JP2014150484A - Relay device with power feeding function having ip equipment diagnostic function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a relay device with a power feeding function having an IP equipment diagnostic function that efficiently diagnoses normality of the subordinate IP equipment.SOLUTION: An IP equipment state determination part 11 determines whether each IP equipment 3 is in an operating state or a stand-by state, and an IP equipment diagnosis part 10 determines normality of each IP equipment 3 by comparing a power supply amount PoE power fed to each IP equipment 3 by a PoE power feeding part 16, an average feeding amount in an operating state or a stand-by state of each IP equipment 3 stored in a reference data storage part 17, and a normality determination condition.

Description

  The present invention has an IP relay apparatus that accommodates IP (Internet Protocol) equipment and relays IP packets between the IP network side and the subordinate IP equipment, and particularly has a function of diagnosing the normality of the subordinate IP equipment. The present invention relates to an IP relay device.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of IP networks and the increase in speed and bandwidth, various types of IP devices connected to IP networks have increased explosively. As a result, IP devices are indispensable for office work and daily life at home, and each IP device such as IP relay devices and IP terminal devices installed in large quantities is efficiently maintained and managed. There is a need to. Therefore, a technique for detecting an abnormality of the IP relay device is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 diagnoses the normality of a data communication channel, which is a data signal processing path in an IP relay apparatus (communication relay apparatus in Patent Document 1). Diagnosing the normality of is not considered.

JP 2010-114876 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a relay device with a power feeding function having a function of efficiently diagnosing the normality of a subordinate IP device.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the first invention accommodates one or more IP devices and relays IP packets between a higher-level IP network or a higher-level IP device and a subordinate IP device, An IP relay apparatus having a power supply function for supplying power to an IP device, wherein the IP device state determination means determines whether the IP device is in an operating state or a standby state, and the IP in an operating state or a standby state Supply power measuring means for measuring the power supplied to the device as operating power or standby power, and supply for storing the value related to the supply power measured by the supply power measuring means corresponding to each of the IP devices Power storage means, IP device diagnosis means for diagnosing the normality of the IP device, determination condition storage means for storing a determination condition relating to diagnosis of normality of the IP device, and abnormality in the IP device An abnormality treatment executing means for executing treatment, and the supply power measuring means measures operating power or standby power supplied to each of the IP devices periodically or irregularly, and the IP device diagnostic means Compares the value measured by the supplied power measuring means and the value stored in the supplied power storage means to determine the normality of each of the IP devices according to the determination condition stored in the determination condition storage means, When it is determined that the IP device diagnosis means is normal, the average power during operation or standby time of the IP device is determined from the value measured by the supply power measurement means and the value stored in the supply power storage means. Recalculating the value related to the average power of the storage, storing the recalculated value in the supply power storage unit, and when the IP device diagnosis unit determines that any of the IP devices is not normal, The abnormality treatment execution means is activated.

  The second invention is the relay device according to the first invention, further comprising power reset means for temporarily stopping and restarting power supply to any of the IP devices, When the device diagnosis unit determines that any of the IP devices is not normal, the abnormality treatment execution unit activates the power reset unit, and the IP device diagnosis unit performs the operation after the power reset unit is activated. If the normality of the IP device is diagnosed again and the IP device diagnosis means determines again that the IP device is not normal, the abnormality treatment execution means displays alarm information on the display means provided in the own relay device Or transmitting alarm information to a predetermined destination.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a relay device with a power feeding function having a function of efficiently diagnosing normality of a subordinate IP device.

Internal block diagram of the device of the present invention Example of stored contents of reference data storage unit 17 Operation flowchart of the device of the present invention

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking an IP relay apparatus having a PoE (Power over Ethernet (registered trademark)) power supply function as an example. The present invention can be applied to various IP relay apparatuses that relay IP packets such as routers and gateways.

  FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram of an IP relay device with power supply function (hereinafter, abbreviated as this device) having an IP device diagnosis function according to the present invention. First, an outline of the apparatus 1 will be described.

  The apparatus 1 relays IP packets between the IP network 2 or a higher-level IP device and a subordinate IP device 3. The upper IP device is a router, gateway, ONU (Optical Network Unit), or the like connected to the UP-LINK side port 12, or a higher level device connected in cascade (not shown).

  Further, the subordinate IP device 3 is various IP devices 3 connected to the DOWN-LINK side port 13, for example, an IP telephone, a wireless access point, a Personal Computer, a Web camera, or the like, or cascade-connected. This lower level device. In addition, the device 1 supplies PoE power to the subordinate IP device 3.

