may be abbreviated as "transfer circuit ChC" for convenience.

Next, the total transfer size (for example, 256 bytes adjusted by the standard method (B)) is set in a predetermined data transfer register RGij, and the management counter CN is initialized to 64 (ST21). Next, the data transfer operation via the transfer circuit ChC is set to the start state (ST22), and the preload operation is started based on the set value in the preload register RGij that defines the operation of the preloader 73 (ST23).

As a result, after that, the preloader 73 executes necessary analysis (Analyze) processing for each instruction command written by the effect control CPU 63 to the transfer port TR_PORT, and detects an instruction command (TXLOAD) for READ access to the CGROM 55. , the texture is preloaded and stored in the preload area of the DRAM 54 . Also, the rewrite list DL' in which the source address of the texture is changed is stored in the DL buffer area BUF' of the DRAM 54. FIG.

Timings t1, t3, and t5 in FIG. 26(a) actually indicate the operation timings of step ST23 in FIG. However, even in this embodiment, if some kind of abnormality occurs during the process of issuing the display list DL, the processes of steps ST25 and ST27 are executed. Specifically, the operations of the data transfer circuit 72 and the preloader 73 are initialized, and the display list DL issuing process (ST20 to ST30) is re-executed within a possible range. The initialization processing of the preloader 73 includes erasing the incomplete rewrite list DL' and clearing the preload area in which the preload data is newly stored.

Although the case where the preloader 73 is used and the case where the preloader 73 is not used have been described in detail above, the specific operation contents are not particularly limited. FIG. 25(b) shows an embodiment in which the display list generated by the effect control CPU 63 is issued to the drawing circuit 76 with a delay of one operation period δ instead of the generated operation period. In such an embodiment, rendering circuit 76 can use substantially the entire time of one operating period (.delta.), thereby reducing the possibility of frame dropping.

Also, FIG. 26(b) shows an embodiment in which the display list generated by the effect control CPU 63 is issued to the preloader 73 with a delay of one operation cycle instead of the generated operation cycle. In this case, the preloader 73 can use substantially the entire time of one operation period (δ) to perform the preload operation, again reducing the possibility of frame dropping.

In the explanation so far, the composite chip 50 is used, but the performance control CPU 63 and the VDP circuit 52 do not necessarily have to be integrated into one element. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the entire production control is controlled by a single CPU (production control CPU 63), but the upstream CPU and the downstream production control CPU 63 cooperate with each other to produce A control action may be performed.

27-28 are block diagrams illustrating such an embodiment. As illustrated, in this embodiment, the upstream effect control CPU controls the sound effect, the lamp effect, and the motor effect. On the other hand, the CPU circuit 51 on the downstream side controls only the image effect based on the control command CMD' received from the effect control CPU.

When adopting such a configuration, the CPU circuit 51 does not need to execute the processing of step ST12 of FIG. 17(a) and the processing of FIG. 17(b). A list DL can be generated, and a more complex and advanced image presentation such as 3D (Dimension) can be realized. In such a case, the display list becomes large, but in that case, the total amount of data in the display list DL is adjusted to 512 bytes or more N×256 bytes by adding dummy commands. .

Further, since the operation of the CPU circuit 51 on the downstream side is specialized for image rendering control, it is possible to confirm that the drawing operation is completed after issuing the display list DL. The lower part of FIG. 19 shows an example of operation control in this case, and if the drawing operation is not completed even after the limit time is exceeded, the serious abnormality flag ABN is set and the process ends (ST32). Since the processing of the CPU circuit 51 on the downstream side is only image effect control, it may simply wait for the completion of the drawing operation in an infinite loop.

When adopting such a configuration, the start condition determination (ST5) of FIG. 17(a) can be repeated for a predetermined time. Even with this configuration, if the delay in completion of the drawing operation is not so long, the only problem that arises is the delay in switching between the display area (0) and the display area (1). That is, like the operation period T1+3δ shown in FIG. 29(a), in one operation period in which the display operation is repeated twice, only the first half is in the frame drop state, and the latter half is displayed as a normal frame.

This point is the same when using a preloader, and the start condition determination (ST5') of FIG. 22(a) can be repeated for a predetermined time. If there is a slight delay, only the first half of the operation period T1+3.delta. shown in FIG. However, if the completion of the drawing operation is significantly delayed, a complete frame drop will occur as in the operation period T1+3δ in FIG. will start up. This point is the same when the preloader is not used.

Further, when the control operation of the CPU circuit 51 is specialized for image rendering control, in an embodiment employing DMA transfer, as shown in the lower part of FIG. and the completion of the operation of the DMAC circuit 60 (ST50'-ST52'). If any of the operations does not end normally, the operations of the data transfer circuit 72 and the drawing circuit 76 are initialized, and the same processes as those of steps ST53 to ST55 (ST55' to ST57') are executed. be. Also in this case, it is preferable to re-execute the DL issuing process a predetermined number of times.

An embodiment has been described above in which the frame buffers FBa and FBb of the main display device DS1 and the sub display device DS2 construct index spaces of horizontal sizes that completely match the number of horizontal pixels of each display device. FIG. 30(a) shows this relationship for confirmation, and the drawing area (W×H) on the virtual drawing space and the effective data area (actual drawing area W×H) on the index space are , both correspond to the number of horizontal/vertical pixels of the display device.

In such a correspondence relationship, the drawing operation to the virtual drawing space by the display list DL is not necessarily limited to the drawing area (W×H). , the drawing image (W′×H′) exceeding the drawing area (W×H) is shifted in time to obtain the actual drawing area W×H It is possible to move the contents drawn on the screen vertically/horizontally/diagonally as appropriate.

Moreover, in order to execute such an effect, for example, as shown in FIG. 30(b), an index space having a horizontal size W larger than the number of horizontal pixels of the display device may be provided. In this case, the drawing area W×H in the virtual drawing space defined by the instruction command L12 (SETDAVF) of the display list DL is larger than the actual drawing area w×h corresponding to the number of horizontal/vertical pixels of the display device. set. In the lower portion of FIG. 30(b), the actual drawing area w×h is indicated by a right sloping line.

The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the actual drawing area w×h are specified as the number of display lines and the number of horizontal pixels of the display device in the process of step SS30 in FIG. In the process of step SS31 of 17, the vertical/horizontal display start position is set in a predetermined display register.

On the other hand, the base point address (X, Y) in the index space is set in a predetermined drawing register by the display list instruction command L11. As described above, specifically, the upper left base point address in the index space IDX is defined as (0, 0), for example, by the instruction command L11 (SETDAVR) of the environment setting system. Then, if the upper left end point of the actual drawing area w×h is appropriately moved in the steady process, the drawing contents of the actual drawing area W×H indicated by the right sloping line in the lower part of FIG. will move accordingly.

As described with reference to FIG. 17, the VDP register RGij related to steps SS30 to SS32 is set to write prohibition after initial setting (second prohibition setting SS34). By writing a release value to the VDP register RGij of , this prohibition setting is released.

By the way, in the above-described embodiment, the predetermined system control register RGij and the predetermined VDP register RGij of the initialization system are uniformly set to the write-disabled state by utilizing the first and second types of prohibition setting registers. After setting (see SS33 and SS34 in FIGS. 17 and 22), the set values to these registers are prevented from being changed due to the influence of noise or the like. However, it is also preferable to repeat the setting process every predetermined time for the set value of the important system control register RGij without such write prohibition setting.

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining the processing in such a case, and the setting values to be set in the initial setting processing (ST3) are summarized in the setting value table SETTABLE stored in the control memory 53 (PROGMROM). . In step ST3 of FIG. 17, although the description is omitted, (a) the initial setting process is executed based on the initial value setting table SETTABLE, and (b) the content of the initial value setting table SETTABLE is , and FIG. 17 are substantially the same as those described below.

In any embodiment, the set value table SETTABLE is composed of a plurality of sets (N sets) each including the register address value of the VDP register RGij and the set value to the register RGij. Although not particularly limited, the register address value is fixed to a 16-bit length, and the set value is fixed to a 32-bit length. ×Nbit) length, and there are N VDP registers RGij.

However, in the embodiment of FIG. 17, the initial value setting table SETTABLE is READ-accessed only once and all of the N VDP registers RGij are initialized only once, whereas in the embodiment of FIG. The N VDP registers RGij are divided into N1 VDP registers RGij that are initialized only once, and N2 VDP registers RGij that are repeatedly initialized every 1/30 second after the first initialization. classified.

In the embodiment of FIG. 31, the set values that are repeatedly initialized include (1) set values for DMA transfer operation, (2) set values for VRAM, (3) set values for interrupts, and (4) display. (5) setting values for the drawing circuit 76;

(1) The setting value related to the DMA transfer operation is, for example, a setting value that is a prerequisite for the operating conditions defined in step ST41, and is fixed regardless of the difference in operating conditions in FIGS. This is the default setting that is applied globally. Specifically, (a) a threshold value (for example, 1/2 of the total number of stages) indicating how many FIFO buffers (N stages) built in the DAMC circuit 60 are released before requesting a transfer to the transfer source, ( b) Includes setting values such as whether or not to perform a handshake operation with the transfer destination or transfer source (for example, No).

