JPH09259054A - Method, device, and system for communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable one application to use plural kinds of physical interfaces without discriminating a data format viewed from the application according to the kinds of the physical interfaces in use and to enable plural applications to use one physical interface irrelevantly to the kind of the physical interface. SOLUTION: Data transmission equipments 10A and 10B compose data, generated by adding the application ID of an application on a data reception side to a data text body, in the data format corresponding to the communication protocol of physical interfaces to be used and send the data. Data reception equipments 20A-20E decide the application ID in the received data and pass the data text body in the received data to applications corresponding to the application ID.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication method, a communication device and a communication system which are suitable when a plurality of types of physical interfaces are used between a plurality of devices or when a plurality of application software use a single physical interface. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a physical interface that forms a physical communication path when communication is performed between a plurality of devices, a serial interface RS-232C used for one-to-one communication or a bus is used. There are many types such as Ethernet (Ethernet) used for a bus type LAN (Local Area Network) that enables communication between a large number of connected devices. Each of these physical interfaces has advantages and disadvantages. For example, RS-232C has a drawback that it can perform only one-to-one communication, but has an advantage that it is widely used, and Ethernet can connect a large number of devices to one network by a bus format. Although there is an advantage that communication between devices of
There is a drawback that the circuit for communication becomes complicated and the circuit scale becomes large. Therefore, generally, any type of physical interface is selected depending on what is emphasized in the communication system. Therefore,
Conventionally, one device rarely uses a plurality of types of physical interfaces as a communication path for communication with another device. In addition, even if one device is connected to a plurality of physical interfaces, it may be selectively used or exclusively used depending on the application software of the device (hereinafter, also simply referred to as an application). No single application used multiple physical interfaces with the same data format.

[0003]

However, for example, when one device communicates with a plurality of other devices,
As described above, each type of physical interface has its advantages and disadvantages, so it is difficult to unify them into one type of physical interface, and multiple types of physical interfaces can be selectively selected according to the device or application of the communication partner. You may want to use it. On the other hand, when at least the device on the receiving side has a plurality of applications, it is necessary for the transmitting side to specify the application on the receiving side.

Generally, each type of physical interface has a standard communication protocol, and the data format differs depending on each communication protocol. Therefore, when considering that one application uses multiple types of physical interfaces, use a standard communication protocol for each physical interface, and use the mechanism of each communication protocol to identify the receiving application. Then,
The application on the transmission side itself has to assemble the transmission data in consideration of what kind of physical interface is used, which causes a problem that the processing of the application becomes complicated. This problem will be described in detail below.

For example, as a physical interface, Eth
Consider the case where it is desired to use the Internet and RS-232C. In Ethernet, TCP (Transmission Con
trolProtocol) / IP (Internet Protocol) and UD
It has become common to use a protocol called P (User Datagram Protocol) / IP. Here, Eth
A protocol called TCP / IP is used when using the Internet. In TCP / IP, a single physical interface can be used by a plurality of applications by using a port number. The port number is TCP / I
It is put in the TCP header in P's data format. In this way, when using Ethernet, it is possible to specify the application on the receiving side by utilizing the mechanism (port number) in TCP / IP.
However, a protocol called TCP / IP is not generally used in RS-232C, and when RS-232C is used, there is no place to put a port number in the data format. Therefore, the application on the sending side uses TCP / IP to identify the application on the receiving side.
When the mechanism (port number) in (2) is used, the sending application itself uses Et as a physical interface.
Therefore, it becomes necessary to assemble a data packet while considering whether to use the Hernet or the RS-232C.

Further, as described above, when Ethernet is used, the application on the receiving side can be specified by using the port number in TCP / IP, so that one physical interface is used by a plurality of applications. Can, but RS
That is not possible when using the -232C. In this way, if an application on the receiving side is specified by using a mechanism in a communication protocol that differs for each physical interface, such as a port number in TCP / IP, depending on the type of physical interface, one application may be used by multiple applications. There is a problem that it may not be possible to use the physical interface.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its problem is that one application software can be used in a plurality of types without distinguishing the data format viewed from the application software depending on the type of physical interface used. Provided are a communication method, a communication device, and a communication system that enable a plurality of application software to use a single physical interface regardless of the type of the physical interface. Especially.

