WO2016207937A1

WO2016207937A1 - Programmable controller and control method for programmable controller

Info

Publication number: WO2016207937A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/067826
Authority: WO
Inventors: 貴也太田; 輝明田中
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2015-06-22
Filing date: 2015-06-22
Publication date: 2016-12-29
Also published as: JP5866082B1; JPWO2016207937A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a programmable controller and a control method therefor capable of minimizing increases in the time required to respond to a communication request. The programmable controller is provided with: a reception unit (13) which receives a service process execution request; and a control unit (12) which, if a sequence process program is running on the programmable controller when the reception unit receives the service process execution request, causes the programmable controller to delay switching from the execution of the sequence process program to the execution of the service process indicated by the service process execution request until the elapsed time since the reception of the service process execution request exceeds a predetermined first threshold value.

Description

Programmable controller and control method of programmable controller

The present technology relates to a programmable controller and a control method of the programmable controller, and in particular, a programmable controller and a programmable controller that exclusively execute a sequence processing program for controlling a device and a service process including a network communication process. It relates to a control method.

Programmable controllers are widely used as general-purpose control devices for controlling various machine facilities or plant facilities installed in factories and the like.

In recent years, programmable controllers have become increasingly multifunctional, and in addition to the execution function of sequence processing programs that control machine equipment or machine systems, which are the main applications, service processing such as network communication functions or file access functions. There is a product with an execution function.

The network communication function is used when monitoring the operation status of the programmable controller from an external computer. The file access function is used when outputting the operation data of the programmable controller or the execution information of the user program as a file to the built-in memory area or the removable external memory area.

As a method for simultaneously executing a plurality of functions, a method for executing processing by switching in a time division manner is known. In this method, execution of a plurality of functions is performed simultaneously by switching execution of the sequence processing program and execution of the service processing at regular intervals.

Patent Document 1 discloses a programmable controller that simultaneously executes a sequence processing program and a communication process. In Patent Literature 1, in order to improve the response time of communication processing, the time allocated to communication processing is dynamically changed according to the type of communication processing that has occurred.

JP 2011-134197 A

When the programmable controller described in Patent Document 1 is used, if a communication request is generated during execution of the sequence processing program, a response to the communication request is made after the preset time for execution of the sequence processing program has elapsed. Is done. Therefore, for example, when the communication request is generated immediately after the execution of the sequence processing program is started, it takes a long time to respond to the communication request. As a result, the response time for the communication request is deteriorated.

The present technology is for solving the above-described problems, and relates to a programmable controller and a control method of the programmable controller that can suppress deterioration of response time to a communication request.

A programmable controller according to an aspect of the present technology is a programmable controller that exclusively performs execution of a sequence processing program for controlling a device and execution of service processing including network communication processing, and requests execution of the service processing. An accepting unit that accepts the service process and when the accepting unit accepts the execution request for the service process, if the sequence processing program is executed in the programmable controller, an elapsed time from when the request for executing the service process is accepted And a control unit that switches the execution of the sequence processing program from the execution of the sequence processing program and executes the service processing corresponding to the execution request when the predetermined threshold value is exceeded.

A programmable controller control method according to an aspect of the present technology includes: a programmable controller that exclusively executes a sequence processing program for controlling a device and a service process including a network communication process; When the sequence processing program is executed in the programmable controller when the request is received and the execution request for the service process is received, an elapsed time from when the execution request for the service process is received is determined in advance. When the first threshold value is exceeded, the programmable controller switches from execution of the sequence processing program to execute the service process corresponding to the execution request.

According to such a configuration, the service process execution request is not waited longer than the first threshold time, and the response time to the communication request is improved.

The purpose, features, aspects, and advantages of the present technology will become more apparent from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings shown below.

It is a figure which shows notionally the structure of the programmable controller regarding an embodiment, and another structure. It is a figure which shows further in detail the structure of the process execution part shown by FIG. 1 regarding embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a hardware configuration when actually operating the programmable controller illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a hardware configuration when actually operating the programmable controller illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 according to the embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the implementation condition of the process switching in a process execution part when a communication request | requirement generate | occur | produces 9 ms after the execution start of a sequence processing program regarding embodiment. It is a flowchart which illustrates operation | movement of the process execution part in the case illustrated in FIG. 5 regarding embodiment. State of execution of process switching in the process execution unit when the first communication request is generated 9 ms after the start of execution of the sequence processing program and the second communication request is generated 12 ms after the start of execution of the sequence process program FIG. It is a flowchart which illustrates operation | movement of the process execution part in the case illustrated in FIG. 7 regarding embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the correspondence of a priority value, waiting time upper limit (thres), and ratio value (ratio) regarding embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the implementation condition (pri = 3) of the process switching in the process execution part when the communication request generate | occur | produces regarding embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the implementation condition (pri = 5) of the process switching in the process execution part when a communication request generate | occur | produces regarding embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the implementation condition (pri = 0) of the process switching in a process execution part when a communication request generate | occur | produces 9 ms after the execution start of a sequence processing program regarding embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the implementation condition (pri = 4) of the process switching in a process execution part when a communication request generate | occur | produces 9 ms after the execution start of a sequence processing program regarding embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the drawings are schematically shown, and the mutual relationship between the sizes and positions of the images shown in different drawings is not necessarily described accurately, and can be changed as appropriate. Moreover, in the description shown below, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and shown in the same component, and it is the same also about those names and functions. Therefore, the detailed description about them may be omitted.

