JP2004053513A - Distributed processing method of operation in measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operation processing method of a waveform measuring device capable of performing operation processing at high speed by performing distributed processing by a general purpose computer relative to processing such as a complicated operation in the waveform measuring device in connection with the general purpose computer through a communication network, and thereby reducing a CPU load of the waveform measuring device. <P>SOLUTION: This method is provided with the measuring device having a function for converting an input signal into a digital signal, storing it in a memory, displaying it suitably on a screen, applying a prescribed operation to data stored in the memory when the operation is required to the signal displayed on the screen, and displaying an operation result, and the general purpose computer connected to the measuring device through the network and having an operation processing function. When the operation processing by the general purpose computer is required to the signal displayed on the screen by the measuring device, the data stored in the memory are transmitted to the general purpose computer through the network, and the general purpose computer applies the prescribed operation processing to the received data and then returns the data back to the measuring device through the network, and the measuring device displays on the screen the returned operation result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a waveform measuring instrument such as a digital oscilloscope, and more particularly to an improvement for speeding up processing such as calculation of a waveform captured by the waveform measuring instrument.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, after converting an input signal waveform into a digital signal and storing it in a waveform memory, this is displayed on a screen as appropriate, and when a calculation is necessary, a predetermined calculation is performed on the digital signal stored in the memory. A waveform measuring instrument such as a digital oscilloscope configured to convert to display data and display the screen is well known.
[0003]
This kind of digital oscilloscope is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-256876 filed by the present applicant. In this Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-256876, a multi-channel type is described, but a configuration as shown in FIG. 7 is suggested for a basic configuration of one channel.
[0004]
The digital oscilloscope shown in FIG. 7 includes an analog / digital converter (hereinafter, referred to as an A / D converter) 1 for converting an input signal into a digital signal, a memory 2 for storing a digitally converted input signal (waveform data), and an application program. A central processing unit (CPU) 3 for displaying waveform data, calculating waveform data, and performing various settings and controls; a storage device (here, a hard disk HD) 4 storing the application programs and the like; The display device 5 includes a display device 5 for displaying the information.
[0005]
The operation of the waveform capturing task in such a configuration will be described next with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
After performing various settings for waveform capture, follow the procedure below.
(1) Operate the A / D converter 1 to fetch waveform data into the memory 2.
(2) Display the captured waveform.
(3) If the setting is to perform the calculation, the calculation processing task is executed to perform the predetermined calculation.
[0006]
(4) Display the calculation result.
(5) When another operation is performed, the above operation is repeated from (3). If not, the arithmetic processing task ends.
(6) Steps (1) to (5) are repeated until another waveform is not captured. When there is no more waveform capture, the waveform capture task ends.
[0007]
In this way, it is possible to display the input waveform or the waveform of the calculation result.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in recent digital oscilloscopes, the analysis function has been emphasized, the content of calculations has become complicated and time-consuming, and the number of calculations for one waveform has increased, so the display of the next calculation result is updated. There was a problem that the speed was reduced.
In order to solve this problem, there is a digital oscilloscope that connects a personal computer to acquire waveform data and performs calculations on the personal computer. However, there is a problem that functions unique to the measuring instrument cannot be used.
[0009]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to connect a general-purpose computer via a communication line to perform distributed processing on a waveform measurement device, such as a complicated operation, by the general-purpose computer, thereby speeding up the arithmetic processing. And to provide an arithmetic processing method of the waveform measuring instrument which can reduce the CPU load of the waveform measuring instrument.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such an object, the invention according to claim 1 converts an input signal into a digital signal, stores the digital signal in a memory, displays it on a screen as appropriate, and performs an operation on a signal displayed on the screen. A measuring instrument having a function of performing a predetermined calculation on the data stored in the memory and displaying a calculation result;
A general-purpose computer connected to this measuring instrument via a communication line and having an arithmetic processing function,
When a signal displayed on the screen of the measuring device requires arithmetic processing by the general-purpose computer, the data stored in the memory is transmitted to the general-purpose computer via a communication line,
The general-purpose computer sends the data back to the measuring instrument via a communication line after performing a predetermined arithmetic processing on the received data,
The measurement device displays the returned calculation result on a screen.
[0011]
According to such a method, since the processing such as the complicated calculation is distributed by the general-purpose computer, the calculation can be performed at high speed, and at the same time, the load on the CPU of the measuring instrument can be reduced.
Further, there is an advantage that complicated arithmetic processing can be performed without leaving the measuring instrument side, and the calculation result can be analyzed on the measuring instrument side. Further, since the arithmetic expression can be created on a general-purpose computer, there is an advantage that a complicated arithmetic expression can be easily defined by the user.
[0012]
In this case, one or more general-purpose computers can be connected to the measuring device via a communication line to perform distributed processing of the operation.
