TWI688248B - Communication control device - Google Patents

Abstract

The communication control device (1a) of the present invention includes: a communication request processing section (11) that creates a command frame for writing data to a transmission destination based on the write request information, and sends the command frame to a connection with a usable connection Corresponding PLC communication processing unit (10-1～10-n); communication request processing unit (13), according to the read request information, create a command frame to read data from the transmission source, and send it to the corresponding transmission source The communication processing unit (12-1～12-m) for the adjustment meter; and the data transmission processing unit (14), making a read request for the transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information of the data transmission definition unit (15) Information, when receiving the data requested in the read request information from the transmission source, create write request information that writes the data to the transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information.

Description

Communication control device

The invention relates to a communication control device that realizes data transmission between a higher-level device and a lower-level device.

When reading and writing data to a programmable logic controller (Programmable Logic Controller, hereinafter referred to as PLC) or a temperature regulator (hereinafter referred to as a regulator) through communication, it has the following communication protocol (protocol): The communication control device disclosed in Patent Document 1 specifies a data address associated with a parameter (or register) in the device, communicates through a command response, and reads and writes the value of the parameter. As such a communication protocol, there are MODBUS (registered trademark) disclosed in Patent Document 2, MC protocol, and Controller Peripheral Link (CPL).

13 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the communication control device disclosed in Patent Document 1. FIG. In the example of FIG. 13, the communication control device 1 uses CPL to read data from the regulator 3 and uses MODBUS to write the read data to the PLC 2.

PLC2 exists as a host device, and in a system in which each regulator 3 is controlled by its instruction, the data of each regulator 3 (the data of the operation amount MV or the control amount PV) is read through communication as described above , And put together in PLC2. In the communication between the PLC 2 and the regulator 3 via the communication control device 1, serial communication has been used conventionally. In the case of serial communication, as shown in FIG. 14, the number of regulators 3 for one physical port (COM port) to read data by command response is one.

In the case of Internet Protocol (IP) communication using a local area network (LAN) such as Ethernet (registered trademark), which has increased in recent years, as shown in FIG. A plurality of regulators 3 on the LAN 4 of the system read out data in large quantities and at high speeds in response to commands in parallel. The amount of data per unit time when the communication control device 1 transmits data to the PLC 2 is proportional to the number of connected controllers 3. The number of data that the communication control device 1 and the PLC 2 can send and receive through command response is limited. When the number of data that can be exchanged exceeds one time, it must be divided into multiple communication frames 5-1, communication frames 5-2, ... When it cannot be processed in parallel, it must be processed sequentially while waiting for the command response of each communication frame.

Regarding the communication volume per unit time of the communication control device 1 and PLC2, in the case of serial communication, even if the number of connected controllers 3 increases, it will not be greatly affected by the number of physical communication ports. In the case of IP communication, the communication volume between the communication control device 1 and the PLC 2 increases in proportion to the number of connected controllers 3. As a result, in a system using a large number of regulators 3, there is a problem that the communication between the communication control device 1 and the PLC 2 becomes a bottleneck.

As a solution to this problem, there is the following method: In the communication between the communication control device 1 and the PLC 2, the command is sent in parallel without waiting for a response in the command response process. For example, as long as it is a communication protocol such as MODBUS/Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) with a frame number (frame identification (ID)) function, multiple commands can be sent at once.

However, the number of concurrent executions is limited by the communication protocol or the device-specific specifications. If the command exceeds PLC2's processing power and a command is sent, TCP retransmission processing may occur multiple times, resulting in a decrease in overall performance. Also, there are communication protocols that do not have the function of frame numbers. When such a communication protocol is used, there is a possibility that the order of frames may be changed due to retransmission processing, etc., so it is impossible to execute multiple command response processes concurrently. [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-34433 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-234171

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention is made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication control device that can be free from the restriction of communication protocols even when the number of connections of lower devices such as regulators increases And realize high-efficiency data transmission between the upper device and the lower device. [Technical means to solve the problem]

The communication control device of the present invention is characterized by including: a plurality of first communication processing sections, which are provided for each of the plurality of lower-level devices, and configured to communicate with the corresponding lower-level devices; and a plurality of second communication processing sections , For each of the multiple connections set up with the higher-level device, configured to communicate with the higher-level device via the corresponding connection; the data transmission definition section stores data transmission definition information in advance The data transmission processing unit is configured in such a manner as to produce read request information for the lower-level device of the transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information, and when the transmission source receives the When reading out the data requested in the request information, create write request information that writes the received data to the higher-level device of the transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information; the first communication request processing unit , Constructed in the following manner: according to the read request information, a first command frame (data command frame) for reading data from the transmission source is created and sent to the first corresponding to the transmission source The communication processing section, when the first communication processing section receives the first response frame from the transmission source, takes out the data requested in the read request information from the first response frame and sends it to the data A transmission processing section; and a second communication request processing section configured in such a way that when there is a usable connection among the plurality of connections, according to the write request information, a data is written to the Transfer the second command frame of the destination, and send the second command frame to the second communication processing section corresponding to the usable connection, when the second communication processing section When the second response frame is received, the data transmission processing unit is notified of the result indicated by the second response frame.

