JPH06149762A - Conflict operation testing system for computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To test conflict operation of the common device of a multiprocessor computer system efficiently in a short time with high precision. CONSTITUTION:For the conflict test, initial conflict time setting data 101 supplied to a test program 102 are used and the test program 102 is started by plural processors in the computer system 103 by conducting a 1st test. In this 1st test, a conflict time monitor device 104 incorporated in the computer system 103 monitors the operation state of the common device and the result is read out as a conflict time measured value 105. This conflict time measured value 105 is a measured value of a difference in the time when the common device is accessed by plural processors and generated into conflict time setting data 106 on conflict occurrence which can absorb the time difference. The test program 102 conducts a 2nd conflict test by using the conflict time setting data 106. Consequently, a difference in the timing of a conflict when the 1st test is conducted is absorbed and a secure conflict to the common device can be caused by the 2nd execution.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a competitive operation test method for a computer system having a multiprocessor structure, and more particularly, to easily create a state in which access requests for devices shared by a plurality of processors compete with each other, and The present invention relates to a competitive operation test method for a computer system that enables efficient testing in an environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a computer system such as a vector processor or a multi-processor has access to a device shared by a plurality of processors, for example, a shared memory device, when the plurality of processors execute separate processes. To do. In that case, access operations of two or more processors may conflict.

Although it is necessary to perform a test for such access conflict, it has been conventionally difficult to automatically perform a competitive operation test by a plurality of processors due to problems such as timing causing conflict.

As a conventional technique relating to the competitive operation test of this type of computer system, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-6364 is used.
The technology described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2 etc. is known.

This prior art is a method in which each of two or more processors executes a test program, each processor monitors its operation, and as a result, the operator judges that a competitive operation is actually occurring. is there. That is, according to this conventional technique, a competition display circuit having a competition display register for displaying the competition status of a processing request is provided in a computer system, and an operator identifies the competition operation occurrence status by the content of the competition display register at the time of a competition test. It is to judge whether the result of the competitive operation test is correct or not. Therefore, in this test method, the processing requests from the plurality of processors to the shared device do not compete unless the test is performed for a long time.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Since an operator monitors a plurality of processors to execute a test program and displays the operating status of the test program on a competition display circuit, the operator monitors the competition display register to determine whether the competitive operation test of the computer system is correct or not. Must be present, and since the operator judges whether the result of the competitive operation test is correct or not, a different phenomenon occurs each time the test result occurs, and the accuracy of the competitive operation test decreases. There is.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the situation in which the competing operation has occurred is simply reported, the competing operation cannot always be generated and reported within a fixed time, and it is different every time. It occurs at the timing, so
It has a problem that the competitive test cannot be performed efficiently.

As described above, in the prior art, the consideration of the test accuracy is insufficient, and the operator determines the end of the competitive operation test, so that the same test result cannot be obtained every time. There is a problem that a competitive test with high reliability cannot be performed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to reliably generate a competitive operation in a short time, and to perform an efficient, highly accurate and highly reliable competitive operation test. It is to provide a competing operation test method for a computer system capable of performing.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the object is to provide a monitoring device for monitoring the operating condition of access requests from a plurality of processors to a shared device, and the main processor can be a sub-processor. In response to starting the test program, the test program itself is also started, and the test program of the monitoring device is started by issuing a specific command, and the monitoring device is instructed to start monitoring the operating status of the shared device. Is issued to cause the access requests from the respective processors to compete on the shared device.

Further, the above-mentioned object is to provide a processing routine for the monitoring device to monitor what kind of operation the access request from a plurality of processors has performed on the shared device, and the main processor among the plurality of processors is provided. Is issued by the monitoring device by invoking the processing routine to monitor the operating status of the shared device.

Further, the above-mentioned object is that the monitoring device receives the operating condition from the shared device, transfers the operating condition to the test program by a specific command from the main processor, and ends the monitoring by the specific command. West,
The test program of the main processor grasps the operating status of the shared device by reporting the operating status from the monitoring device, detects the time difference between the access requests from the main processor and sub-processor, and based on this detection result. By controlling the access request from each processor to the shared device by the test program, a competitive environment is created to perform the test.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a specific instruction from a test program activates a monitoring device for collecting timings of access requests to a shared device from a plurality of processors, and timings of access requests to the shared device collected by the monitoring device. The test program measures the difference in the timing of access requests from each processor to the shared device based on the collected operation status information, and synchronizes the access requests from the multiple processors to the shared device. .