  For example, when the IP device 3-1 is another device connected in cascade and the IP device 3-2 to the IP device 3 -N are IP phones or wireless access points, the IP phone is not tied to the position of the power outlet. A system can be constructed flexibly.

  Next, the internal block configuration of the apparatus 1 will be described in detail. The apparatus 1 includes an IP device diagnosis unit 10, an IP device state determination unit 11, an UP-LINK side port 12, a DOWN-LINK side port 13 (hereinafter also abbreviated as a port), an IP packet relay control unit 14, and a power supply The control unit 15 includes a PoE power supply unit 16, a reference data storage unit 17, a diagnostic switch 18, and a display unit 19.

  The IP device diagnosis unit 10 refers to a reference data storage unit 17 to be described later, and the PoE power supply amount supplied by the PoE power supply unit 16 to each IP device 3 in the active state or standby state connected to the DOWN-LINK side port 13. Thus, the normality of the IP device 3 is diagnosed. The detailed operation of the IP device diagnosis unit 10 will be described later.

  In response to a request from the IP device diagnosis unit 10, the IP device state determination unit 11 monitors the IP packet relayed by the IP packet relay control unit 14, and whether each IP device 3 is in an operating state or a standby state. And a determination result is notified to the IP device diagnosis unit 10. A specific determination as to whether the IP device 3 is in an operating state or in a standby state is a standby state when the IP device 3 has not transmitted an IP packet for a certain period of time (for example, 3 minutes) or longer. In other cases, that is, if one packet is transmitted within a certain period, it may be determined that it is in an operating state.

  The UP-LINK side port 12 is a means for connecting to a higher-level IP network 2 side device such as a router, gateway, or ONU. The UP-LINK side port 12 includes a terminal for receiving PoE power from a host device, and the power received by PoE is input to the power supply control unit 15. However, when this apparatus 1 receives commercial AC 100V, it is not necessary to receive this PoE power.

  The DOWN-LINK side port 13 is means for connecting the IP device 3. The DOWN-LINK side port 13 includes a PoE power supply terminal, and supplies the power from the power supply control unit 15 to each IP device 3 by PoE. However, PoE power is not supplied to an IP device having no PoE power receiving function. In the case of cascade connection of the other apparatus 1, the UP-LINK side port 12 of the apparatus 1 that is the next stage may be connected to the DOWN-LINK side port 13.

  The IP packet relay control unit 14 relays an IP packet between each of the UP-LINK side port 12 and the DOWN-LINK side ports 13-1 to 13-N and determines the relay status between the ports as an IP device state. This is means for notifying the unit 11. The IP device state determination unit 11 monitors the relay state between the ports notified from the IP packet relay control unit 14 and determines the operating state / standby state of each IP device 3.

  The power supply control unit 15 converts the power received from the commercial AC 100V outlet or the power received by the PoE via the UP-LINK side port 12 into a predetermined operating voltage and supplies it to each unit in the apparatus 1 It is. It should be noted that whether the power reception from the outlet or the PoE power reception is performed by switching the apparatus 1 with a power switch (not shown) or the like may be performed.

  The PoE power supply unit 16 converts the power supplied from the power supply control unit 15 into a PoE voltage, outputs the PoE voltage to each DOWN-LINK side port 13, and supplies the power supply amount (current value or power value) to each port 13. This is means for measuring and notifying the measured value to the IP device diagnosis unit 10. Further, it is means for controlling ON / OFF of PoE power supply to each IP device 3 in accordance with an instruction from the IP device diagnosis unit 10. Although not shown, the PoE power supply unit 16 incorporates an ammeter that measures an output current to each port.

  The reference data storage unit 17 is means for storing reference data necessary for the IP device diagnosis unit 10 to diagnose the normality of each IP device 3. In addition, management such as registration and update of reference data is performed by a maintenance IP device (not shown) connected to the UP-LINK side port 12 or the DOWN-LINK side port 13 via the IP device diagnosis unit 10. Run. Details of the reference data will be described later.

  The diagnosis switch 18 is a manual switch that requests diagnosis to the IP device diagnosis unit 10. When the operator presses this switch, the normality of the IP device 3 can be checked at any time.

  The display unit 19 is a means for displaying the operation status of the apparatus 1, the diagnosis result by the IP device diagnosis unit 10, various alarm information, and the like. Specific display devices include LCDs and LEDs.

