JP7413183B2 - control system - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to control systems.

Regarding control systems, for example, a system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 states, ``This distributed monitoring and control system is a distributed monitoring and control system in which a personal computer (PC) for monitoring and a programmable logic controller (PLC) for control in plant monitoring and control equipment are connected via a network. The general-purpose PC 10a is provided with an information management file 13a for the general-purpose PLC 20a for control, and the general-purpose PLC 20a is provided with an information automatic cleaning tool 29a for the general-purpose PLC 20a, so that the information input to the general-purpose PC 10a and the process information of the general-purpose PLC 20a can be retrieved using general-purpose software. Disclose "Integrated management."

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-362327

A conventional control device is a computing device in which at least one control program is arranged. Generally, the role of a control device is to control a device to be controlled without delay by periodically executing a control program. A computing device has hardware resources such as a processor and memory, but since the hardware resources required to perform the role are smaller than those of a general computer, it is usually a component of a control system. The amount of hardware resources of an arithmetic unit is smaller than that of a general computer. The device to be controlled is typically industrial equipment, and industrial equipment is expected to be operated on production lines in factories for longer periods of time than general computers, so fans used to cool CPUs, etc. This is because there are restrictions such as not being able to mount the following.

It is considered that communication for acquiring information necessary for controlling the controlled device (e.g., measured values by sensors) should be part of the control by the control program (i.e., the communication should be written in the control program). However, it is considered desirable to separate information processing such as communication from control by the control program. One possible reason for this is that the devices controlled by the control device are generally automatic machinery or production equipment such as machine tools, automatic assembly equipment, or automatic conveyance equipment, so they have high stability, that is, real-time performance. This is because it is required.

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

The control program performs a scan process at every predetermined control cycle. The "scan process" is a process that includes reading information on a device connected to an I/O (Input/Output) port, calculating the read information, and writing the calculated information. A time period consisting of a scan time, which is the time required for scan processing, and a standby time, which is a time other than the scan time, is referred to as a "control period" (or a "processing period of a control program").

The information program can operate at a processing cycle different from the processing cycle of the control program, and does not necessarily need to operate periodically. Further, the information program can also execute the processing of the information program during a standby time (for example, a time when the control program is not using hardware resources) in the processing cycle of the control program.

In order to give priority to the control program in order to maintain real-time performance, it is conceivable to add an arithmetic device to the control system and execute the information program with the added arithmetic device. In this case, since the information program is executed on a computing device different from the computing device on which the control program is executed, the information program is executed at times other than the standby time of the control program, for example, during the scanning process. Processing may also be performed.

When an information program is executed on a computing device different from the computing device on which the control program is executed, the communication medium between the control program and the information program is a communication medium external to the computing device (for example, an external bus or a communication network). be.

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

System configuration changes that change the type of communication medium between programs (for example, changing the computing device where the program is placed due to the addition or subtraction of computing devices, and the type of communication medium to which the computing device is connected) It is desirable to be able to flexibly change at least one of the following:

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

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

A control system that controls one or more controlled devices includes one or more computing devices each having an interface device, a storage device, and a processor connected thereto. One or more computing devices have one or more control programs, one or more information programs, and one or more shared interfaces. For each of one or more control programs, the control program performs a scan process, which is a process that controls a controlled device and is a process that has real-time characteristics, at each control cycle determined for the control program. The first setting information, which is information set for the control program, is a communication medium between the control program and one or more information programs as communication partners of the control program. This information is independent of the type of information. For each of one or more information programs, the information program is a program that performs information processing specified for the information program, and the second setting information that is information set for the information program is the information set for the information program. Information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between a program and one or more control programs as communication partners of the information program. In each of one or more computing devices, a first program (control program or information program) sends an I/O message to a shared interface in the computing device using information in the configuration information about the first program as an argument. Specify /O (Input/Output). In response to the I/O specification, the shared interface identifies information corresponding to the argument of the I/O specification from mapping information that includes information dependent on the type of communication medium, and Based on the information obtained, I/O is performed depending on the type of communication medium between the first program and the second program (control program or information program as a communication partner of the first program).

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

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

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

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

Also, in the following description, "memory" refers to one or more memory devices, which may typically be a main storage device. At least one memory device in the memory may be a volatile memory device or a non-volatile memory device.

Also, in the following description, "persistent storage" refers to one or more persistent storage devices. The persistent storage device is typically a nonvolatile storage device (eg, auxiliary storage device), and specifically, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive).

Furthermore, in the following description, a "storage device" may be at least a memory and a persistent storage device.

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

In addition, in the following explanation, processing may be explained using the subject "program", but a program is executed by a processor to perform a prescribed process, and to use a storage device and/or an interface device, etc. as appropriate. Since the processing is performed while using the processor, the subject of the processing may be a processor (or a device such as a controller having the processor). A program may be installed on a device, such as a computer, from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable (eg, non-transitory) recording medium. Furthermore, in the following description, two or more programs may be realized as one program, or one program may be realized as two or more programs.

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

In addition, in the following explanation, information such as an "xxx table" may be used to explain information that can be output in response to an input, but the information may be data of any structure (for example, It may be structured data or unstructured data), or it may be a learning model such as a neural network that generates an output in response to input. Therefore, the "xxx table" can be called "xxx information." In addition, in the following explanation, the configuration of each table is an example, and one table may be divided into two or more tables, or all or part of two or more tables may be one table. It's okay.

In addition, in the following explanation, either an ID, a name, or a number is adopted as an example of identification information, but other identification information may be used instead of or in addition to at least one of the ID, name, and number. May also include seed elements.

In addition, in the following description, common parts of reference signs are used when the same type of elements are described without distinguishing them, and reference signs are used when the same type of elements are described separately. be.

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

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

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

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

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

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

One or more peripherals 120 are connected to one or more I/O modules 119 . Peripheral device 120 may be a device such as a sensor or a media drive (eg, HDD or SSD). The I/O module 119 functions as a bus slot into which a peripheral device 120 is removably attached as needed. The controlled device 12 is connected to the I/O module 119 via or without the peripheral device 120 . The controlled device 12 and the I/O module 119 may be 1:1, 1:multiple, multiple:1, or multiple:multiple. In addition, some of the I/O modules 119 may be connected to the communication network 108 in addition to the communication network 118. In other words, some of the I/O modules 119 may be connected to a device that is shared by the control application and the information application. It may be. Further, at least one I/O module 119 may be at least a part of a network I/F device and an I/O control device of at least one computing device 40.

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

Control system 109 includes one or more computing devices 40 . Each computing device 40 includes an interface device, a storage device, and a processor connected thereto. All arithmetic devices 40 may have the same or different hardware configurations. Any computing device 40 may be a location where a control application is placed or an information application is placed. In this embodiment, the computing device 40M is a main computing device, a computing device where a control application is placed, and which can be a location where an information application is placed. Each of the computing devices 40E1 and 40E2 is an added computing device, and is a computing device that cannot be a location for a control application, but may be a location for an information application. The arithmetic device 40E may be reduced. In other words, the arithmetic device 40M alone may serve as the control system 109. Hereinafter, the arithmetic device 40M may be referred to as the "control device 40M" and the arithmetic device 40E may be referred to as the "expansion device 40E."

The control system 109 depends on whether or not there is an expansion device 40E, what type of communication medium the expansion device 40E is connected to, and which computing device 40 the information application that communicates with the control application is placed on. The system configuration is different. In other words, the system configuration depends on the presence or absence of the expansion device 40E, the type of communication medium to which each of the control device 40M and expansion device 40E is connected, and the arithmetic device 40 where each application is placed. In the example of FIG. 1, expansion device 40E1 is connected to communication network 118. The expansion device 40E2 is connected to the PIO bus 28 (an example of a bus) ("PIO" is an abbreviation for Programmed I/O). The PIO bus 28 may be a bus printed on the baseboard, and by connecting the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E2 to the baseboard, the control application executed on the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E2 can be executed. Information apps may communicate (share) data via the PIO bus 28.

Note that in an embodiment in which the control application can also be placed in the expansion device 40E, or in an embodiment in which any calculation device 40 can be expanded or subtracted and any calculation device 40 can be a destination for the control application, the system Configuration also depends on the controlling app.

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

Peripheral control device 212 is connected to network I/F device 213, I/O control device 214, nonvolatile storage device 215, and bus 211. A memory 169 and a CPU 209 are also connected to this bus 211 .

The EPROM 208 may store in advance at least one of a control application and an information application, or may store a program downloaded from a program source such as a program distribution server (not shown). The control system 109 is equipped with not only one control application and one information application, but also multiple control applications and/or multiple information applications by setting the resources that can be used by the control system 109 for each program. be able to.

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

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

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

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

Control device 40M has shared memory 56. Shared memory 56 is at least part of the storage area that memory 169 has. Although not shown, a shared memory may also exist in at least one of the expansion devices 40E1 and 40E2.

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

The expansion device 40E2 is a calculation device connected to the communication network 118 to which the control device 40M is connected. The communication medium between the control device 40M and the expansion device 40E2 is the communication network 118.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the control system 109 can utilize multiple types of communication media, such as the shared memory 56, the PIO bus 28, and the communication network 118, for data sharing between applications.

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

The computing device 40 that communicates via a communication network (for example, the communication network 118) has an I/F for the communication network called a network control 62. The network control 62 includes a network I/F 401, a network driver 402, and a network HW 403, as illustrated in FIG. Network I/F 401 is a software I/F for a communication network. A network driver 402 and a network HW 403 exist for each type of communication network. Take one type of communication network (referred to as the "target network" in this paragraph) as an example. The network driver 402 is software that controls data sharing (communication) via the target network. The network HW 403 is hardware that controls data sharing (communication) via the target network. The network HW 403 may be, for example, at least a part of the network I/F device 213 (see FIG. 1).

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

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

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

The information application 42 is an application that performs information processing defined for the information application 42.

The control application 41 performs a scan process (information on devices connected to the I/O port), which is a process that controls the controlled device 12 and has a real-time property, at each control cycle determined for the control app 41. (processing that includes reading, calculating the read information, and writing the calculated information). The time required for scanning processing is called "scan time." The control period is composed of a scan time and a standby time which is a time other than the scan time. For example, if the control system 109 is a single control device 40M, the control device 40M includes a control application 41 and one or more information applications 42, and the CPU 209 is a single core, the standby time during the control cycle , at least one of the one or more information applications 42 is executed. On the other hand, for example, in any of the following cases, at least one information application 42 may be executed during the scan time (in other words, even if it is not the standby time).
- When the CPU 209 is multi-core and has a CPU core that is not exclusively used by the control application 41.
- When the control device 40M has a plurality of CPUs 209, and the plurality of CPUs 209 include a CPU 209 that is not exclusively used by the control application 41.
- When there is an expansion device 40E and the information application 42 is placed on the expansion device 40E.

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

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

According to a comparative example, in order to realize data sharing between applications on different VCPUs, the application developer must determine whether the application is connected via any type of communication medium for both the control application and the information application. It is necessary to decide in advance whether to share data, and to set in the application information necessary for data sharing, which is information that depends on the type of communication medium. For convenience, information set in an application is referred to as "setting information." In one comparative example, a specific example of the setting information is as follows. That is, when the type of communication medium is a shared memory, the setting information includes information representing the name of the shared memory and information representing the name of a data item of shared data (data to be shared). When the type of communication medium is a bus, the setting information includes information representing the bus number (eg, register address) and information representing the name of the data item of the shared data. If the type of communication medium is a communication network, the configuration information includes information representing the destination (e.g., IP address and port number), information representing the protocol type (e.g., HTTP, Modbus/TCP), and data items of shared data. and information representing the name of.

In this way, in one comparative example, the application development is complicated because the setting information of the application depends on which type of communication medium the application uses to share data.

Furthermore, in one comparative example, the location where the application is placed must be a computing device with which the application can communicate via the type of communication medium that corresponds to the setting information. In other words, the placement location of an application depends on the setting information of the application, so the degree of freedom in the placement location of the application is low.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a shared I/F (shared interface) is provided that realizes data sharing regardless of whether the communication medium is the shared memory 56, the PIO bus 28, or the communication network 118. The shared I/F is an I/F in a layer above the shared memory I/F generally provided by the OS. The shared I/F receives an I/O specification (for example, a function call) from an application, but if the name of the destination application and the name of the data item of the shared data are each used as arguments in the I/O specification, , data sharing is achieved regardless of the type of communication medium between the application and the destination application. In other words, the shared I/F does not make the application aware of which type of communication medium is being used to share data. Therefore, information set in an application during application development does not depend on the type of communication medium between applications. Therefore, the complexity of application development is reduced.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, each arithmetic device 40 has a shared I/F. The existence of a shared I/F allows data sharing without the need for applications to be aware of the type of communication medium. Therefore, the location where an application is placed does not depend on the setting information of the application. Therefore, there is a high degree of freedom in where the application can be placed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the system configuration of the control system 109 is changed ( For example, controlling at least one of changing the computing device 40 to which the application is placed as the computing device 40 is added or removed, and changing the type of communication medium to which the computing device 40 is connected. This can be done flexibly while maintaining real-time performance.

This embodiment will be described in detail below. Note that data sharing between applications may be performed between the control applications 41 or between the information applications 42, but in this embodiment, one control application 41 may share data with one or more information applications 42. Let's take the case of sharing data as an example. Further, in this embodiment, at least the OS (Operating System) of the control device 40M is a real-time general-purpose OS (although it is a general-purpose OS for information processing, it has a real-time function that can provide the necessary real-time performance). The execution timing of the control application 41 and the information application 42 may be controlled by a real-time general-purpose OS. Alternatively, the execution timing of the control application 41 and the information application 42 may be controlled by runtime software.

The shared I/F may be common to the control application 41 and the information application 42, but in this embodiment, the control shared I/F 36, which is the shared I/F for the control application 41, and the shared I/F for the information application 42 are used. There is an information sharing I/F 37 which is F. In other words, the shared I/Fs used by the control application 41 and the information application 42 are different. Thereby, the configuration of the shared I/F 36 used by the control application 41 can be configured in consideration of real-time control, thereby contributing to maintaining real-time control.

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

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

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

The information application 42A performs I/O specification to the information sharing I/F 37A based on the setting information of the information application 42A. In response to the I/O designation, the information sharing I/F 37A refers to the mapping table group 80X and uses the shared memory to share variable value data with the control application 41 via the shared memory 56. 56, performs I/O of the variable value.

The information application 42B performs I/O specification to the information sharing I/F 37B based on the setting information of the information application 42B. In response to the I/O designation, the information sharing I/F 37B refers to the mapping table group 80Y and uses the PIO bus to share variable value data with the control application 41 via the PIO bus 28. I/O of the variable value is performed for the control 61B.

The information application 42C performs I/O specification to the information sharing I/F 37C based on the setting information of the information application 42C. In response to the I/O designation, the information sharing I/F 37C refers to the mapping table group 80Z and performs network control in order to share variable value data with the control application 41 via the communication network 118. 62B, performs I/O of the variable value.

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

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

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

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the second setting information 600 of the information application 42 includes information such as a variable name 601, a destination application name 602, and an access right 603 for each variable of the information application 42 to be shared. Let us take one variable as an example (referred to as "target variable" in the explanation of FIG. 6). The variable name 601 is information representing the name of the target variable. The destination app name 602 represents the name of the other party's app with which the variable value of the target variable is shared. The access right 603 represents the name of the application that writes the variable value of the target variable and the name of the application that reads the variable value of the target variable. According to the example shown in FIG. 6, the variable value of variable 1 is shared with the control application 41, written by the control application 41, and read by the information application 42.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the control sharing I/F 36.

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

FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the information sharing I/F 37.

The information sharing I/F 37 includes an information I/F section 801 and an information sharing section 802. The information I/F unit 801 receives I/O specifications from the information application 42. In response to the I/O designation, the information sharing unit 802 refers to the mapping table group 80 and performs I/O of variable values. The information sharing unit 802 has, for example, a library that includes a plurality of functions. Each function is a function for reading or writing.

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

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

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

The application table 900 holds information such as an application name 901 and a communication medium type 902 for each application existing in the control system 109. Let us take one application as an example (referred to as "target application" in the explanation of FIG. 9).

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

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

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

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

The network mapping table 1000 includes an application name 1001 and information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118, such as a protocol type 1002 and an IP address, for each application whose communication medium type 902 is "ALL" or "network". 1003, port number 1004, and data path 1005. Let us take one application as an example (referred to as "target application" in the explanation of FIG. 10).

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

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

The bus mapping table 1100 stores an application name 1101 and information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28, such as bus number 1102, for each application whose communication medium type 902 is "ALL" or "bus". Hold. Let us take one application as an example (referred to as "target application" in the explanation of FIG. 11).

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

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

The memory mapping table 1200 stores an application name 1201 and information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56, such as a shared memory name 1202, for each application whose communication medium type 902 is "ALL" or "shared memory". Retain information. Let us take one application as an example (referred to as "target application" in the explanation of FIG. 12).

