JP2002342184A - Retry processor and retry processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restore a setting failure due to a communication failure in the case of setting a terminal device from a server. SOLUTION: This retry processor is provided with first and second processing frequency managing means for managing the number of processing performing times with respect to first processing and second processing performed after conducting the first processing, first and second retry processing rule managing means which describe rules about each retry processing in the case a failure takes place in the performance of the first and second processing, and first and second retry processing controlling means for controlling first and second retry processing on the basis of first and second processing frequencies and first and second retry processing rules, and the second retry processing controlling mean reperforms the second processing again when the number of second processing performing times is within an optional threshold, and performs retry processing on the basis of the second retry processing rule when the number surpasses the threshold. Thus, efficient retry processing even with a communication fee considered is possible in remote maintenance, etc., of an information electrical appliance or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a retry process for efficiently restoring a process in the event that a failure occurs during the execution of a process by an apparatus. This relates to retry processing in terminal setting (remote maintenance) for the terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the acceleration of computerization and digitalization represented by the Internet, even in the world of information home appliances which have not been connected to a network until now,
The demand for network connection is increasing. However, information home appliances are different from general PCs and other computers.
It is demanded that the user can easily use it as in the above. In particular, when a network connection is involved, a mechanism for realizing extremely complicated settings typified by a connection destination ISP setting without a user's operation burden is required. As a mechanism for this, the setting of information home appliances, etc. is performed at the center (external server)
The so-called remote maintenance, which is realized by connecting to the Internet, is an essential function for networking information appliances. In addition, in this remote maintenance, it is possible to realize a service such as collecting information on the terminal side in addition to the terminal setting.

In remote maintenance, a dedicated communication path is not provided between a server and an information home appliance. Usually, communication is performed using a telephone line of a user of the information home appliance. Therefore, in order to perform communication between the server and the information home appliance, a call must be made from the information home appliance to a (specific terminal setting terminal) server. As a specific procedure, first, a connection is made to an ISP (Internet service provider) in order to connect the terminal to the Internet (PPP connection), and after the PPP connection is established, a connection is made to a terminal setting server to make a call. After the connection is established, the terminal setting can be performed by acquiring the terminal setting control instruction from the server and executing the acquired control instruction on the terminal side.

[0004]

The connection (communication) between the server (terminal setting server or ISP) and the information home appliance uses a common telephone line, so that communication between the server and the information home appliance is performed. The communication between the server and the information home appliance may fail on the way due to the mixing of the noise of the user, the mixing of the signal sound of the call waiting, and the start of the user's telephone use. In addition, there are various causes of communication errors, such as NW traffic due to concentrated access to the server and a server down.

[0005] These communication errors occur at any of the above stages, and a retry process (recalling and reconnecting to the server) to cope with each of these situations is performed.
Necessary for efficient remote maintenance.
Also, a telephone charge is required for the PPP connection, which is an important problem for the user, and it is necessary not only to improve the efficiency of the retry process itself, but also to function efficiently in terms of the charge cost.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize a retry process that can optimally cope with various communication errors.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a first processing frequency management means for managing the number of processing executions for a first processing, and a failure in the first processing execution. In the case, means for managing a first retry processing rule describing a rule relating to retry processing according to the first processing execution number, and a first retry processing based on the first processing execution number and the first retry processing rule. A first retry process control unit for controlling the process, a second process frequency management unit for managing the number of process executions for a second process executed after the execution of the first process, and a failure occurs in the execution of the second process. In the case of, based on the second processing frequency and the second retry processing rule, based on a means for managing a second retry processing rule describing a rule regarding retry processing according to the second processing execution number, And a second retry processing control means for controlling the second retry processing, wherein the second retry processing control means re-executes the second processing when the second processing execution count is within an arbitrary threshold value, When the threshold value is exceeded, a retry process is executed based on the second retry process rule.

[0008] This makes it possible to perform an efficient retry process, particularly, a retry process in consideration of a communication fee in remote maintenance of an information home appliance or the like.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an overview of a first embodiment of the present invention.
, 11N and terminal devices 131, 132,.
3N is connected via a communication network 12. The communication network 12 is usually a telephone line network, and the servers 111 and 11
2,..., 11N and terminal devices 131, 132,.
, 13N are not always connected, and for connection, it is necessary to perform a call operation from the terminal devices 131, 132, ..., 13N.

[0011] The servers 111, 112, ..., 11N
, Terminal devices 131, 132,..., 13N
Are stored in the terminal devices 131, 132,..., 1
When a call is received from 3N and communication between the server and the terminal device is performed, the call is transmitted from the server to the terminal device (the terminal device acquires from the server).

More specifically, an ISP (Internet Service Service) is used to connect the terminal to the Internet.
Provider) (PPP connection) and the PPP
After the connection is established, a connection is established by making a call by connecting to a server for setting the terminal (remote maintenance server). Thereafter, a control instruction for the terminal setting is obtained from the server, and the obtained control instruction is transmitted to the terminal. The terminal setting can be performed by executing the ISP (in FIG. 1, the ISP
Display that distinguishes remote maintenance from remote maintenance is omitted.) Note that, in the present embodiment, WW
HTTP (Hyper Text Trans) widely used in W services
fer Protocol) or HTTPS, which is secure communication using SSL.

Here, when the processing is abnormally terminated (line disconnection, no response from the server, etc.) from the above-mentioned, that is, from the generation of the control command acquisition request to the acquisition of the termination instruction, a retry process for following the processing is required.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state transition of the retry processing. Details of the retry processing will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a non-connection state (a state in which remote maintenance has not been started. In addition, when the line has been activated, the line is unavailable). Reference numeral 22 denotes a PPP connection preparation state (a state in which a PPP connection is being established). Represents a control command acquiring state (HTTP from the remote maintenance server)
A state in which a control command is being acquired by a GET request) is shown. Reference numeral 24 denotes a state in which a control instruction is being executed (a state in which the acquired control instruction is being executed).

Reference numeral 22a denotes a PPP connection retry counter (retry counter in PPP connection: P counter), and reference numeral 23a denotes an HTTP connection short-term retry counter (connection retry counter to a remote maintenance server. In the same PPP connection, 23b is a counter for performing a short-term retry: HS counter).
Connection long-term retry counter (connection retry counter for remote maintenance server. Retry counter for re-connection to remote maintenance server when PPP connection is disconnected and short-term retry fails, HL counter).

Reference numeral 220 denotes a PPP connection retry processing rule, and reference numeral 230 denotes an HTTP long-term retry processing rule.

Retry processing of PPP connection State transitions-2 to 4 in FIG. If the PPP connection fails, the PPP retry counter (P counter) is incremented by 1 and the state transits to the non-line connection state. The processing of the rule 220 is performed according to the value of the P counter at this time.

<HTTP short-term retry processing> State transition-3 in FIG. In the control command acquisition state, if there is no response from the server for more than 2 minutes after sending the HTTP request message, for example, the socket connection is disconnected, and the connection is immediately re-established while maintaining the PPP connection.
Here, if the connection fails three times in a row, the next HT
Transit to TP long-term retry processing (after long-term retry processing,
Again, if done from a PPP connection, the HS counter is reset).

<HTTP long-term retry processing> State transitions -4 to 6 in FIG. If the number of HTTP short-term retries becomes 3 or more, HTTP long-term retry processing is performed. At this time, HT
The TP long-term retry counter (HL counter) is incremented by one and the state transits to the non-line connection state. The processing of the rule 230 is performed according to the value of the HL counter at this time (other state transitions are as shown in the figure).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of a functional configuration for performing a retry process among the terminals subjected to remote maintenance in the present invention. In FIG. 3, 30
Is a remote maintenance server that performs remote maintenance on the terminal, and 31 is a terminal that receives the remote maintenance. In the terminal 31, reference numeral 311 denotes a calling unit for issuing a control command acquisition request, 312 denotes an acquisition unit for acquiring the control command, and 313a denotes a P which manages the number of issuances (P counter) for the PPP connection. The counter management unit 313b is a PPP retry rule management unit that manages a retry rule for the PPP connection.
Reference numeral 13c denotes a PPP retry control unit that controls a retry process relating to a PPP connection (sends a PPP connection request to the calling unit 311) based on the P counter management unit 313a and the PPP retry rule management unit 313b.
An H counter management unit 314a manages the number of times of issuing (H counter) the HTTP connection which is a call / connection to the remote maintenance server 30 after the PPP connection is established (HS and HL will be described later). And 314b are HTTP retry rule management means for managing retry rules related to HTTP connection.
(c) HTTP retry control means for controlling retry processing relating to HTTP connection (sending an HTTP connection request to calling means 311) based on H counter management means 314a and HTTP retry rule management means 314b;
Reference numeral 15 denotes a terminal setting execution unit that executes the obtained acquisition command and performs terminal setting.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. In this operation description, the entire flow of the retry process will be described mainly with reference to FIG. 3 and using FIG. First, according to a predetermined setting, the calling unit 311 sends a control command acquisition to the maintenance server 30 (the initial values of the P counter and the H counter are 0). At this time, a PPP connection is attempted first, and if a connection cannot be established, the P counter is incremented each time, and the PPP counter of 313b is used.
Make a recall according to the retry rule.

When the PPP connection is established, an attempt is made to acquire a control command by HTTP, and the server does not respond for a certain period of time.
When the control command acquisition fails due to (World Wide Web) authentication failure or the like, the H counter is incremented each time, and a recall is performed according to the HTTP retry rule of 314b (retry due to HTTP establishment failure). processing).

In the present embodiment, the H counter has a two-stage configuration of an HS counter for performing short-term retry control and an HL counter for performing long-term retry control. This is HTTP
This is because the connection is to connect to the remote maintenance server after the establishment of the PPP connection, and the following points must be considered.

That is, as described above, the PPP connection uses a telephone network or the like (a telephone charge is incurred), so that not only a constant connection but also a long-time connection must be avoided. ] HTTP connection cannot be established due to authentication failure with remote maintenance server, connection destination address specification error, server unresponsiveness, etc., and [2] Connection cannot be established due to concentrated access to remote maintenance server or remote maintenance server down. This is because it is necessary to consider whether to disconnect the PPP connection.

In this case, if, for example, the HTTP short-term connection is failed for three times, it is not possible (when the HS counter becomes 3), there is a high possibility of access concentration or server down, so the PPP connection is kept established. Then, since it is not preferable, the PPP connection is once disconnected, and after a short time interval, the PPP connection is resumed (re-calling) again (transition to the HTTP long-term connection stage). When the connection is re-executed from the PPP connection after the transition to the long-term HTTP connection, the HS counter is reset before the HTTP connection is started.

At that time, as control of the long-term HTTP connection,
Each time, the HL counter is incremented, and a recall (that is, the PPP connection is disconnected and restarted from the PPP connection) according to the retry rule (HTTP long term retry rule) of 314b is performed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the situation peculiar to remote maintenance (call from terminal side, access to specific server, avoidance of long-term PPP connection, etc.)
Processing for retrying communication connection, especially retry control of HTTP connection (connection to remote maintenance server after establishment of PPP connection), HTTP short-term connection (HS
Counter and HTTP long-term connection (HL counter), and within the threshold of the HS counter, PPP
Reconnection is performed while the connection is established, and when the value exceeds the threshold value of the HS counter, an operation of disconnecting the PPP connection and starting over from the PPP connection again (re-calling) is performed. As a result, the PPP connection succeeds, If a subsequent server down occurs many times, a retry counter (HTTP long-term retry counter HL) is installed to catch such a wasteful PP so that useless connection is prevented.
P connection avoidance and efficient connection retry processing to the remote maintenance server can be performed, and the practical effect is great.

(Embodiment 2) In the first embodiment, a PPP connection and an HT
Although the case of a two-layer network with a TP connection is described, the number of layers may be three or more depending on the NW mode between the server and the terminal. In such a case, the retry processing is as follows.

