JP2004287146A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a display device that efficiently communicates data with a plurality of external devices and displays data. <P>SOLUTION: The display device has an interruption task 34 which receives device information data outputted from a plurality of external devices 1 and 3 and outputs an interruption signal on the basis of the reception of the device information data, a plurality of communication tasks 32a and 32b which have communication protocols corresponding to the external devices 1 and 3, respectively and receive and output the device information data outputted from the plurality of external devices 1 and 3 to a communication control processing task 31 in response to the reception of the interrupt signal from the interruption task 34, and a display task 30 which outputs preset display setting data to the communication control processing task 31, and the display device makes display based upon the device information data and display setting data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display device that displays data received from an external device such as a programmable controller, the status of the external device, and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Robots, numerical control devices, machine tools, and the like installed on a production line are automatically controlled by a programmable controller. A display device having a CRT, a liquid crystal display, or the like has been conventionally used to display the operation status of the controlled device.
[0003]
In a conventional general display device, when communicating with a plurality of external devices, the display device has only one I / F for connecting the plurality of external devices, and a plurality of external devices are connected to one. It is necessary to collectively connect to a communication path of a system and connect to a display device (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-296444 (FIG. 1)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the case of the conventional example described above, if a plurality of external devices and the display device do not have a common communication protocol, it is necessary to separately arrange a conversion device for performing protocol conversion between the display device and the external device. Was.
[0006]
Further, even if a plurality of external devices have a common communication protocol, as shown in Patent Document 1 mentioned above, since a communication path of a portion including a protocol conversion unit and the like is one system, a plurality of external devices are provided. When external devices perform communication at the same time, there is a problem that the communication speed is reduced due to an increase in communication data.
[0007]
In addition, since there is only one protocol conversion means, if the communication path of that part is physically disconnected or if the signal cannot be received normally due to the influence of noise, the display device is connected to all external communication targets. There is a problem that data of the device cannot be displayed normally.
[0008]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a display device that performs efficient data communication and display with a plurality of external devices regardless of the type of protocol.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A display device according to the present invention corresponds to an interrupt processing unit that receives device information data output from a plurality of external devices and outputs an interrupt signal based on the reception of the device information data, and each of the plurality of external devices. A plurality of data receiving means having a communication protocol, receiving device information data output from the plurality of external devices in response to receiving an interrupt signal from the interrupt processing means, and outputting the received device information data to the communication general processing means; And display processing means for outputting the display setting data to the communication general processing means, and performing display based on the device information data and the display setting data.
[0010]
Further, the interrupt processing means assigns a preset priority to the interrupt signals corresponding to the outputs from the plurality of external devices, and sets the priority of each interrupt signal and the reception time at which the interrupt signal was received. The transmission order of the interrupt signal to the data receiving means is determined based on the
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiment 1 FIG.
A display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numerals 1 and 3 denote external devices, which are programmable controllers (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as “PCs”). RAMs 2 and 4 are provided in the PCs 1 and 3, respectively, for storing data. Reference numeral 5 denotes a CRT, and reference numeral 6 denotes a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. Reference numeral 9 denotes a personal computer interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the personal computer 26 (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as “PC I / F”). Reference numerals 10 and 12 denote PC interfaces for transmitting and receiving data to and from the PCs 1 and 3 (hereinafter, “PCI I / F” as appropriate). Note). Reference numeral 11 denotes a RAM of the display device 25, which includes a data area, a device type area, and a device number area for the display device 25 to transfer data with the PCI / F 10 or 12. Reference numeral 20 denotes a ROM in which a system program is stored. 25 is a display device, 26 is a personal computer that creates screen data including display settings to be displayed on the display device 25, and 27 is an auxiliary storage device in the personal computer 26 that stores the created screen data. The CPU 28 executes a system program stored in the ROM 20, reads screen data including display setting data stored in the flash memory 6 as needed, and displays predetermined display contents on the CRT 5.
