JPH0667747A - Digital computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously execute a program by recovering the communication function of the program at the time when a power is turned on by transmitting information for suspending a communication to the other computer at the time when the power is turned off even when the program using resources of the other computer is being operated. CONSTITUTION:When a power is turned off, a power monitor 3 detects it, and transmits it to a CPU main body 1. The CPU main body 1 informs the other computer of a communication of a communication suspension through a communication controller 5, and also, actuates a resume actuating device 4. Subsequently, the contents of the present executing state of a program are saved in a main storage 2. When the power source is turned on again, power supply to the CPU main body 1, the communication controller 5, etc., is restored, and also, the resume actuating device 4 is actuated. As a result, information saved in the main storage is restored to a state before the power is turned off. Thereafter, by executing a notice of restarting the communication to the other computer of the communication, a communication function of the other computer is recovered, and thereafter, the program is re-executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital computer system having a resume function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as digital computers have become smaller and lighter and have improved portability, a new form of use has emerged in which the computer is intermittently used while moving. In order to support such a usage pattern, a resume function is essential. This function saves the information necessary for executing the program when the power is turned off and instantly reproduces the state when the power was turned off last time when the power was turned on. Therefore, it is very easy to operate because it saves the trouble of starting the system and programs.

[0003]

However, since the conventional digital computer system having the resume function is intended only for the programs using the resources on its own computer, the resources on other computers are saved when the power is turned on. There is a problem that the communication function of the program used by using the communication function cannot be restored and the processing cannot be continued.

In view of the above problems, the present invention restores the communication function of a program when the power is turned on when resources on another computer are used by using the communication function, and continues execution from the state when the power is turned off. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital computer system capable of performing.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a digital computer system in which one computer can use the resources of another computer by using a communication function. The computer operates between the first and second means operating after the power is turned off and before turning to the power off state, and during the period after the power is turned on and processing is started using the resources of another computer. The first means notifies the other computer of communication interruption when the power is turned off, and the second means has the third and fourth means. The execution state of the program of one computer is saved, the third means restores the execution state of the program saved immediately before the power is turned off, and the fourth means sends a notification of communication restart to another computer. The other computer is Characterized by having a communication state management means that changes to a state of interrupting communication with one computer when receiving a notification of communication interruption from a computer and changes to a state of restarting communication when receiving a notification of communication restart from one computer There is.

Here, the other computer binds the resource so that it can be used for one computer in the state of communication interruption, and binds it when there is no notification of communication restart for a certain time after the communication interruption. It is desirable to include resource management means to release resources.

[0007]

According to the present invention, according to the above-described structure, information for interrupting communication when the power is turned off is transmitted to the communication system of another computer even when a program using a communication function on the digital computer is using a resource of another computer. As a result, the communication can be interrupted, and when the power is turned on, the communication can be restarted by transmitting the information for restarting the communication to the communication system of another computer, and the processing of the program can be continued.

[0008]

1 is a block diagram of a digital computer system as an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, A
Is one computer and B is another computer. Although the computers A and B have basically the same configuration, it is assumed here that the computer A is using the resources of another computer B by using the communication function. The configuration is shown.
The computer A includes a CPU main body 1, a main memory 2, a power supply monitoring device 3 that monitors the power-off operation and power-on time, a resume activation device 4, and a communication control device 5. On the other hand, computer B is C
It includes a PU body 6, a communication control device 7, a main memory 8, a time monitoring device 9, and a resource 10. As the resource 10, for example, a printer, a hard disk, or, if the computer B is in charge of multiplication in the arithmetic processing, a multiplier including a register, or an appropriate one is used. .

The main memory 2 is backed up by a battery so that the memory contents can be retained even when the power is turned off, and the contents of the register of the CPU main body 1 and the communication control device 5 in the communication control device 5 are stored in a part of the memory area when the power is turned off. An area for saving information is provided. FIG. 2 shows an outline of the memory map of the main memory 2. In the figure, M1 is an area in which the OS is stored, M2 is an area in which predetermined data is stored, and M3 is an area in which the contents of the CPU main body 1 and the communication control device 5 should be saved when the power is turned off.

The power supply monitoring device 3 monitors a power-off operation and a power-on time. Such a monitoring device is well known, whether it is hardware or software. Here, the power-off operation refers to a time when the power-off operation is performed, which is slightly earlier than the power-off time. In this embodiment, after the power-off operation and before the power is turned off, the communication control device 5 notifies another computer of communication interruption and the resume is activated.

