JPH07131502A - Communication controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the communication based on plural protocols. CONSTITUTION:A host 50 is provided with a communication control part 53 as well as an application 51 and a common communication procedure control part 52. The part 53 produces the data adaptive to a prescribed procedure from the common data which are received from the part 52 and adaptive to plural protocols. Then the part 53 carries out the tasks for each protocol and performs the prescribed communication. These communication tasks are produced based on those data stored in a communication control table, a host communication library and a subordinate communication information storing part. Thus the general common data are processed and the communication is possible to a desired protocol.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication control device for controlling communication using a plurality of communication media and communication procedures (protocols).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, computers have been used for management of various equipments, and have come to be used for management of a plurality of equipments in one plant and comprehensive management of a plurality of plants. ing. In the case of a system that performs such comprehensive management (monitoring), it is efficient to provide a computer (local station) that performs individual management within a certain range and a computer (host) that performs comprehensive management separately. Data communication between the local station and the host is essential.

Therefore, when constructing such a system, it is general that the communication medium such as the host, the local station and the cable is determined to be compatible with each other so that communication can be performed by one protocol. . In addition, as a protocol, there is a general-purpose protocol supported by a considerable number of computer models.
If one is adopted, various devices can be adopted for the host and the local station.

However, depending on the type of data to be handled and the like, depending on the system, it may be better to handle the communication of a plurality of communication protocols. Therefore, JP-A-5-6
No. 3749 proposes a system that enables communication using a plurality of protocols. According to this system, it is possible to perform data transmission using a plurality of protocols, and it is possible to expand the flexibility of the system.

[0005]

However, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-6.
The communication in No. 3749 assumes that the communication medium itself uses one type. That is, a communication medium such as a coaxial cable or a telephone line, that is, a physical layer in a communication protocol does not consider another communication. However, in the comprehensive management of a plurality of plants, LAN (local area network) is already built to some extent, and it is difficult to lay a desired cable due to a distance problem. In some cases, it cannot be done.

In such a case, a computer for performing processing for each communication protocol is provided under the host computer, and communication with each local station is performed here.
The processed data will be provided to the host. However, such a system is not efficient because there are many overlapping parts in both hardware and software. Therefore, a system capable of handling a plurality of different communication protocols even in the physical layer is desired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication control device for performing communication by using a plurality of types of protocols even in the physical layer.

[0008]

A communication control apparatus according to the present invention stores a communication procedure for each local station, a communication procedure to be used, a type of physical communication means, and communication parameters unique to the local station. A table, a higher-level communication library for commands that define the contents of processing in each communication procedure, and a lower-level communication information storage that stores data necessary for communication using the physical communication means for each type of physical communication means And a data stored in the communication management table, the upper communication library, and the lower communication information storage unit to generate a communication management task for each local station, which is executed when communicating with each local station. Communication management task generation means, and the communication management task corresponding to the local station of the communication destination. By executing a click, a plurality of different communication procedures, via physical communication means, characterized by controlling the communication between the local station.

[0009]

As described above, when actually communicating, the communication management task is executed. This communication management task is generated from the data stored in the communication management table, the upper communication library, and the lower communication information storage unit. It processes general commonly used data and uses the desired protocol. Can communicate. Therefore, by executing the communication management task corresponding to the local station of the communication destination, communication with the local station can be performed via a plurality of different communication procedures and physical communication means.

Further, since the communication management task is generated by the communication management task generation means, it is sufficient to store a minimum amount of data such as the supply procedure and the data of the physical communication means.

[0011]

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

[Overall Configuration of System] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an overall system using this communication control device. On the host side, a common file server (host) 1 that actually performs processing and a common man-machine are provided. An interface 2, a communication medium 3 formed of a coaxial cable for connecting them and communicating with the outside, and a telephone line 4 connecting a public telephone line M for communicating with the outside and a common file server 1. Is provided.

