JPH07245636A - Protocol converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the manufacture to easily manage product quality control, to allow the user to easily select a higher rank system and to reduce the cost required for the selection. CONSTITUTION:The protocol converter interfacing a central monitor control system and a higher rank system whose protocol differs from each other in a communication enable way selects either of the two higher rank systems. The converter is provided with a common protocol conversion section 2 in common to each higher rank system, 1st and 2nd exclusive protocol conversion sections 3, 4 corresponding respectively to the higher rank system, and a changeover section 5 selecting either of the 1st and 2nd exclusive protocol conversion sections 3, 4 depending on the selected higher rank system. Then the selected 1st and 2nd exclusive protocol conversion section 3 or 4 selected by the changeover section 5 works together with the common protocol conversion section 2 to convert protocol of communication data. Thus, one-set of the protocol converter copes with any of plural higher rank systems.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protocol converter for converting communication data into a protocol according to an operation mode of a transfer destination system and connecting two communication systems having different protocols so that they can communicate with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to enable mutual communication between two communication systems having different protocols such as a communication speed and a communication method, an information data signal input under each protocol is transferred to an operation mode of a transfer destination system. A protocol converter that converts the protocol according to the above is required.

The protocol converter incorporates a protocol conversion program between two communication systems to be connected. This protocol conversion program has a dedicated conversion program for each combination of communication systems to be converted. Being developed.

[0004]

In other words, conventionally, since a dedicated protocol conversion program exists for each combination of communication systems, the manufacturer must design, manufacture and manage a protocol converter for each combination of communication systems. However, there is a problem that the cost becomes high.

The following inconveniences also occur on the user side. For example, at present, a system configuration is used in which a communication between two communication systems having different protocols (referred to as communication systems A and B) is performed using a dedicated protocol converter. Change to communication system C, communication system A
When changing the system so that C can communicate with each other, the protocol converter currently in use (R that stores a dedicated conversion program provided in the protocol converter) is used.
OM) becomes unusable and must be replaced with a protocol converter incorporating a protocol conversion program dedicated to communication between communication systems A and C. Therefore,
When making such a system change, it is necessary to replace the ROM or the protocol converter itself, which requires a great deal of cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to facilitate the product management on the maker side and also to easily change the system for the user side and reduce the cost for the change. It is to provide a protocol converter that can be achieved.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, a protocol converter of the present invention is provided between a first communication system and a second communication system having different protocols, and transfers communication data to a transfer destination system. Second communication composed of a plurality of second communication systems having a part of the same protocol by performing protocol conversion in accordance with the operating mode of the above and connecting the first communication system and the second communication system so that they can communicate with each other. A selection unit that selects one second communication system from the system group; a common protocol conversion unit that performs protocol conversion between a common protocol in the second communication system group and a protocol of the first communication system; A protocol unique to each second communication system other than the common protocol in the second communication system group and the protocol of the first communication system. A plurality of dedicated protocol conversion units dedicated to each second communication system for performing protocol conversion between the second communication system and the dedicated protocol conversion unit that operates together with the common protocol conversion unit in the second communication system selected by the selection unit. It is characterized in that it has a switching unit for switching according to it.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the selection unit can select the second communication system that can be connected to the protocol converter from the second communication system group including a plurality of second communication systems. The protocol converter has a common protocol conversion unit common to each second communication system and a dedicated protocol conversion unit corresponding to each second communication system, and a dedicated protocol conversion unit that operates together with the common protocol conversion unit by a switching unit. The unit is switched to the dedicated protocol conversion unit corresponding to the second communication system selected by the selection unit, and enables communication between the first communication system and the selected second communication system.

Thus, one protocol converter can support a plurality of second communication systems, which facilitates product management on the maker side and allows the user side to easily change the second communication system. The cost for the change can be reduced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following will describe one embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, a central supervisory control system (first communication system) as shown in FIG. 3 and a host system (second communication) for performing data communication by a protocol different from the protocol used for data communication of the system. system)
The protocol converter 1 for communicatively connecting with 10 will be described.

The central supervisory control system described above centralizes various equipment such as lighting equipment, air conditioning equipment, power receiving and distributing equipment, heat source equipment, utility equipment, etc., in high-rise buildings such as buildings and in factories that have advanced automation. It is a system for monitoring and control, and is a system applied to various plants such as roads, electric power, and water treatment, in addition to buildings and factories.

This central supervisory control system comprises a communication line 1
1 and a plurality of terminal controllers 12, ..., And a master station 13, and a central supervisory control station 14 connected to the master station 13. For the communication line 11, an optical fiber cable that is less affected by noise, an inexpensive twisted pair cable that is excellent in workability, or the like is used.

Each of the terminal controllers 12 is connected to various equipment 15 to be monitored and controlled, and is provided with various I / O sections such as a contact input / output section and an analog input / output section. Various input monitoring data is converted into a predetermined transmission data format and transmitted to the master station 13 of the upper level, and the equipment 15 is installed based on the control data sent from the central monitoring control station 14 via the master station 13. Controls the operation of.

