JP2006093853A - Data transmission system, software used therefor and gateway device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve the conflicting characteristics of real-time properties and reliability in the light of the problem of real-time properties since transmission time is long and procedures for transmission require much time in a system using a GP-IB/Ethernet conversion adaptor. <P>SOLUTION: An instrumentation module 3 having a GP-IB interface 21 inside is connected to a detector unit 1. A gateway device 20 for converting a GP-IB protocol to an Ethernet protocol is provided between host computers 6 connected to an Ethernet bus 18. Commands and data are transmitted and received between the computers 6 and the instrumentation module 3, and the gateway device 20 is allowed to function as the master of the GP-IB of each instrumentation module 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a data transmission system, a gateway device of the system, and software used in the system, and in particular, a data transmission system having both real-time performance and certainty regarding control and monitoring, the gateway device of the system, and the same It relates to software used in the system.

  Conventionally, in the field of industrial instrumentation, in the case of a measurement system in which a plurality of measurement devices (detector units) are connected to a single computer and controlled and monitored, most of the measurement devices are GP- Since it is an IB device, the GP-IB bus has been used to transmit and receive data between the measuring device and the host computer. Here, GP-IB (General Purpose Interface Bus) is one of the general purpose interface bus standards of the IEEE 488 standard.

  By the way, the above-mentioned host computer is a standard one, and few have GP-IB cards, and most of them are treated as options. In recent years, Ethernet (Ethernet) has become widespread as a standard network interface for computers, and the GP-IB option for computers is disappearing. However, GP-IB is still generally used as an interface bus for instrumentation equipment, including those currently in operation. For this reason, GP-IB and Ethernet are connected by appropriate conversion means.

Hereinafter, a conventional measurement system will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the configuration of the measurement system of Conventional Example 1. In FIG. 18, 1 _i (i = 1 to n) is a detector unit such as a radiation detector installed in a nuclear power plant or the like, and each of the plurality of detector units is a dedicated communication line 2 _i (i = 1). To n) are connected to the instrumentation module 3 _i (i = 1 to n) in a 1: 1 relationship. The instrumentation module 3 _i is connected to the GP-IB bus 4 and further connected to the host computer 6 via the GP-IB card 5, and the other instrumentation modules 3 _{2 to} 3 _m 3 Connected to ₁ by daisy chain method. By the way, the relationship between the host computer 6 and each instrument module 3 _i is connected by the GP-IB protocol so that the computer 6 becomes a master unit and each instrument module 3 _i becomes a slave unit. For this reason, setting of parameters to the detector unit 1 _i (for example, an applied voltage to the detector), data from the detector unit 1 _i (for example, a count value, a monitor value such as an applied voltage to the detector, and the like) Alarm information and the like are collected via an instrumentation module 3 _{i in} which a host computer 6 as a parent device is a child device.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of the detector unit 1 _i . The detector unit 1 _i includes a detector 7, a detector power supply unit 8, a signal processing unit 9, an arithmetic processing unit 10, a memory 11, and a signal transmission / reception unit 12.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of the instrumentation module 3 _i . The instrumentation module 3 i includes a transmission / reception unit 13, an arithmetic processing unit 14, and a transmission / reception unit (GP-IB IF) 15 that performs transmission / reception with the host computer 6.

FIG. 21 is a data transmission time chart of the conventional example, and shows the timing of data exchange between the instrumentation module 3 _i and the computer 6. In particular, FIG. 21A is a data transmission time chart of the conventional example 1 (GP-IB transmission), and the computer 6 issues commands to the instrument module in order from 3 _{1 to} 3 _m in a cycle ΔT1, and m units. Detector unit 1 of the _i data is regularly received. FIG. 21B is a data transmission time chart of Conventional Example 2 described later. These communication methods are handshake methods. Here, the handshake method refers to a communication method in which the computer 6 and the instrumentation module 3 _i exchange signals with each other via the GP-IB4 bus in a 1: 1 relationship to establish a connection.

FIG. 22 is a system configuration diagram showing a conventional example 2 in which the instrumentation system 3 _i and the host computer 6 are connected by the GP-IB protocol, and an Ethernet card 16 mounted on the host computer 6; The instrumentation module 3 _i is connected via an Ethernet bus 18 and a general-purpose GP-IB-Ethernet conversion adapter 17 (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). FIG. 23 is a block diagram of data transmission by the Ethernet conversion adapter adopted in this conventional apparatus 2.

  This general-purpose GP-IB-Ethernet conversion adapter 17 uses a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) protocol, and is an Ethernet interface (connected to the Ethernet bus 18). Hardware) 17a, Ethernet driver (software) 17b, conversion application software 17c, GP-IB driver (software) 17d, and GP-IB interface (hardware) 17e.

