JPH1055291A - Remote maintenance system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily obtain and update maintenance information, connect the system to equipments to be maintained which is present all over the world, and suppress communication costs. SOLUTION: A monitor and control system 1 to be maintained is provided with an intelligent alarm function 41, a message generating function 42 which generates a message containing a diagnostic result obtained by the intelligent alarm function 41, and a message sending function 43 which sends this message through the Internet 5. A WWW server 31 is equipped with a message receiving function 51 which receives the sent message, a message decoding function 52 which decodes the received message, a message processing and judging function 53 which processes and judges the decoded message, and a maintenance information storing function 55 which stores information needed for maintenance. A terminal for maintenance which is called by the WWW server 31 in response to the message maintains the monitor and control system 1 through the Internet 5 while referring to the message and the maintenance information stored in the WWW server 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote maintenance system capable of performing maintenance on equipment to be maintained such as computer-related equipment via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case where a customer requests a survey or an inspection regarding the operation of a computer-related device in operation, a maintenance staff of a maker who has constructed the system conventionally goes to the site to respond or is simple. In most cases, the customer was instructed by telephone to a technician. However, this does not provide a quick response. Therefore, recently, a remote maintenance system has been put into practical use in which a customer's system and a maker are connected to each other by a modem via a public network so that maintenance personnel can respond without visiting the site.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a conventional remote maintenance system. In this remote maintenance system, a monitoring / control system 101 for a customer A and a monitoring / control system 102 for a customer B to be maintained can be connected to a public network 103. , A plurality of maintenance terminals 105, 106, 107, 108,... The monitoring / control system 101 of the customer A includes a control panel 111 to be maintained and a computer 112 for performing self-diagnosis of the maintenance target.

Now, a maintenance terminal 105 is sent from a computer 112 of a monitoring / control system 101 of a customer A through a public network 103.
If a maintenance request is issued to the
Then, the monitoring and control system 10 is connected through the public network 103.
1 to find the abnormal spot, and if possible,
Perform that repair. Thus, conventional telemaintenance is
It was being executed through the public network 103.

[0005]

However, in the above-described remote maintenance system using the public network 103, the monitoring / control systems 101 and 102 to be maintained and a plurality of maintenance terminals are simply connected via the public network. In addition to the self-diagnosis function held by the monitoring and control system,
Information required for all maintenance is maintenance terminals 105, 106,
107, 108,... For this reason, the maintenance terminals 105, 106, 107, 108,.
Information that is commonly required by the terminals 105, 10
6, 107, 108,..., And when updated, all terminals 105, 106, 1
It is necessary to update information of 07, 108,..., Which is troublesome. Particularly when the number of terminals is large, it is very complicated.
In addition, there is a case where information existing in a certain terminal does not exist in another terminal, and in such a case, the information cannot be easily obtained.

Further, in the remote maintenance system using the above-described public network 103, one public network 1 is maintained during the maintenance period.
03 will be occupied. Regardless of domestic customers, when dealing with customers all over the world, communication costs have become enormous, which has been a factor that has hindered the spread of such remote maintenance systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to make it easy to obtain and update maintenance information, to connect to equipment to be maintained around the world, and to reduce communication costs. It is to provide a remote maintenance system which can perform the maintenance.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a maintenance target device has an intelligent alarm function for performing self-diagnosis of the device, and a diagnosis result by the intelligent alarm function. And a message sending function of sending the created message via the Internet. The WWW server receives the message sent from the maintenance target device. A message receiving function, a message decrypting function for decrypting the received message, a message processing / determining function for processing / determining the decrypted message, and an information storing function for storing information necessary for maintenance related to the maintenance target device, At least to respond to messages from the maintenance target equipment. Then, the maintenance terminal is called from the WWW server, and the called maintenance terminal executes maintenance of the maintenance target device via the Internet while referring to the message and the maintenance information stored in the WWW server. It is characterized by doing.

