JP2025042614A - Network connection device with fault processing function and fault processing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a network connection apparatus with failure handling function and a failure handling method thereof, specifically, a network connection apparatus configured to automatically perform failure handling in one of fail-over mode and fail-down mode using a single latch switch.SOLUTION: A failure handling method and a network connection apparatus having a failure handling function using the method are provided, the method including: a step of setting an in-line mode, and connecting a second terminal of a latch switch having a first terminal connected to a transmitting unit, to security equipment connected to a receiving unit; and a step of switching, when an occurrence of a failure is confirmed, to one of fail-over mode related to switching of connection of the second terminal to the receiving unit and a fail-down mode related to disconnection between the second terminal and the security equipment, on the basis of failure handling settings.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a network connection device and a failure handling method thereof that are designed to automatically handle failures in either a failover mode or a failover mode using a single latch switch.

Network connection devices connecting different networks are configured so that traffic can move to another network after being processed by security equipment. In such an environment, in order to temporarily resolve a situation in which a problem occurs in the security equipment or a large amount of traffic is concentrated and exceeds the processing capacity of the security equipment, causing a failure, there are known methods of handling the failure by changing the mode to one of the following two modes: a failover mode that maintains connectivity by bypassing and spanning traffic to prevent network disconnection, and a fail-down mode that prevents traffic from moving to ensure high availability (HA). The related literature is as follows:

However, conventional techniques for automatically switching a network connection device to one of the above-mentioned failover and failover modes to handle a failure result in the network connection device having a somewhat complicated structure, which ultimately has the problem of accelerating wear on internal components and potentially causing failures.

Korean Patent No. 10-0750371 Korean Patent No. 10-0959196

The disclosed embodiment seeks to provide a network connection device with a fault handling function and a fault handling method thereof. Specifically, an object is to enable the network connection device to automatically handle faults in either a failover mode or a fail-down mode using a single latch switch.

The technical problems that this embodiment aims to achieve are not limited to those described above, and other technical problems can be inferred from the following embodiments.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a fault handling method for a network connection device, the fault handling method including: setting an inline mode and connecting a second terminal of a latch switch, the first terminal of which is connected to a transmitter, to a security device connected to a receiver; and, when a fault is confirmed, switching to one of a failover mode for switching the connection of the second terminal to the receiver and a fail-down mode for disconnecting the connection between the second terminal and the security device based on the fault handling setting.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include a step of distributing the first signal to the latch switch and the security equipment through a distributor when reception of a first signal through the receiver is confirmed when the failover mode is switched to; preventing a second signal resulting from processing the first signal by the security equipment from being transmitted to the latch switch by the connection switching, and transmitting the first signal through the transmitter via the latch switch.

In addition, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the fault handling setting corresponds to the failover mode, a fault handling method may be included that determines whether to switch to the failover mode based on reference information regarding whether a command to maintain the inline mode is received from the security device within a pre-set critical time.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference information includes a reference value that gradually approaches an indication value corresponding to the failover mode from an initial value over time, and is initialized to the initial value each time the maintenance command for the inline mode is received. When the critical time has elapsed and the reference value corresponds to the indication value, the method may include a failure handling method in which the inline mode is converted to the failover mode.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a fault handling method may be included in which, when it is determined that the power supply has been cut off, the inline mode is converted to the failover mode by performing the connection conversion using power supplied from an emergency power supplier.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may further include a step of controlling not to transmit both the first and second signals by distributing the first signal to the latch switch and the security device through a distributor when reception of the first signal through the receiver is confirmed when the fail-down mode is switched to; preventing the first signal from being transmitted to the latch switch by connecting the second terminal to the security device, and preventing the second signal, which is a result of processing the first signal by the security device, from being transmitted to the latch switch by disconnecting the connection.

