JP5000620B2 - Process control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a process control system having a system switching function suitable for recovering a failure of a process control system having a duplex configuration or more multiplexed configuration in the manufacturing industry and maintaining control software for operating the process control system. About.

  For example, in a manufacturing industry such as the steel industry that requires high reliability in 24-hour operation, a process control system that controls a manufacturing process is often composed of the computer and network equipment unique to the manufacturer of the process control system. However, there were difficulties in cost reduction and process control system scalability.

  Therefore, in recent years, the specifications of the interface unit of each device constituting the process control system have been released, and the introduction of open system process control systems configured with general-purpose products that are devices to which the specifications have been released is progressing. . However, when the scale of the control system of the manufacturing plant to be applied becomes large and the needs to realize a high-function system applying the latest IT (Information Technology) technology from the operation department, the quantity and combination pattern of general-purpose products The number becomes enormous. In some cases, the influence of failures of a plurality of servers, networks, and peripheral devices constituting the process control system may affect the entire process control system. Failure phenomena often occur irregularly and often not reproducible, and the difficulty of investigating the cause and recovery work when a failure occurs in an open process control system tends to increase.

  A process control system for a plant having a 24-hour operation facility such as a lower process in the steel industry is required to have high reliability and operation rate in terms of economy and safety. Usually, once a month, there is a period of operation / equipment that is periodically suspended, and the hardware (servers, PLCs, network devices, peripheral devices, etc.) that make up the process control system. ) And maintenance of the control software, particularly high reliability and operation rate of hardware etc. are maintained.

  On the other hand, in the upper process of the blast furnace steel industry, factory facilities such as raw materials, coke, and energy are always in operation, and there is no regular downtime. For this reason, it is difficult for the maintenance of each hardware constituting the process control system to be prevented in advance by predicting a failure by periodic diagnosis as described above or by replacing hardware that affects the entire system. Furthermore, each hardware component constituting the open process control system is a general-purpose product that is less reliable than industrial hardware of the so-called FA (Factroy Automation) specification, and is periodically suspended as described above. The failure rate during operation and equipment operation is higher than that of factory equipment with a period. Therefore, when a failure occurs in the process control system, it is necessary to be able to quickly follow the system recovery and other operations / equipment after the recovery in a short time.

  By the way, operational departments such as plants have daily missions such as improving productivity, stabilizing quality, and reducing costs, and the need for improvement in the functions and performance of various process control systems leads to the development or maintenance of process control systems. Required by the computer department in charge. In order to meet this improvement need, the computer department must regularly or occasionally modify the application software for control, replace it with a test machine, and replace it with a production machine. At that time, in a constantly-operated facility that does not have a regular operation suspension period such as the upper process of the blast furnace steel industry, switching from a conventional application software to a new or improved version of application software in a short time. It is necessary to do.

  As a technology for executing this type of application software switching, for example, a general-purpose product can be used in an open process control system as well as a conventional process control system consisting of a manufacturer's original hardware and network. A redundant configuration is known in which a duplex configuration is used, one of which is a production system and the other is a standby system. For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a failure occurs in a production system, the occurrence of the failure is automatically detected by hardware or a general-purpose OS (operating system) embedded package software, and a switching instruction is output to the standby system. Therefore, switching from the production system to the standby system has been realized (cluster technology). However, the control technology based on such a redundant configuration is expensive because it is a manufacturer-specific technology even though the process control system is composed of general-purpose products, and requires deeper knowledge and know-how of hardware and OS. Is done. For this reason, the introduction cost burden on the user side is large, and it is difficult to develop equipment with flexible specifications by the user side. In addition, there are disadvantages such as difficulty in maintenance of a computer maintenance department that performs system maintenance on the user side for the system, and high maintenance costs. Furthermore, it was also disadvantageous in terms of flexible selection of models at the time of the next system update.

JP 2000-347959 A

  In an open process control system that is installed in a facility that is always in operation, by making full use of general-purpose hardware and OS standard implementation functions and application software technology, the cost and maintenance burden on the user side is minimized, and the system can be installed in other systems. However, a facility engineer on the user's side has been demanded for a method that can be used for switching the system.

