Circuit group control system

• US 20030110329A1
• Filed: 11/07/2002
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Eswin Computing Technology Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Tetsuya, Hayashi, Kunihiko, Kiyohara, Tokuzo, Higaki, Nobuo, Nishida, Hideshi, Kimura, Kozo, Kadota, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 6,901,454 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system

Abstract

A circuit group control system which receives from a master processor a first command sequence and a second command sequence each of which is composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of a plurality of circuits, and causes any available circuits to execute the commands one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence. The circuit group control system achieves concurrent execution of a plurality of command sequences by causing a circuit (a second circuit) to execute a command in the second command sequence while another circuit (a first circuit) is executing another command in the first command sequence.

Claims

1. A circuit group control system for controlling a plurality of circuits in accordance with an instruction by a master processor, comprising:

a command sequence specification receiving unit operable to receive, from the master processor, specification of a command sequence composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of the plurality of circuits; and

an execution control unit operable to cause any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to start executing corresponding commands among the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence, wherein

the execution control unit includes

a concurrent execution control unit operable to, while a circuit is executing a command, detect another command that can be executed by another circuit and cause the other circuit to execute the other command concurrently.

2. The circuit group control system of claim 1, wherein

the plurality of circuits includes two circuits that are different in function,

the command sequence specification receiving unit receives specification of a plurality of command sequences from the master processor,

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute corresponding commands in a manner in which commands constituting each command sequence are to be executed one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence, wherein

the concurrent execution control unit, while one of the two circuits is executing a command in a command sequence, detects another command in another command sequence that can be executed by another one of the two circuits and causes the other circuit to execute the other command.

3. The circuit group control system of claim 2, wherein

the plurality of circuits includes a slave processor and a DMA controller, and

the execution control unit, while the slave processor is executing a command in a command sequence, causes the DMA controller to execute another command in another command sequence.

4. The circuit group control system of claim 2, wherein

each of the plurality of circuits can access a same memory,

each command sequence includes a memory access command instructing a circuit to access the memory,

the execution control unit includes

a memory access control unit operable to control two or more circuits that are to execute memory access commands of different command sequences concurrently, to access different areas in the memory, respectively.

5. The circuit group control system of claim 4, wherein

each memory access command includes a logical address of a location to be accessed,

the memory access control unit, when two or more circuits are to execute memory access commands of different command sequences concurrently, converts each logical address contained in the memory access commands to a physical address, each physical address being assigned to a different command sequence, so that the two or more circuits use physical addresses converted from logical addresses to identify areas in the memory to access, respectively.

6. The circuit group control system of claim 5, wherein

the memory access control unit holds an area ID information table that includes area ID information, each piece of which correlates a logical address with a physical address converted from the logical address and with a memory area,

the memory access control unit, when converting a logical address to a physical address, refers to the area ID information table so as not to select in the conversion a physical address that is contained in a piece of area ID information in the table,

each command sequence includes a command instructing release of a memory area that has been specified by a preceding command in a same command sequence as an access target, specifying a logical address corresponding to the memory area to be released, and

the memory access control unit deletes a piece of area ID information corresponding to the specified logical address from the area ID information table before causing a circuit to execute the command instructing release of the memory area.

7. The circuit group control system of claim 2, wherein

each of the plurality of circuits can access a same memory,

each command sequence includes a memory access command instructing a circuit to access the memory,

each memory access command contains either a share attribute or a separate attribute, the share attribute specifying an access to a shared memory area that can be accessed by a plurality of command sequences, and the separate attribute specifying an access to one of memory areas which are respectively assigned to the plurality of command sequences,

the execution control unit includes

a memory access control unit operable to control two or more circuits that are to execute memory access commands containing the separate attribute of different command sequences concurrently, to respectively access separate areas in the memory, and to control two or more circuits that are to execute memory access commands containing the share attribute of different command sequences concurrently, to access the shared memory area in the memory.

8. The circuit group control system of claim 2, wherein

the command sequence specification receiving unit includes a command storage memory, and recognizes the specification of the plurality of command sequences when the master processor writes the plurality of commands for each command sequence into the command storage memory, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute corresponding commands among the plurality of commands stored in the command storage memory, one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence.

9. The circuit group control system of claim 8, wherein

each command stored in the command storage memory has a pointer indicating a location in the command storage memory of a next command that is to be executed next to the command in a same command sequence, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement, by referring to the pointer in each command to recognize the location in the command storage memory of the next command.

10. The circuit group control system of claim 8, wherein

the plurality of commands are respectively stored in areas of the command storage memory at sequential addresses therein in order of arrangement in the command sequence to which the plurality of commands belong, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement, by referring to the areas of the command storage memory in order of the sequential addresses.

11. The circuit group control system of claim 8 further comprising the plurality of circuits, wherein

each command contains a parameter,

the command storage memory is connected to one or more circuits among the plurality of circuits, and

when one of the one or more circuits is instructed by the execution control unit to execute a command, the instructed circuit accesses a parameter in the command stored in the command storage memory.

12. The circuit group control system of claim 8, wherein

the specification of a command sequence is made by a command sequence identifier that identifies the command sequence composed of the plurality of commands stored in the command storage memory, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands in the command sequence identified by the command sequence identifier, one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence.

13. The circuit group control system of claim 12, wherein

the circuit group control system comprises the master processor, and

the master processor specifies a plurality of same command sequence identifiers.

14. The circuit group control system of claim 12, wherein

the command sequence identifier is a pointer indicating a location of a command in the command storage memory, and

the execution control unit recognizes the command at the location indicated by the pointer as a first command in a command sequence, and causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement, starting with the command at the location indicated by the pointer.

15. The circuit group control system of claim 12, wherein

the command sequence specification receiving unit includes a first FIFO buffer for storing command sequence identifiers,

the master processor, after writing a plurality of commands into the command storage memory, writes command sequence identifiers into the first FIFO buffer, the command sequence identifiers identifying command sequences composed of commands among the plurality of commands, the command sequence specification receiving unit thereby recognizing specification of the command sequences, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute commands in each of the command sequences identified by the command sequence. identifiers in the first FIFO buffer.

16. The circuit group control system of claim 15, wherein

the command sequence specification receiving unit further includes a second FIFO buffer for storing command sequence identifiers,

the master processor, after writing a plurality of commands into the command storage memory, writes command sequence identifiers into the second FIFO buffer, the command sequence identifiers identifying command sequences composed of commands among the plurality of commands, the command sequence specification receiving unit thereby also recognizing specification of the command sequences, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute commands in each of the command sequences identified by the command sequence identifiers in the second FIFO buffer, taking precedence over commands in each of the command sequences identified by the command sequence identifiers in the first FIFO buffer.

17. The circuit group control system of claim 8 further comprising

a command updating unit operable to update the commands stored in the command storage memory.

18. The circuit group control system of claim 2 further comprising:

a completion notification request receiving unit operable to receive from the master processor a request to send a notification of completion of execution of a command; and

a completion notifying unit operable to, if having received from a circuit a notification of completion of execution of the command of which the master processor had requested to send a notification of completion of execution, send the notification to the master processor.

19. The circuit group control system of claim 1, wherein

the concurrent execution control unit, while a circuit is executing a command in a command sequence, detects another command in the command sequence that can be executed by another circuit and causes the other circuit to execute the other command concurrently.

