JPH0713903A - Information processing system and data communicating method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize communication between processors using a proper communication mode and a proper communicating method without allowing a processing executing part to consider system constitution. CONSTITUTION:Each processor receives transmission information to be transmitted from a processing executing part 50 operating on the processor to a communication medium 1, and a content code preliminarily decided according to the content of the transmission information. Then, an information transmitting part 30 discriminates whether or not the address of the processor being the transmission destination of the transmission information, transmission mode used for the transmission of the transmission information, and communicating method by which a communication line with high reliability is set for the transmission of the transmission information is used based on the received content code by referring to a data transfer managing part 60. Then, the transmission information to the processor having the address obtained from the result of the discrimination is transmitted from a communication control part 120 to the communication medium 1 by using the transmission mode and the communicating method obtained from the result of the discrimination.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing system including processing devices such as a plurality of computers connected to each other via a network, and more particularly to information processing via a network performed between the processing devices. The present invention relates to a data communication method for transmitting and receiving data, and an information processing system using the data communication method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, like a distributed processing system,
In an information processing system in which information is transmitted via a network, as a method of transmitting data between processing devices,
Two types of methods are used, a unicast method and a broadcast method. In the unicast method, a one-to-one data transmission is performed by designating an address of a processing device that should receive the data from a processing device that transmits the data. On the other hand, in the broadcast method, the data transmitted from a certain processing device in the network is received by all the processing devices on the network.

In the case of transmitting data by designating a plurality of processing devices in a network, for example, in a communication protocol called the Internet protocol, a node address is divided into a field indicating a subnetwork and a field indicating a host. By this, in addition to unicast and broadcast, data transmission to all nodes in the subnetwork, that is, grouping of destinations (multicast communication) is realized. A method for performing group creation / cancellation at such an arbitrary point in multicast communication is, for example,
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-157940. Here, the node requesting to join the group sends a join request using the group address as a parameter to another node by using broadcast communication. The node that first requests participation has the representative right of the group, and the node requests the participation request from other nodes and manages the nodes in the group. As a result, participation in a group at any time or subordinate belonging to a plurality of groups is realized.

When unicast or multicast is used as a means for communicating with other processing devices in the network, communication can be performed by setting a communication path between the processing devices performing communication. The communication path referred to here is not only a physical connection means between the processing devices, but also communication that supports reception confirmation response and message resending when there is a reception error between the processing devices performing transmission and reception. It includes the procedure of. In this case, the processing device on the receiving side returns a response confirming the reception of the message to the processing device on the transmitting side, so that the reliability of data transmission can be enhanced. On the other hand, in broadcast communication, if an attempt is made to set a communication path, the communication path must be set with all processing devices, and the load on the network becomes excessive. Therefore, normally, communication is performed without setting a communication path. Therefore, in broadcast communication,
As compared to unicast and multicast, the reliability of data transfer will be lower.

[0005]

According to the above-mentioned prior art, which communication method is used to transmit data, or which processing device (in the case of multicast, a group of processing devices) is used to send data. It is necessary for the user program (or application program) operating on the processing device to determine such a thing. Therefore, when trying to transmit data by unicast or multicast, it is necessary to know the internal configuration of the system on the user program, and it is not possible to easily change or expand the system configuration. There is. As a method for solving such a problem, for example, in JP-A-55-13725, an identifier defined corresponding to the content of data called a content code is used, and the data is broadcast from the transmitting side. A method is disclosed in which the determination as to whether or not data is sent out and received is left to the processing device on the receiving side. But,
In this method, since all data is transmitted by broadcasting, the reliability of data transmission cannot be increased unlike unicast and multicast.

On the other hand, according to the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-157940, it is possible to create and change a group for a processing device already existing on the network while online. However, when a new node (processing device) is added to the network, it is not possible to recognize information such as the address of the node added by the existing node. That is, it is impossible to add or delete a node online for communication such as unicast or multicast that requires designation of destination.

In the conventional multicast communication, the transmission range of the data can be defined by limiting the transmission partner at the time of group registration. However, from the receiving side node, all data addressed to the group to which it belongs belongs. You will receive it. However, the processing device of the group that is always the target of the multicast communication does not always need all the data transmitted to the group.
In other words, conventional multicast communication can be considered as data broadcasting within a group, and transmission efficiency within the group cannot be said to be good.

An object of the present invention is to provide a data communication method capable of utilizing an appropriate communication method according to the content or nature of data.

In addition, even in the case of communication such as unicast or multicast that requires the designation of a destination, the user can create a program without being aware of the system configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide a data communication method and a computer system in which online processing devices can be added or deleted without stopping all the processing devices on the network.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of a data communication method of the present invention, information processing in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium is provided. In the data communication method of the system, in the first processing device, the transmission information to be transmitted from the processing execution unit operating on the first processing device to the communication medium and the content of the transmission information are associated with the transmission information in advance. The predetermined data identifier is received, the processing device to which the transmission information is transmitted is discriminated based on the data identifier, and the transmission information is sent to the communication medium to the processing device determined as a result of the discrimination. Specifically, the determination of the destination processing device is performed according to the information that defines the correspondence between the data identifier and the processing device that is the destination. Further, the transmission information transmitted on the communication medium is received by the other second processing device based on the address of the transmission destination processing device transmitted together. The data received in this way is
It is distributed to the processing execution units according to the data identifier. More preferably, the first processing device determines, based on the data identifier, a transmission mode used in transmitting the transmission information received from the process execution unit, or sets a communication path with the destination processing device. It is determined whether or not to use a highly reliable communication method that is performed, and the transmission information is transmitted according to the determination results.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a data communication method of an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, in each processing device, a processing execution unit operating on the processing device is operated. , Together with the information to be transmitted, a predetermined data identifier corresponding to the content of the information,
And, it receives information indicating a characteristic property of the information represented by the importance of the information. Then, based on at least one of the data identifier and the information indicating the characteristic, a processing device serving as the transmission destination of the information received from the information indicating the correspondence between the data identifier and the processing device of the transmission destination, which is held in advance, The information is discriminated and the transmission information is sent to the processing device determined as a result of the discrimination on the communication medium. In transmitting the transmission information, more preferably, based on at least one of the data identifier and the information indicating the characteristic, a transmission mode for transmitting the transmission information, or communication for improving reliability in which a procedure is predetermined. Whether or not to use the method is determined, and information is transmitted according to the determination result. Alternatively, the frequency of occurrence of the transmission information corresponding to the data identifier is recorded for each data identifier designated by the processing execution unit, and the communication method is selected according to the frequency of occurrence. For information that frequently occurs, a highly reliable communication method is selected to prevent information leakage. In another aspect, the data identifier indicates whether or not the transmission information is test data, and if the test data is test data, communication with reduced network load is performed by a communication method with low reliability, and if the test data is not test data. Use a reliable communication method.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a data communication method of an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, each processing device transmits the transmission information together with the transmission information. Receives attribute information representing the characteristic features of the. Based on this attribute information, the transmission mode used for transmitting the transmission information is selected, or which of the plurality of communication methods with different reliability is used for the transmission is selected. Then, the transmission information is transmitted according to the selected transmission mode and communication method. here,
As the attribute information, information indicating the importance of information, information indicating whether the transmission information is test data, or the like can be used.

