JP2013187806A - Communication device and setting method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently maintain synchronization between an operation system control board 10 and a standby system control board 20 related to the setting processing of an IF board 30.SOLUTION: Each of the operation system control board 10 and the standby system control board 20 includes a DB composed of a nonvolatile memory to retain response data of the IF board 30 to a setting data. On receiving a setting data from the operation system control board 10, the IF board 30 transmits the response data to the setting data to both the operation system control board 10 and the standby system control board 20. Each of the operation system control board 10 and the standby system control board 20 stores the response data received from the IF board 30 into the DB included in each own control board 10, 20.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data processing technique, and more particularly to a communication device and a communication device setting method.

  A communication device such as a layer 2 switch includes a main signal system device that executes various processes on a main signal transmitted from an external user device or a user company network, and a monitor for monitoring and controlling the operation of the main signal system device. And a control system device. In addition, in order to improve the fault tolerance of the communication device, the supervisory control system device may have a redundant configuration.

JP 2000-253028 A

  The monitoring control system device may hold backup data of the setting information of the main signal system device. When the monitoring control system device has a redundant configuration, the monitoring control system device between the active system and the standby monitoring control system device Need to keep backup data synchronized between. Until now, the backup data in the standby system was updated after the backup data was updated in the active system during the start-up process of the communication apparatus, after initial operation installation, or after changing the operation settings. Sometimes required.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and a main object of the present invention is a technique for efficiently maintaining synchronization between redundant monitoring control system devices related to setting processing of a main signal system device. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above problems, a communication device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an interface unit that transmits and receives data to and from an external device, and setting data for setting an operation mode of the interface unit to the interface unit. A first control unit that controls the operation of the interface unit; and a second control unit that controls the operation of the interface unit instead of the first control unit when the first control unit is in a predetermined abnormal state. Each of the first control unit and the second control unit has a nonvolatile memory for holding response data of the interface unit with respect to the setting data. When the interface unit receives setting data from the first control unit, the interface unit transmits response data to the setting data to both the first control unit and the second control unit, and each of the first control unit and the second control unit Stores the response data received from the interface unit in parallel in its own non-volatile memory.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a communication device setting method. This method is a method executed by a communication device, in which an active control unit transmits setting data for setting an operation mode of an interface unit that transmits and receives data to and from an external device to the interface unit, and an interface Receiving the setting data from the active control unit and transmitting response data to the setting data to both the active control unit and the standby control unit, and controlling the active control unit and the standby system Each of the units includes a step of receiving response data from the interface unit and storing the response data in a nonvolatile memory included in the unit in parallel.

  Note that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and the expression of the present invention converted between an apparatus, a method, a system, a program, a recording medium storing the program, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the communication apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently maintain the synchronization between the redundant monitoring control system apparatuses related to the setting process of the main signal system apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the communication apparatus of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of DB typically. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the conventional communication apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of the conventional communication apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the operation type | system | group control board of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a control frame. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of IF board of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the communication apparatus of embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of the communication apparatus of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the variation of the operation state of a communication apparatus.

  FIG. 1 shows a hardware configuration of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment. The communication device 100 is a device that relays a main signal transmitted from a user device or a user company network, and is typically an Ethernet transmission device (“Ethernet” is a registered trademark) such as a layer 2 switch. Other types of transmission devices such as three switches may be used. The communication apparatus 100 includes an operation system control panel 10, a standby system control panel 20, and an IF panel 30a, an IF panel 30b, which are collectively referred to as an interface (IF) panel 30.

  The IF board 30 executes a relay process of the main signal. For example, an Ethernet frame as a main signal is received from a transmission path (not shown) outside the apparatus via a communication port (not shown). Also, switch processing corresponding to the MAC address set in the Ethernet frame is executed, and the Ethernet frame is sent to the transmission path via the communication port. The IF board 30 is a subordinate card of the main signal system in the communication apparatus 100 and is also called an interface card.

  The IF board 30 includes a CPU 32, a memory 34, and a PHY 36. The memory 34 holds information (hereinafter also referred to as “operation setting information” or “setting data”) that defines an operation mode of the IF board 30, in other words, a main signal processing mode. The operation setting information includes path data for line setting, communication port open / close information, VLAN information (bandwidth setting value, etc.), main signal filtering conditions, learning table information (MAC address table contents), and the like. included. As will be described later, the operation setting information is set by the operational control panel 10. The PHY 36 is an interface with the in-device LAN, and is, for example, a LAN communication port. The CPU 32 stores the operation setting information received by the PHY 36 in the memory 34, and executes relay processing of the main signal according to the operation setting information held in the memory 34.