20. The circuit group control system of claim 19 further comprising the plurality of circuits, wherein

each of the plurality of circuits can access a same memory,

each command sequence includes a memory specification attached command that contains (i) an attribute specifying either allocation or release of a memory area and (ii) a bank number that identifies the specified memory area,

the execution control unit holds memory management information for managing whether each memory area is used or not used,

even if a command to be executed next in a command sequence is a memory specification attached command containing an attribute specifying allocation of a memory area identified by a bank number contained therein, the execution control unit does not cause a circuit to execute the command to be executed next in so far as the memory management information indicates that the memory area specified by the memory specification attached command to be executed next is used,

when causing a circuit to execute a memory specification attached command containing an attribute specifying allocation of a memory area, the execution control unit updates the memory management information to indicate that a memory area specified by the memory specification attached command is used, and

when causing a circuit to execute a memory specification attached command containing an attribute specifying release of a memory area, the execution control unit updates the memory management information to indicate that a memory area specified by the memory specification attached command is not used.

21. The circuit group control system of claim 20, wherein

the plurality of circuits include some circuits having a function to, while executing a predetermined command, send the execution control unit a notification of release of a memory area together with a bank number identifying the released memory area, and

the execution control unit, after receiving a notification of release of a memory area from any circuit, updates the memory management information to indicate that the memory area identified by a bank number attached to the notification is not used.

22. The circuit group control system of claim 19 further comprising the plurality of circuits, wherein

each of the plurality of circuits can access a same memory,

the plurality of circuits include some circuits having a function to, while executing a predetermined command, send the execution control unit a notification of release of a memory area together with a bank number identifying the released memory area,

the plurality of circuits include some circuits having a function to, while executing a predetermined command, send the execution control unit a request to allocate a memory area together with a bank number identifying the requested memory area, and then suspend the execution of the predetermined command until the some circuits receive a notification of allocation of the requested memory area from the execution control unit,

the execution control unit holds memory management information for managing whether each memory area is used or not used,

the execution control unit, after receiving a notification of release of a memory area from any circuit, updates the memory management information to indicate that the memory area identified by a bank number attached to the notification is not used,

the execution control unit, after receiving a request to allocate a memory area from any circuit, sends a notification of allocation of the requested memory area immediately after the memory management information indicates that the requested memory area is not used, and updates the memory management information to indicate that the requested memory area is used.

23. The circuit group control system of claim 1, wherein

the command sequence, specification of which is received by the command sequence specification receiving unit, contains a component that is arranged in a same way as a command in the command sequence, the component being suspension specification data that instructs a specific circuit to suspend specifying a suspension period, and

the execution control unit suspends the specific circuit for the specified suspension period when treating the component in turn thereof while causing any available circuits to execute commands and the component of the command sequence one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence.

24. A circuit group control system for controlling a plurality of circuits in accordance with an instruction by a master processor, comprising:

a command sequence specification receiving unit operable to receive from the master processor specification of a plurality of command sequences each of which is composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of the plurality of circuits; and

an execution control unit operable to cause any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands in each command sequence one by one in order of arrangement, wherein

the command sequence specification receiving unit includes a command storage memory, and recognizes the specification of the plurality of command sequences when the master processor writes the plurality of commands for each command sequence into the command storage memory, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands for each command sequence stored in the command storage memory, one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence.

25. The circuit group control system of claim 24, wherein

each command stored in the command storage memory has a pointer indicating a location in the command storage memory of a next command that is to be executed next to the command in a same command sequence, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement, by referring to the pointer in each command to recognize the location in the command storage memory of the next command.

26. The circuit group control system of claim 24 further comprising the plurality of circuits, wherein

each command contains a parameter,

the command storage memory is connected to one or more circuits among the plurality of circuits, and

when one of the one or more circuits is instructed by the execution control unit to execute a command, the instructed circuit accesses a parameter in the command stored in the command storage memory.

27. The circuit group control system of claim 24, wherein

the specification of a command sequence is made by a command sequence identifier that identifies the command sequence composed of the plurality of commands stored in the command storage memory, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands in the command sequence that is identified by the command sequence identifier, one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence.

28. The circuit group control system of claim 27, wherein

the command sequence identifier is a pointer indicating a location of a command in the command storage memory, and

the execution control unit recognizes the command at the location indicated by the pointer as a first command in a command sequence, and causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence, starting with the command at the location indicated by the pointer.

