JP2022027047A - Control system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a control system that executes control requiring a real time property for flexibly performing a system configuration change in which the type of a communication medium between programs is changed.SOLUTION: One or more arithmetic units 40 have a control program 41, an information program 42, and a common I/F (interface) 36, 37. Neither the setting information of the control program nor the setting information of the information program depend on the type of a communication medium. A first program (the control program or the information program) specifies an I/O (Input/Output) for the common I/F by using, as an argument, information in the setting information for the first program. The common I/F specifies information corresponding to the argument of the I/O specification from mapping information, which is information including information depending on the type of the communication medium; and, based on the specified information, performs I/O depending on the type of the communication medium between the first program and the second program (the communication partner of the first program).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention generally relates to a control system.

Regarding the control system, for example, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 states that "this distributed monitoring and control system is used for monitoring in a distributed monitoring and control system in which a monitoring personal computer (PC) and a control programmable logic controller (PLC) in a plant monitoring and control facility are connected by a network. The information management file 13a of the general-purpose PLC 20a for control is provided in the general-purpose PC 10a, and the information automatic sweeping tool 29a of the general-purpose PLC 20a is provided in the general-purpose PLC 20a. Integrated management. "

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-362327

The conventional control device is an arithmetic unit in which at least one control program is arranged. Generally, the role of the control device is to control the controlled device without delay by executing the control program periodically. Arithmetic logic units have hardware resources such as processors and memory, but the hardware resources required to play a role are usually less than the hardware resources of general computers, so they are usually components of control systems. The amount of hardware resources of the arithmetic unit, which is said to be, is smaller than that of a general computer. The controlled device is typically an industrial device, and since the industrial device is expected to operate for a long period of time in a production line such as a factory as compared with a general computer, a fan used for cooling a CPU or the like. This is because there are restrictions such as not being able to mount such equipment.

It is conceivable that the communication for acquiring the information necessary for controlling the controlled device (for example, the measured value by the sensor) is a part of the control by the control program (that is, the communication is described in the control program). However, it is desirable to separate information processing such as communication from the control by the control program. One reason for such consideration is that the controlled target device of the control device is generally an automatic machine or a production facility such as a machine tool, an automatic assembly device or an automatic transfer device, so that high stability, that is, real-time performance is achieved. This is because it is required.

Therefore, in addition to the control program, it is conceivable to prepare an information program which is a program describing information processing such as communication.

The control program performs scanning processing at each control cycle specified in advance. The "scan process" is a process including reading information of a device connected to an I / O (Input / Output) port, calculating the read information, and writing the calculated information. The time composed of the scan time, which is the time required for the scan process, and the standby time, which is the time other than the scan time, is referred to as a "control cycle" (or "control program processing cycle").

The information program may or may not operate in a processing cycle different from that of the control program, and may not necessarily operate periodically. Further, the information program can also execute the processing of the information program during the waiting time (for example, the time when the control program is not using the hardware resource) in the processing cycle of the control program.

In order to give priority to the control program in order to maintain real-time performance, it is conceivable to add an arithmetic unit to the control system and execute the information program with the added arithmetic unit. In this case, since the information program is executed by an arithmetic unit different from the arithmetic unit in which the control program is executed, the information program is used for a time other than the standby time of the control program, for example, the time during which the scan process is performed. In addition, processing may be performed.

When the information program is executed by the arithmetic unit on which the control program is executed and another arithmetic unit, the communication medium between the control program and the information program is a communication medium outside the arithmetic unit (for example, an external bus or a communication network). be.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of resource saving, it is conceivable to execute both the control program and the information program in one arithmetic unit. In this case, the communication medium between the control program and the information program is the communication medium (for example, memory) inside the arithmetic unit.

The type of communication medium between programs is changed. System configuration changes (for example, changing the arithmetic unit to which the program is placed due to the addition or decrease of arithmetic units, and the type of communication medium to which the arithmetic unit is connected are changed. It is desirable to be able to flexibly perform at least one of the changes).

However, in order to realize communication (data sharing) between programs, settings that take into consideration various factors (for example, shared memory name, IP address, protocol type, bus number) depending on the type of communication medium between programs. It is necessary to perform this for each program that performs the communication. Therefore, when the system configuration is changed, it is necessary to recreate the program (for example, modify the code).

For this reason, it is not possible to flexibly change the system configuration in which the type of communication medium between programs is changed for a control system that performs control that requires real-time performance. Patent Document 1 does not disclose or suggest a method for making such a system configuration change for a control system that performs control that requires real-time performance.

A control system that controls one or more controlled devices comprises one or more arithmetic units, each having an interface device, a storage device, and a processor connected to them. One or more arithmetic units have one or more control programs, one or more information programs, and one or more shared interfaces. For each of the one or a plurality of control programs, the control program performs a scan process, which is a process of controlling the device to be controlled and has real-time performance, at each control cycle defined for the control program. The first setting information, which is a program performed within the program and is information set about the control program, is a communication medium between each of the control program and one or more information programs as communication partners of the control program. Information that does not depend on the type of. For each of the one or more information programs, the information program is a program that performs information processing defined for the information program, and the second setting information, which is the information set for the information program, is the information. Information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the program and each of the one or more control programs as communication partners of the information program. In each of the one or more arithmetic units, the first program (control program or information program) takes the information in the setting information about the first program as an argument to the shared interface in the arithmetic apparatus. Specify / O (Input / Output). In response to the I / O designation, the shared interface identifies the information corresponding to the argument of the I / O designation from the mapping information which is the information including the information depending on the communication medium type, and is specified. Based on the information obtained, I / O depending on the type of communication medium between the first program and the second program (control program or information program as a communication partner of the first program) is performed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to flexibly change the system configuration in which the type of communication medium between programs is changed for a control system that performs control that requires real-time performance.

An example of the physical configuration of the system including the control system according to the embodiment is shown. An example of the logical configuration of the control system is shown. The configuration of PIO bus control is shown. The configuration of network control is shown. An example of the setting information of the control application is shown. An example of the setting information of the information application is shown. The configuration of the control sharing I / F is shown. The configuration of the information sharing I / F is shown. Shows the structure of the app table. The configuration of the network mapping table is shown. The configuration of the bus mapping table is shown. The configuration of the memory mapping table is shown. The configuration of the data mapping table is shown. An example of the process related to the setting of the setting information of the control application is shown. An example of the process of generating or updating the network mapping table is shown. An example of the process of generating or updating the bus mapping table is shown. An example of the process of generating or updating the memory mapping table is shown. An example of the flow of data sharing between applications is shown.

The industrial control system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes one or more industrial control devices. The control system can typically further include an expansion device that shares hardware resources (eg, the I / O port of the control device) with the control device and deploys a control program or information program. Further, the control device according to the embodiment of the present invention may acquire information on an expansion device that can share hardware resources, and may arrange a control program or an information program in the control device and the shared expansion device. The expansion device does not necessarily have to be able to share the hardware resources of the control device. For example, an expansion device connected to a bus to which a control device is connected may be able to share the hardware resources of the control device, and an expansion device connected to a communication network to which the control device is connected may be a control device. Hardware resources do not have to be shareable. Both the control device and the expansion device are examples of arithmetic units.