Alternatively, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to perform the above-described data communication method, a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, and the processing devices are connected via the communication medium. In an information processing system for performing data communication with each other, each of the processing devices executes at least one process execution part, transmission information to be transmitted from the process execution part to another processing device, and contents of the transmission information. A predetermined data identifier corresponding to the attribute information and attribute information indicating the characteristic feature of the transmission information, and based on at least one of the data identifier and the attribute information, the address of the processing device to which the transmission information is transmitted. And a transmission means for transmitting the transmission information to the communication medium together with the data identifier and the address according to the determination result of the discrimination means. The receiving means that receives the transmission information based on the address attached to the transmission information and the processing execution unit to which the received transmission information is to be passed according to the data identifier are determined, and the received transmission is performed based on the determination result. An information processing system having a transfer unit that transfers information to a processing execution unit is provided.

Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in a data communication method of an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, each processing device is preliminarily assigned to each processing device. For a predetermined content code corresponding to the transmission information output from the processing execution unit that operates in, the address of the processing device to which the transmission information should be transmitted, the transmission mode used to transmit the transmission information, and the transmission of the transmission information Is provided with a transmission information table in which a flag indicating whether or not to use a highly reliable communication method by setting a communication path is registered, and in the first processing device, the transmission information table is transferred from the processing execution unit to the communication medium. Receiving the transmission information to be transmitted and the content code corresponding to the content of the transmission information, searching the transmission information table based on the content code, and processing the destination of the transmission information to be transmitted. The device, the transmission mode used to transmit the transmission information to be transmitted, and whether or not to set the communication path for the transmission of the transmission information to be transmitted are determined, and according to the determination result, the transmission information to be transmitted is the content code. , And the address of the determined destination processing device together with the address, and the second processing device receives the transmission information on the communication medium by referring to the address. Furthermore, in such a system, when a new processing device is connected, the new processing device can handle the information about the processing device, more specifically, the content of the information required by the new processing device. A message including the data identifier to be processed and the processing device identifier assigned to the new processing device is sent to another existing processing device, and the content of the table is updated based on this message in another existing processing. Also, information regarding each processing device is transmitted from another existing processing device, and the above table is created based on the information sent from the existing processing device in the new processing device.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the destination of the information output from the processing execution unit operating on the processing device such as the user program, the transmission mode used for transmitting the information, or the communication method used for the transmission is transmitted. Since it is determined by the processing device side according to the content of information or the characteristics such as importance,
The processing execution unit can communicate with the processing execution units in other processing devices without being aware of the system configuration such as addresses assigned to the processing devices in the system. Whether each processing device uses the data identifier or the information indicating the characteristic feature of the information, the processing device of the transmission destination, the transmission mode used for transmission, or the more reliable communication method. Since it is determined, it is possible to transmit the information to an appropriate range according to the content of the information to be transmitted, the degree of importance, or the like, or to transmit the information by an appropriate communication method.

Further, when the system configuration is changed due to the addition of a new processing device in the system or the like, the newly added processing device or the changed processing device is replaced by another processing device in the system. Information about its own processing device is sent to the processing device, and based on this information, each processing device changes information such as a table used for transmitting information according to the change of the system, so that the system can be operated without stopping the system. It can be expanded and changed. Further, even when the system is changed, the process corresponding to the change is performed on the system side, so that the process execution unit can continue the process without having to be aware of such a system change.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, 1 is a communication medium, and 2-6 is a processing device. Processor 2-6
Are connected to the communication medium 1 and communicate with other processing devices via the communication medium 1. As the communication medium 1, a communication line such as LAN or WAN can be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the processing device 2 in FIG. Hereinafter, the configuration of the processing apparatus will be described by taking the processing apparatus 2 as an example, but other processing apparatuses also have the same configuration. The processing device 2 includes the communication setting unit 1
0, information receiving unit 20, information transmitting unit 30, registration changing unit 4
0, a process execution unit 50, and a data transmission management unit 60. The communication setting unit 10 internally has a communication channel message receiving unit 101 that receives a message through communication in which a communication channel is set with another processing device, a unicast mode without setting a communication channel, or a multicast mode. A non-communication channel message receiving unit 102 for receiving a transmitted message, a broadcast receiving unit 103 for receiving a message targeted at all processing devices in the network, a transmitting unit 104 for performing a message transmitting process,
Sending a message to the communication medium 1, or the communication medium 1
The communication control unit 120 that controls the reception of the message from the. Further, the communication setting unit 10 includes buffers 110 a and 110 b provided corresponding to each of the possessed communication channel message receiving units 101 and the non-communication channel message receiving unit 1.
02 provided in correspondence with 02, buffer 11 provided in correspondence with broadcast communication unit 103
2, the buffer 113 provided corresponding to the transmission unit 104
Is equipped with. Buffers 110a, 110b, 111,
A buffer identifier is assigned to 112 so that the communication control unit 120 can identify them. The buffer 110a, the buffers 111, and 112 are assigned a buffer identifier common to other processing devices that are predetermined in the system. Also, only one buffer 110b corresponding to the communication channel message receiving unit 101 is shown in the figure, but each communication channel set at the stage of setting a communication channel with the processing device of the transmission source. And a buffer identifier determined by the transmission source processing device is assigned. The buffer 110a corresponding to the communication channel message receiving unit 101 is used to receive a communication channel setting request at the time of setting a communication channel, and is not used for a normal message.

