JP2006229421A - Network fault diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network fault diagnostic apparatus capable of easily diagnosing faults other than those in network terminals. <P>SOLUTION: A structure information storage section 12 stores a hierarchical structure table for expressing a topology of a tree type network comprising branches and terminals by means of a hierarchical structure. A terminal fault detection section 14 detects a fault in each terminal. A fault location estimate section 16 uses the hierarchical structure table to obtain an estimated fault location other than those of the network terminals by using the hierarchical structure table on the basis of the result of the detection by the terminal fault detection section 14. The hierarchical structure table is a table wherein the root of the tree is an upper layer and the tip side of the tree is a lower layer, a lower layer appears at each branch, and each branch and its lower terminals are cross-referenced. When faults of all lower side terminals from a branch toward the tree tips are detected, the fault location estimate section 16 obtains the branch as the estimated fault location. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a network failure diagnosis apparatus having a function of diagnosing a failure in a portion other than a network terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, network systems that perform digital transmission have been widely used and applied to various uses. When a network is applied, failure diagnosis of each terminal constituting the network becomes possible.

  For example, it is possible to apply the network technology to a business broadcasting system that is generally an analog type. In a conventional analog broadcasting system, a failure point in the system cannot be grasped from a transmission side device. In addition, since a plurality of speakers are operating in the vicinity on the reception side, it is not easy to grasp the failure location. Furthermore, even if a failed speaker can be identified, it is not easy to distinguish whether a line failure has occurred or a failure has occurred in a single speaker, and the failure location is difficult to understand. On the other hand, if the broadcasting system is configured by a network, the health check of the speaker as a terminal can be performed using a ping command or the like.

  Thus, the network system can detect a failure of each terminal. However, even if a terminal failure can be detected, it is not easy to detect a failure that has occurred in a part other than the terminal on the network.

Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a failure diagnosis apparatus that can detect a failure point on a network. The system of this document has information on the correspondence between a plurality of network elements set in advance by dividing the network components into layers, and information indicating a failure propagation relationship between the plurality of network elements is stored in advance. The failure point in the network is specified by using the information on the correspondence and the spread relationship.
JP 2003-179601 A (page 3-4, FIG. 1)

  However, in the conventional network fault diagnosis device, it is necessary to prepare network configuration information such as correspondence and spread relationship of network elements in advance, the configuration of the diagnostic function is complicated, and flexible follow-up to network changes There is a problem that it is not easy and detection of the failure point is not easy.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network failure diagnosis apparatus that can easily diagnose failures other than the terminals of the network.

  A network fault diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention includes a structure information storage unit that stores a hierarchical structure table that represents the topology of a tree-type network composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure, and faults in each terminal that constitutes the network. A terminal failure detection unit for detecting, and a failure location estimation unit for obtaining an estimated failure location other than the network terminal using the hierarchical structure table based on a detection result of failure of each terminal by the terminal failure detection unit, In the hierarchical structure table stored in the structure information storage unit, the root side of the tree is the upper layer side and the tip side is the lower layer side, and a lower layer appears in each branch, and each branch is associated with a terminal on the lower layer side. The failure location estimating unit detects when a failure of all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the top of the tree is detected. It is configured to determine the portion as the estimated fault location.

  With this configuration, the failure location estimation unit uses the hierarchical structure table of the above configuration based on the detection result of the failure of each terminal by the terminal failure detection unit, so that failure of all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the tree tip is detected. When detected, the branch portion is obtained as an estimated failure location. With a simple configuration including the hierarchical structure table as described above, it is possible to estimate a failure at a branch portion that is a configuration other than the terminal. By presenting a branch fault, a warning of a fault in a hierarchy with a branch is given. In this way, failure of parts other than the terminal can be easily diagnosed with a simple configuration.

  The network fault diagnosis apparatus of the present invention further includes a structure table generation unit that generates the hierarchical structure table from network topology data representing the topology, and the structure table generation unit is arranged from the root side to the tip side of the network. The hierarchy structure table is generated while tracing the tree toward the tree, and branches and terminals are detected by tracing the tree, and when a branch is detected, the hierarchy is below the branch. In addition, when a terminal is detected, the terminal is registered in the hierarchical structure table.

  With this configuration, it is possible to automatically generate a hierarchical structure table from network topology data and diagnose a network failure. The network topology data is data created using a drawing data creation function such as CAD.

  The network fault diagnosis apparatus of the present invention includes a topology data storage unit that stores the network topology data used for generation of the hierarchical structure table by the structure table generation unit, and the topology data storage unit that stores the network topology data. The topology image generation unit that reads out network topology data and generates a tree-like topology image, the display unit that represents the topology image, and the failure location estimation unit obtained as the estimated failure location on the topology image A failure location display processing unit for displaying a branching portion.

  With this configuration, the topology image based on the hierarchical structure table is displayed, and the estimated failure location is displayed on the topology image. Therefore, the failure location can be easily grasped.

  In the network failure diagnosis apparatus of the present invention, the failure location estimation unit detects a failure terminal, but does not detect a failure of another terminal located below the upper branch point of the failure terminal. The terminal is configured to determine that a single terminal failure has occurred. With this configuration, it is possible to diagnose that a single terminal failure has occurred.

