JP2751263B2 - Diagnostic information collection method for data transmission equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for collecting diagnostic information in a data transmission device employing a firmware passing method.

[Conventional technology]

In a data transmission device that is connected to a higher-level device via a data transmission path and controls data transmission between the higher-level device and a lower-level device or a line by firmware control, when a variety of errors occur, when the error occurs, Diagnostic information, such as automatically collecting various information useful for the diagnosis of its own device, such as the contents of a register indicating the state of the interface and trace information up to that point, and storing the collected diagnostic information in its own storage means. Automatic collection function is provided.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

With the above-described automatic collection function of the diagnostic information, the maintenance person can later output the collected diagnostic information by a means such as a memory dump and check the state to grasp the state of the data transmission device at the time of the error occurrence. It can be used for repair and maintenance of failures. However,
Since the above-mentioned automatic collection function is performed only at a predetermined time point when an error occurs, it is not possible to collect diagnostic information at an arbitrary execution time point of the control firmware. Conventionally,
When collecting diagnostic information at such an arbitrary point in time, maintenance personnel go to the location where the data transmission device is installed, stop operation of the data transmission device, and control the micro-command of a desired location in the control firmware to that location. It is realized by performing a patch operation of rewriting to a micro instruction to stop operation when it is about to start, restarting the operation of the data transmission device, collecting information of each part at the time of operation stop by the micro instruction, etc. I was For this reason, there were the following problems.

In order to set a collection opportunity at an arbitrary execution time in the control firmware, the operation of the data transmission device must be stopped.

If the maintenance staff does not go to the location where the data transmission device is installed, it is not possible to set the timing of collection and to collect the diagnostic information collected thereby, and to collect and analyze the diagnostic information promptly.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to set a collection trigger in an arbitrary part of a control firmware in a data transmission device without stopping the operation, and Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for collecting diagnostic information of a data transmission device, which enables a higher-level device to set a collection trigger, collect collected diagnostic information, and the like.

[Collecting to solve issues]

In the diagnostic information collection method for a data transmission device according to the present invention, the data transmission device is connected to a higher-level device via a data transmission path and controls data transmission between the higher-level device and a lower-level device or a line by firmware control. Command analysis means for analyzing a command transmitted from the higher-level device via the data transmission path to determine whether or not the command is an information collection trigger setting command; After storing in the storage means, the collection means for issuing an end report, and the collection means at the point of time when the execution in the address in the control firmware specified by the information collection trigger setting command identified by the command analysis means has started A collection trigger setting means for setting a collection trigger to be activated, and when an end report is issued from the collection means, Notifying the higher-level device via the data transmission path that the disconnection information has been collected, and diagnosing the diagnostic information stored in the storage means in response to an instruction from the higher-level device via the data transmission path. It has a higher-order notification / transfer means for transferring to a higher-level device.

[Action]

In the diagnostic information collection method for a data transmission device according to the present invention, when a command is sent from a higher-level device via a data transmission path during operation of the data transmission device, the command analysis means analyzes the command to obtain information. Identifies whether the command is a collection trigger setting command, and if the command is an information collection trigger setting command, when the collection trigger setting unit starts executing the address in the control firmware specified by the information collection trigger setting command, the collecting unit determines Set the collection trigger to be activated. When this collection opportunity is set, in response to the arrival of the collection opportunity, that is, when the execution in the address in the specified control firmware is started, the collection unit is started and the diagnostic information is collected, and the storage unit is stored in the storage unit. It is memorized. When the collection of such diagnostic information is completed, the collecting means issues a completion report, and the higher-level notification / transfer means notifies the higher-level information via the data transmission path that the diagnostic information was collected when the completion report was issued. The device is notified, and when the transfer of the diagnostic information is instructed by the host device, the diagnostic information stored in the storage unit is transferred to the host device via the data transmission path.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a data transmission device, which is connected to a higher-level device 3 such as a computer via a data transmission line 2 and to a lower-level device or line (not shown) via a data transmission line 4. This data transmission device 1
The basic function is to control data transmission between the higher-level device 3 and a lower-level device or line (not shown). Such a basic function includes a control firmware 8 stored in a readable and writable storage unit and a multi-function (not shown). This is achieved by hardware such as a processor and peripheral circuits. Also, the data transmission device 1 has a collection trigger setting collection 5,
An automatic collection unit 6, a high-order notification / transfer collection 7, a command analysis unit 9, and a buffer 10 are provided.

When the collection trigger setting unit 5 is activated by the command analysis unit 9, the control unit 5 controls the automatic collection unit 6 to be activated when the execution of the control firmware 8 notified by the command analysis unit 9 is started. The firmware 8 has a function of setting a collection opportunity. Various methods can be considered as a specific setting method of the collection trigger. In the present embodiment, a microinstruction originally existing at the address designated by the command is replaced with a certain part of the free space of the storage means in which the control firmware 8 is stored. This is performed by embedding the original microinstruction, the subroutine for activating the automatic collection means 6, and the branch instruction branching to the next address of the original address in the empty area at the branch destination by the branch instruction. ing. The operation of the collection opportunity setting means 5 is performed in the same manner as the normal command execution. Therefore, the operation of the apparatus is not interrupted or stopped by the setting of the collection trigger.

The automatic collection unit 6 is started by the subroutine embedded as described above when the execution control of the control firmware 8 reaches the collection timing set by the collection timing setting unit 5, and performs various types of operations necessary for diagnosis of the own device. It has a function of collecting information and storing it in the buffer 10.
After the diagnostic information has been stored in the buffer 10, an end report is sent to the higher-level notification / transfer means 7.

The higher-order notification / transfer unit 7 has a function of transmitting a command sent from the higher-level device 3 via the data transmission line 2 to the command analysis unit 9. A function of transmitting a notification to the upper-level device 3 that the diagnostic information has been collected via the communication device 2, and then stored in the buffer 10 when the upper-level device 3 instructs the transfer of the diagnostic information via the data transmission path 2. It has a function of transferring diagnostic information to the higher-level device 3 via the data transmission path 2.

The command analyzing means 9 is a means for analyzing the command passed from the higher-level notification / transfer means 7, and in the case of an information collection trigger setting command, passes a collection trigger setting location address which is additional information of the command to collect the collection trigger. The setting means 5 is started. In the case of another type of command, an operation corresponding to the command is performed.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

If it is necessary to collect and collect diagnostic information for the purpose of investigating a fault while the data transmission apparatus 1 is operating, the host apparatus 3
Sends an information collection trigger setting command to the data transmission apparatus 1 via the data transmission path 2 in the same manner as a normal command. This information collection trigger setting command is composed of a command code and a collection trigger setting location address that can be distinguished from other commands.

When the upper notification / transfer unit 7 of the data transmission apparatus 1 receives the information collection trigger setting command via the data transmission path 2, the command is transmitted to the command analysis unit 9, and the command analysis unit 9 includes the command in the command. The collection trigger setting unit 5 is activated by passing the collection trigger setting location address to be collected.

The collection opportunity setting means 5 sets the collection opportunity in the control firmware 8 as described above so that the automatic collection means 6 is started when the execution control reaches the notified collection opportunity setting location address.

As described above, the collection opportunity is set at a desired location of the control firmware 8, and when the execution control is shifted to that location, the automatic collection means 6 is activated.

When started, the automatic collection unit 6 collects diagnostic information from each unit in the data transmission device 1 and stores it in the buffer 10, and transmits an end report to the higher-level notification / transfer unit 7. Upon receiving the end report, the higher-level notification / transfer unit 7 notifies the higher-level device 3 via the data transmission path 2 that the diagnostic information has been collected.

Upon receiving the notification that the diagnostic information has been collected from the data transmission device 1, the host device 3 instructs the data transmission device 1 to transfer the diagnostic information via the data transmission path 2. In response, the higher-level notification / transfer unit 7 of the data transmission device 1 transfers the diagnostic information stored in the buffer 10 to the higher-level device 3 via the data transmission path 2.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the diagnostic information collection method of the data transmission device of the present invention, a new command called an information collection trigger setting command is provided, and a command analysis unit for analyzing the command is provided, and the control firmware specified by the command is analyzed. A collection opportunity setting means for setting a collection opportunity so that the collection means is activated when the execution is about to start at the middle address, thereby setting a collection opportunity in an arbitrary part of the control firmware in the data transmission apparatus. Can be performed from the host device side without stopping the operation of the data transmission device. Also, the upper-level device notifies the higher-level device via the data transmission path that the diagnostic information has been collected by the collection unit, and transfers the above-described diagnostic information to the higher-level device via the data transmission path if there is a transfer instruction from the higher-level device. By providing the notifying / transferring means, it is possible to know whether or not the diagnostic information has been collected on the host device side, and it is possible to collect the collected diagnostic information on the host device side. Therefore, it is possible to quickly collect and analyze the diagnostic information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 ... data transmission device 2, 4 ... data transmission path 3 ... host device 5 ... collection trigger setting means 6 ... automatic collection means 7 ... host notification / transfer means 8 ... control firmware 9 ... command analysis means 10 ... buffer

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data transmission device which is connected to a higher-level device via a data transmission path and controls data transmission between the higher-level device and a lower-level device or a line by firmware control. Command analysis means for analyzing the command sent via the, and identifying whether or not the command is an information collection trigger setting command. After being activated, the diagnostic information concerning the own device is collected and stored in the storage means. A collection means for issuing an end report, and a collection opportunity set such that the collection means is started when the execution in the address in the control firmware specified by the information collection opportunity setting command identified by the command analysis means is started. Collection timing setting means for performing, and when the end report is issued from the collection means, the data transmission indicating that diagnostic information has been collected A higher-level notification / transfer unit that notifies the higher-level device via a data path and transfers the diagnostic information stored in the storage unit to the higher-level device via the data transmission path in response to an instruction from the higher-level device. A diagnostic information collection method for a data transmission device, comprising: