JPH05233511A - Electronic computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the size of an operating system and to reduce an overhead. CONSTITUTION:If the device drivers 15a-15n are not loaded yet when the corresponding devices 19a-19n are requested, a device driver dynamic loading part 13 of an operating system 11 loads the device drivers 15a-15n into a main memory from a file system 17 and executed. When the due processing is complete, the loaded drivers 15a-15n are automatically unloaded by a device driver unloading part 12 and these loading areas are released. As a result, the size of the system 11 is reduced and the processing over head is also reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic computer system in which various peripheral devices can be connected to an electronic computer body, and more particularly to a technique for realizing a reduction in size of an operating system and an increase in processing speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an electronic computer system, a peripheral device control program called a device driver is required to control each device (peripheral device) that can be connected to the computer main body.

While these devices range from those that are frequently used to those that are rarely used, conventional operating systems have all these device drivers pre-installed. As a result, the size of the operating system has increased and the processing overhead has increased.

[0004]

In the conventional operating system, since all device drivers are built in advance to be manufactured, the size of the operating system becomes large and the processing overhead becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and reduces the size of an operating system.
An object is to provide an electronic computer system that can reduce processing overhead.

[0006]

Means and Actions for Solving the Problems
In an electronic computer system in which various peripheral devices can be connected to a computer main body, means for executing a peripheral device control program corresponding to a peripheral device to be used from a secondary storage device to a main storage device in response to an input / output request And a means for unloading the loaded peripheral device control program to release the storage area of the main storage device when the processing according to the input / output request is completed. ..

In this electronic computer system, the corresponding peripheral device control program is loaded and executed when a request is made to the peripheral device, and the peripheral device control program loaded when the processing is completed is unloaded. It is loaded and the loaded area is released. Therefore, the size of the operating system can be reduced, and the overhead in processing can be reduced.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an electronic computer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This electronic computer system is configured such that various devices (printers, mice, communication devices, peripheral devices for input / output of disks, etc.) can be connected to the computer main body. In order to control these devices, the operating system 11
A device driver unload unit 12, a device driver dynamic load unit 13, an input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14 are provided. The device driver unload unit 12, the device driver dynamic load unit 13, the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14 are all realized by software.

Each of the processes 16a, 16b ... 16n issues a request to the operating system 11 when performing input / output with a device. It is the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14 in the operating system 11 that processes this input / output request. The input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14 includes processes 16a, 16b ... 16
Requests from n to the device driver and interrupts from the device are processed.

Device driver dynamic load unit 1
In No. 3, if the corresponding device driver is not loaded when the input / output request is issued, the device driver is dynamically loaded and executed.

The device driver unload unit 12 unloads the device driver when the input / output processing is completed, and releases the area on the main memory for the device driver.

Device drivers 15a, 15b ... 15n
Is a program for controlling the devices 19a, 19b ... 19n under the operating system 11, respectively.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
Load the device driver when an I / O request is made,
A flow of processing from the input / output processing by the device driver to the unloading of the loaded device driver will be described.

For example, the process 16a includes the device 19a.
Operating system 11 when inputting / outputting with
Make a request to. This request is accepted by the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14, and the device driver dynamic load unit 13 is activated.

The device driver dynamic load unit 13 includes the device driver file 18a of the file system 17 stored in the secondary storage device if the device driver 15a for controlling the device 19a is not loaded in the main storage. Select an appropriate file from the above, load it into the main memory, and transfer control to the loaded device driver 15a (steps A11, A1).
2).

The loaded device driver 15a is
It receives an input / output request and a request from the interrupt processing unit 14, and exchanges input / output with the device 19a. When the input / output of the device 19a is completed, an interrupt is issued from the device 19a (step A13). When this interrupt is received by the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14, it is determined which device (here, the device 19a) is the interrupt, and an appropriate device driver (here,
The control is transferred to the device driver 15a) (step A14).

When the device driver 15a completes the interrupt processing, the I / O request and interrupt processing unit 14 receives the result and returns it to the process (step A1).
5). When the processing is completed, the operating system 11
The device driver unloading unit 12 in unloads the loaded device driver 15a and releases the area on the main memory for the device driver 15a (step A16).

As described above, in this computer system, the corresponding device drivers 15a to 15n are loaded and executed when a request is issued to the devices 19a to 19n, and loaded when the processing is completed. The device drivers 15a to 15n are unloaded and the loaded area is released. Therefore, the size of the operating system can be reduced, and the overhead in processing can be reduced. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Each of the processes 16a, 16b ... 16n issues a request to the operating system 11 when inputting / outputting with the device. It is the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14 in the operating system that processes this input / output request. When an I / O request is issued, the I / O request and interrupt processing unit 14 records the time when the I / O request is issued in the time recording area 30, and the device driver dynamic load unit 13 is used to store the time in the file system 17. Device driver files 18a, 18b
18n, an appropriate file is selected, an appropriate device driver (15a, 15b ... 15n) is loaded, and control is transferred to the loaded device driver. The device drivers 15a, 15b ... 15n receive the input / output request and the request from the interrupt processing unit 14 and exchange the input / output with an appropriate device. When the input / output on the device side is completed, an interrupt is applied from the device. The interrupt is received by the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14, and the process is passed to an appropriate device driver.

When the device driver completes the interrupt processing, the I / O request and interrupt processing unit 14 receives the result and returns it to the process. The device driver unload unit 12 in the operating system 11 monitors the area 30 and unloads the device driver of the device driver that satisfies a certain condition of the elapsed time from the time when the last input / output request is issued. Load to free the storage used by the device driver.
The conditions for the elapsed time are defined as follows: (1) A fixed time is set for all device drivers. (2) Each device driver has an individual fixed time. (3) The time is dynamically changed for each device driver. And so on.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the third embodiment of the present invention, in which the processing unit 14 handles the input / output request and interrupt in the second embodiment, and the input / output request processing unit 14a processes the request from the process. And the interrupt processing unit 14b that processes the interrupt from the device,
Others are the same as the second embodiment. FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram of the Example of.

Each of the processes 16a, 16b ... 16n issues a request to the operating system 11 when performing input / output with a device. The input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14 processes the input / output request. When an input / output request is issued, the input / output request and interrupt processing unit 14
Records the time at which the I / O request is issued in the time recording area 30, and if the necessary device driver is built in the operating system in advance (device driver 1
5z) The device driver dynamic load unit 13 is used to load and execute the required device driver when an input / output request is issued, if it is not built in the device driver in advance.

The built-in device driver 15z or the loaded device drivers 15a to 15n receive the input / output request and the request from the interrupt processing section 14 and exchange the input / output with an appropriate device. When I / O on the device side is completed, an interrupt is issued from the device.
4 receives and passes the process to the appropriate device driver.

When the device driver completes the interrupt processing, the I / O request and interrupt processing unit 14 receives the result and returns it to the process. The device driver unloading unit 12 in the operating system 11 monitors the area 30 and detects the device driver for a non-built-in device driver that satisfies a certain condition of the elapsed time from the time of the last input / output request. Unload the driver and free the storage used by the device driver. The conditions for the elapsed time are defined as follows: (1) A fixed time is set for all device drivers. (2) Each device driver has an individual fixed time. (3) The time is dynamically changed for each device driver. And so on.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the device driver is loaded as needed and its use is completed, or when the input / output request does not occur for a predetermined time after the device driver is loaded. , That device driver is unloaded. Therefore, the operating system 11 placed in the main memory can be made small.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the size of the operating system can be reduced and the processing overhead can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Operating system, 12 ... Device driver unload unit, 13 ... Device driver dynamic load unit, 14 ... Input / output request and interrupt processing unit,
15a to 15n ... Device driver, 16a to 16n ...
Process, 17 ... File system.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a computer system in which various peripheral devices can be connected to a computer main body, a peripheral device control program corresponding to a peripheral device to be used is loaded from a secondary storage device to a main storage device in response to an input / output request. And unloading the loaded peripheral device control program to release the storage area of the main storage device when the processing according to the input / output request is completed. An electronic computer system characterized in that 2. In an electronic computer system in which various peripheral devices are connected to a computer main body, a peripheral device control program corresponding to a peripheral device to be used is transferred from a secondary storage device to a main storage device in response to an input / output request. A means for loading and executing; and when an input / output request corresponding to the peripheral device control program loaded on the main storage device does not occur for a predetermined time, the peripheral device control program is unloaded to perform the main storage. And a means for releasing the storage area of the device.