KR102007484B1 - Apparatus for device modeling and method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed in the present specification are an apparatus and method for easily modeling a device through a user interface. According to the present specification, the apparatus for modeling a device may comprise: a communication unit having at least one LAN communication port and at least one serial communication port; a memory unit configured to store settings for a device that transmits and receives data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port; and a processor configured to provide an interface for configuring the settings for the device to a manager terminal connected through the LAN communication port, store the settings for the device inputted through the interface in the memory unit, and control the communication unit to communicate with the device connected to the LAN communication port or the serial communication port according to the settings for the device, stored in the memory unit.

Description

Device modeling apparatus and method {APPARATUS FOR DEVICE MODELING AND METHOD USING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and apparatus for modeling a device, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for easily modeling a device through a user interface.

The rapid growth of the IT industry has led to the emergence of numerous business models and numerous systems. This phenomenon has been widespread not only in the IT industry but also in many industries such as telecommunications, semiconductors, automobiles, logistics, and distribution. In particular, automation systems such as semiconductor and LCD manufacturing industry are composed of many devices / equipment.

Applicant has filed an invention (No. 10-1209005) that converts different protocols used by these devices / equipment to exchange data with other systems. In the present invention, a serial-to-ethernet protocol converter has been disclosed to enable communication between a higher system and a device / equipment using various protocols for each manufacturer.

Meanwhile, in recent years, with the development of IoT technology, a technology of collecting data through various sensors in a device and managing it in a higher system has been developed. For example, a temperature / humidity sensor, a vibration sensor, an infrared sensor, or the like may be attached to monitor whether one device included in the semiconductor production automation system is in normal operation (or failure).

In general, sensors convert analog signals into digital signals and output them. At this time, it is necessary to convert the digital signal output by the sensors into the form of data that can be recognized by the higher-level system and transmit it. In this case, even if the sensor of the same type is different for each type of sensor, even if the same type of sensor, even if the sensor is made by the same manufacturer, each sensor model has a different output method each time the sensor is installed or replaced for the first time There is a hassle to program each.

Patent Registration No. 10-1209005, 2012.111.30

An object of the present specification is to provide an apparatus and a method for easily modeling a device through a user interface.

The present specification is not limited to the above-mentioned task, and other tasks not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

Device modeling apparatus according to the present specification for solving the above problems, Communication unit having at least one LAN (LAN) communication port and at least one serial communication port; A memory unit configured to store settings for a device that transmits and receives data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port; And providing an interface for setting items for the device to an administrator terminal connected through the LAN communication port, storing the settings for the device input through the interface in the memory unit, and storing the device in the memory unit. And a processor controlling the communication unit to communicate with a device connected to the LAN communication port or the serial communication port according to a setting item.

According to one embodiment of the present specification, the interface may include a device registration interface, a communication protocol registration interface, a command registration interface, and a variable registration interface.

In this case, the device registration interface may be an interface for inputting at least one setting of a device name, a device communication server, and a physical communication scheme.

In this case, the communication protocol registration interface may be an interface capable of inputting settings for at least one of an encoding and a control type.

In this case, the command registration interface may be an interface for inputting a setting for request and response for extracting data from the device.

In this case, the variable registration interface may be an interface for inputting a setting for a variable represented by data extracted from the device.

A device modeling method according to the present disclosure for solving the above problems is a device modeling method using a device comprising a communication unit, a memory unit and a processor having at least one LAN communication port and at least one serial communication port. (a) providing, by the processor, a device registration interface for a device that transmits and receives data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port; (b) the processor providing a communication protocol registration interface for the device; (c) the processor providing a command registration interface for the device; And (d) the processor providing a variable registration interface for the device.

According to one embodiment of the present specification, step (a) may further include storing, by the processor, at least one setting of at least one of a device name, a device communication server, and a physical communication method in the memory unit. .

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, step (b) may further include storing, by the processor, at least one setting of at least one of an encoding and a control type in the memory unit.

According to one embodiment of the present specification, step (c) may further include storing, by the processor, settings for a request and a response for extracting data from the device in the memory unit.

According to one embodiment of the present specification, step (d) may further include storing, by the processor, settings for a variable represented by data extracted from the device in the memory unit.

The device modeling method according to the present specification may be implemented as a computer program written to perform each step in a computer and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

Other specific details of the invention are included in the detailed description and drawings.

According to the present specification, a device may be easily modeled through a user interface.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a device modeling apparatus according to the present specification.
2 is an exemplary diagram of an environment in which a device modeling apparatus according to the present disclosure is used.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a device modeling method according to the present specification.
4 is an exemplary diagram of a device registration interface according to the present specification.
5 is an exemplary diagram of a communication protocol registration interface according to the present specification.
6 is an exemplary diagram of a command registration interface according to the present specification.
7 is an exemplary diagram of a variable registration interface according to the present specification.

Advantages and features of the invention disclosed herein, and methods of achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various forms, and the present embodiments are merely provided to make the disclosure of the present disclosure complete, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. It is provided to fully inform the skilled person (hereinafter, "the person in charge") the scope of the present specification, the scope of the present specification is defined only by the scope of the claims. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a device modeling apparatus according to the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 1, the device modeling apparatus 100 according to the present specification may include a communication unit 110, a memory unit 120, and a processor 130.

The communication unit 110 may have at least one LAN communication port and at least one serial communication port.

The memory unit 120 may store settings for devices that transmit and receive data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port.

The memory unit 120 may be inside or outside the processor 130 and may be connected to the processor 130 by various well-known means. The memory unit 120 is a mass storage medium such as a semiconductor device or a hard disk, which is known to record and erase data such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, etc., and refers to a device for storing information regardless of the type of device. Does not refer to a particular memory device.

The processor 130 may provide an interface for setting matters for the device to a manager terminal connected through the LAN communication port. In addition, the processor 130 may store settings for the device input through the interface in the memory unit. In addition, the processor 130 may control the communication unit 110 to communicate with a device connected to the LAN communication port or the serial communication port according to the device setting items stored in the memory unit 120. The processor 130 may include a CPU, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), another chipset, a logic circuit, a register, a communication modem, a data processing device, and the like, which are known in the art to execute logic to be described below. It may include.

In order to help the understanding of the present specification, an example environment in which the device modeling apparatus 100 is used will be described.

2 is an exemplary diagram of an environment in which a device modeling apparatus according to the present disclosure is used.

2, it can be seen that the device modeling apparatus 100 according to the present specification is shown in the center. The device modeling apparatus 100 may be connected to various devices shown below the device modeling apparatus in FIG. 2. The various devices correspond to a lower level based on the device modeling apparatus 100. The various devices may be PLC, vibration sensor, ultrasonic sensor, infrared sensor, photosensor, magnet sensor, temperature and humidity sensor. The various devices may be connected through the serial communication port of the device modeling apparatus 100, but may also be connected through a LAN communication port. An example of a communication protocol through the serial communication port is RS232, and an example of a communication protocol through the LAN communication port is TCP / IP. However, the device modeling apparatus 100 according to the present specification is not limited to the communication protocol presented as an example. The device modeling apparatus 100 may be connected to various servers or systems shown above the device modeling apparatus in FIG. 2 through a LAN communication port. The various servers or systems correspond to higher levels based on the device modeling apparatus 100. The various servers or systems may play a role of data analysis, equipment analysis, equipment control, and the like.

Various servers or systems corresponding to the higher level need to receive data from various devices corresponding to the lower level or transmit control commands to the devices. At this time, the various servers or systems may be programmed using different communication protocols or different variable values. Similarly, the various devices may output data or receive commands using various communication protocols or various variable values according to manufacturers, characteristics, product model numbers, and the like. In particular, the device modeling apparatus 100 according to the present disclosure may reduce the hassle of programming an administrator each time a device frequently added, replaced, or the like, and may provide convenience for modeling through an interface. At this time, the administrator may connect to the device modeling apparatus 100 through the LAN communication port using an administrator terminal (eg, laptop, smartphone, smart pad, etc.). The manager may be provided with an interface for setting matters for the device from the device modeling apparatus 100. The administrator may input settings for the device in an interface provided on a screen of the administrator terminal. The setting items are stored in the memory unit 120, and the processor 130 may control the communication unit 110 to perform communication with the device according to the setting items.

Hereinafter, a device modeling method according to the present specification will be described. However, in describing the device modeling method according to the present specification, a description of the configuration of the device modeling apparatus described above will be omitted since it is repeated. In addition, it is assumed that the manager terminal and the device modeling device are connected to each other through a communication network.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a device modeling method according to the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 3, in operation S100, the processor 130 may provide a device registration interface to a manager terminal for a device that transmits and receives data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port. .