<First Embodiment>
<Configuration>
Hereinafter, a programmable controller that exclusively performs execution of a sequence processing program for controlling devices and execution of service processing including network communication processing according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing the configuration of the programmable controller and other configurations related to this embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the programmable controller 1 includes a processing execution unit 2, a data holding unit 3 that is a rewritable storage device that stores a waiting time upper limit value 4, a ratio value 5, and a priority value 6, A priority setting unit 7 and a peripheral interface 8 for connecting to the computer device 9 are provided.

The process execution unit 2 performs execution of a sequence process program, execution of a service process, switching control between the sequence process and the service process, and the like.

Examples of data used by the processing execution unit 2 include a waiting time upper limit value 4, a ratio value 5, and a priority value 6. The waiting time upper limit value 4 is data defining the waiting time for a service processing request. The ratio value 5 is data defining the ratio between the execution time of the sequence processing program and the execution time of the service process. The priority value 6 is data that defines how much priority is given to any of the execution of the sequence processing program and the execution of the service processing.

The priority setting unit 7 is a functional unit for setting the priority value 6 to be changeable from the outside. In addition, the computer device 9 illustrated in FIG. 1 is disposed outside the programmable controller 1.

Hereinafter, a case where both the sequence processing and the service processing related to the present embodiment are executed in a time-sharing manner will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the processing execution unit 2 shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the processing execution unit 2 includes a sequence processing unit 10, a service processing unit 11, a reception and measurement unit 13, a waiting time excess detection unit 14, a service processing excess detection unit 15, And a switching control unit 12.

The sequence processing unit 10 executes the sequence processing program and measures the execution time of the sequence processing program. The service processing unit 11 executes the service process and measures the execution time of the service process.

The acceptance and measurement unit 13 accepts an execution request for service processing. In addition, the reception and measurement unit 13 measures an elapsed time from the time when the execution request is generated.

The waiting time excess detection unit 14 detects whether or not the elapsed time from the time when the reception and measurement unit 13 receives the service processing execution request exceeds a prescribed waiting time upper limit value 4.

The service process excess detection unit 15 detects whether or not the time when the service process is executed exceeds the upper limit value of the service process.

The switching control unit 12 performs process switching of the sequence process being executed or the service process being executed based on the information from the waiting time excess detection unit 14 and the information from the reception and measurement unit 13.

3 and 4 are diagrams schematically illustrating a hardware configuration when the programmable controller illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is actually operated.

3, as a hardware configuration for realizing the programmable controller illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a processing circuit 102 a that performs an operation, a storage device 103 that can store information, and input and output of information. An input and output device 104 that can These configurations are the same in other embodiments described later.

In FIG. 4, as a hardware configuration for realizing the programmable controller illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a processing circuit 102 b that performs an operation and an input and output device 104 that can input and output information are illustrated. . These configurations are the same in other embodiments described later.

The data holding unit 3 is realized by the storage device 103. The storage device 103 includes, for example, a hard disk (Hard disk drive, ie, HDD), random access memory (random access memory, ie, RAM), read only memory (read only memory, ie, ROM), flash memory, erasable programmable read only memory (ie, ROM). EPROM) and electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc., depending on memory (storage media) including volatile or non-volatile semiconductor memory, magnetic disk, flexible disk, optical disk, compact disk, mini disk, DVD, etc. Composed It composed of such as a memory (storage medium) containing Runado.

The processing circuit 102 a may execute a program stored in the storage device 103. In other words, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a digital signal processor (DSP) may be used.

When the processing circuit 102a executes a program stored in the storage device 103, the processing execution unit 2 and the priority setting unit 7 are realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. Note that these functions may be realized by, for example, cooperation of a plurality of processing circuits.

Software and firmware are described as programs and stored in the storage device 103. The processing circuit 102a implements the above functions by reading and executing a program stored in the storage device 103. In other words, the storage device 103 stores a program that results in the above functions being executed by the processing circuit 102a.

Further, the processing circuit 102b may be dedicated hardware. That is, for example, a single circuit, a compound circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, that is, ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination thereof. It may be.

When the processing circuit 102b is dedicated hardware, the processing execution unit 2 and the priority setting unit 7 are realized by the processing circuit 102b operating. Note that these functions may be realized by separate circuits or may be realized by a single circuit.

The functions of the processing execution unit 2 and the priority setting unit 7 described above are realized in the processing circuit 102a that partially executes a program stored in the storage device 103, and a part thereof is dedicated hardware. It may be realized in a certain processing circuit 102b.

Also, the peripheral interface 8 is realized by the input and output device 104.

<Action>
Next, the operation of the process execution unit 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In the following, in order to simplify the description, the waiting time upper limit value 4 is set to thres and the ratio value 5 is set to ratio.

