JP2008287317A - Information processor and system startup method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor and a system startup method to shorten the system startup time from turning on the power source of an onboard device until displaying an initial screen. <P>SOLUTION: While a main CPU 1 is performing its own initialization processing and OS startup processing, a submicrocomputer 2 performs its own initialization processing and OS startup processing in parallel, and a hard disk 3 performs its own initialization processing. After completion of the OS startup processing of the submicrocomputer 2 and the initialization processing of the hard disk 3, the submicrocomputer 2 acquires data from the hard disk 3 and maintains the data in a built-in memory. Then, after completion of the OS startup processing of the main CPU 1, the main CPU 1 accesses a memory of the submicrocomputer 2 and acquires the data. Thereby, the pre-read data can be acquired at high speed from the memory of the submicrocomputer 2 without the main CPU 1 accessing the hard disk 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a system activation method, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus that reads and processes necessary programs and data from a built-in hard disk when power is turned on, and a system activation method used in the apparatus. Is.

  In-vehicle devices in recent years are becoming increasingly multimedia, including a relatively large-capacity hard disk and a system that integrates a plurality of functions such as an audio function and a navigation function. In this type of vehicle-mounted device, various programs and various data necessary for executing each function such as an audio function and a navigation function are recorded on a hard disk. The in-vehicle device is equipped with a CPU for processing various programs and various data recorded on the hard disk.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional information processing apparatus included in the in-vehicle device. As shown in FIG. 4, in a conventional information processing apparatus, a CPU 101 and a hard disk (HDD) 102 are connected by a bus such as an ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface) standard. The CPU 101 reads out various programs from the hard disk 102 and executes them, and reads out and processes various data from the hard disk 102 in accordance with the instructions of the programs, thereby performing necessary processing relating to the audio function and the navigation function.

  When the system (vehicle equipment) is turned on, the CPU 101 first activates the hard disk 102 to make it operable, and then reads various programs and various data from the hard disk 102 for processing, thereby enabling audio functions and navigation. Display the initial function screen on the display. However, the conventional system has various functions, so the program scale becomes large, and the delay in system startup time (the time from when the power is turned on until the initial screen is displayed) is a problem. It has become to.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional system startup flow. In FIG. 5, when the system is turned on, the CPU 101 is initialized first, and then the OS (operation system) is started. This OS is stored in a flash memory or the like different from the hard disk 102. The OS activation process is performed by the CPU 101 reading the OS from the flash memory.

  While the OS activation process is being performed, the processing of the hard disk 102 is started by another task. The initialization process of the hard disk 102 is performed by the hard disk 102 itself, separately from the process of the CPU 101. That is, when a reset instruction is issued from the CPU 101 to the hard disk 102, the hard disk 102 executes an initialization process of the hard disk 102 in parallel with the OS startup process performed by the CPU 101.

  Although it depends on the type of the hard disk 102, it takes 2 to 3 seconds for the initialization to be completed after the reset. When the processing of the hard disk 102 is completed and then the OS activation process by the CPU 101 is also completed, the CPU 101 starts reading application programs and necessary data from the hard disk 102. Then, by processing the program and data read from the hard disk 102, the initial screen of the audio function and navigation function is displayed on the display. This completes the system startup process.

  In the system startup flow as described above, since the CPU 101 is in charge of executing various functions, it takes a long time for the processing of the CPU 101 performed first. In addition, since the OS program scale is large, it takes a long time to start the OS. Therefore, it takes a lot of time before the hard disk 102 can be accessed. Furthermore, it takes a long time to read application programs and data from the hard disk 102 even after the hard disk 102 can be accessed. As a result, there is a problem that it takes a long time until the initial screen is displayed after the system startup is completed.

  An embedded system such as an in-vehicle device has a feature that an application to be operated is fixed. In this case, initialization processing of the CPU 101 and the hard disk 102 at system startup is performed in the same procedure in most cases. Utilizing this feature, the access log from the CPU 101 to the hard disk 102 is taken, and the access time to the hard disk 102 is shortened by accessing the hard disk 102 based on this acquired log at the next and subsequent startups. Can do.

