JPH04266245A - Terminal fault monitor system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discriminate whether a fault is a terminal fault or a line fault even without use of an exclusive fault notice line with respect to the terminal fault monitor system in which a central control station controls remotely a terminal equipment and the central control station monitors the fault of the terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:Periodic communication is implemented between terminal equipment 1 and a central control station 2 in the system in which the central control station 2 controls remotely the terminal equipment 1, a line fault between the terminal equipment 1 and the central control station 2 is monitored by the central control station 2 and when the terminal equipment 1 is faulty, the terminal equipment 1 sends a fault class signal in response to the fault from the terminal equipment 1 to the central control station 2 to allow the central control station 2 to detect a fault in the terminal equipment 1 from the fault class signal.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal fault monitoring system in which terminal equipment is remotely controlled by a central control station, and in which faults in the terminal equipment are monitored by the central control station.

Various problems exist in a system in which terminal equipment (this terminal equipment is sometimes simply referred to as a terminal) is remotely controlled by a central control station (this central control station is sometimes referred to as a center). For example, there are terminal failures such as a power outage of a terminal, runaway software in a terminal with software, or line failures such as a disconnection of a line connecting a terminal and a center.

0003

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a means for detecting terminal failures as described above, as shown in FIG. Although this detection method is common, even in the event of a line failure, communication is interrupted and it is not possible to distinguish whether the failure occurred on the terminal 1 side or on the line 3.

[0004]Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a method in which direct current is passed through the line 3 and the interruption of the current is detected at the center 2. Since the equipment 4 is required to have a function of detecting line breakage and relaying it, the cost of the equipment increases. Furthermore, since direct current cannot be superimposed on a digital line, line breakage cannot be detected at the center 2.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, there is a method in which both terminal failures and line failures are detected on the terminal 1 side, and a failure notification line 5 is used separately from the general control communication line. is adopted, but in this case, 2
This requires more lines than lines, increasing line costs. This problem of high cost becomes more prominent as the number of terminal devices increases.

The present invention was devised in view of these problems, and provides a terminal fault monitoring method that allows distinguishing between terminal faults and line faults without using a dedicated fault notification line. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention according to claims 1 and 2.
2 is a terminal device, 2 is a central control station, and 3 is a line. In the present invention, the terminal device 1 is remotely controlled by the central control station 2 via the line 3.

[0008] Reference numeral 11 denotes a regular communication section, and this regular communication section 11
There is a part that performs regular communication with the central control station 2.

[0009] Reference numeral 12 denotes a terminal equipment fault detection section, and this terminal equipment fault detection section 12 detects a fault in the terminal equipment 1.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a fault type signal output section, and when a fault in the terminal device 1 is detected by the terminal device fault detection section 12, this fault type signal output section 13 outputs a fault type signal corresponding to the fault. It is something.

[0011] Reference numeral 14 denotes a fault recovery signal output section, which, when the fault in the terminal equipment 1 is recovered, outputs a fault recovery signal to that effect.

The above-mentioned regular communication section 11, terminal device failure detection section 12, failure type signal output section 13, and failure recovery signal output section 14 are provided in the terminal device 1.

[0013] Reference numeral 21 denotes a regular communication section, and this regular communication section 21
is a part that performs regular communication with the terminal device 1.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a line breakage detection section, and this line breakage detection section 22 detects a line breakage state from the information received by the regular communication section 21.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a fault type signal detection section, and this fault type signal detection section 23 detects a fault type signal from the fault type signal output section 13 of the terminal equipment 1.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a terminal equipment fault detection section, and this terminal equipment fault detection section 24 detects a fault in the terminal equipment 1 according to the fault type signal detected by the fault type signal detection section 23.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a fault recovery signal detection unit, and the fault recovery signal detection unit 25 detects that the fault in the terminal device 1 has been recovered by receiving the fault recovery signal from the fault recovery signal output unit 14 of the terminal device 1. It is something to do.

[0018] Then, the regular communication section 21 and the line disconnection detection section 2
2, Fault type signal detection unit 23, Terminal equipment fault detection unit 24
, the fault recovery signal detection section 25 is provided in the central control station 2.

