JPH0721030A - Loading method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the reliability of control by preventing malfunction caused by the wrong down load of a program and to improve the efficiency of down load. CONSTITUTION:While a controller (131) executes a certain program, a new program corresponding to the certain program is loaded down to the controller by a data base (11) and the controller continuously executes the certain program. At the same time, the new program is simulated, the simulated result is sent to the data base, the data base decides whether the new program is suitable or not based on the simulated result due to the controller and sends the decided result to the controller, only when the decided result due to the data base shows the new program is suitable, the certain program is updated into the new program by the controller, and the new program is executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a loading method used for downloading a program by a database, and more particularly, a loading method capable of improving the control reliability by determining the suitability of the downloaded program before its execution. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the field of plant control, a plurality of programs are provided corresponding to a plurality of processes, and a control system of a type that downloads and executes a program of a corresponding process among these programs is widely used. Has been.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of this type of control system. This control system includes a database 1 in which information including a plurality of programs and data is stored, and a plurality of control devices 3 that store the information downloaded from the database 1 in a download area 2 and execute the programs in the information. _{1 to} 3 _m are connected to each other via a transmission line 4 via a LAN.

The download area 2 is composed of a data section and a program section. When the information downloaded from the database 1 is stored and new information is newly downloaded from the database 1, the previously stored old information is entirely stored. It is updated and stored in the newly downloaded new information.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the database 1 controls the new information by the download instruction given by the operator when the old information is revised to the new information.
_The download process given to ₁ is executed (ST1). Further, the database 1 determines whether or not this download process is completed (ST2), and continues the download process until it is completed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the control device 3 ₁ executes the plant control process (ST3) and determines the presence / absence of the download process from the database 1 (ST4).

Here, the control device 3 ₁ interrupts the plant control process only when the judgment result indicates that the download process is present (ST5), and stores the new information downloaded from the database 1 in the download area 2 (ST).
6). Further, the control device 3 ₁ determines whether or not the download processing by the database 1 is completed (ST7), and continues the storage processing of new information until completed. When the storage of the new information is completed, the control device 3 ₁
Executes plant control processing.

[0008]

However, in the control system as described above, when the program of the downloaded new information has an error, the control device 3 ₁ operates based on the incorrect program, so that the malfunction occurs. Or runaway may occur and adversely affect the plant.

Similarly, when there is an error in the downloaded new information data, the control device 3 ₁ operates based on the incorrect data, so that the setting and calculation of the control parameters are erroneously runaway, which adversely affects the plant. May give.

Further, even if an error in new information is discovered,
There is a problem that it takes time to download the old information again. Further, since this download can only update the entire program and the entire data, there is a problem in that the entire program must be updated even if there is an error in a very small part of the program, which is not efficient.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and provides a loading method capable of preventing malfunction due to download of an incorrect program, improving control reliability, and improving download efficiency. The purpose is to

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a process in which a control device is connected to a database in which a plurality of programs and data are stored, and which of the programs in the database is processed. In a loading method in which the control device downloads and executes a program, when the control device is executing a certain program, the database downloads a new program corresponding to the certain program to the control device, While the device continues to execute the certain program, the new program is simulated and the simulation result is sent to the database,
The database determines the suitability of the new program based on the simulation result by the control device, and sends the determination result to the control device, and the control device has the determination result only when the determination result by the database is suitable. A loading method for updating a program to the new program and executing the new program.

[0013]

Therefore, according to the present invention, by taking the above-mentioned means, while the control device is executing a certain program, a new program corresponding to the program having the database is downloaded to the control device, and this control is executed. While the device continues to execute a program, the new program is simulated and the simulation result is sent to the database, and the database determines the suitability of the new program based on the simulation result by the control device and controls the determination result. This control device can update a certain program to a new program and execute the new program only when the result of judgment by the database is appropriate. And download It is possible to improve the efficiency.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system applied to one embodiment of the method of the present invention. In this control system, n pieces of information consisting of a program and data are stored in the program I.
A database 11 stored in each D, and a plurality of control devices 13 ₁ to 13 _m and the transmission path 14 with each other for executing a program in the information stored in the download area 12 information downloaded from the database 11 Connected via a LAN.

Here, the database 11 has a function of downloading new information to any of the control devices 13 _{1 to} 13 _m by a download command, and judging whether the new information is good or bad based on a simulation result received from the control devices 13 _{1 to} 13 _m. I have The database 11 stores in advance data for determining whether the new information is good or bad.

Each of the control devices 13 _{1 to} 13 _m has a download area 12 in which a CPU, a program for controlling a plant, and data including plant setting values and control constants are stored.
Has a RAM (not shown) and a ROM (not shown) in which the program of the control device itself is stored. The new information downloaded from the database 11 is stored in the download area 12, and the new information is simulated. When the program is judged to be “good” by the database 11 based on the above, it has a function of controlling the plant based on this judged new information.

The download area 12 is a storage area having a new information area 12a and an old information area 12b, and each information area 12a, 12b is a database 11.
The information downloaded from is divided into a data section and a program section and stored for each program ID.

The newly downloaded new information is once stored in the new information area 12a, and is updated and stored in the old information area 12b and can be used for plant control only when the result of the simulation is "good". Becomes The program ID is assigned to each piece of information on a task-by-task basis and has a unique value for the entire system.