In the above configuration, the device to be maintained performs self-diagnosis, creates a message based on the result of the diagnosis, transmits the message, and the WWW server that receives the message via the Internet decodes the message. At the same time, one of the plurality of maintenance terminals is called to transmit a message based on the decrypted content. The called maintenance terminal accesses the maintenance target device via the Internet and performs maintenance work. In this case, the maintenance information is also stored on the maintenance terminal side, but the latest product information and information common to all the devices to be maintained are stored on the WWW server side. Execute Further, the WWW server also stores data on which maintenance terminal has which information,
If there is information that does not exist on the WW server side and is held by another maintenance terminal, this information can be obtained via the Internet.

As described above, according to the above configuration, it is possible to easily obtain and update maintenance information, and to connect to equipment to be maintained around the world at a lower communication cost than in the case of using a public network. Most customers and manufacturers already have an Internet connection, so this can be done without new capital investment.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to the first aspect, the WWW server further includes a dial function for calling the maintenance terminal.

According to the above configuration, even if the maintenance staff of the maker is out of the place where there is no dedicated line, NS
By connecting the maintenance terminal to the nearest public network access point provided by P, the same effect as that of claim 1 can be achieved, and the same service can be realized.

[0013]

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a remote maintenance system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG.
Is connected to a corporate LAN 2, which is connected to the Internet 5 via a firewall 3 and a router 4. Also,
The monitoring and control system 6 of the customer B to be maintained includes a public network 7 and an NSP (network service provider).
8 is connected to the Internet 5. Monitoring
The control system 1 includes a control panel 1A to be maintained and a computer 1B having a self-diagnosis function of the control panel 1A. Similarly, the monitoring and control system 6 includes a control panel 6A to be maintained and a computer 6B having a self-diagnosis function of the control panel 6A.

On the other hand, a plurality of maintenance terminals in this remote maintenance system are prepared, each of which can be connected to the Internet 5. The first maintenance terminal 11 is connected to a dedicated line 13 of a maker factory constituting an in-house LAN 12, and the dedicated line 13 is connected to the Internet 5 via a router 14, a firewall 15, and a router 16. The second maintenance terminal 1 is connected to the corporate LAN 12.
The second maintenance terminal 17 is connected to the Internet 5 via a firewall 15 and a router 16.

The third maintenance terminal 21 is installed at the maintenance staff's home.
It is connected to the Internet 5 via the NSP 23. Further, the fourth maintenance terminal 24 is carried by a maintenance person,
By calling a pager from the pager provider 32, it is possible to connect to the Internet 5 from the outside via the public network 22 and the NSP 23.

Further, a WWW server 31 is provided on the manufacturer side, and this WWW server 31 is connected to the Internet 5 via a router 16. This WWW server 31
Will be described later.

Computer 1 of monitoring and control system 1 described above
B, as shown in FIG. 2, has an intelligent alarm function 41, a message creation function 42, and a message transmission function 43. The control panel 1A of the monitoring and control system 1 performs a self-diagnosis and the diagnosis result is obtained. Create and send a message based on That is, the intelligent alarm function 41 at least includes the RAS (Reliabil
ity Availability Serviceability) information, and generates an alarm when an alarm generation condition is satisfied as a result of the self-diagnosis. When an alarm has occurred, the message creating function 42 creates a message meaning the content of the alarm. The message transmission function 43 sets a destination for the created message and transmits the message via the Internet 5.

The WWW server 31 is a device to be maintained 1
A message receiving function 51 for receiving a message transmitted from the server, a message decrypting function 52 for decrypting the received message, a message processing / determining function 53 for processing / determining the decrypted message, and A message transmission function 54 for transmitting a message to the corresponding maintenance terminal via the Internet, and a maintenance information storage function 5 for storing information necessary for maintenance related to the maintenance target device.
5 and a dial function 56 for calling a maintenance terminal not connected to the Internet 5. The maintenance information storage function 55 of the WWW server 31 stores maintenance manuals, software libraries, diagnostic tools, latest product information, manufacturer information, engineer maps, work schedules of maintenance personnel, and the like as maintenance information.