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

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

The data mapping table 1300 holds information such as a variable name 1301 and a position 1302 for each variable. Let us take one variable as an example (referred to as "target variable" in the explanation of FIG. 13).

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

Examples of processing performed in this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 14 to 18.

As shown in FIG. 14, system configuration information 1420 exists. System configuration information 1420 is information representing the configuration of control system 109. The system configuration information 1420 may include, for example, information input by the administrator, or information collected by the control device 40M (for example, the control application 41 or other program) from the control device 40M and each computing device 40E. (For example, information including the application name) may be included. The system configuration information 1420 may be stored in at least one of the control device 40M, the setting terminal 29, and the management system 101. The system configuration information 1420 includes, for example, a list of application names of applications that exist in the control system 109 or that can be distributed, an attribute of each application (whether it is a control application or an information application), and an address for each computing device 40. may include information representing.

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

The expansion unit 1410 displays a setting GUI (Graphical User Interface) 1400. The setting GUI 1400 is displayed on the setting terminal 29, for example. The setting GUI 1400 is a GUI (an example of a user interface) for setting the first setting information, and is, for example, a GUI for an application developer of the control application 41. Setting GUI 1400 includes an input table 1450 and setting buttons 1401. The input table 1450 includes, for each variable, a check box 1421 for determining whether to share the variable, a variable name input field 1422, a destination application name input field 1423, and an access right input field 1424. The deployment unit 1410 may display a list of application names of the information applications 42 existing in the control system 109 or distributable on the setting GUI 1400 (or on another user interface) based on the system configuration information 1420. good. Further, the system configuration information 1420 may include part of the information included in the mapping table group 80.

In the field of general-purpose computers, when multiple applications conflict in writing variable values, it is common practice to wait for one application to finish writing in order to avoid the conflict. However, in the control system 109 according to the present embodiment, if there is a wait for variable value writing during or after the scan process, there is a possibility that the start timing of the next scan process will arrive during the wait. Therefore, conflict avoidance techniques in the field of general-purpose computers cannot be simply applied to the control system 109.

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

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

Further, the information application 42 can read a variable value related to an I/O port in a read-only manner, and write the result of calculation using the variable value as a variable value of a separately set variable. If there are multiple information applications 42, the number of information applications 42 that can write a predetermined variable value may be limited to one. For example, in a control system 109 in which a control application 41 and three information applications 42 are arranged, only the control application 41 or one of the three information applications 42 has permission to write the variable value of a certain variable. may be given to

As described above, in this embodiment, there is only one application that writes variable values for each variable. This eliminates conflicts such as two or more applications writing variable values at the same time for each variable, and writing waits such as waiting for another application to write a variable value because one application is writing the variable value. Therefore, having only one application that writes variable values contributes to maintaining real-time control of the control application 41.

Now, when the expansion unit 1410 receives an instruction for setting according to the contents input in the input table 1450 (in the example shown in FIG. 14, when the setting button 1401 is pressed), the following (A) to (C) are performed. You may do at least one of them. Note that in the processing described below, the system configuration information 1420 is referred to by the expansion unit 1410 as necessary.
(A) The expansion unit 1410 generates first setting information 500 according to the contents input into the input table 1450, and distributes the control application 41 in which the first setting information 500 is set to the control device 40M (for example, , deploy the control application 41 to the vacant VCPU 37 of the control device 40M). The first setting information 500 includes a variable name, a destination application name, and an access right for each variable to be shared.
(B) The expansion unit 1410 generates second setting information 600 according to the contents input to the input table 1450, and transfers the second setting information 600 to the information application 42 (shared target) that shares data with the control application 41. The information application 42) represented by the destination application name is set for at least one variable. For example, for the variable name "Variable 2", the second setting information 600 for the information application 42A (application name "0001") includes the variable name "Variable 2" and the destination application name "0000" (the application name of the control application 41). ) and access rights “WRITE:0000” and “READ:0001”. That is, the second setting information 600 for the information application 42 having the application name set as the destination application name of the control application 41 includes the application name of the control application as the destination application name, and the information about the control application 41 as the access right. Contains the same access rights as the set access rights.
(C) The development unit 1410 generates at least the data mapping table group 82 of the mapping table group 80 according to the contents input to the input table 1450, and distributes the mapping table group 80 to each arithmetic device 40. The application mapping table group 81 in the mapping table group 80 may be generated, for example, when the control device 40M is powered on. The application mapping table group 81 is based on, for each application name, the type of communication medium between the arithmetic device 40 where the information application 42 of the application name is placed and the control device 40M where the control application 41 is placed. For each of the network mapping table 1000, bus mapping table 1100, and memory mapping table 1200, at least part of the information other than the application name may be information acquired from the system configuration information 1420. Each variable name included in the data mapping table 1300 is the name of a variable that is shared in the input table 1450. In the data mapping table 1300, at least part of the information other than variable names may be information determined by the expansion unit 1410 or information obtained from the system configuration information 1420.

According to the settings GUI 1400, variables to be data shared are variables determined by the control side (in this embodiment, variables specified via the settings GUI 1400), and each of these variables has an access limit determined by the control side. It can only be accessed with permission. This allows priority to be given to control with real-time properties.

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

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

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

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

Based on the mapping table group 80 including the tables generated or updated as described above, data is shared between applications via the shared I/F. An example of data sharing will be described with reference to FIG. 18. In order to simplify the explanation, the variable name of the variable to be shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42A will be referred to as "variable 1", and the variable value of the variable "variable 1" will be referred to as "variable value 1". The variable name of the variable to be shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42B is "variable 2", and the variable value of the variable "variable 2" is called "variable value 2". The variable name of the variable to be shared between the control application 41 and the information application 42C is "variable 3", and the variable value of the variable "variable 3" is called "variable value 3". Furthermore, it is assumed that the control application 41 is the only application that has write authority for each of the variables “variable 1” to “variable 3”.

The control application 41 writes variable values 1 to 3 in the work memory 152 (a part of the memory 169 (see FIG. 1)) in the scan process every control period. The control application 41 instructs the control shared I/F 36 to write the variable values 1 to 3 written to the work memory 152 during or after the scan process in each control cycle. Data sharing for each of variable values 1 to 3 will be explained below.

<Data sharing of variable value 1>

The control application 41 specifies the variable name "Variable 1" and the destination application name "0001" (app name of the information application 42A) corresponding to the variable name "Variable 1" from the first setting information 500, and The user identifies from the first setting information 500 that he or she has write authority. The control application 41 makes I/O specifications to the control shared I/F 36 using "variable 1" and "0001" as arguments. The I/O designation is a designation to write a variable value of 1. In the control sharing I/F 36, the control I/F section 701 receives the I/O designation. The control sharing unit 702 refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “0001” of the I/O specification as a key, and determines that data sharing of variable value 1 is via the shared memory 56. Then, the information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56 is specified. Furthermore, the control sharing unit 702 specifies the write destination position of the variable value 1 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “variable 1” of the I/O specification as a key. . The control sharing unit 702 writes the variable value 1 to the specified write destination location using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56 .

After that, the information application 42A identifies the variable name "Variable 1" and the destination application name "0000" (the application name of the control application 41) corresponding to the variable name "Variable 1" from the second setting information 600A, The user also identifies from the second setting information 600A that he or she has read authority. The information application 42A makes an I/O specification using "variable 1" and "0000" as arguments to the information sharing I/F 37A. The I/O designation is a read designation for variable value 1. In the information sharing I/F 37A, the information I/F section 801A receives the I/O designation. The information sharing unit 802A refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “0000” of the I/O specification as a key, and determines that data sharing of variable value 1 is via the shared memory 56. Then, the information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56 is specified. Further, the information sharing unit 802A specifies the position of the variable value 1 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “variable 1” of the I/O specification as a key. The information sharing unit 802A reads variable value 1 from the specified position using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the shared memory 56. The read variable value 1 is returned from the information I/F unit 801A of the information sharing I/F 37A to the information application 42A in response to the I/O designation.

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

<Data sharing of variable value 2>

The control application 41 identifies the variable name "Variable 2" and the destination application name "0003" (app name of the information application 42B) corresponding to the variable name "Variable 2" from the first setting information 500, and The user identifies from the first setting information 500 that he or she has write authority. The control application 41 makes an I/O specification to the control shared I/F 36 using "variable 2" and "0003" as arguments. The I/O designation is a writing designation of variable value 2. In the control sharing I/F 36, the control I/F section 701 receives the I/O designation. The control sharing unit 702 refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “0003” of the I/O specification as a key, and determines that data sharing of variable value 2 is via the PIO bus 28. and specifies information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28. Furthermore, the control sharing unit 702 specifies the write destination position of variable value 2 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “variable 2” of the I/O specification as a key. . The control sharing unit 702 uses the specified information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28 to send an I/O to the PIO bus control 61A for writing variable value 2 to the specified position. conduct. The PIO bus control 61A outputs variable value 2 to the PIO bus 28 in accordance with the I/O. The output variable value 2 is sent, for example, to the PIO bus control 61B of the expansion device 40E1.

Thereafter, the information application 42B identifies the variable name "Variable 2" and the destination application name "0000" (app name of the control application 41) corresponding to the variable name "Variable 2" from the second setting information 600B, The user also identifies from the second setting information 600B that he or she has read authority. The information application 42B makes an I/O specification using "variable 2" and "0000" as arguments to the information sharing I/F 37B. The I/O designation is a read designation for variable value 2. In the information sharing I/F 37B, the information I/F unit 801B receives the I/O designation. The information sharing unit 802B refers to the application mapping table group 81Y in the mapping table group 80Y using the argument “0000” of the I/O specification as a key, and determines that data sharing of variable value 2 is via the PIO bus 28. and specifies information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28. Further, the information sharing unit 802B specifies the position of the variable value 2 by referring to the data mapping table group 82Y in the mapping table group 80Y using the argument “variable 2” of the I/O specification as a key. The information sharing unit 802B performs I/O to the PIO bus control 61B to read variable value 2 from the specified position using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the PIO bus 28. The PIO bus control 61B returns variable value 2 via the PIO bus 28 to the information sharing I/F 37B. Variable value 2 is returned from the information I/F unit 801B of the information sharing I/F 37B to the information application 42B in response to the I/O designation.

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

<Data sharing of variable value 3>

The control application 41 identifies the variable name “variable 3” and the destination application name “0002” (app name of the information application 42C) corresponding to the variable name “variable 3” from the first setting information 500, and The user identifies from the first setting information 500 that he or she has write authority. The control application 41 makes an I/O specification to the control shared I/F 36 using "variable 3" and "0002" as arguments. The I/O designation is a writing designation of variable value 3. In the control sharing I/F 36, the control I/F section 701 receives the I/O designation. The control sharing unit 702 refers to the application mapping table group 81X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “0002” of the I/O specification as a key, and determines that data sharing of variable value 3 is via the communication network 118. and identifies information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118. Furthermore, the control sharing unit 702 specifies the write destination position of the variable value 3 by referring to the data mapping table group 82X in the mapping table group 80X using the argument “variable 3” of the I/O specification as a key. . The control sharing unit 702 uses the specified information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118 to perform I/O to the network control 62A to write variable value 3 to the specified position. Network control 62A outputs variable value 3 to communication network 118 according to the I/O. The output variable value 3 is sent, for example, to the network control 62B of the expansion device 40E2.

After that, the information application 42C identifies the variable name "Variable 3" and the destination application name "0000" (the application name of the control application 41) corresponding to the variable name "Variable 3" from the second setting information 600C, The user also identifies from the second setting information 600C that he or she has read authority. The information application 42C makes an I/O specification using "variable 3" and "0000" as arguments to the information sharing I/F 37C. The I/O designation is a read designation for variable value 3. In the information sharing I/F 37C, the information I/F unit 801C receives the I/O designation. The information sharing unit 802C refers to the application mapping table group 81Z in the mapping table group 80Z using the argument “0000” of the I/O specification as a key, and determines that data sharing of variable value 3 is via the communication network 118. and identifies information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118. Further, the information sharing unit 802C specifies the position of the variable value 3 by referring to the data mapping table group 82Z in the mapping table group 80Z using the argument “variable 3” of the I/O specification as a key. The information sharing unit 802C performs I/O to the network control 62B to read the variable value 3 from the specified position using the specified information necessary for data sharing via the communication network 118. The network control 62B returns the variable value 3 via the communication network 118 to the information sharing I/F 37C. Variable value 3 is returned from the information I/F section 801C of the information sharing I/F 37C to the information application 42C in response to the I/O designation.

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

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

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

109...Control system

Claims (8)

A control system that controls one or more controlled devices,
one or more computing devices each having an interface device, a storage device and a processor connected thereto;
The one or more computing devices have one or more control programs, one or more information programs, and one or more shared interfaces,
For each of the one or more control programs,
The control program is a program that performs a scan process, which is a process that controls the controlled device and is a process that has real-time characteristics, within the control cycle, for each control cycle determined for the control program,
The first setting information, which is information set for the control program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the control program and each of the one or more information programs as communication partners of the control program. can be,
For each of the one or more information programs,
The information program is a program that performs information processing specified for the information program,
The second setting information, which is information set for the information program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the information program and each of the one or more control programs as communication partners of the information program. can be,
In each of the one or more arithmetic devices,
A first program, which is a control program or an information program, specifies I/O (Input/Output) to a shared interface in the processing device using information in setting information about the first program as an argument;
The shared interface, in response to the I/O specification,
Identifying information corresponding to the argument of the I/O specification from mapping information, which is information including information depending on the type of communication medium,
Based on the identified information, I/O is performed depending on the type of communication medium between the first program and a second program that is a control program or an information program as a communication partner of the first program. I do,
control system. For each of the one or more control programs, the first setting information of the control program includes item identification information that is the identification information of the data item of the shared data that is the data to be shared, and the program of the information program of the sharing partner. Contains information expressing the relationship with identification information,
For each of the one or more information programs, the second setting information of the information program indicates the relationship between the item identification information that is the identification information of the data item of the shared data and the program identification information of the control program of the sharing partner. contains information representing
In each of the one or more arithmetic devices,
As arguments for the I/O specification, there are a first argument and a second argument,
The first argument is program identification information of the second program,
The second argument is item identification information of a data item of shared data shared by the first program and the second program,
The mapping information includes program mapping information representing the relationship between program identification information and data sharing method information representing a data sharing method depending on the type of communication medium, and item identification information and the location of the input source or output destination of the shared data. including data mapping information representing the relationship with the shared location information,
The information corresponding to the first argument is data sharing method information,
The information corresponding to the second argument is shared location information,
The I/O performed by the shared interface is I/O according to the specified data sharing method information and shared location information, and is shared data corresponding to the data item represented by the item identification information used as the second argument. The I/O of
A control system according to claim 1. The one or more shared interfaces are:
For each of the one or more control programs, a control sharing interface that is a shared interface of the control program;
Each of the one or more computing devices includes an information sharing interface that is a sharing interface for one or more information programs existing in the computing device;
A control system according to claim 1. The mapping information includes data mapping information representing a relationship between item identification information and shared location information representing the input source or output destination location of the shared data,
The item identification information represented by the data mapping information is information specified via a user interface for setting information included in the first setting information.
A control system according to claim 1. The mapping information includes network mapping information representing a relationship between program identification information of a program that shares data via a communication network and data sharing method information representing a data sharing method depending on the communication network,
A computing device having a control program,
Broadcast information acquisition requests periodically or irregularly via a communication network,
reflecting information identified from a response received to the acquisition request in the network mapping information;
A control system according to claim 1. For each data item of shared data, there is one program that outputs the shared data corresponding to that data item.
A control system according to claim 1. A computing device having a control program has a shared memory,
A computing device having a control program and at least one computing device are connected to a bus on the circuit board,
A computing device having a control program and at least one computing device are connected to a communication network,
The first program is a control program,
The second program is an information program,
The type of communication medium used in data sharing between the first program and the second program is any one of a shared memory, a bus, and a communication network.
A control system according to claim 1. A control method performed by a control system that controls one or more controlled devices and has one or more computing devices,
A first program, which is a control program or an information program, performs I/O (Input/ Output) specification,
The control program is a program that performs a scan process, which is a process that controls the controlled device and is a process that has real-time characteristics, within the control cycle for each control cycle determined for the control program,
The first setting information, which is information set for the control program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the control program and each of the one or more information programs as communication partners of the control program. can be,
The information program is a program that performs information processing specified for the information program,
The second setting information, which is information set for the information program, is information that does not depend on the type of communication medium between the information program and each of the one or more control programs as communication partners of the information program. can be,
The shared interface, in response to the I/O specification,
Identifying information corresponding to the argument of the I/O specification from mapping information, which is information including information depending on the type of communication medium,
Based on the identified information, I/O is performed depending on the type of communication medium between the first program and a second program that is a control program or an information program as a communication partner of the first program. I do,
control method.

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