In addition, the communication control device of the present invention is characterized by including a plurality of first communication processing sections provided for each of the plurality of connections set with the higher-level device to communicate with the higher-level device via the corresponding connection The second communication processing unit is provided for each of the lower-level devices, and is configured to communicate with the corresponding lower-level device; the data transmission definition unit stores data transmission definition information in advance The data transmission processing unit is configured in such a manner as to create read request information for the higher-level device of the transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information, and when the read is received from the transmission source When the data requested in the request information is generated, write request information for writing the received data to the lower-level device of the transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information is prepared; the first communication request processing section, It is structured as follows: When there is a usable connection among the plurality of connections, according to the read request information, a first command frame for reading data from the transmission source is made and sent to the The first communication processing section corresponding to the transmission source, when the first communication processing section receives the first response frame from the transmission source, extracts the read request information from the first response frame The requested data is sent to the data transmission processing section; and the second communication request processing section is configured in the following manner: according to the write request information, a data written to the transmission destination is created Two command frames and send them to the second communication processing section corresponding to the transmission destination, when the second communication processing section receives the second response frame from the transmission destination, the The result indicated by the second response frame is notified to the data transmission processing section.

Furthermore, in a configuration example of the communication control device of the present invention, the data transmission definition information includes the information of the transmission source, the information of the transmission destination, and the conditions for starting the data transmission. And set the data transmission cycle as the start condition. Furthermore, in a configuration example of the communication control device of the present invention, the data transmission definition information includes the information of the transmission source, the information of the transmission destination, and the conditions for starting the data transmission. And the trigger information is set as the starting condition. Furthermore, a configuration example of the communication control device of the present invention is characterized in that the plurality of connections are set on one communication port of the higher-level device. Furthermore, one configuration example of the communication control device of the present invention is characterized in that one of the connections is set on each of the plurality of communication ports of the higher-level device. [Effect of invention]

According to the present invention, by setting multiple connections between the communication control device and the higher-level device for communication, multiple command frames can be sent to the higher-level device in parallel via the multiple connections, so even when the number of connections of the lower-level device increases In addition, high-efficiency data transmission between the higher-level device and the lower-level device can be achieved without being restricted by the communication protocol.

[Principle of Invention] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. When communicating with a PLC, even if the available communication protocol is a protocol that cannot coexist to execute commands, there may be multiple specifications that can be established on one TCP communication port as the specifications of the PLC. Also, even when only a single connection is allowed, there may be cases where multiple TCP communication ports can be used simultaneously. The specifications of these PLCs are assumed to connect multiple devices (touch panel, computer, etc.) to the PLC.

In the present invention, by using a technology capable of establishing multiple connections with the PLC at the same time, the communication control device 1a executes command response processing on the multiple connections in parallel to delete the wasted time caused by the response waiting from the PLC.

[First Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication control device 1a according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication control device 1a includes: n PLC communication processing sections 10-1 to PLC communication processing sections 10-n (n is an integer of 2 or more), and is connected to PLC2 via a network such as Ethernet, and is aimed at Each of the set multiple connections is provided to communicate with the PLC 2 via the corresponding connection; the communication request processing unit 11 creates a command to write data to the transmission destination based on write request information from a data transmission processing unit described later Frame, the command frame is sent to the communication processing unit for PLC 10-1 to the communication processing unit for PLC 10-n corresponding to the available connection, when the communication processing unit for PLC 10-1 to the communication processing unit for PLC 10- n When the response frame is received, notify the data transmission processing section of the result represented by the response frame; m communication processing sections for adjustment meter 12-1 to communication processing sections for adjustment meter 12-m (m is 2 or more Integer), set for each regulator 3-1 to 3-m, and connected to the regulator 3-1 to 3-m via a network such as Ethernet; the communication request processing unit 13 is based on data from The transmission processing unit reads out the request information, creates a command frame for reading the data from the transmission source, and sends it to the communication communication processing unit 12-1 to the communication communication processing unit 12-m corresponding to the transmission source, when When receiving the response frame, the communication processing unit 12-1 for the adjustment meter 12-m for the adjustment meter takes out the data requested in the read request information from the response frame and sends it to the data transmission processing unit; the data transmission processing unit 14. Produce readout request information for the transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information. When receiving the data requested in the readout request information from the transmission source, write the received data to The write request information of the transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information; and the data transmission definition section 15 pre-stores the data transmission definition information including the information of the transmission source, the information of the transmission destination, and the start condition of the data transmission.