Next, a loading method to which the control system configured as described above is applied will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3. Since the control devices 13 _{1 to} 13 _m use the same loading method, the loading method by the control device 13 ₁ and the database 11 will be described as an example here.

Now, the control device 13 ₁ controls the plant based on the program stored in the old information area (ST11). Further, the database 11 determines the presence / absence of a download instruction (ST12), and since there is no normal download instruction, the determination in ST12 is continued. However, when the operator inputs the download instruction, new information is downloaded to the control device 13 ₁ . (ST13).

The controller 13 ₁ sequentially stores the downloaded new information in the new information area 12a (ST14).
Further, the database 11 determines whether or not the download processing is completed (ST15), and downloads new information until completion (ST15).

When the download is completed, the controller 13
₁ continues the plant control based on the old information and utilizes the idle time of the CPU to simulate new information for each program ID (ST16).

When the new information is abnormally operated, the control unit 13 ₁ uses the protect function of the CPU and the OS function such as the real mode of Intel 80386.
The simulation based on the new information is interrupted so that the entire control device 13 ₁ is not adversely affected.

When the simulation is completed, the control device 13 ₁ sends the simulation result and the program ID to the database 11 as a simulation result notification text (ST17). As shown in FIG. 4, the simulation result notification text is made up of a program ID, program runaway, data error, and each calculation result.

On the other hand, when the download is completed, the database 11 waits for the simulation result from the control device 13 ₁ (ST18), determines whether or not the simulation result notification text is received (ST19), and displays the simulation result notification text. Wait until you receive it.

Then, when the database 11 receives the simulation result notification text, the program ID
Each time, the quality of the operation of the new information is judged (ST20, ST2
1) When the determination result is “good”, the determination result indicating the “good” and the program ID are transmitted to the control device 13 ₁ as the determination result notification text as shown in FIG. 5 (ST2
2) When the determination result is "No", similarly, a determination result notification text indicating "No" is transmitted to the control device 13 ₁ (ST
23).

On the other hand, when the simulation result notification text is transmitted to the database 11, the control device 13 ₁ waits for the judgment result notification text from the database 11 (ST24) and judges whether or not the judgment result notification text is received ( ST25), other ID when there is no reception
Simulation processing is performed on new information having ST (ST26)
Thus, the process returns to ST16, and when the reception is present, the ID and the determination result are read from the received determination result notification text (ST
27).

The control unit 13 ₁ judges whether the judgment result read out in ST27 is good or bad (ST28). When the judgment result is "good", the new information of the corresponding ID is added to the old information area 1
2b and the plant is controlled based on the information after the storage (ST29), and when the determination result is "No",
The plant control is continued without updating the old information stored in the old information area 12b (ST30).

Further, the control device 13 ₁ has a new information area 12
It is determined whether or not all the new information newly stored in a has been determined to be good or bad (ST31). When there is undetermined new information, ST25 to ST16 are used to perform simulation processing on the undetermined new information. If there is no undetermined new information, all simulation functions are stopped (ST32), and the process returns to ST11 to continue the process control processing.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the database 11 sends new information corresponding to old information to the control device 13 ₁
When downloaded to the database, the control device 13 ₁ simulates the new information while executing the old information and sends the simulation result to the database.
1 determines the quality of the new information based on this simulation result and sends the determination result to the control device 13 _1. Only when this determination result is “good”, the control device 13 ₁ updates the old information to the new information. Since the new information is executed, it is possible to prevent malfunction and runaway due to incorrect download of new information and improve the reliability of plant control.

Further, by preventing the malfunction and runaway of the program, it is possible to prevent a great amount of time required for the restoration of the plant and an increase in financial loss in advance. As a result, it is possible to avoid unexpected situations such as the generation of harmful substances.

Further, according to this embodiment, since information is stored for each program ID, the information can be updated for each program ID. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the efficiency of the download can be improved by updating only the information to be updated.

Further, since new information is stored in the new information area 12a at the time of download, the download can be executed without interrupting the plant control by the old information. In addition, the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, while the control device is executing a certain program, a new program corresponding to a program having a database is downloaded to the control device, and this control device is provided. While continuing the execution of the program, simulate the new program and send the simulation result to the database, the database judges the suitability of the new program based on the simulation result by the control unit, and sends the judgment result to the control unit. However, since this control device updates a certain program to a new program and executes the new program only when the judgment result by the database is appropriate, the malfunction due to the download of the wrong program is prevented and the control reliability is improved. By providing a loading method that can improve That.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a control system applied to an embodiment of a method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a loading method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a loading method in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a simulation result notification text in the same example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a determination result notification text according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional control system.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional database.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Database, 12 ... Download area, 12
a ... new information area, 12b ... old information area, 13 ₁ to 1
3 _m ... Control device, 14 ... Transmission line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A loading method in which a control device is connected to a database in which a plurality of programs and data are stored, and among the programs in the database, a program corresponding to a process is downloaded and executed by the control device. When the control device is executing a certain program, the database downloads a new program corresponding to the certain program to the control device, and the control device continues to execute the certain program, and the new program And sends the simulation result to the database, the database determines the suitability of the new program based on the simulation result by the control device, and sends the determination result to the control device. Is the day Loading method characterized by determination result by the base only when a suitable, to update the programs in the new program to execute the new program.