JP2020149480A - Software distribution program, software distribution method, and information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To easily enable the introduction of software executed by a faulty apparatus to an alternative apparatus.SOLUTION: An information processing device 10 detects that a second apparatus is connected to a first apparatus as an apparatus of a hierarchy lower than that of the first apparatus in a system with a plurality of apparatuses connected to a multi-hierarchy. Next, the information processing device 10 detects a third apparatus in the same hierarchy as that of the second apparatus, connected to the first apparatus on the basis of connection information 1 showing a connection relation among the plurality of apparatuses. Next, the information processing device 10 determines the existence/non-existence of a damage of the third apparatus on the basis of a monitoring result of the third apparatus. The information processing device 10 distributes software distributed to the third apparatus on the basis of software information 2 showing the software distributed to each of the plurality of apparatuses in the case that the damage occurs in the third apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a software distribution program, a software distribution method, and an information processing device.

Currently, IoT (Internet of Things) is attracting attention as a major trend of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) systems, and technological development for IoT realization is being carried out in various fields, and new services are being launched. .. IoT means that devices and things that were not directly connected to the Internet in the past can be connected to the Internet by themselves. For example, conventionally, human-operated information communication devices such as computers and mobile terminals have been connected to the Internet. In addition to these devices, the IoT also connects sensors and measuring instruments, home appliances and control devices, and even articles tagged with RFID (Radio Frequency IDentifier) to the Internet.

A system that realizes a service using IoT (IoT system) is a distributed processing system composed of various devices, and the service using IoT is realized by the cooperative operation of these devices. Application software corresponding to the processing to be executed by the device is installed in each device. Hereinafter, application software may be simply referred to as an "application". An application for providing a service using IoT (IoT application) is software for causing a device included in an IoT system to execute data processing assigned to the device. By executing the data processing assigned to each device, the linked operation by a plurality of devices becomes possible.

As a technique useful for software development in such a distributed processing system, for example, there is a distributed system capable of efficient processing as a whole system by dynamically determining a node that executes an execution module. Also, as a technique related to IoT, there is a technique in which a node in the network determines that another node in the network is a sleep mode (which can be in sleep mode).

International Publication No. 2016/207989 International Publication No. 2015/006636

When a device fails, the system administrator installs the software running on the failed device into an alternative device and runs the software on the alternative device. However, in a large-scale system, it takes time to manually select an alternative device from a large number of devices in the system and to install software in the alternative device. Therefore, the downtime of the service using the software that was running on the failed device is also prolonged. Especially in a distributed processing system such as an IoT system, the entire service may be stopped due to a failure of some devices, and it is not possible to quickly introduce the software that was running on the failed device to a substitute device. It is also important for stable operation of the system.

On the one hand, the purpose of this case is to facilitate the introduction of software running on a failed device to an alternative device.

One proposal provides a software distribution program that causes a computer to perform the following processes.
The computer detects that the second device is connected to the first device as a device in a lower layer of the first device in the system in which a plurality of devices are connected in multiple layers. Next, the computer detects the third device in the same layer as the second device, which is connected to the first device, based on the connection information indicating the connection relationship between the plurality of devices. Next, the computer determines whether or not there is a failure in the third device based on the monitoring result of the third device. Then, when a failure occurs in the third device, the computer distributes the software delivered to the third device to the second device based on the software information indicating the software delivered to each of the plurality of devices.

According to one aspect, software running on a failed device can be easily introduced into an alternative device.

It is a figure which shows an example of the software distribution method which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of an IoT system. It is a figure which shows an example of a network topology. It is a figure which shows one configuration example of the hardware of an application development server. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the function of an application development server. It is a figure which shows an example of the device information storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the whole application flow data storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the deployed application storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the device connection information storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the deployment destination device state storage part. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the function of the deployment destination device. It is a figure which shows an example of the downstream equipment information storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the automatic generation and deployment processing of a distribution application. It is a flowchart which shows the generation and deployment procedure of a distribution application. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the distribution application generation processing. It is a figure which shows the update example of the device connection information in a system construction phase. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the connection request message transmission processing by the newly connected deployment destination device. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of connection request message forwarding processing by a deployment destination device. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of connection device registration processing by a master. It is a figure which shows the failure detection example of the deployment destination device. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the downstream equipment state confirmation processing by the upstream equipment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the state notification processing in a downstream device. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of failure state determination processing in a master. It is a figure which shows the application redeployment example. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of application redeployment processing.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that each embodiment can be implemented by combining a plurality of embodiments within a consistent range.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a software distribution method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows an example when the software distribution method is implemented by the information processing apparatus 10. The information processing apparatus 10 can implement the software distribution method, for example, by executing a software distribution program in which the processing procedure of the software distribution method is described.

The information processing device 10 has a storage unit 11 and a processing unit 12 in order to realize a software distribution method. The storage unit 11 is, for example, a memory or a storage device included in the information processing device 10. The processing unit 12 is, for example, a processor or an arithmetic circuit included in the information processing device 10.

The information processing device 10 is connected to a system in which a plurality of devices 3a to 3e are connected in multiple layers by a network. The plurality of devices 3a to 3e are servers that realize a predetermined function by, for example, executing software distributed from the information processing device 10. In the example of FIG. 1, the information processing device 10 is the device (master) in the uppermost layer, and the device 3a and the device 3b are in the lower layer of the information processing device 10. In the lower hierarchy of the devices 3a and 3b, there are the device 3c connected to the device 3a and the devices 3d and 3e connected to the device 3b. A device name is assigned to each of the plurality of devices 3a to 3e. For example, the device name of the device 3a is "A", the device name of the device 3b is "B", the device name of the device 3c is "C", the device name of the device 3d is "D", and the device name of the device 3e is "E". Is.

The storage unit 11 in the information processing device 10 stores the connection information 1 and the software information 2. The connection information 1 is information indicating a connection relationship between a plurality of devices 3a to 3e. The software information 2 is information indicating software that has been distributed to each of the plurality of devices 3a to 3e.

The processing unit 12 in the information processing device 10 detects that the second device is connected to the first device as a device in a lower layer of the first device in the system in which a plurality of devices are connected in multiple layers. (Step S1). For example, when the processing unit 12 acquires the connection request message output from the second device to the first device from the first device, the processing unit 12 detects that the second device is connected. In the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the device 3e is newly connected. In this case, the processing unit 12 acquires the connection request message transmitted from the device 3e to the device 3b from the device 3b. Then, the processing unit 12 recognizes that the device 3e is connected to the device 3b as a device in a lower layer of the device 3b based on the connection request message. The processing unit 12 may add the connection relationship between the first device and the second device to the connection information 1 based on the connection request message.

Next, the processing unit 12 detects the third device in the same layer as the second device, which is connected to the first device, based on the connection information 1 (step S2). For example, the processing unit 12 detects the device 3d connected to the device 3b as a lower layer of the device 3b as the third device based on the connection information 1.

Next, the processing unit 12 determines whether or not there is a failure in the third device based on the monitoring result of the third device (step S3). For example, whether or not the processing unit 12 has acquired the failure occurrence notification message sent by the first device when the first device detects the failure of the third device by monitoring the status of the third device by the first device. Based on this, it is determined whether or not there is a failure of the third device. In the example of FIG. 1, a failure has occurred in the device 3d. The state of the device 3d is monitored by the device 3b connected to the device 3d in the upper layer of the device 3d. When the device 3b detects that a failure has occurred in the device 3d, the device 3b transmits a failure occurrence notification message indicating the failure in the device 3d to the information processing device 10. The processing unit 12 of the information processing device 10 recognizes the occurrence of a failure in the device 3d based on the received failure notification message.

When the third device has a failure, the processing unit 12 distributes the software already distributed to the third device to the second device based on the software information 2 (step S4). In the example of FIG. 1, the software "app2" is shown in the software information 2 as the distributed software of the device 3d which is the third device. Therefore, the processing unit 12 transmits the software "app2" to the newly connected device 3e. The device 3e realizes a function corresponding to the software "appp2" by executing the transmitted software "appp2".