In this embodiment, the following case will be described: As shown in FIG. 3, as a specification of PLC2, it is allowed to establish a plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n on one TCP communication port 200. 100-1 to 100-n in FIG. 3 are the TCP communication ports set in the PLC communication processing section 10-1 to the PLC communication processing section 10-n of the communication control device 1a, and 101-1 to 101- m is respectively the TCP communication port set in the communication processing part 12-1 for an adjustment meter of the communication control apparatus 1a-the communication processing part 12-m for an adjustment, 300-1 to 300-m is the adjustment meter 3-1, respectively ～Adjust 3-m TCP communication port, Ccon-1～Ccon-m is in TCP communication port 101-1～TCP communication port 101-m and TCP communication port 300-1～TCP communication port 300 The connection set between -m.

表1In the data transmission definition unit 15, the data transmission definition information shown in Table 1 is stored in advance. The data transmission definition information includes the start condition of the data transmission, the address information of the data transmission source (in this embodiment, the monitoring point of the regulator 3-1 to the regulator 3-m or the address of the designated data), and the purpose of the data transmission The address information of the ground (in this embodiment, the address of the register of PLC2).

Table 1

In the example of Table 1, the period of data transmission is defined as the starting condition of data transmission, and it is known that data transmission is performed every 200 msec. Such data transmission definition information is registered in advance by the user of the communication control device 1a.

4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the data transmission processing unit 14 of the communication control device 1a of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the communication request processing unit 13 and the communication processing unit 12-1 for the adjustment meter to the communication processing unit for the adjustment meter A flowchart of the operation of 12-m. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the communication request processing unit 11 and the communication processing unit for PLC 10-1 to the communication processing unit for PLC 10-n.

The data transmission processing unit 14 stands by until the activation condition defined in the data transmission definition information of the data transmission definition unit 15 is satisfied. When the timing at which the data transmission should be carried out is reached and the start-up condition is satisfied (Yes in step S100 in FIG. 4), the data transmission processing unit 14 creates the data for transmission source address information defined in the data transmission definition information. Read the request information of the data from the data transmission source (step S101 in FIG. 4). The read request information includes the transmission source address information.

Then, the data transmission processing section 14 sends the created read request information to the communication request processing section (in this embodiment, the communication request processing section 13) corresponding to the data transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information (Step S102 in FIG. 4). The data transmission processing unit 14 repeats the processes of step S101 and step S102 until the transmission of the read request information is completed for all groups of the data transmission source and the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information (in FIG. 4 Yes in step S103).

Next, when receiving the read request information from the data transmission processing unit 14 (YES in step S200 of FIG. 5), the communication request processing unit 13 performs a communication request queue for storing the received read request information in the internal (Requestqueue) (not shown) communication request queue processing (step S201 in FIG. 5).

Next, when the communication request processing unit 13 stores the unprocessed read request information in the communication request queue (Yes in step S202 of FIG. 5), the unprocessed read request information is used as the processing object, and the It is read out whether or not the communication controller 3 (3-1 to 3-m) of the data transmission source specified in the transmission source address information included in the request information is in communication processing (step S203 in FIG. 5).

When the communication request processing unit 13 is not in communication processing with the data transmission source (NO in step S203), based on the read request information of the processing object, it creates a command frame for reading out the data from the data transmission source ( (Step S204 in FIG. 5). The command frame contains the transmission source address information.

Then, the communication request processing unit 13 transmits the created command frame to the communication processing unit 12 (12-1 to 12-m) for the adjustment meter corresponding to the data transmission source (in this embodiment, the adjustment meter). The communication processing unit 12 for regulators (12-1 to 12-m) sends the received command frame to the data transmission source via the connection Ccon (Ccon-1 to Ccon-m) set with the data transmission source Regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) (step S205 in FIG. 5).

Regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m), when receiving the command frame, acquires the data specified in the transmission source address information contained in the received command frame from the internal memory, and prepares to include the data Response frame. Then, the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) transmits the created response frame via the connection Ccon (Ccon-1 to Ccon-m) set with the communication control device 1a of the transmission source of the command frame To the communication control device 1a.

