JP5053319B2 - Diagnostic system and program for network system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a diagnosis system and a program for a network system suitable for monitoring and diagnosing a process control system including a network in, for example, the steel industry.

  Process control systems in the steel industry and the like that require high reliability in 24-hour operation have been configured so far with computers and networks dedicated to heavy electrical manufacturers, but there have been difficulties in terms of cost reduction and expandability.

  For this reason, in recent years, the introduction of process control systems, which are open systems using devices such as general-purpose computers whose specifications have been disclosed, has been in progress. However, when the scale of application increases and the need for realizing a high-function system applying the latest IT technology from the operation department is met, the quantity and combination of general-purpose products may become enormous. Also, especially for the network, the effects of failures that occurred in some areas affect the entire system, and the phenomenon is irregular and non-reproducible, which increases the difficulty of investigating the cause and recovery work when a failure occurs. There were many.

  A network specialist who requires a high level of expertise waits 24 hours to manage a process control system in which multiple devices are distributed and connected via a network. Because it is unrealistic, networking professionals have attempted to introduce dedicated systems and tools to remotely monitor and diagnose multi-device process control systems. Here, monitoring and diagnosis are information such as whether each device included in the process control system is stopped, operating, or operating normally when operating. Point to getting. However, monitoring and diagnosis of the process control system is limited to interviewing the operation and operation status performed by field operators at each site in the manufacturing process, and monitoring only by ITV, so the equipment status is detailed. It is often essential to execute while grasping.

JP 2008-171077 A

  Operators working 24 hours on site and workers in maintenance departments who are waiting for the maintenance of the entire facility, while looking at the situation at the site, do not require advanced network expertise. There was no inexpensive, versatile and easy-to-use tool that could flexibly monitor and diagnose complex process control systems.

  In view of the above points, the present applicant creates a network configuration diagram sheet, a network definition sheet, etc. using spreadsheet software as commercially available in Patent Document 1, and issues a ping based on these sheets. It has been proposed to enable monitoring and CRC error monitoring. More specifically, by using a sheet created by spreadsheet software, parameters such as the number of ping issuance monitoring ping repetitions, execution interval, block size, timeout, etc., and ping issuance monitoring and CRC error monitoring execution schedule can be freely set. It can be set to.

  By the way, as the introduction of open systems progresses, there may be cases where transmission is required with devices that cannot be directly connected to the open system network, among existing computers dedicated to heavy electrical manufacturers. For this reason, for example, a protocol converter for converting a standard / representative communication protocol, TCP / IP, into a serial communication protocol (other communication protocol) of individual specifications is installed between a network and an existing device. System configurations are increasing.

  Further, it is often necessary to perform complicated monitoring and diagnosis of a plurality of types and contents for a plurality of devices constituting the process control system. When performing such complicated monitoring and diagnosis, it is important to appropriately set the diagnosis procedure. In that case, it is desirable to be able to set and change monitoring and diagnosis procedures easily and flexibly while looking at the situation in the field without requiring advanced network expertise.

  The present invention has been made in view of the situation as described above, and can be applied to a process control system including a complicated network configuration. In the case where monitoring and diagnosis of complicated contents including a plurality of processes are executed. The objective is to enable easy and flexible monitoring and diagnosis procedures to be set and changed while looking at on-site conditions without the need for advanced network expertise.

The network system diagnosis system of the present invention is a network system diagnosis system that monitors and diagnoses a network system configured by connecting a plurality of devices, and the network system is configured by connecting the plurality of devices. A communication target device that performs data communication with a communication protocol different from the communication protocol of the network via a protocol converter, and is a spreadsheet software that describes information about the network system. Sheet storage means for storing the created sheet, and diagnosis means capable of executing a plurality of monitoring and diagnosis based on the sheets stored in the sheet storage means, collecting data on the network, and performing the communication Collect data sent and received by the target device and collect the data Diagnosis that can perform transmission diagnosis that searches the data on the network corresponding to the collected data transmitted and received by the communication target device based on time and outputs it to a sheet created by spreadsheet software means and said diagnostic means which can be executed monitoring operations including diagnostic and componentized, by operator them parts on the sheet created by spreadsheet software is arranged in time series, monitoring the diagnostic means executes, And a flow definition unit that can define a flow of an operation including diagnosis.
The program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute processing for monitoring and diagnosing a network system configured by connecting a plurality of devices, and the network system is configured by connecting the plurality of devices. A communication target device that performs data communication with a communication protocol different from the communication protocol of the network via a protocol converter, and is a spreadsheet software that describes information about the network system. Sheet storage means for storing the created sheet, and diagnosis means capable of executing a plurality of monitoring and diagnosis based on the sheets stored in the sheet storage means, collecting data on the network, and performing the communication Collect data sent and received by the target device, and collect the collected network Among data on click, the communication target device to which the collection is searched based on the those corresponding to the data transmitted and received time diagnosis unit is capable of executing transmission diagnostic output to the sheet created by spreadsheet software When the diagnosis means which is executable monitoring, and part of the operation including the diagnosis, by the operator them parts on the sheet created by spreadsheet software is arranged in time series, monitoring the diagnostic means executes, diagnostic The computer is caused to function as a flow definition means that can define an operation flow including

