JP2004054750A - Distributed control unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distributed control unit capable of transferring/storing a historical file of an HIS to/in a general purpose personal computer (PC) connected to the HIS via an information system network and of managing uniformly a historical message on the side of the general PC. <P>SOLUTION: The distributed control unit consists of an operation monitoring station of a host device connected to a control bus and a field control station of a subordinate device which is connected to the control bus, executes control of field equipment and transmits event information on the field equipment to the operation monitoring station. The device is provided with a storage means for transfer storing the historical file in the operation monitoring station in a historical server of the general purpose PC and a viewer means for viewing the historical file stored in the historical server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a distributed control device used for process control. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved distributed control device for storing historical files collected by an operation monitoring station (hereinafter, HIS), which is a higher-level device in the distributed control device, and for centrally managing historical messages.
[0002]
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional distributed control device. In the figure, 1 is a control bus, and 21 and 22 are two HISs which are higher-level devices connected to the control bus 1.
[0003]
Reference numerals 31, 32, and 33 denote three field control stations (hereinafter, FCSs), which are lower-level devices connected to the control bus 1, and communicate with HISs 21, 22, which are higher-level devices. Reference numerals 41, 42, and 43 denote I / O buses, and the field devices 51, 52, and 53 of the process communicate with predetermined FCSs 31, 32, and 33 in charge of control via the I / O buses 41, 42, and 43, respectively. I do.
[0004]
Process alarms and errors that occur in the function blocks of the FCSs 31, 32, and 33 are uploaded to the upper HISs 21 and 22 as event information 61, 62, and 63.
[0005]
In the HIS 21, reference numeral 21a denotes a historical file holding unit, which temporarily stores event information 61, 62, 63 and messages related to operation history information of the HIS 21 from the FCSs 31, 32, 33 as historical files 1 to 3. Reference numeral 21b denotes a historical report display means for accessing these historical files and displaying message information extracted under predetermined search conditions.
The HIS 22 has the same configuration as the HIS 21.
[0006]
FIG. 6 is a historical report window of the historical report display means 21b, which displays the operation history of the HIS and the like. In the operation procedure, a file selection dialog is displayed by clicking a file selection icon, a file type is selected, and a directory where a historical file is located is set.
[0007]
FIG. 7 shows a search dialog 21d displayed by clicking a search dialog display icon. When a search condition is set and a search start button is pressed, search results are displayed as shown in the screen of FIG. The search conditions include a date and a message type (a process alarm, a system alarm, and the like).
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The historical report window exists for each HIS, and only the messages of the operating HIS can be viewed. For this reason, the plant operation history during the stoppage due to maintenance or the like cannot be viewed, and it must be confirmed by another HIS that was operating during that time.
[0009]
When a historical file exceeds a certain size when a new file is created, an old file is deleted and a new file is created. Therefore, the historical file is not permanently stored, and cannot be viewed even if the user wants to view the past operation history.
[0010]
The search conditions cannot be set and the search results cannot be used for text such as reports. The data can be dropped into a CSV (Comma Separated Value) format file, but since the data is a simple file separated by commas, text formation is required.
[0011]
If you want to check the operation history of the HIS, you have to go to the HIS, which is inconvenient. The operation history is required not only during the operation of the plant but also when confirming and reporting what kind of operation condition it is, so it cannot be seen in the office area and requires extra labor.
[0012]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to transfer and store a historical file of a HIS to a general-purpose personal computer (referred to as a general-purpose PC) connected to the HIS via an information network, so that the general-purpose PC can centrally manage historical messages. It is to implement a control device.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The configuration of the present invention for achieving such an object is as follows.
(1) An operation monitoring station, which is a higher-level device connected to a control bus, and a lower-level device connected to the control bus, which controls a field device and transmits event information of the field device to the operation monitoring station. In a distributed control device consisting of a field control station transmitting to
A storage unit for transferring and storing a historical file in the operation monitoring station to a historical server of a general-purpose personal computer via an information network is provided.
