JP2007287101A - Halt control method for system, and control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow each control terminal to shift into a halt state by its own determination in a distribution system wherein each control terminal has hierarchic structure. <P>SOLUTION: Control terminals 1-4 transmit "halt requests" to control terminals 5, 6, 7 of high order when shifting into the halt state, and the control terminals 5, 6, 7 receiving the "halt requests" return "NG" when processing depending on the terminals 1-4 that transmitted the "halt requests" is under execution, and return "OK" otherwise. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology related to automatic operation of a distributed system, and more particularly, to a suspension control method and control system for a system that performs power control of a system having a large number of devices constituting the system, such as an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system.

As an automatic operation technique for a distributed system, an invention has been proposed in which a schedule for starting / stopping each device is created based on device dependency (see Patent Document 1). In the invention described in Patent Document 1 described above, a device that needs to be started in advance when starting a certain device or a device that needs to be started and initialized in advance is set as a dependency between devices. In addition, the operation schedule of the entire system was automatically created from all dependencies.
Japanese Patent No. 3183398

  However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1 described above, when the scale of the distributed system increases and the number of devices constituting the system becomes enormous, there is a demand for temporarily suspending devices that are not actually used and saving power. appear. For example, in an automated warehouse using RFID, a large number of devices for controlling RFID devices are required, but many of these devices are often in an idle state that is not used for actual processing. The consumed power cannot be ignored.

  In order to save such a distributed system, it is desirable that each device transitions to a dormant state indicating a standby state by its own judgment when it enters an idle state. However, since a certain amount of time is required for the state transition between the hibernation state and the operation state, the device is restarted (transition from the hibernation state to the operation state) in order to use the device in the hibernation state. In the meantime, it is necessary to temporarily suspend operations, and the convenience of the system is impaired. In order to solve the above problem, it is necessary to confirm that the device to be suspended will not be used in the near future, and then pause.

  In the method described in Patent Document 1 described above, the operating state of each device is controlled according to a predetermined schedule. Therefore, when each device is in an idle state, each device transitions to a dormant state based on its own judgment. There was an inconvenience that could not be done. In addition, even if each device attempts to enter the hibernation state, there is a problem in that it cannot be determined whether the device will actually be used in the near future.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a system sleep control method capable of performing control in which each device transitions to a sleep state based on its own determination in a distributed system and determining whether the device is used in the near future. The object is to provide a control system.

  In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object of the present invention, in the present invention, each control terminal, the process definition that describes the definition of the process to be executed by the own terminal, the status of the process to be executed by the own terminal, All lower-level processes that depend on the process executed by the own terminal and the addresses of other terminals that execute the processes, and all higher-level processes that depend on the process executed by the own terminal and other terminals that execute the processes A processing execution unit for managing the addresses of

  When each control terminal transitions to a dormant state, it transmits a “pause request” to all other terminals that execute higher-level processing that depends on the process executed by its own terminal, and the control terminal that has received the “pause request” When a process that is dependent on the process executed by the control terminal that sent the “pause request” is searched from the process definition managed by the process execution unit and a process that matches the above condition is found, the status of the process If the status is “idle”, “OK” is returned, and if it is “busy”, “NG” is returned.

Further, in the present invention, when the control terminal that has transmitted the “pause request” receives “NG” from another terminal that has transmitted the “pause request” during the execution of the pause process, the control terminal cancels the pause process and performs the “pause request”. A “pause cancellation notice” is sent to all other terminals that have sent.
In the present invention, when the control terminal that has transmitted the “pause request” receives a “process request” from another terminal during the execution of the pause process, the control terminal cancels the pause process and transmits all the other terminals that have transmitted the “pause request”. Send “pause cancellation notice” to

  Further, in the present invention, each control terminal includes an operation information management unit that manages the status of other terminals that execute all lower-level processes on which the process executed by the own terminal depends, and when the control terminal executes the process, The operation information management unit confirms the status of another terminal that executes all the lower-level processes on which the above process depends, and activates the terminal when the status is “pause”.

  In the present invention, the configuration management server analyzes the access pattern of the “processing request” transmitted from the client terminal from the access log collected by each control terminal, and the first “processing request” is sent from a certain client terminal to the control terminal. ”Is transmitted, the second“ processing request ”that is likely to be continuously transmitted from the client terminal is predicted based on the analysis result, and is necessary for the execution of the second“ processing request ”. If the control terminal is inactive, the inactive control terminal is activated, and if the control terminal required to execute the second “processing request” is active, the active control terminal is transitioned to the inactive state. Control not to.

  According to the present invention, even if each terminal is actually suspended, each terminal is suspended only when there is no problem in the convenience of the system, so that a power saving effect can be obtained without losing the convenience of the distributed system. .

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
Control terminals 1 to 7, configuration management server 8, and client terminals t1 to tn (n is the number of terminals) are connected to the network 101. The storage device (hard disk or the like) connected to the configuration management server 8 stores terminal processing information describing the processing contents executed by the control terminals 1 to 7. The control terminals 1 to 4 control the RFID reader / writers 10-1 to 10-4 via the RS-232C cable. That is, the control terminals 1 to 4 are responsible for controlling the RFID reader / writers 10-1 to 10-4 installed on the shelf A1, the shelf A2, the shelf B1, and the shelf B2, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure between control terminals.
The hierarchical relationship between the control terminals 1 to 7 has a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the data read by the control terminal 1 and the control terminal 2 is collected by the control terminal 5. That is, the control terminal 5 is responsible for the area A composed of the shelf A1 and the shelf A2. Similarly, the control terminal 6 is responsible for the area B composed of the shelf B1 and the shelf B2, and totals the data read by the control terminal 3 and the control terminal 4. The control terminal 7 is responsible for the entire floor consisting of area A and area B, and totals the data received by the control terminal 5 and the control terminal 6.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the configuration management server.
As shown in FIG. 2, the software configuration of the configuration management server 8 includes a dependency analysis unit 11 that analyzes the dependency relationship of the configuration information of the control terminals 1 to 7, and terminal processing stored in the storage device of the configuration management server 8 It comprises a configuration information distribution unit 12 that manages information C and distributes it to the control terminals 1-7.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control terminal.
As shown in FIG. 3, the software configurations of the control terminals 1 to 7 include a process execution unit 21 that executes a process based on the terminal process information C, a terminal (an inverse dependency terminal) that depends on the terminal, It consists of an operating state management unit 22 that manages the operating state of dependent terminals (dependency relationship terminals) and a device control unit 23 that controls the RFID reader / writers 10-1 to 10-4. Here, the operating state management unit 22 has a suspension process execution function for performing the suspension process of the control terminals 1 to 7 and an activation process execution function for performing activation and restart processes of the control terminals 1 to 7.

5 to 7 show specific examples of the terminal processing information C stored in the control terminals 1 to 7, and FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show the control terminal 7, the control terminal 5, and the control terminal 1, respectively. This corresponds to the stored terminal processing information C7, terminal processing information C5, and terminal processing information C1.
The terminal processing information C7, C5, C1 includes dependency processing lists C71, C51, C11, inverse dependency processing lists C72, C52, C12, and process definitions C73, C53, C13. The process definitions C73, C53, and C13 describe the contents of the process executed at each terminal, and the dependency process lists C71, C51, and C11 include the process of the other terminal on which the above process depends (the process executed by the other terminal). ) Is set, and the processing of other terminals depending on the above processing is set in the inverse dependence processing lists C72, C52, and C12.

