Car controlling unit using a multitasking system

• US 6,490,509 B1
• Filed: 05/17/2001
• Issued: 12/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Keihin Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Keihin Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ito, Hiroshi, Takahashi, Masaaki, Sato, Kenichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hernandez, Olga
• Application Number:
  US09/856,046
• Time in Patent Office: 565 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/24, 701/34, 701/35, 701/36, 701/45, 180/232, 180/271, 180/337, 340/853.1
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/461 Saving or restoring of program or task context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4812 by interrupt, e.g. masked

Abstract

The present invention provides a multi-task system which can suppress the increase of required volume of RAM and which enables a multiplex interruption, and a car controlling unit utilizing that system. A memory area (RAM) utilized in executing a processing is divided into a task area 50 for carrying out a task processing and an interrupt area 60 for carrying out an interrupt processing. An interrupt level is given to the interrupt processing in accordance with its priority. The interrupt area is prepared so that the number thereof is same as that of the interrupt level. This system can suppress the increase of memory areas to be consumed as the interrupt area and can guarantee that all interrupt processings are operated.

Claims

1. A car controlling unit, comprising:

interrupt request issuing means for issuing an interrupt request being associated with one of a plurality of interrupt levels, which indicates a priority of an interrupt processing;

an interrupt controller which receives said interrupt request and decides whether or not said interrupt request is allowed, based on the interrupt level associated with said interrupt request thus received;

a central processing unit which executes a task processing and an interrupt processing, and which suspends the task processing or the interrupt processing being executed when said interrupt request has been allowed, so as to execute said interrupt processing whose interrupt request has been allowed; and

a memory having a plurality of task areas to be used as a stack by said task processing and a plurality of interrupt areas to be used as a stack by interrupt processing, wherein,

a number of said interrupt areas is equal to a number of said interrupt levels;

said central processing unit utilizes any one of said task areas as a stack in executing each of said task processing; and

said central processing unit utilizes any one of said interrupt areas as a stack in executing said interrupt processing whose interrupt request has been allowed.

2. The car controlling unit according to claim 1, further comprising,

monitoring means for monitoring a state of a car, wherein,

said interrupt request issuing means issues said interrupt request based on a result of monitoring by said monitoring means.

3. The car controlling unit according to claim 2, wherein

said monitoring means is a pulse generator which generates a pulse corresponding to a rotation angle of a rotary member whose rotation angle or rotation speed is to be controlled;

and

said interrupt request issuing means is a pulse meter which receives the pulse from said pulse generator and issues the interrupt request in accordance with the pulse thus received.

4. The car controlling unit according to claim 2, wherein said monitoring device is a sensor which measures the state of the car and outputs measured values in analog;

and

said interrupt request issuing means is an AD converter which receives the measured values from said sensor and issues the interrupt request when a measurement of said sensor is completed.

5. The car controlling unit according to claim 1, wherein said interrupt request issuing means is a timer.

6. The car controlling unit according to claim 1, further comprising a communication interface for communicating with other car controlling unit, wherein,

said interrupt request issuing means issues the interrupt request to said communication interface;

and

said interrupt controller receives the interrupt request from said communication interface.

7. A car controlling unit, comprising:

a pulse generator that generates a pulse corresponding to a rotation angle of an engine;

a pulse meter that receives the pulse from said pulse generator, measures a number of the pulse thus received and issues an interrupt request corresponding to a result of the measurement;

a timer for generating an interrupt request at a predetermined time interval;

interrupt processing means comprising engine rotation angle interrupt processing means being associated with the interrupt request generated by said pulse meter, and timer interrupt processing means being associated with the interrupt request generated by said timer; and

a memory having a plurality of interrupt areas to be utilized as a stack by said interrupt processing means;

wherein

the interrupt request generated by said pulse meter and the interrupt request generated by said timer are associated with one of a plurality of interrupt levels, respectively, which indicate a priority of an interrupt processing, and

the interrupt request generated by said pulse meter and the interrupt request generated by said timer are associated with the interrupt levels whose priority are different from each other, and wherein,

each of said interrupt areas is associated with any one of said plurality of interrupt levels in one-to-one correspondence;

said rotation angle interrupt processing means utilizes as a stack said interrupt area which is associated with the interrupt level in one-to-one correspondence, that interrupt level being associated with said rotation angle of interrupt processing means; and

said timer interrupt processing means utilizes as a stack said interrupt area which is associated with the interrupt level in one-to-one correspondence, that interrupt level being associated with said timer interrupt processing.