[0013]
Also, as in claim 3,
The general-purpose computer includes server software and arithmetic software,
The measuring device includes client software,
The measuring instrument transfers data by the client software;
The general-purpose computer receives the data transferred by the server software, performs a predetermined calculation by the calculation software, and transfers the calculation result to the measurement device by the server software.
The measuring device may receive data of a calculation result by the client software.
[0014]
Also, a waveform measuring device may be used as the measuring device, and the distributed processing in the general-purpose computer may be an arithmetic processing on the waveform data.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The power of the CPU of the general-purpose computer is improving day by day, and the power difference between the CPU and the CPU incorporated in the waveform measuring instrument having a longer life than that of the general-purpose computer is increasing. In addition, the data transfer speed has been increasing. For this reason, in the present invention, processing such as a complicated operation corresponding to the following equation is performed by a general-purpose computer by distributed processing.
Calculation processing time in waveform measuring instrument> (Transfer processing time to general-purpose computer + reception processing time)
[0016]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for realizing a distributed processing method of operation in a measuring instrument according to the present invention. In the present system, a waveform measuring device 10 functioning as a client and a general-purpose computer 30 functioning as a server are connected via a communication line (such as a network) 20, and complicated calculations in the waveform measuring device 10 are processed by the general-purpose computer 30. I can do it.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram relating to a function of performing distributed processing of arithmetic processing in the configuration of FIG. 1 by a general-purpose computer. In the waveform measuring instrument 10, reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU, 12 denotes a memory, and 13 denotes communication means provided with communication software for a client. The CPU 11 reads and writes data and controls each unit. The communication software 13 has a function of transmitting the waveform data read from the memory 12 and receiving a calculation result from the general-purpose computer 30.
Reference numerals 14, 15, and 16 denote terminals for connection to the communication line 20, a terminal 14 for Ethernet (registered trademark) connection, a terminal 15 for USB connection, and a terminal 16 for serial connection such as RS-232C. Terminal. Note that the communication line 20 is not limited to these three types, and may use IEEE 1394, Bluetooth (registered trademark), wireless LAN, and the like.
[0018]
In the general-purpose computer 30, 31 is a CPU, 32 is a memory, 33 is communication means provided with server communication software, and 34 is processing means provided with arithmetic software. The communication software 33 receives the waveform data from the waveform measuring device 10 and transmits the data processed by the CPU 31. The calculation software 34 performs a predetermined calculation (for example, FFT calculation) on the waveform data. The CPU 31 reads and writes data and controls each unit.
[0019]
Terminals 35, 36 and 37 are terminals for connection with the communication line 20, terminal 35 is for Ethernet connection, terminal 36 is for USB connection, and terminal 37 is a terminal for serial connection such as RS-232C.
[0020]
In such a configuration, the operation when the arithmetic processing is distributed by the general-purpose computer 30 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
(1) The conditions necessary for capturing a waveform are set in the waveform measuring device 10.
(2) The waveform data fetched under the above setting conditions is stored in the memory 12.
(3) Display the stored waveform data on the screen of the waveform measuring device 10.
(4) If an operation is performed on the waveform data, the process proceeds to the following (5). In the case where the calculation is not performed, the operation from the above (1) is repeated when another waveform is captured, and the waveform capturing process is ended when another waveform is not captured.
[0021]
(5) Copy the waveform data to a calculation memory area (not shown). However, if the waveform data is synchronized with the fetching into the memory 12, this copy is unnecessary.
(6) When the calculation is performed by the general-purpose computer 30, the process proceeds to the following (8). When the calculation is performed by the waveform measuring device 10 instead of the general-purpose computer 30, a predetermined calculation is performed by the CPU 11 of the waveform measuring device 10, and the calculation result is displayed on a screen.
(7) If there is another calculation process, repeat from (6) above. If there is no other calculation process, the calculation task is terminated, and the process proceeds to (4).
[0022]
(8) When the calculation is performed by the general-purpose computer 30, the waveform data is transmitted via the communication unit 13.
(9) The general-purpose computer 30 receives the waveform data. The communication means 33 of the general-purpose computer 30 acquires the waveform data sent from the waveform measuring device 10 as a client.
(10) The CPU 31 of the general-purpose computer 30 performs a predetermined operation on the received waveform data.
(11) The calculation result is transmitted (returned) to the waveform measuring device 10 via the communication means 33.
[0023]
(12) The waveform measuring device 10 receives the data of the calculation result via the communication means 13 and displays it on the screen.
(13) The process proceeds to the process (7).
[0024]
According to the present invention, the general-purpose computer 30 can perform the distributed processing of the operation by such a procedure.
Further, in the present invention, complicated arithmetic processing can be performed without leaving the object to be measured, the arithmetic result can be analyzed with a waveform measuring instrument, and the arithmetic expression can be created on a general-purpose computer. An advantage is that the user can easily define the arithmetic expression.
[0025]
Next, the effect when the arithmetic processing is distributed by the general-purpose computer 30 will be described with reference to FIG.
