JPH1185495A - Microcomputer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unnecessitate the replacement of nonvolatile memories, to reduce the cost, and to prevent the breakage of printed circuit board and IC by changing, replacing, adding and correcting the execution order of program modules without rewriting the nonvolatile memory. SOLUTION: This microcomputer device has a nonvolatile memory (M1) 1, where plural program modules X1, X2,..., Xn of different processing contents are described together with a data string D, which shows the execution order of modules X1 to Xn, and a program module Y, which successively executes the modules X1 to Xn based on the data string D. A microcomputer 2 successively selects and executes the modules X1 to Xn, which are described in the memory (M1) 1 via the module Y and based on the contents of a program address table and a variable address table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus using a microcomputer, and more particularly to the configuration and execution of a program module.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a conventional example, wherein 2 is a microcomputer, and 6 is a nonvolatile memory M3 in which a plurality of program modules X1, X2,. Examples of the non-volatile memory include a generally known EP-ROM, One-Ti
There is a me-ROM and the like.

In the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6, a plurality of program modules X1, X2,..., Xn are described in the order of execution, and the microcomputer 2 reads the program from the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6 and executes the program. .

[0004]

In the prior art,
There are the following problems. 1. In FIG. 11, the execution order of the program is changed to X5->
From X14-> X7 to X5->X7-> X14,
It is necessary to rewrite the description contents of the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6. For example, the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6 has One-
If it is a Time-ROM, the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6
Replacement, which increases costs. If the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6 is an EP-ROM, rewriting is possible, but it is compatible with an IC socket and becomes weak to noise.
There is a problem that the printed circuit board or the IC may be damaged when the P-ROM is taken in and out.

[0005] 2. When the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6 needs to be rewritten, such as exchanging a program module for a new program module, adding a new program module, or correcting the same, the same problem as described in the item 1 occurs.

[0006] 3. In recent years, microcomputers of high-speed operation have appeared, and there is a problem that the performance of the microcomputer cannot be fully utilized in an external nonvolatile memory having a slow access time. To solve this problem, the nonvolatile memory (M3) 6 shown in FIG.
What is necessary is just to correspond to OM. However, there are problems such as high cost, influence of noise, and breakage as in the case of item 1. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a microcomputer device which solves these disadvantages.

[0007]

Means for achieving the object are as described in claim 1, wherein a plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
n and the program modules X1, X2,.
n, and a non-volatile memory M1 describing a program module Y for sequentially selecting and executing the program modules X1, X2,..., Xn based on the data sequence D.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a rewritable memory F is newly provided, and the data string D is stored in a nonvolatile memory M1.
Is written in the rewritable memory F instead.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, program modules W1, W2,..., Wn different from the program modules X1, X2,.

In the present invention, a memory changing means is newly provided, and the rewritable memory F is rewritten. Thereby, the data string D can be changed. Further, the program modules W1, W2,.
Can be changed and added.

In a fifth aspect, the data string D is
The plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
n, a program address table T in which the start addresses of the program modules to be executed are arranged in the order of execution
1, and the plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
And a variable address table T2 in which variable addresses input and output by Xn are arranged in the order of use.

In a sixth aspect, the data string D is
A program address table T3 in which the start addresses of program modules to be executed in the program modules X1, X2,..., Xn and W1, W2,. .., Xn and W1, W2,..., Wn and a variable address table T4 in which variable addresses input and output are arranged in the order of use.

With the above configuration, it is possible to change the execution order of program modules, exchange program modules, add program modules, and correct program modules without rewriting the nonvolatile memory.

For example, the data sequence D is described in the rewritable memory F, and the program address table T1 and the variable address table T2, which are examples of the data sequence D, are rewritten by the memory rewriting means. Exchange of program modules,
Program modules can be added.

The data string D and the program modules W1, W2,..., Wn are described in the rewritable memory F, and the program address table T3 and the variable address table T4, which are examples of the data string D, are rewritten by the memory rewriting means. This makes it possible to correct a program module and add a program module that is not in the nonvolatile memory. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a plurality of program modules X
, Xn and a data sequence D indicating the execution order of the plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
And a plurality of program modules X by the data string D
This is a nonvolatile memory (M1) describing a program module Y for sequentially selecting and executing 1, X2,..., Xn.
2 is a microcomputer. FIG. 4 shows an example of the data string D, which is composed of a program address table T1 and a variable address table T2. The program address table T1 includes program modules X1, X2,.
, A table in which the start addresses of Xn are tabulated in the order of execution, and the variable address table tabulates variable addresses in the order of use. It is assumed that the number of variables used in each program module Xk (k = 1, 2,..., N) is predetermined.