By using such an information processing device 10, when an alternative device is connected to a higher-level device to which the failed device is connected, the software delivered to the failed device is automatically replaced. It is delivered to the equipment of. This makes it easy to introduce software that was running on the failed device to an alternative device. That is, the system administrator can use software to realize the function performed by the failed device by connecting an alternative device to the device in the upper layer to which the failed device is connected. Can be run by an alternative device. As a result, services that have been stopped due to equipment failure can be quickly restored.

Moreover, the information processing device 10 identifies a substitute device for the failed device in consideration of the hierarchical connection relationship between the devices. Therefore, an alternative device can be appropriately determined. That is, in a system including a plurality of devices, software linked to each other may be distributed to different devices in order to distribute a series of processes. In this case, the positional relationship of the network between the devices affects the communication speed between the devices. Therefore, in the information processing device 10, software for executing individual processes is distributed to appropriate devices in consideration of the connection relationship between the devices. If a failure occurs in some of the devices while such software is being distributed, the alternative device of the failed device will be located on the network at the same position as the failed device. Is connected to the network by the system administrator. The information processing device 10 determines that the device having the same position on the network as the device in which the failure has occurred is a substitute device for the device in which the failure has occurred, and automatically distributes the software. That is, the information processing device 10 appropriately determines an alternative device and automatically distributes the software.

The multi-layered connection relationship of the devices 3a to 3e can be represented by, for example, a tree-type network topology. In a tree-type network topology, the hierarchy to which each device belongs is represented by the distance to the master. The distance to the master of each device is the number of other devices that exist between the device and the master. The closer the device is to the master, the higher the layer.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, when a server that executes an IoT application that operates in a distributed environment composed of a plurality of devices fails, the application that is executed on the failed server is automatically deployed to an alternative server. It is made possible to (deploy). Deploying the IoT application means transmitting the IoT application to the device, installing the IoT application on the device, and causing the device to start executing the IoT application.

For example, when an IoT application developer develops an IoT application, it is a very time-consuming task to develop and deploy the application for each individual device. Therefore, in the second embodiment, after the developer defines the application over the entire distributed device using the application development server, the application development server is a communication processing unit having a unique route between the individual devices. The IoT application corresponding to each device is automatically generated and deployed. This makes it possible to reduce the work of developing apps that correspond to each device.

For example, the application development server generates a distribution application for each device to be deployed from the defined overall application by specifying the device to deploy the generation application in advance. When a substitute device is connected in a situation where the device has failed, the application development server deploys an appropriate distribution application (the application that was deployed to the failed device) only to the connected device.

In addition, when replacing or adding devices, conversion to the entire application is performed again, and if the distribution application is deployed to all the devices to which the corresponding application is deployed, the application of the device that is already running is also replaced. Therefore, it becomes difficult to respond during operation. In addition, if all the distribution apps generated from the entire app are redeployed, the service will be stopped during that time, which will reduce the convenience of the user.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the server executing the distribution application fails, the application development server automatically deploys the distribution application executed by the server to another alternative server. As a result, even if the server fails, the adverse effect on the service due to the failure can be minimized.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the IoT system. The IoT system is constructed using various devices. For example, the IoT system includes sensors 31, 32, ..., And sensor nodes 41, 42, ... By connecting to sensors 31, 32, ... To transmit and receive sensor data. The IoT system also includes a GW (gateway) node 51 that relays data between the sensor node and the cloud computing system. The GW node 51 is connected to the cloud computing system via, for example, the network 20.

The cloud computing system includes a plurality of servers 52, 53, .... The servers 52, 53, ... Include various servers such as a Web server, an application server, and a database server.

Further, a plurality of terminal devices 61, 62, ... Are connected to the network 20. The terminal devices 61, 62, ... Are, for example, personal computers or mobile terminal devices.

An application development server 100 is further connected to the network 20. The application development server 100 creates a distribution application to be executed by each of a plurality of devices included in the IoT system, and deploys the distribution application to each device. Hereinafter, the device that can be the deployment destination of the distribution application is referred to as the deployment destination device. In the example of FIG. 2, the sensor nodes 41, 42, ..., the GW node 51, the servers 52, 53, ..., The terminal devices 61, 62, ... Are the deployment destination devices, respectively.

For example, the application development server 100 uses a flow-based application development environment to generate and deploy an IoT application that operates in a distributed device environment. In the IoT application, for example, an instruction for causing a device at the deployment destination to execute data processing on the application layer and service provision processing is described. The IoT application generated by the flow-based application development environment is represented by the application flow. In the application flow, the function for causing the IoT system to execute the process and the procedure of the process are represented by the nodes corresponding to the functions and the line connecting the nodes. A node is a functional block to which definition information (parameters, etc.) of processing to be executed by a function corresponding to the functional block is added.

When the developer of the application creates the application flow, the application development server 100 automatically generates a program (overall application flow data) that realizes the functions shown in the application flow and the processing procedure. Further, when the application development server 100 realizes the distributed processing for each function, the application development server 100 is a program (distribution) that realizes the function and the processing procedure to be executed by the corresponding deployment destination device for each deployment destination device based on the entire application flow data. App flow data) is generated. At that time, the application development server 100 includes a communication function between functions (distribution application) based on the distribution application flow data in the distribution application.

For example, when high security is required for communication, the application development server 100 includes a communication function based on a communication protocol having a high security function in the distribution application. As a communication protocol having a high security function, there is, for example, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) using authentication or encryption technology such as HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). Further, when high processing efficiency is required, the application development server 100 includes a communication function based on a communication protocol capable of efficient communication in the distribution application. As a communication protocol capable of efficient communication, for example, there is MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport). The header size of MQTT is much smaller than that of HTTP, and the amount of communication and the load on the device for transmitting and receiving can be suppressed to a low level. By deploying the distributed application flow data to the deployment destination device, the application development server 100 can distribute the IoT application by a plurality of deployment destination devices.

The connection relationship between the application development server 100 and the deployment destination device in the system is, for example, a tree-structured network topology with the application development server 100 as the root.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a network topology. In the network topology 70, the application development server 100 becomes the master 71. In the example of FIG. 3, the deployment destination devices 72 to 74 are connected to the master 71. A deployment destination device 75 is further connected to the deployment destination device 72. Deployment destination devices 76 and 77 are further connected to the deployment destination device 73. The deployment destination device 78 is further connected to the deployment destination device 75. The device name of the deployment destination device 72 is "A", the device name of the deployment destination device 73 is "B", the device name of the deployment destination device 74 is "C", the device name of the deployment destination device 75 is "D", and the deployment destination. The device name of the device 76 is "E", the device name of the deployment destination device 77 is "F", and the device name of the deployment destination device 78 is "G".

In the following description, in the network topology 70, the one closer to the master 71 is referred to as upstream, and the one farther from the master 71 is referred to as downstream. When focusing on a certain deployment destination device, another deployment destination device adjacent to the upstream side of the focused deployment destination device is called an upstream device of the focused deployment destination device. In addition, other deployment destination devices adjacent to the downstream side of the focused deployment destination device are called downstream devices of the focused deployment destination device. For example, the upstream device of the deployment destination device 75 is the deployment destination device 72. The downstream device of the deployment destination device 75 is the deployment destination device 78.

The network topology 70 shown in FIG. 3 is a tree-type topology. Communication devices such as switches may intervene between the devices connected by the network topology 70. The network topology 70 is, for example, a physical topology that shows a physical connection relationship between devices. Further, the network topology 70 may be a logical topology showing a connection relationship between theoretical devices that defines a communication path with the application development server 100.

The GW nodes 51, servers 52, 53, ..., Which are the deployment destination devices 72 to 78, function as the master 71 by communicating with the upstream devices and downstream devices in the network topology 70. Make the application development server 100 recognize it.

The sensor nodes 41, 42, ..., GW node 51, servers 52, 53, ..., terminal devices 61, 62, ..., And the application development server 100 are realized by, for example, a computer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the hardware of the application development server. The entire device of the application development server 100 is controlled by the processor 101. A memory 102 and a plurality of peripheral devices are connected to the processor 101 via a bus 109. The processor 101 may be a multiprocessor. The processor 101 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). At least a part of the functions realized by the processor 101 executing a program may be realized by an electronic circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or a PLD (Programmable Logic Device).

The memory 102 is used as the main storage device of the application development server 100. At least a part of an OS (Operating System) program or application software to be executed by the processor 101 is temporarily stored in the memory 102. Further, the memory 102 stores various data used for processing by the processor 101. As the memory 102, for example, a volatile semiconductor storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) is used.

Peripheral devices connected to the bus 109 include a storage device 103, a graphic processing device 104, an input interface 105, an optical drive device 106, a device connection interface 107, and a network interface 108.

The storage device 103 electrically or magnetically writes and reads data from the built-in recording medium. The storage device 103 is used as an auxiliary storage device for a computer. The storage device 103 stores an OS program, application software, and various data. As the storage device 103, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive) can be used.

A monitor 21 is connected to the graphic processing device 104. The graphic processing device 104 causes the image to be displayed on the screen of the monitor 21 in accordance with the instruction from the processor 101. The monitor 21 includes a display device using an organic EL (Electro Luminescence), a liquid crystal display device, and the like.

A keyboard 22 and a mouse 23 are connected to the input interface 105. The input interface 105 transmits signals sent from the keyboard 22 and the mouse 23 to the processor 101. The mouse 23 is an example of a pointing device, and other pointing devices can also be used. Other pointing devices include touch panels, tablets, touchpads, trackballs and the like.

The optical drive device 106 reads the data recorded on the optical disk 24 by using a laser beam or the like. The optical disk 24 is a portable recording medium on which data is recorded so that it can be read by reflection of light. The optical disk 24 includes a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a DVD-RAM, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWritable), and the like.

The device connection interface 107 is a communication interface for connecting peripheral devices to the application development server 100. For example, a memory device 25 or a memory reader / writer 26 can be connected to the device connection interface 107. The memory device 25 is a recording medium equipped with a communication function with the device connection interface 107. The memory reader / writer 26 is a device that writes data to the memory card 27 or reads data from the memory card 27. The memory card 27 is a card-type recording medium.

The network interface 108 is connected to the network 20. The network interface 108 transmits / receives data to / from another computer or communication device via the network 20.

The application development server 100 can realize the processing function of the second embodiment by the hardware configuration as described above. Further, the sensor nodes 41, 42, ..., the GW node 51, the servers 52, 53, ..., and the terminal devices 61, 62, ... Are also realized by the same hardware as the application development server 100. Can be done. Further, the information processing device 10 shown in the first embodiment can also be realized by the same hardware as the application development server 100 shown in FIG.

The application development server 100 realizes the processing function of the second embodiment, for example, by executing a program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The program that describes the processing content to be executed by the application development server 100 can be recorded in various recording media. For example, a program to be executed by the application development server 100 can be stored in the storage device 103. The processor 101 loads at least a part of the program in the storage device 103 into the memory 102 and executes the program. Further, the program to be executed by the application development server 100 can be recorded on a portable recording medium such as an optical disk 24, a memory device 25, and a memory card 27. The program stored in the portable recording medium can be executed after being installed in the storage device 103, for example, under the control of the processor 101. The processor 101 can also read and execute the program directly from the portable recording medium.

Next, the function of the application development server 100 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the function of the application development server. The application development server 100 includes a device information storage unit 110, an overall application flow data storage unit 120, a deployed application storage unit 130, a device connection information storage unit 140, a deployment destination device state storage unit 150, a deployment instruction unit 161 and an overall application flow. Editing unit 162, distribution application generation unit 163, distribution application deployment unit 164, device route information registration unit 171, device connection detection unit 172, failure status determination unit 173, deployment application determination unit 174, and deployed application redeployment unit 175. Have.

The device information storage unit 110 stores information about the deployment destination device included in the IoT system. For example, as the device information storage unit 110, a part of the storage area of the memory 102 or the storage device 103 is used.

The overall application flow data storage unit 120 stores data (overall application flow data) indicating a processing procedure when a single device executes a process to be executed by the IoT system. For example, as the overall application flow data storage unit 120, a part of the storage area of the memory 102 or the storage device 103 is used.

The deployed app storage unit 130 stores the distributed app flow data generated in the entire app flow data and deployed in any device. For example, as the deployed application storage unit 130, a part of the storage area of the memory 102 or the storage device 103 is used.

The device connection information storage unit 140 stores device connection information in the network topology 70. For example, as the device connection information storage unit 140, a part of the storage area of the memory 102 or the storage device 103 is used.

The deployment destination device state storage unit 150 stores the state of the deployment destination device. The state of the deployment destination device is, for example, the deployment state of the distribution application or the failure occurrence state. For example, a part of the storage area of the memory 102 or the storage device 103 is used as the deployment destination device state storage unit 150.

The deployment instruction unit 161 controls the generation of the distribution application based on the entire application flow and the deployment of the distribution application. For example, when the deployment instruction unit 161 receives the overall application flow data 121 from the overall application flow editing unit 162, the deployment instruction unit 161 stores the entire application flow data 121 in the overall application flow data storage unit 120. Further, the deployment instruction unit 161 receives a designated input from the application developer of the deployment destination device, which is the deployment destination of the function corresponding to each node included in the entire application flow. This designated input can be accepted, for example, by having the application developer select the deployment destination device from the list of deployment destination devices displayed on the screen. In this case, the deployment instruction unit 161 refers to the device information storage unit 110 and displays a list of the names of the deployment destination devices registered in the device management table 111 on the screen. The application developer selects the node to be specified as the deployment destination device from the entire application flow, and selects the name of the deployment destination device to which the function corresponding to that node is deployed from the list of deployment destination device names. To do. Then, the deployment instruction unit 161 recognizes that the deployment destination of the function corresponding to the selected node is the selected deployment destination device.

When the deployment destination device is specified for all the nodes in the entire application flow, the deployment instruction unit 161 transmits the entire application flow data 121 in the overall application flow data storage unit 120 to the distribution application generation unit 163. Further, the deployment instruction unit 161 designates the distribution application generation unit 163 to the deployment destination of the function corresponding to each node shown in the overall application flow data 121. After that, when the distribution application flow data for each deployment destination device is generated by the distribution application generation unit 163, the deployment instruction unit 161 specifies the distribution destination of the distribution application to the distribution application deployment unit 164 and distributes the data. Instruct to deploy the app.

The overall application flow editorial unit 162 creates the entire application flow according to the input from the application developer. The overall application flow editorial unit 162 is a flow-based application development environment such as Node-RED. For example, the overall application flow editing unit 162 displays the overall application flow editing screen on the Web browser, and creates the entire application flow in the overall application flow editing screen in response to the input by the application developer. When the overall application flow editing unit 162 creates the overall application flow on the overall application flow editing screen, the overall application flow data 121 is generated. Then, the overall application flow editing unit 162 stores the generated overall application flow data 121 in the overall application flow data storage unit 120 via, for example, the deployment instruction unit 161.

The distribution application generation unit 163 generates a distribution application for each deployment destination of the function corresponding to the node based on the overall application flow data 121 according to the instruction from the deployment instruction unit 161. The distribution application generation unit 163 transmits the generated distribution application to the distribution application deployment unit 164.

The distribution application deployment unit 164 deploys the distribution application to the deployment destination device corresponding to the distribution application according to the instruction from the deployment instruction unit 161. For example, the distribution application deployment unit 164 transmits the distribution application flow data indicating the distribution application to the deployment destination device, and instructs the deployment destination device to install and start the distribution application.

The device route information registration unit 171 receives a connection request message from a lower device of the application development server 100. Then, the device route information registration unit 171 stores the connection information between the devices in the network topology 70 in the device connection information storage unit 140 based on the connection request message.

The device connection detection unit 172 refers to the device connection information storage unit 140 and detects that a new deployment destination device is connected. When the device connection detection unit 172 detects a new deployment destination device, the device connection detection unit 172 notifies the deployment application determination unit 174 of device connection detection information including the device name of the newly connected deployment destination device.

Upon receiving the failure occurrence notification message from the lower-level device, the failure state determination unit 173 sets information indicating that a failure has occurred in the deployment destination device in the deployment destination device state storage unit 150.
The deployment application determination unit 174 refers to the deployment destination device state storage unit 150 and determines the distribution application to be deployed by the newly connected deployment destination device. For example, if the newly connected deployment destination device is a substitute device for the failed deployment destination device, the deployment application determination unit 174 newly connects the distribution application already deployed to the failed deployment destination device. Judged as a distribution application to be deployed on the deployment destination device. The deployment application determination unit 174 notifies the deployed application redeployment unit 175 of information indicating the distributed application that has been deployed to the deployment destination device in which the failure has occurred.

The deployed application redeployment unit 175 redeploys the deployed distribution application of the failed deployment destination device to the alternative deployment destination device of the deployment destination device.
The line connecting each element shown in FIG. 5 indicates a part of the communication path, and a communication path other than the illustrated communication path can be set. Further, the function of each element shown in FIG. 5 can be realized, for example, by causing a computer to execute a program module corresponding to the element.

Next, the information stored in each storage unit in the application development server 100 will be specifically described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the device information storage unit. The device management table 111 is stored in the device information storage unit 110. In the device management table 111, for example, the IP (Internet Protocol) address, subnet mask, and device identifier of the deployment destination device are set in association with the device name of the deployment destination device. The subnet mask is information indicating the range of the network portion of the IP address. The value (network address) of the network part can be obtained by the bitwise logical product of the IP address and the subnet mask. It can be determined that a plurality of deployment destination devices having a common network address are connected by the internal network. The device identifier is an identifier that uniquely identifies the deployment destination device. The device identifier can be used as an identifier for the communication path between the deployment destination devices. For example, by creating a communication identifier by combining the device identifier of the deployment destination device of the data transmission source and the device identifier of the deployment destination device of the data transmission destination, an identifier that uniquely identifies the communication path between the devices is generated. Can be done. The IP address may be used as the device identifier of the deployment destination device.

The information in the device information storage unit 110 is registered in advance by, for example, the system operator. Further, when the deployment destination device is connected to the network, the deployment destination device may transmit the device name, IP address, subnet mask, and device identifier to the application development server 100. In this case, the application development server 100 stores the information sent from the deployment destination device in the device information storage unit 110.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the entire application flow data storage unit. The overall application flow data 121 is stored in the overall application flow data storage unit 120. The overall application flow data 121 is created by the overall application flow editing unit 162, and is stored in the overall application flow data storage unit 120 by, for example, the deployment instruction unit 161. The entire application flow data 121 is described by, for example, JSON (JavaScript (registered trademark) Object Notation).

The overall application flow data 121 includes a description (data processing definition information 121a, 121b, 121c) that defines each node in the overall application flow indicated by a node corresponding to the function and a line connecting the nodes. There is. In the data processing definition information 121a, 121b, 121c, the identifier of the node is indicated as the value of the item name "id". Further, as the value of the item name "name", the name of the functional block corresponding to the node is shown. Then, in the data processing definition information that defines a node whose output side is connected to another node, the identifier of the node of the data transmission destination is indicated as the value of the item name "wires".

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the deployed application storage unit. The deployed application storage unit 130 stores a plurality of distributed application flow data 131, 132, ... Generated based on the overall application flow data 121. Distribution application flow data 131, 132, ... Each is given an application name. For example, the application name of the distribution application flow data 131 is "app001.json".

In the distribution application flow data 131, the identifier of the destination node shown in the value of the item name "wires" in the data processing definition information 131a that defines the node corresponding to "date data generation" corresponds to "data transmission_MQTT". It has been changed to the node identifier. Further, data processing definition information 131b that defines a node corresponding to "data transmission_MQTT" is added to the distribution application flow data 131. In the data processing definition information 131b, the value of the topic of MQTT is set as the value of the item name "topic". The topic of MQTT is used as a communication identifier for communication by MQTT. The values of the MQTT topic are, for example, the identifier "dev1" of the deployment destination device to which the node of "date data generation" is deployed and the node of "date data shaping" in the data processing definition information 121b (see FIG. 7). It is a value including the identifier "dev2" of the deployment destination device which is the deployment destination. In the example of FIG. 8, the value "dev1todev2" is set as the topic of MQTT.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the device connection information storage unit. For example, the device connection related table 141 is stored in the device connection information storage unit 140. In the device connection relationship table 141, the device name of the device (downstream device) on the downstream side of the device is set in association with the device name of the device (upstream device) on the upstream side of the deployment destination device having a connection relationship. There is.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the deployment destination device state storage unit. For example, the deployment destination device status table 151 is stored in the deployment destination device status storage unit 150. In the deployment destination device status table 151, the application name of the distribution application (deployed application) deployed to the deployment destination device and the failure occurrence flag are set in association with the device name of the deployment destination device. The failure occurrence flag is set to "0" if a failure of the corresponding deployment destination device is not detected, and is set to "1" if a failure is detected.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of the deployment destination device. The deployment destination device 200 includes a connection request message transmission / reception unit 210, a downstream device information storage unit 220, a keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230, a response message transmission / reception unit 240, a failure determination processing unit 250, and a determination notification processing unit 260.

The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 transmits / receives a connection request message. For example, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 receives the connection request message from the downstream device 200b and recognizes its own downstream device. The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 stores the device name of the downstream device 200b, which is the source of the connection request message, in the downstream device information storage unit 220. Further, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 transfers the connection request message received from the downstream device 200b to the upstream device 200a. At that time, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 assigns the device name of the deployment destination device 200 itself to the connection request message as information indicating the transfer route.

Further, when the deployment destination device 200 is newly added to the system, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 generates a connection request message and transmits the connection request message to the upstream device 200a. Which device (for example, device name and IP address) is the upstream device 200a in the logical topology is set in advance in the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 when the deployment destination device 200 is added to the system.

The downstream device information storage unit 220 stores information on the downstream device of the deployment destination device 200. For example, a part of the memory of the deployment destination device 200 or the storage area of the storage device is used as the downstream device information storage unit 220.

The keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 transmits / receives a keep-alive message. For example, the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 periodically transmits a keep-alive message to the downstream device 200b. At this time, the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 notifies the response message transmission / reception unit 240 that the keep-alive message has been transmitted. Further, the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 receives the keep-alive message transmitted by the upstream device 200a. Then, the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 notifies the response message transmission / reception unit 240 that the keep-alive message has been received.

The response message transmission / reception unit 240 receives a response message to the keep-alive message from the downstream device 200b. When the response message transmission / reception unit 240 receives the response message from the downstream device 200b, the response message transmission / reception unit 240 notifies the failure determination processing unit 250 that the response message has been received. Further, when the response message transmission / reception unit 240 acquires the notification that the keep-alive message has been received from the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230, the response message transmission / reception unit 240 transmits the response message to the upstream device 200a.

The failure determination processing unit 250 determines whether or not there is a failure in the downstream device 200b based on the reception status of the response message to the keep-alive message transmitted to the downstream device 200b. For example, the failure determination processing unit 250 determines that the downstream device 200b is out of order if the response message cannot be received within a predetermined time after the keepalive message is transmitted. The failure determination processing unit 250 notifies the determination notification processing unit 260 of the determination result.

The determination notification processing unit 260 transmits the determination result received from the failure determination processing unit 250 to the upstream device 200a. For example, when the determination notification processing unit 260 determines that the downstream device 200b is operating normally, the determination notification processing unit 260 transmits a failure non-occurrence notification message to the upstream device 200a. Further, when the determination notification processing unit 260 determines that the downstream device 200b is not operating normally, the determination notification processing unit 260 transmits a failure occurrence notification message to the upstream device 200a.

The line connecting each element shown in FIG. 11 indicates a part of the communication path, and a communication path other than the illustrated communication path can be set. Further, the function of each element shown in FIG. 11 can be realized, for example, by causing a computer to execute a program module corresponding to the element.

Next, the information stored in the downstream device information storage unit 220 will be specifically described.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a downstream device information storage unit. For example, the downstream device information storage unit 220 stores the downstream device information table 221. In the downstream device information table 221, an address for communicating with the downstream device is set in association with the device name of the downstream device of the deployment destination device 200. The address is, for example, an IP address. In the example of FIG. 12, when the deployment destination device 200 is the deployment destination device 73 in the network topology 70, the set of the device name and the address of the downstream device is set in the downstream device information table 221.

By linking the application development server 100, which is the master with the above functions, and the deployment destination device, the distribution application can be deployed and the deployment destination device to which the distribution application is deployed fails. The automatic deployment of the distribution application to is realized. The processing realized by the linked operation of the application development server 100 and the deployment destination device is roughly divided into a distribution application generation / deployment phase, a system construction phase, and an operation phase. The processing for each phase will be described in detail below.

<Distribution application generation / deployment phase>
First, the distribution application generation / deployment phase will be described. In the distribution application generation / deployment phase, the application development server 100 automatically generates a distribution application based on the entire application flow, and deploys the generated distribution application to the deployment destination device.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of automatic generation and deployment processing of the distribution application. The overall application flow editorial unit 162 creates the overall application flow 81 based on the input of the application developer. For each of the nodes 81a to 81d included in the overall application flow 81, the deployment destination of the corresponding function is specified by the application developer. For example, the deployment destination of the functions (sensor device control, sensor input value processing) corresponding to the nodes 81a and 81b is "device A". The deployment destination of the function (filtering) corresponding to the node 81c is "device B". The deployment destination of the function (visualization) corresponding to the node 81d is "device C". The overall application flow 81 uses data acquired from a sensor as input data, for example, data acquisition processing specific to a specific device, processing of acquired data, data filtering processing (for example, averaging processing), visualization of acquired data, and the like. Indicates that

When the distribution application generation instruction is input from the application developer, the overall application flow data 121 that defines the overall application flow 81 created by the overall application flow editorial unit 162 is stored in the overall application flow data storage unit 120 by the deployment instruction unit 161. Read from. Then, the entire application flow data 121 is transmitted from the deployment instruction unit 161 to the distribution application generation unit 163. Then, the distribution application generation unit 163 generates distribution applications 82 to 84 based on the entire application flow data 121.

For example, the distribution application generation unit 163 first divides the nodes in the overall application flow 81 for each deployment destination device. In the example of FIG. 13, the deployment destination is divided into the nodes 81a and 81b of the “device A”, the deployment destination is the node 81c of the “device B”, and the deployment destination is divided into the nodes 81d of the “device C”.

Further, the distribution application generation unit 163 replaces the link (connection line in the overall application flow 81) of the divided portion of the entire application flow 81 with the communication processing node. Specifically, the distribution application generation unit 163 adds a data transmission processing node to the output side (right side in the figure) of the data transmission source node, and data on the input side (left side in the figure) of the data transmission destination node. Add a node for reception processing. In the example of FIG. 13, the node 81e for data transmission processing is added to the output side of the node 81b. Further, a node 81f for data reception processing is added to the input side of the node 81c, and a node 81g for data transmission processing is added to the output side of the node 81c. Further, a node 81h for data reception processing is added to the input side of the node 81d. The added data transmission processing nodes 81e and 81g are given, for example, an identifier uniquely indicating communication with the data transmission destination device. Further, the added data reception processing nodes 81f and 81h are given an identifier uniquely indicating, for example, communication with the device of the data transmission source.

To add a node to the output side of an existing node means to add the node to be added to the application flow and to link the output side of the existing node and the input side of the node to be added in the distribution application flow. Connect with the indicated wire. Adding a node to the input side of an existing node means adding the node to be added to the application flow in the distribution application flow, and indicating a communication link between the input side of the existing node and the output side of the node to be added. It is to connect with a wire.

In this way, distribution applications 82 to 84 for each deployment destination device are generated. The generated distribution applications 82 to 84 are deployed to the designated deployment destination devices, respectively. Specifically, the distribution application 82 for "device A" is deployed in "device A", the distribution application 83 for "device B" is deployed in "device B", and the distribution application 84 for "device C". Is deployed in "Equipment C".

When adding a node for data transmission or data reception, the distribution application generation unit 163 adds a node that communicates using a common communication protocol between the data transmission side and the data reception side. For example, the distribution application generation unit 163 determines the communication protocol to be a protocol having a high security function when high security is required for communication. That is, in the case of communication via a wide area network 20b such as the Internet, there is a risk that data will be leaked to a third party. In such a case, the distribution application generation unit 163 adds a data transmission and data reception node for communicating with a protocol having a high security function such as HTTP so that the transmitted data is not leaked to a third party. To do. HTTP is a protocol capable of communication using authentication or encryption technology such as HTTPS.

Further, the distribution application generation unit 163 determines the communication protocol to be a protocol capable of efficient communication when high processing efficiency is required. For example, when collecting data from a large number of devices via a private network such as a local network 20a in a company, if the processing load for individual data communication is high, the load on the collecting device and the network The above communication load becomes excessive. In such a case, the distribution application generation unit 163 adds a data transmission and data reception node for communication by a protocol capable of efficient data communication such as MQTT. MQTT is a protocol in which the header size is much smaller than that of HTTP, and the amount of communication and the load on the device for transmitting and receiving can be suppressed to a low level.

Next, the procedure for generating and deploying the distribution application will be described in detail.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating and deploying a distribution application. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 14 will be described along with the step numbers.

[Step S101] The overall application flow editorial unit 162 creates an overall application flow that defines the data processing to be executed as an IoT application based on the input from the application developer.

[Step S102] The deployment instruction unit 161 accepts from the application developer the designation of which device on the actual IoT system to perform the processing (deployment destination device) for the node defined in the overall application flow. .. For example, the deployment instruction unit 161 displays the device name registered in the device management table 111 on the monitor 21 as a candidate for the deployment destination device. For each node, the application developer selects the deployment destination device to execute the function corresponding to that node from the device names displayed as candidates. The deployment instruction unit 161 stores the device name selected for each node in the memory 102 as the device name of the device to which the node is deployed.

[Step S103] The deployment instruction unit 161 receives a deployment instruction of the distribution application from the application developer. The deployment instruction is to instruct the process of separating the entire application for each specified deployment destination device, adding appropriate functions to generate a distribution application, and transferring the distribution application to the corresponding deployment destination device. .. When the deployment instruction is input, the deployment instruction unit 161 transmits the overall application flow data representing the entire application flow and the deployment destination information of each node in the overall application flow data to the distribution application generation unit 163.

[Step S104] The distribution application generation unit 163 generates a distribution application based on the entire application flow and the deployment destination information. The distribution application generation unit 163 transmits the distribution application flow data indicating the generated distribution application to the distribution application deployment unit 164. The details of the distribution application generation process will be described later (see FIG. 15).

[Step S105] The distribution application deployment unit 164 deploys the distribution application to the deployment destination device of the distribution application. Specifically, the distribution application deployment unit 164 transmits the distribution application flow data of the distribution application for each deployment destination device to the deployment destination device corresponding to the distribution application. Further, the distribution application deployment unit 164 transmits a distribution application installation and activation request based on the transmitted distribution application flow data to the deployment destination device. As a result, the deployment destination device performs the installation work and starts the distribution application so that the process defined in the distribution application flow data can be executed.

The deployment destination device may be equipped with an API (Application Programming Interface) for importing distributed application flow data. In this case, the distribution application deployment unit 164 sends data to, for example, the API for registering the distribution application flow of the deployment destination device. As a result, the distributed application flow data is set as the execution target in the distribution application flow data execution software in the deployment destination device. In this way, it is also possible to deploy the distribution application using the API for distribution application flow registration.

The distribution application deployment unit 164 may deploy the distribution application continuously from the distribution application generation in the distribution application generation process, or after the distribution application is generated, further in response to an instruction from the application developer at an arbitrary timing. You may go.

Next, the distribution application generation process will be described in detail.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the distribution application generation process. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 15 will be described along with the step numbers.

[Step S111] The distribution application generation unit 163 selects one node from the entire application flow.
[Step S112] The distribution application generation unit 163 deploys the deployment destination device of the node (transfer destination node) to which the output data of the selected node (selected node) is transferred based on the designation of the deployment destination device received in step S102. Is the same as the device to which the selected node is deployed. If the deployment destination devices are the same, the process proceeds to step S125. If the deployment destination device is different, the process proceeds to step S113.

[Step S113] The distribution application generation unit 163 separates the application flow including the selection node between the selection node and the transfer destination node. For example, the distribution application generation unit 163 separates the application flow including the selected node into an application flow having the selected node at the end and an application flow having the transfer destination node at the beginning. The app flow generated by the separation becomes the distributed app flow. The distribution application flow may be further separated. By separating the app flow, app flow data (distributed app flow data) indicating the distributed app flow after separation is generated.

The distribution application generation unit 163 automatically edits the distribution application flow by the following processes of steps S114 to S124. The editing process of the distribution application generation unit 163 is specifically a process of editing the distribution application flow data in the memory 102.

[Step S114] The distribution application generation unit 163 determines whether or not the transfer destination node is connected via an external network. For example, the distribution application generation unit 163 determines that the selected node and the transfer destination node are connected via an external network when the address of the network unit in the IP address is different. When the distribution application generation unit 163 is connected via an external network, the process proceeds to step S115. If the distribution application generation unit 163 is connected via the internal network, the process proceeds to step S120.

[Step S115] The distribution application generation unit 163 adds an HTTP transmission processing node to the output side of the selection node. The HTTP transmission processing node to be added is a node corresponding to a functional block in which processing for passing through an HTTP proxy server installed for connecting to an external network is described, for example. Further, the distribution application generation unit 163 adds a response node for processing the response from the transfer destination node to the output side of the HTTP transmission processing node.

[Step S116] The distribution application generation unit 163 adds an HTTP reception processing node to the input side of the transfer destination node. Further, the distribution application generation unit 163 adds a response node for performing an HTTP reception response to the selected node on the output side of the HTTP reception processing node.

[Step S117] The distribution application generation unit 163 changes the transfer destination of the selected node to the added HTTP transmission processing node. For example, the distribution application generation unit 163 changes the information indicating the transfer destination of the selected node to the node ID of the HTTP transmission processing node.

[Step S118] The distribution application generation unit 163 assigns the node ID of the transfer destination node to the transfer destination information of the added HTTP reception processing node.
[Step S119] The distribution application generation unit 163 sets the IP address of the deployment destination device of the transfer destination node in the added HTTP transmission processing node. After that, the distribution application generation unit 163 advances the process to step S125.

[Step S120] The distribution application generation unit 163 adds an MQTT transmission processing node to the output side of the selection node.
[Step S121] The distribution application generation unit 163 adds an MQTT reception processing node to the input side of the transfer destination node.

[Step S122] The distribution application generation unit 163 changes the transfer destination of the selected node to the added MQTT transmission processing node. For example, the distribution application generation unit 163 changes the information indicating the transfer destination of the selected node to the node ID of the MQTT transmission processing node.

[Step S123] The distribution application generation unit 163 assigns the node ID of the transfer destination node to the transfer destination information of the added MQTT reception processing node.
[Step S124] The distribution application generation unit 163 uniquely indicates a pair of the MQTT transmission processing node and the MQTT reception processing node to each of the added MQTT transmission processing node and the added MQTT reception processing node (topic). To set.

[Step S125] The distribution application generation unit 163 determines whether or not all the nodes in the entire application flow have been selected. If all the nodes have been selected, the distribution application generation unit 163 ends the distribution application generation process. If there is an unselected node, the distribution application generation unit 163 advances the process to step S111.

In this way, the entire application is divided for each node in which the specified deployment destination device is common, and the communication processing function between the deployment destination devices for cooperation of the distribution application in the distributed environment is performed on the distribution application flow. Can be automatically added to the appropriate position of. Moreover, an appropriate communication protocol can be applied depending on whether or not the communication between the deployment destination devices goes through the external network.

The application development server 100 deploys the generated distribution application to a plurality of deployment destination devices. After that, if a failure occurs in a part of the deployment destination device, the distribution application deployed in the deployment destination device will not function normally. In that case, the system administrator connects the deployment destination device, which is a substitute for the deployment destination device in which the failure has occurred, to the network. Then, the system construction phase is carried out by linking the deployment destination device and the application development server 100.

<System construction phase>
Next, the system construction phase will be described. The system construction phase is a process of updating the device connection information of the application development server 100 every time a new deployment destination device is connected in the system.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of updating device connection information in the system construction phase. For example, assume that the deployment destination device 78 is newly connected to the downstream side of the deployment destination device 75. For example, the IP address of the deployment destination device 75, which is a higher-level device, is set in the deployment destination device 78 in advance. When the deployment destination device 78 is connected to the network 20, it transmits a connection request message 91 to the host device. In the connection request message 91, the device name “G” of the deployment destination device 78 is set as the request source.

The deployment destination device 75 that has received the connection request message 91 stores the request source device name "G" and the request source IP address shown in the connection request message 91 as downstream device information. Further, the deployment destination device 75 transfers the connection request message 92 to the deployment destination device 72, which is a higher-level device of the deployment destination device 75. At that time, the deployment destination device 75 adds its own device name “D” to the route information of the connection request message 92 to be transferred.

Upon receiving the connection request message 92, the deployment destination device 72 transfers the connection request message 93 to the master 71, which is a higher-level device of the deployment destination device 72. At that time, the deployment destination device 72 adds its own device name “A” to the route information of the connection request message 93 to be transferred after the device name “D” that has already been set.

Upon receiving the connection request message 93, the master 71 recognizes that the deployment destination device 78 of the device name "G" is connected based on the device name "G" of the request source of the connection request message 93. Further, the master 71 sets the deployment destination device 75 whose connection request message 93 is the device name "G" and the deployment destination device 72 whose device name "A" is based on the sequence of the device names shown in the route information of the connection request message 93. Recognize that it was transferred via. Then, the master 71 determines that the connection destination device on the network topology 70 of the newly connected deployment destination device 78 is the deployment destination device 75. When the device name "D" of the connection destination device is not registered as the upstream device of the device connection relationship table 141 in the device connection information storage unit 140, the master 71 records the upstream device "D" in the device connection relationship table. Add to 141. Then, the master 71 registers the device name "G" of the newly connected deployment destination device 78 in the lower device of the record of the upstream device "D".

In this way, the device connection-related table 141 can always be kept up to date. That is, when a new deployment destination device is added to the system, the application development server 100, which is the master 71, can immediately recognize the device name of the device and the upstream device of the device.

Next, the processing executed by the deployment destination device 200 and the application development server 100, which is the master 71, in order to realize the processing in the system construction phase will be described in detail. The processes executed by the deployment destination device 200 include a connection request message transmission process when the deployment destination device 200 is newly connected to the network 20, and a connection request message forwarding process when a connection request message is received from the downstream device. There is.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for transmitting a connection request message by a newly connected deployment destination device. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 17 will be described along with the step numbers.

[Step S201] The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 determines whether or not the deployment destination device 200 is connected to the network 20. For example, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 determines that the device is connected to the network 20 when the OS of the deployment destination device 200 is started and communication with other devices by TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP becomes possible. To do. When the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 is connected to the network 20, the process proceeds to step S202. If the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 is not connected to the network 20, the process of step S201 is repeated.

[Step S202] The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 generates a connection request message including its own device name, and transmits the generated connection request message to a higher-level device having an IP address specified in advance.

Next, the transfer process of the connection request message when the deployment destination device 200 receives the connection request message from the lower device will be described.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the connection request message forwarding process by the deployment destination device. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 18 will be described along with the step numbers.

[Step S211] The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 receives the connection request message transmitted from the lower device.
[Step S212] When the source of the connection request message is a downstream device adjacent to its own downstream side, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 sets the request source device information shown in the connection request message in the downstream device information table 221. To do. The request source device information is, for example, the request source device name and the source IP address. The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 can determine whether or not the source of the connection request message is a downstream device adjacent to the downstream side of the connection request message based on the route information of the connection request message. For example, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 is a downstream device whose source of the connection request message is adjacent to its own downstream side unless the device name of another deployment destination device is registered in the route information of the connection request message. Judge.

[Step S213] The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 adds own device information to the route information of the connection request message. For example, the connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 adds its own device name to the end of the route information.

[Step S214] The connection request message transmission / reception unit 210 transfers the connection request message to the connection destination device of the own device.
When each deployment destination device transfers such a connection request message, the connection request message is finally transferred to the application development server 100 which is the master 71. Then, the application development server 100 registers the connected device.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for registering connected devices by the master. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 19 will be described along with the step numbers.
[Step S221] The device route information registration unit 171 receives a connection request message from any of the deployment destination devices.

[Step S222] The device route information registration unit 171 refers to the device connection relationship table 141, and is there a record in which the device name of the deployment destination device to which the connection request message is sent is set as the upstream device? Judge whether or not. If there is a corresponding record, the device route information registration unit 171 proceeds to step S223. If there is no corresponding record, the device route information registration unit 171 proceeds to step S224.

[Step S223] The device route information registration unit 171 sets the device name of the connection destination device shown in the route information of the connection request message as the upstream device, and sets the device name of the request source device of the connection request message as the downstream device. The record is registered in the device connection related table 141. The device route information registration unit 171 then proceeds to step S225.

[Step S224] The device route information registration unit 171 sets the device name of the requesting device as the downstream device of the registered record in which the device name of the deployment destination device is set as the upstream device in the device connection relationship table 141. sign up.

[Step S225] The device connection detection unit 172 detects the connection of the new deployment destination device, and notifies the deployment application determination unit 174 of the device connection detection information including the device name of the requesting device.
In this way, it is detected that a new deployment destination device is connected to the network 20, and the device connection detection information is notified to the deployment application determination unit 174. In parallel with such a system construction phase, the operation phase is executed by the deployment destination device and the application development server 100.

<Operation phase>
Next, the operation phase will be described. In the operation phase, the failed deployment destination device is detected and the distribution application already deployed in the deployment destination device is redeployed.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a failure detection example of the deployment destination device. In the example of FIG. 20, it is assumed that the deployment destination device 76 has a failure. The state of the deployment destination device 76 is monitored by the deployment destination device 73, which is an upstream device of the deployment destination device 76. For example, the deployment destination device 73 periodically transmits a keepalive message 94 to the deployment destination device 76. When the deployment destination device 76 is operating normally, the deployment destination device 76 returns a response message to the keepalive message 94. On the other hand, if a failure occurs in the deployment destination device 76, the deployment destination device 76 cannot send a response message to the keepalive message 94. When the deployment destination device 73, which is an upstream device, detects that no response message is returned to the keepalive message 94, it determines that the deployment destination device 76 has failed.

When the deployment destination device 73 detects that a failure has occurred in the deployment destination device 76, the deployment destination device 73 transmits a failure occurrence notification message 95 including the device name of the deployment destination device 76 to the master 71. The application development server 100, which is the master 71, recognizes that a failure has occurred in the deployment destination device 76 based on the failure occurrence notification message 95.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for checking the state of the downstream device by the upstream device. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 21 will be described along with the step numbers.
[Step S301] The keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 transmits a keep-alive message to the downstream device. For example, the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 refers to the downstream device information storage unit 220 and acquires the IP address of its own downstream device. Then, the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 generates a keep-alive message addressed to the acquired IP address, and transmits the generated keep-alive message to the downstream device. The keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 notifies the failure determination processing unit 250 of information indicating that the keep-alive message has been transmitted.

[Step S302] When the keep-alive message is transmitted, the failure determination processing unit 250 starts a timer for measuring the response message waiting time of the keep-alive message.

[Step S303] The failure determination processing unit 250 determines whether or not the elapsed time from the start of the timer exceeds the reception upper limit time, which is the upper limit of the response message waiting time. When the timer time exceeds the reception upper limit time, the failure determination processing unit 250 advances the processing to step S304. If the timer time does not exceed the reception upper limit time, the failure determination processing unit 250 advances the processing to step S306.

[Step S304] The failure determination processing unit 250 determines that the downstream device to which the keepalive message is transmitted is in a failure state.
[Step S305] The failure determination processing unit 250 transmits a failure occurrence notification message to the upstream device. After that, the failure determination processing unit 250 ends the downstream equipment state confirmation process.

[Step S306] The failure determination processing unit 250 determines whether or not a response message has been received. For example, when a response message is transmitted from a downstream device, the response message transmission / reception unit 240 receives the response message. When the response message transmission / reception unit 240 receives the response message, the response message transmission / reception unit 240 notifies the failure determination processing unit 250 of information indicating that the response message has been received. The failure determination processing unit 250 recognizes the reception of the response message by the notification from the response message transmission / reception unit 240. When the failure determination processing unit 250 determines that the response message has been received, the failure determination processing unit 250 proceeds to the process in step S307. If the failure determination processing unit 250 has not received the response message, the failure determination processing unit 250 proceeds to step S303.

[Step S307] The failure determination processing unit 250 stops the timer.
[Step S308] The failure determination processing unit 250 transmits a failure non-occurrence notification message to the upstream device.

When there are a plurality of downstream devices of the deployment destination device 200, the process shown in FIG. 21 is executed for each downstream device. The failure occurrence notification message or failure non-occurrence notification message transmitted from the deployment destination device 200 is transferred toward the upstream side by the deployment destination device on the upstream side, and finally sent to the application development server 100 which is the master 71. ..

At the deployment destination device on the downstream side, status notification processing is performed according to the keepalive message.
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for status notification processing in a downstream device. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 22 will be described along with the step numbers.

[Step S311] The keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 determines whether or not a keep-alive message from the upstream device has been received. If the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 has received the keep-alive message, the process proceeds to step S312. If the keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 has not received the keep-alive message, the process of step S311 is repeated.

[Step S312] The keep-alive message transmission / reception unit 230 notifies the response message transmission / reception unit 240 of information indicating that the keep-alive message has been received. Then, the response message transmission / reception unit 240 transmits a response message to the upstream device.

When each deployment destination device performs the processing shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the application development server 100 periodically receives a failure occurrence notification message or a failure non-occurrence notification message for each deployment destination device. The application development server 100 recognizes the existence of the deployment destination device in which the failure has occurred, based on the failure occurrence notification message or the failure non-occurrence notification message.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the failure state determination process in the master. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 23 will be described along with the step numbers.
[Step S321] The failure state determination unit 173 determines whether or not a failure occurrence status notification message (failure occurrence notification message or failure non-occurrence notification message) has been received from the downstream device. When the failure state determination unit 173 receives the notification message of the failure occurrence state, the process proceeds to step S322. Further, if the failure state determination unit 173 has not received the notification message of the failure occurrence state, the process of step S321 is repeated.

[Step S322] The failure state determination unit 173 determines whether or not a failure has occurred based on the received message. For example, when the failure state determination unit 173 receives the failure occurrence notification message, it determines that a failure has occurred. Further, when the failure state determination unit 173 receives the failure non-occurrence notification message, it determines that no failure has occurred. When a failure occurs, the failure state determination unit 173 proceeds to step S323. If no failure has occurred, the failure state determination unit 173 proceeds to step S324.

[Step S323] The failure state determination unit 173 sets "1" in the failure occurrence flag of the deployment destination device indicated in the failure non-occurrence notification message with respect to the deployment destination device status table 151. After that, the failure state determination unit 173 ends the failure state determination process.

[Step S324] The failure status determination unit 173 sets "0" to the failure occurrence flag of the deployment destination device indicated in the failure non-occurrence notification message in the deployment destination device status table 151.

In this way, the presence or absence of failure of each deployment destination device is reflected in the deployment destination device status table 151. When an alternative deployment destination device of the failed deployment destination device is newly connected, the distribution application to be deployed to the alternative deployment destination device by the deployment application determination unit 174 based on the deployment destination device status table 151. Is judged. Then, the deployed application redeployment unit 175 deploys the distribution application to the alternative deployment destination device.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of app redeployment. In FIG. 24, it is assumed that a failure occurs in the deployment destination device 76 and the deployment destination device 79 is connected as a substitute for the deployment destination device 76. When the application development server 100, which is the master 71, detects that the deployment destination device 79 is connected, it searches for another deployment destination device connected to the same upstream device as the deployment destination device 79. In the example of FIG. 24, the upstream device of the deployment destination device 79 is the deployment destination device 73. As the downstream equipment of the deployment destination device 73, in addition to the deployment destination device 79, there are a deployment destination device 76 and a deployment destination device 77. The application development server 100 confirms the status of the deployment destination device 76 and the deployment destination device 77, and recognizes that the deployment destination device 76 has a failure. Then, the application development server 100 determines that the newly connected deployment destination device 79 is a substitute device for the deployment destination device 76.