  FIG. 2 is an example of data stored in the reference data storage unit 17. The column 201 has a DOWN-LINK side port 13, the column 202 has a diagnosis setting for setting whether or not the port is a diagnosis target (ON is a diagnosis target), the column 203 has a timing or event for starting diagnosis, and a column 204 The average value of the PoE power supply amount in the standby state of each IP device 3 connected to the port 13 (for example, 2 mA), and the column 205 shows the average value of the PoE power supply amount in the operating state of each IP device 3 (for example, 300 mA). ), Column 206 includes determination conditions (for example, an average value ± 50%) for determining the normality or the possibility of abnormality of each IP device 3 connected to the port 13 by the IP device diagnosis unit 10, and column 207 indicates the port A report destination (for example, a mail address of a person in charge of maintenance) corresponding to each IP device 3 connected to 13 is registered.

  The IP device diagnosis unit 10 refers to the column 203 for each port 13 in the row in which the column 202 is set to ON (for example, a periodic measurement timing or an irregular communication start) The diagnosis is started when a specific signal, a power reset (power-on reset) described later, or pressing of the diagnostic switch 18 is detected, and the IP device diagnosis unit 10 determines the result of the determination by the IP device state determination unit 11 ( The operating PoE power supply amount or standby PoE power supply amount of each IP device 3 measured by the PoE power supply unit 16 is compared with the reference data stored in the columns 204 and 205 according to the operation state / standby state). , Whether the relationship satisfies the normality determination condition stored in the column 206, and if it is determined that the normality is not satisfied, the column 207 To report destination that is 憶 notifies the alarm information (e.g., e-mail) for displaying the alarm information or the display unit 19.

  Here, the data stored in the column 204 and the column 205 may be, for example, a value (normal value) determined by the IP device diagnosis unit 10 to be normal and weighted average by adding each time. This weighted average may be, for example, an average of N normal values (for example, 10) obtained by removing the oldest normal value in the past and adding the latest normal value, or a cumulative average that does not limit the number of samples.

  In addition, when starting use of this apparatus 1 newly or changing subordinate IP equipment 3, the data memorize | stored in the reference data memory | storage part 17 are cleared, and the PoE electric power feeding amount measured by the subsequent diagnosis is used. If the values are stored as provisional values, the values in the columns 204 and 205 are corrected in an appropriate direction every time the diagnosis is repeated.

  The determination conditions stored in the column 206 are set in advance according to the characteristics of the IP device 3 connected to the port. For example, when the IP device 3 is a telephone (IP phone), a determination condition (for example, ± 50%) corresponding to the standby PoE power supply amount (column 204) or the operating PoE power supply amount (column 205) is registered. Just keep it.

  The registration of the determination condition is performed by using special data (for example, a maintenance code with a maintenance code) input via the UP-LINK side port 12 or the DOWN-LINK side port 13 and the IP packet relay control unit 14. Packet data) may be analyzed by the IP device diagnosis unit 10 and registered in the reference data storage unit 17.

  FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the apparatus 1. Hereinafter, the operation flow of the apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. This flow starts from a state in which the power of the apparatus 1 is turned on (S300). It is assumed that data necessary for diagnosis is stored in the reference data storage unit 17 in advance.

  The IP device diagnosis unit 10 refers to the reference data storage unit 17 (column 203 in FIG. 2), monitors whether or not a regular timing at which diagnosis should be started or occurrence of an irregular event occurs, and performs diagnosis. If it is not an opportunity to start (S310, NO), as a normal relay operation, the IP packet is relayed between the UP-LINK side port 12 and the DOWN-LINK side port 13 (S311), and the process returns to S310. Repeat the relay.

  When periodic timing for starting diagnosis arrives or occurrence of an irregular event is detected (S310, YES), IP device diagnostic unit 10 starts diagnosis and determines the operating state / standby state of IP device 3 A timer for measuring a measurement period (for example, 3 minutes) is started (S320), and the process proceeds to S330. The timer may be a clock device (not shown) existing in the apparatus 1 or a program counter that performs software measurement.

  When an IP packet to be relayed to the port k (k = 1 to N) of the DOWN-LINK side port 13 is received from the UP-LINK side port 12 or the DOWN-LINK side port 13 (other than the port k) in S330 ( (S330, YES), the IP packet relay control unit 14 relays the received IP packet to the port k of the DOWN-LINK side port 13 (S331), and proceeds to S340.

