JP2001285506A - Autonomous distributed controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To normally conduct data communication between system management devices and to easily cope with the changes in a data conversion system, in the case where plural system management devices are connected via communication network of different communication protocols. SOLUTION: A controller 1, which monitors and controls one or plural equipment devices 3 and connects plural system management devices 21 and 22 via communication network N1 and N2 having different communication protocols, and data related to equipment devices 3 are individually transmitted and received between system management devices 21 and 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autonomous decentralization system for connecting a plurality of system management devices via communication networks having different communication protocols, and monitoring and controlling equipment connected to the network such as in a building. Regarding the controller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In buildings and condominiums, a controller is provided for monitoring and controlling equipment such as lighting and air conditioning, and a system management device connected to the controller controls each equipment via the controller. Devices can be monitored and controlled. 2 for the controller
When two system management devices are connected via communication networks of different communication protocols, a protocol conversion device having a data conversion function is installed between at least one of the system management devices. As a result, the controller can separately perform data communication with each system management device, and configures an autonomous distributed controller.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional autonomous distributed controller, when a plurality of communication networks of different communication protocols are connected, at least one
It was necessary to provide a protocol converter between two communication networks. Further, when changing the data conversion method after installing the protocol conversion device, it is necessary to exchange the protocol conversion device with a device having a new data conversion function.

In a building management system, it is highly necessary to connect communication networks of different communication protocols to the autonomous decentralized controller and to monitor and control equipment from a system management device on each communication network. Further, if the equipment connected to the autonomous decentralized controller changes after the introduction of the system, it is necessary in principle to change the data conversion method of the equipment transmitted to and received from the system management apparatus.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when a plurality of system management devices are connected via communication networks of different communication protocols, each system management device can communicate with each system management device. It is an object of the present invention to provide an autonomous decentralized controller capable of normally communicating data between the devices and easily coping with a change in a data conversion method.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an autonomous decentralized controller according to claim 1 of the present invention is a controller for monitoring and controlling one or a plurality of equipment, wherein a plurality of equipments are monitored. Connecting the system management devices via communication networks of different communication protocols,
Data regarding the equipment is individually transmitted and received between each system management device.

According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the autonomous decentralized controller has a data conversion table for converting data transmitted to and received from each system management device. When transmitting the data of the equipment managed by the autonomous decentralized controller to the system management device, the data is converted after referring to the data conversion table, and the control data of the equipment is transmitted from the system management device. When receiving the data, the data conversion table is referenced to perform the data reverse conversion, and then the equipment is controlled.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the autonomous decentralized controller includes a mode switch and registers one or a plurality of equipments targeted by each system management device for each mode. In accordance with the mode selection operation of the mode switch, each system management device can change the target equipment.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the autonomous decentralized controller transmits / receives a series of data to / from one system management apparatus while the other system is transmitting / receiving a series of data. Rejects data reception from the management device.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration and operation of the autonomous distributed controller. The autonomous distributed controller 1 performs monitoring and control by connecting one or a plurality of facility devices 3 (here, one device “device A”) via a communication network such as a LAN.

The autonomous distributed controller 1 further includes a plurality of system management devices (here, system management devices 2).
1 and 22) are connected via communication networks N1 and N2 having different communication protocols, and data relating to the equipment 3 is individually transmitted and received between the system management devices 21 and 22. It has become.

Thus, even when a plurality of system management devices 21 and 22 are connected via communication networks N1 and N2 of different communication protocols, the autonomous decentralized controller 1 and the system management device
There is no need to install a protocol conversion device between the first and the second, and the system cost can be reduced and the construction time can be reduced.

A specific example of the operation of the autonomous distributed controller 1 will be described. In the autonomous distributed controller 1, the "device A" previously managed by the autonomous distributed controller 1 itself.
"Device a" managed by the system management apparatus 21
And that the “device α” managed by the system management device 22 is the same facility device 3.

When the system management device 21 controls the "device A" in the off state to be on, the on control data of the "device a" is transmitted to the autonomous distributed controller 1 via the communication network N1 (). . When the autonomous decentralized controller 1 receives the ON control data of “device a” from the system management device 21 (), it interprets this as an ON control instruction for “device A” (), and controls the “device A”. Execute ().

According to this control, the operating state of the “device A” changes from off to on (), and when the autonomous distributed controller 1 detects this (), the on-state data of “device A” is transmitted to the system management device 21. 22
The system management device 21 converts the on-state data of “device a” to the system management device 22, and converts it to the on-state data of “device α” (). Is transmitted, and the on-state data of “device α” is transmitted to the system management apparatus 22 via the communication network N2 ().

