JPH0664569B2 - Micro program loading method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a microprogram loading system for a multiprocessor system, and more particularly to a microprogram loading system suitable for degenerate operation when a sub-processor fails.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional microprogram loading method for a multiprocessor system is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-11153.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9, the main processor's microprogram part and the subprocessor's microprogram part are separately loaded, and if an error occurs during the subprocessor's microprogram loading, only the main processor's microprogram part is loaded. It is known that the system can be loaded and the system can be operated only by the main processor. Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-114637, by disposing each micro program at the time of operation of the sub processor and at the time of disconnection operation in the overlay structure in the control memory, the micro program at the time of disconnection operation at the time of the sub processor error. It is known that programs are used to execute instructions.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the former method of the prior art, the method is applied only when an error occurs during loading, and no consideration is given to the error of the sub processor after loading. Further, in this method, if an error occurs during loading of the micro processor in the sub processor, when the instruction for operating the sub processor is issued, the micro program is set as a trap and the software interpreter executes the instruction equivalent to this instruction ( However, there is a problem that the processing speed is remarkably reduced because the degenerate operation is performed. Further, in the latter device of the prior art, an address determination circuit for selecting two microprograms is indispensable even when it is operated only by the main processor system, so the amount of hardware increases and the cost increases. There was a problem.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, in a multiprocessor system, degenerate operation at the time of a sub-processor failure does not require specific hardware, and while suppressing a decrease in processing speed to a minimum. It is to provide a microprogram loading method that can be performed.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, in the microprogram loading method of the present invention, a multiprocessor system having a main processor (2 in FIG. 1) for performing various processes at low speed and a sub processor (4) for performing various processes at high speed is provided. In the microprogram loading method, each microprogram and each diagnostic program at the time of operation and disconnection of the subprocessor (4) are stored in the external storage device (5), and first, the microprogram and the subprogram at the time of operation of the subprocessor (4) When the diagnostic program of the processor is loaded into the sub processor (4) and an abnormality is detected in the loading of the sub processor (4), a retry is performed a specified number of times, and when the retry is over, the micro program at the time of disconnection operation is executed. Loading into the main processor (2) and loading When the normal operation or the retry is successful, the diagnostic program of the auxiliary processor is executed after the loading to the auxiliary processor is completed, and when an abnormality is detected in the diagnostic result of the auxiliary processor (4), the microprogram at the time of disconnection operation is executed by the main processor ( It is characterized by loading to 2).

[Operation] According to the loading method of the present invention, the sub-processor is diagnosed by the micro-program of the sub-processor, and if normal, the high-speed micro-program using the sub-processor is executed as it is. Reload a slow microprogram that only runs. As a result, even if the sub-processor is abnormal, it is executed only by the main processor, so it is slow, but because it is executed by a micro program regardless of the software interpreter, it is not necessary to significantly reduce the speed. .

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, in a multiprocessor system, a microprogram that executes an instruction using a sub processor is a high-speed micro program that should be executed by the sub processor, and a low speed micro program that is executed only by the main processor as an alternative. Prepare a micro program that diagnoses the sub processor in the former micro program, load this micro program of the sub processor, execute this diagnostic micro program, and detect an abnormality in the sub processor. Re-loads the microprogram to be executed only by the low-speed main processor. The present embodiment will be described below by showing a concrete multiprocessor system.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a microprogram controlled multiprocessor system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a main processor control memory for storing microinstructions for controlling the operation of the main processor 2,
Is a main processor that processes at low speed, 3 is a sub processor 4
Control memory for the sub-processor for storing microinstructions for controlling the operation of
Is an external storage device, 6 is an alarm device for issuing a warning such as a program error, and 7 is an input / output bus for transferring input / output data.

This multiprocessor system, as shown in FIG.
The main processor 2 and the sub-processor 4 have a main-processor control memory 1 and a sub-processor control memory 3 for storing micro-instructions for controlling the respective operations, and an initial micro-program loader allows the external storage device 5 to access each control memory. Load the microprogram. The programs loaded into the main processor control memory 1 are (1) a basic unit that executes instructions using only the main processor 2, (2) a diagnostic unit that diagnoses the main processor with a microprogram, and (3) a sub processor 4 There is a main processor control unit that executes an instruction that uses the sub-processor 4 only in the main processor 2 without operating the sub-processor 4. on the other hand,
The program loaded into the sub-processor control memory 3 is (1) a diagnostic unit for diagnosing the sub-processor 4 by a micro program, and (2) a sub-processor for operating the sub-processor 4 to execute an instruction using the sub-processor 4. There is a processor controller.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart when loading the microprogram in the system of FIG. Less than,
The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when the power supply of the multiprocessor system is turned on, the initial micro program loader is activated (step 201). The initial micro program loader loads the basic unit and the diagnostic unit from the external storage device 5 into the main processor control memory 1 via the input / output bus 7 (step 202). When an error is detected during loading (step 203), the retry is performed within a predetermined number of times, and when the retry is unsuccessful (step 204), the alarm device 6 is activated to notify the abnormality detection (step). 205).

When the loading is normal or the retry is successful, the diagnosis unit diagnoses the main processor 2 by the microprogram (step 206). When an abnormality is detected in the diagnosis result (step 207), the alarm device 6 is activated to notify the operator of the abnormality detection (step 205). If it is normal (step 207), the presence or absence of the connection of the secondary processor 4 is checked (step 208). If it is not connected, the main processor control unit described later is loaded (step 214). When the connection is diagnosed, the diagnostic unit and the sub processor control unit are loaded from the external storage device 5 into the sub processor control memory 3 (step 209).
If an error is detected during loading (step 21
0), retry is performed within a predetermined number of times (step 213), and when the retry is unsuccessful, a main processor control unit described later is loaded into the main processor control memory 1 (step 214). When the loading is normal or the retry is successful, the diagnosis unit diagnoses the sub processor 4 by the microprogram (step 211).
If the diagnostic result is normal (step 212), the microprogram loading is complete and the bootstrap program execution for loading the next operating system is started. When an abnormality is detected in the diagnosis result (step 212), the main processor controller is loaded from the external storage device 5 into the main processor control memory 1 (step 214). When an error is detected during loading (step 215), retry is performed within a predetermined number of times (step 216), the alarm device 6 is activated when the retry is unsuccessful, and the loading is completed when the retry is successful. .

In this way, the microprogram for the sub processor is provided with the micro program for diagnosing the sub processor, and by executing this at the time of loading, the reliability of the sub processor is improved and at the same time, the processing speed is significantly reduced even when the sub processor is abnormal. It is possible to perform degenerate operation without having to do so.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the sub-processor is diagnosed during microprogram loading of the multiprocessor system, the reliability of the sub-processor can be improved and the main processor can be used even when an abnormality occurs. Although it is slow, the optimum microprogram is executed, so that degenerate operation can be performed without significantly reducing the processing speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a microprogram controlled multiprocessor system showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an operation flowchart of the system in FIG. 1 when the microprogram is loaded. 1: control memory for main processor, 2: main processor,
3: control memory for sub processor, 4: sub processor,
5: external storage device, 6: alarm device, 7: input / output bus.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-57-17058 (JP, A) JP-A-59-177660 (JP, A) JP-A-60-129845 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A microprogram loading method for a multiprocessor system having a main processor for performing various kinds of processing at low speed and a sub processor for performing various kinds of processing at high speed. The diagnostic program is stored in an external storage device, and the microprogram and the diagnostic program for the secondary processor during the operation of the secondary processor are first loaded into the secondary processor, and if an abnormality is detected by loading the secondary processor, a retry is performed a specified number of times. When a retry is performed, the micro program at the time of the above disconnection operation is loaded into the main processor,
When the loading is normal or the retry is successful, after the loading to the secondary processor is completed, the diagnostic program of the secondary processor is executed, and when an abnormality is detected in the diagnostic result of the secondary processor, the microprogram at the time of the disconnection operation is executed by the main processor. A method for loading a microprogram, characterized in that