In the following description, the "interface device" may be one or more interface devices. The one or more interface devices may be one or more similar communication interface devices or two or more different types of communication interface devices.

Further, in the following description, the "memory" is one or more memory devices, and may be typically a main storage device. At least one memory device in the memory may be a volatile memory device or a non-volatile memory device.

Further, in the following description, the "permanent storage device" is one or more permanent storage devices. The permanent storage device is typically a non-volatile storage device (for example, an auxiliary storage device), and specifically, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive).

Further, in the following description, the "storage device" may be at least a memory of a memory and a permanent storage device.

Also, in the following description, a "processor" is one or more processor modules. The at least one processor module is typically a microprocessor device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), but may be another type of processor device such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). At least one processor device may be single-core or multi-core. At least one processor module may be a processor core.

Further, in the following description, the process may be described with "program" as the subject, but the program is executed by the processor to appropriately perform the specified process in the storage device and / or the interface device and the like. The subject of the process may be a processor (or a device such as a controller having the processor) because it is performed while using it. The program may be installed from the program source into a device such as a calculator. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable (eg, non-temporary) recording medium. Further, in the following description, two or more programs may be realized as one program, or one program may be realized as two or more programs.

Further, in the following description, the function may be described by the expression of "yy part", but the function may be realized by executing one or more computer programs by the processor. When the function is realized by executing the program by the processor, the specified processing is appropriately performed by using the storage device and / or the interface device, so that the function may be at least a part of the processor. good. The process described with the function as the subject may be a process performed by a processor or a device having the processor. The description of each function is an example, and a plurality of functions may be combined into one function, or one function may be divided into a plurality of functions.

Further, in the following description, information that can be output with respect to an input may be described by an expression such as "xxx table", but the information may be data of any structure (for example, structure). It may be structured data or unstructured data), or it may be a learning model such as a neural network that produces an output for an input. Therefore, the "xxx table" can be referred to as "xxx information". Further, in the following description, the configuration of each table is an example, and one table may be divided into two or more tables, or all or a part of two or more tables may be one table. You may.

Further, in the following description, any one of ID, name and number is adopted as an example of the identification information, but the identification information is used in place of or in addition to at least one of the ID, name and number. It may contain seed elements.

Further, in the following description, the common part of the reference symbols may be used when the same type of elements are not distinguished, and the reference code may be used when the same type of elements are described separately. be.

Further, in the following description, an example of a control program is a control application, and an example of an information program is an information application. "App" is an abbreviation for application program.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a physical configuration of a system including a control system according to an embodiment.

The control system 109 is installed in the factory 10 where the controlled device 12 is located. The controlled object device 12 is, for example, an industrial device such as an industrial motor or a compressor. The factory 10 is an example of a site where the controlled device 12 is located.

The management system 101 and the control system 109 are connected to a communication network 108 (for example, the Internet or a WAN (Wide Area Network)). The control system 109 is connected to, for example, a communication network 19 (for example, a LAN (Local Area Network)) in the factory 10. The control system 109 can communicate with the management system 101 via the communication networks 19 and 108. The communication networks 108 and 19 are communication networks used for information communication processing performed by the information application (communication processing different from the processing in which the control application transmits control data to the controlled device 12 in the scanning process).

A control system 109 and one or more I / O modules 119 (an example of an I / O port) are connected to a communication network 118 (eg, Ethernet®). The communication network 118 is a communication network used for transmitting control data to the control target device 12 in the control process performed by the control application.

The communication networks 19, 108 and 118 may be different networks, or two or more of the communication networks 19, 108 and 118 may be the same network.

One or more peripheral devices 120 are connected to one or more I / O modules 119. The peripheral device 120 may be a device such as a sensor or a media drive (for example, HDD or SSD). The I / O module 119 functions as a bus slot in which the peripheral device 120 is detachably mounted as needed. The controlled device 12 is connected to the I / O module 119 via or not via the peripheral device 120. The controlled object device 12 and the I / O module 119 may be any of 1: 1, 1: many, many: 1 and many: many. Further, some I / O modules 119 may be connected to the communication network 108 in addition to the communication network 118, that is, the part of the I / O modules 119 is a device shared by the control application and the information application. It may be. Further, the at least one I / O module 119 may be at least a part of the network I / F device and the I / O control device of the at least one arithmetic unit 40.

The management system 101 is an example of a higher-level system of the control system 109. The management system 101 includes an EPROM 201, a CPU 202, a main memory 203, a peripheral control device 205, a non-volatile storage device 206, and a network I / F device 207. The management system 101 is connected to the communication network 108 via the network I / F device 207.

The control system 109 includes one or more arithmetic units 40. Each arithmetic unit 40 includes an interface device, a storage device, and a processor connected to them. All arithmetic units 40 may have the same or different hardware configurations. Any arithmetic unit 40 may be the placement destination of the control application or the placement destination of the information application. In the present embodiment, the arithmetic unit 40M is the main arithmetic unit, the arithmetic unit where the control application is arranged, and which can be the arrangement destination of the information application. Each of the arithmetic units 40E1 and 40E2 is an additional arithmetic unit, which cannot be the placement destination of the control application and can be the placement destination of the information application. The arithmetic unit 40E may be reduced. In other words, the arithmetic unit 40M alone may become the control system 109. Hereinafter, the arithmetic unit 40M may be referred to as a "control device 40M", and the arithmetic unit 40E may be referred to as an "expansion device 40E".

The control system 109 depends on whether or not the expansion device 40E is present, which type of communication medium the expansion device 40E is connected to, and which arithmetic unit 40 the information application that communicates with the control application is arranged in. System configuration is different. That is, the system configuration depends on the presence / absence of the expansion device 40E, the type of the communication medium to which each of the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E is connected, and the arithmetic unit 40 to which each application is arranged. In the example of FIG. 1, the expansion device 40E1 is connected to the communication network 118. The expansion device 40E2 is connected to a PIO bus 28 (an example of a bus) (“PIO” is an abbreviation for Programmed I / O). The PIO bus 28 may be a bus printed on the base board, and by connecting the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E2 to the base board, the control application executed by the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E2 are executed. The information application may communicate (share) data via the PIO bus 28.

In the embodiment in which the control application can be arranged in the expansion device 40E, or in the embodiment in which any arithmetic unit 40 can be expanded or reduced and any arithmetic unit 40 can be an arrangement destination of the control application, the system. The configuration also depends on the control app.

