Input/output maintenance access apparatus
First Claim
1. A data processing system including a plurality of modules, said plurality of modules including at least a pair of input/output processing units, each processing unit including a plurality of storage elements including a number of control registers for storing status and control information required for program processing, data output means operatively coupled to said number of control registers for read out of the contents of said number of registers and clocking circuits for generating timing signals for enabling said input/output processing unit and a system interface unit having a plurality of interface ports and a number of transfer networks, each port connected to a different one of said modules and to said transfer networks, wherein said system interface unit controls the transfer of information between said ports, said system further including maintenance apparatus for facilitating diagnosis of failures within any one of said plurality of processing units detected as faulty comprising:
- interface means included within the port of each input/output processing unit, said interface means being connected to said clocking circuits;
command register means for storing commands, command decode circuit means, and a plurality of registers included in said system interface unit, said command register means being connected to receive commands from any one of said number of transfer networks, said command decode circuit means connected to said command register means and operative to generate control signals in response to said commands, a first one of said registers being coupled to said interface means of each port for storing coded signals designating different configurations of at least a pair of said plurality of input/output processing units to be enabled for operation, said first register storing signals representative of an unlocked configuration bit pattern designating that only one of said pair is to be enabled and the other one of said pair of disabled for being faulty, said signals conditioning said interface means to inhibit the operation of the clocking circuits to the other one of said pair of input/output processing units having been detected as being faulty; and
,control circuit means included in each of said input/output processing units, said control circuit means being coupled to said data output means, said clocking circuits and to said interface means,said command decode circuit means being operative in response to a predetermined sequence of commands from said one of said pair of input/output processing units to generate a sequence of control signals, said interface means of the port of said faulty processing unit in response to said control signals conditioning said control circuit means to enable said data output means to apply the contents of a predetermined one of said number of control registers to the one of said number of transfer networks connected to said port thereby not altering the state of said faulty processing unit defined by the status of said plurality of storage elements, andsaid one of said number of transfer networks being conditioned by said control signals to transfer said contents to one of said plurality of registers for use during subsequent fault analysis.
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Abstract
An input/output processing system comprises a number of modules including at least a pair of processing units connected to operate as a logical pair and a system interface unit having a number of ports. Each port connects to a different one of the modules for interconnecting pairs of modules for communication over a number of switching circuit networks included in the system interface unit. The system interface unit further includes control logic circuits for disconnecting each processor of the logical pair preventing the disconnected processing unit from communicating with other modules. The control logic circuits further include circuits which in response to special commands from a good processor are operative to condition via a special line, circuits in the disconnected processing unit to apply status signals representative of the contents of a control register to the system interface unit. The other circuits within the system interface unit in response to a further command condition certain switching circuit networks for loading the status signals into one of the registers included in the system interface unit for subsequent analysis by system routines.
47 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A data processing system including a plurality of modules, said plurality of modules including at least a pair of input/output processing units, each processing unit including a plurality of storage elements including a number of control registers for storing status and control information required for program processing, data output means operatively coupled to said number of control registers for read out of the contents of said number of registers and clocking circuits for generating timing signals for enabling said input/output processing unit and a system interface unit having a plurality of interface ports and a number of transfer networks, each port connected to a different one of said modules and to said transfer networks, wherein said system interface unit controls the transfer of information between said ports, said system further including maintenance apparatus for facilitating diagnosis of failures within any one of said plurality of processing units detected as faulty comprising:
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interface means included within the port of each input/output processing unit, said interface means being connected to said clocking circuits; command register means for storing commands, command decode circuit means, and a plurality of registers included in said system interface unit, said command register means being connected to receive commands from any one of said number of transfer networks, said command decode circuit means connected to said command register means and operative to generate control signals in response to said commands, a first one of said registers being coupled to said interface means of each port for storing coded signals designating different configurations of at least a pair of said plurality of input/output processing units to be enabled for operation, said first register storing signals representative of an unlocked configuration bit pattern designating that only one of said pair is to be enabled and the other one of said pair of disabled for being faulty, said signals conditioning said interface means to inhibit the operation of the clocking circuits to the other one of said pair of input/output processing units having been detected as being faulty; and
