JPH01256248A - Hierarchical protocol parallel processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To speed up parallel processing of a hierarchical protocol by devising the unit so that plural protocol processings are implemented in parallel through hierarchical protocol configuration. CONSTITUTION:The protocol processing for each communication layer can be implemented with the presence of address information for connection recognition, service request information and protocol header information in a frame. Then a control section 6 gives information simultaneously to a protocol processing section for each communication hierarchical layer processing sections 8A-8C to apply the parallel operation of each protocol processing. Since one protocol processing in hierarch is regarded as 'automatic action', the state is stored before the protocols processing start in each hierarch and the state is restored when any interruption is required after the start of processing so as to avoid malfunction. Thus, the processing of plural hierarchical communication protocol is accelerated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a communication control device, and particularly to a layered protocol parallel processing device suitable for processing a plurality of layered communication protocols at high speed.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional communication control devices that process multiple hierarchical protocols move from lower layer processing to upper layer processing in the case of reception processing, and from upper layer processing to lower layer processing in the case of transmission processing. The processing for each layer was performed sequentially. In addition, there are communication control devices that have multiple processors and process different layers depending on the processor (for example, have two processors for the lower four layers and the upper three layers), but each layer processes different layers for one transmission frame. Protocol processing was still done sequentially.

[1% that invention tries to solve! M) The above-mentioned conventional technology had a problem in that the delay time in one communication control device became large because the protocol processing of each layer was performed sequentially. In particular, (1) the number of communication layers increases as communication processing becomes more sophisticated; (2) With the recent trend of increasing the number of relay stages due to the widening of communication networks, increasing the speed of layered protocol processing in communication control devices is becoming an important issue.

An object of the present invention is to perform high-speed processing of a plurality of communication protocols arranged in one layer in a communication control device.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to provide one communication control device with a protocol processing unit for each communication layer that performs protocol processing for each communication layer, and a protocol processing unit for each communication layer that processes the protocol header of each communication layer of a received frame. A function to create a transmission frame from the protocol header generated by the protocol processing unit for each communication layer, a function to manage the status of each communication layer, and when receiving frames and requesting data transmission to the communication control device, each communication This is achieved by configuring a control section that has a function of issuing various commands to the protocol processing section of each communication layer depending on the status of the layer.

[Effect]

Protocol processing for each communication layer can be performed if there is information on address information for connection identification, a service request (primitive) (transmission processing only), and a protocol header within a frame (reception processing only).

Therefore, the control unit uses the above information as a protocol for each communication layer.
By simultaneously supplying the protocols to the protocol processing units, parallel operation of each protocol process can be performed.

In addition, in the case of reception processing, it is necessary to control the upper layer so that it does not perform processing due to an error in the lower layer, and in the case of transmission processing, it is necessary to control the lower layer not to perform processing depending on the state of the upper layer. However, one protocol processing in each layer can be considered as an "atomic mask," so it is necessary to memorize the state before starting protocol processing in each layer and interrupt it after starting the processing. In some cases, by reverting to the state you remembered.

There will be no malfunction.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a layered protocol parallel processing device. In this embodiment, the information processing device 1 has a system bus 4.
A case where the layered protocol parallel processing device 5 is connected via the layered protocol parallel processing device 5 will be explained.
A control unit 622 controls the overall operation; a line control unit 9 controls input/output to and from the communication line 10; It is comprised of layer processing sections 8A to 8C for each layer that perform protocol processing for each layer, and a local bus 7 that connects each layer processing section 8A to 8C and the control section 6. In this embodiment, a case will be explained in which there are three protocol layers, layers A, B, and C.

In addition, the protocols of each layer, prior to data transfer,
It is assumed that this is a connection-oriented protocol that sets up a logical communication path (connection).

FIG. 2 shows the format of a transmission frame flowing on the communication line 10. The transmission frame 11 includes flags 12 . It is composed of a layer A protocol header 13A, a layer B protocol header 13B, a layer C protocol header 13C, and user data 14.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the interface portion between the control section 6 and each layer control section 8A to 8C. Interface part 1
5 is a primitive register 16 for storing processing requests (primitives) issued by the control unit 6 to the layer processing units 8A to 8C; and a parameter area 17 for storing parameters associated with primitives. Layer processing section 8A~
A status register 18 for the 8C to report processing results to the control unit 6. Control unit 6 and layer processing units 8A to 8C
The header area 19 for exchanging header information of the corresponding layer between the control unit 6 and the reset flag 20 for requesting the layer processing units 8A to 8C to reset the processing.

Next, the processing operation of the layered protocol parallel processing device will be explained. First, the data frame receiving operation will be explained.

A transmission frame 11 received from the communication line 10 is serial-parallel converted by the line control section 9 and passed to the control section 6 . In the control unit 6, the ladder AH1 is sent to the layer A protocol.
3A, and when the reception of the AH is completed, the address information in the AH is saved and at the same time the header is transferred to the header area 19 in the layer A processing section 8A. Similarly, ladder BH13B and CH to layer B and layer C protocols
13G as well, when the reception of the header is completed, the address information is saved and the header is transferred to the header area 19 of the corresponding layer processing section. When the control unit 6 completes receiving all the headers of the transmission frame, the control unit 6 transfers the subsequently received user data 14 to the main memory 3, and in parallel, transfers the received user data 14 to the primitive register 16 and parameter area 17 of each layer processing unit 8. By setting the value, a protocol processing request is issued to each layer processing unit 8. Connection identification information consisting of address information in the protocol header of each layer is set in the parameter area 17. Details of the address information and connection identification information will be described later.

Each layer processing unit 8A to 8C processes the content of the primitive register 16 (protocol processing request), the content of the parameter area 17, and the header area 1 given from the control unit 6.
Protocol processing for each layer is performed according to the contents of 9.

Here, there is no problem if the processing of each layer ends normally, but if a protocol abnormality is detected in the processing of a certain layer, it is necessary to reset the processing of the layer higher than that layer. Therefore, each layer processing unit 8A to 8C
Before starting protocol processing, the state of the connection to be processed is saved, and the protocol processing is interrupted in response to a reset request from the control unit 6 using the reset flag 20.

Provide a function to restore the state before receiving the relevant frame.

Each layer processing unit 8A to 8C performs protocol processing and writes the result to the status register 18, and the control unit 6
After issuing a processing request to each layer processing section, it monitors the status register 18 of each layer processing section. When receiving reports of normal processing completion from all layer processing units and when data transfer to the main memory 3 has been completed normally, the control unit 6 reports data reception to the main processor 2. When an abnormality is reported from a certain layer processing section, the controller 6 sets the reset flag 20 of each layer processing section above the relevant layer, requests reset, and at the same time stops data transfer to the main memory 3. Further, if an abnormality occurs in data transfer to the main memory 3, a reset is requested to all layer processing units.

Next, the data frame transmission operation will be explained.

Main processor 2 prepares transmission data and communication partner address information on main memory 3, and requests transmission to control unit 6. In the following, a case will be described in which a data transmission request is generated from the main processor, and connections for each layer with the corresponding party have already been set.

The case where no connection is set will be described later.

Upon receiving a data transfer request from the main processor 2, the control unit 6 confirms that the connections for each layer with the corresponding partner have been set, and then inputs values into the primitive registers 16 and parameter areas 17 of each layer processing unit. By setting this, each layer processing unit is requested to perform protocol processing. A data transmission request is set in the primitive register 16, and connection identification information obtained from address information set by the main processor is set in the parameter area 17. Each layer processing unit 8A to 8C performs protocol processing for each layer according to the contents of the primitive register 16 and parameter area 17.

Here, there is no problem if the processing of each layer ends normally, but if the processing of a certain layer cannot be transmitted due to protocol reasons, it is necessary to reset the processing of the layers below that layer. be. Therefore, in each layer processing section.

A function that saves the state of the connection to be processed before protocol processing, interrupts the protocol processing in response to a reset request from the control unit 6 using the reset flag 20, and restores the state to the state before the start of processing of the relevant frame. to have.

Each layer processing unit 8A to 8C performs protocol processing according to instructions from the control unit 6, writes the result to the status register, and at the same time creates a protocol header and writes it to the header area 19 in the case of normal termination. 6
monitors the status register 18 for each layer after issuing a processing request to each layer processing unit. When the control unit 6 receives reports of normal processing completion from all layer processing units, the control unit 6 updates each header area 19 in the order of the lower layer and the upper layer.
The contents are transferred to the line control section 9. After transferring the header portions of all layers, the 6-line control unit 9 transfers the transmission data in the main memory 3, and transmits the transferred data to 8 communication lines 10 after parallel/serial conversion.

Next, an explanation will be given of the operation when a data transmission request is received from the main processor 2 and no connection is established.

Layer A connection has been set up and Layer B connection has been established with the other device that received the data transfer request from the main processor.
It is assumed that connections have not been set for layer C and layer C. The control unit 6 first issues a data transfer request to layer A;
A connection setup request is issued to layer B. Layer Δ creates a data frame header, and layer B creates a connection setup request header. Each layer processing section 8A-8
After the protocol processing in C is completed, the control section 6 transfers it to the assembly line control section 9 as a transmission frame. This layer B
The connection setup request frame arrives at the other device,
A response frame to the layer B connection setup request is returned from the partner device. This frame is a layer B control frame, that is, a frame without a layer C protocol header. When such a frame is received, the control unit 6 distributes the header of the received frame to the header area 19 of the layer A processing unit 8A and the layer B processing unit 8B, and then distributes the header to the layer B processing unit and the layer A processing unit. A processing request is issued, but no processing request is issued to the layer C processing unit 8C.

The layer B processing section analyzes the header and notifies the control section 6 via the status register 18 whether the connection setting has ended normally or abnormally.

If the Layer B connection settings terminate abnormally,
The control unit 6 notifies the main processor 2 of this fact, and abnormally terminates the data transfer request from the main processor 2. When the connection setting is successfully completed, the control unit 6 requests the layer C to set up the connection in the same manner as described above. If the Layer C connection is successfully configured,
The control unit 6 processes data transfer requests from the main processor 2.

Next, address information and connection identification information will be explained.

FIG. 4 shows the address structure in this embodiment.

Address 21 is an ASAP address at layer A.
Address section 22. BSAP, which is an address at layer B
Address section 23. C8AP, which is an address at layer C
It consists of an address section 24.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between addresses in each layer and connections.

The address of each layer indicates an SAP (service access point) between the layers. 29 is a layer A connection, 30 is a layer B connection, and 31 is a layer C connection.

Above the communication layer is an application program 28 residing within the main processor 2. Specifically, when the main processor 2 requests data transfer, the application program requests data transfer with an application program in another device.

When the application program 28 requests data transfer, it specifies its own address (format 21) and the address of the other application program. Since connection-oriented communication is considered in this embodiment, prior to data transfer between application processes, , connections for each layer are set. A connection is set between SAPs, and a connection identifier uniquely identifies a connection within an SAP. The address (SAP address) is set as is in the connection setting request frame, and after the connection is set, a connection identifier is set in the protocol header. The control unit 6 has a correspondence table between the above-mentioned SAP address information and connection identifier.

Converts address information and connection identifier.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, multiple protocol processes can be performed in parallel in one layer, so compared to the case of sequential processing, the delay time in the communication control device can be reduced to approximately one-fold by the number of layers. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a layered protocol parallel processing device, Figure 2 is a diagram of the format of a transmission frame, Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the interface configuration of the protocol processing unit and control unit for each layer, FIG. 4 is a format diagram of an address format according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the relationship between addresses and connections. 6... Control unit, 8... Layer processing unit, 9... Line control unit, 16... Primitive register, 17...
Parameter area, 18...Status register, 1
9...Hera\J 3 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a communication control device that processes a plurality of layered communication protocols, a protocol processing unit for each layer that performs protocol processing for each layer and a protocol processing unit for each layer are configured to perform the protocol processing for each layer in parallel. For this purpose, in the case of communication frame reception processing, a function is provided to allocate the protocol header for each layer in the communication frame to the protocol processing section of the corresponding layer, and issue a processing request to the protocol processing section of each layer at the same time. In the communication frame transmission process, if the communication is connection-oriented and no connection has been set, the protocol processing unit is sequentially requested to set up a connection from the lower layer to the upper layer, and after the connection setting for all layers is completed, Control that has the function of requesting data transfer from the protocol processing unit of each layer at the same time, and requesting data transfer from the protocol processing unit of each layer at the same time if connectionless communication and connection-oriented communication and a connection have been established. A layered protocol parallel processing device characterized by having a section. 2. In the case of reception processing, the control unit issues a processing request to the upper layer on the premise that the lower layer protocol processing ends normally, and in the case of transmission processing, the control unit issues a processing request to the upper layer, assuming that the lower layer protocol processing ends normally. A processing request is issued to the lower layer on the premise that the process ends normally, and each protocol processing unit memorizes the state at the time the protocol processing unit starts, and executes the protocol processing upon a reset request from the control unit after processing starts. In the case of reception processing, the control unit issues a reset request to the upper layer when an abnormality occurs in lower layer protocol processing, and 2. The layered protocol parallel processing device according to claim 1, wherein when an abnormality occurs in protocol processing in a layer, a reset request is issued to a lower layer. 3. When receiving a communication frame, before receiving the entire frame, when receiving a protocol header, the control section distributes each protocol header to the protocol processing section of each layer, issues a processing request, and processes the process in parallel with the reception of the user data section. Claim 1, characterized in that when a received frame causes an abnormality such as an FCS error or a mahode, a reset request as shown in Claim 2 is issued to each protocol processing unit. A layered protocol parallel processing device as described.