JP6024472B2 - IP relay device having IP device diagnosis function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention has an IP relay apparatus that accommodates IP (Internet Protocol) equipment and relays IP packets between the IP network side and the subordinate IP equipment, and particularly has a function of diagnosing the normality of the subordinate IP equipment. The present invention relates to an IP relay device.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of IP networks and the increase in speed and bandwidth, various types of IP devices connected to IP networks have increased explosively. As a result, IP devices are indispensable for office work and daily life at home, and each IP device such as IP relay devices and IP terminal devices installed in large quantities is efficiently maintained and managed. There is a need to. Therefore, a technique for detecting an abnormality of the IP relay device is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 diagnoses the normality of a data communication channel, which is a data signal processing path in an IP relay apparatus (communication relay apparatus in Patent Document 1). Diagnosing the normality of is not considered.

JP 2010-114876 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an IP relay device having a function of efficiently diagnosing normality of a subordinate IP device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the first invention accommodates one or more IP devices and relays an IP packet between an upper IP network or an upper IP device and a subordinate IP device and / or In an IP relay device having a function of supplying power to an IP device, a transmission data amount measuring unit that measures a data amount per unit time that each of the IP devices transmits via its own IP relay device and / or the IP device Supply power amount measuring means for measuring the amount of power supplied to each unit time, and the average data amount value per unit time that each of the IP devices transmits via its own IP relay device is stored. the average amount of transmission data storage means and or the IP device average power amount storage means for storing information relating to the amount of power per average unit time supplied to each keep, IP device diagnosis means for diagnosing the normality of each IP device periodically or irregularly, and the average transmission data amount storage means is measured periodically or irregularly by the transmission data amount measurement means The average value of the measured values is stored in correspondence with the IP device, and the average power storage unit stores the average value of the values measured by the supply power amount measuring unit regularly or irregularly in correspondence with the IP device. The IP device diagnosis means starts the transmission data amount measurement means and / or the supply power amount measurement means periodically or irregularly, and the transmission data amount measurement means and / or the supply power amount measurement means comparing the value corresponding to the IP device stored in the measured value and the average amount of transmission data storage means and or said average electric power storage means, according to a predetermined judgment condition, the I Determine the possibility of equipment abnormal, the IP device when the diagnosis means does not determine that there is a possibility of abnormality in the IP device, the transmission data amount measuring means and or the supply power amount measuring means has measured values And a predetermined arithmetic processing for averaging based on a value corresponding to the IP device stored in the average transmission data amount storage unit and / or the average power amount storage unit, and corresponding to the IP device The latest average value is stored in the average transmission data amount storage means and / or the average power amount storage means .

Furthermore, the second invention stops the supply of power to the IP device when the IP device diagnosis means determines that any of the IP devices may be abnormal in the IP relay device. Or a command for stopping the supply of power to the IP device to a power supply device that supplies power to the IP device, and after stopping or stopping the supply of power, the IP device sends a command to resume the resume or power supply supplying power to the equipment was restarted power supply to the IP device, or despite sends a command to resume the supply of power, the When the IP device diagnosis unit determines again that there is a possibility of abnormality in the IP device, the alarm information is displayed on the display unit included in the own IP relay device, or predetermined And transmits the alarm information to the destination.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the IP relay apparatus which has a function which diagnoses the normality of IP apparatus of subordinate efficiently can be provided.

Internal block diagram of the device of the present invention Example of stored contents of reference data storage unit 16 Operation flowchart of the device of the present invention

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a PoE (Power over Ethernet (registered trademark)) hub having a power supply function as an example. The present invention is not limited to a hub, and can be applied to various IP relay apparatuses that relay IP packets such as routers and gateways.

  FIG. 1 is an internal block configuration diagram of a PoE hub device (hereinafter abbreviated as this device) according to the present invention. First, an outline of the operation of the apparatus 1 will be described.

  The apparatus 1 is a PoE hub that relays IP packets between an IP network 2 or an upper IP device and a subordinate IP device 3. The upper IP device is a router, gateway, ONU (Optical Network Unit), etc. connected to the UP-LINK side port 11, or a higher level device connected in cascade (not shown). Further, the subordinate IP device 3 is various IP devices 3 connected to the DOWN-LINK side port 13, for example, an IP telephone, a wireless access point, a Personal Computer, a Web camera, or the like, or cascade-connected. This lower level device. In addition, the device 1 supplies PoE power to the subordinate IP device 3.

