JP7498414B2 - Setting device, setting method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a setting device, a setting method and a program.

There is a technology that performs real-time motion control of IoT (Internet of Things) terminals via a network. The performance of real-time motion control can be adversely affected by delays in communication between the IoT terminal, which is the controlled device, and the controller that controls the IoT terminal. Although it is possible to reduce delays by installing a controller in a micro data center or access station near the IoT terminal, delays also exist in the access section.

In addition, when a PON (Passive Optical Network) is used in the access section from the station to the controlled devices, dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) is performed for upstream communications depending on the number of controlled devices and the volume of traffic. This causes fluctuations in communication delays in the access section, which can have a negative impact on the performance of real-time motion control. This impact can potentially be reduced by changing the settings of the communications equipment used in the access section to suit real-time motion control.

On the other hand, in order to reduce traffic between the PON's OLT (Optical Line Terminal) and ONU (Optical Network Unit), there is a technology in which the OLT analyzes and processes image and other data sent from IoT terminals such as surveillance cameras under the ONU, and allocates bandwidth to the ONU based on the analysis results (see, for example, Patent Document 1). For example, the OLT determines the allocated bandwidth based on the compression rate of the image, etc.

There is also a technology that calculates the quality of media data and minimizes the transmission function in a range where the PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio), an image quality evaluation index, is greater than a standard (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In this case, the transmission function includes physical layer functions such as frame synchronization, error correction, and line coding.

JP 2020-96328 A JP 2020-68488 A

When performing motion control, the controller processes data received from the controlled device. The controller uses the numerical results (e.g., settling time) obtained by processing the received data as an evaluation index to determine instructions and requests to the controlled device. Such processing of the received data depends on the control system design of the controller. Therefore, it has been difficult to change the setting values of the communication device in the access section by processing data in the access section.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a setting device, a setting method, and a program for configuring a communication device with settings suitable for a controller to control a controlled device via a network.

An apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires control result information, which is information regarding control performance obtained as a result of a controller controlling a controlled device connected to the controller via a network; a control information storage unit that stores control information that associates the control result information acquired by the acquisition unit with setting information indicating settings of communication devices that constitute the network, the setting information being associated with the setting information at the time the control result information was obtained; a setting information determination unit that determines setting information to be set in the communication device based on the plurality of pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit; and a setting unit that sets the setting information determined by the setting information determination unit to the communication device.

A setting method according to one aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition step of acquiring control result information, which is information relating to control performance obtained as a result of a controller controlling a controlled device connected to the controller via a network; a storage step of storing in a control information storage unit the control result information acquired in the acquisition step and setting information indicating the settings of a communication device constituting the network, the control information associating the control result information with the setting information at the time the control result information was obtained; a setting information determination step of determining setting information to be set in the communication device based on the plurality of pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit; and a setting step of setting the setting information determined in the setting information determination step in the communication device.

One aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the above-mentioned setting device.

The present invention enables a controller to configure a communication device with settings suitable for controlling a controlled device via a network.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a setting device according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of setting information according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a setting process of the communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing of the setting device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection between a setting device and an OLT according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a setting device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing of the setting device according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a setting device according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a setting device according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a setting device according to the first to fourth embodiments.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the same parts in multiple drawings are given the same reference numerals and their description will be omitted.

[First embodiment]
1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system 10 according to a first embodiment. The communication system 10 includes an OLT 20, an ONU 30, a control target device 40, a controller 50, an OLT setting device 60, and a setting device 70. The administrator of the network-related devices such as the OLT 20, the ONU 30, the OLT setting device 60, and the setting device 70 is the carrier, and the operator of the controller 50 that controls the control target device 40 is the user.

The OLT 20 and the ONU 30 are communication devices that make up the PON. Although only one ONU 30 is shown in FIG. 1, any number of ONUs 30 may be connected to the OLT 20. The PON system is a network of an access section through which the controlled device 40 communicates with the controller 50. The network of the access section is also referred to as an access network.

OLT 20 allocates bandwidth to ONU 30. OLT 20 determines the allocated bandwidth including the timing and transmission amount at which ONU 30 is allowed to transmit by the bandwidth allocation. OLT 20 notifies ONU 30 of the determined allocated bandwidth. ONU 30 converts the upstream signal addressed to controller 50 received from controlled device 40 to an optical signal, and transmits the upstream signal to OLT 20 by the allocated bandwidth. OLT 20 converts the received upstream signal from an optical signal to an electrical signal, and then transmits it to controller 50. OLT 20 also converts the downstream signal addressed to controlled device 40 received from controller 50 from an electrical signal to an optical signal, and then transmits it to ONU 30. ONU 30 converts the received downstream signal from an optical signal to an electrical signal, and then transmits it to controlled device 40. OLT 20 may be realized by a dedicated device, or may be realized by software on a computer device such as an edge server. In addition, signals transmitted and received between the controller 50 and the OLT 20 may pass through the setting device 70.

The controlled device 40 is, for example, an IoT terminal. Specific examples of the controlled device 40 include, but are not limited to, industrial devices such as sensors, motors, inverters, and robots. The controlled device 40 executes a control command transmitted from the controller 50 via a downstream signal. The controlled device 40 also transmits data such as sensor values to the controller 50 via an upstream signal.

The controller 50 controls the controlled device 40. The controller 50 has a device control unit 51. The device control unit 51 may be realized by software on a computer device such as an edge server, or may be realized by a dedicated device such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). The device control unit 51 transmits a control command to the controlled device 40 by a downstream signal. The device control unit 51 also receives an upstream signal transmitted from the controlled device 40 and reads a numerical result such as a sensor value from the upstream signal. The read numerical result is used, for example, for control calculation. The device control unit 51 also acquires control result information based on the read numerical result. The control result information is information about the control performance obtained as a result of controlling the controlled device 40. The information about the control performance may be data read from one or more upstream signals transmitted from the controlled device 40, or may be information obtained by processing the read data. The device control unit 51 notifies the setting device 70 of the acquired control result information.

The OLT setting device 60 includes an OLT setting unit 61. The OLT setting unit 61 may be realized by software on a computer device, or may be realized by a dedicated device. The OLT setting unit 61 changes the setting information of the OLT 20. The OLT 20 operates according to the setting information set by the OLT setting unit 61. The setting information describes network setting values. The network settings are settings related to the transmission and reception of signals in the access network. The OLT 20 may also function as the OLT setting device 60. In other words, the OLT 20 may include the OLT setting unit 61.

The setting device 70 rewrites the setting information of the OLT 20 based on the control result information received from the controller 50. The setting device 70 includes a driver 71. The driver 71 may be implemented by software on a computer device, or may be implemented by a dedicated device. The driver 71 stores control information that associates the control result information acquired from the controller 50 with the setting information of the OLT 20 at the time the control result information was obtained. When the driver 71 determines the setting information to be set in the OLT 20 based on the stored control information, it instructs the OLT setting device 60 to set the determined setting information in the OLT 20. The OLT setting device 60 or the OLT 20 may also function as the setting device 70. That is, the OLT setting device 60 or the OLT 20 may include the driver 71.

With the above configuration, the user's controller 50 and the carrier's OLT setting device 60 are linked by the driver 71. This allows the network setting values set in the carrier's OLT 20 to be changed based on a request from the user's controller 50. By changing the network setting values of the OLT 20, it is expected that delays occurring in the access section can be reduced. For example, the OLT 20 can be set to settings specialized for controlling the controlled device 40. It is also possible to set the OLT 20 to settings that take into account trade-offs between delay performance and bandwidth utilization efficiency, etc.

Conventional communication systems changed the settings of network communication devices based on data contained in packets sent and received by the network communication devices, which are communication devices of an access network. In other words, conventional communication systems changed the settings of network communication devices managed by carriers based on information within the scope of the carrier's management. As a result, it was only possible to determine a policy for changing the settings of network communication devices based on information managed by the carrier.

The communication system of this embodiment changes the network settings of the network communication device so as to reduce delays in the access network based on information acquired from outside the carrier. For example, when the user's controller 50 performs motion control on the controlled device 40, the evaluation index is a numerical result such as the settling time obtained by the controller 50 processing the data notified from the controlled device 40. The settling time depends on the control system design for the user's controlled device 40 and the controller 50, and is information obtained by secondary processing of the data notified from the controlled device 40 in the controller 50. In other words, it is information that is difficult to obtain by data processing within the carrier. The setting device 70 receives the evaluation index calculated by the controller 50 as control result information, and uses the received evaluation index to determine the network setting value to be set in the OLT 20.

In this way, the setting device 70 uses the evaluation index obtained by processing the data sent from the controlled device 40 in the user's controller 50, rather than the data itself sent from the controlled device 40, to determine a processing policy for changing the settings of a network communication device such as the OLT 20. This allows the carrier and the user to work together to change the carrier's network settings. For example, network setting values suitable for motion control can be set in the OLT 20, which is expected to improve control performance.

The carrier exposes the interface of the driver 71 to external users so that the driver 71 can receive evaluation indexes from the user's controller 50. The user can operate the controller 50 without considering network settings. The driver 71 obtains evaluation indexes from the controller 50 through the exposed interface, and changes the network settings of the OLT 20 based on the evaluation indexes. This makes it possible to provide a network customized according to the user's controller 50.

The driver 71 may notify the user's equipment such as the controller 50 of the current delay value in the access network through the published interface. As described above, the user does not need to consider the network settings, but the controller 50 may change the settings of the equipment control unit 51 based on the delay value notified from the driver 71.

The ONU 30 may be connected to multiple controlled devices 40. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the communication system 10a in this embodiment. In FIG. 2, the same parts as those in the communication system 10 shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. The communication system 10a shown in FIG. 2 differs from the communication system 10 shown in FIG. 1 in that the ONU 30 and multiple controlled devices 40 are connected via a switch 80. The switch 80 multiplexes upstream signals received from multiple controlled devices 40 in a separable manner and outputs the multiplexed signals to the ONU 30. The switch 80 also receives a signal in which downstream signals addressed to different controlled devices 40 are multiplexed from the ONU 30, and outputs the downstream signal to the destination controlled device 40, or branches the multiplexed signal and outputs it to each controlled device 40.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the setting device 70. The driver 71 of the setting device 70 includes a control monitoring unit 711, a control performance reading unit 712, a setting information reading unit 713, a comparison unit 714, a control information storage unit 715, a setting information determination unit 716, a setting information input unit 717, a setting information validation unit 718, and a change completion notification unit 719.

The control monitoring unit 711 detects the start of control of the controlled device 40 by the controller 50. The control performance reading unit 712 reads the control result information from the controller 50 and passes the read control result information to the comparison unit 714. The setting information reading unit 713 reads the setting information of the OLT 20 at the time the control result information was obtained from the OLT setting device 60 and passes the read setting information to the comparison unit 714.

The comparison unit 714 stores in the control information storage unit 715 control information linking the control result information with the setting information at the time the control result information was obtained. The control information storage unit 715 stores the control information in chronological order. The comparison unit 714 compares multiple pieces of past control information stored in the control information storage unit 715. For example, the comparison unit 714 compares the control information before last with the previous control information to confirm the difference in the control result due to the setting information.

The setting information determination unit 716 determines the setting information to be set in the OLT 20 based on the comparison result by the comparison unit 714. The setting information determination unit 716 may store in advance a model or the like that links the setting information of the OLT 20 with the expected control performance, and determine the setting information by referring to the model. This model can be obtained based on multiple pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit 715.

The setting information input unit 717 inputs the setting information determined by the setting information determination unit 716 to the OLT setting device 60, thereby inputting the setting information to the OLT 20. After the setting information has been input to the OLT 20, the setting information validation unit 718 outputs an instruction to the OLT setting device 60 to reflect the setting information in the OLT 20, such as by restarting the OLT 20. The change completion notification unit 719 notifies the controller 50 that the setting information has been reflected in the OLT 20.

The setting information reading unit 713, setting information input unit 717, setting information activation unit 718, and change completion notification unit 719 of the driver 71 may have the functions of the OLT setting unit 61. In this case, the setting information reading unit 713, setting information input unit 717, setting information activation unit 718, and change completion notification unit 719 transmit and receive data directly to and from the OLT 20 and control the data without going through the OLT setting device 60.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of setting information. The setting information that the setting device 70 sets to the OLT 20 includes, for example, one or more of the network settings shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 also shows the effects that can be expected by changing the values of the network settings. The network settings include the DBA period, bandwidth, QoS (Quality of Service) of packets transmitted and received in the access network, and the presence or absence of FEC (forward error correction) for packets transmitted and received in the access network.

Changing the value of the DBA period is expected to have the effect of reducing delays. Bandwidth network settings indicate how bandwidth is allocated to ONU 30. Changing whether bandwidth is allocated to ONU 30 using fixed bandwidth, guaranteed bandwidth, best effort bandwidth, etc. is expected to have the effect of preventing packet loss. Changing the QoS values such as priority used for packets sent and received between ONU 30 and the setting value for whether or not FEC is applied to packets between ONU 30 is expected to have the effect of reducing delays and preventing packet loss.

OLT 20 allocates bandwidth to ONU 30 by fixed bandwidth allocation or DBA according to the network settings. In the case of fixed bandwidth allocation, OLT 20 allocates a fixed bandwidth to ONU 30. In the case of DBA, OLT 20 allocates bandwidth based on the transmission permission request amount notified from ONU 30 at a DBA period according to the network settings. OLT 20 determines the allocated bandwidth including the timing and transmission amount at which ONU 30 is permitted to transmit by bandwidth allocation. At this time, OLT 20 determines the allocated bandwidth according to the network settings of the bandwidth. OLT 20 notifies ONU 30 of the determined allocated bandwidth. ONU 30 transmits the upstream signal addressed to the controller 50 received from the controlled device 40 to OLT 20 by the allocated bandwidth. OLT 20 transmits the received upstream signal to the controller 50. The OLT 20 also transmits downstream signals addressed to the control target devices 40 received from the controller 50 to the ONUs 30. The OLT 20 assigns priorities to upstream and downstream signals in accordance with the QoS network settings. The OLT 20 also switches whether or not to perform FEC on the upstream and downstream signals in accordance with the FEC network settings.

Figure 5 is a sequence diagram showing the setting process of the communication system 10, 10a. Below, an example is described in which the controller 50 performs motion control of the controlled device 40.

The controller 50 notifies the setting device 70 that it has sent a request to start one trial of motion control to the controlled device 40 (step S1). The setting device 70 reads out from the controller 50 control result information that sets the settling time obtained by the previous trial of motion control (step S2). The setting device 70 determines the setting information of the OLT 20 by comparing the control information that links the current setting information of the OLT 20 and the control result information read out from the controller 50 with the past setting information.

The setting device 70 inputs the determined setting information to the OLT 20 via the OLT setting device 60 (step S3). If input of the setting information to the OLT 20 is successful, the OLT setting device 60 returns OK (step S4). The setting device 70 instructs the OLT setting device 60 to reflect the setting information input to the OLT 20 (step S5). If reflection of the setting information to the OLT 20 is successful, the OLT setting device 60 returns OK (step S6). The setting device 70 notifies the controller 50 of the reflection OK (step S7).

Meanwhile, the device control unit 51 of the controller 50 performs motion control on the controlled device 40 (step S8). The device control unit 51 receives sensor data obtained as a result of the controlled device 40 operating according to the instructed motion control via an upstream signal, and acquires a settling time based on the received data (step S9). The acquired settling time is fed back to the setting device 70 at the start of the next control. The device control unit 51 may also optimize the motion control based on data received from the controlled device 40 or information obtained by processing the received data. The device control unit 51 may acquire information on the state of the access network, such as delay, from the setting device 70, and optimize the motion control. The communication system 10, 10a repeats the process from step S1.

Figure 6 is a flow diagram showing the processing of the setting device 70. The control monitoring unit 711 of the setting device 70 sets an initial value of 0 to a variable n representing the number of controls (step S11). The control monitoring unit 711 detects a request to start one trial of motion control of the controller 50 (step S12). For example, the device control unit 51 of the controller 50 may notify the setting device 70 that it has sent a request to start motion control. Alternatively, the control monitoring unit 711 may monitor a signal sent by the controller 50 and detect a request to start motion control. The control monitoring unit 711 adds 1 to the value of the variable n (step S13). The control monitoring unit 711 notifies the control performance reading unit 712 of the start of control.

The control performance reading unit 712 determines whether the variable n is 1 (step S14). If the control performance reading unit 712 determines that the variable n is 1 (step S14: YES), the process returns to step S12. On the other hand, if the control performance reading unit 712 determines that the variable n is 2 or greater (step S14: NO), the control performance reading unit 712 reads out control result information for the n-1th motion control from the device control unit 51 of the controller 50 (step S15). The control result information indicates the settling time. The control performance reading unit 712 outputs the read control result information to the comparison unit 714.

The setting information reading unit 713 reads the current setting information of the OLT 20 from the OLT setting unit 61 of the OLT setting device 60 (step S16). The current setting information corresponds to the setting information when the n-1th motion control was performed. The setting information reading unit 713 outputs the read setting information to the comparison unit 714.

The comparison unit 714 stores in the control information storage unit 715 the control information that links the control result information of the n-1th trial read by the control performance reading unit 712 with the setting information read by the setting information reading unit 713 (step S17). If neither the control result information nor the setting information has time information or information representing the n-1th trial added, the comparison unit 714 adds time information or information representing the n-1th trial to the control information. The comparison unit 714 reads multiple past control information from the control information storage unit 715 and compares them (step S18). The setting information determination unit 716 determines the setting information to be set in the OLT 20 based on the comparison result by the comparison unit 714 (step S19).

For example, the comparison unit 714 compares the i-th control information with the j-th (j ≠ i) control information. Specific examples include, but are not limited to, the i-th control information being the n-1th and the j-th control information being the n-2th. If the control result indicated by the i-th control information is better than the control result indicated by the j-th control information, the comparison unit 714 identifies a network setting whose value has changed between the setting information indicated by the i-th control information and the setting information indicated by the j-th control information. The setting information determination unit 716 determines a network setting value to be set in the OLT 20 based on the change in the identified network setting value. For example, if the i-th network setting value is a numerical value greater than the j-th network setting value, the setting information determination unit 716 determines to set a network setting value to the OLT 20 that is within the upper limit of the network setting value and is greater than the i-th network setting value. The setting information determination unit 716 may determine the amount by which the network setting value is increased based on the relationship between the difference between the i-th network setting value and the j-th network setting value and the increase in control performance, or may set the value according to the type of network setting. Also, for example, when the i-th network setting value is smaller than the j-th network setting value, the setting information determination unit 716 determines to set a network setting value that is equal to or greater than the lower limit of the network setting value and smaller than the i-th network setting value to the OLT 20. Also, for example, when the control performance is not a numerical value (e.g., on/off), the setting information determination unit 716 may determine to set the i-th network setting value to the OLT 20.

The setting information input unit 717 outputs setting information describing the network setting values determined by the setting information determination unit 716 to the OLT setting device 60 (step S20). The OLT setting unit 61 of the OLT setting device 60 inputs the setting information received from the setting information input unit 717 to the OLT 20. When the OLT setting unit 61 receives information from the OLT 20 indicating that the setting information has been successfully input, it notifies the setting device 70 of the successful input. By receiving the notification of the successful input, the setting information validation unit 718 of the setting device 70 confirms that the setting information has been input to the OLT 20 (step S21).

The setting information validation unit 718 outputs an instruction to the OLT setting device 60 to reflect the setting information in the OLT 20, such as restarting the OLT 20 (step S22). The OLT setting unit 61 of the OLT setting device 60 outputs an instruction to reflect the setting information to the OLT 20. When the OLT 20 reflects the setting information by restarting the OLT 20, it notifies the OLT setting unit 61 that the setting information has been successfully reflected. The OLT setting unit 61 outputs a notification of the successful reflection of the setting information to the setting device 70. When the change completion notification unit 719 of the setting device 70 receives the notification of the successful reflection of the setting information, it outputs the received notification to the controller 50 (step S23). The setting device 70 repeats the process from step S12. By repeating the above process, the setting device 70 can determine the network setting value of the OLT 20 that is optimal for motion control using a gradient method or the like.

The setting information determination unit 716 may create a model showing the relationship between the control performance, such as the settling time, and the combination of values of each network setting by machine learning or the like, based on the multiple pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit 715. In this case, the setting device 70 does not perform the process of step S18, and in step S19, the setting information determination unit 716 refers to the created model and selects the combination of values of the network settings that correspond to the best control performance or the target control performance. The driver 71 obtains the target control performance from the controller 50. The setting information determination unit 716 generates setting information that sets the combination of values of the selected network settings.

If the control start request output by the controller 50 to the controlled device 40 includes a control parameter used for control, in step S12, the control monitoring unit 711 of the setting device 70 acquires the value of the control parameter from the device control unit 51 or the motion control start request. In addition, in step S15, the device control unit 51 of the controller 50 adds, to the control result information, the value of the control parameter that was set in the motion control start request when the control result information was obtained. In step S18, the comparison unit 714 reads out and compares multiple pieces of control information in which the values of the control parameters acquired by the control monitoring unit 711 are set. Alternatively, the setting information determination unit 716 creates a model showing the relationship between the control performance, the value of the control parameter, and a combination of the values of each network setting by machine learning or the like, based on the multiple pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit 715. The setting information determination unit 716 refers to the created model and selects a combination of the values of the network settings corresponding to the value of the control parameter acquired by the control monitoring unit 711 and the best control performance or the target control performance.

When the OLT 20 is implemented using OSS (Open Source Software) such as SEBA (SDN Enabled Broadband Access), the communication system 10, 10a is equipped with a NEM (Network Edge Mediator) and VOLTHA (Virtual OLT Hardware Abstraction) instead of the OLT setting device 60, as shown in FIG. 7.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing the connection between the setting device 70 and OLT 20 when the communication system 10, 10a has a NEM and a VOLTHA. As shown in Figure 7, the OLT 20 and the setting device 70 are connected via a NEM 81 and a VOLTHA 82. The setting information reading unit 713 reads the current setting information of the OLT 20 from the VOLTHA 82 through the NEM 81. The setting information input unit 717 inputs the setting information to the OLT 20, for example, by inputting a Technology Profile with rewritten setting information through the NEM 81 into the VOLTHA 82.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to set network setting values in a network communication device that are expected to improve the control performance of the user's controller.

Second Embodiment
In this embodiment, the setting device further uses network information to determine the setting information of the OLT. The network information is information related to communication in the access network. The second embodiment will be described focusing on the difference from the first embodiment.

The communication system of this embodiment is configured to include a setting device 72 shown in Figure 8 instead of the setting device 70 of the communication system 10 shown in Figure 1 and the communication system 10a shown in Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the setting device 72 of this embodiment. In Figure 8, the same parts as those of the setting device 70 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 3 are given the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted. The driver 73 of the setting device 72 shown in Figure 8 differs from the driver 71 of the setting device 70 shown in Figure 3 in that it further includes a NW information monitoring unit 731, that it includes a control information storage unit 732 instead of the control information storage unit 715, that it includes a comparison unit 733 instead of the comparison unit 714, and that it includes a setting information determination unit 734 instead of the setting information determination unit 716.

The NW information monitoring unit 731 reads out network information from the OLT setting device 60. For example, when the control monitoring unit 711 detects a request to start motion control, the NW information monitoring unit 731 reads out network information. The network information includes values of each monitoring item such as delay in the access network, bandwidth used in the access network, the number of terminals under the OLT 20, and QoS used in the access network. The number of terminals under the OLT 20 may be the number of controlled devices 40, or the total of the number of controlled devices 40 and the number of terminals other than the controlled devices 40. The NW information monitoring unit 731 adds time information to the read network information and stores it in the control information storage unit 732, and further outputs the network information to the comparison unit 733 and the setting information determination unit 734.

The control information storage unit 732 stores the history of network information in addition to the same information as the control information storage unit 715 of the first embodiment. The comparison unit 733 stores the generated control information in the control information storage unit 732 in the same manner as the comparison unit 714 of the first embodiment. The comparison unit 733 also identifies multiple pieces of network information similar to the current network information received from the NW information monitoring unit 731. The comparison unit 733 reads out the control information corresponding to the time when the identified network information was obtained from the control information storage unit 715 and compares it in the same manner as the comparison unit 714 of the first embodiment. The setting information determination unit 734 determines the setting information to be set in the OLT 20 based on the comparison result in the comparison unit 714. The setting information input unit 717 outputs the setting information determined by the setting information determination unit 734 to the OLT setting device 60.

The setting information determination unit 734 may store in advance a model that associates the setting information of the OLT 20, the network information, and the expected control performance, and may determine the setting information corresponding to the current network information by referring to the model. This model can be obtained based on multiple pieces of control information and multiple pieces of network information stored in the control information storage unit 732.

Figure 9 is a flow diagram showing the processing of the setting device 72. In Figure 9, parts that are the same as those in the processing of the setting device 70 according to the first embodiment shown in Figure 6 are given the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted. The setting device 72 performs processing similar to steps S11 to S17 in Figure 6. The NW information monitoring unit 731 reads out network information from the OLT setting device 60 (step S31). The NW information monitoring unit 731 adds time information or information indicating the nth time to the read network information and stores it in the control information storage unit 732 (step S32). Hereinafter, the network information obtained during the nth control will be referred to as the nth time network information.

The comparison unit 733 compares multiple past control information, and further compares the network information when the control information was obtained with the nth network information (step S33). The setting information determination unit 734 determines the setting information to be set in the OLT 20 based on the comparison result in the comparison unit 733 (step S34).

For example, the comparison unit 733 reads out the n-1th control information and network information and the n-2th control information and network information from the control information storage unit 732. The comparison unit 733 calculates the rate of change in the network information. The rate of change in the network information is the rate of change between the nth network information and the n-1th network information to the rate of change between the n-1th network information and the n-2th network information. Furthermore, the comparison unit 733 compares the control result indicated by the n-1th control information with the control result indicated by the n-2th control information. For example, when the control result indicated by the n-1th control information is better than the control result indicated by the n-2th control information, the comparison unit 733 identifies the network setting whose value has changed between the setting information indicated by the n-1th control information and the setting information indicated by the n-2th control information. If the n-1th network setting value is a numerical value larger than the n-2th network setting value, the setting information determination unit 734 determines to set a network setting value that is within the upper limit of the network setting value and is larger than the n-1th network setting value to the OLT 20. The setting information determination unit 734 determines the amount by which to increase the network setting value based on the relationship between the difference between the n-1th network setting value and the n-2th network setting value, the increase in control performance, and the rate of change in network information.

Alternatively, the comparison unit 733 identifies multiple pieces of network information similar to the nth network information. For example, the comparison unit 733 identifies two pieces of network information. The comparison unit 733 reads out control information corresponding to the time when each piece of identified network information was obtained from the control information storage unit 732, and compares them in the same manner as the comparison unit 714 in the first embodiment. The setting information determination unit 734 determines the setting information to be set in the OLT 20 in the same manner as step S19 in FIG. 6, based on the comparison result in the comparison unit 733. The processing of the setting device 72 from step S20 onwards is the same as in FIG. 6.

The NW information monitoring unit 731 may periodically read out network information and store the read out network information in the control information storage unit 732. The setting information determination unit 734 may create a model showing the relationship between the values of each monitoring item included in the network information, the control performance, and the combination of the values of each network setting, by machine learning or the like, based on the multiple pieces of control information and network information stored in the control information storage unit 732. In this case, the setting device 72 does not perform the process of step S33, and in step S34, the setting information determination unit 734 refers to the created model and selects a combination of the values of the monitoring items indicated by the current network information and the network setting values corresponding to the best control performance or the target control performance. The setting information determination unit 734 generates setting information that sets the combination of the selected network setting values, and outputs it to the setting information input unit 717.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to set network setting values in OLT 20 that provide good control performance according to the state of the access network.

[Third embodiment]
In the first embodiment, a PON is used in the access section. In this embodiment, a media converter (MC) is used as a communication device in the access section. The following describes this embodiment, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication system 11 of this embodiment. In Figure 10, the same parts as those of the communication system 10 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 1 are given the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted. The communication system 11 shown in Figure 10 differs from the communication system 10 shown in Figure 1 in that it has an MC 21 instead of the OLT 20, an MC 31 instead of the ONU 30, does not have an OLT setting device 60, and has a setting device 74 instead of the setting device 70.

MC21 and MC31 are each connected to multiple types of transmission media. MC21 and MC31 receive signals transmitted through the transmission media, convert the received signals according to the transmission medium on the output side, and output the converted signals to the transmission medium on the output side. For example, MC21 converts downstream signals received from the controller 50 from electrical signals to optical signals and outputs them to MC31, and converts upstream signals received from MC31 from optical signals to electrical signals and outputs them to the controller 50. Also, for example, MC31 converts downstream signals received from MC21 from optical signals to electrical signals and outputs them to the controlled device 40, and converts upstream signals received from the controlled device 40 from electrical signals to optical signals and outputs them to MC21.

The setting device 74 includes a driver 75. The driver 75 performs the same processing as the driver 71 of the first embodiment, except that the driver 75 reads the setting information, sets the setting information, and activates the setting information on the MC 21.

Note that MC31 may be connected to multiple controlled devices 40. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication system 11a in this embodiment. In FIG. 11, the same parts as those in the communication system 11 shown in FIG. 10 are given the same reference numerals, and their description is omitted. The communication system 11a shown in FIG. 11 differs from the communication system 11 shown in FIG. 10 in that MC31 and multiple controlled devices 40 are connected via a switch 80. The switch 80 multiplexes upstream signals received from multiple controlled devices 40 in a separable manner and outputs the multiplexed signals to MC31. The switch 80 also receives a signal in which downstream signals addressed to different controlled devices 40 are multiplexed from MC31, and outputs the downstream signal to the destination controlled device 40, or branches the multiplexed signal and outputs it to each controlled device 40.

Figure 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the setting device 74. In Figure 12, the same parts as those of the setting device 70 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 3 are given the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted. The driver 75 of the setting device 74 shown in Figure 12 differs from the driver 71 of the setting device 70 shown in Figure 3 in that, instead of the setting information reading unit 713, the setting information input unit 717, the setting information validation unit 718, and the change completion notification unit 719, the driver 75 is provided with a setting information reading unit 751, a setting information input unit 752, a setting information validation unit 753, and a change completion notification unit 754.

The setting information reading unit 751 reads the setting information from MC21. The setting information indicates setting values such as buffer capacity. The buffer capacity is the capacity of the buffer that temporarily stores the signal that MC21 transmits to MC31 until the transmission timing arrives. The setting information input unit 752 inputs the setting information to MC21. After the setting information is input to MC21, the setting information validation unit 753 outputs an instruction to MC21 to reflect the setting information, such as restarting MC21. The change completion notification unit 754 receives a notification from MC21 that the setting information has been successfully reflected, and outputs the received notification to the controller 50.

The setting device 74 performs the same processing as the setting device 70 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 6, except for the following points. That is, in step S16, the setting information reading unit 751 reads the setting information from MC 21. In step S20, the setting information input unit 752 outputs the setting information to MC 21. In step S21, the setting information validation unit 753 receives information from MC 21 that the input of the setting information was successful, and in step S22, outputs an instruction to MC 21 to reflect the setting information. In step S23, the change completion notification unit 754 receives a notification from MC 21 that the reflection of the setting information was successful, and outputs the received notification to the controller 50.

This embodiment makes it possible to set network setting values in the MC of the access section that are expected to improve the control performance of the user's controller.

[Fourth embodiment]
In the second embodiment, a PON is used in the access section. In this embodiment, an MC is used as a communication device in the access section, similarly to the third embodiment. The following description will focus on the differences between the second and third embodiments.

The communication system of this embodiment is configured to include a setting device 76 shown in Figure 13 instead of the setting device 74 of the communication system 11 shown in Figure 10 and the communication system 11a shown in Figure 11.

13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the setting device 76 of this embodiment. In FIG. 13, the same parts as those of the setting device 72 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. The driver 77 of the setting device 76 shown in FIG. 13 is different from the driver 73 of the setting device 72 shown in FIG. 8 in that the driver 77 of the setting device 76 shown in FIG. 13 includes a NW information monitoring unit 771 instead of the NW information monitoring unit 731, and includes the setting information reading unit 751, setting information input unit 752, setting information validation unit 753, and change completion notification unit 754 of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 12 instead of the setting information reading unit 713, setting information input unit 717, setting information validation unit 718, and change completion notification unit 719. The NW information monitoring unit 771 reads out network information from the MC 21. The NW information monitoring unit 771 adds time information to the read network information and stores it in the control information storage unit 732, and further outputs the network information to the comparison unit 733 and the setting information determination unit 734.

The setting device 76 performs the same processing as the setting device 72 of the second embodiment shown in Figure 9, except for the following points. That is, in step S31, the NW information monitoring unit 771 reads out network information, and in step S32, the read out network information is stored in the control information storage unit 732. In steps S16 and S20 to S23, the setting device 76 performs the same processing as the setting device 74 of the third embodiment.

This embodiment makes it possible to set network setting values in the MC of the access section that will provide good control performance depending on the conditions of the access network section.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the setting devices 70, 72, 74, and 76. The setting devices 70, 72, 74, and 76 include a processor 91, a storage unit 92, a communication interface 93, and a user interface 94. The processor 91 is a central processing unit that performs calculations and control. The processor 91 is, for example, a CPU (central processing unit). The processor 91 reads out and executes a program from the storage unit 92. The storage unit 92 further has a work area when the processor 91 executes various programs. The communication interface 93 is for connecting to other devices so as to be able to communicate with them. The user interface 94 is an input device such as a button, keyboard, or pointing device, or a display device such as a lamp or display. The user interface 94 inputs manual operations. All or part of the functions of the drivers 71, 73, 75, and 77 are realized by the processor 91 reading out and executing a program from the storage unit 92. All or part of the functions of the drivers 71, 73, 75, and 77 may be realized using hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

The hardware configuration of the controller 50 and the OLT setting device 60 is also the same as that shown in FIG. 14. All or part of the functions of the equipment control unit 51 or the OLT setting unit 61 are realized by the processor 91 reading and executing a program from the storage unit 92. All or part of the equipment control unit 51 or the OLT setting unit 61 may be realized using hardware such as an ASIC, a PLD, or an FPGA.

In the past, it was almost impossible to link a network communication device with a user's controller, or to change the settings of a network communication device according to the request of the user's controller. For example, in the case of motion control, low latency is required, so in the past, the control target device was almost always controlled locally from the controller without going through a network. However, even when the controller and the control target device are connected via a network, it is possible to perform real-time motion control by minimizing the latency in the access network. In addition, in recent years, network functions have been implemented as software, making it easier to change network settings. Therefore, in this embodiment, a driver that connects the network communication device and the user's device is introduced, and the interface with the driver is made available to the user. This allows the settings of the network communication device to be changed so as to reduce latency and packet loss based on information obtained from the user's device.

According to the embodiment described above, the setting device includes an acquisition unit, a control information storage unit, a setting information determination unit, and a setting unit. The acquisition unit corresponds to the control performance reading unit 712 in the embodiment, and the setting unit corresponds to the setting information input unit 717, the setting information validation unit 718, the setting information input unit 752, and the setting information validation unit 753 in the embodiment. The acquisition unit acquires control result information. The control result information indicates information on the control performance obtained as a result of the controller controlling the control target device connected to the controller via a network. The control information storage unit stores control information that associates the control result information acquired by the acquisition unit with the setting information at the time the control result information was obtained. The control information indicates the setting of the communication device that constitutes the network. The setting information determination unit determines the setting information to be set in the communication device based on the control information stored in the control information storage unit. For example, the setting information determination unit determines the setting information when a control signal for the control target device is transmitted from the controller. The setting unit sets the setting information determined by the setting information determination unit in the communication device.

The setting information determination unit may determine the setting information to be set in the communication device based on a model that represents the relationship between control performance and setting information. The model is created using multiple pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit.

The setting device may further include a network information acquisition unit that acquires network information indicating information related to the network. The network information acquisition unit corresponds to the NW information monitoring units 731 and 771 of the embodiments. The control information storage unit further stores the network information acquired by the network information acquisition unit. The setting information determination unit determines setting information to be set in the communication device based on the network information acquired by the network information acquisition unit when a control signal is transmitted from the controller to the controlled device and the multiple pieces of control information and multiple pieces of network information stored in the control information storage unit.

The network information includes one or more of the following: delay in the network, network bandwidth, priority of packets transmitted through the network, and the number of controlled devices connected to the network.

If the network is a passive optical network, the configuration information includes one or more of the following information: a bandwidth allocation period, a bandwidth in the network, a priority of packets transmitted through the network, and whether or not error correction is performed on packets transmitted through the network. If the communication device is a media converter, the configuration information includes the amount of buffer space in the media converter that temporarily stores transmission signals.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments and also includes designs that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

10, 10a, 11, 11a Communication system 20 OLT
21, 31 MC
30 ONUs
40 Control target device 50 Controller 51 Device control unit 60 OLT setting device 61 OLT setting unit 70, 72, 74, 76 Setting device 71, 73, 75, 77 Driver 80 Switch 81 NEM
82 VOLTHA
91 Processor 92 Storage unit 93 Communication interface 94 User interface 711 Control monitoring unit 712 Control performance reading unit 713, 751 Setting information reading unit 714, 733 Comparison unit 715, 732 Control information storage unit 716, 734 Setting information determination unit 717, 752 Setting information input unit 718, 753 Setting information validation unit 719, 754 Change completion notification unit 731, 771 NW information monitoring unit

Claims (8)

an acquisition unit that acquires control result information, which is information regarding control performance obtained as a result of a control performed by a controller on a control target device connected to the controller via a network;
a control information storage unit that stores control information in which the control result information acquired by the acquisition unit and setting information indicating settings of communication devices that configure the network are associated with the setting information at the time when the control result information was acquired;
a setting information determination unit that determines setting information to be set in the communication device based on the plurality of pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit;
a setting unit that sets the setting information determined by the setting information determination unit to the communication device;
A setting device comprising: the setting information determination unit determines the setting information to be set in the communication device based on a model that is created using the plurality of pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit and that represents a relationship between control performance and setting information.
The setting device according to claim 1 . A network information acquisition unit that acquires network information indicating information related to the network,
the control information storage unit further stores the network information acquired by the network information acquisition unit;
the setting information determination unit determines setting information to be set in the communication device based on the network information acquired by the network information acquisition unit when a control signal for the control target device is transmitted from the controller and the plurality of pieces of control information and the plurality of pieces of network information stored in the control information storage unit.
The setting device according to claim 1 . the network information includes at least one of a delay in the network, a bandwidth of the network, a priority of a packet transmitted through the network, and a number of the control target devices connected to the network;
The setting device according to claim 3 . When the network is a passive optical network, the setting information includes at least one of a bandwidth allocation period, a bandwidth in the network, a priority of a packet transmitted through the network, and information on the presence or absence of error correction for the packet transmitted through the network.
The setting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. When the communication device is a media converter, the setting information includes a buffer capacity for temporarily storing a transmission signal in the media converter.
The setting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. an acquisition step of acquiring control result information, which is information regarding control performance obtained as a result of the controller controlling a controlled device connected to the controller via a network;
a storing step of storing, in a control information storage unit, control information that corresponds to the control result information acquired in the acquiring step and setting information indicating settings of communication devices that configure the network, the setting information being the information at the time when the control result information was acquired;
a setting information determination step of determining setting information to be set in the communication device based on the plurality of pieces of control information stored in the control information storage unit;
a setting step of setting the setting information determined in the setting information determination step in the communication device;
A setting method having the following features: Computer,
A program for causing the setting device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 to function as such a setting device.

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