4 is an exemplary diagram of a device registration interface according to the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 4, the device registration interface may be an interface for inputting at least one setting of a device name, a device communication server, and a physical communication scheme.

Since the name of the device is used as an ID for identifying the device, it must be unique. In addition, in connection with communication of the device, it is possible to input the IP address of the device in which the device is installed. The device registration interface may further input a physical space in which the device is installed, a model name provided by the manufacturer of the device, and a type of the device. As an example related to the physical communication method, an RS-232 communication standard may be used, and a transmission rate, data bit, stop bit, and parity may be input for mutual communication.

The administrator may input matters related to the device in the device registration interface displayed on the manager terminal screen. The manager terminal may transmit data about the input item to the device registration apparatus through a communication network. In operation S110, the processor 130 may store, in the memory unit 120, at least one setting of a device name, a device communication server, and a physical communication method.

In a next step S120, the processor 130 may provide a communication protocol registration interface for the device.

5 is an exemplary diagram of a communication protocol registration interface according to the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 5, the communication protocol registration interface may be an interface capable of inputting settings for at least one of an encoding and a control type.

The communication protocol registration interface is a setting for dividing communication data into frame units. For example, the encoding type may be an ASCII type and a BINARY type. For example, the control type may include a regular expression, an end string, a fixed length, a use header, and a user logic method. In addition, an end string may be input when the end string is selected as the control type. Also in addition

In order to prevent the loss of data due to the buffer capacity exceeded between the receiver and the sender, it is possible to input the part of the flow script, which is a special control character (Xon, Xoff) used for the software flow control.

The administrator may input matters related to the communication protocol of the device in the communication protocol registration interface displayed on the screen of the manager terminal. The manager terminal may transmit data about the input item to the device registration apparatus through a communication network. In operation S130, the processor 130 may store settings for at least one of encoding and control types in the memory unit 120.

In a next step S140, the processor 130 may provide a command registration interface for the device.

6 is an exemplary diagram of a command registration interface according to the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 6, the command registration interface may be an interface for inputting a setting for request and response for extracting data from the device.

For example, sensor devices such as temperature, humidity, and three-axis acceleration (vibration sensors) are not only a small amount of data, but also request data and most complex forms of response, so the format of requests and responses is a regular expression. The data (variables) required by modeling can be obtained. For example, the input items may be as shown in the following example according to the specification of the 3-axis acceleration sensor.

[example]

Transmit Format: <1> + Check-sum + CR

Receive Format: [1 0 "X" "Y" "Z"] + Check-sum + CR

The format of the sensor above is modeled as a regular expression as shown below.

Send format: <1> 33 \ r

Incoming format: .1+ \ s0 + \ s (? <X>. +) \ S (? <Y>. +) \ S (? <Z>. +)]

The administrator may input a matter related to a command for controlling a device to a command registration interface displayed on the manager terminal screen. The manager terminal may transmit data about the input item to the device registration apparatus through a communication network. In operation S150, the processor 130 may store settings for a request and a response for extracting data from the device in the memory unit 120.

In a next step S150, the processor 130 may provide a variable registration interface for the device.

7 is an exemplary diagram of a variable registration interface according to the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 7, the variable registration interface may be an interface for inputting settings for variables represented by data extracted from the device.

The variable registration interface is an interface for operating the variable extracted from the command registration interface in order to provide the variables to the upper solution software and integrating the unit, etc., and assigning the unique ID. Examples of inputs include Unique Identifiers (UIDs) for managing variables, Alias inputs for easy-to-remember or meaningful names, and inputs for encoding types of extracted variables (e.g. ASCII basic, decimal integer, hexadecimal integer, Float, Double Float, Binary, Binary Float, Binary Double Float, etc., inputs regarding the input format of the extracted variable (e.g.% d,% 2f, etc.), parent solution Input information about the variable name to be used as the source of the software (Source VID), and input the script to process the extracted variable (e.g. temperature sensor, 35.6 degrees per sensor, 365, 3652, 36523, etc.) Depending on the technology, the value of the variable can be different in various forms, so to make it equal to 36.5 degrees, enter 'Source * 0.1' in the Script for 365 and 'Source * 0.01' for the 3652, 36523 In this case, enter 'Source * 0.001')

The administrator may input matters related to variables regarding the contents expressed by the data of the device in the variable registration interface displayed on the screen of the manager terminal. The manager terminal may transmit data about the input item to the device registration apparatus through a communication network. In addition, the processor 130 may store, in the memory unit 120, settings for variables represented by data extracted from the device in operation S170.

Thereafter, the processor 130 will control the communication unit 110 to communicate with a device connected to the LAN communication port or the serial communication port according to the device setting items stored in the memory unit 120.

Meanwhile, the device modeling method according to the present specification may be a computer program written to perform each step in a computer and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer program is a C / C ++, C #, JAVA, Python that the computer's processor (CPU) can read through the computer's device interface in order for the computer to read the program and execute the methods implemented as the program. It may include a code (Code) coded in a computer language, such as machine language. Such code may include functional code associated with a function or the like that defines the necessary functions for executing the methods, and includes control procedures related to execution procedures necessary for the computer's processor to execute the functions according to a predetermined procedure. can do. In addition, the code may further include memory reference code for additional information or media required for the computer's processor to execute the functions at which location (address address) of the computer's internal or external memory should be referenced. have. Also, if the processor of the computer needs to communicate with any other computer or server remotely in order to execute the functions, the code may be used to communicate with any other computer or server remotely using the communication module of the computer. It may further include a communication related code for whether to communicate, what information or media should be transmitted and received during communication.

The stored medium is not a medium for storing data for a short time such as a register, a cache, a memory, but semi-permanently, and means a medium that can be read by the device. Specifically, examples of the storage medium include, but are not limited to, a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like. That is, the program may be stored in various recording media on various servers to which the computer can access or various recording media on the computer of the user. The media may also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored in a distributed fashion.

While the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, a person skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs may practice the present disclosure in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. I can understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

100: device modeling device
110: communication unit
120: memory
130: processor

Claims (12)

A communication unit having at least one LAN communication port and at least one serial communication port;
A memory unit configured to store settings for a device that transmits and receives data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port; And
Providing a device registration interface, a communication protocol registration interface, a command registration interface, and a variable registration interface for setting details of the device to an administrator terminal connected through the LAN communication port, and the device registration interface, communication protocol registration interface, and command registration. Saves the settings for the device input through the interface and variable registration interface in the memory unit, and communicates with the device connected to the LAN communication port or the serial communication port according to the device settings stored in the memory unit A device modeling apparatus comprising; a processor for controlling the communication unit to include:
The device registration interface,
Primary Key used as ID, name of device communication server, IP address of device where device is installed, physical space, model name provided by device manufacturer, device type and physical communication method. It is an interface that can be input,
The communication protocol registration interface,
Setting of any encoding type of ASCII type and BINARY type, Regular Expression, End String, Fixed Length, Use Header, Custom Logic, Device modeling device that is an interface that can input the setting of the control type of whether to use the flow control. delete delete delete The method according to claim 1,
The command registration interface,
Device modeling device that is an interface that can input the settings for request and response for extracting data from the device. The method according to claim 1,
The variable registration interface,
A device modeling apparatus that is an interface for inputting a setting for a variable represented by data extracted from the device. A device modeling method using an apparatus comprising a communication unit, a memory unit, and a processor having at least one LAN communication port and at least one serial communication port,
(a) the processor provides a device registration interface for a device that transmits and receives data through the LAN communication port or the serial communication port, and sets a name of the device, a device communication server, and a physical communication method; Storing in the memory unit;
(b) the processor providing a communication protocol registration interface for the device and storing settings for encoding and control type in the memory unit;
(c) the processor providing a command registration interface for the device; And
(d) the processor providing a variable registration interface for the device;
The device registration interface,
Primary Key used as ID, name of device communication server, IP address of device where device is installed, physical space, model name provided by device manufacturer, device type and physical communication method. It is an interface that can be input,
The communication protocol registration interface,
Setting of any encoding type of ASCII type and BINARY type, Regular Expression, End String, Fixed Length, Use Header, Custom Logic, Device modeling method that is an interface that can input the setting of the control type for the use of the flow control. delete delete The method according to claim 7,
In the step (c), the processor further stores the settings for the request and response for extracting data from the device in the memory unit. The method according to claim 7,
In the step (d), the processor further stores the setting for the variable represented by the data extracted from the device in the memory unit. A computer program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, which is written to perform respective steps of the method according to any one of claims 7, 10 to 11, in a computer.

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