  For example, when the IP device 3-1 is another device connected in cascade and the IP device 3-2 to the IP device 3 -N are IP phones or wireless access points, the IP phone is not tied to the position of the power outlet. A system can be constructed flexibly.

  Next, the internal block configuration of the apparatus 1 will be described in detail. The apparatus 1 includes an IP device diagnosis unit 10, an UP-LINK side port 11, an IP packet relay control unit 12, a DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as a port), a power supply control unit 14, and a PoE power supply. The unit 15 includes a reference data storage unit 16, a diagnostic switch 17, and a display unit 18.

  The IP device diagnosis unit 10 analyzes the data amount of the IP packet from the IP device 3 connected to the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 or the power supply amount to the IP device 3, and diagnoses the normality of the IP device 3. Means. The detailed description of the IP device diagnosis unit 10 will be described later.

  The UP-LINK side port 11 is means for connecting to a higher-level IP network 2 side device such as a router, gateway, or ONU.

  The IP packet relay control unit 12 relays IP packets between the UP-LINK side port 11 and the DOWN-LINK side PoE ports 13-1 to 13-N, and determines the number or data amount of the relayed IP packets. It is a means for measuring and outputting the measured value to the IP device diagnosis unit 10.

  The DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 is means for connecting the IP device 3 and outputting power from the PoE power supply unit 15 to the IP device 3. When other devices 1 are cascade-connected, the UP-LINK side port 11 of the next device 1 may be connected to the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13.

  The power supply control unit 14 converts the power received from an AC 100V outlet, which is a commercial power source, or the power received by the PoE via the UP-LINK side port 11 into a predetermined operating voltage, and sends it to each unit in the apparatus 1. It is a means to supply. It should be noted that whether the power reception from the outlet or the PoE power reception is performed by switching the apparatus 1 with a power switch (not shown) or the like may be performed.

  The PoE power supply unit 15 converts the power supplied from the power supply control unit 14 into PoE power, outputs the power to each DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13, measures the amount of power supply, and measures the measured value as an IP device diagnosis unit 10 is a means for notifying. Further, it is a means for controlling ON / OFF of power supply in accordance with an instruction from the IP device diagnosis unit 10.

  The reference data storage unit 16 stores reference data necessary for diagnosis output from the IP device diagnosis unit 10 and outputs predetermined reference data stored in response to a request from the IP device diagnosis unit 10 It is. Details of the reference data will be described later.

  The diagnosis switch 17 is a manual switch that requests diagnosis to the IP device diagnosis unit 10. When the operator presses this switch, the normality of the IP device 3 can be checked at any time.

  The display unit 18 is a means for displaying the operation status of the apparatus 1, the diagnosis result by the IP device diagnosis unit 10, various alarm information, and the like. Specific display devices include LCDs and LEDs.

  FIG. 2 is an example of data stored in the reference data storage unit 16. The column 201 has a DOWN-LINK side PoE port, the column 202 has a diagnosis setting for setting whether or not the port is a diagnosis target (ON is the diagnosis target), the column 203 has a diagnosis start timing or event, and a column 204 Is an average value of the throughput of data input from the IP device 3 (for example, about 100 kbit / S in the case of an IP phone), and a column 205 is an IP device connected by the PoE power supply unit 15 to which power is supplied. 3 is an average value (for example, 200 mAh) of the PoE power supply amount to 3, and a column 206 has a determination condition (for example, an average value ±) by which the IP device diagnosis unit 10 determines the possibility of abnormality of the IP device 3 connected to the port 50%), in column 207, a report destination (for example, a mail address of a maintenance person) corresponding to the IP device 3 connected to the port is registered.

  The IP device diagnostic unit 10 refers to the column 203 for each port in the row where ON is set in the column 202, and the arrival of the measurement timing for each PoE port (for example, regular measurement timing or non-periodic communication) When a specific signal related to the start, re-diagnosis after power-on reset described later, or pressing of the diagnostic switch 17) is detected, the timing is used as an input from the IP device 3 measured by the IP packet relay control unit 12. The value of the amount of data per unit time (throughput) and the value of the PoE power supply amount measured by the PoE power supply unit 15 are compared with the reference data stored in the columns 204 and 205, and their relationship is It is determined whether or not the determination condition related to normality stored in 206 is satisfied. If it is determined that the determination condition is not satisfied, it is stored in column 207. To report the alarm information to the broadcast destination (for example, e-mail) to display the alarm information or the display unit 18,.

  Here, the data stored in the column 204 and the column 205 are, for example, the throughput value of data input from the IP device 3 measured by the IP device diagnostic control unit 10 and the PoE, and PoE. A value (normal value) determined to be normal for the PoE power supply amount measured by the power supply unit 15 may be averaged each time. This addition average may be, for example, an average of N (for example, 10) normal values obtained by excluding the oldest normal value in the past and adding the latest normal value, or a cumulative average that does not limit the number of samples.

  In addition, when starting use of this apparatus 1 newly or changing subordinate IP equipment 3, the data memorize | stored in the reference data memory | storage part 16 are cleared, and a normal value of one or more initial diagnosis is carried out. Remember the average. At this time, it is efficient if the determination conditions are not determined as abnormal in the diagnosis of the initial period.

  The throughput value of data input from the IP device 3 measured by the IP packet relay control unit 12 may measure the instantaneous maximum throughput of data input continuously in bursts. The average amount of data for a certain time (for example, 1 minute) may be measured. Similarly, the value of the PoE power supply amount measured by the PoE power supply unit 15 may be an instantaneous maximum value or an average value for a certain period of time.

  The determination conditions stored in the column 206 are set in advance according to the characteristics of the IP device 3 connected to the port. For example, when the IP device 3 is a telephone (IP phone), a determination condition (for example, ± 50%) corresponding to an average throughput (for example, 100 kbit / S) of data corresponding to the voice band (for example, 64 kbps) Should be registered.

  The registration of the judgment condition is performed by special data (for example, with a maintenance dedicated code) input from the UP-LINK side port 11 or the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 and the IP packet relay control unit 12. The IP device diagnosis unit 10 may analyze and register the packet data in the reference data storage unit 16.

  FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the apparatus 1. Hereinafter, the operation flow of the apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. This flow starts from a state in which the power of the apparatus 1 is turned on (S300). It is assumed that data necessary for diagnosis is stored in the reference data storage unit 16 in advance.

  The IP device diagnosis unit 10 refers to the reference data storage unit 16 (column 203 in FIG. 2), monitors whether or not a periodic timing at which diagnosis should be started or occurrence of an irregular event occurs, and performs diagnosis. If it is not an opportunity to start (NO in S310), as a normal relay operation, the IP packet is relayed between the UP-LINK side port 11 and the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 (S311), and the process returns to S310. .

  When the periodic timing for starting diagnosis arrives or the occurrence of an irregular event is detected (S310, YES), IP device diagnosis unit 10 starts diagnosis and starts a timer for measuring the diagnosis period (S320). The PoE power supply unit 15 starts measuring the PoE power supply amount to the IP device 3 (S321), and proceeds to S330. The timer may be a clock device (not shown) existing in the apparatus 1 or a program counter that performs software measurement.

  If an IP packet is received from the UP-LINK side port 11 in S330 (S330, YES), the packet is relayed to any of the DOWN-LINK side PoE ports 13 corresponding to the header information attached to the IP packet (S331). Proceed to S340. If NO in S330, the process skips S331 and proceeds to S340. At this stage, the IP packet is merely relayed, and the throughput is not measured. This is because the normality of the IP device 3 is determined based on whether or not the IP device 3 has transmitted an IP packet.

  In S340, when an IP packet is received from the DOWN-LINK side PoE port to be diagnosed (column 202 in FIG. 2 is ON) (S340, YES), the UP-LINK side is set according to the header information attached to the IP packet. While relaying to either the port 11 or the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13, the data amount per unit time of the relayed IP packet is measured as traffic data (throughput) for each port to be diagnosed (S341).

  If NO in S340, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 determines whether or not to transmit a keep-alive signal for checking the normality of the IP device 3 to the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 to be diagnosed ( If the answer is YES, a keep-alive signal is transmitted (S343). If NO, the process skips S343 and proceeds to S350. Here, the transmission of the keep-alive signal in S343 may be the arrival of a regular timing, or may be a predetermined event detection (for example, no signal detection for a certain time or more).

  Further, although not expressed in this flow, it is also possible to limit the automatic keep-alive signal transmission to the case where the possibility of abnormality of the IP device 3 is detected. In this case, the flow may be changed so as to transmit a keep-alive signal when the determination of the possibility of abnormality in S360 described later is YES. As a result, the normality of the IP device 3 is usually diagnosed only by the amount of data per unit time transmitted by the IP device 3, and when the diagnosis is made that there is a possibility of abnormality in the IP device 3, the keep alive signal is sent. If there is no response and there is no response, it can be determined that there is an abnormality, not a possibility of abnormality, so there is no use of an unnecessary keep-alive signal, the diagnosis is efficient, and the diagnosis of normality is reliable .

  In S344, if there is a response signal indicating normality from the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 that has transmitted the keep-alive signal (YES in S344), the process proceeds to S350. If NO in S344, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 determines that there is a possibility of abnormality in the IP device 3 connected to the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13, and proceeds to S361 described later.

  By the way, the keep alive signal is a predetermined signal in cooperation with the IP device 3 that requests the IP device 3 to return a response signal, and the format of the signal is arbitrary. Further, as the keep alive signal, a Ping signal used for a PING (Packet Internet Grouper) which is a general program for diagnosing an IP network may be used.

  When the timer expires in S350 (S350, YES), the data amount per unit time (throughput) calculated from the measured data amount and the PoE power supply amount measured by the PoE power supply unit 15 are determined for each diagnosis target port. Comparison is made with reference data (column 204, column 205 in FIG. 2) (S351). If the timer has not expired (S350, NO), the process returns to S321 to continue the measurement related to the diagnosis.

  In S351, each data is compared, and if there is a DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 that may be abnormal (S360, YES) according to the determination condition (column 206 in FIG. 2), the process proceeds to S361. An instruction to temporarily turn off / on the PoE power supply to the PoE power supply unit 15 is output to the PoE power supply unit 15, and the PoE power supply is temporarily turned off and turned on again for the IP device 3 connected to the port (power on Reset) and return to S310.

  In S361, when the apparatus 1 does not have the PoE power supply function, the power supply to the IP device 3 is temporarily turned off to an external power supply device (not shown) that supplies power to the IP device 3, and then again. A control command to be turned on may be transmitted.

  By the way, the reason for power-on reset in S361 is that, when the IP device 3 is only frozen due to an unexpected cause, there are many cases in which normal recovery is possible only by power-on reset. That is, when returning to S310 after a power-on reset, after a certain time (for example, 1 minute) has elapsed, a diagnosis is again made (after YES in S310) to check whether the power-on reset has returned to normal. If it returns to normal, it is determined that there is no abnormality. However, even if the power-on reset is restored to normal, there is a possibility that there is some abnormality in the IP device 3, so that alarm information indicating that such processing has been executed is reported to the report destination. It may be.

  If it is determined in S360 that there is a possibility of abnormality even after re-diagnosis after power-on reset, the IP device diagnosis unit 10 displays alarm information relating to the abnormality of the IP device 3 connected to the port on the display unit 18. Or, by referring to the reference data storage unit 16, the alarm information is reported to a pre-registered report destination (column 207 in FIG. 2) via the UP-LINK side port 11 or the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 ( S361).

  When there is no DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 that is determined to have a possibility of abnormality in S360 (S360, NO), the measured data is the reference data stored in the reference data storage unit 16 (column in FIG. 2). 204 and the column 205) are reflected (added and averaged) to update the reference data (S362).

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Since the present apparatus 1 routinely measures the amount of data per unit time of an IP packet transmitted by each IP device 3 and uses the average value of the data amount as reference data, the reference data relating to abnormality determination is artificially obtained. There is no hassle to register.

  In addition, when this device is connected in cascade, it is possible to check the normality of this device as an IP device by the higher-level device, and to identify the fault location of the train by multiple devices connected in cascade Easy to do.

  Furthermore, the present apparatus 1 can check the normality of the IP device 3 by the keep alive signal or the Ping signal even when there is no transmission of the IP packet from the IP device 3, so that the IP device 3 is normal. Nevertheless, when there is no IP packet transmission for a long period of time, it is possible to detect a change in the user of the IP device 3. For example, when this apparatus is installed in an elderly living alone and the IP device 3 is a medical device (such as an electrocardiogram or a sphygmomanometer), the measured medical data is routinely transmitted to a medical institution. If the IP packet is not transmitted for a long period of time even though the device is normal, it is possible to determine that the user has changed and to notify alarm information that prompts the user to rush to a predetermined organization.

  Further, in this embodiment, the apparatus 1 determines the normality of the IP device 3 connected to the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13, but the DOWN-LINK side PoE port 13 is connected to the UP-LINK side port 11 side. In this case, it is possible to diagnose an IP device connected to the UP-LINK side port 11 side.

  By the way, although the PoE hub has been described as an example, the present invention is generally applicable to an apparatus that relays IP packets, and the apparatus 1 may be a router, a gateway, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... IP relay apparatus 2 with IP device diagnostic function by this invention 2 ... IP network 3 ... IP device 10 ... IP device diagnostic part 11 ... UP-LINK side port 12 ... IP Packet relay control unit 13 ... DOWN-LINK side PoE port 14 ... power supply control unit 15 ... PoE power supply unit 16 ... reference data storage unit 17 ... diagnostic switch 18 ... display unit

Claims (2)

In an IP relay apparatus that accommodates one or more IP devices and has a function of relaying IP packets between a host IP network or a host IP device and a subordinate IP device and / or a function of supplying power to the IP device ,
Each of the IP devices measures a transmission data amount measuring means for measuring a data amount per unit time transmitted through the own IP relay device and / or a power amount per unit time of power supplied to each of the IP devices. Supply power amount measuring means , average transmission data amount storage means for storing an average data amount value per unit time that each of the IP devices transmits via its own IP relay device, and / or the IP device Average power amount storage means for storing information relating to the average amount of power supplied to each unit time, and IP device diagnosis means for diagnosing the normality of each of the IP devices periodically or irregularly Have
The average transmission data amount storage means stores an average value of the values measured regularly or irregularly by the transmission data amount measurement means corresponding to the IP device, and the average power amount storage means stores the supplied power. An average value of values measured regularly or irregularly by the quantity measuring means is stored corresponding to the IP device,
The IP device diagnosis means activates the transmission data amount measurement means and / or the supply power amount measurement means periodically or irregularly, and the value measured by the transmission data amount measurement means and / or the supply power amount measurement means comparing the value corresponding to the IP device stored in the average amount of transmission data storage means and or said average electric power storage means, according to a predetermined judgment condition, judges the possibility of the IP apparatus abnormality ,
When the IP device diagnosis unit does not determine that there is a possibility of abnormality in the IP device, the value measured by the transmission data amount measurement unit and / or the supply power amount measurement unit, the average transmission data amount storage unit, and Alternatively, predetermined arithmetic processing related to averaging is executed based on a value corresponding to the IP device stored in the average power storage means, and the latest average value corresponding to the IP device is calculated as the average transmission data amount. An IP relay device having an IP device diagnosis function, wherein the IP relay device stores the information in a storage unit and / or the average power amount storage unit . The IP relay device according to claim 1 ,
A power supply device that stops supplying power to the IP device or supplies power to the IP device when the IP device diagnosis unit determines that any of the IP devices may be abnormal A command to stop the supply of power to the IP device, and after the command to stop or stop the supply of power, the power supply to the IP device is resumed or the power supply is stopped. sends a command to resume resumed power supply to the IP device, or despite sends a command to resume the supply of power, the IP device diagnosis means the possibility of abnormality in the IP device When it is determined again that there is an IP, the alarm information is displayed on the display means provided in the own IP relay apparatus, or the alarm information is transmitted to a predetermined destination. IP relay apparatus having a vessel diagnostics.

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