JP2013054584A - Data relay control device, interlink transfer setting support device, and method for setting interlink transfer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data relay control device capable of executing inter-link transfer setting for transferring data in a shared memory area from a communication node of one network to a communication mode of another network without any human labor in a control system in which a plurality of networks performing cyclic transfer of shared memory type are present.SOLUTION: The data relay control device includes: a plurality of nodes 31 and 32 connected to a plurality of networks respectively; a base for connecting between the plurality of nodes 31 and 32 with a communication channel; an interlink transfer control part 35 for transferring data from a node to be connected to one network to a node to be connected to another network on the basis of interlink transfer setting; and an interlink transfer setting generation part 33 for generating interlink transfer setting on the basis of label allocation information that includes a label attached to a memory area for use in a program, and flag information indicating whether the label is an operation for storing data before computation or an operation for becoming a destination of data after the computation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data relay control device, an interlink transfer setting support device, and an interlink transfer setting method.

  FA (Factory Automation) that controls operations by programs such as multiple programmable controllers (hereinafter referred to as PLCs) and programmable displays for device control in manufacturing systems that use multiple processing machines and assembly machines ) A control system using equipment may be constructed. In such a control system, PLCs are connected by an FA network, and data is exchanged by cyclic transmission (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Here, cyclic transmission is a transmission method in which data is shared by updating data from a transfer source to a transfer destination at regular intervals between a plurality of communication nodes configured in one network.

  Cyclic transmission has a shared memory area with the same memory configuration in all communication nodes connected to the same network in shared memory communication, and all communication nodes transmit from each communication node. The data is transferred to a predetermined address destination in the shared memory area.

JP 2007-265252 A

  By the way, there are a plurality of shared memory type cyclic transmission networks, and inter-link transfer is required to transfer data in the shared memory area from a communication node on one network to a communication node on another network. There is also. In such a case, a control device (hereinafter referred to as a data relay control device) having a communication node connected to one network and a communication node connected to the other network is provided. Inter-link transfer is realized by the device. However, conventionally, there is no technique disclosed for this inter-link transfer, and a method in which a system engineer creates an inter-link setting in which a transfer source and a transfer destination are determined in advance and sets it in a data relay control apparatus is common. It was.

  Normally, when transferring data cyclically transmitted from one network to a communication node cyclically transmitting from another network, the transfer source control device and the transfer destination control device are different from each other. A system engineer is divided into multiple groups, and the system is constructed at different locations at the same time, and finally the network is configured. Conventionally, a system engineer, in the inter-link transfer setting of a data relay control apparatus having a plurality of communication nodes, sets the cyclic transmission data of the transfer source network and the cyclic transmission data of the transfer destination in the inter-link transfer setting. And set which data to transfer between links. For this reason, there is a possibility that wrong data is transferred or the setting of the transfer source or transfer destination is wrong.

  In addition, even if the controller operates unexpectedly due to a system engineer's link transfer setting error, the program executed by the controller is the correct program. Had to be traced.

  In addition, when a system engineer changes the system configuration or program of a control device that uses data relayed by the inter-link transfer setting, the inter-link transfer setting of the data relay control device having multiple nodes must be reset. In addition, there was a problem that the system engineer was burdened.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and is a control system in which a plurality of shared memory cyclic transmission networks exist, and a shared memory area is transferred from a communication node of one network to a communication node of another network. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a data relay control device, an inter-link transfer setting support device, and an inter-link transfer setting method that can set inter-link transfer settings for transferring data without human intervention.

  In order to achieve the above object, a data relay control device according to the present invention includes a plurality of nodes respectively connected to a plurality of networks that update data at a predetermined cycle, and a base that connects the plurality of nodes through communication paths. The second shared memory in which each node on the other network updates the data stored in the first shared memory area where each node on the one network updates the data in a fixed cycle. An inter-link transfer control means for transferring the data from a node connected to the one network to a node connected to the other network based on an inter-link transfer setting for transferring to the area, and a memory used in the program A label attached to the area and a flag indicating whether the label is an operation for storing data before the operation or a destination of the data after the operation. Based on the label allocation information having the information, and characterized in that it and a transfer setting unit links for generating a transfer setting between the links.

  According to the present invention, the data relay control device having the plurality of communication nodes connecting the plurality of networks performs the link setting information for transferring the data between the plurality of networks from the data in which the flag is set. The effect that the program executed by the control device is correct as in manual setting, but the control device can be prevented from operating unexpectedly because the data transferred between links is incorrect. Have

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the concept of shared memory cyclic transmission. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of network range allocation setting. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a system configuration in which a plurality of shared memory cyclic transmission networks exist. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inter-link transfer setting. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a label definition table. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the network range allocation setting associated with the label definition. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inter-link transfer setting associated with a label definition. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the control system. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a software configuration of the inter-link transfer setting support device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of label allocation information. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for generating configuration data in the configuration software. FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating the generation order of the system configuration information. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of system configuration information at each step. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a label definition and a program for each control device. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of data processing of a program including the system label of FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of label allocation information automatically generated by programming software. FIG. 17 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of a procedure for assigning a system label to a transmission area. FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of system label allocation to the shared memory area. FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of an automatic generation process of an inter-link transfer setting. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inter-link transfer setting. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of the network range allocation setting. FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically showing a flow of a processing procedure of inter-link transfer by the data relay control device.

  Hereinafter, a data relay control device, an interlink transfer setting support device, and an interlink transfer setting method according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In the following description, the shared memory type cyclic transmission and the data transfer between a plurality of networks performing the shared memory type cyclic transmission will be described, and then an embodiment will be described.

  Cyclic transmission is a transmission method for sharing data by updating data at regular intervals from a transfer source to a transfer destination between a plurality of nodes configured in one network. Cyclic transmission has a shared memory area with the same memory configuration in all nodes connected to the same network in shared memory communication, and all nodes transmit data transmitted from each node. Is realized by transferring the data to a predetermined address destination in the shared memory area.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the concept of shared memory cyclic transmission. A plurality of nodes 110, 120, and 130 are connected to the network 100. Each node 110, 120, 130 has a shared memory area 111, 121, 131. When the node 110 stores data to be transmitted to the other nodes 120 and 130 in the transmission area 112 of the shared memory area 111, the node 110 transmits data to the network 100 at a constant period. When the node 120 receives data from the network 100, the node 120 stores the data 113 transmitted by the node 110 in the reception area 122 of the shared memory area 121. Similarly, the node 130 also stores the received data 123 in the reception area 132. As a result, the transmission data 113 of the node 110 is transmitted to the nodes 120 and 130. Similarly, transmission data of the nodes 120 and 130 is also transmitted to other nodes.

  In cyclic transmission of the shared memory method, the transmission range of the shared memory area is set in advance for all nodes on the same network, and the network range assignment setting is set for one network. One. All nodes on the same network store the data received from other nodes in the receiving area of the shared memory area that they own based on the network range assignment setting.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of network range allocation setting. The network range allocation setting corresponds to the node number that is the identifier of each node on the same network, the shared memory area start address that indicates the start address of the transmission area of the shared memory area of the node corresponding to the node number, and the node number And a size indicating the size of the transmission area of the shared memory area of the node.

  In the case of a system configuration in which a plurality of networks that are cyclically transmitted using the shared memory method exist, transferring data from a node on one network to a node on another network is referred to as inter-link transfer in this specification. Define. The inter-link transfer is realized by a control device (data relay control device) having inter-link transfer settings in which a transfer source and a transfer destination are determined in advance and having a plurality of nodes.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a system configuration in which a plurality of shared memory cyclic transmission networks exist. Here, the control devices 500 and 510 and the data relay control device 520 having a plurality of nodes 521 and 522 are connected by one network 540, and the control device 530 and the data relay control device 520 having the plurality of nodes 521 and 522 are connected. The network 540 is connected via a network 550 different from the network 540. Each control device 500, 510, 530 has nodes 501, 511, 531, respectively. Further, the data relay control device 520 has a plurality of nodes 521 and 522. That is, the network 540 is connected to the node 521 of the data relay control device 520, and the network 550 is connected to the node 522. The plurality of nodes 531 and 522 in the data relay control device 520 are connected by, for example, a bus, and data transfer is performed based on the inter-link transfer setting 523.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inter-link transfer setting. The inter-link transfer setting consists of the transfer source that indicates the node that is the data transfer source, the transfer destination that indicates the node that is the data transfer destination, and the start address of the storage destination of the shared memory area of the data that is the transfer source node. The transfer source shared memory area start address, the transfer destination shared memory area start address that indicates the start address of the storage destination of the shared memory area of the data of the node that is the transfer destination, and the size of the shared memory area that stores the data to be transferred Including the size.

  The data relay control device 520 having a plurality of nodes transfers the data stored in the shared memory area of the transfer source node 521 to the shared memory area of the transfer destination node 522, for example, based on the inter-link transfer setting of FIG. By doing so, inter-link transfer is realized.

  As a control device having a node in FIG. 3, an FA device that controls operations by a program such as a programmable controller or a programmable display can be cited. There are two types of programs: addressing method and label allocation method. In the address designation method, a system engineer directly designates and describes a memory address for storing data. One label allocation method declares any label name, data type, and class as label information in the data, and provides a table associated with the label name, size, and start address of the memory area from the label information in the control device. A memory address for storing device data is indirectly specified by a label name.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a label definition table, (a) is a diagram illustrating an example of a label definition, and (b) is a diagram illustrating an example of label allocation information. As shown in FIG. 5A, the label definition includes a label name, a data type, and a class. The label name indicates the name of the label arbitrarily created by the system engineer. The data type indicates a data type and a data size such as a BOOT type, a WORD type, a structure, and binary or decimal. The class indicates the effective range of the label, such as a label (global label) that is a valid range in the control device and a label (local label) that is a valid range in the program part (POU).

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the label allocation information includes a label name, a size, and the start address of the memory area. The label name indicates the label name defined in the label definition. The size indicates the data size of the label. The start address of the memory area indicates the start address of the memory area in which the label data is stored.

  A system engineer can set a label definition and use a label name for an argument of a program instruction, an event flag of a parameter, or the like, thereby enabling programming without being aware of the memory area of the label allocation information.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the network range allocation setting associated with the label definition. As shown in this figure, by creating the network range assignment setting using the label defined in the label definition, it is possible to indirectly indicate the start address of the memory area with the label name.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inter-link transfer setting associated with a label definition. As shown in this figure, by creating the inter-link transfer setting using the label defined in the label definition, the head address of the memory area can be indirectly indicated by the label name.

  Next, a data relay control device, an interlink transfer setting support device, and an interlink transfer setting method according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the control system. In this control system, the control devices 10 and 20 and the data relay control device 30 are connected by a single network 51, and the control device 40 and the data relay control device 30 are connected by a network 52 different from the network 51. Have a configuration. The control devices 10, 20, and 40 have nodes 11, 21, and 41 and label programs (control programs) 12, 22, and 42 that use labels, respectively.

  The data relay control device 30 includes a plurality of nodes 31 and 32, an inter-link transfer setting generation unit 33, an inter-link transfer setting storage unit 34, and an inter-link transfer control unit 35. In FIG. 8, a network 51 is connected to the node 31 of the data relay control device 30, and a network 52 is connected to the node 32. The plurality of nodes 31 and 32 of the data relay control device 30 are attached to a base unit, for example, and are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a communication path such as a bus in the base unit.

  Since each node 11, 21, 31 configuring the network 51 performs cyclic transmission of the shared memory system, each control device 10, 20 has a shared memory area for all the nodes 11, 21, 31 on the same network 51. It has a network allocation range setting with a predetermined transmission area. Further, since the nodes 32 and 41 constituting the network 52 also perform shared memory cyclic transmission, the control device 40 has a network range assignment setting different from that of the network 51. Further, the data relay control device 30 having a plurality of nodes 31 and 32 has network range assignment settings for the respective networks 51 and 52.

  The inter-link transfer setting generation unit 33 stores, among the labels used in the label programs of the plurality of networks 51 and 52, the label assigned to the operation that is the destination of the data after the calculation, and the data before the calculation. A label assigned to the operation is extracted, and a label is mapped to a shared memory area between the different networks 51 and 52 from these labels to automatically generate a transfer setting between links. In FIG. 8, for example, the inter-link transfer setting for transferring data stored in the shared memory area of the network 51 to the shared memory area of the network 52 is automatically generated.

  The inter-link transfer setting storage unit 34 stores the inter-link transfer setting generated by the inter-link transfer setting generation unit 33. The inter-link transfer control unit 35 performs other operations from a node connected to one network (for example, the node 31 of the network 51) based on the inter-link transfer setting stored in the inter-link transfer setting storage unit 34 during cyclic transmission. The data is transferred between the links to a node (for example, the node 32 of the network 52) connected to the network.

  Further, information (parameters) necessary for automatically generating the inter-link transfer setting by the inter-link transfer setting generation unit 33 of the data relay control device 30 is generated by the inter-link transfer setting support device. The inter-link transfer setting support device is configured by a personal computer having an inter-link transfer setting support program, which will be described later, and is connected to any one of the control devices 10, 20, 40 or the data relay control device 30 constituting the control system. . The control devices 10, 20, 40 and the data relay control device 30 constituting the control system are all connected via the networks 51, 52 and the bus in the data relay control device 30 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the inter-link transfer setting support device is connected to any one of the control devices 10, 20, 40 or the data relay control device 30, all the control devices 10, 20, 40 and the data relay control device 30 can be accessed. Become.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a software configuration of the inter-link transfer setting support device. This software includes programming software 200, configuration software 300, and system configuration management software 400.

  The programming software 200 defines a label for data shared by a plurality of control devices connected by a plurality of networks in the system configuration, and uses a program (using a label by a user) for the control device that executes the program. (Label program) creation environment.

  In the programming software 200, a user interface unit 202, a control device communication interface unit 203, and an application communication interface unit 204 are provided on an OS (Operating System) 201, and a main processing unit 205 is provided on these processing units. Yes. The programming software 200 manages programming data 206.

  The user interface unit 202 performs processing related to the operation and display of the system engineer. The operation contents of the system engineer are processed by the main processing unit 205 via the user interface unit 202 and reflected in the programming data 206 as necessary.

  The control device communication interface unit 203 processes communication between the programming software 200 and the control device, and the contents of the programming data 206 are reflected on the control device.

  The application communication interface unit 204 processes communication between the programming software 200 and the system configuration management software 400 or the configuration software 300. Data related to the programming data 206 is transferred between the software by the operation of the system engineer.

  The main processing unit 205 performs processing based on an input from the user interface unit 202, and performs processing for generating programming data 206, for example. For example, a process for adding a flag to label allocation information is performed from a program using a label created by a system engineer.

  The programming data 206 includes a label definition table 207, a program 208, and a program parameter 209. The label definition table 207 has label definition information and label allocation information. The label definition information has the configuration shown in FIG. 5A, for example. In this embodiment, in addition to the global label and the local label, the class definition information is valid on a workspace that is a system configuration of a plurality of networks. Can be defined (system label).

  The label allocation information associates the label name used in the program 208 with the storage position in the memory provided in the control device. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of label allocation information. The label allocation information includes the label name, the size of the data with the label name, the start address of the memory area of the control device in which the data with the label name is stored, and the label class is the system class. And a flag indicating the processing operation of the data with the label name. The flag is blank if the label class is not system (global or local). If the label class is system and the label is assigned to the operation that is the destination of the data after the operation, the write flag is set, and the label is assigned to the operation that stores the data before the operation. If so, a read flag is set.

  The program 208 defines processing performed by each control device, and is created by, for example, a system engineer. The program 208 declares an arbitrary label name, data type, and class to the data as label definition information, and indirectly specifies the memory address of the memory storing the data of the actual control device 80 by the label name. It is assumed that the label method described is used.

  The program parameters 209 are parameters that determine the operation of the control device, and specify the program 208 to be executed in the control device, the operation specifications when the control device detects an error, and the like.

  The configuration software 300 defines the configuration of each control device. For example, in the case of the control apparatus 10 of FIG. 8, the node 11 and the label program 12 are defined and managed until the node 11 is connected to the network 51. However, in this example, other control devices to which the network 51 is connected are not managed.

  In the configuration software 300, a user interface unit 302, a control device communication interface unit 303, and an application communication interface unit 304 are provided on the OS 301, and a main processing unit 305 is provided on these processing units. The configuration software 300 manages configuration data 306.

  The user interface unit 302 performs processing related to the operation and display of the system engineer. The operation contents of the system engineer are processed by the main processing unit 305 via the user interface unit 302 and reflected in the configuration data 306 as necessary.

  The control device communication interface unit 303 processes communication between the configuration software 300 and the actual control device 80, and the content of the configuration data 306 is changed to the actual system of the actual control device 80 by the operation of the system engineer. Automatically generated from configuration.

  The application communication interface unit 304 processes communication between the configuration software 300 and the programming software 200 or the system configuration management software 400. Data related to the configuration data 306 is transferred between the software by the operation of the system engineer.

  The main processing unit 305 performs processing based on input from the user interface unit 302 and the control device communication interface unit 303, and performs processing for changing the contents of the configuration data 306, for example.

  The configuration data 306 includes a control device information table 307, programming data allocation settings 308, system configuration information 309, node allocation information 310, shared memory area information 311, and configuration parameters 312.

  The control device information table 307 is a list of information regarding communication nodes and programs of the control device corresponding to the configuration software 300 and is associated with the system configuration information 309. The control device information table 307 lists, for example, an identifier for identifying a unit such as a CPU unit or a network unit constituting the control device, a model number (product) of the unit, and a program specification that can be used in the unit (product). It is possible to use a configuration in which the model number of the unit can be selected from a list by a program used by the user.

  The programming data allocation setting 308 is information that associates the programming data 206 with the system configuration information 309.

  The system configuration information 309 includes configuration information and environment information of a control device that realizes one system configured by a plurality of control devices existing in a network that performs cyclic transmission using a shared memory method. The system configuration information includes units constituting one control device and contents set in each unit. For example, the location of a memory storing a label, the location of a node, and the network number connected to the node , Including station number information.

  The node allocation information 310 is obtained by allocating, to the system configuration information 309, a node of a control device selected from the control device information table 307 by the system engineer via the user interface unit 302.

  The shared memory area information 311 is obtained by assigning the shared memory area of the control device to the system configuration information 309. Specifically, the memory allocation state in one control device composed of a CPU unit, a network unit, and the like is shown. There is one shared memory area in the system configuration. By setting a part of the real memory area of the control device allocated to the system configuration information as a shared memory area, it is possible to have the same shared memory area in the system configuration and share the same data. .

  The configuration parameter 312 is a parameter for operating a plurality of control devices as one system, and has information for sharing the identifier of the control device in the system configuration information 309 in the system configuration.

  The system configuration management software 400 manages settings for connecting a plurality of networks that perform data transfer (transfer between links) in a network managed by the configuration software 300. In the system configuration management software 400, a user interface unit 402, a control device communication interface unit 403, and an application communication interface unit 404 are provided on the OS 401, and a main processing unit 405 is provided on these processing units. The system configuration management software 400 manages system configuration management data 406.

  The user interface unit 402 performs processing related to the operation and display of the system engineer. The operation content of the system engineer is processed by the main processing unit 405 via the user interface unit 402 and is reflected in the system configuration management data 406 as necessary.

  The control device communication interface unit 403 processes communication between the system configuration management software 400 and the actual control device 80, and the contents of the system configuration management data 406 are changed to the actual control device 80 by the operation of the system engineer. Automatically generated from the system configuration.

  The application communication interface unit 404 processes communication between the system configuration management software 400 and the programming software 200 or the configuration software 300. Data related to the system configuration management data 406 is transferred between software by the operation of the system engineer.

  The main processing unit 405 performs processing based on input from the user interface unit 402 and the control device communication interface unit 403, and performs processing for changing the content of the configuration data 306, for example.

  The system configuration management data 406 includes a network shared label information table 407, a network range assignment setting database 408, a network parameter 409, and configuration assignment setting information 410.

  The network shared label information table 407 manages a list of label information shared between system configurations created by the configuration software 300. The system engineer has information assigned to the shared memory area in the system configuration by the system engineer.

  The network range assignment setting database 408 is composed of network range assignment settings arranged for each network number for all networks managed by the system configuration management software 400, and has each network range assignment setting. The network range allocation setting is allocation information between nodes constituting one network.

  The network parameter 409 is a network setting managed by the system configuration management software 400. As the network parameter 409, for example, the node number, network number, network type, network group, etc. of each communication node can be exemplified.

  The configuration allocation setting information 410 uses the configuration data 306 configured by the configuration software 300 to manage network connections between system configurations. The system engineer selects the system configuration acquired by the application communication interface unit 404, arranges the configured system in the work area, and connects the system configurations through a network.

  Next, a system construction using such software (interlink transfer setting support device) will be described. First, system engineers are generally divided into a plurality of groups and are responsible for system construction in units of system components. The system engineer constructs one system by combining the control devices for each group, and acquires configuration information from the control device using the configuration software 300.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for generating configuration data in the configuration software. FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating the generation order of the system configuration information, and FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the system configuration information at each step.

  First, the configuration software 300 performs a process for acquiring the system configuration of the control device for the control device connected online (step S11). Specifically, the configuration software 300 transmits a request for inquiring about the system configuration of the control device to the control device, and the control device returns the system configuration as a response to the request (step S12). The system configuration of the control device acquired here indicates, for example, which position on the base unit 60 the product (unit) of which model number is mounted. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13A, the system configuration is such that the base unit position number, which is the position on the base unit 60, is associated with the model name (unit name) attached to that position. Yes. In the first storage, the second storage,..., Information necessary for each unit is stored. When the program is stored in the unit, since the system configuration of the control device is already assigned, the information is stored in the first storage, the second storage,. 12 (a) and 13 (a), the base unit position number No. 1 is mounted with a unit 61 of the model number “CPU-001”, and the base unit position number No. 2, the unit 62 with the model number “NW-101” is mounted. In this state, the configuration software 300 cannot identify whether the unit is a CPU unit or a network unit (information for identifying a CPU unit or a network unit is not obtained).

  Thereafter, the configuration software 300 determines whether the acquisition of the system configuration has been completed (step S13). If acquisition of the system configuration has not been completed (No in step S13), the process returns to step S11. If the acquisition of the system configuration is complete (Yes in step S13), system configuration information is automatically generated (step S14). The automatically generated system configuration information is obtained by converting the system configuration shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, the configuration software 300 makes an inquiry to each control device and performs processing for acquiring information on each control device (steps S15 and S16). Specifically, when the configuration software 300 transmits a request to inquire about the identifier of each control device in the created system configuration, each control device returns an identifier as a response thereto. Here, the identifier is a code that identifies unique information such as the memory capacity and the number of nodes of each unit. An identifier is assigned to a unit to be used in advance. For example, an identifier is assigned to the model number of one unit. The identifier manages up to version information of each unit.

  Next, the configuration software 300 determines whether the acquisition of the control device information has been completed (step S17). If the acquisition of the control device information has not been completed (No in step S17), the process returns to step S15. When the acquisition of the control device information has been completed (Yes in step S17), the configuration software 300 controls each node of the control device having the same identifier from the control device information table 307 in the system configuration. It assigns to the device (step S18, FIG. 12B). This assignment makes it possible to identify whether each unit of the system configuration is a CPU unit or a network unit. Further, here, as shown in FIG. 13 (b), the network unit performs communication such as a network number for identifying a connected network, a station number, an IP address, and a group number in the network. Necessary information is assigned as a node.

  Similarly, the configuration software 300 also assigns the size information of the shared memory area of the control device having the same identifier from the control device information table 307 to the system configuration (step S19, FIG. 12 (c)). Here, as shown in FIG. 13C, the maximum value of the shared memory area that can be used is set.

  Next, the configuration software 300 performs processing for acquiring a program from the control device (steps S20 and S21). Specifically, a program acquisition request is transmitted to the control device, and each control device transmits a program as a response to the program when there is a program, and returns a response indicating that there is no program when there is no program. .

  Thereafter, when there is a program (in the case of step S22), the configuration software 300 assigns the program acquired from the control device in steps S20 and S21 to the control device in the system configuration information (step S23, FIG. 12). (D)). When there is no program (when there is no program at step S22), the configuration software 300 assigns a new program to the control device in the system configuration (step S24, FIG. 12 (d)). The system configuration information after the program is assigned is as shown in FIG.

  After that or after step S23, the configuration software 300 determines whether or not the assignment of all the control devices in the system configuration has been completed (step S25), and the assignment of the control devices in the system configuration has not yet been completed. If this is the case (No in step S25), the process returns to step S15, and each node, shared memory area, and program are transferred to the control device in the system configuration for other control devices in the same manner as described above. assign. If the assignment of all control devices in the system configuration is completed in step S25 (Yes in step S25), the process ends.

  The system configuration assignment processing has been described above, but another system engineer divided into a plurality of groups is responsible for creating a program for a control device in the system configuration. A system engineer in charge of the program creates a program using a label for each control device using programming software.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a label definition and a program for each control device. In this figure, control devices 10, 20, and 40 constituting the control system shown in FIG. 8 are taken as an example. The label definitions 13, 23, and 43 created by the system engineer and the label programs 12, 22, and 42 programmed using the labels are reflected in the programming data 206 of the programming software 200. Here, the label definitions 13, 23, and 43 and the label programs 12, 22, and 42 are created for the control devices 10, 20, and 40, respectively. The effective range of the label of the label name “switch 1” of the control devices 10, 20, and 40 is a system class that is a range that is shared among the control devices of the system configuration connected by a plurality of networks. Shared.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of data processing of a program including the system label of FIG. In the label program of FIG. 14, the programming software 200 assigns data to a program part that handles data such as the position of an argument of a label program instruction, a switch of a programmable display, and a lamp, and an event flag of a parameter. Is determined as to whether the operation S31 becomes the destination of the data after the calculation, and the label allocation information of each control device 10, 20, 40 is generated. Specifically, a write label is added to the system label of the operation that is the destination of the data after the operation, and a read flag is added to the system label of the operation that is the destination of the data before the operation.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of label allocation information automatically generated by programming software. 16A is the label allocation information of the control device 10 in FIG. 8, FIG. 16B is the label allocation information of the control device 20, and FIG. 16C is the label allocation information of the control device 40. is there.

  For example, in the label definition in the control device 10 of FIG. 14, the switch 1 is declared as the system label 14, and in the label program 12, the switch 1 is used for the coil instruction. Therefore, the switch 1 is assigned to the operation (step S31 in FIG. 15) that is the destination of the data after the calculation, and the programming software 200 sets the write flag 151 as shown in FIG. Information is added to label allocation information.

  In the label definition in the control device 20 of FIG. 14, the switch 1 is declared as the system label 24. Similarly, in the label program 22, the switch 1 is used for the A contact instruction. Therefore, the switch 1 is assigned to the operation of storing data before calculation (step S32 in FIG. 15), and the programming software 200 stores information on the read flag 152 as shown in FIG. 16B. Is added to the label allocation information. Similarly, for other label information, a write flag and a read flag are added to the label allocation information from the label definition and label program of the control device, but no flag is added to a label that is not a system label.

  Further, the programming software 200 stores not only the position of the argument of the instruction of the label program but also a switch of the programmable display (operation to be the destination of data after ON / OFF) and a lamp (operation for storing data before ON / OFF). ) And the like to the program parts that handle data and the event flag of the parameter, it is determined whether the operation stores data before the operation or the operation that is the destination of the data after the operation, and sets the write flag and read flag It is added to the label assignment information.

  For example, in the label definition 43 of the control device 40 shown in FIG. 14, the switch 1 is declared as the system label 44. Similarly, in the label program 42, the switch 1 is used as a lamp component of the display. Therefore, the switch 1 is assigned to the operation of storing data before calculation (step S33 in FIG. 15), and the programming software 200 stores information on the read flag 153 as shown in FIG. Is added to the label allocation information.

  Subsequently, the configuration software 300 receives the label allocation information automatically generated from the programming software 200, and shares the system label to which the write flag of the label allocation information is added in the system configuration configured by the configuration software 300. Assign to the send area of the memory area.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of a procedure for assigning a system label to a transmission area. First, as shown in FIG. 17A, the first node of the first control device in a certain network allocates the system label to which the label allocation information write flag is added to the shared memory area. Thereafter, the first control device transfers the allocation information of the shared memory area to the next second node on the network according to the network configuration configured by the system configuration management software 400.

  As shown in FIG. 17B, the second node of the second control device that has received the allocation information of the shared memory area from the first node is the system label in the system configuration, similar to the first node. From the label allocation information to which the write flag is added, information for label allocation to the transmission area of the shared memory area is added. Then, according to the network configuration configured by the system configuration management software, the allocation information of the transmission area of the shared memory area is transferred to the next node.

  Such processing is performed for all nodes in the network. As shown in FIG. 17C, the Nth node of the last Nth control device in the network receives the allocation information of the shared memory area from the N−1th node (not shown), and From the label allocation information to which the system label write flag is added, the information to which the label is allocated to the transmission area of the shared memory area is added. Then, the allocation information of the transmission area of the shared memory area is transferred to the first node according to the network configuration configured by the system configuration management software.

  When all nodes in the network finish the process of assigning the transmission area of the shared memory area, each node assigns the reception area. This assigns the system label to which the read flag is added among the transmission areas allocated by all nodes to the reception area of the shared memory area of each control device in the system configuration. Specifically, the label name for which the flag is set is acquired from the label assignment information of the own control device, and it is confirmed whether the same label name and the same data type exist in the label assignment information of other control devices To do. Read flags are attached to the same data type and the same label name. Then, the transmission area corresponding to the same data type and the same label name is set as the reception area. Thereby, in each node, allocation information (shared memory area information) of the shared memory area in which the labels of the transmission area and the reception area have been assigned is generated. Further, the network range allocation information in the system configuration is automatically generated from this shared memory area information, and cyclic transmission is realized as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of system label allocation to the shared memory area. As described above, the system label with the write flag in the memory area in the control device is set as part of the network range allocation setting. The system label is set as a transmission area of the control device in the shared memory area in the system configuration. The transmission area of all the nodes in the network is set as the shared memory area, and the transmission area corresponding to the system label with the read flag of another control device is set as the reception area, thereby generating the shared memory area information. . Then, the network area allocation setting is generated by setting the reception area from the other control device of the shared memory area information as the system label to which the read flag is added.

  Next, transfer setting between links by the data relay control device will be described. The data relay control device 30 having a plurality of nodes 31 and 32 as shown in FIG. 8 is arranged in the shared memory area of the nodes 11, 21 and 41 connected to the respective networks 51 and 52, as shown in FIG. It has label allocation information with a flag added. Therefore, the inter-link transfer setting generation unit 33 of the data relay control device 30 determines the system label of one network (for example, network 51) and the other network (for example, network 52) from the label allocation information to which a plurality of flags are added. The label name and data type of the system label are compared, and if they match, an inter-link transfer setting for transferring data from the transfer source to the transfer destination is generated.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of an automatic generation process of an inter-link transfer setting. First, the data relay control device 30 checks the label flag in the label allocation information stored in the shared memory area of one network (step S51). When there is no flag (when there is no flag at step S51), the next label is processed (step S52). Then, it is determined whether there is a next label (step S53). If there is a label (Yes in step S53), the process returns to step S51. If there is no label (No in step S53), the automatic generation process of the inter-link transfer setting is completed.

  If there is a flag in step S51 (if it is present in step S51), the label name is confirmed (step S54). This process confirms whether there is a label name corresponding to the label in the label allocation information stored in the shared memory area of another network different from the network whose label is being confirmed in step S51. is there.

  If the label names do not match (if they do not match in step S54), the process moves to step S52 without creating the inter-link transfer setting, and the next label is processed. Here, a label whose label names do not match is a label that is shared only within one network.

  If the label names match (if they match in step S54), the data type is checked next (step S55). This process confirms whether the data type of the label of the network whose label is being confirmed in step S51 matches the data type of the label (label name) in the label allocation information of the other network. .

  If the data types do not match (if they do not match in step S55), the process moves to step S52 without creating the inter-link transfer setting, and the next label is processed. Here, since a label with a mismatched data type may cause a program error of the system engineer, an error indicating that the data type does not match is transmitted to the transfer source and transfer destination, and the next label is processed.

  If the data types match (if they match in step S55), an inter-link transfer setting is automatically generated from the transfer source to the transfer destination (step S56). That is, a transfer source is a node connected to a network having a label with a write flag added, and a transfer destination is a node connected to a network having a label with a read flag added. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S52, and the next label processing is performed until there is no label for which the flag has not been confirmed.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inter-link transfer setting. As shown in this figure, the inter-link transfer setting has a transfer source, a transfer destination, a transfer source shared memory area start address, a transfer destination shared memory area start address, and a size. Obtain and generate. Note that a network with a label having a write flag is defined as a transfer source, and a network with a label with a read flag is defined as a transfer destination.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the network range assignment setting. (A) is, for example, the network range assignment setting of the network 51 of FIG. 8, and (b) is the network range assignment setting of the network 52. These network range allocation settings are created after the allocation of the shared memory area as described above. The network range assignment setting of each network has a node number, a shared memory area head address, a flag, and a size.

  The inter-link transfer settings generated as described above are stored in the inter-link transfer setting storage unit 34. The inter-link transfer control unit 35 of the data relay control device 30 transfers the data in the shared memory area of the transfer source network to the shared memory area of the transfer destination network based on the inter-link transfer setting. FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically showing a flow of a processing procedure of inter-link transfer by the data relay control device. First, the coil instruction of the program 1 is turned on at the node 11 of the network 51, and data is stored in the switch 1 (step S71). Thereafter, the node 11 cyclically transmits the data of the switch 1 to the nodes 21 and 31 (step S72).

  When the node 31 receives the data of the switch 1 by cyclic transmission, the node 31 stores the data of the switch 1 in the shared memory area according to the network range assignment setting (step S73). Similarly, when the node 21 receives the data of the switch 1 by cyclic transmission, the node 21 stores the data of the switch 1 in the shared memory area according to the network range assignment setting. As a result, the contact A command of the program 2 of the node 21 rises (step S74).

  On the other hand, the node 31 notifies the interlink transfer control unit 35 that data has been received in the interlink transfer setting range (step S75). The inter-link transfer control unit 35 transfers data between links from the transfer source to the transfer destination according to the inter-link transfer setting (step S76). As a result, the data of the switch 1 in the network shared memory area of the node 31 of the network 51 is transferred to the switch 1 of the network shared memory area of the node 32 of the network 52 (step S77).

  Next, when the node 32 receives the data of the switch 1 from the network 51, the node 32 cyclically transmits the data of the switch 1 to the network 52 (step S78). Then, the node 41 stores the data of the switch 1 in the shared memory area, whereby the lamp of the program 3 of the node 41 is turned on (step S79).

  Note that the inter-link transfer can maintain the punctuality of data update by omitting the reception confirmation and reception notification in step S75 and performing the inter-link transfer in step S75 at a constant period.

  In this embodiment, when transferring data across different networks performing cyclic transmission, a system label is set, and a program using a label that transfers data across networks is assigned to that label. The write flag or read flag was set. Then, the data relay control device having a plurality of communication nodes that connect the plurality of networks performs the link setting information for transferring the data between the plurality of networks from the data in which the system flag is set. As a result, the program executed by the control device is correct as in manual setting, but the control device can be prevented from operating unexpectedly because the data transferred between links is incorrect. It has the effect.

  In addition, every time the system configuration or program is changed, the data relay controller automatically resets the inter-link transfer setting information, so the data that the system engineer cyclically transmits on the transfer source network and the transfer destination There is also an effect that it is possible to grasp the data cyclically transmitted on the network and to reduce the trouble of setting in the data relay control device which data is transferred between links.

10, 20, 40 Control device 11, 21, 31, 32, 41 Node 12, 22, 42 Label program 13, 23, 43 Label definition 30 Data relay control device 33 Inter-link transfer setting generation unit 34 Inter-link transfer setting storage unit 35 Interlink transfer control unit 51, 52, 100 Network 60 Base unit 61, 62 unit 80 Actual control device 200 Programming software 201, 301, 401 OS
202, 302, 402 User interface unit 203, 303, 403 Controller communication interface unit 204, 304, 404 Application communication interface unit 205, 305, 405 Main processing unit 206 Programming data 207 Label definition table 208 Program 209 Program parameter 300 Configuration software 306 Configuration data 307 Controller information table 308 Programming data allocation setting 309 System configuration information 310 Node allocation information 311 Shared memory area information 312 Configuration parameters 406 System configuration management data 407 Network shared label information table 408 Network Range assignment setting database 409 Network parameter Over data 410 configuration allocation configuration information

Claims (5)

A plurality of nodes respectively connected to a plurality of networks for updating data in a predetermined cycle;
A base for connecting the plurality of nodes through a communication path;
Data stored in the first shared memory area where each node on one network updates data at a fixed period, and second shared memory area where each node on the other network updates data at a fixed period An inter-link transfer control means for transferring the data from a node connected to the one network to a node connected to the other network based on an inter-link transfer setting for transferring to the network;
Based on label allocation information having a label attached to a memory area used in a program and flag information indicating whether the label stores data before calculation or whether the data is a destination of data after calculation Inter-link transfer setting means for generating the inter-link transfer setting,
A data relay control device comprising:   The inter-link transfer setting means includes a label with a write flag indicating an operation that is a destination of post-computation data in the first label allocation information of the one network, and a second label of the other network When the label with the read flag indicating the operation of storing the data before the calculation in the allocation information matches, the node connected to the one network having the label with the write flag is transferred. 2. The data relay control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inter-link transfer setting is generated based on a node connected to the other network having a label with the read flag as a transfer destination. . A plurality of control devices having nodes are connected, and have a plurality of networks for updating data at a predetermined cycle, a first node connected to one of the networks, and a second node connected to another network. And generating the inter-link transfer setting by the data relay control device in a control system comprising a data relay control device that transfers data between the one network and the other network based on the inter-link transfer setting. An inter-link transfer setting support device to support,
A label definition for defining a class indicating a label name, a data type, and a valid range of the label used in a program executed by the control device; a position in a memory area associated with the label; and the label Label definition information including label assignment information including a flag indicating whether a read flag assigned to an operation for storing data before computation or a write flag assigned to an operation to which data is to be processed after computation Label definition information storage means for storing
Program storage means for storing a program created using the label definition information;
A process of allocating a label assigned with the write flag in the label allocation information among the labels used in the program of the control device constituting the one network as a transmission area of the one network For each control device, and for each control device, the transmission area of the control device other than the control device is converted into the reception area, the label is mapped to the shared memory area, and the shared memory area information is generated. Memory area information generating means;
Writing means for writing the label definition information, the program, and the shared memory area information as parameters to the control device;
An interlink transfer setting support apparatus comprising: A plurality of control devices having nodes are connected, and have a plurality of networks for updating data at a predetermined cycle, a first node connected to one of the networks, and a second node connected to another network. And generating the inter-link transfer setting by the data relay control device in a control system comprising a data relay control device for transferring data between the one network and the other network based on the inter-link transfer setting A method for setting transfer between links,
An inter-link transfer setting support device is connected to either the control device or the data relay control device in the control system, and a system configuration showing a configuration of the control device from each control device constituting the control system. A system configuration acquisition step to acquire;
A system configuration information generation step of generating system configuration information by allocating a shared memory area used in the network to which the node, the program, and the node belong to the system configuration;
Read when the label used in the program executed by the control device and the position in the memory area are associated with the label allocation information in which the label is assigned to the operation of storing data before calculation. A flag addition step of adding a flag and adding a write flag when assigned to an operation that is the destination of the data after operation;
The inter-link transfer setting using the label with the flag in the label allocation information of one network and the label in the label allocation information of the other network whose label name and data type match. An inter-link transfer setting generation step for generating
A method for setting transfer between links. The link transfer setting generation step includes
Obtaining a label with a flag in the label allocation information of the one network;
Obtaining a label whose data type matches the label name of the label from the label assignment information of the other network;
Of the obtained labels, a label with a write flag is set as a transfer source, a label with a read flag is set as a transfer destination, and the inter-link transfer setting is generated; and
The inter-link transfer setting method according to claim 4, further comprising:

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