JP2010157103A - Verification system and operation verification apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a verification system for efficiently executing change depending on the difference of a verification environment. <P>SOLUTION: This verification system includes: a real machine 3-1 on which control software is loaded; and an operation verification processing part 11 for verifying the control software. the verification system further includes a common interface library part 12-1 for converting an instruction and data based on a common interface into the format of the real machine 3-1 and transmitting them to the real machine 3-1, and for receiving data from the real machine 3-1, converting the received data into the format of a common interface and transmitting the converted data to an operation verification processing part 11. The operation verification processing part 11 executes verification processing by using the format of the instruction and data based on the common interface. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a verification system and an operation verification apparatus for supporting software development.

  Conventionally, at the development stage of embedded software, the contents of control are examined using an environmental simulator, operation verification is performed in a test room or a real environment using a general-purpose control device or prototype, and input signals are sent to the actual machine. Various verification activities of control and design are performed, such as giving operation verification of the actual machine.

  However, the same environment cannot always be used at each stage of development. For example, even if you want to verify the operation of software, there are various cases, such as using an actual machine, using a prototype because there is no actual hardware, or using only the actual software driver because there is no prototype. The situation can be considered.

  When verifying the operation of software in a plurality of environments having different situations as described above, the conventional verification method develops and modifies the part that becomes an interface individually according to the situation. Therefore, work or modification for dealing with only a specific environment is required, and the more the environment that is assumed, the more work is required. Another problem is that the required environment is not prepared and the product development period is extended.

  As a solution to this problem, for example, the following Patent Document 1 proposes a system that uses a simulator of a product software, mechanism, and electric (electronic circuit), each accesses common data, and executes them synchronously. . In this system, the operation of the entire system is realized by converting the control output of the software into a signal for a mechanical simulator by an electric simulator.

JP 2006-350549 A

  However, according to the technique described in Patent Document 1, a common data area is prepared for each product to be developed, and a method for accessing them is further defined for each control element (software, mechanism, and electric). There is a need. For this reason, there is a problem in that data other than predetermined data cannot be accessed, and preparation in advance according to the verification environment becomes complicated.

  In addition, with the conventional verification method including the method described in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to generate a versatile operation verification environment in which a combination of an actual machine and a simulator (hereinafter referred to as a verification configuration) can be arbitrarily changed. . The input required by each control element, the output period of the control element, the control period, and the like are various. For this reason, simply arranging control elements related to various target devices that constitute the verification environment including the environment simulator, etc., makes it impossible to operate the target devices in a coordinated manner. A mechanism for cooperative operation is required. However, the conventional verification method has a problem that it is not versatile because it is necessary to define and construct a mechanism for cooperative operation for each verification configuration.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a highly versatile verification system and verification apparatus that can efficiently implement changes depending on differences in the environment to be verified.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a verification system including a verification target device equipped with control software and an operation verification device for verifying the control software, wherein the control software Receiving a command and data based on a common interface that defines a format of the command and data to be transmitted and received in the verification, converting the received command and data into a format corresponding to the verification target device, and transmitting to the verification target device And a common interface conversion unit that receives data in the format of the device from the verification target device, converts the received data into a common interface format, and transmits the data to the operation verification device. The control software uses command and data formats based on a common interface. Which comprises carrying out a verification process on E A.

  According to the present invention, the operation verification apparatus performs the verification operation using the common interface, and each apparatus in the verification environment implements the function for realizing the common interface, and for realizing the common interface. For devices that do not implement functions, the operation verification device has a library for simulating that the device has a common interface, so changes that depend on differences in the environment to be verified can be efficiently performed. There is an effect that it can be implemented.

  Embodiments of a verification system and a verification apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of environmental conditions of the operation verification apparatus according to the present invention. The operation verification apparatus 1 is an apparatus for verifying the operation of an actual machine 3 in which control software to be developed is incorporated. The operation verification device 1 is connected to various devices (hereinafter referred to as verification environment devices) in an environment (verification environment) according to the development stage. In FIG. 1, as an example of a verification environment apparatus that constitutes the verification environment 7, an actual machine 3, an environment simulator 4, an actual machine software driver 5, and a general-purpose controller 6 are illustrated. Each verification environment apparatus can use the function of the common interface 2. The operation verification apparatus 1 performs initialization, parameter input, operation execution instruction, and the like on these verification environment apparatuses.

  In FIG. 1, as a device that may be provided as the verification environment 7, an environment simulator 4, an actual software driver 5, and a general-purpose controller 6 are shown in addition to the actual device 3. The environment simulator 4 is a simulator for simulating other actual machines or simulating actual environmental conditions when only a part of the actual machines can be prepared when there are a plurality of actual machines to be verified. The actual software driver 5 may be provided as the verification environment 7 when, for example, the actual device cannot be prepared and only the driver portion of the actual software is prepared to check the operation. The general-purpose controller 6 is a general-purpose control device that can control various actuators (various sensors, valves, and the like) that are controlled by an actual machine, and may be provided as a verification environment 7 when an actual machine cannot be prepared. Hereinafter, a verification environment device other than the actual machine is referred to as a verification device.

  In this embodiment, the common interface 2 can be used for all the verification environment apparatuses, thereby configuring a highly versatile verification system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the verification system according to the present embodiment. This example shows an environment in which actual machines 3-1, 3-2,... Into which actual software to be developed is incorporated can be used as a verification environment. The verification system illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a device 10 that is a computer system in which software of the operation verification device 1 is installed, and actual devices 3-1, 3-2,. The operation verification processing unit 11 is a control unit of the operation verification apparatus 1 that operates on the apparatus 10. Further, the common interface library units 12-1, 12-2,... Appear as if the actual machines 3-1, 3-2,... Corresponding to the functions of the common interface 2 have the functions of the common interface 2, respectively. It is a module group for. That is, this is a library for enabling the operation verification processing unit 11 to instruct the actual machines 3-1, 3-2,... Using the function of the common interface 2. Specifically, each module of this library converts the content instructed in the format of the common interface 2 into an instruction in a format in which the actual machines 3-1, 3-2,. It has a function of converting the input / output data format of the interface 2 to the input / output data format having the same contents as the actual machines 3-1, 3-2.

  In the example of FIG. 2, since all the verification environment devices are real machines, the common interface library units 12-1, 12-2,... Are provided outside the verification target device, and the operation verification processing unit 11 includes the common interface library unit 12. The verification operation using the actual machines 3-1, 3-2,.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the case where the actual machine on which the software to be verified is installed can be used is shown. However, when all of the actual machines cannot be prepared as the test environment, or the environment other than the actual machine is used as the actual device. If it cannot be prepared, for example, an operation is performed using an environment simulator that simulates another actual machine or another device.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a verification system in a case where an environment simulator that simulates such another actual machine or device is provided as software. As shown in FIG. 3, in this example, an environment simulator 13 is mounted on the apparatus 10 on which the operation verification processing unit 11 is mounted. An actual machine 3-1 is provided as a test environment. In this example, the environment simulator 13 includes a common interface unit 14 that is a processing unit that functions as the common interface 2. Here, since verification of the control software is targeted, it is assumed that the initialization operation, setting of the control input value, output, and acquisition of the control output are performed at the time of verification.

  2 and 3, the actual machines 3-1 and 3-2 do not actually have the function of the common interface 2, and the device 10 includes the common interface library units 12-1 and 12-2. However, as with the environment simulator 13, the actual machines 3-1 and 3-2 may include the common interface unit 14 that realizes the function of the common interface 2 therein. In FIG. 3, the environment simulator 13, which is an example of a verification device, includes the common interface unit 14. However, the verification device such as the environment simulator 13 includes the common interface unit 14. If not, the apparatus 10 may be provided with a common interface library unit corresponding to the verification apparatus, as in the actual machine 3-1 in FIG. 3.

