JPH0320773B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a storage device using a storage element with slow access time, such as a magnetic bubble memory as a storage means, and a method of accessing the storage device. .

[Background of the invention]

Magnetic bubble memory elements have large capacity and low cost.
Moreover, even if the power is cut off, the memory contents do not change.
Therefore, the use of magnetic bubble memory as a memory element for controlling office machines and industrial machines is being considered. However, although magnetic bubble memory has the above-mentioned characteristics, it has not been used as much as expected. The biggest reason for this is that the access time is 100 μs for core memory elements, semiconductor memory elements, etc., whereas the access time for magnetic bubble memory elements is extremely slow, at several tens of milliseconds.

Therefore, it is not suitable for devices such as high-performance robots and high-performance machine tools that require frequent access from memory elements; This is because the fields of use that require large storage capacity are limited.

In particular, when such a memory element with a slow access time is used to store steps of a program that instructs a high-performance robot or a high-performance machine tool to operate, the following problems occur. In other words, when finding a specific step from among a large number of steps stored in a memory element with slow access time and performing processing such as reading, modifying, or deleting its contents, it is necessary to detect the target step. This takes a considerable amount of time, resulting in even slower access times, which is a major impediment to the use of memory devices with slow access times, such as magnetic bubble memory devices.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to quickly find out in which block within a memory element the data to be found is located, even though a memory element with slow access time, such as a magnetic bubble memory element, is used. The objective is to provide a storage device and an access method that allow for

Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage device and an access method that can quickly read out data that is designated to be read from a storage element that has a slow access time, such as a magnetic bubble storage element.

Still another object of the present invention is to construct a storage device that can easily edit data in a storage element with slow access time, such as a magnetic bubble storage element.

Still other objects and associated effects of the present invention are:
Those skilled in the art will easily understand from the following description.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, for example, the first storage means for storing a plurality of steps constituting a program has a slow access time, as typified by a magnetic bubble storage element, but is inexpensive in other respects, and has a large capacity. Use something that has some kind of advantage, such as being easily available or retaining the memory state before the power outage even if a power outage occurs.

This first storage means uses a storage area divided into a plurality of blocks. Furthermore, each block uses its storage area divided into multiple sections as necessary. Each of these blocks is called a page. Therefore, one block may be one page. A plurality of blocks have the same number of pages, and each page has the same number of bytes. Each block is provided with a unique address indicator.

A second storage means is provided which is composed of a storage element having a faster access time than the first storage means. This second
Random access memory (hereinafter simply referred to as "random access memory"), which has a fast access time and is capable of rewriting memory contents, is used as a memory element that constitutes the memory means, such as a semiconductor memory element or a core memory element.
(referred to as RAM).

This second storage means is provided with a unit chain corresponding to each block, and each unit chain includes a step information writing part representing the number of steps written in each block, and a step information writing part representing the number of steps written in each block. A pointer information writing section indicating a connection and an address storage section storing addresses corresponding to the respective address display sections are provided. If the number of steps written in each block is the same, the step information writing section may be omitted.

Since the second storage means essentially needs to be provided with a unit chain corresponding to each block as described above, its storage capacity may be much smaller than that of the first storage means. Therefore, even if the second storage means is provided, the price will not increase at all.

Step specifying means is provided for generating a signal indicating the order of steps to be detected starting from the first step. This step designation means is often manually instructed to output when an operation is taught, and when an automatic operation is performed, it is automatically output in the order of the steps of the program that have already been taught the operation. Here, motion teaching refers to teaching a high-performance robot, high-performance machine tool, etc., a motion, and specifically, it involves writing a program into the first storage means or executing a specific step in a written program. Refers to processing such as modification or deletion.

If each block is composed of the same number of steps, this step designation means can also generate a signal indicating the order from the first block of the blocks read according to the pointer instruction. It is. Therefore, in this case, the step designation means can be read as block order designation means. A counting means is provided for counting the number of steps counted according to the pointer information written in the pointer information writing section. When the step specifying means outputs a signal representing the order of blocks to be read according to the instructions of the pointer, the counting means counts the number of blocks to be read according to the instructions of the pointer.

State detection means for comparing the output of the step designating means and the output of the counting means and detecting that the number of steps indicated by the output of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output of the step specifying means. will be established. As this state detection means, a comparator, an up/down counter, etc. can be used. When an up-down counter is used, the outputs of the step specifying means and the counting means may be converted into a pulse train as required, and one inputted into the up-count input terminal and the other inputted into the down-counter input terminal.

When the state detecting means detects a state in which the number of steps indicated by the output of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output of the step specifying means, a reading means is provided for reading out the steps written in the block. This reading means is normally configured to operate when an automatic operation is being performed, but since there may be times when it is desired to read out the memory contents in the corresponding block during operation teaching, it is designed to operate at such times as well. Keep it.

When the state detecting means detects a state in which the number of steps indicated by the output of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output of the step specifying means, the pointer information written in the corresponding unit chain is rewritten. Provide rewriting means as necessary. . It is preferable to operate this rewriting means during motion teaching.

[Embodiments of the invention]

In FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a first storage means, which is composed of a magnetic bubble storage element. This first storage means 1 has a plurality of pages as shown schematically in FIG.
It is divided into 100, 101..., 1nm, and these are further grouped into m pages each to form blocks 10, 11,... 1n.
used as Each block has a unique address a
10 to a1n, and each page also has addresses ado to adm in the address display section so that it can be distinguished within each block. Each page consists of at least one byte. 2 is a second storage means, which is composed of a semiconductor storage element called LIi memory. As shown in FIG.
11... Unit chains 20, 21 corresponding to a1n
. . 2n are provided, and each unit chain has an address storage section a20, a for storing the block address in the first storage means 1 corresponding to this unit chain.
21...A2n, a step number information storage section s20, s21, ... s2n that stores information representing the number of steps written in the corresponding block, and a next connected block among blocks a10, a11, ... a11n. Pointer information writing section p
20, p21...p2n are provided.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a step specifying means, which generates a signal representing a step number whose storage position is to be detected. Here, the step number refers to a number sequentially added to a series of steps constituting a program from the beginning. This step specifying means 3 outputs a signal by operating a group of digital switches 31 when instructing an automatic machine (not shown) to operate, which is controlled by this storage device, and when in automatic operation mode. The signals are automatically output in the order of predetermined step numbers.

4 is a microcomputer, which has three functions: counting means 50, state detection means 60, and reading means 70. The counting means 50 includes pointer information writing sections p20 and p21 shown in FIG.
... It is configured to count the total of the steps counted according to the pointer information written in p2n. Further, the state detecting means 60 is adapted to output a signal when the output of the counting means 50 becomes greater than or equal to the output of the state detecting means 60. At that time, the CRT display device 97 stores the addresses in the corresponding blocks that the unit chain section has in the address storage sections a20 to a2n.
It is now displayed in Further, when the state detecting means 60 outputs a signal and the signal from the selecting means 80 specifies the access mode, the reading means reads the block in which the corresponding step among the blocks 10, 11, . . . 1n is written. It is configured to read out the information inside.

The selection means 80 instructs the access mode in most cases in the automatic operation mode, and instructs the access mode as necessary in the operation teaching mode. 90
is a rewriting means, and when a state in which the number of steps indicated by the output of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step number indicated by the output of the step specifying means is detected by the state detection means, the number of steps in the corresponding unit chain is The pointer information written in can be rewritten by operating the digital switch group 91.

Numeral 95 is program number designating means, and during operation teaching, a digital switch group 96 outputs a signal, and during automatic operation, a signal is automatically output based on previously stored information. 97 is a CRT display that displays necessary information. These are the first storage means 1, the second storage means 2, the step designation means 3, the microcomputer 4, the selection means 8, and the rewriting means 9.
0 and CRT display 97 are system bus 9
8, and the flow of signals is controlled by a data bus controller 99.

Next, the operation of the apparatus constructed as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. .

Step 300 indicates the start of the operation. Next, in step 301, the program number designating means 95 operates the digital switch group 96 or automatically designates the program number. Then, the block that is the starting point of the program, that is, the block that is not specified by the pointer information writing section (P20, etc.), for example, either block 10 or 13 in the case of FIG. 2, is specified. Which one you choose depends on your purpose. Assume that block 13 is now selected.

In the next step 302, the step address N is designated by operating the digital switch group 31 by the step designation means 3.