  Note that, at this stage, the IP device 3 is not necessarily operated simply by relaying the IP packet to the IP device 3 side. Therefore, at this stage, the operating state / standby state is not determined. If NO in S330, the process skips S331 and proceeds to S340.

  In S340, when an IP packet is received from the port k (k = 1 to N) of the DOWN-LINK side port 13 (S340, YES), the IP packet relay control unit 14 responds to the header information given to the IP packet. The received IP packet is relayed to either the UP-LINK side port 12 or the DOWN-LINK side port 13 (other than the port k) (S341), and the process proceeds to S342.

  In S342, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 determines whether the port k is a port to be diagnosed (the column 202 in FIG. 2 is ON). If the port k is a diagnosis target (S342, YES), the PoE power supply unit 16 performs measurement. The PoE power supply amount to the port k is stored as the operating PoE power supply amount (S343). If NO in S342, S343 is skipped.

  In S343, the PoE power supply amount to the port k is stored as the operating PoE power supply amount because the IP device 3 connected to the port k transmits an IP packet, so that the IP device 3 operates. This is because it is obvious. If NO in S340, S341 to S343 are skipped.

  The above loop of S330 to S343 is repeated N times while incrementing the value of k to 1 to N (that is, for each port 13-1 to 13-N), and then the process proceeds to S344.

  In S344, if the timer has expired (S344, YES), the process proceeds to S350, and if the timer has not expired (S344, NO), the process returns to S330 and repeats the loop processing of S330 to S343 (N times) again. .

  Since the loop processing (N times) of S330 to S343 is repeated many times until the timer expires (for example, 3 minutes), a large number of operating PoE power supply values are measured for each port. However, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 stores a value obtained by averaging the data (may store all measurement values).

  Here, the determination of the operating state / standby state of the IP device 3 is based on the assumption that the IP device 3 that has not transmitted any IP packet until the timer expires (for example, 3 minutes) is in the standby state. The IP device state determination unit 11 monitors each port.

  In S350, when no IP packet is received from the port k during the measurement period (S350, NO), the IP device state determination unit 11 determines that the IP device 3 connected to the port k is in a standby state. It is determined that there is, and the fact is notified to the IP device diagnosis unit 10. Then, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 instructs the PoE power supply unit 16 to measure the PoE power supply amount to the port k, and stores the measured value as the standby PoE power supply amount (S351). If YES in S350, S351 is skipped. The processes of S350 and S351 are repeated for each port (k = 1 to N). Note that S351 is skipped for a port that is not a diagnosis target (not shown).

  Note that the measurement as the standby PoE power supply amount in S351 is out of timing from the IP packet presence / absence determination in S340, and the state changes while the IP device 3 determined to be in standby is in operation in S351. There is a possibility, but even in the processing stage of S352, if the IP device state determination unit 11 monitors the IP packet from the port k, the port whose state has changed during operation in S352 is determined from this diagnosis target. If excluded, there is no problem.

  With the above flow, since the measurement of the standby PoE power supply amount or the operating PoE power supply amount is completed for the port 1 to the port N of the DOWN-LINK side port 13 to be diagnosed, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 is measured. The standby PoE power supply amount or the operating PoE power supply amount of each IP device 3 is compared with reference data (column 204, column 205 in FIG. 2) for each port to be diagnosed (S352).

  Then, according to the comparison result of each data in S352 and the determination condition (column 206 in FIG. 2), the presence / absence of the DOWN-LINK side port 13 that may be abnormal is determined (S360). If YES, the process proceeds to S361. If NO, the process proceeds to S362.

  In S361, an instruction to temporarily turn off / on PoE power supply to a port with a possibility of abnormality is output to the PoE power supply unit 16, and PoE power supply is temporarily provided to the IP device 3 connected to the port. A power-on reset (power reset) is executed (1 in S361), and the process returns to S310.

  The reason for power-on reset in S361 is that when the IP device 3 is only frozen for some sudden cause, there are many cases where normal recovery is possible only by power-on reset. And when returning to S310 after power-on reset, after a certain time (for example, 1 minute) has passed, it diagnoses again (after YES of S310), and checks whether it has returned to normal by power-on reset, If it returns to normal, it is determined that there is no abnormality. However, even if the power-on reset is restored to normal, there is a possibility that there is some abnormality in the IP device 3, so that alarm information indicating that such processing has been executed is reported to the report destination. It may be.

