GB2275550A - A data processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A data processing system 1 comprises a network controller 3 having various circuits connected to a network cable 2. Each circuit of the network controller 3 is associated with a storage device of a bank of storage devices 4. An on-line validation controller carries out validation processing of all data inputted at a microcomputer connected to the cable 2. The controller 10 outputs various signals on the network cable 2 depending on validation outputs. These signals are monitored by an error controller 11, a batch transfer controller 12 and a view file controller 13. These are activated upon recognition of a particular signal for error processing, batch transfer processing, and view file transfer for updating of a view file 35 stored on a storage device. A system controller 18 operates in parallel to monitor all access requests and to log data relating to them in a system storage device 30 for use in audit trails. <IMAGE>

Description

"A data processing E The invention relates to a data processing system of the type comprising a local area network to which a network controller, storage devices and various user microcomputers are connected.

European Patent Specification EP-B1-0239638 describes a data processing system including a personal computer which addresses the problem of handling secure data in financial environments. The personal computer communicates with the various peripheral devices by communication links and interface buses.

The invention is directed towards providing for the secure handling of data such as financial data in a data processing system of the type having a local area network and a network controller. In more detail, the objects of the invention are as follows: (a) immediate and automatic data validation and feedback to the user; (b) an improvement in efficiency of data inputting to storage devices; and (c) the provision of a fast response time for data access request from a microcomputer on the network.

According to the invention, there is provided a data processing system comprising: a local area bi-directional network cable; a set of microcomputers connected to the cable, each microcomputer having a keyboard, a central processing unit with read/write memory and a keyboard; a bank of storage devices connected to the network cable, including: a system storage device; a batch storage device; a transaction storage device; a summary storage device; and an error storage device, a network controller comprising a plurality of circuits connected to the cable, the circuits including: an on-line validation controller comprising means for monitoring of data transmitted on the network cable, for carrying out on-line validation of data transmitted from a microcomputer, for transmitting an error signal on the network cable when an error is detected and for transmitting a data validated signal when all dat in a batch input session has been validated; an error controller comprising means for monitoring the cable data four transmission of an error signal from the validation controller, for communicating with the validation controller on receipt of such a signal and transmitting all data relating to an error to the error storage device, for retrieving all relevant data from the error storage device on receipt of a signal from the validation controller if further processing of this data is required; a batch transfer controller comprising means for monitoring signals on the network cable and detecting a batch transfer request transmitted from the validation controller, for transmitting all validated data in a batch inputting session to the batch storage device, and for communicating with the validation controller in both writing and reading of data from the batch storage device; a short-time batch processor comprising means for activating at pre-set short time periods according to a real-time clock, for retrieving data from the batch storage device and for processing the data, for updating the summary storage device with data summarising data inputted during the short time period, and for updating the transaction storage device with details of each transaction to which the data relates; and a system controller comprising means for operating in parallel and in an off-line manner for monitoring all access requests transmitted on the cable for, logging signals representative of access requests in an onboard memory circuit, and for subsequently transmitting this data to the system storage device when traffic on the network cable is low.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises a view file stored on a storage device connected to the network cable, and a view file controller in the network controller, the view file controller comprising means for continuously monitoring data write requests on the cable and trapping write requests according to pre-set criteria and writing the data to the view file so that it may be immediately retrieved when required.

Preferably, there is further provided a data processing system, wherein there is further provided a long time period batch processor for carrying out batch processing after expiry of long time periods which are a multiple of the short time periods of said first batch processor.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a diagrammatic view showing a data processing system of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, a data processing system of the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 is shown. The system 1 comprises a bi-directional network cable 2 to which is connected a network controller 3. The cable 2 is also connected to a bank of storage devices 4, in this embodiment fixed magnetic disks. The cable 2 is also connected to a number of microcomputers, which are not shown in the drawing. Network interface cards are used for the connection to the various microcomputers and to the circuits of the network controller 3.

Briefly, the network controller 3 comprises the following circuits, each of which is connected to the network cable 2: - an on-line validation controller 10, - an error database controller 11, - a batch transfer controller 12, - a view file controller 13, - batch processors 14 and 15, and - a printer controller 16.

The printer controller 16 is connected to a printer 17.

