JP2000049721A - Fault reporting method and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To instantaneously identify transmission faults and the fault of a device to be monitored. SOLUTION: This device to be monitored connected through a reception side transmission line 21, and a transmission side transmission line 20 to a monitoring device is provided with a communication controller 10, a monitoring circuit 11 for monitoring the fault of the device to be monitored and a loop-back switch 17. When the monitoring circuit 11 detects a fault state such as a function stoppage of the device to be monitored, the loop-back switch 17 is actuated, and the state confirmation signals from the monitoring device received by the reception side transmission line 21 are looped back to the transmission side transmission line 20. The monitoring device discriminates the presence or the absence of signals received from the transmission side transmission line 20 and whether or not they are the state confirmation signals after the transmission of the state confirmation signals to the device to be monitored, and judges a fault condition and a fault part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a failure notification,
In particular, the present invention relates to a failure notification method and apparatus that can identify a transmission path failure even if the monitored device does not respond to a confirmation signal from the monitoring device when a serious failure occurs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional technique of this kind is disclosed in
There is known a failure notification system described in JP-A-122059. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the system block.

In FIG. 3, the failure notification system comprises a monitoring device and a monitored device.
Are connected to a plurality of monitored devices 1a to 1z through. Two adjacent monitored devices, for example, the monitored devices 1a and 1b, are connected by information transfer lines 4a and 4b. The failure notification operation between the monitored devices 1a and 1b and the monitoring device 2 is as follows.

When the monitoring device 2 sends a confirmation signal to the monitored device 1a via the transmission line 3a, the monitoring device 1a
Returns the status information of its own device to the monitoring device 2 via the same transmission path 3a. At the same time, this status information is also transmitted to the monitored device 1b via the information transfer line 4a.

When a serious failure such as a function stop occurs in the monitored device 1a, the monitoring device 2 does not respond to the transmitted confirmation signal from the transmission line 3a.
Sends a confirmation signal of the monitored device 1a to the monitored device 1b via the transmission line 3b. Upon receiving the confirmation signal, the monitored device 1b transfers the confirmation signal to the monitored device 1a via the information transfer line 4b. Here, the monitored device 1a transfers the status information to the monitored device 1b via the information transfer line 4a because the function of the monitored device 1a is stopped. Upon receiving the status information transferred via the information transfer line 4a, the monitored device 1b returns the status information of the monitored device 1a to the monitoring device 2 via the transmission line 3b.

Further, even when a failure occurs in the transmission line 3a, similarly, the monitored device 1a does not respond to the confirmation signal from the monitoring device 2. In this case, similarly, the monitoring device 2 obtains the status information of the monitored device 1a via the transmission path 3b and the monitored device 1b.

The above operation is similarly performed between the monitored device 1 and the monitored devices 1y and 1z connected to each other by the information transfer lines 4y and 4z.

[0008]

In the above-mentioned prior art,
Monitored devices 1a to 1z in response to a confirmation signal from monitoring device 2
If there is no response from the server, it is not possible to determine whether the function stop or the like of the monitored device is caused by a serious failure or a transmission line failure. For this reason, the monitoring device 2 inquires of the other monitored device to which the status information of the monitored device has been transferred. If the status information cannot be obtained, the monitoring device 2 determines that a serious failure has occurred.
If the status information is obtained, it is determined that the transmission path has failed. During this time, the monitoring device needs to send the confirmation signal twice, and it takes time to detect a transmission line failure or a serious failure of the monitored device.

Further, in the prior art, it is necessary to provide an information transfer line between the monitored devices, and when both monitored devices are installed at a long distance, a transmission path equivalent to that between the monitoring device and the monitored device is required. If the status information from the monitored device cannot be obtained as described above, there is a possibility that it is impossible to similarly identify a severe failure of the monitored device and a transmission line failure.

Further, in the prior art, transmission lines and the like are frequently used for detecting a failure, which may affect the original signal transmission and processing capabilities of the monitoring device and the monitored device. (Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional failure notification system, to quickly detect a failure of a monitored device, and to appropriately deal with the failure. Is to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a failure notification method and apparatus which enables a monitoring apparatus to instantaneously determine whether a transmission line has failed or a monitored apparatus has failed.