The master station 13 transmits the control data sent from the central supervisory control station 14 to the communication line 1.
1 is transmitted to each of the terminal controllers 12 above, and various monitoring data sent from each terminal controller 12 is converted into a form suitable for data processing in the central monitoring control station 14 and transmitted to the central monitoring control station 14. It has a control function. The master station 13 also has a monitoring function for the communication line 11 and the terminal controllers 12 ... Connected to the communication line 11.

The central supervisory control station 14 basically has
System controller 1 that controls the operation of the entire system
6. Logging / message printer 17 for recording monitoring data, keyboard 18 for inputting various data such as control data, color C for displaying monitoring data, etc.
A display device 19 such as RT (Cathode-Ray Tube), an auxiliary storage device 20 such as a floppy disk drive for storing data, a graphic panel 21 for displaying measurement data, a system controller 16 and RS232.
It is composed of a power supply device 23 and a graphic panel controller 22 which is connected by a C interface and controls a display operation of the graphic panel 21 according to an instruction from the system controller 16.

The protocol converter 1 for communicatively connecting the central supervisory control system and the host system 10 as described above is connected to the master station 13. Then, the protocol converter 1 is
OSI (Open Systems Interchange) such as communication method, connection method, response method, transmission code, error control method, bit transmission order, etc.
connection) The protocol located in the physical layer or the data link layer of the reference model is mutually converted, and the data communication of the central supervisory control system (data communication between the master station 13 and each terminal controller 12) and the data communication of the host system 10 are performed. Align the protocol between and.

The protocol converter 1 of this embodiment includes two host systems 10a.
The protocol conversion is performed between one upper system 10 selected from the upper system group (second communication system group) consisting of 0b and the central supervisory control system. That is, the protocol converter 1 uses the host system 10a or 10 that can communicate with the central monitoring control system.
It can be switched to any of b.

As shown in FIG. 2, this protocol converter 1 basically has a first communication interface 1a for communication with the central supervisory control system side and a host system 1
Second communication interface 1b for communication with the 0 side, CPU (Ce
ntral processing unit) 1c, and a memory 1d for storing various programs executed by the CPU 1c and temporarily storing communication data.

As shown in FIG. 1, the protocol converter 1 includes a common protocol conversion unit 2 common to the two upper systems 10a and 10b, a first dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 dedicated to the upper system 10a, and a dedicated higher system 10b. The second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4, the selection unit 6 that selects one of the first dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 and the second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4, and the dedicated protocol conversion unit that operates together with the common protocol conversion unit 2 (first It has a switching unit 5 for switching the dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 or the second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4) according to the selection result of the selection unit 6. Each of the above units 2 to 6 is a functional module included in the protocol converter 1, and is configured by a CPU 1c that executes a predetermined program stored in the memory 1d (see FIG. 2).

The common protocol conversion unit 2 performs protocol conversion between a protocol common to the communications of the two host systems 10a and 10b and a protocol on the side of the central supervisory control system different from this protocol.

The first dedicated protocol converter 3 performs protocol conversion between a protocol on the higher system 10a side different from the higher system 10b side and a protocol on the central supervisory control system side different from this protocol.

The second dedicated protocol converter 4 performs protocol conversion between a protocol on the higher system 10b side different from the higher system 10a side and a protocol on the central supervisory control system side different from this protocol.

The operation of the protocol converter 1 having the above configuration will be described below.

When starting the protocol converter 1, the following preparatory operation is performed. First, a protocol converter tool (hereinafter referred to as a PC tool) 20 such as a personal computer shown by a dotted line in FIG. 3 is connected to the protocol converter 1, and the PC tool 20 is used to attempt data communication with a central supervisory control system. The host system 10 of the communication destination is selected, and data necessary for communication such as the address of the terminal (each terminal controller 12, master station 13) is externally input from the PC tool 20. Specifically, the higher system 10 (10a) to be connected
Or specify 10b) from the PC tool 20, and
A communication table is created on the PC tool 20 side, and the table is downloaded to the memory 1d (see FIG. 2) of the protocol converter 1.

In the protocol converter 1, the selection unit 6 in FIG. 1 reads the data for selecting the upper system 10 from the PC tool 20 and determines whether the connected upper system 10 is 10a or 10b, Based on the result of this determination, the switching unit 5 determines the dedicated protocol conversion unit to operate as either the first dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 or the second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4.

As described above, the protocol converter 1
After starting, the common protocol conversion unit 2 and the switching unit 5
The protocol of the communication data between the central supervisory control system and the host system 10 shown in FIG. 3 by the dedicated protocol converter (first dedicated protocol converter 3 or second dedicated protocol converter 4) determined by Converts and controls communication between both systems.