  For example, the terminal processing information C5 of the control terminal 5 is as shown in FIG. 6, and the “shelf A1 confirmation” process of the terminal (control terminal 1) having the address “192.168.0.2” in the process definition C53 and the address “ An operation for executing the “shelf A2 confirmation” process of the terminal (control terminal 2) having “192.168.0.3” is defined as a process name “area A confirmation”. Although the address of the control terminal 5 itself is also described in the process definition C53, this is used when the configuration management server 8 distributes the process definition C53 to each control terminal 1-7.

  In the dependency process list C51, the processes “shelf A1 confirmation” and “shelf A2 confirmation” described in the process definition C53 and the addresses of the control terminals 1 and 2 executing these processes are set. Further, since the terminal that uses the process defined by the control terminal 5 is the control terminal 7, the address (192.168.0.8) of the control terminal 7 and the process “floor confirmation” of the control terminal 7 are included in the reverse dependence process list C 52. Is set.

  In the example of the control terminal 5, the contents of the dependency process list C51 and the inverse dependency process list C52 are set only for information related to the process definition that the process definition C53 is directly dependent or directly dependent on, but actually the process definition is indirect. Information including all process definitions that depend on or inversely depend on is set. For example, in the terminal processing information C7 (FIG. 5) of the control terminal 7, the processing defined by the control terminals 1 to 6 is set in the dependency processing list C71, and the terminal processing information C1 (FIG. 7) of the control terminal 1 is set. ), The process defined by the control terminal 5 and the control terminal 7 is set in the inverse dependence process list C12.

  On the client terminals t1 to tn, an application program that uses the control terminals 1 to 7 is running. For example, when performing an inventory process for the area A, the client terminals t1 to tn send the “area A confirmation” to the control terminal 5 "A process execution request is transmitted. Upon receiving the request, the control terminal 5 transmits a “shelf A1 confirmation” request to the control terminal 1 and a “shelf A2” confirmation request to the control terminal 2, and after collecting the processing results, the results are sent to the client terminals t1 to tn. return.

  When constructing this system, the system developer manually or manually sets the process definitions C73, C53, and C13 of the terminal process information C7, C5, and C1 to be set for each terminal based on the hierarchical configuration plan as shown in FIG. And created on the configuration management server 8 using a dedicated tool. The dependency processing lists C71, C51, and C11 of the terminal processing information C7, C5, and C1 and the inverse dependency processing lists C72, C52, and C12 are processed by the configuration management server 8 after completion of creation of all the processing definitions C73, C53, and C13. It is automatically created by analyzing the dependency relationship between the information C7, C5 and C1.

  When the creation of the dependency processing lists C71, C51, C11 and the inverse dependency processing lists C72, C52, C12 is completed, the configuration management server 8 distributes the terminal processing information C7, C5, C1 to each terminal, and the system can be used. . The configuration management server 8 determines the distribution destination of the terminal processing information C7, C5, and C1 from the terminal address that executes the processing described in the processing definitions C73, C53, and C13 of the terminal processing information C7, C5, and C1. To do.

[Terminal processing information dependency analysis procedure]
The analysis process in which the configuration management server 8 creates the dependency process lists C71, C51, C11 and the inverse dependency process lists C72, C52, C12 from the process definitions C73, C53, C13 of the terminal process information C7, C5, C1 8 is implemented by recursively following the dependency relationship between the terminal processing information C7, C5, and C1. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart showing the procedure of the dependency relationship analysis process, and FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a part of performing the recursion process in the dependency analysis process. Hereinafter, the procedure of the dependency analysis process will be described.

  In FIG. 8, the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 selects one piece of terminal processing information, analyzes its processing definition (step S101), and executes the processing name and processing described above depending on the processing definition. The address of the control terminal to be added is added to the dependency processing list (step S102). For example, when analyzing the terminal processing information C7 shown in FIG. 5, the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 analyzes the processing definition C73, and (processing name, address) = (area A confirmation, 192.168.0.6 ), (Area B confirmation, 192.168.0.7) is extracted and added to the dependency processing list C71. Next, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 determines whether or not the analysis of the process definition is finished (step S103). That is, it is determined whether or not the processing of step S101 and step S102 has been performed for all terminal processing information.

  If it is determined in the determination step S103 that the analysis of all the process definitions has been completed, then the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 performs a process definition (route process) that is not described in the dependency process list of any other terminal process information. ) Is selected (step S104). If one route process of step S104 can be selected, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 analyzes the dependency relationship between the process definitions by recursively tracing the dependency relationship of the terminal processing information ( Step S106). Details of the dependency process definition analysis are shown in FIG. 9 as a subroutine. Then, it is determined whether or not the analysis has been completed for all the route processes (step S105). When the process of step S106 is completed for all the route processes, the analysis process ends.

  As described above, the dependency process definition analysis in step S106 is implemented as a subroutine. The argument (input information) of this subroutine is a list of terminal process information of the process to be analyzed and information of the process inversely dependent on the process (process name and address of the control terminal that executes the process). The value (output information) is a list of the process to be analyzed and the information of the process on which the process depends (the process name and the address of the control terminal that executes the process).

  As shown in FIG. 9, in the first process of the subroutine, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 sets the inverse dependency process set as the argument of the subroutine in the inverse dependency process list of the terminal process information (step S107). ). For example, when the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 selects the terminal processing information C7 of the control terminal 7 as the route processing, there is no information input to the subroutine because there is no reverse dependency processing. Therefore, in this case, there is no processing performed in step S107.

  Subsequently, the dependency relationship analyzing unit 11 selects one process described in the dependency process list of the terminal process information (step S108), sets a subroutine argument, and calls the subroutine of step S106. At this time, the terminal process information of the process to be analyzed is the terminal process information related to the selected process, and the information of the inversely dependent process is related to the information added to the inversely dependent process list in step S107 and the terminal process information currently being analyzed. Information.

  For example, when the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 selects the “area A confirmation” process while analyzing the terminal processing information C7, the terminal processing information of the process to be analyzed is “area A confirmation” (“ 192.168.0.6 ”), and the information of the inversely dependent process is“ floor confirmation ”(“ 192.168.0.8 ”).

  In the process of step S108, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 selects only the information added to the dependency process list in the process definition analysis process performed in steps S101 and S102. Note that information is added to the dependency processing list during the processing from step S108 onward, but this information is not selected in step S108.

  Since the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 calls the subroutine recursively, the terminal processing information related to the “area A confirmation” processing, that is, the dependency analysis processing related to the terminal processing information C5 is subsequently performed from step S107. Become. That is, in the reverse dependency list update processing in step S107, the dependency analysis unit 11 performs the “floor check” processing that is set as the subroutine argument in the reverse dependency processing list by the same procedure as described in FIG. Terminal processing information (“floor confirmation”, “192.168.0.8”) is set in the reverse dependency processing list C52.

  Next, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 selects one from the dependency terminal list C5 (step S108), and recursively calls a subroutine in the same manner as described above. For example, when a process related to the “shelf A1 confirmation” process is selected, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 sets a subroutine argument as follows. At this time, the terminal processing information of the process to be analyzed is “shelf A1 confirmation” (“192.168.0.2”), and the reversely dependent processing information is “floor confirmation” (“192.168.0.8”) and “area A confirmation ”(“ 192.168.0.6 ”).

  For example, in the analysis of the terminal processing information C1 related to the “shelf A1 confirmation” process, the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 sets “floor confirmation” (“192.168.0.8”) set as the subroutine argument, and “ "Area A confirmation" ("192.168.0.6") is added to the reverse dependency processing list C12 (step S107). Then, a subroutine for dependency processing definition analysis in step S106 is executed. When the dependency process definition analysis in step S106 is completed, there is no more dependent process, and this subroutine is exited. At this time, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 sets information described in the dependency processing list of the terminal processing information as a return value. When analyzing the terminal processing information C1, the return value is empty because the dependency processing list C11 is empty.

  In step S109, when the dependency processing definition analysis subroutine is exited, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 returns to the analysis processing of the terminal processing information C5. In the next step (step S110), the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 adds the return value of the subroutine to the dependency processing list C51. Not performed. Similarly, when the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 performs the analysis process for the control terminal 2 as well, when the analysis process of the terminal process information C5 is finished and the process returns from the subroutine, the contents of the terminal process information C5 are as shown in FIG. As shown. Therefore, the following information described in the dependency process list C51 is set in the return value of the subroutine. At this time, the “process name (“ address ”)” is “shelf A1 confirmation (“ 192.168.0.2 ”)” and “shelf A2 confirmation (“ 192.168.0.3 ”)”.

  Subsequently, when the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 leaves the subroutine, the process returns to the analysis process of the terminal process information C7. In the next step (step S110), the return value of the subroutine is set in the dependency process list C71. Subsequently, the dependency analysis unit 11 of the configuration management server 8 selects the “area B confirmation” process described in the dependence process list, sets the subroutine argument as follows, and performs the “area B confirmation” process. Analysis of terminal processing information related to At this time, the “terminal processing information of the process to be analyzed” is “area B confirmation” (“192.168.0.7”), and the “inversely dependent process information” is “floor confirmation” (“192.168.0.8”). It becomes.

  When processing is performed in the same procedure, as a result of analyzing the terminal processing information regarding the “area B confirmation” processing, the return value of the subroutine is “processing name (“ address ”)” is “shelf B1 confirmation (“ 192.168. 0.3 ”)” and “shelf B2 confirmation (“ 192.168.0.4 ”)”. Then, the dependency relationship analysis unit 11 adds the above information to the dependency process list C71 (step S110). Since all the processes set in the dependency process list C71 in step S101 and step S102 have completed the analysis process, the subroutine is exited. This completes the analysis processing of the terminal processing information C7. However, if there is another route processing, the analysis processing is performed in the same procedure.

[Explanation of terminal status]
When the analysis of the terminal processing information shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is completed, the configuration management server 8 distributes the terminal processing information to each control terminal, and the system can be operated.
Here, as shown in FIG. 10, the processing execution unit 21 of the control terminal includes an operation information table 212 and terminal processing information C5 distributed from the configuration management server 8, and the operation information table 212 includes a local terminal. Manage the list of executable processes and their statuses. When the process is actually being executed, the process status is “busy”; otherwise, the process status is “idle”. Even when a dormant terminal is being activated to perform processing, the status of the processing is “busy”.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal sets the status of the own terminal in the own terminal status information 221 and the time when the address, status, and status of the other terminal are changed to the “pause” state. (Suspend time) is set in the table of other terminal status information 222. The status of the local terminal takes one of the following values: “Starting”, “Busy”, “Idle”, “In the middle of sleep”, “Pause”, and the status of the other terminal is “Operation” or “Pause” Takes the value of

  In the table of the other terminal status information 222, information related to the control terminal responsible for all the processes described in the dependence process list and the inverse dependence process list of the terminal process information is set. That is, information related to a terminal (inverse dependency terminal) that depends on the terminal and a terminal (dependency terminal) on which the terminal depends is set.

  Hereinafter, the status of the terminal will be described. When the status is “active”, it indicates that the control terminal is being activated and various software are being initialized. When the status is “busy”, at least one of the processes set in the operation information table 212 is “busy”. When the status is “idle”, the status of all processes set in the operation information table 212 is “idle”.

  When the status is “in the middle of sleep”, the control terminal is preparing to enter the sleep state, and “pause” is a state in which the control terminal is actually performing the sleep process. If the control terminal in the status of “in the middle of suspension” satisfies a certain condition (for example, when a processing request is received from another terminal), the suspension processing is canceled, but the control terminal in the “pause” state cancels the suspension processing. There is no.

  Next, the status of other terminals will be described. When the status of the other terminal set in the table of the other terminal status information 222 is “active”, the status managed by the other terminal itself with the own terminal status information 221 is any one of “idle”, “busy”, and “busy” It is. When the status of the other terminal set in the table of the other terminal status information 222 is “suspended”, the status managed by the other terminal itself with the own terminal status information 221 is “active”, “suspended”, and “suspended” Either.

  When the status of the control terminal itself is in the “pause in progress” state, the control terminal transmits a “pause request” to the other control terminal, and the operation information management unit 22 of the other terminal that has received this request sends the request terminal. Set the status to "Hibernate". Therefore, when the status of the control terminal itself is “in the middle of sleep”, but the “pause request” has not been received from the terminal, the status of the other terminal set in the table of the other terminal status information 222 becomes “operating” After receiving the “pause request”, the status of the other terminal set in the table of the other terminal status information 222 becomes “pause”.

[Explanation of communication message between terminals]
The operation information management unit 22 manages the operation state of each terminal while exchanging messages between the control terminals. FIG. 17 shows what the operation information management unit 22 performs when it receives a message for each status of the own terminal (status set in the own terminal status information 221). FIG. 17 shows the main messages used in this embodiment. In FIG. 17, there is no description about the case where the status of the own terminal is “pause”. However, when the status is “pause”, the operation information management unit 22 stops the communication process and thus does not receive a message from another terminal. Omitted.

  Hereinafter, the meaning of each message will be described. “Status confirmation” 171 is a message transmitted when confirming the status managed by another terminal, and the control terminal receiving the message returns “operation” when the status is idle 178 and busy 179, or the status is When it is during activation 176 and during suspension 177, “pause” is returned. The operation information management unit 22 that has transmitted the “status confirmation” 171 sets the status of the other terminal managed by the other terminal status information 222 based on the reply.

  The “pause request” 172 is a message for confirming with other control terminals whether or not the control terminal may shift to a dormant state. When the control terminal that has received the “pause request” 172 is busy 179 that is executing processing dependent on the transmission terminal of the “pause request” 172, it returns “NG”, and other startup 176, pause 177, and In the case of the idle 178, “OK” is returned. Even if the status of the control terminal that has received the “pause request” 172 is “busy” 179, “OK” is returned if the process dependent on the transmission terminal of the “pause request” 172 is not being executed.

  “Pause Cancel Notification” 173 notifies the other terminal that the pause processing has been canceled when the status of the control terminal is changed to the “pause in progress” 177 state and the pause processing is started. Message. When receiving the “pause cancellation notification” 173, the operation information management unit 22 updates the other terminal status information 222 in any status, and sets the status of the corresponding terminal to “operation”.

