JP2006302074A - Plant information collection system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a plant information collection system which is capable of preserving plant information without omission in a process of converting the plant information to be in a common format and is capable of easily realizing not only an overview function but also a view function. <P>SOLUTION: The plant information collection system wherein plant information generated in a plurality of systems is converted to be in the common format and is preserved in a high-order device, includes a common format conversion means which preserves the plant information while divided into a data part where the plant information is stored in formats peculiar to the systems, and a header part where information for referring to information in the data part is stored. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a plant information collection system that converts plant information generated in a plurality of systems into a common format and stores it in a host device.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional collection system for plant information, particularly message information such as alarms. Reference numeral 1 denotes a host device, which communicates with a plurality of control systems 31, 32,... 3n via the communication bus 2 and collects messages M1, M2,.

  In each control system 31, 32,... 3n, 311, 321,... 3n1 are applications that execute control of field devices (not shown) that communicate with the plant 3 and form the plant.

  In each control system 31, 32,... 3n, 312, 322,... 3n2 are message generation means, and when the applications 311, 321,. M1, M2,... Mn are generated and transmitted to the communication bus 2.

  In the host apparatus 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a message collecting unit that collects messages M 1, M 2,... Mn of each control system via the communication bus 2. A common format conversion means 12 converts the messages M1, M2,... Mn generated in a format unique to the control system into a common format delimited by, for example, a markup language (hereinafter, XML (Extensible Markup Language)). And stored in the database 13.

  An overview unit 14 reads and displays a message stored in a common format. In this case, what is extracted from each message and formatted in a common format is a common item in all messages, and therefore its display is also limited to an overview that displays the common item.

  FIG. 6 is an image diagram showing a data structure of a message formatted in common using XML. Extract the common occurrence date, occurrence time, importance, source, and text from the messages of each system, and convert the message to the common format by corresponding each item to the XML tag and property. Yes. The overview unit 14 acquires the XML and displays it on the screen.

  In the configuration example of FIG. 5, the common format conversion means 12 is arranged in the host device 1, but this function is distributed and arranged in each control system 31, 32,... There is also a form in which a message formatted in common is acquired and saved.

  With the advent of XML, in the field of message management, messages generated by each system using a common format using XML from a conventional data format such as CSV are collected and managed by a host device. It is possible to build a system that integrates and manages lists.

  Patent Document 1 describes a plant information collection device that collects plant information and sends it to a host device.

JP 2004-145746 A

The message integration environment can be realized by managing the message after converting the common format, but this has the following problems.
(1) Message information is lost due to the adoption of a common format. That is, in order to convert a message into a common format, it is necessary to select items that match the common format from the items of the original message. For this reason, the message contents are abstracted as compared with a single system, and the message analysis function is poor.

(2) In the conventional plant information collection system, messages can be viewed only with a single view function (overview function) according to items defined in a common format. The view function for browsing detailed data unique to each system requires the construction of an application for extracting and displaying detailed information for each system, and requires complicated engineering.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is a process for converting plant information into a common format, and a plant information collection system that can store information without loss of information and can easily realize a view function in addition to an overview function. It is to be realized.

In order to achieve such an object, the configuration of the present invention is as follows.
(1) In a plant information collection system for converting plant information generated in a plurality of systems into a common format and storing it in a host device,
A common format conversion unit is provided that stores the plant information separately in a data part for storing the plant information in a format unique to the system and a header part for storing information for referring to the information of the data part. And plant information collection system.

(2) The plant information collection system according to (1), wherein the header section includes system type identification information of the system.

(3) The plant information collection system according to (1), wherein the header part has data part decode information for extracting information by interpreting information stored in the data part.

(4) The plant information collection system according to (3), wherein the header portion has common item mapping information that defines a correspondence relationship between items decomposed by the data portion decoding information and common items.

(5) The plant information collection system according to (3), further comprising a view unit that displays items decomposed by the data part decoding information based on filtering information of the system type identification information.

(6) The plant information collection system according to (4), further comprising overview means for displaying items decomposed by the data part decode information based on the common item mapping information.

(7) The plant information collection system according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein the data part and the header part are divided by a markup language tag.

(8) The system type identification information, common mapping information, and data part decoding information of the header part are divided by a markup language tag, according to any one of (2) to (7), Plant information collection system.

(9) The plant information collection system according to any one of (3) to (8), wherein the common format conversion unit obtains common mapping information and data portion decoding information of the header portion from the outside.

(10) The system according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein the system handles a group that manages the plant information in a common format as one logical system.

(11) The plant information collection system according to any one of (1) to (10), wherein the common format conversion means is provided in the host device.

(12) The plant information collection system according to any one of (1) to (10), wherein the common format conversion means is provided in each of the plurality of systems.

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.
(1) With the data structure of the common format according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the loss of information of a message specific to the system that occurs when various systems are integrated.

(2) In addition to being able to realize an overview-like message monitoring screen using the common format conversion method of the conventional system, it is also possible to realize a view screen that displays detailed information specific to a specific system that could not be realized with the conventional system Can be easily done.

(3) By providing a view screen, the overall system message management is first performed on the overview screen in combination with the overview screen, and for each specific message, each system is individually displayed on the view screen. It is possible to analyze messages by dynamically switching to a monitoring screen with detailed information equivalent to that of the monitoring screen.

(4) Management of changes in definition items and decoding methods by obtaining data part decoding information and common item mapping information from a database or an external file (not shown) of an engineering means equipped with an external PC connected to the communication bus 2 Can be unified, the engineering cost can be reduced, and an environment in which the user can easily perform maintenance can be realized.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a plant information collection system to which the present invention is applied. The same elements as those in the conventional system described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the characteristic part of the present invention will be described.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a host device to which the present invention is applied. In this host apparatus, 101 is a message collecting means which has the same function as the message collecting means 11 in the conventional system of FIG. 5 and collects messages M1, M2,... Mn from each control system via the communication bus 2. .

  Reference numeral 102 denotes common format conversion means that forms a feature of the present invention, and stores the converted message in the database 103. The chain line block 200 is a data structure of a message that has been converted to a common format and manually stored.

  The stored data structure 200 includes a data part 201 and a header part 202. The data unit 201 stores the message data 201a in a text format unique to the system. The header part 202 stores information for referring to the information of the data part 201. The data part 201 and the header part 202 are stored separately by XML.

  The header part 202 includes system type identification information 202a, data part decoding information 202b, and common item mapping information 202c. The system type identification information 202a stores information related to an identification character string and a version in order to identify the type of system. The system type mentioned here treats a group that manages plant information in a common format as one logical system.

  The data part decode information 202b describes the decoding method for interpreting the message information (format) stored in the data part 201 and cutting out each item of the message. The common item mapping information 202c describes a correspondence relationship with items that are common during system integration among the items of the message interpreted by the data part decoding information 202b.

  The system type identification information 202a, the data part decoding information 202b, and the common item mapping information 202c are also described using XML tags and attributes. When binary information is included in the message data 201a portion of the data portion 201, conversion to a text format is performed using text encoding such as Base64 or MIME, and this encoded information is also stored in the data portion decode information 202b portion. Is done.

  In the host device 1, 104 is an overview unit, and 105 is a view unit. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a signal processing procedure of the overview unit 104. In step S1, message data of each system is accessed. In step S2, message data items are extracted based on the data part decoding information. In step S3, common message items are extracted based on the common item mapping information. In S4, this is displayed as an overview.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a signal processing procedure of the view means 105. In step S1, message filtering based on the system type information is executed, and the message data of the system filtered in step S2 is extracted. In step S3, message data items are extracted based on the data part decoding information. To display this.

  If the common format conversion according to the data structure of the present invention is used, the message data of the data part 201 is stored without loss of messages unique to each system, so the function of the header part 202 referring to this message item allows In addition to the overview function of the common items that the conventional system has, a view function that displays detailed information individually possessed by the system that could not be realized by the conventional system can be easily realized.

  The data part decode information 202b and the common item mapping information 202c in the header part 202 are constructed by engineering. This information is stored in an engineering means database or external file (not shown) of the external PC 400 connected to the communication bus 2. ), It is possible to unify management of changes in definition items and decoding methods, to reduce engineering costs, and to realize an environment in which a user can easily perform maintenance.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 1 is that common format conversion means are individually provided for each control system. In each control system 31, 32,... 3n, 501, 502,... 50n2 are common format conversion means arranged individually in each system, and transmit the converted messages F1, F2,.

  In the host apparatus 1, reference numeral 106 denotes a common format message collecting unit that collects common format messages F 1, F 2,. The structure and operation of the data structure 200 and the overview means 104 and view means 106 are the same as those in FIG.

  In the embodiment described above, message data is targeted as plant information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the process data in the control / monitoring system can be similarly integrated by replacing it with instantaneous or historical data of the process. Can be realized.

It is a functional block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the plant information collection system to which this invention is applied. It is a flowchart which shows the signal processing procedure of an overview means. It is a flowchart which shows the signal processing procedure of a view means. It is a functional block diagram which shows other embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structural example of the conventional plant information collection system. It is an image figure which shows the data structure of the message formatted into common format using XML.

Explanation of symbols

2 Communication bus 31, 32, ... 3n Control system 311, 321, ... 3n1 Application 312, 322, ... 321 Message generation means 4 Plant 100 Host device 101 Message collection means 102 Common format conversion means 103 Database 104 Overview means 105 View means 200 Data Structure 201 Data Part 201a Message Data 202 Header Part 202a System Type Identification Information 202b Data Part Decode Information 202c Common Item Mapping Information 400 External PC

Claims (12)

In a plant information collection system that converts plant information generated in multiple systems into a common format and saves it in the host device,
A common format conversion unit is provided that stores the plant information separately in a data part for storing the plant information in a format unique to the system and a header part for storing information for referring to the information of the data part. And plant information collection system.   The plant information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the header portion includes system type identification information of the system.   The plant information collecting system according to claim 1, wherein the header portion has data portion decode information for extracting information by interpreting information stored in the data portion.   4. The plant information collection system according to claim 3, wherein the header part has common item mapping information that defines a correspondence relationship between items decomposed by the data part decode information and common items.   4. The plant information collection system according to claim 3, further comprising a view unit that displays items decomposed by the data part decoding information based on filtering information of the system type identification information.   The plant information collection system according to claim 4, further comprising an overview unit that displays items decomposed by the data part decoding information based on the common item mapping information.   The plant information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the data part and the header part are divided by a markup language tag.   The plant information collection system according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the system type identification information, common mapping information, and data part decode information of the header part are classified by a markup language tag.   9. The plant information collection system according to claim 3, wherein the common format conversion unit obtains common mapping information and data portion decoding information of the header portion from the outside.   10. The plant information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the system handles a group that manages the plant information in a common format as one logical system.   The plant information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the common format conversion unit is provided in the host device. The plant information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the common format conversion unit is provided in each of the plurality of systems.

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