JP2003186504A - Acquisition apparatus for equipment information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an acquisition apparatus for equipment information capable of registering the whole equipment connected to a field bus. <P>SOLUTION: An acquisition apparatus for establishing communication paths, by using communication resources provided to field devices and for acquiring equipment information from the field devices retrieves whether the communication resources are existence in the field devices; if the resources exist, it establishes the communication paths to the field devices by using the resources, but if the resources do not in exist, it provides prepared communication resources to the field devices. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device information acquisition apparatus for establishing a communication path using communication resources set in a field device and acquiring device information from the field device via the established communication path. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, plant control using a field bus has been performed. In plant control using a fieldbus, a fieldbus is laid in the plant, devices are connected to the fieldbus, and the field devices communicate with each other to control the plant. Further, the field device controls the plant while communicating with the distributed control system in the upper layer. In plant control using a field bus, it is possible to distribute intelligence to field devices arranged in the field and distribute the control functions that were in the distributed control system to the field.

In a fieldbus builder that constructs a fieldbus system by combining field devices, it is necessary to automatically recognize the field devices connected to the fieldbus and register them in the engineering database. In order to register the field device in the engineering database, it is necessary to obtain information on the field device. The field device information includes, for example, device tag name, device ID, node address, device class,
These are MANUFAC_ID, DEV_TYPE, DEV_REV, DD_REV, etc. Each of these pieces of information is unique information for identifying a physical field device.

Among these, the MA indicating the type of field device
NUFAC_ID, DEV_TYPE, DEV_REV, DD_REV are VCR (Virtual Communication Relationship) for application
A communication resource for establishing a communication path called is set in the field device, and the VCR is used to establish the communication path.
Information can be acquired via the established communication path. For that purpose, it is necessary to set the application VCR in the field device in advance. Where VCR
Is a communication resource for establishing a communication path required to transfer data (control data, maintenance data) between field devices or between function blocks mounted on the field devices.

Conventionally, field devices have been automatically registered on the assumption that an application VCR has been set. In other words, field devices for which application VCRs are not set were excluded from the targets of automatic registration. Therefore, the conventional fieldbus system engineering has the following problems.
(A) A field device for which an application VCR is not preset cannot be automatically registered. The application VCR is not necessarily preset in all field devices. Therefore, the field device may be unregistered. (B) Even if the VCR for an application is already set in the field device, if the resource is used for communication with another application or another field device, the communication path still fails to be established. Information cannot be obtained.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and if the communication resource does not exist in the field device, the communication resource prepared in advance is set in the field device. If there are communication resources, but these communication resources have already been used, set unused communication resources in the field device to register the devices connected to the fieldbus without omission. An object of the present invention is to realize a device information acquisition apparatus capable of performing the operation.

[0007]

The present invention is a device information acquisition apparatus configured as follows.

(1) In a device information acquisition device that establishes a communication path using communication resources set in a field device and acquires device information from the field device via the established communication path, communicates with the field device. As a result of the search by the search means for searching whether or not the resource exists, if the communication resource exists as a result, the communication path with the field device is established using this communication resource, and the communication device must exist. An apparatus for acquiring device information, comprising: setting means for setting communication resources prepared in advance in a field device.

(2) In a device information acquisition device that establishes a communication path using communication resources set in the field device and acquires device information from the field device via the established communication path, communicates with the field device. As a result of the search by the search means for searching whether or not the resource exists, the communication resource exists, but when the communication resource is already used, the unused communication resource is set in the field. An apparatus for acquiring device information, comprising: a setting unit configured to set the device.

(3) The communication resource is an application communication resource for performing on-demand communication that is performed between control operations using field devices, according to (1) or (2). Device information acquisition device.

(4) As a result of the search by the searching means, when the communication resource for acquiring the device information does not exist in the field device, the field device is communicated with to acquire and acquire the parameter related to the field device. List creating means for creating a parameter list by setting parameters in the parameter list, selecting means for selecting which communication resource among the communication resources in the field device is to be allocated to the communication resource for obtaining device information, and selecting Storage means for storing the created parameter list in a storage location specified by the communication resource, and creating a parameter list and selecting a communication resource to be allocated, thereby providing a communication resource for acquiring device information. The apparatus for acquiring device information according to (1) or (2), which is set.