“Activation notification” 174 is a message notifying that the activation processing of the control terminal has been completed. When receiving the “startup notification” 174, the operation information management unit 22 updates the other terminal status information 222 in any status, and sets the status of the corresponding terminal to “operation”.
“Activation packet” 175 is a packet for activating a control terminal that is in a dormant state. For example, a Wake up On LAN magic packet is used. Even when the operation information management unit 22 receives the “startup packet” 175, the operation information management unit 22 does not particularly perform processing for the message.

[Description of state transition]
FIG. 12 shows the status transition of the status of the own terminal managed by the own terminal status information 221. Immediately after the control terminal is activated, the status of the own terminal is “active” 125, but when the activation process is completed, the status changes to “idle” 122 (T7).
When the suspension condition such that the status of “idle” 122 continues for a certain period of time is satisfied, the operation information management unit 22 changes the status of the terminal to “in the middle of suspension” 121 and starts the suspension process (T2). In the suspension process, the control terminal transmits a “pause request” to a terminal (an inverse dependency terminal) that depends on the terminal itself.

  If at least one “NG” reply is received, the control terminal cancels the suspension request and transitions to “idle” 122 (T1). When receiving “OK” replies from all the terminals, the control terminal considers that the pause processing may actually be performed, transitions the status to “pause” 124, and performs the actual pause processing (T6). If the control terminal receives a “processing request” from another terminal during the pause process, the pause process is canceled, and the process execution unit 21 of the control terminal executes the requested process. In this case, the control terminal changes its own status to “busy” 123 (T3).

  When a “processing request” is received from another terminal during idling, the operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal changes the status of its own terminal to “busy” 123, and the process execution unit 21 of the control terminal performs the requested process. Is executed (T4). When the process is completed, the control terminal transitions to “idle” 122 (T5).

[Startup procedure]
When the control terminals 1 to 7 are started from a stopped state (cold boot) or when the control terminals 1 to 7 are restarted from a suspended state (warm boot), the operation information management unit 22 starts the control terminals 1 to 7 I do. The activation process is a process for setting various tables managed by the operation information management unit 22 so that the control terminals 1 to 7 can operate normally.

  In the case of cold boot, the operation information management unit 22 executes the above-described activation process when the operation information management unit 22 is activated. In the case of the warm boot, the operation information management unit 22 performs the setting for performing the above-described activation process at the time of the warm boot immediately before the control terminals 1 to 7 are in the dormant state, so that the above-described activation process is performed during the warm boot.

Hereinafter, the procedure of the activation process will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart showing the detailed process of the “activation process” shown in FIG.
When the activation process starts, the operation information management unit 22 once clears the other terminal status information 222 and recreates the other terminal status information 222 from the terminal processing information C in the process execution unit 21. That is, the operation information management unit 22 stores the terminal addresses described in the dependency processing list and the reverse dependency processing list of the terminal processing information C in the other terminal status information 222 and performs an initialization process (step S201). At this time, the address is not duplicated in the initialization process.

  Next, the operation information management unit 22 sets the status of the own terminal set in the own terminal status information 221 to “being activated” (step S202), and starts communication processing. In this state, when the control terminal that is being activated is receiving a “pause request” from a control terminal (dependency terminal) that depends on the own terminal, it always returns “OK”.

  Next, the operation information management unit 22 transmits “status confirmation” to all control terminals set in the other terminal status information 222 (step S203). The control terminal that has received “status confirmation” returns “pause” or “operation”. When the status of the control terminal is “in the middle of sleep” or “active”, “pause” is returned, and when the status of the control terminal is “idle” or “busy”, “operation” is returned. When the status of the control terminal is “pause”, the control terminal does not perform communication processing and therefore does not reply.

  When receiving the reply, the operation information management unit 22 sets the status of the other terminal status information 222 according to the reply. If there is no reply after a certain period of time, the operation information management unit 22 sets the status of the control terminal to “pause”. For the entry of the other terminal status information 222 whose status is set to “pause” in step S203, the pause time is set to the current time.

Next, the operation information management unit 22 transmits “startup notification” to all the terminals described in the other terminal status information 222 and whose status is “operation” (step S204), and is set in the own terminal status information 221. The status of the terminal that has been changed is changed to “idle” (step S205), and the activation process is terminated.
The operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal that has received the “activation notification” in step S204 changes the status of the “activation notification” transmission terminal set in the other terminal status information 222 to “operation”.

[Procedure for pause processing]
Next, the procedure of the pause process will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart showing the detailed process of the “pause process” shown in FIG.
When the suspension condition set in advance for the control terminals 1 to 7 is satisfied, the operation information management unit 22 starts the suspension process, and changes the status of the own terminal described in the own terminal status information 221 to “in the middle of suspension” (step S301). ).

  The suspension condition is set, for example, when the status of the terminal is “idle” for 15 minutes or more, and the information on the suspension condition is set for each control terminal 1 at the time of system construction. May be set in advance in the operation information management unit 22 of ˜7, or may be centrally managed by the configuration management server 8 and distributed from the configuration management server 8 when the configuration is changed.

  Subsequently, the operation information management unit 22 transmits a “pause request” to the control terminals 1 to 7 whose status is “active” among the control terminals 1 to 7 set in the other terminal status information 222 (step S302). In the other terminal status information 222, the address of the terminal (inverse dependency terminal) depending on the own terminal and the terminal (dependency terminal) on which the own terminal depends are set. In the processing, a “pause request” is transmitted to all the reverse dependency terminals whose status is “active” and the dependency terminals.

  Subsequently, the operation information management unit 22 waits for a reply until there is a reply from the terminal that transmitted the “pause request” in step S302 (step S303). When waiting for a reply in step S303, the operation information management unit 22 determines whether or not there is a “processing request” from another terminal (step S304). When it is determined that the “request” has not been transmitted, the operation information management unit 22 determines whether an “NG” reply has been received from the terminal that has transmitted the “pause request” (step S305).

  When the “processing request” is transmitted from another terminal in the determination step S304, and when the “NG” reply is received from the terminal that transmitted the “pause request” in the determination step S305, the operation information management unit 22 Then, a “cancel notification” is transmitted to all the terminals that transmitted the “pause request” in step S302 (step S306), the status of the own terminal is changed to “idle” (step S307), and the process is terminated.

Upon receiving the “cancel notification”, the operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal searches the other terminal status information 222 for the entry of the “cancel notification” transmission terminal, and changes the status of the terminal from “suspended” to “operating”. change.
Next, when the “NG” reply is not received from the terminal that has transmitted the “pause request” in the determination step S305, the operation information management unit 22 sends “ It is determined whether an “OK” reply has been received (step S305). Then, unless “OK” replies are received from all the inversely dependent terminals, the processes and determinations from step S303 to step S305 are repeated for all terminals (inversely dependent terminals) depending on the own terminal (step S308).

  Among the control terminals 1 to 7 that have transmitted the “pause request” in step S302, when “OK” replies are received from all terminals (inverse dependence terminals) that depend on the own terminal in step S308, “OK” in step S308. The operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal that has received the reply may actually perform the suspension process. The operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal that has received the “OK” reply in step S308 changes the status of the own terminal to “suspended” (step S309), stops the communication processing, and after a certain time has elapsed (for example, 15 seconds) After setting to start the boot process later, the operating system (OS) of the control terminal is instructed to shift the system to the hibernation state. Thereby, the operation information management unit 22 executes a pause process (step S310).

