JP2018022947A - Gateway unit, time setting system, time setting program, and time setting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gateway unit performing time alignment processing for lower devices, by synchronizing the time automatically.SOLUTION: A gateway device is located on the borderline of a first network with wich one or more controllers for controlling one or more pieces of equipment are connected, and a second network with which one or more HMIs transmitting control are connected, and includes an acquisition unit, a transducer, and a time synchronization unit. The transducer converts device definition set uniquely for the gateway unit into device definition set uniquely for the controller. The time synchronization unit synchronizes the time to be acquired with the time of the controller of the device definition to be converted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a gateway device, a time setting system, a time setting program, and a time setting method.

HMI, which is a central monitoring device in a system for monitoring power in office buildings, etc.
(Human Machine Interface) monitors or controls the usage status of many equipment. When a new system is introduced, a part of the controller that individually manages the equipment is not updated, and the HMI may be updated to a new device.

When the communication protocol of the existing controller and the newly installed HMI is different, a gateway device that converts the communication protocol is required. However, the functions were not unified. One of the functions is a time setting function.

The time setting function is a function for adjusting the time of the entire system. When the time differs depending on the equipment in the system, the control output of equipment such as air conditioners and lighting equipment, and the history of failures and conditions are managed by time, so when checking events such as accidents and abnormalities, The order of events may be out of order, and the context may become unknown. You can make time adjustments by creating application software, but creating and managing them requires a lot of work.

JP 2009-239478 A

It is required to perform time adjustment processing in the system with a small amount of work, and an apparatus capable of meeting this requirement is desired.

The problem to be solved by the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a gateway device that performs time adjustment processing by automatically synchronizing the time to lower devices.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the gateway device of the embodiment includes a first network to which one or more controllers for executing control on one or more facility devices are connected;
A gateway device located at a boundary with a second network to which one or more HMIs that transmit control are connected, and includes an acquisition unit, a conversion unit, and a time synchronization unit. The acquisition unit acquires time. The conversion unit converts a device definition that is uniquely set for the gateway device into a device definition that is uniquely set for the controller. The time synchronization unit synchronizes the acquired time with the time of the controller of the device definition to be converted.

It is a figure which shows the specific example of the system configuration | structure of the gateway apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the function of the gateway apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram regarding operation | movement of the time setting system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart regarding operation | movement of the gateway apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram regarding the operation of the controller 3-3 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
(Constitution)
FIG. 1 shows a specific example of the configuration of the entire time setting system of the gateway device. The time setting system includes, for example, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 2, a gateway device 1, controllers 3-1 to 3-3, and a server 5.

The HMI2 installed in the central monitoring room of the building is equipped with equipment such as air conditioning equipment and lighting equipment.
The control command for 1-4-3 is transmitted. The control commands for the equipment 4-1 and 4-2 are
A control command transmitted to the gateway device 1 and for the equipment 4-3 is sent to the controller 3-3.
Send to.

Moreover, the state of the equipment 4-1 to 4-3 is received. The state of the equipment 4-1 and 4-2 is
Received from the gateway device 1 and the state of the equipment 4-3 is received from the controller 3-3. The network used at that time is the second network.

Regarding the time setting, the time in the time setting system is set from the HMI 2. The HMI 2 communicates with the server 5 and transmits the set time to the server 5.

The gateway device 1 communicates with the controllers 3-1 and 3-2 and the HMI 2. The network used when communicating with the controllers 3-1 and 3-2 is the first network. The network used when communicating with the HMI 2 is the second network. The gateway device 1 is located at the boundary between the first network and the second network.

However, the communication protocol of the first network and the second network is, for example, BAC
net (registered trademark). However, the BACnet communication interfaces may be the same or different. For example, the second network may be BACnet 2004, the first network may be BACnet 2000, and both networks may be BACnet20.
00 is also acceptable.