[0012]
A channel number 21 for designating a communication path with the PC 1 is assigned to the PCI / F 10. Similarly, a channel number 22 for specifying a communication path with the PC 3 is assigned to the PCI / F 12. By specifying a communication protocol for communicating with the PC external device for each channel number, the CPU 28 performs communication with the external devices 1 and 3 using the communication path and communication protocol specified by the channel numbers 21 and 22. . The designation of the communication protocol is stored in a communication protocol area (not shown) of the flash memory 6.
[0013]
FIG. 2 shows a display setting example stored in the flash memory 6 for storing display settings received from an external device. m1 is a management number for distinguishing a plurality of setting contents. m7 is a communication channel designation for designating a communication path for communicating with an external device. m2-1 is a management number for distinguishing device types. m2-2 is a management number for distinguishing device numbers. m3 is a range specification for specifying a value for determining a numerical value to be displayed on the CRT 5, a display attribute of a graphic, and the like. m4-1 is a display color designation for designating the display color of a numerical value or a figure to be displayed on the CRT 5 when the device information data of the device designated by m2-1 and m2-2 is within the range indicated by m3. . m4-2 is a display color designation for designating a display color of a numerical value or a figure to be displayed on the CRT 5 when the device information data of the device designated by m2-1 and m2-2 is out of the range indicated by m3. . m5 is a figure designation for designating a figure to be displayed on the CRT 5. m6 is a display position designation for designating a position on the CRT 5 where a numerical value or a figure is to be displayed according to the contents designated by m2-1 to m5.
[0014]
The display setting M1 created by the user includes a setting number m1, a channel number m7, a device type m2-1, a device number m2-2, a value range m3, a display color m4-1 in the range, and a display color m4-2 out of the range. , A display graphic m5, and a display position m6, and the number of display settings exists by the user. The channel number m7 is represented by a numerical value. For example, “1” indicates 1ch, and “2” indicates 2ch. The device type m2-1 is represented by a numerical value. For example, "0" indicates a bit device, and "1" indicates a word device. The device number m2-2 is represented by a numerical value. For example, when the device type m2-1 is "0" and the device number m2-2 is "2", it indicates the bit device 2. The value range m3 is composed of two numerical values, and indicates an upper limit value m3-1 and a lower limit value m3-2, respectively. The in-range display color m4-1 and the out-of-range display color m4-2 are represented by numerical values. For example, "1" is red, "2" is blue, and "3" is white. The display figure m5 is represented by a numerical value. For example, "1" indicates that a circle is displayed, "2" indicates a square, and "3" indicates that a numerical value is displayed.
[0015]
FIG. 3 is a module configuration diagram of the display device 25 when transmitting and receiving to and from an external device having a plurality of different protocols. S61 is a module for issuing a communication request to a plurality of external devices. Based on the display setting stored in the flash memory 6, the module transmits the communication request using the communication protocol corresponding to the PC 1 or 3 specified in the display setting. A request module for requesting that
[0016]
The request module S61 is a module that prepares a different communication protocol for the PC 1 or 3 connected to the display device 25 and issues a communication request to each different PC 1 or 3. For example, when the display setting is such that the setting number m1 in FIG. 2 is “1”, the channel number m7 is “1” indicating 1ch, the device type m2-1 is “0” indicating a bit device, and the device number m2−. Since 2 is “1”, the request module S61a transmits the value of the bit device 1 of the PC 1 connected to the channel number 1ch to the display device 25 using a communication protocol corresponding to the PC 1 connected to the channel number 1ch. Request that In the case of this example, the request module S61a stores “1” indicating 1ch in the channel number area of the RAM 11, “0” indicating the bit device in the device type area, and “1” in the device number area. The device stored in the channel number area, the device type area, and the device number area of the RAM 11 via the F10, that is, the value of the bit device 1 of the PC 1 connected to the channel number 1 corresponds to the PC 1 connected to the channel number 1. Request to transmit using the specified communication protocol.
[0017]
S62 is a module that prepares a different communication protocol for each PC connected to the display device 25 and receives the contents requested by S61 from each of the different PCs 1 and 3. A receiving module that receives device information data of a device requested to a PC connected to a set channel number from a stored display setting via a corresponding PCI / F with a communication protocol corresponding to the PC. .
The receiving module S62 has a different communication protocol connected to the display device 25. In the receiving module S62, the value received from the PC via the PCI / F by the communication protocol corresponding to the PC is stored in the data area of the RAM 11.
[0018]
S63 is a module that determines the content to be displayed by referring to the received data and the display setting. The received device, for example, “1” in the channel number area of the RAM 11, “0” in the device type area, and the device number If “1” is stored in the area, the bit device 1 of the PC 1 connected to the channel number 1ch (the channel number m7 is “1”, the device type m2-1 is “0”, and the device number m2-2 is This is a search module for searching the flash memory 6 for display settings related to “1”). When the display settings are set as shown in FIG. 2, the display setting with the setting number m1 being “1”, the channel number m7 being “1”, the device type m2-1 being “0”, and the device number m2-2 being "1", which corresponds to this.
[0019]
S64 is a module for actually displaying figures, characters, and the like on the CRT 5, and is specified by the display settings on the CRT 5 based on the display settings retrieved in S63 and the device information data of the device stored in the data area of the RAM 11. This is a display module that performs display. When the display settings are set as shown in FIG. 2, for example, in S63, the display setting with the setting number m1 of “1” is searched, and the upper limit value m3-1 of the display setting with the setting number m1 of “1” is “3”. Since “0” and the lower limit m3-2 are “0”, if “0” is stored in the data area of the RAM 11, the device information data of the device is in the range between the upper limit m3-1 and the lower limit m3-2. Therefore, the circle indicated by the value “1” of the display graphic m5 is displayed at the “10” display position on the CRT 5 indicated by the display position m6 in red, which is indicated by the value “1” of the in-range display color m4-1. . If “1” is stored in the data area of the RAM 11, it is displayed in blue indicated by the value “2” of the out-of-range display color m4-2.
[0020]
In this way, the user sees, for example, whether a red circle or a blue circle is displayed on the CRT 5 to determine the controlled device connected to the PC 1 or 3 having a different communication protocol. You can know the driving situation.
[0021]
Each time the modules S61 to S64 are repeatedly executed, each time the module S61 is executed, the module S61 requests the PC 1 or 3 to transmit to the display device 25 using the corresponding protocol, for example, to set the setting number m1 Is requested by the communication protocol corresponding to the device of PC1 connected to the channel number set to the display setting of “1”, and then the setting number m1 is connected to the channel number set to the display setting of “2”. Changes in the data of the robot, the numerical controller and the machine tool controlled by the PC 1 or 3 having a different communication protocol are successively received by the display device 25 by requesting with the communication protocol corresponding to the device of the PC 3, The display on the CRT 5 is updated according to the display setting instruction corresponding thereto.
[0022]
In FIG. 1, after receiving interrupt signals from a plurality of communication processing controllers, the CPU 28 sends an interrupt signal to a communication task (32a or 32b in FIG. 4 described later) corresponding to each of them. At that time, the interrupt task (34 in FIG. 4) as the interrupt processing means has the order in which the interrupt signals are entered in the RAM 11, and sends the interrupt signals to the communication task one by one according to the order stored in the RAM 11.
[0023]
FIG. 4 is a task configuration diagram when transmitting and receiving data to and from a plurality of external devices. In the figure, a display task 30 uses display setting data such as channel number m7, device type m2-1, and device number m2-2 of the display setting M1 in the flash memory 6 shown in FIG. And performs a display process while waiting for notification of device information data of the requested device. The communication overall processing task 31 sends the device information data received from the display task 30 to the request module S61a or S61b from the channel number m7. Hereinafter, a case where the system of the request module S61a functions as the request module will be mainly described.
The request module S61a transmits data using the communication protocol for the communication processing controller 36 of the corresponding PC 1 based on the received display setting data. Here, the communication processing controllers 36 and 37 are modules provided in the PCs 1 and 3, respectively, and perform data communication with the outside such as the display device 25. The communication processing controller 36 receives the data received from the request module S61a, and sends device information data of the specified device to the interrupt task 34.