  The startup process start setting is a setting for appropriately performing the startup process when the terminal recovers from the hibernation state. When the terminal goes into hibernation, the state of all programs is saved by the operating system (OS), and all programs resume operation when restarted. Therefore, when the terminal recovers from the hibernation state, the activation process is activated. In the present embodiment, the operation information management unit 22 sets a time lag for starting the activation process in order to prevent the activation process from being started during the system suspension process.

  In addition, when the operating system (OS) has a function of notifying the upper module that the operating system (OS) has been restarted, the start processing is not set immediately before the hibernation processing, and the starting processing is performed when the operating system (OS) is restarted. It may be configured to start.

The above is the description of the processing at the terminal that performs the suspension processing. Next, the processing of the terminal that has received the “pause request” will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the operation information management unit 22 receives the “pause request”, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the terminal processing information C in the process execution unit 21 and adds “pause notification” to the terminal address in the dependency processing list of the terminal processing information C. The terminal processing information C in which the address of the transmitting terminal is set is searched (step S401).

  The operation information management unit 22 determines whether or not the terminal processing information C that matches the search condition of step S401 is found (step S402), and the terminal processing information that matches the search condition of step S401 is found in the determination step S402. Otherwise, since this terminal is not a terminal dependent on the “pause notification” transmission terminal, the operation information management unit 22 searches the other terminal status information 222 for an entry corresponding to the “pause request” transmission terminal, and displays the status of the entry. After changing to the pause (step S403) and updating the pause time, the process ends.

  When the terminal processing information C that matches the search condition in step S401 is found in the determination step S402, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the own terminal status information 221 and confirms the status of the own terminal (step S404). The operation information management unit 22 determines whether the status of the terminal is “active”, “idle”, or “pause” (step S405).

  If it is determined in step S405 that the status of the terminal is “active”, “idle”, or “pause”, it is ensured that there is no “busy” state processing. The other terminal status information 222 is updated in the same procedure as in S403 (step S408), and “OK” is returned to the “pause request” transmission terminal (step S409).

  If the status of the terminal is “busy” in the determination step S405, the process proceeds to the following process. When the status of the own terminal is “pause”, the operation information management unit 22 has stopped the communication process, and therefore the status of the own terminal cannot be “pause” in this determination step S405.

  Subsequently, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the operation information table 212 of the process execution unit 21 and searches the terminal processing information C found in step S401 for the process status “busy” (step S406). . The operation information management unit 22 determines whether or not the terminal processing information C that matches the search condition in step S406 has been found (step S407).

If at least one busy process is found in the determination step S407, the operation information management unit 22 returns “NG” to the “pause request” transmission terminal (step S410) and ends the process. If no busy process is found in the determination step S407, the operation information management unit 22 updates the other terminal status information 222 in the same procedure as in step S403 (step S408), and “OK” is sent to the “pause request” transmission terminal. "Is returned (step S409), and the process ends.
If the status of the terminal is “in the middle of suspension” in the determination step S405, the operation information management unit 22 executes the suspension processing shown in FIG. 14 and the above processing in parallel.

[Procedure for execution preparation processing]
When the operation information management unit 22 of the operating control terminal 1, 2, 3, 4 receives the “processing request” from the upper control terminals 5, 6, 7 or the client terminals t1 to tn, the operation information management unit 22 From the terminal process information in the process execution unit 21, all the addresses of other terminals (dependency terminals) that execute the process on which the process instructed to execute by the “process request” depends are acquired.

  Then, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the other terminal status information 222 to confirm the status of the dependency terminal, and if there is a dependency terminal whose status is “pause”, the “start request” is sent to the terminal. To start all necessary control terminals. When the operation information management unit 22 confirms the activation of all the control terminals that transmitted the “activation request”, the operation information management unit 22 moves the control to the process execution unit 21 and actually performs the RFID reader / writer 10-1 to 10-10. -4 control is started.

  In the present embodiment, a process from when the operation information management unit 22 receives a “processing request” until the control is transferred to the process execution unit 21 is referred to as an “execution preparation process”. Hereinafter, the procedure of the execution preparation process will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart showing the detailed process of the “execution preparation process” shown in FIG.

  When the operation information management unit 22 receives the “process request”, the process name described in the “process request” is searched from the operation information table 212 of the process execution unit 21 and the status of the found entry is changed to “busy”. (Step S501). Then, the operation information management unit 22 changes the status of the own terminal described in the own terminal status information 221 to “busy”. If another process is already being executed, the status of the own terminal is already “busy”, and the status of the own terminal is not changed again.

  Subsequently, the operation information management unit 22 searches the terminal processing information C in the processing execution unit 21 for the terminal processing information C including the processing definition having the processing name described in the “processing request”, and finds the found terminal processing information. The addresses of all terminals described in C's dependent terminal list are acquired. Since these terminals are control terminals (dependency terminals) that execute the process on which the process instructed by the “process request” depends, start up before starting the process instructed by the “process request”. It is necessary to keep. Next, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the other terminal status information 222 and confirms the status of the terminal corresponding to each address of the acquired dependency terminal (step S502).

  The operation information management unit 22 determines whether there is a terminal whose status of the dependency terminal is “pause” (step S503). When the status of the dependency terminal is not “pause” in step S503, that is, if the status of all the dependency terminals is “active”, the operation information management unit 22 completes the execution preparation process and performs control. Move to processing execution unit 21.

If there is a dependency terminal whose status of the dependency terminal is “suspended” in step S503, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the other terminal status information 222, and a certain time (for example, 30 seconds) has elapsed since the suspension time. A terminal is selected (step S504).
When a terminal matching the condition that the status of the dependency terminal in the step S503 is “suspended” is found, the operation information management unit 22 has passed a certain time from the suspension time when selecting a control terminal. (Step S504).

  The operation information management unit 22 determines whether the control terminal can be selected under the selection condition in step S504 (step S505). When the control terminal can be selected by the selection condition of step S504 in step S505, the operation information management unit 22 transmits an activation packet to the terminal found in step S504 (step S506).

  The condition that the fixed time has elapsed from the suspension time in the selection condition in step S504 is that the control terminal does not accept the activation packet unless the control terminal has completed the transition to the suspension state. This is because after the “pause request” is received, the time until the control terminal completes the transition to the dormant state is taken into consideration.

  The operation information management unit 22 determines whether or not the activation packet has been transmitted to all terminals (step S507). If the activation packet is not transmitted to all terminals in step S507, the processes and determinations from step S504 to step S507 are repeated until the activation packet is transmitted to all terminals (step S507). Here, if there is a terminal that does not transmit an activation packet among dependent terminals having a status of “pause”, the process returns to S504. Then, when the transmission of the activation packet to all the dependency terminals whose status is “pause” is completed, the process proceeds to the next process.

  If a terminal that matches the selection condition of step S504 is not found in step S505, the operation information management unit 22 waits for a certain time (eg, 10 seconds) (step S508), and then the status is referred to the other terminal status information 222. It is confirmed whether or not there is a dependency terminal that is “suspended” (step S509).

