An inter-OS control software for switching OS's in operation executed on a single CPU is installed, and plural OS's are made alternately executed. A control program is executed exclusively on one OS, which controls the controlled apparatus. A supervisory control program and a development environment program are executed on another OS, and a memory space is divided so as to make no effect for the operation of the control program. A higher real-time performance and reliability can be established with a single CPU architecture.
Some computer operating systems do not permit application programs to perform certain tasks. If there is a desire to perform a forbidden task, a virtual partition (228) is created (610) in a storage device (108), such as a hard disk drive, associated with the computer system (100). The virtual partition (228) is stored as a file within the file system of the storage device (108). Operating system files (414) are installed in the virtual partition (228), and the storage device (108) is configured (616) to boot the computer system (100) using the operating system in the virtual partition. When the task is complete, the computer system (100) is configured to boot using the operating system other than the one in the virtual partition.
The invention discloses a computing system such as a computer, a Personal Digital Assistant, or a mobile phone, being connected both to an internal network and an external network and being able to quickly and safely switch therebetween without being shut down while ensuring a physical separation between the two networks. When a user inputs a request of switching, a switching unit will set a trigger thereof and generate a consequent non-maskable interrupt to CPU. After receives the NMI, the CPU controls the switching unit to run a switch program kept therein to back up a current status of the system. Then the switch program backs up a current status, controls the switching unit to interrupt all serving programs and loads the other status other than the current status to the computing system, and finally control the switching unit to reset the trigger.
The present invention is employed in the environment in which a plurality of OSs exist on a single processor having a power-saving function, and includes a primary OS for receiving a timer interrupt from a hardware timer after a predetermined time lapse and a secondary OS treated as a task to be executed by the primary OS, wherein upon receiving the timer interrupt, the primary OS determines whether there exists any task to be executed, and interrupts the secondary OS if there is any task to be executed on the secondary OS.
An inter-OS control software for switching OS's in operation executed on a single CPU is installed, and plural OS's are made alternately executed. A control program is executed exclusively on one OS, which controls the controlled apparatus. A supervisory control program and a development environment program are executed on another OS, and a memory space is divided so as to make no effect for the operation of the control program. A higher real-time performance and reliability can be established with a single CPU architecture.
In a system supporting more than one operating system, a data processing thread executing on a first operating system may be subject to an interrupt which triggers interrupt handling on a second operating system. When that interrupt handling is completed on the second operating system, the first operating system is resumed using a return interrupt. The return interrupt specifies the data processing thread which is active on the second operating system such that an appropriate task switch or resumption may be made on the first operating system. The technique is particularly well suited to systems utilising a secure operating system and a non-secure operating system executing on the same hardware.