Next, an example of the internal configuration of the autonomous distributed controller 1 is shown in FIG. The autonomous decentralized controller 1 includes a monitoring / control processing unit 10 that performs monitoring and control of the equipment 3,
A network communication processing unit 11 and 12 for controlling communication with each of the communication networks N1 and N2, a data conversion processing unit 13 for converting data to perform data communication with the system management devices 21 and 22, Conversion processing unit 1
3 and an I / O processing unit 15 for inputting / outputting signals between the equipment 3
And

As described above, the autonomous decentralized controller 1
A data conversion table (conversion data table 14) for converting data transmitted / received between the system management devices 21 and 22 is provided. That is, the monitoring / control processing unit 10 registers the internal management data specifying the equipment 3 and the external management data specifying the equipment 3 by the system management devices 21 and 22 in association with each other.

The autonomous distributed controller 1 stores data of the equipment 3 managed by the autonomous distributed controller 1 itself,
When transmitting data to the system management devices 21 and 22, the data is converted and then transmitted with reference to the conversion data table 14.
When the control data is received, the equipment 3 is controlled after performing the data reverse conversion with reference to the conversion data table 14.

With such a configuration, when the data conversion method between the system management devices 21 and 22 is changed, it is only necessary to change the contents of the conversion data table 14, and it is necessary to exchange devices. Because there is no response, a flexible and prompt response can be taken.

To explain a specific example of the operation, the autonomous distributed controller 1 checks the “device A” managed by the autonomous distributed controller 1 and the system management device 21 in the conversion data table 14 at the start of operation. The information that the “device a” managed by the device management system and the “device α” managed by the system management device 22 are the same equipment 3 is registered.

When the system management apparatus 21 controls the "device A" in the off state to be turned on, the system control device 21 transmits the ON control data of the "device a" to the autonomous distributed controller 1 via the communication network N1 (). . When the autonomous distributed controller 1 receives the ON control data of “device a” from the system management device 21 via the network communication processing unit 11 (), the data conversion processing unit 13 refers to the conversion data table 14, This is interpreted as an ON control instruction for “device A” (), and the monitoring / control processing unit 10
The control is performed on “device A” via the O processing unit 15 ().

With this control, the operating state of the “device A” changes from off to on (), and when this is detected by the monitoring / control processing unit 10 of the autonomous distributed controller 1 via the I / O processing unit 15 ( When notifying the on-state data of “device A” to the system management devices 21 and 22, the data conversion processing unit 13 refers to the conversion data table 14 and sends the “on device a” to the system management device 21. The state data and the system management device 22 are converted as the ON state data of the “device α” (), and the network communication processing unit 1
1 is a system management device 2 via a communication network N1.
1, the on-state data of “device a” is transmitted, and the network communication processing unit 12 transmits the on-state data of “device α” to the system management device 22 via the communication network N2 ().

Next, still another configuration of the autonomous decentralized controller 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The autonomous distributed controller 1 includes a mode switch 17 and registers one or a plurality of facility devices 3 targeted by each of the system management devices 21 and 22 as mode information 15 for each mode. When the mode selection operation of the mode switch 17 is performed, the equipment 3 targeted by each of the system management devices 21 and 22 can be changed according to the operation.

Thus, when the equipment 3 to be transmitted / received with the system management devices 21 and 22 is changed in accordance with the connection of the equipment 3 and the change of the equipment type, the mode switch 17 is operated. Then, automatically,
The settings in the autonomous distributed controller 1 can be updated. That is, the contents of the conversion data table 14 accompanying the change of the target equipment 3 can be quickly updated.

To explain a specific example of the operation, the autonomous distributed controller 1 sets the device information 16 at the start of operation. For example, as the device type of “device A”, “type 1”
(See the left side of FIG. 4A). Further, as the mode information 15, in “mode 1”, the system management device 21 manages only devices of device types “type 1 and 2”, and the system management device 22 manages only devices of device type “type 1”. In the “mode 2”, the system management device 21 transmits only the devices whose device types are “type 1 and 2” to the system management device 22.
Is set so as to manage only devices whose device types are "types 1 and 3" (see FIG. 4B).

Assuming that “mode 1” is selected by the setting operation of the mode switch 17 composed of a dip switch or the like (), the conversion data table 14 is stored in the “device A” managed by the autonomous distributed controller 1. “Equipment a” managed by the system management device 21, the system management device 2
2 as “device α” managed by (2,
(See the upper side of FIG. 4C).

