KR101074058B1 - Hardware adaptor for heterogeneous remote device - Google Patents

Abstract

In the hardware adapter connected via a network and a middleware device for transmitting a plurality of sensing data having a different format collected from heterogeneous field devices, respectively, to an application server according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively A connection unit connected to receive the sensing data collected by the heterogeneous field devices from the heterogeneous field devices, wherein the sensing data has a format according to a protocol specification of the heterogeneous field devices; A conversion unit for converting the sensing data received through the connection unit into a format according to a common standard interface standard previously negotiated with the middleware device; And a control unit which transmits sensing data having a format according to a common standard interface standard converted by the conversion unit to the middleware device.

U-City, Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN), field devices, hardware adapters

Description

Hardware adapter for heterogeneous remote device

The present invention relates to a hardware adapter for heterogeneous field devices. More specifically, it relates to a hardware adapter that provides a common standard interface to field devices with physically diverse specifications.

The present invention is derived from a study performed as part of a high-tech urban development project of the U-Eco City project group [Task Management No .: 09 Other-P60, Assignment Name: Development and Commercialization of Integrated Middleware].

The U-City (Ubiquitous-City) environment is also known as the "U-City" environment, which combines high-tech IT infrastructure and ubiquitous information services with urban spaces to increase the convenience of life, improve the quality of life, and ensure safety by systematic city management. It is the next generation informatization urban environment that innovates all functions of the city, such as improving citizens' welfare and creating new industries.

In this U-City environment, the operator analyzes the data obtained from various field devices and judges the situation in order to protect the residents in the city from various accidents, natural disasters and disasters, and maintain the urban order. Can be drunk

The field device in the U-City environment may be configured as a ubiquitous sensor network (USN: USN). Such a ubiquitous sensor network has one or more sensor networks installed in a wide area, and sensor nodes constituting each sensor network collect information of the surrounding environment in real time while being attached to, placed in, or moved to, and collected of the surrounding environment information. Through processing, users can provide more accurate and useful information service.

In such a USN environment, multiple sensor networks for various purposes may exist in the surrounding environment, and each sensor network may have different modes of operation and properties to suit a particular purpose.

In this way, the field device is composed of a variety of sensors for measuring the temperature, humidity, pressure, gas, fire, traffic volume, etc. that make up the physical environment, communication protocols vary by device equipped with these sensors, and the physical characteristics also vary. From the hardware of the sensor, communication protocol, sensor network management, and effective sensing information collection / processing / processing, etc. to provide more intelligent service by using various wired / wireless sensors and drivers in various organizations such as research institutes, academia and industry. Is in progress.

Conventionally, in order to collect, process, and process information from such field devices, a field interface and a communication interface are required, and application-dependent interfaces are defined and used according to characteristics of each field device or the purpose of a service using the same.

Therefore, there is a problem in that an application program should be changed to handle an additional communication method, a control protocol, and a sensing data processing method whenever the number and types of field devices increase.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a hardware adapter that accommodates heterogeneous field devices so that the process of the upper middleware layer is independent of the specifications or changes of the field devices.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a hardware adapter is provided. The device is a hardware adapter connected via a network and a middleware device for transmitting a plurality of sensing data having different formats collected from heterogeneous field devices to an application server, respectively, and is connected to the heterogeneous field devices, respectively. A connection unit configured to receive sensing data collected by the heterogeneous field devices from the heterogeneous field devices, wherein the sensing data has a format according to a protocol specification of the heterogeneous field devices; A conversion unit for converting the sensing data received through the connection unit into a format according to a common standard interface standard previously negotiated with the middleware device; And a control unit which transmits sensing data having a format according to a common standard interface standard converted by the conversion unit to the middleware device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to automatically recognize the specifications of heterogeneous field devices and provide them to a higher service layer and to accommodate field devices having interfaces of various physical standards, thereby improving the applicability of the field devices.

In addition, the change of the field device is not affected by the process of the upper middleware processing data, U-service system administrators and operators can operate the system without being affected by the vendor supplying the field device.

In addition, hardware device adapters enable field device manufacturers to easily apply their products without having to analyze the target system's protocols on a daily basis and easily get involved in the business without revealing their products' protocols.

In addition, the power supply ports of the hardware adapters can be duplicated to simultaneously use the power supply of the phase change and field devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and similar drawings are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless specifically stated otherwise.

