JPH0638243B2 - Redundant terminal control unit configuration change method - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for changing the configuration of a duplicated terminal control device used in an information processing system.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an electronic computer system is composed of a central part composed of a central processing unit and a main storage device, and a plurality of peripheral parts composed of terminal devices, and a channel device and a terminal device between them. The control devices are arranged in a hierarchical structure.

Further, in order to ensure the reliability of the system and the continuity of operation, the upper parts such as the central processing unit and the terminal control unit usually have a dual structure having a working and a spare.

That is, an example of the configuration of a typical computer system is, as shown in FIG.
A central processing unit 1 comprising A, 1a and channel units 1B, 1b, and a channel interface unit 2A having a duplex configuration,
2a and 2n terminal control units 2A having a non-duplex configuration that are selectively connected to one of these channel interface units.
_The terminal control device 2 is composed of _{1 to} 2a _n, and 2n terminal device groups 3A _{1 to} 3a _n are connected to the respective terminal control units in the terminal control device.

Here, each terminal control unit belonging to the group of terminal control units 2A _{1 to} 2A _{n and} the group of 2a ₁ to 2a _n is simultaneously switched to one of them according to the failure occurrence status of the channel interface units 2A and 2a. In that respect, there is no difference in information transfer function.
However, the group of terminal control units 2A _{1 to} 2A _n and 2a ₁ to 2A _n
In general, each group of 2a _n is configured as an individual device having the corresponding channel interface units 2A and 2a, and therefore each terminal control unit belonging to each group is usually a group from the viewpoint of the power feeding system. It is a divided form.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the group of the channel interface unit 2A and the terminal control unit 2A ₁ to 2A region _n is a common fuse MF _A and individual fuses FA, the first power supply through the FA ₁ ~FA _n While being connected to PWR _A , the group of the channel interface unit 2B and the terminal control units 2B _{1 to} 2B _n is
Common fuse MF _B and individual fuses FB, FB _{1 to} F _B
It is connected to the second power supply PWR _B via B _n .

Conventionally, the configuration change control associated with the occurrence of an abnormality in the terminal control device including the two groups of channel interface units that are grouped on the power supply system as described above and the two groups of terminal control units that respectively belong to It is performed according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, the central processing unit 1 creates a terminal control order to be sent to the terminal control unit via the channel interface unit 2A or 2a on the working side, and sends it in the next step 62. This terminal control order ends normally or abnormally based on the presence / absence of a response from the destination terminal control unit and the normality of the response. The central processing unit 1 judges whether it is a normal end or an abnormal end in step 63, and if it is normal end, it repeats the control of returning to step 62 via steps 66 and 67, so that all the terminal control units receive the terminal control order. When the end of sending the terminal control order to all the terminal control units is detected in step 66, the operation is ended.

On the other hand, when the channel part on the working side in the central processing unit 1 detects abnormal termination of the terminal control order in step 63, it proceeds to step 64 and executes out service for excluding the terminal control unit in question from the system configuration. After that, the process proceeds to step 65. The channel section on the working side considers the abnormal termination to be due to the blowout of the common fuse in the power feeding system shown in FIG. 4, and switches the channel interface section in the terminal control device 2 in step 65. The operations of steps 66 to 63 described above are repeated using the channel interface unit that has newly become the working side.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-described conventional system configuration changing method, if the terminal control order is abnormally terminated, it is considered that the fuse MF common to the power system configuration as shown in FIG. 5 is melted. On the other hand, since the terminal control unit is out of service and the channel interface unit is switched in relation to the abnormal termination, there is a problem that the normal terminal control unit is out of service.

For example, in the terminal control device having the configuration shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, when a terminal control order is sent to the terminal control unit 2A ₁ via the channel interface unit 2A, the individual fuse FA is melted to control the terminal control. If the order is abnormally terminated, even if the terminal controller 2A ₁ can operate normally by switching from the channel interface 2A to 2a, it is determined to be abnormal and is out of service.

