JP2007221619A - Broadcast communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain improvement in transmission line band efficiency by performing a transmission line test just as needed such as when it is possible to incur abnormality on a transmission line when testing the transmission of a broadcast communication system. <P>SOLUTION: When a reception packet selection unit 9 selects or discards broadcast packets received by transmission/reception ports 7, 8, in the broadcast communication equipment, a port check unit 10 monitors the reception ports of the broadcast packets and only when a packet from a specific port is received continuously more than predetermined times, a signal processing unit 11 transmits a test packet request signal to a transmitting-side device 1 via a multi-address transmission unit 14. At the same time, a test packet check unit 13 checks a plurality of received test packets to monitor states of transmission lines 3, 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a broadcast communication system that transmits and receives signals through a plurality of transmission lines, and relates to a circuit configuration of a broadcast communication system that monitors or diagnoses a transmission line.

  In a conventional broadcast communication system, as a method for testing transmission characteristics of a transmission path, a test packet transmitted from a packet transmission unit of a test device and a test response packet returned from a receiving device are transmitted to the test device (transmission). There is a configuration to compare with normal data of the storage device in the side device.

JP 2004-186892 A

  A conventional broadcast communication system has the above-described configuration, and it is necessary to periodically transmit a test packet, for example, when performing a transmission test of the broadcast communication system, and the bandwidth of the transmission path is reduced. There was a problem to say.

  In addition, since the conventional broadcast communication system cannot monitor the state of the transmission line other than at the time of performing the test, it cannot be tested when there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the transmission line of the broadcast communication system. was there.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in a broadcast communication system, a transmission line test is performed only when necessary, such as when there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the transmission line. The purpose is to improve the efficiency of the transmission path band.

  The broadcast communication device according to the subject of the present invention includes a plurality of transmission / reception ports that transmit and receive a plurality of signals that are transmitted from a transmission-side device and are transmitted as broadcast packets through a plurality of transmission paths, and are received by the plurality of transmission / reception ports. A received packet selector having a function of selecting or discarding the signals of the plurality of broadcast packets, and a port check unit for checking each port number of the plurality of broadcast packets to be selected or discarded. A signal processing unit for processing a signal, a broadcast transmission unit for transmitting a received signal as a broadcast packet to the plurality of transmission / reception ports, and a test packet check unit for checking a test packet received by the plurality of transmission / reception ports A packet with a sequence number received from the plurality of transmission / reception ports is selected or received by the reception packet selection unit. When discarding, the port check unit monitors each reception port of the plurality of broadcast packets to be selected or discarded. (1) The number of the plurality of transmission lines and the plurality of transmission / reception ports are both two. In this case, only when packets from a specific port continue to be received continuously for a predetermined number of times, or (2) when the number of the plurality of transmission lines and the plurality of transmission / reception ports are both three or more The signal processing unit generates a signal for requesting transmission of the test packet only when no packet is received for a predetermined time at a specific port, and the test packet request signal is transmitted via the broadcast transmission unit. The test packet check unit transmits a plurality of test packets transmitted from the transmission side device as broadcast packets and received by the plurality of transmission / reception ports. By checking, characterized in that to monitor the status of the plurality of transmission paths.

  Hereinafter, various embodiments of the subject of the present invention will be described in detail along with the effects and advantages thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  According to the subject matter of the present invention, only when there is a possibility of an abnormality in the transmission path, a transmission request for a test packet to the transmission side apparatus, reception of a broadcast test packet transmitted from the transmission side apparatus, and the test Since all the packet checks can be performed in the broadcast communication device on the receiving side, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the transmission path band and early detection of a transmission path abnormality (monitoring of the transmission path state).

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast communication system according to the first embodiment. The configuration and operation of this system will be described below based on this figure.

  In FIG. 1, a transmission side device 1 and a reception side device 2 are both broadcast communication devices having the same internal configuration, and send and receive broadcast packets via transmission paths 3 and 4 such as optical fibers. For convenience of illustration, only the internal configuration of the broadcast communication device 2 on the receiving side is drawn in FIG.

  The transmission / reception ports 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the broadcast communication apparatuses 1 and 2 have a function for transmitting and receiving broadcast packets with sequence numbers transmitted via the transmission paths 3 and 4. .

  The received packet selector 9 has a function of selecting or discarding the broadcast packet received at each of the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8.

