JP3938377B2 - Supervisory control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a monitoring control apparatus, and more particularly to a monitoring control apparatus that performs monitoring control of a monitoring target package by communicating with the monitoring target package.
According to the present invention, in a device such as a transmission device, which is composed of a plurality of functional blocks in units of packages, the plurality of functional blocks are supervised and controlled by a side (hereinafter referred to as “upper package”) that performs supervision and control. It relates to a device divided into a side (hereinafter referred to as “lower package”).

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a conventional transmission apparatus having a monitoring control function and a peripheral configuration of the transmission apparatus.
The transmission apparatus 101 is connected to the transmission apparatuses 102 to 105 to communicate main signals, and is connected to the upper supervisory control apparatus 106 and is under the monitoring control of the upper supervisory control apparatus 106. In the transmission apparatus 101, main signal packages 111 to 114 are provided, and the main signal packages 111 to 114 are respectively connected to the transmission apparatuses 102 to 105 to perform communication of main signals. In the transmission apparatus 101, in addition to the main signal packages 111 to 114, main signal packages 115 and 116 of a type different from the main signal packages 111 to 114 are provided. A monitoring control package 117 is connected to the main signal packages 111, 112, and 115, and a monitoring control package 118 is connected to the main signal packages 113, 114, and 116. Each of the main signal packages 111 and 112 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), and transmits and receives monitoring control signals to and from the monitoring control package 117 by a full-duplex communication method. Each of the main signal packages 113 and 114 also includes an MPU, and transmits and receives monitoring control signals to and from the monitoring control package 118 by a full-duplex communication method. Each of the main signal packages 115 and 116 does not include an MPU, and transmits and receives monitoring control signals to and from the monitoring control packages 117 and 118 by a half-duplex communication method. The supervisory control package 119 is connected to the supervisory control packages 117 and 118, and the host supervisory control device 106 is connected to the supervisory control package 119. That is, in the transmission apparatus 101, a monitoring control structure of hierarchies 1 to 3 is constructed as shown in FIG. is there.

  Each of the monitoring control packages 117 and 118 has a communication function of a full-duplex communication method and a communication function of a half-duplex communication method, and selects one of the two types according to the communication method of the main signal package as a communication partner, The monitor control signal is transmitted and received.

  In communication between each of the monitoring control packages 117 and 118 and each of the main signal packages 111 to 116, for example, the monitoring control package 117 sends a predetermined signal to the main signal package 111, and the main signal package 111 performs monitoring control. A sequence process of returning a response signal to the package 117 is performed. At that time, the monitoring control package 117 generates a transmission completion signal when transmission of the predetermined signal is completed, generates a reception completion signal when reception of the response signal is completed, and generates a reception error signal when there is a reception error. The monitoring control package 117 executes the communication control program and performs monitoring control whenever the transmission completion signal, reception completion signal, and reception error signal are generated.

  By the way, when the communication between the monitoring control package 117 and the main signal package 111 is normally performed, the reception completion signal is always generated after the transmission of the predetermined signal, so the communication according to the generation of the transmission completion signal. The execution of the control program is wasteful because it only causes congestion in the execution process of the communication control program. Therefore, conventionally, the communication control program is not executed when a transmission completion signal is generated.

  By the way, each of the monitoring control packages 117 and 118 selects one of the full-duplex communication method and the half-duplex communication method according to the communication method of the main signal package as the communication partner, and transmits and receives the monitoring control signal. In the conventional apparatus to be performed, each of the monitoring control packages 117 and 118 needs to have a full-duplex communication function and a half-duplex communication function. Since such a communication function is configured by hardware, there is a problem in that each circuit configuration of the monitoring control packages 117 and 118 becomes large-scale.

  Further, in the conventional monitoring control package 117 that does not execute the communication control program when the transmission completion signal is generated, when the communication between the monitoring control package 117 and the main signal package 111 is not normally performed, No reception completion signal is generated. The reason why the reception completion signal is not generated is that there is a failure in the monitoring control package 117, and a case where a predetermined signal was not transmitted to the main signal package 111 originally, or because there was a failure in the main signal package 111. In addition, there may be a case where a response signal is not transmitted from the main signal package 111 to the monitoring control package 117. Although a transmission completion signal is required to identify such a failure location, as described above, the transmission completion signal only causes useless execution processing of the communication control program as described above. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a monitoring control package that can identify the fault location without wastefully processing the communication control program.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and it is another object of the present invention to provide a monitoring and control apparatus that can reliably identify a failure location without wastefully performing processing of a communication control program. .

In order to achieve the above object in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, a transmission completion signal generating means 21 for generating a transmission completion signal when a predetermined signal is transmitted to the monitoring target package 31 and transmission is completed, A reception completion signal generating means 22 for generating a reception completion signal when a response signal for a predetermined signal is received and the reception is completed; a transmission completion signal is discarded when the response signal is received; and a response signal is not received, A transfer unit 23 that transfers a transmission completion signal to a processing unit that identifies a failure position; a retransmission unit 24 that retransmits a predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31 when a response signal is not received; reception completion signal generating means 22 specific to fault location identifying failure location based on a transmission completion signal transferred from the reception completion signal and transfer means 23 is generated from Monitoring controller 20, characterized in that it comprises a stage 25 is provided.

In the configuration as described above, the transmission completion signal generated by the transmission completion signal generation means 21 is always sent to the transfer means 23.
When there is no failure in the monitoring control device 20 and the monitoring target package 31 and they are normal, the monitoring target package 31 monitors when the monitoring control device 20 transmits a predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31. A response signal is returned to the control device 20. When the response signal is normally received by the monitoring control device 20, a transmission completion signal is sent from the transmission completion signal generation means 21 to the transfer means 23. In this case, the transfer unit 23 discards the transmission completion signal sent from the transmission completion signal generation unit 21 so that the transmission completion signal is not sent to the failure position specifying unit 25. As a result, the failure position specifying unit 25 is prevented from being activated, and the failure position specifying unit 25 that normally wastes processing execution is prevented from being activated.

  On the other hand, when there is a failure in either the monitoring control device 20 or the monitoring target package 31, no response signal is received in the monitoring control device 20, but in such a case, switching is performed by the transfer means 23, and the next generation should be generated. The transmission completion signal is transferred to the failure position specifying means 25. The fault position specifying means 25 is a part of the function realized by the communication control program, and specifies the fault position based on signals sent later from the reception completion signal generating means 22 and the transfer means 23.

  When the response signal is not received, the retransmission unit 24 retransmits the predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31 simultaneously with the switching by the transfer unit 23. By this retransmission, a transmission completion signal or a reception completion signal is generated according to the failure of the monitoring control device 20 and the monitoring target package 31. When the signals are received after the retransmission, or after a predetermined time has elapsed, the failure position specifying means 25 is activated to specify the failure position. That is, the failure position specifying unit 25 determines that a failure has occurred on the monitoring control device 20 side when the transmission completion signal is not received. When the transmission completion signal is received and the reception completion signal is not received, it is determined that a failure has occurred on the monitoring target package 31 side.

  Thus, the communication control program process is not wasted when normal, and the fault location can be reliably identified when a fault occurs.

  In the present invention, when there is no failure in the monitoring control device and the monitoring target package and they are in a normal state, the transfer unit discards the transmission completion signal sent from the transmission completion signal generation unit and sends the transmission completion signal. Do not send to fault location identification means. This prevents activation of the fault location specifying means and prevents the processing of the fault location specifying means that would normally be wasted. On the other hand, when there is a failure in either the monitoring control device or the monitoring target package, switching is performed by the transfer means so that the next transmission completion signal that is generated next time is transferred to the failure position specifying means. Simultaneously with the switching, the retransmission unit retransmits the predetermined signal to the monitoring target package. In response to the transmission completion signal or the reception completion signal received thereafter, the failure location specifying means is activated to determine which side of the monitoring control device side or the monitoring target package side has a failure.

  In this way, it is possible to reliably identify the location of the failure without wasting the processing of the failure location specifying means when normal, and at the time of failure.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, an outline of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, a communication method identification code indicating a communication method of a monitoring target package to be a communication partner, an identification code description means 11 that describes a transmission frame 14, and a transmission frame 14 to a designated monitoring target package. The transmission means 12 to be transmitted and the monitoring target package to which the transmission frame 14 is to be transmitted are designated to the transmission means 12, and the communication method identification code mounted on the transmission frame 14 by the identification code description means 11 is referred to. The transmission control unit 13 controls the transmission operation of the transmission unit 12.

  In the configuration as described above, the monitoring control device 10 transmits and receives monitoring control signals to and from each of the plurality of monitoring target packages 30a to 30n, but each of the monitoring control device 10 performs with the monitoring target packages 30a to 30n. Suppose that the communication method of communication is not single. Here, it is assumed that the monitoring control device 10 tries to communicate with, for example, the monitoring target package 30a among the plurality of monitoring target packages 30a to 30n.

  In this case, first, the identification code description unit 11 describes a communication system identification code indicating the communication system of the monitoring target package 30a at a predetermined position of the header of the transmission frame 14. Then, the transmission control means 13 designates the monitoring target package 30a to which the transmission frame 14 is to be transmitted to the transmission means 12, and the communication system identification code mounted on the transmission frame 14 by the identification code description means 11 Referring to, the transmission operation of the transmission unit 12 is controlled. For example, when the communication method is a full-duplex communication method and a half-duplex communication method, the transmission control means 13 is previously transmitted to the monitoring target package in communication with the monitoring target package of the half-duplex communication method. Only when a response is returned to the transmitted frame and the response has been received, the transmission means 12 is made to transmit.