  According to the present invention, operations including monitoring and diagnosis that can be executed by the diagnostic means are converted into parts, and these parts are arranged in a time series on a sheet created by spreadsheet software, so that the flow of operations including monitoring and diagnosis is performed. Can be set and changed while visually checking the operation procedure including monitoring and diagnosis. This makes it possible to set and change monitoring and diagnosis procedures easily and flexibly while looking at the situation on the site without requiring advanced network expertise.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the process control system containing the diagnostic system to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the function structure of a diagnostic apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating a common definition sheet | seat. It is a figure for demonstrating an execution schedule sheet | seat. It is a figure for demonstrating a network block diagram sheet. It is a figure for demonstrating a network definition sheet. It is a figure for demonstrating a ping result sheet | seat. It is a figure for demonstrating SW list sheet. It is a figure for demonstrating a serial transmission diagnostic result sheet. It is a figure for demonstrating a serial transmission diagnostic log sheet. It is a figure which shows an operation screen. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a ping issuing process. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of pushing down the "all node diagnosis (once)" button. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of pressing of a search start button. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of pressing of a ping button. It is a figure which shows a capture setting screen. It is a figure which shows a capture setting screen. It is a figure which shows the list display screen of analysis data. It is a figure which shows the screen at the time of message trace tool use. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a serial transmission diagnostic process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a time difference determination process. It is a figure for demonstrating a diagnostic component parameter definition sheet | seat. It is a figure for demonstrating a flow definition sheet. It is a figure for demonstrating a flow definition sheet. It is a figure which shows a diagnostic monitoring flow execution instruction | indication screen. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of performing the defined flow.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a process control system including a diagnosis system to which the present invention is applied. A plurality of switching hubs 200 are connected to the control server 100 that controls the entire process. In FIG. 1, the control server 100 is illustrated as a single device, but may be configured by a plurality of devices. In addition, the following description describes as an example the process control system in the manufacturing process of the steel plate of the steel industry.

  The switching hub 200 is installed for each system such as a manufacturing process control system, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) system, and an upper system that supervises the manufacturing process control system. A plurality of network devices 300 such as sensors, personal computers, and hubs are connected. These control server 100, switching hub 200, and network device 300 constitute a TCP / IP network NW.

  In addition, a communication target device 400 that is an existing device is connected to a predetermined switching hub 200 via a protocol converter (protocol converter) 500 and a modem. The protocol converter 500 converts the communication protocol (TCP / IP) of the TCP / IP network NW to the serial transmission communication protocol of the individual specification of the communication target device 400. As described above, the network in the present embodiment is also intended to include a plurality of types of communication networks.

  A diagnostic device 1 for monitoring and diagnosing the process control system is connected to these switching hubs 200 via the switching hub 2.

  A serial transmission capture device 700 is connected between the protocol converter 500 and the communication target device 400 via the branch cable 600. The serial transmission capture device 700 collects data transmitted / received by the communication target device 400 and associates time information with the capture data and stores it in the capture data storage unit 800. In addition, the serial transmission capture device 700 transmits the capture data stored in the capture data storage unit 800 to the diagnostic device 1.

  As described in detail below, the diagnostic system including the diagnostic device 1 and the serial transmission capture device 700 as the main components includes (1) ping issue monitoring tool (response request diagnostic tool) and (2) CRC error monitoring. Functions as a tool, (3) a packet capture tool, and (4) a serial transmission diagnostic tool.

(Functional configuration of diagnostic device 1)
FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of the diagnostic apparatus 1. Reference numeral 11 denotes a display device. Reference numeral 12 denotes an input device such as a keyboard or a pointing device.

  A worksheet storage unit 13 stores a worksheet created by spreadsheet software (for example, Excel (registered trademark)). The worksheet includes a common definition sheet 13a, execution schedule sheet 13b, network configuration diagram sheet 13c, network definition sheet 13d, ping result sheet 13e, ping log sheet 13f, SW list sheet 13g, SW monitoring log sheet 13h, serial transmission A diagnostic result sheet 13i, a serial transmission diagnostic log sheet 13j, a diagnostic component parameter definition sheet 13k, and a flow definition sheet 13l are created.

  Reference numeral 14 denotes a ping issuing unit, which transmits a response request to each device on the process control system based on the network definition sheet 13d under the control of the diagnosis unit 15 described later (ping issuance). Note that ping is generally the most basic command used in a TCP / IP network to check whether an IP packet has reached a destination or is reachable in IP.

  Reference numeral 15 denotes a diagnosis unit that monitors and diagnoses the process control system. The diagnosis unit 15 diagnoses the state of each device based on the response from each device on the process control system to the ping issuance by the ping issuing unit 14. In this embodiment, not only the presence / absence of a response from each device but also the time from when a response request is transmitted until the response is returned is checked. Then, the diagnosis result is output to the ping result sheet 13e. The diagnosis unit 15 also transmits / receives data on the TCP / IP network NW and the communication target device 400 connected via a serial transmission path (that is, collected by the serial transmission capture device 700 and serial transmission acquisition unit 20). And the capture data input to the diagnosis unit 15 via the time series). Then, the diagnosis result is output to the serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i.

  A display control unit 16 displays a ping result sheet 13e, a serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i, and the like on the display device 11 under the control of the diagnosis unit 15 and a CRC error monitoring unit 17 to be described later, and a diagnosis result by the diagnosis unit 15 Is reflected on the network configuration diagram sheet 13c and displayed on the display device 11. For example, on the network configuration diagram sheet 13c, a device that does not respond or a device that detects a transmission error is displayed in red, and a device that responds slower than a preset time is displayed in yellow.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) error monitoring unit that performs CRC error monitoring based on the SW list sheet 13g. CRC is called cyclic redundancy check, and is one of error detection / correction methods for checking whether data is correctly transmitted by data transmission or the like. On the process control system, there are devices for accumulating the number of occurrences of CRC errors, for example, switching hubs 200 for each system, and the number of occurrences of CRC errors that are a precursor of trouble is collected from these devices.

  Reference numeral 18 denotes a log output unit, which outputs a log to the ping log sheet 13f under the control of the diagnosis unit 15 and the CRC error monitoring unit 17 when the result of ping issuance monitoring described in detail later is NG. When a CRC error occurs during monitoring, a log is output to the SW monitoring log sheet 13h, and when a serial transmission error is detected, a serial transmission diagnosis log sheet 13j is output.

  Reference numeral 19 denotes a capture unit that collects data (packets) on the TCP / IP network NW via the switching hub 200 of each system, and associates and stores the collected time information.

  Reference numeral 20 denotes a serial transmission data acquisition unit that acquires capture data stored in the capture data storage unit 800 from the serial transmission capture device 700.

  In the present embodiment, the ping issuing unit 14, the diagnosis unit 15, the CRC error monitoring unit 17, the capture unit 19, the serial transmission data acquisition unit 20, and the like constitute a diagnostic unit that can execute a plurality of monitoring and diagnosis.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes a flow definition unit, which uses a diagnostic part parameter definition sheet 13k input and set in advance by an operator to componentize (modulate) operations including monitoring and diagnosis that can be executed in the diagnostic apparatus 1 (hereinafter referred to as modules). , Referred to as a diagnostic component), the default values of the parameters of the diagnostic component are set. Then, by arranging the diagnostic components in time series on the flow definition sheet 13l displayed on the display device 11, the flow of operations including monitoring and diagnosis executed in the diagnostic device 1 can be defined.

  The diagnostic device 1 may be configured by a plurality of devices or a single device. For example, (1) a ping issue monitoring tool and (2) a personal computer functioning as a CRC error monitoring tool, and (3) a packet capture tool and (4) a personal computer functioning as a serial transmission diagnostic tool may be configured separately. Good. In FIG. 1, the monitoring device 1 and the serial transmission capture device 700 are illustrated as separate bodies, but may be integrated.

(worksheet)
As shown in FIG. 3, the common definition sheet 13a is for setting a ping issue default designation, a diagnosis execution mode, setting parameters for serial transmission diagnosis, and a batch file to be executed when an error occurs. Specifically, as partly shown in Table 1 below, the number of ping repetitions, execution interval, block size, timeout, TTL (Time To Live), execution mode, data from-to (transmission, reception), Set timeout, scan time, error execution file name (path, batch file, startup count limit). The timeout is a time for setting an allowable time difference of data transmission / reception between the TCP / IP network NW and the communication target device 400 in the serial transmission diagnosis. The scan time is a time set for searching TCP / IP data corresponding to serial transmission data in serial transmission diagnosis.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the execution schedule sheet 13b is for designating an execution schedule for ping issue monitoring, CRC error monitoring, and serial transmission diagnosis. Specifically, as shown in Table 2 below, the execution cycle, execution day, start interval, start time, and execution mode are set. Also, whether the schedule is currently being executed or stopped is displayed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the network configuration diagram sheet 13c is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the process control system, that is, each device and the network connection between the devices. As described above, the display control unit 16 displays the corresponding device on the network configuration diagram sheet 13c by enclosing the color corresponding to the diagnosis result by the diagnosis unit 15, so that the portion to be discolored is surrounded by the cell combination. Leave it in. The network configuration diagram sheet 13c is always created at the design stage of the process control system and is also used at the maintenance operation stage, and is taken into the diagnostic apparatus 1 for network monitoring. In the example of FIG. 5, a “marker” for marking a steel plate corresponds to the communication target device 400 in FIG. 1.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the network definition sheet 13d has network information (host name, IP address, connected device code) and device information (device type, manufacturer, model name) for each device set in the network configuration diagram sheet 13c. It is for describing and defining. Specifically, as shown in Table 3 below, the connection number, device code, network information, device information, design information (row, column), installation location, size, and timeout are set. As described above, the ping issuing unit 14 transmits a response request to the device on the process control system based on each information defined in the network definition sheet 13d.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the ping result sheet 13e is for outputting the result of ping issuance monitoring, and displays not only the NG count and OK count but also the success rate. As described above, the diagnosis unit 15 outputs a diagnosis result to the ping result sheet 13e.

  Although not specifically illustrated, the ping log sheet 13f outputs a log (history) when the result of the ping issuance monitoring is NG, and items of the result, date, target, IP address, status, and remarks Set. As described above, when the result of ping issue monitoring is NG, the log output unit 18 outputs a log to this ping log sheet 13f.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the SW list sheet 13g is for setting information related to a switching hub that monitors a CRC error. Specifically, the CRC error monitoring period is set, and the IP address of each switching hub and the row and column of the switching hub arranged in the network configuration diagram sheet 13c are set. Also, an object ID in which the number of CRC errors is stored is set.

  Although not specifically shown, the SW monitoring log sheet 13h is for outputting a log when a CRC error occurs during CRC error monitoring. As described above, when a CRC error occurs during CRC error monitoring, the log output unit 18 outputs a log to the SW monitoring log sheet 13h.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i is for outputting the result of serial transmission diagnosis by a serial transmission diagnosis tool described later. Year / month / day, hour / minute / second, microsecond, transmission / reception side IP address, dump, and the like are displayed. As described above, the diagnosis unit 15 outputs a diagnosis result to the serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the serial transmission diagnosis log sheet 13j outputs a log when the result of serial transmission diagnosis is NG. The result, date, target, IP address, status, size, timeout, Set the remark items. As described above, if the result of the serial transmission diagnosis is NG, the log output unit 18 outputs a log to the serial transmission diagnosis log sheet 13j.

  The diagnostic component parameter definition sheet 13k, as shown in FIG. 22, converts the monitoring and diagnostic operations that can be executed in the diagnostic apparatus 1 into modules, and sets default values of parameters related to the diagnostic component monitoring and diagnostic operations. Is to do. In the illustrated example, “NW configuration diagram display” for displaying the network configuration diagram sheet 13c, “execution of all ping nodes once”, “ping result sheet display” for displaying the ping result sheet 13e, and “ping log sheet 13f for displaying”. Parts such as “ping log sheet display”, “CRC error manual collection”, and “SW monitoring log display” for displaying the SW monitoring log sheet 13h are componentized. For the ping diagnosis, it is possible to set default values of the ping repetition count, execution interval, block size, timeout, and TTL. Further, a default value of the monitoring cycle can be set for CRC diagnosis (CRC error monitoring). Although not shown here, “serial transmission diagnosis”, “serial transmission diagnosis result sheet display”, “serial transmission diagnosis log sheet display”, and the like can be made into parts. In this way, a plurality of operation parts including monitoring and diagnosis that can be executed in the diagnostic apparatus 1 are set as necessary.

  As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the flow definition sheet 13l is an operation including monitoring and diagnosis executed in the diagnostic apparatus 1 by arranging a plurality of diagnostic parts defined in the diagnostic part parameter definition sheet 13k in time series. This is for defining the flow.

((1) Ping issue monitoring tool)
The ping issue monitoring described below is executed under the control of the diagnosis unit 15. When the operator operates a command button (not shown) on the display device 11, a ping issue operation screen 1100 is displayed on the display device 11, as shown in FIG. In the ping issue operation screen 1100, reference numeral 1101 denotes a selection button for selecting whether to execute “all node diagnosis (infinite)”, “all node diagnosis (schedule)”, or “all node diagnosis (once)”. . Reference numeral 1102 denotes a diagnosis stop button for instructing to stop diagnosis. Reference numeral 1103 denotes a setting field for setting a device code when performing a trace route search. Here, the trace route is a path of a node for returning a response at the time of executing ping. Reference numeral 1104 denotes a search start button for instructing start of trace route search. Reference numeral 1105 denotes a ping button for instructing execution of ping when performing a trace route search. Reference numeral 1106 denotes a button for referring to the ping result sheet 13e. Further, the ping issue operation screen 1100 indicates that the initial state is white, the ping issuance is blue, the abnormality (no response) is red, and the unstable (slow response) is yellow. .

  FIG. 12 shows the flow of the ping issue process. First, the data of the network definition sheet 13d is acquired (step S1201). Next, the device code of the own terminal is acquired based on the network definition sheet 13d (step S1202). If the device code of the own terminal cannot be acquired, an error message is output, and then the process ends. Next, all combinations of the own terminal and other terminals are acquired based on the network definition sheet 13d (step S1203). Next, if the search start button 1104 and the ping button 1105 are pressed, each process is executed (step S1204 (see FIG. 14), S1205 (see FIG. 15)). If the search is not a trace route search, the processes in steps S1204 and S1205 are repeated for the number of acquisitions without pressing the search start button 1104 and the ping button 1105. Then, the ping result is reflected and displayed on the network configuration diagram sheet 13c via the display control unit 16, and the ping log sheet 13f is created via the log output unit 18 (step S1206).

  When the “all node diagnosis (one time)” button is pressed among the selection buttons 1101 on the ping issue operation screen 1100, if the execution mode set in the common definition sheet 13a is ping or both, FIG. As shown, a ping issuing process is executed via the ping issuing unit 14 (step S1301 (see FIG. 12)). Further, when the execution mode set in the common definition sheet 13a is CRC or both, the CRC error total is acquired under the control of the CRC error monitoring unit 17 (step S1302).

  When the “all node diagnosis (infinite)” button among the selection buttons 1101 on the ping issue operation screen 1100 is pressed, the processing of FIG. 13 is repeated until the diagnosis stop button 1102 is pressed.

  When the “all node diagnosis (schedule)” button among the selection buttons 1101 on the ping issue operation screen 1100 is pressed, the schedule is set according to the schedule set in the execution schedule sheet 13b until the diagnosis stop button 1102 is pressed. Repeat the process.

  FIG. 14 shows processing when the search start button 1104 is pressed in step S1204. When the search start button 1104 is pressed, a trace route search of the ping issue destination device code is performed from the input ping issue source device code. First, it is checked whether the device code set in the setting field 1103 of the ping issue operation screen 1100 is set in the internal information of the network configuration diagram sheet 13c, and whether the device code input to the issuer device code is the local terminal. Is checked (step S1401). Next, a trace route from the ping issuing source device code to the ping issuing destination device code is acquired from the internal information (step S1401).

  FIG. 15 shows processing when the ping button 1105 is pressed in step S1205. When the ping button 1105 is pressed, a ping is issued between the trace routes acquired by the processing when the search start button 1104 is pressed. First, the trace route of the ping issue destination is output from the ping issue source acquired by the processing when the search start button 1104 is pressed to the search route of the ping result sheet 13e (step S1501). Next, an IP address is acquired from the ping issue destination device code from the internal information (step S1502). Next, the IP address acquired in step S1502 is issued a ping via the ping issuing unit 14 (step S1503). Next, based on the output result, the network configuration diagram sheet 13c is displayed via the display control unit 16, and when it is NG, the log is output to the ping log sheet 13f via the log output unit 18 (step S1504). ).

((2) CRC error monitoring tool)
The CRC monitoring described below is executed under the control of the CRC error monitoring unit 17. When a command button (not shown) is operated on the display device 11, an SNMP SW monitoring screen 804 is displayed on the display device 11 together with the SW list sheet 13g as shown in FIG. The SNMP SW monitoring screen 804 displays a list of devices that accumulate the number of CRC error occurrences set in the SW list sheet 13g.

  When the CRC error number acquisition button 801 is pressed, the number of CRC errors (counter total value) in the SW list sheet 13g is updated. When the CRC error monitoring button 802 is pressed, the network configuration diagram sheet 13c is displayed via the display control unit 16, and CRC error monitoring is started every monitoring period. If a CRC error is detected during CRC error monitoring, a log is output to the SW monitoring log sheet 13h via the log output unit 18. When the monitoring stop button 803 is pressed, CRC error monitoring is stopped.

((3) Packet capture tool)
The capture unit 19 extracts, outputs, and analyzes a message that matches a specified condition using data obtained by capturing a packet on the TCP / IP network NW. For the analysis, Ethereal can be used, and Excel analysis is also possible. In the analysis by Excel, the result converted into the csv format can be read and displayed. As a linkage function, the analysis result can be output in the message trace tool format.

  First, the capture method will be described. In the capture setting screen 1600 shown in FIG. 16, the network adapter 1601 used for capture is selected in the setting field 1601. Next, the IP address and port number of the transmission source / destination are designated in the setting column 1602. In this case, if "*" is specified, it is executed for all values. Next, the communication protocol (TCP, UDP, all) to be captured is selected in the setting field 1603. Next, “capture” is selected with the radio button 1604. Next, the save destination of the capture result is designated in the setting field 1605. Thereafter, when a capture execution button 1606 is pressed, capture is executed. To stop the capture, a capture stop button 1607 is pressed.

  Next, an analysis setting method will be described. As shown in FIG. 17, when “Analyze Excel” is selected with the radio button 1604, the screen changes according to the setting as described below. To start the analysis, the analysis button 1608 is pressed after setting each condition.

  When a communication protocol is selected in the setting field 1603, a message type list 1609 is displayed as shown in FIG. Therefore, when a message type (Csemi standard transmission, Csemi PIO transmission) is selected, a filter condition setting field 1610 is displayed. FIG. 17 shows a state in which a filter condition setting field 1610 is displayed when Csemi standard transmission is selected. Csemi is an abbreviation for “NS SEMI SYSTEM (registered trademark)” and is an application that serves as a bridge between application software for process control and general-purpose software Windows (registered trademark) NT (registered trademark). It is a middleware for human control. With regard to Csemi, the technology is disclosed in Nippon Steel Technical Bulletin No363 1997 and Nippon Steel Technical Bulletin No379 2003 by the present applicant.