Here, assuming that “equipment B” and “equipment C” are additionally connected as the equipment 3, the equipment information 16 includes
"Device B" whose device type is "type 2" and "device C" whose device type is "type 3" are additionally set (FIG. 4).
(See right side of (a)). In this case, the mode switch 17
When "mode 2" is selected by the setting operation (2), the conversion data table 14 is changed to "device B" managed by the autonomous distributed controller 1 as "device b" managed by the system management device 21, and The system management device 22 is configured as not managed. The “device C” managed by the autonomous decentralized controller 1 is excluded from management by the system management device 21 and is configured as “device γ” managed by the system management device 22. (See the lower side of FIG. 4 (c)). As described above, in the conversion data table 14, information can be set for each equipment 3 as to whether or not data is to be transmitted / received between the system management apparatuses 21 and 22.

Next, still another configuration of the autonomous distributed controller 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The autonomous decentralized controller 1 transmits / receives a series of data to / from one system management device (for example, the system management device 21) while another system management device (for example, the system management device 22). Refuse to receive data from. As a result, it is possible to prevent the autonomous distributed controller 1 from malfunctioning due to an operation from another system management device during the operation setting.

To explain a specific operation example, when the autonomous distributed controller 1 receives setting start data from the system management device 21 via the network communication processing unit 11 (), the data conversion processing unit 13 executes the system management processing. The reception rejection data is transmitted to the device 22 via the network communication processing unit 12 (). Then, the network communication processing unit 12 temporarily stops the process of receiving data from the communication network N2.

Subsequently, when the autonomous decentralized controller 1 receives the setting data regarding the basic operation from the system management device 21, it changes the operation setting (). On the other hand, after receiving the rejection data, if there is a data transmission request to the autonomous distributed controller 1, the system management device 22 waits or cancels the transmission of the data.

After that, if the autonomous distributed controller 1 receives the setting end data from the system management device 21 via the network communication processing unit 11 (), the data conversion processing unit 13 transmits the network communication data to the system management device 22. The reception permission data is transmitted via the processing unit 12 (). Then, the network communication processing unit 12 restarts the process of receiving data from the communication network N2.

[0032]

As can be understood from the above description, in the autonomous decentralized controller according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of system management apparatuses are connected via communication networks of different communication protocols. However, since data relating to the equipment is individually transmitted / received to / from each system management device, there is no need to install a protocol converter between the system management device and the system, so that the system cost can be reduced and the construction time can be shortened. .

In the second aspect, the autonomous decentralized controller comprises:
When transmitting the data of the equipment managed by the autonomous decentralized controller itself to the system management device, the data is converted after referring to the data conversion table, and the control data of the equipment is transmitted from the system management device. When receiving the data, the data conversion table is referenced to perform the data reverse conversion, and then the equipment is controlled. by this,
When changing the data conversion method with the system management device, it is only necessary to change the contents of the conversion data table, and there is no need to exchange equipment, so that a flexible and prompt response can be taken.

According to the third aspect, the equipment targeted by each system management device can be changed in accordance with the mode selection operation of the mode switch. In order to change the equipment to be transmitted / received, the user only needs to operate the mode switch. In addition, the contents of the conversion data table associated with the change of the target equipment can be quickly updated.

According to claim 4, the autonomous decentralized controller comprises:
During a period of transmitting and receiving a series of data with one system management device, data reception from another system management device is rejected. Erroneous operation can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration and operation of an autonomous distributed controller according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration and operation of the distributed autonomous controller of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration and operation of the autonomous distributed controller of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data registered by the autonomous decentralized controller in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration and operation of the autonomous distributed controller of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 autonomous decentralized controller 14 conversion data table 15 mode information 16 device information 17 mode switch 21, 22 system management device 3 equipment N1, N2 communication network

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Claims (4)

[Claims] An autonomous decentralized controller for monitoring and controlling one or a plurality of equipment devices, wherein a plurality of system management devices are connected via communication networks of different communication protocols, respectively. An autonomous decentralized controller that transmits and receives data on the equipment individually between the devices. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data conversion table for converting data transmitted / received to / from each system management apparatus, and transmitting data of equipment managed by the autonomous decentralized controller to the system management apparatus. When performing, the data conversion is performed after referring to the data conversion table, and when the control data of the equipment is received from the system management device, the data conversion is performed with reference to the data conversion table. The autonomous decentralized controller according to claim 1, which controls equipment. 3. A mode switch is provided, and one or a plurality of equipments targeted by each system management device are registered for each mode, and each system management device is targeted by a mode selection operation of the mode switch. The autonomous decentralized controller according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the equipment to be changed can be changed. 4. A system according to claim 1, wherein during a period in which a series of data is transmitted / received to / from one system management apparatus, data reception from another system management apparatus is rejected.
An autonomous decentralized controller according to claim 3.