[0008]

In a communication method, a communication device and a communication system according to the present invention, a data transmitting side includes data in a data body representing a communication content from an application software of a data transmitting side to an application software of a data receiving side. Data to which the identification information of the application software on the receiving side is added is sent in a data format that complies with the communication protocol of the physical interface used, and the data receiving side identifies the identification information in the received data and identifies it. The data body in the received data is passed to the application software corresponding to the information.

In the communication method, communication device and communication system of the present invention, the data format viewed from the application software is the data body with the identification information of the application software on the data receiving side added. Depending on the type, one application software can use a plurality of types of physical interfaces without distinguishing the data format viewed from the application software. Further, since the receiving side application is not specified by using the mechanism in the communication protocol which is different for each physical interface, but the receiving side application is specified by the identification information added to the data body, regardless of the type of the physical interface. , Multiple application software can use one physical interface.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system including a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In order to carry out the present invention, a communication device for transmitting data to be communicated and a communication device for receiving data are required. Generally, a communication device has both a transmission function and a reception function, but here, for simplification, a communication device is defined as a data transmission device that transmits data and a data reception device that receives data. It will be explained separately for the equipment. In the communication system shown in FIG. 1, two data transmitting devices 10A and 10B and five data receiving devices 20 are used as the communication device according to the present embodiment.
A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E, and two types of physical interfaces 1A, 1B, 2 as physical interfaces forming a physical communication path between the communication devices. In this example, the physical interfaces 1A and 1B are RS-232C, and the physical interface 2 is Ethernet.
et (Ethernet). The physical interface 2 includes a data transmitting device 10A and five data receiving devices 20.
A to 20E are connected. Physical interface 1A
Connects the data transmitting device 10A and the data receiving device 20A. The physical interface 1B connects the data transmitting device 10B and the data receiving device 20B.

Data transmitting device 10 (data transmitting device 10
The individual data transmission devices such as A and 10B are represented as a representative. ) Is connected to RS-232C, data is transmitted through it to only one data receiving device 20 (representing individual data receiving devices such as data receiving devices 20A to 20E). Can, Eth
When the Internet is connected, the data can be transmitted to all the data receiving devices 20 connected to it. On the contrary, RS-2 is set in the data receiving device 20.
When 32C is connected, data can be received from only one data transmitting device 10 through it, and when Ethernet is connected, data can be received from all the data transmitting devices 10 connected to it. Can be received.

In the following description, the data transmission device 1
0 and the data receiving device 20, the data receiving device 20 may be, for example, an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts).
Group) A coding device that codes and multiplexes substream data that is incidental information such as video data, audio data, and subtitles based on the standard, and the data transmission device 10 is a coding device that functions as the data reception device 20. A control device (hereinafter referred to as a host) that controls the operation.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data transmission device 10. The data transmission device 10 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 11 and a ROM (read only memory).
12 and RAM (random access memory) 13
An input device 14 for inputting an instruction or the like from an operator, an interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F) 15 as an input / output unit for RS-232C, and Ethernet.
An I / F 16 for et and an I / F 17 of another type are provided, and these are connected to each other by a bus 18 including an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. In the data transmission device 10, the RAM 13 is used as a working area and the programs stored in the ROM 12 or the RAM 13 are executed to execute various applications and realize the functions described later.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the data transmitting device 10 shown in FIG. Data transmission device 10
Is a data body 41 that represents the contents of communication from the data transmission side application to the data reception side application.
And the application ID creation unit 32 that creates the application ID (identification number) 42 that is the identification information of the application on the data receiving side. And RS-23 for creating RS-232C header information 43 to be incorporated into a packet format as a data format in a communication protocol in RS-232C (hereinafter, also simply referred to as protocol).
2C header creation unit 33 and Et incorporated in the packet format of the protocol in Ethernet
Ethernet that creates the header information 44 for the Ethernet
The header producing unit 34 for et, the data body 41 produced by the data body producing unit 31, and the application ID
Application ID 4 created by the creation unit 32
2 and the header information 43 created by the RS-232C header creation unit 33 or the header information 44 created by the Ethernet header creation unit 34 according to the protocol in the physical interface used as a physical communication path. A transmission data assembling unit 35 for assembling transmission data by incorporating it into a format,
Data length information 4 output from the data body creation unit 31
6 is input to control the transmission data assembling unit 35, and each function of the control unit 36 for transmitting the transmission data 45 assembled by the transmission data assembling unit 35 is provided.

The transmission data assembling unit 35 is an RS-23.
A switch S that inputs the header information 43 created by the 2C header creation unit 33 and the header information 44 created by the Ethernet header creation unit 34 from the fixed contacts A and B, respectively, and switches and outputs the movable contacts.
W1, application ID 42 created by application ID creation unit 32, and data body creation unit 3
1. The data body 41 created by 1 and the fixed contacts C and D, respectively, are input, and the switch SW2 for switching and outputting from the movable contact, the output of the switch SW1 and the switch S.
The output of W2 and the fixed contacts E and F are respectively input, and the switch SW3 for switching and outputting from the movable contact is provided. The switches SW1 to SW3 are the control unit 36.
Is controlled by the

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data receiving device 20. The data receiving device 20 has a CPU 51.
A ROM 52, a RAM 53, an input device 54 for inputting an instruction or the like from an operator, and an RS-232C.
I / F55 for Ethernet and I / F56 for Ethernet
, Another type of I / F 57, an I / F 58 for inputting the video data D _v, and an I / F for inputting the audio data D _a
59 and an I / F 60 for outputting the multiplexed data D _m, which are connected to each other by a bus 61 including an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The data receiving device 20 uses the RAM 53 as a working area and executes programs stored in the ROM 52 or the RAM 53 to execute various applications and realize the functions described later.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the data receiving device 20 shown in FIG. Data receiving device 20
Is the received data 7 sent from the data transmission device 10.
1 is input, the header from this received data 71,
A data separation unit 6 that separates the application ID and the data body from each other and passes the data body to the application.
1, a video encoding unit 62 that inputs video data D _v and encodes it according to the MPEG standard, an audio encoding unit 63 that encodes audio data D _a based on the MPEG standard, and substream data D _s. And a substream encoding unit 64 for encoding
The multiplexer unit 65 that multiplexes the encoded data of 2, 63, and 64 and outputs the multiplexed data D _m , the received data 71, and the application ID 72 and the data separation unit 61 that are separated by the data separation unit 61. The data main body 73 to be output is input, and each function of the data separation unit 61, the encoding units 62 to 64, and the control unit 66 that controls the multiplexer unit 65 is provided.
The substream data D _s is supplied from the control unit 66 to the substream encoding unit 64. Further, the multiplexed data D _m is delivered to a general household through an artificial satellite or a telephone line or recorded in a storage medium. The data separation unit 61 and the control unit 66 in FIG. 5 correspond to the receiving means in the present invention, and the control unit 6
6 corresponds to the discriminating means in the present invention, and corresponds to the data separating unit 6
1 corresponds to the data delivery means in the present invention.

The data separating unit 61 inputs the received data 71 from the movable contact and outputs it to either the fixed contact G or H and the fixed contact G of the switch SW4 from the movable contact to fix it. It has the functions of a switch SW5 that outputs to either the contact I or J and a switch SW6 that inputs the output of the fixed contact I of the switch SW5 from the movable contact and outputs to the fixed contact K, L, or M. ing. The switches SW4 to SW6 are controlled by the controller 66. The switch SW4 outputs the header in the received data 71 from the fixed contact H and discards it.
The other part is output from the fixed contact G.
The switch SW5 outputs the application ID 72 in the output data of the fixed contact G of the switch SW4 from the fixed contact J to the control unit 66, and the other portion, that is, the data body 7
3 is output from the fixed contact I. The switch SW6 outputs the data body 73, which is the output of the fixed contact I of the switch SW5, to the control unit 66 from the fixed contacts K, L, and M, which differ depending on the application ID, and passes it to the application corresponding to the application ID. It has become. In FIG. 5, the switch SW6
According to the above, the data body 73 is divided into three applications, but the number of applications is not limited to three.