The communication processing unit 12 (12-1 to 12-m) of the communication controller 1a of the communication control device 1a that has transmitted the command frame receives the response frame for the command frame from the adjustment meter 3 (3-1 to 3-m) When (YES in step S206 in FIG. 5 ), the received response frame is sent to the communication request processing unit 13.

The communication request processing unit 13 analyzes the response frame, and takes out the data sent from the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) of the data transmission source from the response frame (step S207 in FIG. 5). The communication request processing unit 13 sends the data extracted from the response frame to the data transmission processing unit 14 as a result of the read request information of the processing object (step S208 in FIG. 5 ).

Then, after sending the result requested in the read request information of the processing object to the data transmission processing unit 14, the communication request processing unit 13 deletes the read request information from the internal communication request queue (step S209 in FIG. 5) And return to step S200.

Next, when the data transmission processing unit 14 receives the result requested in the read request information from the communication request processing unit 13 (Yes in step S104 of FIG. 4), it is based on The transmission destination address information defined in the data transmission definition information creates write request information for writing data to the data transmission destination (step S105 in FIG. 4). The write request information includes the transmission destination address information and the data sent from the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) of the data transmission source.

Then, the data transmission processing section 14 sends the created write request information to the communication request processing section (in this embodiment, the communication request processing section 11) corresponding to the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information ) (Step S106 in FIG. 4 ).

Next, when receiving the write request information from the data transfer processing unit 14 (YES in step S300 of FIG. 6), the communication request processing unit 11 performs a communication request queue for storing the received write request information in the internal (Not shown) communication request queue processing (step S301 in FIG. 6).

Next, when the communication request processing section 11 stores unprocessed write request information in the communication request queue (Yes in step S302 in FIG. 6), the unprocessed write request information is used as the processing object, and the Whether the data transmission destination (PLC2 in this embodiment) specified in the transmission destination address information included in the write request information is in communication processing (step S303 in FIG. 6).

In this embodiment, a plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n are set between the communication control device 1a and the PLC 2, so when all the connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n are used, it becomes in communication processing The result of this determination is that when at least one of the connection Pcon-1 to the connection Pcon-n is not in use, it becomes a determination result that it is not in communication processing.

When the communication request processing unit 11 is not in communication processing with the data transmission destination, that is, when there is a usable connection among the plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n (NO in step S303), based on The write request information of the object is processed to create a command frame for writing data to the data transmission destination (step S304 in FIG. 6). The command frame contains the transmission destination address information and the data sent from the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) of the data transmission source.

Then, the communication request processing unit 11 sends the created command frame to the plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n usable among the plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n set with the data transmission destination (PLC2 in this embodiment) The communication processing section 10 for PLC (10-1 to 10-n) corresponding to the connection. The communication processing unit 10 for PLC (10-1 to 10-n) transmits a command frame to the PLC 2 of the data transmission destination via the corresponding connection Pcon (Pcon-1 to Pcon-n) (step S305 in FIG. 6).

When PLC2 receives the command frame, it uses the connection Pcon (Pcon-1 to Pcon-n) that received the command frame to send a response frame indicating that the command frame has been received back to the communication control device 1a. And, PLC2 writes the data contained in the command frame to the temporary register specified in the transmission destination address information contained in the received command frame. In this way, the data of regulator 3 (3-1～3-m) can be transferred to PLC2.

The PLC communication processing unit 10 (10-1 to 10-n) of the communication control device 1a that has transmitted the command frame receives a response frame for the command frame from the PLC 2 (YES in step S306 in FIG. 6), The received response frame is sent to the communication request processing section 11.

The communication request processing unit 11 analyzes the response frame (step S307 in FIG. 6), and when the PLC2 confirming the data transmission destination receives the command frame, it will indicate that the processing requested by the write request information of the processing object has ended, As a result of the request in the write request information of the processing object, it is sent to the data transmission processing unit 14 (step S308 in FIG. 6 ).

Then, after sending the result requested in the write request information of the processing object to the data transmission processing unit 14, the communication request processing unit 11 deletes the write request information from the internal communication request queue (step S309 in FIG. 6) And return to step S300.

When the data transmission processing unit 14 receives the result requested in the write request information from the communication request processing unit 11 (Yes in step S107 in FIG. 4), the data transmission source and the data transmission defined in the data transmission definition information are defined for the data transmission All groups at the destination determine whether the data transmission has ended (step S108 in FIG. 4).

