JPH05297973A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently and for many hours execute storage holding by dividing a storage means into areas of suitable size and selecting only the area which necessitates the storage holding, and constituting a storage holding means at the time when a main power source is disconnected and a means for recovering normalcy at the time when a power source is turned on. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 12 for controlling a system controls a backup controller 16 in accordance with a storage processing program stored in a ROM 11. In a main storage device 15, information is stored through an interface circuit 18 and a DMA controller 17, and when a main power source is disconnected, the storage contents are held by power supplied from a sub-power source 14. When the main power source 13 is turned on, a processing for recovering normalcy of the main storage device 15 subjected to storage holding is executed, and an initializing program IPL is executed. A finish processing of the system of a communication processing, and a data editing processing, etc., is executed, and when an operator turns off a power source switch, a finish processing program of the system is executed, and after the storage holding processing, the main power source is disconnected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of retaining stored information even after the main power supply is cut off.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventionally known storage holding mechanism of an information processing device, even if the main storage device includes an area that does not need to be held after the main power is cut off, this unnecessary area is stored. I didn't have a way to tell. For this reason,
The power for holding the memory is supplied over a wide continuous area on the main memory, and the limited power of the sub-power source is not effectively used, which causes a reduction in the time that the memory can be held.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventionally known storage holding mechanism of the information processing apparatus, the power consumption of the sub power supply increases when the storage holding operation is performed after the main power supply is cut off. There were defects. That is,
Due to the power consumption in the area that does not require the memory retention, there is a problem that the memory retention cannot be performed for a long time in the area in which the information that requires the memory retention is stored.

Therefore, in view of the above points, the object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus configured so that necessary information can be stored for a long time by suppressing the power consumption of the sub power supply after the main power supply is cut off.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an information processing apparatus provided with a storage means capable of holding record information by a sub power source even after the main power source is turned off. A selection unit that selects an area of the storage unit that is to be stored and held; a holding unit that holds the storage of the region selected by the selection unit; and a main content based on the storage content held by the holding unit. And a control means for recovering the storage means when the power is turned on.

[0006]

In the present invention, in order to retain the stored information by the sub power source even after the main power source is turned off, the storage means is divided into several areas, the area requiring the memory retention is selected, and the selected area is selected. By supplying power to the sub-power supply and holding the memory, the power consumption of the sub-power supply is suppressed and the memory can be held for a long time.

That is, when the area to be stored and held is determined by the selection means, the area is stored and held by the holding means, so that there is no power consumption of the sub power source in the useless area and necessary information is stored. It is possible to store and hold the specified area for a long time. Furthermore, the control unit recognizes the area that was stored and held when the main power was turned on and the area that was not held, and performs recovery processing so that the main memory operates normally, so stable operation is possible. Becomes

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a storage holding mechanism in an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 12 is a CPU that controls the entire system, and controls the backup controller 16 in accordance with a microprogram (stored in the ROM 11) for performing a memory holding process. 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a main memory device, in which information is recorded via the interface circuit 18 and the DMA (direct memory reference) controller 17, and when the main power source 13 is turned off, the storage is performed by the power supplied from the sub power source 14. Content is retained. The sub power supply 14 is charged by receiving power supply from the main power supply 13 when the main power supply is on.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing memory allocation of the main storage device 15 shown in FIG. In this figure,
Reference numeral 21 is one unit of a memory block, which is divided into blocks each having a size of 4 kilobytes, for example. Reference numeral 22 is a memory block information table showing the data storage state of each memory block 21 that is stored and held. As indicated by reference numeral 24, one bit corresponds to one block in the order of each memory block. That is, 1 and 0 correspond to the presence / absence of storage retention. Unlike other memory blocks, this memory block information table 22 is always stored and held regardless of whether the main power supply 13 is on or off. Reference numeral 23 is a boot address, and when the main power is turned on, the boot program is executed from this address.
The memory block information table 22 is located behind this boot area.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing state when the data is stored and held in the main storage device 15. As shown in the figure, the storage retention information of the memory block information table 22 is transferred to the backup controller 16 and the sub power supply 1
The switch 33 selects whether or not the power of 4 is supplied to each memory block 21.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the entire embodiment. Hereinafter, each process S41 to S46 will be described.

First, when the main power supply 13 of the system is turned on, the main storage device 15 stored and held in S41.
A process for recovering (hereinafter, referred to as a memory) to normal is performed, and in S42, the system initialization program IPL is executed. In S43, the main processing of the system such as communication processing and data editing processing is performed. When the operator turns off the power switch of the system in S44, the system termination processing program is executed in S45, and the memory is stored in S46. After the memory holding process is performed, the main power supply is cut off.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the flow of the memory holding process shown in S46 of FIG. This memory holding operation is as follows.

First, in S51, the memory block information table 22 is initialized, and in S52, a bit indicating which memory block is currently referred to. Set 1 to ptr. Bit in S53 Memory block Mem indicated by ptr It is determined whether all 0's in the blk. If all 0's, the process skips to S55, and if any one element is not 0, bit Memory block information table Mem indicated by ptr The tbl is set to 1 and is set as a memory retention target.

In S55, the memory block pointer bi
t Advance ptr by one. Bit in S56
ptr is the final pointer end of the memory block ptr
If it is final, it is assumed that the processing has been completed for all the memory blocks, and in S57, based on the contents of the memory block information table 22, as shown in FIG.
The memory controller stores a memory block storage command to the backup controller 16.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a memory recovery process for normally recovering the contents of the memory held by the memory holding process of FIG. Next, this memory recovery operation will be described.