A distribution application with the application name "appp002" has already been deployed in the deployment destination device 76. Therefore, the application development server 100 deploys the distribution application having the application name "appp002" to the newly connected deployment destination device 79.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the application redeployment process. Hereinafter, the process shown in FIG. 25 will be described along with the step numbers.
[Step S331] The deployment application determination unit 174 monitors the operating state of the deployment destination device. For example, the deployment application determination unit 174 determines whether or not each deployment destination device has a failure based on the value of the failure occurrence flag in the deployment destination device status table 151.

[Step S332] The deployment application determination unit 174 receives a device connection notification including the device name of the newly connected deployment destination device from the device connection detection unit 172.
[Step S333] The deployment application determination unit 174 searches the device connection-related table 141 for other downstream devices connected to the same upstream device as the newly connected deployment destination device (connected device). For example, the deployment application determination unit 174 searches the device connection relationship table 141 for a record including the device name of the connected device as a downstream device. Then, the deployment application determination unit 174 acquires a device name other than the connected device among the device names of the downstream devices shown in the corresponding record.

[Step S334] The deployment application determination unit 174 determines whether or not there is a downstream device other than the connected device. When at least one device name can be acquired by the process of step S333, the deployment application determination unit 174 determines that there is a downstream device other than the connected device. If there is a downstream device other than the connected device, the deployment application determination unit 174 proceeds to step S335. Further, the deployment application determination unit 174 ends the application redeployment process when there is no downstream device other than the connected device.

[Step S335] The deployment application determination unit 174 determines whether or not a failure has occurred in the downstream device with the device name acquired in step S333. For example, the deployment application determination unit 174 acquires a record in which the device name acquired in step S333 is set as the deployment destination device from the deployment destination device status table 151. Then, if the value of the failure occurrence flag of the acquired record is "1", the deployment application determination unit 174 determines that a failure has occurred in the corresponding downstream device. If a failure has occurred, the deployment application determination unit 174 proceeds to step S336. Further, the deployment application determination unit 174 ends the application redeployment process if no failure has occurred.

[Step S336] The deployment application determination unit 174 acquires the name of the distribution application already deployed to the downstream device in which the failure has occurred from the deployment destination device status table 151. For example, the deployment application determination unit 174 acquires the application name set in the deployed application of the record acquired in step S335 as the application name of the redeployment target application. The deployment application determination unit 174 notifies the deployed application redeployment unit 175 of the acquired application name and the device name of the connected device.

[Step S337] The deployed application redeployment unit 175 deploys the redeployment target application to the connected device. For example, the deployed application redeployment unit 175 refers to the device management table 111 and acquires information such as an IP address corresponding to the device name of the connected device. Further, the deployed application redeployment unit 175 acquires the distributed application flow data corresponding to the application name of the redeployment target application from the deployed application storage unit 130. Then, the deployed application redeployment unit 175 accesses the connected device and performs the deployment process of the acquired distributed application flow data. That is, the deployed application redeployment unit 175 copies the acquired distributed application flow data to the connected device, and causes the connected device to start executing the process based on the distributed application flow data.

In this way, when an alternative deployment destination device of the failed deployment destination device is connected, the distribution application deployed on the failed deployment destination device is automatically deployed to the alternative deployment destination device. To. As a result, it is possible to prevent the service suspension period from being prolonged due to the failure of the deployment destination device.

In addition, even if the deployment destination device to which the distribution application is deployed breaks down, the distribution application deployed to the failed deployment destination device can be redeployed without redeploying all the distribution apps generated from the entire application. I'm sorry. That is, the application development server 100 deploys a plurality of distribution applications generated in the distribution application generation / deployment phase to a plurality of deployment destination devices. After that, when the deployment destination device on which the IoT application operates is connected to the network, the application development server 100 constructs and holds the device connection information (= distribution path) between the deployment destination devices in the system construction phase. Further, when the application development server 100 detects that the deployment destination device is newly connected to the network in the operation phase, a failure has occurred among the deployment destination devices in which the connected deployment destination device and the upstream device are the same. Identify the deployment destination device. Then, the application development server 100 deploys the distribution application deployed to the specified deployment destination device to the newly connected deployment destination device.

This makes it possible to redeploy only the distribution app deployed to the failed deployment destination device to the newly connected deployment destination device, instead of all the distribution apps generated from the entire app. That is, it is not necessary to replace the distribution application that is operating normally on any of the deployment destination devices. As a result, it is possible to reduce the deployment cost of the administrator or prevent the user's convenience from being lowered due to the service suspension.

The system administrator sets, for example, the same IP address as the failed deployment destination device in the alternative deployment destination device of the failed deployment destination device. As a result, even if the distribution application is redeployed to the alternative deployment destination device, the alternative deployment destination device can communicate with other devices in place of the failed deployment destination device without changing the contents of the distribution application. ..

In addition, the deployment destination devices that execute the distribution application may communicate with each other by MQTT. In communication by MQTT, the topic of MQTT becomes the communication identifier, and the same topic as when it was deployed to the deployment destination device where the failure occurred is set in the redeployed distribution application. Therefore, the alternative deployment destination device can perform MQTT communication with another device in place of the failed deployment destination device according to the topic set in the deployed distribution application.

[Other embodiments]
In the second embodiment, an example of redeploying a distributed application that realizes a partial function of an IoT application operating in a distributed environment is shown, but it is also possible to redeploy other applications by the same processing. is there.

Although the embodiment has been illustrated above, the configuration of each part shown in the embodiment can be replaced with another having the same function. Moreover, other arbitrary components and processes may be added. Further, any two or more configurations (features) of the above-described embodiments may be combined.

1 Connection information 2 Software information 3a to 3e Equipment 10 Information processing device 11 Storage unit 12 Processing unit

Claims (6)

On the computer
It is detected that the second device is connected to the first device as a device in the lower layer of the first device in the system in which a plurality of devices are connected in multiple layers.
Based on the connection information indicating the connection relationship between the plurality of devices, the third device in the same layer as the second device, which is connected to the first device, is detected.
Based on the monitoring result of the third device, the presence or absence of a failure of the third device is determined.
When a failure occurs in the third device, the software delivered to the third device is delivered to the second device based on the software information indicating the software delivered to each of the plurality of devices.
A software distribution program that executes processing. In the detection of the connection of the second device to the first device, when the connection request message output from the second device to the first device is acquired from the first device, the second device is connected. Detects
The software distribution program according to claim 1. On the computer,
Based on the connection request message, the connection relationship between the first device and the second device is added to the connection information.
The software distribution program according to claim 2, wherein the process is executed. In the determination of the presence or absence of a failure of the third device, a failure transmitted by the first device when the first device detects a failure of the third device by monitoring the state of the third device by the first device. It is determined whether or not the third device has a failure based on whether or not the occurrence notification message has been acquired.
The software distribution program according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The computer
It is detected that the second device is connected to the first device as a device in the lower layer of the first device in the system in which a plurality of devices are connected in multiple layers.
Based on the connection information indicating the connection relationship between the plurality of devices, the third device in the same layer as the second device, which is connected to the first device, is detected.
Based on the monitoring result of the third device, the presence or absence of a failure of the third device is determined.
When a failure occurs in the third device, the software delivered to the third device is delivered to the second device based on the software information indicating the software delivered to each of the plurality of devices.
Software distribution method. A storage unit that stores connection information indicating a connection relationship between the plurality of devices in a system in which a plurality of devices are connected in multiple layers, and software information indicating software delivered to each of the plurality of devices.
As a lower layer device of the first device in the system, it is detected that the second device is connected to the first device, and the device is connected to the first device based on the connection information. When the third device in the same layer as the second device is detected, the presence or absence of a failure of the third device is determined based on the monitoring result of the third device, and the failure has occurred in the third device. Based on the software information, a processing unit that distributes the software that has been distributed to the third device to the second device, and
Information processing device with.

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