29. The circuit group control system of claim 27, wherein

the command sequence specification receiving unit includes a first FIFO buffer for storing command sequence identifiers,

the master processor, after writing a plurality of commands into the command storage memory, writes command sequence identifiers into the first FIFO buffer, the command sequence identifiers identifying command sequences composed of commands among the plurality of commands, the command sequence specification receiving unit thereby recognizing specification of the command sequences, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute commands in each of the command sequences identified by the command sequence identifiers in the first FIFO buffer.

30. The circuit group control system of claim 29, wherein

the command sequence specification receiving unit further includes a second FIFO buffer for storing command sequence identifiers,

the master processor, after writing a plurality of commands into the command storage memory, writes command sequence identifiers into the second FIFO buffer, the command sequence identifiers identifying command sequences composed of commands among the plurality of commands, the command sequence specification receiving unit thereby recognizing specification of the command sequences, and

the execution control unit causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute commands in each of the command sequences identified by the command sequence identifiers in the second FIFO buffer, taking precedence over commands in each of the command sequences identified by the command sequence identifiers in the first FIFO buffer.

31. The circuit group control system of claim 24 further comprising

a command updating unit operable to update the commands stored in the command storage memory.

32. A circuit group control system for controlling a plurality of circuits in accordance with an instruction by a master processor, comprising:

a command sequence specification receiving unit operable to receive specification of a plurality of command sequences from the master processor, each command sequence being composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of the plurality of circuits;

an execution control unit operable to cause any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute the plurality of commands for each command sequence one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence;

a completion notification request receiving unit operable to receive from the master processor a request to send a notification of completion of execution of a command; and

a completion notifying unit operable to, if having received from a circuit a notification of completion of execution of the command of which the master processor had requested to send a notification of completion of execution, send the notification to the master processor.

33. A circuit group control method for controlling a plurality of circuits in accordance with an instruction by a master processor, comprising:

a command sequence specification receiving step for receiving, from the master processor, specification of a command sequence composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of the plurality of circuits; and

an execution control step for causing any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to start executing corresponding commands among the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence, wherein

the execution control step includes

a concurrent execution control step for, while a circuit is executing a command, detecting another command that can be executed by another circuit and causing the other circuit to execute the other command concurrently.

34. The circuit group control method of claim 33, wherein

the plurality of circuits includes two circuits that are different in function,

the command sequence specification receiving step receives specification of a plurality of command sequences from the master processor,

the execution control step causes any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to execute corresponding commands in a manner in which commands constituting each command sequence are to be executed one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence, wherein

the concurrent execution control step, while one of the two circuits is executing a command in a command sequence, detects another command in another command sequence that can be executed by another one of the two circuits and causes the other circuit to execute the other command.

35. The circuit group control method of claim 33, wherein

the concurrent execution control step, while a circuit is executing a command in a command sequence, detects another command in the command sequence that can be executed by another circuit and causes the other circuit to execute the other command concurrently.

36. A circuit group control method for controlling a plurality of circuits in accordance with an instruction by a master processor, comprising:

a command sequence specification receiving step for receiving, from the master processor, specification of a plurality of command sequences each of which is composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of the plurality of circuits; and

an execution control step for causing any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to start executing corresponding commands among the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement in each command sequence.

37. A program for referring to a memory storing a command sequence composed of a plurality of commands, each command being to be executed by one of a plurality of circuits, and causing a computer to perform a circuit group control process for controlling the plurality of circuits, the circuit group control process comprising:

a command sequence reading step for reading the command sequence from the memory;

an execution control step for causing any available circuits among the plurality of circuits to start executing corresponding commands among the plurality of commands one by one in order of arrangement in the command sequence read in the command sequence reading step, wherein

the execution control step includes

a concurrent execution control step for, while a circuit is executing a command, detecting another command that can be executed by another circuit and causing the other circuit to execute the other command concurrently.