A distributed control device, wherein a viewer means for browsing a historical file stored in the historical server is provided in the general-purpose personal computer.
[0014]
(2) A plurality of operation monitoring stations are connected to the control bus, and respective historical files are transferred and stored to a historical server of the general-purpose personal computer by a storage means provided in each operation monitoring station. (1) The distributed control device according to (1).
[0015]
(3) The distributed control according to (2), wherein the viewer unit has a data merge function of merging the same message for each of the plurality of operation monitoring stations and displaying the same message as one message. apparatus.
[0016]
(4) A plurality of general-purpose personal computers are connected to the information network, and historical files from the operation monitoring station are transferred and stored in a historical server provided in each of the personal computers (1) to (3). The distributed control device according to any one of the above.
[0017]
(5) The distributed control device according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the viewer unit has a function of performing conditional filtering on a message included in the historical file of the historical server. .
[0018]
(6) The distributed control device according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the viewer unit has a function of displaying operation results included in a historical file file of the historical server.
[0019]
(7) The distributed type according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein the viewer unit has a function of converting the historical file of the historical server or the condition search result into an electronic document and storing the electronic file. Control device.
[0020]
(8) The distributed control device according to (7), wherein the electronic document is in a PDF format.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a distributed control apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The same elements as those described in the conventional apparatus of FIG. Hereinafter, the configuration of the characteristic portion of the present invention will be described.
[0022]
A general-purpose personal computer 7 is connected to the HISs 21 and 22 via an information network 8 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Reference numeral 7a denotes a historical server built in the general-purpose PC, a first historical server 7a1 for permanently storing the historical file 21a of the HIS 21 and a second historical server for permanently storing the historical file 22a of the HIS22. 7a2.
[0023]
Reference numeral 7b denotes viewer means for referring to the historical server 7a. In a configuration in which a plurality of HISs are connected, historical files for each HIS are merged into one piece of data, and a search result obtained by an arbitrary filtering condition is obtained. It has a display function.
[0024]
This viewer means has an operation result display function of analyzing a historical file and displaying the operation result of HIS or batch as a tool. Further, it has a function of outputting, as an electronic record document, a result of a search performed under the filtering conditions in a PDF (Portable Document Format) format.
[0025]
The output in the PDF format not only helps to prevent the falsification of the historical report, but also makes it easier to perform the approval operation and the history management on the electronic record document by using the electronic authentication function.
[0026]
21e and 22e are storage means provided in the HISs 21 and 22, which periodically check the respective historical files 21a and 22a, and transmit the difference data to the historical server 7a of the general-purpose PC 7 via the information network 8. By transferring and adding to past data, historical files can be permanently stored as long as the storage permits.
[0027]
FIG. 2 shows the initial screen of the historical unified management viewer 7c displayed by the viewer means 7b, which is started from the [Start] menu. The display form is a multi-window application similar to the historical message report window described with reference to FIG. 6, and is a list view display like the historical report window, and each column can be enlarged or reduced in area.
[0028]
The filtering search condition and the priority of the HIS are set by the search dialog 7d shown in FIG. The search result is displayed in the list view by pressing the search start button. Whether or not each column is displayed can also be set in this search dialog.
[0029]
The list view has a sort function. Sorting is performed by clicking on the label ("message number" or "driver" label) of each column, and sorting is performed by general character string comparison (character strings are sorted in ascending order, numerical values are sorted in ascending order, etc.).
[0030]
The display items include an HIS name, a message number, a message occurrence time, a message reception time (time at which each HIS received a message), a driver, a batch ID, a message character string, and the like.
[0031]
Generally, a process message is received by a plurality of HISs. Therefore, in the case of the same message, the message of the higher priority HIS is prioritized according to the priority of the HIS set in the search dialog, and the others are merged (the same message is deleted and rearranged in chronological order).
[0032]
That is, a search is performed from the station name of the HIS set to the first priority, and if a message that does not exist in the HIS searched first exists in the second or subsequent designated HIS, the message is additionally displayed.
[0033]
At the time of retrieval, the data of the target HIS is first merged within the set period and then retrieved. Therefore, the same message is not displayed as many times as the number of HISs.
[0034]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing data merge. If the number of selected HISs is large, it takes a long time to display. Therefore, the time until display is shortened.
[0035]
The data rearrangement is performed in two stages. First, the data with the highest priority is used as reference data, data smaller than the reference is acquired from other HISs, and a small group is created. Next, sort within a small group.
[0036]
One reference data is selected from a plurality of data (message occurrence times), and the reference and other data are compared to divide the data into a group larger than the reference and a smaller group. Then, the data is once sorted into (small group + reference data + large group).
[0037]
Next, data that has not yet been set as a reference is selected as a reference, compared with other data, and divided into large and small groups again. This is performed in order, and the rearrangement is continued until there is no non-reference data, whereby the rearrangement is completed.
[0038]
In the embodiment described above, the number of HIS is two, but the present invention can be applied to any number of three or more. In addition, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where only one HIS is used.
[0039]
In the embodiment described above, the number of general-purpose PCs is one, but the number of connected general-purpose PCs is not limited as long as the historical file can be transferred and stored from the HIS via the information network. Therefore, it can be used from a plurality of points such as a remote office area.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, historical messages collected by one or a plurality of HISs can be centrally managed, and the operation status of each HIS can be managed on at least one general-purpose PC. You can check. Since the storage means can be used for the purpose of permanently storing the historical file, it is easy to analyze the data later.
[0041]
The viewer means performs a search based on an arbitrary filtering condition such as a period or a batch ID and displays the search result, so that the search result can be used as a report.
[0042]
The viewer means has an operation result display function as a tool, and this operation result display function can analyze a historical file and display HIS or batch operation results.
[0043]
Also, the report generated by the viewer means can be converted into a file in PDF format as an electronic record document.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a distributed control device to which the present invention has been applied.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an initial screen of a historical unified management viewer displayed by a viewer means.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a search dialog for setting a filtering condition and the like.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing data merging.
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional distributed control device.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional historical report window of a historical report display means.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional search dialog screen displayed by clicking a search dialog display icon.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Control bus 21, 22 HIS
21a, 22a Historical files 21e, 22e Storage means 31, 32, 33 FCS
41, 42, 43 I / O buses 51, 52, 53 Field devices 61, 62, 63 Event information 7 General-purpose PC
7a Historical server 7b Viewer means 8 Information network

Claims (8)

An operation monitoring station, which is an upper device connected to the control bus, and a lower device connected to the control bus, which controls a field device and transmits event information of the field device to the operation monitoring station. In a distributed control device consisting of a field control station,
A storage unit for transferring and storing a historical file in the operation monitoring station to a historical server of a general-purpose personal computer via an information network is provided, and in the general-purpose personal computer, to view the historical file stored in the historical server. A distributed control device characterized by comprising the following viewer means: A plurality of operation monitoring stations are connected to the control bus, and respective historical files are transferred and stored in a historical server of the general-purpose personal computer by a storage means provided in each operation monitoring station. Item 3. The distributed control device according to Item 1. 3. The distributed control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the viewer unit has a data merging function of merging the same message for each of the plurality of operation monitoring stations and displaying the same message as one message. 4. A plurality of general-purpose personal computers are connected to the information network, and a historical file from the operation monitoring station is transferred and stored in a historical server provided in each of the personal computers. 3. The distributed control device according to 1. 5. The distributed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viewer unit has a function of performing conditional filtering on a message included in a historical file of the historical server. 6. The distributed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viewer has a function of displaying an operation result included in a historical file file of the historical server. 7. The distributed control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viewer has a function of storing a historical file of the historical server or the condition search result in an electronic document and storing the electronic file. The distributed control device according to claim 7, wherein the electronic document is in a PDF format.

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