The data transmission processing unit 14 returns to step S104 when the data transmission is not completed for all the groups of the data transmission source and the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information (NO in step S108). In addition, the data transmission processing unit 14 returns to step S100 when the data transmission has ended for all groups of the data transmission source and the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information (YES in step S108), and Standby is performed until the next start condition is satisfied.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the communication control device 1a of this embodiment. In the example of FIG. 7, a case where three connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-3 are set between the communication control device 1a and the PLC 2 will be described.

4 and 5, the communication control device 1a transmits the command frame Cc-1 to the command frame Cc-3 for reading the data to the regulator 3-1 to the regulator 3-3. For the command frame Cc-1 to the command frame Cc-3, the adjustment meter 3-1 to the adjustment meter 3-3 sends the response frame Cr-1 to the response frame Cr-3 containing the requested data back to the communication control device 1a.

Then, the communication control device 1a sends the command frame Pc-1 to the command frame Pc-3 to the PLC 2 in parallel via the three connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-3, the command frame Pc-1 to the command frame Pc-3 It is used to write the data contained in the received response frame Cr-1 ~ response frame Cr-3 to PLC2. The PLC2 sends back the response frames Pr-1 to Pr-3 indicating that the command frame Pc-1 to the command frame Pc-3 have been received, and sends them back to the communication control device 1a via the connection Pcon-1 to the connection Pcon-3, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the conventional communication control device 1. Conventionally, the command response processing between the communication control device 1 and the regulator 3-1 to the regulator 3-3 is also the same as this embodiment.

On the other hand, for the communication control device 1 and PLC2, only one connection Pcon-1 is set, so the communication control device 1 cannot receive the next command frame until it receives the response frame Pr-1 for the command frame Pc-1 Pc-2 is sent to PLC2. Similarly, the communication control device 1 cannot send the next command frame Pc-3 to the PLC 2 until it receives the response frame Pr-2 for the command frame Pc-2. As described above, in the conventional communication control device 1, it can be seen that multiple command response processes cannot be executed concurrently.

As described above, in this embodiment, by setting a plurality of connections between the communication control device 1a and the PLC 2 to perform communication, it is possible to realize the PLC 2 and the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) via the communication control device 1a ) Efficient data transmission. The communication protocol of the PLC 2 or the communication protocol of the controller 3 (3-1 to 3-m) may be any communication protocol that can utilize TCP/IP communication, and the present invention can be applied regardless of the type of communication protocol. Therefore, high-efficiency data transmission can be achieved without being restricted by the communication protocol.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the following has been described: As a specification of PLC2, it is allowed to establish a plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n on one TCP communication port 200. On the other hand, the present invention can also be applied to the following situations: As shown in FIG. 9, as the specification of PLC2, only one connection is allowed to be established on each TCP communication port, but multiple TCP communication ports 200 can be set -1 ~ TCP communication port 200-n, you can establish connection Pcon-1 ~ connection Pcon-n on each TCP communication port 200-1 ~ TCP communication port 200-n. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the configuration and operation of the communication control device 1a are also as described in the first embodiment.

In addition, the present invention can also be applied to a case where, as the specifications of the PLC 2, multiple TCP communication ports can be set, and multiple connections can be established on each TCP communication port.

表2[Third Embodiment] In the first and second embodiments, the case where the period of data transmission is defined as the start condition of data transmission has been described, but the trigger information may also be defined as start as shown in Table 2. condition. In the example in Table 2, when the temporary register specified by the address M001 of PLC2 becomes ON, the start condition is established and the data transmission starts. In addition, in the first and second embodiments, the case where the regulator 3-1 to the regulator 3-m are the transmission source and PLC2 is the transmission destination is described. However, as shown in Table 2, the PLC2 may be The transmission source, regulator 3-1 to regulator 3-m are the transmission destinations.

Table 2

In this embodiment, the configuration of the communication control device 1a is also the same as in the first and second embodiments. Therefore, using the symbols in FIG. 2, it is explained that the data transmission definition shown in Table 2 is stored in the data transmission definition unit 15 The operation of the communication control device 1a at the time of information. The processing flow of the data transmission processing unit 14 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore, the symbols in FIG. 4 are used for description. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the communication request processing unit 11 and the PLC communication processing unit 10-1 to the PLC communication processing unit 10-n, and FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the communication request processing unit 13 and the adjustment meter communication processing unit 12 -1 to flowchart of the operation of the communication processing unit 12-m for the regulator.