  In the network failure diagnosis apparatus of the present invention, the terminal failure detection unit sends a health check signal to each terminal of the network and detects a failure of each terminal based on the presence or absence of a reply. With this configuration, it is possible to suitably detect a terminal failure for processing by the failure location estimation unit by actually checking the response / non-response of the terminal.

  In the network fault diagnosis apparatus of the present invention, the structure information storage unit stores a pseudo-hierarchical structure table that represents a ring network in a pseudo-hierarchical structure, and the pseudo-hierarchical structure table stores the ring-type network. It is a table that lowers the hierarchy while rotating the ring in one direction. With this configuration, it becomes possible to perform failure diagnosis of the ring network.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network fault diagnosis method comprising: reading out a hierarchical structure table representing a tree-type network topology composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure; and configuring the network. A terminal failure detection step for detecting a failure in each terminal, and a failure location for obtaining an estimated failure location other than the terminal of the network using the hierarchical structure table based on the detection result of the failure of each terminal in the terminal failure detection step The hierarchical structure table has an upper layer side and a lower layer side at the root side of the tree, and a lower layer appears at each branch, and each branch is associated with a terminal on the lower layer side. The failure location estimation step detects failures in all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the tree tip. When the obtained the branching portion as the estimated fault location. Also with this method, as in the above-described apparatus aspect, a failure in a portion other than the terminal can be easily diagnosed with a simple configuration.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a network fault diagnosis program, which reads out a hierarchical structure table that represents the topology of a tree network composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure, and configures the network. A terminal failure detection step for detecting a failure in each terminal, and a failure location for obtaining an estimated failure location other than the terminal of the network using the hierarchical structure table based on the detection result of the failure of each terminal in the terminal failure detection step The hierarchical structure table has an upper layer side on the root side and a lower layer side on the top side of the tree, and a lower layer appears in each branch. The failure location estimation step is performed from a certain branch to the top of the tree. Buy when the failure of all the lower-layer-side terminal is detected, a process for obtaining the branching portion as the estimated fault location. According to this program, as in the above-described apparatus aspect, it is possible to easily diagnose a failure in a portion other than the terminal with a simple configuration.

  The network fault diagnosis program of the present invention further causes a computer to execute a structure table generation step for generating the hierarchical structure table from the network structure information, and the structure table generation step is performed from the root side to the front end side of the network. Trace the tree toward the tree to generate the hierarchical structure table, detect the branch branch and terminal by tracing the tree, and add the next lower hierarchy when the branch branch is detected When a terminal is detected, the terminal is registered in the hierarchical structure table. With this program, it is possible to automatically generate a hierarchical structure table from network topology data and diagnose a network failure.

  The present invention is configured to obtain an estimated failure location other than the terminal of the network using the hierarchical structure table based on the detection result of the failure of each terminal by the terminal failure detection unit as described above. It is possible to provide a network failure diagnosis apparatus that can be easily diagnosed with a simple configuration.

  Hereinafter, a network failure diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the example of the present embodiment, the network system is a broadcast system, and the network terminal is a speaker. However, the network system is not limited to the broadcast system within the scope of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a network failure diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a network provided with the network failure diagnosis apparatus.

  First, referring to FIG. 2, the control unit 50 is a control device configured by a computer and has a function of sending voice to a network. In addition, the control unit 50 incorporates the network failure diagnosis apparatus of the present embodiment.

  The control unit 50 is connected to the two-wire modem 60 and is connected to a plurality of terminals of the network 70 via the two-wire modem 60. The network 70 has a tree structure, branches at each branch portion, and extends to the tip of the tree. First, a line extending from the two-wire modem 60 is divided into a branch a1 and a branch a2 at a branch a. The branch a1 is connected to the terminal t1. The branch a2 is divided into a branch b1 and a branch b2 at the branch b, and the branch b1 is connected to the terminal t2. Branch b2 is divided into branch c1 and branch c2 at branch c. Branch c1 is divided into branch d1 and branch d2 at branch d, and terminal t3 is connected to branch d1. The branch d2 is a branch e, which is divided into a branch e1 and a branch e2, and a terminal t4 is connected to the branch e1. Nothing is connected to the branch e2. The branch c2 is a branch f and is divided into a branch f1 and a branch f2. The terminal f5 is connected to the branch f1, and nothing is connected to the branch f2.

  The network 70 in FIG. 2 is a system that is proposed to be formed using, for example, a power line. The network 70 in FIG. 2 has a tree-like branch structure, and can be called a branch network. The network 70 in FIG. 2 can also be called a free topology.

  The example of FIG. 2 shows five speaker terminals. However, in an actual system, it is needless to say that more terminals may be connected. For example, about 1000 terminals are provided.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration for voice transmission in the control unit 50. The control unit 50 includes a microphone 101, an A / D conversion unit 102, a codec 103, a CPU 104, a memory 105, and a network I / F 106. Audio is input from the microphone 101 and converted into an analog electrical signal. Then, an audio digital signal is generated by the A / D converter 102, and the digital signal is compressed by the codec 103. The compressed data is processed by the CPU 104 and sent out from the network I / F 106. The memory 105 is used for processing of the CPU 104.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration for audio reproduction provided in the terminal. The terminal is a network speaker having a network communication function. The terminal includes a network I / F 111, a CPU 112, a codec 113, a D / A conversion unit 114, and a speaker 115. The network I / F 111 receives the compressed audio data transmitted from the network to the own terminal. The compressed data is processed by the CPU 112 and decompressed by the codec 113. Further, the D / A converter 114 converts the digital signal into an analog signal, the analog signal is supplied to the speaker 115, and the speaker 115 emits sound.

  Next, the configuration of the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 is built in the control unit 50 as described above, and is realized by the computer function and network communication function of the control unit 50. And the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 can implement | achieve the failure diagnosis function of parts other than a terminal as follows in addition to the failure detection function of each terminal as follows.

  The network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 includes a structure information storage unit 12, a terminal failure detection unit 14, and a failure location estimation unit 16 as the main components for realizing the diagnosis function. As shown in FIG. 2, the structure information storage unit 12 stores a hierarchical structure table that expresses the topology of a tree network composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure. The terminal failure detection unit 14 has a function of detecting a failure in each terminal constituting the network. The failure location estimation unit 16 determines a network failure using the hierarchical structure table based on the failure detection result of each terminal by the terminal failure detection unit 14. In particular, the failure location estimation unit 16 is configured to obtain a failed branch portion as an estimated failure location other than the terminal.

  The network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 further generates a topology data generation unit 18 that generates network topology data representing the topology of FIG. 2, a topology data storage unit 20 that stores network topology data, and a hierarchical structure table from the network topology data. And a structure table generation unit 22.

  The topology data generation unit 18 has a drawing data creation function such as CAD. Then, the topology data generation unit 18 uses the input / output functions of the operation unit 24 and the display unit 34 to generate network topology data as follows.

  The topology data generation unit 18 causes the display unit 34 to display an image for drawing the topology. The operation unit 24 is operated by the user, and the input to the operation unit 24 is received by the topology data generation unit 18. Then, according to the user operation, branches, branches, terminals, etc. are written at the respective positions, the topology is drawn, and drawing data as illustrated in FIG. 2 is generated. This drawing data is network topology data in the present embodiment.

  The network topology data (drawing data) has information specifying each element such as the branch, branch, terminal, control unit, and 2-wire modem in FIG. The drawing data includes an identification code of each element, position data of each element on the network, and data indicating a connection relationship between the elements. As described above, the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 is configured to obtain information for specifying the network structure by the drawing data creation function. The generated network topology data is stored in the topology data storage unit 20.

  The structure table generation unit 22 automatically generates a hierarchical structure table from the network topology data stored in the topology data storage unit 20. The generated hierarchical structure table is stored in the structure information storage unit 12 as described above. Here, the configuration of the hierarchical structure table will be described, and then the table generation processing by the structure table generation unit 22 will be described.

  FIG. 5A shows an example of a hierarchical structure table. The hierarchical structure table in FIG. 5A corresponds to the network topology in FIG. FIG. 5B is a tree diagram corresponding to the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 5A, and is shown for easy understanding of the hierarchical structure table.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the hierarchical structure table, the root side of the tree is the upper layer side and the tip side is the lower layer side, and a lower layer appears in each branch, and each branch is associated with a terminal on the lower layer side. It is a table. Each branch is registered as a hierarchy element.

  Specifically, the first branch a belongs to the first hierarchy. Then, the terminal t1 and the branch b following the branch a belong to the second hierarchy. Furthermore, terminal t2 and branch c following branch b belong to the third hierarchy. Further, branch f and branch d following branch c belong to the fourth hierarchy. Furthermore, the terminal t5 following the branch f belongs to the fifth hierarchy. Further, branch e and terminal t3 following branch d also belong to the fifth hierarchy. And the terminal t4 following the branch e belongs to the sixth hierarchy. Generally speaking, a terminal and a branch following a branch in the nth hierarchy belong to the (n + 1) th.

  Therefore, in the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 5, the root side of the tree, that is, the two-wire modem 60 side is the upper layer side, and the tip side of the tree is the lower layer side. Then, for example, if there is a branch a in the first layer, a lower layer appears in each branch such that a branch b and a terminal t1 in the second layer appear. Also, the terminals under each branch on the tree are arranged below the corresponding branch layer on the table, and therefore each branch is associated with the terminal below it. Specifically, terminals t1, t2, t3, t4, and t5 are arranged under the branch a hierarchy, terminals t2, t3, t4, and t5 are arranged under the branch b hierarchy, and under the branch c. Terminals t3, t4, and t5 are arranged, terminals t3 and t4 are arranged under the branch d, terminal t4 is arranged under the branch e, and terminal t5 is arranged under the branch f. As is clear from the above, the hierarchical structure table can also be said to be a table in which each terminal is associated with all branches above it.

  Next, FIG. 6 shows processing for automatically generating the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 5A from the network topology data of FIG. The network topology data is data created by the drawing data creation function such as CAD as described above, and has information specifying each branch, each branch, and each terminal. The structure table generation unit 22 is configured to generate a hierarchical structure table while tracing a network topology tree from the root side to the tip side of the network.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the structure table generation unit 22 traces the network topology, searches for a branch (S10), and determines whether a branch and a branch following the branch are found (S12). When the branch and the branch are found, the structure table generation unit 22 registers the branch in the current hierarchy (S14), and adds one hierarchy below the branch of the hierarchy table for each branch (S16). . Then, the structure table generation unit 22 sets both of the found branch branches as search targets (S18). As a result, the search process in the next lower hierarchy is performed from step S10 on each of both branches. In this way, the structure table is recursively generated in the present embodiment.

  When no branch or branch is found in step S12, the structure table generation unit 22 determines whether a terminal has been found (S20). When the terminal is found, the structure table generating unit 22 registers the found terminal (S22). The terminal is registered in the currently searched hierarchy (detection hierarchy) where it was discovered. If no terminal is found in step S18, the branch branch to be searched is ignored (S24). That is, regarding the branch to be searched, the process ends without registering any terminal or branch. Through such processing, the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 of the present embodiment creates a table that identifies the hierarchical structure following the hierarchy counted at the branch.

  FIG. 7 shows a failure detection operation by the terminal failure detection unit 14. As illustrated, the terminal failure detection unit 14 uses the network communication function and performs polling to actually detect a failure of each terminal. At this time, the terminal failure detection unit 14 sequentially sends a health check inquiry to each terminal and receives a reply from each terminal. And the terminal failure detection part 14 determines with the terminal which does not send a reply having failed. A ping command may be used to detect a terminal failure. The terminal failure detection unit 14 stores the detection result of the failure of each terminal in the detection result storage unit 26. The detection result data includes identification data of the terminal in which the failure is detected.

  Fault detection is performed at regular time intervals. That is, the terminal failure detection unit 14 automatically starts the detection process when a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous detection. The terminal failure detection unit 14 may detect a terminal failure in response to an instruction by a user operation.

  Further, in FIG. 7, three terminals are illustrated, but actually, the failure of all terminals is examined. For example, in the network of FIG. 2, the failure of five terminals is examined.

  FIG. 8 shows the operation of the speaker terminal. FIG. 8 shows the response operation on the health check terminal side. The speaker terminal has the configuration shown in FIG. The speaker terminal receives the packet data (S30), and determines whether the received packet is a packet addressed to itself (S32). If the packet data is not addressed to the own terminal, the processing of the speaker terminal returns to step S30. If the packet data is addressed to the own terminal, the speaker terminal determines whether or not audio data has been received (S34). If audio data is received, the codec 113 expands the audio data, the D / A converter 114 converts the audio data into an analog signal, and the speaker 115 emits audio (S36). If audio data has not been received, the speaker terminal determines whether a health check signal has been received (S38). If the health check signal has not been received, the processing of the speaker terminal returns to step S30. If the health check signal is received, the speaker terminal transmits a response signal to the health check (S40). This response signal is received by the terminal failure detection unit 14 of the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 and stored in the detection result storage unit 26.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the health check is performed based on the response / no-response of each terminal by using the fact that the network speaker terminal can perform uplink processing.

  The failure location estimation unit 16 reads the detection result from the detection result storage unit 26 and performs a process of estimating the failure location using the hierarchical structure table based on the detection result. The failure location estimation unit 16 of this embodiment can estimate a failure in a portion other than the terminal, and specifically estimates a failure in a branch portion. In the present embodiment, a branch failure is a failure in a hierarchy with a branch, and includes a failure in the branch itself and a failure in a branch (path) on the upstream side of the branch. A branch failure is a failure on the line side, not the terminal.

  If one branch fails, communication with all terminals under that branch is disabled and a failure of all those terminals is detected. This means that the failed branch can be estimated by the process of finding the branch in which the failure is detected in all lower terminals. The failure location estimation unit 16 estimates a branch failure using a hierarchical structure table based on such a principle.

  The failure location estimation unit 16 reads all lower layer terminals under the target branch with one branch as the target branch. The failure location estimation unit 16 refers to the failure detection result and determines whether all the read lower layer terminals are broken. If all lower layer terminals are broken, it is determined that the branch of interest is broken. For example, when the branch a is the target branch, the lower layer terminals t1, t2, t3, t4, and t5 are read from the hierarchical structure table. And it is calculated | required from a detection result whether these terminals are out of order. If these terminals have failed, branch a is identified as the estimated failure location. Such processing is performed for each branch. The specific determination of each branch is as shown in FIG.

  The failure location estimation unit 16 may perform the following processing instead of the determination for each branch described above. Using the hierarchical structure table, all branches located above each faulty terminal (terminal where a fault is detected) are searched. The failure location estimation unit 16 determines whether or not there is a common upper branch among a plurality of failure terminals. This common upper branch is obtained as an estimated failure location. For example, it is assumed that failed terminals t3, t4, and t5 are detected. The upper branches of t3 are a, b, c and d, the upper branches of t4 are a, b, c, d and e, and the upper branches of t5 are a, b, c and f. The upper branches common to the three are a, b, and c. However, other terminals also belong to the branches a and b. Therefore, the branch c is obtained as a failure estimated location. Here, the lowest branch is required among the common upper branches. Even with such processing, the same result as the above-described determination for each branch can be obtained.

  In any of the processes, the failure location estimation unit 16 performs a process of obtaining the branch portion as the estimated failure location when failures of all terminals under a certain branch are detected. This estimated failure location is also an upper branch common to a plurality of failure terminals. Therefore, in other words, in both processes described above, the failure location estimation unit 16 obtains, as an estimated failure location, an upper branch common to the plurality of failure terminals when a failure of the plurality of terminals is detected. Processing is in progress.

  In addition to the above determination, the failure location estimation unit 16 also determines that a single terminal failure has occurred. In this case, the failure location estimation unit 16 has detected a failed terminal, but a single terminal failure has occurred when a failure has not been detected in another terminal located below the upper branch point of the failed terminal. It is comprised so that it may determine.

  Specifically, the branch a is above the terminal t1, and the other terminals t2, t3, t4, and t5 are below the branch a. Therefore, if a failure of the terminal t1 is detected and no failure of these other terminals is detected, the failure location estimation unit 16 determines that a single failure of the terminal t1 has occurred. Similarly, the branch b is above the terminal t2, and the terminals t3, t4, and t5 are below the branch b. If a failure of the terminal t2 is detected and no failure of these other terminals is detected, it is determined that a single failure of the terminal t2 has occurred. The same applies to the other branches.

  Note that the upper branch e of the terminal t4 has no other lower branch. In this case, it is only necessary to refer to the branch d that is one level higher and check the failure of the terminal t3 under the branch d. If a failure of the terminal t4 is detected and no failure of the terminal t3 is detected, it is determined that a single failure of the terminal t4 has occurred. The same applies to the terminal t5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 further includes a failure location storage unit 28, a topology image generation unit 30, a failure location display processing unit 32, and a display unit for displaying a failure location and issuing a warning. 34.

  The failure location storage unit 28 stores information on the failure terminal and the estimated failure location. The failed terminal is a terminal whose failure is detected by the failed terminal detection unit 14. The estimated failure location is a branch where the failure is estimated by the failure location estimation unit 16. Terminal and branch identification information is stored. The failure location storage unit 28 also stores the determination result of the single terminal failure by the failure location estimation unit 16.

  The topology image generation unit 30 reads the network topology data stored in the topology data storage unit 20 and generates a tree-like topology image. The topology image is displayed on the display unit 34. The display unit 34 is a display. In this way, the structure diagram created for specifying the topology is also used for fault display.

  The failure location display processing unit 32 reads the failure terminal and the estimated failure location from the failure location storage unit 28, and performs a process of displaying the read failure terminal and the estimated failure location on the topology image. For example, a failure mark is displayed at the location of the failed terminal. In addition, a failure estimation mark is displayed at the position of the branch that is the estimated failure location. As a result, it is possible to warn the user of a failure in a hierarchy with a branch and to warn the user of a failure on the line side. The determination result of the single terminal failure is also read from the failure location storage unit 28 and displayed on the topology image.

  In the above, each component of the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 has been described together with their functions and operations. Next, the overall operation of the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 will be described.

  First, an operation from generation of network topology data to storage of a hierarchical structure table in the structure information storage unit 12 will be described.

  The network topology data is generated by using the drawing data creation function of the topology data generation unit 18 by using the input / output functions of the operation unit 24 and the display unit 34. As described above, the network topology data is drawing data composed of identification codes such as branches, terminals, and branches, positions, and connection relationships. The generated network topology data is stored in the topology data storage unit 20.

  When the network topology data as shown in FIG. 2 is generated, the structure table generation unit 22 generates the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 5 from the network topology data. The structure table generation unit 22 reads the network topology data from the topology data storage unit 20, performs the process described with reference to FIG. 6, and generates a hierarchical structure table.

  The process of FIG. 6 is specifically performed as follows for the network topology of FIG. When the process starts, first, a branch extending from the two-wire modem is searched in step S10, and a branch a and its branches a1 and a2 are found in step S12. In step S14, branch a is registered in the first hierarchy, and in step S16, a second hierarchy is generated for each of the two branches a1 and a2. As shown in FIG. 5A, in the hierarchical structure table, two columns appear in the second hierarchy for both branches. In step S18, each of the two branches a1 and a2 is set as a search target. Therefore, the search process of the second hierarchy is performed from step S10 of FIG. 6 for each of the branch a1 and the branch a2.

  In the processing related to the branch a1, the branch a1 is searched in step S10, the branch and the branch are not found in step S12, the terminal t1 is found in step S20, and the terminal t1 is the detection hierarchy in step S22. Registered in On the other hand, in the processing related to the branch a2, the branch a2 is searched in step S10, the branch b and its branches b1 and b2 are found in step S12, the branch b is registered in the second hierarchy in step S14, and the branch in step S16. Three hierarchies are generated. In step S18, two branches b1 and b2 are set as search targets.

  In the processing related to the branch b1, the branch b1 is searched in step S10, the branch and the branch are not found in step S12, the terminal t2 is found in step S20, and the terminal t2 is registered in the third hierarchy in step S22. . On the other hand, in the processing related to the branch b2, the branch b2 is searched in step S10, the branch c and its branches c1 and c2 are found in step S12, the branch c is registered in the third hierarchy in step S14, and the branch c in step S16. Four layers are generated. In step S18, two branches c1 and c2 are set as search targets.

  In the processing related to the branch c1, the branch c1 is searched in step S10, the branch d and its branches d1 and d2 are found in step S12, the branch d is registered in the fourth hierarchy in step S14, and the fifth layer is checked in step S16. Is generated. In step S18, two branches d1 and d2 are set as search targets.

  Regarding branch d1, branch d1 is searched in step S10, branch and branch are not found in step S12, terminal t3 is found in step S20, and terminal t3 is registered in the fifth hierarchy in step S22. On the other hand, in the processing related to the branch d2, the branch d2 is searched in step S10, the branch e and its branches e1 and e2 are found in step S12, the branch e is registered in the fifth hierarchy in step S14, and the branch e2 in step S16. Six hierarchies are generated. In step S18, two branches e1 and e2 are set as search targets.

  For branch e1, branch e1 is searched in step S10, branch and branch are not found in step S12, terminal t4 is found in step S20, and terminal t4 is registered in the sixth hierarchy in step S22. The On the other hand, for branch e2, branch e2 is searched in step S10, no branch or branch is found in step S12, no terminal is found in step S20, and branch e2 is ignored in step S24. On the table, terminal t4 is written in one of the two columns under branch e (for branch e1), but nothing is written in the other column (for branch e2). It is not drawn (in FIG. 5, it is hatched).

  On the other hand, in the process relating to the branch c2, the branch c2 is searched in step S10, the branch f and its branches f1 and f2 are found in step S12, the branch f is registered in the fourth hierarchy in step S14, and the branch f2 is registered in step S16. Five layers are generated. In step S18, two branches f1 and f2 are set as search targets.

  For branch f1, branch f1 is searched in step S10, branch and branch are not found in step S12, terminal t5 is found in step S20, and terminal t5 is registered in the fifth hierarchy in step S22. The On the other hand, for branch f2, branch f2 is searched in step S10, branch and branch are not found in step S12, no terminal is found in step S20, and branch f2 is ignored in step S24.

  As described above, the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 5 is automatically generated. The generated hierarchical structure table is stored in the structure information storage unit 12.

  Next, failure diagnosis operation will be described. Fault diagnosis is automatically performed at regular time intervals. Further, the failure diagnosis may be performed in response to a user instruction. In the failure diagnosis, the terminal failure detection unit 14 detects a failure in each terminal, and the failure location estimation unit 16 determines a failure in the network based on the detection result.

  First, as described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the terminal failure detection unit 14 sends a signal to each terminal and detects a failure of the terminal based on the presence or absence of a reply. The failure detection result data is stored in the detection result storage unit 26. The detection result data includes identification data of the terminal in which the failure is detected.

  When the above health check is completed and failure detection processing for all terminals is completed, the failure location estimation unit 16 compares the detection result with the hierarchical structure table to estimate a branch that is estimated to have a failure. Obtained as a failure location. In this process, the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 5 is read from the structure information storage unit 12. Further, the detection result of the failure of each terminal is read from the detection result storage unit 26. Then, as described above, the failure location estimation unit 16 specifies the branch portion as the estimated failure location when all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the tree tip are out of order.

  In addition to the above determination, the failure location estimation unit 16 also determines that a single terminal failure has occurred. As described above, the failure location estimation unit 16 generates a single terminal failure when a failure terminal is detected, but a failure of another terminal located below the upper branch point of the failure terminal is not detected. It is determined that

  The estimated failure location obtained as described above is stored in the failure location storage unit 28 together with information on the detected failure terminal. The determination result of the single terminal failure is also stored in the failure location storage unit 28. These pieces of information are displayed on the display unit 34 by the topology image generation unit 30 and the failure location display processing unit 32.

  First, the topology image generation unit 30 reads network topology data from the topology data storage unit 20, generates a tree-like topology image, and displays it on the display unit 34. Then, the failure location display processing unit 32 reads the failure terminal and the estimated failure location from the failure location storage unit 28 and displays them on the topology image. A failure mark is drawn at the position of the failed terminal, and a failure estimation mark is also drawn at the branch location of the estimated failure location. As described above, the branch failure means a failure on the network side in a hierarchy having a branch. The determination result of the single failure terminal is also shown on the topology image.

  In the present embodiment, a branch failure means a network-side failure in a hierarchy with a branch, as already described. The user can easily pursue the cause of the failure by viewing the indication of the failure at the branch. Actually, in the network, a failure of the terminal is detected, but there may be a failure on the line side instead of the terminal. In such a case, in this embodiment, a branch failure is estimated from the terminal failure detection result, and the estimation result is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the situation where the user examines only the failure of the terminal even though the branch is broken. This facilitates discovery of the cause of the failure and enables early recovery of the failure.

