JP2021010058A - Gateway device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To eliminate inconvenience when the communication speed is different between protocols and avoid communication interruption as much as possible when updating the protocol.SOLUTION: A gateway device 1 includes proxy response means for receiving a request command sent from a first device connected to a network N1 to a second device connected to the network, generating a response command corresponding to the content of the received request command by referring to an object table 141 in which device information related to each of the first device and the second device is stored, and transmitting the response command to the first device. A program for implementing the proxy response means includes a management module for managing the object table 141, a command processing module, a command library 1402, and an object library 1403. A protocol as an application target can be updated by updating at least one of the command library 1402 and the object library 1403.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to gateway devices and programs.

In communication between different networks, if the communication speed between both protocols is significantly different, the low-speed side cannot keep up with the response speed required by the high-speed side protocol, and the device connected to the high-speed side network allows the delay at this time. There is a problem that we have no choice but to request.

On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 describes that a router device performs a proxy response on behalf of a destination device.

Japanese Patent No. 3823585

In order for a gateway device that does not have a routing function to perform a proxy response, it is necessary to always hold device information about devices connected to the network in an appropriately updateable manner.

However, in the conventional gateway device, when the protocol is updated, it is necessary to rewrite the entire program, so that the device information held is also erased, and a proxy response cannot be performed immediately after restarting, and for a while. During that time, there is a problem that communication is cut off.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a gateway device or the like that can solve the inconvenience when the communication speeds differ between protocols and avoid communication interruption at the time of protocol update as much as possible. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the gateway device according to the present invention
A gateway device including a CPU, a storage device, and a communication interface, which is connected to a first network and a second network.
A function provided by the CPU executing a program stored in the storage device, from a first device connected to the first network to a second device connected to the second network. A response according to the content of the request command is received by receiving the transmitted request command and referring to the object table in which the device information about each of the first device and the second device stored in the storage device is stored. A proxy response means for generating a command and transmitting the generated response command to the first device is provided.
The program includes a management module for executing processing related to management of the object table, a command processing module for executing processing according to a received command, and commands sent and received between the first device. A command library in which the contents of the above and the contents of commands sent and received between the second devices are defined, and an object library in which the classes of the first device and the second device are defined are included. ,
The protocol to be applied can be updated by updating at least one of the command library and the object library.

According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience when the communication speeds of the protocols are different and to avoid the communication interruption at the time of updating the protocol as much as possible.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the network system provided with the gateway device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the gateway device of this embodiment The figure for demonstrating the secondary storage device provided in the gateway device of this embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the program of this embodiment Block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gateway device of this embodiment A flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the gateway device of the present embodiment. A sequence diagram showing a processing flow between each functional unit in the gateway device of the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a network system including the gateway device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this network system, one or a plurality of first devices 2 and a gateway device 1 are connected to the network N1, and the gateway device 1 and the one or a plurality of second devices are connected to the network N2. This network system is applied to a system for monitoring a second device, which is an equipment device such as an air conditioner and an illuminator, installed in a building by a first device 2 such as a monitoring terminal. The network N1 is an example of the first network according to the present invention, and the network N2 is an example of the second network according to the present invention.

The gateway device 1 transfers the data from the first device 2 received via the network N1 to the second device 3 via the network N2, and transfers the data from the second device 3 received via the network N2 to the network N1. This device has a transfer function included in a general gateway device that transfers data to the first device 2 via the above, and a proxy response function described later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gateway device 1 includes a communication interface 10, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, and a secondary storage device 14. To be equipped. These components are connected to each other via the bus 15.

The communication interface 10 is an example of a communication interface included in the gateway device according to the present invention. The communication interface 10 connects to a device such as a network card for connecting to the network N1 and communicating with each first device 2 via the network N1, and connects to the network N2 to connect the second device 3 and the network N2. It is configured to include a device such as a network card for communicating via the device.

The CPU 11 is an example of a CPU included in the gateway device according to the present invention, and controls the gateway device 1 in an integrated manner. The ROM 12 stores a plurality of firmwares and data used when executing these firmwares. The RAM 13 is used as a work area of the CPU 11.

The secondary storage device 14 is an example of a storage device included in the gateway device according to the present invention. The secondary storage device 14 is a storage device composed of an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a readable / writable non-volatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the secondary storage device 14 stores the program 140 and the object table 141.

The program 140 is an example of the program according to the present invention, and is a program in which the processes related to the transfer function and the proxy response function described above are described. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the program 140 includes a management module 1400, a command processing module 1401, a command library 1402, an object library 1403, a first driver 1404, and a second driver 1405. Is done.