A plurality of local stations 10 are connected to the communication medium 3. One local station 10 is one plant and has a process control unit 11 and a monitoring unit 12 therein. A facility group 24 is connected to the local station 10. The equipment group 24 includes a process equipment group PA and a discrete system equipment group FA.
A process control unit 11 is connected to the via a cable 21. Then, the process control unit 11 controls the operation in the process equipment group PA by PID control or the like.
On the other hand, the monitoring unit 12 is connected to the discrete system equipment group FA via the FA control unit 23, and the monitoring unit 12 performs sequence control of the operation in the discrete system equipment group via the FA control unit 23. The FA control unit 23 and the discrete equipment group F
A is connected by a communication medium 22 composed of a coaxial cable.

The equipment group 24 comprises a plurality of process equipment groups PA and a discrete equipment group FA, and the process control unit 1
Reference numeral 1 controls a plurality of process facilities, and the monitoring unit 12 controls a plurality of discrete system facility groups FA via a plurality of FA control units.

Also, one local station 10
(Right end in the figure) is connected to the common file server 1 via the telephone line 4 and the public telephone line M,
For example, mutual data communication is performed using a modem such as RS232C / 422. An equipment group 24 is connected to each of the local stations 10, and they are, for example, a painting factory or an assembly factory.

[Specific Configuration of Connection] FIG. 2 shows a host,
It is a block diagram which shows the concrete structure about the connection part of a local station.

A plurality of local stations 90 are connected to the host 50. The host 50 in this figure corresponds to the common file server 1 in FIG. 1, and each local station 90 corresponds to the local station 10 in FIG.

The host 50 has a monitoring control application 51, a common communication procedure management unit 52, and a communication management unit 53 as common parts used in communication with all the local stations 90. Further, it has a plurality of processing means corresponding to a plurality of protocols.
That is, TCP / IP (Transmission C
ontorol Protocol / Internet
CSMA / CD (Car) controlled by Protocol
rier Sensed Multiple Acce
ss with Collision Detecti
In order to carry out communication according to (on), it has a procedure C executing means 54 for executing various commands as the upper protocol and a processing means 55 for transmitting / receiving data by actual TCP / IP, CSMA / CD, Processing procedure B for communication using token bus Procedure B executing means 56 for executing, processing means 57 for transmitting and receiving data using actual token bus, procedure executing means 58, 60 for other protocols, It has processing means 59, 61 and the like.

As described above, since the host has the individual processing means according to the communication protocol, it is possible to perform communication by various communication protocols. Each processing means 55, 57, 59 is provided with a predetermined interface, through which a corresponding communication medium (network 70) is connected. In addition, as a communication medium, for example, a base band 71, a broadband 72, an RS2 using a coaxial cable, a twisted pair wire, or the like.
32C / 422 or the like is adopted.

On the other hand, the local station 91 among the plurality of local stations 90 is TCP / IP, CS.
It uses MA / CD. It is connected to the processing means 55 of the host 50 via the base band 71, and the processing means 9 for TCP / IP and CSMA / CD is provided therein
2. Procedure C execution unit 93, TCP / IP, CSMA /
It has a CD processing means 92, a communication management section 94 for managing the processing of the procedure C execution section 93, a common communication procedure, a common communication procedure management section 95 for managing common data, and a supervisory control application section 96. .

For example, when the host 50 transmits data to the local station 91, a communication instruction and communication data which are not related to the difference in protocol are passed from the common communication procedure management unit 52 to the communication management unit 53. . The communication management unit 53 recognizes that the communication partner is the local station 91, and uses the procedure execution unit 54 and the processing unit 55 to send a signal according to the protocol to the local station 91 via the baseband 71. To transmit. The local station 91 performs TCP / IP, CSMA / CD reception processing on the signal from the baseband 71 in its own processing means 92, and executes procedure C in the procedure execution section 93. The communication management unit 94 manages these processes. As a result, data and commands that do not depend on the protocol are retrieved,
This is passed to the application 96 via the common communication procedure management unit 95. In this way, the data is transmitted.