  In addition, the conventional cluster technology unique to hardware device manufacturers employs a constant interoperability monitoring method between the production system and the standby system, and automatically detects failures in the production system and automatically switches them to the standby system. It is a technology to switch to. Many methods for automatically detecting the occurrence of such a system failure and automatically switching to a standby system have been introduced in the system field of the business service industry with the aim of continuation of service. On the other hand, in the process control system in the manufacturing industry such as the steel equipment industry, it is important to understand the range of impact on operations and facilities in the event of a failure and to focus on safety, and between the operation operator in the operation department and the maintenance staff in the computer maintenance department. The system is switched to the standby system, mainly using a maintenance staff switching operation. Accordingly, a system switching technique based on a system switching operation method by a human is assumed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems related to the system switching of the conventional process control system configured to be redundant or more as described above, and does not require advanced hardware or OS expertise. In addition, general-purpose hardware and OS standard implementation functions that make up a process control system with a duplex or higher configuration, and application software developed by the user, inexpensive, excellent maintainability, and a versatile system switching device The purpose is to realize a duplex configuration with

The process control system of the present invention is as follows.
(1) In the process control system of the present invention, a plurality of sets of control systems each having a process control server and peripheral devices are connected by a network device including a router device, and each of the control systems is connected to each device in the manufacturing process. A control system in which the operation mode is the production system mode by switching the operation mode of each of the control systems connected in parallel and operating in parallel to the production system mode or the standby system mode that actually controls the manufacturing process. A process control system of a multiplexed configuration for controlling the manufacturing process at
The system monitoring apparatus is connected to each of the process control servers via a hardware signal line A, and an operation mode in which the process control server of each of the control systems is switched to a production system mode or a standby system mode according to an operator instruction. A switching instruction is output via the hardware signal line A, and then a signal indicating that the operation mode switching is returned from each of the process control servers is received via the hardware signal line A. Via line B, a signal for switching so that the control system newly in the production mode is connected to each device in the manufacturing process is output,
The process control server of the control system that switches from the production system mode to the standby system mode, the control DB server to which the application data that has been executed so far is connected via the network device according to the operation mode switching instruction. Save to
The process control server of the control system that switches from the standby system mode to the production system mode, the control DB server to which application data to be executed in the future is connected via the network device in response to the operation mode switching instruction. Retrieve and restore from
The present invention is characterized in that the manufacturing process is continuously controlled when the operation modes of a plurality of sets of control systems are switched.

(2) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to (1),
The router device of the network device is
A routing definition information file including routing setting information in each operation mode of each of the process control servers and the routing setting information of the peripheral device is set and recorded in advance.
In response to the routing information rewrite instruction input to the router device by the standby mode process control server in response to the operation mode switching instruction input from the system monitoring device, the process control server The connection with the peripheral device is switched according to the operation mode.

(3) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to (2),
The system monitoring device is
Based on the operator's operation mode switching instruction input via the hardware signal line A,
A server mode input / switching instruction unit for inputting an instruction to switch the operation mode from the production system mode to the standby system mode or from the standby system mode to the production system mode, to the server switching unit included in the process control server of each control system; ,
A router mode input / switching instruction unit for inputting a switching instruction of routing setting information of the router device to a routing rewriting unit of the process control server in the standby mode;
An application data storage instruction for storing application data of an application being executed in the control DB server in the AP data storage / restoration unit included in each of the process control servers in the production system mode and the standby system mode, or An AP data matching instruction unit for inputting an application data restoration instruction for restoration from the control DB server;
It is characterized by comprising.

(4) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to (3),
The server mode input / switching instruction unit of the system monitoring apparatus includes information on the operation state and operation mode input from each process control server in the production system mode and standby system mode, and the RAS apparatus attached to each process control server. Based on the above, whether or not the operation mode of each control system can be switched is determined based on the system switching condition, and an instruction to switch the operation mode is output based on the determination result.

(5) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to (3) or (4),
The routing rewriting section of each of the above process control servers is
In response to the switching instruction of the routing setting information from the router mode input / switching instruction unit of the system monitoring device, the routing information rewriting instruction is input to the routing information rewriting unit of the router device,
Next, the routing definition information reading result and the router definition rewriting completion result based on the routing definition information file recorded in the router device are reported to the system monitoring device.