Also, (2) the set value of the VRAM includes the refresh cycle of the refresh operation. The built-in VRAM 71 operates at this refresh cycle, thereby preventing spontaneous discharge of stored data. Next, (3) set values related to interrupts are values that specify the error type that causes an interrupt request and the output terminal of the interrupt signal (internal terminal of the built-in CPU). If it freezes, an abnormal drawing interrupt will occur to the CPU circuit 51 (interrupt enabled state, see FIG. 17(d)). It contains set values such as what happens (see FIG. 17(c)).

In this embodiment, the composite chip 50 in which the CPU circuit 51 and the VDP circuit 52 are integrated is used. 51 is connected to an external interrupt input terminal.

(4) Setting values for the display circuit include (a) horizontal/vertical start positions of each frame buffer (see SS31), (b) setting values for the horizontal synchronization signal of each display device, and (c) each display device. (d) set values for the scaler; (e) set values for the number of horizontal pixels and the number of display lines of each display device (SS30);

(5) The setting value for the drawing circuit 76 includes the setting value for the freeze time until the abnormal drawing interrupt occurs. This set value is set, for example, as an integral multiple of the cycle of the vertical synchronization signal. As explained in FIG. 17(d), when the drawing circuit 76 does not access the VRAM during the freeze period defined here, the drawing circuit 76 is individually reset (ST16b), and the operation parameters for the drawing circuit 76 are set to It is reset (ST16c).

As described above, in this embodiment, important setting values are repeatedly reset at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, even if the setting values become garbled due to noise or other factors, the abnormality can be detected immediately. be recovered. Also, in this embodiment, unlike the embodiment of FIG. 17, the prohibition setting register RGij of the first type and the second type is not set to the write prohibition state. , can be freely rewritten.

As described above, in the embodiments so far, (1a) the operation freeze state of the drawing circuit 76 after a predetermined freeze time has passed, or (1b) when the drawing circuit 76 detects an irrational instruction command in the display list DL, , the drawing circuit 76 of the VDP circuit 52 generates a drawing abnormal interrupt to the CPU circuit 51 (see FIG. 17(d)). Then, at the time of a drawing abnormality interrupt, after determining the cause of the interrupt (ST16a in FIG. 17(d)), a configuration (ST16c to ST16d) is adopted in which processing is executed according to the determination result.

However, according to experiments by the present inventors, even under severe operating conditions with a lot of noise, the abnormal drawing interrupt rarely occurs. Therefore, in order to reduce the control load, it is necessary to shift uniformly to infinite loop processing (see FIG. 22(b)) without providing interrupt cause determination processing (ST16a), or to pattern check circuit CHK (see FIG. 22B). 4(b)) is also suitable (see ST17a in FIG. 22(c)).

In this case, the WDT circuit 58 is activated after a predetermined period of time and the entire composite chip 50 is reset, or only the VDP circuit 52 is immediately reset (Fig. 4(b)). reference). When the VDP circuit 52 is reset based on the reset keyword output process (ST17a), normal completion of the reset operation is confirmed, and after arranging the stack area for storing the return address (ST17b), For example, the process is shifted to step ST4 or ST13.

In addition, in the present embodiment, an abnormality determination process (ST5 in FIGS. 17 and 22) is provided to determine the completion of the operation of the drawing circuit 76 every 1/30 second. A drawing abnormality interrupt process (FIG. 22(d)) may be provided in which nothing is actually executed. As shown in FIG. 22(d), in this configuration, an IRET (Interrupt Return) instruction is immediately executed and the main control process is returned to when an abnormal drawing interrupt occurs. become. However, in this embodiment, the number of dropped frames is counted by the abnormality flag ER in the process of step ST5 in FIGS. The configuration of (d) is substantially the same as the configurations of FIGS. 22(b) and 22(c).

Also, in order to further reduce the control load, it is also preferable to set the VDP circuit 52 to the drawing abnormality interrupt disabled state at the time of initial setting (see step ST3 in FIG. 17 and FIG. 22). If the default state at power-on is to disable drawing abnormal interrupts, (a) write a predetermined system control register RGij to set a permission/prohibition value that defines permission/prohibition of abnormal interrupts; Either the prohibition state is set, or (b) the prohibition value is repeatedly written to the system control register RGij at predetermined time intervals.