  The operation of the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 has been described above.

  In the above description, the branch topology of FIG. 2 is used as an example. However, the network failure diagnosis device 10 of the present embodiment can be applied to other topologies.

  FIG. 10 shows a star topology as another type of topology. In this case, as described below, the hub is branched.

  In FIG. 10, the control unit 50 is connected to the hub ha, and the hub ha is connected to the hub hb, the terminal t1, and the hub hc. The hub hb is connected to the terminals t2 and t3, and the hub hc is connected to the terminal t4. In such a configuration, the hubs ha, hb, and hc become branches a, b, and c on the hierarchical structure table, respectively.

  FIG. 11 is a hierarchical structure table generated from the topology of FIG. 10 by the table generation process shown in FIG. As illustrated, branch a belongs to the first hierarchy. And branch b, c and terminal t1 following branch a belong to the 2nd hierarchy. Furthermore, the terminals t2 and t3 under the branch b and the terminal t4 under the branch c belong to the third hierarchy.

  FIG. 12 shows a network failure determination process based on the hierarchical structure table of FIG. In the hierarchical structure table of FIG. 11, terminals t1, t2, t3, and t4 are included under the branch a. Therefore, when a failure of these terminals is detected, branch a is obtained as an estimated failure location. Similarly, when a failure in the terminals t2 and t3 is detected, the branch b is specified as the estimated failure location. Further, when the failure of the terminal t4 is detected, the branch c is specified as the estimated failure location.

  FIG. 13 shows a ring topology as another type of topology. In the case of the ring type, the topology is pseudo-hierarchized around one direction from the terminal position closest to the control unit. The failure determination is performed using a hierarchical structure table generated so as to correspond to the pseudo hierarchical structure.

  In FIG. 13, the terminal t <b> 1 is located closest to the control unit 50. Terminals t1, t2, t3, and t4 are arranged on the ring. In the pseudo hierarchical structure, the hierarchy is lowered in the order of the terminals t1, t2, t3, and t4. Also, branches a, b, c, and d are set corresponding to the terminals t1, t2, t3, and t4.

  FIG. 14 shows a pseudo hierarchical structure table corresponding to the above-described pseudo hierarchical structure. In this case, the branch a corresponding to the terminal t1 belongs to the first hierarchy. Terminal t1 and branch b belong to the second hierarchy. Similarly, terminal t2 and branch c belong to the third hierarchy, terminal t3 and branch d belong to the fourth hierarchy, and terminal t4 belongs to the fifth hierarchy.

  Such a pseudo-hierarchy table can be automatically generated as in the above-described embodiment. For automatic generation, branches and branches may be added in advance to the position of each terminal on the network topology data of FIG. The processing of FIG. 6 is performed on this network topology data. Thereby, the pseudo hierarchical structure table of FIG. 14 is generated while following the ring in one direction.

  The failure determination process using the pseudo hierarchical structure table of FIG. 14 may be the same as that in the above-described embodiment. For example, if a failure is detected from the terminals t1, t2, t3, and t4, the branch a above them is specified as the estimated failure location. It is considered that the terminal t1 corresponding to the branch a has failed.

  As described above, the network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment can diagnose a failure of any of the star type, bus type, and ring type topologies. From the topology information, the presence of a star type, a bus type, and a ring type is discovered, and the above-described processing is performed. In this way, a network failure can be determined without being restricted by topology.

  The network failure diagnosis apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above. According to the present embodiment, as described above, a hierarchical structure table that represents a network topology in a hierarchical structure is prepared. Based on the failure detection result of each terminal, the presence / absence of a failure in the branch portion is determined using the hierarchical structure table, and an estimated failure location is obtained. In this way, it is possible to easily estimate a failure of a branch portion that is a configuration other than the terminal with a simple configuration including a hierarchical structure table. Then, it is possible to easily pursue the cause of the failure by presenting such a diagnosis result.

  In the present embodiment, a fault can be diagnosed even in a branch topology as shown in FIG. That is, the failure of the branch portion can be specified even if there is no element that can detect a direct failure such as a hub in the branch portion as in the topology of FIG.

  Further, in this embodiment, as described above, it is possible to easily detect a failure in a portion other than the terminal without being restricted by the topology.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, a hierarchical structure table can be automatically generated from network topology data to diagnose a network failure.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the topology image that is the basis of the hierarchical structure table is displayed, and the estimated failure location is displayed on the topology image. Therefore, the failure location can be easily grasped.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it is determined that a single terminal failure has occurred when a failure terminal is detected but a failure of another terminal located below the upper branch point of the failure terminal is not detected. To do. Therefore, it can also be determined that a single terminal failure has occurred.

  In the present embodiment, a health check signal is transmitted to each terminal of the network, and a failure of each terminal is detected based on the presence or absence of a reply. By actually examining the response / non-response of the terminal, it is possible to suitably detect the terminal failure for the process of estimating the failure location.

  In the present embodiment, a fault diagnosis of the ring network can also be performed by pseudo-hierarchizing the ring network.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that those skilled in the art can modify the above-described embodiments within the scope of the present invention. is there.