  The active system control panel 10 and the standby system control panel 20 are redundant monitoring control system devices. The operation system control panel 10 is a CPU card that operates as an active system and an active system, and controls the operation mode of the IF panel 30. The standby system control panel 20 is a CPU card that operates as a standby system / standby system, and replaces the operational system control panel 10 when it is detected that the operational system control panel 10 has entered a predetermined abnormal state. The operation mode of the IF board 30 is controlled. This abnormal state includes a hardware failure such as a CPU, a memory, and a DB, a software processing abnormality, a communication abnormality, and the like.

  The operational system control panel 10 includes a CPU 12, a main memory 14, a DB 16, an L2SW 18, and a PHY 19. The main memory 14 holds information indicating the operation mode of the IF board 30, in other words, operation setting information of the IF board 30. The main memory 14 is a volatile memory, and may be a DRAM, for example. The DB 16 holds information indicating the operation mode of the IF board 30, in other words, backup data of the operation setting information of the IF board 30. The DB 16 is a nonvolatile memory, and may be, for example, an EEPROM or a flash memory.

  The CPU 12 controls the operation of the operational control panel 10 with reference to the data held in the main memory 14. Further, a predetermined command is received from the maintenance person terminal 200, and processing corresponding to the command is executed. When the setting command is received or when the communication apparatus 100 is activated, the CPU 12 acquires the operation setting information of the IF board 30 held in the DB 16 and sets the operation mode of the IF board 30 based on the information. As described above, line setting, communication port setting, VLAN setting and the like of the IF panel 30 are executed. The L2SW 18 is a layer 2 switch for performing Ethernet communication with the standby control panel 20 and the IF panel 30. The PHY 19 is an interface with the in-device LAN, and is a LAN communication port, for example.

  The standby system control panel 20 has the same configuration as the operation system control panel 10 and includes a CPU 22, a main memory 24, a DB 26, an L2SW 28, and a PHY 29. The operation system control panel 10, the standby system control panel 20, and the IF panel 30 in FIG. 1 transmit and receive data (including control frames described later) to each other via the in-device LAN. For example, the operation system control panel 10 and the standby system control panel 20 communicate via an in-device LAN 40 that is a LAN for inter-CPU communication. Similarly, the operation system control panel 10 and the IF panel 30a communicate via the in-device LAN 42, and the operation system control panel 10 and the IF panel 30b communicate via the in-device LAN 44, and the standby system control panel 20 and the IF panel 30a. Communicates via the in-device LAN 46, and the standby control panel 20 and the IF panel 30 b communicate via the in-device LAN 48.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows the configuration of the DB. FIG. 2A shows a DB configuration in a conventional operational control panel. The DB of the conventional operational control panel has a storage area called 0 plane in the figure (hereinafter also referred to as “DB0 face”) and a backup area of the DB0 face and called a 1 area in the figure (hereinafter referred to as “DB1 face”). "). The DB0 surface can be regarded as an active storage area, and the DB1 surface can be regarded as a standby storage area. The CPU 12 of the operational control panel 10 reads the operation setting information of the IF panel 30 from the DB0 surface.

  On the other hand, (b) of FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the DB 16 and DB 26 of the present embodiment. The DB 16 and DB 26 have a three-surface configuration in which a further redundant configuration is added to the conventional DB. Specifically, in addition to the DB0 plane and the DB1 plane, a preliminary / additional storage area (hereinafter also referred to as “DBR plane”) called an R plane in the drawing is provided. Although details will be described later, the storage area as the DBR plane rotates in the DB. For this reason, the DB 16 and the DB 26 further include DB management information in which the range of the storage area in the DB memory is associated with the surface type (that is, identification information indicating whether it is the DB0 surface, the 1 surface, or the R surface). The CPU 12 of the active system control panel 10 identifies the DB0 surface with reference to the DB management information, and reads the operation setting information of the IF panel 30 from the DB0 surface.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the conventional communication apparatus. The figure shows the operation when the operational control panel 10 sets the operation mode of the IF panel 30.
First, loop processing for the number of set units (in this embodiment, the number of control frames, that is, the number of set data) is started (S10). The CPU 12 of the operational control panel 10 transmits the setting data for the IF panel 30 received from the maintenance person terminal 200, the setting data acquired from the main memory 14, or the setting data acquired from the DB 16 to the IF panel 30 (S12). ). The CPU 32 of the IF board 30 sets the operation mode of the IF board 30 according to the setting data received from the operation system control board 10, and updates the setting data held in the memory 34, for example (S14). When the setting process of the IF board 30 is completed, the CPU 32 of the IF board 30 transmits response data for the setting data to the operational system control board 10 (S16). The CPU 12 of the active system control panel 10 stores the response data in the main memory 14 (S18). The above steps S12 to S18 are repeated for the number of set data (S20).

