JP2002152213A - Communication system and device, method for controlling electronic devices through communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system that effectively conducts two way communication among one-to-N devices at a high-speed. SOLUTION: A control system 1 and systems 2 to be controlled, to which a specific ID number has been assigned, are connected to a network where communication by the UDP/IP(user datagram protocol/Internet protocol) is available, and the control system 1 broadcasts data, including control contents and ID numbers of the systems 2 to be controlled needing a reply at the same time. Every time each of the systems 2 to be controlled receives the data transmitted at the same time, each of the systems 2 to be controlled discriminates the compatibility between the ID number included in the received data and its own ID number and transmits reply data with respect to the control contents to the control system 1, when the discrimination indicates the presence of the compatibility. After receiving the reply data, the control system 1 transmits data including the ID number of the succeeding systems 2 to be controlled at the same time. The control system 1 repeats the operations above for all of the systems 2 which are to be controlled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system for effectively performing one-to-N two-way communication when performing distributed processing, collective control of a plurality of electronic devices, and status information (status) of each device. The present invention relates to a technology for enabling the acquisition of the information from the outside at a high speed using the communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to perform distributed processing of information, an external system controls a plurality of electronic devices and units or a system including these components via communication means, and monitors the operation and status of the system. Things are done well. In this case, if the external system is a main device, the controlled electronic device is a slave device, and a system for enabling these to be performed by communication is a communication system, a conventional communication system has a main device in the following form. And a plurality of slave devices perform bidirectional communication.

[0003] In a first mode, a main device and a plurality of slave devices are directly connected by using a cable, and communication is performed via the cable. Cables usually have RS422
(Parallel) cables are used. In such a communication system, the number of cables increases as the number of slave devices increases, and thus laying work and wiring work are required.
Since the wiring work is also complicated, there is a problem that the cost increases as a whole.

[0004] In a second embodiment, a main unit and a plurality of subordinate units located at remote locations are connected by TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol).
ocol / Internet Protocol), and two-way communication is performed via the computer network. Under TCP / IP, communication is not performed until it is confirmed that the communication line has been connected to the other party. In the TCP / IP, it is a communication standard condition that the transmission / reception operation is performed by one set, and only one communication port for transmission / reception is sufficient.
Therefore, when TCP / IP is used as the communication protocol, there is no need to prepare cables according to the number of slave devices, so that the problem as in the first embodiment does not occur.

[0005] A third mode is UDP / IP (User Data Group).
This is a mode for performing broadcast communication by mProtocol / InternetProtocol). About this,
No. 22687 discloses the method. UDP / IP is
It is one of the protocol standards based on the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) / OSI model. The ISO / OSI model is a communication means standardized as a communication means of a computer at the request of the ISO. Under UDP / IP, communication can be performed without confirming whether or not a connection with a partner has been established. Further, since there is no need to prepare cables according to the number of slave devices, the problem as in the first embodiment does not occur.

[0006]

As described above, in a communication system that performs communication in the second or third mode, even if the number of slave devices increases, the number of cables is increased, and Since there is no need to perform work and wiring work, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost. However, there were the following problems.

In the second mode, that is, in a communication system based on TCP / IP, it is necessary to perform a transmission / reception operation as a set with respect to all slave devices with which communication is scheduled. Therefore, the communication time increases in proportion to the increase in the number of slave devices, and it becomes difficult to control the slave device from the master device at high speed.

In the third mode, that is, in the case of a communication system based on UDP / IP, transmission / reception can be performed by one communication port. However, when data transmission for control is performed from the master device to each slave device, the transmission data itself may return to itself. Therefore,
Simply using UDP / IP as a communication protocol makes transmission / reception processing for avoiding collision (data collision) difficult. Also in this case, high-speed control is difficult.

[0009] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a one-to-N
It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication system capable of performing effective and high-speed two-way communication between (N is a natural number of 2 or more) devices and a component device thereof. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method capable of controlling a plurality of electronic devices at high speed.