FIG. 3 shows a format of a message transmitted via the transmission medium 1. Message 300
In addition to the data unit 306 that holds the data transmitted between the process execution units 50 of the respective processing devices via the communication medium 1,
As the control information, a content code (CC) unit 301 that holds a content code indicating the content of the data 305, a destination address (SA) that holds the address of the processing device that is the destination
Portion 302, communication determination flag (SS) 30 indicating whether or not a communication path between a message source and a message destination is set
3, a unicast, multicast, or broadcast mode (CO) unit 304 for holding a communication mode indicating which mode is used for communication, and a buffer identifier unit 305 for designating a destination buffer There is. Note that the message 300 includes other information and the like used for detecting an error that occurs during communication, but these are omitted because they are not directly related to the present invention.

The message sent via the communication medium 1 is received by the communication control unit 120. The communication control unit 120 uses the message 30 transmitted on the communication medium 1.
The message is received by referring to the destination address section 302 of 0. The received message 300 is stored in the buffer 110b-according to the buffer identifier in the message 300.
It is stored in any one of 112. The communication channel message receiving unit 101, the non-communication channel message receiving unit 102, and the broadcast receiving unit 103 respectively correspond to the buffer 1
The message stored in 10b-112 is read and passed to the information receiving unit 20. When receiving the message from the communication setting unit 10, the information receiving unit 20 determines to which process executing unit 50 the message is to be passed. Finally, the received message is passed to the execution processing unit 50 which actually executes the process using the message. Information receiving unit 20
Therefore, only the information stored in the data section 306 in the received message is passed to the processing execution section 50.

The process execution unit 50 performs the given process using the data received from the information receiving unit 20. The processing execution unit 50 in the present embodiment is, for example, a user program created or used by a user,
Contains application programs. Processing execution unit 50
Also, as necessary, the result of the executed processing or a reference request for information necessary for the processing is transmitted to another processing apparatus. In this case, the process execution unit 50 sends the information to be sent to the information sending unit 30 together with the content code indicating the content and the group identifier indicating the importance of the information. In the process execution unit 50, a process that does not require data in a message sent via the communication medium 1 or a process result or the like is sent via the communication medium 1. There may be some that are not.

The information transmission section 30 includes a data transmission management section 60.
Referring to the information held by the process execution unit 50, based on the content code added to the information received from the process execution unit 50 and the group identifier, the communication method used to transmit the information and the transmission importance are determined, and the communication is performed. Transmitter 10 in setting unit 10
4 is requested to send processing. The information transmitter 30 is the transmitter 1.
When requesting transmission to 04, the information to be transmitted is arranged in the format shown in FIG. Based on the transmission information sent from the information transmission unit 30, the data transmission unit 104 sets the transmission destination and, if necessary, the communication path according to the communication method of the information, and transmits the message. .

The registration change unit 40 of the data management unit 60 is used when the system configuration is changed, such as when a new processing device is added to the system or when some processing devices are changed. Update the information held.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the reception information table 200 held by the data transmission management unit 60. Correspondence between the content code (column 201) attached to the message to be captured by the processing device 2 and the process execution unit 50 (column 202) that uses the message attached with the content code in the reception information table 200. The date is registered.
The reception information table 200 is a table that the information receiving unit 20 refers to when passing the data in the message received from the communication setting unit 10 to the process execution unit 50. For example,
In the reception information table 200 shown in FIG. 4, a message with "cc1" as the content code is transmitted to the processing execution unit "UP-A", and a message with "cc2" is transmitted as the processing execution unit. It indicates that it should be transmitted to "UP-B".

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the transmission information table held by the data management unit 60 together with the reception information table 200. The transmission information table 210 stores information indicating which communication method is used and where the message generated by the process execution unit 50 is transmitted. Specifically, a content code column 211 in which a content code indicating the content of the message is set, a destination address column 212 in which the address of the processing device that is the destination is set, and whether or not a communication path is set when transmitting the message. A communication path setting field 213 in which the information shown is set, a group identifier field 214 indicating the importance of the information to be transmitted, a group level field 215 indicating the transmission priority level of the corresponding group, and a communication path between the processing device of the transmission destination. Is set, and a setting flag column 216 in which a flag indicating whether or not has been set is set, and a buffer identifier column 217 in which the identifier of the buffer used in the processing device of the transmission destination is registered. In the case of unicast, the address set in the transmission destination address column 212 is the address of the processing device that is uniquely given to the destination, and in the case of multicast, it is commonly given to the processing device that is the transmission destination. Multicast address (group address)
Is set. Further, when transmitting a message by broadcasting, an address (broadcast address) previously determined for broadcasting is set in the destination address field. Further, in the present embodiment, the information to be transmitted is assumed to belong to any of the groups corresponding to the importance, and the group identifier column is set with an identifier determined for identifying this group.

The transmission information storage table 210 shown in FIG.
Is a message to which the content code "cc5" is attached and the group identifier "P" is given in the first line, the destination address is "4235D", and the buffer identifier "21" is assigned to the message. It shows that a communication path using 110b is set and transmitted. Figure 4
In, the transmission information for the message to which the content code "cc5" is attached is also set in the third line. In this embodiment, it is possible to dynamically change the range of the processing device that transmits the message with the same content code according to the value of the group identifier according to the importance of the message to be transmitted. For group identifiers that can be applied to messages with the same content code, the less important group identifiers have higher importance in order to expand the message transmission range in response to the increase in importance. It can be included by an identifier. In this case, different group identifiers are set for the messages having the same content code, and their priorities are set at the group level (column 215). For example, in the case shown in FIG.
If the larger the value set in the group level is, the higher the priority is, the content code "c
The message sent together with the designation of c5 "and the group identifier" B "has a higher priority B than P, and therefore is sent to both the destination addresses" 4235D "and" 3221F ". If group priority is "
If P "is specified, the message is sent only to the destination address" 4235D. "In FIG. 5, the value of the buffer identifier column 217 in the third line of the sending information table 210 is undetermined. However, this indicates that, as indicated by the corresponding setting flag column 216, the communication path has not been set, and therefore the buffer identifier has not been assigned.

In the following, the message transmission / reception processing realized by the above-described processing device will be described first from the processing at the time of message reception.

FIG. 6 shows the communication medium 1 by the communication setting unit 10.
5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process of receiving a message from. In the communication setting unit 10, first, the communication control unit 12
With 0, the destination address set in the destination address portion 302 of the message flowing on the communication medium 1 is checked. The communication control unit 120 receives the message when the destination address is the address assigned to itself, the address assigned to the group of processing devices to which the destination address belongs, and the address set for broadcasting (step). 501). Communication control unit 120
Receives the message, the buffer identifier portion 305
With reference to, it is checked whether or not any of the buffers 110b-112 is assigned a buffer identifier that matches the buffer identifier set in the buffer identifier section 305 (step 502). If there is no buffer to which the matching buffer identifier is assigned, the message is discarded as unnecessary in the processing device (step 503). On the other hand, if there is a buffer with the same buffer identifier, the received message is stored in that buffer (step 504). At this time, the communication control unit 120 stores the message in the format shown in FIG. 3 excluding the buffer identifier unit 305 in the buffer. When the buffer storing the received message is the buffer 110b corresponding to the communication channel message receiving unit 101 (step 505), the communication control unit 120 confirms the reception of the message with the processing device of the transmission source. A confirmation message for sending is sent (step 506). The messages stored in the buffers 110b-112 by the communication control unit 120 are the communication channel message receiving unit 101 and the non-communication channel message receiving unit 1.
02, the broadcast receiving unit 103 transfers the information to the information receiving unit 20 (step 507).

In the present embodiment, in order to perform communication using the communication path, it is necessary to set the communication path between the source processing apparatus and the destination processing apparatus before actually transmitting / receiving the message. is there. The setting of the communication path will be described later.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the received message in the information receiving section 20. When the information receiving section 20 receives the message from the communication setting section 10 (step 601), the content code section 30 in the message is received.
1 to recognize the content code attached to the message (step 602). Next, the data transmission management unit 6
By referring to the reception information table 200 in 0, it is determined to which execution processing unit 50 the reception message is transmitted. In this determination, first, the content code column 201 of the reception information table 200 is searched to see if there is a column in which a content code that matches the recognized content code is set (step 603). If no matching content code is found, the received message is discarded and the process ends (step 604). When the content code column 201 in which the content code matching the recognized content code is registered is found, the received message is transmitted to the process execution unit registered in the process execution unit column 202 corresponding to the content code column 201. It is determined as the processing execution unit (step 605). Then, the message is transferred to the process execution unit 50 determined in step 605, and the process ends. (Step 606).

Next, the processing at the time of message transmission will be described.

When the processing execution unit 50 receives an inquiry about data that is a processing result to be notified to another processing apparatus or an inquiry to the processing execution section of another processing apparatus, the processing execution unit 50 preliminarily sets the data in correspondence with the content. The specified content code and the group identifier corresponding to the degree of importance of the information are output as transmission information. In the present embodiment, the transmission information output by the process execution unit 50 is passed to the information transmission unit 30. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing by the information transmitting unit 30 when transmitting a message.

The information transmitting unit 30 first receives the transmission data accompanied by the designation of the content code and the group identifier from the process executing unit 50 (step 701). At this time, the processing execution unit designates the cancellation of the set communication path as necessary. Next, the transmission information table 210 in the data transmission management unit 60 is referred to based on the specified content code and group identifier, and the communication means to be used and the processing device of the transmission destination are determined (step 702). Specifically, the transmission information table is searched based on the content code and group identifier designated by the process execution unit, and the content code column 211 in which the designated content code and group identifier are registered, and the group identifier. The destination address registered in the destination address column 212 of the row including the column 214 is calculated. At this time, if the same content code as the content code specified in the content code column 211 is registered and the group identifier registered in the group identifier column 214 has a different row, it is set in the group level column 215. By referring to the information, it is checked whether the group of processing devices having the group identifier is included in the group having the designated group identifier. If there is a group identifier column 214 in which a group identifier included in the designated group identifier is registered in this way, the destination address registered in the corresponding destination address column 212 is also included in the message. Determine as the destination. Next, with reference to the content code column 211 in which the designated content code and group identifier are registered, and the communication channel setting column 213 corresponding to the group identifier column 214, whether or not to perform communication using the communication channel Examine (Step 70
3). If the use of the communication path is not instructed by the communication path setting column 213, the process proceeds to step 706. When using the communication path, subsequently, referring to the setting flag column 216,
It is determined whether or not a communication path has already been set for communication with the content code and group identifier designated by the process execution unit 50 (step 704). If the flag is not set in the setting flag column 216 and the communication path is not set, the communication path is set by the processing described later (step 70).
5). In step 706, the data received from the process execution unit 50 is sent to the transmission unit 104, and a message is sent out. At this time, the information transmission unit 30 sets the communication determination flag (communication flag) set according to the content code instructed by the process execution unit 50, the destination address determined in step 702, and the determination result in step 703 together with the data. Information indicating the communication mode and the buffer identifier registered in the buffer identifier column 217 of the transmission information table 210 are set in the transmitting unit 1.
Send to 04. When the transmission request of the message to the transmission information table 210 transmission unit 104 is completed, it is determined whether there is an instruction to release the set communication path from the process execution unit 50 (step 707). If there is no instruction to release the communication channel, the process is terminated as it is, and if an instruction to release the communication channel is issued, the setting of the communication channel used for communication is released and the process is terminated (step 708).

The transmitting unit 104, which has received the message and the buffer identifier transmitted from the information transmitting unit 30, generates a message in the format to be transmitted onto the communication medium 1 shown in FIG. 3 from the received information and stores the message in the buffer 113. Store. The message stored in the buffer 113 is taken out by the communication control unit 120 and sent out on the communication medium 1. If the transmitted message uses the communication channel, the communication control unit 120 waits for a response message to the message. If no response message is returned, processing such as message resending is performed.
It should be noted that whether or not the message received from the transmission unit 104 uses the communication path can be known by referring to the communication determination flag 303 attached to the message.

Next, a communication path setting process when the communication path is used for message communication will be described. The flow of communication channel setting processing is shown in FIG. FIG. 9A is a flowchart of processing performed by the processing device on the message transmitting side during the communication path setting processing, and FIG. 9B is a flowchart of processing performed by the processing device on the message receiving side during the communication path setting processing. It is a flowchart.