Conventionally, a similar technique has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the reading history from the hard disk is saved in the boot flash memory at the time of starting, and the program is read directly from the saved history without going through the file system at the next starting time or later. The fast start is done with.
JP 2006-155391 A

  However, in the prior art described in Patent Document 1, although the time to access the hard disk can be shortened by using an access log to the hard disk, it is long to read application programs and data from the hard disk itself. The time-consuming problem cannot be solved.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and is a system from when the power source of the vehicle-mounted device is turned on until the initial screen is displayed on the display through the initialization processing of the CPU and the hard disk. The purpose is to make the startup time as short as possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, in the present invention, while the first arithmetic processing unit is performing its own initialization process and OS startup process, the second arithmetic processing unit is in parallel with this. Instructions for initialization processing, OS startup processing, and hard disk initialization processing are performed, and after the initialization processing of the hard disk and the OS startup processing of the second arithmetic processing unit are completed, the second arithmetic processing unit accesses the hard disk. Data is stored in the memory in the second arithmetic processing unit, and after the OS startup process of the first arithmetic processing unit is completed, the first arithmetic processing unit The data is obtained by accessing the memory of the second arithmetic processing unit.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, the second arithmetic processing unit accesses the hard disk before the OS boot process of the first arithmetic processing unit is completed and the hard disk can be accessed. The data is read out to the memory. For this reason, the first arithmetic processing unit can access the memory and acquire data without accessing the hard disk after the completion of the OS startup process. Since the memory can read data at a higher speed than the hard disk, the time required to read the application program and data after the first arithmetic processing unit becomes accessible to the hard disk can be reduced. The system startup time can be made as short as possible.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied to an in-vehicle device equipped with a system in which a plurality of functions such as an audio function and a navigation function are integrated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus of this embodiment includes a main CPU 1 (corresponding to the first arithmetic processing apparatus of the present invention), a sub-microcomputer 2 (corresponding to the second arithmetic processing apparatus of the present invention), and a hard disk. 3 and a flash memory 4 and 5 and a display 6 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The sub-microcomputer 2 is connected between the main CPU 1 and the hard disk 3. For example, the main CPU 1 and the sub microcomputer 2 are connected by a USB (Universal Serial Bus), and the sub microcomputer 2 and the hard disk 3 are connected by an ATAPI standard bus. Further, a flash memory 4 and a display 6 are connected to the main CPU 1, and a flash memory 5 is connected to the sub-microcomputer 2.

  The first flash memory 4 stores in advance an OS as an operation base of application programs for various functions executed by the main CPU 1. The second flash memory 5 stores in advance an OS as an operation base of application programs for various functions executed by the sub-microcomputer 2. The second flash memory 5 corresponds to the nonvolatile memory of the present invention, and stores history information related to access from the sub-microcomputer 2 to the hard disk 3.

  The main CPU 1 controls the entire vehicle-mounted device on which the information processing apparatus of this embodiment is mounted, and the size of the application program to be executed is large. Therefore, the OS as the base is also large in size, and it takes a relatively long time to start up.

  On the other hand, the sub-microcomputer 2 is responsible for a part of functions executed in the in-vehicle device, and the size of the application program and the size of the OS necessary for this are smaller than that of the main CPU 1. Therefore, the time required for starting the OS for the sub-microcomputer 2 is shorter than the time required for starting the OS for the main CPU 1.

  The display 6 displays an initial screen such as an audio function or a navigation function of the in-vehicle device as a result of processing an application program or data read from the hard disk 3 by the main CPU 1 through the sub-microcomputer 2. For example, the initial screen of the navigation function includes a map around the vehicle position and a UI (user interface) image.

  When the vehicle-mounted device is turned on, the main CPU 1 performs its own initialization process and OS activation process for the main CPU 1 as part of the system activation process. After the OS startup processing is completed, the main CPU 1 reads the application program and data prefetched from the hard disk 3 by the sub-microcomputer 2 and held in the internal memory of the sub-microcomputer 2 (hereinafter, unless otherwise indicated, the application program). And the data are collectively referred to as “data”). Then, an initial screen such as an audio function or a navigation function is displayed on the display 6 using the acquired data.

  While the main CPU 1 is performing its own initialization process and OS startup process, the sub-microcomputer 2 performs the initialization process of the sub-microcomputer 2 itself, the OS startup process for the sub-microcomputer 2 and the hard disk 3 in parallel. Instructs initialization processing. The hard disk 3 that has received this instruction performs initialization processing of the hard disk 3 itself while the main CPU 1 is performing OS startup processing.

  The sub-microcomputer 2 accesses the hard disk 3 and acquires data after the initialization process of the hard disk 3 and the OS startup process for the sub-microcomputer 2 are completed. Then, the acquired data is held in the built-in memory of the sub-microcomputer 2. Thereafter, the main CPU 1 obtains data by accessing the memory of the sub-microcomputer 2 after its own OS startup process is completed.

  The sub-microcomputer 2 includes history acquisition means for acquiring access history information for the hard disk 3 and storing it in the second flash memory 5 when the hard disk 3 is accessed and data is read. The sub-microcomputer 2 determines whether or not history information is stored in the second flash memory 5 when the initialization process of the hard disk 3 and the OS startup process of the sub-microcomputer 2 itself are completed, and the history information is stored. If it is, data is obtained by accessing the hard disk 3 according to the history information.

  The history acquisition means, for example, acquires and stores the history of access performed during the period when the vehicle-mounted device is turned on at any time. In this case, the sub-microcomputer 2 accesses the hard disk 3 by referring to the last recorded history information (the last access history before the vehicle-mounted device is turned off) at the next startup. Also, the history acquisition means does not acquire the access history as needed, but acquires the history information regarding the last access from the sub-microcomputer 2 to the hard disk 3 when instructed to turn off the power of the vehicle-mounted device. And may be saved. Save the last access history before the power of the vehicle-mounted device is turned off and read the data from the hard disk 3 by referring to this at the next startup, so that the state displayed on the display 6 when the power is turned off Can be reproduced at the next startup.

  In the present embodiment, the history information includes a start sector number indicating a data read start position on the hard disk 3 and a sector number indicating the number of data read. The sub microcomputer 2 notifies the hard disk 3 of the start sector number and the number of sectors as a read request signal, and acquires data of one or more sectors represented by the number of sectors by one notification of the read request signal.

  The operation of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment configured as described above, that is, the processing procedure of the system activation method will be described below. FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating an operation example of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, when the power of the vehicle-mounted device is turned on, the main CPU 1 performs its own initialization process (step S1), and after the process is completed, performs the OS startup process for the main CPU 1 (step S2). ).

  When the power of the vehicle-mounted device is turned on, the sub-microcomputer 2 initializes the sub-microcomputer 2 itself (step S11) in parallel with the initialization process of step S1 by the main CPU 1 and the OS startup process of step S2. ), An OS start process for the sub-microcomputer 2 (step S12) and a hard disk initialization process instruction (step S13).

  As described above, the application program executed by the main CPU 1 and its base OS are large in size, whereas the application program executed by the sub-microcomputer 2 and its base OS are small in size. Therefore, the OS activation process for the sub-microcomputer 2 in step S12 is completed earlier than the OS activation process for the main CPU 1 in step S2.

  The hard disk 3 performs its own initialization process according to the instruction notified from the sub-microcomputer 2 in step S13 (step S21). Although the initialization process of the hard disk 3 takes 2 to 3 seconds, the OS startup process in the main CPU 1 is not completed even when the initialization process is completed. The sub-microcomputer 2 receives a notification of the completion of the initialization process from the hard disk 3 (step S14). After that, when the OS startup process for the sub-microcomputer 2 is completed, it refers to the history information held in the second flash memory 5. (Step S15), data reading from the hard disk 3 is started (Step S16). That is, the sub-microcomputer 2 accesses the hard disk 3 to acquire data, and holds the acquired data in the built-in memory.

  After starting the access to the hard disk 3 by the sub-microcomputer 2 in step S16, when the OS startup process of the main CPU 1 is completed, the main CPU 1 accesses the built-in memory of the sub-microcomputer 2 and acquires data (step S3). ). Then, the main CPU 1 displays the startup initial screen on the display 6 by processing the data acquired in step S3 (step S4). This completes the system activation process.

  FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing details of the data read process in step S16 and the data read process in step S3. When the sub-microcomputer 2 reads data from the hard disk 3 in step S16, the history information (start sector number and number of sectors) obtained by referring to the second flash memory 5 is notified to the hard disk 3 as a read request signal, and the request is made. Is obtained from the hard disk 3.

  That is, the sub-microcomputer 2 does not notify the hard disk 3 of a read request signal for each sector, but notifies the hard disk 3 of one read request signal that is a sum of a plurality of sectors, and is represented by the number of sectors. The data of one or more sectors is acquired by one read request signal notification. As a result, it is not necessary to repeat communication for each sector between the sub-microcomputer 2 and the hard disk 3, and the access efficiency can be improved.

  When the main CPU 1 reads data from the sub-microcomputer 2 in step S3, the main CPU 1 notifies the sub-microcomputer 2 of a read request signal for each sector, and the data corresponding to the request is sent from the sub-microcomputer 2 one by one. Obtain sequentially. In this case, it is necessary to repeat communication for each sector between the main CPU 1 and the sub-microcomputer 2, but the access destination is not the hard disk 3 but the built-in memory of the sub-microcomputer 2. Since the built-in memory can read data at a higher speed than the hard disk 3, the read efficiency is higher than when the main CPU 1 accesses the hard disk 3 and reads the data.

  As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the sub-microcomputer 2 accesses the hard disk 3 to access the data before the OS startup process of the main CPU 1 is completed and the hard disk 3 can be accessed. Prefetching into memory. Therefore, the main CPU 1 can obtain data by accessing the memory of the sub-microcomputer 2 without accessing the hard disk 3 after completing the OS boot process. Since the memory can read data at a higher speed than the hard disk 3, the time required for the main CPU 1 to read the data after the main CPU 1 can access the hard disk 3 can be shortened, and the system startup time can be reduced. Can be shortened.

  In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example using the submicrocomputer 2 other than main CPU1, it is not limited to this. For example, a CPU having performance similar to that of the main CPU 1 may be used instead of the sub-microcomputer 2.

  In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of the information processing apparatus by this embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the operation example of the information processing apparatus by this embodiment. 3 is a timing chart showing details of a data read process in step S16 in FIG. 2 and a data read process in step S3 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional information processing apparatus with which a vehicle equipment is provided. It is a figure which shows the flow of the conventional system starting.

Explanation of symbols

1 Main CPU
2 Sub-microcomputer 3 Hard disk 4, 5 Flash memory 6 Display

Claims (4)

A hard disk, a first arithmetic processing unit, and a second arithmetic processing unit connected between the hard disk and the first arithmetic processing unit,
While the first arithmetic processing unit is performing its own initialization processing and OS startup processing, the second arithmetic processing unit is concurrently executing its own initialization processing, OS startup processing, and hard disk Instruct the initialization process,
After the hard disk initialization process and the OS startup process of the second arithmetic processing unit are completed, the second arithmetic processing unit accesses the hard disk to acquire data, and holds the acquired data in the memory In addition, after the OS startup process of the first arithmetic processing unit is completed, the first arithmetic processing unit accesses the memory to acquire data. . The second arithmetic processing unit includes history acquisition means for acquiring history information on access to the hard disk and storing it in a nonvolatile memory, and includes initialization processing of the hard disk and OS startup processing of the second arithmetic processing unit. Is completed, it is determined whether the history information is stored in the non-volatile memory. If the history information is stored, the hard disk is accessed according to the history information to obtain data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The history information includes a start sector number representing a data read start position and a sector number representing the number of data read,
The second arithmetic processing unit notifies the hard disk of the start sector number and the number of sectors as a read request signal, and notifies data of one or more sectors represented by the number of sectors in one read request signal. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus is acquired by the following. A system startup method comprising a hard disk, a first arithmetic processing unit, and a second arithmetic processing unit connected between the hard disk and the first arithmetic processing unit,
A first step of performing its own initialization process and OS startup process in the first arithmetic processing unit;
In parallel with the first step, the second arithmetic processing unit instructs the initialization process, the OS startup process, and the hard disk initialization process,
A third step in which the hard disk performs its initialization process in accordance with an instruction from the second arithmetic processing unit;
After the hard disk initialization process and the OS startup process of the second arithmetic processing unit are completed, the second arithmetic processing unit accesses the hard disk to acquire data, and holds the acquired data in the memory A fourth step to:
After the start of access to the hard disk by the second arithmetic processing unit, when the OS startup process of the first arithmetic processing unit is completed, the first arithmetic processing unit accesses the memory and acquires data. A fifth step to:
A system activation method comprising: a sixth step in which the first arithmetic processing unit displays a start-up initial screen on a display using the data acquired in the fifth step.