Now, a hardware adapter for heterogeneous field apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a ubiquitous sensor network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the ubiquitous sensor network processes and integrates sensing data such as temperature, humidity, pressure, movement, and acceleration collected from each of a plurality of field devices having different purposes and functions to provide information services to users through applications. .

Referring to FIG. 1, a ubiquitous sensor network (USN: hereinafter referred to as “USN”) includes one or more field devices (site device 1,… field device n) 100, a hardware adapter 200, and a middleware device. 400 and application server 500.

In this case, the hardware adapter 200 and the middleware device 400 perform data transmission and reception through the network 300. Here, the network 300 provides a communication protocol according to a predefined common standard interface standard.

One or more field devices 100 are connected with each hardware adapter 200. The sensing data is collected from the connected sensors (not shown) and transmitted to the hardware adapter 200. The at least one field device 100 includes a sensor node that senses information of the surrounding environment by having one or more sensing capabilities such as ambient temperature, ambient humidity, vibration, light, pressure, and movement.

One or more field devices 100 are devices that use different physical standards, protocols. The at least one field device 100 transmits the sensing data and the sensor ID measured by the sensor to the network 300 through the hardware adapter 200.

The hardware adapter 200 has a standard interface between the field device 100 and the adapter so as to be open and freely connected to various heterogeneous field devices 100.

In addition, by mounting a common standard interface specification promised with the middleware device 400, the sensing data received from one or more field devices 100 is converted into a common standard interface standard and transmitted to the middleware device 400, which is a higher layer. do.

In addition, the hardware adapter 200 includes a function of controlling a parameter containing attribute information of the field device 100 connected by the control command of the middleware device 400.

The middleware device 400 is connected to the one or more field devices 100 and the network 300 through the hardware adapter 200 to transmit and receive data, process the received sensing data, and transmit the received sensing data to the operation server 500. . The middleware device 400 performs a data transfer function and a data flow control function.

The at least one application server 500 analyzes the sensing data transmitted from the middleware device 400 to make a determination on the site, such as whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the field, and provide an application service accordingly.

In this case, the configuration of the hardware adapter 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a hardware adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 shows the configuration of a standard message according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a sensing data according to an embodiment of the present invention Represents a format.

Referring to FIG. 2, the hardware adapter 200 includes a storage unit 201, a connection unit 203, a recognition unit 205, a conversion unit 207, a communication unit 209, and a control unit 211.

The storage unit 201 stores various programs and data for interworking with the hardware adapter 200 and the field apparatus 100 connected to the hardware adapter 200.

Here, the various programs are a program used to determine the field apparatus 100 by the recognition unit 205, a communication program for connecting to the network 300 and transmitting and receiving data, a control program for operating the hardware adapter 200, and the like. Includes various programs.

In addition, the storage unit 201 stores common standard interface specification information previously negotiated with the middleware device 400. That is, the hardware adapter 200 and the middleware device 400 connected to the field devices 100 having different protocol specifications store common standard interface information defined for use for communication. Such common standard interface information may apply to a Telecommunication Technology Association (TTA) standard.

The storage unit 201 stores a message defined in accordance with this common standard interface standard (hereinafter, referred to as a 'standard standard message').

An example of the type of the standard specification message is shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, the standard specification message is composed of messages for each message group 601 and message type 603.

There are seven message groups: connection control / confirmation message group 605, request message group 607, response message group 609, command message group 611, reporting message group 613, acknowledgment message group ( 615 and a reservation message group 617. Each message group includes a plurality of messages according to detailed functions.

The connection control / confirmation message group 605 includes ReqConnCtrl (0x0001), ConnReqCtrl (0x0002), ConnResCtrl (0x0003), and DisConnReqCtrl (0x000F), which are messages for connection control / confirmation. In addition, a message for authentication includes AuthReqCtrl (0x0100) and AuthResCtrl (0x0101).

The request message group 607 includes NetworkInfoReq (0x1000) and BufferDataReq (0x1001) which are information messages. In addition, the command message includes CmdActionReq (0x2000) and UpdateCmdReq (0x2001). It also includes network messages ControlNetworkReq (0x3001) and ControlNodeReq (0x3001).

The response message group 609 includes NetworkInfoRes (0x4000) and BufferDataRes (0x4001) which are information messages. In addition, the command message includes CmdActionRes (0x5000) and UpdateCmdRes (0x5001). In addition, the network message includes ControlNetworkRes (0x6000) and ControlNodeRes (0x6001).

