JPS61100037A - Communication line controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To economize a device by providing a few spare lines only to plural active line connection circuits and using them alternately automatically. CONSTITUTION:An error detector built in a communication control section 1 detects an error and when the error is not recovered even with retrial processing, an address of a faulty line is registered in a state management section 5, and when a spare line connection circuit 7 is idle, the use of the circuit 7 is registered and the line address is informed to a line address set section 6. The set section 6 receives the line address set in the circuit 7 so as to set the address to a line address control section 2 and an N:1 switching section 4. The control section 2 does not use the line where an error is regis tered in active line connection circuit 31-3n, and the switch section 4 switches the faulty active line by using the circuit 7 according to the address setting. When the set section 6 confirms the end of switching, a reply is given to a management section 5, the management section 5 transmits a restart signal to the faulty line.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an information processing device connected between an information processing device and a communication line,
The present invention relates to a communication line control device that transfers and controls transmitted and received data. In particular, a system that automatically switches to a small number of spare line connection circuits when a failure occurs in the line connection circuit of a communication line control device.

It is related to.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, there has been a communication line control device equipped with working line connection circuits corresponding to the number of lines, and when a failure occurs in the working line connection circuit, a backup system is installed that is equipped with the same number of line connection circuits as the working line connection circuits. A communication line control device was installed, and the communication line was switched between the active device and the backup device via a line switching device, and the line was switched to the backup device.

[゛Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, with this type of system, even if one active line connection circuit in the communication line control equipment fails, all lines must be switched over and restarted using a backup device, and no backup device is provided. In such cases, there is a drawback that the equipment must be shut down for the faulty line and the line must be shut down until repairs are made and the line is restored.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a small number of backup line connection circuits for a plurality of line connection circuits, and when a failure occurs, it is possible to automatically switch to the backup line connection circuit and continue communication. The purpose is to provide a communication line control device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a communication control unit that performs transmission control, and a plurality of line connection circuits that perform line control, and is connected between an information processing device and a plurality of data transmission lines. In a communication line control device that controls the transmission and reception of data between the two, a small number of backup line connection circuits that are normally left in an empty state are provided, and between the communication control unit, the line connection circuit, and the backup line connection circuit. a line address control means connected between the line connection circuit, the standby @I line connection circuit, and the data transmission line, the line address control means being connected to the line address control means for controlling the connection between the two; a switching means for switching and connecting to the data transmission line; a state management means for managing a failure status of the line connection circuit and a usage status of the backup line connection circuit based on information from the communication control unit; A signal for controlling switching between the line connection circuit and the protection line connection circuit is outputted from the line at 1.1. The present invention is characterized by comprising a line address setting means for outputting to the address control means and the switching means.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, the state management means inputs information from the communication control unit to manage the failure status of the working line connection circuit and the usage status of the protection line connection circuit, and the output of the status management means is used to control the line address setting means. By outputting a signal for controlling switching between the working line connection circuit and the protection line connection circuit to the line address control means and the switching means, a small number of protection line connection circuits can automatically be used as a backup line in the event of a fault in the working line connection circuit. Communication can be continued by switching to the line connection circuit.

〔Example〕

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

The figure is a block diagram of a communication line control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a higher-level device (not shown) is connected to a communication control unit 1 that performs transmission control via a higher-level device ink face L1, and communication data is exchanged.

Here, the feature of the present invention is the protection line connection circuit switching portion surrounded by a dashed line. That is, the communication control section 1 connects the working line connection circuit 3. ~3N and the backup line connection circuit 7, and the working line connection circuits 3I to 3N are respectively connected to the line ink faces LSI to LAN via the N-to-1 switching unit 4, and communication data is exchanged. When there is a fault in the line, the communication control section 1 connects the faulty line address to the state management section 5 and registers it. If there is no other faulty line (when the protection line connection circuit 7 is vacant, the protection line connection circuit 7 is registered for use and the faulty line address is connected from the status management unit 5 to the line address setting unit 6.Line address setting The faulty line address is connected to the line address control unit 2 and the N-to-1 switching unit 4 through the section 6, and the line address control unit 2 and the N-to-1 switching unit 4 switch the working line connection circuit of the faulty line address. It is connected to the line ink faces LZI to LAN via the backup line connection circuit 7.

A switching operation completion signal from the N-to-1 switching unit 4 and a setting completion signal from the line address control unit 2 are connected to the line address setting unit 6, and a response signal from the line address setting unit 6 is connected to the status management unit 5. . A restart signal is connected from the status management unit 5 to the communication control unit 1, and the communication control unit I11 instructs the higher-level device to initialize and start up the failed line via the higher-level device ink face L+, and the failure is registered. Communication on the line will be resumed. If the cause of the failure is not in the current line connection circuit 3 and a similar failure occurs even after re-starting communication, the error is detected in the communication control unit l, and the failure is re-registered in the status management unit 5, and the status management The section 5 or %'J set signal is connected to the line address setting section 6, and the return instruction signal is connected from the depressed line address setting section 6 to the line address control section 2 and the N-to-1 switching section 4, and the current line connection circuit is connected. Will be reinstated.

Further, a signal for closing the line is connected from the communication control unit 1 to the higher-level device via the higher-level device ink face L. Furthermore, when restoring the faulty working line connection circuit, by pressing the initialize switch of the status management section 5, a reset signal is connected to the line address setting section 6, and the working line connection circuit is restored as described above. will be reinstated.

The operation of the communication line control device having such a configuration will be explained.

The communication control unit L is the host device ink face L with the host device.
, which controls the transfer of communication data and has control functions such as various communication control procedures, communication methods, communication speeds, and error detection.
21~L2. It controls the working line connection circuits 31 to 3N that perform serial-to-parallel conversion of communication data through the line, and transmits and receives communication data to and from terminal devices connected to the line. If an error is detected by the error detection function of the communication control unit 1 and the failure does not recover even after retry processing such as retransmission is performed, the line address of the failure is registered in the status management unit 5, and other failed lines are If there is no backup line connection circuit 7 and the backup line connection circuit 7 is vacant, register the use of the backup line connection circuit 7,
The line address setting unit 6 is notified of the line address.

The line address setting section 6 goes to the backup line connection circuit 7.

In response to the line address to be set, the address is set for the line address control unit 2 and the N-to-1 switching unit 4.

The line address control unit 2 associates the protection line connection circuit 7 with the line address of the failed line, so that the working line connection circuit 3 registered as a failure is not used.

The N-to-1 switching unit 4 switches the lines and line interfaces L21 to L2N of the fault-registered line to the protection line connection circuit 7 according to the address settings, and disconnects the ink face to the working line connection circuit 3 for which the fault has been registered. .

The line address setting unit 6 monitors the switching operation completion signal from the N-to-1 switching unit 4 and the setting completion signal from the line address controller 4111 unit 2, and returns a response to the status management unit 5 when completion is confirmed. , the status management section 5 sends a restart signal for the faulty line to the communication control section 1.

In response to the restart signal, the communication control unit 1 instructs the host device ink face L1 to initialize the failed line and start up the line, thereby restarting communication on the line where the failure has been registered. ``If the cause of the failure is in the working line connection circuit 3, the failure is recovered by switching to the protection line connection circuit 7 and re-communicating, making it possible to continue communication.

The faulty working line connection circuit 3 needs to be returned to working if it is repaired or replaced with a normal one, but in this case maintenance operations are always required.
is provided with an initialize switch, which, when pressed, cancels the settings of the backup line connection circuit 7, and outputs a signal to reset the line address setting section 6 in order to restore only the line address for which the backup settings have been made to the working address. Give instructions to return to normal state.

After confirming that the line address control unit 6 and the N-to-1 switching unit 4 have returned to the normal state based on the response signal from the line address setting unit 6, the status management unit 5 determines whether there are any other line addresses registered as faulty. For example, the use of the protection line connection circuit 7 is registered.

On the other hand, if the cause of the failure is not in the working line connection circuit 3 but elsewhere, and the same failure occurs even after re-communication by the protection line connection circuit 7, the communication control unit 1 detects an error and the status management unit 5, the status management unit 5
automatically cancels the setting of the protection line connection circuit 7, sends a reset signal to the line address setting section 6, and restores the faulty line to the current use. Afterwards, the cause of the disorder can be viewed from a different perspective and the cause can be investigated.

The number of working line connection circuits 3 controlled by the communication control unit 1 is three, but it may be four or more. However, from the viewpoint of processing capacity, an appropriate configuration is about 8 lines, and also from the hardware configuration of the N-to-1 switching section 4, about 8-to-1 switching is appropriate. Further, the number of the above-mentioned protection line connection circuits does not necessarily have to be 1, but the present invention can be implemented using a decimal number such as 2.3.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a configuration in which only a small number of spare circuits are provided for a plurality of working line connection circuits, and these are automatically used as substitutes, thereby reducing restart time in the event of a failure. This has the excellent effect of making it easier to shorten the time and isolate the cause of the failure. The present invention can make the device more economical than a system in which each line has a spare circuit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a block diagram showing a communication line control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Communication control unit, 2... Line address control unit, 3
... Working line connection circuit, 4... N to 1 switching section, 5.
...Status management section, 6...Line address setting section, 7...
- Backup line connection circuit, Ll... Upper device interface, L21 to L2.4... Line ink face.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A communication line that includes a communication control unit that performs transmission control and a plurality of line connection circuits that perform line control, is connected between an information processing device and a plurality of data transmission lines, and controls the exchange of data between the two. The control device is provided with a small number of backup line connection circuits that are normally kept in an empty state, and a line address that is connected between the communication control unit, the line connection circuit, and the backup line connection circuit to control the connection between them. a control means; a switching means connected between the line connection circuit, the protection line connection circuit, and the data transmission line for switching between the line connection circuit and the protection line connection circuit to connect the data transmission line; , a status management means for managing the failure status of the line connection circuit and the usage status of the backup line connection circuit based on information from the communication control unit; and connection of the line connection circuit and the backup line based on the output of the status management unit. A communication line control device comprising: line address setting means for outputting a signal for controlling switching with a circuit to the line address control means and the switching means.