FIG. 5 is a diagram exemplifying a process switching execution state in the process execution unit 2 when a communication request is generated 9 ms after the execution start of the sequence process program. In FIG. 5, the vertical axis indicates the length of the waiting time for service processing, and the horizontal axis indicates the time elapse of sequence processing or service processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the process execution unit 2 in the case illustrated in FIG.

Here, for example,

Will be described.

First, assume a situation where a communication request occurs during the execution of a sequence processing program. Here, the communication request is a request that requires at least a response by service processing.

Next, the switching control unit 12 determines whether or not a communication request has occurred (see step ST1 in FIG. 6). Specifically, it is determined whether the reception and measurement unit 13 has received a communication request. If it is determined that a communication request has occurred, the switching control unit 12 proceeds to step ST2 in FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined that a communication request has not occurred, the process returns to step ST1 in FIG.

Next, the switching control unit 12 determines whether or not the waiting time from the time when the communication request is generated exceeds the time given by thres (3 ms in the above setting) (see step ST2 in FIG. 6). ). Specifically, the waiting time excess detection unit 14 determines whether or not it has detected that the elapsed time from the time when the service processing execution request is received exceeds the time given by thres. The elapsed time from when the service process execution request is received is measured by the reception and measurement unit 13. When the waiting time from the time when the communication request is generated exceeds the time given by thres, the switching control unit 12 switches the process from the sequence process to the service process (see step ST3 in FIG. 6). . On the other hand, when the waiting time from the time when the communication request is generated does not exceed the time given by thres, the process returns to step ST2 in FIG.

Note that the point in time when the communication request is generated means the point in time when the communication request is received by the programmable controller.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, after 12 ms from the start of execution of the sequence processing program, the switching control unit 12 performs processing switching from the sequence processing to the service processing (see step ST3 in FIG. 6).

The execution time of the service process after the process switching is calculated by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed until the process is switched and the ratio (1/3 in this example). According to the above, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the service process is executed for 12 ms × ratio (ie, 1/3) = 4 ms.

Next, the switching control unit 12 determines whether or not the execution time of the service process exceeds the time obtained by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed until the process is switched and the ratio (see FIG. (Refer to step ST4 in 6). Specifically, the service processing excess detection unit 15 exceeds the time obtained by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed before switching the process and the ratio by the ratio. Is detected. And when the said time is exceeded, the switching control part 12 performs the process switching from a service process to a sequence process (refer step ST5 in FIG. 6). On the other hand, when the said time is not exceeded, it returns to step ST4 in FIG.

After that, the sequence processing program is executed until the waiting time for the generated communication request exceeds the time given by thres. That is, the process returns to step ST1 in FIG.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, there is one communication request generated during the execution of the sequence processing program. However, even when there are a plurality of communication requests generated during the execution of the sequence processing program, it is possible to respond based on the same processing method.

Also, when a plurality of communication requests are generated, the process can be switched using a method different from the above. For example, the switching control unit 12 may perform the process switching when the sum of the waiting times for the communication requests exceeds thres.

Next, the operation of the processing execution unit 2 when a plurality of communication requests are generated will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following, in order to simplify the description, the waiting time upper limit value 4 is set to thres, and the ratio value 5 is set to ratio.

FIG. 7 shows the execution of process switching in the process execution unit 2 when a first communication request is generated 9 ms after the start of execution of the sequence processing program and a second communication request is generated 12 ms after the start of execution of the sequence process program. It is a figure which illustrates a situation. In FIG. 7, the vertical axis indicates the length of the waiting time for service processing, and the horizontal axis indicates the time elapse of sequence processing or service processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the process execution unit 2 in the case illustrated in FIG.

here,

Will be described.

First, a situation is assumed in which a first communication request is generated during execution of the sequence processing program, and further, a second communication request is generated 3 ms after the first communication request is generated.

Next, the switching control unit 12 determines whether or not a communication request has occurred (see step ST11 in FIG. 8). Specifically, it is determined whether the reception and measurement unit 13 has received a communication request. If it is determined that a communication request has occurred, the switching control unit 12 proceeds to step ST12 in FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined that a communication request has not occurred, the process returns to step ST11 in FIG.

Next, the switching control unit 12 determines whether or not the waiting time from the time when the communication request is generated exceeds the time given by thres (7 ms in the above setting) for all communication requests generated at the present time. (See step ST12 in FIG. 8). Specifically, the waiting time excess detection unit 14 determines whether or not it has detected that the elapsed time from the time when the service processing execution request is received exceeds the time given by thres. The elapsed time from when the service process execution request is received is measured by the reception and measurement unit 13. Here, when a plurality of communication requests (the first communication request and the second communication request in FIG. 7) are currently generated, a time obtained by adding the waiting times of the plurality of communication requests is a time given by thres. The waiting time is to be compared.

In FIG. 7, when 3 ms elapses from the occurrence of the first communication request, since the time given by thres (= 7 ms) has not been exceeded, the switching control unit 12 continues the sequence process. That is, the switching control unit 12 temporarily holds the response to the first communication request and the response to the second communication request, and does not perform process switching.

When the waiting time from the time when the communication request is generated exceeds the time given by thres, the switching control unit 12 switches the process from the sequence process to the service process (see step ST13 in FIG. 8). . On the other hand, when the waiting time from the time when the communication request is generated does not exceed the time given by thres, the process returns to step ST12 in FIG.