  In this embodiment, in the case of “Csemi standard transmission” of the communication protocol “TCP”, as shown in FIG. 17, in the output setting column 1611, the output setting (record size, binary) for the message trace tool binary file (.bin). Logical line No., number of records, transmission / reception type).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 17, an Excel analysis setting field 1612 becomes valid, and options for analysis are designated there. Here, you can select the capture date and time, the analysis method, and the output format. In other words, the capture date and time (start point) and the capture date and time (end point) are designated (beginning and end points of automatic merging). In addition to selecting whether to start automatically or not, the software to be used for analysis is specified. Select the check box to output a dump of the data part when outputting the csv file. In the setting field 1605, the name of the target file to be searched is specified. If the beginning of the file name matches, it becomes a search target. (Files that meet the conditions are subject to automatic merging).

  A display filter is applied under the conditions of the analysis tab, and the result is displayed. When the automatic activation check box in the Excel analysis setting field 1612 is turned on, Excel or Ethereal is automatically activated. In the case of Excel automatic activation, the csv output result can be confirmed. Since there is an inquiry about whether to enable the macro after starting Excel, enable it. After that, by browsing the csv file to be read, a list of analysis data is displayed (see FIG. 18). In the case of the automatic startup of Ethereal, the result of applying the display filter under the conditions of the analysis tab can be confirmed on the Ethereal.

  Next, an example of using the message trace tool will be described. As shown in FIG. 19A, on the message trace tool, a file output in the message trace format (for example, xxx_TraceTool.bin) and a destination for saving the definition document are designated. A message definition document must be created in advance.

  And as shown in FIG.19 (b), the message to display is selected in the following way. First, a definition re-read button 1901 is pressed to read a definition document, and a message No. is selected in a column 1902 to display a list of messages in a column 1903. When the message to be displayed in the field 1903 is selected, the message content is displayed as shown in FIG.

((4) Serial transmission diagnostic tool)
The serial transmission diagnosis described below is executed under the control of the diagnosis unit 15. When a command button (not shown) is operated on the display device 11, a serial transmission diagnosis operation screen 1107 is displayed on the display device 11, as shown in FIG. In the serial transmission diagnosis operation screen 1107, reference numeral 1108 denotes a selection button for selecting whether to execute “infinite”, “schedule”, or “manual (once)”. Reference numeral 1109 denotes a diagnosis stop button for instructing to stop the diagnosis.

  FIG. 20 shows the flow of the serial transmission diagnosis process. First, data on the TCP / IP network NW (hereinafter referred to as TCP / IP data) is acquired (step S2001). Next, data (hereinafter referred to as serial transmission data) transmitted and received by the communication target device 400 is acquired (step S2002). Then, the data acquired in steps S2001 and S2002 are imported into the serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i shown in FIG. 9, and rearranged using the time as a key (step S2003).

  Next, a time difference ΔTd between the TCP / IP data and the serial transmission data is determined (step S2004). The time difference ΔTd is for correcting the time difference between the TCP / IP data and the serial transmission data due to the communication speed or the like, and this time difference determination process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, the time data of the serial transmission data in the serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i is subtracted by ΔTd and rearranged again (step S2005).

  Next, before and after the time data of the serial transmission data in the serial transmission diagnosis result sheet 13i, specifically, within the scan time set in the common definition sheet 13a shown in FIG. The TCP / IP data is searched, and the row position in the sheet is switched so that the time order is correct (step S2006). In FIG. The items with □ (reception) and ■ (transmission) in the item are serial transmission data, and the data before and after that is TCP / IP data.

  If it is determined in step S2006 that there is no TCP / IP data corresponding to the serial transmission data, it is determined that the TCP / IP data is missing, an error notification is executed, and the network configuration diagram sheet is displayed via the display control unit 16. The predetermined place of 13c is displayed with a different color (step S2007). Further, a serial transmission diagnosis log sheet 13j is created via the log output unit 18.

  FIG. 21A shows the flow of the time difference determination process in step S2004. First, from-to (transmission, reception) and timeout of data set in the common definition sheet 13a are acquired (step S2101). In this example, the from data is set to ENQ, and the to data is set to ACK.

  Next, for both TCP / IP data and serial transmission data, the from data (ENQ) and to data (ACK) are searched from the head (step S2102). If there is no data in step S2102, the process proceeds to step S2105, and after-to (transmission, reception) of the data in the next row is acquired, then the process returns to step S2102.

  If there is data in step S2102, the process proceeds to step S2104, ΔTt and ΔTs are calculated, and it is determined whether both ΔTt and ΔTs are within the timeout range. Here, as shown in FIG. 21B, ΔTt is a time difference in data transmission / reception on the TCP / IP network NW side, and ΔTs is a time difference in data transmission / reception on the communication target device 400 side.

If ΔTt and ΔTs are not within the time-out range in step S2104, the process proceeds to step S2105, and after-to (transmission, reception) of the data in the next row is acquired, then the process returns to step S2102. If ΔTt and ΔTs are both within the timeout range in step S2104, the process proceeds to step S2106. In step S2106, a time difference ΔTd between the TCP / IP data and the serial transmission data is calculated by the following equation.
ΔTd = (ΔTt + ΔTs) / 2

  When the “manual (once)” button of the selection buttons 1108 on the serial transmission diagnosis operation screen 1107 is pressed, the processing of FIG. 20 is executed. When the “infinity” button is pressed among the selection buttons 1108, the processing in FIG. 20 is repeated until the diagnosis stop button 1109 is pressed. When the “schedule” button among the selection buttons 1108 is pressed, the processing in FIG. 20 is repeated according to the schedule set in the execution schedule sheet 13b until the diagnosis stop button 1109 is pressed.