At first glance, this configuration seems to be superior to the configurations of FIGS. 22(b) and 22(b). However, for all models of this type of gaming machine, (a) drawing error interrupts are uniformly set to a prohibited state, (b) are uniformly set to a permitted state, and then for each model From the viewpoint of generalization of the control program, it is better to select either the configuration of FIG. 17(d) or one of the configurations of FIGS. 22(b) to (d). In the former configuration (a), it is necessary (complicated) to change the initial setting routine (see step ST3 in FIG. 17 and FIG. 22) for each model.

As a further modified embodiment, it is also preferable to utilize an audio circuit SND built into the composite chip 50. FIG. FIG. 32 is a block diagram illustrating such an embodiment. As is clear from comparing FIG. 32 with FIG. 4, this embodiment does not require the audio processor 27 and the audio memory 28, and the data bus (8 bits) and address bus (2 bits) of the CPU circuit 51 , no external wiring to the audio circuit is required. In addition, since there is no transmission line for the underflow signal UF, the composite chip can be prevented from being erroneously reset abnormally due to noise superimposed on this UF transmission line.

Also, in this embodiment, the audio data to be stored in the audio memory 28 is stored in the CGROM 53 in correspondence with the elimination of the audio memory 28 . FIG. 33(d) shows the storage contents of the CGROM 53. The CGROM 53 contains sound ROM header information, phrase header information HD, a large number of phrase data PH obtained by compressing a group of audio data, and an audio circuit. A number of sound commands SCMD that define the operation of the SND are permanently stored.

As shown, the sound ROM header information is stored from the top address SNDst, followed by the phrase header information HD of the data size HDvl is stored from the top address HDst. Phrase data PH of data size PHvl is stored from the leading address PHst, and sound command SCMD of data size SCMDvl is stored from the leading address SCMDst.

Here, the sound ROM header information specifically includes the top address HDst of the phrase header HD area, the data size HDvl of the phrase header HD area, the top address PHst of the phrase data area PH, and the size of the phrase data area PH. It means the data size PHvl, the start address SCMDst of the sound command area SCM, and the data size SCMDvl of the sound command area SCMD. These pieces of information are acquired by the internal circuit of the audio circuit SND when the power is turned on (see step SD4).

Further, the phrase header information HD and phrase data PH are transferred to the external DRAM 54 when the power is turned on, thereby speeding up subsequent READ access (step SD6). Thus, in this embodiment, the audio processor 27 and the audio memory 28 are eliminated to reduce the size and manufacturing cost. overcoming its weaknesses.

Based on the above, the initial setting process at power-on will be described with reference to FIG. 33(a). These processes are executed as part of the process of step ST3 in FIGS. 17 and 22. FIG.

As described with reference to FIG. 4B, when the power is turned on or when the WDT 58 is activated and an abnormal reset occurs, the audio circuit SND is hardware-reset through the reset path 2 (step SD1). Also, when the effect control CPU 63 detects an abnormality in the sound circuit SND, the sound circuit SND is hardware-reset through the reset route 4B or 4C (step SD1). It should be noted that the sound circuit SND may be hardware-reset together with other circuits (72, 73, 74, .

In any of these cases, after confirming that the reset operation has been completed normally (step SD2), the effect control CPU 63 first sets the head address SNDst of the sound data area to the system control of the sound circuit SND. It is set in the register RGij (step SD3). Next, by setting a predetermined value in a predetermined system control register, the sound ROM header information HD is stored in the internal circuit. The sound ROM header information HD consists of the six elements (HDst, HDvl, PHst, PHvl, SCMDst, SCMDvl) described above, as shown in FIG. 33(c).

Then, it confirms that the processing up to this point has been performed normally, and if it cannot be terminated normally, the audio circuits are individually reset through the reset route 4B or 4C. Normally, however, normal termination can be confirmed, so the data transfer circuit 72 is used to transfer the phrase header information HD and the phrase data PH to the external DRAM 54 (step SD6). The data transfer circuit 72 is appropriately designated with a transfer destination start address BGN, a transfer source start address HDst, a total transfer data amount HDvl+FDvl, and the like.

Next, the fact that the phrase header information HD and the phrase data PH exist in the external DRAM 54, not in the CGROM 55, is set in a predetermined system control register RGij (step SD7). A data start address BGN (sound RAM start address) is set in a predetermined system control register (step SD8). After that, when the other initial setting processing is completed (step SD9), the voice control operation becomes possible.

