JPH0561784A - Bus controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten time required for inspecting a system and to shorten time for starting the system or time for occupying a bus with the inspection while operating the system. CONSTITUTION:At the system equipped with a central processing unit, main memory, system maintaining device and input/output controller connected through a bus one and another, a bus controller 1 connected through a bus 11 to the input/output controller and connected through an input/output bus 12 to plural peripheral devices is equipped with a resource check means 32 to check the resources of the peripheral devices when starting the system, reporting means 33 to report the checked result, health check means 34 to execute the health checks of the peripheral devices when operating the system, and reporting means 35 to report the checked results.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bus controller provided between an input / output controller and a plurality of peripheral devices in a computer system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer system such as an information processing system, a bus to which a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU) and a main memory are connected and an input / output bus to which peripheral devices are connected are separated. is there.

FIG. 3 shows an example of such a system.
In this system, a CPU 5, a main memory 6, a system maintenance device 7 and an input / output control device 8 are connected to a bus 10.
The input / output control device 8 is connected to the bus control devices 1 and 1 via the buses 11 and 11. A plurality of peripheral devices 9 are connected to each bus control device 1 via an input / output bus 12. The bus control device 1 selectively accesses one of the plurality of peripheral devices 9 via the input / output bus 12.

Here, the system maintenance device 7 is a device for managing the entire system, and is adapted to perform a resource check and a health check as described below.

The resource check is an inspection carried out at system startup after the system power is turned on and after system reset. After each device constituting the system completes self-diagnosis, the system maintenance device 7 causes the CPU 5, The memory 6, the input / output control device 8, the bus control device 1, and the peripheral device 9 are checked in this order for the presence or absence of connection of each device and the presence or absence of a failure. The system maintenance device 7
The system configuration information is acquired from the resource information obtained by this check and stored in the local memory in the system maintenance device 7.

The health check is an inspection performed when the system is operating, and the system maintenance device 7 periodically sends to each device in the order of the CPU 5, the input / output control device 8, the bus control device 1 and the peripheral device 9. By making an interrupt, it is checked whether or not the device is currently operating normally depending on the presence or absence of a response from each device. If an abnormality is detected by this check, the device is initialized and the recovery from the abnormal state is attempted. If the error is still detected, the information on the device is rewritten and thereafter removed from the system configuration.

[0007]

However, conventionally, the system maintenance device 7 must check all the resources at the time of starting the system, and the more peripheral devices, the more time is required for the check. However, there is a problem that it takes time to start up the system.

The health check during system operation must also be performed by the system maintenance device 7 by checking whether all the resources are operating normally. There is a problem in that the interval for starting the check of becomes longer and the check takes more time, and the performance of the system is deteriorated because a bus or the like is used during the check.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a bus control device capable of shortening the time required for system inspection.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a bus control device capable of shortening the system startup time.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a bus control device capable of shortening the bus occupation time due to the inspection of the system during system operation.

[0012]

A bus controller according to the present invention is used in a system provided with a central processing unit, a main memory, a system maintenance unit and an input / output control unit which are connected to each other via a bus. Connected to the input / output control device and to the plurality of peripheral devices via the input / output bus, and selectively accessing one of the plurality of peripheral devices via the input / output bus. The bus control means, the inspection means for inspecting the peripheral device, and the reporting means for reporting the inspection result of the inspection means to the system maintenance device are provided.

In this bus control device, the inspection device inspects the peripheral device, and the inspection result is reported to the system maintenance device by the report device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the bus control device according to the first aspect of the invention, in which the inspection means performs an inspection at the time of system startup.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the bus control device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the inspection means performs an inspection during system operation, and the reporting means reports the information only when an abnormality is detected as a result of the inspection. Is reported to the system maintenance device.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention.

The computer system including the bus control device of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 3, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, in this embodiment, the system controller 7 does not perform the resource check and health check for the peripheral device 9, but the bus controller 1 does.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the bus control device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the bus control device 1 includes a CPU 2 connected to each other via a bus 21.
2. Read-only memory (hereinafter referred to as ROM)
23, a random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM) 24, and input / output control devices 25 and 26. The input / output control device 25 is connected to the bus 11 connected to the input / output device 8 of FIG. 3, and the input / output control device 26 is connected to the input / output bus 12 to which the peripheral device 9 of FIG. 3 is connected.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the bus control device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the bus control device 1 includes a bus control means 31 for selectively accessing one of the plurality of peripheral devices 9 via the input / output bus 12 of FIG. Further, the bus controller 1 checks the resources of the peripheral device 9 connected to the bus controller 1 via the input / output bus 12 when the system is started up, and the resource checker 32.
Reporting means 33 for reporting the check result by the system maintenance device 7 and the bus control device 1 during system operation.
A health check means 34 for performing a health check on the peripheral device 9 connected to the system maintenance device 7 via the input / output bus 12, and when an abnormality is detected as a result of the check by the health check means 34, the information is sent to the system maintenance device 7. And reporting means 35 for reporting. Each unit shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the CPU 22 shown in FIG. 2 executing a program stored in the ROM 23 using the RAM 24 as a work area.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, when the system of FIG. 3 is powered on and after the system is reset and the system is started up, after each device constituting the system of FIG.
The system maintenance device 7 checks the resources of the CPU 5, the main memory 6, and the input / output control device 8. At the same time, each bus control device 1 causes the resource check means 32 to send a signal to each peripheral device 9 managed by itself, and checks the resource of the target peripheral device 9 based on the presence or absence of a response thereto. After that, each bus control device 1 sends the resource check information to the system maintenance device 7, and finishes the resource check of the entire system.

During system operation, the bus control means 31
For example, an address assigned to each peripheral device 9 is designated to selectively access one of the plurality of peripheral devices 9 via the input / output bus 12.

When the system is operating, the system maintenance device 7 checks the health of the CPU 5, the input / output control device 8 and the bus control device 1. In parallel with this health check, each bus control device 1 sends a signal to each peripheral device 9 managed by itself by the health check means 34, and checks the health of the target peripheral device 9 based on the presence or absence of a response thereto. . When each bus control device 1 detects an abnormality as a result of the health check of the peripheral device 9,
The information is sent to the system maintenance device 7.

In the above embodiment, the bus controller 1
Although both the resource check means 32 and the reporting means 33 and the health check means 34 and the reporting means 35 are provided in the above, only one of them may be provided.

[0025]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the bus controller is provided with the function of inspecting the peripheral device and reporting the inspection result to the system maintenance device. There is an effect that the peripheral device can be inspected in parallel with the inspection by the device other than the peripheral device, and the time required for the system inspection can be shortened.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the bus control device is provided with a function of inspecting the peripheral device at the time of system startup, so that the peripheral device at the time of system startup can be inspected. The input and output buses can be divided and simultaneously performed, which has the effect of shortening the system startup time.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the bus control device has a function of inspecting the peripheral device especially during system operation and reporting the information to the system maintenance device only when there is an abnormality. By having such an effect, there is an effect that the bus occupancy time for inspection can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing functions of a bus control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a bus control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a system including a bus control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Bus Control Device 5 Central Processing Unit 6 Main Memory 7 System Maintenance Device 8 Input / Output Device 9 Peripheral Device 10, 11 Bus 12 Input / Output Bus 31 Bus Control Means 32 Resource Checking Means 34 Health Checking Means 33, 35 Reporting Means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Used in a system having a central processing unit, a main memory, a system maintenance unit, and an input / output control unit, which are connected to each other via a bus, and are connected to the input / output control unit and connected to the input / output bus. A bus control device connected to a plurality of peripheral devices via a bus control means for selectively accessing one of the plurality of peripheral devices via the input / output bus, and an inspection of the peripheral device. A bus control device comprising: an inspecting unit for performing an inspection; and a reporting unit for reporting an inspection result of the inspecting unit to the system maintenance device. 2. The bus control device according to claim 1, wherein the inspection means performs an inspection at system startup. 3. The inspection means performs an inspection during system operation, and the reporting means reports the information to the system maintenance device only when an abnormality is detected as a result of the inspection. Bus control device as described.