As described above, when the data transmitting device 10 is the host and the data receiving device 20 is the encoding device,
Actually, the data transmission device 10 also has a data reception function, that is, the functions of the data separation unit 61 and the control unit 66 in FIG. 5, and the data reception device 20 also has a data transmission function, that is, the function shown in FIG. ing.

FIG. 6 shows the packet format of the RS-232C protocol. This packet format is composed of a header 75 for RS-232C at the beginning and a data portion 76 following it.
The RS-232C header 75 is a specific bit pattern for establishing synchronization. The data portion 76 is composed of an application ID 78 and a data body 79 that follows it. The data length of the RS-232C header 75 and the application ID 78 is a fixed length. The data body 79 contains information indicating the data length of the data body.

FIG. 7 shows a packet format of the protocol in Ethernet. This packet format has a header 81 for Ethernet at the beginning, a data portion 82 following the header 81, and a frame check sequence (FC) for error detection that follows.
S) 83. The Ethernet header 81 includes a preamble 83 for establishing synchronization, a start code 84 indicating a break in data, an Ethernet header 85 for identifying a gateway in one network, and a communication partner device, which are provided in order from the head side. IP header 86, TCP / UD indicating the port number
It consists of a P header 87. This packet format is the same as TCP / IP or UDP / IP which is a standard protocol in Ethernet.
The data portion 82 includes an application ID 88 and a data body 89 that follows it. Preamble 83, start code 84, Ethernet header 8
5 and the frame check sequence 83 have a fixed data length. The IP header 86, the TCP / UDP header 87, and the data body 89 include information indicating the respective data lengths.

The packet formats shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
Application ID 7 before data text 79, 89
It is characterized by the addition of 8,88. That is, in the present embodiment, the application on the receiving side is not specified by using the mechanism in the protocol different for each physical interface, but in the data parts 76 and 82,
Application ID added to the data text 79, 89
The feature is that the application on the receiving side is specified by 78 and 88.

Next, the operations of the communication apparatus and communication system according to this embodiment and the communication method according to this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data transmitting device 10. In this operation, first, the control unit 36
Waits for a transmission instruction from the operator (step S10
1) If there is a transmission instruction, it is determined whether RS-232C is selected as the physical interface to be used (step S102). The physical interface is selected by the application of the data transmission device 10. The controller 36 tilts the movable contact of the switch SW1 to the fixed contact A side when RS-232C is selected (Y) (step S103), and switches SW1 when RS-232C is not selected (N). The movable contact of is moved to the fixed contact B side (step S104). Next, the control unit 3
6, the movable contact of the switch SW3 is tilted to the fixed contact E side (step S105), and the RS-232C header creation unit 33 or Et corresponding to the physical interface to be used.
The header information 43 or the header information 44 created by the header creating unit 34 for the Ethernet is set to the switch SW1,
It is input through SW3 and sent to the physical interface as a header in the transmission data 45. The control unit 36 determines whether the header has ended (step S106), and if the header has not ended (N), this determination is repeated,
When the header is completed (Y), the movable contact of the switch SW3 is tilted to the fixed contact F side (step S107).