The communication control device 5 includes a computer A and another computer B.
In the case of this embodiment, which is a device for controlling communication with the other computer, the communication interruption and resumption are notified to the other computer B. The resume activation device 4 is a device having a function of instructing the CPU main body 1 when to resume in the save area M3 of the main memory 2, and the communication control device 5 sends a notification of communication interruption during power off operation. The computer B is instructed to save the data after it is performed, and the power-on is instructed to restore the immediately saved data.

Next, in the computer B, the communication control device 7 is a device which communicates with the communication control device 5 of the calculation A through a communication line. The data link is established between the two communication control devices 5 and 7 by a polling method in which the computer B is a control station and the computer A is a slave station. FIG. 3 shows communication management information used by the communication control device 7 on the control station side for polling. This management information is stored separately for each logical channel CH1, 2, ... Set between the control station and the slave station. A flag indicating whether or not to poll the slave station through the channel is provided in a part of the information storage area of each logical channel.
A management unit (not shown) periodically checks this flag to perform polling if it is on and not if it is off. The management unit rewrites the flag of each channel by receiving a notification of communication interruption and a notification of communication restart from one computer A.

The main memory 8 has management data for permitting the use of the resource 10 by the computer A. 4 shows the main memory 8
Memory maps of various data storage areas M10, 11
, And a table T for storing management information corresponding to the area one-to-one. M19 of the storage area of the main memory 8
However, assuming that the resource 10 is an area provided for the purpose of using the resource A for the computer A, if the management information corresponding to the area M19 is ON, the computer A is permitted to use the resource 10. In this case, other computers cannot use the resource. That is, the resource is bound to the computer A.

On the contrary, if the management information is off, the resource 10
Has been released. In this case, any computer or program can use the resource 10. In this way, by changing the management information from ON to OFF, the resources that are bound are released. Next, the operation on the computer A side will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows an operation sequence when the power is turned off. First, when the power is turned off, the power monitoring device 3 detects this and notifies the CPU body 1. Receiving this, the CPU body 1 determines whether or not there is a program using the communication function at that time (steps 51 and 52). Since which program is communicating with another computer is managed by the OS part stored in the main memory 2, the determination in step 51 is made by referring to the OS. In this determination, the partner computer communicating with the program is also specified.

When it is determined in step 22 that there is a program that is using the communication function, communication interruption is notified to the computer of the communication partner specified in the determination through the communication control device 5 (step 53). When this notification is finished, the resume activation device 4 is activated by an instruction from the communication control device 5, and the contents of the CPU main body 1 and the contents of the communication control device 5 in the current execution state of the program are stored in the area M3 of the main memory 2. Evacuate (step 54). After that, the power supply to each part of the computer A is cut off (power-off state).

FIG. 6 shows the operation when the computer A in the power-off state is powered on through the above operation. First, when the power is turned on, the power supply to the CPU body 1, the communication control device 5, etc. is restored, and the power supply monitoring device 3 detects the power on and activates the resume activation device 4. Then, the resume function works and the main memory 2
The information saved in the area M3 is restored to the state before the power was turned off (step 61). After this, it is judged whether there is a program whose communication is interrupted (step 6).
2). This determination is similar to the determination in step 51 of FIG.
It is performed by referring to the OS stored in the main memory. If there is a program in which communication is suspended, the communication counterpart computer is notified via the communication control device 5 of the communication restart (step 64). This restores the communication function with other computers, and the program is re-executed thereafter (step 65).

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the other computer B which has received the notification of the communication interruption and the communication resumption from one computer A in steps 53 and 64.
In the figure, step 71 is a step in which the communication control device 7 judges an event from the outside and branches conditionally, and if the event from the outside instructs to interrupt the communication, step 72
Otherwise, branch to step 74. Therefore,
When the computer A notifies the communication interruption, the process proceeds to step 72 and the communication with the computer A is interrupted. As described with reference to FIG. 3, this process is a process of turning off the flag of the management information storage area corresponding to the logical channel with the computer A. When this flag is turned off, the polling for the computer A is not performed and the computer B continues other processing. However, in this case, the resource 10 is not used for other computers because the information for managing it is turned on as shown in the management table corresponding to M19 in FIG. When computer B performs the communication interruption process,
In step 73, the communication interruption time monitoring device 9 is activated.

After that, if there is an instruction to restart communication before the time monitoring device 9 times out (step 74), communication restart processing (step 75) is performed, and the timer operation of the time monitoring device is canceled (step 76). ). Here, the process of resuming communication is a process of turning on a flag corresponding to the logical channel in FIG. On the other hand, when the communication interruption monitoring timer times out without the notification of communication resumption (step 77), the resource 10 is released (step 78). Here, releasing the resource means turning off the contents of the corresponding table as shown in FIG. 4, and by doing so, computers other than the computer A are also in a state where the resource can be used. By releasing the resources in this way, it is possible to avoid a shortage of resources on the own computer without releasing the resources when the partner computer fails to continue the processing of the program due to some failure while the power is off.