The data transmission processing unit 14 turns on (ON) the specific register specified by the address M001 of PLC2, and the start condition is established (Yes in step S100 in FIG. 4), based on the definition in the data transmission definition information Information of the transmission source address to create the read request information (step S101 in FIG. 4). In addition, the state of the temporary memory of PLC2 can be monitored regularly via the communication request processing part 11 and the PLC communication processing part 10 (10-1 to 10-n).

Then, the data transmission processing unit 14 sends the created read request information to the communication request processing unit (in this embodiment, the communication request processing unit 11) corresponding to the data transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information (Step S102 in FIG. 4).

Next, when receiving the read request information from the data transfer processing unit 14 (YES in step S400 in FIG. 10), the communication request processing unit 11 performs a communication request queue for storing the received read request information in the internal The communication request queue processing (step S401 in FIG. 10).

Next, when the communication request processing section 11 stores unprocessed read request information in the communication request queue (YES in step S402 in FIG. 10), the unprocessed read request information is used as the processing object, and the It is read out whether the data transmission source specified in the transmission source address information included in the request information is in communication processing (step S403 in FIG. 10).

When the communication request processing unit 11 is not in communication processing with the PLC 2 of the data transmission source, that is, when there is a usable connection among the plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n (No in step S403) Based on the read request information of the processing object, a command frame for reading data from the data transmission source is created (step S404 in FIG. 10).

Then, the communication request processing unit 11 sends the created command frame to the available connections among the plurality of connections Pcon-1 to Pcon-n set with the data transmission source (PLC2 in this embodiment) Corresponding PLC communication processing unit 10 (10-1 to 10-n). The PLC communication processing unit 10 (10-1 to 10-n) sends a command frame to the PLC 2 of the data transmission source via the corresponding connection Pcon (Pcon-1 to Pcon-n) (step S405 in FIG. 10).

When PLC2 receives the command frame, it obtains the data specified in the transmission source address information contained in the received command frame from the internal memory, and creates a response frame containing the data. Then, PLC2 uses the connection Pcon (Pcon-1 to Pcon-n) that received the command frame to send the response frame back to the communication control device 1a.

The PLC communication processing unit 10 (10-1 to 10-n) of the communication control device 1a that has transmitted the command frame receives the response frame for the command frame from the PLC 2 (Yes in step S406 in FIG. 10), The received response frame is sent to the communication request processing section 11.

The communication request processing unit 11 analyzes the response frame, and takes out the data sent from the PLC 2 of the data transmission source from the response frame (step S407 in FIG. 10). The communication request processing unit 11 sends the data extracted from the response frame to the data transmission processing unit 14 as the result requested in the read request information of the processing object (step S408 in FIG. 10 ).

Then, the communication request processing unit 11 sends the result requested in the read request information of the processing object to the data transmission processing unit 14, and deletes the read request information from the internal communication request queue (step S409 in FIG. 10) And return to step S400.

Next, when the data transmission processing unit 14 receives the result requested in the read request information from the communication request processing unit 11 (Yes in step S104 of FIG. 4 ), the data transmission processing unit 14 generates the read request information based on the original information The transmission destination address information defined in the data transmission definition information of the data, creates write request information for writing data to the data transmission destination (step S105 in FIG. 4). The write request information includes the transmission destination address information and the data sent from the data transmission source PLC2.

Then, the data transmission processing section 14 sends the created write request information to the communication request processing section (in this embodiment, the communication request processing section 13) corresponding to the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information ) (Step S106 in FIG. 4 ).

Next, when receiving the write request information from the data transfer processing unit 14 (YES in step S500 in FIG. 11), the communication request processing unit 13 performs a communication request queue for storing the received write request information in the internal The communication request queue processing (step S501 in FIG. 11).

Next, when the communication request processing unit 13 stores unprocessed write request information in the communication request queue (Yes in step S502 in FIG. 11), the unprocessed write request information is used as the processing object, and the Is the data transmission destination specified in the transmission destination address information included in the write request information (in this embodiment, the regulator 3-1 to the regulator 3-m) in communication processing (Figure 11 Step S503).

When the communication request processing unit 13 is not in communication processing with the data transmission destination (NO in step S503), based on the write request information of the processing object, it creates a data for writing the data to the data transmission destination Command frame (step S504 in FIG. 11). The command frame contains the address information of the transmission destination and the data sent from the PLC2 of the data transmission source.

Then, the communication request processing unit 13 transmits the created command frame to the communication processing unit 12 (12-1 to 12-m) for the adjustment meter corresponding to the data transmission destination (in this embodiment, the adjustment meter). The communication processing unit 12 for regulators (12-1 to 12-m) sends the received command frame to the data transmission source via the connection Ccon (Ccon-1 to Ccon-m) set with the data transmission source Regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) (Step S505 in FIG. 11).

