JPH10283225A - Information collection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use a small number of signal lines to collect required information in a short time in an information collection system in a device consisting of many constitution parts. SOLUTION: In the information collection system where monitor information in plural constitution parts 2 are collected in a control part 1 by sending response information from plural constitution parts 2 in response to an indication from the control part 1, A collection command line 3 through which a collection command to instruct plural constitution parts 2 to send monitor information is transmitted from the control part 1 to them is provided to realize multi- connection of plural constitution parts 2, and a response line 4 through which response information is transmitted from each constitution part 2 to the control part 1 is provided to realize multi-connection of plural constitution parts 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information collecting method in an apparatus having a large number of components, and more particularly to an information collecting method capable of collecting information of each component in a short time by using a small number of signal lines. is there.

2. Description of the Related Art In a device having a large number of components such as a large number of printed circuit boards housed in a housing, status information, alarm information, etc. from each component are collected by a control unit. A method of monitoring the operating state of the device is adopted.

[0003] As an information collection method in such an apparatus having a large number of components, it is necessary to be able to reliably collect necessary information in a short time using a small number of signal lines.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an apparatus composed of a number of components, a system for controlling or monitoring the device by collecting information inside each component includes a static information collection method, a polling method, and a loop method. A configuration method and the like are known.

[0005] In the static information collection method, the monitored information of each component is converted into static information composed of 0 or 1 DC information via a line directly connected to each component.
The control unit directly takes in. The static information collection method has an advantage that information of each component can always be obtained.

[0006] In the polling method, information is collected at regular intervals by sequentially polling each component from the control unit.

FIG. 9 illustrates information collection by the polling method. In the figure, 1 indicates a control unit, and 2 indicates a configuration unit. Reference numeral 3 denotes a collection command line for transmitting a command for collecting information (collection command), and reference numeral 4 denotes a response line for transmitting response information to the collection command.

The control section 1 sends a collection command to the configuration section c-a via a collection command line cmd1,
On the other hand, the component c-b returns the response information via the response line st1. Next, the controller 1 sends a collection command to the component c-b via the collection command line cmd2, and the component c-b returns response information via the response line st2. Hereinafter, the components c-c and c-
A collection command is sent to the user via the collection command lines cmd3 and cmd4, and response lines st3 and st4
And return the response information. Such an information collecting operation is repeatedly performed at regular intervals.

In the polling method, all the information can be reliably obtained for each component, and an information collection line exists for each component.
There is an advantage that even if one of the components falls into a closed state due to a failure or the like, information on other components can be collected.

FIG. 10 illustrates information collection by a loop configuration method. In the figure, the same components as those in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and 5 is an information collection line that connects the control unit 1 and each component in a loop.

The controller 1 sends a trigger (information collection start signal) on the information collection line 5 in a certain direction when collecting information. Upon receiving this trigger, the most upstream component c-i adds its own information A to the trigger and sends it out to the next component c-b on the information collection line 5. The component c-b adds its own information B to the information received from the component c-a, and places the next component c on the information collection line 5.
-Send to c. Hereinafter, similarly, each component adds its own information to the information received and sends out the information on the information collection line 5. Thus, the information collection line 5
Is completed, the control unit 1 can collect information of all components.

In the loop configuration method, unlike the polling method, there is no need to send a collection command for each component, and there is an advantage that the time required for information collection can be reduced.

[0013]

However, the static information collection method has a limit in its usefulness in that only very simple information can be collected. In the polling method, since there is an information collection line for each component, in order to collect information from all components, a collection command and response information to it are paired for transmission and reception. Time is required for the number of components. In addition, when the number of components is large, the number of lines for collecting information (collection command line and response line) increases, and the wiring problem also increases.

In the loop configuration method, in each component,
A loop is formed by mounting the information of the component in the information received from the preceding component and sending it as a new signal to the next component, so that any one component fails. In such a case, there is a problem that the loop is interrupted at that point and it becomes impossible to collect information of all components.

The present invention is intended to solve such problems of the prior art, and can collect complicated information.
It is possible to shorten the time for collecting information, simplify wiring, and even if one of the components fails, information collection for all components will not be impossible. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information collection method in a device comprising the above components.

[0016]

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of the present invention, in which the same components as those in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this case, the difference is that the collection command line 3 and the response line 4 are each composed of only one line, and are multi-connected to each component.