  Here, the reason for reconfirming the status of the dependency terminal in step S509 is that if the dependency terminal is activated during standby and receives an “activation notification” from the terminal in step S508, the operation information management unit 22 This is because the other terminal status information 222 is updated so that the status of the terminal becomes “active”. Further, the standby process in step S508 does not always wait for a certain period of time, but may receive the “startup notification” from another terminal to end the standby and proceed to the next step. This can reduce useless waiting time.

If all the statuses of the dependency terminals are “operation” in step S509, the operation information management unit 22 completes the execution preparation process and transfers control to the process execution unit 21.
The operation information management unit 22 determines whether or not there is a terminal whose dependency terminal status is “pause” (step S510). If the status of the dependency terminal is not “pause” in step S510, that is, if the status of all the dependency terminals is “active”, the operation information management unit 22 completes the execution preparation process and performs control. Move to processing execution unit 21.

If there is a dependency terminal in which the status of the dependency terminal is “pause” in step S510, the process returns to step S504.
If the activation packet transmission to all the dependency terminals whose status is “pause” can be confirmed in step S507, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the other terminal status information 222 and the dependency terminal whose status is “pause”. Is checked (step S511).

  The operation information management unit 22 determines whether there is a terminal whose status of the dependency terminal is “pause” (step S512). If the status of the dependency terminal is not “pause” in step S512, that is, if the status of all the dependency terminals is “active”, the operation information management unit 22 completes the execution preparation process and performs control. Move to processing execution unit 21.

  If there is a dependency terminal whose dependency terminal status is “pause” in step S512, the operation information management unit 22 waits for a predetermined time (eg, 10 seconds) (step S513), and then returns to step S511. Even in this step S513, when “startup notification” is received from another terminal during standby, the standby may be terminated and the process may immediately return to step S511.

[Other Embodiments]
The pattern of “processing request” transmitted from the client terminals t1 to tn to the control terminals 1 to 7 often has a certain pattern in which the area B is confirmed after the area A is confirmed. For example, when the above example is performed by the method of the previous embodiment, the operation information management unit 22 activates the control terminal (1, 2) that executes the process on which the process depends to execute the area A confirmation process. Later, the area A confirmation process is performed, and the control terminal (3, 4) that executes the process on which the process depends is activated to execute the area B confirmation process.

  However, if the access patterns of the control terminals 1 to 7 are known in advance, it is predicted that there will be a subsequent access request to the area B when the control terminal 5 receives the “processing request” instructing the area A confirmation. Therefore, the operation information management unit 22 may transmit the activation packet to the control terminals (3, 4, 6) necessary for executing the area B confirmation process in advance without waiting for the completion of the area A confirmation process. Is possible.

  In the present embodiment, logs of “processing requests” transmitted from the client terminals t 1 to tn on the control terminals 1 to 7 are recorded, and the configuration management server 8 tabulates the logs. A related process table for performing pattern analysis based on the process request transmitting terminal (client terminal) and time in the configuration management server 8 and determining a process that is highly likely to be executed when a certain process is executed. Create

Based on the related process table and the terminal process information, the configuration management server 8 determines an associated process resolution table in order to determine a terminal group necessary for executing a process that is likely to be executed after execution of a process. Create and distribute to each control terminal.
When each control terminal 1-7 receives a certain "processing request", it is necessary for executing a process that is likely to be executed after the execution of the "processing request" with reference to the related process resolution table. A terminal group is determined, and an activation packet is transmitted to the terminal group.

  Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given with reference to the drawings. However, since many parts of the present embodiment are the same as those of the previous embodiment, differences will be mainly described. FIG. 18 shows the software configuration of the control terminal in another embodiment. Compared to the previous embodiment, a log collection unit 24 for recording the reception log of “processing request” is added.

  FIG. 19 shows the software configuration of the configuration management server in another embodiment. Compared to the previous embodiment, a log analysis unit 13 for performing log analysis is added, and the log analysis unit 13 includes an operation log table 131, a related process table 132, and a related process resolution table 133. As shown in FIG. 21, the operation log table 131 includes a request terminal address (“processing request” transmission terminal address) 2101, a processing name 2102, a processing terminal address (control terminal executing the above processing) 2103, and a time 2104. It is composed of four elements, and logs collected from the log collection unit 24 of each control terminal are recorded.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the related process table 132 is composed of three elements of a request terminal address 2201, a process name 2202, and a process terminal address 2203, and records a pattern of a series of processes that are frequently executed. For example, in FIG. 22, after a “processing request” instructing “shelf A2 confirmation” is transmitted from (192.168.0.11) of the requesting terminal address 2201 to (192.168.0.3) of the processing terminal address 2203, A pattern is recorded in which “processing request” instructing “shelf B2 confirmation” is transmitted from (192.168.0.11) at address 2201 to (192.168.0.5) at processing terminal address 2203.

  As shown in FIG. 23, the related process resolution table 133 is composed of four elements of a request terminal address 2301, a process name 2302, a process terminal address 2303, and a dependent terminal address 2304, and may be executed after execution of a certain process. The address of the control terminal necessary for execution of a certain process is recorded in the dependent terminal address 2304.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 23, the “processing request” instructing “shelf A2 confirmation processing” from the terminal having (192.168.0.11) of the requested terminal address 2301 is sent to the control terminal having (192.168.0.3) of the processing terminal address 2303. If transmitted, it indicates that the dependent terminal address 2304 of the control terminal necessary for execution of the processing (“shelf B2 confirmation”) that may be executed after the above processing is (192.168.0.5).

  One value is set for each of the request terminal address 2301, the process name 2302, and the process terminal address 2303, but a plurality (two or more) of addresses may be set for the dependent terminal address 2304. For example, when three or more processes are described in the related process table 132, or when there are a plurality of terminals necessary for executing a certain process, two or more addresses are set in the dependent terminal address 2304. .

FIG. 20 shows a software configuration of the process execution unit 21 of the control terminal in another embodiment. The process execution unit 21 has a related process resolution table 213, which has almost the same contents as the related process resolution table 133 held by the configuration management server 8. However, each control terminal does not hold an entry whose processing terminal address does not match the address of its own terminal.
Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail.

[Collect action logs]
The log collection unit 24 of the control terminal records three elements “process request” transmission terminal address 2101, process name 2102, and time 2104 each time a “process request” is received from another terminal. The log is transmitted to the configuration management server 8 during maintenance.

  The log analysis unit 13 of the transmission management server 8 records the log entry received from the control terminal in the operation log table 131. At this time, the “process request” transmission terminal address 2101, process name 2102, and time 2104 are stored in the request terminal address 2101, process name 2102, and time 2104 of the operation log table 131, respectively. The processing terminal address 2103 of the operation log table 131 is the address of the control terminal that has transmitted the log.

  Further, the log analysis unit 13 refers to the terminal processing information held by the configuration management server 8 and does not record the entry in which the request terminal address 2101 matches the address of the control terminal constituting the system in the operation log table 131. That is, only a log in which the “processing request” is transmitted from the client terminal is recorded.

[Log Analysis]
When the log collection process is completed, the log analysis unit 13 selects entries from the operation log table 13 that match the requested terminal address 2101 and have a close time 2104 (for example, within 30 seconds), and arrange them in time series. Create The time 2104 is deleted from the selected pattern information. For example, when the operation log table 13 is as shown in FIG. 21, since the entries L101 and L102 have the same request terminal address 2101 and the time 2104 is close, the following pattern information is created.

