JPS63166348A - Communication control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To normally attain the communication between a central management equipment and a supervisory equipment even if a trouble takes place in the communication control equipment or no idle line exists by connecting other communication control equipment to its supervisory equipment if one of the communication control equipment is not connected to the corresponding supervisory equipment. CONSTITUTION:If a public line gateway GWS to be passes through normally is not normal or the GWS has no idle line, a main man-machine unit MMU 25 seeks a normal GWS with an idle line by confirming the state of other GWS. This is executed, in case of two GWSes, by checking the state of the other GWS if the state of the GWS checked first is bad, and in case of 3 or over of the GWSes, it is required to decide the order of the GWSes to be checked next in advance. When the normal GWS having an idle line exists as the result of the state of the other GWS, the MMU 25 uses the GWS to call the remote opposite station and communication is applied after the line is connected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a communication control method used in a communication system that manages, for example, a building in a remote location via a communication line.

[Conventional technology] Conventionally, management of buildings, etc. has involved controlling or monitoring various facilities such as environment, hygiene, disaster prevention, etc. for each individual facility, but as management technology has become more sophisticated in recent years, A building management system is provided that comprehensively manages the entire building. this is,
A distributed control device that arranges various equipment arranged in the building, for example, as one group for each room, and disperses them for each group;
It is constructed by connecting an 1E control device, which performs control and system processing across multiple distributed control devices, and an operator operation unit located at a building management center via a communication network.

Further, as an advanced version of this management system, a group management system is also provided that can collectively manage a plurality of distributed buildings at a specific location, that is, a central building. This group management system connects the center building's central management device and multiple remote building monitoring devices through dedicated communication lines, and transmits environmental information and other data between the center building and each remote building. By doing so, it is possible to automate or unattend the management of each remote building, contributing to a reduction in management costs by saving energy and labor in each building.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in the group management system as described above, depending on the scale of the remote building, it may not be necessary to transmit a large amount of data. It is uneconomical to use multiple communication lines, especially when many remote buildings are scattered over a wide area.
There was a problem that communication costs were high.

Therefore, a group management system has been proposed that aims to reduce communication costs by using public lines as communication lines. This system includes a plurality of communication control devices that control communication between a central management device and each monitoring device via public lines, and each communication control device has multiple lines connected to a plurality of corresponding monitoring devices. (communication channel).

However, in such a communication system, if a problem occurs in one communication control device or there is no free line, communication control between the monitoring device and the central management device via that communication control device becomes impossible. There was a problem.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a plurality of communication controls that control communications performed between a central management device and a plurality of monitoring devices via public lines. In a communication control system that includes devices, each communication control device is specified to be connected to a designated monitoring device via a public line, but if one of the communication control devices cannot connect to its corresponding monitoring device. In this case, another communication control device is configured to connect with the monitoring device.

[Embodiment] Fig. 1 shows a group management system that performs communication control according to the method of the present invention. Monitoring devices installed in multiple locations (e.g. remote buildings) and a central management device
The communication control device has a function of connecting the central management device 10 and the plurality of monitoring devices 11 via the public line 12. Multiple (two in the figure) public line gateways (Gate Way 5w1tched 1)
ine.

(hereinafter referred to as GWS) 13a, 13b and the corresponding GWS
and a plurality of communication adapters 14 for connecting the network to the public line 12. Note that the communication adapter 14 is also provided on each monitoring device 11 side in order to integrate the monitoring device 11 with the public line 12.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the central management device 10 includes an operator console (OPU) 21 and sub-operator consoles that are operated by building supervisors or operators to monitor each building (including the center building) and collect data. (SOPU) 22, a main console (MCL) 23 which is a control unit of this system, and a communication network 24 that connects these.

The operator console 21 is connected to the communication network 2.
The main man-machine device (M
MU) Contains 25. Two attached MMU25s
are CRT26 and message printer (MPR)2 respectively.
7 and can separate the continuous sections from each other, and if one of them is abnormal, the continuous section is backed up together with the MPR 27 cut I+. A hard copy printer (HCP) 28 for printing one display content can be connected to the CRT 26. In addition, the operator console 21
Also includes a graphic driver (GDR) 29 connected to the main console 23, to which input pushbuttons':/30 and output display 31 are connected.

The sub-operator console 22 includes an MMU 25 and a sub-man-machine unit (SMU) 32, which is installed in a separate location such as a sub-center or a disaster prevention center.
RT26 and MPR27 are connected.

The main console 23 includes a main control unit (MCU) 33 and a distributed control unit (DCU) 34 as modules connected to the communication network 24 . MCU33
is a magnetic disk (MD) or flexible disk (F
Equipped with an external storage device such as D) and a locking printer (LPR), it processes and stores management data and manages and distributes system-shared data, as well as global (spanning multiple DCUs) control and system processing. in charge of

On the other hand, the DCU 34 is distributed in a distributed manner in terms of the number of management points and placement locations, and communicates with various equipment such as heat sources, air conditioning, and electric power, and performs alarm detection, power failure/recovery control, various energy saving controls, etc. Let's do it.

Further, the communication network 24 uses optical fiber as a communication medium, has a ring structure, and can adopt high-level data link control (HDLC) as a protocol (communication protocol).

Furthermore, the GWS 13 and communication adapter 14 for public line connection are configured as shown in FIG. first,
The GWS 13 includes communication interfaces 41 and 42 for connecting to the communication network 24 and adapter 14, respectively, a storage unit 43 that stores the above-mentioned protocols and other necessary communication control procedures, and a communication network 24 according to the communication control procedures. A CPU that transmits path messages from to the building monitoring device 11 and performs other communication controls.
44. The data stored in advance in the GWS includes the telephone number of the communication destination, the setting of the calling/receiving channel, the model of each station (MMU, MCU, DCU), etc.

Each of the GWS 13 with such a configuration has multiple (for example, if
It has a communication line of 8 channels) and can therefore be connected to a maximum of 8 monitoring devices 11. Also, one GWS
The monitoring device to be normally connected to is determined. For example, the first
As shown in the figure, the system is normally configured such that when the central management device 10 communicates with the monitoring device 11a, it goes through GWS L 3 a, and when it communicates with the monitoring device 11b, it goes through GWS 13 b. .

The adapter 14 also includes a communication interface 45 for transmitting and receiving messages to and from the GWS 13, a processor 46 that performs the processing necessary for connection to the public line 12, and an automatic interface that is activated when calling a communication partner. Incoming/outgoing NCU
(network control unit) 47, and a modem 48 that is activated after the line is connected to the communication partner. Such a communication adapter is known as a personal computer adapter that uses a personal computer, and is also placed on the remote building side.

On the other hand, the monitoring devices 11 each have a public line connection distributed control device (
Similar to the DCU 34 on the center building side, the 5DU 51, which includes the SDU) 51 and the accompanying CRT and printer, communicates with various equipment such as heat sources, air conditioning, and electricity in the remote building where it is located, and detects alarms. , power outage/recovery control, various energy saving controls, etc., and also has the function of communicating with the central management device 10 via the public line 12 . That is,
As shown in FIG. 4, each 5DU5L has a communication interface 52 for connecting with the adapter 14 on the remote building side, various equipment in the remote building, and a central management device 10.
a storage unit 53 that stores necessary procedures for communication control with the CR; a CPU 54 that monitors remote buildings and communicates with the central management device 10 according to the stored procedures;
Man-machine interface 5 for connection with T, printer, etc.
5.

According to the present invention, in a group management system configured like a two-legged system, for example, when it is desired to transmit data from the center side to the remote side, communication control operations such as line connection are performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

First, normally, the MCU 33 checks the status of the GWS 13 at regular intervals (for example, every minute), and if there is an abnormality, the MM
Notify U25. In this state, when the operator sets the monitoring device 11 that the center wants to communicate with, the MM
U25 corresponds to 5DU51 of the other party with whom you want to communicate first (as mentioned above, it is specified to be passed through normally)
Check the status of GWS 13. If the GWS is operating normally and there is a free line, the GWS
The remote station is called, and once the line is connected, communication begins.

On the other hand, the GWS that should normally be routed is not normal or
If there is no free line in S, 1MMU25 is transferred to another G.
By checking the status of the WS, you can search for a GWS that is normal and has a line.
If there are two GWSs, the condition of the first GWS checked is bad, so the condition of the other GWS is checked, but if there are three or more GWSs, the next GWS to be checked is checked. It is necessary to determine the ranking in advance.

As a result of checking the status of other GWSs, if there is a GWS that is normal and has a free line, the MMU 25
S calls the other party's station on the remote side, and once the line is connected, communication begins.

However, if there is no GWS that is normal and has a free line, processing for GWS abnormality is performed. For example, if the GWS is not normal, the MMU 25 notifies the operator. Also, if there are no free lines,
The GWS waits until a free line becomes available, or disconnects a connected line under certain conditions to create a free line.

As mentioned above, in the group management system shown in FIG.
If a) cannot be connected to the corresponding monitoring device (for example, 11a) due to an accident or the like, another GWS (for example, 13b) is connected to the corresponding monitoring device (lla).

[-1] Example has been described below, but the present invention is not limited to this example. It can also be applied to communication systems other than management. In addition, as a communication control device used in the present invention, devices other than the GWS and the personal computer adapter with the above configuration can be used. 1 may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the plurality of communication control devices that control the communication (3) performed between the central management device and the plurality of monitoring devices via the public line, The communication control device is set to connect to a predetermined monitoring device, but if one of the communication control devices cannot connect to the corresponding monitoring device, another communication control device connects to the corresponding monitoring device. Even if a problem occurs with the control device or there is no free line, communication between the central management device and the monitoring device can be performed normally.In addition, when maintenance of the communication system is performed, one inspection or part replacement is required. Since the function of the communication control device temporarily removed from the system can be covered by another communication control device, there is also an effect that maintenance work can be carried out without interfering with communication.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a group management system implementing the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the components of the system in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication control device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a communication control operation according to the present invention. 10-- Central management device, 11-- Monitoring device, 12-- Public telephone line, 13-- Public line gateway (GWS), 14-
---One communication adapter, 21--One operator console, 22--Sub operator console, 23--
Main console, 24--1 communication network, 25--1 man-machine unit (MMU), 32--1 secondary man-machine unit (SMU), 33--1 control unit (MCU), 34- --Distributed control unit (D CU), 35---
computer. 51-----Public line distributed control unit (SDU). Patent applicant: Yamatake Honeywell Co., Ltd. Representative: Patent attorney: Susumu Hori Patent attorney: Kazuko Hori

Claims (1)

[Claims] A central management device installed at a specific location, a plurality of monitoring devices installed at locations distant from the central management device, and communication performed between the central management device and each monitoring device via a public line. Equipped with multiple communication control devices that control
Each of the communication control devices is determined to connect a line to a predetermined monitoring device, but if one of the communication control devices cannot connect to the corresponding monitoring device, the other communication control device connects to the corresponding monitoring device. A communication control method characterized by being configured to connect with.