JPH0217559A - Adapter firmware load system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a central processing unit to raise a system without recognizing the system constitution by generating a firmware load request for an input/ output device which coincides with adapter type designating information. CONSTITUTION:A central processing unit 2 writes a command code indicating firmware load, the start address of a channel program, and an adapter type in a mail box 1-1 and issues a processing request to an input/output processing device. The input/output processing device reads out the mail box 1-1 in response to the request and compares said adapter type with the adapter type held in the device itself; and when they coincide with each other, a signal line 20-6 is set to '1' to report this coincidence. The same operation is performed for all adapters placed under an I/O bus 12. When the coinciding adapter is mounted, data transfer is prepared and an I/O bus control part is instructed to suppress the bus operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an adapter firmware loading method, and more particularly to a firmware loading method for multiple types of input/output adapters.

Conventional technology When loading firmware to multiple devices,
Information that associates the firmware module to be loaded with the device to be loaded is required. Therefore,
Conventionally, methods have been used such as creating a system configuration table, or reading the type of the 10 adapter using a diagnostic processor or the like, and notifying the central processing unit that loads the firmware of the reading result.

Such conventional methods have the disadvantage that the software must grasp the system configuration at a relatively early stage of system startup, ie, firmware loading, which complicates the startup process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an adapter firmware loading method that does not require the central processing unit to be aware of the system configuration at the time of system startup.

According to the present invention, a central processing unit, an input/output processing device,
An adapter firmware loading method for a data processing device that includes multiple types of input/output adapters connected to the input/output processing device via a bus, and a main storage device that stores firmware to be loaded into these adapters. The output processing device has means for sending specification information of an adapter type to be loaded to all of the input/output adapters in response to a firmware load request from the central processing unit, and each of the input/output adapters: means for comparing this adapter type specification information with its own adapter type, and generating a firmware load request to the input/output device if they match; means for reporting information indicating the input/output processing device to the input/output processing device, and in response to the firmware load request, the corresponding firmware stored in the main storage device is loaded to the requested adapter. This provides an adapter firmware loading method characterized by the following.

big-bellied father-in-law Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is the main memory, 2 is the central processing unit, 3 is the memory bus, which consists of three types of buses: address, command, and data (in the figure, address/command are shown together), 4 - 11 indicate each section within the input/output processing device, which includes a memory bus control section 4, a microprogram control section 5, a data transfer control section 6, output and input registers 8.9, and an OR gate 11. 12 is an I10 bus connecting the input/output processing equipment and each 110 adapter; 20.2
1 is an I10 adapter (for example, 20 is for MTU,
21 is for PYD).

The main storage device 1 includes a mailbox area 1-1 used in communication between the central processing unit 2 and the input/output processing device, and a channel program 1 for instructing firmware loading.
-2 and firmware modules 1-3 to 1-5 to be loaded into each 110 adapter.

Next, the operation will be explained. The operation when the central processing unit 2 attempts to load the firmware 1-3 module into the MTU control I10 adapter will be described. Each I10 adapter is known to the I/O processor and central processing unit as a channel number. At this point, the correspondence between the channel number and the type of I10 adapter (expressed as an adapter type) is unknown.

First, the central processing unit 2 prepares a channel program 1-2 in the main memory (the channel program includes a channel command for instructing firmware loading and the start address and data length of the firmware module 1-3 to be loaded). (written), the central processing unit 2 stores in the mailbox 11 a command code indicating firmware loading, the start address of the channel program, and an adaf.

The data type ATYP is written and a processing request is issued to the input/output processing device.In response to the request, the input/output processing device reads the mailbox 1-1 and starts loading the firmware according to the command. That is, the input/output processing device instructs the I10 bus controller to output the adapter type (1-byte information) read from the mailbox onto the I10 bus 12, and monitors the output of the OR gate 11.

The I10 adapter 20 takes the adapter type set on the I10 bus into the register 20-2, compares it with the adapter type it owns (this information is given by a switch, etc.), and if they match, sends the signal line 20-2. 6 to “1”
Notify that it is the corresponding adageta. The same operation is performed on all I10 adapters under the I10 bus 12, and if there is no device of the applicable adapter type in any of them, the output of the OR gate 11 remains "0", and the input/output device remains idle for a certain period of time. If the output of the OR gate 11 does not become "1pa" within that time, it is assumed that the corresponding adapter does not exist, and the channel program is immediately terminated to notify the software that the corresponding adapter does not exist.

An example of an operation time chart at this time is shown in FIG. Regarding the relationship between requests and acceptances, there is a circuit inside the I10 bus control unit 7 that has an arbitration function that determines the right to use the bus, and it accepts bus usage requests (requests) from each device (referred to as a requester). The device with the highest priority is accepted, and an accept signal indicating that the device is given the right to use the bus is sent back. Here, the input/output processing device is also one of the requesters, and the request shown in FIG. It is a signal sent back to himself.

Further, ID and ADPTYP are information output onto the address bus by the input/output processing device that has received the accept signal, and in the case of FIG. 2, are information sent from the input/output processing device to each adapter. ID is information indicating the requester,
ADPTYP is information indicating the type of firmware to be loaded (such as a magnetic disk adapter or a line printer adapter).

Now, if an adapter of the matching adapter type is installed, the output of the OR gate 11 becomes "1", and the input/output processing device reads the channel program, checks the channel command, and transfers the data according to the data length and data address. The I10 bus control unit is instructed to inhibit bus operation until this preparation is completed.When preparations for data transfer are complete and data transfer can be accepted, the aforementioned inhibition is performed. Release the condition. Transfer preparation at this time is performed for all channels.