In addition, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, a fault handling method may be included in which, when the fail-down mode is entered, the connection is cut off by deactivating a transmission function of a transceiver located between the security device and the second terminal.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the inline mode is set, when reception of a first signal through the receiver is confirmed, the first signal is distributed to the latch switch and the security device through a distributor, and the first signal is prevented from being transmitted to the latch switch by connecting the second terminal to the security device, and a second signal, which is a result of processing the first signal by the security device, is transmitted through the transmitter via the latch switch.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first terminal of the latch switch is connected to the transmitter, and the second terminal is controlled to be selectively connected to one of the security devices connected to the receiver or the receiver by selecting at least one of the inline mode, the failover mode, and the fail-down mode. The present disclosure may include a fault handling method.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is a network connection device having a fault processing function, the network connection device including: a latch switch having a first terminal connected to a transmitter and a second terminal selectively connected to one of a receiver and a security device connected to the receiver; and a control circuit that connects the second terminal to the security device in an in-line mode, connects the second terminal to the receiver in a failover mode, and disconnects the connection between the second terminal and the security device in a fail-down mode.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the network connection device may further include a distributor that distributes the signal input through the receiver to the latch switch and the security equipment.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a network connection device may be included that further includes an optical module for digitizing the signal distributed to the security equipment, and a MAC chip for testing the communication standard of the signal digitized by the optical module and then inputting the signal to the security equipment.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a network connection device may be included that further includes a transceiver between the second terminal and the security equipment, the transceiver having a transmission function that is deactivated by the control circuit in the fail-down mode.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a network connection device may be included that further includes an emergency power supply for the control circuit and the latch switch.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first terminal of the latch switch is connected to the transmitter of the second port, the second terminal is connected to the receiver of the first port or the security device, the third terminal of the latch switch is connected to the transmitter of the first port, and the fourth terminal is connected to the receiver of the second port or the security device, and the control circuit connects the fourth terminal to the security device in the inline mode, connects the fourth terminal to the receiver of the second port in the failover mode, and disconnects the connection between the fourth terminal and the security device in the fail-down mode.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

By following the proposed embodiments, one or more of the following advantages can be expected:

In accordance with the embodiments of this specification, a single latch switch can be used to automatically handle failures in failover or fail-down modes.

Furthermore, in accordance with the embodiments of this specification, fault handling is performed using a single latch switch, which reduces optical attenuation compared to prior art methods of handling faults through complex structures.

In addition, in accordance with the embodiments of this specification, fault handling is performed using a single latch switch, which reduces maintenance compared to the prior art method of handling faults through a complex structure, while also reducing faults caused by wear and tear on internal components.

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

1 illustrates a network connection device that handles failures according to one embodiment. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a failure handling method according to an embodiment. 1 illustrates a network-connected device configured in in-line mode according to one embodiment. 1 illustrates a network connected device configured in a failover mode according to one embodiment. 1 illustrates an interlocking operation between security equipment and internal components of a network connection device when set to an in-line mode according to an embodiment. 1 illustrates an interoperation between internal components of a security device and a network connection device when handling a failure in a failover mode according to an embodiment. 1 illustrates an interlocking operation between internal components of a security device and a network connection device when a power supply is cut off in a failover mode to handle a failure according to an embodiment. 1 illustrates a network connection device configured in a fail-down mode according to one embodiment. 1 illustrates an example of bidirectionally connected network connection devices operating in an in-line mode according to an embodiment. 1 illustrates an example of bidirectionally connected network connection devices operating in a failover mode according to an embodiment. 1 illustrates an example of a bidirectionally connected network connection device operating in a fail-down mode according to an embodiment.

The terms used in the embodiments are currently common terms that are widely used as much as possible, while taking into consideration the functions in this disclosure. However, this may change depending on the intentions or precedents of engineers in this field, the emergence of new technologies, etc. In addition, in certain cases, the applicant may arbitrarily select terms, and in such cases, the meanings will be described in detail in the relevant explanation section. Therefore, the terms used in this disclosure must be defined based on the meanings that the terms have and the overall content of this disclosure, rather than simply by the name of the terms.

Throughout the specification, when a part "comprises" a certain element, this does not mean to exclude other elements, but means that it may further include other elements, unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Throughout the specification, the expression "at least one of a, b, and c" may encompass "a alone," "b alone," "c alone," "a and b," "a and c," "b and c," or "all of a, b, and c."

The "terminal" referred to below may be embodied as a computer or a portable terminal that can connect to a server or other terminals through a network. Here, the computer may be, for example, a notebook computer, desktop, or laptop equipped with a web browser, and the portable terminal may be, for example, a wireless communication device that ensures portability and mobility, and may include communication-based terminals such as IMT (International Mobile Telecommunication), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), W-CDMA (W-Code Division Multiple Access), and LTE (Long Term Evolution), as well as all kinds of handheld-based wireless communication devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings so that a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains can easily implement the embodiments. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows a network connection device that handles failures in one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the network connection device 100 can operate in conjunction with the security equipment 200. Meanwhile, the system illustrated in FIG. 1 shows only the components related to this embodiment. Therefore, a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field related to this embodiment can understand that in addition to the components illustrated in FIG. 1, other general-purpose components may be further included.

The network connection device 100 may be a device that controls traffic at a connection point between one network and another network, such as a network interface card (NIC). As an example, the network connection device 100 may receive traffic from one network through the receiving unit 130 and then transmit traffic to another network through the transmitting unit 140. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 1 assumes a one-way traffic flow, and the following description will assume a one-way traffic flow, but bidirectional traffic flow will also be described with reference to the following FIGS. 7 to 9.

The network connection device 100 may include a control circuit 110 and a latch switch 120 in addition to the receiving unit 130 and the transmitting unit 140. Here, the control circuit 110 may be a programmable circuit such as an FPGA, but any circuit that can communicate with the security device 200 and control other components inside the network connection device 100, such as the latch switch 120, may be used. Various control processes by the network connection device 100 described below may be performed by the control circuit 110. The latch switch 120 may be an optical switch, and a first terminal may be connected to the transmitting unit 140, and a second terminal may be selectively connected to the receiving unit 130 or the security device 200. As can be seen by the arrow in FIG. 1, the latch switch may receive traffic directly from the receiving unit 130 or from the security device 200 by connecting the second terminal, which may be changed, and transmit the traffic to the transmitting unit 140.

The security equipment 200 may be a host computer on which a security program runs, and may be equipment used to perform security processing on traffic acquired through the receiving unit 130.

The components omitted in FIG. 1 that may be added will now be described. First, the network connection device 100 may include a distributor that divides and transmits a signal received by the receiving unit 130 to the latch switch 120 and the security device 200. The network connection device 100 may also include an optical module that can digitize the optical signal received through the receiving unit 130 into an electrical signal to input to the security device 200. In order to achieve efficiency in terms of design, the optical module may be included in the network connection device 100 in a state integrated with a transceiver. The network connection device 100 may also include a MAC chip that determines whether the traffic converted into an electrical signal by the optical module complies with a network communication standard. Additionally, the network connection device 100 may further include a transceiver between the second terminal and the security device 200, the transmission function of which will be described later, being deactivated by the control circuit 110 in a fail-down mode. In addition, an emergency power supply for the control circuit 110 and the latch switch 120 may be additionally included in case the power supply is cut off in the failover mode, and the emergency power supply may be implemented using a supercapacitor.

The above describes the hardware components of the network connection device 100 in terms of one-way traffic, with reference to FIG. 1. The following describes a failure handling method according to one embodiment, with reference to FIG. 2.

Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a fault handling method according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, in step S210, the network connection device 100 can set an in-line mode and connect the second terminal of the latch switch 120, the first terminal of which is connected to the transmitter, to the security device 200 connected to the receiver 130. In step S220, when the network connection device 100 detects a fault, it can switch to one of a failover mode for switching the connection of the second terminal to the receiver 130 and a fail-down mode for disconnecting the connection between the second terminal and the security device 200 based on the fault handling setting. Each step will be described in detail below.

First, the in-line mode is a general operating mode when there is no failure in the network connection device 100, and may be a mode in which traffic is received through the receiver 130, processed through the security device 200, and then transmitted through the transmitter 140. For this reason, when a first signal is received by the receiver 130, the latch switch 120 does not directly receive the first signal from the receiver 130, but must receive a second signal that is the result of the first signal being processed by the security device 200. For this reason, the second terminal of the network connection device 100 may be connected to the security device 200 instead of the receiver 130. To explain the operation of such an in-line mode, reference will be made to FIG. 3.

Figure 3 shows a network-connected device configured in inline mode in one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the in-line mode is set, when the reception of the first signal through the receiving unit 130 is confirmed, the first signal can be distributed to the latch switch 120 and the security device 200 through a distributor not shown in the drawing. At this time, since the second terminal is connected to the security device 200, the first signal is controlled not to be transmitted to the latch switch 120 due to the connection of the second terminal with the security device 200, and the second signal, which is the result of the first signal being processed by the security device 200, can be transmitted by the network connection device 100 through the transmitting unit 140 via the latch switch 120. Through this process, the network connection device 100 can operate when there is no fault.

If a failure is subsequently detected, the network connection device 100 can handle the failure by operating in a failover mode or a failover mode, depending on the settings. Such settings can be input in advance by the user.