The NW mode between the server and the terminal is an N layer (N is 2
In the case of FIG. 4), from the terminal side to the server side, the first NW is NW (1), the second NW is NW (2),.
Is the NW (n), and a device (GW [gateway] for a firewall, etc.) connecting NW (1) and NW (2) is between GW (1) and NW (2) and NW (3). GW connecting device
(2),..., The device connecting NW (n-1) and NW (n) is GW (n-1)
Call and connection to GW (1) (establish connection with NW (1))
Processing 1 and then call / connection to the GW (2) (NW
Process of (establishment of connection with (2)) is processed 2. Process of calling / connection to GW (n-1) (establishment of connection with NW (n-1)) is processed n
-1, calling / connection to remote maintenance server (N
The process of establishing a connection with W (n)) is referred to as process n.

In this case, the retry processing
As in the TP connection, it is preferable to have two or more stages (it is necessary to have two or more stages). The process m (; connection from GW (m-1) to GW (m), NW (m) Assuming that connection has been established, the process m has two stages, a first retry process (short-term retry process m) and a second retry process (long-term retry process m). S, a counter L for the number of processing times counter in the long-term retry processing m, and a retry processing rule m in which a processing rule corresponding to the value of the counter L are described.
Within the threshold of, short-term retry processing m (; connection from GW (m-1) to GW (m), establishment of connection with NW (m)) is attempted, and when the threshold is exceeded, the counter L starts counting. , Execute the content of the retry processing rule m according to the value.

As an example of the description content of the retry processing rule m, an instruction (reprocessing instruction) for returning from the processing 1 to any one of the processing m-1 is described. For example, the time for starting the processing instruction is increased. Of course, there may be two or more retry processes requiring two-stage processes (three or more stages may be performed), and the processing position returned as a reprocess in each retry process may be different.

For example, when two steps of processing r and processing s require two-step processing, processing r returns to processing p as a reprocessing position, and processing s returns to processing q as a reprocessing position, r ≠ There are no restrictions beyond the relationship s, p <r, q <s. Further, in the retry processing m requiring the retry processing, the reprocessing position described by the retry processing rule m is:
It may be different depending on the value of the counter L. For example,
If L = 1, go to process a, if 1 <L <k, go to process b (b <m), if k <L, go to process c (c <m), etc. (size of a, b, c) / Irrelevant relations do not matter).

Here, as the layer of the NW form between the server and the terminal, (A) In the case of a general household, the two layers are the most usual, the processing 1 is a PPP connection, the processing 2 is an HTTP connection,
(B) When the terminal is in a building, there may be three or more layers. Processing 1 is for establishing a LAN connection in the building (connection between the WG for managing connections inside and outside the building and the terminal), and processing 2 is for PPP connection. Processing 3 is an HTTP connection (; retry processing in processing 3; reprocessing position is processing 2); (C) If NW is managed in a region or an organization group, processing 1 establishes connection of a building LAN (inside or outside the building) Process 2 is a connection between the WG that manages the connection of the terminal and the terminal), process 2 is the establishment of an NW connection within the region / group (connection with the WG that manages the connection inside and outside the region), process 3 is the PPP connection, and process 4 is Various other forms such as HTTP connection (retry processing in processing 4 and reprocessing position in processing 3) can be considered.

Further, in these embodiments, as an example, the case of reconnection (re-calling) with the server in remote maintenance has been described. However, retry processing for application execution in a certain apparatus may be used.

In the retry processing at the time of occurrence of each error, the user is notified of the fact, or the user is notified and the retry processing is performed. You may do it.

The retry processing function according to the present invention may be realized in any form such as a circuit, an independent internal device, an external device, and a program. In the case of a program, it may be stored in a ROM on a terminal. Various modes are possible, such as transfer from a server at an arbitrary timing.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a failure occurs during the execution of a process by an apparatus, a process for the first process is executed as a retry process for efficiently restoring the process. A first processing frequency management means for managing the number of times, and a means for managing a first retry processing rule describing a rule relating to retry processing according to the first processing execution number when a failure occurs in the first processing execution And the first processing execution count and the first retry processing rule,
A first retry process control unit that controls the first retry process, and a second process frequency management unit that manages the number of process executions for a second process executed after the execution of the first process,
Means for managing a second retry processing rule describing a rule related to retry processing according to the second processing execution number when a failure occurs in the second processing execution, a second processing frequency and a second retry processing A second retry processing control means for controlling the second retry processing based on the rule, wherein the second retry processing control means Is re-executed, and when the threshold value is exceeded, retry processing is executed based on the second retry processing rule. Retry processing becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a server and a terminal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention are connected via a communication network;

