JPH05151023A - Information controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the information controller capable of keeping the execution result of a wide range of the microprogram in the trace memory using the trace memory with the same capacity in the trace operation in synchronism with the execution of the microprogram. CONSTITUTION:The information processor is provided with loop recognition parts 10-1 to 10-N having a backward branch detection part 7 detecting the backward branch in executing the microprogram, a loop start register 101-N keeping the loop information at the time of the backward branch detection, a loop end register 102-N, and a loop trace counter 103-N. On the part executing the microprogram in repetition, the trace information is kept in the trace memory 1 only when the first and the last time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information control device having a trace function synchronized with the execution of a microprogram.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows, for example, JP-A-3-22146.
It is a block diagram which shows the conventional information control apparatus shown by the publication. In the figure, 1 is a trace memory for storing trace information, 2 is a trace control signal for giving a microprogram execution synchronization instruction, a trace start instruction and a trace stop instruction, and 3 is trace information such as a microprogram address. Is a trace information bus for passing the data to the trace memory 1. Reference numeral 4 holds a trace memory address for storing trace information from the trace information bus 3 in the trace memory 1 and, after storing the trace information, the trace control signal 2
Is a trace counter that is incremented by 1.

Next, the operation will be described. Address update control is performed by the trace counter 4 in the trace memory 1, and trace information such as a microprogram address sent by the trace information bus 3 is written. Here, the trace information in the trace memory 1 is discarded in order from the oldest when the memory capacity is exceeded, and the latest trace information always remains. The trace information stored in the trace memory 1 is read out and used at the time of debugging the micro program and at the time of failure analysis. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a trace result by such a conventional information control device. In this case, a micro program address, an execution instruction,
The access data address, access data, and access mode are traced for each microprogram instruction execution.

[0004]

Since the conventional information control device is configured as described above, the trace operation is performed in synchronization with the execution of the microprogram, and the trace range obtained as the trace result is the trace range. It will be limited by the number of execution instructions of the microprogram executed before and after the point at which the stop instruction condition is satisfied.
If a microprogram that repeatedly executes is written before and after the point where the trace stop condition is satisfied, the range of the microprogram that can be obtained as the trace result will be extremely narrowed. In this case, when investigating an error in the microprogram using the trace function, the trace result of the repeated execution part remains only for a plurality of times as the trace result, and the condition of the repeated execution part is There was a problem that it often happened that it was not possible to determine whether it was repeatedly executed.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and recognizes a repeated execution part of a microprogram and leaves the trace operation of the repeated part only as a trace result for the first time and the last time. The purpose is to obtain a control device.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information control device including a backward branch detecting section for detecting backward branch occurrence during execution of a micro program, and a branch destination micro program as repeated portion recognition information. A loop start register that holds the address, a loop end register that holds the branch source microprogram address, and a loop trace counter that holds the trace counter value that indicates the storage location of the next trace information when the repeated portion is recognized. If there is a loop recognition unit equipped with, the backward branch at the time of microprogram execution is detected, and the branch destination microprogram address and the branch source microprogram address match the loop start register and the loop end register, respectively. Loop trace cow to the current trace counter Set the data, in which the loop recognizer must match has to perform the tracing operation to update the repetitive recognition information held.

Further, the information control apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the backward branch detection unit is not instructed to detect the backward branch, outputs the trace information about the execution of all the microprograms. It is stored in the trace memory.

Further, in the information control apparatus according to the present invention as defined in claim 3, a plurality of loop recognizing units are prepared, weighted loop identification IDs are given to the respective loop recognizing units, and the content of the loop end register is set to the branch destination micro. One of the loop recognition units holding a value equal to or lower than the program address or equal to or higher than the branch source microprogram address is selected according to the weight of the assigned loop identification ID.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the trace operation for the repeated execution portion of the microprogram of the information control apparatus, the trace information of the execution is stored in the trace memory when the repeated portion of the microprogram is executed for the first time. The state at the time of performing the backward branch to execute the second time is saved as the repeated part recognition information, and is saved when the backward branch is executed to execute the third and subsequent times of the repeated part. Since the repeated part recognition information matches the current state, the trace pointer replaces the trace pointer at the start of the second execution held in the corresponding repeated part recognition information, and the trace operation for the third and subsequent executions of the repeated part is The trace information for the second time will be overwritten, and the trace As over the scan information, only first and trace information of the end times of the execution of the repetition unit is left.

Further, the backward branch detecting unit in the invention according to claim 2 stores all the trace information in the trace memory when the instruction to detect the backward branch is not given, so that the backward branch is caused by the mode instruction signal. An information control device capable of instructing whether or not to detect is realized.

Further, in the information control device according to the invention described in claim 3, the loop identification I weighted respectively
It is provided with a plurality of loop recognition units to which D is assigned, and the content of the loop end register holds a value equal to or lower than the branch destination microprogram address or equal to or higher than the branch source microprogram address. By selecting according to the weight of, efficient trace processing is possible even for microprograms with more complicated repeating loops.

[0012]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention described in claims 1 to 3, in which 1 is a trace memory, 2 is a trace control signal, 3 is a trace information bus,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a trace counter, which is the same as or equivalent to those of the conventional one denoted by the same reference numeral in FIG.

Reference numeral 5 is a micro program address indicating the position of the micro program being executed, 6 is a mode instruction signal for instructing whether or not backward branch detection is to be performed, and 7 is a micro instruction signal indicating that the mode instruction signal 6 is a detection instruction. This is a backward branch detection unit that compares the previous value of the program address 5 with the current value and detects that a backward branch has occurred when the previous value is equal to or greater than the current value. In this backward branch detection unit 7, 71
Is a previous value register that stores the previous value of the micro program address 5, and 72 is a current value register that stores the current value of the micro program address 5. 8
Is a branch destination register that holds the value of the current value register 72 when the backward branch detecting unit 7 detects the backward branch, and 9 is the value of the previous value register 71 when the backward branch detecting unit 7 detects the backward branch Is a branch source register that holds

Numerals 10-1 to 10-N are loop recognizing sections for holding information for recognizing repeated execution parts of the microprogram, and each of them has a loop identification ID weighted according to a magnitude relationship or the like. Has been granted. The internal configuration of each of the loop recognition units 10-1 to 10-N is the same, but details thereof will be described in detail.
0-N is shown. In the loop recognizing unit 10-N, 101-N is a loop start register in which a leading microprogram address of a repeated portion is stored, 102
-N is a loop end register that stores the final microprogram address of the repeated portion, and 103-N is a loop trace counter that stores the value of the trace counter 4 when the repeated portion is recognized.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an outline of the trace operation. In this case, for example, three loop recognizing units 10-1 to 10-N having a plurality of loop recognizing units are shown.
The operation is started when the trace start is instructed by, and the operation is stopped when the trace stop is instructed by the trace control signal 2.

At the start of the trace operation, the loop start registers 101-1 of all the loop recognition units 10-1 to 10-3.
To 101-3, and loop end registers 102-1 to 102-1
02-3 is initialized to the maximum value that can be set in the register, for example (step ST1). When the initialization is completed, the backward branch detection unit 7 first determines whether or not the backward branch is detected (step ST2). If not detected, the trace information bus 3
More trace information is stored in the trace memory 1, the trace counter 4 is incremented by 1 (step ST7), and the operation starts again from step ST2. Also,
When the backward branch is detected in step ST2,
Loop end register 102-1 of loop recognition unit 10-1
Is less than or equal to the value of the branch destination register 8 or greater than or equal to the value of the branch source register 9 (step ST
3).

If an affirmative decision is made in step ST3, the loop start register 101 of the loop recognition section 10-1.
It is determined whether the value of -1 is equal to the value of the branch destination register 8 and the value of the loop end register 102-1 is equal to the value of the branch source register 9 (step ST4). As a result, if the determination is negative, the value of the branch destination register 8 is set in the loop start register 101-1 and the value of the branch source register 9 is set in the loop end register 102-1 of the loop recognition unit 10-1. , Loop trace counter 103-
By setting the value of the trace counter 4 to 1, the loop recognition information held by the loop recognition unit 10-1 is updated (step ST6), and after executing the step ST7, the operation starts again from the step ST2. On the other hand, if the determination in step ST4 is affirmative, the value of the loop trace counter 103-1 of the loop recognizing unit 10-1 is set in the trace counter 4 (step ST5), step ST7 is executed, and then step ST2 is executed again. Works from.

On the other hand, if a negative decision is made in step ST3, the loop end register 102 of the loop recognition section 10-2.
-2 is less than or equal to the value of the branch destination register 8 or greater than or equal to the value of the branch source register 9 (step ST10). If the determination is affirmative, the loop start register of the loop recognition unit 10-2 is determined. The value of 101-2 is the branch destination register 8
Is determined and whether the value of the loop start register 102-2 is equal to the value of the branch source register 9 (step ST11).

If the result of the determination in step ST11 is negative, the value of the branch destination register 8 is set in the loop start register 101-2 of the loop recognition section 10-2, and the loop end register 102-2 is branched. By setting the value of the original register 9 and the value of the trace counter 4 in the loop trace counter 103-2, the loop recognition information held by the loop recognition unit 10-2 is updated (step ST13). Next, the loop start register 101-1 and the loop end register 102- of the loop recognition unit 10-1
For example, the maximum value that can be set in the register is set to 1 to initialize the loop recognizing unit 10-1 (step ST14), and after executing step ST7, the operation starts again from step ST2.

If an affirmative decision is made in step ST11, the trace recognizing unit 10-
The value of the loop trace counter 103-2 of No. 2 is set (step ST12), the processing of step ST7 is performed, and then the operation starts again from step ST2.

On the other hand, if a negative decision is made in step ST10, the value of the loop end register 102-3 of the loop recognition section 10-3 is less than or equal to the value of the branch destination register 8 or greater than or equal to the value of the branch source register 9. Is determined (step ST20), and if the determination is affirmative, the loop recognition unit 1
The value of the loop start register 101-3 of 0-3 is equal to the value of the branch destination register 8 and the loop end register 102
It is determined whether the value of -3 is equal to the value of the branch source register 9 (step ST21).

As a result, if the determination is negative, the value of the branch destination register 8 is set in the loop start register 101-3 of the loop recognition unit 10-3, and the loop end register 102-
3 is set to the value of the branch source register 9, and the loop trace counter 103-3 is set to the value of the trace counter 4 to update the loop recognition information held by the loop recognition unit 10-3 (step ST23). .. Next, the loop start register 10 of the loop recognition unit 10-1 to 10-2
1-1 to 101-2 and loop end register 102-1 to
For example, the maximum value is set in 102-2 to initialize the loop recognition units 10-1 to 10-2 (step ST24), and after executing step ST7, the operation starts again from step ST2.

On the other hand, if an affirmative decision is made in step ST21, the loop recognizing unit 10-
The value of the loop trace counter 103-3 of No. 3 is set (step ST22), and after step ST7 is executed, the operation starts again from step ST2. If a negative decision is made in step ST20, then step ST is left as it is.
After performing the processing of 7, the operation starts again from step ST2.

Example 2. In the above embodiment, the backward branch detection unit detects the backward branch occurrence by comparing the previous value and the current value of the microprogram address, but the microprogram being executed is a branch instruction. May be used to detect the backward branch from the operand part of the branch instruction or the microprogram address, and the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0025]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the backward branch detecting section detects the backward branch in the execution of the microprogram, and the loop start register, the loop end register and Since the loop trace counter is configured to store the loop information at the time of detecting the backward branch, regarding the repeated execution part of the microprogram, the trace information is left only for the first and last times of the repeated execution, In the trace of the microprogram including the repetitive execution part, there is an effect that an information control device capable of leaving the execution results of the microprogram in a wider range in the trace memory with the trace memory having the same capacity can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since all trace information is stored in the trace memory when the instruction to detect the backward branch is not given, it is necessary to detect the backward branch. There is an effect that it is possible to obtain an information control device that can instruct whether or not to use a mode instructing signal.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3,
A plurality of loop recognizing units are provided, and weighted loop identification IDs are given to the respective loop recognizing units, and the content of the loop end register holds a value equal to or lower than the branch destination microprogram address or higher than the branch source microprogram address. Since the selection is performed according to the weight of the assigned loop identification ID, there is an effect that efficient trace processing can be performed even for a microprogram having a more complicated repeated loop.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of a trace operation in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional information control device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a trace result.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Trace Memory 4 Trace Counter 7 Back Branch Detection Unit 8 Branch Destination Register 9 Branch Source Register 10-1 to 10-N Loop Recognition Unit 101-N Loop Start Register 102-N Loop End Register 103-N Loop Trace Counter

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The instructions of a microprogram are executed
Increment the trace counter by 1 each time
Trace information synchronized with the execution of the micro program
To the address pointed to by the trace counter in the trace memory.
In an information control device that has a trace function
When the instruction of the micro program is executed, the branch instruction
Program below the microprogram address where the directive is placed
A backward branch that detects a backward branch that branches to a ram address
Detecting unit and branch destination micro program when the backward branch occurs
A branch destination register that latches the value of the RAM address;
When the backward branch occurs, the branch source microprogram address
A branch source register for latching a value, and the microprogram
A loop start record to recognize the repeated execution part of the ram.
Registers, loop end registers, and loop trace registers
With a loop recognizer that has a counter
Sometimes the loop start register, loop end register,
And the loop trace counter are initialized and the trace is started.
When the backward branch detection unit detects a backward branch,
Contents of branch destination register and loop start register, and
Compare the contents of the branch source register and loop end register
However, if both match, the trace cow
Set the value of the loop trace counter to
If there is a mismatch on either side, start the loop
Register the value of the branch destination register to the end of the loop
The value of the branch source register is stored in the register
Set the trace counter value to the
An information control device characterized by: 2. The trace information about the execution of all microprograms is stored in the trace memory when a backward branch detection instruction is not given to the backward branch detection unit. Information control device described. 3. A plurality of the loop recognizing units are provided, a weighted loop identification ID for identifying each loop recognizing unit is given to each of them, and the loop start register, the loop end register, and The loop trace counter is initialized, and after the trace is started, when the backward branch detection unit detects a backward branch, the content of the loop end register has a value equal to or lower than the branch destination microprogram address or equal to or higher than the branch source microprogram address. One of the loop recognition units to hold is selected according to the weight of the loop identification ID, and the contents of the branch destination register and the loop start register and the branch source register are selected for the selected loop recognition unit. The contents of the loop end register are compared. If the value of the loop trace counter is set to the source counter, and if there is a mismatch in either one of the loop start register, the loop end register, and the loop trace counter of the selected loop recognition unit, the branch destination register, 3. The information control device according to claim 1, wherein the branch source register or the trace counter value is set, respectively.