First, in the failover mode, a connection switching operation may be performed in which the second terminal is directly connected to the receiving unit 130 instead of the security device 200. In this manner, reference will be made to FIG. 4 to explain the signal processing process in the failover mode in which the second terminal is directly connected to the receiving unit 130.

Figure 4 shows a network connection device configured in failover mode in one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, when a fault is detected and the network connection device 100 is switched to a failover mode, if reception of a first signal through the receiver 130 is confirmed, the network connection device 100 can distribute the first signal to the latch switch 120 and the security equipment 200 through the distributor. At this time, the second signal can be controlled not to be transmitted to the latch switch 120 by the above-mentioned connection conversion. Instead, since the second terminal is directly connected to the receiver 130, the network connection device 100 can transmit the received first signal directly to the latch switch 120 and then transmit it through the transmitter 140 via the latch switch 120.

The connection switching operation that allows the above-mentioned signal processing to be performed in the failover mode can be performed automatically when a failure is detected. The method for automatically performing the connection switching operation will be described below.

According to one embodiment, the network connection device 100 may determine whether to switch to the failover mode based on reference information regarding whether a command to maintain the inline mode is received from the security device 200 within a preset critical time, and may perform a connection switching operation of the second terminal if it is determined that switching to the failover mode is appropriate. Here, the command to maintain the inline mode from the security device 200 may be continuously transmitted, for example, when the security device 200 is operating normally and traffic is not excessively delayed.

Here, various methods may be used to determine whether or not a command to maintain the inline mode has been received within the critical time. One example of such a method is to use a reference value. That is, the reference information includes a reference value, and the reference value may gradually approach an indication value corresponding to the failover mode from an initial value as time passes. In this case, the reference value may be initialized to an initial value each time a command to maintain the inline mode is received. When the critical time passes and the reference value corresponds to the indication value, the inline mode may be converted to the failover mode and a connection conversion operation of the second terminal may be performed. As an example, the reference value may operate like a kind of timer value, and may decrease by 1 every second from an initial value of 15, for example, and may be converted to the failover mode when it reaches an indication value of 0, and may be continuously initialized to 15 when a command to maintain the inline mode is received. To consider this process, reference will be made to FIGS. 5a and 5b.

Figure 5a shows the relationship between the internal configuration of the security equipment and the network connection device when set to inline mode in one embodiment.

5a, the security device 200 and the MAC chip 150 may be connected by the PCIe standard, the MAC chip 150 and the control circuit 110 may be connected by the I2C communication standard, and the control circuit 110 and the latch switch 120 may be connected by the I2C communication standard using GPIO. This connection method is merely an example, and other methods may be used for connection. As shown in FIG. 5a, the security device 200 or the MAC chip 150 may transmit an inline mode maintenance command to the control circuit. In this manner, when the inline mode maintenance command is transmitted to the control circuit 110, the control circuit 110 may initialize the reference value to an initial value and execute Decount Logic to allow the reference value to gradually approach the designated value over time. As long as the inline mode maintenance command is continuously received, the network connection device 100 may operate as shown in FIG. 5a.

Figure 5b illustrates the interlocking operation between the internal configurations of the security equipment and the network connection device when handling a failure in failover mode according to one embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5b, if a failure occurs in at least a portion of the security device 200 or the MAC chip 150 and an inline mode maintenance command is not received for a critical time or more, the reference value is not initialized to an initial value and may correspond to, for example, become the same as, the instruction value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5b, the control circuit 110 may control the connection of the second terminal of the latch switch 120 to perform a failover mode operation.

Here, when power is normally supplied, the inline mode can be switched to the failover mode through the process shown in Figures 5a and 5b. However, when power is not normally supplied, the reference value may not approach the indicated value through the above process. For example, if power is not supplied to the control circuit 110, it may be difficult to perform the above process. In this case, an emergency power supplier can be used to switch modes when a failure occurs. To consider one such embodiment, refer to Figure 5c.

Figure 5c illustrates the interlocking operation between the internal configurations of the security equipment and the network connection device when the power supply is cut off to handle a failure in failover mode according to one embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5c, when the power supply is cut off and a blackout occurs, the control circuit 110 is unable to execute the decount logic of the reference value described above. As a result, when the network connection device 100 determines that the power supply to the control circuit 110 is cut off, the network connection device 100 can convert the inline mode to the failover mode by performing a connection conversion using the power supplied from the emergency power supplier 160. Here, the emergency power supplier 160 may be embodied using a supercapacitor, and this operation method may be similar to, but not limited to, the operation method for the Power Loss Protection (PLP) of an SSD. In addition, the connection conversion may be performed by the control circuit 110 immediately updating the reference value to be the same as the instruction value using the power obtained from the emergency power supplier 160.

