JPH10126434A - Router device and data communication system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the operability of an application program on a computer by receiving decided transfer path instruction information and transmitting a data frame in a direction that follows the information. SOLUTION: A local network communication controlling part 133 fetches path instruction information from a data frame and notifies it to a main controlling part 131. On the other hand, the part 133 writes a data body part in the data frame to a data buffer 134. The part 131 makes the path instruction information a keyword, receives route information that practically transfers the data frame on a network from a transfer route management part 132 and outputs the transfer route information as a data frame transmission request signal to the remote network communication control part 135. And the part 135 selects either of terminal adapters 14 and 15 for use according to the transfer route information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a data communication system, and more particularly to a router device in a computer network system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional router device, a data transfer is performed by selecting a transfer route that minimizes the line cost spent on data transmission, and the data is bypassed by another transfer route only when a network failure occurs. Control.
Therefore, when the network is in a normal state, the data transfer route from one computer to another computer is fixed.

As shown in FIG. 5, in data transfer from the computer 1 to the computer 2, a first data transfer path "first data transfer path" and a data transfer path "second data transfer path" to be subsequently transmitted are described. The "transfer path" is the same path.

[0004]

A first problem in the prior art is that a communication medium on the backward (BW) side is used in a use mode in which a large amount of data is transmitted from one computer to another computer. Is that the efficiency of use is very low.

[0005] The reason is that the forward (FW) communication medium resource and the backward communication medium resource are independent of each other in the full-duplex line. Line traffic is dense because the data itself flows. On the other hand, only confirmation information indicating that data has been received flows to the backward side, so that the traffic becomes extremely sparse compared to the forward side.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to distribute data traffic to a forward (FW) side and a backward (BW) side of a full-duplex line to improve data transmission efficiency without increasing the number of transmission line media. To improve.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a router device constituting a network which has a function of switching a data transfer route on the network in accordance with an instruction from the computer, thereby improving operability with an application program on the computer. Is to improve.

[0008]

According to the data communication method of the present invention, a data frame in which instruction information for switching a data transfer path is added to a computer network system extended in a ring by a dedicated line or the like. (1 in FIG. 1)
And a second means for analyzing the data frame and determining a data transfer path on the network (131 in FIG. 1).
And 132) and third means (135 in FIG. 1) for receiving the transfer path information determined by the second means and transmitting the data frame in a direction according to the transfer path information. , As a component.

The second means (131 in FIG. 1)
Has a function of analyzing a data frame received via a network and determining whether to transmit the data frame to a computer or a network.

A data communication system according to the present invention uses a router device as described above in a computer network system which is extended in a ring by a dedicated line or the like.
It is characterized by exchanging data with each other.

[0011]

The router device, which is a component of the data communication system of the present invention, can switch the data frame transfer path in accordance with an instruction from the computer. Therefore, data traffic on the network can be controlled by the application program on the computer, and the load can be appropriately distributed to the forward side and the backward side of the network medium to improve the use efficiency of the transmission path medium.

[0012]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is as follows. Computer systems 1, 2, 3, and 4 are computers 11, 21, 31, and 41, routers 13, 23, 3, respectively.
3 and 43, terminal adapters 14 and 15, 24 and 2
5, 34 and 35 and 44 and 45, local networks 12, 22, 32 connecting the computer and the router.
And 42. Computer system 1,
2, 3 and 4 are lines 51, 52, 5 by full-duplex lines
3 and 54 are connected to each other in a ring shape.

The router 13 is connected to the local network 12
Is connected to the computer 11 via the
1, a remote network communication control unit 135 that controls terminal adapters 14 and 15 to control data transmission on a line, a local network communication control unit 133, and a remote network. Data buffer 13 for exchanging data with the communication control unit 135
4, a transfer route management unit 132 that manages the configuration of the network and determines a data transfer route, and a main control unit 131 that totally controls the entire router device. Each of the routers 23, 33 and 43 is the router 13
It has the same configuration as

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The local network communication control unit 133 receives a data frame from the computer 11 via the local network 12. The data frame includes the routing information and the data body, as shown in the data frame configuration (between the computer and the router) in FIG.

The local network communication control unit 133
Extracts the routing information from the data frame and notifies the main control unit 131 of the routing information. On the other hand, the local network communication control unit 133 writes the data body part in the data frame to the data buffer 134.

The main control unit 131 uses the routing information received from the local network communication control unit 133 as a keyword, retrieves route information for actually transferring a data frame on the network from the transfer route management unit 132, and The route information is output to the remote network communication control unit 135 as a data frame transmission request signal.

The remote network communication control unit 135
Is transmitted from the main control unit 131 by the data frame transmission request signal.
The user selects one of the terminal adapters 14 and 15 to use according to the transfer route information received from. The remote network communication control unit 135 includes the data buffer 13
4 and the main control unit 131
And the transfer route information received from the terminal adapter 14 to form a data frame as shown in the data frame configuration (between the routers) of FIG. Send to 51 or 52. Further, when each of the routers 13, 23, 33, 43 receives the data frame from the line, it identifies the transfer route information in the data frame and controls the routing of the data frame.

