JP7156499B2 - Programmable logic controller activation method, device and system - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the technical field of programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and more particularly to a programmable logic controller activation method, apparatus and system.

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are digital computing electronic systems specifically designed for applications in industrial environments. Employs a programmable memory that stores instructions for executing operations such as logical operations, sequence control, timing, counting, arithmetic operations, etc., and controls various mechanical devices or production processes via digital or analog input/output. there is

With the widespread application of PLC, cloned PLC products are circulating in the marketplace, harming the profits of legitimate manufacturers of PLC products. To solve this problem, authorized manufacturers of PLC products choose a micro control unit (MCU) as the controller for the PLC that supports read protection of the internal read-only memory (ROM), allowing the PLC's firmware program to The firmware program of the PLC is protected from being obtained by a third party by writing it to the ROM inside the MCU.

It should be noted that the above introduction of the technical background is detailed to facilitate a clear and complete description of the technical solution of the present invention and facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. These proposals are only described in detail in the technical background section of the present invention, and it cannot be recognized that the above technical solutions are known to those skilled in the art.

The inventors have discovered that existing methods cannot completely stop the occurrence of the cloning phenomenon.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the embodiments of the present invention reduce the circulation of clone PLC products in the market and activate a programmable logic controller that can suppress the profit damage caused by clone PLC products to genuine manufacturers. A method, apparatus and system are provided.

According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a programmable logic controller (PLC) activation method applied to a management device is provided. The method includes:
reading the identifier of the PLC from the PLC, transmitting the identifier of the PLC to a server device, and when the identifier is in an inactive state, the server device generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier, returning the activation code and notating the identifier as an activation state;
receiving the activation code returned by the server device and transmitting and storing the activation code to the PLC;
including.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present invention, a programmable logic controller (PLC) activation method applied to a server device is provided. The method includes:
receiving a PLC identifier from a management device;
checking the activation state of the identifier based on manufacturing data of the PLC;
generating an activation code corresponding to the identifier when the identifier is in an inactive state, transmitting it to the management device, and notating the identifier as an active state;
sending an activation code corresponding to the identifier to the management device when the identifier is in an activated state;
including.

According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, a programmable logic controller (PLC) activation method applied to a PLC is provided. The method includes:
receiving a read identifier request from a managed device;
sending an identifier of the PLC to the management device;
receiving an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the management device;
storing the activation code;
including.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus for activating a programmable logic controller (PLC) located in a management device is provided. The device comprises:
a first reading unit for reading the identifier of the PLC from the PLC;
transmitting the identifier of the PLC to a server device, and when the identifier is in an inactive state, the server device generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier, returns the activation code, and returns the identifier a first transmitting unit denoted as active;
a first receiving unit for receiving the activation code returned by the server device;
and the first transmitting unit transmits and stores the activation code to the PLC.

According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for activating a programmable logic controller (PLC) located in a server device. The device comprises:
a receiving unit for receiving a PLC identifier from a management device;
an inspection unit that inspects the activation state of the identifier based on the manufacturing data of the PLC;
when the identifier is in an inactive state, generating an activation code corresponding to the identifier, transmitting it to the management device, notating the identifier as being in an activated state, and when the identifier is in an activated state, a processing unit for sending an activation code corresponding to the identifier to the management device;
including.

According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an activation device for a programmable logic controller (PLC) located in a PLC. The device comprises:
a receiving unit for receiving a read identifier request from a managed device;
a sending unit for sending an identifier of the PLC to the management device;
the receiving unit further receives an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the management device;
a storage unit storing the activation code;
including.

According to a seventh aspect of embodiments of the present invention, a PLC system is provided. The PLC system includes a management device, a PLC and a server device. The management device includes the apparatus described in the fourth aspect above, the PLC includes the apparatus described in the sixth aspect above, and the server device includes the apparatus described in the fifth aspect above.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, a computer-readable program is provided. When the program is executed on the management device, the program enables the computer to perform the method described in the first aspect above on the management device.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer readable program, said computer readable program causing a computer to perform the method of the first aspect above in a management device. can do.

According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable program, which, when executed in a PLC, causes a computer to cause, in the PLC, to perform the method of the third aspect above. can be executed.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer readable program, said computer readable program causing a computer to perform the method of the above third aspect in a PLC. be able to.

According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable program which, when executed on a server device, causes a computer, on said server device, to perform the above-described second aspect of the program. A method can be implemented.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer readable program, said computer readable program causing a computer to perform the method of the above second aspect in a server device. can do.

A beneficial effect of the present invention is that by first activating a PLC, it enables the PLC to obtain a unique activation code, and then verifying said PLC before operating it, if verification passes A PLC that is not activated and has failed verification cannot operate normally. Also, the activation code can be managed at the server device, after the activation code is changed at the server device, the method of the embodiments of the present invention only updates the activation code on one PLC; All PLCs whose activation code has not been updated are considered clone PLCs and therefore cannot pass verification again and operate normally. Therefore, it is possible to curb the use of clone PLCs and reduce the loss of profits that clone PLC products may inflict on certified product manufacturers.

Specific embodiments of the invention are disclosed in detail, as set forth in the following description and drawings, to illustrate the manner in which the principles of the invention may be employed. It should be understood that embodiments of the invention are not limited in scope. Embodiments of the invention include various alterations, modifications, and equivalents within the spirit and terms of the appended claims.

Features described and/or shown for one implementation may be used in the same or similar manner in one or more other implementations and combined with features in other implementations, or Features in other embodiments may be substituted.

The technical term "comprising" as used herein refers to the presence of a feature, integer, step, or component, but one or more other features, integers, steps, or the presence or addition of parts is not excluded.

Elements and features shown in one drawing or one implementation of embodiments of the invention can be combined with elements and features shown in one or more other drawings or implementations. Also, in the drawings, like reference numerals are used to indicate corresponding parts in several drawings and to indicate corresponding parts used in multiple implementations.

The included drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the invention, and these drawings, which form a part of this specification, illustrate the manner of implementation of the invention, and character It is used to explain the principles of the invention together with the description. It should also be appreciated that the drawings described below are merely to illustrate some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art will be able to reproduce these drawings without creative effort. Other drawings can also be obtained based on. In the drawing:

1 is a schematic diagram of a PLC system of Embodiment 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation method of Embodiment 2; FIG. 4 is another schematic diagram of the activation method of PLC of Embodiment 2; FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation method of Embodiment 3; FIG. 8 is another schematic diagram of the activation method of PLC of Embodiment 3; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation method of Embodiment 4; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation flow; 1 is a schematic diagram of online operation of a regular PLC; FIG. Schematic of on-line operation of clone PLC. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of regular PLC activation code update; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation device of Embodiment 5; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation device of Embodiment 6; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a PLC activation device of Embodiment 7;

The foregoing and other features of the invention will become apparent with reference to the accompanying drawings and the following specification. Although the following specification and drawings specifically disclose specific implementations of the present invention, they represent only some implementations in which the principles of the present invention may be employed. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the described modes of implementation, but on the contrary the invention includes all modifications, variations and alternatives within the scope of the appended claims.

In embodiments of the present invention, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish different elements from designations, but do not represent the spatial arrangement or temporal order, etc. of these elements. , these elements are not limited to these terms. The term "and/or" includes any one and all combinations of one or more of the terms listed in the associated list. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” etc. mean the presence of the recited feature, element, element or component but not including one or more other features, elements, elements or configurations. It does not exclude the presence or addition of components.

In the embodiments of the present invention, the singular forms "one," "said," etc., include the plural forms and should be broadly understood as "one" or "one" and "one." is not limited to the implication of Also, the term "described in" should be understood to include both singular and plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the term “by” should be understood as “at least in part” and the term “based on” should be understood as “based at least in part”. should be understood.

Hereinafter, each implementation method of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in combination with the drawings. These implementations are merely examples and are not intended to limit embodiments of the present invention.

(Embodiment 1)
This embodiment provides a PLC system.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the PLC system of this embodiment. The PLC system includes a management device 100, a PLC 200 and a server device 300, as shown in FIG. Management device 100 and PLC 200 are connected via a control interface on PLC 200, management device 100 and server device 300 are connected via the Internet, and PLC 200 and server device 300 do not directly establish a connection relationship.

In this embodiment, the management device 100 may be a computer device that stores a program for activating or verifying the PLC 200, and the program can be implemented in software or firmware method. In addition to computer devices, the management device 100 may also be other entities capable of activating or verifying the PLC 200, such as industrial personal computers. In this embodiment, the management device 100 further stores a software program necessary for the PLC 200, and when the PLC 200 is activated and passes verification, the management device 100 executes the above software program. It downloads to PLC200 and implements management of PLC200. The activation or verification process described above is described in the following embodiments.

In this embodiment, the server device 300 may be a cloud server installed at the manufacturer of the PLC 200 and maintained and managed by the manufacturer of the PLC 200, but the embodiment is not limited to this. Server device 300 may be another server device instead of a cloud server. In this embodiment, the server device 300 can manage information related to the PLCs 200 created by the manufacturer, such as identifiers storing the respective PLCs 200 and their activation states. Upon receiving the request, the server device 300 can filter the identifiers that issued the activation request, invalid identifiers will not be activated, and already activated identifiers cannot be activated again.

In this embodiment, for a valid identifier, the server device 300 can determine the activation state of the identifier by searching the relevant information of the PLC 200, and if the identifier is in the deactivated state , generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier, transmits it to the management device 100, and marks the identifier as an activation state. If the identifier is in an activated state, the identifier has already generated an activation code corresponding to it, so the server device 300 sends the activation code corresponding to the identifier to the management device 100 described above. and the management device 100 can verify the PLC.

In this embodiment, the activation code may be based on a message containing a random key generated by the above identifier, but the embodiment is not limited thereto. In addition, in this embodiment, the server device 300 may update the random key based on certain events, such as a period of time or a download process, and generate the above-mentioned activation code again. can be done. In one implementation, the above-mentioned random key is updated only once, and the above-mentioned activation code is updated only once, so as to avoid the problem of too many updates and inconvenient management. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and if necessary, the aforementioned random key may be updated multiple times, thereby updating the aforementioned activation code multiple times.

Optionally, in this embodiment, when the identifier is in an active state, the server device 300 can simultaneously send the information of whether there is a change request to the management device 100 described above. Here, "without a change request" means that the activation code corresponding to the identifier has not been changed, and "with a change request" means that the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed. Updating the activation code is described in the following embodiments.