As described above with respect to an embodiment that handles failures through a failover mode, we will now describe an embodiment that handles failures through a fail-down mode. First, we will refer to FIG. 6 to explain the signal flow when a failure is handled in the fail-down mode.

Figure 6 shows a network connection device configured in fail-down mode in one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, when the fail-down mode is switched to, the connection switching operation of the latch switch 120 is not performed. Therefore, the second terminal of the latch switch 120 may still be connected to the security equipment 200 as in the in-line mode, but a signal may not be transmitted between the security equipment 200 and the second terminal due to the connection disconnection operation. Therefore, when the fail-down mode is switched to, when the network connection device 100 confirms the reception of the first signal through the receiver 130, the network connection device 100 may distribute the first signal to the latch switch 120 and the security equipment 200 through the distributor. At this time, the first signal may not be transmitted to the latch switch 120 because the second terminal is connected to the security equipment 200. Meanwhile, the second signal, which is a result of processing the first signal by the security equipment 200, may be controlled not to be transmitted to the latch switch 120 due to the above-mentioned connection disconnection operation. Ultimately, the network connection device 100 may be controlled not to transmit both the first signal and the second signal.

Here, such a disconnection operation may be performed by deactivating the transmission function of a transceiver located between the security device 200 and the second terminal. That is, even if the second signal is generated by the security device 200 despite the fault state, since the fault has occurred, the second signal may already be a delayed or erroneous signal, and therefore, in order to avoid transmitting the signal unnecessarily, the second signal may not be transmitted to the latch switch 120. Of course, a method of preventing transmission of the second signal through a method other than deactivating the transmission function of the transceiver may also be used.

The above explanation has assumed one-way traffic for ease of explanation, but we will now refer to Figures 7 to 9 to explain an example of a network connection device that can perform the same fault handling method in both directions.

Figure 7 illustrates an example of a bidirectionally connected network connection device operating in inline mode in one embodiment.

7, it may seem a little complicated compared to FIG. 1, but it can be seen that the structure described in FIG. 1 exists in mirror symmetry with the security device 200 and the MAC chip 150. The optical modules 171 and 172 combined with the transceivers can perform the function of digitizing the above-mentioned signal in one direction from the receiver to the security device 200, and can perform the above-mentioned latch switch and security device connection/disconnection operation in the fail-down mode in the direction from the security device 200 to the transmitter. Also, the latch switch 120 may be connected in a 2:4 ratio, unlike the case of processing unidirectional traffic. For example, it is assumed that the first terminal is connected to the transmitter 140 of the second port, and the second terminal is connected to the receiver 130 or security device 200 of the first port. In this case, a third terminal performing a similar role in the opposite direction to the first terminal may be connected to the transmitter of the first port, and a fourth terminal performing a similar role in the opposite direction to the second terminal may be connected to the receiver or security device of the second port. At this time, in the in-line mode, the fourth terminal is connected to the security device 200, in the failover mode, the fourth terminal is connected to the receiver of the second port, and in the fail-down mode, the fourth terminal is connected to the security device 200 side, but can be controlled so that no signal is received from the security device 200.

The process by which such a network connection device 100 operates in inline mode in both directions will now be described.

First, when a signal is acquired at the receiver 130 of the first port, the corresponding signal can be transmitted by the distributor 181 to the upper connection part 122-1 and the upper optical module 171 related to the second terminal of the latch switch. Here, the signal distributed to the upper connection part 122-1 related to the second terminal is not transmitted because the second terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the lower connection part 122-2. The signal input to the upper optical module 171 can be digitized as described above, verified by the MAC chip 150, and transmitted to the security equipment 200. The signal processed by the security equipment 200 is transmitted to the lower optical module 172 again via the MAC chip 150, and the lower optical module 172 transmits it again to the lower connection part 122-2 related to the second terminal of the latch switch 120, and the network connection device 100 can transmit the corresponding signal through the transmitter 140 of the second port via the latch switch 120.