Taking the control device 40M as an example, the hardware configuration of the arithmetic unit 40 will be described, for example, as follows. That is, the control device 40M is connected to a memory 169 (for example, EPROM 208 and main memory 210), a peripheral control device 212, an I / O control device 214, a non-volatile storage device 215, a network I / F device 213, and the like. It is equipped with a CPU 209. The I / O control device 214 and the network I / F device 213 are examples of the interface device. The memory 169 and the non-volatile storage device 215 are examples of the storage device. CPU 209 is an example of a processor.

The peripheral control device 212 is connected to the network I / F device 213, the I / O control device 214, the non-volatile storage device 215, and the bus 211. A memory 169 and a CPU 209 are also connected to the bus 211.

At least one of the control application and the information application may be stored in the EPROM 208 in advance, or a program downloaded from a program source such as a program distribution server (not shown) may be stored in the EPROM 208. Not only one control application and one information application installed in the control system 109, but also a plurality of control applications and / or a plurality of information applications can be installed by setting resources that can be used by the control system 109 for each program. be able to.

The CPU 209 reads the control application (and information application) stored in the EPROM 208 into the main memory 210 and executes it to control the operation of the control application (and information application). For example, the CPU 209 controls a plurality of peripheral devices 120 via the peripheral control device 212, the I / O control device 214, and the plurality of I / O modules 119 by executing the control application. The peripheral device 120 may be associated with the I / O module 119 in a ratio of 1: 1. Further, the CPU 209 may be either a single core or a multi-core. One core may run at least one of one or more control apps and one or more information apps. Typically, one core may run one control app, one control app and one or more information apps, or one or more information apps.

The setting terminal 29 is connected to the control system 109 (for example, the control device 40M) via the communication network 19 (or not via the communication network 19). The setting terminal 29 is, for example, a computer having an input device, a display device, an interface device, a storage device, and a processor connected to them (for example, a desktop type, laptop type or tablet type personal computer, or a smartphone). .. The setting terminal 29 may give instructions and settings to the control system 109. The setting terminal 29 may be a part of the management system 101.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the logical configuration of the control system 109.

The control system 109 illustrated in FIG. 2 has a control device 40M and expansion devices 40E1 and 40E2 as an example of a plurality of arithmetic units 40.

The control device 40M has a shared memory 56. The shared memory 56 is at least a part of the storage area of the memory 169. Although not shown, the shared memory may also be present in at least one of the expansion devices 40E1 and 40E2.

The expansion device 40E1 is an arithmetic unit connected to the backboard 17 to which the control device 40M is connected. The communication medium between the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E1 is the PIO bus 28 provided on the backboard 17.

The expansion device 40E2 is an arithmetic unit connected to the communication network 118 to which the control device 40M is connected. The communication medium between the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E2 is the communication network 118.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the control system 109 can use a plurality of types of communication media such as the shared memory 56, the PIO bus 28, and the communication network 118 for data sharing between applications.

The arithmetic unit 40 that communicates via the PIO bus 28 has an I / F for the PIO bus 28 called the PIO bus control 61. The PIO bus control 61 includes a bus I / F 301, a bus driver 302, and a bus HW 303, as illustrated in FIG. Bus I / F 301 is software I / F for PIO bus 28. The bus driver 302 is software that controls data sharing (communication) via the PIO bus 28. The bus HW 303 is hardware that controls data sharing (communication) via the PIO bus 28 (for example, FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)). The bus HW 303 may be, for example, at least a part of the I / O controller 214 (see FIG. 1).

The arithmetic unit 40 that performs communication via a communication network (for example, communication network 118) has an I / F for a communication network called a network control 62. The network control 62 includes a network I / F 401, a network driver 402, and a network HW 403, as illustrated in FIG. The network I / F 401 is software I / F for a communication network. There are a network driver 402 and a network HW403 for each type of communication network. Take one type of communication network (“target network” in this paragraph) as an example. The network driver 402 is software that controls data sharing (communication) via the target network. The network HW403 is hardware that controls data sharing (communication) via the target network. The network HW403 may be, for example, at least a part of the network I / F device 213 (see FIG. 1).

The control device 40M executes the WEB server 69. The WEB server 69 is a program for functioning as a WEB server. The WEB server 69 communicates with at least one of the management system 101 and the setting terminal 29. For example, the WEB server 69 is an example of a user interface program that receives various instructions and settings from the setting terminal 29. The WEB server 69 may be executed by at least one expansion device 40E in place of or in addition to the control device 40M.

The non-volatile storage device 206 (an example of the storage device) of the management system 101 stores the VCPU management information 73. The VCPU management information 73 includes, for example, a VCPU image and a VCPU ID for each VCPU. "VCPU" means a virtual CPU and is an example of an application execution environment. The VCPU may be, for example, a VM (virtual machine) or a container.

The management system 101 has a distribution unit 72. The distribution unit 72 distributes the VCPU image to the arithmetic unit 40 via the communication network 108. In the arithmetic unit 40, the VCPU 37 is generated based on the VCPU image. The VCPU 37 executes one or more applications (in this embodiment, either the control application 41 or the information application 42). After the VCPU 37 is realized, the application may be distributed to the VCPU 37 by the distribution unit 72, or the VCPU image includes the image of the application, and the VCPU including the application is realized based on the VCPU image. May be good. In the example shown in FIG. 2, VCPU37A and 37B are distributed to the control device 40M, VCPU37C is distributed to the expansion device 40E1, and VCPU37D is distributed to the expansion device 40E2. The VCPU 37A executes the control application 41. The VCPU 37B executes the information application 42A. The VCPU 37C executes the information application 42B. The VCPU 37D executes the information application 42C.

The information application 42 is an application that performs information processing specified in the information application 42.

The control application 41 is a process for controlling the controlled target device 12 at each control cycle defined for the control application 41 and has a real-time property. Scan processing (information on the device connected to the I / O port). Processing including reading, calculating the read information, and writing the calculated information) is performed. The time required for the scan process is called "scan time". The control cycle is composed of a scan time and a waiting time which is a time other than the scan time. For example, when the control system 109 is a single control device 40M, the control device 40M has a control application 41 and one or more information applications 42, and the CPU 209 has a single core, the standby time during the control cycle is set. , At least one of one or more information apps 42 is executed. On the other hand, for example, in any of the following cases, at least one information application 42 may be executed during the scan time (in other words, even if it is not the waiting time).
-When the CPU 209 has a multi-core and the CPU 209 has a CPU core that the control application 41 does not occupy.
-When the control device 40M has a plurality of CPU 209s, and the plurality of CPU 209s include a CPU 209 which is not exclusively used by the control application 41.
-When there is an expansion device 40E and the information application 42 is arranged in the expansion device 40E.

By executing the application on the VCPU 37, both the control application 41 and the information application 42 are executed by one arithmetic unit 40 (control device 40M in the example shown in FIG. 2) without degrading the reliability of control. Can be executed.

However, in a system in which the application is executed by the VCPU 37, it is difficult to share data between the applications. This is because the calculation resources of each other's VCPU 37 cannot be recognized between the applications.

According to one comparative example, in order to realize data sharing between apps on different VCPUs, the app developer can use any type of communication medium for both the control app and the information app. It is necessary to decide in advance whether to share data, and set the information required for data sharing, which is information according to the type of the communication medium, in the application. The information set in the application is called "setting information" for convenience. In one comparative example, specific examples of setting information are as follows. That is, when the type of the communication medium is shared memory, the setting information includes information representing the name of the shared memory and information representing the name of the data item of the shared data (data to be shared). When the type of the communication medium is a bus, the setting information includes information representing a bus number (for example, a register address) and information representing the name of a data item of shared data. When the type of communication medium is a communication network, the setting information includes information indicating a destination (for example, IP address and port number), information indicating a protocol type (for example, HTTP, Modbus / TCP), and data items of shared data. Contains information that represents the name of.

As described above, in one comparative example, the setting information of the application depends on which type of communication medium the application shares data with, so that the application development is complicated.

Further, in one comparative example, the placement destination of the application must be an arithmetic unit capable of communicating with the application via a communication medium of a type corresponding to the setting information. That is, since the placement destination of the application depends on the setting information of the application, the degree of freedom of the placement destination of the application is low.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, a shared I / F (shared interface) that realizes data sharing is provided regardless of whether the communication medium is the shared memory 56, the PIO bus 28, or the communication network 118. The shared I / F is a layer I / F higher than the I / F for shared memory generally provided by the OS. The shared I / F accepts I / O specifications (for example, function call) from the application, but if the name of the destination application and the name of the data item of the shared data are used as arguments in the I / O specification. , Data sharing is realized regardless of the type of communication medium between the application and the destination application. In other words, the shared I / F makes the app unaware of which type of communication medium the data is shared via. Therefore, the information set in the application in the application development does not depend on the type of communication medium between the applications. Therefore, the complexity of application development is reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, each arithmetic unit 40 has a shared I / F. The existence of the shared I / F enables data sharing without the need for the application to be aware of the type of communication medium. Therefore, the placement destination of the application does not depend on the setting information of the application. Therefore, there is a high degree of freedom in where to place the application.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the system configuration change of the control system 109 (which can use at least one of the communication network 118 and the PIO bus 28 for data sharing between applications in addition to the shared memory 56) ( For example, at least one of changing the arithmetic unit 40 to which the application is placed and changing the type of the communication medium to which the arithmetic unit 40 is connected) with the addition or decrease of the arithmetic unit 40) is controlled. It can be done flexibly while maintaining the real-time property of.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail. Data sharing between the applications may be performed between the control applications 41 or between the information applications 42, but in the present embodiment, one control application 41 is associated with one or a plurality of information applications 42. Take the case of sharing data as an example. Further, in the present embodiment, the OS (Operating System) of at least the control device 40M is a real-time general-purpose OS (an OS having a real-time function capable of providing the required real-time performance although it is a system of general-purpose OS for information processing). The execution timing of the control application 41 and the information application 42 may be controlled by the real-time general-purpose OS. Alternatively, the execution timing of the control application 41 or the information application 42 may be controlled by the runtime software.

The shared I / F may be common to the control application 41 and the information application 42, but in the present embodiment, the control shared I / F 36 which is the shared I / F for the control application 41 and the shared I / F for the information application 42. There is an information sharing I / F37 which is F. That is, the shared I / F used by the control application 41 and the information application 42 is different. As a result, the configuration of the shared I / F 36 used in the control application 41 can be configured in consideration of the real-time property of the control, and thus can contribute to the maintenance of the real-time property of the control.

Further, for example, when a plurality of control applications 41 exist in the control device 40M, the control sharing I / F 36 may be common to the plurality of control applications 41, but the control application I / F 36 exists for each control application 41. It's okay. Similarly, for example, when a plurality of information applications 42 exist in the control device 40M or the expansion device 40E, the information sharing I / F 37 may be common to the plurality of information applications 42, but the information sharing I / F 37 may be common to each information application 42. / F37 may be present. According to the example shown in FIG. 2, since the control application 41 and the information application 42A exist in the control device 40M, the control sharing I / F36 used by the control application 41 and the information sharing I / F37A used by the information application 42A Is present in the control device 40M. Since the information application 42B exists in the expansion device 40E1, the information sharing I / F37B used for the information application 42B exists in the expansion device 40E1. Since the information application 42C exists in the expansion device 40E2, the information sharing I / F37C used for the information application 42C exists in the expansion device 40E2.

The mapping table group 80 exists in the control device 40M and each expansion device 40E. The mapping table group 80 is a table group referred to by the shared I / F for data sharing (“table group” is one or more tables). The mapping table group 80 includes an application mapping table group 81 which is a mapping table group for an application and a data mapping table group 82 which is a mapping table group for data. According to the example shown in FIG. 2, the mapping table group 80X includes the application mapping table group 81X and the data mapping table group 82X, and exists in the control device 40M. The mapping table group 80Y includes an application mapping table group 81Y and a data mapping table group 82Y, and exists in the expansion device 40E1. The mapping table group 80Z includes an application mapping table group 81Z and a data mapping table group 82Z, and exists in the expansion device 40E2.

The control application 41 specifies I / O for the control sharing I / F 36 based on the setting information of the control application 41. In response to the I / O designation, the control sharing I / F 36 refers to the mapping table group 80X and performs one of the following.
-In order to share variable value data with the information application 42A via the shared memory 56, I / O of the variable value is performed on the shared memory 56.
-In order to share variable value data with the information application 42B via the PIO bus 28, I / O of the variable value is performed for the PIO bus control 61A.
-In order to share variable value data with the information application 42C via the communication network 118, I / O of the variable value is performed for the network control 62A.

The information application 42A designates an I / O for the information sharing I / F37A based on the setting information of the information application 42A. In response to the I / O designation, the information sharing I / F37A refers to the mapping table group 80X and shares the variable value data with the control application 41 via the shared memory 56. I / O of the variable value is performed on 56.

The information application 42B designates an I / O for the information sharing I / F37B based on the setting information of the information application 42B. In response to the I / O designation, the information sharing I / F37B refers to the mapping table group 80Y and shares variable value data with the control application 41 via the PIO bus 28, so that the PIO bus can be used. I / O of the variable value is performed for the control 61B.

The information application 42C designates an I / O for the information sharing I / F37C based on the setting information of the information application 42C. In response to the I / O designation, the information sharing I / F37C refers to the mapping table group 80Z and performs network control in order to share variable value data with the control application 41 via the communication network 118. I / O of the variable value is performed for 62B.

Hereinafter, the setting information of the control application 41 is referred to as "first setting information", and the setting information of the information application 42 is referred to as "second setting information". Further, in the present embodiment, the shared data is a variable value (variable value), and the name of the data item of the shared data is a variable name (variable name).

Both the first setting information and the second setting information are information that does not depend on the type of communication medium.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the first setting information 500 of the control application 41 includes information such as a variable name 501, a destination application name 502, and an access right 503 for each variable to be shared by the control application 41. Take one variable as an example (“target variable” in the description of FIG. 5). The variable name 501 is information representing the name of the target variable. The destination application name 502 represents the name of the other application that shares the variable value of the target variable (“ALL” means all applications other than the control application 41 (all information applications 42 in this embodiment)). .. The access right 503 represents the name of the application that writes the variable value of the target variable and the name of the application that reads the variable value of the target variable (“ALL” means all applications other than the control application 41. do). According to the example shown in FIG. 5, the variable value of the variable 1 is shared with all the information applications 42, written by the control application 41, and read by all the information applications 42.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the second setting information 600 of the information application 42 includes information such as a variable name 601 and a destination application name 602 and an access right 603 for each variable to be shared by the information application 42. Take one variable as an example (“target variable” in the description of FIG. 6). The variable name 601 is information representing the name of the target variable. The destination application name 602 represents the name of the other application that shares the variable value of the target variable. The access right 603 represents the name of the application that writes the variable value of the target variable and the name of the application that reads the variable value of the target variable. According to the example shown in FIG. 6, the variable value of the variable 1 is shared with the control application 41, written by the control application 41, and read by the information application 42.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the control sharing I / F36.

The control sharing I / F 36 has a control I / F unit 701 and a control sharing unit 702. The control I / F unit 701 accepts an I / O designation from the control application 41. In response to the I / O designation, the control sharing unit 702 refers to the mapping table group 80 and performs I / O (reading or writing) of the variable value. The control sharing unit 702 has, for example, a library including a plurality of functions. Each function is a function for reading or writing.

FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the information sharing I / F37.

The information sharing I / F 37 has an information I / F unit 801 and an information sharing unit 802. The information I / F unit 801 accepts the I / O designation from the information application 42. The information sharing unit 802 refers to the mapping table group 80 in response to the I / O designation, and performs I / O of the variable value. The information sharing unit 802 has, for example, a library including a plurality of functions. Each function is a function for reading or writing.

At least a portion of at least one shared I / F may be included in at least one app. For example, at least a part of the control sharing I / F 36 may be included in the control application 41. Further, for example, at least a part of the information sharing I / F 37 may be included in the information application 42.

As described above, the mapping table group 80 includes the application mapping table group 81 and the data mapping table group 82. The app mapping table group 81 includes an app table 900 (see FIG. 9), a network mapping table 1000 (see FIG. 10), a bus mapping table 1100 (see FIG. 11), and a memory mapping table 1200 (see FIG. 12). The data mapping table group 82 includes a data mapping table 1300 (see FIG. 13). At least a part of the mapping table group 80 may be included in the application. Hereinafter, each table will be described.

FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the application table 900.

The application table 900 holds information such as the application name 901 and the communication medium type 902 for each application existing in the control system 109. Take one app as an example (“target app” in the description of FIG. 9).

The application name 901 represents the name of the target application. The communication medium type 902 represents the type of communication medium used by the target application for data sharing (“ALL” means that all types of communication media are used).

A system configuration change in which the type of communication medium between applications is changed (for example, changing the arithmetic unit 40 to which the application is placed due to the addition or decrease of the arithmetic unit 40, and communication of the connection destination of the arithmetic unit 40). When at least one of changing the medium type) is performed, the application table 900 (correspondence between the application name 901 and the communication medium type 902) is updated. The update of the application table 900 may be performed by, for example, the management system 101.

In this embodiment, since one control application 41 shares data with a plurality of information applications 42, the application with the application name 901 "0000" is the control application 41, and the other applications are the information applications. 42. In an example in which a plurality of control applications 41 exist or data is shared between information applications 42, the value of the communication medium type 902 for at least one application may be a value representing a plurality of communication medium types. ..

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the network mapping table 1000.

The network mapping table 1000 contains an application name 1001 and information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118, for example, a protocol type 1002 and an IP address, for each application whose communication medium type 902 is "ALL" or "network". It holds information such as 1003, port number 1004, and data path 1005. Take one app as an example (“target app” in the description of FIG. 10).

The application name 1001 represents the name of the target application. The protocol type 1002 represents a communication protocol type used for data sharing (communication) with the target application. The IP address 1003 represents an IP address used for data sharing (communication) with the target application. The port number 1004 represents the port number used for data sharing (communication) with the target application. The data path 1005 represents a data path used for data sharing (communication) with the target application. In the I / O performed from the shared I / F to the network control 62 for data sharing with the target application, the information 1002 to 1005 corresponding to the target application is used.

FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the bus mapping table 1100.

The bus mapping table 1100 displays the application name 1101 and information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28, for example, information such as the bus number 1102, for each application whose communication medium type 902 is "ALL" or "bus". Hold. Take one app as an example (“target app” in the description of FIG. 11).

The application name 1101 represents the name of the target application. The bus number 1102 represents a bus number used for data sharing (communication) with the target application. In the I / O performed from the shared I / F to the PIO bus control 61 for data sharing with the target application, the bus number 1102 corresponding to the target application is used.

FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the memory mapping table 1200.

The memory mapping table 1200 includes an application name 1201 and information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56, for example, the shared memory name 1202, for each application whose communication medium type 902 is “ALL” or “shared memory”. Hold information. Take one app as an example (“target app” in the description of FIG. 12).

The application name 1201 represents the name of the target application. The shared memory name 1202 is used for data sharing (communication) with the target application and represents the name of the shared memory 56. In the I / O performed from the shared I / F to the shared memory 56 for data sharing with the target application, the shared memory name 1202 corresponding to the target application is used.

FIG. 13 shows the configuration of the data mapping table 1300.

The data mapping table 1300 holds information such as the variable name 1301 and the position 1302 for each variable. Take one variable as an example (“target variable” in the description of FIG. 13).

The variable name 1301 represents the name of the variable. Position 1302 represents the position of the variable value. For example, for a variable value to be data shared via the shared memory 56, the position 1302 represents the position from the beginning of the shared memory 56 and the data length.

Hereinafter, an example of the processing performed in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 18.

As shown in FIG. 14, there is system configuration information 1420. The system configuration information 1420 is information representing the configuration of the control system 109. The system configuration information 1420 may include, for example, information input by the administrator, or information collected from the control device 40M and each arithmetic unit 40E by the control device 40M (for example, the control application 41 or another program). (For example, information including the application name) may be included. The system configuration information 1420 may be stored in at least one of the control device 40M, the setting terminal 29, and the management system 101. The system configuration information 1420 is, for example, a list of application names of applications existing or distributable in the control system 109, attributes of each application (whether it is a control application or an information application), and an address for each arithmetic unit 40. It may contain information representing and.

There is a development unit 1410. The expansion unit 1410 exists in the control device 40M, for example, and may include the WEB server 69. Alternatively, the expansion unit 1410 may exist in the management system 101 or the setting terminal 29.

The expansion unit 1410 displays the setting GUI (Graphical User Interface) 1400. The setting GUI 1400 is displayed on, for example, the setting terminal 29. The setting GUI 1400 is a GUI (an example of a user interface) for setting the first setting information, and is, for example, a GUI for an application developer of the control application 41. The setting GUI 1400 has an input table 1450 and a setting button 1401. The input table 1450 has a check box 1421 for determining whether or not to be shared, an input field 1422 for the variable name, an input field 1423 for the destination application name, and an access right input field 1424 for each variable. The expansion unit 1410 may display a list of application names of the information application 42 existing or distributable in the control system 109 based on the system configuration information 1420 on the setting GUI 1400 (or on another user interface). good. Further, the system configuration information 1420 may include a part of the information included in the mapping table group 80.

In the general-purpose computer field, when the writing of variable values by a plurality of applications conflicts, it is performed to wait for the writing by one application to be completed in order to avoid the conflict. However, in the control system 109 according to the present embodiment, if there is a wait for writing a variable value during or after the scan process, the start timing of the next scan process may arrive during the wait. Therefore, the competition avoidance technology in the field of general-purpose computers cannot be simply applied to the control system 109.

The scanning process of the control application 41 is faster than the information processing of the information application 42. Therefore, the variable values related to the industrial equipment that is the target of data sharing and is connected to the I / O port are repeatedly updated. Therefore, it is desirable not to give the information application 42 the authority to write such variable values.

In other words, since the cycle of the scan process of the control application 41 is shorter than the cycle of the information processing (for example, data update process) of the information application 42, it is desirable that the access right of the information application is read-only.

Further, the information application 42 can read only the variable value related to the I / O port and write the result of the calculation using the variable value as the variable value of the variable set separately. When there are a plurality of information applications 42, the information application 42 that can be written for a predetermined variable value may be limited to one. As an example, in the control system 109 in which the control application 41 and the three information applications 42 are arranged, the write permission of the variable value of a certain variable is only the control application 41 or only one of the three information applications 42. May be given to.

As described above, in the present embodiment, there is only one application for writing the variable value for each variable. This eliminates conflicts such as two or more apps writing variable values at the same time for each variable, and no write waits such as one app writing a variable value and another app waiting for the variable value to be written. Therefore, the fact that there is only one application for writing the variable value contributes to maintaining the real-time property of the control of the control application 41.

When the expansion unit 1410 receives an instruction for setting according to the contents input to the input table 1450 (in the example shown in FIG. 14, when the setting button 1401 is pressed), the following (A) to (C) You may do at least one of them. In the following processing, the system configuration information 1420 is referred to by the expansion unit 1410 as necessary.
(A) The expansion unit 1410 generates the first setting information 500 according to the contents input to the input table 1450, and distributes the control application 41 in which the first setting information 500 is set to the control device 40M (for example). , Deploy the control application 41 to the empty VCPU 37 of the control device 40M). The first setting information 500 includes a variable name, a destination application name, and an access right for each variable to be shared.
(B) The expansion unit 1410 generates the second setting information 600 according to the contents input to the input table 1450, and shares the second setting information 600 with the control application 41 (with the sharing target). At least one variable is set in the information application 42) represented by the destination application name. For example, regarding the variable name “variable 2”, the second setting information 600 for the information application 42A (application name “0001”) has the variable name “variable 2” and the destination application name “0000” (application name of the control application 41). ) And the access rights "WRITE: 0000" and "READ: 0001". That is, the second setting information 600 for the information application 42 having the application name set as the destination application name of the control application 41 includes the application name of the control application as the destination application name, and the control application 41 as an access right. Includes the same access rights as the set access rights.
(C) The expansion unit 1410 generates at least the data mapping table group 82 of the mapping table group 80 according to the contents input to the input table 1450, and distributes the mapping table group 80 to each arithmetic unit 40. The application mapping table group 81 in the mapping table group 80 may be generated, for example, when the power of the control device 40M is turned on. The application mapping table group 81 is based on the type of communication medium between the arithmetic unit 40 at the arrangement destination of the information application 42 of the application name and the control device 40M at the arrangement destination of the control application 41 for each application name. For each of the network mapping table 1000, the bus mapping table 1100, and the memory mapping table 1200, at least a part of the information other than the application name may be the information acquired from the system configuration information 1420. Each variable name possessed by the data mapping table 1300 is a variable name of the variable to be shared in the input table 1450. In the data mapping table 1300, at least a part of the information other than the variable name may be the information determined by the expansion unit 1410 or the information acquired from the system configuration information 1420.

According to the setting GUI1400, the variables to be shared are the variables determined by the control side (in this embodiment, the variables specified via the setting GUI1400), and each of these variables is the access determined by the control side. It can only be accessed by rights. Thereby, the control having real-time property can be prioritized.

For example, each table in the application mapping table group 81 may be generated by the control application 41 according to the method exemplified in FIGS. 15 to 17. Each table generated by the control application 41 may be distributed to each arithmetic unit 40 by the control application 41 or the expansion unit 1410.

According to the example shown in FIG. 15, the network mapping table 1000 is generated or updated as follows (in FIG. 15, "0000" is the application name of the control application 41, and "0002" and "0005" are. , Each is the application name of the information application 42 that shares data with the control application 41 via the communication network). That is, the control application "0000" periodically (or irregularly) broadcasts a request for acquiring information used for data sharing via the communication network via the network control 62. In the arithmetic unit 40 (typically the expansion device 40E) that has received the acquisition request, the application (typically the information application 42) in the arithmetic unit 40 returns information including the application name of the application (S1502). .. If the returned information has a difference from the network mapping table 1000 (or even if there is no difference), the control application "0000" puts the returned information (for example, only the difference) into the network mapping table 1000. Reflect (S1503). In this way, the contents of the network mapping table 1000 can be maintained up to date even if the system configuration is changed. This is useful, for example, for the variable corresponding to the destination application name "ALL" in the first setting information 500. This is because the information application 42 may be added or reduced as the arithmetic unit 40 (typically the expansion device 40E) is added or reduced to the communication network 118. As a method of setting all apps that meet the predetermined conditions as the data sharing partner of the application, instead of or in addition to setting "ALL" as the destination application name, a predetermined method regarding the application as the data sharing partner is performed. A method of setting conditions (for example, application name conditions, IP address conditions) may be adopted.

According to the example shown in FIG. 16, the bus mapping table 1100 is generated or updated as follows (in FIG. 16, “0000” is the application name of the control application 41, and “0003” and “0007” are. , Each is the application name of the information application 42 that shares data via the control application 41 and the PIO bus 28). That is, each of the control application "0000" and the information applications "0003" and "0007" perform initialization processing (S1600). In the initialization process (S1600) of the control application 41, the control application 41 has the application name "0000" of the control application 41 and the application names "0003" and "0003" of the information application 42 of the data sharing partner in the control sharing I / F 36. 0007 ”is taught. Similarly, the information application 42 (for example, the information application “0003”) also has its own application name “0003” and a control application of the data sharing partner in the information sharing I / F37 in the initialization process (S1600) of the information application 42. Teach the app name "0000". In such an initialization process, both the control sharing I / F 36 and the information sharing I / F 37 can know the application name of the other party's application that shares data via the PIO bus 28. After the initialization process, the control application "0000" transfers information (information including the application name and bus number) used for data sharing via the PIO bus 28 to one or more expansion devices connected to the PIO bus 28. Received from each of the 40E information applications "0003" and "0007", for example, via a communication network (S1601). The control application "0000" reflects the received information in the bus mapping table 1100 (S1602).

According to the example shown in FIG. 17, the memory mapping table 1200 is generated or updated as follows (in FIG. 17, “0000” is the application name of the control application 41, and “0001” and “0008” are , Each is the application name of the information application 42 that shares data via the control application 41 and the shared memory 56). That is, each of the control application "0000" and the information applications "0001" and "0008" perform the initialization process (S1600). In this initialization process, both the control sharing I / F 36 and the information sharing I / F 37 can know the application name of the other party's application that shares data via the shared memory 56. After the initialization process, the control application "0000" uses the information (information including the application name and the shared memory name) used for data sharing via the shared memory 56 as the information applications "0001" and "0001" of the same control device 40M. Received from each of 0008 "(S1701). The control application "0000" reflects the received information in the memory mapping table 1200 (S1702).

Data sharing between applications is performed via the shared I / F based on the mapping table group 80 including the tables generated or updated as described above. An example of data sharing will be described with reference to FIG. For the sake of simplicity, the variable name of the variable to be shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42A is referred to as "variable 1", and the variable value of the variable "variable 1" is referred to as "variable value 1". The variable name of the variable to be shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42B is "variable 2", and the variable value of the variable "variable 2" is called "variable value 2". The variable name of the variable to be shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42C is "variable 3", and the variable value of the variable "variable 3" is called "variable value 3". Further, the control application 41 is the only application that has write permission for each of the variables "variable 1" to "variable 3".

The control application 41 writes the variable values 1 to 3 to the work memory 152 (a part of the memory 169 (see FIG. 1)) in the scan process at each control cycle. The control application 41 designates the writing of the variable values 1 to 3 written in the work memory 152 during or after the scanning process to the control sharing I / F 36 for each control cycle. Hereinafter, data sharing of each of the variable values 1 to 3 will be described.

<Data sharing of variable value 1>

The control application 41 identifies the variable name "variable 1" and the destination application name "0001" (app name of the information application 42A) corresponding to the variable name "variable 1" from the first setting information 500, and also It is specified from the first setting information 500 that oneself has write authority. The control application 41 makes an I / O designation with "variable 1" and "0001" as arguments to the control sharing I / F36, respectively. The I / O designation is a designation for writing the variable value 1. In the control sharing I / F 36, the control I / F unit 701 receives the I / O designation. The control sharing unit 702 refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "0001" specified by the I / O as a key, so that the data sharing of the variable value 1 is via the shared memory 56. And, the information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56 is specified. Further, the control sharing unit 702 specifies the position of the write destination of the variable value 1 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "variable 1" specified by the I / O as a key. .. The control sharing unit 702 writes the variable value 1 at the specified writing destination position using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56.

After that, the information application 42A identifies the variable name "variable 1" and the destination application name "0000" (app name of the control application 41) corresponding to the variable name "variable 1" from the second setting information 600A. Further, it is specified from the second setting information 600A that oneself has the read authority. The information application 42A specifies I / O with "variable 1" and "0000" as arguments to the information sharing I / F37A. The I / O designation is a read designation of the variable value 1. In the information sharing I / F37A, the information I / F unit 801A receives the I / O designation. The information sharing unit 802A refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "0000" specified by the I / O as a key, so that the data sharing of the variable value 1 is via the shared memory 56. And, the information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56 is specified. Further, the information sharing unit 802A specifies the position of the variable value 1 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "variable 1" specified by the I / O as a key. The information sharing unit 802A reads the variable value 1 from the specified position using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56. The read variable value 1 returns to the information application 42A from the information I / F unit 801A of the information sharing I / F37A in response to the I / O designation.

As described above, the variable value 1 is shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42A.

<Data sharing of variable value 2>

The control application 41 specifies the variable name "variable 2" and the destination application name "0003" (app name of the information application 42B) corresponding to the variable name "variable 2" from the first setting information 500, and also It is specified from the first setting information 500 that oneself has write authority. The control application 41 makes an I / O designation with "variable 2" and "0003" as arguments to the control sharing I / F36. The I / O designation is a designation for writing the variable value 2. In the control sharing I / F 36, the control I / F unit 701 receives the I / O designation. The control sharing unit 702 refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "0003" specified by the I / O as a key, so that the data sharing of the variable value 2 is via the PIO bus 28. And, the information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28 is specified. Further, the control sharing unit 702 specifies the position of the write destination of the variable value 2 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "variable 2" specified by the I / O as a key. .. The control sharing unit 702 sends an I / O for writing the variable value 2 to the specified position to the PIO bus control 61A by using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28. conduct. The PIO bus control 61A outputs the variable value 2 to the PIO bus 28 according to the I / O. The output variable value 2 is sent to, for example, the PIO bus control 61B of the expansion device 40E1.

After that, the information application 42B identifies the variable name "variable 2" and the destination application name "0000" (app name of the control application 41) corresponding to the variable name "variable 2" from the second setting information 600B. Further, it is specified from the second setting information 600B that oneself has the read authority. The information application 42B specifies I / O with "variable 2" and "0000" as arguments to the information sharing I / F37B. The I / O designation is a read designation of the variable value 2. In the information sharing I / F37B, the information I / F unit 801B receives the I / O designation. The information sharing unit 802B refers to the application mapping table group 81Y in the mapping table group 80Y using the argument "0000" specified by the I / O as a key, so that the data sharing of the variable value 2 is via the PIO bus 28. And, the information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28 is specified. Further, the information sharing unit 802B specifies the position of the variable value 2 by referring to the data mapping table group 82Y in the mapping table group 80Y using the argument "variable 2" specified by the I / O as a key. The information sharing unit 802B performs I / O for reading the variable value 2 from the specified position to the PIO bus control 61B using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28. The PIO bus control 61B returns the variable value 2 via the PIO bus 28 to the information sharing I / F37B. The variable value 2 returns to the information application 42B from the information I / F unit 801B of the information sharing I / F37B in response to the I / O designation.

As described above, the variable value 2 is shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42B.