In FIG. 7, when 2 ms elapses from the occurrence of the second communication request, the waiting time for the first communication request is 5 ms, and the waiting time for the second communication request is 2 ms. Accordingly, since the sum of the waiting time for the first communication request and the waiting time for the second communication request exceeds thres (= 7 ms), the switching control unit 12 switches the process from the sequence process to the service process.

The execution time of the service process after the process switching is calculated by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed until the process is switched and the ratio (1/3 in this example). According to the above, in the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the service process is executed for 16 ms × ratio (ie, ¼) = 4 ms.

When executing the service process, first, a response (first communication response in FIG. 7) is made with respect to the first communication request that is the request that has occurred first. Thereafter, a response (second communication response in FIG. 7) is made to the second communication request.

In the present embodiment, it has been described that the responses are performed in the order in which the requests are generated. However, for example, a priority is set for each service processing type, and a response is performed from a service process with a high priority. Other methods may be used to determine the order.

Next, the switching control unit 12 determines whether or not the execution time of the service process exceeds the time obtained by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed until the process is switched and the ratio (see FIG. (See step ST14 in FIG. 8). Specifically, the service processing excess detection unit 15 exceeds the time obtained by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed before switching the process and the ratio by the ratio. Is detected. When the time is exceeded, the switching control unit 12 switches the process from the service process to the sequence process (see step ST15 in FIG. 8). On the other hand, when the said time is not exceeded, it returns to step ST14 in FIG.

After that, the sequence processing program is executed until the waiting time for the generated communication request exceeds the time given by thres. That is, the process returns to step ST11 in FIG.

Here, thres and ratio can be set based on the set priority value 6. The priority value 6 can be set by the priority setting unit 7 or the computer device 9. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the process execution unit 2 has a function of writing the priority value 6 set by the computer device 9 to the data holding unit 3, and the priority value 6 is set by the computer device 9. If this happens, the priority value 6 is changed using this function.

A method for calculating the waiting time upper limit value 4 (thres) and the ratio value 5 (ratio) based on the priority value 6 set by the priority setting unit 7 or the computer device 9 will be described below.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between the priority value 6, the waiting time upper limit value 4 (thres), and the ratio value 5 (ratio). In FIG. 9, the vertical axis represents the waiting time upper limit 4 (thres), and the horizontal axis represents the ratio value 5 (ratio). Further, FIG. 9 also shows that the priority value 6 is set. Here, a case where the value of the waiting time upper limit value 4 (thres) and the value of the ratio value 5 (ratio) are determined in proportion to the priority value 6 will be described.

It is assumed that a maximum value and a minimum value that can be set are provided for thres and ratio, respectively. Further, the maximum value of thres is set as max _t, and the minimum value of thres is set as min _t . Further, the maximum value of ratio is set as max _r, and the minimum value of ratio is set as min _r .

Further, it is assumed that the priority value 6 is pri, and the possible value of pri is a real number from 0 to n−1 (n = 11 in the case illustrated in FIG. 9). Further, the closer pri is to 0, the higher priority is given to sequence processing, and the closer pri is to n-1, the higher priority is given to service processing.

In this case, thres and ratio are calculated according to the following formula.

In this embodiment, in order to show a specific example, the ratio calculation method and the thres calculation method will be described using the above calculation formulas. However, calculation formulas proportional to pri, for example, a, b , C and d as arbitrary constants,

Any calculation formula may be used as long as it can be expressed by the general formula.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are diagrams exemplifying the execution status of process switching in the process execution unit 2 when a communication request is generated.

10 and 11,

And 10 and 11, the processing execution unit in the case where the first communication request is generated 9 ms after the start of execution of the sequence processing program and the second communication request is generated 30 ms after the start of execution of the sequence processing program. The execution status of the process switching in 2 is shown.

FIG. 10 shows an implementation situation when pri = 3, and when substituting into formula (1) and formula (2), respectively,

It becomes.

In the present embodiment, after the first communication request is generated, the process switching from the sequence process to the service process is performed when the time (8 ms) set by thres is exceeded. Then, a response (first communication response in FIG. 10) is made during execution of the service process.

The service processing is a time obtained by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program by the ratio, that is,

Only executed and switched to sequence processing.

When the second communication request occurs, the sequence processing program is being executed, so it is not possible to respond immediately. However, when the time set by thres (8 ms) is exceeded, processing switching from sequence processing to service processing is performed, and a response (second communication response in FIG. 10) is performed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an implementation situation when pri = 5, that is, when service processing is prioritized over the case illustrated in FIG. 10. Expressions (1) and (2) Substituting

It becomes.

In the present embodiment, after the first communication request is generated, the process switching from the sequence process to the service process is performed when the time (6 ms) set by thres is exceeded. Then, a response is made during the execution of the service process (first communication response in FIG. 11).

Only executed and switched to sequence processing.

When the second communication request is generated, since the service process is being executed, a response can be made immediately (second communication response in FIG. 11).