The controllers 3-1 and 3-2 communicate with the gateway device 1 and the equipment devices 4-1 and 4-2 and control the outputs of the equipment devices 4-1 and 4-2. In addition, the state of the equipment devices 4-1 and 4-2 is received and transmitted to the gateway device 1. The controller 3-3 includes an HMI 2 and a server 5
, And the equipment 4-3 to control the output of the equipment 4-3. In addition, equipment 4-
3 is received and transmitted to the HMI 2 or the server 5.

The server 5 stores the time set by the HMI2. Further, when synchronizing the time, the time stored in the server 5 is synchronized with the lower apparatus. The lower devices are, for example, the gateway device 1 and the controller 3-3.

In FIG. 2, the example of a block diagram of the gateway apparatus 1 is shown. The gateway device 1 includes an acquisition unit 11
, A storage unit 12, a conversion unit 13, a time setting unit 14, and a time synchronization unit 15.

  The acquisition unit 11 acquires time synchronized from the server 5.

The storage unit 12 stores device definitions registered in advance. The device definition is a definition of each device registered on the system determined by the network. The devices are, for example, the HMI 2, the server 5, the gateway device 1, and the controllers 3-1 to 3-3. The device definition stored in the gateway device 1 includes the definitions of the controllers 3-1 and 3-2 that are lower devices connected in the first network, the HMI 2 that is the higher device connected in the second network, and the server 5 Definition. The storage unit 12 reads and stores the device definition when the gateway device 1 is activated.

When setting the time, the conversion unit 13 uses the device definition stored in the storage unit 12 to convert the device definition of the higher-level device connected in the second network to the device definition of the lower-level device connected in the first network. Convert to

  The time setting unit 14 sets the time acquired by the acquisition unit 11 in the gateway device 1.

The time synchronization unit 15 uses the device definition converted by the conversion unit 13 to synchronize the time synchronized from the server 5 with the lower device.

(Function)
FIG. 3 shows a sequence diagram relating to the operation of the gateway device 1, the HMI 2, the controller 3-1, and the server 5 according to the present embodiment. The sequence diagram of FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram when the time is changed from the HMI 2 by the operator or the time signal in FIG. 1, and the server 5 reads the changed time and synchronizes with the gateway device 1 and the controller 3-1. It is. The operation of the controller 3-2 is the same as that of the controller 3-1 in FIG.

First, the time of the HMI 2 is changed by an operator or a time signal, and the time is set in the HMI 2 (S111). Thereafter, the time is transmitted to the server 5 (S112). Then, the server 5 acquires the time (S113). The acquisition time is set in the server 5 (S11).
4). Then, the server 5 synchronizes the time with the lower device (S115). The network used at that time is, for example, a BACnet standard network.

Thereafter, the acquisition unit 11 of the gateway device 1 acquires a synchronized time (S116).
Then, the time setting unit 14 sets the time in the gateway device 1 (S117). Next, the conversion unit 13 converts the device definition stored in the storage unit 12 into a device definition of a device connected to a different network (S118). Then, the time synchronization unit 15
The time acquired by the lower-level apparatus in the ACnet standard network is synchronized (S119).

And the time when the controller 3-1 is synchronized is acquired (S120). Finally, the controller 3-1 sets the acquisition time in its own device (S 121).

The time is set as described above. Here, S111 to S114 are steps applied only when the time is changed by the operator or when the time is changed to the time of the time signal. When time synchronization is automatically performed at a certain time, the steps after S115 are applied.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart regarding the operation of the gateway device 1 according to the present embodiment.
The flowchart of FIG. 4 is a flowchart relating to steps S116 to S119 in the sequence diagram of FIG.

First, the acquisition unit 11 of the gateway device 1 acquires the time synchronized from the server 5 (
S11). And the time which the time setting part 14 acquires is set to an own apparatus (S12).
That is, the time acquired by the time setting unit 14 is stored in the storage unit 12. Thereafter, the conversion unit 13
However, with reference to the device definition memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 12, it converts into the device definition of the controllers 3-1, 3-2 (S13). Finally, the time synchronizer 15 synchronizes the device definition controllers 3-1 and 3-2 to be converted with the acquired time (S14).