  With the serial transmission diagnostic tool described above, data on the TCP / IP network NW and data transmitted and received by the communication target device 400 are always collected. For example, when a trouble occurs, the TCP / IP network NW in the designated time zone is collected. The above data and the data transmitted and received by the communication target device 400 can be merged in time series and diagnosed. Thereby, the cause investigation at the time of failure occurrence and the efficiency of the countermeasure implementation work can be improved.

  Up to this point, monitoring and diagnosis are set based on operations on various screens (ping issuing operation screen 1100, SNMP SW monitoring screen 804, serial transmission diagnostic operation screen 1107), common definition sheet 13a, execution schedule sheet 13b, and the like. However, as described above, the flow of operations including monitoring and diagnosis can be defined and executed by arranging diagnostic components in time series as described above. In this case, the monitoring and diagnosis functions based on the screen and the sheets 13a and 13b and the monitoring and diagnosis functions based on the flow definition described in detail below may coexist, or only one of them may be implemented. It may be. When both functions coexist, monitoring and diagnosis may be set independently, or either one may be prioritized.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the diagnostic component parameter definition sheet 13k converts the operations including monitoring and diagnosis that can be executed in the diagnostic apparatus 1 into components, and sets default values of parameters of the diagnostic components. In the illustrated example, operations such as “NW configuration diagram display”, “execute all ping nodes once”, “ping result sheet display”, “ping log sheet display”, “CRC error manual collection”, “SW monitoring log display” It is divided into parts, and for ping diagnosis, set the default values of ping repeat count, execution interval, block size, timeout, and TTL during operation, trial operation, and regular repair, and operate for CRC diagnosis (CRC error monitoring). The default value of the monitoring period is set for each of the middle, trial run, and regular repairs. The cooperation between the diagnostic component parameter definition sheet 13k and each processing module is realized by, for example, VBA (Visual Basic programming system Applications edition).

  With the diagnostic component set on the diagnostic component parameter definition sheet 13k and the default values of the parameters set, copy the “diagnosis monitoring flow (base paper)” sheet on the flow definition sheet 13l as shown in FIG. Change the name appropriately. Since a list of diagnostic parts is displayed in a pull-down format in the right cell of “Parts:” above the sheet, a desired diagnostic part is selected, and is copied and pasted to the flow definition area below the sheet. In the example of FIG. 23, “NW configuration diagram display” 2301 is pasted first.

  By arranging the diagnostic components 2301 to 2305 in time series in this way, it is possible to define a flow of operations including monitoring and diagnosis executed in the diagnostic apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. Depending on the diagnostic part (for example, “execute all ping nodes once”), the diagnostic part can be branched according to the diagnostic result. Even if the diagnostic component can be branched, it is not always necessary to branch the diagnostic component when the next diagnostic component is transferred regardless of the result. In addition, when a diagnostic component that does not branch (for example, “NW configuration diagram display”, “ping result sheet display”) is to be branched, a notice for alerting may be issued.

  The flow can be terminated with an “end” part. Also, by specifying “pause”, the flow can be temporarily stopped at the time of execution.

  Furthermore, not only can the diagnostic parts be arranged in time series, but also the parameter values of the diagnostic parts can be changed. When a predetermined operation is performed on the screen, a diagnostic monitoring flow execution instruction screen is displayed as shown in FIG. When a “ping parameter display” button 2401 on this instruction screen is operated, as shown in FIG. 25, an operation status and a parameter value input column for diagnosis are displayed. Here, the default values of the parameters set on the diagnostic component parameter definition sheet 13k are displayed. By changing these default values, the values applied only within the flow can be freely set. Thus, in the example of FIG. 24, if the first “ping all nodes execute once” 2302 is abnormal, the next “ping all nodes execute once” 2304 is executed. In the “execute once node” 2304, the block size can be reduced and the timeout can be increased.

  When the operation flow including monitoring and diagnosis is defined as described above, as shown in FIG. 24, when a diagnosis flow is selected on the diagnosis monitoring flow execution instruction screen and the “execute” button 2402 is operated, Accordingly, operations including monitoring and diagnosis by the diagnosis means (ping issuing unit 14, diagnosis unit 15, CRC error monitoring unit 17, capture unit 19, serial transmission data acquisition unit 20 and the like) are executed.

  In the example of FIG. 24, since there is “NW configuration diagram display” 2301 first, the network configuration diagram sheet 13c (see FIG. 5) is displayed. Note that the diagnostic component being executed has a display form different from that of other diagnostic components (for example, blue). After “NW configuration diagram display” 2301 ends, “pause” is designated here, so that the flow is temporarily stopped. Note that the completed diagnostic component has a display form different from other diagnostic components (for example, yellow).