The microcomputer 2 includes a program module Y described in the nonvolatile memory (M1) 1.
Execute the program based on Hereinafter, the contents of the program module Y will be described using the data string D in FIG. 4 as an example.

First, the data & X5 in the first element (pointer 0) of the program address table T1
And data & a11 and & a20 in the variable element address table T2 from the first element (pointer 0) to the number of variables used in the program module X5 (two in this example).
Read. These read data & X5, & a1
1. Execute program module X5 using & a20. At the end of the processing of the program module X5,
The pointer of the variable address table T2 is increased by the number of variables used in the program module X5 (two in this example). After the processing of the program module X5 is completed, the pointer of the program address table T1 is increased by one.

Next, the data & X14 in the current pointer (pointer 1) of the program address table T1
Then, data & a13 corresponding to the number of variables used in the program module X14 (one in this example) is read from the current pointer (pointer 2) of the variable address table T2. The program module X14 is executed using the read data & X14 and & a13. At the end of the processing of the program module X14, the pointer of the variable address table T2 is stored in the program module X1.
The number is increased by the number of variables used in step 4 (one in this example). After the processing of the program module X14 is completed, the pointer of the program address table T1 is increased by one.

Next, data & X7 in the current pointer (pointer 2) of the program address table T1,
Data & a13, & a1 in the variable address table T2 from the current pointer (pointer 3) to the number of variables (three in this example) used in the program module X7.
5. Read & a14. These read data & X
7, & a13, & a15, & a14 are used to execute the program module X7. At the end of the processing of the program module X7, the pointer of the variable address table T2 is increased by the number of variables used in the program module X7 (three in this example). After the processing of the program module X7 is completed, the pointer of the program address table T1 is increased by one.

Thereafter, by the same operation, the program modules are executed in the order of X1, X5, X5 and X8.
Then, when the value read from the program address table T1 becomes an arbitrary determined value (0 in this example), the processing of the program module Y ends.

As described above, the program module Y includes the program address table T1, the variable address table T2
, A plurality of program modules X1, X2,..., X described in the nonvolatile memory (M1) 1
It can be seen that selection and execution are sequentially performed from n. That is, it can be seen that the microcomputer 2 sequentially selects and executes, via the program module Y, a plurality of program modules X1, X2,..., Xn described in the nonvolatile memory (M1) 1.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention which is different from FIG. 3 denotes a plurality of program modules X1, X
, Xn, and a rewritable memory (F) in which program modules W1, W2,..., Wn different from the program modules X1, X2,. . 4, a plurality of program modules X1, X2,..., Xn and a plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
Is a non-volatile memory (M2) in which a program module Y for sequentially selecting and executing is written. 2 is a microcomputer. Note that only the data string D may be described in the rewritable memory (F) 3. FIG. 5 shows an example of the data string D, which comprises a program address table T3 and a variable address table T4. The program address table T3 stores the program modules X1, X2,.
The head addresses of n, W1, W2,..., Wn are tabulated in the order of execution, and the variable address table is a table in which variable addresses are used in the order of use. Note that each program module Xk, Wk (k = 1, 2,...,
It is assumed that the number of variables used in n) is predetermined.

The microcomputer 2 reads data from the nonvolatile memory (M2) 4 and the rewritable memory (F) 3, and executes a program based on the program module Y described in the nonvolatile memory (M2) 4.

In FIGS. 2 and 5, the microcomputer 2 is described in the nonvolatile memory (M2) 4 via the program module Y by considering the same as in the case of the relationship between FIGS. A plurality of program modules X1, X2,..., Xn and a program module W1, described in the rewritable memory (F) 3,
.., Wn are sequentially selected and executed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a rewritable memory (F) 3
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention in which the change of the above is possible. 2, a memory change unit 5 is added, and an output of the memory change unit 5 is input to the microcomputer 2.

Referring to FIG. 3, only differences from FIG. 2 will be described. The memory change means 5 outputs a rewrite control signal P of the rewritable memory 3 and a change data string (D) F,
The rewrite control signal P and the changed data sequence (D) F are input to the microcomputer 2. Microcomputer 2
Rewrites the writable memory 3 based on the input rewrite control signal P and the changed data string (D) F.

As described above, the data string D described in the rewritable memory 3 can be changed by using the rewrite control signal P and the changed data string (D) F. further,
The program modules W1, W2,..., Wn described in the rewritable memory 3 can be changed.