In the instrumentation system shown in FIG. 22, the data collection command issued from the host computer 6 is transmitted to the GP-IB-Ethernet conversion adapter 17 via the Ethernet bus 18, and further from the GP-IB-Ethernet conversion adapter 17 to the GP- via the IB bus 4 is transmitted to each instrumentation module 3 _i, is further transmitted to each detector unit 1 _i from the instrumentation module 3 _i. As a result, the detection data detected by the detector unit 1 _i is transmitted to the upper level via each instrumentation module 3 _i , GP-IB bus 4, GP-IB-Ethernet conversion adapter 17, Ethernet bus 18, and Ethernet card 16. Collected by the computer 6. When the data of each detector unit 1 _i is collected by the computer 6, the above signal transmission / reception is sequentially repeated m times.
“GP-IP device to LAN, LAN / GP-IP converter, ZS-6180F”, [online], [searched on September 13, 2004], Internet <URL: www.zenisu.co.jp/zs6180. html> “USB2.0 to GPIB Converter REX-USB220 [RATOC]”, [online], [searched on September 11, 2004], Internet <URL: www.ratocsystems.com/products/subpage/usb220.html>

An instrumentation system requires both real-time performance and certainty with respect to control and monitoring of measurement equipment.
In the case of the conventional example 2 shown in FIG. 22, as shown in the data transmission time chart of FIG. 21 (b), in order to collect data of one detector unit, in addition to one GP-IB transmission, Two Ethernet transmissions in the up and down directions are required. In general, the data transmission time requires more time for the transmission procedure rather than the amount of data transmission because the calculation processing time is increased due to the advancement of computer hardware. For example, when collecting data of m detector units, a procedure of 3m times (2m times of Ethernet transmission and m times of GP-IB transmission) is required as a procedure. When the instrumentation system becomes large and there are m detector units, 3 mn times are required.

As described above, in the case of the system shown in FIG. 22, the procedure is required three times as compared with the case of the GP-IB transmission of the conventional example 1, and it takes time and there is a problem in real time.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a data transmission system, a gateway device of the system, and software used in the system, which can realize the characteristics of real-time property and certainty using Ethernet transmission protocol. It is the purpose.

  To achieve the above object, a data transmission system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and an Ethernet bus. In a data transmission system in which a gateway device that converts the GP-IB protocol to an Ethernet protocol is provided between upper computers connected to the computer, and commands and data are transmitted and received between the computer and the instrumentation module. The gateway device has a function as a master unit of GP-IB of each instrumentation module, collects data of a plurality of instrumentation modules, and transmits the data to the computer collectively via an Ethernet bus. From the computer to the gateway device at once. Sending to, the each instrumentation module, characterized in that the gateway device is configured to transmit as a master unit for GP-IB.

  Further, the invention of the data transmission system according to claim 2 is a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus. In a data transmission system in which a gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol to the Ethernet protocol is provided between the computer and the instrumentation module, the gateway device is connected to each instrumentation module. With the function as a master unit of the GP-IB, the UDP / IP protocol is used for data transmission between the gateway device and the computer, the transmission from the gateway device to the computer and the computer to the gateway device. The transmission of the command of Features.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data transmission system according to the second aspect, wherein the gateway device is provided with a counter function for command transmission from the data transmission system to the gateway device. 1 is added, and the header of the periodic data transmission data from the lower level to the higher level is transmitted including the reception counter value, and if the reception counter value does not change (add) within a predetermined time in the upper computer, a retransmission request It is characterized by having performed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data transmission system according to the second aspect, wherein in the second aspect, the count value data is lost due to a transmission failure with respect to the data transmission from the gateway device to the host computer. Accumulate the number of integrations and integration counts transmitted from the instrumentation module with an arithmetic function, and send this cumulative value to the host computer. It has a function of estimating the counted value.

  The invention of a data transmission system according to claim 5 is the data transmission system according to claim 4, wherein the mode of each instrumentation module is numbered and transmitted from the instrumentation module to the gateway device. If it changes, it counts up and records it as state change data (records as a state change counter value), estimates the mode of the missing data from the change in the state change counter value immediately after the missing data, and restores or discards it It has the function to judge.

  The invention of the data transmission system according to claim 6 is a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules having a GP-IB interface connected to the detector unit, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus. In a data transmission system in which a gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol to the Ethernet protocol is provided between the computer and the instrumentation module to transmit and receive commands and data, software provided in a host computer; A computer with the same software configuration is connected to the same network as a backup computer, and the IP address of the backup computer is newly added in addition to the upper computer as the data transmission destination of the lower gateway device. , Collected by backup computer Characterized in that the so that.

The invention of a data transmission system according to claim 7 is characterized in that the IP address added to the backup computer is specified in two groups by a multicast method.
The invention of the data transmission system according to claim 8 is characterized in that the designation of the IP address added to the backup computer is performed by transmitting twice by the unicast method.

  Further, the invention of the data transmission system according to claim 9 includes a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus. In a data transmission system in which a gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol to the Ethernet protocol is provided between the computer and the instrumentation module to transmit and receive commands and data, software provided in a host computer; A computer having the same software configuration is connected to the same network as a maintenance computer, and the IP address of the maintenance computer is added to the destination of data transmitted from the host computer to the gateway device.

  An invention of a gateway device of a data transmission system according to claim 10 is the Ethernet interface connected to the upper computer side via an Ethernet bus in any one of claims 1 to 9, A GP-IB interface connected to the instrumentation module via a GP-IB bus, a processing unit for processing commands from the host computer and data from the instrumentation module, and a memory for storing application software And a timer for measuring the processing time and a counter for counting a change in state.

  The data transmission system software invention according to claim 11 is a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host connected to the Ethernet bus. Gateway device for converting GP-IB protocol to Ethernet protocol between computers, and transmitting and receiving commands and data between the computer and instrumentation module, and the gateway device and host computer of the data transmission system The application software includes a port corresponding to the number of the detectors in the host computer and each of the gateway devices.

  The invention of the software for a data transmission system according to claim 12 includes a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host connected to the Ethernet bus. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol to the Ethernet protocol is provided between the computers, and the gateway device of the data transmission system is configured to transmit and receive commands and data between the computer and the instrumentation module. Application software, characterized in that the application software has a function capable of changing an offset value depending on a place of installation by an instruction from a hard switch or a host computer.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data transmission system software invention comprising: a detector unit; a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface; and a host connected to the Ethernet bus. The host computer and gateway device of the data transmission system in which a gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol to the Ethernet protocol is provided between the computers and commands and data are transmitted and received between the computer and the instrumentation module The application software includes a maximum number of port numbers and conversion software.

  The invention of the data transmission system software according to claim 14 is a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host connected to the Ethernet bus. Gateway device for converting GP-IB protocol to Ethernet protocol between computers, and transmitting and receiving commands and data between the computer and instrumentation module, and the gateway device and host computer of the data transmission system Each of which corresponds to data transmission from the lower detector unit to the upper computer and data transmission from the upper computer to the lower detector unit, respectively. Allocating one port And it features.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a data transmission system, a gateway device of the system, and software used for the system that can realize the characteristics of real-time property and certainty using Ethernet transmission protocol. it can.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol or a related code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part which is common throughout each figure, and description is omitted suitably.

Example 1
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram according to the first embodiment.
In the first embodiment, as shown in the system configuration diagram of FIG. 1, an Ethernet / GP-IB conversion module 20 is inserted between a host computer 6 and an instrument module 3 _i , and an Ethernet transmission protocol is used. It is characterized by adopting the TCP / IP system. In the present invention, the Ethernet / GP-IB conversion module 20 is hereinafter referred to as a gateway device (abbreviated as G / W device) for convenience of explanation.

This G / W device 20 does not simply convert a signal suitable for GP-IB transmission into a signal suitable for Ethernet, like the GP-IB / Ethernet conversion adapter 17 shown in FIG. The instrument module 3 _i functions as a master unit. In other words, when an Ethernet system command is transmitted from the host computer 6 to the G / W device 20, the command sorted to each of the m instrument modules 3 _{i in} charge of the parent device is GP-IB. The data is sequentially transmitted by the method, and conversely, the response data from each instrument module 3 _i is collected, and the collected data is collectively transmitted to the host computer 6 via the Ethernet bus 18.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the G / W device. The G / W device 20 includes an Ethernet interface 21 and a GP-IB bus 4 connected to the host computer 6 via the Ethernet bus 18. A GP-IB interface 22 connected to the instrumentation module 3 _i side, an arithmetic processing unit 23 for processing commands from the host computer 6 and data from the instrumentation module 3 _i, and a memory for storing application software 30 to be described later 24, a timer 25 for measuring the processing time, and a counter 26 for counting a change in state.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing hardware and software related to transmission of the G / W device 20 as data transmission blocks.
The G / W device 20 receives a signal such as a command from the computer 6 through the Ethernet interface 21 connected to the Ethernet bus 18. The received command and other signals reach the Ethernet driver (software) 30, the conversion interface software 31, and the calculation processing application software 32. The conversion interface software 31, the GP-IB driver software 32, and the GP-IB interface 22, the data is transmitted to the instrumentation module 3 _i via the GP-IB bus 4. On the contrary, the detection data from the instrument module 3 _i is transmitted to the computer 6 along the above-mentioned route.

  The calculation processing application software 32 includes software for allowing the G / W device 20 to function as a GP-IB master unit.

FIG. 4 is a data transmission time chart for explaining the operation of the first embodiment (use example of TCP / IP). As described above, since the G / W device 20 has a function as a GP-IB master unit, when a command in the Ethernet system is sent from the computer 6 to the G / W device 20, the command is transferred to the Ethernet. The interface 21 receives the data and sends it to the calculation processing application software 32 via the Ethernet driver (software) 30 and the conversion application software 31. This calculation processing application software 32 sorts the received commands into 1, 2,... N within a certain period (ΔT1) and sends them to the conversion application software 31. The conversion application software 31 converts the command into GP-IB, through the GP-IB interface (hard) 22 through the GP-IB driver 33 is sent to the GP-IB bus 4, the instrumentation module _{3 i} (not shown) Sent. The calculation processing application software 30 obtains response data from each instrument module 3 _i each time a command is transmitted by the GP-IB method, and the m instrument modules 3 _i (in charge of this response). 31-3m) is performed until the round, to collect data from the number m instrumentation module _{3 i} all in charge. In this way, the G / W device 20 transmits the data to the host computer 6 via the Ethernet bus 18 when all data has been collected. Thereafter, when a command is issued from the computer 6 in this manner, the G / W device 20 collects data of the detector unit 1 _i within a certain period (ΔT1) and transmits it to the host computer 6.

Next, effects of the first embodiment will be described.
In the case of the above-described conventional example 2 (FIG. 22), for data transmission between the host computer 6 and each instrument module 3 _i , if the target is m detectors, Ethernet transmission 2 m times, GP-IB transmission m In the case of the first embodiment, as shown in the data transmission time chart of FIG. 4, two Ethernet transmissions and m GP-IB transmissions in total (total of ( Only m + 2) transmissions are required. When the number m is larger than 2, the number of transmissions is about 1/3. Further, when there are n G / W devices and m instrument modules 3 _i belong to each G / W device, according to the second conventional example, the number of transmissions is 3 nm. In this case, since each G / W device performs distributed processing, the number of Ethernet transmissions may be 2n times and the number of GP-IB transmissions may be m times, which is considered to be a total (2n + m) times. If n = m, processing can be performed 1/3 times. The time required for data transmission depends on the number of transmissions rather than the amount of data. This is because the overhead of the transmission procedure is large especially in the case of handshaking and the like.

  In other words, compared to the conventional example 2 (FIG. 22), in the first embodiment, the number of transmissions is about 1/3, and the processing takes a considerably short time. Further, when there are a plurality of G / W devices, in the conventional system of FIG. 22, since all data transmission is performed by the host computer 6, the load on the computer 6 increases and the real-time processability is affected. However, according to the first embodiment, the distributed processing is performed by the G / W device 20, and there is an effect that the load on the host computer 6 is small and the real-time property can be improved.

(Example 2)
Next, Example 2 of the present invention will be described.
The system configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, and the G / W device 20 also functions as a GP-IB master for the instrumentation module 3 _i . However, the only difference is the data transmission protocol. That is, although the transmission protocol of the first embodiment employs TCP / IP, the second embodiment differs in that UDP / IP is employed.

  In the case of the second embodiment, the reason why the transmission protocol is changed from TCP / IP to UDP / IP will be described below. As described above, in the instrumentation system, both real-time and certainty are required for the control and monitoring of the detector unit. However, in the Ethernet system, devices such as general computers can be connected, If connected to the network, remote monitoring and maintenance can be easily performed using the Internet.

  However, since the network is not dedicated to the instrumentation system, the amount of data transmission is large, and it cannot be denied that there is a high possibility that a network failure will occur due to packet collision. In the Ethernet method, TCP / IP is suitable for reliable data transmission, and there was no problem in the first embodiment as long as it is used in a network close to a dedicated network. However, when connecting to a general network, there is a network failure or the like. When this occurs, operations such as retransmission are required and time is required, and real-time performance may not be sufficient.

  The second embodiment is an improvement of this point, and provides a data transmission system and a gateway device of the same system capable of realizing characteristics in which real-time property and reliability are contradictory.

Hereinafter, Example 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a timing chart of data transmission using the UDP / IP transmission protocol. In the case of the above-described first embodiment, the G / W device 20 transmits / receives data to / from m instrument modules 3 _{i as} a GP-IB master device by a command in TCP / IP from the computer 6, had been transmitting data to the host computer 6 via the Ethernet bus 18 in bulk, in the second embodiment, the transmission and commands to each instrumentation module 3 _i from the host computer 6, the upper from the instrumentation module 3 _i The data transmission to the computer 6 is performed separately.

This is because the instrumentation system must always process a large amount of data from the instrumentation module, and commands from the host computer 6 to each instrumentation module 3 _i need to be transmitted with low frequency but with certainty. This is to meet the circumstances.

G / W device 20 receives a command via Ethernet bus 18 from the host computer 6, into a GP-IB command, sends a command to the number m instrumentation module 3 _i belonging as a master unit for GP-IB Then, for each detector unit 1 _i , various settings such as an alarm set value, detector applied voltage, etc., mode (measurement, test, etc.) designation, alarm reset, etc. are executed.

Further, the G / W device 20 collects data from the m instrument modules 3 _i to which it belongs through the GP-IB bus 4 at a constant period ΔT1 regardless of the host computer 6, and The data is transmitted via the Ethernet bus 18. The data to be transmitted includes the G / W number from the instrument module 3 _i , the reception count value, the status information of the G / W device 20 such as the presence or absence of an alarm, the GP-IB address of each instrument module, the number of measurement modes, the status There are status information such as variable variables, and numerical data such as the number of integrations and integrated counts. Apart from these data, additional information such as the cumulative number of times calculated by the G / W device 20 and the cumulative total count value is taken into account and transmitted to the host computer 6.

For mass data transmission from the low-order detector unit 1 _i to the high-order computer 6, the G / W device 20 is mainly used at a constant period (ΔT 1) without confirming the incoming call by UDP / IP. Transmit in order. However, transmission items and data that cause inconvenience due to transmission failure are transmitted with special measures (described later).

  Further, in order to reliably transmit the command from the upper computer 6 to the lower G / W device 20, the incoming call confirmation is performed. Normally, if there is no answer from the lower side after a predetermined time, this incoming confirmation is judged to have failed on the transmission side, and the command is retransmitted.

  In the second embodiment, data is periodically transmitted from the lower G / W device 20 side to the upper computer 6, so that the command received from the upper computer 6 is included in the item of transmission data. Is included in the data (D1) sent from the downstream within a predetermined time (ΔT2) on the high-order computer 6 side. If there is no information “”, it is assumed that the command transmission has failed, and the command is retransmitted.

  In the case of this method, even if data transmission fails, the frequency of retransmission is set to about once in the data transmission period ΔT1 by setting the constant time ΔT2 to be equal to ΔT1, and the lower level (G / W device) and the like. Since the cycle of data transmission to the host computer 6 is hardly affected, it is suitable for a system that constantly transmits a large amount of data and requires real-time processing.

Next, the “reception counter value” will be described.
In FIG. 5, for data transmission from the G / W device to the host computer, a data request is issued from the G / W device 20 to the instrumentation module 3 _i at regular intervals (ΔT1). A series of data requests (1, 2,... M) is issued, and each instrument module 3 _i returns data (1D, 2D,..., MD) each time, and m units are sent to the G / W device. After the minute data is collected, the data is transmitted (D1) to the computer in a lump. This operation is periodically performed with a period of ΔT1.

  The command transmission from the upper computer 6 to the lower G / W device 20 is performed from the upper computer 6 via the Ethernet bus 18 as shown in <Data transmission from computer to instrument module> in FIG. When a command is issued to the lower-level G / W device 20 at an arbitrary timing, the command is transmitted to the data (D1) that happens to be transmitted from the G / W device 20 within a certain time (ΔT2) after the command is transmitted. If there is information “reception counter” received, it is determined that transmission is successful, and retransmission is not performed. If there is no information, the command is retransmitted after ΔT2.

Next, the reception counter value will be described with reference to the reception counter flowchart of FIG.
Since the G / W device 20 includes the counter 26 and the memory 24 inside as described above, the presence / absence of a command from the host computer 6 is confirmed (step; ST1), and the command (upper data) is received from the host computer. ) Is received (step ST2), the counter value (hereinafter referred to as "reception counter value") is increased by 1 (step; ST3), and in addition to the command information from the host computer, the "reception counter value" is It transmits to an instrumentation module (step; ST4).

  Next, in the lower instrumentation module, data for upper transmission ("Reception counter value" and instrumentation module data) is set (step; ST5), and the data is transmitted to the upper computer via the G / W device. (Step; ST6). In the host computer, the “reception counter value” is compared with the previous value to check whether or not it is added to the previous value. Data from the G / W device is received (step; ST7) and compared with the previously received data (step; ST8). As a result of the comparison in step ST8, when the “reception counter value” has not changed, it is determined that the command from the higher-level computer has not been transmitted to the lower-level G / W device through step 9 (NO), and the transmission data Error processing (step; ST10), and after ΔT2 to the G / W device, a command is retransmitted; ST11). In the host computer, if the reception counter value is increased in step ST9 (YES), it is determined that the command from the host computer has been transmitted to the lower G / W device, and the received data is processed (step) ST12).

  Next, countermeasures for preventing a significant influence even if data transmission from the lower G / W device 20 to the upper computer 6 fails will be described.

There are two types of transmission data items, one that does not cause a problem even if transmission fails once or another, and the other that does not. For example, there is no problem when the required response time of the system is sufficiently longer than the data collection cycle (ΔT1), such as monitor information of the detector state such as applied voltage and alarm information among the transmission items. However, the count value of the detector 7 (FIG. 19) becomes a problem when missing. In the case of the count value, the G / W device 20 is provided with a memory function so that the “integration count value” and the “integration count value” from the instrument module 3 _i (in the detector unit 1 _i , the count value of a predetermined sampling time) the has been transmitted to the instrumentation module 3 _i, is transmitting the instrumentation module 3 _i, what times or a count value was accumulated "integrated counts" and "cumulative count value" in G / W device 20 )), And the added value (“cumulative integration count”, “cumulative integration count value”) is stored in the memory.

If the data transmission from the G / W device 20 to the host computer 6 fails, even if information related to the “integrated count value” is missing, the “accumulated cumulative count value” and “accumulated count” There is "integrated count value" information, and missing data can be estimated. Instrumentation module 3 _i , G / W device 20 when cumulative calculation is not performed by G / W device 20 in the table shown in FIG. 7 and cumulative calculation is performed by G / W device 20 in the table shown in FIG. An example of the count value of the host computer 6 is shown.

  7 and 8 show an example in which data transmission from the G / W device 20 to the host computer 6 has failed N + 2 times. In FIG. 7, data is lost when data is lost. In FIG. 8, before and after N + 2, that is, the N + 1 first and N + 3 cumulative accumulation times, the difference in cumulative count values, (A + 30)-(A + 10) = 20, (B + 450) From-(B + 100) = 350, it can be estimated as data with 30 integration times and a count value 350 missing.

  Next, among the transmission data items, the “mode” as well as the “count value” is an item that is problematic if it is missing. The modes include measurement mode, test mode, failure mode (measurement mode; 1, test mode; 2, failure mode; 3), etc., and the mode of the missing data is a mode other than measurement mode (test mode, failure mode). Mode), it is invalid as data. However, when the data transmission from the G / W device 20 to the host computer 6 fails, the mode information is also lost at the same time. Therefore, in the processing such as the cumulative total count value and the cumulative count, the data that failed to be transmitted There was a problem that it was not possible to judge whether it was valid or invalid.

  In order to solve this problem, when the mode is changed in the G / W device 20, the counter value is increased by 1 (using the function of the counter 26 in FIG. 2), and the value is changed to the state change counter value (hereinafter referred to as a state change counter). Value (J)). By transmitting this value from the G / W device 20 to the host computer 6, even if transmission fails and mode information is lost, it is possible to determine whether the data is valid data or invalid data.

FIG. 9 shows how to process the state change counter value, and FIG. 10 shows data examples from the (N) th to the (N + 13) th.
In FIG. 10, the modes in the instrumentation module other than measurement are the (N + 4) th and (N + 9) th modes.
In the G / W device 20, the state change counter value is calculated. If the Nth value of the state change counter value is set to zero, the mode is changed to the (N + 4) th and (N + 9) th times. NO changes from 0⇒1, 1⇒2.

  In data transmission from the G / W device 20 to the host computer 6, data transmission has failed in the (N + 2) th and (N + 9) th times. In the (N + 2) th time, the status counter values of the previous and subsequent times are both zero, and the mode of the (N + 2) th data has not changed, so the mode of missing data is one. It is estimated that the previous mode = 1 and is determined as valid data. However, in the (N + 9) th time, data transmission has failed, the state change counter value of the previous and subsequent times has changed from 1 to 2, and the (N + 8) th mode is 1. Yes, it is found that the (N + 9) -th mode is other than 1, and it is determined that the data in the mode other than the measurement is invalid.