[0012]

A fault notification method according to the present invention comprises a monitoring device for centralized monitoring and a plurality of monitored devices, wherein the monitoring device detects a fault by a signal transmitted from the monitored device. In the failure notification method for detecting, the monitoring device transmits a status confirmation signal for inquiring each monitored device about the status of the device, and the monitored device responds to the status confirmation signal in a normal state. And transmitting the status confirmation signal to the monitoring device by returning to the monitoring device when a failure occurs.

Further, the fault notification device of the present invention is a fault notification device comprising a monitoring device that performs centralized monitoring and a plurality of monitored devices connected to the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device is connected to each monitored device. A monitoring signal transmitting circuit for transmitting a status confirmation signal for inquiring about the status of the device, wherein the monitored device transmits a status signal of the monitored device in a normal state to the status confirmation signal, and transmits the status signal in a failure state. And a transmission / reception circuit for transmitting a confirmation signal back to the monitoring device.

Further, the monitored device of the present invention is connected to a monitoring device that performs centralized monitoring, receives a status confirmation signal transmitted from the monitoring device for inquiring about the status of the monitored device, and monitors the status of the monitored device. A monitored device having a transmission / reception circuit that transmits a state as a state signal, wherein the self-monitored device transmits a state signal of the self-monitored device when the self-monitored device is normal with respect to the state confirmation signal, and the self-monitored device has a The transmission / reception circuit for returning a state confirmation signal to the monitoring device and transmitting the signal is provided. A communication controller that receives the status confirmation signal from the monitoring device and outputs a status signal of the self-monitoring device; a monitoring circuit that detects a serious fault in the self-monitoring device; And a loop-back switch that receives a state signal output by the monitoring circuit and the state confirmation signal as input, and switches any one of the inputs as a transmission signal to the monitoring device based on an output of the monitoring circuit. (Operation) In response to the transmission of the status confirmation signal from the monitoring device that inquires the monitored device about the status, the monitored device returns the status confirmation signal when a failure occurs, and the monitoring device monitors the received signal. It is possible to determine whether the failure is a serious failure of the controlled device or a transmission line failure.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a fault notification method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
Is a block diagram showing the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, monitored devices 1a to 1z are:
Each is connected to the monitoring device 2 via the transmission lines 3a to 3z. The monitoring device 2 periodically sends a status confirmation signal for status confirmation to the monitored devices 1a to 1z via the transmission paths 3a to 3z. When the monitored devices 1a to 1z receive the status confirmation signal from the monitoring device 2, they return their status information to the monitoring device 2 via the transmission paths 3a to 3z. The monitored devices 1a to 1z respond to the status confirmation signal from the monitoring device 2 unless a serious failure accompanied by a functional stop occurs.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a transmitting / receiving circuit in the monitored devices 1a to 1z in FIG. In FIG. 2, 10
Is a communication controller in the monitored device, 11 is a monitoring circuit for monitoring a severe fault state of the monitored device, 17 is a loopback switch, 18 is a line driver, and 19 is a line receiver. The monitoring circuit 11 outputs the status signal 12 of the monitored device.
And the reset signal 13. Monitoring circuit 1
1 is connected to the control terminal of the loopback switch 17. The output of the loopback switch 17 is connected to the transmission line 20 via the line driver 18. A transmission signal 15 from the communication controller 10 in the monitored device is connected to one input of the loopback switch 17, and a reception terminal from the transmission line 21 is connected to the other input via the line receiver 19. . Further, a reception signal from the reception-side transmission path 21 is connected to the reception terminal 16 of the communication controller.

Next, the operation of the transmitting / receiving circuit shown in FIG. 2 will be described in detail.

While the monitored device is functioning in a normal state, the output 14 of the monitoring circuit 11 keeps the loop-back switch 17 in the off state due to the periodic arrival of the status signal 12. That is, the transmission signal 15 from the communication controller is transmitted to the transmission line 20 via the loopback switch 17 and the line driver 18, and the reception signal input from the reception line 21 is transmitted to the communication controller via the line receiver 19. Is input to As a result, transmission of the status confirmation signal from the monitoring device to the monitored device and reception of the status confirmation signal by the monitored device allow transmission of the status information of the own device to the monitoring device.

When a serious fault occurs in the monitored device, the output 14 of the monitoring circuit 11 switches the loop-back switch 17 to the ON state because the status signal 12 does not arrive. That is, the received signal from the receiving-side transmission line 21 is sent from the input 16 of the loop-back switch 17 via the line receiver 19 to the transmission-side transmission line 20 via the line driver 18. As a result, the status confirmation signal sent from the monitoring device is input from the receiving-side transmission line 21, is looped back by the loop-back switch 17 via the line receiver 19, and is then sent to the transmission-side transmission line 20 via the line driver 18. It is sent back to the monitoring device. When the monitoring device recognizes the return of the transmitted status confirmation signal, it determines that a serious failure has occurred in the monitored device, and displays the alarm information of the corresponding monitoring device and transmits the alarm information to another device. Do.

When an appropriate action is taken on the monitored device side to recover, the reset signal 13 arrives at the status input terminal of the monitoring circuit 11, and the monitoring circuit output 14 returns the loopback switch 17 to the off state again. This allows the monitoring device to check the status of the monitored device. If a failure occurs in the transmission path between the monitoring device and the monitored device, the monitoring device cannot receive a response to the sent status confirmation signal, and the monitoring device cannot transmit the status confirmation signal to the monitored device. Or the status information cannot be transmitted from the monitored device to the monitoring device.

As described above, if the monitored device is in a state of a serious failure accompanied by a functional halt, the transmitted status confirmation signal is looped back. If there is no response, the monitoring device regards this as a transmission line failure. As a result, the monitoring device specifies the suspected fault location and displays the corresponding information or sends the information to another device.

[0023]

As described above, in the failure notification method and apparatus according to the present invention, when the monitored device is in a function stop state, the status confirmation signal is returned as it is in response to the status confirmation signal sent from the monitoring device, and the transmission is performed. By providing no response in the event of a road failure, there is an effect that a suspected fault location can be detected and appropriate action can be taken promptly.

Further, there is also an effect that the suspected fault location can be similarly detected by an inexpensive means without using the transmission line of the transfer line between the monitored devices which is required in the prior art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a failure notification method and device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transmission / reception circuit in a monitored device in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a conventional fault notification method and device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b, 1y, 1z Monitored device 2 Monitoring device 3a, 3b, 3y, 3z Transmission line 4a, 4b, 4y, 4z Information transfer line 10 Communication controller 11 Monitoring circuit 12 Status signal 13 Reset signal 14 Monitoring circuit output 15 Transmission Data line 16 Receive data line 17 Loopback switch 18 Line driver 19 Line receiver 20 Transmission line 21 Receiving line 22 Loopback switch output

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A failure notification method comprising: a monitoring device that performs centralized monitoring; and a plurality of monitored devices, wherein the monitoring device detects a failure based on a signal transmitted from the monitored device. Transmit a status confirmation signal for inquiring the status of the device to each monitored device, the monitored device,
In response to the status confirmation signal, a status signal of the monitored device is transmitted when the status is normal, and the status confirmation signal is transmitted back to the monitoring device when a fault occurs. 2. A fault notification device comprising a monitoring device that performs centralized monitoring and a plurality of monitored devices connected to the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device inquires each monitored device about the status of the device. It includes a confirmation signal transmission circuit for transmitting a confirmation signal, the monitored device, for the state confirmation signal,
A failure notification device comprising: a transmission / reception circuit that transmits a status signal of a monitored device in a normal state and that returns a status confirmation signal to the monitoring device in a failure state. 3. A communication controller that receives a status confirmation signal from the monitoring device and outputs a status signal of the monitored device, a monitoring circuit that detects a severe failure of the monitored device, A loopback switch that receives a state signal output by the communication controller and the state confirmation signal as input, and switches and outputs one of the inputs as a transmission signal to the monitoring device by an output of the monitoring circuit. The fault notification device according to claim 2. 4. A transmission / reception device connected to a monitoring device that performs centralized monitoring, receiving a status confirmation signal transmitted from the monitoring device for inquiring about the status of the self-monitoring device, and transmitting the status of the self-monitoring device as a status signal. A monitored device having a circuit, wherein the self-monitored device transmits a status signal of the self-monitored device to the status confirmation signal when the self-monitored device is normal, and transmits the status confirmation signal to the monitoring device when the self-monitored device fails. A monitored device comprising the transmission / reception circuit for transmitting the signal in a loop. 5. A communication controller that receives the status confirmation signal from the monitoring device and outputs a status signal of the monitored device, a monitoring circuit that detects a serious failure of the monitored device,
A loopback switch that receives and outputs a status signal and the status confirmation signal output by the communication controller and switches any one of the inputs as a transmission signal to the monitoring device by an output of the monitoring circuit, The monitored device according to claim 4.