Further, when the terminal control order is sent to the terminal control section 2a ₁ via the channel interface section 2A and the terminal control order ends abnormally due to the melting of the common fuse MF _A , switching from the channel interface section 2A to 2a is performed. As a result, even if the terminal controller 2a ₁ can operate normally, it will be out of service.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the inconvenience that a normal terminal control unit is out of service.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides first and second channel interface units having a duplex configuration and first and second channel interfaces that are simultaneously connected to one of these channel interface units. In the method of changing the configuration of a duplicated terminal control device including a terminal control unit group, the channel interface in use is used when the control order transmission to the terminal control unit in any of the terminal control unit ends abnormally even once. Change the part and switch to the operation to send the control order to all the terminal control parts, and if there is at least one terminal control order that ended normally after this switching, if there is something that ended abnormally, it is related to this abnormal end When the terminal control unit is out of service and all terminal control orders are abnormally terminated, the channel interface unit in use is replaced. It is changed again to switch to the operation of sending the control order to all the terminal control units, and after this switching, the terminal control units related to the terminal control orders that have abnormally ended are made out of service.

Embodiment FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the method for changing the configuration of the duplicated terminal control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The overall configuration of the terminal control device to which the configuration changing method of this embodiment is applied and the information processing system including the same is the same as the conventional system configuration shown in FIG.

The central processing unit 1 sets the terminal control order for the first terminal control unit in step 11, and then proceeds to step 12 to send this. The central processing unit 1 executes step 13
At, it is determined whether the terminal control order ends normally or abnormally. If normal termination, in step 14,
It is determined whether or not the transmission of the terminal control order to all the terminal control units has been completed. If there is an untransmitted terminal control unit, a terminal control order for the next terminal control unit is set in step 15, and steps 12 and 14 are repeated. When it is determined in step 14 that the terminal control orders for all the terminal control units have ended normally, the processing of sending the terminal control orders by the central processing unit 1 ends. In this case, the system configuration is not changed.

If the response to the terminal control order is not returned within the predetermined period, or if the response is not a normal response, the transmission of the terminal control order ends abnormally. Even if the central processing unit 1 detects an abnormal end in step 13, it may be due to an abnormality in the channel interface part. Therefore, the central processing unit 1 does not immediately use the destination terminal control part as an out service, and it is currently used in step 16. After switching the inside channel interface section, step 17 in FIG.
Proceed to.

When the central processing unit 1 sets the terminal control order for the first terminal control unit in step 17, it proceeds to step 18 and sends it. The central processing unit 1 executes step 19
In step S21, it is determined whether the terminal control order is normal termination or abnormal termination, and if it is normal termination, a normal termination flag indicating the presence of a normally terminated terminal control order is set in step 20, and then the process proceeds to step 22. If it is abnormally terminated, the number of the destination terminal control unit is recorded in step 21 and then the process proceeds to step 22. The central processing unit 1 determines in step 22 whether or not the transmission of the terminal control order to all the terminal control units has been completed. If there is a terminal control unit that has not been transmitted, the central processing unit 1 transmits the next terminal control unit in step 23. Set terminal control order. Then, steps 18 to 22 are repeated.

When the central processing unit 1 determines in step 22 that the sending of the terminal control order to all the terminal control units has ended, the processing proceeds to step 24, and whether or not the normal end flag indicating the existence of the normally ended terminal control order is set. To inspect. If this normal end flag is set, the central processing unit 1 determines that the channel interface unit currently in use is normal, proceeds to step 25, and abnormalizes the terminal control unit of the number recorded in step 21 above. After that, the terminal control order sending process and the configuration changing process are ended.

On the other hand, when the central processing unit 1 detects in step 24 that the normal termination flag indicating the presence of a normally terminated terminal control order is not set, it determines that the channel interface unit currently in use is abnormal. , And proceeds to step 26 in FIG. 3 to re-switch the channel interface section.

When the central processing unit 1 sets the terminal control order for the first terminal control unit in the next step 27, step 28
To send this. In step 29, the central processing unit 1 determines whether the terminal control order has ended normally or abnormally.
Proceed to. This means that both the destination terminal control unit and the channel interface unit currently in use are normal. On the other hand, when the terminal control order is abnormally terminated, the central processing unit 1 immediately puts the terminal control unit out of service in step 30, and then proceeds to step 31. This means that it is meaningless to change the channel interface unit for this abnormal termination because the abnormality of the channel interface unit that is not currently used is already known in step 24, and this abnormal termination is currently in use. This is because the terminal control unit remains inoperable regardless of whether the channel interface unit is abnormal or the terminal control unit is abnormal.

The central processing unit 1 determines in step 31 whether or not the transmission of the terminal control order to all the terminal control units is completed, and if there is a terminal control unit that has not been transmitted, the central processing unit 1 transmits to the next terminal control unit in step 32. Set terminal control order.
After this, steps 28 to 31 are repeated.

When the central processing unit 1 detects in step 31 that the sending of the terminal control order to the all-end uncontrolled section has been completed, the central processing unit 1 ends all the processing of sending the terminal control order and changing the configuration.

Above, the channel interface unit 2A and the terminal control unit 2A
_The case _where the power supply system of the group of _{1 to} 2A _n is common, and the power supply system of the group of the channel interface unit 2a and the terminal control units 2a _{1 to} 2a _n is common has been exemplified. Even in the general case where it does not exist, it is a general practice to change the configuration of the upper device of the redundant configuration and the lower device group that is connected to either one at the same time by separating the abnormality of the upper part and the lower part by out service. The present invention can be applied as a failure countermeasure system.

Effects of the Invention As described in detail above, according to the present invention, when a terminal control order is abnormally terminated, the cause may be the channel interface unit. Therefore, the terminal control unit involved in the abnormal termination is immediately out-serviced. However, unlike the conventional method, the operable terminal control unit is switched out because the channel interface unit is changed and the changed channel interface unit is confirmed to be normal before it is put into service. The inconvenience of becoming a service can be effectively prevented. Further, as a method for preventing a normal terminal control unit from being out of service by mistake, for example, a failure function is identified by a test function incorporated in the channel interface unit or the number of times an abnormality has occurred in each terminal control unit to date. Then, if the channel interface part is a failure, the channel interface part is changed without bringing the terminal control part out of service, and conversely, if the terminal control part is a failure, it is brought out of service and the channel interface part is not changed. There are possible methods, but
The transmission of a control order to a normal terminal control unit is delayed by the time required to identify the faulty part, which poses a problem when immediacy is required. On the other hand, in the present invention, the channel interface unit is changed and the sending of the control order to the terminal control unit is restarted before the faulty part is identified. The control order sending operation can be restarted promptly, and if the terminal control unit has a failure, the control order sending operation to the normal terminal control unit can be restarted after a short time required for switching the channel interface unit. In combination with the fact that the switching of the channel interface unit is promptly performed even when the control order ends abnormally even once, the delay of the sending of the control order to the normal terminal control unit is prevented as much as possible. You can

When the changed channel interface unit has a failure, the channel interface unit is changed again, so that the continuity of the operation is ensured.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are flowcharts for explaining the procedure of the method for changing the configuration of the duplicated terminal control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are information processing to which the embodiment is applied. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the system and a power feeding system in the duplicated terminal control device, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the conventional method. 1 ... Central processing unit, 1A, 1a ... Processing unit, 2B, 2
b ... Channel part, 2 ... Terminal control device, 2A, 2a ...
... Channel interface section, 2A _{1 to} 2A _n , 2a ₁ to
2a _n ... Terminal control unit, 3A _{1 to} 3A _n , 3a _{1 to} 3a _n ...
... a terminal device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A configuration of a duplicated terminal control device comprising first and second channel interface units having a duplicated configuration, and first and second terminal control unit groups simultaneously connected to one of these channel interface units. In the changing method, if the sending of the control order to the terminal control unit in any of the terminal control units ends abnormally even once, the channel interface unit in use is changed and the control order is sent to all the terminal control units. If there is at least one terminal control order that ended normally after this switching, if there is one that ended abnormally, the terminal control part related to this abnormal end is put out of service and all terminal control orders become abnormal. When finished, the channel interface part in use is changed again and the control order is sent to all terminal control parts. Switch to create, configure method of changing duplex terminal control device, characterized in that the out service the terminal control unit according to the aborted terminal control orders after the switching.