JPH0793064A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To replace an extension board in the operation of a system without turning off the power source of the whole processor. CONSTITUTION:In response to an external command, a power source control signal 110 is sent out of a computer circuit 101 to control a switch 112 or 113 through a switch control port, and power supply to an extension slot 108 or 109 is turned on or off. In response to the external command, a process for updating the contents of management information on a device or process is performed according to the ON/OFF switching of the power supply to the extension slot 108 or 109. Consequently, the extension board can be replaced in the system operation without turning off the power source of the whole processor.

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, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus having an expansion slot for accommodating an expansion board for improving system performance and functions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional information processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, a conventional information processing apparatus is C
A computer circuit 301 comprising a PU and peripheral circuits,
It is configured to include a power supply circuit 102 which is connected to an AC power supply via a main switch 103 and supplies a DC power supply to each part of the apparatus via a power supply line 104.

In addition, the conventional information processing apparatus has a power supply circuit 1
02 has a power supply line 104 for distributing the DC power supply output to the respective parts of the apparatus, and interface circuits 106 and 107 for connecting various external devices to the information processing apparatus main body through the expansion board. Slots 108,1
09 and are included. Incidentally, 105 is a computer circuit 301 and interface circuits 106 and 107.
It is an internal signal line for transmitting and receiving information to and from.

In such a structure, the expansion slot 10
8 and the expansion slot 109 are supplied with DC power after the main switch 103 of the main body of the information processing apparatus is turned on.
The direct current power output from 02 is performed by passing through the power supply line 104. This DC power is also supplied to the computer circuit 301 at the same time by the power supply line 104. That is, the expansion slot 108, the expansion slot 109, and the computer circuit 301 cannot be independently turned on / off.

[0006]

The electronic circuit or electric equipment connected to the expansion slot generally suffers damage or malfunctions when it is inserted or removed in a powered state. In order to change the connection (removal and attachment) to the device, it was necessary to turn off the power of the entire device once. Therefore, there is a drawback that the expansion board cannot be changed while the device is in operation.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of changing the connection to the expansion slot even while the apparatus is in operation. .

[0008]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an expansion slot to which a host device including a power supply circuit can be connected and an expansion board can be supplied with power supplied from the host device. An information processing device having the power supply control means capable of controlling on / off of power supply to the expansion slot independently of the expansion slot, and supplying power by interrupting normal work of the host device in response to an external command. An on / off command generating means for generating an on / off command for power supply to the control means is included.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention, and the same portions as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the figure, the information processing apparatus of this embodiment is different from the conventional one in that the interface circuits 106 and 1
Switch 1 to turn on / off the power supply to each 07
12, 113 and the power supply control signal 110 output from the computer circuit 101 as inputs, and the switch 112 or 1
A switch control port 111 for holding and driving a signal for opening and closing the switch 13 is added.

That is, the interface circuits 106 and 10
In No. 7, when the switches 112 and 113 are closed, power is supplied to enable circuit operation. The expansion slots 108 and 109 for accommodating the interface circuits 106 and 107 have the same signal connection relationship so that expansion boards can be connected.

The expansion board is, for example, an interface board for connecting the main body of the information processing apparatus to various external devices, and DC power for operating the board is supplied from the expansion slot side.

The power supply signal 110 is a signal output from the computer circuit 101 and supplied to the switch control port 111, and is a signal for instructing power supply to the expansion slot. The power control signal 110 is controlled by software executed in the computer circuit 101.

The switch control port 111 receives the power supply control signal output from the computer circuit 101 as an input,
It is a circuit that holds and drives a signal for opening and closing the switch 112 or 113. Switches 112 and 113
Is configured to include a relay for controlling the connection between the power supply line 104 and the interface circuit 106 or 107, and turns on / off the power supply to the expansion slots 108 and 109. These switches 112 and 1
13 can be operated independently by the output of the switch control port 111.