In this way, in the case illustrated in FIG. 11, the response time is shorter for both of the two communication requests than in the case illustrated in FIG. On the other hand, in the case illustrated in FIG. 11, the time that can be allocated to the sequence process is shorter than in the case illustrated in FIG.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the waiting time from the time when a communication request for requesting execution of processing to the service processing occurs exceeds thres, the processing is switched from the sequence processing program to the service processing.

In the present embodiment, when the execution time of the service processing exceeds the time obtained by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program by the ratio, the processing is switched to the execution of the sequence processing program.

By processing in this way, the service process is not waited longer than the value of thres, and the response time of the service process is improved. Also, the time for performing the service process can be adjusted by the set value of ratio.

Furthermore, thres and ratio can be calculated based on the priority value pri according to the calculation formula shown in the present embodiment. Therefore, when the priority value is set to service processing priority, the response time of service processing can be improved. Further, when the priority value is set to sequence processing priority, the time allocatable to the sequence processing can be increased.

In the present embodiment, as a service process executed on the programmable controller 1, information related to the operation status of the programmable controller or information related to a sequence processing program is transmitted to and received from the externally connected computer device 9. Although the communication process is shown, the service process executed on the programmable controller is not limited to this. That is, for example, a file writing process to a memory area connected to the programmable controller 1 or a file reading process from the memory area may be used.

Second Embodiment
A programmable controller according to this embodiment will be described. In the following, the same components as those described in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

In the above embodiment, a calculation formula is used in which the waiting time upper limit value 4 and the ratio value 5 are determined in proportion to the priority value 6. However, the following formulas (3) and (4) that can adjust the execution performance of the sequence processing program of the programmable controller 1 and the response performance of the service processing may be used in accordance with the user's intention. .

That is, the current value of the ratio and thres the _{ratio cur} and _{thres cur} _{respectively,} when the average value of the execution time of the sequence program to _{T seq,} if you change the priority value pri from _{pri old} in _{pri new new,} updated ratio The value ratio _next and the updated thres value thres _next are as follows.

The above calculation formula is configured such that the execution time of the sequence program and the execution time of the service process are proportionally changed with respect to the variable of the priority value pri.

Hereinafter, the calculation method of Formula (3) and Formula (4) is demonstrated. Here, T _svc is the average value of the service process execution time, S is the time required for the switching control unit 12 to switch the process executed on the process execution unit 2 from the sequence process to the service process or vice versa. The total value.

Since there is a relation that the frequency of process switching increases when thres is reduced, S is a function of thres.

In this embodiment,

However, other functions such as a configuration in which S is inversely proportional to thres may be used.

Assuming that the processing executed on the processing execution unit 2 is only sequence processing, service processing, and switching between these processings, let C be a constant,

Holds. From equation (5) it can be seen that the variation is:

In addition, since the service processing execution time is calculated by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program by the ratio,

When the variation of T _svc is obtained from equation (7),

Is obtained.

here,

So

It becomes.

From the above, substituting and rearranging equation (8) and equation (9) into equation (6),

Is obtained. Also, by substituting equation (9) into equation (6),

Is obtained.

Since ratio and thres can be regarded as variables calculated by the priority value pri, they become functions of pri. If ratio = f (pri) and thres = g (pri), respectively, the variation value is

It becomes.

Here, by substituting Equation (12) and Equation (13) into Equation (10),

It becomes. Furthermore, by substituting Equation (13) and Equation (14) into Equation (11),

Is obtained.

In order for the execution time of the sequence program and the execution time of the service process to be proportionally changed with respect to the variable of the priority value pri, ΔT _seq and ΔT _svc need to change in proportion to Δpri. . Therefore, if α and β are arbitrary constants,

Must be.

Here, from Equation (14) and Equation (16),

Is obtained. Further, from the equations (15) and (17),

Is obtained.

By solving equation (18) and equation (19),

Is obtained.

From the above, substituting Equation (20) and Equation (21) into Equation (12) and Equation (13), respectively,

It becomes.

Therefore, the amount of change in ratio is the amount of change in pri,

It can be calculated by multiplying. Also, the amount of change in thres is the amount of change in pri,

It can be calculated by multiplying.

When α = −2, β = 1, and γ = 1, equations (22) and (23) are respectively

In the equations (22) and (23),

Can be used to derive equations (3) and (4).

Next, the operation of the process execution unit 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are diagrams illustrating an example of a process switching execution state in the process execution unit 2 when a communication request is generated 9 ms after the execution start of the sequence processing program.

FIG. 12 shows the case where pri = 0. At this time,

It becomes.

After the communication request is generated, the process is switched from the sequence process to the service process when the time set by thres (11 ms) is exceeded. Then, a response (communication response in FIG. 12) is made during the execution of the service process.

The execution time of the service process is calculated by multiplying the execution time (= 20 ms) of the sequence processing program and the ratio,

It becomes.

FIG. 13 shows an implementation status when the priority value is changed from pri = 0 to pri = 4, that is, when service processing is prioritized over the case illustrated in FIG. ) And formula (2), respectively, and calculating the changed ratio value and thres value respectively,

It becomes.

In the case illustrated in FIG. 13, since thres is exceeded after 7 ms from the time when the communication request is generated, processing switching from sequence processing to service processing is performed at that time. Then, a response is made during the execution of the service process (communication response in FIG. 13).