In this sense, the set time of the time monitoring device 9 must be long enough for the partner computer to fail. In addition, in the first embodiment,
Although the CPU body 1 and the communication control device 5 are separate devices,
The communication control device 5 may be realized as a program that operates on the CPU body 1.

Further, although the resume is a process of saving the data in a predetermined area of the main memory 2, the non-volatile secondary memory is used.
You may make it evacuate to the predetermined area. Further, although the data link is established between the two computers by the polling method, it goes without saying that another known method may be used. Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows an example applied to communication between computers (personal computer and host computer system) using a telephone line.

In FIG. 8, 81 is a personal computer, 82 is a terminal emulation program, 83 is a host computer system, 84 is a telephone line, and 85 is a program which runs on the host computer started from the personal computer. Although not shown, the personal computer 81 has the constituent elements shown in the computer A of FIG. 1, and the host computer system 83 has the constituent elements shown in the computer B of FIG.

When the power is turned off while the host computer system 83 is logged in (or logged on) from the terminal emulation program 82 operating on the personal computer 81, the communication control unit 5 of the personal computer 81 The computer 83 is instructed to suspend the communication function, the connection using the telephone line is disconnected, and the information of the terminal emulation program 82 is saved. Upon receiving an instruction to suspend the communication function, the host computer 83 is activated by an instruction from the personal computer 81 during login and suspends execution of the operating program 85. Personal computer 81 when power is turned on
Then, the communication control device 5 restores the connection with the host computer 83 that was disconnected during the power-off operation, gives an instruction to restart communication, and restarts execution of the terminal emulation program 82. The host computer system 83 receives the instruction to restart communication from the personal computer 81, and restarts the suspended program 85.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the power of the personal computer 81 is turned off / on when the host computer system 83 is logged in using the telephone line, the user can Start the terminal emulation program 82 again, without logging in,
Processing can be continued from the power-off state. In the second embodiment, 81 is a personal computer, but a workstation, host computer and other computer system may be used.

In the second embodiment, 83 host computers are used, but other computer systems such as personal computers and workstations may be used. Also, the second
In the embodiment, 82 is a terminal emulation program, but it may be a program for connecting to another computer system and performing processing by using a communication function like a client accessing a database.

In the second embodiment, 84 is a telephone line, but it does not limit the type of medium that provides a communication function. Although the start-stop synchronization protocol is used for data transfer in the second embodiment, any protocol that provides a transfer function such as a protocol below the transport layer of TCP / IP or OSI may be used.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the communication control device for suspending and resuming the communication function, the communication function is used and the resource of another computer is used in addition to the program using the resource on the own computer. The running program can be interrupted when the power is turned off and restarted when the power is turned on, so that a digital computer system with good operability can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a memory map of a main memory 2.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing communication management information used by the communication control device 7 for polling.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a memory map of a main memory 8.

FIG. 5 is an operation sequence when the communication function of the communication control device is interrupted in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation sequence when the communication function of the communication control device is restarted in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation sequence during a communication function interruption of the communication control device in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1, 6 CPU main body 2, 8 Main memory 3 Power supply monitoring device 4 Resume activation device 5, 7 Communication control device 9 Time monitoring device 10 Resources A One computer B Other computer 81 Personal computer 82 Terminal emulation Program 83 Host computer system

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A digital computer system in which one computer can use resources of another computer by using a communication function, wherein the one computer is in a power-off state after a power-off operation. The first and second means that operate in accordance with the present invention, and the third and fourth means that operate during the period after the power is turned on and the processing is started by using the resources of another computer. When a power-off operation is performed, notifies the other computer of the communication interruption, and the second means saves the execution state of the program of the one computer after the communication interruption notification, and the third means. Means to restore the execution state of the program saved immediately before the power is turned off, and the fourth means is to notify another computer of communication resumption, and the other computer interrupts communication from one computer. With the notification of A digital computer system having communication state management means for changing to a state in which communication is suspended and, when a communication restart notification is received from one computer, communication state managing means is switched to a state in which communication is resumed. 2. The other computer binds resources so that it can be used for one computer in a state of communication interruption,
2. The digital computer system according to claim 1, further comprising resource management means for releasing the bound resource when there is no communication restart notification even after a lapse of a certain time after the communication interruption.