  Further, the port check unit 10 is one of the core units in the present embodiment, and checks the reception port of each packet to be selected or discarded by the reception packet selection unit 9, and the reception port. Has a function of holding the port number allocated to the storage unit (not shown). In addition, as will be described later, the port check unit 10 also includes a counter (not shown) that counts the number of continuous receptions at a specific reception port (7 or 8).

  Further, the signal processing unit 11 has a function of performing predetermined signal processing on the packet selected by the received packet selection unit 9 and a function of generating a test request packet to be transmitted to the transmission side apparatus 1 described later. .

  The sequence number holding unit 12 has a function of holding a sequence number assigned to a packet already selected by the received packet selection unit 9 for a broadcast packet received via the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8.

  Further, the test packet check unit 13 is one of the core units in the present embodiment, and after receiving the broadcast test packet transmitted from the transmission side apparatus 1, the test packet check unit 13 compares the signal contents of both test packets. It has a function of performing processing to determine the state of the transmission lines 3 and 4.

  Further, the broadcast transmission unit 14 has a function of transmitting the test request packet received from the signal processing unit 11 and to be transmitted to the transmission side device 1 to the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 by broadcast.

  Next, the operation of the broadcast communication system will be described with reference to FIG. The transmission side broadcast communication device 1 attaches a sequence number to each packet to be transmitted, and then sends out packets with the same sequence number from the transmission / reception ports 5 and 6 in the device 1 by broadcast. These broadcast packets are transmitted through transmission paths 3 and 4, respectively, and input to transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 of the broadcast communication device 2 on the receiving side.

  Next, the broadcast packets received at the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 of the broadcast communication device 2 are sent to the reception packet selection unit 9, and packets are selected in order from the packet having arrived at the reception packet selection unit 9 in order of arrival. Alternatively, disposal processing is performed.

  Here, when the packet selection or discarding process is performed in the reception packet selection unit 9, the port check unit 10 checks the reception port of the packet (which is the transmission / reception port 7, 8). The port number of the reception port is held in the port check unit 10. Next, when a packet arrives and is received continuously only at a specific port (only one of the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 in this example), the port check unit 10 continues to the specific port. Count the number of arrivals. However, once the next packet arrives at another port, the value of the counter (not shown) of the port check unit 10 is cleared.

  Next, the selection or discarding operation in the received packet selector 9 will be described. The sequence number holding unit 12 manages the held sequence numbers, and the received packet selection unit 9 determines the sequence number of the arrived packet and the sequence number held in the sequence number holding unit 12. And compare. When the sequence number attached to the arrived packet is larger than the sequence number held in the sequence number holding unit 12, the received packet selection unit 9 selects the arrived packet and performs signal processing. Send to unit 11. At the same time, the received packet selection unit 9 updates the sequence number held in the sequence number holding unit 12 to the sequence number of the selected packet.

  On the other hand, if the sequence number of the packet that has arrived at the received packet selection unit 9 is the same as or smaller than the sequence number held in the sequence number holding unit 12, the received packet selection unit 9 discards this arrival packet, and compares the sequence numbers of the next arrival packet.

  Next, as a result of continuous arrival of packets only at specific ports, the value of the counter in the port check unit 10 is managed by a fixed value (predetermined value: storage unit in the unit 10). ) (Only when packets are continuously received at a specific port more than a predetermined number of times), the port check unit 10 may indicate that the port-side transmission path that is not received may be abnormal. The determination result is transmitted to the received packet selection unit 9. Then, in order to test the transmission path, the reception packet selection unit 9 issues a signal to the signal processing unit 11, so that the signal processing unit 11 transmits the test packet to the transmission side broadcast communication device 1. A request signal is generated, and the generated test packet request signal is transmitted to the broadcast transmission unit 14 to be a broadcast packet. Then, a test packet request signal for the broadcast communication device 1 on the transmission side is transmitted from the broadcast transmission unit 14 via the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 by broadcast.

  Next, the broadcast test request packet (test packet request signal) transmitted through the transmission paths 3 and 4 is received by the transmission / reception ports 5 and 6 of the broadcast communication device 1 on the transmission side. 1 determines that the received broadcast packet is a test packet request from the receiving side broadcast communication device 2, and generates a test packet to the broadcast communication device 2. The generated test packet is sent from the transmission / reception ports 5 and 6 to the broadcast communication device 2 by broadcast. The test packet is assigned a specific sequence number for the test packet.