Regarding the operation in the opposite direction, when a signal is acquired at the receiver of the second port, the corresponding signal can be transmitted by the distributor 182 to the upper connection part 124-1 related to the fourth terminal of the latch switch and the lower optical module 172. Here, the signal distributed to the upper connection part 124-1 related to the fourth terminal is not transmitted because the fourth terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the lower connection part 124-2, although it is omitted in the drawing. The signal input to the lower optical module 172 can be digitized as described above, verified by the MAC chip 150, and transmitted to the security equipment 200. The signal processed by the security equipment 200 is transmitted to the upper optical module 171 again via the MAC chip 150, and the upper optical module 171 transmits it again to the lower connection part 124-2 related to the fourth terminal of the latch switch 120, and the network connection device 100 can transmit the corresponding signal through the transmitter of the first port via the latch switch 120.

Next, we'll explain the process of handling failures in failover mode in both directions.

Figure 8 illustrates an example of a bidirectionally connected network connection device operating in failover mode in one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, it is similar to FIG. 7, but it can be seen that the second terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the upper connection part 122-1 through the connection changeover. Although not shown in the drawing, the fourth terminal is also connected to the upper connection part 124-1. This allows operation in a failover mode, and more specifically, when a signal is acquired at the receiver 130 of the first port, the corresponding signal can be transmitted by the distributor 181 to the upper connection part 122-1 related to the second terminal of the latch switch and the upper optical module 171. Here, the signal distributed to the upper connection part 122-1 related to the second terminal is in a state in which the second terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the upper connection part 122-1 through the connection changeover, so that the network connection device 100 can transmit the corresponding signal through the transmitter 140 of the second port via the latch switch 120. The signal input to the upper optical module 171 is digitized as described above, verified by the MAC chip 150, and then transmitted to the security equipment 200. The signal processed by the security equipment 200 is transmitted to the lower optical module 172 via the MAC chip 150 again, and the lower optical module 172 again transmits it to the lower connection part 122-2 related to the second terminal of the latch switch 120, but is not transmitted because the second terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the upper connection part 122-1.

Regarding the operation in the opposite direction, when a signal is acquired at the receiver of the second port, the corresponding signal can be transmitted by the distributor 182 to the upper connection part 124-1 related to the fourth terminal of the latch switch and the lower optical module 172. Here, the signal distributed to the upper connection part 124-1 related to the fourth terminal is omitted in the drawing, but since the fourth terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the upper connection part 124-1 through the connection conversion, the network connection device 100 can transmit the corresponding signal through the transmitter of the first port via the latch switch 120. The signal input to the lower optical module 172 can be digitized as described above, verified by the MAC chip 150, and transmitted to the security equipment 200. The signal processed by the security equipment 200 is again transmitted to the upper optical module 171 via the MAC chip 150, and the upper optical module 171 again transmits it to the lower connection part 124-2 related to the fourth terminal of the latch switch 120, but since the fourth terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the upper connection part 124-1, it is not transmitted.

Finally, we'll explain the process of handling failures in fail-down mode in both directions.

Figure 9 illustrates an example of a bidirectionally connected network connection device operating in fail-down mode in one embodiment.

First, when a signal is acquired by the receiver 130 of the first port, the corresponding signal may be transmitted by the distributor 181 to the upper connection unit 122-1 and the upper optical module 171 related to the second terminal of the latch switch. Here, the signal distributed to the upper connection unit 122-1 related to the second terminal is not transmitted because the second terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the lower connection unit 122-2. The signal input to the upper optical module 171 may be digitized as described above, verified by the MAC chip 150, and transmitted to the security device 200. The signal processed by the security device 200 is transmitted to the lower optical module 172 again via the MAC chip 150, but the signal is not transmitted to the latch switch 120 because the transmitter of the lower optical module 172 is inactivated by the connection disconnection operation. Therefore, the network connection device 100 may not perform a transmission operation regarding the input signal.

Regarding the operation in the opposite direction, when a signal is acquired at the receiver of the second port, the corresponding signal can be transmitted by the distributor 182 to the upper connection part 124-1 and the lower optical module 172 related to the fourth terminal of the latch switch. Here, the signal distributed to the upper connection part 124-1 related to the fourth terminal is not transmitted because the fourth terminal of the latch switch 120 is connected to the lower connection part 124-2, although it is omitted in the drawing. The signal input to the lower optical module 172 can be digitized as described above, verified by the MAC chip 150, and transmitted to the security device 200. The signal processed by the security device 200 is transmitted to the upper optical module 171 again via the MAC chip 150, but the signal is not transmitted to the latch switch 120 because the transmitter of the upper optical module 171 is inactivated by the connection disconnection operation, although it is omitted in the drawing. Therefore, the network connection device 100 may not perform a transmission operation regarding the input signal.