That is, (192.168.0.11, shelf A2 confirmation, 192.168.0.3) is created as entry L101 (request terminal address 2101, process name 2102, process terminal address 2103), and (192.168.0.11, shelf B2 confirmation, 192.168.0.5) is created. The same applies to L103.
The log analysis unit 13 records, in the related process table 132, a pattern having a high frequency among the patterns created as described above. In FIG. 22, the number of tables in the related processing table 132 is only one, but actually, as many tables as the number of patterns are created.

  Subsequently, the log analysis unit 13 creates a related process resolution table 133 from the related process table 132. First, one table is selected from the related process table 132, and one entry to be recorded in the related process resolution table 133 is created from each entry recorded in the table. However, the entry of the related process resolution table 133 is not created from the last entry of the related process table 132.

For example, in the example of FIG. 22, the entry L111 is selected first. Hereinafter, the entry selected here is referred to as a base entry. The log analysis unit 13 copies the request terminal address 2201, process name 2202, and process terminal address 2203 of the base entry as new entries in the related process resolution table 133.
The log analysis unit 13 selects one entry (hereinafter referred to as a sub-entry) recorded in the lower level of the base entry in the same table as the table from which the base entry is selected. For example, since the subentry is L112 in the example of FIG. 22, L112 is selected as the subentry.

  The log analysis unit 13 searches the terminal processing information C stored in the configuration management server 8 for information describing the processing name and processing terminal address of the subentry selected in the operation definition. In the above example, the terminal processing information C of the control terminal 4 matches the condition. The log analysis unit 13 acquires the terminal address described in the dependency processing list of the terminal processing information C that matches the condition, and adds it to the dependency terminal address 2304 of the related processing resolution table 133 created above.

  The log analysis unit 13 also adds the processing terminal address 2203 of the subentry to the dependent terminal address 2304 of the related processing resolution table 133 created above. In the above example, since the dependence process list of the terminal process information C of the control terminal 4 is empty, only the address (192.168.0.5) of the control terminal 4 is added to the dependence terminal address 2304 of the related process resolution table 133.

  In the above example, there is only one subentry, but when the number of entries recorded in the related processing table 132 is three or more, there may be two or more subentries. When there are a plurality of subentries, the dependent terminal address 2304 of the related process resolution table 133 is updated for each subentry in the procedure described above.

  In this way, one entry of the related process resolution table 133 is created from one entry of the related process table 132. The log analysis unit 13 performs the above process on all entries (except the last entry) recorded in all the tables of the related process table 132 in the same process as the above process. Create an entry.

[Control terminal processing]
When the log analysis unit 8 of the configuration management server 8 finishes the log analysis processing, the configuration management server 8 distributes the related processing resolution table 133 to the control terminals 1 to 7. At this time, only entries whose addresses described in the processing terminal address 2303 of the related processing resolution table 133 match the addresses of the control terminals 1 to 7 to be distributed are distributed to the control terminals 1 to 7.

For example, in the example of FIG. 23, the following entries are distributed only to the control terminal 2 having the processing terminal address 2303 of (192.168.0.3).
That is, “192.168.0.11, shelf A2 confirmation, 192.168.0.3, 192.168.0.5” is “requested terminal address 2301, processing name 2302, processing terminal address 2303, dependent terminal address 2304” constituting the related processing resolution table 133. Distributed. The control terminal 2 to which the related process resolution table is distributed records the distributed information in the related process resolution table 213 column of the process execution unit 21.

  When the operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal 2 receives a “processing request” from another terminal, the operation information management unit 22 performs the processing described below before performing the execution preparation processing described in the previous embodiment. The operation information management unit 22 refers to the related process resolution table 213, the request terminal address of the related process resolution table 213 matches the transmission terminal address of “process request”, and the “process name” of the related process resolution table 213 is “ Searches for an entry that matches the process name specified in “Process Request”.

In the example of FIG. 23, when the control terminal 2 receives a “processing request” instructing confirmation of the processing name “shelf A2” from the client terminal having the request terminal address 2301 (192.168.0.11), the related processing of the control terminal 2 The following entries are found from the resolution table 213:
That is, “192.168.0.11, shelf A2 confirmation, 192.168.0.3, 192.168.0.5” is found as “request terminal address 2301, process name 2302, process terminal address 2303, dependent terminal address 2304”.

  When this entry is found, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the other terminal status information 222 and confirms the status of the terminal described in the dependent terminal address 2304 of the entry. The operation information management unit 22 transmits an activation packet to all control terminals whose status is “pause”, and transmits an “execution preparation” message to all terminals whose status is “active”.

  The control terminal that has received the “preparation for execution” message is busy with the status of the own terminal set in the own terminal status information 221 for a certain period of time (eg, 30 seconds), regardless of whether or not the process is being executed in the terminal. Set to. As a result, it is possible to prevent the terminal that has received the “execution preparation” message from performing pause processing for a certain period of time. Subsequently, the operation information management unit 22 performs the execution preparation process described in the previous embodiment.

  As a modification of the present embodiment, a method of transmitting the “execution preparation” message only to a terminal having an address described in the related processing table may be used. In other words, since the control terminal transmits a “pause request” to the upper control terminal when transitioning to the dormant state, if the upper control terminal is “busy”, the lower control terminal sends a “pause request”. However, since a “NG” reply is returned, it is not possible to transition to the dormant state.

Therefore, a method that transmits an “execution preparation” message only to a terminal that performs a process that is likely to be executed continuously when a certain process is executed, and does not transmit an “execution preparation” message to a control terminal on which the process depends. However, this method can reduce communication messages.
In order to do this, the dependent terminal addresses of the related processing resolution tables 133 and 213 are managed as a list having the following structure.
(First dependent process execution terminal address, addresses (multiple) of all terminals that execute the process on which the first dependent process depends)
(Second dependent process execution terminal address, addresses (multiple) of all terminals that execute processes on which the second dependent process depends)

Then, the log analysis unit 13 of the configuration management server 8 executes a process for creating the related process resolution table 133 from the related process table 132 in the following procedure.
The log analysis unit 13 selects one base entry from the related process table 132, and duplicates the request terminal address, process name, and process terminal address of the selected base entry as a new entry in the related process resolution table 133. However, the last entry in the table is not selected as the base entry.

  The log analysis unit 13 selects one entry (subentry) recorded in the lower order of the base entry in the table storing the base entry, and sets the processing terminal address of the entry in the dependent terminal address structure. Stored in the first field (first dependency processing execution terminal address).

  The log analysis unit 13 determines the address of the control terminal that performs processing depending on the processing of the subentry using the terminal processing information stored in the configuration management server 8 in the same procedure as described above. Then, it is stored in the second field (addresses of all terminals that execute processing on which the second dependent processing depends) of the dependent terminal address structure. In this way, one entry with the structure of the dependent terminal address is created from one subentry. If the same processing is performed for all subentries, the structure of the dependent terminal address is completed.

One entry of the related process resolution table 133 is created from one base entry selected from the related process table 132 in this way.
When receiving the “processing request” from the client terminal, the operation information management unit 22 of the control terminal refers to the related processing resolution table 213, and the request terminal address of the related processing resolution table 213 matches the transmission terminal address of the “processing request”. Then, an entry that matches the process name indicated in the “process request” in the related process resolution table 213 is searched.