The control unit 1 has a loop configuration in which the control unit 1 makes a multi-connection from the control unit 1 to each of the constituent units (c-i to c-d) and returns to the control unit 1. , It can receive a collection command issued by itself. The response line 4 has a configuration in which, for example, the components c-b to c-d are sequentially multi-connected from the farthest end component c-a and connected to the control unit 1.

In the information collection method of the present invention, in such a line configuration, at the time of information collection, a collection command is issued from the control unit 1 to each component via the collection command line 3 in one direction, and a collection command is issued. At the end of the collection command line 3, the control unit 1 receives the issued collection command and compares it with the transmission information, so that the control unit 1 can verify the normality of the collection command line 3. It is.

When each component receives the collection command,
The response information is transmitted in a predetermined order. At this time, each component recognizes its own response order by counting the number of responding components from the responses of the other components received from the response line 4, and when it comes to its own order, the response line 4 Send your own response information above. Component 1
By setting the mode to be received from the response line 4 except when responding by itself, the response information can be transmitted from all the components using one line.

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, information from all components can be collected by sending a single collection command from the control unit. It is possible to suppress an increase in information collection time when the number of constituent units increases.

Hereinafter, specific means for solving the problems of the present invention and the operation thereof will be described.

(1) In the information collection method in which the plurality of components 2 send response information in response to an instruction from the control unit 1, the control unit 1 collects monitoring information in the plurality of components 2. A collection command line 3 for transmitting a collection command instructing the transmission of monitoring information from the unit 1 to the plurality of components 2 is provided to connect the plurality of components 2 in a multi-connection manner. In response, a response line 4 for transmitting response information is provided, and a plurality of components 2 are multi-connected.

By doing so, it is possible to reduce the number of lines for collecting information, and to make it impossible to collect information from all components even if any component fails. Can be prevented.

(2) In the case of (1), each component 2 stores the response information transmission order in the memory 6, and receives the response information of the other component and transmits the response information. Of the memory 6 by counting the number of
Of the response information from the contents of the counter 7 and the contents of the counter 7.

As described above, since each component recognizes the response order and sequentially sends the response information, there is no need to instruct the control unit 1 to send the response information each time, and the information collection time is shortened. be able to.

(3) In the case of (2), a timer is provided for measuring the reception time of the response information of the other component in the order immediately before the component, and when the timer times out, the response information is transmitted from the component. Is sent.

By doing so, even if any of the components is faulty, it is possible to collect information of the subsequent components.

(4) In the case of (2), even when each component does not receive a collection command, when each component receives response information of another component, it sends response information according to its own response information sending order. I do.

In this way, even if a collection command is not transmitted to a component after a certain component due to a failure in the collection command line, if the response information of another component is received from the response line, the component itself will not be transmitted. Response information can be sent.

(5) In the case of (2), the response information sending order of each component is notified from the control unit 1 by a collection command.

As described above, the response information transmission order is determined by the control unit 1.
, It is possible to flexibly cope with a case where the response information transmission order is changed.

(6) In the case of (1), the collection command line 3
Are formed in a loop, and the collection command sent by the control unit 1 is received again to verify the normality of the collection command line 3.

By doing so, the control unit 1 itself can check the normality of the collection command line 3, so that
Maintenance response can be expedited.

(7) In the case of (6), the verification of the normality may be performed by an error check bit added to the collection command.

(8) In the case of (6), the control unit 1 enables the transmission direction of the collection command in the collection command line 3 to be reversible.

In this way, even if the collection command line is interrupted on the way, the collection command can be transmitted to each component.

[0037]

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which the same elements as those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals. In each component 2, reference numeral 6 denotes a memory, and reference numeral 7 denotes a counter (Ctr). In the present embodiment, an information collection number recognized by each component is given by a command from the control unit 1.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the format of the collection command, where indicates the content of the command when the order is specified, and code indicates that the order is specified.
(C-a), (c-d), (c-b), and (c-c) indicate the identification numbers (id) of the respective components, and indicate the collection order in the order from the top. The validity check data indicates data for error checking of data, and CRC check data or parity check data or the like can be used.
Indicates the content of the command at the time of normal collection (when there is no change in the collection order), and code indicates that it is at the time of normal collection. In this case, the id of the component indicating the collection order is not transmitted.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of the response information, and shows the contents of the information in the response (or the initial response) when there is a change. The identification numbers and information 1 to information 4 are information of the components. The validity check data is data for error check similar to the case of the collection command. Indicates the content of the information in the response when there is no change,
In this case, no information is sent from the component.