The management module 1400 is an example of a management module according to the present invention, and is a module for executing processing related to management of the object table 141. The object table 141 is an example of the object table according to the present invention, and stores the device information of each first device 2 connected to the network N1 and the device information of each second device 3 connected to the network N2. Data table. For example, the device information of the second device 3 includes dynamically changing data such as an operating state and a sensor measurement value (for example, room temperature).

The command processing module 1401 is an example of a command processing module according to the present invention, and is a module for executing processing according to a received command.

The command library 1402 is an example of the command library according to the present invention, and includes the contents of commands sent and received to and from each first device 2, the contents of commands sent and received to and from each second device 3, and the contents of commands. This is a library in which protocol conversion expressions and the like are defined. The contents of the command include, for example, an address, a sequence number, a command type, a property, and the like.

The object library 1403 is an example of an object library according to the present invention, and is a library in which a class of each first device 2 and a class of each second device 3 are defined.

The first driver 1404 is a module for executing processing related to data transmission / reception via the network N1. The second driver 1405 is a module for executing processing related to data transmission / reception via the network N2.

In the present embodiment, the management module 1400 and the command processing module 1401 are generated with specifications common to a plurality of protocols without depending on the respective protocols of the networks N1 and N2. Hereinafter, the management module 1400 and the command processing module 1401 are collectively referred to as a general-purpose unit, and the command library 1402, the object library 1403, the first driver 1404, and the second driver 1405 are collectively referred to as a non-general-purpose unit.

The general-purpose part and the non-general-purpose part are fully coupled. Therefore, when updating the application target protocol or changing the application target protocol, at least one of the instruction library 1402, the object library 1403, the first driver 1404, and the second driver 1405 belonging to the dependent part is used. It can be dealt with by updating or changing.

Functionally, as shown in FIG. 5, the gateway device 1 includes an object management unit 100, a command processing unit 101, a first transmission / reception unit 102, and a second transmission / reception unit 103. These functional units are realized by the CPU 11 executing the program 140 stored in the secondary storage device 14.

Specifically, the object management unit 100 is realized by the CPU 11 executing the management module 1400 in the program 140, and the command processing unit 101 is realized by the CPU 11 executing the command processing module 1401 in the program 140. The first transmission / reception unit 102 is realized by the CPU 11 executing the first driver 1404 in the program 140, and the second transmission / reception unit 103 is realized by the CPU 11 executing the second driver 1405 in the program 140. The program.

The object management unit 100 executes a process related to the management of the object table 141. Specifically, the object management unit 100 executes a process of reading device information from the object table 141 and a process of writing device information to the object table 141 in accordance with a request from the command processing unit 101.

The command processing unit 101 refers to the command library 1402 and the object library 1403, analyzes the received command, and executes processing according to the command. Specifically, when the gateway device 1 operates based on the transfer function, the command processing unit 101 converts the command for the second device 3 received from the first device 2 into a command based on the protocol of the network N2. It is transferred to the second device 3, and the command for the first device 2 received from the second device 3 is converted into a command according to the protocol of the network N1 and transferred to the first device 2.

Further, when the gateway device 1 operates based on the proxy response function, when the command processing unit 101 receives a request command from the first device 2 to the second device 3, the previous device information stored in the object table 141 A response command for the request command is generated based on the above, and the generated response command is transmitted to the first device 2 via the first transmission / reception unit 102. Further, the command processing unit 101 converts the request command received from the first device 2 into the request command (hereinafter referred to as a secondary request command) according to the protocol of the network N2 for the second device 3, and the second device 3 is used. 2 Transmission to the second device 3 via the transmission / reception unit 103. Then, when the command processing unit 101 receives a response command for the secondary request command (hereinafter, referred to as a secondary response command) via the second transmission / reception unit 103, the command processing unit 101 displays the object table 141 based on the received secondary response command. Update.

The transfer function and the proxy response function are switched according to the difference in communication speed between the protocols of both networks N1 and N2. In the following description, it is assumed that the communication speed of the protocol of the network N1 is high, the communication speed of the protocol of the network N2 is low, and the gateway device 1 operates by the proxy response function.

When the command processing unit 101 receives a request command indicating a protocol update from the first device 2, the command processing unit 101 updates the command library 1402 and / or the object library 1403 according to the contents of the request command.