This control will be described using the router 13 as an example.
When receiving the above-mentioned data frame from the line 51 or 52, the remote network communication control unit 135 constituting the router 13 extracts the transfer route information from this data frame and notifies the main control unit 131. The remote network communication control unit 135 writes the data body part in the data frame to the data buffer 134.

The main control section 131 refers to the transfer route information received from the remote network communication control section 135 to determine the transfer destination of the data frame. And
The main control unit 131 outputs the transfer route information to the remote network communication control unit 135 as a data frame transmission request signal, and requests network transmission of the data frame. Specifically, a request for transmission to the next-stage router specified in the transfer route information shown in the data frame configuration (between the router and the router) in FIG. 2 is made. The remote network communication control unit 135 includes a main control unit 131
The user selects one of the terminal adapters 14 and 15 to use according to the transfer route information received from.

[0020]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention includes a transmitting station system 310, a receiving station system 320, and receiving station systems 330 and 340 configured similarly to the receiving station system 320. .

The transmitting station system 310 edits and generates image data intended for transmission.
11, a router 313 of the present invention, an Ethernet 312 which is a communication medium for connecting the image data transmission control device 311 and the router 313, and SD in accordance with an instruction from the router 313.
Terminal adapter 31 for controlling data transmission on the line
4 and 315.

The receiving station system 320 includes an image data receiving device 321 for receiving and reproducing image data, a router 323 of the present invention, the image data receiving device 321 and the router 3
23, and the terminal adapters 324 and 325 that control data transmission on the SD line in accordance with instructions from the router 323.

The transmitting station system 310 and the receiving station systems 320, 330 and 340 are connected to the SD line 351,
By 352, 353 and 354, they are arranged in a ring network.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Transmission station system 3
After completing the editing and generation of the first image data, the tenth image data transmission control device 311 successively divides the image data into a prescribed length, and the path specification information specifying the forward direction as the transfer path. To create the data frame (between the computer and the router) of FIG.

The image data transmission control device 311 transmits a message to the effect that the data frame is transmitted to the receiving station system 320.
An instruction is given to the router 313 via the Ethernet 312. As described in the embodiment, when the router 313 receives a data frame from the image data transmission control device 311 (computer) (step S1), it analyzes the routing information in the data frame (step S2), and If the direction is specified, the transmission of the data frame to the SD line 351 which is the shortest path to the router 323 is determined (step S3), and the data frame is created (step S4). The data is sent to the terminal adapter 324 of step 320 (step S5).

Further, the image data transmission control device 311
When the editing and generation of the second image data is completed, a transfer path different from that in the case of the first image transmission is selected, and a data frame in which the reverse direction is specified in the transfer path information is generated. The router 313 is instructed via the Ethernet 312 to transmit to the router 320.

Since the router 313 has been specified to have the reverse direction, the flow shifts from step S2 to step S6, and by the same operation as described above, the router 313 passes the router 333 via the router 333 and the router 343 (that is, the receiving station). The route to reach the system 320) is selected, and the data frame is transmitted from the terminal adapter 315 to the terminal adapter 334 of the receiving station system 330. The routers 333 and 343 that relay the data frame control transfer to the next-stage router with reference to the transfer route information in the data frame as described in the embodiment.

As described above, the first image data follows the image route 1 in FIG. 3, and the second image data
, Both image data are transmitted in parallel.

In FIG. 4, when a data frame is received from a line (step S7), a transfer route is determined in step S8 in the same manner as described above, and the process proceeds to step S4.

[0030]

A first effect of the present invention is that data transmission efficiency on a network can be improved without increasing the transmission path medium. The reason is that each line medium of the network is used from both the forward direction and the reverse direction, and the load of data transmission is distributed in both directions of the full-duplex line to increase the efficiency of use of the transmission medium.

A second effect is that priority transmission control based on data characteristics can be easily controlled systematically. The reason is that, since the physical data transfer path on the network can be instructed from the computer, control of sending high-priority data to a path with less traffic can be easily realized by an application program of the computer. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a data communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data frame in the data communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the router of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, 4 Computer system 11, 21, 31, 41 Computer 12, 22, 32, 42 Local network 13, 23, 33, 43 Router 131 Main control unit 132 Transfer route management unit 133 Local network communication control unit 134 Data buffer 135 Remote network communication control unit 14, 15, 24, 25, 34, 35, 44, 45
Terminal adapters 51, 52, 53, 54 Line 310 Transmission station system 311 Image data transmission control device 320, 330, 340 Receiving station system 321, 331, 341 Image data receiving device 312, 322, 332, 342 Ethernet 313, 323, 333 343 router

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first means for receiving from a computer a data frame to which instruction information for switching a data transfer path is added, and analyzing the data frame to determine a data transfer path on a network. A router comprising: second means; and third means for receiving the transfer path instruction information determined by the second means and transmitting the data frame in a direction according to the transfer path instruction information. apparatus. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second means has a function of analyzing a data frame received via a network and determining whether to transmit the data frame to a computer or a network. The router device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A data communication system in a computer network system which is extended in a ring by a dedicated line or the like, wherein data is transmitted and received between each other using the router device according to claim 2.