Task management system

• US 8,151,274 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2004
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Abe, Mutsumi
• Primary Examiner(s): An, Meng
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUMABE, BLAKE K
• Application Number:
  US10/581,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20060277548A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,678 Days
• Field of Search: 718/108, 718/107
• US Class Current: 718/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system

Abstract

A task management system for executing a task selected from tasks structuring a task combination, includes a judging unit for judging whether there is a task combination switchover request or not, a switchover unit for switching over the task combination after completing an execution of a specified task in the tasks structuring the task combination before the switchover when judging that there is the switchover request, and an execution unit for executing the task selected from the tasks structuring the task combination switched over by the switchover unit.

Claims

1. A task management system for executing a task selected from a plurality of tasks, the system stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising:

a task management table storing a plurality of task combinations, each task combination in the plurality of task combinations comprising at least one task from the plurality of tasks, the task management table comprising at least a listing of tasks stored therein, a unique identifier associated with each task stored therein, and an indication of whether each task stored therein is flagged as being a task that must complete execution prior to switching between task combinations;

a processing unit for executing tasks in a present task combination;

a judging unit for determining whether there is a task combination switchover request; and

a switchover unit for, when the judging unit determines there is a task combination switchover request, switching over from the present task combination to a requested task combination,

wherein;

the task management table is generated and stored before executing tasks in the present task combination,

the judging unit is adapted to determine whether there is a task combination switchover request based on a comparison of pattern numbers associated with the present and requested task combination;

when it is judged that the task combination switchover request exists, the judging unit is further adapted to determine whether a not-yet-executed task exists in the current task combination;

when it is judged that the not-yet executed task exists, the judging unit is further adapted to judge whether or not there exists a flagged task among the not-yet executed tasks;

when it is judged that the flagged task exists in the not-yet-executed task, the processing unit is adapted to continue executing the task in the current task, and when it is judged that the flagged task does not exist in the not-yet-executed task, the switchover unit is adapted to switch over from the present task combination to the requested task combination; and

the processing unit is adapted to execute tasks in the requested task combination after the switching over.

2. A task management program for executing a task selected from a plurality of tasks stored in a task management table, the task management table comprising at least a listing of tasks stored therein, a unique identifier associated with each task stored therein, and an indication of whether each task stored therein is flagged as being a task that must complete execution prior to switching between task combinations, the program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and comprising the steps of:

judging whether a task combination switchover request has been made based on a comparison of pattern numbers associated with a present task combination, including at least one task from the plurality of tasks, and a requested task combination, including at least one task from the plurality of tasks;

when it is judged that the task combination switchover request exists, determining whether a not-yet-executed task exists in the current task combination;

when it is judged that the not-yet-executed task exists, determining whether there exists a flagged task among the not-yet-executed task;

when it is judged that the flagged task exists in the not-yet-executed task, executing the task in the current task;

when it is judged that the flagged task does not exist in the not-yet-executed task, switching over from the present task combination to the requested task combination; and

executing the tasks in the requested task combination after the switching over,

wherein;

the task management table is generated and stored before executing tasks in the present task combination.