  The communication device 100 permanently stores a command instructing updating of the DBs of the active control panel 10 and the standby control panel 20, in other words, response data held in the main memory of the active control panel 10 in the nonvolatile memory. A command (hereinafter also referred to as “DB save command”) for instructing storage is received from the maintenance person terminal 200. When receiving the DB save command, the CPU 12 of the operational control panel 10 stores the response data held in the main memory 14 on the DB0 surface, and then copies the data on the DB0 surface to the DB1 surface (S22). When the update of the DB 16 is completed, the response data stored in the main memory 14 is transferred to the standby system control panel 20, and the response data is stored in the standby system main memory 24 (S24). The CPU 22 of the standby system control panel 20 stores the response data transferred from the active system control panel 10 in the DB0 surface, and then copies the data in the DB0 surface to the DB1 surface (S26).

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of a conventional communication apparatus. In the figure, the period from the start of transmission of setting data to the IF panel 30 by the active control panel 10 to the completion of the update of the DB 26 of the standby control panel 20 is the time required for the setting process of the IF panel 30 (hereinafter referred to as “the processing time”) Also referred to as “setting processing time”. The longer the setting processing time is, the longer the time required for starting up the entire communication apparatus 100 is. Also, the time from when the DB save command is received until the update of the DB 26 of the standby control panel 20 is completed is a time during which an operation (command) by the maintenance person is not permitted (hereinafter also referred to as “operation disabled time”).

Here, problems in the conventional communication apparatus recognized by the present inventor will be described.
Problem 1: Normally, the normality of communication between the standby system control panel 20 and the IF panel 30 which is a standby system is not monitored, so after switching from the active system control panel 10 to the standby system control panel 20, in other words, A communication abnormality between the standby control panel 20 and the IF panel 30 may become apparent after the standby control panel 20 is changed to the active system. In this case, recovery by the standby system becomes difficult, and it takes a long time to recover the communication device 100.

  Problem 2: The DB 26 of the standby control panel 20 that is the standby system needs to be synchronized with the DB 16 of the operation control panel 10 that is the active system. After the setting change, the DB 16 and the DB 26 are synchronized after the update of the DB 16 is completed. Therefore, as shown by the setting processing time in FIG. 4, it takes a long time to complete the update of the standby DB 26, and a long time is required for the startup processing of the standby control panel 20. As a result, it takes a long time for the communication apparatus 100 to reach the redundant configuration completion state. Further, setting processing of the IF panel 30 and synchronization processing with the standby system control panel 20 are concentrated on the CPU 12 of the operation system control panel 10 which is the operation system, and the CPU 12 becomes highly loaded.

  Problem 3: The DB 16 and the DB 26 are nonvolatile memories having a low access speed such as a data update speed because the setting data of the IF board 30 needs to be held permanently. For example, the time required for accessing the DB 16 and DB 26 may be about ten times the time required for accessing the volatile memory. Further, while the setting information of the communication device 100 is stored in the DB, in order to maintain the consistency between the active control panel 10 and the standby control panel 20, the active control panel 10 performs an operation by a user operation on the maintainer's terminal. Not accepted from 200. In conventional communication apparatuses, the operation unavailable time shown in FIG. 4 may become long.

  Problem 4: Since DB16 and DB26 are nonvolatile memories, the stored data may be garbled due to an accidental device failure or charge loss in the memory cell. In addition, a DB failure may occur due to a lot failure due to a manufacturing defect. With the two-surface configuration in the DB memory so far, there is a concern that the probability of failure recovery, that is, the probability that the operation can be continued in the operational system is low.