  As described above, the transmission unit 12 can transmit the transmission frame 14 only by following the instruction of the transmission control unit 13 regardless of the type of communication method in the monitoring target packages 30a to 30n. Accordingly, the transmission unit 12 conventionally needs to have a separate circuit configuration for each communication method, whereas the transmission unit 12 can be configured with a simple circuit configuration. In other words, the monitoring control apparatus can transmit and receive monitoring control signals to and from a plurality of monitoring target packages with different communication methods without increasing the circuit scale.

  Next, the first embodiment will be described in detail. In the first embodiment described below, the monitoring control device 10 shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the monitoring control device 40. Similarly, the identification code description unit 11 is the monitoring control unit 42a, and the transmission unit 12 is the In the data transmission processing unit 63, the transmission control unit 13 corresponds to the protocol processing unit 62, and the monitoring target packages 30a to 30n correspond to the opposing packages 55 and 56.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the monitoring control device 40 constituting the transmission device. The transmission device has a structure in which a large number of printed wiring board packages are detachably mounted on a rack. From the viewpoint of monitoring control, the transmission device includes a monitoring control side package and a monitoring controlled side package. . The supervisory control device 40 is mounted on a package on the supervisory control side. Hereinafter, the package to be monitored and controlled is referred to as a “lower package”.

  The monitoring control device 40 is connected to the lower package (1) 51 to the lower package (n) 54. The lower packages 51 to 54 are provided with an MPU and communicate with the supervisory control device 40 with a full-duplex communication method, and do not have an MPU and monitor with the supervisory control device 40 with a half-duplex communication method. Some perform communication of control signals. The subordinate package including the MPU collects monitoring information of the self-package and subordinate subordinate packages (not shown, but a subordinate package may be further connected to the subordinate package including the MPU). When such a change occurs in the monitoring information, a function for transferring the change information to the monitoring control device 40 is provided in the lower package including the MPU, and the full duplex communication method is lacking for the transfer. I wo n’t. In addition, the lower package not equipped with the MPU does not have a function of autonomously transferring the monitoring information in the own package to the monitoring control device 40. Therefore, in such a lower package, a command requesting notification of monitoring information is periodically received from the monitoring control device 40, and the monitoring information is transmitted in response to the monitoring control device 40 in synchronization with the reception timing. In other words, the half-duplex communication method is applied to the lower package not equipped with the MPU. When the half-duplex communication method is executed, the monitoring control device 40 must not transmit the next data to the lower package until the response is received from the lower package after transmitting the data to the lower package.

  In FIG. 3, the monitoring control device 40 includes a data processing device 42, a communication data buffer 43, an interrupt controller 44, and a communication control module 45. The data processing device 42 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an input / output device, and the like. The CPU executes a monitoring control program and a communication control program stored in the ROM. By executing this, a monitoring control function and a communication control function are realized. The monitoring control unit 42a and the communication control unit 42b correspond to such a monitoring control function and a communication control function, respectively. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage area inside the communication data buffer. The communication data buffer 43 includes an area (reception area 43b) for storing reception data received from each lower package via the physical port (1) 45d to physical port (n) 45g in the communication control module 45. An area (transmission area 43a) for storing transmission data to be transmitted to each lower package via the physical port (1) 45d to the physical port (n) 45g. Each of the reception area 43b and the transmission area 43a is configured for each physical port as shown in FIG. The communication control module 45 is configured by an LSI that does not include software. The data processing device 42 and the interrupt controller 44 are connected by an interrupt signal line (A to C) 41.

  The monitoring control unit 42a in the data processing device 42 edits each command transmitted to the lower packages 51 to 54, and analyzes the response notification sent from the lower packages 51 to 54. The communication control unit 42b controls the communication control module 45 to transmit each command data passed from the monitoring control unit 42a to the lower packages 51 to 54. The communication control module 45 passes control information related to the response data received from the lower packages 51 to 54 to the monitoring control unit 42a. The control information includes a reception state (normal end or communication error has occurred), a received physical port, an address in the communication data buffer 43 storing received data, and a length of received data.

  The communication control module 45 includes a buffer interface circuit 45a, an MPU register group 45b, an interport arbitration / control circuit 45c, and physical ports (1) 45d to (n) 45g. The buffer interface circuit 45a reads transmission data from the designated transmission area in the communication data buffer 43 during data transmission. When receiving data, the received data is stored in the designated reception area in the communication data buffer 43. In the MPU register group 45b, the communication control unit 42b writes control information at the time of data transmission, and the communication control module 45 reads this control information and executes transmission processing. The control information at the time of transmission includes the physical port to be transmitted, the address of the transmission area in the communication data buffer 43 in which the transmission data is stored, and the length of the transmission data.

