JPH0635826A - Communication controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a communication controller which can reduce the scale of the work program produced by a user and also can facilitate the production of the work program. CONSTITUTION:The definition information 31 on all resources including variables, memories, programs, etc., which are controlled by all stations of the opposite party connected to each other via a transmission line 1 is stored in an object definition information table 38 which is previously produced. The address and the communication channel state of each opposite party station to which the information 31 belongs are registered in a communication channel control table 41. Then, the communication channels are automatically established to all opposite party stations registered in the table 41 in the starting state of a communication controller 2. Thus, such service processings including the delivery of the operating request to each opposite party station, the reception of the operating result, the transfer of the operating result to each work program 4, etc., are carried out based on the information 31 on the necessary resources obtained by the retrieval of the table 38 in response to the operating request given to the resources of the opposite party station from the program 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote station (hereinafter referred to as a server) connected via a transmission line in a local area network or the like, and stores resources such as variables, memories and programs managed by the server. Read and write,
The present invention relates to a communication control device which has a communication function for requesting operations such as start and stop and controls the resources of the server by an application program (hereinafter referred to as a business program) created by a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, resources such as variables, memories and operation programs controlled by a business program are sent and received by a service user station (hereinafter referred to as a client) which requests a communication partner to operate the resource (hereinafter referred to as a service). And a service providing station (hereinafter referred to as a server) that executes a predetermined operation in response to a service requested by a client and manages resources, and executes a predetermined communication protocol. It is performed by communication means.

A communication control device as a conventional client will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 by taking a FA (Factory Automation) network as an example. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional communication control device, FIG. 7 is a network configuration diagram of a client and a server, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a communication procedure in a business program of the communication control device.

In FIG. 6, (1) is a transmission path, (2) is a client which is a communication control device, (3) is a communication means having a communication function for executing a communication protocol, and (4) and (4) are used. A business program, which is an application program created by a person and executed by a client (2), in FIG. 7, (5a) and (5b) are servers, (5a) is a programmable controller for controlling a factory production line, (5b) Is a robot controller that controls the operation of the robot, and (6a) (6b) (6c) are the resources in the server (5a) and the meters in the line that are variables.
Reading values of (7) and counter (8), input / output value (I / O) to switch (9), etc., (6d) and (6e) are resources in the server (5b), which are the speed variable of robot operation and Is the operation program of the robot (10), and (11a) (11b) is the client (2) and server (5a) (5
It is a logical communication path between b).

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 8, the servers (5a) (5) executed by the business program of the client (2)
A communication procedure for operating the resources (6a) to (6e) of b) will be described. First, in step (20), a communication path establishment request is transmitted to the server (5a) and the server (5b), and in step (21) a communication path establishment response is received from the server (5a) (5b). ) Which response is checked. In step (22), the contents of the communication path establishment response from the server are checked, and the communication path (1
It is checked whether 1a) (11b) has been established. server
If the communication paths (11a) and (11b) with both (5a) and (5b) are established, the process proceeds to step (23), the business process is executed, and if not established, the process returns to step (20) and the communication path (11a) ) This loop is repeated until (11b) is established.

In step (24), it is checked whether or not there is a service request to the server as a result of the business process. If there is a service request, the process proceeds to step (25). If not, the process returns to step (23). In the following steps, the server (5
It is assumed that there is a value read service request for the resource (6a) in a). In step (25), the transmission buffer for storing parameters is secured from the empty area, and in step (26)
, A parameter representing the resource (6a) of the server (5a) in the reserved transmission buffer, for example, the server to which the resource (6a) belongs
The address of (5a), the access format, type, variable name, etc. of the resource (6a) in the server (5a) are set.

In step (27), for the communication means (3),
The parameter set in the send buffer and the request for reading the value of the service contents are passed, the parameters and the service request are encoded in the transmission frame, and are transmitted to the server (5a) via the established communication path (11a). Sent. In step (28), the response from the server (5a) to the service request is received by the communication means (3), the received transmission frame is expanded, stored in the reception buffer for the response secured from the empty area, Passed to business program (4).
In step (29), the read value of the responded meter (7) is extracted from the reception buffer, the business corresponding to the service is processed, and in step (30), the transmission buffer secured in step (25) is stored. The receiving buffer secured by the communication means (3) is released to the empty area, and the process returns to step (23). Similar steps are executed when a service request is made to the resource (6a) of the server (5a) from another business program.

[0008]

As described above, conventionally, when controlling the resource of the server from the client, complicated processing such as establishment of a communication channel and securing and releasing of a buffer associated with the parameter setting of the resource is required. Since it was incorporated in each business program, the program became complicated and it took a lot of time to create the business program, and the user who created the program had knowledge of the communication protocol not directly related to the business. It was necessary and a heavy burden. Moreover, the size of one business program becomes large because processing such as communication channel establishment and parameter setting must be performed for each business program, and a large amount of memory is required to operate multiple business programs simultaneously. There was a problem that it was necessary.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a communication control device in which a business program can be easily created and a plurality of business programs can operate simultaneously with a relatively small memory capacity. The purpose is to

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a communication control device is created in advance by a user, and object definition information of resources possessed by a server is provided with an object identifier for each object definition information. Object definition information table that is stored as an object, and an object that retrieves the object definition information of the required resource by searching the above object definition information table with the object identifier of the requested resource in response to the operation request of the server resource from the business program Definition information search means, service execution means for performing service processing such as sending an operation request to the server, receiving the operation result, and transferring to the business program based on the definition information searched by this means, and One provided with service execution means and communication means for performing communication processing with the server A.

In the communication control device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the object definition information of the resource that the server has in advance is created by the user, the object identifier for each object definition information, the server such as the belonging server address, etc. A communication path having an object definition information table stored with an identifier, a server registration section for registering the server identifier in the object definition information table, and a communication path state section showing a communication path status with each server. A management table and a communication path establishing means for automatically setting up the communication path management table when the communication control device starts up and automatically establishing a communication path to the server registered in the management table, and the above-mentioned business program In response to an operation request for a server resource, the above object ID is used depending on the object identifier of the requested resource. Object definition information retrieving means for retrieving the object definition information of the required resource by retrieving the object definition information table, and sending an operation request to the server based on the definition information retrieved by this means, receiving the operation result, and the business blog described above. A service executing means for performing service processing such as transfer to a RAM, and a communication means for performing communication processing between the communication path establishing means and the service executing means and the server.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an object definition information table storing definition information of all resources of a server connected via a transmission line is provided, and a server resource operation request from a business program is provided. According to the above, based on the object definition information of the required resource obtained by examining this object definition information table, service processing such as sending an operation request to the server, receiving the operation result, and transferring to the business program is performed. Since it has been done so, it is possible to include processing to secure and release buffers for parameter setting and response reception processing from the partner station in each business program,
The server resource is automatically controlled only by the operation request of the server resource.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication path management table in which a server identifier such as a belonging server address in the object definition information table and a communication path state with each server are stored. Sometimes
Since the communication path is established with respect to the server registered in this communication path management table, the communication path with the server is automatically established without incorporating the communication path establishment process in each business program.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication control device, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of object definition information, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a communication path management table, and FIG.
Is a flowchart for establishing a communication path and executing a service in the communication control device, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a business program in the communication control device. Note that FIG. 7 is also applied to this embodiment.

1 to 3, (1) is a transmission line, (2) is a communication control device, (3) is communication means for executing a communication protocol, (4) and (4) are business programs, and (31) is Is object definition information corresponding to each resource (6a) to (6e) possessed by the servers (5a) (5b), (32) is an object identifier which is a name given to each object definition information (31), (33) is a server identifier such as an address indicating the server to which the resource belongs, and (3
4) is a type specification part in which the types of resources such as variables, memory, and operation programs are registered, (35) is an access specification part in which the method of accessing resources in the server is registered, and (36) is an object definition. Object definition information creating means for creating the information (31) in advance by the user (37), (38) the object definition information (31) created by this means (36) is the object identifier (32) and the server identifier ( 33) is an object definition information table stored by adding and.

(39) is an object definition information table (38) according to the object identifier (32) of the requested resource in response to a server resource operation request from the business programs (4) and (4).
Object definition information retrieving means for retrieving the required resource object definition information (31), (40), based on the object definition information (31) retrieved by this means (39),
Service execution means for performing service processing such as sending an operation request to the servers (5a) (5b) via the communication means (3), receiving the operation result, and transferring to the business program (4) (4) , (41)
Is a communication path management table having a server registration section (42) for registering all server identifiers (33) in the object definition information table (38) and a communication path status section (43) indicating the communication path status with each server. The states of the communication path include three states of "end of establishment", "waiting for establishment response", and "establishment completed". (44) indicates that the communication path management table (4
It is a communication path establishing means that sets up 1) and automatically establishes a communication path to the server registered in it via the communication means (3).

First, the object definition information (3
The procedure for creating 1) is explained. When connecting to the transmission line (1) of the communication control device (2) as a client or connecting to the transmission line (1) of a new server (5), the operator (37) who is the user Information on server resources to be managed / controlled from programs (4) and (4), that is, a type specification indicating a type,
Enter the access specification that indicates the method of access in the server, the address of the server to which the resource belongs, etc. together with the object identifier (32) that uniquely represents this resource, and enter the object definition information (31) for each server resource. It is created (object definition information creating means (36)) and registered in the object definition information table (38).

Next, the operation of the communication path establishing means (44) for establishing a communication path with the servers (5a), (5b) using the above-mentioned object definition information (31) created in advance will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Explained by.

At the same time when the communication control unit (2) starts up,
The object definition information table (38) is set up in step (50), and all the object definition information in this is set up.
The server identifier (33) of (31) is registered in the server registration unit (42) of the communication path management table (41), and all the communication path status units (43) thereof are set to “established”. Next, in step (51), the communication path status section (43) of the communication path management table (41) is referenced,
If there is even one "end of establishment", proceed to step (52), otherwise proceed to step (55). At start-up, everything is "established"
Therefore, the process proceeds to step (52), one of the "end-of-establishment" servers is selected, a communication channel establishment request is sent to this selected server in step (53), and the communication channel is established in step (54). The state part is set to "wait for establishment response", and the process proceeds to step (55).

In step (55), the presence or absence of a service request from the business program (4) is checked. If there is a service request, the process proceeds to step (56), and if not, the process proceeds to step (61). Assuming there are no service requests yet, step (61)
If there is a response to the request from the server, it is received from the server via the communication means (3), if not, the process proceeds to step (62) as it is, and the presence or absence of this response is checked in step (62), and if there is a step (63) If not, return to step (51). If a response is received, the type of response is checked in step (63) .If it is a response to the communication path establishment request, proceed to step (64), and if it is a response to the service request, step
Continue to (67).

Since this is a response to the communication path establishment request, the result of the response is checked in step (64), and if it is successful, it proceeds to step (65), and if it fails, it proceeds to step (66). If successful, the communication path status part of the communication path management table (41) corresponding to the responding server is rewritten from "waiting for establishment response" to "establishment completed" in step (65). It is rewritten as "end" and the process returns to step (51). By repeating this sequence, communication paths with all servers are automatically established. After establishing communication paths with all servers, the flow of steps (51) → (55) → (61) → (62) → (51) is repeated until there is a service request from the business program (4) described later. . The above steps (50)-(54) (61)-(66) constitute the communication path establishing means (44).

Next, from the business program (4), the server (5
It is assumed that there is a service request for reading the measured value of the voltmeter to the resource (6a) corresponding to the meter (7) of a), and the operation at that time will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

When the business program (4) starts, step
Business processing is executed in (70), and it is checked in step (71) whether or not there is a service request for the resource of the server. If there is a service request, proceed to step (72), otherwise return to step (70). If there is a service request, in step (72),
The object identifier "voltmeter" of the resource (6a) that is the target of the service request, and "value read" that is the service content
Is delivered to the definition information search means (39) and the service execution means (40) in the flowchart of FIG.

By passing the object identifier and the service content, it is judged that there is a service request at step (55) in the above-mentioned repetitive flow of the flow chart of FIG. 4, the process proceeds to step (56), and at step (56) the object identifier " Voltmeter "and service content" reading value "are received,
Same object identifier as "Voltmeter" in step (57)
The object definition information (31) having (32) is retrieved from the object definition information table (38). Then, in step (58), the transmission buffer for storing the server resource parameters is secured from the empty area, and in step (59),
In the secured transmission buffer, the server identifier (33) which is the server resource parameter of the retrieved object definition information (31), the type specification of the resource in the type specification part (34) and the access specification part (35) Access specifications of resources are set.

Next, in step (60), the contents of the transmission buffer in which the parameters have been set and the service contents from the business program (4) are passed to the communication means (3), and the transmission frame is coded by the communication means (3). It is converted and transmitted to the server (5a). Server (5a) for service request in step (61)
The response from is received as a transmission frame by the communication means (3), the transmission frame is expanded, stored in the reception buffer for the response secured from the empty area, and the step (6
Go to 2).

In step (62), the presence or absence of a response is checked, and if there is a response, the process proceeds to step (63), and if not, the process returns to step (51). If there is a response, the type of response is checked in step (63), and since it is a response to the service request, the process proceeds to step (67), the meter value returned from the reception buffer is extracted, and this meter value is extracted from the business program (4 ). Then, in step (68), the transmission buffer secured in step (58) and the reception buffer secured by the communication means (3) are released to an empty area, and step (5)
Return to 1). The steps (56) (57) above are the object definition information retrieval means (39), and the steps (56) (58) to (63) (67) (68).
Constitutes the service execution means (40).

In the business program (4), when the reply from the server is received from the service executing means (40), the process returns from step (72) to step (70), and the business process is performed based on the meter value which is the reply from the server. To be executed.

In this way, the service request for the server resource from the business program (4) is automatically executed only by designating the object identifier and the service content corresponding to the server resource. Further, even when there are a plurality of business programs, the processing of each business program is the same as in the embodiment.

[0029]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the object definition information of the resource which the user has created in advance and which the server has is provided with an object identifier for each object definition information. Object definition information table to be stored and object definition information for searching the object definition information table by the object identifier of the requested resource to obtain the object definition information of the required resource in response to the operation request of the server resource from the business program Retrieval means, service execution means for performing service processing such as sending an operation request to a server, receiving the operation result, and transferring to the business program based on the definition information retrieved by this means, and this service execution Since the means and the communication means for performing communication processing with the server are provided, There is no need to incorporate processing related to communication control such as parameter setting and reception of responses to service requests into business programs, making it easy and easy to create business programs and reducing the size of business programs In this case, the memory of the communication control device can be reduced.

Further, even if the server is changed or the definition information of the server resource is changed, it is only necessary to correct the content of the object definition information by the object definition information creating means, and it is not necessary to change the business program one by one. It also has the effect.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, an object stored by attaching the above object definition information table, the object identifier for each object definition information, and the server identifier such as the belonging server address. A definition information table, a communication path management table having a server registration unit that registers the server identifier in the object definition information table and a communication path status unit that indicates a communication path status with each server, and when the communication control device starts up,
A communication path establishing means for setting up this communication path management table and automatically establishing a communication path for the server registered in the table, the object definition information searching means, the service executing means, and the communication means. Since it is not necessary to build a communication path with each server in the business program, it is easy and easy to create the business program, the size of the business program is reduced, and multiple business programs are created. Even if the communication control device has a small memory, even if the connection server changes, it is only necessary to correct the contents of the object definition information table and the communication path management table, and it is not necessary to change the business program one by one. There is an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of object definition information in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a communication path management table in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for establishing a communication path and executing a service in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a business program in this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional communication control device.

FIG. 7 is a network configuration diagram of a communication control device and a server according to the related art and the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a communication procedure in a business program of a conventional communication control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 transmission path 2 communication control apparatus 3 communication means 4 business program 5a, 5b server 6a-6e server resource 11a, 11b communication path 31 object definition information 32 object identifier 33 server identifier 36 object definition information creating means 38 object definition information table 39 object Definition information retrieval means 40 Service execution means 41 Communication path management table 42 Server registration section 43 Communication path status section 44 Communication path establishment means

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 8, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A variable managed by a partner station (hereinafter referred to as a server) for a partner station connected via a transmission line,
In a communication control device that has a communication function for requesting operations such as reading, writing, starting and stopping of resources such as memory and programs, and that controls the resources of the server according to a business program created by the user, Definition information (hereinafter referred to as object definition information), such as the server address of the resource belonging to the server, the type, and the access method within the server (hereinafter referred to as object definition information), is stored with each object definition information attached with an object identifier. Object definition information table and the object definition information retrieval that retrieves the object definition information of the required resource by searching the object definition information table by the object identifier of the requested resource in response to the operation request of the server resource from the business program Means and the definition information retrieved by this means Then, a service executing means for performing service processing such as sending an operation request to the server, receiving the operation result, transferring to the business program, and communication means for performing communication processing between the service executing means and the server. And a communication control device. 2. A communication function for requesting a server connected via a transmission line to perform operations such as reading, writing, starting and stopping of resources such as variables, memories and programs managed by the server, In a communication control device that controls the resources of the server according to a business program created by the user, the object definition information of the resource created by the user and possessed by the server is an object identifier for each object definition information, An object definition information table stored with a server identifier such as an affiliated server address, a server registration unit that registers the server identifier in the object definition information table, and a communication path indicating a communication path state with each server A communication path management table having a status section and this communication path when the communication control device starts up. A communication path establishing means for automatically setting up a communication path to a server registered in the management table and a request for operation of the server resource from the above-mentioned business program, Object definition information retrieval means for retrieving the object definition information of the required resource by retrieving the object definition information table by the object identifier, and sending an operation request to the server based on the definition information retrieved by this means, Communication comprising service executing means for performing service processing such as reception and transfer to the business program, and communication means for performing communication processing with the communication path establishing means and service executing means and the server. Control device.