  The configuration of the communication apparatus 100 according to the embodiment for solving the problems recognized by the present inventors will be described in detail. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the operational control panel 10 according to the embodiment. The operational control panel 10 includes a command acquisition unit 50, a setting data acquisition unit 52, a setting data transmission unit 54, a response data acquisition unit 56, a response data transfer unit 58, a verification unit 60, and an alert notification unit 62. And a DB update unit 64.

  Each block shown in the block diagram of the present specification can be realized in terms of hardware by elements and mechanical devices such as a CPU and a memory of a computer, and in terms of software, it can be realized by a computer program or the like. Then, the functional block realized by those cooperation is drawn. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by a combination of hardware and software. For example, each functional block in FIG. 5 may be mounted as a program module and held in the main memory 14, and the CPU 12 may realize the function of each functional block by reading and executing the program module.

  The command acquisition unit 50 receives from the maintenance person terminal 200 a command (for example, a setting command of the IF panel 30 or a DB save command) input by the maintenance person at the maintenance person terminal 200. When the command acquisition unit 50 receives a DB save command, the command acquisition unit 50 transfers the command to the standby control panel 20.

  When a setting command is received from the maintenance person terminal 200, the setting data acquisition unit 52 acquires setting data of the IF panel 30 included in the setting command. Further, when the communication apparatus 100 is activated, the setting data of the IF board 30 held in the DB 16 is acquired. The setting data transmission unit 54 creates a control frame that is an Ethernet frame including the setting data acquired by the setting data acquisition unit 52. Then, the created control frame is transmitted to the IF board 30 via the in-device LAN.

  FIG. 6 shows the structure of the control frame. The control frame includes an operation system synchronization flag 70, a standby system synchronization flag 72, a serial number 74, an option 76, and setting data 78. The operational system synchronization flag 70 is data for designating whether the response data of the IF panel 30 is reflected in the DB 16 of the operational system control panel 10 (“1”) or not (“0”). The standby system synchronization flag 72 is data for designating whether the response data of the IF panel 30 is reflected on the DB 26 of the standby system control panel 20 (“1”) or not (“0”). For example, the active system synchronization flag 70 = 1 and the standby system synchronization flag 72 = 0 mean that the response data of the IF panel 30 is reflected in the active system DB 16 but not reflected in the standby system DB 26. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the active system synchronization flag 70 = 1 and the standby system synchronization flag 72 = 1.

  The serial number 74 is control frame identification information having a unique value for each control frame. In the embodiment, a serial number incremented for each control frame is set. For example, the setting data transmission unit 54 stores the serial number of the last created control frame in the main memory 14 and increments the serial number stored in the main memory 14 as the serial number of the next generated control frame. A value may be set. The option 76 is a reserved field for various processes, which is not mentioned in the embodiment. The setting data 78 is a field for storing setting data, and includes data indicating setting data from the control panel to the IF panel.

  Returning to FIG. 5, the response data acquisition unit 56 receives a control frame (hereinafter, also referred to as “response frame”) that is a control frame transmitted from the IF board 30 and includes response data for the setting data from the IF board 30. . This response frame has the same configuration as that of the control frame of FIG. 6, and the setting data transmitted from the active control panel 10 is stored as response data in the setting data 78, and the response from the IF panel to the control panel. Data indicating data is also stored. The response data acquisition unit 56 acquires response data from the response frame received from the IF board 30 and stores the response data in the main memory 14.

  The response data transfer unit 58 will be described later because it is a function as the standby control panel 20, that is, a function that is exhibited after the operation system control panel 10 is switched to the standby system.

  The collation unit 60 collates the response frame transmitted from the IF panel 30 to the own apparatus and the response frame transmitted from the IF panel 30 to the standby system control panel 20 and transferred from the standby system control panel 20. , It is determined whether or not both response frames match. The response frame transmitted from the IF panel 30 to the own apparatus is a frame transmitted via the LAN between the active system control panel 10 and the IF panel 30, while being transmitted to the standby system control panel 20 to be the standby system. The response frame transferred from the control panel 20 is a frame transmitted via the LAN between the standby control panel 20 and the IF panel 30. That is, the collation unit 60 confirms the normality of the LAN communication between the standby control panel 20 and the IF panel 30 by determining whether or not these frames match.

  In the embodiment, the collation unit 60 determines whether or not the serial number set in the response frame directly received from the IF panel 30 matches the serial number notified from the standby control panel 20. The alert notification unit 62 determines that the serial number set in the response frame directly received from the IF panel 30 and the serial number notified from the standby control panel 20 are inconsistent as a result of verification by the verification unit 60, that is, When the response frame transmitted from the IF panel 30 to the own apparatus and the response frame transmitted from the IF panel 30 to the standby control panel 20 and transferred from the standby control panel 20 are determined to be inconsistent In addition, alert information indicating that fact is notified to the maintenance person terminal 200. This alert information may include information for presenting the possibility of communication abnormality between the standby control panel 20 and the IF panel 30 to the maintenance person.

  The DB update unit 64 executes the update process of the DB 16 when the operational synchronization flag 70 of the response frame is set, in other words, reflects the response data from the IF panel 30 to the DB 16. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “1” is set in the flag.

  Specifically, when the response data acquisition unit 56 receives a response frame, the DB update unit 64 stores the response data set in the response frame in the DBR plane. When the DB acquisition command is received by the command acquisition unit 50, the DB update unit 64 copies the data held by the DBR surface to the DB0 surface. In parallel, the DB management information is updated so that the previous DBR plane → the new DB0 plane, the previous DB0 plane → the new DB1 plane, the previous DB1 plane → the new DBR plane. In other words, the correspondence relationship between the storage area and the surface type in the DB management information is changed. As a result, the DB0 surface, the first surface, and the R surface are rotated in the DB16. In other words, the response data write position is also rotated.

  The functional configuration of the standby control panel 20 of the communication device 100 is also as shown in FIG. However, while the standby control panel 20 operates as a standby system, the functions of the command acquisition unit 50, setting data acquisition unit 52, setting data transmission unit 54, verification unit 60, and alert notification unit 62 are suppressed. When the standby control panel 20 is switched to the active system, the function of the above-described active control panel 10 is exhibited. Hereinafter, functions when the standby control panel 20 operates as a standby system will be described.

  The response data acquisition unit 56 receives the response frame transmitted from the IF board 30 and stores the response data set in the response frame in the main memory 24. The response data transfer unit 58 extracts the serial number set in the response frame and notifies the operation system control panel 10 of it. When “1” is set in the standby system synchronization flag 72 of the response frame, the DB update unit 64 executes the update process of the DB 26 similar to the update process of the DB 16 in the active system control panel 10. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “1” is set in the flag.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the IF board 30 according to the embodiment. The IF board 30 includes a setting data receiving unit 80, a setting processing unit 82, a response data transmitting unit 84, and a main signal processing unit 86. Each functional block in FIG. 7 may be implemented as a program module and held in the memory 34, and the CPU 32 may realize the function of each functional block by reading and executing the program module.

  The setting data receiving unit 80 receives a control frame transmitted from the active system control panel 10. The setting processing unit 82 reflects the setting data on the IF board 30 by storing the setting data set in the control frame in the memory 34. The response data transmission unit 84 creates a response frame after transmitting the setting data by the setting processing unit 82 and transmits it to both the active system control panel 10 and the standby system control panel 20. The main signal processing unit 86 refers to the setting data stored in the memory 34, and performs various relay processes on the main signal, for example, reception processing, switching processing, transmission processing, filtering processing, in a mode defined by the setting data. Bandwidth allocation processing and the like are executed.

The operation of the communication apparatus 100 having the above configuration will be described below.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the communication apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 also shows the operation when the operational control panel 10 sets the operation mode of the IF panel 30 as in FIG. Although not shown in FIG. 8, the main signal processing unit 86 of the IF board 30 executes the relay process of the main signal in the operation mode set by the operation system control board 10.

  When it is detected that the setting timing of the IF panel 30 is reached (Y in S30), loop processing for the number of set data is started (S32). For example, when the command acquisition unit 50 receives a setting command for the IF panel 30, the setting data acquisition unit 52 may determine that the setting timing of the IF panel 30 has been reached, and acquire setting data from the setting command. The setting data may be acquired from the DB0 surface according to the setting command. Further, when the communication device 100 is activated, the setting data acquisition unit 52 may determine that the setting timing of the IF panel 30 has been reached, and acquire setting data from the DB0 surface.

  The setting data transmission unit 54 of the active control panel 10 transmits a control frame including the setting data acquired by the setting data acquisition unit 52 to the IF panel 30 (S34). The setting data receiving unit 80 of the IF board 30 receives the control frame transmitted from the active control board 10 and acquires setting data from the control frame. The setting processing unit 82 of the IF board 30 changes the operation mode of the IF board 30 according to the setting data (S36). The response data transmission unit 84 of the IF panel 30 transmits a response frame for the control frame to both the active system control panel 10 and the standby system control panel 20 (S38). The response data acquisition unit 56 of the active system control panel 10 receives the response frame and stores the response data included in the response frame in the main memory 14. In parallel, the response data acquisition unit 56 of the standby control panel 20 receives the response frame and stores the response data included in the response frame in the main memory 24.

  Here, the response data transfer unit 58 of the standby control panel 20 transfers the serial number included in the response frame to the active control panel 10. The collation unit 60 of the active system control panel 10 collates the serial number included in the response frame directly received from the IF panel 30 with the serial number transferred from the standby system control panel 20 and confirms whether or not they match. (S40). If the serial numbers do not match (N in S42), the alert notification unit 62 of the active control panel 10 notifies the maintenance person terminal 200 of alert information indicating that (S44). If the serial numbers match (Y in S42), S44 is skipped. The DB update unit 64 of the active control panel 10 stores the response data received from the IF panel 30 in the DBR plane without waiting for the DB save command (S46). In parallel with this, the DB update unit 64 of the standby control panel 20 operates in the same manner. The above processes of S34 to S46 are repeated for the number of set data (S48). If it is not detected that the set timing of the IF panel 30 has been reached (N in S30), S32 to S48 are skipped.

  When the DB save command is received from the maintenance person terminal 200 (Y in S50), the command acquisition unit 50 of the active control panel 10 transfers the DB save command to the standby control panel 20. The DB update unit 64 of the active system control panel 10 executes the update process of the DB 16, and in parallel, the DB update unit 64 of the standby system control panel 20 executes the update process of the DB 26. Specifically, the data stored in the DBR plane is copied to the DB0 plane (S52). In parallel with this, the DB management information is updated so as to change the DB face type (S54). If the DB save command is not accepted (N in S50), S52 and S54 are skipped.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the communication apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 9A differs from FIG. 3 in that the IF panel 30 returns a response frame to both the active system control panel 10 and the standby system control panel 20. As a result, when a DB save command is received, the update process of the DB 16 on the active system control panel 10 and the update process of the DB 26 on the standby system control panel 20 can be executed in parallel. Time can be shortened.

  9B corresponds to the operation of the communication apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The IF panel 30 returns a response frame to both the active system control panel 10 and the standby system control panel 20, and the DB 16 and the DB 26 are The three-faced point is different from FIG. As a result, the response data can be written to the nonvolatile memory having a low access speed (that is, the DBR surface is updated) before the DB save command is received. Further, when a DB save command is accepted, the management information is simply rewritten so that copying to the DB0 plane and the previous DBR plane is the new DB0 plane and the previous DB0 plane is the new DB1 plane. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the time from the reception of the DB save command to the completion of the DB update processing, and further shorten the setting processing time and the operation disabled time.

  According to the communication apparatus 100 of the embodiment, response data from the IF board 30 is also transmitted to the standby system control board 20 in units of setting the IF board 30, that is, a unit of transmitting a control frame. The update process and the update process of the standby DB 26 can be executed in parallel. Thereby, setting processing time can be shortened, for example, the starting time of the communication apparatus 100 can be shortened. Until now, the CPU 12 of the operation system control panel 10 has collectively executed the setting process for the IF panel 30 and the synchronization process to the standby system control panel 20, but the CPU 32 of the IF panel 30 and the standby system control panel Since the 20 CPUs 22 are responsible for some of the processing, the load on the CPU 12 of the operational control panel 10 can be distributed and the startup time of the communication device 100 can be shortened.

  Further, according to the communication device 100, the normality of the standby system monitoring control transmission line can be monitored during normal operation. Specifically, the normality of communication in the in-device LAN 46 and the in-device LAN 48, which are communication LANs of the standby control panel 20 to the IF panel 30, can be confirmed. As a result, a communication abnormality with the IF panel 30 is not discovered until the standby control panel 20 is switched to the active system, and the problem becomes apparent when the standby control panel 20 is switched to the active system, and the communication device 100 is restored. It is possible to prevent the time from becoming long.