,control circuit means included in each of said input/output processing units, said control circuit means being coupled to said data output means, said clocking circuits and to said interface means, said command decode circuit means being operative in response to a predetermined sequence of commands from said one of said pair of input/output processing units to generate a sequence of control signals, said interface means of the port of said faulty processing unit in response to said control signals conditioning said control circuit means to enable said data output means to apply the contents of a predetermined one of said number of control registers to the one of said number of transfer networks connected to said port thereby not altering the state of said faulty processing unit defined by the status of said plurality of storage elements, and said one of said number of transfer networks being conditioned by said control signals to transfer said contents to one of said plurality of registers for use during subsequent fault analysis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A data processing system including a plurality of modules, said plurality of modules including at least a pair of input/output processing units, each processing unit including a plurality of storage elements including at least one control register for storing status and control information required for program processing and timing circuits for generating signals for enabling said processing unit and a system interface unit having a plurality of interface ports and a number of transfer networks, each port being connected to a differnt one of said modules and to said transfer networks wherein said system interface unit controls the transfer of information between said ports, said system further including maintenance apparatus for facilitating the diagnosis of faults within an inactive processing unit comprising:
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interface means included within the port of each input/output processing unit, said interface means being connected to said timing circuits; command register means for storing commands, command decode circuit means, and a plurality of registers included in said system interface unit, said command register means being connected to receive commands from any one of said number of transfer networks, said command decode circuit means connected to said command register means and operative to generate control siganls in response to said commands, a first one of said registers being coupled to said interface means of each port and for storing coded signals designating different configurations of said air of input/output processing units enabled for operation, said first register storing signals representative of an unlocked configuration bit pattern designating that only one of said pair is to be enabled for operation, said interface means being conditioned by said bit pattern to inhibit the operation of the timing circuits of the other one of said pair of input/output processing units rendering it inactive; and
,control circuit means included in each of said input/output processing units, said control circuit means being coupled to said timing circuits and to said interface means, said command decode circuit means being operative in response to a first predetermined type of command from said one processing unit of said pair of input/output processing units to generate a first sequence of control signals, said interface means of said inactive processing unit being operative in response to said control signals to condition said control circuit means to apply the contents of said one control register to one of said number of transfer networks for use during fault analysis thereby not altering the state of said inactive processing unit defined by the status of said plurality of storage elements. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A data processing system comprising:
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a plurality of modules, said plurality of modules including a plurality of input/output processing units, each processing unit including; a number of control register for storing status and control information required for program processing; data output means connected to said number of control registers for selection of any one of said number of registers; timing circuits for enabling the operation of said processing unit; interface means for transferring data and control signals to and from said processing unit, said interface means being connected to said timing circuits and to said control circuit means, and control circuit means coupled to said data output means, said timing circuits and to said interface means, and a system interface unit for controlling the transfer of information between said plurality of modules, said system interface unit including; a plurality of interface ports, each connected to a different one of said modules; a number of transfer networks connected to a different one of said plurality of input/output processing units; command register means, said command register means being connected to receive commands from said number of transfer networks; command decode circuit means coupled to said command register means, said command decode circuit means being operative to generate control signals in response to said commands, and a plurality of registers, a first one of said registers coupled to said interface means of each port and storing bit pattern signals codes for designating different operating configurations of pairs of said plurality of input/output processing units defining which processing units of said pairs are to be enabled for operation, said first register storing signals corresponding to a predetermined configuration, said signals conditioning said interface means to inhibit the operation of the timing circuits of a designated one processing unit of one of said pairs of input/output processing units rendering it inactive, and said command decode circuit means being operative in response to a first type of command from the other one of said one pair to generate a sequence of control signals, said interface means of the inactive processing unit in response to said control signals conditioning said control circuit means to cause said data output means to apply the contents of a selected one of said number of control registers for subsequent examination for diagnosis of faults within said inactive processing unit to one of said number of transfer networks thereby not altering the state of said inactive processing unit defined by the contents of said number of control registers. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification