JPH02171837A - Microprocessor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily realize a fault tolerant system without needing an external circuit for executing self-diagnosis by providing self-diagnosis function, which is activated by a self-diagnostic signal, in a microprocessor. CONSTITUTION:A microprocessor MP compares the executed result of a program in a basic processor part 10 with the contents of a bus by an operation comparing means 20 and investigates whether the operation of the two MPs is coincident or not. The MP is equipped with a self-diagnostic means 30, which is activated by a self-diagnostic request signal 5, in an internal part. When the MP executes a malfunction, the MP is separated from an execution system, the execution of the program is interrupted and the self-diagnosis is executed. When the malfunction is permanently continued, the execution is continued by the normal MP and when the malfunction is temporary, the MP is integrated again into the execution system by a self-recovery means 40. Thus, since the self-diagnostic function if provided on the internal part of the MP, the external circuit is eliminated and the fault tolerant system can be easily realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a microprocessor, and in particular, in the case of configuring a fault-tolerant system, a microprocessor is activated by a self-diagnosis request signal to detect a failure in internal hardware. The present invention relates to a microprocessor that has a diagnostic means and, if the malfunction is determined to be temporary, initializes the malfunctioning microprocessor and resumes program execution in synchronization with a normally operating microprocessor.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the following methods have been used to implement a fault-tolerant system using a microprocessor.

First, multiple microprocessors operate synchronously,
Compare the operation results. As long as the operation results of the execution system microprocessors that operate synchronously match, it is determined that each microprocessor is operating normally, and when the operation results do not match, that is, when a malfunction is detected, the malfunctioning microprocessor Identify the processor and disconnect the relevant microprocessor from the execution system; continue program execution on a microprocessor that is operating normally; on the other hand, if the microprocessor malfunctions and is disconnected from the execution system, the microprocessor is Run a program to diagnose whether or not it works. As a result of running the diagnostic program, if it is determined that the malfunction is temporary, the malfunctioning microprocessor is reincorporated into the execution system. In order to incorporate a separated microprocessor into the execution system, first, the internal data of a normally operating microprocessor is stored in a specific memory area. Next, after synchronizing the operations of the hardware using, for example, a reset signal, the internal data temporarily recorded in a specific memory area is copied to all microprocessors, and program execution is resumed.

Malfunction detection, isolation of malfunctioning microprocessors,
The circuits required to perform a series of operations such as self-diagnosis and integration were constructed using discrete components outside the microprocessor.9 This made it easy to create fault-tolerant systems that required a considerable amount of hardware. This was an obstacle to achieving this goal. However, L.S.
Since a circuit constructed within an I-chip has higher reliability than a circuit constructed using discrete components, microprocessors with built-in operation comparison means have already been commercialized.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional microprocessor described above, a malfunction can be detected by comparing the operations with a built-in operation comparison means, and the malfunctioning microprocessor can be separated from the system so that the malfunction does not affect the entire system. In order to determine whether a fault is temporary, a considerable amount of hardware circuitry is required outside the microprocessor in order to run a diagnostic program independently of the execution system. There was a problem in that it was an obstacle to easily realizing a tolerant system.

[Means to solve the problem]

The microprocessor of the present invention is a microprocessor having an operation comparison means for detecting that the operations of two microprocessors are different by comparing internal operation results and contents of a connected bus. The self-diagnosis means is activated by a request signal and detects a failure of internal hardware.

[Effect]

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the components of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a basic processor section, 20 is an operation comparison means, 30 is a self-diagnosis means, and 40 is a self-recovery means. Also, 1 is address output, 2 is data input/output, 3 is
4 is a control input/output, 4 is a mode selection input, and 5 is a self-diagnosis request signal.

When the execution mode is specified via the mode selection manual 4,
The microprocessor outputs the program execution result in the basic processor unit 10 to an address 1. Data input/output 2
．． Output to the bus via control input/output 3. When the monitoring mode is designated via the mode selection manual 4, the microprocessor compares the execution result of the program in the basic processor section 10 and the contents of the bus using the operation comparison means 20, and compares this microprocessor with the microprocessor in the execution mode. Check whether the actions match.

Comparison of the operations of the two microprocessors in the operation comparison means 20 is a known function of a microprocessor incorporating the operation comparison means.

The microprocessor of the present invention further includes a self-diagnosis means 40 activated by the self-diagnosis request signal 5, and when this microprocessor malfunctions,
This microprocessor is separated from the execution system, suspends program execution, and performs self-diagnosis independent of the execution system. If the malfunction is permanent, the malfunctioning microprocessor is separated from the execution system and the program continues to be executed using a normally operating microprocessor. If the malfunction is temporary, the microprocessor is reincorporated into the execution system. For this lick,
Performs hardware initialization of the microprocessor,
Performs internal data transfers from a normally operating microprocessor. Once the transfer of the internal data of the microprocessor is completed, program execution is resumed and the re-installation of the microprocessor is completed. This reintegration of the microprocessor is controlled by self-healing means 40.

In this way, by having a self-diagnosis function activated by a self-diagnosis request signal inside the microprocessor, there is no need for an external circuit for self-diagnosis, making it possible to easily realize a fault-tolerant system. can.

〔Example〕

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, 100 is a basic processor, which corresponds to the processor unit 10 and self-recovery means 40 in FIG.
00 is an operation comparison section, which corresponds to the operation comparison means 20, and 300
is a self-diagnosis section and corresponds to the self-diagnosis means 30.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, when an execution mode is designated via the mode selection manual 4, the microprocessor outputs the execution result of the program in the basic processor 100 to the bus via the address output 1, data input/output 2, and control input/output 3. When the monitoring mode is specified via the mode selection manual 4, the microprocessor compares the execution result of the program in the basic processor 100 with the contents of the bus using the operation comparison unit 200, and compares this microprocessor with the microprocessor in the execution mode. Check whether the processor operations match.

The operation comparison results 6 of the plurality of microprocessors connected to the bus constituting the execution system are notified to an external operation detection section (not shown). The external malfunction detection unit performs a majority vote on the operation comparison results, identifies the malfunctioning microprocessor, and disconnects the malfunctioning microprocessor from the execution system. Note that if the malfunctioning microprocessor is in execution mode, it removes the malfunctioning microprocessor from the execution mode. One of the processors is selected and switched to execution mode. At the same time, the external malfunction detection section receives the self-diagnosis request signal 5 from the self-diagnosis section 30 of the malfunctioning microprocessor.
Start 0.

When self-diagnosis is requested by the self-diagnosis request signal 5,
The self-diagnosis section 300 interrupts the program execution in the basic processor 100, and at the same time interrupts the comparison of program execution results in the operation comparison section 200. Further, it performs a self-diagnosis while being separated from the execution system, and notifies the external malfunction detection section of the self-diagnosis result 7. If the malfunction is determined to be temporary, the microprocessor's internal data needed to resume synchronous execution of the program by a normally operating microprocessor must first be stored in a specific area of memory. 6 Next, when the malfunction is determined to be temporary and a reset is applied to request reassembly, the initialization procedure requires all microprocessors to resume program execution. The microprocessor's internal data is loaded, and program execution in the normal state is resumed. In this embodiment, reincorporation of a malfunctioning microprocessor into the execution system is controlled by a self-recovery program executed by the basic processor 100. Note that if the malfunction is determined to be permanent, the system is notified that a hardware failure has occurred, and the normally operating microprocessor program continues to execute.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention has a self-diagnosis function activated by a self-diagnosis signal inside the microprocessor, thereby eliminating the need for an external circuit for self-diagnosis, thereby facilitating the creation of a fault-tolerant system. It has the effect that it can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the constituent elements of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 10...Basic processor section, 20...
Operation comparison means, 30... Self-diagnosis means, 40.
... Self-recovery means, 100 ... Basic processor section, 200 ... Operation comparison section, 300 ...
...Self-diagnosis department.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A microprocessor having an operation comparison means for detecting that the operations of two microprocessors are different by comparing internal operation results and contents of a connected bus, which is activated by a self-diagnosis request signal, and A microprocessor characterized by having self-diagnosis means for detecting failures in internal hardware.