First, on the message sending side, when it is necessary to set a communication path at the time of sending a message (step 705 in FIG. 8), the information sending unit 30 sets the buffer 110b of the receiving side processing device for setting the communication path. Determines a buffer identifier to be assigned to the buffer identifier and stores the buffer identifier in the buffer identifier column 217 of the transmission table 210 (step 801). Then, the transmission unit 10 transmits the communication path setting request by designating the destination address and the determined buffer identifier.
4 is requested (step 802). Upon receiving the request from the information transmitting unit 30, the transmitting unit 104 sends the information indicating unicast or multicast and the identifier assigned to the buffer 110a to the destination address unit 302, respectively.
The communication mode unit 304 and the buffer identifier unit 305 have
A message in which the buffer identifier determined in step 801 is set in the data section 306 is constructed and stored in the buffer 113. The message requesting the setting of the communication path stored in the buffer 113 is sent to the communication medium 1 by the communication control unit 120 (step 803). Thereafter, the communication control device on the message transmission side waits for a response from the processing device on the message reception side (step 804). When there is a response from the processing device on the message receiving side, the communication control unit 120 of the processing device on the message transmitting side notifies the information transmitting unit 30 of the response (step 805). Upon receiving the notification from the communication control unit 120 that the response has been received, the information transmission unit 30 sets a flag in the corresponding setting flag column 216 of the transmission information table 210 (step 806).

On the other hand, when the message requesting the setting of the communication path transmitted in step 803 is received by the communication control unit 120 of the processing device on the message receiving side (step 8)
11), and is sent to the communication channel message receiving unit 101 via the buffer 110a (step 812). Upon receiving the communication channel setting request message, the communication channel message receiving unit 101 recognizes the buffer identifier for performing the communication including the communication channel included in the message and assigned the buffer identifier. Buffer 11
0b is set (step 813). Buffer 110b
After setting the communication path and setting the communication path, the communication path message receiving unit 101 requests the communication control unit 120 to send a response notifying that the setting of the communication path is completed to the processing device on the message transmitting side. (Step 814).

As described above, when the communication path is set between the message transmitting side processing apparatus and the message receiving side processing apparatus, message communication using this communication path is possible thereafter. Becomes When a message is transmitted by unicast, the processing device on the message transmitting side sets a communication path with one specific processing device by the method described above. Further, when performing multicast communication, it is only necessary to set a communication path between each of the plurality of processing devices that are communication partners by the above-described method.

Incidentally, in order to cancel the set communication path,
By the information transmission unit 30 of the processing device on the message transmission side,
The corresponding setting flag column 217 of the transmission information table 210
A flag requesting to release the communication path by resetting the flag set to is sent to the processing device on the message receiving side. The processing device on the message receiving side, which has received the message requesting the cancellation of the communication path, releases the communication path by, for example, releasing the buffer set for the communication path in the communication path message receiving unit 101.

As the communication between the processing devices using the communication path set as described above, the communication path can be used by the following two methods. In this embodiment, any method may be used, but it is preferable to select a more suitable method in consideration of the system characteristics and the like.

First, in the first method, a unique communication path is set between the processing device on the message sending side and the processing device on the message receiving side, and all communication between the two is performed on this single communication path. Using. With this method, it is not necessary to set a communication path each time communication is performed between the same processing devices, and it is possible to reduce the time required for transmission and reception. Further, as compared with the second method described later, the number of communication paths set between the processing devices can be smaller, and the load on the network can be reduced. However, in the first method, for example, when a message is transmitted by multicast and a processing device that does not need the message exists in a part of the destinations, the message is received by the processing device that does not need the message. In the information receiving unit, although the process executing unit 50 that uses the message does not exist, the transfer destination process executing unit of the received message is searched based on the content code. This is
That is, it means that the overhead of the receiving process in the information receiving unit becomes large, which causes a problem of lowering efficiency.

On the other hand, in the second method, the communication path 706 is set between the processing devices that perform communication, corresponding to the content code attached to the message, that is, for each content of the message. In order to realize such a communication path setting, the buffer identifier corresponding to the content code added to the message to be transmitted is used for setting the communication path, and the message receiving side processing device has the content of the message required by itself. The communication path is set only for the buffer identifier corresponding to the code. According to the second method, it is necessary to set the communication path each time a message having contents that have not been communicated until now is transmitted, which increases the processing time for this purpose. However, each processing device sets the communication path only for the buffer identifier set corresponding to the message content code necessary for itself, so once the communication path is set, it is taken into the processing device. It can be concluded that all the messages that are given are the required messages. Therefore, unlike the first method, the information receiving unit of the receiving side processing device does not need to perform unnecessary processing, and each processing device can efficiently receive only the message required by the processing execution unit. become able to.

In this embodiment, it is possible to add a processing device while the system is online. In the following, as an example, assuming that the processing device 6 is newly connected to the system including the processing devices 2-5 in FIG. 1, a process performed after the processing device 6 is connected will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing performed when a new processing device is added. When a new processing device 6 is connected in the system, the processing device 6
Broadcasts an additional message containing information about itself onto the communication medium 1 (step 90).
1). At this time, as the additional message to be transmitted, a message having the same format as that shown in FIG. 3 can be used. In the content code column 301, a predetermined content code is set in order to indicate that the information is information regarding the processing device newly added during the processing of adding the processing device. In the data unit 306, the transmission information table 210 of the existing processing device such as the address assigned to the processing device 6 and the content code corresponding to the content of the data used by the processing execution unit 50 in the processing device 6 is updated. Necessary information is set.

Since the additional message sent on the communication medium 1 is sent in the broadcast mode, it is received by the communication control units 120 of all the existing processing devices 2-5 (step 902). The additional message received by the processing device 2-5 is passed from the communication control unit 120 to the information receiving unit 20 via the buffer 112 and the broadcast receiving unit 103 in each processing device. Further, when the information receiving section 20 refers to the content code section of the additional message and recognizes that the received message is the additional message, it sends the data section 306 of the additional message to the registration changing section 40 (however, the received information Table 200
Indicates that the content code attached to the additional message and the association of the registration change unit 40 are registered in advance.)
(Step 903). The registration changing unit 40 uses the transmission information table 2 based on the received information about the processing device 6.
10 is updated (step 904). Registration change unit 40
When the transmission information table 210 is updated, this time, information on the self processing device is created (step 905).
The information created by the registration changing unit 40 includes information on each processing device 2-5.
Address, the content code corresponding to the data necessary for the processing of the execution processing unit 50 of each processing device 2-5, and the like. The information created in step 905 is sent from the registration changing unit 40 to the information transmitting unit 3 together with the address of the added processing device 6.
0 and transmitted to the processing device 6 in the unicast mode (step 906). When the processing device 6 receives the message including the information about each processing device sent from each processing device, it transfers the message to the registration changing unit 60 in the same manner as in step 903 (step 90).
7). The registration changing unit 40 of the processing device 6 has its own transmission information table 2 based on the information sent from each processing device.
10 is generated (step 908).

