JP2001202353A - General simulation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce man-hour for developing a simulator system. SOLUTION: A control/managing system has a main central device 1 being a most significant managing device, a sub-central device 2 being a managing device for managing a remote device, simulator system 3 for simulating the remote device, and a network 4. A remote communication program 20 of the sub-central device 2 is provided with a mode switching means for switching an ordinary mode with the remote device as a communicating party and a virtual mode with the simulator system 3 as a communicating party and a communication means for performing communication with the simulator system 3 through the network 4 in the virtual mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a control / management system such as a building management system, and more particularly to a general-purpose simulation device for simulating a remote device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a control / management system such as a building management system, a large number of remote devices (controllers and input / output devices) are distributed and installed, a sub-central device manages the remote devices, and a main central device controls each remote device. The general configuration monitors and controls the data of the sub-central device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional control / management system. The control / management system of FIG.
A main central device 11 that is the highest management device that manages the entire system, a sub-central device 12 that is a higher management device that manages a remote device (not shown),
A simulator device 13 for simulating a remote device, a network 14 such as an Ethernet connecting the main central device 11 and the sub-central device 12, and remote lines 15 and 16 for connecting the remote device and the sub-central device 12. And

In such a system, the center-side devices (main central device 11 and sub-central device 1)
The delivery time of 2) and the remote device is different. For this reason, the operation test after all the devices are assembled requires too much man-hour, and in most cases, the system operation is verified in a state where the center devices are arranged and the remote devices are not arranged. That is, in order to verify the system operation,
The simulator 13 is developed and the simulator 13 is connected to the remote line 1 so that data can be read and written.
The communication with the remote device is simulated by connecting to the simulator device 13 with the communication device 5 and the communication device based on the communication specification with the remote device.

[0005]

However, in the above-described system, the specifications and functions of the simulator device 13 must be changed for each system depending on the communication specifications between the center-side device and the remote device and the functions of the remote device. Therefore, every time a remote line having a new specification is developed, the simulator device 13 must be developed each time.
There was a problem that development man-hours were required. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a general-purpose simulation device capable of reducing the number of development steps of a simulator device.

[0006]

The general-purpose simulation apparatus of the present invention comprises a remote device and a remote line (5, 5).
In a control / management system including a higher-level management device (2) connected to a remote device via (6), a network (4) for connecting a simulator device (3) for simulation of the remote device to each management device. ), The management device switches between a normal mode in which the remote device is the communication partner and a virtual mode in which the simulator device is the communication partner, and communication with the simulator device via the network in the virtual mode. And communication means for performing the following. Further, as one configuration example of the general-purpose simulation device of the present invention, the management device includes:
A mode switching unit and a communication unit are provided for each remote device and each remote line.

[0007]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control / management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control / management system of FIG. 1 includes a main central device 1 as a highest-level management device for managing the entire system, a sub-central device 2 as a higher-level management device for managing a remote device (not shown), and a simulation of a remote device. Device 3 and a network 4 such as Ethernet for connecting the main central device 1, the sub-central device 2, and the simulator device 3
And remote lines 5 and 6 for connecting the remote device and the sub-central device 2.

The sub-central device 2 has a remote communication program 20 functioning as a software switch in a communication control unit for communicating with the remote device and the network 4.
Is prepared. This remote communication program 20
Is a mode switching means for switching between a normal mode in which the remote device is the communication partner and a virtual mode in which the simulator device 3 is the communication partner, and a communication means for communicating with the simulator device 3 via the network 4 in the virtual mode. To achieve. The mode switching means and the communication means
It is provided for each remote device and each remote line.

If the control / management system shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a building management system, the remote devices are input / output devices such as various controllers and sensors for controlling air conditioning and lighting. In general, the delivery time to the customer differs between the sub-central device 2 and the remote device. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the remote device has not been delivered when the sub-central device 2 is delivered. For this reason, in FIG. 1, the remote devices are not connected to the remote lines 5 and 6.

In this embodiment, the network 4
Is connected to each of the main central unit 1 and the sub-central unit 2. However, it goes without saying that a plurality of sub-central units 2 may be provided.

Next, the operation of the above-described control / management system will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the remote communication program 20 of the sub-central apparatus 2,
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the simulator device 3. First, when the tester instructs to switch to the virtual mode (YES in step 101 in FIG. 2), the sub-central apparatus 2 switches to the virtual mode in which the simulator apparatus 3 is the communication partner (step 102). .

When there is no instruction from the tester (NO in step 101), sub-central apparatus 2 keeps the normal mode (step 103).
In the normal mode, the sub-central device 2 determines whether there is a response from the remote device to the transmission of the communication command (Step 104). If the response from the remote device to the communication command is not continuous, for example, three times, the sub-central device 2 determines that the remote device has failed (step 107).

In the virtual mode, since it is not possible to communicate with the actual remote device, the sub-central device 2
Sets the address of the simulator device 3 as the address of the communication destination, and transmits a communication command to the simulator device 3 via the network 4 (step 105).
In this case, the communication command based on the communication specification with the remote device is transmitted to a communication message specified by the network 4 (a packet when the network 4 is Ethernet).
By setting it in the sub-central apparatus 2, the communication with the remote apparatus can be easily simulated.

When receiving a communication command from the sub-central device 2 via the network 4 (YES in step 201 in FIG. 3), the simulator device 3 returns the preset data to the sub-central device 2 as response data. (Step 202). FIG. 4 shows an example of the response data. On the other hand, in the case of the normal mode, the sub-central device 2 transmits a communication command to the remote device via the remote lines 5 and 6 (step 106).

As described above, according to the present invention, since the remote communication program 20 of the sub-central apparatus 2 can change the communication partner and perform an operation test even when the remote apparatus cannot be actually connected, the entire system can be tested. The operation verification period can be shortened, and the number of steps can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the simulator device 3 is connected to the network 4, communication with the remote device can be easily simulated by using a communication message defined by the network 4. Therefore, the remote device can be simulated irrespective of the communication specifications (remote lines 5 and 6) between the sub-central device 2 and the remote device. There is no need to redevelop.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the simulator device is connected to the network connecting the management devices, and the management device is provided with the mode switching means and the communication means.
The operation test can be performed even when a remote device is not connected to the remote line. Further, since the simulator device is connected to the network, communication with the remote device can be easily simulated by using a communication message defined by the network. As a result, even if a remote line having a new specification is developed, it is not necessary to re-develop the simulator device, so that the man-hour for developing the simulator device can be reduced, and the test period of the entire system can be reduced.

Further, by providing the management device with a mode switching means and a communication means for each remote device and each remote line, only a remote device corresponding to a specific facility (monitoring / control target) can be virtualized using a simulator device. The mode can be set to the normal mode for other facilities, and the monitoring / control function of the management device for the specific facility can be verified without stopping the system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control / management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of a remote communication program of the sub-central apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the simulator device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of response data.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional control / management system.

[Description of Signs] 1 ... Main Central Device, 2 ... Sub Central Device,
3. Simulator device, 4. Network, 5, 6 Remote line, 20 Remote communication program.

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a control / management system including a remote device and a higher-level management device connected to the remote device via a remote line, a simulator device for simulating the remote device is provided between the management devices. Connected to a network to be connected, the management device switches a mode between a normal mode in which the remote device is a communication partner and a virtual mode in which the simulator device is a communication partner, and the network device in the virtual mode. Communication means for communicating with the simulation device via the communication device. 2. The general-purpose simulation device according to claim 1, wherein the management device includes the mode switching unit and the communication unit for each of the remote devices and each of the remote lines.