The specific description has been given above with reference to FIG. Next, a processing flow will be described with reference to FIG.
The G / W device 20 monitors the mode from the instrument module 3 _i , that is, confirms whether or not the state has changed (step; ST20), and if the mode has changed, that is, the state has changed (YES), J is counted up by 1 (step; ST21). The G / W device 20 is set with a mode value (measurement mode; 1, test mode; 2, failure mode; 3) and J value for upper transmission (step; ST22), and the data is transmitted to the upper computer 6. (Step; ST23).

  The host computer receives the transmission data from the G / W device 20 (step; ST24), confirms the reception mode (step; ST25), and if there is an error (other than the measurement mode), the received data processing 1 (invalidity determination) (Step; ST26).

  In step (ST25), when the received data is normal, that is, when there is no error as a result of the mode check (NO), the cumulative number of skips (normally in Table 5, the difference between the previous and subsequent cumulative number is However, the data of N + 2 is missing, the difference between N + 1 and N + 3 is 20, and the next computer has N + 3 as the next data of N + 1, and the difference is 10 If there is no jump (NO), normal reception data processing is performed (step; ST28). In step (ST27), if there is a jump (YES), it is determined that the data transmission from the G / W device 20 to the host computer 6 has failed.

  Next, the J value is compared with the previously received data (step; ST29), and it is determined whether or not the J value is changing (counting up) (step; ST30). If not (if not counted up), the missing data is determined as valid data (⇒ received data processing 3) (step; ST31). If the J value has changed (counted up), the missing data mode is estimated to be other than measurement, and is determined to be invalid (⇒ received data processing 2) (step; ST32). For these received data processes 1, 2, and 3, a time stamp is added and the data is stored in the host computer 6.

  As described above, the state change counter value is calculated by the G / W device 20 and transmitted to the host computer 6 in the same manner as the mode value. It is possible to determine whether the missing data is valid or invalid, and the reliability of the system can be improved.

(Example 3)
FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of the third embodiment.
The third embodiment is an extended example of the second embodiment described above, and is composed of a total of n × m units of n G / W devices 20 and m instrument modules 3 _i per G / W device. 1 shows a general software configuration of a system.

<Data transmission from host computer to detector>
Next, data transmission from the host computer 6 to the detector unit 1 _i will be described.
The host computer 6 transmits data to each detector unit 1 _i based on the computer address table shown in FIG. For example, when transmitting to the detector unit (101), data is transmitted to the IP address (133.113.26.101) of the G / W device to which the detector unit (101) belongs. Next, the GP-IB address (01) of the detector unit (101) is written and transmitted as information in the header of each data.

  The data reaches the G / W application software via the UDP PortA in the host computer 6, the Ethernet bus 18, and the PortA in the G / W device 20, and the GP-IB address (01 ) And transmitted to the instrumentation module by the GP-IB method.

  Each G / W device has m instrument modules, and it is necessary to sort m pieces of data, and processing takes time, so real-time processability is likely to be difficult.

<Data transmission from detector to host computer>
Next, data transmission from the detector side to the host computer will be described.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data transmission format transmitted from the G / W device to the host computer.

  The data of each detector unit is collected sequentially via each instrumentation module, mainly by the G / W device. A data transmission format in which the GP-IB address of the instrumentation module and the IP address information of the G / W device are added to the data of each detector is transmitted to the host computer. The application software of the host computer sorts data for each detector based on the GP-IB address of the instrumentation module, the IP address information of the G / W device, and the address information table.

  If this data transmission format is adopted, if the number of detector channels is large, it takes time, and real-time processability is likely to be difficult.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a system and software configuration of the third embodiment. The feature in this case is that there are as many ports as the number of detectors. In the case of Ethernet, by associating specific application software with a specific port on a 1: 1 basis, data related to the application software can be automatically transmitted between the application software.

  In FIG. 15, by associating each detector with a port number, the “time required for data sorting”, which was a problem in the case of the software configuration of FIG. 11, is shortened, and real-time processability is improved. Specific actions are as follows.

<Data transmission from the host computer to the detector>
The host computer transmits a command to each detector based on the address information table shown in FIG. For example, in the case of data transmission to the detector 101, the application software of the host computer passes the data to the conversion software 101 from the relationship shown in FIG. 15, and each G / W device 20 ₁ via the Port 101 corresponding to the conversion software 101. Command data is delivered to the application software 101. By the application software of the G / W device 20 _1, to correspond to the GP-IB address 01~m of instrumentation modules that belong Port101~10m. (Specifically, for each G / W device are described later) for an offset value preset (Preset a 100 case of the G / W device 1, the G / W device 20 _1, the preset value ( 100) +1 to Port value from preset value (100) + m is processed in correspondence with GP-IB addresses 1 to m of the instrumentation module to which it belongs).

<Data transmission from the detector to the host computer>
Taking the detector unit (101) as an example, data transmission from the detector unit side to the host computer 6 will be described.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the G / W device 20 collects data of each detector via the instrumentation module to which the G / W device 20 belongs. For G / W device 20 _1, the instrumentation module GP-IB address 1 by the application software to the association (specifically Port number 101, for each G / W apparatus, and the offset value is preset (described later) cage, is 100 when the G / W device 20 _1, G / in W device 20 _1, the Port data from the preset value (100) +1 to the preset value (100) + m, GP-IB belongs to instrumentation module The data is processed in correspondence with the addresses 01 to m), and the data is delivered to the conversion software 101 of the host computer. The host computer processes the data of the conversion software 101 as the data of the detector 101 based on the address information table.

In the case of the general software configuration shown in FIG. 11 described above, more time is required as the number of detectors increases for data sorting, and there is a problem in real-time processability. In the case of the software structure shown, since the OS level function is used, the processing time is short, and there is an advantage that the structure of the application software can be simplified.
Next, supplementary explanation of application software of the G / W device will be given. The application software is, if the G / W device 20 _1, the detector 101~10m are compatible, GP-IB address 01~m instrumentation module is adapted to correspond to Port101～10m. For G / W device 20 _2, the corresponding detector is 201~20m, GP-IB address 01~m instrumentation module is made soft so that Port201～20m. For example, when replacing the G / W device 20 ₁ and the G / W device 20 _2, each time to change the software it is expensive and time. For this reason, each G / W device has a function that allows the offset value to be set by hardware or software. For example, to change the G / W device 20 ₂ in FIG. 14 when installed in place of the G / W device 20 _1, the offset value of 2 to 200 from 100. In this case, the application software automatically switches from “GP-IB address 01 to m of the instrumentation module is Port 201 to 20 m” to “GP-IB address 01 to m of the instrumentation module is Port 101 to 10 m”. This is because the offset value of the G / W device installed at the nth position from the top in FIG. 14 is “n00”, and the GP-IB addresses 01 to m of the instrumentation module of the G / W device are the port numbers. It is designed in advance to correspond to (n00 + 1) to (n00 + m).

  The setting of the offset value can be changed by designation from a hardware switch or a host computer of each G / W device. Since the host computer can identify each G / W device by the IP address, the offset value can be easily changed.

Example 4
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a system and software configuration according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
The fourth embodiment is characterized in that a backup high-order computer 6B is added to the above-described embodiment, and the other parts are the same, and the description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 16, the software configuration of the backup host computer 6B is the same as that of the host computer. As the IP address of the data transmission destination from the lower-level G / W device, in addition to the higher-level computer, one subsequent location is set as the backup computer. As a result, exactly the same data as that transmitted from the G / W device to the host computer is transmitted to the backup computer. The transmission method may be either a method of designating two groups by multicast (Multicast) or a method of transmitting twice by unicast (Unicast). If there are component devices in the same network, if the component devices are connected via a multicast method, router, etc., multicast will not function effectively, so unicast is the first high-order computer and the second is backup. Data is sent to the IP address of the computer.
(Example 5)
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration and a software structure according to the fifth embodiment.

  In the fifth embodiment, a maintenance computer 6M is added to the embodiment of FIG. Conventionally, a dedicated maintenance inspection device has been required for maintenance of an instrumentation system. By making the software structure of the maintenance computer the same as that of the host computer and connecting to the same network, a maintenance inspection device can be easily realized.

  In the case of the maintenance computer 6M, as with the backup computer 6B, the same software configuration as the host computer 6 is connected to the network and added to the IP address of the data transmission destination of the lower G / W device. The same data as can be imported. Further, by adding the IP number of the maintenance computer 6M to the set of IP addresses to which data is transmitted from the host computer 6, the maintenance computer 6M transmits to the G / W device on behalf of other computers. Data can be acquired, and it can be checked whether sound data is transmitted.

  With the above-described configuration, the data of the host computer 6 and the G / W device transmitted to the maintenance computer 6M is analyzed to check whether there is an abnormal operation. In addition, the command from the host computer 6 is temporarily stopped, and in the meantime, the command is transmitted from the maintenance computer 6M on behalf of the host computer 6, the data from the G / W device for the command is obtained, and the data is received. Analyze and confirm the soundness of G / W device. Similarly, the function of the G / W device is temporarily stopped, the data of the G / W device is changed and data is transmitted to the host computer, the command from the host computer is analyzed, and the soundness of the host computer is confirmed.

  In this case, the UDP / IP data transmission is not handshake but is continued, and the multicast function allows simultaneous data to be sent to a plurality of IP addresses. Therefore, the data is renewed for the maintenance computer 6M. There is no need for transmission, and therefore no extra time is required, and the operating states of the G / W device and the host computer 6 can be monitored in an online state.

(Example 6)
In the case of FIG. 11 described above, the software structure is such that one port is allocated to each detector. However, in order to further improve the real-time processability, data transmission from the detector unit to the host computer (data transmission from downstream to upstream) ) And a higher-order computer to each detector unit (data transmission from upstream to downstream), that is, a software structure in which one port is allocated, that is, two ports are allocated to one detector.

  In this case, data transmission from the downstream to the upstream is a transmission of a large amount of data periodically at each G / W device, and data transmission from the upstream to the downstream is performed as necessary from the host computer to each detector unit. Command data to be transmitted. By processing Ports separately, the burden on application software can be reduced and the possibility of packet collisions can be reduced, further improving reliability.