When the control meter 3 (3-1 to 3-m) receives the command frame, it sends back a response frame indicating that the command frame has been received to the communication control device 1a. In addition, the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) writes the data contained in the command frame to the register specified in the transmission destination address information contained in the received command frame.

The communication processing unit 12 (12-1 to 12-m) of the communication controller 1a of the communication control device 1a that has transmitted the command frame receives the response frame for the command frame from the adjustment meter 3 (3-1 to 3-m) When (YES in step S506 in FIG. 11), the received response frame is sent to the communication request processing unit 13.

The communication request processing unit 13 analyzes the response frame (step S507 in FIG. 11), and when it is confirmed that the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) of the data transmission destination receives the command frame, it will indicate the write request of the processing object The information whose processing requested in the information has ended is sent to the data transmission processing section 14 as a result of the processing object's write request information (step S508 in FIG. 11).

Next, the communication request processing unit 13 deletes the write request information from the internal communication request queue after sending the result requested in the write request information of the processing object to the data transmission processing unit 14 (step S509 in FIG. 11) And return to step S500.

When receiving the result requested in the write request information from the communication request processing unit 13 (yes in step S107 in FIG. 4), the data transmission processing unit 14 defines the data transmission source and the data transmission defined in the data transmission All the destination groups determine whether the data transfer is completed (step S108 in FIG. 4).

The data transmission processing unit 14 returns to step S104 when the data transmission is not completed for all the groups of the data transmission source and the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information (NO in step S108). In addition, the data transmission processing unit 14 returns to step S100 when the data transmission has ended for all groups of the data transmission source and the data transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information (YES in step S108), and Standby is performed until the next start condition is satisfied.

In this way, in this embodiment, the data of PLC2 can be transferred to the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m). In addition, in this embodiment, an example in which information specifying the occurrence of an event on the PLC 2 side is registered as the trigger information in the data transmission definition unit 15 is used for description. However, it may also be set to, for example, the designated regulator 3-1 to Information on the occurrence of a specific alarm or event of the regulator 3-3 is registered as the trigger information in the data transmission definition unit 15. The state of the regulator 3 (3-1 to 3-m) can be regularly monitored via the communication request processing unit 13 and the regulator communication processing unit 12 (12-1 to 12-m).

In the first to third embodiments, the PLC 2 is set as the upper-level device, and the plurality of regulators 3 (3-1 to 3-m) are set as the lower-level devices, but it is not limited to this. For example, each of the upper device and the plurality of lower devices may be a PLC.

Furthermore, in the first to third embodiments, the operation after the connection has been established is described, but of course, the establishment of the connection in TCP/IP communication is a well-known technique.

In addition, when the response frame is not sent back within a specified time for the transmission of the command frame, of course, as is well known, the command frame is retransmitted.

The communication control device 1a described in the first to third embodiments can be controlled by a computer including a central processing unit (CPU), a storage device, and an interface, and controlling these hardware resources Program to achieve. An example of the configuration of the computer is shown in FIG. 12. The computer includes a CPU 400, a storage device 401, and an interface device (hereinafter abbreviated as I/F) 402. PLC2 and controller 3-1 to controller 3-3 are connected to I/F402. In such a computer, the program for implementing the present invention is stored in the storage device 401. The CPU 400 executes the processing described in the first to third embodiments in accordance with the program stored in the storage device 401. [Industry availability]

The present invention can be applied to a technology for data transmission between a higher-level device and a lower-level device.

1. 1a‧‧‧Communication control device 2‧‧‧PLC3, 3-1～3-m‧‧‧Regulator 4‧‧‧LAN5-1, 5-2‧‧‧Communication frame 10-1～10-n ‧‧‧Communication processing unit for PLC 11,13‧‧‧Communication request processing unit 12-1～12-m‧‧‧‧Communication processing unit for regulator 14‧‧‧‧Data transmission processing unit 15‧‧‧‧Data transmission definition unit 100-1～100-n, 101-1～101-m, 200, 200-1～200-n, 300-1～300-m‧‧‧ TCP communication port 400‧‧‧ CPU401‧‧‧ storage device 402‧‧‧Interface device (I/F) Cc-1～Cc-3, Pc-1～Pc-3‧‧‧Command frame Ccon-1～Ccon-m, Pcon-1～Pcon-n‧‧‧ connection Cr-1～Cr-3、Pr-1～Pr-3‧‧‧‧ Response frame S100～S108, S200～S209, S300～S309, S400～S409, S500～S509

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting a plurality of connections on one TCP communication port of the PLC in the first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the data transmission processing unit of the communication control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the communication request processing unit and the communication processing unit for the regulator of the communication control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a communication request processing unit and a communication processing unit for PLC of the communication control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the communication control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the conventional communication control device. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting one connection on each of a plurality of TCP communication ports of a PLC in the second embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a communication request processing unit and a communication processing unit for PLC of the communication control device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the communication request processing unit and the communication processing unit for the regulator of the communication control device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a computer that implements the communication control device according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention. 13 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional communication control device. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating communication between a PLC and a regulator using serial communication. 15 is a diagram illustrating communication between a PLC using a LAN and a regulator.

1a‧‧‧Communication control device

2‧‧‧PLC

3-1~3-m‧‧‧Regulator

10-1~10-n‧‧‧Communication processing unit for PLC

11.13‧‧‧Communication Request Processing Department

12-1~12-m‧‧‧Communication processing unit for regulator

14‧‧‧Data Transmission Processing Department

15‧‧‧Data Transmission Definition Department

Claims (10)

A communication control device includes: a plurality of first communication processing units, which are provided for each of a plurality of lower-level devices, and are configured to communicate with a corresponding lower-level device; and a plurality of second communication processing units, which target a higher-level device Each of the multiple connections set between the devices is configured to communicate with the higher-level device via the corresponding connection; the data transmission definition section is configured to store data transmission definition information in advance; data transmission The processing unit is configured in such a manner as to create read request information for the lower-level device of the transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information, and when requested from the read request information received from the transmission source Data, create write request information that writes the received data to the higher-level device of the transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information; the first communication request processing unit is configured as follows : Create a first command frame for reading data from the transmission source based on the read request information, and send it to the first communication processing unit corresponding to the transmission source, when the first communication process When the unit receives the first response frame from the transmission source, it takes out the data requested in the read request information from the first response frame and sends it to the data transmission processing unit; and the second communication request processing unit , Constructed in the following manner: When there is a usable connection among the plurality of connections, according to the write request information, a second command frame for writing data to the transmission destination is created, and the The second command frame is sent to the second communication processing section corresponding to the usable connection, and when the second communication processing section receives the second response frame from the transmission destination, the The result indicated by the second response frame is notified to the data transmission processing section. A communication control device, including: a plurality of first communication processing sections, which are provided for each of a plurality of connections set with a higher-level device, and configured to communicate with the higher-level device via a corresponding connection; A second communication processing unit is provided for each of the lower-level devices, and is configured to communicate with the corresponding lower-level device; the data transmission definition unit is configured by storing data transmission definition information in advance; data transmission The processing unit is configured in such a manner as to create the read request information for the higher-level device of the transmission source defined in the data transmission definition information, and when the request from the read request information is received from the transmission source Data, create write request information that writes the received data to the lower-level device of the transmission destination defined in the data transmission definition information; the first communication request processing unit is configured as follows : When there is a usable connection among the plurality of connections, according to the read request information, a first command frame for reading data from the transmission source is made and sent to the corresponding to the transmission source The first communication processing section, when the first communication processing section receives the first response frame from the transmission source, takes out the data requested in the read request information from the first response frame and sends To the data transmission processing section; and a second communication request processing section, configured in such a manner that, based on the write request information, a second command frame for writing data to the transmission destination is created and sent To the second communication processing section corresponding to the transmission destination, when the second communication processing section receives the second response frame from the transmission destination, the second response frame The result is notified to the data transmission processing section. The communication control device according to item 1 or item 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the data transmission definition information includes the information of the transmission source, the information of the transmission destination, and the conditions for starting the data transmission , Set the period of data transmission as the starting condition. The communication control device according to item 1 or item 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the data transmission definition information includes the information of the transmission source, the information of the transmission destination, and the conditions for starting the data transmission , Trigger information is set as the starting condition. The communication control device according to item 1 or 2 of the patent application, wherein the plurality of connections are set on one communication port of the higher-level device. The communication control device according to item 1 or item 2 of the patent application scope, wherein each of the plurality of communication connection ports of the higher-level device is provided with one of the connections. The communication control device according to item 3 of the patent application range, wherein the plurality of connections are set on one communication port of the higher-level device. The communication control device according to item 3 of the patent application scope, wherein each of the plurality of communication ports of the higher-level device is provided with one of the connections. The communication control device according to item 4 of the patent application scope, wherein the plurality of connections are set on one communication port of the higher-level device. The communication control device according to item 4 of the patent application scope, wherein each of the plurality of communication connection ports of the higher-level device is provided with one of the connections.

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