The operation of the information processing apparatus thus configured will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a replacement procedure when the expansion board on the expansion slot 108 side is replaced during system operation of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

In the figure, assuming that the computer circuit 101 is performing normal business processing, the operator may start 201 the expansion slot disconnection processing routine.
The disconnection processing routine is started by pressing a key assigned to the keyboard, for example.

The disconnection process 202 of the expansion slot 108 is executed by interrupting the normal business process. By executing this process, the power supply control signal 110 is output and the output of the switch control port 111 on the switch 112 side drops from 5V to 0V. . Further, in the disconnection processing routine of the expansion slot 108, the management information of the device or the processing that will become unusable thereafter by the disconnection processing is updated from the available state or the processable state to the unavailable state and the unprocessable state. The operation of the computer circuit 101 returns to the execution of normal business processing again when the disconnection processing of the expansion slot 108 is completed.

Switch 11 of switch control port 111
During the section 205 in which the voltage on the second side is 0 V, the power supply on the expansion slot 108 side is in the off state (section 206), and the interface circuit 106 is not supplied with power either. Therefore, the expansion board can be replaced safely and without malfunction. When the replacement of the expansion board of the expansion slot 106 is completed, the operator next starts 203 the loading process of the expansion slot 106. The activation process of the expansion slot 108 is also started by, for example, pressing a key (assigned differently from the disconnection process) on the keyboard.

Start processing 20 for inserting the expansion slot 106
When step 3 is performed, the computer circuit 101 executes the insertion processing 204 of the expansion slot 108 by interrupting the normal business processing. The power supply control signal 110 is output by executing the processing routine for inserting the expansion slot 106, and the output of the switch control port 111 on the switch 112 side is changed from 0V to 5V.
After the voltage returns to V, power supply to the interface circuit 106 and the expansion slot 108 is turned on accordingly.

In addition, in the expansion slot 108 loading processing routine, the management information of the device newly enabled by the power-on of the expansion slot 108 and the executable processing is respectively set to the unusable state or the processing failure state. The available state is updated to the usable state and the processable state. The operation of the computer circuit 101 returns to normal business processing when the power-on processing for the expansion slot 108 is completed. Note that the same operation can be performed on the expansion slot B side.

As described above, in this embodiment,
It is possible to change the connection of expansion slots that are in operation, which was not possible in the past, and it is possible to greatly improve the operational efficiency of the information processing system. Further, since the power supply to the expansion slot can be controlled to be turned on / off by software processing, it is possible to control the usage state of the expansion slot of the entire network from the information processing apparatus connected to the network and reduce unnecessary power consumption.

In the present embodiment, the case where the number of expansion slots is two has been described. However, in the case of one or three or more expansion slots, similarly, the expansion is performed without turning off the power of the entire apparatus during system operation. Obviously the board can be replaced.

It is also clear that the output of the power supply circuit is not limited to 5V.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, by independently turning on / off the power supply to each expansion slot, the expansion board is replaced without turning off the power of the entire device during system operation. There is an effect that can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a replacement procedure when an expansion board is replaced while the information processing apparatus in FIG. 1 is operating.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional information processing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 computer circuit 102 power circuit 103 main switch 104 power supply line 105 signal line 106, 107 interface circuit 108, 109 expansion slot 110 power control signal 111 switch control port 112, 113 switch 202 expansion slot disconnection process 203 expansion slot input processing

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus having an expansion slot to which a host device including a power supply circuit and an expansion board can be connected and which can be supplied with the power supply from the host device. A power supply control means that can control the power supply to be turned on and off independently of the expansion slot, and in response to an external command, interrupt the normal operation of the host device to generate a power supply on / off command to the power supply control means. An information processing apparatus, comprising: 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external command is generated in response to an input from a keyboard provided in the host device. 3. The on / off command generating means is a subroutine different from the normal job, and this subroutine is configured to control update of management information indicating a processable state for a corresponding expansion board in response to the external command. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus.