JP7188280B2 - COMMUNICATION DEVICE, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to communication devices, communication methods, and computer programs.

Many communication protocols define a timeout that disconnects a session when no data is received from the counterpart device for a certain period of time. In updating the firmware of the communication device, the operation of the communication device stops for a certain period of time, during which time-out occurs and the session is disconnected.

Patent Document 1 discloses a communication establishment processing unit that transmits and receives communication establishment information to and from an external device for establishing communication with the external device, and a A data transfer device is disclosed that includes a communication maintenance processing unit that transmits communication maintenance information to an external device for maintaining a state in which communication is established between. In the data transfer device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the communication maintenance processing unit is independent of the communication establishment processing unit so that the communication established state is maintained even if the operation of the communication establishment processing unit stops. Configured by dedicated circuitry to operate.

JP 2010-141779 A

However, in the data transfer device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the communication maintenance processing unit needs to be configured with a dedicated circuit, so there is a problem that the cost increases.

A communication device according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a communication device capable of communicating with a counterpart device according to a communication protocol, and for establishing communication between the communication device and the counterpart device according to the communication protocol. Before the timeout period expires, based on a time calculation unit that calculates the communication establishment processing time, the communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit, and a timeout period determined by the communication protocol, a determination unit that determines whether or not communication is established between the communication device and the counterpart device according to the communication protocol according to an update of a control program of the communication device; a program updating unit that executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when it is determined that communication according to the communication protocol is established before termination; Prepare.

A communication method according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a communication method in which a communication device communicates with a counterpart device according to a communication protocol, wherein communication is established between the communication device and the counterpart device according to the communication protocol. a step of calculating a communication establishment processing time for performing the control of the communication device before the timeout period expires based on the calculated communication establishment processing time and a timeout period defined by the communication protocol; determining whether or not communication is established between the communication device and the remote device according to the communication protocol according to the update of the program; and executing non-instantaneous interruption update processing for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when determined to be established.

A computer program according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a computer program for causing a computer to function as a communication device that performs communication using a communication protocol with a counterpart device, wherein the computer includes the communication device and the counterpart device. calculating a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the determining whether or not communication is established between the communication device and the remote device according to the communication protocol according to the update of the control program of the communication device before the end of the timeout period; and executing a non-instantaneous interruption update process for updating the control program without restarting the computer when it is determined that the communication according to the communication protocol is established before the end of the .

The present disclosure can be implemented not only as a communication device having the characteristic configuration as described above, but also as a communication method having steps of characteristic processing in the communication device, or having a computer execute such steps. It can be implemented as a computer program for Moreover, part or all of the communication device can be implemented as a semiconductor integrated circuit, or a communication system including the communication device can be implemented.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present disclosure, it is possible to avoid session disconnection due to program update while suppressing the cost of a communication device.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of an internal configuration of the master station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the control part of the master station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the regulation of timeout periods for control protocols and management protocols; 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of functions of a control unit of the master station device according to the embodiment; FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the 1st determination process and the 2nd determination process by the determination part of the master station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of the 1st determination process by the determination part of the master station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for explaining still another example of the 1st judgment processing and the 2nd judgment processing by the judgment part of the master station device concerning an embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the 3rd determination process and the 4th determination process by the determination part of the master station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of the 3rd determination process by the determination part of the master station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for explaining still another example of the 3rd judgment processing and the 4th judgment processing by the judgment part of the master station device concerning an embodiment. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of communication establishment determination processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of management protocol priority determination processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of control protocol priority determination processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of management communication establishment processing time calculation processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of control communication establishment processing time calculation processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of management communication establishment processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; 9 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of control communication establishment processing by the master station device according to the embodiment; FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing an example of functions of a control unit of a master station device according to a modification; It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the determination process by the determination part of the master station apparatus which concerns on a modification. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the determination process by the determination part of the master station apparatus which concerns on a modification. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of communication establishment determination processing by a master station device according to a modification; FIG.

<Outline of Embodiment of Present Disclosure>
An outline of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described below.

(1) A communication device according to the present embodiment is a communication device capable of communicating with a counterpart device using a communication protocol, and establishes communication between the communication device and the counterpart device using the communication protocol. before the timeout period expires based on a time calculation unit that calculates a communication establishment processing time for the a determination unit for determining whether communication is established between the communication device and the counterpart device according to the communication protocol according to an update of a control program of the communication device; and the timeout period determined by the determination unit. a program updating unit that executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when it is determined that communication according to the communication protocol is established before the end of Prepare. As a result, the control program is updated before the timeout period expires, and communication with the counterpart device is established using the communication protocol. Furthermore, no dedicated circuitry is required to maintain sessions. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the disconnection of the session due to the update of the control program while suppressing the cost of the communication device.

(2) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, the time calculation unit calculates a management communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the management protocol, which is the communication protocol used for maintenance and management of the communication device. The time calculation unit calculates a control communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the control protocol, which is the communication protocol for controlling communication by the communication device; Based on the calculated management communication establishment processing time, the control communication establishment processing time, and the timeout period, before the timeout period expires, according to the update of the control program, communication by the management protocol and the It may be determined whether each of the communications according to the control protocol is established. This makes it possible to avoid disconnection of the session by the management protocol and the control protocol.

(3) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, the timeout period may be either a first timeout period determined by the management protocol or a second timeout period determined by the control protocol. good. As a result, before either one of the first time-out time corresponding to the management protocol and the second time-out time corresponding to the control protocol expires, each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established. Session disconnection by either the management protocol or the control protocol can be avoided.

(4) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, when the plurality of management protocols are used by the communication device, the first timeout period is the minimum timeout period among the timeout periods determined by each of the plurality of management protocols. It is a timeout period, and when a plurality of the control protocols are used by the communication device, the second timeout period may be a minimum timeout period among timeout periods determined by each of the plurality of control protocols. . With this, before either one of the minimum timeout period determined by each of the plurality of management protocols and the minimum timeout period determined by each of the plurality of control programs expires, the communication and the plurality of controls are performed by the plurality of management protocols. Since each protocol communication is established, disconnection of a session by each of the multiple management protocols or by each of the multiple control protocols can be avoided.

(5) The communication device according to the present embodiment further includes a selection unit that selects one of the management protocol and the control protocol, and the determination unit selects the communication protocol selected by the selection unit. Before the selected timeout period expires based on the communication establishment processing time corresponding to a certain selected protocol and a selected timeout period corresponding to the selected protocol out of the first and second timeout periods , a first determination process for determining whether or not communication according to the selected protocol is established, the sum of the management communication establishment process time and the control communication establishment process, and one of the first and second timeout times On the other hand, based on the non-selection timeout period, whether or not each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established according to the update of the control program before the non-selection timeout period expires A second determination process for determining whether or not may be executed. Thus, the first determination process can avoid session disconnection due to the selected protocol, and the second determination process can prevent session disconnection due to at least one of the management protocol and the control protocol.

(6) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, when it is determined in the first determination process that communication by the selected protocol is established before the selected timeout period expires, the determination unit The program update unit executes the second determination process, and in the second determination process, each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established before the non-selection timeout period ends. the non-instantaneous interruption update process is executed, and the program update unit determines in the first determination process that the communication by the selected protocol is not established before the selection timeout period expires. In this case, the hitless update process need not be executed. Accordingly, when it is determined that the communication by the selected protocol is established before the selected timeout period expires and the communication by the management protocol and the control protocol is established before the non-selected timeout period expires. , the uninterrupted update process is executed. That is, hitless update processing can be executed when it is determined that each session by the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. Furthermore, hitless update processing is not executed if communication is not established according to the selected protocol before the selection timeout period expires. In other words, when it is determined that the session based on the selected protocol will be disconnected, it is possible to avoid disconnection of the session based on the selected protocol without executing the hitless update process.

(7) The communication device according to the present embodiment further includes a communication establishment unit that executes communication establishment processing for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the communication device and the counterpart device, and In the second determination process, if it is determined that each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the first 1 communication establishment processing is executed, and after the first communication establishment processing is completed, a second communication establishment processing is executed by a non-selected protocol, which is the communication protocol not selected by the selection unit from among the management protocol and the control protocol. You may Accordingly, when it is determined in the second determination process that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the first communication management process related to the selected protocol, and the second communication management process related to the non-selected protocol are executed in order. Therefore, disconnection of each session by the selected protocol and the non-selected protocol can be avoided.

(8) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, in the second determination process, the determination unit determines whether at least one of the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol is completed before the non-selection timeout period expires. When it is determined not to be established, the control program is updated based on the communication establishment processing time corresponding to the non-selected protocol and the non-selected timeout period before the non-selected timeout period expires. In response, the determination unit executes a third determination process for determining whether or not communication is established by the non-selected protocol, and in the third determination process, before the non-selected timeout period ends, the before the selection timeout period expires, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time and the control communication establishment processing, and the selection timeout period when it is determined that the communication is established by the non-selected protocol Further, a fourth determination process may be executed for determining whether or not each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established according to the update of the control program. As a result, when it is determined in the second determination process that at least one of the communication by the management protocol and the control protocol is not established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the first and second determination processes are the management protocol and the The third and fourth determination processes are executed by changing the order of the communication establishment processes of the control protocol. Therefore, when it is determined in the second determination process that the session will be disconnected, it is possible to determine whether or not the session is maintained by changing the order of the communication establishment processes of the management protocol and the control protocol.

(9) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, in the fourth determination process, the program update unit establishes communication using the management protocol and communication using the control protocol before the selection timeout period expires. the non-disruption update process is executed when it is determined that the communication by the non-selected protocol is completed before the non-selected timeout period expires in the third determination process. If it is determined that the connection is not established, the hitless update process may not be executed. Accordingly, it is determined that the communication by the non-selected protocol is established before the non-selected timeout period expires, and that the communication by the management protocol and the control protocol are respectively established before the selected timeout period expires. In this case, the hitless update process is executed. That is, hitless update processing can be executed when it is determined that each session by the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. Furthermore, hitless update processing is not executed if communication is not established by the non-selected protocol before the non-selected timeout period expires. That is, when it is determined that the session by the non-selected protocol will be disconnected, the hitless update process is not executed, and the disconnection of the session by the non-selected protocol can be avoided.

(10) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, in the fourth determination process, the communication establishing unit establishes each of the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol before the selection timeout period expires. The second communication establishment process may be executed when it is determined that the second communication establishment process is completed, and the first communication establishment process may be executed after the second communication establishment process is completed. Accordingly, when it is determined in the fourth determination process that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the selection timeout period ends, the second communication management process related to the non-selected protocol, and the first communication management process related to the selected protocol are executed in order. Therefore, disconnection of each session due to the non-selected protocol and the selected protocol can be avoided.

(11) In the communication device according to the present embodiment, the time calculation unit calculates a first communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol. and a second communication establishment processing time for establishing communication, and the determination unit calculates the first communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit and the first communication establishment processing time determined by the first protocol. a first determination process for determining whether or not communication according to the first protocol is established according to the update of the control program before the first timeout period expires, based on a timeout period; and Before the second timeout period expires based on the sum of the first communication establishment processing period and the second communication establishment period calculated by the calculating unit and the second timeout period determined by the second protocol and a second determination process of determining whether or not each of the communication according to the first protocol and the communication according to the second protocol is established according to the update of the control program. This makes it possible to avoid session disconnection due to the first protocol and the second protocol.

(12) A communication method according to the present embodiment is a communication method in which a communication device communicates with a counterpart device according to a communication protocol, and communication is performed between the communication device and the counterpart device according to the communication protocol. a step of calculating a communication establishment processing time for establishment; and, based on the calculated communication establishment processing time and a timeout period defined by the communication protocol, before the timeout period expires, the communication device a step of determining whether or not communication according to the communication protocol is established between the communication device and the remote device according to the update of the control program; and communication according to the communication protocol before the timeout period expires. and executing a hitless update process for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when it is determined that the communication device is established. As a result, the control program is updated before the timeout period expires, and communication with the counterpart device is established using the communication protocol. Furthermore, no dedicated circuitry is required to maintain sessions. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the disconnection of the session due to the update of the control program while suppressing the cost of the communication device.

(13) A computer program according to the present embodiment is a computer program for causing a computer to function as a communication device that performs communication using a communication protocol with a counterpart device, wherein the computer includes the communication device and the counterpart device. calculating a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the timeout based on the calculated communication establishment processing time and a timeout period defined by the communication protocol determining whether or not communication is established between the communication device and the opposite device according to the communication protocol according to an update of the control program of the communication device before the time expires; executing non-instantaneous interruption update processing for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when it is determined that communication according to the communication protocol is established before the end of time. let it run. As a result, the control program is updated before the timeout period expires, and communication with the counterpart device is established using the communication protocol. Furthermore, no dedicated circuitry is required to maintain sessions. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the disconnection of the session due to the update of the control program while suppressing the cost of the communication device.

<Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure>
Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. At least part of the embodiments described below may be combined arbitrarily.

[1. Configuration of communication system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication system according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1 , a communication system 10 includes a master station device (first communication device) 1 , a slave station device (second communication device) 2 , and a communication line 3 .

The first and second communication devices 1 and 2 are communication devices functioning as line termination devices, respectively. Therefore, the communication line 3 terminates at the connection ends with the first and second communication devices 1 and 2 .

The communication line 3 consists of a communication cable such as an optical fiber or a coaxial cable. Instead of the communication line 3, a transmission line for wireless communication can also be adopted. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the communication line 3 is an optical fiber.
A first communication device 1 positioned on the upper side of the communication system 10 is communicably connected to the upper network 5, and a second communication device 2 positioned on the lower side of the communication system 10 is communicably connected to the lower network 6. It is The lower network 6 is composed of, for example, an in-house LAN (Local Area Network) or an in-house LAN.

The first and second communication devices 1 and 2 are capable of transmitting and receiving communication data, which are PDUs (Protocol Data Units) such as Ethernet frames and IP (Internet Protocol) packets. It is a communication device that supports administration, maintenance). Also, the first and second communication devices 1 and 2 have a Link-OAM function defined in IEEE802.3ah. In other words, the first and second communication devices 1 and 2 can communicate via the communication line 3 by Ether-OAM and Link-OAM.
Link-OAM is an OAM function and a control protocol premised on P2P (Point to Point) use for the purpose of monitoring physical lines and communication states between a pair of Ethernet devices. Ether-OAM is also one of the OAM functions and a control protocol.

The first communication device 1 is capable of communicating with (the opposite device belonging to) the upper network 5 using LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol). LACP is a protocol and a control protocol for bundling a plurality of physical ports and handling them as one logical channel.

Further, the second communication device 2 is capable of communicating with (a counterpart device belonging to) the lower network 6 by Ether-OAM and Link-OAM.

In the example of FIG. 1, the first communication device 1, which is the line termination device on the upper side, is the "master station device 1", and the second communication device 2, which is the line termination device on the lower side, is the "slave station device 2". be.

Furthermore, the first communication device 1 is connected to the maintenance device 7 and the management device 8 via the communication line 9 . The first communication device 1 can communicate with the maintenance device 7 by telnet and SSH (Secure Shell, SSH is a registered trademark). Further, the first communication device 1 can communicate with the management device 8 by SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and syslog. Telnet and SSH are communication protocols and management protocols for remotely controlling devices on IP networks. SNMP is a communication protocol and a management protocol for monitoring network equipment on an IP network. Syslog is a communication protocol and a management protocol for transferring logs of devices on an IP network.

[2. Internal configuration of master station device]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the master station device 1. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, solid-line arrows indicate the transmission direction of communication data, and broken-line arrows indicate internal buses for control signals.
As shown in FIG. 2, the master station device 1 of the present embodiment includes an upper side interface section 11, a control section 12, a reception processing section 13, a transmission processing section 14, an opposite side interface section 15, an up buffer 16, and a down buffer 17. , a communication processing unit 18 and a communication interface unit 19 .

The upper interface unit 11 includes an integrated circuit that performs layer 1 and layer 2 communication processing for upstream and downstream electrical signals.
The control unit 12, the reception processing unit 13, and the transmission processing unit 14 are integrated circuits (for example, MAC chip).

The reception processing unit 13 and the transmission processing unit 14 are composed of logic circuit devices designed to enable specific information processing, and include at least one of ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and FPGA, for example.

The opposite side interface unit 15 is composed of an optical communication device (for example, a pluggable optical transceiver) including elements for transmitting and receiving optical signals.
The opposite side interface unit 15 converts the optical signal received from the optical fiber 3 into communication data consisting of an electrical signal, and outputs the converted communication data to the reception processing unit 13 . The opposite side interface section 15 converts the communication data from the transmission processing section 14 into an optical signal and sends the converted optical signal to the optical fiber 3 .

The reception processing unit 13 can execute a "control protocol determination process". This process is a process of determining whether or not the communication data input from the opposite-side interface section 15 is control data of a control protocol (hereinafter referred to as "control protocol data"). The control protocol data includes communication frames of Link-OAM, LACP, and Ether-OAM. In the control protocol determination process, it is determined whether the input communication data is a Link-OAM, LACP, or Ether-OAM communication frame, or a PDU other than these.

The reception processing unit 13 outputs the control protocol data to the control unit 12 when it is determined that the input communication data is the control protocol data. The reception processing unit 13 outputs the communication data to the upstream buffer 16 when it is determined that the input communication data is not the control protocol data.

The upper interface unit 11 converts the carrier signal received from the upper network 5 into communication data, and outputs the converted communication data to the down buffer 17 .
If there is communication data in the upstream buffer 16 , the upper interface section 11 converts the communication data into a carrier signal and sends the converted carrier signal to the upper network 5 .

If there is communication data in the downlink buffer 17 , the transmission processing unit 14 takes out the communication data from the downlink buffer 17 and outputs it to the opposite side interface unit 15 between the control protocol data being input from the control unit 12 .

The communication interface unit 19 includes, for example, a network interface circuit compatible with Ethernet (registered trademark). The communication interface section 19 has a connection port (not shown). A network cable compatible with Ethernet is connected to the connection port. A network cable is part of the communication line 9 . That is, the master station device 1 is connected to the IP network including the maintenance device 7 and the management device 8 by the communication interface section 19 .

The communication processing unit 18 can transmit and receive frames of management protocols such as telnet, SSH, SNMP, and syslog. The communication processor 18 outputs the received frame to the controller 12 . When the communication processing unit 18 receives a transmission frame addressed to the maintenance device 7 or the management device 8 from the control unit 12 , the communication processing unit 18 outputs the transmission frame to the communication interface 19 .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the controller 12. As shown in FIG. As a specific example, the control unit 12 has a processor 12a, which is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a non-transitory memory 12b, a transient memory 12c, and an input/output interface 12d.

The temporary memory 12c is a volatile memory such as SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The non-transitory memory 12b is, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, hard disk, or ROM (Read Only Memory). The non-transitory memory 12b stores a control program 12e, which is a computer program, and data used to execute the control program 12e. The control unit 12 includes a computer, and each function of the control unit 12 is exhibited by the processor 12a executing a control program 12e, which is a computer program stored in the storage device of the computer. The control program 12e can be stored in a recording medium such as flash memory, ROM, CD-ROM. The processor 12a executes the control program 12e and performs processing as described later.

A configuration definition file (start-up config) 100 including configuration definition information (setting information) in the master station device 1 is stored in the non-transitory memory 12b. The configuration definition file 100 is read by the processor 12a when the control program 12e is activated, and is used for setting the control program 12e and the master station device 1, for example, regarding communication. The configuration definition file 100 includes configuration definition information for control protocols (Ether-OAM, Link-OAM, LACP) and configuration definition information for management protocols (telnet, SSH, SNMP, syslog).

A timeout period is defined for each of the control protocol and the management protocol. The configuration definition information for the control protocol and management protocol includes a timeout period. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the regulation of timeout periods for the control protocol and the management protocol.

For each of the control protocols LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM, the minimum and maximum timeout values are defined by standards. Specifically, for LACP, IEEE 802.3ad stipulates that the minimum timeout period is 3 seconds and the maximum timeout period is 90 seconds. For Link-OAM, IEEE 802.3ah defines a minimum timeout period of 2 seconds and a maximum timeout period of 30 seconds. For Ether-OAM, see ITU-T Y.M. 1731 and IEEE 802.1ag specify a minimum timeout period of 3.3 milliseconds and a maximum timeout period of 10 minutes. A control protocol timeout period is set within a range between a minimum value and a maximum value.

A minimum timeout period is defined for each of the management protocols telnet, SSH, SNMP, and syslog. As shown in FIG. 4, the minimum timeout period for each management protocol is 1 second. There is no defined maximum timeout period for the management protocol. Therefore, the timeout period can be set to any value as long as it is one second or longer. In other words, the maximum timeout period of the management protocol is infinite. The management protocol timeout period is set to a value greater than or equal to 1 second.

Refer to FIG. 3 again. The input/output interface 12d is connected to each of the host side interface section 11, the reception processing section 13, the transmission processing section 14, the opposite side interface section 15, and the communication processing section 18, and is capable of inputting and outputting signals. That is, the processor 12a can control the host side interface section 11, the reception processing section 13, the transmission processing section 14, the opposite side interface section 15, and the communication processing section 18 through the input/output interface 12d. Received data output from the reception processing unit 13 and the communication processing unit 18 is provided to the processor 12a through the input/output interface 12d. Transmission data generated by the processor 12a is output to the transmission processing unit 14 or the communication processing unit 18 through the input/output interface 12d.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of functions of the control unit 12 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. The control unit 12 has functions as an input unit 121 , a time calculation unit 122 , a selection unit 123 , a determination unit 124 , a program update unit 125 and a communication establishment unit 126 .

The input unit 121 receives input of configuration definition information of control protocols and management protocols stored in the non-transitory memory 12b. The configuration definition information includes the set value of the timeout period for each protocol.

The time calculation unit 122 calculates a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a communication protocol between the master station device 1 and the counterpart device, which are communication devices. As a specific example, the time calculation unit 122 calculates a management communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the management protocol. Furthermore, the time calculator 122 calculates a control communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the control protocol.

As an example, the management communication establishment processing time T_M is composed of a basic processing time TB, which is the minimum time required for communication establishment by the management protocol, and a configuration processing time TA corresponding to the number of configuration definitions to be set (the number of configurations). calculated as the sum of The basic processing time TB is the time required to establish communication with only the most basic configuration, that is, when the number of configurations is zero. When the number of configurations is one or more, communication time required for setting for each configuration definition occurs. The configuration processing time TA is the time obtained by subtracting the basic processing time TB from the total time required for communication establishment by the management protocol. If the number of configurations is one or more, communication time is required for setting each configuration definition. The configuration processing time TA is the total communication time for all configuration definitions that need to be set. In this embodiment, the management communication establishment processing time T_M is the total sum of communication establishment processing times by all management protocols.

For example, assume that the basic processing time TB in SSH is 2 seconds and the configuration processing time TA in one configuration definition is 0.5 seconds. The SSH communication establishment processing time when the number of configurations is 3 is 2+3×0.5=3.5 seconds. For example, assume that the basic processing time TB in SNMP is 3 seconds and the configuration processing time TA in one configuration definition is 0.5 seconds. The SNMP communication establishment processing time when the number of configurations is 4 is 3+4×0.5=5 seconds. For example, assume that the basic processing time TB in syslog is 2.5 seconds and the configuration processing time TA in one configuration definition is 0.5 seconds. The communication establishment processing time for syslog when the number of configurations is 5 is 2.5+5×0.5=5 seconds. If the management protocols used by the master station device 1 are SSH, SNMP and syslog, the management communication establishment processing time T_M is 3.5+5+5=13.5 seconds.

As an example, the control communication establishment processing time T_C is the sum of the communication establishment processing times T, which are the times required to establish communication by each control protocol.

For example, assume that the communication establishment processing time T in LACP is 2 seconds, the communication establishment processing time T in Link-OAM is 3.5 seconds, and the communication establishment processing time T in Ether-OAM is 3 seconds. When the control protocols used by the master station device 1 are LACP, Link-OAM and Ether-OAM, the control communication establishment processing time T_C is 2+3.5+3=8.5 seconds.

The selection unit 123 selects either one of the management protocol and the control protocol. As a specific example, the configuration definition file 100 includes a setting value that identifies one of the management protocol and the control protocol with priority. For example, if the management protocol takes precedence, the configuration definition file 100 includes a setting value that identifies the management protocol. On the other hand, if the control protocol is preferred, the configuration definition file 100 includes a setting value that identifies the control protocol. The selection unit 123 refers to the setting value of the prioritized communication protocol included in the configuration definition file 100, and selects the prioritized communication protocol from among the management protocol and the control protocol.

Based on the communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122 and the timeout period determined by the communication protocol, the determination unit 124 updates the control program 12e of the master station device 1 before the timeout period expires. In response, it is determined whether or not communication is established between the master station device 1 and the opposite device according to the communication protocol. Specifically, for example, based on the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C calculated by the time calculation unit 122, and the timeout period, before the timeout period expires, the determination unit 124 It is determined whether or not each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established according to the update of the control program 12e.

The timeout period is either a management timeout period TO_M (first timeout period) defined by a management protocol or a control timeout period TO_C (second timeout period) defined by a control protocol. It may be one. In other words, the determination unit 124 determines whether the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established in accordance with the update of the control program 12e before either one of the management timeout period TO_M and the control timeout period TO_C expires. It may be determined whether or not

Furthermore, when multiple management protocols are used by the master station device 1, the management timeout time TO_M may be the minimum timeout time among the timeout times determined by each of the multiple management protocols. Specifically, when the master station device 1 uses SSH, SNMP, and syslog as management protocols, and the minimum value among the timeout periods of SSH, SNMP, and syslog is the SSH timeout period, The management timeout period TO_M is the SSH timeout period. When multiple control protocols are used by the master station device 1, the control timeout time TO_C may be the minimum timeout time among timeout times determined by each of the multiple control protocols. Specifically, when the master station device 1 uses LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM as control protocols, the minimum value among the timeout times of LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM is When it is the LACP timeout period, the control timeout period TO_C is the LACP timeout period.

As a specific example, the determination unit 124 may perform a first determination process and a second determination process. In the first determination process, one of the communication establishment processing time corresponding to the communication protocol (selected protocol) selected by the selection unit 123, the management timeout time TO_M, and the control timeout time TO_C, which corresponds to the selected protocol. It is a process of determining whether or not communication by the selected protocol is established before the selected timeout period expires, based on time. Specifically, when the management protocol is selected by the selection unit 123, the selected protocol is the management protocol. In the first determination process, based on the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the management timeout time TO_M, it is determined whether or not communication by the management protocol will be established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. On the other hand, when the control protocol is selected by the selection unit 123, the selected protocol is the control protocol. In the first determination process, based on control communication establishment processing time T_C and control timeout time TO_C, it is determined whether or not communication by the control protocol is established before control timeout time TO_C ends.

FIG. 6A is a diagram for explaining an example of first determination processing and second determination processing by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the management protocol is selected by the selector 123 . The master station device 1 uses SSH, SNMP, and syslog as management protocols. In this case, the total sum of communication establishment processing times by SSH, SNMP, and syslog is management communication establishment processing time T_M. In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the management timeout time TO_M is longer than the management communication establishment processing time T_M. In the example of FIG. 6A, communication establishment processing for each of the management protocols SSH, SNMP, and syslog is executed sequentially. The execution order of communication establishment processing is the order of SSH, SNMP, and syslog. At the start time t0 of the SSH communication establishment process that is executed first, counting of the timeout period is started. Therefore, the management communication establishment processing time T_M ends at time t11 before the management timeout time TO_M ends. In other words, communication by the management protocol is established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. Therefore, in the first determination process, based on the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the management timeout time TO_M, before the management timeout time TO_M, which is the selected timeout time, expires, communication is established by the management protocol that is the selected protocol. is determined to be

The second determination process is based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C, and the non-selection timeout time which is the other of the management timeout time TO_M and the control timeout time TO_C. This is the process of determining whether or not each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established according to the update of the control program 12e before the time ends. Specifically, when the management protocol is selected by the selection unit 123, the non-selected protocol is the control protocol. In the second determination process, the management protocol It is determined whether each of the communication via and the control protocol is established. On the other hand, when the control protocol is selected by the selector 123, the non-selected protocol is the management protocol. In the second determination process, the management protocol It is determined whether each of the communication via and the control protocol is established.

The master station device 1 uses LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM as control protocols. In this case, the sum of the communication establishment processing times by LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM is the control communication establishment processing time T_C. In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the control timeout time TO_C is longer than the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication processing time T_C. In the example of FIG. 6A, the communication establishment processing for each of the control protocols LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM is executed sequentially after the communication establishment processing for the management protocol. The execution order of communication establishment processing is LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM. The count of the control timeout time TO_C is also started at the start time t0 of the SSH communication establishment process. Therefore, the control communication establishment processing time T_C ends at time t12 before the control timeout time TO_C ends. That is, each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established before the control timeout time TO_C ends. Therefore, in the second determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C, and the control timeout time TO_C, before the control timeout time TO_C, which is the non-selection timeout time, ends, It is determined that each of the management protocol communication and the control protocol communication is established.

Refer to FIG. 3 again. The program update unit 125 does not update the control program 12e without restarting the master station device 1 when the determination unit 124 determines that the communication according to the communication protocol is established before the timeout period expires. Execute momentary interruption update processing. As a specific example, when it is determined in the second determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the program update unit 125 Execute hitless update processing. Furthermore, the program update unit 125 does not execute the hitless update process when it is determined in the first determination process that communication by the selected protocol will not be established before the selected timeout period expires. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6A, in the second determination process, it is determined that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the control timeout period TO_C (non-selection timeout period) expires. Therefore, the program update unit 125 executes uninterrupted update processing.

The communication establishment unit 126 executes communication establishment processing for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the master station device 1 and the counterpart device. As a specific example, when it is determined in the second determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the communication establishing unit 126 A first communication establishment process and a second communication establishment process can be executed. The first communication establishment process is a process for establishing communication according to the selected protocol. The second communication establishment process is a process for establishing communication using a communication protocol (non-selected protocol) that is not selected by the selection unit 123 from among the management protocol and the control protocol. The communication establishment unit 126 may execute the first communication establishment process prior to the second communication establishment process, and execute the second communication establishment process after the first communication establishment process ends.

In the example shown in FIG. 6A, in the second determination process, it is determined that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the control timeout period (non-selection timeout period) expires. Therefore, the communication establishment unit 126 executes the first communication establishment process and the second communication establishment process.

FIG. 6B is a diagram for explaining another example of the first determination processing by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 6B, the management timeout time TO_M is shorter than the management communication establishment processing time T_M. Therefore, even after the management timeout time TO_M ends, the management communication establishment processing time T_M continues. That is, communication by the management protocol is not established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. Therefore, in the first determination process, based on the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the management timeout time TO_M, before the management timeout time TO_M, which is the selected timeout time, expires, communication is established by the management protocol that is the selected protocol. determined not to.

Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6B, in the first determination process, it is determined that communication by the management protocol (selection protocol) is not established before the management timeout period TO_M (selection timeout period) ends. The unit 125 does not execute hitless update processing. Furthermore, in this case, the determination unit 124 does not execute the second determination process. Therefore, the communication establishment unit 126 also does not execute the first communication establishment process and the second communication establishment process.

FIG. 6C is a diagram for explaining still another example of the first determination process and the second determination process by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 6C, the management timeout time TO_M is longer than the management communication establishment processing time T_M. Therefore, as in the example shown in FIG. 6A, in the first determination process, based on the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the management timeout period TO_M, before the management timeout period TO_M, which is the selected timeout period, expires, It is determined that communication is established by the management protocol, which is the selected protocol.

In the example shown in FIG. 6C, the control timeout time TO_C is shorter than the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication processing time T_C. Therefore, the control communication establishment processing time T_C continues even after the control timeout time TO_C ends. That is, communication by the control protocol is not established before the control timeout time TO_C ends. Therefore, in the second determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C, and the control timeout time TO_C, before the control timeout time TO_C, which is the non-selection timeout time, ends, It is determined that at least one of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol is not established.

Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6C, in the second determination process, it is determined that at least one of the management protocol communication and the control protocol communication is not established before the control timeout period TO_C (non-selection timeout period) expires. Therefore, the program update unit 125 does not execute the uninterrupted update process. Furthermore, in this case, the communication establishment unit 126 also does not execute the first communication establishment process and the second communication establishment process.

Refer to FIG. 3 again. The determination unit 124 may perform a third determination process and a fourth determination process. If it is determined in the second determination process that at least one of the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol is not established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the determination unit 124 executes the third determination process. may In the third determination process, based on the communication establishment processing time corresponding to the non-selected protocol and the non-selected timeout period, before the non-selected timeout period expires, communication by the non-selected protocol is performed according to the update of the control program 12e. is established. Specifically, when the management protocol is selected by the selection unit 123, the non-selected protocol is the control protocol. In the third determination process, based on the control communication establishment processing time T_C and the control timeout time TO_C, it is determined whether or not communication according to the control protocol is established before the control timeout time TO_C expires. On the other hand, when the control protocol is selected by the selector 123, the non-selected protocol is the management protocol. In the third determination process, based on the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the management timeout time TO_M, it is determined whether or not communication by the management protocol will be established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. That is, the third determination process is a process in which the communication protocol to be determined is changed from the first determination process.

In the example shown in FIG. 6C, in the second determination process, it is determined that at least one of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol is not established before the control timeout period TO_C (non-selection timeout period) ends. , the determination unit 124 executes a third determination process.

FIG. 6D is a diagram for explaining an example of the third determination process and the fourth determination process by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. Using FIG. 6D, the third determination process and the fourth determination process that are continued from the example shown in FIG. 6C will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 6D, the control timeout time TO_C is longer than the control communication establishment processing time T_C. Therefore, the control communication establishment processing time T_C ends at time t21 before the control timeout time TO_C ends. That is, communication by the control protocol is established before the control timeout time TO_C ends. Therefore, in the third determination process, based on the control communication establishment processing time T_C and the control timeout time TO_C, before the control timeout time TO_C, which is the non-selected timeout time, expires, communication by the control protocol that is the non-selected protocol is established.

In the fourth determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C, and the selection timeout period, before the selection timeout period expires, the management protocol It is a process of determining whether or not each of the communication based on the control protocol and the communication based on the control protocol is established. Specifically, when the management protocol is selected by the selection unit 123, the selected protocol is the management protocol. In the fourth determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C, and the management timeout time TO_M (selected timeout time), before the management timeout time TO_M ends, the management protocol It is determined whether each of the communication and control protocol communication is established. On the other hand, when the control protocol is selected by the selection unit 123, the selected protocol is the control protocol. In the fourth determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C, and the control timeout time TO_C (selected timeout time), before the control timeout time TO_C ends, the management protocol It is determined whether each of the communication and control protocol communication is established.

In the example shown in FIG. 6D, the management timeout time TO_M is longer than the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication processing time T_C. Therefore, the management communication establishment processing time T_M ends at time t22 before the management timeout time TO_M ends. That is, each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established before the management timeout time TO_M ends. Therefore, in the fourth determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C and the management timeout time TO_M, before the management timeout time TO_M, which is the selected timeout time, ends, the management It is determined that each of the communication according to the protocol and the communication according to the control protocol is established.

Refer to FIG. 3 again. As a specific example, if it is determined in the fourth determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the selection timeout period expires, the program update unit 125 performs control The non-instantaneous interruption update process of the program 12e is executed. Further, the program update unit 125 does not execute the non-disruption update process of the control program when it is determined in the third determination process that the communication by the non-selected protocol is not established before the non-selected timeout period expires. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6D, in the fourth determination process, it is determined that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the management timeout period TO_M (selection timeout period) expires. Therefore, the program update unit 125 executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing of the control program 12e.

As a specific example, when it is determined in the fourth determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the selection timeout period expires, the communication establishing unit 126 performs the first A first communication establishment process and a second communication establishment process can be executed. The communication establishment unit 126 may execute the second communication establishment process prior to the first communication establishment process, and execute the first communication establishment process after the second communication establishment process ends.

In the example shown in FIG. 6D, in the fourth determination process, it is determined that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the management timeout period TO_M (selection timeout period) expires. Therefore, the communication establishment unit 126 executes the second communication establishment process and the first communication establishment process.

FIG. 6E is a diagram for explaining another example of the third determination process by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 6E, the control timeout time TO_C is shorter than the control communication establishment processing time T_C. Therefore, the control communication establishment processing time T_C continues even after the control timeout time TO_C ends. That is, communication by the control protocol is not established before the control timeout time TO_C ends. Therefore, in the third determination process, based on the control communication establishment processing time T_C and the control timeout time TO_C, before the control timeout time TO_C, which is the non-selected timeout time, expires, communication by the control protocol that is the non-selected protocol is not established.

Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6E, in the third determination process, it is determined that communication by the control protocol (non-selection protocol) is not established before the control timeout period TO_C (non-selection timeout period) ends. The program update unit 125 does not execute non-instantaneous interruption update processing of the control program 12e. Furthermore, in this case, the determination unit 124 does not execute the fourth determination process. Therefore, the communication establishment unit 126 also does not execute the second communication establishment process and the first communication establishment process.

FIG. 6F is a diagram for explaining still another example of the third determination process and the fourth determination process by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 6F, the control timeout time TO_C is longer than the control communication establishment processing time T_C. Therefore, as in the example shown in FIG. 6D, in the third determination process, based on the control communication establishment processing time T_C and the control timeout time TO_C, before the control timeout time TO_C, which is the non-selection timeout time, ends , it is determined that communication is established by the control protocol, which is the non-selected protocol.

In the example shown in FIG. 6F, the management timeout time TO_M is shorter than the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication processing time T_C. Therefore, even after the management timeout time TO_M ends, the management communication establishment processing time T_M continues. That is, communication by the management protocol is not established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. Therefore, in the fourth determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C and the management timeout time TO_M, before the management timeout time TO_M, which is the selected timeout time, ends, the management It is determined that at least one of protocol communication and control protocol communication is not established.

Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 6F, in the fourth determination process, it is determined that at least one of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol is not established before the management timeout period TO_M (selection timeout period) expires. Therefore, the program update unit 125 does not execute the uninterrupted update process of the control program 12e. Furthermore, in this case, the communication establishment unit 126 also does not execute the second communication establishment process and the first communication establishment process.

The functions of the input unit 121, the time calculation unit 122, the selection unit 123, the determination unit 124, the program update unit 125, and the communication establishment unit 126 are realized by the processor 12a.

[3. Operation of master station device]
The operation of the master station device 1 according to this embodiment will be described below. The processor 12a of the master station device 1 executes the following communication establishment determination processing by executing the control program 12e.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of communication establishment determination processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

Update data for updating the control program 12e (patch data for the control program 12e or new control program data) is recorded in a recording medium such as a flash memory or a CD-ROM, or sent from an external device such as a server (not shown). It is downloaded and provided to the master station device 1 . The master station device 1 selects normal program update that updates the control program 12e with the reboot of the master station device 1, or uninterrupted program update that updates the control program 12e without rebooting the master station device 1. can be executed by In the communication establishment determination process, the processor 12a determines whether or not to update the uninterrupted program (step S101).

When non-instantaneous interruption program update is not performed (NO in step S101), processor 12a performs normal program update (step S102). That is, the processor 12a rewrites the control program 12e stored in the non-transitory memory 12b and restarts the master station device 1. FIG. When restarting, the communication establishment determination process ends.

When non-disruptive program update is to be performed (YES in step S101), the processor 12a retrieves the management protocol (SSH, SNMP, syslog) and control protocol (LACP, Link- OAM, Ether-OAM) are read out (step S103).

The processor 12a sets the minimum value among the timeout periods of the plurality of management protocols as the management timeout period TO_M (step S104). Furthermore, the processor 12a sets the minimum value among the timeout periods of the plurality of control protocols as the control timeout period TO_C (step S105).

The processor 12a reads, for example, the communication protocol priority information included in the configuration definition file 100 from the non-transitory memory 12b, and determines which of the management protocol and the control protocol has priority (step S106). If the management protocol is prioritized (YES in step S106), processor 12a executes management protocol priority determination processing (step S107). If the control protocol is prioritized (NO in step S106), processor 12a executes control protocol priority determination processing (step S108).

The management protocol priority determination process selects the management protocol as a priority target from among the management protocol and the control protocol, and determines whether communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the timeout period expires. This process is for In a specific example, the management protocol priority determination process determines whether communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established when the communication establishment process for the management protocol precedes the communication establishment process for the control protocol. This is a process for determining That is, the process of step S107 includes selecting the management protocol as a priority target.

In the control protocol priority determination process, the control protocol is selected as a priority target from among the management protocol and the control protocol, and it is determined whether communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the timeout period expires. This process is for In a specific example, the control protocol priority determination process determines whether communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established when the process of establishing communication of the control protocol precedes the process of establishing communication of the management protocol. This is a process for determining That is, the process of step S108 includes selecting the control protocol as a priority target.