The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and other embodiments may be embodied within the scope of the claims below.

Claims (15)

1. A method for handling a fault in a network connection device, comprising:
setting an in-line mode and connecting a second terminal of the latch switch, the first terminal of which is connected to the transmitter, to a security device connected to the receiver;
when occurrence of a fault is confirmed, switching to one of a fail-over mode for switching a connection of the second terminal to the receiving unit and a fail-down mode for disconnecting a connection between the second terminal and the security device based on a fault processing setting;
13. A fault processing method comprising: when the mode is switched to the failover mode, when reception of a first signal through the receiver is confirmed, distributing the first signal to the latch switch and the security device through a distributor;
a second signal resulting from processing the first signal by the security device is prevented from being transmitted to the latch switch by the connection changeover, and the first signal is transmitted through the latch switch via the transmitter;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: If the failure processing setting corresponds to the failover mode, determining whether to switch to the failover mode based on reference information regarding whether a command to maintain the inline mode is received from the security device within a preset critical time.
2. The fault processing method according to claim 1. the reference information includes a reference value, the reference value gradually approaches an indication value corresponding to the failover mode from an initial value over time, and is initialized to the initial value every time the maintenance command of the inline mode is received, and when the reference value corresponds to the indication value after the critical time has elapsed, the inline mode is converted to the failover mode;
4. The fault processing method according to claim 3. When it is confirmed that the power supply is interrupted, the in-line mode is converted to the failover mode by performing the connection conversion using power supplied from an emergency power supplier.
5. The fault processing method according to claim 4. when the fail-down mode is switched to, when reception of a first signal through the receiver is confirmed, distributing the first signal to the latch switch and the security device through a distributor;
controlling the first signal not to be transmitted to the latch switch by connecting the second terminal to the security device, and controlling the second signal, which is a result of the first signal being processed by the security device, not to be transmitted to the latch switch by disconnecting the connection, thereby preventing both the first and second signals from being transmitted;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: When the fail-down mode is selected, the connection is cut off by deactivating a transmission function of a transceiver located between the security device and the second terminal.
2. The fault processing method according to claim 1. When the in-line mode is set, when the reception of the first signal through the receiver is confirmed, the first signal is distributed to the latch switch and the security device through a distributor,
The first signal is prevented from being transmitted to the latch switch by connecting the second terminal to the security device, and a second signal, which is a result of the first signal being processed by the security device, is transmitted through the latch switch to the transmitter.
2. The fault processing method according to claim 1. The first terminal of the latch switch is connected to the transmitter, and the second terminal is controlled to be selectively connected to one of the security device connected to the receiver or the receiver by selecting at least one of the in-line mode, the failover mode, and the fail-down mode.
2. The fault processing method according to claim 1. A network connection device having a fault processing function,
a latch switch having a first terminal connected to the transmitter and a second terminal selectively connected to one of the receiver and a security device connected to the receiver;
a control circuit that connects the second terminal to the security device in an in-line mode, connects the second terminal to the receiving unit in a failover mode, and disconnects the second terminal from the security device in a fail-down mode;
A network connection device comprising: a distributor for distributing a signal input through the receiver to the latch switch and the security device,
11. The network connection device according to claim 10. further comprising an optical module for digitizing the signal distributed to the security equipment, and a MAC chip for testing a communication standard of the signal digitized by the optical module and inputting the signal to the security equipment;
12. The network connection device according to claim 11. a transceiver between the second terminal and the security device, the transceiver having a transmission function inactivated by the control circuit in the fail-down mode;
11. The network connection device according to claim 10. an emergency power supply for said control circuit and said latch switch;
11. The network connection device according to claim 10. The first terminal of the latch switch is connected to the transmitter of the second port, and the second terminal is connected to the receiver of the first port or the security device,
a third terminal of the latch switch is connected to a transmitting unit of the first port, and a fourth terminal of the latch switch is connected to a receiving unit of the second port or the security device;
the control circuit connects the fourth terminal to the security device in the in-line mode, connects the fourth terminal to the receiving unit of the second port in the failover mode, and disconnects the fourth terminal from the security device in the fail-down mode.
11. The network connection device according to claim 10.