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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsJohn M. Dinwiddie, Jr., Bobby J. Freeman, Lonnie E. Grice, John M. Loffredo, Kenneth R. Sanderson, Gustavo A. Suarez
Estimating the term…
The functions of two virtual operating systems (e.g., S/370 VM, VSE or IX370 and S/88 OS) are merged into one physical system. Partner pairs of S/88 processors run the S/88 OS and handle the fault tolerant and single system image aspects of the system. One or more partner pairs of S/370 processors are coupled to corresponding S/88 processors directly and through the S/88 bus. Each S/370 processor is allocated from 1 to 16 megabytes of contigous storage from the S/88 main storage. Each S/370 virtual operating system thinks its memory allocation starts at address 0, and it manages its memory through normal S/370 dynamic memory allocation and paging techniques. The S/370 is limit checked to prevent the S/370 from accessing S/88 memory space. The S/88 Operating System is the master over all system hardware and I/O devices. The S/88 processors access the S/370 address space in direct response to a S/88 application program so that the S/88 may move I/O data into the S/370 I/O buffers and process the S/370 I/O operations. The S/88 and S/370 peer processor pairs execute their respective Operating Systems in a single system environment without significant rewriting of either operating system. Neither operating system is aware of the other operating system nor the other processor pairs.
In a data processing system of the type in which system initialization routines control the self testing and initialization of each of a first pair and a second partner pair of processors and their respective associated hardware, in which each pair of processors and its associated hardware is kicked off into lock step operation with the other pair upon satisfactory self testing and initialization, and in which the pairs of processors and their hardware thereafter perform identical operations in lock step under control of a first operating system and programs having a first instruction architecture, the improvement comprising
In a data processing system of the type in which system initialization routines control the self testing and initialization of each of a first pair and a second partner pair of processors, in which each pair of processors is kicked off into lock step operation with the other pair upon satisfactory self testing and initialization, and in which the pairs of processors thereafter perform identical operations in lock step under control of a first operating system and programs having a first instruction architecture, the improvement comprising
In a data processing system including at least one processor, main storage, and input/output devices operated under control of a first operating system and providing at least certain of the services such as resource allocation, scheduling, storage management, input/output control, error detection/isolation and recovery, dynamic reconfiguration and data management for the system, and further including configuration tables identifying the system resources for the operating system, in combination therewith
In a fault tolerant data processing system of the type in which a first pair of fault tolerant processors of one architecture perform identical operations concurrently under control of a first operating system, in which a second partner pair of fault tolerant processors of said one architecture perform said identical operations concurrent with the first pair under said first operating system control, in which the processor pairs are coupled to duplicated identical system buses and to paired fault tolerant I/O devices and paired fault tolerant main storage units via said buses for the transfer of identical data between the paired processor, I/O devices and main storage units under said operating system control, in which signals applied to the system buses by each pair of processors are periodically compared for error detection, in which means responsive to the detection of an error removes from service an error causing pair of processors to permit continued operation of the system with the remaining processor pair and in which reconfiguration means are provided for testing the error causing pair of processors and returning them to service in the event that the detected error no longer exists, in combination therewith
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware: data re-synchronization of a redundant component, or initial sync of…
Error detection by comparing the output of redundant processing systems: where the comparison is not performed by the redundant processing components
Temporal synchronisation or re-synchronisation of redundant processing components: at clock signal level
Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous…:…
Term ended 17 May 2009 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The subject application is related to other applications having different joint inventorships filed on the same day and assigned to a common assignee. These other applications are:
______________________________________ Ser. No. Title Inventors ______________________________________ 07/353116 Fault Tolerant Data Processor E. D. Baker System J. M. Dinwiddie L. E. Grice J. M. Joyce J. M. Loffredo K. R. Sanderson G. A. Suarez 07/353114 Uncoupling A Central Process- E. D. Baker ing Unit From Its Associated J. M. Dinwiddie Hardware For Interaction With L. E. Grice Data Handling Apparatus Alien J. M. Joyce To The Operating System Con- J. M. Loffredo trolling Said Unit And K. R. Sanderson Hardware 07/353117 Servicing Interrupt Requests J. M. Dinwiddie In A Data Processing System L. E. Grice Without Using The Services J. M. Loffredo Of An Operating System K. R. Sanderson 07/353113 A Single Physical Main E. D. Baker Storage Shared By Two Or J. M. Dinwiddie More Processors Executing L. E. Grice Respective Operating Systems J. M. Loffredo K. R. Sanderson G. A. Suarez 07/353111 Providing Additional System E. D. Baker Characteristics To A Data J. M. Dinwiddie Processing System L. E. Grice J. M. Joyce J. M. Loffredo K. R. Sanderson 07/353115 Method And Apparatus For The E. D. Baker Direct Transfer Of Informa- J. M. Dinwiddie tion Between Application L. E. Grice Programs Running On Distinct J. M. Joyce Processors Without Utilizing J. M. Loffredo The Services Of One Or Both K. R. Sanderson Operating Systems-- ______________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates the standard interconnection computer systems utilizing a communication line;
FIG. 2 shows diagrammatically the interconnection of S/88 processors in a fault tolerant environment;
FIG. 3 shows diagrammatically the interconnection of S/370 processors with S/88 processors in the preferred embodiment;
The preferred embodiment for implementing the present invention comprises a fault tolerant system. Fault tolerant systems have typically been designed from the bottom up for fault tolerant operation. The processors, storage, I/O apparatus and operating systems have been specifically tailored to provide a fault tolerant environment. However, the breadth of their customer base, the maturity of their operating systems, the number and extent of the available user programs are not as great as those of the significantly older mainframe systems of several manufacturers such as the System/370 (S/370 ) system marketed by International Business Machines Corporation.
Today's fault tolerant data processing systems offer many advanced features that are not normally available on the older non-fault tolerant mainframe systems or that are not supported by the mainframe operating systems. Some of these features include: a single system image presented across a distributed computing network; the capability to hot plug processors and I/O controllers (remove and install cards with power on); instantaneous error detection, fault isolation and electrical removal from service of failed components without interruption to the computer user; customer replaceable units identified by remote service support; and dynamic reconfiguration resulting from component failure or adding additional devices to the system while the system is continuously operating. One example of such fault tolerant systems is the System/88 (S/88 ) system marketed by International Business Machines Corporation.
Proposals for incorporating the above features into the S/370 environment and architecture might typically consist of a major rewrite of the operating system(s) and user application programs and/or new hardware developed from scratch. However, the major rewrite of an operating system such as VM, VSE, IX370, etc. is considered by many to be a monumental task, requiring a large number of programmers and a considerable period of time. It usually takes more than five years for a complex operating system such as IBM S/370 VM or MVS to mature. Up to this time most system crashes are a result of operating system errors. Also, many years are required for users to develop proficiency in the use of an operating system. Unfortunately, once an operating system has matured and has developed a large user base, it is not a simple effort to modify the code to introduce new functions such as fault tolerance, dynamic reconfiguration, single system image, and the like.