EP0115566A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method for testing the operation of an I/O controller in a data processing system
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1983-09-20
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2003-09-20
Abstract
Abstract Method for testing an I/O controller (20) associated with a host processor (10) consisting in loading a test program into the random access memory (24) of the I/O controller (20) through the host processor (10) on a cycle stealing basis, and clearing an area of the main storage unit (11) of the host processor (10) for communicating data to the I/O controller (20) on a cycle stealing basis, for instructing what operations from the test program are to be utilized and to supply data for use in the selected portion of the test program. With this procedure, data can be altered in the random access memory (24), data from the I/O controller (20) displayed on the operator console (13) of the host processor (10) and data on the channel (26) from an I/O device (30) examined without having to greatly disturb the operations of the host processor (10).
Inventors
- 👤 Donald Richard Crandall
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 02:53
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/22; G06F11/2205; G06F11/221; G06F11/2273
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
128 words
A method for testing the operation of an I/O controller (20) of a data processing system including a host processor characterized by the steps of: loading a testing program into a random access memory (24) of said I/O controller through said host processor on a cycle steal basis, clearing a predetermined portion of a main storage (11) associated with said host processor, inputting through a console (13) of said host processor into said predetermined portion of said main storage information comprising data and/or instructions for use by said testing program, and cycle stealing said information from said predetermined portion of the main storage unit of said host processor to said random access memory of said I/O controller on a cycle steal basis as controlled by said testing program.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
128 words
A method for testing the operation of an I/O controller (20) of a data processing system including a host processor characterized by the steps of: loading a testing program into a random access memory (24) of said I/O controller through said host processor on a cycle steal basis, clearing a predetermined portion of a main storage (11) associated with said host processor, inputting through a console (13) of said host processor into said predetermined portion of said main storage information comprising data and/or instructions for use by said testing program, and cycle stealing said information from said predetermined portion of the main storage unit of said host processor to said random access memory of said I/O controller on a cycle steal basis as controlled by said testing program.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transferring data from said random access memory (24) of said I/O controller (20) to said predetermined area of the main storage unit (11) of said host processor (10) on a cycle steal basis under the control of said testing program.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of displaying on indicator lamps of said console (13) of said host processor (10) said data transferred to said predetermined area of said main storage unit (11).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said data transferred from said random access memory (24) to said predetermined area of said main storage unit (11) is of table data received from a memory unit (30) coupled by said I/O controller (20) to said host processor (10).
Claim 6
Independent Claim
54 words
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said step of inputting information into said predetermined area.of said main storage unit (11) of said host processor (10) comprises inputting through said console (13) an address of said random access memory (24) and data for storage in said random access memory.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
55 words
The method according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising the step of transferring data from a read only storage (23) of said I/O controller (20) to said predetermined area of said main storage unit (11) of said host processor (10) on a cycle steal basis under the control of said testing program.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
38 words
The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said step of inputting said information through said console (13) of said host processor (10) comprises inputting, after all other information has been inputted, an execute code.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of periodically determining whether or not said execute code is present, and if and only if said execute code is present, continuing with said step of cycle stealing said information.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
45 words
The method according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising the step of, after testing of the operation of said I/O controller (20) has been completed, returning to main storage unit (11) of said host processor (10) data cleared from said predetermined portion.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method according to claim 9, wherein said step of clearing said predetermined portion of said main storage (11) comprises transferring at least a portion of data stored in said predetermined portion to said random access memory (24) of said I/O controller (20), and wherein said step of returning said data comprises transferring said data to said main storage.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.