FIG. 5 shows the signal timing on each line in a normal state. First, a collection command when the order is specified is transmitted on the collection command line, so that the configuration is displayed on the response line. (C-a), (c-
D) Response information is transmitted in the order of (c-b) and (c-c), and then a collection command for normal collection is sent on the collection command line, so that each component is in the same order. It is shown that response information is sent.

When the control unit 1 intends to collect information of each component (c-i to c-d), first, as shown in FIG. 3, a collection command for notifying each component of the collection order is issued. Issue. At this time, the control unit 1 collects the collection command line 3
It is verified that the collection command is transmitted without error by the normality check data of the collection command returned by one cycle. Alternatively, the normality of the collection command may be verified by simply comparing the transmission data with the reception data.

Each component recognizes its own response order by receiving this collection command via the collection command line 3 and stores this response order in the memory 6. At this time, the normality check added to the collection command
The normality of the collection command can be verified by the data for k.

The component designated as the first in the collection order receiving the collection command (for example, component (c-a) in FIG. 2)
Sends its own information to the response line 4 as response information, as shown in FIG. The response information sent from the component (c-a) is input to the control unit 1 via the response line 4 and is also input to the other components (c-b to c-d).

The control unit 1 checks the normality of the response information from the component (c-b) using the normality check data, and then notifies the processing unit of the response information. After receiving the collection command, the other components (c-b to c-d) recognize that the first response information has been output from the other components, and increment their own counter 7. In this state, the component (c-d) designated as the second collection order
Outputs its own response information to the response line 4 as soon as the response of the component (c-a) ends.

In the same manner, the response information is sequentially transmitted to the component (c-c) whose collection order is specified last.
When the control unit 1 receives all the response information, one information collection operation ends.

As another embodiment of the present invention, in a system in which the order of collecting information from each component is not frequently changed, the collection order is first notified to each component in the format shown in FIG. Thereafter, the format of the collection command from the control unit 1 may be a simple format as shown in FIG. Further, when there is no change in the information of the component itself, the component may first notify the control unit 1 of the response information in the format shown in FIG. 4, and then the format may be simplified as shown in FIG. By doing so, the time required for collecting information can be further reduced.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to collect response information of another normal component even when one of the plurality of components does not send response information. it can.

FIG. 6 shows the signal timing on each line when the component is abnormal. The component (c-a) is displayed on the response line according to the collection command on the collection command line. After sending the response information, the component (c
-D) times out without sending out the response information, and it is shown that the components (c-b) and (c-c) have sent out the response information.

When one of the components to be collected fails or is removed, for example, when the second component (c-d) fails and no longer responds,
Subsequent (third) component (c-b) of the failed component
Monitors the transmission status of the response information of the second component (c-d) from the time of transmission of the response information of the first component (c-a), and by the timeout of a predetermined time determined by the timer, Output response information.

In this way, each component recognizes its own response order, and all components receive and monitor responses from other components, so that when any component fails, Also, response information of components other than the failed component can be collected.

As still another embodiment of the present invention, even if a collection command line is interrupted in the middle, a collection command can be transmitted to each component.

For example, in FIG. 1, when the collection command line is disconnected between the components (c-a) and (c-b), first, the control unit 1 sends the component (c) in the normal transmission direction.
-Send the collection command to b). At this time, the disconnection of the collection command line 3 can be determined by the fact that the control unit 1 has not received the collection command issued by itself, so that the control unit 1 determines whether the collection command transmission end ((a) in FIG. 1). ,
The collection command can be transmitted to the components (c-d) to (c-b) by reversing the signal transmission direction with the receiving end ((b) in FIG. 1).

As still another embodiment of the present invention, even if a collection command line fails and a collection command is not transmitted to a certain component or later, each component stores the collection order in the memory. Even when a collection command is not received, if response information of another component is received on the response line, the response information can be transmitted in the collection order stored by itself. Therefore, according to the present invention, a situation in which information cannot be collected can be avoided as much as possible.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the internal configuration of the control unit according to the present invention, in which the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the control unit 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a processing unit which instructs transmission of a collection command and processes response information from each component. A command transmission unit 12 transmits a collection command to the collection command line 3 based on an instruction from the processing unit 11.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a command receiving unit that receives a collection command that has made one round of the collection command line 3. 14
Is a comparing unit that compares the transmitted collection command with the received collection command and detects a match when the processing unit 1 detects a match.
Notify 1. The processing unit 11 thereby verifies the normality of the collection command line.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the internal configuration of the components in the present invention, and the same components as those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals. In the configuration unit 2, a command receiving unit 21 receives a collection command from the collection command line 3. A code recognition unit 22 recognizes a code indicating the type of the collection command. Reference numeral 23 denotes an order recognizing unit which recognizes its own collecting order described in the collecting command by the id of each component. Reference numeral 24 denotes a memory unit that stores the collection order recognized by the order recognition unit 23.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a response receiving unit.
Receives the response information of the other components. Reference numeral 26 denotes a response count and response determination unit which counts the number of responding components from the response information received by the response receiving unit 25, and compares the number with the own response order stored in the memory unit 24. , Determine its own response timing.
Reference numeral 27 denotes a response creation unit which creates response information based on its own alarm information and the like, and provides a response count and response determination unit 26.
Output according to the information of the response timing. Reference numeral 28 denotes a response transmission unit, which is a response count and response determination unit 2.
6 in response to the response timing information from
7 is transmitted on the response line 4.

The present invention is suitable as an information collection method when a large number of components such as printed boards and packages are accommodated in the same housing. The present invention is also applicable to a case where the components are arranged at remote locations.

[0059]

As described above, according to the information collecting method of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Since the information collection lines are formed in a loop, the number of lines required for information collection can be reduced. (2) Since the collection command line has a multi-connection loop configuration, the control unit itself can check the normality of the collection command line, so that maintenance can be quickly performed in the event of a failure.

(3) The information collection time can be reduced by storing the collection order in each component and transmitting the response information without specifying the collection order from the control unit. (4) Even if any one of the components does not transmit the response information, the subsequent component transmits the response information due to timeout, so that the response information of the other components can be collected.

(5) By forming the collection command line in a loop configuration and reversing the transmission / reception direction of the collection command, the collection command can be transmitted even when the collection command line is disconnected. (6) By storing the collection order in each component, response information can be transmitted from each component even when the collection command line is abnormal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the format of a collection command, where indicates the content of the command when the order is specified, and indicates the content of the command during normal collection (when the collection order is not changed).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a format of response information, in which is shown the content of information in a response (or initial response) when there is a change, and is a diagram showing the content of information in a response when there is no change. is there.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing signal timing on each line in a normal state.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating signal timing on each line when a component is abnormal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a control unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an internal configuration of a configuration unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating information collection by a polling method.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating information collection by a loop configuration method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Constitution part 3 Collection command line 4 Response line 6 Memory 7 Counter (ctr)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information collection method in which a plurality of components send response information in response to an instruction from the control unit to collect monitoring information in the plurality of components in the control unit. A collection command line for transmitting a collection command instructing the transmission of the monitoring information to the plurality of units, multi-connecting the plurality of components, and transmitting a response information from each of the components to the control unit; An information collection method, wherein a plurality of components are connected in a multi-line manner by providing a line. 2. The information collection method according to claim 1, wherein each component stores the response information transmission order in a memory, and receives response information of another component and transmits response information. An information collection method wherein the number of copies is counted by a counter to recognize its own response information sending order from the contents of the memory and the contents of the counter. 3. The information collection method according to claim 2, further comprising a timer for measuring a reception time of response information of another component in a sequence immediately before the component, and when the timer times out, the component is An information collection method characterized in that response information is transmitted from a computer. 4. An information collection method according to claim 2, wherein each component receives a response information of another component and responds according to its own response information transmission order even if it does not receive a collection command. An information collection method characterized by transmitting information. 5. The information collection method according to claim 2, wherein the response information transmission order of each component is notified from the control unit by the collection command. 6. The information collection method according to claim 1, wherein the collection command line is configured in a loop, and the collection command line sent by the control unit is received again to check the normality of the collection command line. An information collection method characterized by verification. 7. The information collection method according to claim 6, wherein the verification of the normality is performed by an error check bit added to the collection command. 8. The information collection method according to claim 6, wherein the control unit is capable of reversing a transmission direction of the collection command in the collection command line.