  When the “execute” button 2402 is operated again while the flow is stopped, operations including monitoring and diagnosis are resumed, and the first “execute all ping nodes once” 2302 is executed. After the first “execute all ping nodes once” 2302, if normal, the lower “CRC error manual collection” 2303 is executed, and then ends. If the first “execute all ping nodes once” 2302 is abnormal, the next “execute all ping nodes once” 2304 on the lower right is executed. If the next “execute all ping nodes once” 2304 is normal, the process ends. If abnormal, the “ping result sheet display” 2305 on the lower right is executed, and the ping result sheet 13e (see FIG. 7) is displayed. After displayed, exit. Note that the diagnostic component in which an abnormality has occurred has a display form different from other diagnostic components (for example, red).

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing processing when the flow defined in the flow definition unit 21 is executed. In step S2601, the first cell in which a diagnostic part is defined is searched from the upper left to the lower right of the sheet. Next, in step S2602, it is determined whether or not to end, and if not, the process proceeds to step S2603. In step S2603, a diagnostic part is executed.

  After step S2603, it is determined in step S2604 whether "pause" is designated. If “pause” is not specified, the process directly proceeds to step S2605. If “pause” is specified, the process waits until the “execute” button is operated in step S2606, and then proceeds to step S2605.

  In step S2605, it is determined whether or not a branch is taken. As a result, if it is not branched, the process proceeds to step S2608, a lower diagnostic part is searched, and the process returns to step S2602. On the other hand, if it is branched, it is determined in step S2607 whether it is normal or abnormal. If the result is normal, the process proceeds to step S2608, the lower diagnostic part is searched, and the process returns to step S2602. If the result is abnormal, the process proceeds to step S2609, and the lower right diagnostic part is searched for to step S2602. Return.

  As described above, by arranging diagnosis parts in time series on the flow definition sheet 13l, it is possible to define the flow of operation including monitoring and diagnosis. Can be set and changed. This makes it possible to set and change monitoring and diagnosis procedures easily and flexibly while looking at the situation on the site without requiring advanced network expertise.

  An object of the present invention is to supply a program of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and a computer code (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stored in a storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing.

  In this case, the program itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program itself and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Diagnosis apparatus 2 Switching hub 100 Control server 200 Switching hub 300 Network apparatus 400 Communication object apparatus 500 Protocol converter 600 Branch cable 700 Serial transmission capture apparatus 800 Capture data storage part 11 Display apparatus 12 Input apparatus 13 Worksheet storage part 14 Ping issue Unit 15 diagnostic unit 16 display control unit 17 CRC error monitoring unit 18 log output unit 19 capture unit 20 serial transmission data acquisition unit 21 flow definition unit

Claims (4)

A network system diagnosis system for monitoring and diagnosing a network system configured by connecting a plurality of devices,
The network system is configured such that a communication target device that performs data communication with a communication protocol different from the communication protocol of the network is connected to a network configured by connecting the plurality of devices via a protocol converter. And
Sheet storage means for storing a sheet created by spreadsheet software describing information about the network system;
A diagnostic unit capable of performing a plurality of monitoring and diagnosis based on a sheet stored in the sheet storage unit, collecting data on the network, collecting data transmitted and received by the communication target device, and The collected data on the network can be searched for data that corresponds to the data transmitted and received by the collected communication target device on the basis of time, and transmission diagnosis that can be output to a sheet created by spreadsheet software can be executed. A diagnostic tool ,
Said diagnostic means which can be executed monitoring, and part of the operation including the diagnosis, by the operator arranging in time series on the sheet created by spreadsheet software them part, monitoring said diagnosing means to perform, including diagnostic A network system diagnosis system comprising flow definition means for defining an operation flow.   The diagnostic means is capable of executing a response request diagnosis for transmitting a response request to a device on the network system and diagnosing the state of each device based on a response from each device to the response request. The network system diagnosis system according to claim 1.   The network system diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein the diagnosis unit is capable of performing CRC error monitoring. A program for causing a computer to execute processing for monitoring and diagnosing a network system configured by connecting a plurality of devices,
The network system is configured such that a communication target device that performs data communication with a communication protocol different from the communication protocol of the network is connected to a network configured by connecting the plurality of devices via a protocol converter. And
Sheet storage means for storing a sheet created by spreadsheet software describing information about the network system;
A diagnostic unit capable of performing a plurality of monitoring and diagnosis based on a sheet stored in the sheet storage unit, collecting data on the network, collecting data transmitted and received by the communication target device, and The collected data on the network can be searched for data that corresponds to the data transmitted and received by the collected communication target device on the basis of time, and transmission diagnosis that can be output to a sheet created by spreadsheet software can be executed. A diagnostic tool ,
Said diagnostic means which can be executed monitoring, and part of the operation including the diagnosis, by the operator arranging in time series on the sheet created by spreadsheet software them part, monitoring said diagnosing means to perform, including diagnostic A program for causing a computer to function as a flow definition means that can define an operation flow.

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