JPS61239745A - Control method for constitution of network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To specify a faulty port without using a mechanism for adding a port number identifier by sending data for constitution control out of a constitution control station when a network becomes abnormal and performing constitution control over a transmission line by a constitution control station which never receives the data until the data is received. CONSTITUTION:A control station ST2 which detects abnormality sets a mode wherein a frame RCF for constitution control is sent out to a downstream side continuously, and an RCF reception monitor timer (TWR) is started to monitor the reception of the RCF, thereby judging whether the control ST should perform constitution control or not. When the RCF is received, it is evident that there is another control ST which should perform constitution control at the upstream side of the control ST, so the TWR is stopped, the continuous transmission mode of the RCF is reset, and the received RCF is relayed to the downstream side. If the TWR enters a time-out state without receiving the RCF, it is judged that there is a faulty port in a line concentrator under the control of the control ST, and the constitution control is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a data exchange network having a star ring configuration, and particularly to a configuration control method for isolating a fault location, which is suitable as a countermeasure against a fault in the event of an abnormality in a transmission path.

[Background of the invention]

The network configuration targeted by the present invention is a star ring configuration shown in FIG. In Figure 1, 1
(A, . . . , G) are stations (hereinafter referred to as STI), 2 (A, B) are stations that manage network configuration control (hereinafter referred to as management STI to distinguish them from the above-mentioned STI).
3 is a line concentrator.

4 is a transmission line, 5 (A,..., G) is a boat that is a unit of disconnection, and 6 is a signal line for port disconnection.

7 shows the flow of data. In particular, although FIG. 1 shows one STI per port, multiple STIs may be connected to one port.
In Figure 1, port 5-F is disconnected (BYPASS...
・Bypass) configuration is shown.

Conventionally, there has been known a method described in the following document that is used as a countermeasure against failures in a network having the above configuration.

1. Contributed to the Local Area Network IEEE 802111 Standardization Committee on May 8, 1982. Draft 10 by D.W. Entreuse and G.D. Schultz - Towan Ring Architect Wife Nia for Cal Area Network"(Con't
revision of working paper8
to IEEE Project, 80
2 on LocalArea Networks
, March 8, 1982"A Token Ri
ng＾architecture for Local
Area Netw, orks' B yD, W
, Andra-us, G, D, 5chul
tz) 2, JP-A-58-117750 (i) By the method of JP-A-58-117750, each S
T is given the port identifier (boat number) when connecting to the network.

(it) Each ST sends out an abnormality notification frame when there is an abnormality in the network. The frame has a predetermined configuration and is sent to all STs and field/STs. The ST and management ST that have received the frame stop sending the abnormality notification frame if their own ST is sending it. As a result, one ST immediately downstream of one failure point
Alternatively, only the management ST continues to send out the abnormality notification frame.

(■) The boat number is stored in the abnormality notification frame. If the boat number is uniquely assigned throughout the network, the management S that received the frame
T can determine whether or not a fault exists under the concentrator under its own jurisdiction. Additionally, if it is determined that the port is under your jurisdiction, you can also identify the faulty port.

Above, we have described the methods known to the public. but.

The above method has the following problems.

1. A special mechanism (device) is required to provide a port identifier to the ST.

2. If the port identifier is set incorrectly, the failure (port) cannot be bypassed.

, [Object of the Invention] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for isolating a faulty point (faulty port) in a star ring configuration network, and in particular, to provide a method for isolating a faulty point (faulty port) in a star ring configuration network, and in particular, to provide a method for achieving the above-mentioned object without using a mechanism for assigning the boat number identifier. The goal is to provide a method to achieve this goal.

[Summary of the invention]

When performing configuration control as a measure against failures in star ring configuration networks, the issues are: 1. Who (which concentrator/device?) will perform configuration control? 2. Where (ports) should be disconnected? It is in.

In the present invention, unlike the prior art, there is no need to provide a port identifier to the ST, and the first problem is solved by 412. Now, we can solve this as follows.

That is, the management ST of all line concentrators that perform configuration control is made to send a new frame (configuration control frame, hereinafter abbreviated as RCF) different from the abnormality notification frame when a network abnormality occurs. A line concentrator under the jurisdiction of a management ST that cannot receive RCF is a line concentrator that should take measures against failures and is a line concentrator that should perform configuration control.

This is because the management ST becomes a management ST located downstream of the point of failure. Conventionally, there are the following solutions to the second problem. Try disconnecting the boat by trial and error and change the source ST address of the abnormality notification frame. By observing this, the actual location of the failure can be identified. This method does not assume the existence of RCF. In other words, RCF is not used to identify faulty ports.

