JPH01177125A - Sort processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect a sorting error with no delay of time from occurrence of said error in a merge operating process which is repetitively carried out by checking the sequence of records received from a sorting circuit. CONSTITUTION:A sorting circuit 11 consists of a 1-dimensional array of comparison/transfer units 21 containing a memory 22 storing two records, a comparator 24 for records, etc., respectively. The circuit 11 entirely stores (k) pieces of records (k: an integer larger than 1) and performs the comparison/ transfer processing for output of the maximum or minimum record out of those stored ones. In this case, a fact that the sequence of arrangement of the records received from the circuit 11 has no error is confirmed synchronously with the output of records. Thus it is possible to detect a sorting error with no delay of time from occurrence of said error in a merge operating process which is repetitively carried out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sort processing device, and in particular, it is possible to check that there is no error in the arrangement order of records output as a sorted record string in a process of merging in stages. The present invention relates to a sort processing device equipped with a sort check means for checking in synchronization with record output from a sort circuit.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, data handled in database processing is called a record, but if the number of records is extremely large or if multiple databases are to be processed, processing on a general-purpose computer would require an enormous amount of time. For this reason, sorting processing devices are needed to speed up database processing by directly executing part or all of it on hardware.
For example, it is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-42031.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the sorting device disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-42031. In the figure, 11 is a sorting circuit, 12 is a buffer memory, 50 is a control circuit, 5I is an input register,
52 is an output register, 53 is a bank address generation circuit,
54 is a sorter input/output switching circuit, 55 is a read address generation circuit, 56 is a write address generation circuit, 57 is an address switching circuit, 58 is a data switching circuit, 59 is a switching control line (ST), and 60 is a bank address line ( BA)
, 61 is the I-phase signal line (1), 62 is the ■-phase signal line (II)
, 63 is a state control line (INT), 64 is a sort input/output switching signal line (pup), and 65 is an input control line (PU S
66 indicates an output control line (POP), and 67 indicates a data input/output line (DI○).

The sorting circuit 11 stores k records, compares the stored records with each other, and outputs the largest or smallest record among the stored records. The buffer memory 12 is a storage circuit for storing a sorted record string that has been sorted using the sorting circuit 11.

The sorting process consists of an initial sorting stage and a merging stage, which are designated by a switching control line (ST) 59. In the initial sorting stage, a large number of records to be sorted are sorted by the sorting circuit 11 in units of records corresponding to the capacity of the sorting circuit 11, and the results are stored in the buffer memory 12 as a sorted record string.

The merge stage is the buffer memo 1J12 at the initial sort stage.
A sorting circuit is used to merge multiple record strings stored in the memory. - The number of record strings that can be merged at a time is determined by the capacity of the sorting circuit 11.
If k records can be stored, k records can be merged at once.

Since the record string stored in the buffer memory 12 in the initial sorting stage is equal to the number k of records that can be sorted at one time by the sorting circuit 11, a maximum of two records are sorted at one time in the initial sorting stage and the merging stage. be able to. If more than k2 records are to be sorted, the output record string obtained from the above-mentioned merging process is stored in the buffer memory 12 again, and the record string consisting of a maximum of k2 records is sent through the sorting circuit 11 again. merge using

In this way, a maximum of ki records can be merged until the capacity of the buffer memory 12 is overflowed by performing i stages of merging, including the initial sorting stage, in which merging record strings are merged at - times. be able to.

FIG. 4 shows the flow of processing when a large number of records are sorted using the sort processing device shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, this is an example in which processing is performed in three stages: an initial sorting stage, a first merging stage, and a second merging stage. The display in the figure shows a sorting circuit 11 and a buffer memo 2 that are used repeatedly.

The sorted record string stored in the buffer memory 12 is represented by a triangle whose height is the size of the record for determining the size relationship of the records. A maximum of three records can be sorted by a three-step merge process using a sorting circuit that can sort k records.

In the above explanation, we have shown a method of repeating step-by-step merging processing using one buffer memory and one sorting circuit. There is also a known method for operating the system and sorting at high speed. In this method, two-way merging with k=2 is common in order to reduce the amount of hardware of the merging processing circuit per stage.

By the way, the records that are processed by the sorting processing device, such as personal names and bank balances, often require extremely high reliability in the sorting results. Techniques such as parity checking, which are often used in general-purpose computers, are known as methods for guaranteeing the reliability of the contents of records.

On the other hand, a problem unique to the sorting processing device is that it is necessary to ensure that there is no error in the output order of the records that are finally output. For this purpose, it is necessary to check the output order of records output from the sort processing device, and a method for doing so is, for example, "Design a" by K. Iwata et al.
nd Implementation of T
wo-Way Merge-5 alter and
Its Appli-cation to Re1
ational Database Processes
sing” (I COT Technical R
eport TR-066, 1984).

This method uses an apparatus as shown in FIG. 5, and a sorting checker for checking the sorting results is placed after the 12 sorting cells. The output of the sorting checker is connected to Marsha.

That is, this method (apparatus) is configured to check whether there are any errors in the final output stage of the sorting processing device.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above conventional technology, since the sorting of records is checked for errors when the sorting process is completed, there is a problem that there is a time delay between when a sorting error occurs and when the error is detected. there were. Particularly when the number of records to be sorted is large, there is also the problem that the time it takes to detect a sorting error becomes so long that it cannot be ignored.

Furthermore, in conventional sorting processing devices that perform repeated merging processing, the record string output from the previous merging processing is used as input for the next merging processing, so sorting errors are discovered only after the final merging processing is reached. Therefore, it is difficult to determine at what stage the error occurred, and it is also difficult to analyze the cause.

For example, in the example of the sorting process shown in FIG. 4, in the output record string of the first merging stage, there is a record string that should be arranged in the order of jtl+k in the original descending order... 1yJtk... are arranged in the wrong order.

When all records are sorted by performing the second-stage merge process including this record string, records input from other input record strings are inserted between the records in Lj+.

Therefore, when checking the output order of the final output record string, it is possible to detect that there is an error in the magnitude relationship before and after record j, but it is not possible to specify at what stage the error occurred.

There was a problem that it was difficult to clarify the cause of the error. Even when operating in a pipeline using multiple merge processing circuits, there was a problem that a similar time delay occurred, and There was also the problem that it was difficult to determine whether the merge processing circuit had made an error.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to solve the above-mentioned problems in conventional sorting processing devices, and to prevent sorting errors in the process of repeatedly executed merge operations. An object of the present invention is to provide a sort processing device equipped with a mechanism capable of detecting an error without any time delay from its occurrence.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above object of the present invention is to provide a sorting means capable of storing up to a maximum of input records and extracting the smallest or largest record from them, when k is an integer larger than 1; record storage means for storing a record string, an input operation for reading the first record of each of the sorted record strings up to the maximum and inputting it to the sorting means, and an output operation for outputting records from the sorting means. In a sorting processing device that merges a plurality of record strings stored in the record storage means, by repeating a merging operation in which the merging operations are performed alternately, it is confirmed that there is no error in the sorting order of the records output from the sorting means. This is achieved by a sorting processing device characterized in that it is provided with a sorting check means that checks in synchronization with the output of the record.

[Effect]

In the sort processing device of the present invention, by providing means for checking in synchronization with record output that the records output from the sorting means are sorted in the specified order, sort errors can be detected immediately during the merge process. can be detected. As a result, it is possible to prevent incorrectly sorted record strings from being sent to the next stage, making it easier to investigate the cause of the error. Furthermore, it is possible to interrupt a merge process using an incorrectly sorted record string as input, thereby preventing a meaningless continuation of the sort process.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a sort processing device showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 21 is a comparison transfer unit (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "unit"), 22 is a memory, 23 is a data transfer path, 24 is a comparator, 25 is a comparison result holding flag, 26 is a data transfer path switching signal, and 27 is the left data transfer line, 28 is the right data transfer line, 29 is the memory data line,
30 is a comparison result output line, 31 is an OR gate, and 32 is a sort error detection signal.

The sorting circuit 11 includes a memory 2 that stores two records.
It consists of a one-dimensional array of a comparison and transfer unit 2I consisting of a comparator 24, etc. that performs comparisons between records, and the entire sorting circuit stores and compares and transfers records. This realizes the function of outputting the maximum or minimum record.

The memory 22 is internally divided into two parts, MA and MB, in order to store two records per unit, and each is connected to the data transfer path 23 by a memory data line 29. The data transfer path 23 is connected to the memory data line 29. Between the left data transfer line 27 and the right data transfer line 28, which transfer data with comparison transfer units adjacent in the left and right directions,
This is a switching circuit for realizing bidirectional transfer of records.

The comparator 24 has three comparison circuits (A, B) that input two records and determine the magnitude relationship based on a predetermined rule.
, C). Among these, the output of the comparison circuit C is set in the comparison result holding flag 25 and is used as a data transfer switching signal 26 to control switching of the data transfer path 23. The outputs of the comparison circuits A and B generate a sorting error detection signal 32 via an OR gate 31, and output it to the outside of the sorting circuit II.

A sort processing circuit (not shown) detects that an error has occurred in the output order of records from the sort circuit 11 using the sort error detection signal 32 output from the sort circuit 11, and outputs the records in the wrong order. If this is output, immediately handle the problem by canceling the merge operation.

Storage (input) of records in this sorting circuit 11 is as follows:
Records are input from outside the sorting circuit to the leftmost comparison and transfer unit, and records are transferred in the right direction between the comparison and transfer units connected in the -dimensional array. When sorting in ascending order, the two stored in each comparison transfer unit
If you want to sort in descending order, move the smaller record to the right.

