JPS61127041A - Diagnosis system for communication controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain an automatic diagnosis system for communication controller by starting and executing the diagnosis firmware through an idle circuit corre sponding hardware detected out of a working state table when an interruption is produced after a prescribed period of time and reporting the generation of an error through a console. CONSTITUTION:A communication controller 12 is constituted of a circuit corresponding hardware 6, a firmware 4 and a diagnosis firmware 5. The firmware 4 accepts a channel program from a software program 2 via a firmware control operating system 3 and executes it through either one of hardwares 6-1-6-N. The working information on the execution of said channel program is stored in a working state table 11. The pulses of an oscillator 8 are counted by a T counter 7 for the second initialization at every desired time point. At the same time, the table 11 is checked. Then either one of the idle hardwares 6-1-6-N is used to perform diagnosis through the firmware 5, and an error if detected is delivered to the console 1 via the system 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Application) The present invention relates to the diagnosis of a communication control device, and more particularly to a diagnosis method that automatically starts and executes diagnosis for each piece of line-compatible hardware.

(Prior art) Conventionally, diagnosis of communication control equipment with this virtue requires manual intervention by an operator such as a maintenance worker from outside to set the line-compatible hardware to be diagnosed to an initial state and then connect it with a notware program. The procedure is to start and run the diagnostic program after performing the separation work.

Also, depending on the system, it is impossible to disconnect the software program and start the diagnostic program on a unit of line-compatible hardware, so the entire system is transitioned to the initial state and the diagnostic program is started from η).
It may be executed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional IC configuration as described above, human intervention is required each time the diagnosis is started, and as a result, the diagnosis must be performed periodically and at dynamic timing. In addition, it is necessary to forcibly stop the running software program and restart it after the diagnostic execution is completed for each line-compatible hardware unit or for all lines accommodated by the communication control device; If a program is abruptly stopped on all lines, there is a problem that diagnosis cannot be made due to the influence of other lines in operation.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to automatically detect an idle state in which a software program is not being executed and perform diagnosis on each line-compatible hardware unit that is connected to a communication control device and accommodates a communication control device. By enabling C1 bets, when the preset conditions are met, the diagnostic program can be started automatically without any conscious effort from the outside, and other lines can be used as real work. To provide a diagnostic method for a communication control device capable of improving the reliability of a communication control device by performing diagnosis in the shadow during execution of a software program in a situation as close as possible to the environment when the software program is in use. There is a particular thing.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The method of the present invention provides a method for diagnosing a communication control device in a computer system having an operating system that controls the communication control device based on a channel program from a software program. a pulse generating means for periodically generating pulses and timing pulses; a counting means for receiving the timing pulses and counting the pulses; and a plurality of line compatible hardware housed in the communication control device. an operating state table that stores operating state information; diagnostic firmware that instructs diagnosis for each line-compatible hardware unit; and a diagnostic firmware that executes diagnosis of the line hardware for each line-compatible hardware unit based on the diagnostic firmware. diagnostic means; the operating system initializes the operating state table and the counting means and activates the pulse generating means in response to initialization or reset of the computer system; In response to the start and end of any of the executions, the operation status information of the corresponding line-compatible hardware in the operation status table is updated, and upon receiving the interrupt pulse, the counting means counts. reads the result, and when the counting result reaches a predetermined value, initializes the counting means, refers to the operating state table, and starts the diagnostic firmware on the line compatible hardware that is not running the channel program. When an error is detected as a result, an error report is output to the console via the software program for each line-compatible hardware unit.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. (In the communication system shown in Fig. 1), the device diagnosis system consists of an operation console 1, a software program 2, a firmware management operating system (hereinafter referred to as MIO8) 3, a communication control device 12, a T counter 7, an oscillator 8, and an operating state. The configuration from table 11 is a block diagram thereof, and FIG. 2(b) is a flag arrangement diagram of the operating state table.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the communication control device shown in FIG. 6-1 to 6-N). The CCU hardware 6-1 to 6-N are each
CCU firmware interface circuit 13 and 71
6, a data serial/parallel conversion circuit 17, an interrupt signal generation circuit 18, and a diagnostic control circuit 19.

The console 1 serves as an interface between the computer system and people, and includes a keyboard, a display, and a printer. The software program 2 consists of an operating system and a user application program for controlling the entire computer system, and has an interface between the operator console 1 and the MIO 83. The MIO 83 is a microprogrammed operating system, and is connected between the software progera ACCU firmware 4, the CCU diagnostic firmware 5, the CCU hardware 6-1 to 6-N, the operating state table 11, the oscillator 8, and the T counter 7. Each has an interface. CCU firmware 4 controls N units of CCU hardware 6-1 to 6-N under the control of 1Ml083, and CCU hardware 6
-1 to 6-N constitute the communication control device 12. C.C.
The U diagnostic firmware 5 is a program routine that executes diagnosis of N units of CCU/1-ware 6-1 to 6-N under the control of the MIO 83.

The operation of the flow side will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

First, refer to Figure 5g1. When the combiator system is started, the firmware and hardware operate based on the software program 2 to execute the user program. When operating the software program 2 or the communication control device 12, a channel program is issued to the MIO 83. The channel program includes a hardware number corresponding to the target communication system #device line and a command code regarding the content of the operation to be executed. When MI083 accepts such a channel program, it checks its contents, starts CCU firmware 4, and passes the channel program. C.C.
The U firmware 4 issues an operation instruction to the corresponding CCU hardware 6-1 to 6-N based on the command code of the channel program, and the CCU hardware executes this operation instruction. When a predetermined event occurs during the operation process of the CCLI hardware, the CC
U hardware issues an interrupt to MIO83. MI0
83 accepts or accepts the interrupt based on the channel program issue request from the software program 2 to other CCU hardware and the priority order with respect to other CCU interrupts. received C
The CCU firmware 4 is activated in order to execute a service in response to an interrupt from the CU hardware. The above-described interrupt processing is repeated several times for one channel program to execute the operation instruction specified by the channel program. When the CCU firmware 4 detects an end condition for the channel program being executed, it reports the execution result of the channel program to the software program 2 through the MIO 83. Since the communication control device 12 controls line-compatible hardware in multiple ways, the execution operation of the channel program is processed in multiple ways.

Next, refer to FIGS. 2 and 3. MI08 as mentioned above
3 starts the CCU firmware 4 upon receiving the channel program from the software program 2.
At this time, in order to remember that the channel program reception is in operation, the operating status table 1 corresponding to the line-compatible hardware number that executes the channel program is
``1'' is set in the operation execution flag position within 1.

The CCU firmware 4 issues operation instructions given by the channel program to the corresponding CCU hardware through the CCU firmware interface circuit 13. The C'CU hardware is a line interface circuit 15. Data buffer 16. The data serial/parallel conversion circuit 17 is driven to execute operation instructions based on command codes of the channel program. When an interrupt is generated, the interrupt is sent to the MIO 83 through the interrupt signal generation circuit 18. When the CCU firmware 4 detects a channel program termination condition during the operation of the CCU hardware,
Stops CCU hardware operation and sends completion report to MI
Do this for 083.

In order to memorize the end of channel program execution, the MIO 83 resets the operation execution flag position in the operation status table 11 corresponding to the failure compatible hardware number to "o"'.

When the system is initialized or reset, the MIO 83 first initializes the operating status table 11 to all 'O's, outputs the initialization signal 9 to initialize the T counter 7, and excites the oscillator 8 to generate pulses every minute. outputs a count pulse of 10.

As a result, the T counter 7 starts counting.

The count pulse 10 is also an interrupt signal for the MIO 83, and the MIO 83 reads the count value of the T counter 7 once every 100 count pulses are input. The value of the T counter 7 is an appropriate time value for the diagnostic execution interval of the CCU hardware (it is embedded in the MIO 83 in advance at the time of system generation, and can be changed by key input from the operation console 1 if necessary). is possible), the MIO 83 re-outputs the initialization signal 9 and
Reinitialize counter 7. The T counter 7 restarts counting by the count pulse 10.

Furthermore, at this time, the MIO 83 operates as follows in order to diagnose the CCU hardware.

The operation execution flag in the operation status table 11 is set to
Refer to the hardware number 711 (C)II, CH2...CHN for 6-1 to 6-N, respectively) from CHI, and the operation execution flag in the operation status table 11 is '11. If there is, it means that the CCU hardware corresponding to the CCU hardware number at that position is currently executing a channel program from software. In this case, the diagnostic execution for the CCU hardware corresponding to the relevant CCU hardware number is postponed, and the state of the flag indicating that the operation is being executed at the position corresponding to the next CCU hardware number is detected. When the operation execution flag is 0'', it means that the CCU hardware corresponding to the CCU hardware number at that position is currently in a state where the channel program from the software is not being executed. The CCU diagnostic firmware 14 is activated for the CCU hardware corresponding to the CCU hardware number.At this time, the operation execution flag corresponding to the CCU hardware that activated the CCU diagnostic firmware 14 is set to "1".

