Universal system component emulator with human readable output
First Claim
1. A universal system component emulator for use in a computing environment having a plurality of components, the emulator comprising:
- a computer having a memory, the memory storing therein;
first means for i) reading one of a plurality of ICD files to configure the emulator accordingly so that the emulator can encode and decode machine data into a human readable format, wherein each ICD file describes how information is encoded in data messages passed between the components of the computing environment and interface requirements in the computing environment, ii) providing an interface to a user, and iii) reading the plurality of ICD files to allow configuration based upon a read ICD file;
second means for encoding outgoing messages in a machine format;
third means for decoding the incoming messages;
fourth means for transmitting the outgoing messages to a driver and receiving incoming messages from the driver; and
fifth means for displaying the incoming and outgoing messages to the user in human readable format.
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Abstract
A system and method for emulating or monitoring the communications behavior of any system component connected to a data bus. These functions are accomplished through the implementation of software component emulators (SCE) that encode and decode message data for any system component automatically. The present invention includes a means for development of an interface specification based on information contained in an Interface Control Document (ICD), and enables the user to create the ICD file without having to worry about formatting considerations, and view and define message data in a meaningful, human-readable format. The information in the ICD is automatically reduced to an application that combines the user-friendly, time-efficient aspects of a traditional SCE with the flexibility and universality of a bus monitor.
39 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A universal system component emulator for use in a computing environment having a plurality of components, the emulator comprising:
a computer having a memory, the memory storing therein;
first means for i) reading one of a plurality of ICD files to configure the emulator accordingly so that the emulator can encode and decode machine data into a human readable format, wherein each ICD file describes how information is encoded in data messages passed between the components of the computing environment and interface requirements in the computing environment, ii) providing an interface to a user, and iii) reading the plurality of ICD files to allow configuration based upon a read ICD file;
second means for encoding outgoing messages in a machine format;
third means for decoding the incoming messages;
fourth means for transmitting the outgoing messages to a driver and receiving incoming messages from the driver; and
fifth means for displaying the incoming and outgoing messages to the user in human readable format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A universal system component emulator for use in a computing environment having a plurality of components, the emulator comprising:
a computer having a memory, the memory storing therein;
an emulator software module for i) reading one of a plurality of ICD files to configure the emulator accordingly so that the emulator can encode and decode machine data into a human readable format, wherein each ICD file describes how information is encoded in data messages passed between the components of the computing environment and interface requirements between in the computing environment, ii) providing an interface to a user, iii) reading the plurality of ICD files to allow configuration based upon a read ICD file, and iv) generating responses to incoming and outgoing messages, v) loading DLL files and vi) executing DLL files. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A computer readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to perform emulation of a component in an environment so that a user can read data transmitted to and from the emulated component, the computer system having a program with functions for invocation by performing the steps of:
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a) defining interface requirements that specify message formats related to data to be exchanged in a readable format;
b) wherein a computer is in communication with the environment, the computer having a memory, storing a software application for component emulation in the memory of the computer;
c) inputting the messaging interface requirements between the component and the environment into the software application to configure the software application, wherein the step of inputting the messaging interface requirements includes the steps of;
i) associating a copy of each message with components identified by the route;
ii) populating the internal message objects with data objects representing message elements defined in the interface requirements, wherein the message elements are fields and each field defines a location of the respective field in raw message data, bit length, data type and least significant bit value;
iii) creating internal field objects that reflect fields in the interface requirements; and
iv) associating the internal field objects with an appropriate message element to enable the computer to extract field data from a received message and display the field data in a human readable format. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification