JPH03139042A - Information transmission controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the continuous processing with remaining normal devices by short-circuiting only a device having a fault when any device has a fault. CONSTITUTION:A photoelectric conversion means 2 converts an input optical signal sent from an input optical connector 1 into an input electric signal. A short-circuit instruction detection means 3 detects a short-circuit instruction included in the input electric signal and sends the result of detection to a path switching mans 7. A fault detection means 4 detects a fault of the input electric signal. A short-circuit instruction generating means 5 based on the information from the means 4 generates any of a short-circuit instruction, an evaluation instruction and a short-circuit release instruction. An information processing means 6 applies processing required for the input electric signal to receive or give a signal required with other system and sends the processing output to the path switching means 7. The means 7 outputs a required instruction from the input electric signal and the short-circuit instruction or the evaluation instruction or the short-circuit release instruction and the processing output as the output electric signal based on the command from the means 3,5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information transmission control device that is connected using an optical fiber or the like to constitute an information processing system.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for reducing the influence of failures of individual devices on the operation of the entire system.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of information processing equipment, the amount of information transmitted between devices such as personal computers has increased, and the use of optical fibers has become common. One known method for connecting multiple devices using optical fibers is to connect each device in a ring shape using optical fibers.

An example of the above-mentioned information transmission control device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional information transmission control device. An input optical signal coming in from the input optical connector 401 is converted into an input electrical signal by the opto-electric conversion means 402. The information processing means 403 performs necessary processing on the input electrical signal to produce an output electrical signal, and if necessary, exchanges the signal with other systems via an I/F. The opto-electric conversion means 405 converts the output electrical signal into an output optical signal. The output optical signal is sent to downstream equipment via output optical connector 404.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of a conventional information transmission control device, which aims to improve reliability against failures of each device by duplicating optical fibers.

In FIG. 5, for example, the second information transmission control device 502
If a failure occurs in the forward direction optical fiber 504,
506. 508 is inhibited, and the normal functions of the first information transfer control device 50I and the third information transfer control device 503 are no longer able to be performed. At this time, by using the optical fiber 505 in the opposite direction, information transmission from the third information transmission control device 503 to the first information transmission control device 501 can be restored.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, if a failure occurs in any of the devices that make up the system, the operation of the entire system will stop (first example), or there is no way to prevent it. In order to do this, two systems of optical fiber loops were required (second example).

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information transmission control device that guarantees the operation of the entire system within the range of the functions of the remaining normal devices even when the above-mentioned failure occurs. It is.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above objects, the information transmission control device of the present invention comprises a signal input means, a short circuit command detection means, an abnormality detection means, a short circuit command generation means, and an information processing means. , a path switching means, and a signal output means, the signal input means converts an input signal from the outside into an input electric signal, and the short circuit command detection means detects a short circuit command and short circuit release included in the input electric signal. The command is detected and the detection result is transmitted to the path switching means, the abnormality detection means detects an abnormality in the input electrical signal, and the short circuit command generation means generates a short circuit command based on information from the abnormality detection means. The information processing means generates either an evaluation command or a short-circuit release command, performs necessary processing on the input electrical signal, exchanges the necessary signals with other systems, and sends the processed output to the path switching means. and the route switching means receives the input electrical signal, the short circuit command or the evaluation command or the short circuit release command from the short circuit command generating means, and the A necessary one is selected from among the processed outputs and used as an output electrical signal, and the signal output means converts the output electrical signal into an output signal and outputs it to the outside.

According to the present invention, the signal input means converts an input signal into an input electric signal, the short circuit command detection means detects a short circuit command and a short circuit release command included in the input electric signal, and the abnormality detection means converts an input electric signal into an input electric signal. An abnormality in the system is detected from the contents, and the short circuit command generation means generates a short circuit command, an evaluation command, and a short circuit release command in a predetermined procedure based on the information from the abnormality detection means, and the information processing means adds necessary processing to the input electrical signal, and the path switching means selects the necessary one from three of the input electrical signal, the output of the short circuit command generation means, and the output of the information processing means and outputs it as an output electrical signal, and the signal output means converts the output electrical signal into an output signal.

Embodiment Hereinafter, regarding an information transmission control device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
This will be explained with reference to the drawings.