When a certain arithmetic processing is performed by the waveform measuring device 10, it takes 30 seconds as shown in FIG. 4A, and when the same arithmetic processing is performed by the general-purpose computer 30, it takes 15 seconds as shown in FIG. . Further, it is assumed that the data transfer takes 2.5 seconds each as shown in FIG.
[0026]
Therefore, according to the distributed processing of the present invention, the arithmetic processing takes only 20 seconds in total as shown in FIG. 3C, which is 10 seconds longer than the processing time performed by the waveform measuring instrument 10 alone. Shortening. As described above, according to the present invention, the time required for the arithmetic processing can be easily increased.
In addition, since the load on the CPU 11 is eliminated in the waveform measuring device 10 for 15 seconds of the processing in the general-purpose computer 30, there is an advantage that the waveform measuring device 10 can be used for other arithmetic processing.
[0027]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes many more changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the arithmetic processing may be performed by a plurality of general-purpose computers 30, 40, and 50 in a distributed manner. Note that the general-purpose computer 50 is connected to the USB. The effect of the distributed processing in this case will be described with reference to FIG.
[0028]
When the three types of calculations, that is, the calculation process A, the calculation process B, and the calculation process C, are performed by the waveform measuring device 10, they take 40 seconds, 30 seconds, and 20 seconds, respectively, as shown in FIG. It takes 30 seconds, 22.5 seconds, and 17.5 seconds, respectively, as shown in FIGS.
It is assumed that the data transfer takes 2.5 seconds as shown in FIG.
[0029]
When the arithmetic processing A, B, and C are distributed and processed in parallel by the general-purpose computers 30, 40, and 50, respectively, the arithmetic operation ends in 35 seconds as a whole. When the waveform measuring device 10 performs the three arithmetic processes A, B, and C, it takes 90 seconds in total, which is a reduction of 55 seconds.
Further, since there is a transfer waiting time, the CPU 11 can perform an operation in the waveform measuring device 10 correspondingly.
[0030]
Even for data having a long memory length and capable of being divided and operated, the speed can be increased by dividing and transmitting the data to a plurality of general-purpose computers and distributing the operation.
[0031]
In the embodiment, the waveform measuring device is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the waveform measuring device, and various measuring devices corresponding to a network and capable of performing distributed processing by a general-purpose computer are used. Can be targeted. In this case, the data to be handled is not limited to the waveform data.
[0032]
In addition, the waveform measuring instrument and the general-purpose computer (including a plurality of computers) are connected by a communication line, but each connection method such as Ethernet (registered trademark), USB, and serial can be appropriately adopted. .
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) By performing distributed processing of the arithmetic processing of the measuring device by a general-purpose computer connected to the network, the speed of the arithmetic processing can be easily increased, and the CPU load of the measuring device can be easily reduced.
(2) Since the calculation result is sent back to the measuring instrument via the network, the measuring instrument can analyze the result.
(3) Since the arithmetic expression can be created on the general-purpose computer side, a user who can handle the general-purpose computer can easily define a complicated arithmetic expression by himself.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for realizing a distributed processing method of computation in a measuring instrument of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a processing time.
FIG. 5 is another system configuration diagram for realizing the method of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is another explanatory diagram of the processing time.
FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a basic configuration of a conventional digital oscilloscope.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a waveform capturing operation in a conventional digital oscilloscope.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Measuring instrument 11, 31 CPU
12, 32 memory 13, 33 communication software 14, 15, 16, 35, 36, 37 terminal 20 communication line 30, 40, 50 general-purpose computer 34 arithmetic software

Claims (4)

After converting the input signal into a digital signal and storing it in a memory, it is displayed on a screen as appropriate, and when a calculation is required for the signal displayed on the screen, a predetermined calculation is performed on the data stored in the memory. A measuring instrument having a function of displaying a calculation result,
A general-purpose computer connected to the measuring instrument via a communication line and having an arithmetic processing function,
When a signal displayed on the screen of the measuring device requires arithmetic processing by the general-purpose computer, the data stored in the memory is transmitted to the general-purpose computer via a communication line,
The general-purpose computer sends the data to the measuring device via a communication line after performing predetermined arithmetic processing on the received data,
The distributed processing method of the calculation in the measuring device, wherein the measuring device displays the returned calculation result on a screen. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or more general-purpose computers are connected to the measuring device via a communication line so that the distributed processing of the operation is performed. The general-purpose computer includes server software and arithmetic software,
The measuring device includes client software,
The measuring device transfers data by the client software,
The general-purpose computer receives the data transferred by the server software, performs a predetermined calculation by the calculation software, and transfers the calculation result to the measuring device by the server software.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring device receives the data of the operation result by the client software. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a waveform measuring instrument is used as the measuring instrument, and the distributed processing in the general-purpose computer is an arithmetic processing on waveform data.

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