FIGS. 6 to 10 show examples of changing the data string D when using the blocks in FIG. FIG. 6 shows an example of changing the execution order of the program modules. The shaded portion is a change from FIG. By the change as shown in FIG. 6, the execution order of the program modules can be changed from X5->X14-> X7 to X5->X7-> X14.

FIG. 7 shows an example of exchanging program modules. The shaded portion is a change from FIG. With the change as shown in FIG. 7, the program module X
The program module X10 is executed instead of 1.

FIG. 8 shows an example of adding a program module. The shaded portions are additional portions to FIG. The program module X25 is described in the nonvolatile memory (M2) 4 in advance. By the change as shown in FIG. 8, the program module X25 is additionally executed between the program modules X7 and X1.

FIG. 9 shows an example of newly adding a program module. The shaded portions are additional portions to FIG. The program module W40 is newly created and described in the rewritable memory (F) 3. With the change as shown in FIG. 9, the program module W40 is newly added and executed after the program module X8.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a program module correction method. The shaded portions are additional portions to FIG. The program module W41 is a module obtained by correcting the program module X1, and is described in the rewritable memory F (3). With the change as shown in FIG. 10, the program module W41 in which the program module X1 is corrected is executed.

As described above, it is possible to change the execution order of program modules, exchange program modules, add program modules, and correct program modules without rewriting the nonvolatile memory.

Further, by using the exchange, addition, and addition of program modules, the program modules can be freely rearranged. Therefore, even after the program is written in the nonvolatile memory, the execution contents of the microcomputer can be changed. Can be.

[0036]

According to the present invention as described above, the following effects can be obtained. It is possible to change the execution order of program modules, exchange program modules, add program modules, and correct program modules without rewriting the nonvolatile memory. This allows
There is no need to replace the non-volatile memory, and the cost associated with the non-volatile memory replacement can be reduced.
There is no risk of damage to the IC. Further, since the nonvolatile memory can be directly soldered to the printed circuit board, the influence of noise is small. Furthermore, since the program modules can be freely rearranged, the execution contents of the microcomputer can be changed even after the program is written in the nonvolatile memory, and the flexibility is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a data sequence D, a program module W
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention in which 1, W2,..., Wn are described in a rewritable memory.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention in which a rewritable memory F can be changed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data string D according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data string D according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification example of the data sequence D of the present invention, in particular, a change in the execution order.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modified example of the data string D of the present invention, in particular, exchange of program modules.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a modification of the data string D of the present invention, particularly showing the addition of a program module.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a modified example of the data string D of the present invention, particularly showing a new addition of a program module.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modification of the data sequence D according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a diagram particularly illustrating a method of correcting a program module.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, a plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
.., A nonvolatile memory M1 in which a data string D and an execution module Y are described.... A microcomputer 3... A data string D and program modules W1 and W
, A rewritable memory F4 describing Wn, a plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
.., A nonvolatile memory M2 in which an execution module Y is described 5... A memory changing means 6... A plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
, Xn, a nonvolatile memory M3 X1, X2,..., Xn, W1, W2,.
Program module D: Data string indicating execution order Y: Execution module & X1, & X2, ..., & Xn, & W1, & W2, ...
.., & Wn... Head address of program module & a11, & a12,..., & A20... Variable addresses T1, T3... Program address table T2, T4. Table P: Rewrite control signal F: Change data string

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a microcomputer device having a nonvolatile memory, a plurality of program modules X1, X2,..., Xn having different processing contents and data indicating the execution order of the program modules X1, X2,. A nonvolatile memory M1 describing a column D and a program module Y for sequentially selecting and executing the plurality of program modules X1, X2,.
A microcomputer device having: 2. The microcomputer device according to claim 1, wherein a rewritable memory F is newly provided, and the data string D is described in the rewritable memory F instead of the nonvolatile memory M1. 3. The program module X1, X2,
.., different program modules W1, W2 from Xn
3. The microcomputer device according to claim 2, wherein Wn is described in the rewritable memory F. 4. The microcomputer device according to claim 2, wherein a memory changing means is newly provided to rewrite said rewritable memory F. 5. A program address table T1 in which a start address of a program module to be executed among the plurality of program modules X1, X2,. 2. The microcomputer device according to claim 1, further comprising a variable address table T2 in which variable addresses input and output by the program modules X1, X2,. 6. The data sequence D includes the program modules X1, X2,..., Xn and W1, W2,.
A program address table T3 in which the start addresses of the program modules to be executed in Wn are arranged in the order of execution, and the program modules X1, X2,.
4. The microcomputer device according to claim 3, further comprising a variable address table T4 in which variable addresses input and output by Xn and W1, W2,.