This method of disconnecting boats based on trial and error, that is, a method that does not use RCF, basically has the following problems: When there are multiple line concentrators - Think about it First, what and where is the line concentrator? There is a problem in that the configuration control must be performed on all the concentrators in the network since it is not concerned with whether configuration control (trial disconnection) should be started. On the other hand, in the method using R and CF as in the present invention, it becomes possible to have only one line concentrator including the faulty port perform configuration control5.

The present invention specifically uses RCF to characterize faulty ports. That is, instead of monitoring changes in the source ST address of the abnormality notification frame, it monitors whether the RCF returns.

Before searching for the location of the faulty port, immediate action is taken (in this case, disconnection).

If the faulty part is isolated, the ring-shaped transmission line becomes “
The RCF travels around the ring and returns.Receiving RC:F means that the fault countermeasures have been completed.The location of the fault can be identified at this point.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the frame used in this example.
indicates the start of the frame with 5 tart Dalimitar (SD), and 11 indicates Frame Control (
FC) indicates the type of frame, and 12 indicates Destin.
ation Address (DA) indicates the destination address, 13 indicates the source address (S A ), and 14 indicates the information
n(I), 15 is Frame Check 5
sequence (Fe2), 16 is E n d Del
iwiter (ED) indicates the end of the frame; however, it is not necessary to use iwiter (ED).

Furthermore, DA is a broadcast (or management ST group) address addressed to all management STs.

In this embodiment, the following frames are used. Configuration control 1
frame (hereinafter abbreviated as RCF) If FCII is 1 byte of information, it can be defined as follows.

FCll...10100001 (RCF) FIG. 3 shows the configuration control flow in the management ST2.

In this embodiment, the operation of the STI will not be described.

In the management ST2 that performs configuration control, the operation of disconnecting and bypassing a faulty port especially when a boat abnormality occurs will be described.

The network is a serial system, and a failure in one port will result in an abnormality that will affect the communication of the entire system. For example, this is reflected in abnormalities in data transmission timing signals, abnormalities in token disappearance, etc.

In step 101, the management ST2 that detected the abnormality
In step 102, the RCF reception monitoring timer (RCFvaiti
ng Timer: TWR). T
The value of WH may be 1, for example 1 second.

By monitoring the reception of the RCF in step 103,
The self-managing ST determines whether or not it should perform configuration control. If the RCF is received, it is known that there is a management ST that should perform different configuration control upstream from the self-management ST. Step 112 stops TWR, step 113
The continuous transmission mode of the RCF is canceled and the received RCF is relayed downstream.

No RCF received, TWR timed out (104)
Then, it is determined that there is a faulty boat in the line concentrator under the jurisdiction of its own management ST, and configuration control □ is started.

In steps 105 and 106, the most upstream port P in the concentrator is bypassed, and in step 107, the TWR
Start. By monitoring reception of the RCF now, step 108 determines that the bypass is valid (i.e.
It can be determined whether or not the failed port has been isolated. If, R
If the CF is received, it is considered valid, the TWR is stopped in step 112, and the continuous transmission mode of the RCF is canceled in step 113.

On the other hand, if no RCF is received and the TWR times out in step 109, the bypass is considered invalid, and is canceled in step 110, and the identifier N is set in step 111 to bypass the next downstream port. The next downstream port (P-1) of the most upstream boat (P) is bypassed in the 0th order.Hereinafter, in step 106,
The operations from 111 are repeated until the RCF is received.

The above describes a method of bypassing ports one by one from the most upstream port to the downstream ports one by one.

However, the above embodiments are insufficient for multiple failures distributed across multiple ports. For these, you can bypass multiple ports one by one. A method that can be easily considered is to bypass all ports at once in advance and then release the bypass one by one.

However, either method is the same in that RCF is used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, even under conditions that allow STs to freely connect to, disconnect from, and move from the network, there is no need to make each ST aware of ``1 which port the ST is connected to.'' This eliminates the problem of failure countermeasures being impossible due to misconfiguration of port identifiers.
This has the effect of reducing the amount of material by eliminating the need for a special mechanism (equipment W) for providing this.

Based on the above effect, it becomes possible to disconnect a port in an abnormal state from the network. In particular, it can be applied to multiple failures distributed across a plurality of different ports and line concentrators, and has the effect of making the network highly reliable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a starling configuration network, Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of communication frames used in the embodiment, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the failure countermeasure (configuration control) group in the management ST.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a reconfigurable ring communication network in which a plurality of stations are connected by a ring-shaped transmission path, configuration control data is sent from a configuration control station that performs configuration control when a network abnormality occurs, and the data is transmitted. A network configuration control method characterized in that a configuration control station that cannot receive data controls the configuration of the transmission path until the data is received. 2. The configuration control is a process of connecting/disconnecting a virtual failure part on the transmission path.
Section Network Configuration Control Method.