If this data is a control command for the equipment under the local station 91, control is performed according to this data. The same applies when the data obtained at the local station 91 is transmitted to the host 50. In a normal case, since a handshake is first performed between the two parties, the data is exchanged between the two parties even though the data is transmitted.
Such a point is the same as the communication in a normal LAN.

The local station 100 has a processing means 101 for the token bus, a procedure B executing means 102, and a communication management section 103 for managing these, and the host 5
0 token bus processing means 57 and broadband 7
It is connected via 2. Therefore, similar to the local station 91, desired communication can be performed with the host 50.

As described above, in this embodiment, the host 50 has processing means, procedure executing means, and communication management section according to each protocol in order to correspond to each local station 90 and network 70. . Therefore,
The application unit 51 may perform desired processing without being aware of the communication protocol and exchange data with the common communication procedure management unit 52. Then, the common communication procedure management unit 52 performs common processing on the data regardless of the type of protocol. Therefore, the processing for communication that does not depend on the protocol type is performed by the common communication procedure management unit 52.
It will be done in a unified manner in, it is possible to avoid duplication of software and hardware for this. Then, the individual processing for each protocol is performed by the communication management unit 53.
Since the procedure execution unit and the processing means for each protocol are used, it is possible to perform communication according to a plurality of different protocols. Since each local station 90 has a processing unit corresponding to the host 50 side, a procedure execution unit, a communication management unit, a supply procedure management unit, and an application unit, communication with the host side is possible. . Further, if one local station 90 side is provided with a plurality of processing means and a procedure execution unit, and the communication management unit distributes the procedures for a plurality of protocols, like the host 50,
It is possible to support multiple protocols. On the other hand, when the local station handles only one communication protocol, all processing may be incorporated in the application.

[Communication Management Table] FIG. 3 is a common table 151 for enabling the equipment side terminal (local station) and the host side to identify each signal and exchange the contents even in a plurality of different communication systems. 1
72 is shown. As described above, the equipment signal common table 151 is connected to the monitoring control application 150 on the host side. This equipment signal common table 151 is provided for each of the local stations 160 and 170 by the required number (the number corresponding to the required work). On the other hand, each of the local stations 160 and 170 also has a common table (common table 172 in the case of the local station 170) that specifies the content of each job. Therefore, such a common table 15
By using Nos. 1 and 172, both can perform processing with common data. Therefore, common data for communication can be created and common processing can be performed. An actual facility 171 is connected to the local station 170, and processing such as DI, AI, and DO is performed here.

Further, in order to perform the above processing, the host 50 has a communication management table 200 as shown in FIG. This communication management table 200 is
Procedure A, which is a name that defines the contents of the upper level (higher level software such as necessary commands for operation of various commands) of the communication method for each local station LST1, LST2 ,.
A column 204 in which the procedure B, the procedure C, ... Are described, a lower level of the communication method (a specific communication medium or SI which is a name that defines specific software necessary for using the communication medium).
O, token bus, TCP / IP + CSMA / CD,
,) And a unique information field 206 for specifying specific information when actually communicating with each local station. In this example, the unique information 207 of the local station LST1
Indicates the port number, communication speed, etc., and the unique information 208 of the local station LST2.
The station number, the communication management task number, and the like are shown as examples.

[Processing at System Startup] In this embodiment, a communication management task to be executed when communicating with each local station at the time of system startup in the host 50 is generated for each local station. . That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the system is started by means such as turning on the power (210), a normal host startup process is first performed (21).
2) Then, the communication management table 200 is read (214).

Here, in this embodiment, the host has a communication library (216) for each communication method (upper), that is, the contents of each procedure, and a communication method (lower), that is, SIO. A storage unit for concrete information 217 of the token bus is provided for each communication method. Then, after reading the communication management table, the communication method (lower) is added to the library of each procedure of the communication method (upper).
Is mapped (215). That is, the host 50 separately stores a plurality of communication methods (upper) and communication methods (lower), and links the communication methods (upper) and the communication methods (lower) for required combinations.
As a result, the information of the communication method (lower) and the hard address where the physical layer exists are linked to each procedure of the communication method (upper). This makes each command executable.

Next, a communication management task having unique information is generated for each local station (218). The communication management task 22 executed by the host at the time of communication by the above-described communication management table 200 and the procedure in which the communication method (lower order) is linked in step 215 (the procedure of the local station specified by the table)
, 224 are created for each local station (218). In addition, this communication management task 222, 2
24, ..., The unique information (223, 225, ...) Of the communication management table 200 is linked to each local station. Therefore, by executing the communication management task, it is possible to communicate with each local station using data unique to each communication. In this way
For each local station, a program is prepared for performing communication of different upper and lower communication methods.

[Actual Communication] Next, the operation of the actual communication process will be described with reference to FIG. The communication processing includes a data management task 250 and a communication management task 260.
Here, it is assumed that a common application for supervisory control issues a data transmission request to the local station LST1 and this is accepted (252). In this case, the communication management task generated as described above for the corresponding local station LST1 is activated, and the communication message 256 for transmitting to the LST1 is transmitted to the common communication procedure management unit 52 (254).

The common communication procedure management unit 52 receives data from the data management task 250 (264) and creates common communication data based on this (266). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the minimum data required for a normal communication packet is created. Then, this common communication data is passed to the communication management unit 53. The communication management unit 53 uses the unique information of the LST1 communication management table information 276 according to the execution of the communication management task, and performs the communication line open processing according to the unique information of the procedure C (LST1 communication method) ( 272).

Then, the communication by the communication library of the procedure C is performed (274). This communication is performed by referring to the communication library 278 for procedure C. In this way, the communication packet that is communicated based on the procedure C has the structure shown in FIG. That is,
It has a configuration in which a header specific to the procedure C is added. In the present embodiment, the communication packet according to the procedure B has the same configuration as that of FIG. 7, and has the most compact configuration. Therefore, in this system, it is most efficient to use the procedure B system.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the common communication procedure management unit 52 creates common communication data based on the common procedure. Therefore, the processing of this part can be commonly performed regardless of whether the local station is different (communication protocol is different). Therefore, communication according to a plurality of protocols can be efficiently performed. In addition, the communication method (upper level) that is stored in advance when the system is initially started up
Since the task for each local station is generated from the communication library 216, the communication method (lower level) information 217, and the communication management table 200, the storage capacity is minimized.
It can support various protocols.

[0034]

As described above, according to the communication control device of the present invention, a communication management task is generated from the data stored in the communication management table, the upper communication library and the lower communication information storage unit, By this execution, it is possible to process general commonly used data and perform communication with a desired protocol. Therefore, by executing the communication management task corresponding to the local station of the communication destination, communication with the local station can be performed via a plurality of different communication procedures and physical communication means. Further, since the communication management task generation means generates the communication management task, it is sufficient to store the minimum data such as the supply procedure and the data of the physical communication means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration for communication according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a common table.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a communication management table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a procedure of communication processing.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of common data.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of a communication packet of procedure C.

[Explanation of symbols]

 50 host 51 application (host side) 52 common communication procedure management unit 53 communication management unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A communication management table storing, for each local station, a communication procedure to be used, a type of physical communication means, and communication parameters peculiar to the local station, and a command for defining processing contents in each communication procedure. And a lower communication information storage unit that stores data necessary for communication using the physical communication means for each type of physical communication means, the communication management table, the upper communication library, and Communication management task generation means for generating a communication management task for each local station, which is executed when communicating with each local station, from the data stored in the lower communication information storage unit; By executing the above communication management tasks corresponding to the local station, multiple types of different That communication procedure, via physical communication means, the communication control device and controls the communication between the local station.