  Next, the operation verification method of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the procedure of the operation verification method according to the present embodiment. This figure is a diagram assuming the verification environment shown in FIG. First, the operation verification processing unit 11 sends device information (information format used for initialization / input / output, etc.) regarding each verification environment device (in this case, the actual machine 3-1 and the environment simulator 13) to be used to the common interface 2. It is obtained using the Info function which is one of the functions. The Info function, which is one function of the common interface 2, is a function for notifying the format of information used for initialization and input / output. In FIG. 4, first, information about the actual machine 3-1 is acquired (step S1), and then information about the environment simulator 13 is acquired (step S2). Here, the information is acquired in the order of the actual machine 3-1 and the environmental simulator 13, but there is no restriction on the order of acquiring the information.

  The operation verification processing unit 11 displays information acquired from each verification environment device, and the operator of the operation verification device 1 sets the execution environment of each verification environment device based on the display (step S3). Specifically, for example, a setting according to the verification environment such as a setting for using the output of the actual machine 3-1 as an input to the environment simulator 13 or a setting for setting the environment simulator 13 as an input to the actual machine 3-1. Do.

  Next, the operation verification processing unit 11 initializes the real machine 3-1 using the Init function of the common interface 2 (step S 4). The Init function is a function for instructing initialization based on information in an arbitrary format (information for performing initialization). Based on the format of information used for initialization acquired by the Info function, the Init function transmits information necessary for the device instructed to perform initialization to the device. Then, the operation verification processing unit 11 acquires the output in the initial state from the real machine 3-1 using the Get function of the common interface 2 (Step S5). The Get function is a function for outputting output information in an arbitrary format, and the output is acquired based on the format of information used for output acquired by the Info function.

  Next, the operation verification processing unit 11 initializes the environment simulator 13 using the Init function of the common interface 2 (step S6). Then, the operation verification processing unit 11 acquires the output in the initial state from the environment simulator 13 using the Get function of the common interface 2 (Step S7).

  With the processing up to step S7 described above, initialization of each verification environment device is completed, and then input setting, execution, and output acquisition are performed for each verification environment device every predetermined control period. In the example of FIG. 4, first, the operation verification processing unit 11 sets the input information of the real machine 3-1 using the Set function of the common interface 2 (Step S <b> 8). The Set function is a function for setting information to be input based on the format of information used for input acquired by the Info function.

  Next, the operation verification processing unit 11 causes the actual machine 3-1 to execute control processing for a predetermined time using the Step function of the common interface 2 (step S9). Then, the operation verification processing unit 11 acquires the output after executing the control process for a predetermined time in step S9 by the Get function of the common interface 2 (step S10).

  Further, the operation verification processing unit 11 sets the input information of the environment simulator 13 using the Set function of the common interface 2 (step S11). At this time, if the output information of the actual machine 3-1 is set to be input to the environmental simulator 13 in step S3, the input information of the environmental simulator 13 is set based on the output information of the actual machine 3-1. I do. Next, the operation verification processing unit 11 causes the environment simulator 13 to execute control processing for a predetermined time using the Step function of the common interface 2 (Step S12). Then, the operation verification processing unit 11 acquires the output after executing the control process for a predetermined time in step S12 by the Get function of the common interface 2 (step S13).

  After completion of step S13, the process returns to step S8. At this time, if the output information of the environment simulator 13 is set to be the input of the actual machine 3-1, in step S3, the output information acquired in step S13. Based on the above, the input information of step S8 is set. Thereafter, steps S8 to S13 are repeated until a predetermined control verification time elapses or until an end instruction is given.

  The operator of the operation verification apparatus 1 can arbitrarily change the setting of input information to each verification environment apparatus during the control operation (steps S8 to S13) by the function of the common interface 2. Therefore, the operation verification apparatus 1 provides an input change user interface that allows an operator to change an input.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the input change screen. For example, the operation verification processing unit 11 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 5, and on the screen, the name of the data that can be changed (item), the value of the data before the change (original), the changed value Displays the value (Value). As the value of the data before the change, the latest value set as the input value to each verification environment device at that time is displayed. In the example of Fig. 5, a check box is added in the value column after change, the check box of the value that the operator wants to change is checked, the value after change is entered, and the Modify button is pressed to check the value. The data will be changed. FIG. 5 is an example, and the screen display format and change acceptance method are not limited to this, and any method may be used as long as the operator can change the input value to each verification environment device. .