Therefore, according to the present invention, the monitoring device can automatically determine the occurrence of the competing operation without the operator determining the occurrence of the competing operation, so that the competing operation can be generated in a short time. It is possible to perform competitive tests with high accuracy and efficiency.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a competitive operation test method for a computer system according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a competition test according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a method for measuring a competition time. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the competition test according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 101 is initial conflict time setting data,
102 is a test program, 103 is a computer system, 1
04 is a competition time monitoring device, 105 is a competition time measurement value,
106 is contention time setting data for occurrence of contention, 210, 21
1 is an instruction processor, 220 and 221 are I / O processors, 230 is a service processor, 240 is a storage control unit, 241 is a contention time monitoring device, and 250 is a main storage device.

First, an outline of a competitive test method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the computer system 103 includes a plurality of processors and a shared device commonly accessed by these processors, as will be described later.

A competition test from a plurality of processors for the shared device of the computer system 103 is as follows.
The initial competition time setting data 101 given to the test program 102 is used to start the test program 102 by a plurality of processors in the computer system 103 for the first test execution.

During this first test, the computer system 10
The contention time monitoring device 104 built in 3 monitors the operating state of the shared device, and displays the result as the contention time measurement value 1
Read as 05. The contention time measurement value 105 is a measurement value of a time difference between times when the shared device is accessed by a plurality of processors, and the initial contention time setting data 101.
It is generated in the conflict time setting data 106 in the same format as that of the conflict occurrence that can absorb the time difference.

The test program 102 executes the second competition test using the above-mentioned competition time setting data 106 for occurrence of competition. In this case, the difference in the timing of the signal line at the time of the first execution is absorbed, and the competition for the shared device can be surely caused at the second execution.

In the above description, the competition time setting data 101
Indicates the number of executions of the dummy instruction given to the test program 102, the execution start time of the instruction, etc., and the target signal line,
That is, the data is data for causing contention of access signal lines from a plurality of processors under test execution.
The value at the time of the second test execution is an initial value used for measuring the contention time, and it is possible that contention of the signal line occurs at the expected timing only by accident.

The contention time monitoring device 104 measures the time until the occurrence of contention on the signal line at this time, and uses the contention time measurement value 105 to determine the number of executions of the dummy instruction sequence, the instruction execution start time, and the like. The designated conflict time setting data 106 for occurrence of conflict is generated. A plurality of processors in the computer system 103 execute the test program 102 using the contention time setting data 106. As a result, it is possible to surely cause competition with the shared device at an expected timing.

If the contention time measurement value 105 obtained as a result of the first test execution indicates that signal line competition has already occurred, the second test execution is performed. You don't have to.

The computer system 103 which is the subject of the competition test according to the embodiment of the present invention described above includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, instruction processors 210, 211, I / O processors 220, 221 and a service processor 230. A plurality of processors, a main storage device 250 commonly accessed by these processors, and a storage control unit 2
And 40. The contention time monitoring device 104 is provided in the storage control unit 240 which is the center of each processor and resource.

In the computer system configured as described above, the data transfer request signal 260 of the instruction processor 210 and the data transfer request signal 261 of the instruction processor 211 shown in FIG. And signal lines S0 and S1, respectively.

After the test is started, the competition time monitoring device 104
Monitors the signal lines S0 and S1 to be monitored specified by the test program 102, and collects signals corresponding to the execution cycle of the computer system 103 from the signal lines S0 and S1 from each processor. Thereby, for example, the result as shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained.

That is, in this example, T is connected to the signal line S0.
There is a data transfer request from 1 to T3, and the signal line S1
This means that there was a data transfer request from T3 to T6.
The competition start time difference is t0 for 2 cycles, the competition occurrence time is t1 for 1 cycle, and the competition end time is for difference t2 is 3 cycles.

According to this monitoring result, if the difference of t0 is set to be 0, data transfer requests are simultaneously generated,
Conflicts can occur. These contention time measurement values are read in the test program, and the test according to the instruction of the test program that satisfies the target conflict occurrence condition can be executed, whereby the target conflict operation is generated and the test is performed. It becomes possible to do.

In the above description, the signal lines S0 and S1 are
Although the competition test with the same timing is performed, the present invention may perform a test other than the same timing by setting the timing difference and executing the test program. it can.

Next, the operation of the competition test according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

(1) First, a signal that causes a conflict is selected, initial conflict time setting data that specifies the number of dummy instructions and the execution start time is set in the test program, and a test instruction string is provided to a plurality of processors. Is given (step 410,
411).

(2) The main processor activates the test program for the sub-processor, and also activates the test program by itself to issue a specific instruction to execute the test program of the monitoring device. It is activated, and an instruction to start monitoring the operating status of the shared device is issued to the monitoring device. Then, the test instruction sequence is executed to execute the first competition test. The main processor is arbitrarily determined by selecting one of the plurality of processors executing the instruction sequence for the competition test (step 412).

(3) As a result of the execution of the test instruction sequence in step 412, it is checked whether or not an error has occurred. If an error has occurred, the error is detected as an error caused by conflict with the shared device. Assuming that some error has occurred, output an error message,
The test ends (steps 413 and 414).

(4) As a result of the check in step 413,
If no error has occurred, read the contention time measurement and check if a contention has occurred. If a conflict has occurred, it is determined that the conflict has occurred and the test has been normally executed, and the test ends (step 415,
416).

(5) If the expected conflict does not occur in the check in step 416, the conflict occurrence that specifies the number of dummy instructions and the execution start time is determined based on the conflict time measurement value read in step 415. Contention time setting data is generated, and the contention time setting data generated in the test program is set (steps 417 and 418).

(6) Each processor sets the test instruction sequence in which the conflict time setting data for conflict occurrence is set, in step 41.
It is executed in the same manner as the case of the execution of step 2 (step 419).

(7) As a result of the execution of the test instruction sequence in step 419, it is checked whether or not an error has occurred. If an error has occurred, the error is detected as an error caused by conflict with the shared device. Assuming that some error has occurred, output an error message,
The test ends (steps 420 and 414).

(8) As a result of the check in step 420,
If no error occurs, it is determined that a conflict has occurred and the test has been executed normally, and the test ends.

In the above description, the initial conflict time setting data and the conflict time conflict setting data that are set are mainly the number of dummy instructions and the instruction execution start time. Although the timing is used to specify the timing of conflict occurrence, this data can be set by a device provided inside the computer system for controlling the operation timing. In addition, the competition test described above is actually repeated multiple times.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the timing of access requests from a plurality of processors to the shared device can be collected by the monitoring device, and the difference in the timings can be reflected in the test program. Efficient and highly reliable competitive operation tests for shared devices in processor computer systems,
This makes it possible to improve the quality of the multiprocessor computer system.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, the competitive operation can be reliably generated in a short time, and the competitive operation test for the shared device can be efficiently performed with high accuracy and high reliability. It can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a competition test according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of measuring a competition time.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a competition test according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Initial Contention Time Setting Data 102 Test Program 103 Computer System 104 Contention Time Monitoring Device 105 Contention Time Measurement Value 106 Contention Time Setting Data for Occurrence of Contention 210, 211 Instruction Processor 220, 221 I / O Processor 230 Service Processor 240 Storage Control Unit 241 Contention time monitoring device 250 Main storage device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Okae 1 Horiyamashita, Hadano, Kanagawa Pref., General Computer Division, Hitate Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Kunirou Kondo 1 Horiyamashita, Hadano, Kanagawa Factory General Computer Division

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A competing operation test method for a computer system comprising a plurality of processors and a shared device shared by these processors, comprising a monitoring device for monitoring a contention state for the shared device, wherein the plurality of processors conduct a test. An access request is issued to the shared device by executing a program, and the access requests to the shared device are synchronized from each processor based on the information on the contention state obtained from the monitoring device, and then a plurality of processors are provided. Executing a test program again to cause a conflicting operation of access requests to the shared device. 2. The monitoring device monitors the access timing from each processor to the shared device in response to an instruction from a main processor among a plurality of processors executing the test program, and measures the timing difference. The competing operation test method of a computer system according to claim 1. 3. The synchronization of access requests from the respective processors to the shared device is performed by setting a dummy instruction execution count and instruction execution start time in the test program. The competitive operation test method of the computer system according to 1 or 2.