In each comparison transfer unit, the record transferred from the left is stored in the memory that is emptied by the transfer from the right.

At this time, records that remain in the unit without being involved in the transfer are compared with records that are input as a result of the transfer, and the record to be the next record transfer target is determined based on the size relationship.

To output a record, the transfer direction is reversed to that during storage, and the record is input from the comparison transfer unit adjacent to the right, and the record is output to the comparison transfer unit adjacent to the left. The leftmost unit outputs the record that is the maximum or minimum of all the records stored in the saw I circuit. For records to be transferred to the left, the smaller of the two records stored in each unit is transferred when sorting in ascending order, and the larger one is transferred when sorting in descending order.

The sorting check, which is a feature of the sorting processing apparatus of the present invention, is performed at least in the leftmost comparison and transfer unit 21 in synchronization with the output of the record. The contents of the check are the records output from the unit (hereinafter referred to as
Records that remain in the own unit (hereinafter referred to as "residual records") and records that are input to the own unit from the left adjacent unit (hereinafter referred to as "output records") are
(referred to as the "input record") is smaller (when sorting in ascending order) or larger (when sorting in descending order).

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a sort check operation performed during an output operation. During an output operation, the data transfer path in the comparison transfer unit 21 forms a data transfer path such that records are input from the right adjacent unit and output to the left. Reference numeral 33 in FIG. 2 is a switching circuit for selectively outputting a record stored in one of the two divided memories in accordance with a data transfer path switching signal obtained from the comparison result.

The comparison circuit A compares the output record with the residual record, the comparison circuit B compares the output record with the input record, and the comparison circuit C compares the residual record with the input record.

At least, based on the results of comparison circuit A and comparison circuit B in the leftmost comparison and transfer unit, it can be checked whether the records output from the sorting circuit 11 are correctly arranged in the desired order. The result of the comparison circuit C is stored in a comparison result holding flag, and the data transfer path is controlled so that the sorting process is performed normally.

When performing a sort check in the leftmost unit of the sorting circuit consisting of a one-dimensional array of comparison and transfer units shown in the above embodiment, it is possible to detect an error in the order of records output from the sorting circuit. The subsequent merge process will not continue using the incorrectly merged record string as input. Furthermore, by performing a sort check using a plurality of units forming the sorting circuit, it is possible to shorten the time from the occurrence of a sort error to the detection of the error. This makes it easier to deal with failures when they occur.
This is effective in improving the reliability of the sort processing device.

In the explanation of the above embodiment, a case is shown in which a one-dimensional array of comparison and transfer units is used in the sorting circuit, but k
A circuit that stores records and outputs the largest or smallest record based on the size relationship of the stored records, for example, configures a sorting circuit using an associative memory, etc., and performs the merging process shown in the conventional method. Regardless of the configuration, the features of the sort processing device of the present invention can be realized by checking the order of records output from the sort circuit.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when k is an integer greater than 1, a sorting means capable of storing up to a maximum of input records and extracting the minimum or maximum record from among them; a record storage means for storing a pre-sorted record string; an input operation for reading a maximum of the first records of each of the sorted record strings and inputting them into the sorting means; In a sort processing device that merges a plurality of record columns stored in the record storage means by repeating a merge operation that alternately performs an output operation that outputs records, the sorting order of records output from the sorting means is provided. Since we have provided a sort check means to check that there are no errors in the record in synchronization with the output of the record, it is possible to correct sort errors without any time delay after they occur during the process of merging operations that perform edge reversal. This has the remarkable effect that it is possible to realize a sorting processing device equipped with a mechanism that can detect it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a sort processing device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a sort check operation performed during an output operation in the sort processing device, and FIG. 3 is a conventional sort processing device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the processing flow of the conventional sort processing device shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional sorting processing apparatus in which a sorting checker is arranged after a sorting cell. 11: Sorting circuit, 12: Buffer memory, 21: Comparison transfer unit, 22: Memory, 23: Data transfer path, 2
4: Comparator, 25: Comparison result holding flag, 26: Data transfer path switching signal, 27: Left data transfer line, 28: Right data transfer line, 29: Memory data line, 30: Comparison result output line, 31 Nior gate, 32: Sort error detection signal. Figure 2 Figure Φ Record input

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sorting means that can store up to k input records (k: an integer greater than 1) and extract the smallest or largest record from among them, and a record storage that stores pre-sorted record strings. and means;
By repeating a merge operation that alternately performs an input operation of reading up to k first records of each of the sorted record strings and inputting them to the sorting means, and an output operation of outputting records from the sorting means, In a sort processing device that merges a plurality of record strings stored in the record storage means, a sort check that checks, in synchronization with the output of the records, that there is no error in the sorting order of the records output from the sorting means. A sort processing device characterized by being provided with means.