US 5,206,948 AGranted

Bus monitor with means for selectively capturing trigger conditions

AssigneeBull HN Information Systems Inc.

InventorsDouglas J. De Angelis, Henry W. J. Maddox, Arthur Peters, Donald J. Rathbun, William L. Saltmarsh

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Abstract

A monitoring means for selectively detecting and recording signals representing at selected points within a system, includes trigger generation logic responsive to selected bus signals for generating trigger signals representing the occurrence of selected conditions, and a recording memory for recording the conditions thereupon, a trigger selection logic for selecting trigger outputs corresponding to the trigger signals. The trigger selection logic includes a trigger enabling memory for storing selectable trigger enabling codes, wherein each enabling code corresponds to a trigger signal, and trigger output logic responsive to the trigger enabling codes and to the trigger signals for providing trigger outputs. The trigger enabling codes include bus enabling codes representing selected conditions on a bus of the system, trigger sequence enabling codes corresponding to sequential combinations of trigger signals and external trigger enabling codes corresponding to triggers external to the system. The enabling codes may select trigger signals to be used in logical AND or OR functions in generating a trigger output or in substitution for a bus trigger signal.

Claims32

Dependent claims

In a monitoring means for use in a computer system for selectively detecting and recording signals representing conditions of system operation at selected points within the system during operation, the monitoring means including a trigger generation means connected from a first plurality of selected points and responsive to the signals representing selected conditions for generating corresponding trigger signals representing an occurrence of corresponding selected conditions and a recording memory means connected from a second plurality of selected points and responsive to trigger outputs for recording the conditions present at the second selected points, means for selecting trigger outputs corresponding to the trigger signals, comprising:

trigger code enabling means for storing a plurality of selectable trigger enabling codes,
wherein each trigger enabling code corresponds to a trigger signal representing the occurrence of a corresponding condition to be detected, and
trigger output means connected from the trigger generating means and from the trigger code enabling means and having an output connected to the recording memory means and responsive to the trigger enabling codes and to the trigger signals for providing trigger outputs upon the occurrence of a trigger signal corresponding to a selected trigger enabling code.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.