JPH0652074A - Test device for communication interface board - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a test device capable of efficiently testing plural communication I/F boards by one information processor. CONSTITUTION:This device is comprised in such a way that plural same communication I/F boards 101-10n are packaged in extension slots 201-20n in the information processor, and the communication INF boards 101-10n are connected with each other via a data transmission line 15 such as a cable or a communication line, etc., and data transmission/reception for a communication test among arbitrarily set pairs of communication I/F boards 101-10n can be performed sequentially. Thereby, it is possible to perform the communication test of each of the communication I/F boards 101-10n, and to attain cost reduction and space saving.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication interface board test apparatus used by being mounted on an information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to connect data processing apparatuses to each other for data communication, a communication interface board (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F board) is mounted on an expansion slot of the information processing apparatus. The communication test of the communication I / F board is usually executed by mounting a common communication I / F board on each of the two information processing devices and actually transmitting and receiving data between the information processing devices.

However, the use of two information processing devices as a test device increases the cost in terms of test equipment and requires a correspondingly large space. In particular, when a large number of communication I / F boards are tested in parallel for a short time, there is a risk that a sufficient test environment cannot be prepared due to cost and work space restrictions.

[0004]

As described above, it has been necessary to test the conventional communication I / F board by connecting two information processing devices as a test device.

The present invention is intended to solve such a problem, and a communication interface board test device capable of efficiently testing a plurality of communication interface boards by using one information processing device as a test device. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a communication interface board test device of the present invention is a communication interface board test device mounted in an information processing device, wherein an expansion in the information processing device is provided. A plurality of the same communication interface boards are mounted in the slots, and these communication interface boards are connected to each other via a data transmission path, and data for communication test between arbitrarily defined pairs of the communication interface boards. The feature is that the transmission and reception are sequentially executed.

[0007]

In the communication interface board test apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of identical communication interface boards are mounted in the expansion slot of one information processing apparatus, and a communication test is performed between arbitrarily defined pairs of communication interface boards. The communication test is continuously executed by sequentially executing the data transmission / reception. At that time, in each pair, data transmission / reception is performed with one communication interface board as the transmission side and the other communication interface board as the reception side, and the pass / fail judgment of the communication test is made by performing a compare check between the transmission data and the reception data. It Therefore, according to the present invention, the communication test of each communication interface board can be continuously performed by using one information processing device as a test device, and the test efficiency can be improved, the cost can be reduced, and the space can be saved. .

[0008]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing device shown in the figure is configured as an electronic file device. In this electronic file device, devices such as a scanner 2, a display 3, a keyboard 4, a mouse 5, an optical disk device 6 and a printer 7 are connected around a controller 1 that performs overall control of the entire device. The scanner 2 reads the content of a document as image data, and is specifically configured by a CCD image sensor or the like. The display 3 displays image data read by the scanner 2, operation menus, and the like, and is configured by a CRT or the like. The keyboard 4 is a data input device as a man-machine I / F. The mouse 5 is used to move the cursor displayed on the screen of the display 3 to input position information and switch functions. The optical disk device 6 records the image data read by the scanner 2 together with its title information and the like. The printer 7 prints image data as visible information on a recording medium such as recording paper.

In the figure, 101 to 10n indicate a plurality of communication I / F boards to be tested when using this electronic file device as a test device.

FIG. 2 shows the communication I / F boards 101-10.
It is a figure which shows the structure around n.

In the figure, 11 is a main board as a main control unit in the controller 1, and 12 is a main board 1.
1 is an expansion bus for transferring data between the expansion boards connected to expansion slots 201 to 20n. The communication I / F boards 101 to 10n to be tested are functionally identical in structure, and are electrically connected to the main board 11 by being mounted in the expansion slots 201 to 20n. . The main board 11 is capable of independently controlling each of the communication I / F boards 101 to 10n.
In 1 to 10n, a pair consisting of a transmitting side and a receiving side can be set according to a user's instruction to control data transmission / reception for a communication test between the communication I / F boards of each pair. . Further, in each pair of the communication I / F boards 101 to 10n, it is also possible to switch the transmission side and the reception side in reverse for control. In addition, each communication I / F board 1
The transmission / reception terminals between 01 to 10n are connected to each other via a data transmission line 15 such as a cable or a communication line. The communication I / F boards 101 to 10n are LANs (Local
Area Network), GP-IB (General Purpose Interf)
ace Bus), SCSI (Small Computer System Interfac
e) etc., it is supposed that the other party can be specified.