1 is a system configuration diagram of Embodiment 1 of a data transmission system according to the present invention. The hardware block diagram of the gateway apparatus employ | adopted by this invention. The data transmission block diagram of the gateway apparatus employ | adopted by this invention. The data transmission time chart of the data transmission system which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. The data transmission time chart of the data transmission system which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. Reception counter flowchart of the data transmission system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the number of integrations, the integration count value, the cumulative integration count, and the cumulative count value. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the number of integrations, the integration count value, the cumulative integration count, and the cumulative count value. The state change counter flowchart of the data transmission system which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. Explanatory drawing of measurement mode NO and a state change counter value. The system and software block diagram of the data transmission system which concern on Example 3 of this invention. The figure which shows a computer address table. The figure which shows the transmission data format between a gateway apparatus and a high-order computer. Example 2 System & software block diagram including a backup computer. The figure which shows a computer address table. The system and software block diagram containing the backup computer of the data transmission system which concern on Example 4 of this invention. The system and software block diagram containing the maintenance computer of the data transmission system which concerns on Example 5 of this invention. The system block diagram of the conventional apparatus 1. FIG. Detector unit block diagram. Instrument module block diagram. (A), (b) is a data transmission time chart of a conventional apparatus. The system block diagram concerning the conventional apparatus 2. FIG. The data transmission block diagram by the Ethernet conversion adapter employ | adopted with the conventional apparatus 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 i _... detector unit, 2 ... dedicated communication line, 3 i _... instrumentation module, 4 ... GP-IB bus, 6 ... host computer, 6B ... backup computer, 6M ... maintenance computer 16 ... Ethernet cards, 18 ... Ethernet bus, 20 ... Gateway device, 21 ... Ethernet interface, 22 ... GP-IB interface, 23 ... Arithmetic processing unit, 24 ... Memory, 25 ... Timer, 26 ... Counter, 30 ... Ethernet driver software, 31 ... For conversion Application software, 32... Calculation processing application software, 33... GP-IB driver software.

Claims (14)

A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus In a data transmission system in which commands and data are transmitted and received between the computer and the instrumentation module,
The gateway device has a function as a master unit of GP-IB of each instrumentation module, collects data of a plurality of instrumentation modules, and transmits data to the computer via the Ethernet bus in a batch, Data from the computer to each instrumentation module is collectively transmitted from the computer to the gateway device, and the gateway device transmits to each instrumentation module as a GP-IB master unit. Transmission system. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus In a data transmission system in which commands and data are transmitted and received between the computer and the instrumentation module,
The gateway device has a function as a GP-IB master unit of each instrumentation module, and the UDP / IP protocol is used for data transmission between the gateway device and the computer, from the gateway device to the computer. Transmission system characterized in that the transmission of the command and the transmission of the command from the computer to the gateway device are performed separately.   Regarding the command transmission from the computer to the gateway device, the gateway device is provided with a counter function, and the counter value is incremented by 1 every time the command is received, and the reception counter value is included in the periodic data transmission data from the lower order to the higher order. 3. The data transmission system according to claim 2, wherein the higher order computer makes a retransmission request when the reception counter value does not change (add) within a predetermined time.   Regarding the data transmission from the gateway device to the host computer, the count value data is lost due to a transmission failure. 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising a function of estimating a count value of failed transmission from data before and after the failed transmission by accumulating numerical values and transmitting the accumulated value to a host computer. Data transmission system.   A number is assigned to the mode of each instrumentation module and transmitted from the instrumentation module to the gateway device. The gateway device counts up when the number changes, and records state change data (recorded as a status change counter value). 5. The data transmission system according to claim 4, wherein the data transmission system has a function of estimating the mode of the missing data from the change in the state change counter value immediately after the missing data, and determining the restoration or discarding. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus In a data transmission system in which commands and data are transmitted and received between the computer and the instrumentation module,
Connect a computer with the same software configuration as the software provided in the host computer to the same network as the backup computer, and add the IP address of the backup computer in addition to the host computer as the data transmission destination of the lower gateway device The data transmission system is characterized in that the same data as the host computer is collected by the backup computer.   7. The data transmission system according to claim 6, wherein the IP address added to the backup computer is specified in groups of two places by a multicast method.   7. The data transmission system according to claim 6, wherein the IP address added to the backup computer is designated by transmitting twice by a unicast method. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus In a data transmission system in which commands and data are transmitted and received between the computer and the instrumentation module,
A computer with the same software configuration as the software provided in the host computer is connected to the same network as the maintenance computer, and the IP address of the maintenance computer is added to the destination of data transmitted from the host computer to the gateway device Data transmission system.   The gateway device includes an Ethernet interface connected to the host computer side via an Ethernet bus, a GP-IB interface connected to the instrumentation module side via a GP-IB bus, and the host computer. An arithmetic processing unit that processes the command and data from the instrumentation module, a memory that stores application software, a timer that measures processing time, and a counter that counts a change in state, The data transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus Application software provided in the gateway device and the higher-order computer of the data transmission system configured to transmit and receive commands and data between the computer and the instrument module,
The data transmission system software, wherein the application software includes a host computer and a port corresponding to the number of detectors in each gateway device. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus Application software provided in the gateway device of the data transmission system configured to transmit and receive commands and data between the computer and the instrumentation module,
The data transmission system software, wherein the application software has a function of changing an offset value depending on a place of installation by an instruction from a hard switch or a higher-level computer. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus Application software provided in the upper computer and gateway device of the data transmission system configured to transmit and receive commands and data between the computer and the instrumentation module,
The data transmission system software, wherein the application software includes a maximum configuration port number and conversion software. A gateway device for converting the GP-IB protocol into an Ethernet protocol between a detector unit, a plurality of instrument modules connected to the detector unit and having a GP-IB interface therein, and a host computer connected to the Ethernet bus Application software provided in the gateway device and the higher-order computer of the data transmission system configured to transmit and receive commands and data between the computer and the instrument module,
The application software assigns one port to each corresponding to data transmission from the lower detector unit to the upper computer and data transmission from the upper computer to the lower detector unit. Software for data transmission systems.

Images