JPH05108198A - Time correction system by means of plural reference stations - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the time correction operation of an information processor group from stopping even when the reference station currently distributing the standard time gets out of order, as to a time correction system obtaining time information for the information processing group from the reference station through a line. CONSTITUTION:Plural reference stations 1-1 to 1-N are provided which retain and distribute the standard time, the respective reference stations are provided with a circuit 8 independently generating/distributing the standard time and a circuit judging the normality of the station itself and the other stations by obtaining the difference data between the time data of the station itself and the other station and applying the majority principle to the obtained data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wide area information processing system in which a plurality of information processing devices each having a clock circuit and existing at a long distance are configured to obtain standard time from a time reference station through a line. The present invention relates to a time correction method for improving the reliability of time information held by each information processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of information processing and communication technology in recent years, a multi-computer information processing apparatus which integrates a plurality of computers and operates as one information processing apparatus expands its field of application nationwide or worldwide. is doing.

Further, a plurality of information processing devices arranged in a wide area as described above are connected to each other by a communication line, and
Wide-area information processing systems that operate in unmanned operation for 4 hours have come into practical use.

In the above information processing system, it is required that the information processing devices scattered in various places always hold accurate time information. Therefore, conventionally, there has been formed a time correction system in which each information processing apparatus can refer to a predetermined standard time and correct the time held by each information processing apparatus in a timely manner.

FIG. 6 shows a typical configuration of a conventional time correction system. In FIG. 6, 3-1 to 3-N are information processing devices each having a plurality of independent host computers 6 and form a processing device group. The processing device group obtains the standard time from the clock device 2 of one reference station 1 through the lines 4-1 to 4-N.

In each information processing device, the host computer 6 obtains time information via the monitoring device 5. The monitoring device 5 supplies the time information received through the line to each host computer 6, and is connected to the monitoring devices 5 of other information processing devices to mutually exchange the time information.

[0007]

In the time correction system as described above, if the standard clock time of the only reference station 1 fails and the standard clock time goes wrong, an incorrect standard clock time is sent to the processor group. The information processing devices 3-1 to 3-M perform information processing based on the incorrect time. In this case, even if it is possible to unify the times in the processing device group, it is often a problem if the reference standard time itself is incorrect.

In particular, as recently, the information processing device 3-1
In a system in which ~ 3-M exists in various places in the world, and the reference station 1 exists in one of them,
A failure of the clock device 2 of the reference station 1 often gives a fatal result to the operation of the entire system.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and provides a time correction method capable of always supplying an accurate standard time to a group of processing devices even if a certain reference station fails. To aim.

[0010]

A time correction method by a plurality of reference stations according to the present invention is a time correction method in which a plurality of information processing devices correct and maintain respective times according to a standard time distributed from a standard time supply means. The standard time supply means includes a plurality of reference stations each independently having a standard time and a means for distributing the standard time to a plurality of information processing apparatuses, and between the plurality of reference stations and the plurality of information processing apparatuses and each of the reference stations. And a line means for connecting between them, and when one reference station that is distributing the standard time cannot hold and distribute the standard time, another reference station distributes the standard time.

Each reference station monitors the status of other reference stations through the line means, and based on the time information of the own station and the time information of the other station obtained by the monitoring means, the time information of the own station and the other station is displayed. If the time information of the local station is judged to be correct by the means for judging normality and the normality judgment means, it is judged that the notification and time information claiming that the standard time of the local station is normal are abnormal. Each information processing device is provided with means for notifying each information processing device of the notification indicating the reference station, and means for stopping the transmission of the time information when the normality determining means determines that the time information of the own station is incorrect. The processing device is configured with means for selecting one reference station as a standard time distribution station according to a predetermined order from among the reference stations that claim that the standard time of their own station is normal, based on the notification from each reference station. It is.

The normality judging means obtains each difference between the time data of the own station and the time data of another station, compares the difference data with a predetermined allowable value, and applies the principle of majority to each comparison result. Therefore, the normality of each reference station is judged.

[0013]

According to the priority given in advance to each reference station, one reference station supplies the standard time to each information processing apparatus. During this period, the reference stations other than the reference station that supplies the standard time receive the standard time of the other reference stations through the line means and judge whether the difference from the time held by them is smaller than the predetermined allowable value. Monitor other base stations by.

When a failure occurs in the reference station supplying the standard time and the standard time becomes inaccurate, or when the reference station cannot be accessed through the line means,
Each of the other reference stations detects the abnormality of the standard time currently supplied by the normality judging means.