  When the entry is found, the operation information management unit 22 refers to the other terminal status information 222 and confirms the status of the terminal described in the dependent terminal address of the entry. An activation packet is transmitted to all control terminals whose status is “pause”. For a terminal whose status is “active”, only the control terminal stored in the first field of the dependent terminal address (first dependent process execution terminal address) of the related process resolution table 213 is set to “ready to execute”. Send a message.

  The present invention can be applied to general distributed systems, but is particularly effective for a distributed system that has a large number of control terminals such as an RFID system and can expect a power saving effect of the control terminals.

It is a block diagram of a system. It is a block diagram of a configuration management server. It is a block diagram of a control terminal. It is a hierarchical block diagram of the process which a control terminal performs. It is a figure which shows an example of terminal processing information. It is a figure which shows an example of the other terminal process information. It is a figure which shows an example of the other terminal process information. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the dependency analysis process of terminal processing information. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the other dependence analysis processing of terminal processing information. It is an internal block diagram of a process execution part. It is an internal block diagram of an operation information management part. It is a state transition diagram of the own terminal status. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of starting processing. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the suspension processing. It is the flowchart which showed the process of the control terminal which received the "pause request". It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the execution preparation process. It is the matrix table | surface which put together the process which a control terminal performs with respect to the received message for every status of the own terminal. It is a software block diagram of another control terminal. It is a software block diagram of another configuration management server. It is an internal block diagram of another process execution part. It is an action log table. It is a related process table. It is a related process resolution table.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1-7 ... Control terminal, 8 ... Configuration management server, C, C5, C7, C1 ... Terminal configuration information, 21 ... Processing execution part, 22 ... Operation information management part, 23 ... Device control part, C11, C51, C71 ... Dependency processing list, C12, C52, C72 ... inverse dependence processing list, C13, C53, C73 ... processing definition, 131 ... operation log table, 132 ... related processing table, 133 ... related processing resolution table, 212 ... operation information table, 213 ... related process resolution table, 221 ... own terminal status information, 222 ... other terminal status information

Claims (10)

In a suspension control method for a system in which a plurality of control terminals connected to a network operate in a hierarchical structure,
When each control terminal of the plurality of control terminals transitions to a dormant state, it sends a dormancy request to all other terminals that execute higher-level processing depending on the processing executed by the own terminal,
The control terminal that has received the suspension request searches for a process that depends on the process executed by the control terminal that has transmitted the suspension request from the process definition that describes the definition of the process managed by the terminal.
If a process is found that matches the process depending on the process executed by the control terminal that sent the suspension request from the process definition, check the status of the process,
If the above status is in an idle state other than processing execution, a pause permission is returned,
A suspension control method for a system, characterized in that if the status is busy during processing, a suspension permission / rejection is returned. When the control terminal that has transmitted the suspension request receives a suspension permission / inhibition from another terminal that has transmitted the suspension request during execution of the suspension processing, the control terminal cancels the suspension processing,
2. The suspension control method for a system according to claim 1, wherein a suspension cancellation notification is transmitted to all other terminals that have transmitted the suspension request. When the control terminal that has transmitted the suspension request receives a processing request from another terminal during execution of the suspension processing, the control terminal cancels the suspension processing,
2. The suspension control method for a system according to claim 1, wherein a suspension cancellation notification is transmitted to all other terminals that have transmitted the suspension request. When each control terminal of the plurality of control terminals executes a process, check the status of other terminals that execute all lower-level processes on which the process depends,
2. The system pause control method according to claim 1, wherein when there is a terminal in which the status of the other terminal is in a standby state waiting for processing, the terminal is activated. From the access log collected at each control terminal of the plurality of control terminals, analyze the access pattern of the processing request transmitted from the client terminal, which is another terminal that executes the higher-level processing,
When a first processing request is transmitted from a certain client terminal to the control terminal, a second processing request that is likely to be transmitted continuously from the client terminal is predicted based on the analysis result,
If the control terminal required for executing the second processing request is inactive, activate the inactive control terminal;
2. The suspension control method for a system according to claim 1, wherein if the control terminal required for executing the second processing request is in operation, the operation control terminal is controlled so as not to transition to the sleep state. . A control system comprising a plurality of control terminals forming a hierarchical structure connected to a network, and a configuration management server,
The configuration management server includes a dependency analysis unit that analyzes the dependency of the hierarchical structure of the plurality of control terminals and manages terminal processing information of processing contents executed by the plurality of control terminals,
Each control terminal forming the hierarchical structure has a process definition that describes the definition of the process to be executed by the own terminal, the status of the process to be executed by the own terminal, and all the subordinates on which the process to be executed by the own terminal depends. And a processing execution unit that manages the address of the other terminal that executes the above process and the address of the other terminal that executes all higher-level processes that depend on the process executed by the terminal.
The process execution unit
When the own terminal transitions to the dormant state, a dormancy request is transmitted to all other terminals that execute higher-level processing depending on the processing executed by the own terminal, and a dormant permission reply is sent from the other terminal that executes the higher-level processing. When received, it has a function to put the terminal in a dormant state,
When a pause request is received from another terminal, the process dependent on the process executed by the other terminal is searched from the process definition managed by the process execution unit, and the pause request is transmitted from the process definition. If a process that matches the process depending on the process executed by the terminal is found, the status of the process is confirmed. If the status is in an idle state other than the process being executed, a suspension permission is returned to the other terminal, A control system comprising a pause determination function for returning a pause permission / inhibition to the other terminal when the own terminal is busy during processing. The process execution unit cancels the suspension process when receiving a suspension permission / inhibition from another terminal that has transmitted the suspension request during execution of the suspension process, and sends a suspension cancellation notification to all the other terminals that have transmitted the suspension request. The control system according to claim 6, further comprising a pause cancel processing function for transmitting. When the processing execution unit receives a processing request from another terminal during the execution of the pause process, the process execution unit cancels the pause process and transmits a pause cancel notification to all other terminals that have transmitted the pause request. It has a function. The control system of Claim 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. Each control terminal configured in the hierarchical structure includes an operation information management unit that manages the status of other terminals that execute all lower-level processes on which the process executed by the terminal depends.
When each control terminal executes a process, the operation information management unit confirms the status of another terminal that executes all lower-level processes on which the process depends, and the status is a dormant state waiting for the process. The control system according to claim 6, wherein when there is a terminal, the terminal in the dormant state is activated. Each control terminal configured in the above hierarchical structure includes a log collection unit that collects an access log,
The configuration management server analyzes an access pattern of a processing request transmitted from a client terminal, which is another terminal that executes higher-order processing, from an access log collected by the log collection unit of each control terminal of the plurality of control terminals. Log analysis unit
Based on the analysis result of the log analysis unit, when the first processing request is transmitted from a certain client terminal, the configuration management server is likely to continue transmitting from the client terminal. A request is predicted based on the analysis result, and if the control terminal necessary for executing the second processing request is inactive, the inactive control terminal is activated and required for executing the second processing request. The control system according to claim 6, wherein if the control terminal is in operation, control is performed so that the operating control terminal does not transition to a dormant state.

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