When the I10 adapter 20 recognizes that it has been selected, it starts preparing for data transfer, and then connects the signal line 2.
O-a (20-a is the request line, the accept line,
The request line (in which the line and other control lines are shown) actually requests the input/output device to read the firmware module, and the input/output processing device responds to the request by using the I10 bus. Control unit 7. Data transfer control unit 6. Under the operation of the memory bus control unit 4, the first 16 bytes of the firmware modules 1-3 in the main memory are read out and sequentially set on the I10 bus 12, and
The input line within the signal line 20-a instructs data capture. When the I10 adapter receives data, it loads it into the write data register 20-7 and then loads it into the control memory 2.
Write to predetermined positions 0-8.

When all reading of the firmware module and writing to the control memory is completed, the I10 adapter 20 reports completion to the input/output processing device.At this time, the contents of the received adapter type 20-2 are used as completion report information. and reset the flip-flop 20-5.

In response to the above-mentioned completion report, the input/output device creates a completion report message (the format is shown in Figure 3), queues it in the event report queue, and then notifies the central processing unit of the completion (the route is (not shown), the firmware loading is completed.

The information group shown in Figure 3 is input/output by the completion report sequence (details omitted) sent from each adapter (the adapter that loaded the firmware) to the input/output processing device after the firmware loading to the adapter is completed. A group of control information created by a processing device and written into main memory.

This control information group (referred to as a completion report message) exists for each input/output device (magnetic disk, magnetic tape, etc.).
forming a queue. The event report queue link shown in FIG. 3 indicates the address of the next completion report message in the queue, and if it is the last in the queue, it will contain a specific pattern.

A code indicating normal termination or abnormal termination is written as the termination format, and the message priority indicates the priority of the termination report message, and the higher the priority, the closer to the beginning of the poem queue is placed. The channel number is the adapter channel number, and the remaining data length is the value obtained by subtracting the actually transferred data length from the transfer data length indicated in the channel program, and is usually 0.

The adapter type is information indicating the type of adapter that has loaded the firmware, and is based on information sent from the adapter to the input/output processing device. The termination status summary information includes, when the termination type indicates abnormal termination, general information indicating the cause of the abnormality (detailed information is read in a separate section).

The completion report message shown in FIG. 3 allows the central processing unit to automatically obtain the correspondence between the identification information of the connected adapter and the adapter type. The correspondence here refers to the correspondence between channel numbers and adageter types.

That is, channel number O is a magnetic disk adapter, channel number 1 is a magnetic tape adapter, and so on. As mentioned above, when firmware loading to a certain adapter is completed, the channel number and adapter type are included in the completion message, so that the software can recognize the above-mentioned correspondence from this information.

Conventionally, each system had a control table that had a correspondence between channel numbers and adapter types, or issued an inquiry command to each adapter to obtain information individually. However, according to the present invention, the correspondence between all channel numbers and adapter types becomes clear when firmware loading is completed.

The flow of the operation described above is shown in FIG.

Note that this embodiment assumes only one mailbox and one channel program (there may be more than one, but it is logically possible to have one, and for the sake of simplicity, only one is assumed). ).

For example, when the central processing unit attempts to load firmware to a magnetic disk device adapter, it creates a channel program. The address included in the channel command at this time is written so that it becomes a value indicating the starting address of the storage area of the firmware for the magnetic disk adapter.

■Write the adapter type of the magnetic disk adapter and the storage address of the channel program (created in ■) in the mailbox.

■Send a processing request to the input/output processing device.

The central processing unit performs the above operations, and the operation of the input/output processing device and the adapter begins in accordance with the instructions (1) to (3) above. When the firmware loading is completed, the central processing unit is notified of the completion report message shown in FIG. 3.

Next, when loading the firmware of the magnetic tape device adapter, create a channel program again (this can be done by rewriting the channel program used just before, or you can create a completely new one). , the adapter type in the mailbox is rewritten to information indicating the magnetic tape adapter, and zero or more operations of issuing a request to the input/output processing device are repeated for all adapters.

According to the present invention, when loading firmware to an adapter, the software does not need to recognize the installation information of the I10 adapter and the adapter type. This has the effect that corresponding information can be automatically obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a time chart showing the operation when checking the adapter type, and FIG.
This figure shows the format of the completion report event message, and FIG. 4 shows the operational flow of the input/output processing device when checking the adapter type. Explanation of symbols of main parts 1... Main storage device 2... Central processing unit 20° 3... Bus 7... Bow 10 Bus control unit 2... ...I10 bust...adapter

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Data including a central processing unit, an input/output processing unit, multiple types of input/output adapters connected to the input/output processing unit by bus, and a main storage device that stores firmware to be loaded into these adapters. An adapter firmware loading method in a processing unit, wherein the input/output processing unit sends specification information of an adapter type to be loaded to all of the input/output adapters in response to a firmware load request from the central processing unit. each of the input/output adapters has means for comparing the specification information of this adapter type with its own adapter type, and generating a firmware load request to the input/output device if they match; and means for providing information indicating the adapter type of the adapter to the input/output processing in response to the completion of firmware loading, and in response to the firmware loading request, the corresponding firmware stored in the main storage device is loaded. An adapter firmware loading method characterized in that information is loaded to a requested adapter location.