(effect)
According to this embodiment, when changing the time of a higher-level device, the time is automatically synchronized to the lower-level device by providing the gateway device with a function of time synchronization, and the time of the entire system can be easily obtained. Can be matched.

By easily adjusting the time, it is possible to accurately instruct the output control for the equipment such as the air conditioning equipment or the lighting equipment without any difference in time.

The time setting system according to the present embodiment may include a configuration other than the configuration described in FIG. Further, the number of facility devices and controllers is not limited to three, and one or more can be connected.

The relationship between the controller and the equipment is not limited to one-to-one, and a plurality of equipment may be connected to one controller. Further, since the controller 3-3 communicating with the second network is not an essential configuration for the time setting system, there may be no controller or a plurality of controllers communicating with the second network.

Further, in the time setting system according to the present embodiment, there is one HMI 2, but a plurality of HMIs may exist. When there are a plurality of HMIs 2, the time can be synchronized to a lower level device via the server 5 and the gateway device 1 regardless of the time setting from any HMI.

Further, when the HMI 2 enters the time setting system according to the present embodiment, the server 5
Can not only synchronize the time of all lower devices, but can also synchronize only the HMI 2 that joins.

In addition, for the operation of the gateway device according to the present embodiment, the step of setting the time by the time setting unit 14 and the step of synchronizing the time by the time synchronization unit 15 to a lower device can be performed almost simultaneously.

Further, the time setting unit 14 of the gateway device 1 according to the present embodiment is a function for setting the time in its own device. Therefore, when the gateway device 1 does not need to set the time, the time setting unit 14 There is no need.

Further, the storage unit 12 of the gateway device 1 according to the present embodiment may be included in the gateway device 1 or may be on the cloud.

In addition, the time setting system according to the present embodiment can be performed without using the gateway device 1. FIG. 5 shows a sequence diagram regarding the operation of the HMI 2, the controller 3-3, and the server 5 according to the present embodiment. When the second network communicates with the controller 3-3, the time is set without going through the gateway device 1. FIG. 5 is different from FIG.
This is the point that the step of S119 is deleted, and since the other points are the same as in FIG. 3, detailed description thereof is omitted.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Gateway apparatus 11 Acquisition part 12 Storage part 13 Conversion part 14 Time setting part 15 Time synchronization part 2 HMI (Human Machine Interface)
3-1 to 3-3 Controller 4-1 to 4-3 Equipment 5 Server

Claims (4)

Located at the boundary between a first network to which one or more controllers for executing control on one or more equipment are connected and a second network to which one or more HMIs for transmitting control are connected A gateway device,
An acquisition unit for acquiring time;
A conversion unit that converts a device definition that is uniquely set for the gateway device into a device definition that is uniquely set for the controller;
A time synchronization unit that synchronizes the time to acquire and the time of the controller of the device definition to be converted;
A gateway device comprising: Located at the boundary between a first network to which one or more controllers for executing control on one or more equipment are connected and a second network to which one or more HMIs for transmitting control are connected A time setting system including a gateway device,
A server that holds time information and starts synchronizing the time;
An acquisition unit for acquiring the time;
A conversion unit that converts a device definition that is uniquely set for the gateway device into a device definition that is uniquely set for the controller;
A time synchronization unit that synchronizes the time to acquire and the time of the controller of the device definition to be converted;
A time setting system comprising: Located at the boundary between a first network to which one or more controllers for executing control on one or more equipment are connected and a second network to which one or more HMIs for transmitting control are connected Gateway device to
An acquisition unit for acquiring time;
A conversion unit that converts a device definition that is uniquely set for the gateway device into a device definition that is uniquely set for the controller;
A time synchronization unit that synchronizes the time to acquire and the time of the controller of the device definition to be converted;
Time setting program to make it function. Located at the boundary between a first network to which one or more controllers for executing control on one or more equipment are connected and a second network to which one or more HMIs for transmitting control are connected Using a gateway device that
Obtaining a time; and
Converting a device definition that is uniquely set for the gateway device into a device definition that is uniquely set for the controller;
Synchronizing the time to obtain and the time of the controller of the device definition to be converted;
Time setting method to execute.

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