In this way, the MIO 83 refers to the status of the operation execution flag corresponding to each hardware number in the operation status table 11 from CCU hardware code C) II to CHN, and changes the above according to each status. Perform the action.

When the CCU diagnostic firmware 4 is started from the MIU 83, it drives the diagnostic control circuit 19 to perform diagnosis on the CCU hardware of the corresponding CCU hardware bud number through the CCU diagnostic firmware interface circuit w114. Diagnosis content is mainly based on CCU diagnostic firmware 5.
Then, the visible CCU hardware signal is checked and the line interface signal in the line interface circuit 15 is looped internally to perform data sending/receiving operations. When generating an interrupt, the M
Interrupt to EO83. In this way, the CCUg disconnection firmware 5 executes multiple diagnosis for each CCv hardware number. CCU diagnostic firmware 5 also
When the diagnosis for each hardware number is completed, a completion report is sent to the MIO 83 each time. At this time, if an error is detected as a result of the diagnosis, that event is also included in the completion report and notified to the MI OS 3.

When the MIO 83 receives the completion report of the termination execution from the CCU diagnostic firmware 5, it resets the operation execution flag in the operation status table 11 corresponding to the hardware number corresponding to the line on which the diagnosis was executed to O'', and at the same time indicates a diagnosis error. If it is reported, the diagnosis result along with the corresponding hardware number is notified to the software program 2 by a caution interrupt report.The software program 2 outputs the contents to the operator console 1.

If a channel program is issued from the software program 2 to the CCU hardware number on which the CCU diagnostic firmware 5 is being executed, the MIO 83 refers to the operation status table 11 and determines the operation at the position corresponding to the CCU hardware number. It detects that the execution flag is 1'' and notifies the software program 2 that the channel program cannot be executed.

(Effect of investigation) By employing the groove bottom as described above, the present invention automatically performs diagnosis at the position of the line-compatible hardware of the communication control device by detecting the empty state of the line-compatible hardware. By being able to obtain the results, it is possible to diagnose the communication control device at dynamic timing, which has the advantage of further improving the reliability of the communication control device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the periphery of the LIJ8 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3u is a detailed block diagram of the communication control device of FIG. 1. 1...Operation console, 2...Software program, 3...Firmware management operating system (MIO8), 4...Communication control unit firmware (CCU firmware), 5...
...Communication control device diagnostic firmware (CCU diagnostic firmware), 6-1 to 6-N...Communication control device line compatible hardware (CCU hardware),
7... T counter, 8... Oscillator, 9
--- Initialization signal, 10 --- Count pulse, 11 --- Operation status table, 12 ---
...Communication control device, 13...-CCU firmware interface circuit, 14...CCU diagnostic firmware interface circuit, 15...
・Line interface circuit, 16...Data buffer, 17...Data serial/parallel conversion circuit, 18
Bud l solid (aan (I:1) Fig. 2 Fig. 3 M

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim] In a diagnostic method for a communication control device in a computer system having an operating system that controls the communication control device based on a channel program from a software program, an interrupt pulse and a timing pulse are periodically generated. a pulse generating means for generating a pulse; a counting means for counting the pulses in response to the supply of the time-measuring pulse; and an operating state table that stores operating state information of each of the plurality of line compatible hardwares accommodated in the communication control device. , diagnostic firmware that instructs each line compatible hardware unit to diagnose; and diagnostic means that executes a diagnosis of the line hardware based on the diagnostic firmware for each line compatible hardware unit, the operating system In response to the initialization or reset of the computer system, initializes the operating state table and the counting means and starts the pulse generating means, and starts and ends execution of either the channel program or the diagnostic firmware. in response to updating the operating state information of the corresponding line compatible hardware in the operating state table;
Upon receiving the supply of the interrupt pulse, the counting result of the counting means is read, and when the counting result reaches a predetermined value, the counting means is initialized, and the channel program is executed with reference to the operating state table. The diagnostic firmware is started and executed on the line-compatible hardware that is not currently running, and when an error is detected as a result, an error report is output to the console via the software program for each line-compatible hardware. A diagnostic method for a communication control device characterized by: