JP2014115758A - Information processing device and information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

In a device in which a plurality of bundles that are software modules operate, a decrease in processing capability of a hardware function that executes a specific process is suppressed.
Whether or not the HW function 17 is used is registered in the bundle management table 13, and when the bundle management means 12 registers a new bundle in the bundle management table, the total number of bundles using the HW function and the HW When the total number of bundles that use the HW function does not reach the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function, the bundle is registered as being able to use the HW function. , The bundle is registered as HW function unavailable. Thereby, even if many bundles desire to use the HW function 17, it is possible to suppress the number of bundles that can use the HW function 17 and prevent an increase in overhead due to switching of use of the HW function 17 or competition. Become.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for controlling use of hardware functions of software modules operating on a software platform.

  A GW (gateway) device that connects a local network in a user's home to an external network can easily expand functions by downloading and installing a software module called a bundle (see Non-Patent Document 1).

  By configuring the OSGi framework on JavaVM (Virtual Machine) and creating a bundle for OSGi, it is possible to absorb differences in hardware and OS of the GW device and use a common bundle in different GW devices. (Refer nonpatent literature 2).

  On the other hand, application processors capable of performing hardware processing of specific functions have begun to appear as hardware adopted in GW devices (see Non-Patent Document 3). By using such a hardware function, it is possible to increase the speed of specific processing as compared with the case where software processing is performed by the CPU.

  However, JavaVM and OSGi do not provide a common IF for using a dedicated hardware function for executing a specific function. Therefore, in a common bundle using software processing so that any GW device can operate, The hardware function cannot be used, and the processing performance of the function cannot be improved (FIG. 7A). In addition, when using the hardware function, it is necessary to separately create a bundle corresponding to the Native code, and the distribution of the bundle is deteriorated (FIG. 7B).

  Therefore, by providing a common IF (interface) related to hardware functions and software functions to a software platform such as JavaVM in the GW apparatus, the hardware configuration of the GW apparatus (the hardware function Depending on the presence / absence), a method for appropriately executing the hardware function and the software function with respect to the function is being studied. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a common IF is provided in which a software function is used when there is no hardware function, and a hardware function is used when there is a hardware function.

Edited by Hiroyuki Omura, “Easy Home ICT”, Telecommunications Association, November 2011, pp.83-85 Edited by Hiroyuki Omura, “Easy Home ICT”, Telecommunications Association, November 2011, pp.90-93 Yoshida Nishida, Keiichi Koike, “Network Processing Technology for Terminals that Supports Service Quality with Reliable Communication”, NTT Technical Journal, December 2010, Vol. 22, No. 12, pp.28-31

  However, the GW apparatus is an apparatus installed in a home and is not configured with high performance parts. In many cases, only one hardware function component is mounted for the same function. Therefore, when the number of bundles installed in the GW device increases and multiple bundles try to use the same hardware function at the same time, the processing of multiple bundles is performed in parallel. It is necessary to switch the processing for each bundle every time. There is a concern that the interrupt processing generated by switching the processing for each bundle becomes an overhead, and the processing performance of the hardware function is deteriorated as a whole.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to suppress a decrease in processing capability of a hardware function that executes a specific process in an apparatus in which a plurality of bundles that are software modules operate.

  An information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that determines whether or not to use a hardware function for each of a plurality of software modules operating on a software platform, and performs processing specialized for a specific function Hardware function means, software function means for processing a specific function by the hardware function means by software, and an interface for using the hardware function means and the software function means are provided to the software module. A common interface; and a selection unit that causes the software module that meets a given condition to use the software function unit when the use of the hardware function unit competes or when a conflict is expected. Characterized by

  In the information processing apparatus, the software module management table in which the presence / absence of use of the hardware function unit is registered for each of the plurality of software modules, and the software module management when registering a new software module in the software platform. The total number of the software modules that use the hardware function means registered in the table is compared with a predetermined maximum number. If the total number does not reach the maximum number, the software module is When the software module management table is registered in the software module management table as a software module that uses the means, and the total number reaches the maximum number, the software module that does not use the hardware function means is used. Software module management means for registering in the software module management table as a module, and the selection means determines whether to use the software function means based on information registered in the software module management table. It is characterized by determining.

  In the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus further includes a priority management table in which a priority level and an execution state of the hardware function unit are registered for each of the plurality of software modules. When executing a specific function, the execution state of the software module having a higher priority is checked for each execution of the specific function, and if a software module with a higher priority is being executed, the priority is It is characterized in that the software function means is used by a software module with a low degree.

  An information processing program according to a second aspect of the present invention causes a computer to operate as each unit other than the hardware function unit of the information processing apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fall of the processing capability of the hardware function which performs a specific process in the apparatus with which the bundle which is a software module operate | moves can be suppressed.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a bundle management table. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process which registers a bundle into a bundle management table. It is a figure which shows the example of a priority management table. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of the process which switches utilization of a HW function between bundles. It is a figure explaining the data processed when switching utilization of a HW function between bundles. It is a figure which shows the structure of the GW apparatus without the conventional common IF. It is a figure which shows the structure of the GW apparatus provided with the conventional common IF.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The information processing apparatus 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a software platform 11, a bundle management unit 12, a bundle management table 13, a common IF (interface) 14, an HW (hardware) function check unit 15, a CPU 16, and an HW function 17. The information processing device 1 is, for example, a gateway device installed in a home, and connects the home local network to an external network. The information processing apparatus 1 expands the function by downloading and installing a software module called a bundle. Note that the information processing apparatus 1 may be configured by a computer including an arithmetic processing device, a storage device, and the like, and the processing of each unit may be executed by a program. This program is stored in a storage device included in the information processing apparatus 1, and can be recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, or provided through a network.

  The software platform 11 includes Java VM and OSGi, which is a bundle execution environment that operates on the Java VM, and operates the bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C.

  The bundle management unit 12 registers the names of the installed bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C and whether or not the HW function is used in the bundle management table 13, and the number of installed bundles, the total number of bundles that use the HW function, and the HW Manage the maximum number of bundles available for functionality. When the information processing apparatus 1 includes a plurality of HW functions, the total number of bundles that use the HW function and the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function are managed for each HW function.

  The bundle management table 13 stores the name of the bundle and whether or not the HW function is used (whether or not) is associated. FIG. 2 shows an example of a table managed by the bundle management table 13. In the example shown in the figure, the information processing apparatus 1 has two HW functions, and two bundles are installed. Any bundle uses the function of HW (1) and does not use the function of HW (2). The number of bundles using the function of HW (1) is 2, and the number of bundles using the function of HW (2) is 0. An identifier that uniquely identifies the bundle may be used instead of the bundle name.

  The common IF 14 provides an interface for using the HW function 17. The bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C are not software modules created exclusively for the information processing apparatus 1, but are created so as to operate on other apparatuses having a common IF. For example, when the other device does not include the HW function 17, the common IF processes the function of the HW function 17 by software so that the same bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C can be executed.

  The common IF 14 in the present embodiment includes an HW function execution unit 141, an SW function execution unit 142, and an SW / HW function switching unit 143. The HW function execution unit 141 performs processing using the HW function 17. The SW function execution unit 142 uses the CPU 16 to execute a function equivalent to the HW function 17 by software. The selection of whether the predetermined processing is performed by the HW function 17 or the CPU 16 is performed when the bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C provide the common IF 14 when the use of the HW function 17 competes or when a competition is expected. Specified by a parameter when calling the function. In the present embodiment, as a relationship between the HW function execution unit 141 and the SW function execution unit 142, the function set provided by the SW function execution unit 142 is a subset of the function set provided by the HW function execution unit 141.

  When the HW function check unit 15 detects an abnormality in the HW function 17 or when the HW function execution unit 141 uses the HW function 17, the SW / HW function switching unit 143 returns an error value. Then, the processing is continued by switching to the SW function execution unit 142.

  The HW function check unit 15 detects an abnormality of the HW function 17.

  The CPU 16 is a central processing unit and performs processing according to software.

  The HW function 17 is hardware specialized for a specific function, receives an instruction from the common IF 14 via a driver for using the HW function 17, performs processing, and returns a result. Specific functions of the HW function 17 include, for example, an encryption function.

  Next, the flow of processing for registering a bundle in the bundle management table will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in which the bundle management unit 12 registers a bundle in the bundle management table.

  The bundle management unit 12 acquires and installs a bundle via a network or the like (step S101), and then refers to the bundle management table 13 to acquire the total number of bundles using the HW function (step S102). In the example of the bundle management table shown in FIG. 2, the total number of bundles using HW (1) is 2, and the total number of bundles using HW (2) is 0.

  Then, the total number of bundles that use the HW function is compared with the preset maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function (step S103). In the case of having a plurality of HW functions, the total number of bundles that use the HW function is compared with the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function for each HW function.

  When the total number of bundles using the HW function reaches the preset maximum number of bundles (Yes in step S103), the installed bundle is set as a bundle not using the HW function (step S104), and the HW function is used. If the total number of bundles to be reached has not reached the preset maximum number of bundles (No in step S103), the installed bundle is set as a bundle using the HW function (step S105).

  The bundle management unit 12 registers the name of the installed bundle and the availability of the HW function in the bundle management table 13 (step S106). In this embodiment, “0” is registered when the HW function cannot be used, and “1” is registered when the HW function is available, and the total number of bundles that use the HW function is updated.

  Then, the bundle management unit 12 activates the installed bundle and registers the availability of the HW function in the internal variable of the activated bundle (step S107).

  When the bundle activated by the above processing uses the function of the HW function 17, the internal variable in which the availability of the HW function is registered is set as a parameter and a function provided by the common IF 14 is called. Specifically, when the HW function 17 is used, that is, when the availability of the HW function is registered in the internal variable, the <bypass> parameter value specified as the function argument is set to “0”, and the software by the CPU 16 is used. In the case of processing, that is, when HW function unusable is registered in the internal variable, the <bypass> parameter value is set to “1”.

  Note that the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function is manually set from the setting screen of the information processing apparatus 1 by the administrator, or set in advance when the information processing apparatus 1 is shipped.

  When uninstalling a bundle, the corresponding column is deleted from the bundle management table 13, and the total number of bundles using the HW function is updated. At this time, if the deleted bundle uses the HW function and there is a bundle in which the HW function cannot be used among other operating bundles, when the bundle is restarted, the steps in FIG. 3 are performed. When the processing from S102 is performed and the total number of bundles using the HW function has not reached the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function, the HW function is registered as available for the bundle.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, whether or not the HW function 17 is used is registered in the bundle management table 13 for each of the bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C, and the bundle management unit 12 bundles a new bundle. When registering in the management table, the total number of bundles that use the HW function is compared with the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function, and the total number of bundles that use the HW function is the maximum number of bundles that can use the HW function. If the number has not reached the number, the bundle is registered as being able to use the HW function, and if it has been reached, the bundle is registered as being unable to use the HW function, so that many bundles desire to use the HW function 17. However, the number of bundles that can use the HW function 17 is suppressed, and an increase in overhead due to switching of use of the HW function 17 or competition is prevented. It becomes possible.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, the use of the HW function 17 is switched based on the priority set in advance for each of the bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C. The configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment except that the configuration includes a priority management unit and a priority management table instead of the bundle management unit 12 and the bundle management table 13. Is almost the same.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a table managed by the priority management table. The priority management table stores a priority (priority) and an execution state (execute) for each bundle. In the present embodiment, the normal priority is “0”, the high priority is “1”, the execution is “1”, and the stop is “0”. The priority is registered in the priority management table when the bundle is installed. Further, after installation, the administrator may manually set the priority of the priority management table. When the bundle is uninstalled, the corresponding column is deleted from the priority management table and updated. In this embodiment, the priority is set to two values, “normal” and “high”, but three or more priorities may be used.

  The execution state is updated when the execution is registered with the priority management unit when the bundle is executed, and when the stop is registered with the priority management unit when the bundle is stopped.

  Next, the flow of processing for switching the use of the HW function 17 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing for switching use of the HW function 17 between bundles. FIG. 5 shows a process flow when the bundle A having a high priority using the HW function 17 is executing and the bundle B having a high priority starts executing.

  When the bundle B using the HW function 17 having a high priority starts execution (step S201), the execution start is registered in the priority management unit (step S202).

  Upon receipt of execution start registration from bundle B, the priority management unit sets the execution state of bundle B in the priority management table to being executed (step S203).

  When the bundle A calls a function that uses the HW function 17 (step S204), the priority management unit is inquired whether the HW function 17 can be used (step S205). At this time, since the bundle B with high priority is being executed, the priority management unit notifies the bundle A to that effect (step S206).

  When the bundle A is notified from the priority management unit that the bundle B having a higher priority is being executed, the SW 16 by the CPU 16 is performed on the data for one unit without using the HW function 17 (step S207). ). Specifically, the bundle A sets “1” to the <bypass> parameter value and calls a function provided by the common IF 14. At this time, a function is called to perform SW processing for one unit of data. For example, when performing encryption processing, a function is called by specifying a parameter so as to process one data block length.

  When execution of the bundle B ends (step S208), the execution end is registered in the priority management unit (step S209).

  When the priority management unit accepts registration of execution end from bundle B, it sets the execution state of bundle B in the priority management table to stop (step S210).

  When the processing for one unit is completed, the bundle A inquires of the priority management unit whether the HW function 17 can be used before performing the subsequent processing for one unit (step S211). At this time, since the bundle with high priority is stopped, the priority management unit notifies the bundle A to that effect (step S212).

  When the bundle A receives notification from the priority management unit that the bundle with high priority is stopped, the bundle A performs the HW process using the HW function 17 on the data for one unit (step S207). More specifically, the bundle A sets a <bypass> parameter value to “0” and calls a function provided by the common IF 14.

  In this way, every time the bundle A processes the minimum unit of data that can be processed by the HW function 17, the priority management unit inquires whether a bundle having a higher priority than the bundle A is being executed, When a bundle having a high degree is being executed, SW processing using the CPU 16 is performed, and when a bundle having a high priority is being stopped, HW processing using the HW function 17 is performed.

  FIG. 6 shows a state of data processing by the bundles A and B. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the priority of the bundle B is higher than the priority of the bundle A, and when the bundle B starts and ends during execution of the bundle A, the CPU 16 or the HW function 17 is used. It shows whether data for each unit is processed. Each of the squares in FIG. 6 represents processing for each unit of data. Processing with hatched lines in the squares is executed by the HW function 17, and processing of white squares is executed by the CPU 16.

  While only the bundle A is being executed, the data is processed by the HW function 17. When the bundle B starts executing, the data of the bundle B is processed by the HW function 17 and the data of the bundle A is processed by the CPU 16. Thereafter, when the bundle B is stopped, the data of the bundle A is processed again by the HW function 17.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the priority set in advance for each of the bundles 2A, 2B, and 2C is managed by the priority management table, and the bundle with the normal priority uses the HW function 17. In this case, the execution state of the bundle with higher priority is checked every execution of one unit, and when the bundle with higher priority is executed, by processing a specific function of the HW function 17 by software, It is possible to eliminate the contention of bundles using the HW function 17 and to prevent the overall apparatus from degrading performance due to the normal priority bundle occupying the HW function 17.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus 11 ... Software platform 12 ... Bundle management part 13 ... Bundle management table 14 ... Common IF
141 ... HW function execution unit 142 ... SW function execution unit 143 ... SW / HW function switching unit 15 ... HW function check unit 16 ... CPU
17 ... HW function 2A, 2B, 2C ... Bundle

Claims (4)

An information processing apparatus for determining whether or not to use a hardware function for each of a plurality of software modules operating on a software platform,
Hardware function means for performing processing specialized for a specific function;
Software function means for processing a specific function by the hardware function means by software;
A common interface for providing an interface for using the hardware function means and the software function means to the software module;
A selection unit that causes the software module that meets a given condition to use the software function unit when the use of the hardware function unit competes or when a conflict is expected;
An information processing apparatus comprising: For each of the plurality of software modules, a software module management table that registers whether or not the hardware function means is used,
When registering a new software module in the software platform, the total number of the software modules using the hardware function means registered in the software module management table is compared with a predetermined maximum number, and the total number is If the maximum number has not been reached, the software module is registered in the software module management table as a software module that uses the hardware function means, and if the total number has reached the maximum number, the software module Software module management means for registering in the software module management table as a software module that does not use the hardware function means,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit determines whether to use the software function unit based on information registered in the software module management table. For each of the plurality of software modules, further includes a priority management table in which the priority and the execution state of the hardware function unit are registered,
When the low priority software module executes the specific function, the selection unit checks the execution state of the high priority software module for each unit of execution of the specific function, and selects a higher priority. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a high software module is being executed, the software module having the low priority is made to use the software function unit.   An information processing program for causing a computer to operate as each unit other than the hardware function unit of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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