  As described above, the network failure diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention has an effect of easily diagnosing a failure other than a network terminal with a simple configuration, and is useful as a broadcasting system or the like.

Block diagram of a network fault diagnosis apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention Diagram showing an example of network topology Diagram showing the configuration on the audio transmission side The figure which shows the constitution of the speaker terminal (A) Diagram showing a hierarchical structure table (b) Tree diagram showing a topology corresponding to the hierarchical structure table Flow chart showing generation process of hierarchical structure table The figure which shows the processing which detects the failure of the terminal Flow chart showing operation of speaker terminal regarding detection of terminal failure The figure which shows the judgment process of the network failure using a hierarchical structure table and the detection result of a terminal failure Diagram showing an example of a star topology The figure which shows the example of the hierarchical structure table corresponding to star type topology The figure which shows the example of the failure determination processing in a star type topology Diagram showing an example of a ring topology The figure which shows the example of the hierarchical structure table corresponding to ring type topology

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network failure diagnosis apparatus 12 Structure information storage part 14 Terminal failure detection part 16 Failure location estimation part 18 Topology data generation part 20 Topology data storage part 22 Structure table generation part 24 Operation part 26 Detection result storage part 28 Fault location storage part 30 Topology Image generation unit 32 Fault location display processing unit 34 Display unit

Claims (9)

A structure information storage unit storing a hierarchical structure table that represents the topology of a tree-type network composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure;
A terminal failure detection unit for detecting a failure in each terminal constituting the network;
A failure location estimation unit for obtaining an estimated failure location other than the network terminal using the hierarchical structure table based on a failure detection result of each terminal by the terminal failure detection unit;
The hierarchical structure table stored in the structure information storage unit is such that the root side of the tree is the upper layer side and the tip side is the lower layer side, and one lower layer appears at each branch, and each branch and its lower layer side terminal Is an associated table,
The fault location estimation unit obtains a branch portion as the estimated fault location when faults of all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the top of the tree are detected.   A structure table generating unit configured to generate the hierarchical structure table from network topology data representing the topology, wherein the structure table generating unit traces the tree from the root side to the tip side of the network while tracing the tree. The branch is detected by detecting the branch and the terminal by tracing the tree, and a hierarchy is added below the branch when the branch is detected, and the terminal is detected when the terminal is detected. The network fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a terminal is registered in the hierarchical structure table. A topology data storage unit for storing the network topology data used for generation of the hierarchical structure table by the structure table generation unit;
A topology image generator that reads out the network topology data stored in the topology data storage unit and generates a tree-like topology image;
A display unit for displaying the topology image;
On the topology image, a failure location display processing unit representing a branch portion obtained as the estimated failure location by the failure location estimation unit,
The network fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:   The failure location estimation unit determines that a single terminal failure has occurred when a failure terminal has been detected, but a failure has not been detected in another terminal located below the upper branch point of the failure terminal. 4. The network failure diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   5. The network according to claim 1, wherein the terminal failure detection unit transmits a health check signal to each terminal of the network and detects a failure of each terminal based on whether or not there is a reply. Fault diagnosis device.   The structure information storage unit stores a pseudo-hierarchical structure table representing a ring network in a pseudo-hierarchical structure, and the pseudo-hierarchical structure table lowers the hierarchy while rotating the ring of the ring network in one direction. 6. The network failure diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the network failure diagnosis apparatus is a table that goes through. Reading a hierarchical table that represents the topology of a tree-type network composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure;
A terminal failure detection step of detecting a failure in each terminal constituting the network;
A failure location estimation step for obtaining an estimated failure location other than the network terminal using the hierarchical structure table based on a failure detection result of each terminal in the terminal failure detection step;
The hierarchical structure table is a table in which the root side of the tree is the upper layer side and the tip side is the lower layer side, a lower layer appears in each branch, and each branch is associated with a terminal on the lower layer side,
The failure location estimation step is characterized in that, when failures in all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the tree tip are detected, the branch portion is obtained as the estimated failure location. Reading a hierarchical table that represents the topology of a tree-type network composed of branches and terminals in a hierarchical structure;
A terminal failure detection step of detecting a failure in each terminal constituting the network;
Causing the computer to execute a process including a failure location estimation step for obtaining an estimated failure location other than the network terminal using the hierarchical structure table based on a failure detection result of each terminal in the terminal failure detection step,
The hierarchical structure table is a table in which the root side of the tree is the upper layer side and the tip side is the lower layer side, a lower layer appears in each branch, and each branch is associated with a terminal on the lower layer side,
The failure location estimation step is a process for obtaining a branch portion as the estimated failure location when a failure of all lower-layer terminals from a certain branch toward the tip of the tree is detected. .   A structure table generation step for generating the hierarchical structure table from the structure information of the network is further executed by a computer, and the structure table generation step includes the hierarchical structure while tracing the tree from the root side to the tip side of the network. A process for generating a table is performed, and branches and terminals are detected by tracing the tree. When a branch is detected, a hierarchy is added below the branch. When a terminal is detected, the terminal is The network fault diagnosis program according to claim 8, wherein the network fault diagnosis program is registered in the hierarchical structure table.

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