In addition, the execution time of the service process can be calculated by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program and the ratio,

It becomes.

From the above, the allocation time for sequence processing is shorter in the case illustrated in FIG. 13 than in the case illustrated in FIG. On the other hand, in the case illustrated in FIG. 13, the allocation time for service processing is longer in the case illustrated in FIG. 13 than in the case illustrated in FIG. 12. It will be adjusted.

In this embodiment, the calculation formula for obtaining thres and ratio is configured such that the execution time of the sequence program and the execution time of the service process are changed in proportion to the variable of the priority value pri. As a result, the process switching operation can be changed as intended by the user of the programmable controller.

In the present embodiment, thress _next and ratio _next are calculated using Expression (3) and Expression (4), but other calculation expressions may be used.

For example, in the present embodiment, in the process of deriving Expression (3) and Expression (4),

However, S may be derived using a calculation formula that is inversely proportional to thres.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the value is immediately applied to thres and ratio when the variation value (pri _new -pri _old ) of the priority value pri is changed to 1 or more. It was. However, when the change value of pri is changed to be 1 or more, the work of changing the value of thrs and the value of ratio with the change value of pri being 1 is changed by the actual change value at regular intervals. May be repeated.

<Effect>
Below, the effect by said embodiment is illustrated.

According to the above embodiment, the programmable controller includes the reception and measurement unit 13 as the reception unit and the switching control unit 12 as the control unit.

The acceptance and measurement unit 13 accepts an execution request for service processing.

The switching control unit 12, when the sequence processing program is being executed in the programmable controller 1 when the reception and measurement unit 13 receives the service process execution request, the elapsed time from when the service process execution request was received When thres exceeds a predetermined first threshold value thres, the programmable controller 1 switches from execution of the sequence processing program to execute service processing corresponding to the execution request.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, the programmable controller includes the processing circuit 102a that executes the program and the storage device 103 that stores the program.

And the following operation | movement is implement | achieved when the processing circuit 102a runs a program.

That is, when a sequence processing program is being executed in the programmable controller 1 when a service process execution request is received, a time when the elapsed time from the reception of the service process execution request exceeds a predetermined thres Thus, the programmable controller 1 switches the execution of the sequence processing program to execute the service process corresponding to the execution request.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, the programmable controller includes the processing circuit 102b.

The processing circuit 102b performs the following operation.

That is, when the sequence processing program is executed in the programmable controller 1 when the service process execution request is received, the processing circuit 102b has a predetermined elapsed time from when the service process execution request is received. When the threshold value exceeds thres, the programmable controller 1 switches from execution of the sequence processing program to execute service processing corresponding to the execution request.

According to such a configuration, for example, even when a service process execution request is received immediately after the start of execution of the sequence processing program, the service process execution request is not waited longer than the thres time. Response time for execution requests (communication requests) is improved.

Also, when there is no execution request for service processing, the sequence processing is executed continuously, so that the execution performance of the sequence processing is improved.

In addition, although configurations other than these configurations can be omitted as appropriate, the above-described effects can be produced even when at least one of the other configurations shown in this specification is added as appropriate.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the switching control unit 12 is programmable when the time when the service process is executed after switching from the execution of the sequence processing program exceeds a predetermined second threshold value. The controller 1 executes the sequence processing program.

Here, the second threshold value is calculated by multiplying the execution time of the sequence processing program executed until the process is switched and the ratio.

According to such a configuration, the upper limit value is provided for the execution time of the service process, so that the ratio between the execution time of the sequence processing program and the execution time of the service process can be adjusted. Specifically, the ratio between the execution time of the sequence processing program and the execution time of the service process can be adjusted by changing the ratio value.

Also, since the execution time of the service process is suppressed from being increased depending on the contents of the service process, the execution time of the sequence processing program is suppressed from being shortened compared to the execution time of the service process.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the second threshold value is set as a predetermined third threshold value at the time when the sequence processing program is executed before switching to the service processing. The multiplied value.

Moreover, according to said embodiment, the programmable controller is provided with the priority value setting part 7 which sets the priority value which shows the degree of giving priority to execution of a service process over execution of a sequence processing program so that change is possible from the outside. .

The priority value can be changed in the priority value setting unit 7. The priority value can be set and changed from the computer device 9 externally connected to the programmable controller 1.

And at least one of thres and ratio is predetermined based on the priority value.

According to such a configuration, the user can easily adjust the balance between the execution of the sequence processing program of the programmable controller 1 and the execution of the service processing according to the use environment.

Specifically, it is possible to adjust thres by changing the priority value and adjust the time from the execution of the sequence processing program to the execution of the service processing. Further, the ratio is adjusted by changing the priority value, and the time from the execution of the service processing to the execution of the sequence processing program can be adjusted.

Priority that defines the execution performance of the sequence processing program and the response performance of the communication processing is desirably adjustable after the programmable controller is attached to the equipment or mechanical system. For that purpose, it is necessary to be able to set the priority value using a functional unit attached to the programmable controller main body.

Also, depending on the installed equipment or mechanical system, the programmable controller may be installed in a place where it cannot be directly touched by human hands. In this case, it is necessary that the priority value can be set from an external device connected to the programmable controller.