  Further, according to the communication apparatus 100, since the DB has a three-surface configuration, it is possible to reduce the time from the reception of the DB save command to the completion of the DB update processing, and the setting processing time and the operation disabled time. Further, by making it into three planes, it is possible to improve the monitoring of alarms, improve the resistance to failure recovery, and improve the probability of recovery from accidental failures. In addition, it is desirable that the operation can be continued in the operation system from the viewpoint of maintenance and operation of the communication apparatus. However, the probability that the operation can be continued in the operation system can be improved by adopting the three-sided DB.

  FIG. 10 shows variations in the operating state of the communication device 100. 10A shows the DB2 surface configuration, and FIG. 10B shows the DB3 surface configuration. Here, it is assumed that the failure probability of each of the 0-plane, 1-plane, and R-plane of DB16 and the 0-plane, 1-plane, and R-plane of DB26 is equal, and any of 0-plane, 1-plane, and R-plane of DB16 is normal. It is supposed that the operation can be continued in the operational system. If only the R side of the DB is normal, the latest setting information of the IF panel 30 may not be reflected, but since the latest setting information is stored in the main memory 14 of the active control panel 10, the main By copying the latest setting information from the memory 14 to the R side of the DB, it is possible to store the latest setting information on the R side of the DB and continue operation. As shown in FIG. 10, the probability that the operation can be continued in the operational system is improved as compared with the DB2 plane configuration. This enables flexible maintenance operation.

  In addition, considering the operation, by updating the DB management information, both the active and standby systems rotate each storage area of the DB memory from R plane → 0 plane → 1 plane, so that the non-volatile memory actually used It is possible to cycle through the physical area. As a result, failure monitoring of the entire DB physical area in the normal state (for example, monitoring of charge loss, bit failure, lot defect, etc.) becomes possible. Conventionally, the DB is accessed only when the DB save command is executed. However, in the method of the present embodiment, the DBR surface is accessed every time the device setting or change is performed, and the access frequency increases, so that the failure detection can be performed. It becomes possible to accelerate.

  In the embodiment, both the active system DB 16 and the standby system DB 26 have a three-surface configuration, but one of them is a communication device 100 having a three-surface configuration and the other having a two-surface configuration. Of course it is good. Also in this case, the control panel having a three-sided DB has the above-described effects.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there.

  It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be fulfilled by the constituent elements described in the claims are realized by the individual constituent elements shown in the embodiments and the modification examples or by their cooperation.

  10 operation system control panel, 16 DB, 20 standby system control panel, 26 DB, 30 IF panel, 100 communication device.

Claims (4)

An interface unit for sending / receiving data to / from an external device
A first control unit for controlling the operation of the interface unit by transmitting setting data for setting an operation mode of the interface unit to the interface unit;
A second control unit that controls the operation of the interface unit instead of the first control unit when the first control unit is in a predetermined abnormal state;
With
Each of the first control unit and the second control unit has a nonvolatile memory for holding response data of the interface unit with respect to the setting data,
When the interface unit receives setting data from the first control unit, the interface unit transmits response data to the setting data to both the first control unit and the second control unit,
Each of said 1st control part and said 2nd control part stores the response data received from the said interface part in parallel with the non-volatile memory which self has, The communication apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The second control unit transmits at least part of the response data received from the interface unit to the first control unit as verification data,
The first control unit compares the response data received from the interface unit with the verification data received from the second control unit, thereby normalizing communication between the second control unit and the interface unit. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is confirmed. At least one of the nonvolatile memories included in each of the first control unit and the second control unit includes an active storage area in which information indicating a current state of the interface unit is to be stored; Including a standby storage area for backing up the active storage area, a standby storage area, and storage area management information;
At least one of the first controller and the second controller is
When response data is received from the interface unit, the response data is stored in the storage area of the standby system,
When an update command is received from the user, the storage data in the standby storage area is copied to the active or standby storage area, and the standby storage area is stored in the new active or standby storage area. Updating the management information as an area, and updating the management information with the storage area of the active system or standby system that is excluded from copying the storage data of the storage area of the standby system as a new storage area of the standby system The communication device according to claim 1, wherein: A method performed by a communication device comprising:
A step of transmitting, to the interface unit, setting data for setting an operation mode of an interface unit that transmits and receives data to and from an external device by an active control unit;
The interface unit receives setting data from the active control unit and transmits response data to the setting data to both the active control unit and the standby control unit;
Each of the active control unit and the standby control unit accepts response data from the interface unit, and stores the response data in a non-volatile memory included in itself,
A method for setting a communication apparatus, comprising:

Images