JPS6051741B2 - Program management method - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a program management method.

When a program is stored in a program medium such as a read-only memory ROM and converted into firmware,
Firmware units with various functions can be realized in ROM packages, so by combining firmware units with several desired functions, it is possible to configure firmware that matches the character and scale of the data processing system. can. In order to increase the flexibility of the system configuration, it is desirable that the firmware and units can be easily added, deleted, or their contents changed even after they have been incorporated into the system. To this end, it is necessary to be able to add, delete, or change the contents of a firmware unit without affecting the contents of other firmware units. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a program management method in which attachment/detachment or content changes of one firmware unit do not affect other firmware units.

In the present invention, each firmware unit has an entrance address table consisting of a branch PLTL in which the entrance addresses of subroutines and processing programs are aggregated, and an initialization PLTL in which the entrance addresses of task programs and certain types of processing programs are aggregated. At the same time, the entry address of the task program in the initialized PLTL is set at random by the initialization program executed each time a firmware unit is attached or detached.
The entry address of some programs is random, accessing the program location in memory, the table is aggregated into a different address.

A table is created, and program branching is also performed through this address table. The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, ROM1, ROM2, . . . ROMn are ROM packages in which various programs are stored in a distributed manner. Each ROM package ROM1~R
Each OMn has a ROM label. The ROM label includes an entry address table PLTL (described later) that collects entry addresses of programs stored in the ROM package. RAM is random access memory and has a system configuration table area. This system configuration table area includes a task location table TLT and a program location table PLT, which will be described later. Information in the ROM label of each ROM package is transferred to these tables by the initialization program. The initialization program is executed for all ROM packages when even one ROM package is installed or removed, and keeps the contents of the system configuration table area always up to date. The detailed structure of the ROM label is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 24 words from relative addresses 0 to #17 (indicated by 1) constitute the entry address table PLTL. This entry address table PLTL collects the entry addresses of all programs in one ROM package. Examples of programs include task programs, subroutines, and various processing programs that are branched from other programs and executed. Entrance address table P
The first 16 words of the LTL are branch PLTL, in which the entry addresses of subroutines and processing programs are collected. This branch P
LTL indicates the entry address of a program that is executed by a direct branch from a program in another ROM package or from a program in the same ROM package. The 8 words after the entry address table PLTL are the initial address table 5PLT.
In L, task programs and certain processing programs (
(described later) are aggregated. The contents of the initialized PLTL can be randomly accessed by the initialization program●
It is transferred to memory RAM and indicates the entry address of a program that is executed by random access ● branching through memory RAM. The 8 words following the entry address ● table PLTL are the RAM initialization table, each word is paired with each word in the initial 5 PLTL, and each word is randomly assigned.
Indicates the transfer destination address when transferring to the access ● task ● location ● table TLT or program ● location ● table PLT in the memory RAM. Third
The figure shows the detailed structure of the task location table TLT and program location table PLT in the random access memory RAM in relation to the ROM package group.

Task ● Location ● Table TLT and program location table PLT are stored in each ROM.
A collection of entry addresses for task programs and certain processing programs in a package. For both these tables. The aggregation of entry addresses is performed by the initialization program. Initialization program is ROM
It is placed in the package ROMl. ROMl is basically R
This is an OM package that is always provided regardless of the configuration of the data processing system, and includes, in addition to the initialization program, a task queue search program, interrupt processing programs at each level, basic task programs, basic subroutines, and various other programs. Basic tables etc. are stored. Other ROM packages are provided depending on the configuration of the data processing system, and have various task programs, processing routines, subroutines, tables, etc. depending on the nature of the data processing system. Based on this configuration, program management is performed as follows.

First, by the initialization program, the entrance address of the task program and the entrance address of a certain type of processing program are changed from the initialization PLTL of each ROM package to the random access memory RAM task location table TLT. and program◆Location●Transferred to table PLT. Task ● Location ● Table TLT does not fill all the columns when the number of ROM packages installed is small. An unfilled area in the column indicates that the task program is not implemented, so an =END signal (all zeros, etc.) is written there.
This clarifies the implementation status of the program. The initialization program is executed for all ROM packages every time even one ROM package is added or deleted, and a location that matches the mounting state is always registered. When a hardware interrupt or a task activation request from a program occurs in this state, the monitor indexes the task location table TLT according to the task number included in the interrupt signal or task activation request signal.