On the other hand, according to the above embodiment, the priority value can be set and changed in the priority value setting unit 7. Further, according to the above embodiment, the priority value can be set and changed from the computer device 9 externally connected to the programmable controller 1. Therefore, the priority value can be easily adjusted even after the programmable controller is attached to the facility or mechanical system.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the programmable controller includes the sequence processing unit 10, the service processing unit 11, the waiting time excess detection unit 14, and the service processing excess detection unit 15.

The sequence processing unit 10 executes the sequence processing program and measures the time when the sequence processing program is executed. The service processing unit 11 performs the service process and measures the time when the service process is performed.

The waiting time excess detection unit 14 detects that the elapsed time from the reception of the service processing execution request has exceeded thres. The service process excess detection unit 15 detects that the time when the service process is executed exceeds the second threshold value.

The reception and measurement unit 13 measures the elapsed time from when the service processing execution request is received.

If the sequence processing program is executed in the sequence processing unit 10 when the reception and measurement unit 13 receives a service processing execution request, the switching control unit 12 detects the detection information and service processing in the waiting time excess detection unit 14. Based on the detection information in the excess detection unit 15, the service processing unit 11 executes service processing corresponding to the execution request by switching from execution of the sequence processing program.

Moreover, according to said embodiment, in the control method of a programmable controller, when the execution request of a service process is received and the execution of a sequence process program is performed in the programmable controller 1 when the execution request of a service process is received, When the elapsed time from the reception of the service process execution request exceeds a predetermined thres, the programmable controller 1 switches the execution of the sequence processing program to execute the service process corresponding to the execution request.

According to such a configuration, for example, even when a service process execution request is received immediately after the start of execution of the sequence processing program, the service process execution request is not waited longer than the thres time. Response time for execution requests is improved.

Further, according to the above embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, when the service process is executed in the programmable controller 1 when the service process execution request is received, the service process corresponding to the execution request is executed. To do.

According to such a configuration, when a service process is executed in the programmable controller 1 when a service process execution request is received, the service process corresponding to the execution request can be immediately executed. it can.

Moreover, according to said embodiment, in the control method of a programmable controller, when the execution request of a service process is received in multiple numbers and the execution process of a sequence process is performed in the programmable controller 1 when the execution request of a service process is received When the sum of the elapsed time from when the execution request for each service process is received exceeds thres, the programmable controller 1 switches from the execution of the sequence processing program and executes the service process corresponding to the execution request. Make it.

According to such a configuration, even when a plurality of service process execution requests are received, each service process execution request is not waited longer than the thres time, and the response time to the service process execution request is improved. The

According to the above embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, when the time when the execution of the service process is performed by switching from the execution of the sequence processing program exceeds a predetermined second threshold value, A sequence processing program is executed in the programmable controller 1.

According to the above embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, the second threshold is set to a predetermined ratio at the time when the sequence processing program is executed before switching to the execution of the service processing. The multiplied value.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, at least one of thres and ratio is based on a priority value indicating a degree of giving priority to execution of service processing over execution of sequence processing program. Predetermined.

Whether to give priority to the execution performance of the sequence processing program or the response performance of communication processing depends on the realization requirements of the equipment that uses the programmable controller, the realization requirements of the mechanical system that uses the programmable controller, or these It depends on the system situation between. Therefore, it is desirable that the priority can be easily changed.

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, the time allocated to the execution of the communication process can be changed by editing a table that defines the execution time for each type of the communication process. However, in order to specify the time to execute for each type of communication processing, advanced knowledge about each communication process is required, so it is not possible to specify the time to execute for each communication type by a general programmable controller user Have difficulty.

In particular, it is difficult to adjust the performance of the programmable controller as intended by the user in the work in which the user individually specifies the allocated time for each type of communication processing.

On the other hand, according to the above embodiment, the user can easily adjust the balance between the execution of the sequence processing program of the programmable controller 1 and the execution of the service processing according to the use environment.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, thres and ratio can be determined simultaneously based on the priority value.

Specifically, by changing the priority value, thres and ratio can be adjusted at the same time, and the ratio between the execution time of the sequence processing program and the execution time of the service processing can be adjusted.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, thres and ratio are proportional to the priority value.

Specifically, by changing the priority value, thres and ratio can be adjusted simultaneously, and the ratio between the execution time of the sequence processing program and the execution time of the service processing can be adjusted as intended by the user. .

Further, according to the above embodiment, in the control method of the programmable controller, thres becomes smaller as the priority value becomes larger. Further, the ratio increases as the priority value increases.

<Modification>
In the above-described embodiments, the dimensions, shapes, relative arrangement relations, implementation conditions, and the like of each component may be described, but these are examples in all aspects and are described in this specification. It is not limited to those. Therefore, innumerable modifications not illustrated are assumed within the scope of the present technology. For example, the case where at least one component is modified, added or omitted, and further, the case where at least one component in at least one embodiment is extracted and combined with the components of other embodiments are included. It is.