The normality judging means of each reference station takes each difference data between the time data of its own station and the time data of all other stations,
If the difference data that the difference is smaller than the predetermined allowable value is equal to or larger than the predetermined ratio, it is determined that the time data of the own station is normal,
A notification to that effect is sent to each information processing device. In this case, the information processing apparatus is notified of the reference station determined to be abnormal by the same procedure.

If there is no difference data smaller than a predetermined allowable value with a difference smaller than a predetermined allowable value, it is determined that the time data of the own station is abnormal, and the time data of the own station is subsequently determined to be normal. To stop sending.

Each information processing device selects one standard time distribution reference station according to a predetermined order from among the reference stations that claim that the time data of its own station is normal. In this way, even if the reference station that is currently distributing the standard time fails, other reference stations will instead distribute the standard time to each information processing device.
The time correction operation of each information processing device does not stop.

[0018]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the present invention. In FIG. 1, N reference stations 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, ... 1-N are respectively
They are connected to each other through the line network 4 and also connected to each of the M information processing devices 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 ... 7-M.

Each of the reference stations 1-1 to 1-N holds a standard time and updates the standard time, and an NCU (line control unit) 9 that connects the standard time clock circuit 8 and the line network 4 to each other. Have and. Each of the information processing devices 7-1 to 7-M has a clock circuit 10 that controls each time, and an NCU 11 that connects the clock circuit 10 and the line network 4.

FIG. 2 shows a reference station 1-K (hereinafter referred to as K station: 1
It is a circuit diagram of a standard time clock circuit 8 of ≦ K ≦ N). Figure 2
In the above, the receiving circuit 51 receives a plurality of types of time information such as telephone time signal guide, TV or radio time signal guide, and standard time signal time signal. The standard time register 52 outputs the time information received by the receiving circuit 51 to the time set control circuit 53 via the bus 50.

The transmission time counter 55 is controlled by the time setting control circuit 53, and outputs the standard time / date unique to the K station by counting the output signal of the high precision oscillator 54.

The output of the transmission time counter 55 is sent to each of the information processing devices 7-1 to M and other stations through the line network connection circuit 57 and the line network 4 under the control of the communication control unit 56. The communication control unit 56 and the network connection circuit 57 are NCUs.
9 is formed.

The output of the transmission time counter 55 is also supplied to the time reading control circuit 58. On the other hand, the input from the line network 4 is input to the time reading control circuit 58 via the line network connection circuit 57 and the communication control unit 56.

The time reading control circuit 58 is connected to the processor 6.
2. Transmission time data provided by associating the time signal of its own (K) station, which is output from the transmission time counter 55 to another station, with each other station under the control of the control signal sent from the bus 2 through the bus 50. Stored in registers 59-1 to N, and
The time signals of other stations input from the line network 4 are stored in the reception time data registers 60-1 to 60-N provided in association with each other station.

A processor 62, a program storage ROM 63 and a general-purpose RAM 64 are connected to the bus 50. The processor 62 executes the program stored in the ROM 63. By executing the program of the processor 62, the contents of the transmission time data register 59-i and the reception time data register 60-i are compared for i = 1 to N.

The processor 62 stores the respective comparison results in the comparison result registers 61-1 to N-6. The processor 62 determines whether or not the standard time of its own station is correct based on a majority decision based on the N comparison results stored in the comparison result registers 61-1 to N. The standard time transmission is continued, and if it is determined to be incorrect, the standard time transmission is stopped.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the time normality check of the K (1 to N) stations. The processor 62 controls each part as follows. (1) Controlling the network connection circuit 57, the own station and the reference station 1-1
And connect. The time data of the K station is transmitted to the reference station 1-1 (20). (2) The communication control unit 56 is controlled to receive the time data of the reference station 1-1 (21).

(3) The time read control circuit 58 is controlled to store the time data to be transmitted from the own station to the reference station 1-1 in the transmission time data register 59-1 and receive the time data received from the reference station 1-1. Time data register 60-
It is stored in 1 (22).

(4) The contents of the transmission time data register 59-1 and the reception time data register 60-1 are read out and compared with each other. As a result of the comparison, when the difference between the two is smaller than the predetermined time, the comparison result register 61-1 stores “O
K ”is stored, and when the difference is larger than a predetermined time,“ NG ”is stored in the comparison result register 61-1 (2
3).

(5) The steps (1) to (4) are repeated for the reference stations 1-2 to 1-N, and the comparison results for all the reference stations are obtained in the comparison result registers 61-1 to 6-N. (6) Of the contents of all comparison result registers 61-1 to N,
It is checked whether the "OK" ratio is a predetermined value, for example, 40% or more (24).

(7) When the ratio of "OK" is 40% or more, it is judged that the standard time transmitted by the own station is correct (25). When it is less than 40%, the own station is judged. It is judged that the standard time transmitted by is incorrect (26).

(8) When it is determined in (7) that the standard time of the own station is correct, all the information processing apparatuses 7-1 to M are notified that the standard time of the own station is correct (27). After that, the time information continues to be transmitted. In this case, the time data of the reference station whose comparison result is "NG" is notified as abnormal (28).

(9) When it is determined in (7) that the standard time of the local station is incorrect, all the information processing devices 7-1 to M
Notifying that the standard time of its own station is abnormal (29), and stops transmitting the time information until it is determined to be normal thereafter.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the time information receiving operation of each of the information processing devices 7-1 to M. Each of the information processing devices 7-1 to M operates as follows. (1) The NCU 11 is controlled to sequentially connect the clock circuit 10 of the own device to the reference stations 1-1 to 1-N, and the results of the time normality check of each reference station are known (40).

(2) The reference station that has notified its own station information as abnormal, and the reference station that has been pointed out as abnormal from 50% of all the reference stations are regarded as abnormal, and the other reference stations are regarded as normal. (41).

(3) The time data from the reference station having the smallest serial number among the reference stations considered to be normal is received and set as the standard time of the own device (42).

In FIG. 5, the information processing apparatus 7 is currently used by the reference station 1-1.
An example in which the reference station 1-1 has failed while the standard time is distributed to -1 to M is shown. All the above comparison results at each reference station regarding the time data transmitted from the reference station 1-1 to other reference stations are “NG”.

If the other reference stations of the reference station 1-1 are normal, the reference station 1-1 stops transmitting the time information, and each information processing apparatus has a higher priority among the reference stations 1-2 to N. , For example, the standard time from the reference station 1-2 is received.

[0039]

According to the present invention, a plurality of reference stations capable of independently providing time information to a plurality of information processing devices are provided, and the time information transmitted from one reference station selected by the majority decision method. By setting the standard time of each information processing device, even if the reference station that is currently distributing the standard time fails, another reference station inherits the standard time distribution, and therefore the time correction operation of each information processing device is performed. It continues without interruption, resulting in a highly reliable time correction system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of each reference station in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of time normality check of the reference station.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a time reception operation of the information processing device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example when one reference station fails.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional time correction method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1-1 to 1-N Reference station 2 Clock device 3-1 to N Information processing device 4 Line network 4-1 to N line 5 Monitoring device 6 Host computer 7-1 to M Information processing device 8 Standard time clock circuit 9 , 11 NCU 10 Clock circuit 20 to 30, 40 to 42 Flow chart step 50 Bus 51 Receiver circuit 52 Standard time register 53 Time set control circuit 54 High precision oscillator 55 Transmission time counter 56 Communication control unit 57 Network connection circuit 58 Time readout Control circuit 59-1 to N Transmission time data register 60-1 to N Reception time data register 61-1 to N Comparison result register 62 Processor 63 ROM 64 RAM

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A time correction method in which a plurality of information processing devices correct and maintain respective times according to the standard time distributed from the standard time supply means, wherein the standard time supply means holds the standard time independently. A plurality of reference stations having means for distributing the plurality of information processing apparatuses to the plurality of information processing apparatuses, and a line means for connecting the plurality of reference stations and the plurality of information processing apparatuses and the reference stations to each other. A time correction method by multiple reference stations, characterized in that when one reference station that is distributing time cannot hold and distribute the standard time, another reference station distributes the standard time. 2. Each of the reference stations monitors the state of another reference station through the line means, and based on the time information of the own station and the time information of the other station obtained by the monitoring means, the own station and the other station. Means for judging the normality of the time information of the station, and when the normality judging means judges that the time information of the own station is correct, the notification and the time information claiming that the standard time of the own station is normal are abnormal. Means for notifying each of the information processing devices of the notification of the reference station that was determined to be, and means for stopping the transmission of time information when the normality determination means determines that the time information of the own station is incorrect. Each of the information processing devices, based on a notification from each of the reference stations, one of the reference stations that claims that the standard time of its own station is normal, and one reference station as a standard time distribution station according to a predetermined order. 2. A means for selecting by selecting
Time correction method by multiple reference stations. 3. The normality determining means obtains each difference between the time data of its own station and the time data of another station, compares the difference data with a predetermined allowable value, and the principle of majority decision for each comparison result. The time correction method by a plurality of reference stations according to claim 2, wherein the normality of each reference station is judged by applying