  Next, the broadcast test packet transmitted via the transmission paths 3 and 4 is received by the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 of the broadcast communication device 2, and then the received packet selection unit 9 goes to the test packet check unit 13. Then, test packets from the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 are transmitted. As described above, a specific sequence number is assigned to the test packet. For this reason, the test packet received by the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 is selected / discarded by the reception packet selector 9. The test packet is sent to the test packet check unit 13 as it is.

  The test packet check unit 13 compares the signal contents of both test packets received at the transmission / reception ports 7 and 8 and checks whether the signal contents are the same, thereby determining the state of the transmission lines 3 and 4. To do. Here, the test packet check unit 13 determines that there is no abnormality in the transmission paths 3 and 4 when the signal contents of both test packets are the same, while there is an abnormality in the transmission paths 3 and 4 when they are not the same. Judge. In addition, the test packet check unit 13 has a timer (not shown). For example, the test packet from the transmission / reception port 8 even if a predetermined time elapses after the test packet from the transmission / reception port 7 arrives. Is not reached, the transmission path 4 is determined to be abnormal.

  According to the broadcast communication system according to the present embodiment, the received packet selection unit 9 that selects or discards the broadcast packets received from the ports 7 and 8 according to the sequence number, the port check unit 10 and the test packet check unit 13, the test packet transmission request, test packet transmission / reception, and test packet check (comparison processing) are performed in the broadcast communication device 2 on the receiving side only when there is a possibility of transmission line abnormality. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the transmission path band and detect a transmission line abnormality early.

(Modification)
In the first embodiment, the configuration and operation of the broadcast communication system according to the present invention has been described in the case where the number of transmission / reception ports of the broadcast communication apparatus is two and the number of transmission lines is two lines. The present invention can also be applied to a case where the number of transmission lines is three or more.

  That is, by providing a timer for each port in the port check unit 10, a test packet from the receiving-side broadcast communication device to the sending-side broadcast communication device only when no packet is received for a certain time or more at a specific port. Request, transmission / reception of test packet at the receiving side broadcast communication device, and test packet comparison processing, it is possible to check the normality of the transmission line while improving the efficiency of the transmission line band. It becomes.

(Appendix)
While the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described in detail above, the above description exemplifies aspects to which the present invention can be applied, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, various modifications and variations to the described aspects can be considered without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is applicable to, for example, a network device.

It is a block diagram which shows typically the structure of the broadcast communication system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2 broadcast communication device, 3, 4 transmission path, 5, 6, 7, 8 transmission / reception port, 9 reception packet selection unit, 10 port check unit, 11 signal processing unit, 12 sequence number holding unit, 13 test packet check Section, 14 broadcast transmission section.

Claims (1)

A plurality of transmission and reception ports that transmit and receive a plurality of signals that are transmitted from the transmission side device and transmitted through the plurality of transmission paths as broadcast packets, respectively;
A reception packet selector having a function of selecting or discarding signals of the plurality of broadcast packets received at the plurality of transmission / reception ports;
A port check unit for checking each port number of the plurality of broadcast packets to be selected or discarded;
A signal processor for processing the selected signal;
A broadcast transmission unit for transmitting a received signal as a broadcast packet to the plurality of transmission / reception ports;
A test packet check unit for checking test packets received by the plurality of transmission / reception ports,
When the received packet selection unit selects or discards a packet with a sequence number received from the plurality of transmission / reception ports, the port check unit receives each of the plurality of broadcast packets to be selected or discarded. Monitoring the port, and (1) when both of the plurality of transmission lines and the plurality of transmission / reception ports are two, only when packets from a specific port are continuously received a predetermined number of times, or (2) When the number of the plurality of transmission lines and the plurality of transmission / reception ports are both three or more, the signal processing unit is only allowed to receive the packet at a specific port for a predetermined time or more. A signal for requesting transmission of a test packet is generated and the test packet request signal is transmitted to the transmitting side device via the broadcast transmission unit, and the test packet check , By checking the plurality of test packets said transmitted from the transmitting apparatus as broadcast packets received by said plurality of transmitting and receiving ports, characterized by monitoring the state of the plurality of transmission paths,
Broadcast communication device.

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