In addition, as long as no contradiction arises, “one or more” components described as being provided with “one” in the above embodiment may be provided. Furthermore, each component is a conceptual unit, and one component consists of a plurality of structures, one component corresponds to a part of the structure, and a plurality of components. And the case where the component is provided in one structure. Each component includes a structure having another structure or shape as long as the same function is exhibited.

In addition, the description in the present specification is referred to for all purposes related to the present technology, and none of them is admitted to be prior art.

In addition, each component described in the above embodiment is assumed to be software or firmware, or hardware corresponding thereto, and in both concepts, each component is a “unit” or “processing circuit” or the like. Called.

The present technology may be a case where each component is distributed and provided in a plurality of devices (that is, an aspect like a system). For example, the data holding unit 3 is illustrated as being mounted in the programmable controller 1 in FIG. 1, but may be an external functional unit. In that case, the function of the data holding unit 3 is achieved as a whole by interacting with other functional units in the programmable controller 1.

1 programmable controller, 2 processing execution unit, 3 data holding unit, 4 waiting time upper limit value, 5 ratio value, 6 priority value, 7 priority setting unit, 8 peripheral device interface, 9 computer device, 10 sequence processing unit, 11 Service processing unit, 12 switching control unit, 13 reception and measurement unit, 14 waiting time excess detection unit, 15 service processing excess detection unit, 102a, 102b processing circuit, 103 storage device, 104 input and output device.

Claims

A programmable controller (1) that exclusively performs execution of a sequence processing program for controlling a device and execution of service processing including network communication processing,
A receiving unit (13) for receiving a request to execute the service process;
If the execution of the sequence processing program is being executed in the programmable controller (1) when the execution request of the service process is received by the receiving unit (13), the process since the reception of the execution request of the service process When the time exceeds a predetermined first threshold, the programmable controller (1) switches from execution of the sequence processing program to execute the service processing corresponding to the execution request ( 12)
Programmable controller.
The control unit (12) switches the execution of the sequence processing program to the programmable controller (1) at a point in time when the execution of the service processing exceeds a predetermined second threshold value. Causing the sequence processing program to be executed,
The programmable controller according to claim 1.
The second threshold value is a value obtained by multiplying a predetermined third threshold value by the time when the sequence processing program is executed before switching to the execution of the service process.
The programmable controller according to claim 2.
The programmable controller (1) further includes a priority value setting unit (7) for setting a priority value indicating a degree of giving priority to the execution of the service process over the execution of the sequence processing program.
At least one of the first threshold and the third threshold is predetermined based on the priority value;
The programmable controller according to claim 3.
A sequence processing unit (10) for executing the sequence processing program and measuring the time when the sequence processing program is executed;
A service processing unit (11) for performing the service processing and measuring the time when the service processing is performed;
A waiting time excess detection unit (14) for detecting that an elapsed time from the reception of the service processing execution request exceeds the first threshold;
A service processing excess detection unit (15) for detecting that the time when the execution of the service processing is performed exceeds the second threshold;
The accepting unit (13) measures the elapsed time from when the execution request for the service process is accepted,
The control unit (12) detects an excess of waiting time when the sequence processing program is being executed in the sequence processing unit (10) when the receiving unit (13) receives the service processing execution request. Based on the detection information in the unit (14) and the detection information in the service processing excess detection unit (15), the service processing unit (11) switches from execution of the sequence processing program and the service processing corresponding to the execution request in the service processing unit (11). To execute,
The programmable controller according to any one of claims 2 to 4.
In a programmable controller (1) that exclusively performs execution of a sequence processing program for controlling a device and execution of service processing including network communication processing,
Receiving an execution request for the service process;
When the execution of the sequence processing program is performed in the programmable controller (1) when the execution request for the service process is received, an elapsed time from the reception of the execution request for the service process is predetermined. When the first threshold value is exceeded, in the programmable controller (1), the execution of the service process corresponding to the execution request is performed by switching from the execution of the sequence processing program.
Programmable controller control method.
When the execution of the service process is performed in the programmable controller (1) when the execution request for the service process is received, the execution of the service process corresponding to the execution request is performed.
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 6.
Receiving a plurality of execution requests for the service process;
When the execution of the sequence processing program is performed in the programmable controller (1) when the execution request for the service process is received, a time obtained by adding up the elapsed time from the reception of the execution request for each service process When the first threshold value is exceeded, in the programmable controller (1), the execution of the service process corresponding to the execution request is performed by switching from the execution of the sequence processing program,
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 6 or Claim 7.
The programmable controller (1) executes the sequence processing program when the time when the execution of the service processing is switched from the execution of the sequence processing program exceeds a predetermined second threshold value. ,
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 6 or Claim 7.
The second threshold value is a value obtained by multiplying a predetermined third threshold value by the time when the sequence processing program is executed before switching to the execution of the service process.
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 9.
In the programmable controller (1), based on a priority value indicating a degree of giving priority to execution of the service process over execution of the sequence process program, the first threshold value and the third threshold value At least one is predetermined,
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 10.
Based on the priority value, the first threshold value and the third threshold value can be determined simultaneously.
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 11.
The first threshold and the third threshold are proportional to the priority value;
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 11.
The first threshold value decreases as the priority value increases,
The third threshold value increases as the priority value increases.
The control method of the programmable controller of Claim 11.