When the management protocol priority determination process or the control protocol priority determination process ends, the communication establishment determination process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of management protocol priority determination processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

In the management protocol priority determination process, the processor 12a first executes a management communication establishment processing time calculation process (step S111). The management communication establishment processing time calculation processing is processing for calculating the management communication establishment processing time T_M.

Here, the management communication establishment processing time calculation processing will be described in detail. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of the procedure of management communication establishment processing time calculation processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

In the management communication establishment processing time calculation process, the processor 12a first determines the management protocol to be reset (step S151). In step S151, for example, if SSH, SNMP, and syslog should be reset among telnet, SSH, SNMP, and syslog, the processor 12a determines SSH, SNMP, and syslog as protocols to be reset. do. In this process, for example, the configuration definition file 100 is referenced, and the number N of management protocols to be reset is determined.

Next, the processor 12a sets the management communication establishment processing time T_M to an initial value (0) (step S152). Further, the processor 12a sets an index (number) n indicating the management protocol to be processed to an initial value (1) (step S153).

The processor 12a reads the basic processing time TB_n in the n-th management protocol from, for example, the non-transitory memory 12b (step S154). Further, the processor 12a identifies the number of configurations of the n-th management protocol from the set values in the configuration definition file 100, and calculates the configuration processing time TA_n according to the identified number of configurations (step S155).

The processor 12a calculates the communication establishment processing time T_n in the n-th management protocol as the sum of the basic processing time TB_n and the configuration processing time TA_n (step S156). Further, the processor 12a sets the result of adding the calculated communication establishment processing time T_n to the management communication establishment processing time T_M as a new management communication establishment processing time T_M (step S157).

The processor 12a determines whether n is greater than or equal to N (step S158). If n is less than N (NO in step S158), processor 12a increments n by 1 (step S159) and returns the process to step S154. If n is greater than or equal to N (YES in step S158), the management communication establishment processing time calculation process ends. As a result, the time required to establish communication in all of the management protocols to be reset is calculated.

Refer to FIG. 8 again. The processor 12a determines whether the calculated management communication establishment processing time T_M is greater than the management timeout time TO_M (step S112). If the management communication establishment processing time T_M is longer than the management timeout time TO_M (YES in step S112), it is estimated that the management timeout time TO_M will end before communication of the management protocol is established according to the update of the control program 12e. . In other words, it is presumed that the management protocol session will be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. Therefore, the management protocol priority determination process ends without executing the hitless update process.

If the management communication establishment processing time T_M is equal to or less than the management timeout time TO_M (NO in step S112), communication of the management protocol may be established according to the update of the control program 12e before the management timeout time TO_M expires. Presumed. In other words, it is presumed that the management protocol session will not be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. In this case, the processor 12a executes control communication establishment processing time calculation processing (step S113). The control communication establishment processing time calculation processing is processing for calculating the control communication establishment processing time T_C.

Here, the control communication establishment processing time calculation processing will be described in detail. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of the procedure of control communication establishment processing time calculation processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

In the control communication establishment processing time calculation process, the processor 12a first determines the control protocol to be reset (step S161). In step S161, for example, if the processor 12a should reset LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM among LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM, LACP, Link- Determine OAM and Ether-OAM. In this process, for example, the configuration definition file 100 is referenced, and the number M of control protocols to be reset is determined.

Next, processor 12a sets control communication establishment processing time T_C to an initial value (0) (step S162). Further, the processor 12a sets an index (number) m indicating the control protocol to be processed to an initial value (1) (step S163).

The processor 12a reads the communication establishment processing time T_m in the m-th control protocol from, for example, the non-transitory memory 12b (step S164).

The processor 12a sets the result of adding the communication establishment processing time T_m in the m-th control protocol to the control communication establishment processing time T_C as a new control communication establishment processing time T_C (step S165).

The processor 12a determines whether or not m is greater than or equal to M (step S166). If m is less than M (NO in step S166), processor 12a increments m by 1 (step S167) and returns the process to step S164. If m is greater than or equal to M (YES in step S166), the control communication establishment processing time calculation process ends. As a result, the time required to establish communication in all of the control protocols to be reset is calculated.

Refer to FIG. 8 again. The processor 12a determines whether or not the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C (T_M+T_C) is greater than the control timeout time TO_C (step S114). If T_M+T_C is less than or equal to the control timeout time TO_C (NO in step S114), it is estimated that each of the management protocol communication and the control protocol communication will be established before the control timeout time TO_C expires. In other words, it is presumed that when the control program 12e is updated, if the management protocol communication establishment process is executed and then the control protocol communication establishment process is executed, the sessions of the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. . In this case, the processor 12a executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing (step S115) and executes management communication establishment processing (step S116). The management communication establishment process is a process for establishing communication according to all management protocols to be reset. Further, the processor 12a executes control communication establishment processing after the management communication establishment processing ends (step S117). The control communication establishment processing is processing for establishing communication according to all control protocols to be reset. When the control communication establishment process ends, the management protocol priority determination process ends.

Here, the management communication establishment processing will be described in detail. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of management communication establishment processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

In the management communication establishment process, the processor 12a first determines the management protocol to be reset (step S171). Since the process of step S171 is the same as the process of step S151 described above, the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the processor 12a sets an index (number) n indicating the management protocol to be processed to an initial value (1) (step S172).

The processor 12a reads the configuration definition information of the n-th management protocol from the configuration definition file 100 (step S173). Further, the processor 12a executes communication establishment processing for the n-th management protocol according to the read configuration definition information (step S174).

After communication of the n-th management protocol is established, the processor 12a determines whether n is greater than or equal to N (step S175). If n is less than N (NO in step S175), processor 12a increments n by 1 (step S176) and returns the process to step S173. If n is greater than or equal to N (YES in step S175), the management communication establishment process ends. This establishes all communications for the management protocol to be reconfigured.

Next, the control communication establishment process will be described in detail. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of control communication establishment processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

In the control communication establishment process, the processor 12a first determines the control protocol to be reset (step S181). Since the process of step S181 is the same as the process of step S161 described above, the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the processor 12a sets an index (number) m indicating the control protocol to be processed to an initial value (1) (step S182).

The processor 12a reads the configuration definition information of the m-th control protocol from the configuration definition file 100 (step S183). Further, the processor 12a executes communication establishment processing for the m-th control protocol according to the read configuration definition information (step S184).

After the m-th control protocol communication is established, the processor 12a determines whether or not m is greater than or equal to M (step S185). If m is less than M (NO in step S185), processor 12a increments m by 1 (step S186) and returns the process to step S183. If m is greater than or equal to M (YES in step S185), the control communication establishment process ends. This establishes all communications for the control protocol to be reconfigured.

Refer to FIG. 8 again. In step S114, if T_M+T_C is greater than the control timeout time TO_C (YES in step S114), at least one of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol (specifically, control protocol communication) will not be established. That is, when the control program 12e is updated, the management protocol communication establishment process is executed, and then the control protocol communication establishment process is executed, it is estimated that the control protocol session will be disconnected. In this case, the processor 12a determines whether or not the control communication establishment processing time T_C is greater than the control timeout time TO_C (step S118).

If the control communication establishment processing time T_C is longer than the control timeout time TO_C (YES in step S118), it is estimated that the control timeout time TO_C will end before the control protocol communication is established according to the update of the control program 12e. . In other words, it is presumed that the control protocol session will be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. Therefore, the management protocol priority determination process ends without executing the hitless update process.

If the control communication establishment processing time T_C is equal to or less than the control timeout time TO_C (NO in step S118), the control protocol communication can be established according to the update of the control program 12e before the control timeout time TO_C expires. Presumed. In other words, it is presumed that the control protocol session will not be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. In this case, the processor 12a determines whether or not the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C (T_M+T_C) is greater than the management timeout time TO_M (step S119). If T_M+T_C is equal to or less than the management timeout time TO_M (NO in step S119), it is estimated that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol will each be established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. In other words, it is presumed that when the control program 12e is updated, if the control protocol communication establishment process is executed and then the management protocol communication establishment process is executed, the sessions of the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. . In this case, the processor 12a executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing (step S120) and executes control communication establishment processing (step S121). Further, the processor 12a executes management communication establishment processing after the control communication establishment processing ends (step S122). When the management communication establishment process ends, the management protocol priority determination process ends.

As described above, in step S112 in the management protocol priority determination process, when the management protocol is selected as a priority target, that is, when the management protocol is the selected protocol, the management timeout time TO_M, which is the selection timeout time, ends. This is processing for determining whether or not communication is established by the management protocol, which is the selected protocol, and is the first determination processing. Step S114 is a process for determining whether or not communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are respectively established before the control timeout time TO_C, which is the non-selection timeout time, expires. is. Step S118 is a process for determining whether or not communication is established by the control protocol, which is a non-selected protocol, before the control timeout time TO_C, which is a non-selected timeout period, expires, and is a third determination process. . Step S119 is a process for determining whether or not communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are respectively established before the management timeout time TO_M, which is the selection timeout period, expires. be.

Furthermore, the management communication establishment process (steps S116 and S122) in the management protocol priority determination process is a process for establishing communication by the management protocol, which is the selected protocol, and is the first communication establishment process. The control communication establishment process (steps S117 and S121) is a process for establishing communication by a control protocol, which is a non-selected protocol, and is a second communication establishment process.

Next, control protocol priority determination processing will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of control protocol priority determination processing by the master station device 1 according to this embodiment.

In the control protocol priority determination process, the processor 12a first executes a control communication establishment process time calculation process (step S131). Thereby, the control communication establishment processing time T_C is calculated.

The processor 12a determines whether or not the calculated control communication establishment processing time T_C is greater than the control timeout time TO_C (step S132). If the control communication establishment processing time T_C is longer than the control timeout time TO_C (YES in step S132), it is estimated that the control timeout time TO_C will end before the control protocol communication is established according to the update of the control program 12e. . In other words, it is presumed that the control protocol session will be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. Therefore, the control protocol priority determination process ends without executing the hitless update process.

If the control communication establishment processing time T_C is equal to or less than the control timeout time TO_C (NO in step S132), the control protocol communication can be established according to the update of the control program 12e before the control timeout time TO_C expires. Presumed. In other words, it is presumed that the control protocol session will not be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. In this case, the processor 12a executes management communication establishment processing time calculation processing (step S133). Thereby, the management communication establishment processing time T_M is calculated.

The processor 12a determines whether or not the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C (T_M+T_C) is greater than the management timeout time TO_M (step S134). If T_M+T_C is equal to or less than the management timeout time TO_M (NO in step S134), it is estimated that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol will be established before the management timeout time TO_M expires. In other words, it is presumed that when the control program 12e is updated, if the control protocol communication establishment process is executed and then the management protocol communication establishment process is executed, the sessions of the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. . In this case, the processor 12a executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing (step S135) and executes control communication establishment processing (step S136). Further, the processor 12a executes management communication establishment processing after the control communication establishment processing ends (step S137). When the management communication establishment process ends, the control protocol priority determination process ends.

In step S134, if T_M+T_C is greater than the management timeout period TO_M (YES in step S134), at least one of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol (specifically, management protocol communication) will not be established. That is, it is estimated that the management protocol session will be disconnected when the communication establishment process of the control protocol is executed when the control program 12e is updated, and then the communication establishment process of the management protocol is executed. In this case, the processor 12a determines whether or not the management communication establishment processing time T_M is greater than the management timeout time TO_M (step S138).

If the management communication establishment processing time T_M is longer than the management timeout time TO_M (YES in step S138), it is estimated that the management timeout time TO_M will end before communication of the management protocol is established according to the update of the control program 12e. . In other words, it is presumed that the management protocol session will be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. Therefore, the control protocol priority determination process ends without executing the hitless update process.

If the management communication establishment processing time T_M is equal to or less than the management timeout time TO_M (NO in step S138), communication of the management protocol can be established according to the update of the control program 12e before the management timeout time TO_M expires. Presumed. In other words, it is presumed that the management protocol session will not be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. In this case, the processor 12a determines whether or not the sum of the management communication establishment processing time T_M and the control communication establishment processing time T_C (T_M+T_C) is greater than the control timeout time TO_C (step S139). If T_M+T_C is less than or equal to the control timeout time TO_C (NO in step S139), it is estimated that each of the management protocol communication and the control protocol communication will be established before the control timeout time TO_C expires. In other words, it is presumed that when the control program 12e is updated, if the management protocol communication establishment process is executed and then the control protocol communication establishment process is executed, the sessions of the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. . In this case, the processor 12a executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing (step S140) and executes management communication establishment processing (step S141). Further, the processor 12a executes a control communication establishment process after the management communication establishment process ends (step S142). When the control communication establishment process ends, the control protocol priority determination process ends.

As described above, in step S132 in the control protocol priority determination process, when the control protocol is selected as a priority target, that is, when the control protocol is the selected protocol, the control timeout time TO_C, which is the selection timeout time, ends. This is processing for determining whether or not communication is established by the control protocol, which is the selected protocol, and is the first determination processing. Step S134 is a process for determining whether or not communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are respectively established before the management timeout period TO_M, which is the non-selection timeout period, expires. is. Step S138 is a process for determining whether or not communication is established by the management protocol, which is a non-selected protocol, before the management timeout time TO_M, which is a non-selected timeout period, expires, and is a third determination process. . Step S139 is a process for determining whether or not communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are respectively established before the control timeout period TO_C, which is the selected timeout period, expires. be.

Furthermore, the control communication establishment process (steps S136 and S142) in the control protocol priority determination process is a process for establishing communication by the control protocol, which is the selected protocol, and is the first communication establishment process. The management communication establishment process (steps S137 and S141) is a process for establishing communication by a management protocol that is a non-selected protocol, and is a second communication establishment process.

[4. Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of communication protocols are classified into two groups of management protocol and control protocol, one group is determined to be the group that performs the communication establishment process first, and the other group is the subsequent group. A group for which the communication establishment process is to be executed is determined by means of each group, and it is determined whether or not communication will be established before the timeout period expires when the communication establishment process for each group is executed. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such configurations. The master station device 1 according to this modification determines the order of executing the communication establishment processes for a plurality of communication protocols, and when the communication establishment processes are sequentially executed in the determined order, determines whether or not communication is established.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing an example of functions of the control unit 12 of the master station device 1 according to this modification. The control unit 12 has functions as an input unit 121 , a time calculation unit 122 , a determination unit 124 , a program update unit 125 , a communication establishment unit 126 and an order determination unit 127 .

The time calculation unit 122 according to this modification calculates the communication establishment processing time for each communication protocol. As a specific example, the time calculation unit 122 calculates a first communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the first communication protocol and a second communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol. 2 and the communication establishment processing time are calculated. For example, when the communication protocols of SSH, SNMP, syslog, LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM are used by the master station device 1, the time calculation unit calculates the communication establishment processing time of SSH and the communication establishment of SNMP. Processing time, syslog communication establishment processing time, LACP communication establishment processing time, Link-OAM communication establishment processing time, and Ether-OAM communication establishment processing time are calculated.

The order determination unit 127 determines the order of communication protocols for executing the communication establishment process. As a specific example, the order determination unit 127 determines the order of communication establishment processing among SSH, SNMP, syslog, LACP, Link-OAM, and Ether-OAM.

The determination unit 124 according to this modification determines whether or not communication is established before the timeout period expires for each communication protocol. In a specific example, the determination unit 124 executes a first determination process and a second determination process. The first determination process is based on the first communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122 and the first timeout period determined by the first protocol, before the first timeout period expires, the control program 12e This is a process for determining whether or not communication according to the first protocol is established in response to the update of . The second determination process is based on the sum of the first communication establishment processing time and the second communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122 and the second timeout period determined by the second protocol. is a process for determining whether or not each of the communication according to the first protocol and the communication according to the second protocol is established according to the update of the control program 12e before the process ends.

As a specific example, the determination unit 124 determines whether or not communication is established before the timeout period expires when communication establishment processing is executed according to each communication protocol in the order determined by the order determination unit 127. do.

15A and 15B are diagrams for explaining an example of determination processing by the determination unit 124 of the master station device 1 according to this modification. 15A and 15B show examples in which the communication protocols used by the master station device 1 are LACP, SNMP, and SSH. FIG. 15A shows that the order determination unit 127 sets the execution order of the communication establishment process to 1. SSH, 2. LACP, 3. FIG. 15B shows an example in which SNMP is determined, and FIG. LACP, 2. SNMP, 3. An example in which SSH is determined is shown.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 15A , the determining unit 124 first determines whether or not communication will be established before the time-out period expires for SSH that is the first in the order to execute the communication establishment process. In FIG. 15A, the uppermost graph shows the SSH communication establishment processing time, and the second graph from the top shows the SSH timeout time. In FIGS. 15A and 15B, similarly, the upper side of two vertically adjacent graphs indicates the communication establishment processing time, and the lower side indicates the timeout time. In the example of FIG. 15A, the SSH communication establishment processing time is shorter than the SSH timeout time. At the start time t0 of the SSH communication establishment process, the SSH timeout period starts counting, so the SSH communication is established before the SSH timeout period ends.

Next, the determination unit 124 determines whether communication by SSH and communication by LACP are respectively established before the timeout period of LACP, which is second in the order of executing the communication establishment process, expires. In the example of FIG. 15A, the sum of the SSH communication establishment processing time and the LACP communication establishment processing time is shorter than the LACP timeout time. At the start time t0 of the SSH communication establishment process, the LACP timeout period starts counting. Furthermore, immediately after the SSH communication establishment process ends, the LACP communication establishment process is started. Therefore, the SSH communication and the LACP communication are established before the LACP timeout period expires.

Next, the determination unit 124 determines whether or not communication by SSH, communication by LACP, and communication by SNMP are established before the timeout period of SNMP, which is the third in the order to execute the communication establishment process, expires. judge. In the example of FIG. 15A, the sum of the SSH communication establishment processing time, the LACP communication establishment processing time, and the SNMP communication establishment processing time is shorter than the SNMP timeout time. At the start time t0 of the SSH communication establishment process, counting of the SNMP timeout period is started. Further, immediately after the SSH communication establishment process ends, the LACP communication establishment process starts, and immediately after the LACP communication establishment process ends, the SNMP communication establishment process starts. Therefore, communication by SSH, communication by LACP, and communication by SNMP are established before the SNMP timeout period expires.

Next, the example shown in FIG. 15B will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 15B , the determination unit 124 first determines whether or not communication will be established for the LACP whose communication establishment processing is executed first before the timeout period expires. In the example of FIG. 15A, the LACP communication establishment processing time is shorter than the LACP timeout time. At the start time t0 of the LACP communication establishment process, the LACP timeout period starts counting. Therefore, LACP communication is established before the LACP timeout period expires.

Next, the determination unit 124 determines whether or not each of the communication by LACP and the communication by SNMP is established before the timeout period of SNMP, which is second in the order of executing the communication establishment process, expires. In the example of FIG. 15B, the sum of the LACP communication establishment processing time and the SNMP communication establishment processing time is shorter than the SNMP timeout time. At the start time t0 of the LACP communication establishment process, the SNMP timeout period starts to be counted. Furthermore, immediately after the LACP communication establishment process ends, the SNMP communication establishment process is started. Therefore, the LACP communication and the SNMP communication are established before the timeout period of SNMP expires.

Next, the determination unit 124 determines whether or not each of the LACP communication, the SNMP communication, and the SSH communication is established before the timeout period of the SSH whose order for executing the communication establishment process is 3rd expires. judge. In the example of FIG. 15B, the sum of the LACP communication establishment processing time, the SNMP communication establishment processing time, and the SSH communication establishment processing time is longer than the SSH timeout time. At the start time t0 of the LACP communication establishment process, the SSH timeout period starts counting. Immediately after the LACP communication establishment process ends, the SNMP communication establishment process starts, and immediately after the SNMP communication establishment process ends, the SSH communication establishment process starts. Therefore, SSH communication is not established before the timeout period of SSH expires.

Refer to FIG. 14 again. The program update unit 125 executes non-instantaneous interruption update processing of the control program 12e when the determination unit 124 determines that communication according to the communication protocol will be established before the timeout period expires. As a specific example, the program updating unit 125 causes the determining unit 124 to update the plurality of programs in the order determined by the order determining unit 127 before the timeout period corresponding to the communication protocol whose order of communication establishment processing is the last expires. When it is determined that each communication by the communication protocol is established, the non-instantaneous interruption update process of the control program 12e is executed. The program update unit 125 determines that the communication is not established by the communication protocol whose order of communication establishment processing is last before the timeout period corresponding to the communication protocol whose order of communication establishment processing is last ends. does not execute hitless update processing.

The communication establishment unit 126 executes communication establishment processing for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the master station device 1 and the counterpart device. As a specific example, the communication establishment unit 126 causes the determination unit 124 to perform a plurality of processes in the order determined by the order determination unit 127 before the timeout period corresponding to the communication protocol whose order of communication establishment processing is the last expires. When it is determined that each of the communications by the communication protocol is established, the sequential communication establishment process for establishing the communications by the plurality of communication protocols is executed in the order determined by the order determination unit 127 . The communication establishment unit 126 determines that the communication is not established by the communication protocol whose order of communication establishment processing is last before the timeout period corresponding to the communication protocol whose order of communication establishment processing is last ends by the determination unit 124 . communication establishment processing is not executed sequentially.

In the example shown in FIG. 15A , the determination unit 124 performs SSH, LACP, and SNMP in the order determined by the order determination unit 127 before the timeout period of SNMP, which is the last communication protocol in the order of communication establishment processing, expires. communication protocol is established. Therefore, in this case, the program update unit 125 executes the uninterrupted update process. Furthermore, in this case, the communication establishment unit 126 sequentially executes communication establishment processing.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 15B , the determination unit 124 determines that SSH communication is not established before the timeout period of SSH, which is the last communication protocol in the order of communication establishment processing, expires. Therefore, in this case, the program update unit 125 does not execute the hitless update process. Furthermore, in this case, the communication establishment unit 126 does not sequentially execute communication establishment processing.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of communication establishment determination processing by the master station device 1 according to this modification.

In the communication establishment determination process, the processor 12a determines whether or not to update the uninterrupted program (step S201).

If no non-instantaneous interruption program update is to be performed (NO in step S201), the processor 12a performs normal program update (step S202). That is, the processor 12a rewrites the control program 12e stored in the non-transitory memory 12b and restarts the master station device 1. FIG. When restarting, the communication establishment determination process ends.

When performing uninterrupted program update (YES in step S201), the processor 12a reads each communication protocol (SSH, SNMP, syslog, LACP, Link-OAM, Ether -OAM) is read out (step S203). Further, the processor 12a refers to the configuration definition file 100, for example, and determines the number K of communication protocols to be reset.

Next, the processor 12a calculates communication establishment processing time for each communication protocol (step S204). A method of calculating the communication establishment processing time is the same as the communication establishment processing time calculation processing in the above embodiment.

Further, the processor 12a determines the order of communication protocols for executing the communication establishment process (step S205). In this processing, the processor 12a may randomly determine the order of the communication protocols, or may determine the order of the communication protocols according to a predetermined rule.

Next, the processor 12a sets an index (number) k indicating a communication protocol to be processed to an initial value (1) (step S206). Further, the processor 12a sets a communication establishment processing time (referred to as “communication establishment processing integrated time”) T to be compared with the timeout time to an initial value (0) (step S207).

The processor 12a sets the result of adding the communication establishment processing time T_k in the k-th communication protocol to the communication establishment processing overall time T as a new communication establishment processing time T (step S208).

The processor 12a determines whether or not the communication establishment processing total time T is greater than the timeout time TO_k of the k-th communication protocol (step S209). If the communication establishment process total time T is equal to or shorter than the timeout time TO_k (NO in step S209), communication using the communication protocols No. 1 to No. k is performed before the timeout time TO_k expires according to the update of the control program 12e. All are presumed to establish. In other words, it is presumed that the sessions of communication protocols numbered 1 to k are not disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. In this case, the processor 12a determines whether or not k is equal to or greater than the number K of communication protocols to be reset (step S212). If k is less than K (NO in step S212), processor 12a increments k by 1 (step S213) and returns the process to step S208.

In step S209, if the communication establishment processing total time T is longer than the timeout time TO_k (YES in step S209), the timeout time TO_k is reached before the communication of the k-th communication protocol is established according to the update of the control program 12e. Presumed to finish. In other words, it is presumed that the k-th communication protocol session will be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. In this case, the processor 12a determines whether or not there remains an undetermined communication protocol order combination (step S210). If there is no sequence combination of communication protocols that has not been determined yet (NO in step S210), regardless of the order in which the communication establishment process is executed using the communication protocols, before the time-out period expires, a plurality of communication protocols cannot be used. Communication by either is presumed not to be established. In other words, it is presumed that the communication protocol session will be disconnected when the control program 12e is updated. Therefore, the communication establishment determination process ends without executing the non-instantaneous interruption update process.

If there remains a combination of communication protocol orders that have not been determined (YES in step S210), processor 12a determines a new order of communication protocols (step S211). In step S211, a new order of communication protocols is determined from combinations of orders of communication protocols that have not yet been determined. After determining the new order of the communication protocols, the processor 12a moves the process to step S206. Thus, based on the newly determined order of the communication protocols, it is determined whether or not the communication by the communication protocol will be established before the timeout period expires.

In step S212, if k is equal to or greater than K (YES in step S212), it is presumed that communication by all communication protocols will be established according to the update of control program 12e before the timeout period expires. In other words, it is estimated that the sessions will not be disconnected in all of the K communication protocols when updating the control program 12e. Therefore, in this case, the processor 12a executes the uninterrupted update process of the control program 12e (step S214). Further, the processor 12a executes communication establishment processing (sequential communication establishment processing) for each communication protocol in the determined order (step S215). With the above, the communication establishment determination processing ends.

[5. Other Modifications]
Note that the slave station device 2 may perform similar communication establishment determination processing. The slave station device 2 uses the control protocols Link-OAM and Ether-OAM, but does not use LACP, SSH, telnet, SNMP, and syslog. Therefore, it is determined whether the communication by Link-OAM and the communication by Ether-OAM are established before the timeout period of either or both of Link-OAM and Ether-OAM expires.

Also, the time required for the non-instantaneous update processing of the control program 12e may be added to the communication establishment processing time of each communication protocol. In other words, the sum of the communication establishment processing times of one or a plurality of management protocols may be calculated as the result of adding the time required for the non-instantaneous update processing, or The control communication establishment processing time may be calculated by adding the time required for the uninterrupted update processing to the sum of the communication establishment processing times. Furthermore, the sum total of the communication establishment processing times of one or a plurality of communication protocols, plus the time required for the hitless update processing, may be calculated as the total communication establishment processing time.

[6. effect]
As described above, the master station device 1 (first communication device 1) is a communication device capable of communicating with the counterpart device using a communication protocol, and includes the time calculation unit 122, the determination unit 124, and the program update unit. 125; The time calculation unit 122 calculates a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the master station device 1 and the counterpart device. Based on the communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122 and the timeout period determined by the communication protocol, the determination unit 124 updates the control program 12e of the master station device 1 before the timeout period expires. In response, it is determined whether or not communication is established between the master station device 1 and the opposite device according to the communication protocol. The program update unit 125 does not update the control program 12e without restarting the master station device 1 when the determination unit 124 determines that communication according to the communication protocol is established before the timeout period expires. Execute momentary interruption update processing. As a result, the control program 12e is updated before the timeout period expires, and communication with the opposite device is established using the communication protocol. Furthermore, no dedicated circuitry is required to maintain sessions. Therefore, the cost of the master station device 1 can be suppressed, and disconnection of the session due to the updating of the control program 12e can be avoided.

The time calculator 122 may calculate a management communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a management protocol, which is a communication protocol used for maintenance and management of the master station device 1 . The time calculator 122 may calculate a control communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a control protocol, which is a communication protocol for controlling communication by the master station device 1 . Based on the management communication establishment processing time and the control communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122, and the timeout period, the determination unit 124 executes the management protocol in accordance with the update of the control program before the timeout period expires. It may be determined whether each of the communication by and the control protocol is established. This makes it possible to avoid disconnection of the session by the management protocol and the control protocol.

The timeout period may be either a management timeout period TO_M defined by the management protocol or a control timeout period TO_C defined by the control protocol. As a result, before either one of the management time-out time TO_M corresponding to the management protocol and the control time-out time TO_C corresponding to the control protocol expires, each of the communication by the management protocol and the communication by the control protocol is established. Session disconnection by either the management protocol or the control protocol can be avoided.

When multiple management protocols are used by the master station device 1, the management timeout time TO_M may be the minimum timeout time among the timeout times determined by each of the multiple management protocols. When multiple control protocols are used by the master station device 1, the control timeout time TO_C may be the minimum timeout time among timeout times determined by each of the multiple control protocols. With this, before either one of the minimum timeout period determined by each of the plurality of management protocols and the minimum timeout period determined by each of the plurality of control programs expires, the communication and the plurality of controls are performed by the plurality of management protocols. Since each protocol communication is established, disconnection of a session by each of the multiple management protocols or by each of the multiple control protocols can be avoided.

The master station device 1 may further include a selector 123 that selects either one of the management protocol and the control protocol. The determination unit 124 may perform a first determination process and a second determination process. The first determination process includes a communication establishment processing time corresponding to the selected protocol, which is a communication protocol selected by the selection unit 123, and a selection timeout corresponding to the selected protocol out of the management timeout time TO_M and the control timeout time TO_C. It is a process of determining whether or not communication by the selected protocol is established before the selected timeout period expires, based on time. In the second determination process, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time and the control communication establishment processing, and the non-selection timeout period which is the other of the management timeout period TO_M and the control timeout period TO_C, the non-selection timeout period This is a process of determining whether or not each of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol is established according to the update of the control program before ending. Thus, the first determination process can avoid session disconnection due to the selected protocol, and the second determination process can prevent session disconnection due to at least one of the management protocol and the control protocol.

The determination unit 124 may execute the second determination process when it is determined in the first determination process that communication will be established according to the selected protocol before the selected timeout period expires. If it is determined in the second determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the program update unit 125 performs the non-disruption update process. may be executed. The program update unit 125 does not have to execute the hitless update process when it is determined in the first determination process that communication by the selected protocol will not be established before the selected timeout period expires. Accordingly, when it is determined that the communication by the selected protocol is established before the selected timeout period expires and the communication by the management protocol and the control protocol is established before the non-selected timeout period expires. , the uninterrupted update process is executed. That is, hitless update processing can be executed when it is determined that each session by the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. Furthermore, hitless update processing is not executed if communication is not established according to the selected protocol before the selection timeout period expires. In other words, when it is determined that the session based on the selected protocol will be disconnected, it is possible to avoid disconnection of the session based on the selected protocol without executing the hitless update process.

The master station device 1 may further include a communication establishment section 126 . The communication establishment unit 126 executes communication establishment processing for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the master station device 1 and the counterpart device. If it is determined in the second determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the communication establishing unit 126 performs the first communication using the selected protocol. After executing the establishment process and ending the first communication establishment process, the second communication establishment process may be executed using a non-selected protocol, which is a communication protocol not selected by the selection unit 123 from among the management protocol and the control protocol. Accordingly, when it is determined in the second determination process that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the first communication management process related to the selected protocol, and the second communication management process related to the non-selected protocol are executed in order. Therefore, disconnection of each session by the selected protocol and the non-selected protocol can be avoided.

If it is determined in the second determination process that at least one of the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol is not established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the determination unit 124 executes the third determination process. may In the third determination process, based on the communication establishment processing time corresponding to the non-selected protocol and the non-selected timeout period, before the non-selected timeout period expires, communication by the non-selected protocol according to the update of the control program is established. The determination unit 124 may execute the fourth determination process when it is determined in the third determination process that communication by the non-selected protocol will be established before the non-selected timeout period expires. The fourth determination process is based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time and the control communication establishment processing, and the selection timeout period, before the selection timeout period expires, according to the update of the control program. It is a process of determining whether or not each communication by the control protocol is established. As a result, when it is determined in the second determination process that at least one of the communication by the management protocol and the control protocol is not established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the first and second determination processes are the management protocol and the The third and fourth determination processes are executed by changing the order of the communication establishment processes of the control protocol. Therefore, when it is determined in the second determination process that the session will be disconnected, it is possible to determine whether or not the session is maintained by changing the order of the communication establishment processes of the management protocol and the control protocol.

If it is determined in the fourth determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the selection timeout period expires, the program update unit 125 performs the non-disruption update process. may be executed. The program update unit 125 does not need to execute the hitless update process when it is determined in the third determination process that the communication by the non-selected protocol is not established before the non-selected timeout period expires. Accordingly, it is determined that the communication by the non-selected protocol is established before the non-selected timeout period expires, and that the communication by the management protocol and the control protocol are respectively established before the selected timeout period expires. In this case, the hitless update process is executed. That is, hitless update processing can be executed when it is determined that each session by the management protocol and the control protocol will not be disconnected. Furthermore, hitless update processing is not executed if communication is not established by the non-selected protocol before the non-selected timeout period expires. That is, when it is determined that the session by the non-selected protocol will be disconnected, the hitless update process is not executed, and the disconnection of the session by the non-selected protocol can be avoided.

The communication establishment unit 126 executes the second communication establishment process when it is determined in the fourth determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are respectively established before the selected timeout period expires. However, the first communication establishment process may be executed after the second communication establishment process ends. Accordingly, when it is determined in the fourth determination process that communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are established before the selection timeout period ends, the second communication management process related to the non-selected protocol, and the first communication management process related to the selected protocol are executed in order. Therefore, disconnection of each session due to the non-selected protocol and the selected protocol can be avoided.

The time calculation unit 122 calculates a first communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the first communication protocol and a second communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol. may be calculated. The determination unit 124 may perform a first determination process and a second determination process. The first determination process is based on the first communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122 and the first timeout period determined by the first protocol, before the first timeout period expires. This is a process of determining whether or not communication based on the first protocol is established in response to the update. The second determination process is based on the sum of the first communication establishment processing time and the second communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit 122 and the second timeout period determined by the second protocol. is a process for determining whether or not communication according to the first protocol and communication according to the second protocol are respectively established in accordance with the update of the control program before the end of . This makes it possible to avoid session disconnection due to the first protocol and the second protocol.

[7. Addendum]
The embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and are not restrictive. The scope of rights of the present invention is indicated by the scope of claims rather than the above-described embodiments, and includes equivalent meanings and all modifications within the scope of the scope of claims.

1 first communication device (master station device)
2 Second communication device (slave station device)
3 Communication line (optical fiber)
5 upper network 6 lower network 7 maintenance device 8 management device 9 communication line 10 communication system 11 upper side interface section 12 control section 13 reception processing section 14 transmission processing section 15 opposite side interface section 16 buffer 17 buffer 18 communication processing section 19 communication interface Section 12a Processor 12b Non-transient Memory 12c Transient Memory 12d Input/Output Interface 12e Control Program 100 Configuration Definition File 121 Input Section 122 Time Calculation Section 123 Selection Section 124 Judgment Section 125 Program Update Section 126 Communication Establishment Section 127 Order Determination Section

Claims (13)

A communication device capable of communicating with a counterpart device using a communication protocol,
a time calculation unit that calculates a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the communication device and the counterpart device;
Based on the communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit and a timeout period determined by the communication protocol, before the timeout period expires, the communication is performed according to the update of the control program of the communication device. a determination unit that determines whether communication is established between a device and the counterpart device according to the communication protocol;
non-disruption update processing for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when the determination unit determines that communication according to the communication protocol is established before the timeout period expires a program update unit to be executed;
comprising
Communication device. The time calculation unit calculates a management communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the management protocol, which is the communication protocol used for maintenance and management of the communication device,
The time calculation unit calculates a control communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the control protocol, which is the communication protocol for controlling communication by the communication device,
The determination unit updates the control program before the timeout period expires, based on the management communication establishment processing time and the control communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit, and the timeout period. Determining whether each of the management protocol communication and the control protocol communication is established according to
A communication device according to claim 1 . the timeout period is one of a first timeout period defined by the management protocol and a second timeout period defined by the control protocol;
3. A communication device according to claim 2. when the plurality of management protocols are used by the communication device, the first timeout period is the minimum timeout period among timeout periods determined by each of the plurality of management protocols;
When a plurality of the control protocols are used by the communication device, the second timeout period is a minimum timeout period among timeout periods determined by each of the plurality of control protocols.
4. A communication device according to claim 3. further comprising a selection unit that selects one of the management protocol and the control protocol;
The determination unit is
Based on the communication establishment processing time corresponding to the selected protocol, which is the communication protocol selected by the selection unit, and a selected timeout time corresponding to the selected protocol out of the first and second timeout times a first determination process for determining whether or not communication according to the selected protocol is established before the selected timeout period expires;
Before the non-selection timeout period expires, based on the sum of the management communication establishment processing time and the control communication establishment processing, and the non-selection timeout period that is the other of the first and second timeout periods a second determination process for determining whether or not each of the communication according to the management protocol and the communication according to the control protocol is established in accordance with the update of the control program;
run the
The communication device according to claim 3 or 4 . The determination unit executes the second determination process when it is determined in the first determination process that communication is established according to the selected protocol before the selection timeout period expires,
If it is determined in the second determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the program update unit Execute the momentary interruption update process,
The program update unit does not execute the hitless update process when it is determined in the first determination process that the communication according to the selected protocol is not established before the selection timeout period expires.
6. A communication device according to claim 5. further comprising a communication establishment unit that executes a communication establishment process for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the communication device and the counterpart device;
When it is determined in the second determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the communication establishing unit performs the selection A first communication establishment process is executed by a protocol, and after the first communication establishment process is completed, a second communication establishment is established by a non-selected protocol, which is the communication protocol not selected by the selector from among the management protocol and the control protocol. perform processing,
7. A communication device according to claim 6. When it is determined in the second determination process that at least one of communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol is not established before the non-selection timeout period expires, the determination unit performs the non-selection Based on the communication establishment processing time corresponding to the protocol and the non-selection timeout period, communication by the non-selection protocol is established according to the update of the control program before the non-selection timeout period expires. Execute a third determination process for determining whether or not
In the third determination process, if it is determined that communication by the non-selected protocol is established before the non-selected timeout period expires, the determination unit determines that the management communication establishment process time and the control communication Communication by the management protocol and communication by the control protocol are respectively established according to the update of the control program before the selection timeout period expires, based on the sum of establishment processing and the selection timeout period. Execute a fourth determination process for determining whether or not
8. A communication device according to claim 7. The program update unit performs the instantaneous Execute the update process,
The program update unit does not execute the non-instantaneous interruption update process when it is determined in the third determination process that communication by the non-selected protocol is not established before the non-selected timeout period expires.
A communication device according to claim 8 . If it is determined in the fourth determination process that the communication using the management protocol and the communication using the control protocol are established before the selected timeout period expires, the communication establishing unit performs the second executing a communication establishment process, and executing the first communication establishment process after the second communication establishment process is completed;
A communication device according to claim 9 . The time calculation unit calculates a first communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a first communication protocol and a second communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to a second communication protocol different from the first communication protocol. and
The determination unit is
updating the control program before the first timeout period expires based on the first communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit and a first timeout period determined by the first protocol; a first determination process for determining whether or not communication according to the first protocol is established in response;
The second timeout period ends based on the sum of the first communication establishment processing time and the second communication establishment processing time calculated by the time calculation unit and the second timeout period determined by the second protocol. a second determination process for determining whether or not each of the communication according to the first protocol and the communication according to the second protocol is established according to the update of the control program;
run the
A communication device according to claim 1 . A communication method in which a communication device communicates with a counterpart device according to a communication protocol,
calculating a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the communication device and the counterpart device;
Based on the calculated communication establishment processing time and a timeout period determined by the communication protocol, the communication apparatus and the counterpart apparatus are updated according to an update of a control program of the communication apparatus before the timeout period expires. determining whether communication is established according to the communication protocol with
executing uninterrupted update processing for updating the control program without restarting the communication device when it is determined that communication according to the communication protocol is established before the timeout period expires; ,
including,
Communication method. A computer program for causing a computer to function as a communication device that performs communication using a communication protocol with a counterpart device,
to the computer;
calculating a communication establishment processing time for establishing communication according to the communication protocol between the communication device and the counterpart device;
Based on the calculated communication establishment processing time and a timeout period determined by the communication protocol, the communication apparatus and the counterpart apparatus are updated according to an update of a control program of the communication apparatus before the timeout period expires. determining whether communication is established according to the communication protocol with
executing uninterrupted update processing for updating the control program without restarting the computer when it is determined that communication according to the communication protocol will be established before the timeout period expires;
to run the
computer program.

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