The construction of the network controller 3 is an important aspect of the invention as it governs the manner in which data is inputted at the microcomputers and by which it is transmitted to the storage device bank 4. The various circuits of the network controller 3 operate in conjunction with each other to achieve the objects set out at the beginning of the specification. Another important aspect of the invention is the configuration of the storage device bank 4. This comprises a 200 MB system storage device 30, a 5 MB batch storage device 31, a 100 MB transaction storage device 32, a 5 MB error storage device 33 and a 50 MB summary storage device 34. The capacities of the storage devices may, of course, vary depending on the amount of data to be stored and the particular circumstances. An important point is that there is a separate storage device - for each of the different functions, which are described bellow. The separate storage devices may be partitioned sections of a single storage device or physically separate storage devices. Likewise, the circuits of the network controller 3 may be integrated into one or more circuits and the programs by which they operate may be stored in EPROMs, PROMs, or indeed in field programmable gate arrays. The manner in which each of the circuits is constructed to carry out it's particular function may vary.

These technical functions ensure that there is a fast response time from the network controller 3 so that the user at the microcomputer can retrieve data quickly. They also ensure that data is verified in an efficient manner, both from the point of view of the hardware, and also to reduce the user's time requirement for inputting of data.

This can often be an important point where the nature of the data relates to financial trading and time may be of the essence.

The on-line validation controller 10 is constructed to continuously monitor the cable 2 for a data access request being transmitted from a microcomputer. The controller 10 automatically traps all data and carries out validation operations by comparison with pre-stored criteria. These operations are carried out in communication with the relevant microcomputer, using a temporary set of memory locations in the microcomputer. If an error is detected, the controller 10 transmits two different signals on the cable 2 as follows: (1) a signal to the error storage device 33 for storage of data relating to the error, and (2) a signal to the relevant microcomputer to indicate to the user that an error has occurred.

Thereafter, the controller 10 continues to validate data being inputted while at the same time repeatedly monitoring the keyboard of the microcomputer for depression of a particular set of keys for activation of processing of the data which was inputted. Such keys may be depressed immediately, or after all of the remaining data has been inputted. Immediately when depression of the set of keys has been detected, the controller 10 validates access rights for the particular microcomputer by reference to pre-stored access criteria and subsequently retrieves the contents of the error storage device 33 relating to the particular inputting session.

This data is transmitted on the cable 2 to the microcomputer so that the user may process the data by making the necessary changes until the controller 10 transmits a signal that all data has been validated. Once this has been done, the controller 10 updates not only the newly processed data, but also all of the original validated data and transmits it to the batch storage device 31 in which it is stored in a separate record associated with that particular data inputting session.

An important aspect of the invention is that the validation controller 10 operates in synchronism with the error controller 11 for control of erroneous data. The error controller 11 in particular carries out the necessary functions for access to the error storage device 33 to ensure that the data is stored in a correct manner where it may be easily accessed at a later stage. The error controller 11 is activated upon receipt of a signal via the cable 2 from the validation controller 10. In a similar manner, the batch transfer controller 12 is activated by the controller 10 via the cable 2 when all data has been validated and the batch storage device 31 is to be updated.

The view file controller 13 communicates with the batch transfer controller 12 to extract data which fits a preset criteria. For example, all data relating to a particular client may be extracted from the batch storage device 31 by operation in synchronism with the batch transfer controller 12 and this data is'transmitted by the controller 13 to the view file 35. This view file controller 13 is programmable so that the user may easily instruct it to retrieve different types of data for transmission to the view file 35. This is important as it allows a user of another microcomputer, or indeed the original user to access data very quickly by simply transmitting a request on the cable 2 which is identified by the controller 13 for retrieval of data which may be very quickly retrieved from the view file 35 without the need to search through various storage devices and to compile the information.

At the end of a pre-set short time period the batch processor 15 operates to compile all data which has been written to the batch storage device 31 and to sort and process the data to generate summary information which is stored in the summary storage device 34. In addition, the batch processor 15 operates to ensure that data relating to each transaction is written to the transaction storage device 32. These operations are carried out in a batch process at the end of a working period such as a day. In addition to transmitting the data to the transaction storage device 32 and to the summary storage device 34, the batch processor 15 also, in parallel, writes the data to a printer controller 16 which directs generation of various reports 17.

In parallel with operation of the various circuits 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16, the system controller 18 operates in an off-line manner to monitor all traffic on the cable 2.

Each time the controller 18 detects access request for either writing or reading of data from any of the storage devices 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 or 35, the system controller 18 stores this data in it's memory circuit and at a periodic intervals transmits a signal indicating access request to the system storage device 30 for storage. Accordingly, the system storage device 30 is required to be quite large and in this embodiment is 200 MB in capacity. Over time, the system controller 18 purges a certain amount of the data stored on the storage device 30 to relieve pressure on it's capacity. When a microcomputer transmits a signal on the cable 2 which is recognised by the system controller 18 as an information request, the controller 18 in turn retrieves all of the necessary information from the storage device 30 to indicate the pattern of all access requests for a particular time period to the storage devices. This is particularly important in generation of audit trails and where confidentiality of data and security of data is important. An important aspects of the invention is that the system controller 18 operates in parallel and in an off-line manner to the rest of the controllers and circuits and does not interfere with their operation. This is particularly true because it logs the system data into an internal memory circuit and only transmits it on the network 2 when traffic is light.

Referring now to the batch processor 14, this operates after expiry of a long pre-set period such as a month.

Operations of the batch processor 14 are primarily carried out with reference to the summary storage device 34, however, depending on the nature of the input instructions, it may also refer to any of the other storage devices for retrieval of data in a major batch process. The sorted and processed data which results from operations of the batch processor 14 are transmitted to the summary storage device 34. They are also transmitted to the printer controller 16 for generation of summary reports for the long time period.

It will be appreciated that the various circuits in the network controller 1 operate in conjunction with the network cable 2 and the various storage devices in a manner which ensures that data which is inputted is correct, while at the same time the user is not interrupted any more than is absolutely necessary during an inputting session. This is particularly important where a fast response is required. Operation of the view file 35 and the controller 13 is particularly important in this regard as the manner in which "fast access" data may be stored may be easily configured by the user at the microcomputer.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described, but may be varied in construction and detail.

Claims (4)

1. A data processing system comprising: a local area bi-directional network cable; a set of microcomputers connected to the cable, each microcomputer having a keyboard, a central processing unit with read/write memory and a keyboard; -a bank of storage devices connected to the network cable, including: a system storage device; a batch storage device; a transaction storage device; a summary storage device; and an error storage device, a network controller comprising a plurality of circuits connected to the cable, the circuits including: an on-line validation controller comprising means for monitoring of data transmitted on the network cable, for carrying out on-line validation of data transmitted from a microcomputer, for transmitting an error signal on the network cable when an error is detected and for transmitting a data validated signal when all dat in a batch input session has been validated; an error controller comprising means for monitoring the cable data for transmission of an error signal from the validation controller, for communicating with the validation controller on receipt of such a signal and transmitting all data relating to an error to the error storage device, for retrieving all relevant data from the error storage device on receipt of a signal from the validation controller if further processing of this data is required; a batch transfer controller comprising means for monitoring signals on the network cable and detecting a batch transfer request transmitted from the validation controller, for transmitting all validated data in a batch inputting session to the batch storage device, and for communicating with the validation controller in both writing and reading of data from the batch storage device; a short-time batch processor comprising means for activating at pre-set short time periods according to a real-time clock, for retrieving data from the batch storage device and for processing the data, for updating the summary storage device with data summarising data inputted during the short time period, and for updating the transaction storage device with details of each transaction to which the data relates; and a system controller comprising means for operating in parallel and in an off-line manner for monitoring all access requests transmitted on the cable 2 for, logging signals representative of access requests in an on-board memory circuit, and for subsequently transmitting this data to the system storage device when traffic on the network cable is low.

2. - A data processing system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a view file stored on a storage device connected to the network cable, and a view file controller in the network controller, the view file controller comprising means for continuously monitoring data write requests on the cable and trapping write requests according to pre-set criteria and writing the data to the view file so that it may be immediately retrieved when required.

3. A data processing system as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein there is further provided a long time period batch processor for carrying out batch processing after expiry of long time periods which are a multiple of the short time periods of said first batch processor.

4. A data processing system substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.