JPH06243384A - Constitution monitor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a constitution monitor device which monitors discontinuity of the output analog value signal line of a sensor unit and defect occurrence in the sensor unit without using a connection confirmation signal such as a cable loop signal. CONSTITUTION:A thermistor 11 as the sensor unit inputs a resistance value which varies continuously in accordance with ambient temperature to a measurement unit 13 through a connection line 12. The measurement unit 13 measures and monitors the ambient temperature (environmental temperature of information processing equipment) of the thermistor 11 on the basis of the input resistance value. The measurement unit 13 detects the discontinuity of the connection line 12 and a defect of the thermistor 11 by monitoring whether the input value is extremely large or in a limited resistance value range.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a configuration monitoring device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a configuration monitoring device for monitoring the presence or absence of connection failure of an information processing device including a sensor unit that outputs an analog value that changes according to the installed environmental condition and a measurement unit that determines the environmental condition from the analog value.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device for monitoring a connection failure between constituent units of an information processing device, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-255513,
It is known to use a signal such as a cable loop signal generated when the units are connected. That is, in this conventional device, for example, an interface such as a cable connecting between units is caused to generate a cable non-mounting check signal as a cable loop signal, and by monitoring whether or not the cable non-mounting check signal is returned. I am trying to monitor for poor connections.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration monitoring device, a signal for confirming the presence or absence of connection such as a cable non-mounting check signal is required for each connection destination unit, which is proportional to the number of connection units. There is a problem that the number of signals increases. Further, even if the connection is confirmed by the cable non-mounting check signal, there is a problem that the disconnection of the output signal itself from the connection destination unit and the defect of the connection destination unit cannot be detected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an output signal from a connection destination unit, particularly an output of a sensor unit, is provided without providing a signal such as a cable non-mounting check signal for confirming the presence or absence of connection. It is an object of the present invention to provide a configuration monitoring device capable of detecting a connection failure or the like between a sensor unit and a measurement unit from an analog value.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sensor unit which outputs an analog value which changes according to an installed environmental condition, and an input from the sensor unit via a connection line. A monitoring unit is provided in an information processing device having a measurement unit that determines the environmental condition by measuring the analog value.

The monitoring means monitors at least one of a defect of the sensor unit and a connection defect by monitoring whether or not the analog value is a value within an abnormal range predicted in advance.

[0007]

In the present invention, the sensor unit outputs an analog value whose value changes according to environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and pressure. That is, the sensor unit has a configuration in which the output analog value, which is a resistance value, a current value, or a voltage value, changes according to the value of the environmental condition to be measured. The output analog value of this sensor unit is input to the measuring unit via a connection line.

The measuring unit is
Determine the state of the environment in which the sensor unit is installed. The analog value is also input to monitoring means inside or outside the measurement unit. The monitoring means monitors whether or not the analog value is a value within an abnormal range, that is, whether or not the analog value is a predicted value at the time of a poor connection between the sensor unit and the measurement unit. The predicted value at the time of poor connection is known. When the monitoring unit detects that the analog value is the predicted value, the monitoring unit can determine that the connection line is broken or disconnected.

Further, when the specifications of the environment in which the sensor unit is installed are determined and, as a result, the analog value output from the sensor unit is limited to a limited range,
The monitoring means monitors whether or not the normal analog value range is exceeded. When the normal analog value range is exceeded, the monitoring means can determine that the sensor unit is abnormal.

[0010]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the sensor unit 1 that outputs an analog value that changes according to the installed environmental condition, and the analog value that is input from the sensor unit 1 via a connection line are measured to measure the environmental condition. An information processing device having a measuring unit 3 for judging is provided with a monitoring means 4
Is provided.

FIG. 2 shows a more specific structure of this embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, the measuring unit 3 is provided with the function of the monitoring means. In addition, the present embodiment has the thermistor 11 as the sensor unit 1. The thermistor 11 is connected to the measuring unit 13 via a connection line 12.

The thermistor 11 exhibits a resistance value that continuously changes according to the temperature of the environment in which it is installed. The resistance value of the thermistor 11 is detected by the measuring unit 13 via the connection line 12.

The measuring unit 13 corresponds to the above-mentioned measuring unit 3 and the monitoring means 4, and has the monitoring means 4 inside. The measurement unit 13 measures the resistance value of the thermistor 11 to determine what the ambient temperature around the thermistor 11 is, and the input resistance value when the connection line 12 is disconnected or disconnected. It is monitored whether it is the predicted value (expected value) of the resistance value.

That is, when the connection line 12 is broken or disconnected, the measurement unit 13 is connected to the thermistor 11.
Since the resistance value input from the device has an infinite value in principle, the measuring unit 13 monitors whether or not the input resistance value has an infinitely large value.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, reference numeral a in FIG.
As indicated by, when the connection line 12 is broken, the measurement unit 13 detects an extremely large input resistance value. From this, it can be seen that the connection between the thermistor 11 and the measurement unit 13 is defective.

Further, when the temperature range in which the thermistor 11 is mounted and used is limited, the resistance value of the thermistor 11 shows a value within a limited known range if the thermistor 11 is normal. . At this time, the measuring unit 13 is adapted to detect whether the input resistance value is within the limited known resistance value range.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B, when an abnormality occurs in the thermistor 11,
The measuring unit 13 can detect that the thermistor 11 is defective because the input resistance value is not extremely large even if it exceeds the limited resistance value range. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to add a slight monitoring function to the measurement unit 13 without changing the configuration of the existing information processing device, and to use a connection confirmation signal such as a cable loop signal. Connection line 1 for analog resistance
It is possible to detect the disconnection of wire 2 and the defect of the thermistor 11 itself.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. This embodiment is an example in which the monitoring means 4 shown in FIG. 1 is provided separately from the measurement unit. That is, in the present embodiment, the thermistor 11 which is a sensor unit, the measurement unit 15 connected to the thermistor 11 via the connection line 12, and the monitoring unit 17 connected to the measurement unit 15 via the communication line 16.
Have and. In the figure, the same components as in FIG.
The same numbers are assigned and the description is omitted.

In FIG. 3, the measuring unit 15 corresponds to the measuring unit 3 and does not have the monitoring means 4, but by measuring the resistance value of the thermistor 11,
It has a function of detecting the environmental temperature of the thermistor 11 and transmitting a measured resistance value to the monitoring unit 17 via the communication line 16.

The monitoring unit 17, which corresponds to the monitoring means 4, receives the transmission information (resistance value) from the measuring unit 15 and monitors whether or not the received resistance value is within a previously predicted abnormal range. Accordingly, at least one of the defect of the thermistor 11 and the connection defect is detected. The monitoring unit 17 is remote from the measuring unit 15 and is configured to receive the resistance value of the thermistor 11 from the measuring unit 15 by wireless communication, for example. Therefore, the measurement unit 15 and the monitoring unit 17
The disconnection or disconnection of the communication line 16 between and can be ignored. Therefore, the monitoring unit 17 can be regarded as the disconnection or the disconnection of the connection line 12 as shown by a in FIG. 3 when the reception resistance value is a very large value which is substantially infinite. .

Further, when the thermistor 11 is used in a place where the temperature range is limited, the maximum variable range of the resistance value is known in advance. Therefore, in such a case, the monitoring unit 17 has the maximum reception resistance value. Monitor whether it is within the variable range. As a result, when an abnormal part such as a short circuit (shown by b in FIG. 3) occurs in the thermistor 11, the resistance value measured by the measuring unit 15 becomes an abnormal value outside the maximum variable range. When 17 receives a resistance value outside this maximum variable range, the thermistor 11
It can be detected that there is an abnormal portion.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the disconnection of the connection line 12 and the abnormality of the thermistor 11 itself can be detected without using the connection confirmation signal as in the first embodiment.

Further, in the present embodiment, the predetermined monitoring can be performed only by adding a slight change to the structure of the existing information processing equipment so that the transmitting function is added to the measuring unit 15. Further, in this embodiment, since the measurement unit 15 and the monitoring unit 17 are connected via the communication line 16, the monitoring unit 17 can be provided at an arbitrary position such as a remote place with respect to the information processing device. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but sensor units other than the thermistor 11 are used to detect environmental conditions such as humidity and pressure as analog values, and the analog values are detected. The present invention can be applied to general information processing equipment that transmits data to a measurement unit via a signal line.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to monitor the connection failure between the sensor unit and the measurement unit and the failure of the sensor unit itself based on the output analog value of the sensor unit. . In addition, since the output analog value of the sensor unit is used as it is to monitor the connection failure of the sensor unit, the connection confirmation signal such as the cable loop signal can be completely eliminated and the increase of the signal line can be prevented. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sensor Unit 2, 12 Connection Lines 3, 13, 15 Measuring Unit 4 Monitoring Means 11 Thermistor 16 Communication Line 17 Monitoring Unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Takashi Yoshioka 1 Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa General Computer Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomoaki Yamamuro 1 Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi Compu Ta Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masato Nishikawa 1 Horiyamashita, Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi Computer Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sensor unit that outputs an analog value that changes according to an installed environmental condition, and the environmental value is determined by measuring the analog value that is input from the sensor unit through a connection line. In a configuration monitoring device of an information processing device having a measurement unit, by monitoring whether or not the analog value is a value within a predicted abnormal range, at least one of a defect and a connection defect of the sensor unit is monitored. A configuration monitoring device comprising a monitoring means.