[0010]

A communication system according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems comprises a main unit and a plurality of sub-units each assigned unique identification information communicably connected through a network. . A data generating unit that generates data that requires a reply from the slave device;
Transmitting means for simultaneously transmitting the data including the identification information of the slave to which the data generated by the data generating means is to be transmitted to all slaves; and transmitting the data after transmitting the data by the transmitting means. And receiving means for individually receiving data transmitted by the slave device in response to the identification information included in the information. Further, each of the plurality of slave devices, receiving means for receiving the broadcast data,
Identification information determining means for determining whether or not the identification information included in the data received by the receiving means is compatible with the identification information of the own apparatus; and identification information determined to be compatible by the identification information determining means And response data generating means for generating response data for the data including the following, and transmitting means for transmitting the generated response data to the main device after receiving the broadcast data. More preferably, the two-way communication in the main device is performed using UDP / IP.
It is configured to be performed by using.

The present invention also provides a first communication device capable of operating as the above-mentioned main device and a second communication device capable of operating as the slave device.
Communication device. The first communication device is a device that is assigned unique identification information and performs bidirectional communication with a plurality of slave devices that transmit data in response to the identification information of the first communication device. Identification information holding means for holding the identification information of all the slave devices, data generation means for generating data which requires a reply from the slave device, a plurality of slave devices to be communicated with, and the order of each slave device And
Transmitting means for sequentially acquiring the corresponding identification information from the identification information holding means in accordance with the order, and transmitting the data including the identification information to all the slave devices at the same time every time the identification information is acquired; Receiving means for individually receiving the data transmitted by the slave device in response to the identification information included in the transmitted data, wherein the transmitting means and the receiving means operate alternately. Things.

The second communication device is a device for simultaneously transmitting data requiring a reply together with any of a plurality of pieces of identification information for a predetermined time and performing bidirectional communication with a main device in a data receiving state after transmission. And identification information holding means for holding identification information assigned to the own device, reception means for receiving the broadcast data, and data included in the data each time the reception means receives the data. Identification information determining means for determining whether there is compatibility between the identification information and the identification information held in the identification information holding means,
Response data generating means for generating response data for data including identification information determined to be compatible by the identification information determining means, and transmitting means for transmitting the generated response data to the main device, The transmission means and the reception means are configured to operate alternately.

According to a control method of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned other problems, a control means and a plurality of electronic devices controlled by the control means and each of which is assigned unique identification information are provided by a UD.
A control unit connects to a network capable of communicating by P / IP, and the control unit sends data including the control content for the first electronic device and the identification information of the first electronic device to all the electronic devices connected to the network. And the first electronic device, each time receiving the broadcast data, determines compatibility between the identification information included in the received data and the identification information assigned to the own device. ,
Transmitting response data including the status information of the own device to the control means when the response data is compatible, the control means receiving the response data from the first electronic device;
Simultaneously transmitting data including the control content for the second electronic device different from the electronic device and the identification information of the second electronic device to all the electronic devices connected to the network. And

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a communication system according to the present invention will be described.
1 by broadcast communication using UDP / IP
A preferred embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an application in which one control system (main device: control means) controls a plurality of controlled systems (slave devices: electronic devices) at a high speed will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a connection relationship between the control system 1 and each controlled system 2. Each of the systems 1 and 2 is a computer system, and is a UDP / IP system.
Interfaces are mounted, and these interfaces are connected by a 10BASE2 cable. "1
"0BASE2" means using a BNC cable and 10MB
This is a communication mode that enables a transfer rate of about / sec.
By using 10BASE2, it is possible to realize cost reduction by wiring saving. Each of the controlled systems 2 is assigned a unique ID number, which is information for specifying the controlled system 2 to be transmitted.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a form of communication performed between the control system 1 and the controlled system 2. As shown in FIG. 2, in the control system 1 of this embodiment, a transmission port 12 and a reception port 13 are provided independently of each other in different systems, and are assigned different port numbers. The controlled system 2 also has a transmission port 22 and a reception port 23 provided separately from each other and independently. Receiving port 2 of controlled system 2
3 is the transmission port 12 of the control system 1.
The port number of the transmission port 22 of the controlled system 2 is the same value as the port number of the reception port 13 of the control system 1.

<Control System> The control system 1 performs broadcast communication by UDP / IP while sequentially designating the controlled systems 2 to receive response data, thereby controlling the controlled systems 2 collectively at high speed. . FIG. 3A shows a functional configuration diagram of the control system 1. The control system 1 includes a main control unit 11, an ID management unit 1 in addition to the transmission port 12 and the reception port 13 described above.
4. It has a console CON. An I / O (Input / Output) control unit 15 for controlling data input / output performed between the main control unit 11 and the console CON is provided.

The console CON is provided with a keyboard operated by an operator, a display for presenting operation results and the like to the operator, a printer for printing the operation results and the like. Note that the configuration having the console CON is merely an example, and the present invention is not necessarily required to be configured as described above.

The ID management unit 14 manages (holds) the ID numbers of all the controlled systems 2 to be communicated with, and can sequentially read out the corresponding ID numbers when transmitting data.

The main controller 11 has the following functions. (1-1) Some controlled systems 2 to be controlled
(Of course, all the controlled systems 2 may be specified), and the specified controlled systems 2 are ordered, and the ID numbers are assigned one by one according to the order.
Function to read from the management unit 14. (1-2) A function of determining control contents that require reception of response data from each controlled system 2 in accordance with an instruction from the console CON or a predetermined procedure. The control contents include a result data of the control process in the controlled system 2 and a return command of status information (status) of the controlled system 2 as necessary. (1-3) Function of generating data including individual ID numbers and control contents of each controlled system 2. (1-4) A function of controlling the generated data to be simultaneously transmitted from the transmission port 12 to all the controlled systems 2. (1-5) Function of controlling data reception from the controlled system 2 through the reception port 13. These functions are formed when a CPU of a computer system constituting the control system 1 executes a predetermined program. The ordering of the controlled systems 2 may be performed ex post facto by the main control unit 11,
When assigning the ID numbers in advance, the individual ID numbers may have an order. For example, the ID numbers may be consecutive numbers in ascending or descending order.

<Controlled System> FIG. 3B is a configuration diagram of the controlled system 2. The operation of the controlled system 2 is controlled according to the control content included in the data transmitted by the control system 1.
2 and a reception port 23, a main control unit 21, an ID management unit 2 that manages (holds) an ID number assigned to itself.
4. n controlled devices M1 to Mn whose operations are controlled by the control system 1 via the main control unit 21, and I / Os for performing input / output control between the main control unit 21 and each of the controlled devices M1 to Mn. O
It has a control unit 25. Here, an example is described in which the controlled system 2 controls the n controlled devices M1 to Mn. However, the case where only the controlled system 2 itself is used or the controlled system 2 and the controlled device are paired is described. The present invention can be implemented even when the control is performed by one control.

The main controller 21 has the following functions. (2-1) A function of controlling reception of data broadcast from the control system 1 through the reception port 23. (2-2) A function of determining whether or not the ID number included in the received data is compatible with its own ID number. (2-3) Execute control processing corresponding to the control content included in the received data (if necessary, each controlled device M
1 to Mn). (2-4) Function for generating response data. The response data is
For example, control processing result data, abnormality detection data,
This is data including status data indicating the state of the controlled system. (2-5) Function to control transmission of response data from the transmission port 22 to the control system upon reception of data including the own ID number. These functions are formed when a CPU of a computer system constituting the controlled system 2 executes a predetermined program.

<Operation Form> Next, an operation form of the present embodiment will be described. As a premise, it is assumed that each of the controlled systems 2 is assigned one of “ID2” to “IDn” as an ID number. The control system 1 determines each controlled system 2 and its order, and assigns the corresponding ID number to the “I
D2 ”to“ IDn ”. And one I
Each time the D number is obtained, the data including the ID number and the control content is transmitted to all the controlled systems 2 by broadcast, and after the data is transmitted, the data is transmitted from the controlled system 2 corresponding to the ID number. Received response data. This is repeated for all the controlled systems 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates this. That is, the control system 1 determines the I
Broadcast communication of data including the D number (“ID2”) and the control content is performed. Broadcast communication is
It is performed continuously for a predetermined time. Thereby, the control contents are transmitted to all the controlled systems 2 at the same time.