In this embodiment, PLC 200 is an industrial programmable logic controller that includes a CPU or MPU that can store applications with unique identifiers. In this embodiment, the identifier may include a message generated by manufacturing related data such as device type, version, serial number, unique ID, date of manufacture, and the like. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and the identifier may include a message generated by any one or any combination of the manufacturing related data described above, or the identifier may include the PLC 200 may include messages generated with data other than the manufacturing-related data described above to uniquely identify the .

In this embodiment, only the PLC 200 that has been activated and passed verification can be used normally, so the use of clone PLCs can be suppressed, and the profit damage caused by clone PLC products to genuine product manufacturers can be reduced. .

The management device 100, the server device 300, and the PLC 200 of the embodiments of the present invention will be described below according to the second to seventh embodiments.

(Embodiment 2)
This embodiment provides a PLC activation method applied to the management device 100 .

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation method of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the method for activating the PLC includes:
a step 201 of reading an identifier of said PLC from a PLC;
An identifier of the PLC is transmitted to a server device, and when the identifier is inactive, the server device generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier, returns the activation code, and activates the identifier. step 202, denoted as a state of transformation;
step 203 of receiving the activation code returned by the server device and transmitting the activation code to the PLC for storage;
including.

In this embodiment, the management device 100 can send the identifier read from the PLC to the server device 300 to activate or verify the PLC 200 . After the server device 300 receives the identifier, it searches the relevant information of each PLC 200 stored by itself to determine whether the identifier is active or inactive, and deactivates it. state, generate a corresponding activation code based on the identifier and send it back to the management device 100 to complete the activation of the PLC 200 and mark the identifier as an activation state.

In this embodiment, the server device 300 performs the activation operation only once for each identifier, and already activated identifiers are already marked as activated in the server device, so they are activated again. Can not do it. Thus, for cloned PLCs, this cloned PLC has the same identifier as a regular PLC, but said identifier has already been activated and cannot be activated again, thus inhibiting the use of cloned PLCs. .

In this embodiment, the server device 300 stores the identifier and activation state of the manufactured PLC 200, so that for an identifier with an activation request, the server device 300 further, based on the stored information, It can determine if it is valid, and only perform activation state determination and subsequent processing for valid identifiers. Therefore, since the activation operation is not performed for clone PLCs that may use invalid identifiers, the use of clone PLCs can be similarly suppressed.

In this embodiment, the activation operation may be completed by the user in the above management device 100 after PLC manufacture, or may be completed by the manufacturer in its own management device 100 before PLC manufacture.

In this embodiment, if the identifier received by the server device 300 is in an activated state, the server device 300 can further send an activation code corresponding to the identifier to the management device 100, and the management device 100 can verifies the activation code, and can only use the activation code that has passed the verification, thus suppressing the use of clone PLCs.

In one implementation, the verification operations described above may be completed by the management device 100 , for example, the management device 100 reads from the PLC 200 an activation code stored by the PLC 200 and reads the activation code received from the server device 300 . The code is compared with the activation code read from the PLC 200, and if the two match, the verification passes; otherwise, the verification fails.

In another implementation, the verification operation described above may be completed by the PLC 200, for example, the management device 100 sends the activation code obtained from the server device 300 to the PLC 200, and the PLC 200 sends the stored activation code to the PLC 200. Compare the code with the activation code received by the management device 100, and if the two match, generate verification success information to pass the verification and return it to the management device 100; Since verification fails, verification failure information is generated and returned to the management device 100 . As such, the management device 100 can determine whether the verification was successful based on the received information.

In this embodiment, as described above, the activation code can be updated at least once. In one implementation, if the server device 300 has not updated the activation code corresponding to the identifier, it simultaneously sends the activation code and the "no change request" information to the management device 100 to perform the verification described above. It can be performed.

In another implementation, when the server device 300 updates the activation code corresponding to the identifier, it can simultaneously send the new activation code and the “change requested” information to the management device 100 . After receiving such information, the management device 100 can send the new activation code to the PLC 200 for updating, and send the changed activation code information to the server device 300 so that the server device Change the information whether the activation code has been changed by For example, if the activation code change request corresponding to the identifier is modified to 'no change request', the server device 300 does not perform such an activation code update operation again. Since only one PLC that stores the original activation code can perform the activation code update operation, for the PLC that has acquired the original activation code corresponding to the identifier by malicious means, Failure to pass verification in a subsequent activation code verification operation may further curtail use of the cloned PLC.

In this embodiment, the management device 100, after receiving the new activation code and the information "change requested" from the server device 300, further, from the PLC 200, the activation code it saved (original activation code) , and if the new activation code received from the server device 300 and the original activation code stored in the PLC 200 do not match, the new activation code is sent to the PLC 200 to update conduct. As such, repeated updating of the activation code can be avoided, further reducing the use of clone PLCs.

FIG. 3 is another schematic diagram of the PLC activation method of the present embodiment, showing the operation of the management device 100. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the method comprises:
step 301 of obtaining a PLC identifier from the PLC;
sending 302 the identifier of said PLC to a server device 300;
receiving 303 an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the server device 300;
transmitting 304 the activation code to the PLC for storage or verifying the activation code;
including.

In this embodiment, after passing the verification, the management device 100 can download the software program to the PLC, so that the PLC can be used normally. If the verification fails, the PLC cannot be used normally. The embodiment of FIG. 3 takes as an example the case where the identifier is a valid identifier, and if the identifier is an invalid identifier, the server device 300 can return the relevant information of “identifier invalid”, so that the clone Use of PLC can be suppressed.

According to the method of the present embodiment, the server device 300 stores related information of the manufactured PLC, and after the PLC is manufactured, the management device 100 activates the PLC to obtain the activation code and activates the PLC. is performed only once, a non-activated PLC cannot be used normally. Before the PLC is used normally, the PLC is further verified, and the PLC that fails the verification cannot be used normally, so the use of the clone PLC can be suppressed.

(Embodiment 3)
This embodiment provides a PLC activation method applied to the server device 300 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation method of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the method for activating the PLC includes:
step 401 of receiving the identifier of the PLC from the management device 100;
checking 402 the activation state of the identifier based on the manufacturing data of the PLC;
When the identifier is in an inactive state, an activation code corresponding to the identifier is generated and transmitted to the management device 100, and the identifier is indicated as being in an activated state, and when the identifier is in an activated state. , a step 403 of sending an activation code corresponding to the identifier to the management device 100;
including.

In this embodiment, as described above, the server device 300 stores related information of the manufactured PLC (for example, the manufacturing data described above), and determines the activation state of the identifier based on the received identifier activation request. inspect. If the identifier is in an inactive state, an activation code corresponding to the identifier is generated and sent back to the management device 100, and the management device 100 transmits the identifier to the PLC and stores it, so that the PLC Activation is complete. If the identifier is in an activated state, the server device 300 sends the activation code to the management device 100 because the activation code corresponding to the identifier has already been generated. The management device 100 verifies the activation code and can only use the PLC normally if the verification passes. Therefore, the use of clone PLC can be suppressed.

After performing the above-described activation operation on the PLC identifier, the server device 300 modifies the activation state of the identifier to the activated state, and performs the activation operation only once on the same identifier. Since it is not possible, non-activated PLCs cannot be used normally, and the use of cloned PLCs can be suppressed. In addition, before using a PLC, the management device 100 further verifies the PLC, and only PLCs that have passed the verification can be used normally, so it is possible to suppress the use of clone PLCs. Since the verification method has been described in the second embodiment, the description is omitted here.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the server device 300 can further update the activation code once, so that the activation code is updated when the identifier is in an activated state. If not, the server device 300 can send the above-mentioned activation code and no change request information to the above-mentioned management device 100, and the management device 100 can verify the PLC. When the activation code is updated, the server device 300 can send the new activation code and the information that there is a change request to the management device 100 described above, and the management device 100 sends the new activation code to the PLC. By doing so, the update of the activation code is completed.

In this embodiment, after the update of the activation code is completed, the management device 100 sends the activation code changed information to the server device 300, so that the server device changes the activation code corresponding to the identifier. A request can be changed without a change request. Therefore, the server device 300 performs only one update operation even for the activation code with the same identifier, and the activation code stored in the PLC that has not been updated does not match the new activation code. Failure to pass verification may further curb the use of clone PLCs.

In the present embodiment, before step 402, the server device 300 checks whether the identifier is valid, and can only perform subsequent operations on valid identifiers, so invalid identifiers are The use of clonal PLCs with

FIG. 5 is another schematic diagram of the PLC activation method of the present embodiment, showing the operation of the server device 300 . As shown in FIG. 5, the method comprises:
step 501 of receiving the identifier of the PLC from the management device 100;
step 502 of determining whether the identifier is a valid identifier, and if so, performing step 503; otherwise, performing step 509;
step 503 of determining whether the identifier is in a deactivated state, and if so, performing step 504; otherwise, performing step 505;
step 504 of generating an activation code corresponding to said identifier and sending it to the management device 100 to modify the activation state of said identifier;
step 505 of determining whether the activation code has been changed, and if so, performing step 506; otherwise, performing step 509;
sending 506 the new activation code and information with the change request to the management device 100;
a step 507 of receiving the changed activation code information transmitted by the management device 100 and modifying the activation code change request corresponding to the identifier without a change request;
sending 508 the activation code and no change request information to the management device 100;
step 509 of generating invalid identifier related information and returning it to said management device 100;
including.

According to the method of the present embodiment, the server device 300 stores related information of the manufactured PLC, and after the PLC is manufactured, the management device 100 activates the PLC to obtain the activation code and activates the PLC. is performed only once, a non-activated PLC cannot be used normally. Before the PLC is used normally, the PLC is further verified, and the PLC that fails the verification cannot be used normally, so the use of the clone PLC can be suppressed.

(Embodiment 4)
This embodiment provides a PLC activation method applied to the PLC 200 .

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation method of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the method comprises:
step 601 of receiving an identifier read request from the management device 100;
sending 602 the identifier of the PLC to the management device 100;
a step 603 of receiving an activation code corresponding to said identifier from said management device 100;
storing 604 the activation code;
including.

In this embodiment, the PLC 200 transmits its own identifier to the management device 100 based on the request of the management device 100, the management device 100 transmits the identifier to the server device 300, and the server device 300 responds to the identifier. A corresponding activation code is generated and sent back to the management device 100, and then the management device 100 sends the activation code to the PLC 200, thereby completing the activation of the PLC.

In this embodiment, after the server device generates the activation code corresponding to the identifier, the status of the identifier is modified to the activated status, and then the activation operation is not performed on the same identifier. The use of clonal PLC can be suppressed.

In this embodiment, the management device 100 further verifies before using the PLC 200 formally.

In one implementation, when the verification operation is completed in the management device 100, the PLC 200 further receives an activation code read request from the management device 100 and sends the saved activation code to the management device 100. and the management device 100 compares the activation code with the activation code received from the server device, and if the two match, the verification is considered successful; otherwise, the verification is failed.

In another implementation, when the verification operation is completed in the PLC 200, the PLC 200 further receives from the management device 100 an activation code that the management device 100 received from the server device 300, and activates the activation code and itself. compares the stored activation codes, and if the two match, it is regarded as verification success and the verification success information is sent to the management device 100; otherwise, it is regarded as verification failure and the verification failure information is managed. Send to device 100 . Regardless of which verification method it is, PLCs that have failed verification cannot be used normally, so the use of clone PLCs can be suppressed.

According to the method of the present embodiment, the server device 300 stores related information of the manufactured PLC, and after the PLC is manufactured, the management device 100 activates the PLC to obtain the activation code and activates the PLC. is performed only once, a non-activated PLC cannot be used normally. Before the PLC is used normally, the PLC is further verified, and since the PLC that fails the verification cannot be used normally, the use of the clone PLC can be suppressed.

The PLC activation method of this embodiment has been described above from the perspectives of the management device 100, the server device 300, and the PLC 200 according to the second to fourth embodiments. Hereinafter, the activation method of the PLC of this embodiment will be described using some specific examples. In the following example, the computer device on which the computer tool software is installed is the management device 100 of this embodiment, and the official cloud server of the authorized PLC manufacturer is the server device of this embodiment. , as described above, the present embodiment is not limited to this.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation flow. Each PLC must undergo the activation operation before first use. As shown in FIG. 7, the flow is:
a step 701 where the user operator performs an activation operation on the PLC using the computer tool software;
computer tool software sending a request to the PLC to read the activation identifier step 702;
the PLC returning an activation identifier to the computer tool software, this identifier being unique, step 703;
step 704, wherein computer tool software sends a request to a cloud server to submit an identifier of said PLC and to activate said PLC;
The cloud server examines the manufacturing data of the PLC based on the identifier of the PLC to determine the activation status of the identifier, and if the identifier is in the deactivated status and the PLC is used for the first time. , a step 705 of the cloud server generating an activation code corresponding to the identifier and returning it to the computer tool software to mark the identifier as an activation state;
computer tool software sending a request to the PLC to download said activation code step 706;
step 707 the PLC storing the activation code obtained from the computer tool software and sending the completed information back to the computer tool software;
Step 708, the computer tool software returning activation completed information to the user operator;
including.

Activation of the PLC is completed by the flow of FIG. Since the same identifier can only be activated once, the cloned PLC uses the same identifier to request activation from the cloud server, and the cloud server inspects the manufacturing data of the identifier to determine the If the identifier is determined to be active, the identifier is not reactivated. Therefore, the use of clonal PLCs can be avoided. Furthermore, for invalid identifiers, the cloud server can return relevant information of the invalid identifiers, thus avoiding the use of clone PLCs using invalid identifiers.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a regular PLC online operation flow. As shown in FIG. 8, the flow is:
A step 801 in which a user operator operates an online download program or the like using computer tool software;
computer tool software sending a request to the PLC to read the activation identifier step 802;
the PLC returning an activation identifier to the computer tool software, this identifier being unique, step 803;
step 804, wherein computer tool software sends a request to a cloud server to submit an identifier of said PLC and to query said PLC;
The cloud server examines the manufacturing data of the PLC based on the identifier of the PLC to determine the activation status of the identifier, the identifier is deactivated, and the activation code of the identifier has already been generated. if so, the cloud server returns an activation code for the identifier to the computer tool software; optionally, if the activation code has not been changed, information of no change request to the computer tool software; step 805, which may also reply together;
step 806, the computer tool software sending a request to the PLC to query the activation code stored by the PLC;
step 807 the PLC returning the saved activation code to the computer tool software;
step 808 where the computer tool software verifies the activation code and, if the verification passes, downloads the user program to the PLC;
the PLC returning the completed information to the computer tool software step 809;
a step 810 in which the computer tool software displays download completion information to the user operator;
including.

At step 808, the verification may be completed by the PLC and has been described above and will not be described here.

Activation of the PLC is completed by the flow of FIG. 8, and the PLC can be used normally.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the online operation flow of clone PLC. As shown in FIG. 9, steps 901-907 are the same as steps 801-807 and will not be repeated here. Also, in step 908, the activation code (&&&&) obtained from the PLC does not match the activation code (****) obtained from the cloud server, so the verification fails, the download is canceled, and the computer tool software displays download failure information to the user operator. Therefore, the use of clone PLC can be suppressed.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of normal PLC activation code update operation flow. As shown in FIG. 10, the flow is:
A step 1001 in which a user operator uses computer tool software to operate an online download program or the like;
step 1002, the computer tool software sending a request to the PLC to read the activation identifier;
the PLC returning an activation identifier to the computer tool software, this identifier being unique, step 1003;
step 1004, where computer tool software sends a request to a cloud server to submit an identifier of said PLC and to query said PLC;
The cloud server examines the manufacturing data of the PLC based on the identifier of the PLC to determine the activation status of the identifier, and the identifier is in the activated status but the activation code of the identifier has changed. if yes, a step 1005 of the cloud server returning to the computer tool software a new activation code (&&&&) for said identifier and the information that there is a change request;
step 1006, the computer tool software sending a request to the PLC to query the activation code stored by the PLC;
step 1007 the PLC returning the saved activation code (****) to the computer tool software;
a step 1008 in which the computer tool software downloads the new activation code (&&&&) and the user program, etc. to the PLC, because the information obtained from the cloud server indicates that the activation code has changed;
step 1009 where the PLC saves the new activation code (&&&&) and user program etc. in the PLC and returns the completed information to the computer tool software;
step 1010, the computer tool software sending a notification to the cloud server to inform the cloud server that the activation code has already been changed;
step 1011, wherein the cloud server modifies the activation code change request from change request to no change request, and returns corresponding information to the computer tool software;
a step 1012 in which the computer tool software displays download completion information to the user operator;
including.

The flow of FIG. 10 allows the cloud server to update the activation code, thereby further reducing the use of clone PLCs.

(Embodiment 5)
This embodiment corresponds to the computer tool software of FIGS. The principle that the device solves the problem is similar to the method in Embodiment 2, and the specific implementation can refer to Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, so the same part of the content is the same as the description omitted.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation device of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11 , the PLC activation device 1100 of this embodiment includes a first reading unit 1101 , a first transmitting unit 1102 and a first receiving unit 1103 . A first reading unit 1101 reads the identifier of the PLC from the PLC. The first sending unit 1102 sends the identifier of the PLC to a server device, and the server device generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier when the identifier is in an inactive state, and the activation code is and notate the identifier as an active state. The first receiving unit 1103 receives the activation code returned by the server device, and the first sending unit 1102 transmits the activation code to the PLC for storage.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the PLC activation device 1100 of this embodiment further includes:
A verification unit 1104, wherein if the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has not been changed, the server device returns the activation code corresponding to the identifier and the information of no change request. and a first receiving unit 1103 receives the activation code and no change request information returned by the server device, and a verifying unit 1104 verifies the PLC.

In one implementation, the verification unit 1104 includes a second reading unit 11041 and a comparing unit 11042, as shown in FIG. A second reading unit 11041 reads the activation code stored by the PLC from the PLC. A comparison unit 11042 compares the activation code received from the server device and the activation code read from the PLC, and if the two match, the verification is passed, otherwise the verification is failed. .

In another implementation, the verification unit 1104 includes a second sending unit 11043 and a second receiving unit 11044, as shown in FIG. a second sending unit 11043 for sending the activation code received from the server device to the PLC, and the PLC compares the stored activation code with the received activation code from the server device so that both If they match, return verification success information; otherwise, return verification failure information. The second receiving unit 11044 receives the verification success information or the verification failure information returned by the PLC, and passes the verification when the verification success information is received, but when the verification failure information is received. fails validation.

In this embodiment, if the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed, the server device returns a new activation code and information with a change request. A first receiving unit 1103 receives the new activation code and the change requested information returned by the server device. A first sending unit 1102 sends the new activation code to the PLC for updating. The first receiving unit 1103 sends the information of the activation code changed to the server device, and the server device modifies the change request of the activation code corresponding to the identifier to "no change request".

In this embodiment, the first reading unit 1101 reads the activation code stored by the PLC from the PLC before the first sending unit 1102 sends the new activation code to the PLC. A first sending unit 1102 sends the new activation code to the PLC for updating if the activation code and the new activation code do not match.

In the present embodiment, the PLC activation device 1100 described above can be implemented with a controller and a memory. For example, the memory stores a computer program for implementing the method of Embodiment 2 and executes the method of Embodiment 2 under control of a controller.

The present embodiment further provides a management device located in the PLC activation device 1100 described above. In addition, the management device can further have other normal configurations of management devices, such as an input device (keyboard), an output device (display), a connection interface, etc. For the normal configuration of the management device, , the existing technology can be referred to, so the description is omitted here.

By alternately using the apparatus or management device of this embodiment, the server device, and the PLC, activation operation or verification operation can be performed on the PLC, and use of the clone PLC can be suppressed.

(Embodiment 6)
The present embodiment provides a PLC activation device installed in the server device 300 . The principle that the device solves the problem is similar to the method in Embodiment 3, and the specific implementation can refer to Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 3, so the same part of the content is the same as the description omitted.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation device of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12 , the PLC activation device 1200 of this embodiment includes a receiving unit 1201 , a testing unit 1202 and a processing unit 1203 . The receiving unit 1201 receives the identifier of the PLC from the management device. A checking unit 1202 checks the activation state of the identifier based on the manufacturing data of the PLC. The processing unit 1203 generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier when the identifier is in an inactive state, transmits it to the management device, marks the identifier as an active state, and indicates that the identifier is in an active state. When in the activated state, an activation code corresponding to the identifier is sent to the management device.

In this embodiment, when the identifier is in the activated state, if the activation code corresponding to the identifier has not been changed, the processing unit 1203 sends the activation code corresponding to the identifier and the information of no change request to the It can be sent to the PLC activation system.

In this embodiment, when the identifier is in the activated state, if the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed, the processing unit 1203 sends the new activation code and the change request information to the management device. can do. In this embodiment, the receiving unit 1201 may further receive activation code changed information from the management device. The processing unit 1203 modifies the change request of the activation code corresponding to the identifier without change request.

In this embodiment, the above-described PLC activation device 1200 can be implemented with a controller and a memory. For example, the memory stores a computer program for implementing the method of Embodiment 3 and executes the method of Embodiment 3 under control of a controller.

The present embodiment further provides a server device located in the activation device 1200 of the PLC described above. In addition, the server device can further have other normal configurations of server devices, such as input devices (keyboards), output devices (displays), connection interfaces, etc. For the normal configuration of the server device, , the existing technology can be referred to, so the description is omitted here.

By alternately using the apparatus or server device of this embodiment and the management device, it is possible to perform an activation operation or a verification operation on the PLC and suppress the use of the clone PLC.

(Embodiment 7)
The present embodiment provides a PLC activation device arranged in the PLC 200 . The principle that the device solves the problem is similar to the method in Embodiment 4, and the specific implementation can refer to Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 4, so the same part of the content is the same as the description omitted.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the PLC activation device of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13 , the PLC activation device 1300 of this embodiment includes a receiving unit 1301 , a transmitting unit 1302 and a storing unit 1303 . The receiving unit 1301 receives the identifier read request from the management device. A sending unit 1302 sends the identifier of the PLC to the management device. The receiving unit 1301 further receives an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the management device. A storage unit 1303 stores the activation code.

In this embodiment, the receiving unit 1301 further receives an activation code read request from the management device. The transmitting unit 1302 is further configured to transmit the stored activation code to the management device, and the management device compares the activation code with the activation code received from the server device, and if they match, Consider verification success, otherwise consider verification failure.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the PLC activation device of this embodiment further includes:
Including a verification unit 1304, the receiving unit 1301 further receives an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the management device. The device further compares the received activation code with the stored activation code, and if the two match, considers verification successful, generates verification success information, and transmits the verification success information to the management device. , otherwise, it considers verification failure, generates verification failure information and sends it to the management device.

In this embodiment, the PLC activation device 1300 described above can be implemented with a controller and a memory. For example, the memory stores a computer program for implementing the method of Embodiment 4 and executes the method of Embodiment 4 under control of a controller.

The present embodiment further provides a PLC located in the PLC activation device 1300 described above. In addition, the PLC can further have other normal configurations of PLCs, such as input devices (keyboards), output devices (displays), connection interfaces, etc. For the normal configuration of the PLCs, the existing technology can be referred to, so the description is omitted here.

By alternately using the apparatus or PLC of this embodiment and the management device, the activation or verification of the PLC can be completed and the use of the clone PLC can be suppressed.

The above apparatus and methods of the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in hardware, or may be implemented in a combination of hardware and software. Embodiments of the present invention relate to such a computer readable program, which, when executed by a logic element, is capable of realizing a device or component as described above by said logic element, or The device can implement various methods or steps described above. Embodiments of the present invention further relate to storage media, such as hard disks, magnetic disks, CDs, DVDs, flash memories, etc., for storing the above programs.

The combined methods/apparatuses described in the embodiments of the present invention can be embodied directly as hardware, software modules running on a processor, or a combination of both. For example, one or more of the functional block diagrams and/or one or more combinations of functional block diagrams illustrated in FIGS. It is also compatible with wear modules. These software modules can correspond to the steps shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, respectively. These hardware modules can implement hardware implementation of these software modules using, for example, a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. . By coupling a storage medium to a processor, the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a component part of a processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. Said software modules may be stored in the memory of the mobile terminal and may also be stored on a memory card insertable into the mobile terminal. For example, if the electronic device employs a relatively large-capacity MEGA-SIM card or a large-capacity flash memory device, the software module can be stored in the MEGA-SIM card or large-capacity flash memory device. can.

One or more of the functional blocks and/or one or more combinations of functional blocks set forth in the accompanying figures may be general purpose processors, digital signal processors ( DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic circuits, discrete hardware components, or any suitable combination thereof can do. One or more of the functional blocks and/or one or more combinations of functional blocks set forth in the accompanying figures may also be used in combination of computing devices, e.g., a DSP and microprocessor combination, multiple microprocessors, It can also be implemented as one or more microprocessors in combination with DSP communications or any other such arrangement.

Although the present invention has been described above in combination with specific implementation modes, it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that these descriptions are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the protection scope of the present invention. Persons skilled in the art can make various variations and modifications to the present invention based on the spirit and principles of the invention, and these variations and modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (17)

A method for activating a programmable logic controller applied to a managed device, comprising:
reading the identifier of the programmable logic controller from the programmable logic controller and transmitting the identifier of the programmable logic controller to a server device ;
In a first case where the identifier is in an inactive state, the server device generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier, returns the activation code, and marks the identifier as an active state. and
receiving the activation code returned by the server device in the first case, and transmitting and storing the activation code to the programmable logic controller;
in a second case where the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed, the server device returns a new activation code and information with a change request;
In the second case, receiving the new activation code returned by the server device and the information indicating that there is a change request, transmitting the new activation code to the programmable logic controller, performing an update, and changing the activation code sending the completed information to the server device;
the server device, which has received the information that the activation code has been changed, modifies the activation code change request corresponding to the identifier to "no change request" ;
method including. if the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has not been changed, the server device returns an activation code corresponding to the identifier and information without a change request; but furthermore,
2. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving the activation code and no change request information returned by the server device to verify the programmable logic controller. verifying the programmable logic controller;
reading an activation code stored by the programmable logic controller from the programmable logic controller;
comparing the activation code received from the server device and the activation code read from the programmable logic controller, and if the two match, pass the verification; otherwise, fail the verification;
3. The method of claim 2, comprising: verifying the programmable logic controller;
When the activation code received from the server device is sent to the programmable logic controller, and the programmable logic controller compares the stored activation code with the activation code received from the server device, and the two match. returns verification success information, otherwise returns verification failure information;
The verification success information or the verification failure information returned by the programmable logic controller is received, and the verification is passed when the verification success information is received, and the verification is failed when the verification failure information is received. and
3. The method of claim 2, comprising: Before sending the new activation code to the programmable logic controller, the method further comprises:
reading the activation code stored by the programmable logic controller from the programmable logic controller, and if the activation code and the new activation code do not match, transmitting the new activation code to the programmable logic controller for updating; 2. The method of claim 1 , comprising: A method for activating a programmable logic controller applied to a server device, comprising:
receiving a programmable logic controller identifier from a management device;
checking the activation state of the identifier based on manufacturing data of the programmable logic controller;
generating an activation code corresponding to the identifier when the identifier is in an inactive state, transmitting it to the management device, and notating the identifier as an active state;
sending an activation code corresponding to the identifier to the management device when the identifier is in an activated state;
When the identifier is in an activated state, if the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been updated, sending a new activation code and change request information to the management device;
method including. 7. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the identifier is in an activated state, sending the activation code and no change request information to the management device if the activation code corresponding to the identifier has not been updated. . receiving activation code changed information from the management device;
modifying a change request of an activation code corresponding to the identifier without a change request;
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising: A programmable logic controller activation method applied to a programmable logic controller, comprising:
receiving a read identifier request from a management device and sending the identifier of the programmable logic controller to the management device;
receiving an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the management device and storing the activation code;
if the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed, the server device replies and receives a new activation code via the management device to perform an update; to do and

The server device returns information indicating that there is a change request together with the new activation code, and the management device that receives the information indicating that there is a change request transmits information indicating that the activation code has been changed to the server device, the server device, which has received the information that the activation code has been changed, modifies the activation code change request corresponding to the identifier to "no change request" ;
method including. receiving an activation code read request from the management device;
sending the stored activation code to the management device, and the management device compares the activation code with the activation code received from the server device, and if the two match, the verification is considered successful; otherwise, consider it a verification failure;
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: receiving an activation code corresponding to the identifier from the management device 1;
compare the received activation code with the stored activation code, and if they match, consider the verification successful, generate verification success information and send it to the management device; otherwise, Considering a verification failure, generating verification failure information and sending it to the managed device;
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: An activation device for a programmable logic controller located in a management device, comprising:
a first reading unit for reading an identifier of the programmable logic controller from the programmable logic controller;
transmitting an identifier of the programmable logic controller to a server device, wherein in a first case where the identifier is in a deactivated state, the server device generates an activation code corresponding to the identifier; and marking the identifier as active;
a first receiving unit for receiving the activation code returned by the server device in the first case ;
including
In the first case, the first transmission unit transmits the activation code to the programmable logic controller for storage.
in a second case where the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed, the server device returns a new activation code and information with a change request;
the first receiving unit receives the new activation code and the change request information returned by the server device;
said first sending unit sending said new activation code to said programmable logic controller for updating;
The first receiving unit that has received the new activation code and the information with the change request sends information that the activation code has been changed to the server device, and the server device receives the activation code corresponding to the identifier. A device that modifies a change request without a change request . if the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has not been changed, the server device returns an activation code corresponding to the identifier and information without a change request;
The first receiving unit receives the activation code and no change request information returned by the server device, and the device further:
13. Apparatus according to claim 12 , comprising a verification unit for verifying said programmable logic controller. The verification unit
a second reading unit for reading activation codes stored by the programmable logic controller from the programmable logic controller;
a comparison unit that compares the activation code received from the server device and the activation code read from the programmable logic controller and passes verification if they match, otherwise fails verification; ,
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , comprising: The verification unit
When the activation code received from the server device is sent to the programmable logic controller, and the programmable logic controller compares the stored activation code with the activation code received from the server device, and the two match. returns verification success information, otherwise returns verification failure information;
The verification success information or the verification failure information returned by the programmable logic controller is received, and the verification is passed when the verification success information is received, but the verification is failed when the verification failure information is received. a second receiving unit for
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , comprising: If the identifier is in an activated state and the activation code corresponding to the identifier has been changed, the server device returns a new activation code and information with a change request;
the first receiving unit receives the new activation code and the change request information returned by the server device;
said first sending unit sending said new activation code to said programmable logic controller for updating;
13. The first receiving unit as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the first receiving unit sends the activation code modified information to the server device, and the server device modifies the activation code modification request corresponding to the identifier without modification request. equipment. the first reading unit reading the activation code stored by the programmable logic controller from the programmable logic controller before the first sending unit transmits the new activation code to the programmable logic controller; 17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein a sending unit sends the new activation code to the programmable logic controller for updating if the activation code and the new activation code do not match.

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