Command message group (611) includes InstantCmd (0x7000), ContinuousCmd (0x7001), InstantEventCmd (0x7002), Reserve (0x7003), InstantAggCmd (0x7004), ContinuousAggCmd (0x7005), and RunActuatorCmd (0x7A00) messages for sensing / driver control. Include. In addition, it includes monitoring messages MonitoringStartCmd (0x8000) and MOnitoringStopCmd (0x8001).

The report message group 613 includes SensingValueRpt (0xA000), RunActuatorRpt (0xA001), and FinishRpt (0xAFFF) which are messages for sensing / driver control. In addition, the monitoring message includes MonitoringRpt (0xB000). It also contains other messages ErrorRpt (0xC000) and UpdateRpt (0xC001).

The confirmation message group 615 includes ChannelCheckCtrl (0xD000) and ChannelConfirmCtrl (0xD001), which are channel confirmation messages, and NakChk (0xDFFF), which is an error confirmation message.

The storage unit 201 stores the sensing data format information that can be provided for each standard of the preset field device 100. In this case, the sensing data format information is defined as shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 4, the sensing data format includes an identifier 701, a data type 703, a data representation unit 705, and a data type 707. A total of 30 data formats may be defined.

In addition, the storage unit 201 may automatically recognize the specifications of the field apparatus 100 through the EPROM memory and store parameter and attribute information of the field apparatus 100 to be accommodated in the middleware apparatus 400.

The connection unit 203 provides an interface for connecting the various heterogeneous field devices 100 and the hardware adapter 200.

The connection unit 203 may include analog input (AI), digital input (DI), digital output (DO), reference standard (RS) -xxx, RJ-xx, universal serial bus (USB), and general purpose input / output (GPIO). It may include input and output terminals of the standard. Here, various types of field devices 100 may be accommodated through the RS-xxx serial interface terminal.

At this time, the connection unit 203 is composed of RS-xxx, AI, DI, DO may be physically connected using one input and output terminal for the type of the field device 100.

In addition, the connection unit 203 may have a standard pin map between the field device 100 and the hardware adapter 200. That is, the type of the field device 100 connected for each pin may be set, and may be composed of a plurality of pins according to a standard pin map defined for the interface with the field device 100.

When the field device 100 is connected to the connection unit 203, the recognition unit 205 receives device information from the field device 100 to recognize the field device 100, and performs booting for interworking with the field device 100. Conduct. Here, the device information is the type of the field device 100 connected, the sensor name of the field device 100, installation location, installation purpose, installation date, provider, model name, communication protocol, communication band, maximum communication speed, sensing function list , Static properties and unique identifiers.

The recognition unit 205 may determine the field device 100 through device information collected from the connected field device 100. At this time, the sensing data format corresponding to the field apparatus 100 is checked among the sensing data formats stored in the storage 201 based on the determination result.

The converter 207 reconstructs and transmits the sensing data to a common standard interface standard previously negotiated with the middleware device 400. In addition, the control command received from the middleware device 400 is converted into a protocol of the field device 100 and transmitted.

At this time, the conversion unit 207 is ported with embedded O / S and mounts a task (Task) code. Here, the task is provided by opening all source codes and tool chains after subdividing so that the manufacturer or supplier of the field apparatus 100 can fit only a part of the open task code without analyzing the target system to apply. By making simple changes, the protocol of the target system is not affected.

The conversion unit 207 transmits the sensing data received from the field apparatus 100 to the middleware device 400 using the standard message stored in the storage unit 201, and receives a control command from the middleware device 400. . The received control command is converted according to the protocol specification of the connected field device 100 and transmitted to the field device 100.

The communication unit 209 communicates with the middleware device 400 using a standard specification message.

The control unit 211 controls the operation of each component of the hardware adapter 200, and serves to control the cooperative processor with the field apparatus 100.

When the controller 211 is connected to the field apparatus 100 and initially connected to the network 300, the controller 211 loads attribute information of the field apparatus 100 stored in the storage 201 to a DB of the middleware apparatus 400. Therefore, the attribute information of the field device 100 attached to the hardware adapter 200 can be automatically recognized by the middleware device 400 of the upper layer.

In addition, a parameter including attribute information of the field device 100 may be controlled by a control command of the middleware device 400.

Next, a description will be given of a process in which the hardware adapter 200 described above operates in conjunction with the field device 100 and the middleware device 300.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a hardware adapter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which will be described in connection with the components of FIGS. 1 to 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, the field device 100 is connected to the connection unit 203 of the hardware adapter 200 (S101). The recognition unit 205 of the hardware adapter 200 recognizes the connected field device 100 (S103). At this time, the device information is extracted from the field device 100 (S105). In addition, the field device 100 may be recognized by comparing the device information of the field device 100 stored in advance.

The communication unit 209 of the hardware adapter 200 accesses the network 300 and establishes a connection with the middleware device 400 (S107). In this case, the connection setting uses a standard message stored in the storage unit 201.

When the connection setting is completed, the control unit 211 of the hardware adapter 200 requests the registration of the field device 100 connected to the middleware device 400 using the standard specification message (S109). Then, the middleware device 400 registers the information of the field apparatus 100 requested to be registered in the DB (S111), and then transmits a response to the control unit 211 of the hardware adapter 200 (S113).

Then, the field apparatus 100 transmits the sensing data collected through the sensing (S115) (S117). The conversion unit 207 of the hardware adapter 200 converts the received sensing data into a common standard protocol standard using a standard standard message (S119). The converted sensing data is transmitted to the middleware device 400 (S121).

Meanwhile, the middleware device 400 transmits a command for controlling the field apparatus 100 to the control unit 211 of the hardware adapter 200 by using a standard specification message (S123). Then, the controller 211 of the hardware adapter 200 analyzes the control request (S125), converts it to meet the protocol specification of the field apparatus 200, and transmits the converted request to the field apparatus 100 (S127).

The field apparatus 100 transmits a control response after performing a function according to the control request (S129). The conversion unit 207 of the hardware adapter 200 analyzes the control response, converts it into a standard specification message (S131), and transmits it to the middleware device 400 (S133).

Thereafter, the control unit 211 of the hardware adapter 200 releases the connection with the middleware device 400 using the standard specification message (S135), and then releases the connection with the field device 100 (S137).

Embodiments of the present invention are not implemented only through the above-described apparatus and / or method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing a function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiments of the present invention, a recording medium on which the program is recorded, and the like. It may be.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

1 is a configuration diagram of a ubiquitous sensor network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a hardware adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 illustrates a configuration of a standard message according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates a sensing data standard standard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a hardware adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (7)

In the hardware adapter connected via the network and the middleware device for transmitting a plurality of sensing data having a different format collected by heterogeneous field devices to the application server, Sensing data collected by the heterogeneous field devices from the heterogeneous field devices connected to the heterogeneous field devices using different physical standards and protocols, wherein the sensing data is based on the protocol specifications of the heterogeneous field devices. A connection for receiving a format; A conversion unit for converting the sensing data received through the connection unit into a format according to a common standard interface standard previously negotiated with the middleware device; And A control unit for transmitting sensing data having a format according to a common standard interface standard converted by the conversion unit to the middleware device Hardware adapter comprising a. The method of claim 1, The apparatus may further include a storage unit configured to store standard message information and supportable sensing data format information defined according to the common standard interface standard. The conversion unit, And converting the received sensing data using the standard message information and the sensing data format information, and converting the control command received from the middleware device into a format according to a protocol standard of the heterogeneous field apparatus. The method of claim 2, The standard message information is, And a connection control and acknowledgment message group, a request message group, a response message group, a command message group, a report message group, an acknowledgment message group and a reservation message group defined according to the common standard interface specification. The method of claim 2, Recognizing unit for recognizing the connected heterogeneous field devices using the device information received from the connected heterogeneous field devices and the sensing data format information Hardware adapter further comprising. The method of claim 2, The control unit, When the initial connection with the heterogeneous field devices, the hardware adapter extracts the attribute information of the heterogeneous field devices to request registration to be automatically recognized by the middleware device. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The connecting portion, Hardware adapter including analog input (AI) terminal, digital input (DI) terminal, digital output (DO) terminal and serial interface terminal of RS (Recommend Standard) type. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The connecting portion, And a plurality of pins according to a standard pin map defined for interfacing with the heterogeneous field devices, wherein the plurality of pins are configured with different types of heterogeneous field devices connected to each other.

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