First, in S61 of FIG. 6, it is checked whether or not the power of the sub-power source 14 is discharged. If it is determined in S62 that the power is discharged, there is power for holding the memory. Since it does not exist, the stored contents are considered to be unstable, and the contents of all memory blocks are initialized to 0 in S68. On the other hand, if it is determined that the battery has not been discharged, the memory retention is valid, and the process proceeds to S63 and subsequent steps. In S63, a pointer bit of the memory block information ptr is set to 1 and bit is set in S64. pt
It is determined whether the value of the memory block information table indicated by r is 0, and if it is 0, bit Memory block Mem indicated by ptr Since blk is not stored in memory,
This area is initialized with 0.

In S67, bit Advance ptr by 1, S6
Final pointer end at 8 It is determined whether or not it is ptr, and if it is final, the process is ended.

Second Embodiment In addition to the storage holding operation described in the first embodiment, when two blocks are compressed and stored in one block, the amount of memory blocks to be stored and held may be close to 1/2. it can. From this viewpoint, referring to FIGS. 7 to 9,
The second embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 7 shows the main storage device 15 of FIG. 2 provided with an additional portion for this embodiment, and a compression information table 72 is added in addition to the memory block information table 71.
The compression information table 72 is a bitmap table indicating whether or not the storage content of the corresponding memory block is compressed, and 1 and 0 correspond to compression and non-compression, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the memory holding process in this embodiment, and the memory holding operation will be described below only with respect to the part different from FIG. 5 shown above.

In step S82, the compression information table is first created.
It becomes a term. At S86, the current memory block point
Tabbit ptr is the compressed memory block pointer com
Substitute in ptr. Then, in S87, bit ptr
To 1 and S88 to com memory block next to ptr
Mem blk [bit whether ptr] is all 0
If it is all 0, the process proceeds to S8e. Also, with 0
If there is no element, com ptr and bit pt
Since the two memory blocks of r are stored and held,
In S89, these two memory blocks are compressed
Temporary evacuation area Wk Store in area.

Wk in S8a stored in area
Compressed data size and Mem the unit size of blk
Compare, Wk If area is small, S8b and S
Bit in 8c ptr, com Compressed information of ptr
Set 1 in the report table 1 and Wk in S8d a
com contents of rea To the memory block indicated by ptr
Store.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the memory recovery process, and this memory recovery operation will be described below with respect to a portion unique to FIG.

In S94, bit Memory block information Mem indicated by ptr When it is determined that tbl is 1, the compression information table com in S99. t
If bl is judged, and if it is 1, it means that the image is compressed. The expansion processing of blk is performed.

Mem at S94 If tbl is 0, in S95, com If tbl is determined, if it is 1, it is the memory block expanded in the previous loop, so skip to S97, and if it is 0, bit The memory block indicated by ptr is initialized.

Embodiment 3 The memory holding mechanism is effective as long as the auxiliary power supply (for example, Ni-Cd battery or large-capacity capacitor) supplies electric power, but the memory is not held when the auxiliary power supply is discharged.

Here, if the power supplied from the sub power source is discharged with the characteristics shown in FIG. 10, the stored contents will become unstable with time. Therefore,
Rather than holding all memory blocks instable, the power supply to the less important memory blocks is cut off at the beginning of the power reduction, and that amount is supplied to the more important memory blocks to save important data. It is more effective to hold it alone. From this point of view, the third embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing this embodiment. In this embodiment, in the backup controller connected to the memory block group 103, the power supplied from the sub power supply 102 is supplied through the power supply module 101 for each priority, thereby cutting off the power in order of priority. It is a thing.

FIG. 12 shows a circuit example of the power supply module 101 for each priority shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the voltage V _cc is applied to the terminal 112 from the sub power supply, and power is supplied from the terminal 114 (V _m ) to each memory block. However, the value of the resistor R1 should be changed for each memory block. Allows the base current of the transistor 113 to be controlled even if the same voltage as V _cc is applied. Therefore, the presence or absence of the collector current is determined by whether or not the base current satisfies the driving condition of the transistor 113, and the supply to V _m can be controlled.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the storage means is divided into areas of an appropriate size, and only the area that needs to be stored is selected, and the storage is held after the main power is turned off. Since the storage means is provided with a means for recovering the storage means to normal when the power is turned on, the storage can be held efficiently and for a long time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a storage holding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a memory map diagram showing a memory configuration on a main storage device in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which a main storage device is stored and held.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the system operation of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a memory holding process in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a memory recovery process in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a memory map diagram showing a memory configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a memory holding process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a memory recovery process in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a voltage of a sub power supply included in an embodiment of the present invention-
It is a diagram showing a time characteristic.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a relationship between a memory block and a backup controller according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a priority-based power supply module according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ROM (Built-in Micro Program) 12 CPU 13 Main Power Supply 14 Sub Power Supply 15 Main Storage Device 16 Backup Controller 17 DMA Controller 18 Interface Circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising a storage means capable of holding record information by a sub power supply even after the main power supply is turned off, and selects an area of the storage means to be stored and held. Selecting means, holding means for holding the storage of the area selected by the selecting means, and control means for performing recovery processing on the storing means when the main power is turned on based on the stored contents held by the holding means. An information processing device comprising: