JPH0678029A - Medium connecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the self-diagnosis of a medium connecting device and to prevent a transmission medium from being influenced by a failure detected in a circuit constituting the medium connecting device as the result of diagnosis. CONSTITUTION:A diagnosis control part 5 for diagnosing an output circuit 1, an input circuit 2 and a control circuit 3 in the medium connecting device and a storage part 4 for storing a diagnostic program are included in the connecting device and a separation part 6 and a change-over switch 7 are also prepared to prevent the execution of the diagnostic program in a case other than a testing state. The control part 5 executes the failure diagnosis of the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2 and the control part 3 based upon an instruction outputted from a start switch 8, and at the time of detecting a failure in any one of the circuits 1 to 3, the transmission medium is disconnected from the output circuit 1 by a disconnection circuit 13 connected between the circuit 1 and the medium.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium connecting device, and more particularly to a medium connecting device used in a local area network.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION American Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 80
2.3 The function of the media connection device used in the local area network, such as MAU (Media Attachment Unit) defined by the committee (IEEE802.3), is diagnosed from the outside by preparing a dedicated diagnostic device. Or, the only way to diagnose from the outside is to use a measuring device such as a logic analyzer. Further, even if an abnormality is found as a result of the failure diagnosis, no means is provided inside the medium connecting device for preventing the transmission medium from being affected by the abnormality.

[0003]

Since the above-described conventional medium connecting device does not have a self-diagnosis function, it is necessary to determine whether or not there is a failure in a circuit forming the medium connecting device.
A dedicated diagnostic device must be prepared and diagnosed from the outside, and in diagnostics using a measuring device such as a logic analyzer, the signals inside the medium connection device are directly observed, so There is a drawback that a person with considerable expertise must operate it. Further, as a result of the self-diagnosis, when a failure is detected in the circuit that constitutes the medium connecting device, there is a drawback that no measures are taken to prevent the transmission medium from being affected by the failure.

[0004]

The device of the present invention is a medium connection device for connecting an information processing terminal device and a transmission medium of a local area network, and an output circuit for outputting information to the transmission medium, and the transmission circuit. An input circuit for inputting information from a medium, a control circuit for controlling input / output operations of the output circuit and the input circuit according to a control signal from the information processing terminal device, the output circuit, the input circuit and the control circuit Storage unit for a failure diagnosis program for testing the presence or absence of a failure, a diagnosis control unit for executing the failure diagnosis program, an operation unit for instructing the diagnosis control unit to start a test, the transmission medium, and the output circuit. And a means for physically disconnecting the output circuit and the transmission medium according to an instruction from the diagnostic control unit, and the medium connecting device except for the test state. Since the test by mistake in the state is protected from being executed, and having a means for switching to a state other than the test conditions and test conditions.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a medium connecting device of the present invention.

The output circuit 1 transmits a signal from an information processing terminal device (not shown) connected via the signal line 9, the signal line 10 and the signal line 11 in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 3 to the transmission medium 12.
Then, the input circuit 2 outputs the signal input from the transmission medium 12 to the information processing terminal device through the signal line 11 according to the instruction of the control circuit 3. The control circuit 3 is a circuit that receives a control signal from the information processing terminal device through the signal line 10 and controls the output circuit 1 and the input circuit 2.

The storage unit 4 stores a failure diagnosis program and data for diagnosing whether or not there is a failure in the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2, and the control circuit 3, and is accessed by the diagnosis control unit 5. The diagnostic control unit 5 has a changeover switch 7
Therefore, the signal lines 9, 10, 11 are not operated unless the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2 and the control circuit 3 are separated. When the three signal lines 9, the signal line 10, the signal line 11 and the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2, and the control circuit 3 are separated from each other, the diagnosis control unit 5 causes the start switch 8 to perform the failure diagnosis program. Read from the storage unit 4,
Fault diagnosis of each of the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2, and the control circuit 3 is performed.

The separation unit 6 operates according to the instruction of the changeover switch 7, and connects the signal line 9 and the output circuit 1, the signal line 10, the control circuit 3, the signal line 11 and the input circuit 2 all at once or To separate. The change-over switch 7 issues an instruction to connect or disconnect the connection between the signal lines 9, 10, 11 and the output circuit 1, the control circuit 3, and the input circuit 2 by the disconnecting section 6, and at the same time disconnects the current connection. The diagnostic control unit 5 is notified of whether or not it is present. The start-up switch 8 serves as a trigger for causing the diagnosis control unit 5 to start diagnosis of the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2, and the control circuit 3.

The signal line 9 is a signal line for sending the transmission data from the information processing terminal device to the output circuit 1. Signal line 1
Reference numeral 0 is a signal line for exchanging control information for the transmission medium 12, such as a transmission function, a reception function, and a medium monitoring function, between the medium connection device and the information processing terminal device. The signal line 11 is a signal line for transmitting the input data from the transmission medium 12 input to the input circuit 2 to the information processing terminal device. The relationship between the signal lines 9, 10, and 11 and the output circuit 1, the control circuit 3, and the input circuit 2 described above is, for example, ISO / IEC8802-3 Se issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
This is described in action 7.

The transmission medium 12 is a transmission line such as a coaxial cable, and the disconnecting circuit 13 is an output circuit according to an instruction from the diagnostic control unit 5 when an abnormality is found as a result of the failure diagnosis performed by the diagnostic control unit 5. 1 is a circuit that physically disconnects the transmission medium 12 from the transmission medium 12. The display unit 14 externally displays whether or not there is an abnormality as a result of the execution of the failure diagnosis program.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, at the time of normal operation of the medium connecting device such as transmission and reception, the changeover switch 7 operates the signal lines 9, 10, 1.
1 is instructed to connect each of the output circuit 1, the control circuit 3, and the input circuit 2 to the separation unit 6, and the signal lines 9, 10,
The diagnostic control unit 5 is notified of information that 11 is connected to the output circuit 1, the control circuit 3, and the input circuit 2. In this state, the diagnostic switch 5 is activated by the start switch 8.
Even if you instructed me to run a diagnostic program,
The diagnostic control unit 5 does not operate. This is to avoid a communication failure caused by erroneously executing the diagnostic program during transmission or reception of data from the information processing terminal device to the transmission medium 12.

Next, the changeover switch 7 instructs the separation unit 5 to separate the connection between the signal lines 9, 10, 11 and the output circuit 1, the control circuit 3, and the input circuit 2, and at the same time, instructs the diagnosis control unit 5 to do so. Notify that you have separated. The separation unit 6 receives the signal line 9 according to an instruction from the changeover switch 7.
The output circuit 1, the signal line 10, the control circuit 3, the signal line 11 and the input circuit 2 are simultaneously disconnected. In this state, the diagnosis control unit 5 can diagnose the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2, and the control circuit 3.

When an instruction to execute the failure diagnosis program is given from the outside by the start switch 8, the diagnosis control section 5 reads out the failure diagnosis program stored in the storage section 4 and data for the failure diagnosis program, and outputs the output circuit 1. , The input circuit 2 and the control circuit 3 are each subjected to a failure diagnosis according to a failure diagnosis program. The diagnosis result is displayed on the display unit 14 outside the medium connection device from the diagnosis control unit 5. By externally confirming the diagnosis result displayed on the display unit 14, it is possible to know whether or not there is a failure in the output circuit 1, the input circuit 2, and the control circuit 3.

If an abnormality is detected as a result of diagnosis,
The diagnostic control unit 5 instructs the disconnection circuit 13 to physically disconnect the output circuit 1 and the transmission medium 12 so that the transmission medium 12 is not affected by the failure, and the disconnection circuit 13 disconnects. After the diagnosis is completed and the result of the diagnosis is displayed on the display unit 9, the diagnosis control unit 5 waits again for an instruction to start the diagnostic program by the start switch 8. At this time, start switch 8 again
When the diagnostic control unit 5 is instructed to start the diagnostic program, the above-described diagnostic operation is repeated.

After the diagnosis is completed and the result of the diagnosis is displayed on the display unit 9, the separation unit 6 is operated by the instruction of the changeover switch 7.
Reconnects each of the signal line 9 and the output circuit 1, the signal line 10 and the control circuit 3, and the signal line 11 and the input circuit 2, and at the same time, the changeover switch 7 notifies the diagnostic control unit 5 of the information that the reconnection is made. For example, the diagnosis control unit immediately ends the diagnosis, and the medium connecting device starts normal operation.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the test of the medium connecting device can be started from the outside and the presence or absence of the failure can be confirmed by an easy operation, so that the diagnosis of the medium connecting device becomes very simple. Therefore, when diagnosing the medium connection device, it is not necessary to prepare a dedicated expensive diagnostic device or a measuring instrument such as a logic analyzer, and a person who has specialized knowledge of the medium connection device is also unnecessary. There is an effect that the cost and human resources required for management and maintenance of the network including the device can be largely omitted.

Further, when an abnormality is found as a result of the failure diagnosis, the signal from the output circuit of the medium connecting device and the transmission medium are physically disconnected, so that the transmission medium is not affected by the failure. There is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a medium connection device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Output circuit 2 Input circuit 3 Control circuit 4 Storage part 5 Diagnostic control part 6 Separation part 7 Changeover switch 8 Start switch 9 Signal line 10 Signal line 11 Signal line 12 Transmission medium 13 Cutting circuit 14 Display part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A medium connection device for connecting an information processing terminal device and a transmission medium of a local area network, an output circuit for outputting information to the transmission medium, and an input for inputting information from the transmission medium. A circuit, a control circuit for controlling the input / output operation of the output circuit and the input circuit according to a control signal from the information processing terminal device, and a failure diagnostic program for testing the output circuit, the input circuit, and the control circuit for the presence / absence of a failure. A storage unit, a diagnosis control unit that executes the failure diagnosis program, an operation unit that instructs the diagnosis control unit to start executing a test, and the diagnosis control unit that is located between the transmission medium and the output circuit. The means for physically disconnecting the output circuit and the transmission medium according to the instruction of the section and the medium connecting device are erroneously tested in a state other than the test state. To protect the not line, the medium connection device and having a means for switching to a state other than the test conditions and test conditions.