(5) The apparatus for acquiring device information according to (4), characterized in that the selecting means does not select a permanent communication resource which is preset in the field device and cannot be modified.

(6) The device information according to (5), wherein the storage means initializes communication resources existing in the field device other than the permanent communication resource before storing the parameter list. Acquisition device.

(7) The device information according to (1) or (2), characterized in that the device information has a registration means for registering the device information acquired through the communication path established using the communication resource in the engineering database. Acquisition device.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a system to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, the operation monitoring station HI
S and the fieldbus builder B are connected to the bus 1 for communication. The fieldbus builder B is provided with a device information acquisition device 10. Fieldbus Builder B
For example, it is composed of a personal computer (personal computer). The control station FCS has buses 1 and 2 for communication.
It is connected to the. The interface device 4 is connected to the bus 2 and the field bus 5 is connected to the interface device 4. The field devices 61 to 6n are connected to the field bus 5. The field devices 61 to 6n are equipped with a control function, and sensors are illustrated in the figure.
The fieldbus builder B performs engineering work on the fieldbus system 7. In engineering work, a fieldbus system is constructed by combining field devices. Communication between the fieldbus builder B and the field devices 61 to 6n is performed via the control station FCS.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. 2 that are the same as those in the previous figure are given the same symbols.
In FIG. 2, the search means 11 searches whether or not the application VCR exists in the field device from which the device information is to be acquired. The application VCR is a communication resource that establishes a communication path for acquiring device information.
The application VCR is a communication resource for performing on-demand communication that is performed between control using field devices. The application VCR is a communication resource for acquiring device information.

The setting means 12 establishes a communication path with the field device using the application VCR if the application VCR exists as a result of the search by the search means 11, and prepares it in advance if it does not exist. Set the application VCR to the field device. Further, the setting unit 12 has an application VCR as a result of the search by the search unit 11, but when this application VCR is used for communication with other field devices or other applications, Set an unused application VCR to the field device.

The communication means 13 is provided to communicate with the field device. When the application VCR does not exist in the field device as a result of the search by the search device 11, the list creating means 14 communicates with the field device using the communication VCR provided in the field device, and the parameters related to the field device. To get. Then, the acquired parameters are set in the parameter list to create the parameter list. The parameter list is provided in the field device. Parameters related to field devices are set in the parameter list.

The selecting means 15 selects an application VCR to be allocated for acquiring device information. The selection is made from the VCR in the field device. The storage means 16 is
Store the created parameter list. The storage location is in the field device and the selected application VCR
Specified by. The registration means 17 registers the device information acquired via the communication path established using the application VCR in the engineering database 18.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the field device. In FIG. 3, the physical field device 6 has a VFD (V
irtual Field Devices) 611 to 613 are mounted. VFD is a virtual device that is logically implemented in a physical field device. VFD enables devices with different functions to be mounted logically on the same physical device. VF
A VFD reference is assigned to D611. VF
The D reference is a VFD identifier and is a unique number assigned by the device vendor. The device information acquisition device is
Parameter list 6 if VFD reference is not acquired
You can't create 30. The VFD 611 has VC as a VCR resource.
RA and VCRB are provided.

Virtual function blocks 614 to 616 are mounted on the VFD 612. V to VFD612
FD reference is assigned. The field device 6 has VCR resources, and the function block 6
VCR for communicating with 14 to 616 is a field device 6
Is set to. Communication between function blocks is performed using the set VCR. Similar to the VFD 611, a VFD reference is allocated to the VFD 613 and a VCR resource is provided.

VFD 611, function block 61
Communication VCR61 for 4,615,616 and VFD613
7, 618, 619, 620 and 621 are set respectively. The VFD 611 is a VFD for communication.
3 is a VFD for application. A communication VCR is preset in the VFD 611. An application VCR may be set in the VFDs 612 and 613.