[0024]
The interrupt task 34 is a task for receiving an interrupt signal from the communication processing controller 36, and stores the reception content and the reception time in the RAM 11 based on the interrupt signal. Then, an interrupt signal is sent to the receiving modules S62a and S62b at regular intervals based on the stored interrupt order information 35 and priority order information 33 (details will be described later). Upon receiving the interrupt signal, the receiving modules S62a and S62b send the received device information data to the communication overall processing task 31.
[0025]
The communication overall processing task 31 returns response data to the display task 30 that has requested the communication. Here, the communication tasks 32a and 32b each include a request module S61a or S61b and a receiving module S62a or S62b therein, and perform data communication between each communication processing controller and the display device 25. The communication task 32a performs communication processing with the communication processing controller 36, and the communication task 32b performs communication processing with the communication processing controller 37. Since the display device 25 has a communication task corresponding to each communication processing controller in this manner, it is possible to prevent a decrease in communication processing capability due to an increase in external devices to be communicated.
[0026]
FIG. 5 shows a flow of processing after receiving a response from the communication processing controller 36 or 37 and receiving an interrupt signal from the interrupt task 34. Upon receiving the interrupt signal, the receiving module S62a for the communication processing controller 36 sends the received data to the communication general processing task 31 (step S20). The communication overall processing task 31 sends the data received from the communication processing controller 1 to the display task 30 that has issued the communication request (step S21).
[0027]
As described above, in this embodiment, since the number of the receiving modules (S62a, S62b) corresponds to each of the plurality of communication processing controllers, the number of the reception modules (S62a, S62b) corresponds to each of the plurality of communication processing controllers. It will be good.
[0028]
The interrupt task 34 is divided into a module for detecting an interrupt signal from the communication processing controllers 36 and 37 and a module for transmitting an interrupt signal received from the communication processing controller 36 or 37 to the receiving module S62a or S62b at regular intervals. I have. In order to access the interrupt order information in each module, exclusive processing is performed using an exclusive control flag.
[0029]
FIG. 6 shows the flow of processing for a module that receives an interrupt signal from the interrupt task 34. Upon receiving an interrupt from each communication processing controller (step S30), the interrupt task 34 turns on the exclusive control flag to write the interrupt information into the interrupt order information 35 (step S31). Next, the content of the received interrupt and the time at which it was received (external clock or internal clock) are recorded (step S32). After recording, the exclusive control flag is turned off (step S33).
[0030]
FIG. 7 shows the flow of the module that transmits the interrupt of the interrupt task. Starts up at a fixed time in a system cycle or the like. First, an exclusive control flag is turned on to check interrupt information (step S40). Next, the “reception time” is advanced with respect to the content of the higher priority from the interrupt content stored in the interrupt order information 35 (step S41). Then, an interrupt is transmitted to each receiving module at the time when the “receiving time” is set to be the earliest (step S42). After transmission, the interrupt information is cleared (step S43). Finally, the exclusive control flag is released (step S44).
[0031]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of processing when an interrupt is simultaneously input to a communication processing controller on each PCI / F in a case where four PCI / Fs are provided on the display device 25 and external devices each having a different protocol are connected. This will be described with reference to FIGS.
Information indicating each state represented by reference numerals 80 to 87 indicates the contents of the interrupt order information 35 together with the elapsed time, and steps S80 to S87 indicate the contents of the interrupt transmission processing corresponding to the information of 80 to 87. In addition, the processes of steps S80 to S87 correspond one-to-one to the information of 80 to 87, for example, such that step S80 corresponds to the information of reference numeral 80.
[0032]
The communication processing controllers A, B, C, and D are set in descending order of priority, and when an interrupt occurs simultaneously, the time at which the interrupt actually occurred is advanced so that the processing is performed according to the specified priority. Are "4", "2", "1", and "0", respectively. It is assumed that each communication processing controller periodically enters as an interrupt cycle at intervals of "10", "15", "20", and "20". Also, it is assumed that the interrupt check is performed at a cycle time “5”. The numerical values in the brackets described above are numerical values in units of time such as m seconds.
[0033]
It is assumed that an interrupt is received from the communication processing controller A when the time has passed "10" (80). At this point, since there is only one interrupt, this interrupt is transmitted to the receiving module, and since the transmission to the request source has been completed, the interrupt information 80 is cleared (step S80). It is assumed that an interrupt from the communication processing controller B occurs when the time has passed “15” (81). At this time, since there is only one interrupt, this interrupt is transmitted to the receiving module, and since the transmission to the request source has been completed, the interrupt information 80 is cleared (step S81).
[0034]
It is assumed that an interrupt is received from the communication processing controllers A, C, and D when the time has passed "20" (82). Since there are a plurality of interrupts, "4", "1", and "0" are used in order to advance the time at which each interrupt actually occurred from the time "20" (the state of the information 82) at which each interrupt occurred according to the priority order. Is subtracted (step S82). As a result, it is recognized that the interrupt of the communication processing controller A with the largest advance time has occurred first, and this interrupt is transmitted to the receiving module, and only this interrupt data is cleared (step S83). . As described above, if the priority of the high-speed communication mode is set higher, it is given priority over other communication, and the performance of the display update speed for the communication controller with the higher priority can be maintained.
[0035]
At the time when the time has passed "25" (84), the interruption from the communication processing controllers C and D which has occurred when the time has passed "20" remains. From this data, the time is advanced by "1" and "0" in accordance with the priority order (step S84). As a result, the interruption of the communication processing controller C has occurred first, and this interruption is transmitted to the receiving module, and only this interruption data is cleared (step S85). In this way, with respect to interrupts that occur at the same time, a communication mode with a higher priority can operate with priority.
[0036]
When the time has passed "30" (86), the interrupts of the communication processing controllers A, B, and D are present. According to the priorities, "4", "2", and "0" are subtracted from the times, respectively (step S86). As a result, it is recognized that the interruption of the communication processing controller D occurred first, and the interruption of the communication processing controller D is transmitted to the receiving module, and only this interruption data is cleared (step S87). As described above, even if an interrupt signal has a low priority, the reception time is subtracted every interrupt check cycle time. Therefore, even if an interrupt with a high priority occurs later, the interrupt with a low priority is processed. It is possible.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention has an effect that processing after receiving device information data from a plurality of external devices can be efficiently performed by the functions of the interrupt processing unit and the plurality of data receiving units.
[0038]
In addition, priorities are added to interrupt signals corresponding to a plurality of external devices, and by managing the priority of the interrupt signals and the reception time, communication with an external device having a higher priority is given higher priority. Therefore, even when it is impossible to update data of all external devices in real time, it is possible to prevent a communication delay from occurring in data processing of important and high-priority external devices. It works.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention and devices connected to the display device.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a setting example of display settings according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a module configuration diagram according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a task configuration diagram inside the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of waiting for reception according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an interrupt reception process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an interrupt transmission process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the priorities of external devices according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an exemplary diagram showing, in chronological order, interrupt transmission processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
[Explanation of symbols]
1, 3 Programmable controller 30 Display task 31 Communication general processing task 32a, 32b Communication task 34 Interrupt task

Claims (2)

Interrupt processing means for receiving device information data output from a plurality of external devices and outputting an interrupt signal based on the reception of the device information data;
It has a communication protocol corresponding to each of the plurality of external devices, and receives device information data output from the plurality of external devices in response to reception of an interrupt signal from the interrupt processing unit, and outputs the device information data to the communication general processing unit. A plurality of data receiving means,
Display processing means for outputting display setting data set in advance to the communication overall processing means,
A display device that performs display based on the device information data and the display setting data. The interrupt processing means assigns a preset priority to the interrupt signals corresponding to the outputs from the plurality of external devices, and based on the priority of each interrupt signal and the reception time at which the interrupt signal was received, 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission order of the interrupt signal to the data receiving means is determined.

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