2 is a photoelectric conversion means, 3 is a short-circuit command detection means, 4 is an abnormality detection means, 5 is a short-circuit command generation means, 6 is an information processing means, 7 is a path switching means, 8 is an electro-optical conversion means, and 9 is a This is an output optical connector.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an information processing system configured by combining information transmission control devices according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a pad diagram showing a procedure in which the short-circuit command generation means 5 generates a short-circuit command, an evaluation command, and a short-circuit release command.

The operation of the information transmission control device configured as described above will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In Figure 1, upstream equipment (side that sends data)
The optical fiber from is connected to the input optical connector 1. The opto-electric conversion means 2 converts an input optical signal into an input electric signal.

This input electrical signal is transmitted to the short circuit command detection means 3. Abnormality detection means 4. The information is supplied to the information processing means 6, respectively. The short-circuit command detection means 3 searches for a short-circuit command and a short-circuit release included in the input electrical signal, detects them, and transmits the detection results to the path switching means 7. The abnormality detection means 4 detects an abnormality in the input electric signal,
For example, an abnormality in the data format, data loss, data not arriving within a specified time, etc. are detected and the detection results are transmitted to the short circuit command generating means 5. When a signal indicating that an abnormality has been detected is received from the abnormality detection means 4, the short circuit command generation means 5 generates a short circuit command, an evaluation command, and a short circuit release command according to a predetermined procedure, and sends the short circuit command to the path switching means 7. introduce.

The information processing means 6 processes the input electrical signal according to the original function of the device, and then transmits the processing result to the path switching means 7. The evaluation command passes through the information processing means 6. Based on the information from the short-circuit command detection means 3, the path switching means 7 switches between the photoelectric conversion means 2. Short circuit command generation means 5. Select the necessary information from the three pieces of information from the information processing means 6,
It is transmitted as an output electrical signal 5 to the electro-optical conversion means 8. At this time, when a short-circuit release command is input, the path switching means 7 releases the short-circuit state if the device to which it belongs is in a short-circuit state, and outputs the short-circuit release command as an output electrical signal if it is not in a short-circuit state. The electro-optical conversion means 8 converts the output electrical signal into an output optical signal. The output optical signal is sent to downstream equipment by an optical fiber via the output optical connector 9.

In FIG. 2, three information transmission control devices 201 to 20
3 are connected in a loop with optical fibers 204 to 20B. As an example, the operation when a failure occurs in the second information transmission control device 202 will be described. Two normal information transmission control devices 201. 203, the one that detects a system abnormality first starts evaluation of the failure.

For the sake of explanation, assume that the third information transmission control device 203 detects a failure first. First, the abnormality detection means 4 in the third information transmission control device 203 detects the occurrence of a failure from abnormal data included in the input electrical signal, omission of the input electrical signal, etc. In response to this, the short circuit command generating means 3 generates one short circuit command in order to specify the device that has caused the fault. The short circuit command is issued by the path switching means 7. Electro-optical conversion means8. The first information transmission control device 201 via the output optical connector 9
is transmitted to. The short-circuit command detecting means 5 in the first information transmission control device 201 detects this short-circuit command, and the route switching means 7 forms a route for short-circuiting input and output according to the instruction.

In this state, the short-circuit command generating means 3 in the third information transmission control device 203 generates an evaluation command to check whether the system is normal or not, and waits for data returned through the loop. In this example, since the failure has occurred in the second information transfer control device 202, the operation of the system will not be restored due to the short circuit in the first information transfer control device 201. Next, the short circuit command generating means 3 in the third information transmission control device 203 generates another short circuit command. This short circuit command is sent to the first information transmission control device 20! and reaches the second information transmission control device 202, in which the short circuit command detection means 5
As in the case of the first information transfer control device 201, the second information transfer control device 202 is brought into a short circuit state. In this state, the short-circuit command generation means 3 in the third information transmission control device 2.3 generates a second evaluation command and waits for data to be returned through the loop.

This time, the evaluation command passes through the first information transfer control device 201 and the second information transfer control device 202 and returns in a normal form, so the short-circuit instruction generating means in the third information transfer control device 203 3 can detect that a failure has occurred in the second information transmission control device 202 from the number of short circuit commands issued.

Next, the short-circuit command generation means 3 in the third information transmission control device 203 generates a short-circuit release command, releases the short-circuit state of the first information transmission control device 203, and returns to normal operation. Through the above processing, only the second information transfer control device 202 that has generated a failure becomes short-circuited, and the system can continue to operate normally without the second information transfer control device 202.

FIG. 3 is a pad diagram showing an example of the procedure of failure recovery processing executed within the short circuit instruction generating means.

Step 201 to step 2!2 represent a series of processing.

Step 202 is an infinite loop that is executed while the system is operating. In step 203, it is checked whether there is any abnormality in the system, and if it is normal, the process returns to the loop of step 202. If there is an abnormality, a counter N is set to O in step 204, and a loop of step 205 is executed to identify the location where the failure has occurred. That is, in step 207, a short-circuit command is generated to short-circuit the device one downstream from itself,
In step 208, the counter N is incremented by one,
In step 209, an evaluation command is generated to check whether the system is abnormal or not, and the process returns to step 205. Once the system is no longer abnormal, the fault can be identified in the equipment that caused the short circuit. 207-209 until the abnormality is corrected
When the process repeats steps 205 and returns to step 205, the value of the counter N indicates the position of the failed device from itself. Subsequently, a loop in step 206 is executed.

That is, the generation of the short-circuit release command in step 210 and the operation of decrementing the value of the counter N by one in step 211 are repeated until N becomes 1. Through this operation, short circuits in normal devices located between itself and the failed device are sequentially released, and the functions of those devices are restored. Thereafter, the process passes through step 203 and returns to the loop of step 202.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the opto-electric conversion means 2 converts the input optical signal sent from the input optical connector 1 into an input electrical signal, and the short-circuit command detection means 3 detects the short circuit included in the input electrical signal. The command is detected and the detection result is transmitted to the path switching means 7, the abnormality detecting means 4 detects an abnormality in the input electrical signal, and the short circuit command generating means 5, based on the information from the abnormality detecting means 4, The information processing means 8 generates either a short-circuit command, an evaluation command, or a short-circuit release command according to the procedure shown in FIG. The output is transmitted to the route switching means 7, and the route switching means 7 converts the input electrical signal and the short circuit command or evaluation command from the short circuit command generation means 5 based on the instructions from the short circuit command detection means 3 and the short circuit command generation means 5. The necessary one is selected from among the short-circuit release command and the processing output as an output electrical signal, and the electro-optic conversion means 8 converts the output electrical signal into an output optical signal and supplies it to the output optical connector 9. As shown in Figure 2, in a system using optical fiber that transmits information in only one direction, even if a failure occurs in any of the devices that make up the system, only the failed device will be short-circuited. This allows processing to continue within the capabilities of the remaining normal equipment.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, in an information processing system in which multiple devices are connected using optical fibers, even if a failure occurs in any of the devices, only that device can be connected. can be shorted to allow the remaining healthy equipment to continue processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

3 is a block diagram showing an example of a system in which a plurality of control devices are connected in a loop, FIG. 3 is a pad diagram showing an example of the processing procedure executed by the short circuit command generating means in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing conventional information transmission control. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of a conventional information transmission control device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Input optical connector, 2... Optoelectric conversion means, 3... Short circuit command detection means, 4... Abnormality detection means, 5... Short circuit command generation means, 6... Information processing means , 7... Route switching means, 8... Electro-optical conversion means, 9... Output optical connector, 2ol river first information transmission control device, 2Q2... Second information transmission control device, 2
o3...Third information transmission control device, 204-2o6.
...Optical fiber No. 2 04 207-209...I/F to other devices.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] The signal input means includes a signal input means, a short circuit command detection means, an abnormality detection means, a short circuit command generation means, an information processing means, a route switching means, and a signal output means. converts an input signal from the outside into an input electric signal, the short circuit command detection means detects a short circuit command and a short circuit release command included in the input electric signal, and transmits the detection result to the path switching means, The detection means detects an abnormality in the input electrical signal, the short circuit command generation means generates any one of a short circuit command, an evaluation command, and a short circuit release command based on information from the abnormality detection means, and the information processing means The necessary processing is performed on the input electric signal, the necessary signals are exchanged with other systems, and the processing output is transmitted to the route switching means, and the route switching means is configured to perform the necessary processing on the input electrical signal and transmit the necessary signal to and from other systems, and the route switching means receives the input electrical signal from the short circuit command detection means and the short circuit command generation means. Based on the instruction, a necessary one is selected from among the input electric signal, the short circuit command or evaluation command or short circuit release command from the short circuit command generation means, and the processed output, and is used as an output electric signal; The information transmission control device is characterized in that the signal output means converts the output electric signal into an output signal and outputs it to the outside.