If the entry address of the corresponding task program is found, execution authority is transferred to the task program starting from that address. This begins execution of the task program. On the other hand, task location table TL
When T is indexed and the =END signal is found, the requested task program has not been implemented, so the execution right is not transferred. This operation is repeated each time an interrupt or task activation request occurs.
Various program branches occur during the program execution process.

The branch destination may be a program in the same ROM package or a program in another ROM package. Other ROM packages include common ones that are always installed, and optional ones that may or may not be installed depending on the system configuration. When branching to a program within the same ROM package, the procedure is as follows.

An explanatory diagram of the operation is shown in FIG. Now ROM package RO
Task in Mlc●If the execution process of program TASK branches to program PRGk, then TASK
At the branch point of j, the entry address storage location of program PRGk in entry address table PLTL =
×. A branch instruction is written with a relational address. Therefore, by executing this instruction, program PRG,
A branch is made. Even when branching to a program in another ROM package, that ROM package is always installed. If it is of the type shown in Figure 4, branching is performed using a similar method (Figure 4).

Branching when other ROM packages are not necessarily guaranteed to be implemented is as follows.

An explanatory diagram of the operation is shown in FIG. In this case, random
Access ● Program in memory RAM ● Location table PLT is used. ROM package RO
It is assumed that Mm is implemented or not implemented depending on the system configuration, and that the program therein branches from the program of the ROM package ROMn. ROM package R that may or may not be implemented
The processing program stored in OMm is the above-mentioned type of processing program. In this case, in the ROM package ROMm of the branch destination, the program entrance address B is registered in the initial 5PLTL, and in the ROM package ROMm of the branch source, the program entry address B is registered in the ROM package ROMm of the branch destination.
A program to be the second branch destination when package ROMm is not installed is prepared, and its entrance address C is prepared in the initialization PLTL. The program that is the second branch destination also corresponds to the above-mentioned type of program. Entrance addresses B and C in both initialized PLTLs are randomly accessed by the initialization program.
It is written to the same location BA in the program location table PLT in M. At this time, the initialization PLTL of the branch destination ROMn is written first, and the initialization PLTL of the branch destination ROMm is written later. Only the last written information remains, so if the ROM. ．． is implemented, the program location ●Table PLT (7
) The entrance address B remains at the BA address, and the entrance address C remains if it is not implemented. In the branch source program, program●location●B of table PLT
A branch instruction with address A as a relational address is provided. Therefore, by executing this, if Rαtun is installed, a branch is made to the program at address B, and if it is not installed, the second branch destination is ROMn (7).
A branch is taken to address C. In this way, the program can be branched without any problem in either case. As described above, in the present invention, each firmware unit has a program entrance address table, and program branching is performed via this entrance address table, and some entrance addresses are stored in RAM. Create a separate address table, and also perform program branching through this address table, and
Entrance addresses to M are aggregated by the initialization program each time a firmware unit is attached or detached.

Therefore, a program management system is realized in which attachment/detachment or content change of one firmware unit does not affect other firmware units. According to this method, since the modification of a program is limited to the firmware unit in which the program is stored, the consistency of the firmware as a whole is improved. In addition, only the necessary firmware units can be installed when needed, resulting in good cost/performance. In addition, since branching relationships between firmware units do not change regardless of the system configuration, branches are directly made based on the entry address table, the RAM usage area can be saved. Also, if you want to change the processing of the program, you can easily do so by simply changing the firmware. Furthermore, if you connect firmware with special processing programs that depend on the application target of the data processing device as late as possible, you can avoid modifying the standard part of the program.
This processing program can be activated. In addition,
The program medium is not limited to read-only memory.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a ROM
FIG. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of a part of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are operation explanatory diagrams. ROMl~ROMn...Read ●Only ●Memory, RAM...Random ●Access●Memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Branch PLTL where entry addresses of subroutines and processing programs are aggregated for each firmware unit
In addition to having an entry address table consisting of an initialization PLTL in which the entry addresses of task programs and certain types of processing programs are aggregated, program branching is performed via this entry address table. The entry address of the task program in the initialization PLTL is set to random access by the initialization program executed each time a unit is attached or detached.
The entry address of certain programs is aggregated into a task location table in memory and the random
A program management method that aggregates programs into a program location table in access memory, creates a separate address table, and allows program branching through this address table.