Next, the control unit 36 tilts the movable contact of the switch SW2 to the fixed contact C side and the application I on the reception side created by the application ID creation unit 32.
D42 is input through the switches SW2 and SW3, added to the header, and transmitted as the transmission data 45 (step S108). The control unit 36 has an application ID
When the input of is completed, the movable contact of the switch SW2 is tilted to the fixed contact D side, the data text 41 created by the data text creation unit 31 is input through the switches SW2 and SW3, added to the header and the application ID, and transmitted. The data 45 is transmitted (step S10).
9). Next, the control unit 36 determines whether or not the data body has been transmitted by the data length according to the data length information 46 output from the data body creation unit 31 (step S11).
0), if the data body is not sent for the data length (N), this judgment is repeated. If the data body is sent for the data length (Y), the operation ends when RS-232C is used, and the frame is used when Ethernet is used. The operation is ended after the check sequence is added and transmitted as the transmission data 45.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data receiving device 20. In this operation, first, the control unit 66
Is monitoring the inputs of I / F 55 and I / F 56.
The control unit 66 waits for data input from the I / F 55 or I / F 56 (step S111), and if there is data input, tilts the movable contact of the switch SW4 to the fixed contact H side (step S112), and outputs the header in the input data. Is output from the fixed contact H and discarded. The control unit 66 performs the receiving process according to the information included in the header of the input data. Next, the control unit 66 uses R as a physical interface.
It is determined whether S-232C is selected (step S113). This is performed by determining which of the I / F 55 and the I / F 56 has input data. RS
If 232C is selected (Y), RS-23
Switch SW4 when data passes by the amount of 2C header
Of the movable contact of the fixed contact G side (step S11
4), if RS-232C is not selected (N)
Switches the movable contact of the switch SW4 to the fixed contact G side when data passes by the amount corresponding to the Ethernet header (step S115). Next, the control unit 66 switches the movable contact of the switch SW5 to the fixed contact J side and acquires the application ID 72 (step S116).
Next, the control unit 66 switches the movable contact of the switch SW5 to the fixed contact I side (step S117). Next, the control unit 66 changes the state of the switch SW6 according to the acquired application ID, and hands over the data body 73 to the application corresponding to the application ID (step S118). Next, the control unit 66 judges whether or not the data has ended (step S119), and if not ended (N), this judgment is repeated, and when ended (Y), the operation is ended.

Here, a specific example of the operation of the data transmitting device 10 and the data receiving device 20 will be described. In this example, as shown in FIG. 10, the data transmitting device 10C and the data receiving device 20F are connected by the physical interface 1 made of RS-232C, and the physical interface 2 made of Ethernet is connected to the data transmitting device 10D and the data receiving device 20F. Consider a communication system to which are connected.

As shown in FIG. 11, the data transmission device 10
C has two sender applications H1, H2,
The data transmitting device 10D has two transmitting side applications H3 and H4, and the data receiving device 20F has three receiving side applications R1, R2 and R3. It is assumed that the transmitting side applications H1, H2, H3, H4 desire to communicate with the receiving side applications R1, R2, R1, R3, respectively.

Now, the operation when the sending application H1 sends data to the receiving application R1 will be described. The data transmission device 10C assembles the transmission data according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, since the physical interface used is RS-232C (physical interface 1), the switch SW1 is set to the fixed contact A side. After the switch SW3 is switched to the fixed contact E side and the header is transmitted, the switch SW3 is returned to the fixed contact F side. Then, the switch SW2 is tilted to the fixed contact C side to add the application ID of the reception side application H1, the switch SW2 is returned to the fixed contact D side, and the data text is sent. The transmission data created in this way is transmitted from the I / F 15 to the R unit by the control unit 36.
Sent out on S-232C.

Data receiving device 20 for receiving this data
F receives the data according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, since the head of the received data is always the header, the switch SW4 is first tilted to the fixed contact H side.
Since the input source of the received data is RS-232C, the data separation unit 61 skips the received data by the amount corresponding to the RS-232C header. Next, the switch SW4 is returned to the fixed contact G side and the switch SW5 is tilted to the fixed contact J side, and the control unit 66 causes the application ID in the received data (in this case, the application ID of the application R1).
To get. Then, the switch SW5 is returned to the fixed contact I side, the state of the switch SW6 is changed according to the acquired application ID, and the data body is delivered to the application R1.

Similarly, the application H3 of the data transmitting device 10D can send data to the application R1 of the data receiving device 20F by using Ethernet (physical interface 2). The data can be treated as equivalent data without recognizing whether the data has passed through the RS-232C or the Ethernet.

Next, an example of a plurality of applications that the data receiving device 20 has will be described. In this example, as described above, the data receiving device 20 is an encoding device and has a data transmitting function in addition to the data receiving function, and the data transmitting device 10 is a host that controls the encoding device. In addition to the function, it also has a data receiving function. The data receiving device 20 also includes a command transmitting / receiving application, a status reporting application,
It is assumed that it has three applications, a substream input application. The command transmission / reception application interprets the data text in the received data as a command to the encoding device and controls the operation of encoding and multiplexing (for example, on / off of encoding). The status report application mainly transmits from the encoding device to the host, and the state of the encoding device such as whether the encoding device is in the process of encoding, whether the output is output correctly, that is, The status is regularly reported to the host. The substream input application inputs substream data, which is a data string desired to be encoded and multiplexed simultaneously with video data and audio data, from a host. The sub-stream data input by the sub-stream input application is treated as a simple bit string by the encoding device like the video data and the audio data.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the command transmission / reception application. In this operation, first, it is determined whether or not there is an input of a command, that is, a data body for this application (step S).
121). If there is no input (N), this judgment is repeated. If there is input (Y), the input command, that is, the data body is analyzed (step S122), and it is determined whether the input command can be executed, that is, whether it is a correct command. It is determined (step S123). If it is executable (Y), the input command is executed (step S124), the execution result is returned to the host (step S125), and step S12 is executed.
Return to 1. If the input command is not executable (step S123; N), information indicating an error is returned to the host (step S126), and the process returns to step S121.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the operation of the status reporting application. In this operation, first, it is determined whether or not it is a predetermined status reporting time (step S131). If it is not the report time (N), this judgment is repeated. If it is the reporting time (Y), the status is reported to the host (step S1).
32), waiting for a response from the host (step S13
3) If there is a response from the host, the process returns to step S131.

FIG. 14 shows a substream input application.
6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the computer. With this action
First, of the data body for this application
It is determined whether or not there is an input (step S141). Entering
If there is no power (N), this judgment is repeated and the input
Tatara (Y), substream data that is the data body
Is received (step S142), and a reception report is returned to the host.
(Step S143). Then the substream data
To determine whether it is time to encode and multiplex
S144). Note that the substream data is encoded
And the multiplexing time is included in the substream data.
Rare time information (eg start in video data
It is determined based on the information indicating the time etc. of the next hour). Sa
In time to encode and multiplex the stream data
If not (N), this judgment is repeated and the substream
In the case of time to encode and multiplex data (Y),
From the control unit 66 shown in FIG. 5 to the substream encoding unit 6
Substream data D in 4 _sSend the substream
Data D_sIs encoded by the substream encoding unit 64.
Coded, and video coded by the multiplexer 65.
The output data of the encoding unit 62 and the output data of the audio encoding unit 63
After being multiplexed with the output data, the process returns to step S141.

As described above, in the communication method, the communication apparatus and the communication system according to the present embodiment, in the data transmitting device 10, the data body representing the communication content from the application on the data transmitting side to the application on the data receiving side. The data with the application ID, which is the identification information of the application on the data receiving side, added to
The data format is transmitted in a data format according to the communication protocol of the physical interface to be used. The data receiving device 20 determines the application ID in the received data, and the application corresponding to the determined application ID determines the data body in the received data. I am trying to hand over. As a result, the data format viewed from the application is the data body with the application ID of the data receiving side added. Therefore, while using different protocols for each physical interface, the data format viewed from the application depends on the type of physical interface used. It is possible for one application to use multiple types of physical interfaces without distinguishing the different data formats. Also, for example, TC
Rather than specifying the receiving side application by using the mechanism in the communication protocol that is different for each physical interface such as the port number in P / IP or UDP / IP, the receiving side application is identified by the application ID added to the data body. Since it is specified, a plurality of applications can use one physical interface regardless of the type of physical interface. In this way, the application can use T even if the physical interface is a primitive RS-232C.
Ethernet using CP / IP or UDP / IP
Even in this case, communication can be performed without being aware of the type of physical interface.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the communication device is not limited to the encoding device and the host exemplified in the above embodiment, for example. Also, in the above-described embodiment, RS-232C and Eth are used as physical interfaces.
Although the example using the Internet is shown, the present invention can be applied to the case of using other types of physical interfaces.

[0039]

As described above, the communication method of the present invention,
According to the communication device or the communication system, at the data transmission side, data obtained by adding identification information of the application software at the data reception side to the data body representing the communication content from the application software at the data transmission side to the application software at the data reception side is used. , The data format is transmitted according to the communication protocol of the physical interface used, and the data receiving side discriminates the identification information in the received data, and the application software corresponding to the discriminated identification information receives the text of the data in the received data. The data format seen from the application software is the data body with the identification information of the application software on the data receiving side added, depending on the type of physical interface used. Te, without distinguishing the data format as viewed from the application software, there is an effect that it is possible one application software uses a plurality of types of physical interfaces. Also,
Rather than specifying the application on the receiving side by using the mechanism of different communication protocol for each physical interface, the application on the receiving side is specified by the identification information added to the data body. This has the effect that the application software of can use one physical interface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system including a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data transmission device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the data transmitting device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data receiving device in FIG.

5 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the data receiving device shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a packet format in a protocol in RS-232C used in the communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a packet format of a protocol in Ethernet used in the communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the data transmission device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

9 is a flowchart showing an operation of the data receiving device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system for explaining a specific example of operations of the data transmitting device and the data receiving device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

11 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a plurality of applications included in the data transmitting device and the data receiving device shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of a command transmission / reception application in the data receiving device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

13 is a flowchart showing an operation of a status reporting application in the data receiving device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation of a substream input application in the data receiving device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A, 1B ... Physical interface (RS-232C),
2 ... Physical interface (Ethernet), 10
(10A to 10D) ... Data transmission device, 20 (20A to
20F) ... data receiving device, 31 ... data body creating unit,
32 ... Application ID creation unit, 33 ... RS-23
2C header creating unit, 34 ... Ethernet header creating unit, 35 ... Transmission data assembling unit, 36 ... Control unit,
61 ... Data separation unit, 66 ... Control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. At the data transmission side, data obtained by adding identification information of the application software at the data receiving side to a physical body of data representing communication contents from the application software at the data transmitting side to the application software at the data receiving side is physically recorded. The data is transmitted by incorporating it into a data format according to the communication protocol of the physical interface used as the communication path, and the data receiving side discriminates the identification information in the received data, and the received data is received by the application software corresponding to the discriminated identification information. A communication method characterized by delivering the data body of. 2. A data body creating means for creating a data body representing communication contents from the application software on the data transmitting side to the application software on the data receiving side, and identification information creating for producing identification information of the application software on the data receiving side. And a data format according to a communication protocol in a physical interface that uses the data body created by the data body creating means and the identification information created by the identification information creating means as a physical communication path. A communication device comprising: a transmission data assembling unit for assembling transmission data, and a transmission unit for transmitting the transmission data assembled by the transmission data assembling unit. 3. Receiving means for receiving data in which identification information of the application software of the data receiving side is added to a data body representing communication contents from the application software of the data transmitting side to the application software of the data receiving side, and the receiving means. And a data delivery unit for delivering the data body of the received data to the application software corresponding to the identification information identified by the identification unit. Communication device. 4. A data body creating means for creating a data body representing communication contents from the application software on the data sending side to the application software on the data receiving side, and an identification information creation for creating identification information of the application software on the data receiving side. And a data format corresponding to a communication protocol in a physical interface that uses data obtained by adding identification information created by the identification information creating means to the data text created by the data text creating means as a physical communication path. A transmission data assembling unit for assembling transmission data, and one or more transmission units having a transmission unit for transmitting the transmission data assembled by the transmission data assembling unit; Receiving means for receiving data in which the identification information of the application software of the data receiving side is added to the data body representing the communication content to the application software of the data receiving side, and the identification information in the received data received by the receiving means is discriminated. And one or more receiving units having a data delivering unit for delivering the data body of the received data to the application software corresponding to the identification information discriminated by the discriminating unit, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit. A communication system, comprising: one or more physical interfaces forming a physical communication path between them.