[0019]

[Operation] In the terminal fault monitoring method of the present invention described above, first,
By performing periodic communication between the periodic communication section 11 of the terminal device 1 and the periodic communication section 21 of the central control station 2, line failures between the terminal device 1 and the central control station 2 can be prevented by the central control station 2. This is monitored by the line disconnection detection unit 22.

On the other hand, when a failure occurs in the terminal equipment 1, the failure is detected by the terminal equipment failure detection unit 12 of the terminal equipment 1, and the failure type signal output unit 13 centrally controls the failure type signal according to the failure. Central control station 2 by sending it to station 2
The fault type signal detection section 23 and the terminal device fault detection section 24 detect a fault in the terminal device 1 from the fault type signal (claim 1).

[0021] Furthermore, when the fault in the terminal device 1 is recovered, the fault recovery signal output unit 14 of the terminal device 1 sends the fault recovery signal to the central control station 2, so that the fault recovery signal of the central control station 2 can be detected. The terminal equipment 1 is output from the failure recovery signal in the section 25.
(Claim 2)
.

[0022]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 1 is a terminal device, 2 is a central control station, and 3 is a line (analog line).
The terminal device 1 is remotely controlled by the central control station 2 via the central control station 2.

[0024]The terminal equipment 1 includes a regular communication section 11.
, terminal equipment failure detection unit 12, failure type signal output unit 13,
A failure recovery signal output section 14 is provided.

[0025] Here, the regular communication section 11 communicates with the central control station 2.
This is the part that performs regular communication with the

The terminal equipment failure detection unit 12 detects a failure in the terminal equipment 1. In this case, it includes a software runaway detection unit 121 that detects software runaway in the terminal 1, and a software runaway detection unit 121 that detects software runaway in the terminal 1. It is composed of a power-off detection section 122 that detects a power-off state.

The fault type signal output unit 13 outputs a pulsed fault type signal in accordance with the fault when the terminal equipment fault detection unit 12 detects a fault in the terminal equipment 1. In this case, when the software runaway is detected by the runaway detection unit 121, the first fault type signal output unit 131 outputs a pulse-shaped first fault type signal to that effect, and the power failure detection unit 122 controls the power supply of the terminal 1. When a disconnection state is detected, a second failure type signal output section 132 outputs a pulse-shaped second failure type signal to that effect.

[0028] As the first fault type signal, for example, an analog signal obtained by mixing the frequency fo and the frequency f1 is used, and as the second fault type signal, for example, an analog signal obtained by mixing the frequency f2 and the frequency f3 is used. used.

Further, a battery 133 is attached to the second fault type signal output section 132;
Since the fault signal 33 is a pulse signal and does not need to operate as a battery for a long time, a simple battery such as a capacitor may be used.

The fault recovery signal output unit 14 outputs a pulse-like fault recovery signal when the fault in the terminal device 1 is recovered, and this fault recovery signal includes, for example, frequencies f4 and f5. An analog signal is used that is mixed with

The central control station 2 also includes a regular communication section 21.
, a line break detection section 22, a fault type signal detection section 23, a terminal equipment fault detection section 24, and a fault recovery signal detection section 25 are provided.

Here, the regular communication unit 21 is a part that performs regular communication with the terminal equipment 1, and the line disconnection detection unit 22
The line disconnection state is detected from the information received by the regular communication section 21.

The fault type signal detection unit 23 detects the fault type signal from the fault type signal output unit 13 of the terminal device 1. In this example, the first fault type signal output unit 1
31 from the first fault type signal (frequency fo and frequency f
A first fault type signal detection unit 231 detects a second fault type signal (an analog signal in which frequencies f2 and f3 are mixed) and a second fault type signal from a second fault type signal output unit 132. ), and a second fault type signal detection unit 232 that detects the fault type signal.

The terminal device failure detection section 24 detects the terminal device 1 according to the failure type signal detected by the failure type signal detection section 23.
In this example, a software runaway fault detection unit 241 detects software runaway from the first fault type signal detected by the first fault type signal detection unit 231, and The terminal power failure detection unit 242 detects a power failure failure of the terminal device 1 from the second failure type signal detected by the signal detection unit 232.

Note that the software runaway failure detection unit 241
As the device, a conventionally known watch dog timer or the like is used, and as the terminal power failure detection section 242, a conventionally known constantly operating relay or the like is used.

The fault recovery signal detection unit 25 detects the fault recovery signal (frequency f
It detects that the fault in the terminal equipment 1 has been recovered by receiving an analog signal in which the frequency f5 and the frequency f5 are mixed.

With the above-described configuration, first, periodic communication is performed between the periodic communication section 11 of the terminal device 1 and the periodic communication section 21 of the central control station 2, so that the communication between the terminal device 1 and the central control station 2 is established. The line disconnection detection unit 2 of the central control station 2
Monitor at 2.

On the other hand, when a failure occurs in the terminal equipment 1, the failure is detected by the terminal equipment failure detection unit 12 of the terminal equipment 1, and the failure type signal output unit 13 centrally controls the failure type signal according to the failure. Central control station 2 by sending it to station 2
The failure type signal detection unit 23 and the terminal equipment failure detection unit 24 detect a failure in the terminal equipment 1 from the failure type signal.

In this example, two types of terminal failures are detected: a software runaway failure and a terminal power-off failure.

Furthermore, when the fault in the terminal device 1 is recovered, the fault recovery signal output unit 14 of the terminal device 1 sends the fault recovery signal to the central control station 2, so that the fault recovery signal of the central control station 2 can be detected. The terminal equipment 1 is output from the failure recovery signal in the section 25.
Detection of failure recovery is performed.

FIG. 3 shows a time chart of the above-mentioned situation in the terminal equipment 1 and the central control station 2.

[0042] In this way, periodic interruptions in communication are used to detect only line faults, and when a fault occurs in the terminal equipment 1, a pulse-like fault type signal is sent to the central control station 2 for a certain period of time, so that a dedicated It is possible to distinguish between a terminal failure and a line failure without using a failure notification line.

Furthermore, when the fault in the terminal device 1 is recovered, by sending a fault recovery signal to the central control station 2, the fault recovery can be reliably monitored by the central control station 2, thereby increasing the reliability of the system. It improves the performance.

[0044] When using a digital line,
It is only necessary to allocate a specific bit pattern to each fault type, so that the present method can be applied to both analog and digital lines.

[0045] Furthermore, since regular communication is restarted when the fault is recovered, it is possible to know that the fault has been recovered by this restart, so the means for transmitting and receiving the fault recovery signal may be omitted.

[0046]

As described in detail above, according to the terminal failure monitoring system of the present invention (claim 1), periodic communication interruptions are used to detect only line failures, and when a failure of terminal equipment occurs, By sending the fault type signal to the central control station, there is an advantage that it is possible to distinguish between terminal faults and line faults without using a dedicated fault notification line.

Furthermore, according to the terminal failure monitoring system (claim 2) of the present invention, when the failure of the terminal equipment is recovered, a failure recovery signal is sent to the central control station, thereby ensuring that failure recovery is centrally controlled. This has the advantage that it can be monitored at the station, which improves system reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a time chart explaining one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 Terminal equipment (terminal) 2 Central control station (center) 3 Line 11 Regular communication unit 12 Terminal equipment failure detection unit 13 Failure type signal output unit 14 Failure recovery signal output unit 21 Regular communication unit 22 Line disconnection detection Unit 23 Fault type signal detection unit 24 Terminal equipment failure detection unit 25 Fault recovery signal detection unit 121 Software runaway detection unit 122 Power failure detection unit 131 First failure type signal output unit 132 Second failure type signal output unit 231 First failure Type signal detection unit 232 Second failure type signal detection unit 241 Software runaway failure detection unit 242 Terminal power-off failure detection unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a device in which a terminal device (1) is remotely controlled by a central control station (2), the terminal device (1) and the central control station (2) are controlled by regular communication between the terminal device (1) and the central control station (2). The central control station (2) monitors line disturbances between the equipment (1) and the central control station (2), and the terminal equipment (1)
), by sending a failure type signal according to the failure from the terminal device (1) to the central control station (2),
A terminal fault monitoring system characterized in that the central control station (2) detects a fault in the terminal device (1) from the fault type signal. Claim 2: When the terminal device (1) recovers from a fault, the terminal device (1) transmits a fault recovery signal to the central control station (2).
2. The terminal failure monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the central control station (2) detects failure recovery in the terminal device (1) from the failure recovery signal by transmitting the failure recovery signal to the central control station (2).