In the above configuration, the computer 1B of the monitoring / control system 1 monitors the presence or absence of an abnormality in the control panel 1A, and when an abnormality is detected, the intelligent alarm function 41 operates to generate an alarm. When an alarm occurs, the message creation function 42 creates a message meaning the content of the alarm. Message sending function 4
Reference numeral 3 designates a destination for the created message and transmits the message via the Internet 5. In this case, a situation required by the service person is determined from a combination of individual alarm information and the like, and a message is transmitted to the WWW server 31.

WWW server 31 which received the message
The message is sent to an appropriate maintenance person preset and registered in the maintenance information storage function 55 based on the conditions such as the customer name, alarm status, and time zone included in the message after decoding the message content. To transfer. This message transfer can take a form linked with a portable terminal such as a pager. In this case, the dial function 56 operates to call the corresponding pager via the pager provider 32.

The person in charge who receives the message performs maintenance work using the maintenance terminal. Thereby, an appropriate action can be taken for the monitoring / control system 1 which is the maintenance target device according to the received message information.

Further, according to the above configuration, the occurrence of an abnormal situation in the plant is appropriately detected by the intelligent alarm function 41, and is promptly transmitted to the manufacturer without depending on the skill of the maintenance staff of the plant. On the maker side, trouble information can be promptly dealt with because appropriate information can be distributed to appropriate responders according to the situation of the abnormal situation. Also, since these processes are performed automatically,
Both customers and manufacturers will lead to reduced staffing. Furthermore, since the message method is used for transmitting the alarm information instead of the scan method, it is possible to construct a system with reduced communication cost. Furthermore, according to this system, for example, the status of a half-life component used in a plant is periodically posted in a message and sent to a maker's service representative to perform an exchange process before a failure occurs. Can also.

The WWW server 31 can be used not only for remote maintenance but also for data communication with other departments in the company. In this case, a “homepage” is prepared in the monitoring / control system 1 and accessed from a user terminal by a WWW browser function. It has a WWW server function on the user side, and it is also possible to apply links from a plurality of monitoring / control systems to system construction of a virtual factory or the like without modifying existing devices.

[0025]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the maintenance target device can make a self-diagnosis and quickly transmit a message based on the diagnosis result via the Internet. The WWW server that has received the message via the Internet can cause the maintenance terminal to perform quick and appropriate maintenance processing based on the message content. Also, maintenance information can be easily obtained from the maintenance terminal and maintenance information on the WWW server side can be easily updated. Furthermore, it can be connected to maintenance target devices all over the world via the Internet, and compared with the case of using a public network. Connection with low communication cost.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the WWW server is further provided with a dial function for calling a maintenance terminal, the maintenance staff of the manufacturer may be out of the office without a dedicated line. However, by connecting the maintenance terminal to the nearest public network access point provided by the NSP or the like, the same effects as those of the first aspect can be obtained and the same services can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a remote maintenance system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part in an embodiment of the remote maintenance system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional remote maintenance system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,6 Monitoring and control system 2,12 Corporate LAN 3,15 Firewall 4,14,16 Router 5 Internet 7,22 Public network 8,23 NSP 31 WWW server 32 Pager provider 41 Intelligent alarm function 42 Message creation function 43 Message Sending function 51 Message receiving function 52 Message decoding function 53 Message processing / judgment function 54 Message sending function 55 Maintenance information storage function 56 Dial function

Claims (2)

[Claims] The maintenance target device has an intelligent alarm function for performing self-diagnosis of the device, a message creation function for creating a message containing a result of the diagnosis by the intelligent alarm function, and a message creation function. At least a message sending function for sending via the Internet is provided. On the WWW server side, a message receiving function for receiving a message sent from the maintenance target device side, a message decoding function for decoding the received message, A message processing / judgment function for processing / judging a message that has been processed, and an information storage function for storing information necessary for maintenance related to the maintenance target device, wherein the WW is provided in response to a message from the maintenance target device.
The maintenance terminal is called from the W server, and the called maintenance terminal executes the maintenance of the maintenance target device via the Internet while referring to the message and the maintenance information stored in the WWW server. Characterized remote maintenance system. 2. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the WWW server further includes a dial function for calling the maintenance terminal.