Next, the operation for conducting a communication test on each of the communication I / F boards 101 to 10n will be described. Here, FIG.
4 communication I / F boards 101, 102, 1 shown in
In 03 and 104, the first communication I / F board (transmission side) 101 and the second communication I / F board 102 (reception side)
, And the third communication I / F board 103 (transmission side) and the fourth communication I / F board 104 (reception side) are set to perform data transmission / reception for a communication test, respectively. I shall.

In this case, first, the transmission data is transferred from the main board 11 to the first communication I / F board 101 via the expansion bus 12. When the first communication I / F board 101 receives the transmission data from the main board 11, the first communication I / F board 101 sends this data to the data transmission line 15. On the other hand, the second communication I /
The F board 102 receives the data through the data transmission path 15 and transfers this as received data to the main board 11 via the expansion bus 12. Upon receiving the reception data from the second communication I / F board 102, the main board 11 performs a compare check between the reception data and the transmission data. This tests the transmission system of the first communication I / F board 101 and the reception system of the second communication I / F board 102.

After the completion of the compare check, the third communication I / F is subsequently sent from the main board 11 via the expansion bus 12.
Transfer the transmission data to the board 103. Third communication I /
When the F board 103 receives the transmission data from the main board 11, it sends this data to the data transmission line 15. On the other hand, the fourth communication I / F board 104 uses the data transmission line 15
Data is received from the main board 11 and is transferred to the main board 11 via the expansion bus 12 as received data. The main board 11 performs the compare check of the reception data and the transmission data as in the above. As a result, the transmission system of the third communication I / F board 103 and the reception system of the fourth communication I / F board 104 are tested.

After this, the direction of transmission / reception between the communication I / F boards of each pair is reversed, and a communication test is similarly performed. That is, from the main board 11 to the second communication I / F board 1
The transmission data is transferred to 02, and the transmission data is sent from the second communication I / F board 102 to the data transmission line 15. Then, the first communication I / F board 101 receives this data, transfers it to the main board 11, and compares the transmission data and the reception data.

Then, the transmission data is transferred from the main board 11 to the fourth communication I / F board 104, and the transmission data is transmitted from the fourth communication I / F board 104.
Send data to. And the third communication I / F board 1
In 03, this data is received and transferred to the main board 11, and a compare check is performed between the transmitted data and the received data. As a result, the second and fourth communication I / F boards 10
Tests are performed on the transmission systems 2 and 104 and the reception systems of the first and third communication I / F boards 101 and 103. As described above, according to the communication I / F board test apparatus of the present embodiment, a plurality of the same communication I / F boards 101 to 10n are mounted in the expansion slot in the controller 1 and each pair of arbitrarily defined pairs is installed. By sequentially executing data transmission / reception between the communication I / F boards, it is possible to continuously test each of the communication I / F boards 101 to 10n by using one information processing device as a test device, which improves test efficiency. Can be realized, cost reduction and space saving can be realized.

In this embodiment, the electronic file device is used as the test device, but any other device may be used as long as it is an information processing device having a communication I / F board and performing data communication between the devices. The present invention can also be applied.

Further, in this embodiment, the communication I / s of all pairs are
After unidirectional data transmission / reception between F boards was completed, data was transmitted / received in the opposite direction. However, bidirectional communication test between one pair of communication I / F boards was performed. After completing the data transmission / reception, the next pair of communication tests may be performed.

[0020]

As described above, according to the communication interface board test apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of identical communication interface boards are mounted in the expansion slots in the information processing apparatus, and each pair of arbitrarily defined pairs is installed. By sequentially transmitting and receiving data between the communication interface boards,
Using one information processing device as a test device, it is possible to continuously test each communication interface board, and it is possible to improve test efficiency, reduce costs, and save space.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structure around a communication I / F board in the controller in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Main board, 12 ... Expansion bus, 15 ... Data transmission path, 101-10n ... Communication I / F board, 201-2
0n ... Expansion slot.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A test device for a communication interface board mounted in an information processing device, wherein a plurality of the same communication interface boards are mounted in expansion slots in the information processing device, and data communication is performed between these communication interface boards. A communication interface board test device, characterized in that data transmission and reception for a communication test are sequentially executed between arbitrarily defined pairs of the communication interface boards by connecting via a path. 2. The communication interface board test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the communication interface boards is independently controllable by a main control unit of the information processing apparatus, and each pair of test boards is executed during test execution. A communication interface board test apparatus, wherein one of the communication interface boards is used as a transmitting side and the other communication interface board is used as a receiving side to execute data transmission / reception for a communication test.