  Control information is written to the MPU register group 45b by the communication control module 45 when data is received, and the communication control unit 42b reads out the control information and executes a reception process. The inter-PORT arbitration / control circuit 45c reads control information from the MPU register group 45b during data transmission and executes transmission from a designated physical port. Also, control information is written to the MPU register group 45b when data is received.

  The interrupt controller 44 preferentially controls different interrupt factors and activates the communication control unit 42b by the interrupt signal line 41. That is, the interrupt controller 44 activates the communication control unit 42b using the following three state changes as interrupt factors when transferring data to and from the lower packages 25-54. The first is the time when data transmission to the lower package is completed, the second is the time when data reception from the lower package is completed, and the third is the error when receiving data from the lower package This is the point in time when a state in which an error is detected occurs. These factors are notified to the communication control unit 42b by a designated interrupt signal line via the interrupt controller 44. Which factor is to be an interrupt generation target is determined at the time of system design. The determination of which interrupt signal line (A to C) of the interrupt signal lines 41 to use for each factor is also made during system design. For example, a transmission completion is assigned to the interrupt signal line A, a reception completion is assigned to the interrupt signal line B, a reception error is assigned to the interrupt signal line C, and the interrupt signal line A, Set as interrupt signal line B and interrupt signal line C. In this case, if an interrupt factor such as transmission completion, reception completion, or reception error always occurs during operation of the apparatus, the communication control module 45 immediately notifies the communication control unit 42b. In the first embodiment, there is no special setting for interrupt control, and a normal setting is used.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the communication control unit 42b in the monitoring control device 40 in more detail. In FIG. 5, many functions of the communication control unit 42b are illustrated separately. The communication control unit 42b has a communication mode control unit 61, a protocol processing unit 62, a data transmission processing unit 63, a data reception processing unit 64, and an interrupt processing unit 65. The protocol processing unit 62 includes a half-duplex communication processing unit 62a. In FIG. 5, among the lower packages 51 to 54, the package that includes the MPU is referred to as a facing package (A) 55, and the package that does not include the MPU is referred to as a facing package (B) 56.

  Since the opposing package (A) 55 has a function of autonomously transmitting data, the communication between the monitoring control device 40 and the opposing package (A) 55 transmits data from both to the other at the same time. It is appropriate to perform communication in real time by applying a full-duplex communication method capable of performing the above. On the other hand, since the opposing package (B) 56 does not have a function of transmitting data autonomously, communication between the monitoring control device 40 and the opposing package (B) 56 is performed by the monitoring control device 40 in the opposing package (B). Only when transmission to 56 is performed, a half-duplex communication method is applied in which the opposite package (B) 56 can transmit the response to the monitoring control device 40.

Hereinafter, processing when the communication control unit 42b is controlled by the monitoring control unit 42a and performs data transfer with the opposing package (A) 55 and the opposing package (B) 56 will be described.
First, the configuration of a data transmission frame used in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a frame transmitted between the monitoring control device 40 and the opposing package (A) 55 and the opposing package (B) 56. A communication mode identification bit is provided at a predetermined position of a header of a frame used for data transfer. This communication mode identification bit displays whether or not the lower-level package that performs data transfer with the monitoring control device 40 is equipped with an MPU. At the time of transmission, the monitor control unit 42a displays the communication mode identification bit, and at the time of reception, the lower package displays in advance.

  Returning to FIG. 5, in the command transmission (full-duplex communication) process from the monitoring control device 40 to the opposite package (A) 55, the monitoring control unit 42a first identifies the communication mode of the frame on which the transmission data is mounted. “MPU mounted” is displayed in the bit, and this frame is stored in the transmission area for the physical port corresponding to the opposite package (A) 55 in the communication data buffer 43. Then, the monitoring control unit 42a gives control information related to transmission data to the communication mode control unit 61 of the communication control unit 42b. The communication mode control unit 61 refers to the designated transmission area in the communication data buffer 43 by the address included in the control information, and looks at the communication mode identification bit of the frame carrying the transmission data. Then, “MPU mounted” displayed there is recognized. The communication mode control unit 61 transmits this recognition to the protocol processing unit 62. In this case, the protocol processing unit 62 calls the data transmission processing unit 63 without performing any particular processing. The data transmission processing unit 63 sets control information (transmission area address, transmission data length) related to transmission data in the MPU register group 45b of the communication control module 45, and issues a transmission request. The buffer interface circuit 45a and the inter-PORT arbitration / control circuit 45c in the communication control module 45 read the transmission data from the communication data buffer 43 and transmit it to the opposite package (A) 55.

  In the process in which the monitoring control device 40 receives a response signal from the opposing package (A) 55 (full duplex communication), first, the communication control module 45 receives data from the opposing package (A) 55. Then, the buffer interface circuit 45 a and the PORT arbitration / control circuit 45 c store the reception data in the reception area for the physical port corresponding to the opposing package (A) 55 in the communication data buffer 43. In the communication mode identification bit of the frame in which the received data is mounted, “MPU mounted” is displayed in advance in the opposing package (A) 55. After receiving the received data in the receiving area, control information (receiving area address, received data length) regarding the received data is stored in the MPU register group 45b. Upon completion of reception, the interrupt processing unit 65 of the communication control unit 42b is notified from the interrupt controller 44 to start the interrupt processing. The interrupt processing unit 65 activates reception completion interrupt processing and notifies the data reception processing unit 64 of the reception completion interrupt processing. In response to this notification, the data reception processing unit 64 reads the control information related to the received data from the MPU register group 45 b and refers to the communication data buffer 43. By this reference, “MPU mounted” displayed in the communication mode identification bit is recognized. The data reception processing unit 64 transmits this recognition to the protocol processing unit 62. In this case, the protocol processing unit 62 calls the communication mode control unit 61 without performing any particular processing. The communication mode control unit 61 notifies the monitoring control unit 42a of control information regarding received data. The monitoring controller 42a reads the received data from the communication data buffer 43 based on the control information, and performs data analysis processing.

  In the process in which the monitoring control device 40 transmits a command to the opposing package (B) 56 (half-duplex communication), the monitoring control unit 42a first sets “MPU not installed” in the communication mode identification bit of the frame in which the transmission data is mounted. Is displayed, and this frame is stored in the transmission area for the physical port corresponding to the opposite package (B) 56 in the communication data buffer 43. Then, the monitoring control unit 42a gives control information related to transmission data to the communication mode control unit 61 of the communication control unit 42b. The communication mode control unit 61 refers to the communication data buffer 43 based on the address of the control information, and recognizes “no MPU mounted” displayed in the communication mode identification bit of the frame in which the transmission data is mounted. The communication mode control unit 61 transmits this recognition to the protocol processing unit 62. In this case, the protocol processing unit 62 activates the half-duplex communication processing unit 62a. The half-duplex communication processing unit 62a refers to a transmission state table to be described later, and if the first state code is described in the portion corresponding to the opposing package (B) 56 in the transmission state table, data transmission is performed. If the second status code is described without transmitting the transmission data to the processing unit 63, the data transmission processing unit 63 is caused to transmit the transmission data. The transmission state table is provided in the data processing device 42, and a first state code or a second state code is set for each lower package without an MPU. The first status code is set when transmission data is transmitted to the corresponding lower package, and the second status code is set when a response to the transmission data is received from the corresponding lower package. Therefore, the state where the first status code is described in the portion corresponding to the opposing package (B) 56 in the transmission state table is that the response has not yet returned from the opposing package (B) 56 to the transmission data. In the half-duplex communication system in this state, transmission data must not be sent. If the second status code is described, the transmission data is transmitted to the data transmission processing unit 63, and then the portion corresponding to the opposing package (B) 56 in the transmission status table is set to the first status code. Set the status code.

  The data transmission processing unit 63 instructed to execute the transmission processing from the half-duplex communication processing unit 62 a sends control information (transmission area address, transmission data length) to the MPU register group 45 b of the communication control module 45. ) Is set and a transmission request is issued. The buffer interface circuit 45a and the inter-PORT arbitration / control circuit 45c of the communication control module 45 read the transmission data from the communication data buffer 43 and transmit it to the opposing package (B) 56.

  In the process in which the monitoring control device 40 receives a response signal from the opposing package (B) 56 (half-duplex communication), first, the communication control module 45 receives data from the opposing package (B) 56 and receives the buffer interface circuit. The arbitration / control circuit 45c between 45a and PORT stores the received data in the physical port reception area corresponding to the opposing package (B) 56 in the communication data buffer 43. In the communication mode identification bit of the frame in which the received data is mounted, “no MPU mounted” is displayed in advance in the opposing package (B) 56. After receiving the received data in the receiving area, control information (receiving area address, received data length) regarding the received data is stored in the MPU register group 45b. Upon completion of reception, the interrupt processing unit 65 of the communication control unit 42b is notified from the interrupt controller 44 to start the interrupt processing. The interrupt processing unit 65 activates reception completion interrupt processing and notifies the data reception processing unit 64 of the reception completion interrupt processing. In response to this notification, the data reception processing unit 64 reads the control information related to the received data from the MPU register group 45 b and refers to the communication data buffer 43. By this reference, “no MPU mounted” displayed in the communication mode identification bit is recognized. The data reception processing unit 64 transmits this recognition to the protocol processing unit 62. In this case, the protocol processing unit 62 calls the communication mode control unit 61 without performing any particular processing. The communication mode control unit 61 notifies the monitoring control unit 42a of control information regarding received data. The monitoring controller 42a reads the received data from the communication data buffer 43 based on the control information, and performs data analysis processing. The data reception processing unit 64 sets the second status code in the transmission status table.

  As described above, the communication control unit 42b has two systems for the full-duplex communication method and the half-duplex communication method. In particular, the communication mode control unit 61 matches the communication method of the lower package of the connection destination. One communication method is selected. This recognition of the communication method of the lower package uses the communication mode identification bit in the frame, so that it is not necessary for the communication control unit 42b to hold information relating to the communication method of each subordinate package under control. Therefore, the same communication control program can be installed in another monitoring control package having a different connection form of the lower package.

  Further, as described above, since the communication control unit 42b absorbs the difference between the two communication methods of the lower package, the communication control module 45 does not need to have a circuit configuration corresponding to the difference between the two communication methods of the lower package. . That is, the communication control module 45 only needs to transmit the data instructed to be transmitted from the communication control unit 42b from the designated physical port to the lower package. In addition, all received data may be targeted for reception even when data is received from a lower package. Thus, the communication control module 45 only needs to have only a transmission function and a reception function irrelevant to a difference in communication method, and the circuit scale of the communication control module 45 can be reduced as compared with the conventional one. In other words, it is possible to arbitrarily connect an MPU-equipped lower package suitable for the full-duplex communication method and an MPU non-equipped lower package suitable for the half-duplex communication method to each physical port of the communication control module 45. Yes, and the connection form can be changed freely.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a transmission completion signal generating means 21 that generates a transmission completion signal when a transmission is completed by transmitting a predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31, and a predetermined signal. A reception completion signal generating means 22 for generating a reception completion signal when the response signal is received and the reception is completed; a transmission completion signal is discarded when the response signal is received; and a transmission completion signal when the response signal is not received From the transfer means 23 for transferring the signal, the retransmission means 24 for resending the predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31 when the response signal is not received, and after the retransmission by the retransmission means 24, the reception completion signal generating means 22 and the transfer means 23 It is comprised from the fault location specific | specification means 25 which specifies a fault location based on the signal obtained.

In the configuration as described above, the transmission completion signal generated by the transmission completion signal generation means 21 is always sent to the transfer means 23.
When there is no failure in the monitoring control device 20 and the monitoring target package 31 and they are normal, the monitoring target package 31 monitors when the monitoring control device 20 transmits a predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31. A response signal is returned to the control device 20. When the response signal is normally received by the monitoring control device 20, a transmission completion signal is sent from the transmission completion signal generation means 21 to the transfer means 23. In this case, the transfer unit 23 discards the transmission completion signal sent from the transmission completion signal generation unit 21 so that the transmission completion signal is not sent to the failure position specifying unit 25. As a result, the failure position specifying unit 25 is prevented from being activated, and the failure position specifying unit 25 that normally wastes processing execution is prevented from being activated.

  On the other hand, when there is a failure in either the monitoring control device 20 or the monitoring target package 31, no response signal is received in the monitoring control device 20, but in such a case, switching is performed by the transfer means 23, and the next generation should be generated. The transmission completion signal is transferred to the failure position specifying means 25. The fault position specifying means 25 is a part of the function realized by the communication control program, and specifies the fault position based on signals sent later from the reception completion signal generating means 22 and the transfer means 23.

  When the response signal is not received, the retransmission unit 24 retransmits the predetermined signal to the monitoring target package 31 simultaneously with the switching by the transfer unit 23. By this retransmission, a transmission completion signal or a reception completion signal is generated according to the failure of the monitoring control device 20 and the monitoring target package 31. When the signals are received after the retransmission, or after a predetermined time has elapsed, the failure position specifying means 25 is activated to specify the failure position. That is, the failure position specifying unit 25 determines that a failure has occurred on the monitoring control device 20 side when the transmission completion signal is not received. When the transmission completion signal is received and the reception completion signal is not received, it is determined that a failure has occurred on the monitoring target package 31 side.

Thus, the communication control program process is not wasted when normal, and the fault location can be reliably identified when a fault occurs.
Next, the second embodiment will be described in detail.

The specific configuration of the second embodiment is basically the same as the specific configuration of the first embodiment. Therefore, in the description of the second embodiment, the configuration of the first embodiment is used.
In the second embodiment described below, the monitoring control device 20 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the monitoring control device 40, and similarly, the transmission completion signal generating means 21 sends a reception completion signal to the communication control module 45. The generation unit 22 is in the communication control module 45, the transfer unit 23 is in the communication control unit 42b, the retransmission unit 24 is in the communication control unit 42b, the fault location specifying unit 25 is in the monitoring control unit 42a, and the monitoring target package 31 is the lower package 51. Corresponds to ~ 54.

In the second embodiment, an interrupt signal line factor assigning unit is further provided in the MPU register group 45b of the communication control module 45.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit. The interrupt signal line factor allocation unit includes an allocation unit 71 [FIG. 7A] to be referred to when the interrupt controller 44 completes transmission, and an allocation unit 72 [FIG. 7B] to be referred to when the interrupt controller 44 completes reception. And the allocation unit 73 [FIG. 7C] to be referred to by the interrupt controller 44 when a reception error occurs. Each allocation unit stores one bit for each physical port and interrupt signal line. The part is set.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an interrupt instruction set for the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit at the time of system initialization. That is, in the setting at the time of system initialization, even when data is received from any physical port, when the reception is completed, an interrupt signal indicating completion of data reception is sent from the interrupt signal line A to the communication control unit 42b. To do. In order to realize such control, in the interrupt signal line factor assigning unit 72 [FIG. 8B] to be referred to when reception is completed, the value 1 is stored in the storage portion 72a corresponding to each physical port of the interrupt signal line A. The value 0 is set in the storage portions 72b and 72c corresponding to the physical ports of the other interrupt signal lines B and C.

  Also, in the settings at the time of system initialization, even if data is received from any physical port, if there is an error in the received data, a reception error interrupt signal is sent from the interrupt signal line B to the communication control unit 42b. Like that. In order to realize such control, in the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit 73 [FIG. 8C] to be referred to when a reception error occurs, a value 1 is stored in the storage portion 73b corresponding to each physical port of the interrupt signal line B. And the value 0 is set in the storage portions 73a and 73c corresponding to the physical ports of the other interrupt signal lines A and C.

  However, in the setting at the time of system initialization, even if data is transmitted from any physical port, the data transmission completion interrupt signal is not sent to the communication control unit 42b when the transmission is completed. In order to realize such control, in the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit 71 [FIG. 8A] to be referred to when transmission is completed, the storage portion 71a corresponding to each physical port of the interrupt signal lines A, B, and C A value of 0 is set to ~ 71c. When interrupt signals are generated at the same time, the interrupt signals are not notified as they are from the interrupt signal lines A, B, C to the communication control unit 42b. The interrupt signal line B and the interrupt signal line C are attached in order and notified.

  Thus, when an interrupt factor occurs, the interrupt controller 44 refers to one of the three allocation units 71, 72, 73 of the interrupt signal line factor allocation unit according to the interrupt factor, and the value 1 is set in the corresponding physical port. An interrupt signal is sent from the set interrupt signal line to the communication control unit 42b.

  In particular, in the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit 71 to be referred to when transmission is completed, all of the storage portions 71a to 71c corresponding to the physical ports of the interrupt signal lines A, B, and C are set to 0. As a result, interrupt processing at the time of completion of transmission in the communication control unit 42b is omitted, and unnecessary processing is prevented from being performed during normal operation.

Here, in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the supervisory control device 40 transmits data from the physical port (1) 45d to the lower package (1) 51, but no response is returned.
In the monitoring control unit 42a of the monitoring control device 40, after data transmission, it is monitored over a predetermined time whether or not a response to the transmission arrives. If there is no response within a predetermined time, the monitoring control unit 42a changes the setting only for the physical port (1) corresponding part of the interrupt signal line factor allocation unit of the MPU register group 45b via the communication control unit 42b. Do. This setting change will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a setting change performed in the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit of the MPU register group 45b when data is transmitted from the physical port (1) 45d and there is no response. That is, in the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit 71 [FIG. 9A] to be referred to when transmission is completed, the value 0 of the storage portion corresponding to the physical port (1) in the storage portion 71a of the interrupt signal line A Is changed to a value of 1. Then, in the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit 72 [FIG. 9B] to be referred to when reception is completed, the value 1 of the storage portion corresponding to the physical port (1) in the storage portion 72a of the interrupt signal line A Is changed to the value 0, and the value 0 of the storage part corresponding to the physical port (1) in the storage part 72b of the interrupt signal line B is changed to the value 1. In the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit 73 [FIG. 9C] to be referred to when a reception error occurs, the value 1 of the storage part corresponding to the physical port (1) in the storage part 73b of the interrupt signal line B is set. The value is changed to 0, and the value 0 of the storage part corresponding to the physical port (1) in the storage part 73c of the interrupt signal line C is changed to the value 1.

  After such a setting change, the communication control unit 42b of the monitoring control device 40 performs transmission again for transmission data that has not been responded to. As a result of this retransmission, if there is no failure in the monitoring control device 40 and the retransmission is surely executed, an interrupt signal is now sent to the communication control unit 42b upon completion of transmission. That is, the value 1 is set in the storage portion corresponding to the physical port (1) of the interrupt signal line A in the assignment unit 71 [FIG. 9A] to be referred to when transmission of the interrupt signal line factor assignment unit is completed. Therefore, when transmission is completed, an interrupt signal is sent to the communication control unit 42b.

Based on the transmission completion signal and the reception completion signal obtained as a result of such retransmission, processing for specifying the fault location is performed by the monitoring control unit 42a.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of fault location specifying processing executed in the monitoring control unit 42a. In this process, the fault location is specified based on the detection of the transmission completion signal and the reception completion signal.

That is, when data is transmitted again to the lower package 51 (S1), a transmission completion signal or a reception completion signal can be detected (S2, S3).
When the transmission completion signal and the reception completion signal are detected, both the monitoring control device 40 and the lower package 51 are normal. Nevertheless, there is no response to the data transmission. For example, in the lower package 51, before the response to the data transmission is performed, the next transmitted data is overwritten on the previous transmission data. Therefore, it is considered that the previous transmission data has been discarded (S4). In this case, the monitoring control device 40 transmits data again to the lower package 51 (S5).

  When only the transmission completion signal is detected and the reception completion signal is not detected, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the lower package 51 (S6), and the failure information is notified to the upper supervisory control device (S7).

  When neither a transmission completion signal nor a reception completion signal is detected, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the monitoring control device 40 (S8), and the failure information is notified to the higher-level monitoring control device (S9).

  As described above, in the second embodiment, a transmission completion interrupt is generated only when necessary, thereby reducing the processing load on the communication control unit 42b during normal operation. Identification becomes possible.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the transmission apparatus provided with the monitoring control apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to the transmission apparatus. In other words, the present invention can be applied to an upper package having a monitoring control device mounted thereon, if the device or system has a plurality of lower-order packages to be monitored and data is transferred between them.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a monitoring control apparatus. It is a figure which shows the storage area inside the data buffer for communication. It is a figure which shows the communication control part in a monitoring control apparatus in more detail. It is a figure which shows the structure of the flame | frame transmitted between a monitoring control apparatus and an opposing package. (A) is a figure which shows the allocation part which should be referred when transmission is completed among the interruption signal line factor allocation parts, (B) is the allocation part which should be referred when reception is completed among interrupt signal line factor allocation parts. (C) is a diagram showing an allocation unit to be referred to when a reception error occurs in the interrupt signal line factor allocation unit. (A) is a figure which shows the interruption instruction | indication set with respect to the allocation part which should be referred at the time of the completion of transmission of the interruption signal line factor allocation part at the time of system initialization, (B) is a system initialization, It is a figure which shows the interruption instruction | indication set with respect to the allocation part which should be referred at the time of completion of reception among the interruption signal line factor allocation parts, (C) is among the interruption signal line factor allocation parts at the time of system initialization It is a figure which shows the interruption instruction | indication set with respect to the allocation part which should be referred when the receiving error of FIG. (A) is a diagram showing an interrupt instruction set for an allocation unit to be referred to when transmission is completed among the interrupt signal line factor allocation units when there is no response from the physical port (1). ) Is a diagram showing an interrupt instruction set for an allocating unit to be referred to upon completion of reception among the interrupt signal line factor allocating units when there is no response from the physical port (1). It is a figure which shows the interruption instruction | indication set with respect to the allocation part which should be referred when a reception error generate | occur | produces among the interruption signal line factor allocation parts when there is no response from a physical port (1). It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the identification process of the fault location based on each detection of a transmission completion signal and a reception completion signal performed in a monitoring control part. It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of the conventional transmission apparatus which has a monitoring control function, and the structure of the periphery of the transmission apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Monitoring control apparatus 11 Identification code description means 12 Transmission means 13 Transmission control means 14 Transmission frame 30a-30n Monitoring object package

Claims (4)

In the monitoring control device that performs communication with the monitoring target package and performs monitoring control of the monitoring target package,
A transmission completion signal generating means for generating a transmission completion signal when transmission is completed by transmitting a predetermined signal to the monitoring target package;
A reception completion signal generating means for generating a reception completion signal when receiving a response signal to the predetermined signal and completing reception;
A transfer unit that discards the transmission completion signal when the response signal is received, and transfers the transmission completion signal to a processing unit that identifies a fault location when the response signal is not received;
Resending means for resending the predetermined signal to the monitoring target package when the response signal is not received;
After the retransmission by the retransmission means, and the fault position specifying means for specifying the fault location based on the transmission completion signal transferred from the reception completion signal and said transfer means are generated from the received complete signal generating means,
A monitoring control apparatus comprising:   2. The monitoring control device according to claim 1, wherein the failure position specifying unit determines that a failure has occurred on the own monitoring control device side when a transmission completion signal cannot be obtained from the transfer unit.   When the failure location specifying unit obtains a transmission completion signal from the transfer unit and cannot obtain a reception completion signal from the reception completion signal generation unit, it determines that a failure has occurred on the corresponding monitored package side. The monitoring control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: When the failure location specifying unit obtains a transmission completion signal from the transfer unit and also obtains a reception completion signal from the reception completion signal generation unit, the predetermined signal is discarded on the corresponding monitoring target package side. The monitoring control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring control apparatus determines and instructs the retransmission unit to retransmit the predetermined signal to the monitoring target package.

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