JP3479831B2 - RS-232C aggregation device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is an RS-232 system in which a plurality of products can be controlled simultaneously by a single control terminal via an RS-232C interface.
C aggregation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a dynamic aging test, which is one of the product inspection processes, uses a product to be inspected in a high temperature aging room for a long time of, for example, about 10 to 72 hours to perform an initial test. It is to detect defects. Further, since the test time is long, it is desirable that the number of products to be accommodated in the aging room and subjected to the dynamic aging test at the same time is inevitably large.

By the way, in the dynamic aging test, each product stored in the aging room is
The start command sent from the control terminal such as a personal computer cable-connected through the RS-232C interface executes the aging program built into each product and collects and processes logs when an error occurs. To do. Then, each product sends the execution status of the aging program, the log when an error occurs, and the processing content to the control terminal via the RS-232C interface. As a result, the control terminal displays the execution status from each product, the log when an error occurs, and the processing content on the display.

Here, one to a plurality of control terminals are required for each product, and when performing a dynamic aging test on a plurality of products at the same time, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, in an aging room. A personal computer 2 as one control terminal is required for each of the accommodated products 1.

Then, each personal computer 2
Each is connected to the corresponding product 1 via the RS-232C cable 3 to activate the software 4,
Corresponding product 1 by executing the control program
A start-up command is sent to and the aging program in each product 1 is executed. In addition, each personal computer 2 receives the execution status of the aging program in the corresponding product 1, the log when an error occurs, and the processing content via the RS-232C cable 3, and displays them on the display.

On the other hand, in order to reduce the number of control terminals, there is also known a method of using a so-called RS-232C expansion board to control a plurality of products with one control terminal. In this case, as shown in FIG.
By mounting the 2C expansion board 5, RS-232
By increasing the number of C ports to 8 to 16 ports, the product 1 is RS-232C for each port.
Connect via cable 3.

With such a configuration, each personal computer 2 has an RS-232C expansion board 5
The respective ports are connected to a plurality of products 1 via the RS-232C cable 3. Then, each personal computer 2 similarly activates the software 4 for each of the plurality of connected products 1 to execute the control program, thereby executing the aging program in the corresponding product 1. . In addition, each personal computer 2 receives the execution status of the aging program in the corresponding product 1, the log when an error occurs, and the processing content via the RS-232C cable 3, and displays them on the display.

[0008]

However, such a configuration has the following problems. First,
In the configuration shown in FIG. 6, it is necessary to prepare one personal computer 2 for each product 1 and connect each with a RS-232C cable. For this reason, when performing the dynamic aging test on a large number of products 1 at the same time, it is necessary to prepare the personal computers 2 as a large number of control terminals corresponding to the dynamic aging test, which significantly increases the capital investment cost of the control terminals themselves. At the same time, the space on the inspection floor for the dynamic aging test increases, which leads to pressure on the inspection floor.
In addition, since the number of manual operations on each personal computer 2 as a control terminal increases, the operability deteriorates, which increases the time required for manual operations and induces human error.

On the other hand, in the configuration shown in FIG. 7, the number of control terminals can be reduced, but the problem of operability in each personal computer 2 as a control terminal cannot be improved. Also, the control terminal is
The RS-232C controller connected to the normal bus is the CPU
It is controlled from. Therefore, dozens of ports of RS-2
A plurality of control terminals are required to control the 32C interface. Therefore, the facility investment cost increases and the space of the inspection floor for the dynamic aging test also increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is an RS-232C aggregation in which a single control terminal can control a large number of products via an RS-232C interface. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0011]

To achieve this object, an RS-232C aggregation device according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises an interface for connecting to a control terminal, a transmission and reception FIFO (First-In). A PC (terminal) INF unit that controls first-out), a transmission FIFO that buffers transmission data from the PCINF unit, and a DMUX (Data) that distributes the transmission data from the transmission FIFO to a plurality of ports. Multiplexer) section and the above D
Each transmission data distributed by the MUX unit is sent as an RS.
MUX (Multiplexer) that multiplexes the received data from the INF unit and the INF unit that converts the RS-232C data input at each port into the received data and outputs the data from each port. Section and a reception FIFO for buffering the multiplexed reception data from the MUX section and outputting it to the PCINF section.
And are provided.

When the RS-232C aggregating device has such a configuration, the transmission data from one control terminal is
After being buffered by the transmission FIFO via the NF unit, the DMUX unit distributes the data to each port, the INF unit converts the corresponding port into RS-232C data, and outputs the RS-232C data. Further, RS-232C data received by each port is converted into reception data by the INF unit, multiplexed by the MUX unit, buffered by the reception FIFO, and then transmitted through the PCINF unit to the control terminal. Be transmitted to.

Therefore, since it is possible to output RS-232C data to a large number of ports by one control terminal and receive RS-232C data input to each port, for example, a dynamic aging test of a product can be performed. In this case, one control terminal can simultaneously control products to be inspected, which are connected to each of several tens of ports or more.

As a result, the number of control terminals can be further reduced as compared with the case of using the conventional RS-232C expansion board, and the facility investment cost required for the control terminals can be reduced. The space occupied by the control terminal can be reduced and the inspection floor can be effectively utilized.

Further, since one control terminal can control a large number of devices to be controlled connected to each port, it is possible to unify the software interfaces of the control terminals for controlling each device. This facilitates the operation of each device at the control terminal, improves operability, and shortens the operation time.

The RS-232C integrated device of the present invention
According to a first aspect of the present invention, the PCINF unit is connected to the parallel interface of the control terminal. With the RS-232C aggregation device having such a configuration, signals are transmitted and received between the control terminal and the PCINF unit through the parallel interface, which enables high-speed data transfer as compared with the serial interface and does not reduce the transfer speed. In addition, it is possible to sufficiently cope with time division multiplexing of serial data.

Further, the RS-232C aggregation device of the present invention
As described in claim 1, each of the ports is connected to the RS-232C interface of the device to be controlled by the control terminal. When the RS-232C aggregation device has such a configuration, the RS-
It is possible to directly control a large number of devices to be controlled by RS-232C data without using the 232C controller.

Furthermore, the RS-232C integrated device of the present invention
As described in claim 1, the transmission data is
D from the control terminal via PCINF section and transmission FIFO
Up to the MUX unit, it is configured to be transmitted by time division multiplex transmission.

Also, regarding the above-mentioned received data, the MU
Between the X section and the reception FIFO / PCINF section to the control terminal, transmission is performed by time division multiplex transmission.

When the RS-232C aggregating device has such a configuration, it is possible to easily control a large number of devices to be controlled connected to each port from the control terminal by time division multiplexing transmission of transmission data and reception data. You can

The RS-232C aggregating apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is configured such that the data transmitted by time division multiplex transmission has port number information indicating a port number and a data body corresponding to the port number. . RS-23
When the 2C aggregation device has such a configuration, transmission data can be easily distributed to each port in the DMUX unit.

In the RS-232C aggregation device according to a third aspect of the present invention, each of the INF units converts the transmission data from the DMUX unit into serial data, further converts into RS-232C data, and outputs from the corresponding port. It is as a configuration.

In addition, in the RS-232C aggregating apparatus according to claim 4 , each of the INF units receives an R from a corresponding port.
Convert S-232C data to parallel data and
It is configured to output to the X section.

When the RS-232C aggregating device has such a configuration, RS-232C data which is serial data is transmitted between the INF section and each port, and between the INF section and the DMUX section and the MUX section. Since parallel data is transmitted, high-speed data transmission can be performed between the INF section and the DMUX section and the MUX section.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, RS-2 of the present invention
1 to 32 show a first embodiment in the case of performing, for example, a dynamic aging test using a 32C aggregation device.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows an RS- according to the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the structure of the dynamic aging test apparatus to which a 232C aggregation apparatus is applied.

In FIG. 1, the dynamic aging test apparatus 10 is connected to an aging room 11, a product 12 to be inspected accommodated in the aging room 11, and a single product 12 having a plurality of ports respectively corresponding thereto. The RS-232C aggregation device 20 includes a personal computer 30 as a control terminal connected to the control side of the RS-232C aggregation device.

The aging room 11 is configured to hold the inside in a high temperature state for a long time, for example, for about 10 to 72 hours, and accommodates a large number (n + 1) of products 12 therein. I'm supposed to get it. Each of the products 12 is a product that performs a dynamic aging test, includes an RS-232C interface (not shown) for control, and has an aging program built therein. This aging program is executed by the personal computer 3 which is a control terminal.
It is designed to be executed when a start command is input from 0 through the RS-232C interface,
Furthermore, the execution status and log collection and processing when an error occurs are performed.

The personal computer 30 is connected to the PCINF unit 21 (described later) of the RS-232C aggregation device 20 via the parallel interface, and the installed software 31 causes the RS-232C aggregation device to be described later. Each product through 20
Is controlled.

The RS-232C aggregation device 20 is constructed in detail as shown in FIG. In FIG.
The RS-232C aggregation device 20 includes a PCINF unit 21, a transmission FIFO 22, a reception FIFO 23, and a DMUX unit 2.
4 and MUX section 25, and a plurality of (n + 1) INF sections INF0, INF1, ...
It is composed of Fn and.

The PCINF unit 21 has an interface (parallel interface) for connecting to a personal computer 30 which is a control terminal and a transmission FIFO 2.
2 and the reception FIFO 23 are controlled. Then, the PCINF unit 21 sends and receives port number information indicating the port number and the data body corresponding to this port number as a set.

Further, the PCINF unit 21 READs the personal computer 30 when the EMPTY signal from the reception FIFO 23 is released, as will be described later.
The Y signal is transmitted and the personal computer 30
When receiving a port number information and data read command from the
Read from IFO23, personal computer 3
Send to 0.

The transmission FIFO 22 buffers the transmission data from the PCINF unit 21 and sends it to the DMUX.
In the state in which the transmission data is not written, the DMUX unit 24 outputs the EMPT
Although the Y signal is output, when the transmission data is written, the EMPTY signal is released.

The reception FIFO 23 has a MUX section 25.
Buffer the multiplexed received data from
The EMPTY signal is output to the CINF unit 21, and the EMPTY signal is output to the PCINF unit 21 in a state where the received data is not written. However, when the received data is written, the EMPTY signal is released.

The DMUX section 24 uses the transmission FIFO 2
The transmission data from 2 is distributed to each of a plurality of ports. Specifically, the DMUX unit 24 reads the buffered transmission data from the transmission FIFO 22 and performs speed conversion, and then according to the port number information, the data body corresponding to the port number INF part INF0, INF1 corresponding to the number
..Transmit to INFn.

The MUX unit 25 includes the INF unit INF unit IN
Received data from F0, INF1, ... INFn are multiplexed. The MUX unit 25 is specifically shown in FIG.
, The INF units INF0, INF1 ... I
Received data (parallel data) input from NFn,
For example, the received data DataA, DataB, ... Of the port numbers Ch1, Ch2 ,.
As shown in (B), port numbers Ch0, Ch1, Ch
2 ... By inserting into the time slot allocated corresponding to Chn, the valid data main body of each port is written in the reception FIFO 23 as time-division multiplexed integrated reception data together with the port number information.

Each INF section INF0, INF1, ... IN
Fn converts each transmission data distributed by the DMUX unit 24 into serial data, and then RS-2
It is converted into 32C data, output from each port, and transmitted to the product 12. In addition, each INF unit INF0,
INF1 ... INFn respectively convert the RS-232C data input at the corresponding ports into reception data (parallel data) and output the reception data (parallel data) to the MUX unit 25.

Next, the operation of the RS-232C aggregation device according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. First, the transmission operation of the RS-232C aggregation device 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Figure 4
In step A1, the personal computer 30 sets the port number information indicating the port number and the data body corresponding to this port number as one set, and sends a signal for each port from the parallel port to the RS-232C aggregation device 20. input.

Next, in step A2, the PCINF unit 2
When No. 1 receives the port number information and the data body from the personal computer 30, the port number 1 and the data body are written in the transmission FIFO 22 as they are.

In response to this, in step A3, when the transmission FIFO 22 writes the port number and the data body by the PCINF unit 21 as described above, the DMU.
The EMPTY signal output to the X section 24 is released. As a result, when the EMPTY signal from the transmission FIFO 22 is released, the DMUX unit 24 proceeds to step A4.
After reading the transmission data from the transmission FIFO 22 and performing speed conversion, the INF unit INF corresponding to the port number is based on the port number information of the transmission data.
0, INF1 ... INFn are distributed to the data body and output.

Then, in step A5, the INF section IN
F0, INF1 ... INFn convert the data body from the DMUX unit 24 into serial data, and RS-
It is converted to 232C data and output to the product 12 connected to the corresponding port.

Next, the reception operation of the RS-232C aggregation device 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 5, the product 12 is RS in step B1.
-232C data is connected to the corresponding port of the RS-232C aggregation device 20 by the INF units INF0 and INF1.
・ Enter in INFn.

As a result, in step B2, this IN
The F sections INF0, INF1, ... INFn terminate the data by the driver, convert the data into reception data (parallel data), and send it to the MUX section 25.

In response to this, the MUX section 25 performs speed conversion of the input parallel data in step B3,
By inserting in the time slot corresponding to the port number corresponding to the INF part INF0, INF1 ... INFn of the transmission source, after time-division multiplexing, the valid data body of each port is port number information indicating the port number. With
Write to the reception FIFO 23.

Next, in step B4, the reception FIFO
When the port number and data body are written by the MUX unit 25 as described above, the unit 23 releases the EMPTY signal output to the PCINF unit 21. This allows
The PCINF unit 21 receives the EMP from the reception FIFO 23.
When the TY signal is released, the READY signal is sent to the personal computer 30 in step B5.

In response to this, the personal computer 3
0 receives the READY signal in step B6,
It sends port number information and a data read command to the PCINF unit 11. As a result, the PCINF unit 2
In step B7, 1 reads the port number information and the data body corresponding to this port number from the reception FIFO 23, and sends it to the personal computer 30.

As described above, according to the RS-232C aggregation device 20, one personal computer 30 can transmit the transmission data to the products 12 respectively connected to the multiple ports, and Product 1
It is possible to receive the reception data from No. 2. Therefore, the RS-2 can be operated by one personal computer 30.
By controlling the (n + 1) products 12 via the 32C aggregation device 20, it is possible to transmit a start command to each product 12 and execute the aging program built in each product 12.

Further, the execution status of the aging program in each product 12, the log and the processing contents when an error occurs are received from each product 12 as RS-232C data. In this manner, the dynamic aging test of, for example, several tens of products 12 can be performed by the personal computer 30 as one control terminal.

Further, since the personal computer 30 which is the control terminal can use the common software 31 for controlling each product 12, the operability is improved and the operation is improved by unifying the software interfaces. Time will be shortened.

In the above-described embodiment, the personal computer 30 and the PC of the RS-232S aggregation device 20 are used.
Although the signal transmission with the INF unit 21 is performed via the parallel interface, the present invention is not limited to this, and the signal transmission may be performed via an interface of another system, for example, a serial interface.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, one control terminal outputs RS-232C data to a large number of ports, and RS-2 input to each port is changed.
Since 32C data can be received, a product to be inspected connected to each of several tens of ports or more can be simultaneously controlled by one control terminal during the dynamic aging test of the product, for example.

As a result, the number of control terminals can be further reduced as compared with the case of using the conventional RS-232C expansion boat, and the facility investment cost required for the control terminals can be reduced. The space occupied by the control terminal can be reduced and the inspection floor can be effectively utilized. Further, since one control terminal can control a large number of devices to be controlled connected to each port, it is possible to unify the software interfaces of the control terminals for controlling each device. This facilitates the operation of each device at the control terminal, improves operability, and shortens the operation time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example using an embodiment of an RS-232C aggregation device of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an RS-232C aggregation device of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a MUX in the RS-232C aggregation device of FIG.
6 is a graph showing time division multiplexing of reception data by a unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a transmission operation in the RS-232C aggregation device of FIG.

5 is a flowchart showing a receiving operation in the RS-232C aggregation device of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an example of an experimental system for a conventional dynamic aging test.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of another example of an experimental system for a conventional dynamic aging test.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Dynamic aging test equipment 11 Aging room 12 Products to be inspected 20 RS-232C aggregation device 21 PCINF section 22 Transmit FIFO 23 Receive FIFO 24 DMUX section 25 MUX section INF0, INF1 ... INFn INF section 30 Personal computer (control terminal) 31 Software

Front page continued (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/28 H04L 12/40-12/417 H04L 12/44-12/46

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A control terminal and an aging room.
A centralized device that connects multiple devices to be inspected
The interface for connecting to the parallel interface of the control terminal, the PCINF unit for controlling the transmission and reception FIFOs, the transmission FIFO for buffering the transmission data from the PCINF unit, and the transmission FIFO A DMUX unit that distributes transmission data to each of a plurality of ports, and each transmission data that is distributed by the DMUX unit is converted into RS-232C data and output from each port, and RS-232C input to each port An INF unit for converting each data into received data, a MUX unit for multiplexing the received data from the INF unit, and a reception FIFO for buffering the multiplexed received data from the MUX unit and outputting it to the PCINF unit. the equipped, machine for each port is controlled by a control terminal RS of
-When connected to the 232C interface, the above-mentioned transmission data is transmitted from the control terminal to the PCINF section, for transmission.
Time division multiplex transmission up to the DMUX unit via the FIFO
And the received data is transmitted from the MUX unit to the receiving FIFO, PC.
Time division multiplex transmission up to the control terminal via the INF section
RS-232C aggregating device characterized by being transmitted more . 2. The RS according to claim 1 , wherein the data transmitted by time division multiplex transmission has port number information indicating a port number and a data body corresponding to the port number. 232C aggregation device. 3. Each of the INF units converts the transmission data from the DMUX unit into serial data, and further RS-23.
The RS-232 according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the RS-232 is converted into 2C data and is output from a corresponding port.
C aggregation device. 4. Each of the INF units converts RS-232C data from a corresponding port into parallel data,
The RS-232C aggregation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the RS-232C aggregation device outputs the MUX unit.