As described above, the sound ROM header information, that is, the six pieces of information (HDst, HDvl, PHst, PHvl, SCMDst, SCMDvl) are stored in the internal circuit of the audio circuit SND (step SD4). , the effect control CPU 63 can indicate necessary information such as phrase data by a value relative to the head address BGN of the sound RAM. to perform the necessary audio processing. Since voice data such as phrase data is read-accessed from the external DRAM 54 instead of the CGROM 55, even highly complicated voice effects can be realized smoothly.

Although various embodiments have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the pinball game machine or the reel game machine, and the specific contents of the description do not limit the present invention. For example, the power-on reset operation shown in FIG. It is also preferable to place the vector table VECT in . FIGS. 34(a) and 34(b) illustrate address maps in such a case, and the address space CS0 of the effect control CPU 63 is secured in a part of the CGROM 55 (head area).

The main body of the CGROM 55 is not accessed by the effect control CPU 63 (inaccessible), and is exclusively accessed by the VDP circuit 52, so it is not located in the address space CSi. As described above, the main body of the CGROM 55 can also be composed of a plurality of memory devices. In such a case, the processing of step SP20 in FIG. By doing so, optimum READ access that matches the characteristics of the memory device becomes possible.

In any case, when the HBTSL terminal is set to H level, the memory type of the CGROM 55 and the bus width (64/32/16 bits) correspond to the 2-bit long HBTBWD terminal, It must be specified in advance based on the fixed input value to the HBTRSL terminal of 4-bit length.

In this embodiment, following the vector table VECT, bus parameters for optimizing READ access from the CGROM 55 must be stored in the head area of the CGROM 55 . Although it is not essential, it is also preferable to store obfuscation parameters for deciphering the performance control program when it is obfuscated in order to make illegal analysis difficult.

When such a configuration is employed, the following operations 1 to 4 are automatically executed without program processing during the reset assert period after the power supply is reset. First, the bus width of the address space CS0 is identified based on the input value to the HBTRSL terminal, and the memory type is automatically identified based on the input value to the BTBWD terminal, and set in a predetermined VDP register RGij. (operation 1). The types of memory in this case are broadly classified into memory elements adopting a parallel I/F (Interface) type and memory elements adopting a sequential I/F type.

Next, the obfuscation parameters stored in the CGROM 55 are loaded, and the information necessary for canceling the obfuscation is automatically set in the internal circuit (operation 2). Also, the bus parameters stored in the CGROM 55 are automatically acquired in the VDP register RGij (operation 3). Note that this operation 3 is an operation corresponding to the program processing of step SP63 in FIG. 15, and is automatically executed by the internal circuit.

Finally, the operation corresponding to the program processing of step SP64 in FIG. 15 is automatically executed by the internal circuit to implement the bus parameters set in operations 1 to 3 (operation 4). At the timing when the bus parameter setting is executed, the values of the program counter PC and the stack pointer SP are automatically set based on the information in the vector table, and the execution of the boot program (initial setting program) is started. be.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 34(a), the program processing of step SP1 in FIG. 12(a) is not necessary, and the operations 1 to 4 are automatically executed, so that the program processing load is greatly reduced. . Also in this case, programs and data following the vector handler Vopt are transferred to appropriate RAM areas based on the operation of the initial setting program Pinit.

The programs and data after the vector handler Vopt do not necessarily have to be stored in the top area of the CGROM 55, and may be stored in the control memory 53, for example (FIG. 34(b)). Also, the programs and data after the vector handler Vopt do not necessarily need to be transferred to the RAM area, and if they are not transferred, the memory section initialization processing (SP8 in FIG. 12) in the initialization setting program becomes unnecessary.

GM game machine 63 CPU
55 CG ROMs
SP82~83 First means SP84 ~86 Second means

Claims (1)

A VDP circuit that incorporates a plurality of VDP registers and can read- access a CGROM that stores image data, and controls the VDP circuit based on a set value to the VDP register and a display list issued to the VDP circuit. A gaming machine configured to have a CPU circuit and executing a predetermined effect operation including an image effect and an audio effect,
The CGROM is composed of a single memory device, or composed of a combination of memory devices having the same characteristics or memory devices having different characteristics,
A first step of setting a bus width when the VDP circuit accesses the memory device and an operation parameter for realizing a READ access operation suitable for the memory device in the predetermined VDP register corresponding to the operation parameter . means and
After the first means, a second means for READ-accessing the predetermined VDP register indicating the operation state, confirming that the setting operation by the first means is executed, and shifting to subsequent processing ; A gaming machine characterized in that it is configured to have:

Images