As described above, the existing processing device 2-5
When the transmission table is updated and the transmission table of the newly added processing device 6 is generated, the message can be transmitted between the processing devices including the new processing device 6 by the method described above.

Next, when it becomes necessary to receive new data in a certain processing device in the system, or
When data for which reception is no longer necessary occurs, the contents of the transmission information table 210 in another processing device are updated in the same manner as the above-described processing when a new processing device is added. Specifically, in a broadcast mode, a message having information (content code, group identifier, etc.) relating to data that is newly required or no longer needed by the changed processing device in the broadcast mode is transmitted to another processing device. Send to. The other processing device receives this message, and the registration changing unit 40 updates the contents of the transmission information table 210 based on the information sent. In this case, unlike the case where a new processing device is added, there is no particular information to be notified from another processing device to the changed processing device, and step 905 in the process (FIG. 10) when the processing device is added. The process corresponding to the subsequent process is not performed.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. In the above embodiment, the information transmission unit transmits the information output from the process execution unit to the transmission destination (address of the processing device serving as the transmission destination), transmission mode (unicast, multicast, broadcast), and transmission method (communication). In addition to the content code, the group identifier corresponding to the importance of the message to be sent is referred to in order to determine (whether to set the route). You can also do it. Alternatively, it is possible to determine the processing device of the transmission destination according to the content code, and determine the transmission mode and transmission method according to the group identifier instructed by the processing execution unit. Also, as the group identifier, in addition to the importance of the information to be transmitted, enter an identifier corresponding to the characteristic characteristics of the information to be transmitted, such as the frequency of occurrence, amount, urgency of information, or whether or not it is test data. For example, the transmission mode, the transmission method, etc. can be determined according to these. For example, regarding the frequency of occurrence of information,
The number of times a message is generated at a predetermined time interval corresponding to the content code added to the message to be sent is counted by a counter, etc., and if this value exceeds a predetermined count value, a communication path is set and communication is performed. If it is less than or equal to a predetermined value, communication can be performed without setting a communication path. By deciding whether or not to set the communication path in this way, if the frequency of occurrence is low, communication is performed without increasing the load on the network, and if the frequency of occurrence is high, the receiver side It is possible to prevent loss of messages due to buffer overflow.

According to this embodiment, each processing device specifies the destination of the information output from the execution processing unit, the mode for transmitting the information, and the method for transmitting the information from the processing execution unit. It is decided based on the content code and importance. Therefore, the processing execution unit in each processing device has a processing execution unit to which information should be sent when a request for processing results or information is sent to the processing execution units of other processing devices. It is not necessary to consider the address, the mode for transmitting information, the method for transmitting, and only specify the content code that is predetermined corresponding to the content of the information to be transmitted and the importance of the information. Good. Further, according to the present embodiment, the creator of the user program or the like, which is the processing execution unit, does not need to be aware of the system configuration or the like, and can create the program more efficiently. Furthermore, even if there is an expansion of the system, the necessary processing will be performed on the processing device side.
It can be said that it does not affect the user program or the like running on the processing device. In setting / releasing the communication path in the present embodiment, for example, Takeshi Nishida,
A protocol called TCP / IP described in "TCP / IP-Network Protocols and Implementations" issued by Soft Research Center can be used. When using TCP / IP, TCP / I
The socket file on P is associated with the buffer in this embodiment, and the port number is associated with the buffer identifier.
The function of this embodiment can be realized by setting the communication path according to the procedure defined by CP / IP.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the message to be transmitted is divided into groups corresponding to the importance thereof and has a group identifier, and the destination of the message (range of destination), the mode used for transmission, the communication path Whether or not to use is decided. In contrast to the above-described embodiment, this embodiment defines, as a group, a set including a combination of processing devices that are message transmission destinations.
Further, in this embodiment, when the information is output from the process execution unit, only the content code is specified, and the destination of the message including the information is the content of the information to be output, whether the communication path is set or not. It is assumed that it is determined according to.

The system in this embodiment and each processing unit in the system have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, in this embodiment, since the group is defined by the combination of the processing devices, the method of managing the information in the data transmission management unit 60 in each processing device is different from the previous embodiment. Transmission information table 1 of this embodiment
000, as shown in FIG. 11A, a content code column 100 in which a content code designated by the process execution unit is set.
1, a communication path setting field 1002 indicating whether or not to set a communication path corresponding to each content code field 1001, and a group identifier field 1003 for identifying a group of processing devices corresponding to a message destination. A setting flag column 1004 in which a flag indicating whether or not a communication path has been set, and a buffer for setting a buffer identifier assigned to a buffer by a processing device on the message receiving side when a message is transmitted using the communication path It consists of an identifier column 1005. Further, in the present invention, the data transmission management unit 60 has an environment table 1010 for managing information about each group. The environment table 1010 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1 (b), corresponding to the group identifier set in the group identifier column 1011, a destination address column 1012 for holding the address of the processing device belonging to the group, and the address assigned to the group. The group level column 1013 holds the group level which is the priority.

In the present embodiment, when the message is transmitted, the information transmitting unit 30 belongs to the processing device to which the message including the information output by the process executing unit is to be transmitted based on the content code specified by the process executing unit 50. The transmission information table 10 is used to determine whether or not to set the group and the communication path.
It discriminates according to 00. Further, using the group identifier recognized as a result of this determination, the environment table 101
According to 0, the address of the processing device to be the destination and the priority of the group are determined. The handling of the priority of the group in the present embodiment is similar to the handling of the priority of the previous embodiment. In addition, processing and the like by each unit at the time of transmitting and receiving a message in this embodiment are performed in the same manner as in the previous embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted here.

In the present invention, in the second embodiment, it is also possible to determine whether or not to set a communication path for each group of processing devices that are transmission destinations. A device having such a form will be described below as a third embodiment. In addition, also in the present embodiment, the configuration and the like of each processing apparatus are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, and hereinafter, only the portions different from the first embodiment will be described.