Now, using the protocol converter 1, the central supervisory control system and the host system 10a are currently being used.
I have configured a system to communicate with
Considering the case where it is necessary to change the communication destination of the central supervisory control system to the host system 10b, the PC tool 20
The current protocol converter 1 can be used as it is by simply designating the communication destination system as the host system 10b using. That is, if the PC tool 20 is externally connected to the protocol converter 1 and the host system 10b is designated by this PC tool 20, the selection unit 6 in FIG.
0b is selected, and the operating dedicated protocol conversion unit is switched by the switching unit 5 from the first dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 to the second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4, and the protocol between the central supervisory control system and the upper system 10b is selected. Conversion is possible, and there is no need to replace with a dedicated protocol converter as in the past.

As described above, the protocol converter 1 of the present embodiment converts the communication data into a protocol according to the operation mode of the transfer destination system to perform the protocol conversion and the central communication control system and the second communication as the first communication system having different protocols. Host system 10 (10a or 10b)
One of the two) and two higher-level systems 10 having the same protocol in part.
Selector 6 for selecting one from the group consisting of a and 10b
And a common protocol conversion unit 2 for performing protocol conversion between a protocol common to the communication of the two upper systems 10a and 10b and a protocol on the side of the central supervisory control system.
And each host system 10a other than the above common protocol
Common to the above, the first dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 and the second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4 dedicated to each host system 10a and 10b for performing protocol conversion between the protocol unique to 10b and the protocol on the side of the central supervisory control system. Configuration in which a dedicated protocol converter (first dedicated protocol converter 3 or second dedicated protocol converter 4) that operates together with the protocol converter 2 is switched according to the selection result of the selector 6 Is.

As a result, one protocol converter 1 is used to communicate between the central supervisory control system and the host system 10a, and the central supervisory control system and the host system 10 are connected.
All communication with b is possible, product management on the maker side is easy, and the system change is easy on the user side as well, and the cost involved can be reduced.

Further, the protocol converter 1 of this embodiment
Selects the host system 10 by the selection unit 6 (that is, the switching between the first dedicated protocol conversion unit 3 and the second dedicated protocol conversion unit 4 by the switching unit 5) from the outside (from the PC tool 20 in FIG. 3). Since it can be performed according to the instruction of, when switching the host system 10 to be connected (or when starting the protocol converter 1),
The dedicated protocol conversion unit can be switched at the same time when the data required for communication is externally input, and no troublesome work such as switch change is required. However, a switch is provided in the main body of the protocol converter 1 so that the host system 1
0 (10a, 10b) may be switched and set by the switch. That is, the selection unit may be composed of a switch.

In the above embodiment, the case where there are two host systems that can communicate with the central supervisory control system has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and there are three or more host systems that can communicate with the central supervisory control system. May be

In the above embodiment, the central supervisory control system is used as the first communication system and the host system is used as the second communication system. However, it is of course applicable to other communication systems. The above examples are merely for clarifying the technical contents of the present invention, and should not be construed in a narrow sense by limiting only to such specific examples. The spirit of the present invention and the scope of claims It can be implemented with various modifications.

[0034]

As described above, the protocol converter of the present invention includes one second communication system from the second communication system group consisting of a plurality of second communication systems in which some protocols are the same.
A selection unit for selecting a communication system, a common protocol conversion unit for performing protocol conversion between a common protocol in the second communication system group and a protocol for the first communication system, and a common protocol conversion unit in the second communication system group. Operates with a plurality of dedicated protocol conversion units dedicated to each second communication system, which performs protocol conversion between the protocol unique to each second communication system other than the protocol and the protocol of the first communication system, and the common protocol conversion unit. The dedicated protocol conversion unit for switching is configured to have a switching unit that switches according to the second communication system selected by the selection unit.

Therefore, since one protocol converter can support a plurality of second communication systems, product management on the maker side is easy and the second communication system can be easily changed on the user side. There is an effect that the cost for the change can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional module configuration of a protocol converter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the protocol converter.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an entire communication system using the protocol converter.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Protocol Converter 2 Common Protocol Converter 3 First Dedicated Protocol Converter (Dedicated Protocol Converter) 4 Second Dedicated Protocol Converter (Dedicated Protocol Converter) 5 Switch 6 Selector

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first communication system, which is provided between a first communication system and a second communication system having different protocols and which converts the communication data into a protocol according to an operation mode of a transfer destination system.
A communication system and a second communication system are communicably connected to each other, and one second communication system is selected from a second communication system group composed of a plurality of second communication systems having a part of the same protocol. A selection unit that selects, a common protocol conversion unit that performs protocol conversion between a common protocol in the second communication system group and a protocol of the first communication system, and a protocol other than the common protocol in the second communication system group Protocol conversion between a protocol unique to each second communication system and the protocol of the first communication system,
A plurality of dedicated protocol conversion units dedicated to each second communication system, and a switching unit that switches the dedicated protocol conversion unit operating together with the common protocol conversion unit according to the second communication system selected by the selection unit. Is a protocol converter.