In the next step 303, the step number st23 written in the block 13 is read out from the step number information writing section s23 in the second storage means 2.

In the next step 304, since the number of steps counted by the counting means 50 is zero, the number of steps st is set to zero.
The value obtained by adding 23, that is, S=st23, is output as is.

The output of this counting means 50 is determined by the step number N specified in step 302 and the state detection means 6 in the next step 305.
Compare by 0. If N≦S, next step
Proceed to step 306, and if N>S, proceed to step 310.

Proceeding to step 306 means that the step is in block 13.
302 indicates that the step with the specified step number exists. Therefore, in step 306, the address a13 indicating the block 13 stored in the address storage section a23 in the unit chain is displayed on the CRT display 9.
7 will be displayed on the screen.

In step 307, it is determined whether the selection means 80 indicates an access mode. If the access mode has been designated, the process moves to step 308; otherwise, the process moves to step 312.

In step 308, the reading means 70 reads all the contents stored in the block 13 corresponding to the address a13 and displays them on the CRT display 97. Step 309 indicates the end of the operation.

If N>S as a result of the determination in step 305, it is determined that there is no Nth program step in block 13. In that case, the process moves to step 310. Here, pointer p2 in unit chain 23
Read out 3. This pointer then indicates that the unit chain 23 is followed by the unit chain 24, as indicated by chain f34. Therefore, in step 311, the number of steps written in the step number information writing section s24 in the chain 24 is
Read st24. Thereafter, the process moves to step 304, where it is determined in half whether N≦st23+st24. If YES, the process moves to step 306. If NO
Repeat steps 310, 311, 304 and 305 until YES.

Now, if it is determined NO in step 307, the process moves to step 312, where it is determined whether or not there is a rewriting command from the rewriting means 90. If there is no rewriting command, the process
Move to 315 and end. In such a case, N
We can imagine a case where we know what information is written in the th program step, but we do not know where that program information is written. Now, if there is a rewrite command, the process
313, where the chain is rewritten using the digital switch group 91 in the rewriting means 90.

FIG. 4 shows an example of such a case. That is, the chain f45 shown in FIG. 2 is cut off, and FIG. 4 shows that a block 1n is inserted between blocks 14 and 15. In this case, the information stored in the pointer information writing section p24 is rewritten using the digital switch group 91 so that it is connected to the unit chain 2n, while the information stored in the pointer information writing section p24 is written so that it is connected to the unit chain 25. input. Needless to say, necessary information is written in the block 1n corresponding to the unit chain 2n using a teaching box (not shown).

Each page has at most one program step written, and the steps are written sequentially starting from the first page of the block, and empty pages are a series of pages in which steps are written without being interspersed within the block. If they are concentrated after the page, it is possible to read each page. In this case, the counting means 5 shown in FIG.
0 executes the operation SN=P shown in step 316 in FIG. 5 when N≦S holds true. For example, in FIG. 2, when the contents of the step number information writing section s24 are read out, if N≦S holds true and P is 2, then the step N is written to the second page 141 from the beginning of the block 14. You can see that it contains information. Therefore, as shown in steps 306' and 308', the relevant page can be directly detected and the information within the relevant page can be read out.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, although a storage element with slow access time, such as a magnetic bubble memory, is used as the first storage means, the storage capacity of the storage element is far greater. By providing a second storage means with a fast access time that is small in number, access from the first storage means can be made faster and the desired purpose can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 4 are diagrams showing models of information written in the first storage means and the second storage means, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the access method and rewriting method of the storage device of the present invention. 1...First storage means, 2...Second storage means, 3
... Step designation means, 50 ... Counting means, 60
...State detection means, 70...Reading means, 80...
Selection means, 90... Rewriting means, 95... Program number designation means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first storage means having a plurality of blocks in which predetermined steps are written and having an address display section corresponding to each block, and a first storage means having an access time shorter than that of the first storage means. A chain is provided corresponding to each of the blocks, and each unit chain has step number information for storing information representing the number of steps written in each of the blocks. A second block provided with a writing section, a pointer information writing section indicating connection to the next block, and an address storage section storing an address corresponding to the address display section.
storage means; step designation means for generating a signal representing the step order for the step in order to detect which block among the plurality of blocks a certain step is written; counting means for sequentially counting the number of steps written in the step number information writing section for each unit chain according to the pointer information written in the step number information writing section; and an output signal of the step specifying means and an output signal of the counting means. A storage device comprising state detection means for comparing and detecting that the number of steps indicated by the output signal of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output signal of the step designation means. 2. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the first storage means is constituted by a magnetic bubble memory. 3. The storage device according to claim 2, wherein the second storage means is constituted by a random access memory. 4. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein each of the blocks is composed of at least one page. 5. A first memory means having a plurality of blocks in which predetermined steps are written and having an address display section corresponding to each block, and a memory element having a faster access time than the first memory means. A chain corresponding to each of the blocks is provided, and each unit chain includes a step number information writing section for storing information representing the number of steps written in each of the blocks, and a step number information writing section for storing information representing the number of steps written in each of the blocks. A second block provided with a pointer information writing section indicating a connection to the block and an address storage section storing an address corresponding to the address display section.
storage means; step designation means for generating a signal representing the step order for the step in order to detect which block among the plurality of blocks a certain step is written; counting means for sequentially counting the number of steps written in the step number information writing section for each unit chain according to the pointer information written in the step number information writing section; and an output signal of the step specifying means and an output signal of the counting means. a state detecting means for comparing and detecting that the number of steps indicated by the output signal of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output signal of the step specifying means; and a state detecting means for receiving the output of the state detecting means. , when the state detecting means detects that the number of steps indicated by the output signal of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output signal of the step specifying means, the address storage section of the unit chain; A storage device comprising reading means for reading out a plurality of steps written in a block indicated by an address written in the block. 6. A first memory means having a plurality of blocks in which predetermined steps are written and having an address display section corresponding to each block, and a memory element having a faster access time than the first memory means. A chain corresponding to each of the blocks is provided, and each unit chain includes a step number information writing section for storing information representing the number of steps written in each of the blocks, and a step number information writing section for storing information representing the number of steps written in each of the blocks. A second block provided with a pointer information writing section indicating a connection to the block and an address storage section storing an address corresponding to the address display section.
storage means; step designation means for generating a signal representing the step order for the step in order to detect which block among the plurality of blocks a certain step is written; counting means for sequentially counting the number of steps written in the step number information writing section for each unit chain according to the pointer information written in the step number information writing section; and an output signal of the step specifying means and an output signal of the counting means. a state detecting means for comparing and detecting that the number of steps indicated by the output signal of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output signal of the step specifying means; and a state detecting means for receiving the output of the state detecting means. , when the state detecting means detects that the number of steps indicated by the output signal of the counting means is greater than or equal to the step order indicated by the output signal of the step specifying means, pointer information within the unit chain is detected. A storage device comprising: rewriting means for rewriting pointer information written in a writing section. 7. The first storage means has a plurality of blocks and has an address display section corresponding to each block, and a storage element having a faster access time than the first storage means, and the next block is A unit chain in which pointer information indicating a connection to the block and an address corresponding to the address display section is written is provided corresponding to each of the blocks, and a signal indicating the order of the blocks to be detected is stored. generating block order specifying means; counting means for counting the number of blocks for each unit chain according to the pointer information written in the pointer information writing section; an output signal of the block order specifying means; and the counting means. and a state detection means for comparing the number of blocks indicated by the output signal of the counting means with the output signal of the counting means and detecting that the number of blocks indicated by the output signal of the counting means is greater than or equal to the block order indicated by the output signal of the block order specifying means. storage device. 8. In an access method for a storage device having a plurality of blocks and in which a plurality of consecutive steps are written over the plurality of blocks, a first step of storing the address of the block for each block; The second step is to store the number of steps written in each block, and the connection between the last step among the steps stored in the block and the first step among the steps stored in the next block is determined. a third step of storing pointer information for each block; a fourth step of generating a signal representing the step order for the steps in order to detect a block in which a certain step is written; A fifth step of counting the number of steps stored in the second step, and a signal representing the step order generated in the fourth step, and counting in the fifth step, in the block order instructed by the step. sequentially compare the number of steps performed for each block,
a sixth step of detecting that the step number is greater than or equal to the step order; and in the sixth step, the step number becomes greater than or equal to the step order. a seventh step of reading out a plurality of steps written in the block indicated by the address stored for the block in the first step, if it is detected that the block has been stored.