JPH0298725A - Disk controller processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform another processing even when a disk switching processing is being performed and to simplify the processing of a CPU by separating a task for disk switching. CONSTITUTION:In the case of generating an ordinary task 30 by receiving an instruction from a host device 20, and also, generating disk switching while performing the processing based on the above task, a task 32 for disk switching is generated, and the task 32 for disk switching is executed preferentially than the ordinary task 30, then, the disk switching processing is performed. In other words, the disk switching processing is separated from the ordinary task 30, and it is processed as another task. In such a manner, it is possible to execute another instruction even when the disk switching processing is being performed, and to simplify the processing as a whole.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a disk controller that performs necessary processing for a driving means or drive of an RIn air disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc. This paper relates to improvements in the processing method.

[Prior Art] Some disk controllers generate tasks in response to commands from higher-level devices and execute the commands to disk drives, which are lower-level devices.

FIG. 4 shows a general configuration of such a disk controller. In the figure, the disk controller IO includes a CPU 12, a memory 14 including a ROM and a RAM. Each has an interface 16.18.

Among these, the CPU 12 controls this device. The memory 14 is a ROM that stores programs for the CPU t 2 and a RAM that is used during operation. Further, the interface 16 is an interface with the host device 20 that receives commands from the CPU 12 and communicates with the host device 20.
8 is.

This is an interface with the lower device 22 that receives instructions from the CPU 12 and communicates with the lower device 22.

Next, the operation of the disk controller IO as described above when receiving an instruction from the host device 20 will be described with reference to the diagram for explaining the temporal operation of tasks in FIG. 5 and the flowchart in FIG. 6, respectively.

First, the disk controller IO receives and receives instructions to be executed from the host device 20. As a result, the operation of the flow shown in FIG. 6 is started (see step S1 in the same figure), and at this time, as shown in FIG.
A task 24 for processing the instruction from step 0 is started.6 Next, the instruction to the lower device 22 is executed, as shown at TB in FIG. 5 and step S2 in FIG. 6, respectively.

Next, in step S3 of FIG. 6, it is checked whether a disk exchange has occurred. Here, replacing the disk means removing the disk.

The operation includes either inserting a disc. As a result, if no disk exchange has occurred, the process ends and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG. 6.

On the other hand, if a disk exchange has occurred, the process proceeds to step S5 in FIG. 6, which corresponds to the time point TC in FIG. 5, and subsequently, the disk exchange process is started as shown at TD. . Disk replacement processing refers to processing such as configuring disk-specific sectors, reading data for alternative processing from the disk, setting disk-related variables in the controller, and invalidating cache memory.

When this disk exchange process is completed, the TE in FIG.
The operations are completed as shown in step S4 in the figure, and tasks 2 and 4 disappear. Then, if necessary, the next task is performed as described above.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] In this way, in the conventional example, as shown by the arrow FA in FIG. For example, as shown by the arrow FB in FIG. 5, when another command comes from the host device 20, it cannot be accepted. The host device 20 will be forced to wait during the operation, and the processing of the host device 20 will be stagnant during that time.

In addition, it is necessary to perform disk exchange processing for each of a large number of instructions and then return to the original processing, resulting in the inconvenience of having to perform complicated processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a processing method for a disk controller that allows execution of other commands even during disk replacement processing and that simplifies the overall processing. Its purpose is to provide.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a processing method for a disk controller that generates a task in response to a command from a higher-level device and executes the command to a disk drive that is a lower-level device. In response to this, a normal task is generated, and if a disk exchange occurs during processing in the lower device based on this, a task for disk exchange is generated:
The present invention is characterized in that this task for disk exchange is executed with priority over the normal task to perform processing at the time of disk exchange.

[Operation] According to the present invention, when a disk exchange occurs in a lower-level device during processing of a normal task, a task for disk exchange is first generated. Furthermore, multitasking processing is performed in which this disk replacement task is processed preferentially. That is, the process for disk replacement is separated from one normal task and processed as a separate task.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned cpu
12 is provided with software for disk replacement task generation means and disk replacement task priority processing means. These operations allow the operations described below to be performed.

FIG. 1 shows the chronological operation of a task in one embodiment of the method of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show flowcharts of the operation.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the normal command task 30, a task 32 for disk replacement is performed.

Processing of a task 30 of eight normal instructions, which is so-called multitasking processing, is shown in FIG. 2, and processing of a task 32 for disk replacement is shown in FIG.

In these figures, first, the disk controller 10
receives a command from the host device 20.

As shown in step SA in FIG. 2 and TA in FIG. 1, the operation of the normal instruction task 30 is started. Then, as shown in step SB in FIG. 2, the command to the lower-order device 22 is executed. This is the TB in Figure 1.
corresponds to

After the above operations, the disk controller 10 checks whether a disk has been replaced from the lower bag W122 (see step SC in FIG. 2).

As a result, if no disk exchange has occurred, the operation ends as shown in step SD in the figure.

On the other hand, if disk replacement occurs as shown in FIG. 1 TC, the next step SE is performed.

That is, in the disk controller 10, T in FIG.
As shown in D, a task 32 for disk replacement is generated. From this point on, there will be two tasks, a task 30 for one normal instruction and a task 32 for disk replacement.

However, the CPU 12 of the disk controller 10 prioritizes the execution of tasks as follows: task 32 for disk replacement > task 30 for normal instructions. Therefore, when task 32 for disk replacement occurs, one normal instruction is Task 30 is bent without being executed, and task 32 for disk replacement is executed.

Next, when the task 32 for disk replacement starts to be executed (TEI & reference in FIG. 1), in FIG.
A loop operation of "O" is performed, and the operation of FIG. 3 is started as shown in step SG. Then, as shown in step SH in the same figure, processing at the time of disk exchange is performed.

Then, step S1 in the figure. As shown in FIG. 1TF, when the disk exchange process is completed, the disk exchange task 32 disappears at this point. Therefore, execution of the normal instruction task 30 is started again. That is, the process moves from the rNoJ loop in step SF in FIG. 2 to rYESJ, and all processing ends as shown in step SD in the same figure and TG in FIG. 1.

As described above, in this embodiment, as shown by the arrow FC in FIG. Multitask processing is performed giving priority to task 32.

That is, the process for disk replacement is separated from the normal instruction task, and is processed as a separate task.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, since the disk exchange task is separated, other processes can be performed even during disk exchange processing, and
Since it is sufficient to create the same disk replacement task for any command, there is an effect that the CPU processing is simplified.

For example, when a new command comes from a host device when a disk is replaced, in the conventional method, the new command must be handled both during normal processing and when the disk is replaced, but according to the present invention, it is necessary to respond to the new command individually. Since the processing of C
PU processing is simplified and processing speed is improved.

Furthermore, according to the prior art, it was necessary to prepare a disk replacement process for each command.

According to the present invention, since processing can be performed in a unified manner with one task, the capacity of the program can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of tasks in a disk controller according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts of the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a general diagram of a disk controller. A block diagram showing the configuration of
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of a task in the conventional example, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation in the conventional example shown in FIG. lO...Disk controller, 12...CPU,
14...Memory, 16.18...Interface, 20...Upper device, 22...Lower device, 30...
・Normal command task, 32...Task 2 for disk replacement Patent applicant Kunio Kakiki Representative of Victor Japan Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a processing method of a disk controller that generates a task in response to an instruction from a higher-level device and executes the instruction to a disk drive that is a lower-level device, When a disk exchange occurs and a disk exchange occurs during processing in the lower device based on this, a task for disk exchange is generated, and this task for disk exchange is executed with priority over the normal task. A processing method for a disk controller characterized in that processing is performed when a disk is replaced.