JPH0495199A - Remote monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the increase of a processing amount even when the number of terminal devices to be monitored is increased by transmitting a terminal checking signal to the first terminal device in a group, and receiving the terminal checking signal outputted from the final terminal device. CONSTITUTION:A transmission processing part 15 of a monitoring center 5 transmits the terminal checking signal to the first terminal device 3a set at the highest order in the group. Then, the first terminal device 3a successively transmits the terminal checking signal to a terminal device 3b at the lowest order or the like after confirming an operating state, and a final terminal device 3n set at the lowest order in the group transmits the terminal checking signal to the monitoring center 5 after confirming the operating state. Then, a reception processing part 13 of the monitoring center 5 receives the terminal checking signal from the final terminal device 3n, and confirms that the entire terminal devices 3a-3n in the group are normally operated. Thus, the increase of the processing amount of the monitoring center 5 can be prevented even when the number of the terminal devices 3a-3n to be monitored is increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a remote monitoring device having a terminal device and a monitoring center device.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional remote monitoring devices, the operating status of terminal devices is determined by a monitoring center sequentially transmitting terminal check signals to each of a plurality of terminal devices at predetermined schedules and intervals, and each terminal receiving the terminal check signal. This was confirmed by receiving a response from the device. Furthermore, a method has been proposed in which the terminal devices are provided with a function of outputting a terminal check signal at regular intervals, and each terminal device transmits the terminal check signal to a monitoring center to check the operating status.

Incidentally, related devices of this type include, for example, the device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-242260.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above conventional technology, as the number of terminal devices monitored by the monitoring center increases, the terminal check processing to check the operating status of each terminal device also increases, and the proportion of terminal check processing in the processing capacity of the monitoring center increases. As a result, important processing such as abnormality notification processing may be affected. Furthermore, in the worst case, the abnormality reporting process may not be possible and the response process to the abnormality occurrence may be delayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a remote monitoring device that can prevent an increase in the amount of processing related to terminal check processing at a monitoring center even if the number of terminal devices monitored by the monitoring center increases. .

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention utilizes terminal devices installed in each of a plurality of buildings and connected to equipment in the same building, and a monitoring center that remotely monitors these terminal devices via a communication line. In the configured remote monitoring device, a predetermined number of the terminal devices among the terminal devices are formed as one group, and a ranking of the terminal devices in this group is set, and each of the terminal devices in the group is , a receiving unit that receives a terminal check signal, and a transmitting unit that transmits the received terminal check signal, and the monitoring center transmits the terminal check signal to the first terminal set as the highest in the group. The configuration includes a transmission processing section that transmits data to a terminal device, and a reception processing section that receives a terminal check signal output from the final terminal device set at the lowest level in the group.

[Effect]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, when the monitoring center checks the operating status of the terminal devices in the group, the transmission processing unit of the monitoring center first selects the first terminal device set at the highest level in the group. A terminal check signal is transmitted to the terminal device. Next, the first terminal device identifies the terminal check signal received by the receiving section and confirms the operating status, and then transmits the terminal check signal from the transmitting section to the second terminal device. This second terminal device also performs the same process as the first terminal device, and sequentially transmits a terminal check signal to the lower terminal devices, until the final terminal device set as the lowest one in the group. After checking the operating status, the transmitter sends a terminal check signal to the monitoring center. Upon receiving this terminal check signal, the reception processing unit of the monitoring center confirms that all the terminal devices in the group are operating normally by receiving the terminal check signal from the final terminal device. Thereby, even if the number of terminal devices monitored by the monitoring center increases, it is possible to prevent the processing amount related to the terminal check processing of the monitoring center from increasing.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the remote monitoring device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the remote monitoring device of the present invention.

The remote monitoring device of this embodiment shown in FIG.
Facilities and equipment 2 installed in the same building, respectively installed in a to 1n
It has terminal devices 38 to 3n connected to terminal devices 8 to 2n, and a monitoring center 5 that remotely monitors each of these terminal devices 3a to 3n via a communication line 4.
The terminal devices 38 to 3n are formed as one group, and the ranks of the terminal devices 3a to 3n within this group are set.

The first terminal device 3a, which is set at the highest level in the group, includes a data collection section 6a that receives an output signal output from the equipment 2a, and a center communication processing section 7a that performs one communication process. A transmission data creation section 8a that creates transmission data, and a terminal communication control section 9 that controls transmission and reception of each data.
a, a received data identification unit 10a that processes and identifies received data, and a terminal check processing unit 11a that processes terminal check signals. The receiving unit that receives the terminal check signal output from the monitoring center 5 includes the above-mentioned terminal communication control unit 9a, received data identification unit 10a, and terminal check processing unit 11a. to the second terminal device i
[The transmitting unit that transmits data to 3b is comprised of the above-mentioned transmission data creation unit 8a and terminal communication control unit 9a. Furthermore, the terminal devices 3b and 3n also have the same configuration as the terminal device 3a.

On the other hand, the monitoring center 5 has terminal devices E3a to 3n.
a communication control unit 12 that controls the transmission and reception of data to and from the terminal, a reception processing unit 13 that receives the terminal check signal output from the final terminal device 3n set at the lowest level in the group, and a communication control unit 13 that controls the operation of the entire monitoring center 5. A monitoring processing section 14 that performs management, a transmission processing section 15 that transmits a terminal check signal to the first terminal device 3a set as the highest in the group, and a terminal checking section 16 that controls terminal checking. It is provided.

In this embodiment, the monitoring processing unit 1 in the monitoring center 5
4 sends a start signal to the terminal check unit 16 to prompt the start of terminal check processing at a time 1 determined in the internally held operation schedule, for example, 8:00 p.m. Upon receiving this start signal, the terminal checking unit 16 transmits the terminal phone number, terminal code, terminal check signal, etc. of the first terminal device 3a to the transmission processing unit 15 as terminal check data.
send to When the transmission processing unit 15 receives the terminal check data, after confirming that there is no high priority processing request from the monitoring processing unit 14, the transmission processing unit 15 collects the terminal check data and sends it as transmission data to the communication control unit 12. The communication control unit 12 that has received this transmission data connects and performs data communication with the terminal device 3a via the communication line 4.

On the other hand, the terminal communication control section 9a in the terminal device i 3 a connected to the communication control section 12 via the communication line 4 performs data communication according to a predetermined procedure and then disconnects the line. Next, the received data identification section 10a examines the contents of the data received via the terminal communication control section 9a, and if it contains a terminal check signal, sends this terminal check signal to the terminal check processing section 11a. At this time, if the received data does not include a terminal check signal, the received data is sent to the center communication processing section 7a for normal processing. Upon receiving the terminal check signal, the terminal check processing section 11a sends the preset terminal telephone number, terminal code, terminal check signal, etc. of the second terminal device 3b to the transmission data creation section 8a as terminal check data. When the transmission data creation unit 8a receives the terminal check data, it confirms that there is no high-priority processing request such as reporting an abnormality of the equipment 2a from the center communication processing unit 7a, and then sends the terminal check data to the terminal communication control unit 9a. The terminal communication control unit 9a sends the transmission data created based on the data, and receives the transmission data through the communication line 4.
Connection of the terminal device 3b and data communication are performed via the terminal device 3b.

The terminal device 3b connected to the terminal communication control unit 9a of the terminal device 3a via the communication line 4 performs the same operation as the terminal device 3a. In this way, the transmission data is sent sequentially,
All terminal devices 38 monitored by the monitoring center device 10
When the operation check of ~3n is completed, the terminal communication control unit (not shown) of the final terminal device 3n, which is set in advance as the lowest terminal device, sends a terminal check completion signal created by the terminal check processing unit and the transmission data creation unit (not shown). The monitoring center device sends data including data via communication line 4! It is transmitted to the communication control unit 11 of 10. This transmission data is sent to the reception processing section 13 via the communication control section 12, and the reception processing section 13 identifies the transmission data and sends a terminal check completion signal to the terminal check section 16, which then checks the terminal. After confirming the completion of the process, the monitoring processing unit 14 is notified.

At this time, if the end of the terminal check process cannot be confirmed, the first terminal device 3a is again instructed to start the terminal check. Also, while performing the terminal checks sequentially, for example, a malfunction occurs in the terminal device 3b, and the terminal check signal cannot be sent to the next terminal device, and the terminal check end signal is not sent to the monitoring center 5. Even in this case, since the terminal check completion signal is not transmitted within a predetermined time, the monitoring center 5 again instructs the first terminal device W3a to start the terminal check. In this way, when the terminal check does not end normally, it is common to try again more than once. If the terminal check process does not end normally even after this retry, the monitoring center 5
The terminal check completion signal held in the terminals 3n to 3n is checked using a binary search method to search for the malfunctioning terminal device.

In this embodiment configured in this way, the monitoring center 5 is
Simply by transmitting a terminal check signal to the th terminal device 3a and receiving a terminal check completion signal from the last terminal device 3n.

It is possible to perform a terminal check process on all the terminal devices 3a to 3n being monitored, and it is also easy to search for malfunctioning terminal devices, so the number of terminal devices monitored by the monitoring center increases. Even though.

It is possible to prevent an increase in the amount of processing related to terminal check processing at the monitoring center.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, even if the number of terminal devices monitored by the monitoring center device increases, it is possible to prevent the processing amount related to the terminal check processing of the monitoring center from increasing. The terminal check process does not affect important processes such as the abnormality reporting process, and therefore it is possible to speed up the response to the occurrence of an abnormality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the remote monitoring device of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a remote monitoring device that consists of terminal devices installed in multiple buildings and connected to equipment in the same building, and a monitoring center that remotely monitors these terminal devices via communication lines. , forming a predetermined number of terminal devices among the terminal devices as one group, setting a ranking of the terminal devices in this group, and receiving a terminal check signal to each of the terminal devices in the group. and a transmission unit for transmitting the received terminal check signal, and a transmission processing unit for transmitting the terminal check signal to a first terminal device set at the highest level in the group, in the monitoring center. and a reception processing unit that receives a terminal check signal output from the last terminal device set as the lowest in the group.