In this example, as the transmission information table and the environment table, the transmission information table 110 shown in FIG. 12 is used.
0, the environment table 1110 is used. In the transmission upper table 1100 shown in FIG. 12, the group identifier of the group to which the information is to be transmitted is set in correspondence with the content code column 1101 in which the content code corresponding to the content of the information to be transmitted is set. A column 1102 is provided. On the other hand, similarly to the environment information table 1010 shown in FIG. 11B, the environment table 1110 is provided with a destination address field 1112 and a group level field 1113 corresponding to the group identifier field 1111 for setting the group identifier. Further, in this embodiment, in addition to these, a communication path setting column (1114) and a buffer identifier column 1115 are provided in the environment table 1110. In this embodiment, whether or not a communication path is used for transmitting a message is determined for each group of processing devices that are transmission destinations. Therefore, by setting the communication path at the time of setting each group, it is possible to save the trouble of setting the communication path and canceling the setting when the message is transmitted. Along with this, as can be seen from FIG. 12, the setting flag indicating the setting state of the communication path is unnecessary.
Note that, in this way, in the case where the addition of networks is increased by setting the communication path in advance and the situation becomes unfavorable, the setting flag is set in this embodiment as in the previous two embodiments. Can be provided and the communication path can be set as required.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, in the above embodiment, the mode used for message transmission and the presence / absence of communication channel setting are determined according to the content of information to be transmitted and / or the degree of importance. The determination may be made according to the number of devices. In addition, when sending a message by multicasting, the multicast address is set in the destination address column of the transmission information table, but in the destination address column, it is unique to each processing device targeted for multicasting. List the unique addresses given, and in addition,
A field for setting information indicating the mode used for message transmission may be provided.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to realize the transmission of a message between the processing devices connected to the network by an appropriate transmission mode and transmission method according to the content or the characteristic characteristics of information such as its importance. Similarly, it is possible to dynamically change the range in which the message is transmitted according to the characteristic characteristics and contents of the information. further,
Even when the system configuration is changed due to the expansion of the system or the like, each processing device can cope with the change while being online.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a computer system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a format diagram of a message transmitted via a communication medium.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a reception information table held by a data transmission management unit in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a transmission information table held by a data transmission management unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of a communication setting unit when receiving a message.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of an information receiving unit when receiving a message.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an information transmitting unit when transmitting a message.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing performed by processing devices on the message transmitting side and the message receiving side when setting a communication path.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process performed when a new processing device is connected to the system.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a transmission information table and an environment table held by a data transmission management unit in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a transmission information table and an environment table held by a data transmission management unit in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: communication medium, 2-6: processing device, 10: communication setting unit ,: 20 information receiving unit, 30: information transmitting unit, 40: registration changing unit, 50: process executing unit, 60: data transmission managing unit,
101: communication channel message receiving unit, 102: non-communication channel message receiving unit, 103: broadcast receiving unit,
104: transmission unit, 120: communication control unit.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical indication location H04L 12/18 29/06 8732-5K H04L 11/18 9371-5K 13/00 305 C (72) Inventor Orishige Masayuki 1099 Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Inside the Hitachi Systems Development Laboratory, Inc. (72) Inventor Shigeki Hirasawa 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Inside the Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Nakamura Tomoaki 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Omika factory

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. A data communication method for an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, wherein a first processing device of the plurality of processing devices comprises the first processing device.
Of the transmission information to be transmitted to the communication medium from the processing execution unit operating on the processing device, and a predetermined data identifier corresponding to the content of the transmission information, based on the data identifier, A data communication method comprising: determining a processing device to which the transmission information is transmitted, and transmitting the transmission information to the processing device determined as a result of the determination, on the communication medium. 2. The data communication according to claim 1, wherein the determining step is held in advance and is performed in accordance with information defining correspondence between the data identifier and a processing device as a transmission destination. Method. 3. The transmitting step includes, in the transmission information, an address for identifying the determined processing device,
2. The data communication method according to claim 1, further comprising adding the data identifier and transmitting the data on the communication medium. 4. The data communication method according to claim 3,
In the second processing device of the plurality of processing devices, the transmission information is addressed to the second processing device by referring to the address attached to the transmission information sent on the communication medium. The data communication method is characterized in that the transmission information is received when the transmission information is addressed to the second processing device as a result of the determination. 5. The data communication method according to claim 4,
In the second processing device, based on the data identifier attached to the transmission information, a processing execution unit that operates on the second processing device and uses the transmission information is discriminated. A data communication method, characterized in that the transmission information is transferred to the processing execution unit determined as a result. 6. The step of determining the processing execution unit refers to a table that holds a correspondence relationship between the processing execution unit and a data identifier corresponding to transmission information used by the processing execution unit, which is held in advance. The data communication method according to claim 5, wherein the data communication method is implemented by 7. The step of discriminating the processing device includes a step of selecting a transmission mode used for transmitting the transmission information based on the data identifier, and at least two different reliability based on the data identifier. Selecting a transmission method used for transmitting the transmission information from among the transmission methods, the transmitting step including the transmission mode selected by the both selecting steps,
2. The data communication method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission information is transmitted using a transmission method. 8. The step of selecting the transmission mode comprises:
Multiple transmissions, including unicast identifying one other processing unit in the system, broadcasts to multiple processing units forming part of the system, and broadcast to all processing units in the system 8. The data communication method according to claim 7, wherein the transmission mode used for the transmission is selected from the modes. 9. The step of selecting the transmission method uses a first communication method for setting a communication path with a processing device of a transmission destination and performing communication according to a predetermined procedure, and the communication path. 8. The data communication method according to claim 7, wherein any one of the second communication methods for performing communication with the processing device of the transmission destination without any selection is selected. 10. A data communication method for an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, wherein a first processing device of the plurality of processing devices is provided on the first processing device. The transmission information to be transmitted from the operating process execution unit to the communication medium, and the transmission information is specified in association with the transmission information,
Receives a predetermined data identifier corresponding to the content of the transmission information and attribute information indicating a characteristic feature of the transmission information, and transmits the data based on at least one of the data identifier and the attribute information. A data communication method comprising: determining a processing device to which information is transmitted, and sending the transmission information to the processing device determined as a result of the determination, on the communication medium. 11. The step of determining, in order to improve the reliability of transmission of the transmission information between the processing devices, based on at least one of the data identifier and the attribute information, communication is performed according to a predetermined procedure. For transmitting the transmission information received from the processing execution unit, whichever of the first communication method using the set communication path and the second communication method for transmitting the transmission information without using the communication path 11. The data communication method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of selecting whether to use the transmission information, and in the transmitting step, the transmission information is transmitted onto the communication medium according to the communication method selected in the selecting step. . 12. The attribute information includes a group identifier indicating to which of a plurality of groups the transmission information belongs, which group is determined for each degree of importance of the transmission information, and in the selecting step, When the group identifier indicates that the importance of the transmission information is higher than a predetermined degree, the first communication method is selected, and the importance of the transmission information is selected. The data communication method according to claim 11, wherein the second communication method is selected when the value is lower than the predetermined degree. 13. The data communication method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of counting the frequency of occurrence of transmission information corresponding to each of the data identifiers, and recording the count result for each data identifier. Characteristic data communication method. 14. The step of selecting includes: a step of referring to a frequency of occurrence of transmission information recorded in the step of recording, the transmission information corresponding to the identifier designated by the processing execution unit; A step of comparing the occurrence frequency of the transmission information corresponding to the identifier designated by the processing execution unit with a predetermined occurrence frequency; and, if the occurrence frequency exceeds the predetermined occurrence frequency, 14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: selecting one communication method, and selecting the second communication method when the occurrence frequency is lower than the predetermined occurrence frequency. Communication method. 15. The attribute information includes information indicating whether or not the transmission information is test data, and in the selection step, when the transmission information is test data, the attribute information indicates that the transmission information is test data. 12. The data communication method according to claim 11, wherein the second communication method is selected and the first communication method is selected when it is indicated that the transmission information is not test data. 16. A data communication method for an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, wherein a first processing device among the plurality of processing devices is provided on the first processing device. A step of receiving transmission information to be transmitted onto the communication medium from an operating processing execution part and attribute information representing a characteristic feature of the transmission information; and a transmission used for transmitting the transmission information based on the attribute information. A data communication method comprising: a mode selecting step; and a step of transmitting the transmission information on the communication medium in the selected transmission mode. 17. A data communication method for an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, wherein a first processing device among the plurality of processing devices is provided on the first processing device. A step of receiving transmission information to be transmitted onto the communication medium from an operating process execution section and attribute information representing a characteristic feature of the transmission information; and at least two different reliability levels based on the attribute information. A data communication method, comprising the steps of selecting a transmission method to be used for transmitting the transmission information from two transmission methods, and transmitting the transmission information to the communication medium according to the selected transmission method. . 18. The attribute information includes information indicating the importance of the transmission information, and in the selecting step, according to the importance of the transmission information indicated by the attribute information,
The communication method having higher reliability is selected when the importance of the transmission information is high, and the communication method having lower reliability is selected when the importance of the transmission information is low. 17. The data communication method described in 17. 19. The attribute information includes information indicating whether or not the transmission information is test data, and in the selecting step, reliability is obtained when the attribute information indicates that the transmission information is test data. 18. The data communication method according to claim 17, wherein a communication method having a higher reliability is selected when the transmission information indicates that the transmission information is not test data. 20. In an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium and data communication is performed between the processing devices via the communication medium, each of the processing devices executes a predetermined process. At least one processing execution unit, transmission information to be transmitted from the processing execution unit to another processing device, a data identifier predetermined corresponding to the content of the transmission information, and a characteristic feature of the transmission information Determining means for receiving the attribute information indicating the address of the processing device, which is the destination of the transmission information, based on at least one of the data identifier and the attribute information, and the determination result by the determining means. Transmission means for transmitting the transmission information together with the data identifier and the address onto the communication medium, and an address attached to the transmission information transmitted on the communication medium. The receiving means for receiving the transmission information based on the response, and the processing execution unit to which the received transmission information should be passed according to the data identifier, and based on the result of the determination, the processing execution unit for the received transmission information. An information processing system, comprising: 21. Each of the processing devices further includes a transmission information table in which the address of the processing device serving as the transmission destination is registered in correspondence with the data identifier and the attribute information, and which is referred to by the determining means. The information processing system according to claim 20, wherein: 22. The reliability of the transmission information table, which corresponds to the data identifier and the attribute information, for transmitting the transmission information by setting a communication path with a processing device of a transmission destination. 22. The information processing system according to claim 21, further comprising a flag that is set when a communication method having high property is used. 23. The discriminating means comprises means for discriminating whether or not to use a highly reliable communication method performed by setting the communication path for transmitting the transmission information, by referring to the flag. The information processing system according to claim 22, wherein. 24. The transmission information table further stores information indicating a transmission mode used for transmission of the transmission information, corresponding to the data identifier and the information indicating the characteristic. The information processing system according to item 21. 25. The information indicating the transmission mode is targeted for unicast for transmitting another transmission device by specifying another processing device in the system, and for a plurality of processing devices forming a part of the system. 23. The information processing according to claim 22, wherein it indicates which mode is used, that is, a multicast for transmitting the transmission information or a broadcast for transmitting the transmission information to all processing devices in the system. system. 26. The determining means includes means for determining a transmission mode to be used for transmitting the transmission information by referring to information indicating the transmission mode.
5. The information processing system according to item 5. 27. In each of the processing devices, a correspondence relationship between the processing execution unit and a data identifier corresponding to transmission information used by the processing execution unit is further registered, and is referred to by the transfer unit. The information processing system according to claim 20, comprising a reception information table. 28. In a data communication method of an information processing system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected via a communication medium, the processing execution unit operating on each processing device outputs in advance to each of the processing devices. A predetermined content code corresponding to the transmission information, an address of a processing device to which the transmission information should be transmitted, a transmission mode used for transmitting the transmission information, and a communication path for transmitting the transmission information are set. And a transmission information table in which a flag indicating whether to use a highly reliable communication method to be used is registered, and in the first processing device, the transmission to be transmitted from the processing execution unit onto the communication medium is performed. Information and a content code corresponding to the content of the transmission information are received, the transmission information table is searched based on the content code, and processing of the transmission destination of the transmission information to be transmitted is performed. Position, a transmission mode used for transmitting the transmission information to be transmitted, and whether or not the communication path is set for transmission of the transmission information to be transmitted, and the transmission information to be transmitted is determined according to the determination result. The content code,
And a data communication method, wherein the data is transmitted to the communication medium together with the determined address of the processing apparatus of the transmission destination, and the second processing apparatus receives the transmission information on the communication medium by referring to the address. 29. The data communication method according to claim 28, wherein information relating to the third processing device is transmitted from the third processing device newly connected to the communication medium to the plurality of processing devices. And a step of receiving information regarding the third processing device in the plurality of processing devices and updating the transmission information table based on the received information. 30. The data communication method according to claim 29, wherein the plurality of processing devices transmits information regarding each processing device to the third processing device, and the third processing device includes: Receiving information about each of the processing devices sent from a plurality of processing devices and generating the transmission information table used by the third processing device.