  If it is determined in S360 that there is a possibility of abnormality even after re-diagnosis after power-on reset (S360, YES), the IP device diagnosis unit 10 displays alarm information related to the abnormality of the IP device 3 connected to the port. The alarm information is displayed on the unit 19 or referred to the reference data storage unit 17 and sent to the pre-registered report destination (column 207 in FIG. 2) via the UP-LINK side port 12 or the DOWN-LINK side port 13. (S361-2).

  In S360, when there is no DOWN-LINK side port 13 determined to have a possibility of abnormality (S360, NO), the measured data is the reference data stored in the reference data storage unit 17 (column 204 in FIG. 2). And column 205) are reflected (weighted average) to update the reference data (S362). Thereby, every time diagnosis is performed, the average operating power or standby power of each IP device 3 is automatically corrected in an appropriate direction.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Since this apparatus 1 routinely measures the PoE power supply amount used by each IP device 3 and uses the average value of the power supply amount as reference data, there is no hassle of manually managing reference data related to abnormality determination. .

  In addition, when this device is connected in cascade, it is possible to check the normality of this device as an IP device by the higher-level device, and to identify the fault location of the train by multiple devices connected in cascade Easy to do.

  Furthermore, the present apparatus 1 can monitor whether or not an IP packet is received from the IP device 3 and can periodically measure the standby PoE power supply amount, so that the IP device 3 is normal (standby time). When the PoE power supply amount is normal), for a long period (for example, 3 days), when an IP packet is not received from the IP device 3, it is possible to detect a change in the user of the IP device 3. For example, when this apparatus is installed in an elderly living alone and the IP device 3 is a medical device (such as an electrocardiogram or a sphygmomanometer), the measured medical data is routinely transmitted to a medical institution. If the IP packet is not transmitted for a long period of time even though the device is normal, it is possible to determine that the user has changed and to notify alarm information that prompts the user to rush to a predetermined organization.

  By the way, the present invention is generally applicable to an apparatus that relays IP packets, and the apparatus 1 may be a router, a gateway, or the like, or a communication device (for example, a main phone of a business phone) having a built-in router or gateway function. Device).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... IP relay device with a power feeding function having an IP device diagnosis function according to the present invention 2 ... IP network 3 ... IP device 10 ... IP device diagnosis unit 11 ... IP device state determination unit 12 .. UP-LINK side port 13... DOWN-LINK side port 14... IP packet relay control unit 15... Power supply control unit 16... PoE power supply unit 17.・ Diagnostic switch 19 ... Display section

Claims (2)

An IP relay device that accommodates one or more IP devices and has a function of relaying IP packets between a higher-level IP network or a higher-level IP device and a subordinate IP device, and a power supply function for supplying power to the IP device Because
IP device state determination means for determining whether the IP device is in an operating state or a standby state, and supply power for measuring power supplied to the IP device in the operating state or standby state as operating power or standby power Measuring means; supply power storage means for storing a value related to supply power measured by the supply power measurement means corresponding to each of the IP equipment; and IP equipment diagnosis means for diagnosing normality of the IP equipment And a determination condition storage means for storing a determination condition relating to the diagnosis of normality of the IP device, and an abnormality treatment executing means for executing a treatment relating to an abnormality of the IP device,
The supply power measurement means measures the operating power or standby power supplied to each of the IP devices periodically or irregularly, and the IP device diagnosis means measures the value measured by the supply power measurement means and the supply power Comparing the values stored in the storage means to determine the normality of each of the IP devices according to the determination conditions stored in the determination condition storage means;
When it is determined that the IP device diagnosis means is normal, the average power during operation or standby time of the IP device is determined from the value measured by the supply power measurement means and the value stored in the supply power storage means. Recalculating the value related to the average power of, and storing the recalculated value in the supply power storage means,
A relay apparatus with a power supply function having an IP device diagnosis function, wherein the IP device diagnosis unit activates the abnormality treatment execution unit when it determines that any of the IP devices is not normal. The relay device according to claim 1,
Further comprising power reset means for temporarily stopping and restarting power supply to any of the IP devices,
When the IP device diagnosis unit determines that any of the IP devices is not normal, the abnormality treatment execution unit activates the power reset unit, and the IP device diagnosis unit activates the power reset unit. If the IP device diagnosis means diagnoses the normality of the IP device later and the IP device diagnosis means determines again that the IP device is not normal.
The relay apparatus with a feeding function having an IP device diagnosis function, wherein the abnormality treatment execution means displays alarm information on a display means provided in the own relay apparatus or transmits the alarm information to a predetermined destination.

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