<Data sharing of variable value 3>

The control application 41 specifies the variable name "variable 3" and the destination application name "0002" (app name of the information application 42C) corresponding to the variable name "variable 3" from the first setting information 500, and also It is specified from the first setting information 500 that oneself has write authority. The control application 41 makes an I / O designation with "variable 3" and "0002" as arguments to the control sharing I / F 36, respectively. The I / O designation is a designation for writing the variable value 3. In the control sharing I / F 36, the control I / F unit 701 receives the I / O designation. The control sharing unit 702 refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "0002" specified by the I / O as a key, so that the data sharing of the variable value 3 is via the communication network 118. And identify the information required for data sharing via the communication network 118. Further, the control sharing unit 702 specifies the position of the write destination of the variable value 3 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument "variable 3" specified by the I / O as a key. .. The control sharing unit 702 performs I / O for writing the variable value 3 at the specified position to the network control 62A by using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118. The network control 62A outputs the variable value 3 to the communication network 118 according to the I / O. The output variable value 3 is sent to, for example, the network control 62B of the expansion device 40E2.

After that, the information application 42C identifies the variable name "variable 3" and the destination application name "0000" (app name of the control application 41) corresponding to the variable name "variable 3" from the second setting information 600C. Further, it is specified from the second setting information 600C that oneself has the read authority. The information application 42C specifies I / O with "variable 3" and "0000" as arguments to the information sharing I / F37C. The I / O designation is a read designation of the variable value 3. In the information sharing I / F37C, the information I / F unit 801C receives the I / O designation. The information sharing unit 802C refers to the application mapping table group 81Z in the mapping table group 80Z using the argument "0000" specified by the I / O as a key, so that the data sharing of the variable value 3 is via the communication network 118. And identify the information required for data sharing via the communication network 118. Further, the information sharing unit 802C specifies the position of the variable value 3 by referring to the data mapping table group 82Z in the mapping table group 80Z using the argument "variable 3" specified by the I / O as a key. The information sharing unit 802C performs I / O for reading the variable value 3 from the specified position to the network control 62B by using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118. The network control 62B returns the variable value 3 via the communication network 118 to the information sharing I / F37C. The variable value 3 returns to the information application 42C from the information I / F unit 801C of the information sharing I / F37C in response to the I / O designation.

As described above, the variable value 3 is shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42C.

In the example shown in FIG. 18, the writer is the control application 41 and the reader is the information application 42 for any of the variable values 1 to 3, but the data sharing method is substantially the same even if the writer and the reader are reversed. be.

Although one embodiment has been described above, this is an example for explaining the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The present invention can also be implemented in various other forms.

109 ... Control system

Claims (8)

A control system that controls one or more controlled devices.
Each comprises an interface device, a storage device and one or more arithmetic units having a processor connected to them.
The one or more arithmetic units have one or more control programs, one or more information programs, and one or more shared interfaces.
For each of the one or more control programs
The control program is a program that performs a scan process, which is a process of controlling a controlled target device and a process having real-time property, within the control cycle at each control cycle defined for the control program.
The first setting information, which is the information set for the control program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the control program and each of the one or more information programs as communication partners of the control program. can be,
For each of the one or more information programs
The information program is a program that performs information processing specified for the information program.
The second setting information, which is the information set for the information program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the information program and each of the one or more control programs as communication partners of the information program. can be,
In each of the one or more arithmetic units
The first program, which is a control program or an information program, specifies I / O (Input / Output) for the shared interface in the arithmetic unit by using the information in the setting information for the first program as an argument.
The shared interface responds to the I / O designation and
The information corresponding to the argument specified by the I / O is specified from the mapping information which is the information including the information depending on the communication medium type.
Based on the specified information, I / O depending on the type of communication medium between the first program and the control program as a communication partner of the first program or the second program which is an information program. I do,
Control system. For each of the one or more control programs, the first setting information of the control program is the item identification information which is the identification information of the data item of the shared data which is the data to be shared and the program of the information program of the sharing partner. Contains information that represents the relationship with the identification information
For each of the one or more information programs, the second setting information of the information program relates to the relationship between the item identification information which is the identification information of the data item of the shared data and the program identification information of the control program of the sharing partner. Including information to represent
In each of the one or more arithmetic units
There are a first argument and a second argument as the argument of the I / O designation.
The first argument is the program identification information of the second program.
The second argument is the item identification information of the data item of the shared data shared by the first program and the second program.
The mapping information represents the program mapping information representing the relationship between the program identification information and the data sharing method information representing the data sharing method depending on the communication medium type, and the position of the input source or output destination of the item identification information and the shared data. Includes data mapping information that represents the relationship with shared location information
The information corresponding to the first argument is data sharing method information.
The information corresponding to the second argument is the shared location information.
The I / O performed by the shared interface is I / O according to the specified data sharing method information and shared position information, and is shared data corresponding to the data item represented by the item identification information as the second argument. I / O,
The control system according to claim 1. The one or more shared interfaces mentioned above
For each of the one or more control programs, a control sharing interface, which is a shared interface of the control program,
For each of the one or more arithmetic units, the information sharing interface which is a sharing interface of one or more information programs existing in the arithmetic unit is included.
The control system according to claim 1. The mapping information includes data mapping information representing the relationship between the item identification information and the shared position information representing the position of the input source or output destination of the shared data.
The item identification information represented by the data mapping information is information designated via the setting user interface of the information included in the first setting information.
The control system according to claim 1. The mapping information includes network mapping information representing a relationship between program identification information of a program that shares data via a communication network and data sharing method information representing a data sharing method depending on the communication network.
The arithmetic unit with the control program
Broadcast information acquisition requests regularly or irregularly via a communication network,
The information specified from the response received in response to the acquisition request is reflected in the network mapping information.
The control system according to claim 1. For each data item of shared data, there is one program that outputs the shared data corresponding to the data item.
The control system according to claim 1. The arithmetic unit having the control program has the shared memory and
An arithmetic unit having a control program and at least one arithmetic unit are connected to a bus on a circuit board.
An arithmetic unit having a control program and at least one arithmetic unit are connected to a communication network.
The first program is a control program.
The second program is an information program and is an information program.
The type of communication medium used in data sharing between the first program and the second program is either shared memory, bus, or communication network.
The control system according to claim 1. A control method performed by a control system that controls one or more controlled devices and has one or more arithmetic units.
The first program, which is a control program or an information program, makes an I / O (Input /) with the information in the setting information about the first program as an argument to the shared interface in the arithmetic unit having the first program. Output) Specify and
The control program is a program that performs scan processing within the control cycle, which is a process of controlling the controlled target device and a process having real-time property, at each control cycle defined for the control program.
The first setting information, which is the information set for the control program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the control program and each of the one or more information programs as communication partners of the control program. can be,
The information program is a program that performs information processing specified for the information program.
The second setting information, which is the information set for the information program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the information program and each of the one or more control programs as communication partners of the information program. can be,
The shared interface responds to the I / O designation and
The information corresponding to the argument specified by the I / O is specified from the mapping information which is the information including the information depending on the communication medium type.
Based on the specified information, I / O depending on the type of communication medium between the first program and the control program as a communication partner of the first program or the second program which is an information program. I do,
Control method.

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