The first transmission / reception unit 102 performs processing related to data transmission / reception via the network N1. Specifically, the first transmission / reception unit 102 receives the request command transmitted from the first device 2 via the network N1, and receives the received request command via a buffer (hereinafter, referred to as a first buffer) (not shown). It is supplied to the command processing unit 101. Further, the response command supplied from the command processing unit 101 via the first buffer is transmitted to the first device 2 via the network N1.

The second transmission / reception unit 103 performs processing related to data transmission / reception via the network N2. Specifically, the second transmission / reception unit 103 transmits a secondary request command supplied from the command processing unit 101 via a buffer (hereinafter, referred to as a second buffer) to the second device 3 via the network N2. To do. Further, the secondary response command transmitted from the second device 3 is received via the network N2, and the received secondary response command is supplied to the command processing unit 101 via the second buffer.

The object management unit 100, the command processing unit 101, the first transmission / reception unit 102, and the second transmission / reception unit 103 are examples of proxy response means according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing executed by the gateway device 1. When a request command is received from any of the first devices 2 via the network N1 (step S101; YES), the gateway device 1 analyzes the received request command and determines the request content indicated by the request command.

When the received request command indicates a protocol update request (step S102; YES), the gateway device 1 updates the command library 1402 and / or the object library 1403 according to the content of the request command (step S103). After that, the process of the gateway device 1 returns to step S101.

On the other hand, when the received request command does not indicate a request for protocol update, that is, indicates a request for device information to any second device 3 (step S102; NO), the gateway device 1 holds the device. A response command to the request command is generated based on the previous device information of the second device 3 (step S104). Then, the gateway device 1 transmits the generated response command to the requesting first device 2 via the network N1 (step S105).

Further, the gateway device 1 converts the received request command into a secondary request command according to the protocol of the network N2 (step S106), and transmits the received request command to the corresponding second device 3 (step S107).

Upon receiving the secondary response command for the secondary request command (step 108; YES), the gateway device 1 updates the object table 141 based on the received secondary response command (step S109). After that, the process of the gateway device 1 returns to step S101.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a processing flow between each functional unit when the gateway device 1 performs a proxy response. When the first transmission / reception unit 102 of the gateway device 1 receives the request command transmitted from the first device 2 via the network N1, the first transmission / reception unit 102 supplies the received request command to the command processing unit 101 via the first buffer (step). S201).

The command processing unit 101 analyzes the request command supplied from the first transmission / reception unit 102 with reference to the command library 1402 and the object library 1403, and determines the device information of the second device 3 requested by the request command. , Request the determined device information to the object management unit 100 (step S202).

The object management unit 100 acquires the requested device information from the object table 141, and supplies the acquired device information to the command processing unit 101 (step S203).

The command processing unit 101 generates a response command based on the device information supplied from the object management unit 100 and the command library 1402, supplies the response command to the first transmission / reception unit 102 via the first buffer, and first transmits / receives the command. The request command supplied from the unit 102 is converted into a secondary request command with reference to the command library 1402, and supplied to the second transmission / reception unit 103 via the second buffer (step S204).

The first transmission / reception unit 102 transmits a response command supplied from the command processing unit 101 via the first buffer to the request source first device 2 via the network N1 (step S205).

The second transmission / reception unit 103 transmits the secondary request command supplied from the command processing unit 101 via the second buffer to the corresponding second device 3 via the network N2 (step S206).

When the second device 3 receives the secondary request command transmitted from the second transmission / reception unit 103 of the gateway device 1 via the network N2, the second device 3 acquires the device information of its own device requested by the secondary request command. A secondary response command in which the acquired device information is stored is generated, and the generated secondary response command is transmitted to the gateway device 1 via the network N2 (step S207).

When the second transmission / reception unit 103 of the gateway device 1 receives the secondary response command transmitted from the second device 3 via the network N2, the second transmission / reception unit 103 sends the received secondary response command to the command processing unit 101 via the second buffer. Supply (step S208).

When the command processing unit 101 receives the secondary response command supplied from the second transmission / reception unit 103 via the second buffer, the command processing unit 101 extracts device information from the secondary response command and extracts the extracted device information into the object management unit 100. Requests the update of the object table 141 (step S209).

The object management unit 100 updates the object table 141 based on the device information supplied from the command processing unit 101 (step S210).

As described above, since the gateway device 1 of the present embodiment has a proxy response function, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience when the communication speeds of the respective protocols of the networks N1 and N2 are significantly different. ..

Further, the general-purpose unit, that is, the management module 1400 corresponding to the object management unit 100 that manages the object table 141, and the command processing module 1401 corresponding to the command processing unit 101 that performs processing according to the received command are specific. It is generated with specifications common to multiple protocols without depending on the protocol. Then, the general-purpose unit and the non-general-purpose unit (command library 1402, object library 1403, first driver 1404, and second driver 1405) are loosely coupled.

Thereby, for example, at the time of updating such as updating the protocol, it is only necessary to update the command library 1402 and / or the object library 1403. Therefore, it is not necessary to restart the program 140, and the device information stored in the object table 141 is maintained, so that communication interruption can be avoided as much as possible.

When changing the application target to another protocol, at least one of the command library 1402, the object library 1403, the first driver 1404, and the second driver 1405 belonging to the non-general purpose part is changed in the gateway device 1. Workability is good because it only needs to be done. Further, when the program 140 is modified due to the change of the protocol, it is not necessary to modify the entire program 140, and at least one of the command library 1402, the object library 1403, the first driver 1404, and the second driver 1405 is modified. Therefore, the expandability is good, and the development cost and the maintenance cost can be reduced.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, when a notification command in which device information is periodically stored is transmitted from each second device 3 to the gateway device 1, the gateway device 1 sends a secondary request command to the second device 3 at the time of a proxy response. You do not have to send it.

In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the protocol to be applied can be updated by updating at least one of the command library 1402 and the object library 1403. However, when the protocol of the network N1 is updated, the first driver 1404 may be updated as needed, and when the protocol of the network N2 is updated, the second driver 1405 is updated as needed. May be good.

In addition, the entire program 140 and a part of the modules or libraries of the program 140 are CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), magneto-optical disc (Magneto-Optical Disc), and USB (Universal Serial). Bus) It is possible to store and distribute it in a computer-readable recording medium such as a memory, a memory card, or an HDD.

Further, the entire program 140 and a part of the modules or libraries of the program 140 are stored in a disk device or the like owned by another server on the Internet, and the entire program 140 or the program 140 is stored in the gateway device 1 from the server. Some modules or libraries may be downloaded.

The present invention is capable of various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope. Moreover, the above-described embodiment is for explaining the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of claims, not by the embodiment. Then, various modifications made within the scope of the claims and the equivalent meaning of the invention are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

1 Gateway device, 2 1st device, 3 2nd device, 10 communication interface, 11 CPU, 12 ROM, 13 RAM, 14 secondary storage device, 15 bus, 100 object management unit, 101 command processing unit, 102 first transmission / reception Unit, 103 Second transmitter, 140 program, 141 object table, 1400 management module, 1401 command processing module, 1402 command library, 1403 object library, 1404 first driver, 1405 second driver, N1, N2 network

Claims (4)

A gateway device including a CPU, a storage device, and a communication interface, which is connected to a first network and a second network.
A function provided by the CPU executing a program stored in the storage device, from a first device connected to the first network to a second device connected to the second network. A response according to the content of the request command is received by receiving the transmitted request command and referring to the object table in which the device information about each of the first device and the second device stored in the storage device is stored. A proxy response means for generating a command and transmitting the generated response command to the first device is provided.
The program includes a management module for executing processing related to management of the object table, a command processing module for executing processing according to a received command, and commands sent and received between the first device. A command library in which the contents of the above and the contents of commands sent and received between the second devices are defined, and an object library in which the classes of the first device and the second device are defined are included. ,
A gateway device in which an applicable protocol can be updated by updating at least one of the command library and the object library. After transmitting the response command to the first device, the proxy response means converts the request command into a secondary request command according to the protocol of the second network and transmits the secondary request command to the second device. The gateway device according to claim 1, which receives a secondary response command transmitted from the second device in response to a request command, and updates the object table based on the received secondary response command. The gateway device according to claim 1, wherein the proxy response means receives a notification command periodically transmitted from the second device, and updates the object table based on the received notification command. Computer,
Each of the first device and the second device stored in the storage device after receiving the request command transmitted from the first device connected to the first network to the second device connected to the second network. A program for generating a response command according to the content of the request command and functioning as a proxy response means for transmitting the generated response command to the first device by referring to an object table in which device information related to the device is stored. And
A management module for executing the processing related to the management of the object table, and
A command processing module for executing processing according to the received command,
A command library that defines the contents of commands sent and received to and from the first device and the contents of commands sent and received to and from the second device.
Includes an object library in which each class of the first device and the second device is defined.
A program in which an applicable protocol can be updated by updating at least one of the command library and the object library.

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