The operation of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure. The operation will be described in the order of steps in the flowchart. (S1) First, VCR information is acquired for the field device connected to the field bus. For example, in FIG.
The VCR information is acquired from the VFD 611 in the field device 6 of. The communication at this time is performed using the communication VCR 617. (S2) Next, from the acquired VCR information, the application V
Search CR. At this time, the search keys are "Usage of VCR", "Address value indicating position on own communication", "VC
This is a search key for "communication capability of R". An example of data of the application VCR is shown in FIG. This corresponds to the parameter list described above. (S3) If the application VCR exists from the acquired VCR information, the communication path is established using the VCR. (S4) If it does not exist, the process of setting the application VCR prepared in advance in the device is performed in the following procedure.
First, obtain the VFD reference from the field device. Since this depends on the VFD that is the target of the target device, it is acquired before creating the parameter list. (S5) The obtained VFD reference is set in the parameter list, and a parameter list as shown in FIG. 5 is created. Parameters other than VFD reference are given by Fieldbus Builder. (S6) Which VCR resource to use is determined from among a plurality of VCR resources in the field device. The VCR resource used is the VCR located at the beginning of the VCR list excluding the permanent VCR. A permanent VCR is a VCR that is preset in the device and cannot be modified by the user.
By determining the VCR resource to use, the location to set the VCR resource is specified. Such processing is performed by the selection means 1
5 does. (S7) Initialize all VCRs except the permanent VCR. This is to consider that the VCR to be set from now on is set consistently and no communication error occurs. After that, the created parameter list is downloaded (set) to the specified location. The storage means 16 performs such processing.

Since the application VCR is always set for the field device that has already been engineered, the VCR search and setting processing is not executed in the first place. Also, field devices for which application VCRs are not set can be regarded as devices that have not been engineered yet, so it is judged that there is no problem in initializing all VCRs.

[0025]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

In the inventions of claims 1, 2 and 4, if the communication resource does not exist in the field device, the communication resource prepared in advance is set in the field device, and the communication resource exists. However, if this communication resource has already been used, an unused communication resource is set in the field device. Therefore, when performing engineering, it is possible to set communication resources to all field devices. This allows all devices connected to the fieldbus to be registered in the engineering database without omission.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the communication resource is an application communication resource for performing on-demand communication that is performed between control using field devices, and therefore communication can be performed without hindering control. You can

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the permanent communication resource is protected because the permanent communication resource is not assigned to the communication resource for acquiring the device information.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the communication resources existing in the field device other than the permanent communication resource are initialized prior to storing the parameter list. For this reason, the communication resources to be set from now on can be set without contradiction and the occurrence of communication errors can be prevented.

In the invention according to claim 7, since the device information acquired through the communication path established by using the communication resource is registered in the engineering database, the field device connected to the fieldbus can be easily recognized. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a field device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a parameter list.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 fieldbus 6 field devices 10 Equipment information acquisition device 11 Search method 12 Setting means 14 List creation means 15 means of selection 16 storage means 17 Registration means 18 Engineering database 611-613 VFD

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A device information acquisition apparatus that establishes a communication path using communication resources set in a field device and acquires device information from the field device via the established communication path. And a search means for searching whether or not the communication device exists, and if the communication resource exists as a result of the search by this search device, a communication path with the field device is established using this communication resource, and if it does not exist. An apparatus for acquiring device information, comprising: a setting unit configured to set a communication resource prepared in advance in a field device. 2. In a device information acquisition device for establishing a communication path using communication resources set in a field device and acquiring device information from the field device via the established communication path, a communication resource is provided to the field device. And a communication means exists as a result of the search by this searching means, but when this communication resource is already used, the unused communication resource is used as a field device. Setting means to set to,
An apparatus for acquiring device information, comprising: 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the communication resource is an application communication resource for performing on-demand communication which is performed between control using field devices. Information acquisition device. 4. As a result of the search by the searching means, when the communication resource for acquiring the device information does not exist in the field device, the field device is communicated with to acquire the parameter related to the field device, and the acquired parameter is acquired. To the parameter list to create a parameter list, and a selection means to select which communication resource among the communication resources in the field device to allocate to the communication resource for device information acquisition, Storage means for storing the created parameter list in a storage location specified by the communication resource, creating a parameter list, and selecting a communication resource to allocate, thereby setting a communication resource for acquiring device information The apparatus for acquiring device information according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. 5. The apparatus for acquiring device information according to claim 4, wherein the selecting unit does not select a permanent communication resource that is set in advance in a field device and cannot be modified. 6. The device information according to claim 5, wherein the storage unit initializes communication resources existing in the field device other than the permanent communication resource before storing the parameter list. Acquisition device. 7. The device information according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: registration means for registering device information acquired through a communication path established by using the communication resource in an engineering database. Acquisition device.