The controlled system 2 of ID2 receives the data transmitted from the control system 1 at the same time, determines the control content included in the received data, and executes a control process based on the determined control content. If necessary, the controlled device M
One of 1 to Mn is controlled. Then, response data including a control result and / or monitoring information is generated, and the response data is returned to the control system 1 through the transmission port 22 for a predetermined time after receiving the data. Other controlled systems 2 having ID numbers other than ID2 do not respond. The control system 1 receives only response data from the controlled system 2 with ID 2 through the reception port 13.

Thereafter, the control system 1 simultaneously transmits data including the ID number (“ID3”) of the next controlled system 2 and the control contents to all the controlled systems 2 for a predetermined time. The controlled system 2 of ID3 is the ID2
The same processing as that of the controlled system 2 is performed, and response data is returned to the control system 1. The controlled system 2 having an ID number other than ID3 does not respond. Thereafter, in the same manner, data including the control content and the ID number are simultaneously transmitted, and response data from the controlled systems 2 of ID4 to IDn is received.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the broadcast communication in the control system 1. The upper part of FIG. 5 shows data transmitted simultaneously from the transmission port 12 of the control system 1, and the lower part shows response data received by the reception port 13 of the control system 1. As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, a controlled system 2 having ID2 is designated, data including this ID2 is transmitted at once, and response data from the controlled system 2 is received. Then
After specifying the controlled system 2 having the ID 3 and simultaneously transmitting the data including the ID 3, the response data from the controlled system 2 is received. That is, data transmission from the transmission port 12 and data reception at the reception port 13 are performed alternately. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the data itself transmitted from the control system 1 to each controlled system 2 to be returned to the control system 1 as it is, and the collision of the response data (data collision). FIG.
By performing data transmission and data reception at such timings as described above, transmission / reception processing when UDP / IP is used as a communication protocol can be easily realized.

In the two-way communication using UDP / IP, the communication time required for transmitting control contents from the control system 1 to all the controlled systems 2 by broadcast communication is 300 to 350 (μs). Therefore, simultaneous control of each controlled system 2 (and / or controlled devices M1 to Mn connected to each controlled system 2) by the control system 1 can be performed in about 300 to 350 (μs). On the other hand, one controlled system 2
The communication time required to return response data to
Also, it is about 300 to 350 (μs). Therefore, after the control system 1 transmits the data including the control content,
The time required to confirm the state after control of the two controlled systems 2 is 600 to 700 (μs) required for communication.
And the sum of the time required for the internal processing in the controlled system 2 and the time required to grasp the control state of the n controlled systems 2 are n times as large.
, The control of a plurality of controlled systems 2 and the state confirmation after the control can be performed at high speed.

The present invention can be applied not only to a distributed processing system composed of a combination of information processing apparatuses or systems, but also to a system that simulates the construction of a radio wave environment of a radar including a plurality of electronic devices. it can. The control system in this case is one control device that controls the operation of the entire radar, and the controlled system is an electronic device controlled by the control device, such as an individual high-frequency unit included in the radar.

Further, the carded UDP / IP interface is mounted on each of the main device on the control side and the slave device on the controlled side, and the communication as described above is performed via this card, so that Simultaneous control of a plurality of slave devices at remote locations and acquisition of status information (status) of each slave device from the device can be performed at low cost and high speed without collision (data collision).

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the communication system and its constituent devices of the present invention, bidirectional communication between 1: N devices can be performed effectively and at high speed. . According to the control method of the present invention,
A single control system can simultaneously control multiple electronic devices at high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a connection relationship between a control system and a plurality of controlled systems that perform two-way communication with the control system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication mode performed between a control system and each controlled system.

3A is a functional configuration diagram of a control system, and FIG. 3B is a functional configuration diagram of a controlled system.

FIG. 4 is a detailed explanatory diagram of a communication mode performed between the control system and each controlled system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between transmission data (upper row) and reception data (lower row) in the control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 control system 11 main control unit 12 control system transmission port 13 control system reception port 14 ID management unit 15 I / O control unit CON console 2 controlled system 21 main control unit 22 controlled system transmission port 23 received Control port reception port 24 ID management unit 25 I / O control unit M1 to Mn Controlled device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page F term (reference) 5K032 AA02 BA08 BA11 CC01 CC03 CC10 CC11 DA01 DA19 EA07 EC03 5K033 AA02 BA08 BA11 CB01 CB04 CB13 CB14 DA01 DA12 DA13 DB20 EA07 EC03 5K048 AA08 CA06 DA02 DC04 EB02 HA02 EB03

Claims (8)

[Claims] A master device and a plurality of slave devices each assigned unique identification information are communicably connected to each other through a network, and the master device transmits data that requires a reply from the slave device. Data generating means for generating, transmitting means for simultaneously transmitting the data including the identification information of the slave apparatus to be communicated to all slave apparatuses, and identification included in the transmitted data after transmission by the transmitting means. Receiving means for individually receiving data transmitted by the slave apparatus in response to the information, each of the plurality of slave apparatuses receiving means for receiving the broadcast data, and receiving by the receiving means Identification information determining means for determining whether or not the identification information included in the data and the identification information of the own apparatus are compatible; and data including the identification information determined to be compatible by the identification information determining means. A response data generating means for generating response data to be transmitted, and a transmitting means for transmitting the generated response data to the main device in response to reception of the simultaneously transmitted data. . 2. The two-way communication in the main unit is UDP
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication system is configured to be performed using / IP. 3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of slave devices is a constituent unit of a controlled system controlled by the master device, and performs a predetermined control process based on the data. . 4. An apparatus for performing two-way communication with a plurality of slave apparatuses each of which is assigned unique identification information and transmits data in response to the identification information of its own apparatus, Identification information holding means for holding the identification information of the slave device, data generation means for generating data which needs to be returned from the slave device, and a plurality of slave devices as communication partners and the order of each slave device. The identification information is sequentially obtained from the identification information holding means in accordance with the order, and the generated data including the identification information is simultaneously transmitted to all the slave devices every time the identification information is obtained. Transmitting means, and receiving means for individually receiving data transmitted by the slave device in response to the identification information included in the transmitted data, wherein the transmitting means and the receiving means operate alternately. Characterized in that it is configured to the communication device. 5. An apparatus for simultaneously transmitting data requiring a reply together with any of a plurality of identification information for a predetermined time and performing bidirectional communication with a main apparatus which is in a data receiving state after transmission. Identification information holding means for holding the identification information assigned to the device; receiving means for receiving the broadcast data; identification information included in the data each time the data is received by the receiving means; Identification information determining means for determining whether or not there is compatibility with the identification information held in the information holding means; and response data to data including the identification information determined to be compatible by the identification information determining means. Response data generating means; and transmitting means for transmitting the generated response data to the main device, wherein the transmitting means and the receiving means operate alternately. A communication device characterized by being performed. 6. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein one of the transmission means and the reception means has a communication port independent of the other, and transmission and reception are performed via different communication ports. Or the communication device according to 4. 7. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein said two-way communication is configured to be performed using UDP / IP. 8. A control unit, and a plurality of electronic devices controlled by the control unit and each assigned unique identification information, are connected to a network capable of communicating by UDP / IP, and the control unit is configured to control the first electronic device. The control content for the device and the first
Transmitting the data including the identification information of the electronic device to all the electronic devices connected to the network, and the first electronic device receives the broadcast data every time the broadcast data is received. Determining the compatibility between the identification information included in the data and the identification information assigned to the own device, and transmitting response data including the status information of the own device to the control means when there is compatibility, After receiving the response data from the first electronic device, the control unit connects to the network data including control content for a second electronic device different from the first electronic device and identification information of the second electronic device. Transmitting all the electronic devices simultaneously to the plurality of electronic devices, and controlling the plurality of electronic devices by communication.