FIG. 2 is a state transition diagram of NW connection retry processing in remote maintenance according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an NW connection retry processing device in remote maintenance according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing layers in an NW mode in remote maintenance according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30: Remote maintenance server 31: Terminal 311: Calling means 312: Acquisition means 315: Terminal setting execution means 313a: P counter management means 313b: PPP retry rule management means 313c: PPP retry control means 314a: H counter management means 314b: HTTP retry rule management means 314c: HTTP retry control means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Sakata 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B085 AA03 AC17 BG07 5B089 GA11 GB02 JA35 JB15 KA07 KB10 KG01 MC03 MC06 ME08 ME13

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for recovering from a failure in a certain processing among a plurality of processing when the failure occurs in the processing, the apparatus managing a processing execution frequency for an i-th processing (i is an integer of 1 or more). i-processing frequency management means; and i-th processing execution management means for managing an i-th retry processing rule describing a rule relating to retry processing according to the i-th processing execution frequency when a failure occurs in the i-th processing execution; An i-th retry processing control means for controlling the i-th retry processing based on the processing frequency and the i-th retry processing rule; and a j-th processing executed after the execution of the i-th processing (j is i +
A j-th processing frequency management means for managing a processing execution frequency for an integer of 1 or more; and a j-th processing frequency management means for describing a rule related to a retry process according to the j-th processing execution frequency when a failure occurs in the j-th processing execution. means for managing the j-th retry processing rule; and j-th retry processing control means for controlling the j-th retry processing based on the j-th processing frequency and the j-th retry processing rule. If the execution frequency of the j-th process is within an arbitrary threshold, the j-th process is re-executed; if the frequency exceeds the threshold, a retry process is executed based on the j-th retry process rule. Retry processing device. 2. The j-th processing frequency management means, comprising: a j1 counter for managing a re-execution frequency of the j-th processing performed when the j-th processing execution frequency is within an arbitrary threshold; And a j2 counter, which is a counter for managing the execution frequency of the retry processing based on the j-th retry processing rule performed when the value exceeds the j-th retry processing rule. 2. The retry processing device according to claim 1, wherein control instructions for executing the i-th process at different timings are described accordingly. 3. The retry processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the threshold value is exceeded, the j1 counter is reset before the j-th processing is performed again. 4. The control instruction for re-executing the i-th process at a different timing according to the execution frequency of the i-th process is described in the i-th retry process rule. The retry processing device according to claim 1. 5. The control instruction for executing a k-th process (k is an integer of 1 or more and less than j) is described in the j-th retry process rule. A retry processing device according to item 1. 6. When a failure occurs in a certain process among a plurality of processes, a computer for recovering the failure is provided by a computer for managing a process execution frequency for an i-th process (i is an integer of 1 or more). i-processing frequency management means; and i-th processing execution management means for managing an i-th retry processing rule describing a rule relating to retry processing according to the i-th processing execution frequency when a failure occurs in the i-th processing execution; An i-th retry processing control means for controlling the i-th retry processing based on the processing frequency and the i-th retry processing rule; and a j-th processing executed after the execution of the i-th processing (j is i +
A j-th processing frequency management means for managing a processing execution frequency for an integer of 1 or more; and a j-th processing frequency management means for describing a rule related to a retry process according to the j-th processing execution frequency when a failure occurs in the j-th processing execution. means for managing the j-th retry processing rule; and j-th retry processing control means for controlling the j-th retry processing based on the j-th processing frequency and the j-th retry processing rule. If the execution frequency of the j-th process is within an arbitrary threshold value, the j-th process is re-executed. If the frequency exceeds the threshold value, the re-try process is executed based on the j-th retry process rule. Retry processing program.