  Furthermore, the operation verification processing unit 11 receives an input of a specific condition and an operation corresponding to the condition (stop of control operation, change of input, etc.) from the operator, and each verification environment device during the control operation The output may be monitored, and when a specific condition set by the operator is met, a corresponding action may be executed.

  In the case of an air conditioner, in an actual system, a plurality of actual machines such as indoor units and outdoor units perform coordinated operations. Even in that case, by adding verification environment devices (real machine, real machine software driver, general-purpose controller, etc.) corresponding to indoor units and outdoor units to the same configuration as this embodiment, It can be coordinated.

  Similarly, when an actual software driver and a general-purpose controller are used instead of an actual device, for example, the input of the actual software driver is obtained from the output of the general-purpose controller and the input of the general-purpose controller is obtained from the output of the actual software driver. By doing so, verification equivalent to verification using a prototype or a real machine can be performed. The actual machine software driver may operate on the apparatus 10 on which the operation verification processing unit 11 is mounted, or may operate on another computer. In any case, as in the case of the actual machine 3-1, the operation verification method of the present embodiment can be applied to any configuration through the common interface library.

  In this embodiment, the example in which the operation verification apparatus 1 and the verification environment apparatus can be directly connected has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the verification environment apparatus is partially or entirely installed in a remote place. These devices may be connected to the operation verification device 1 by TCP / IP or the like to perform the same operation as described above.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the operation verification apparatus 1 performs the verification operation for each verification environment using the common interface 2. Each verification environment device implements a function for realizing the common interface 2, and the real machine that does not implement a function for realizing the common interface 2 uses the common interface 2. The operation verification apparatus is equipped with a library for simulating as provided, and the operation verification by the common interface 2 is performed. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently change the cooperative operation using the input and output of each verification environment device even when the verification environment is different. In addition to being able to operate multiple real machines and environmental simulators in association with each other, all the verification environment devices can be handled as a black box with a certain input / output, so it can be flexibly adapted to various configurations. , Can increase versatility.

  As described above, the verification system and the verification apparatus according to the present invention are useful for a verification system related to the development of control software, and are particularly suitable for verification systems that perform verification with various configurations.

It is a figure which shows an example of the environmental conditions of the operation verification apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a verification system. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a verification system in case an environment simulator is provided as software. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of an operation verification method. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen for input changes.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation verification apparatus 2 Common interface 3,3-1,3-2 Real machine 4 Environment simulator 5 Real machine software driver 6 General-purpose controller 7 Verification environment 10 Apparatus 11 Operation verification process part 12-1, 12-2 Common interface library part 13 Environmental simulator 14 Common interface section

Claims (18)

A verification system comprising: a verification target device equipped with control software; and an operation verification device that verifies the control software,
Receiving a command and data based on a common interface defining a format of a command and data to be transmitted and received in the verification of the control software, converting the received command and data into a format corresponding to the verification target device, and the verification target A common interface conversion means for transmitting to the apparatus, receiving data in the format of the apparatus from the verification target apparatus, converting the received data into a format of a common interface, and transmitting the data to the operation verification apparatus;
With
The operation verification apparatus performs a verification process on the control software using a command and data format based on a common interface. An environment simulator that operates in conjunction with input / output of the verification target device and simulates a verification environment;
The command and data based on the common interface are received, the received command and data are converted into a format corresponding to the environment simulator and transmitted to the environment simulator, and data in the format of the device is also transmitted from the environment simulator. A common interface executing means for receiving, converting the received data into a format of a common interface and transmitting the data to the operation verification device;
Further comprising
The operation verification device performs the verification process by operating the verification target device using the output of the environment simulator and operating the environment simulator using the output of the verification target device. The verification system according to claim 1. The operation verification apparatus receives instructions and data based on the common interface, converts the received instructions and data into a format corresponding to the own apparatus, and converts data in the format of the own apparatus into a format of the common interface. An environment simulator for simulating a verification environment, which operates in conjunction with the input / output of the verification target device,
Further comprising
The operation verification device performs the verification process by operating the verification target device using the output of the environment simulator and operating the environment simulator using the output of the verification target device. The verification system according to claim 1. A verification system comprising: a verification target device equipped with control software; and an operation verification device that verifies the control software,
The verification target device is:
Receives commands and data based on a common interface that defines the format of commands and data to be transmitted and received in the verification of the control software, converts the received commands and data into a format corresponding to its own device, Common interface execution means for converting the data of the format into the format of the common interface and transmitting it to the operation verification device;
With
The operation verification apparatus performs a verification process on the control software using a command and data format based on a common interface. An environment simulator that operates in conjunction with input / output of the verification target device and simulates a verification environment;
The command and data based on the common interface are received, the received command and data are converted into a format corresponding to the environment simulator and transmitted to the environment simulator, and data in the format of the device is also transmitted from the environment simulator. Common interface conversion means for receiving, converting the received data into a format of a common interface, and transmitting to the operation verification device;
Further comprising
The operation verification device performs the verification process by operating the verification target device using the output of the environment simulator and operating the environment simulator using the output of the verification target device. The verification system according to claim 4. The operation verification apparatus receives instructions and data based on the common interface, converts the received instructions and data into a format corresponding to the own apparatus, and converts data in the format of the own apparatus into a format of the common interface. An environment simulator for simulating the verification environment, which operates in conjunction with the input / output of the verification target device.
Further comprising
The operation verification device performs the verification process by operating the verification target device using the output of the environment simulator and operating the environment simulator using the output of the verification target device. The verification system according to claim 4.   Accepting a setting request from an operator of the operation verification device for an output of the environment simulator to be an input value of the verification target device and an output of the verification target device to be an input value of the environmental simulator; The verification system according to claim 2, wherein the verification system is set based on a request.   The verification system according to claim 1, wherein the verification target device is an actual machine on which the control software is installed.   The verification system according to claim 1, wherein the verification target device is an actual software driver that is a part or all of the control software. A plurality of the verification target devices,
10. The verification system according to claim 1, wherein a device output is input to a verification target device that operates using a device output that is an output of another verification target device as an input.   The verification target device is a general-purpose control device that can control a real software driver that is part or all of the control software and a drive unit that is controlled by the control software. 10. The verification system according to 10.   12. The apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein an input setting request from an operator of the operation verification apparatus for an apparatus output to be set as an input value of the verification target apparatus is received and set based on the input setting request. Verification system. As the common interface,
An information notification format that is a format of instructions and data for notifying data used for initialization and input / output, and
An initialization format which is a format for instructing execution of initialization, and
An input setting format which is a format of instructions and data for setting an input value;
An output acquisition format which is a format of instructions and data for acquiring an output value;
The verification system according to claim 1, wherein:   The verification system according to claim 1, wherein the verification target device is a device located in a remote place connected to the operation verification device via a network.   The operation verification device receives a change request for an input value to each device from an operator during execution of the verification process, and changes the input value based on the change request. 14. The verification system according to any one of 14.   The operation verification device receives a specific condition from an operator and an input of a predetermined operation corresponding to the condition, and when the output matches the specific condition during execution of the verification process, the matched condition The verification system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein an operation corresponding to is performed. An operation verification device for verifying control software,
The command and data in a format based on a common interface that defines the format of commands and data to be transmitted and received in the verification of the control software are converted into the command and data format of the verification target device on which the control software is installed, and the verification A common interface conversion means for transmitting to the target device, receiving data in the format of the device from the verification target device, and converting the received data into a format of a common interface;
With
An operation verification apparatus that performs verification processing on the control software using a command and data format based on a common interface. An operation verification device for verifying control software,
Receiving a command and data in a format based on a common interface that defines a command and data format to be transmitted and received in the verification of the control software, converting the received command and data into a command and data format of its own device, and When the verification target device equipped with the control software includes a common interface execution unit that converts data in the format of its own device into a format of a common interface and transmits it to the operation verification device.
An operation verification apparatus that performs verification processing on the control software using a command and data format based on a common interface.

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