(6) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to (5),
The routing rewriting unit of each of the process control servers uses the Telnet command based on a predetermined timing chart to instruct the routing information rewriting unit of the router device to switch routing setting information.

(7) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to any one of (3) to (6),
The AP data storage / restoration unit of each of the process control servers receives the application data storage instruction input from the AP data matching instruction unit of the system monitoring apparatus periodically or at a predetermined cycle, or In response to a single system switching instruction from the system monitoring device, application data for an application that controls the manufacturing process being executed is sent to the control DB server,
In response to the application data restoration instruction input from the AP data matching instruction unit of the system monitoring apparatus, the latest application data is received from the control DB server and restored.

(8) The process control system of the present invention is the process control system according to any one of (3) to (7),
The switching mode holding unit of the system monitoring device is
The hardware PLC is connected to the production system PLC of the production system control system and the standby system PLC of the standby system control system via the hardware signal line B.
The server mode input / switching instructing unit, the router mode input / switching instructing unit, and the fact that the switching of the process control server, the change of the route connection of the router device, and the application data matching are completed Recognizing based on the information input from the AP data alignment instruction unit, and outputting the system switching completion status, which is information on the operation mode of each control system, to each of the production PLC and the standby PLC,
Each of the production system PLC and the standby system PLC is switched based on the system switching completion state so that the control / operation output of the production system is input to the manufacturing process and operated.

  As described above, according to the present invention, only a system switching instruction program developed with general-purpose hardware, OS mounting function, and application software in a process control system that is configured to be duplexed or more mainly using general-purpose equipment. Therefore, it is possible to switch the production system configuration of the process control system to the standby system configuration in a short time and to follow the operation / equipment without requiring advanced hardware and OS system switching expertise. Can do. As a result, even a person in the computer maintenance department who is not a manufacturer expert can easily perform maintenance within the general technical knowledge range. Furthermore, since the system switching method is a general-purpose product, it is inexpensive and versatile, and can be easily applied to a plurality of process control systems distributed.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking as an example a case where a raw material manufacturing process of the blast furnace steel industry is applied to an example of a manufacturing process. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol. Moreover, it cannot be overemphasized that the application destination of this invention is not limited to the raw material manufacturing process of this blast furnace steel industry.

<Process control system configuration example>
FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a process control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the following, a duplex configuration will be described as an example of a multiplexed configuration, assuming that control system A is a production system and control system B is a standby system among a pair of control systems A and B. In the production system of the manufacturing process, a process control server 110 that controls the manufacturing process in an integrated manner, and a lower-level control device that controls automatic operation of the process control server 110 and the material transportation facility (for example, PLC: Programmable Logic Controller). ) Low-level equipment (PLC) transmission connection GW server (PLC connection GW server) 130 for connecting 140, and low-level control equipment (PLC) 140 for performing I / O input / output and control of the terminal of the material transportation equipment However, a plurality of switching hubs 120 are arranged and connected between them. In addition, the process control server 110 has an RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability) that enables an external device (for example, the system monitoring device 1200) to issue an abnormality detection and start-up instruction for each facility (system) constituting the manufacturing process. ) Device 150 is connected. These devices 110 to 150 constitute the production system 100 and operate normally. In consideration of system reliability and maintainability, a standby system 200 (control system B) composed of the same devices 210 to 250 as the devices constituting the production system 100 (control system A) is arranged in parallel. .

  In the dual process control system of the present embodiment, the control system is composed of a pair of a production system and a standby system (A, B), and controls the manufacturing process at a certain point in time. A system that is in an active mode is called a “production system” at that time, and a system that is not in an operation mode is called a “standby system” at that time. Therefore, the production system and the standby system mean relative operation modes, and the operation modes are switched when a trouble or a test of the control system occurs. As described above, it is described that the control system A is a production system and the control system B is a standby system. Further, in the present embodiment, as an example of multiplexing, such duplexing is illustrated and described, but it goes without saying that multiplexing more than triplicate may be performed. In this case, process control systems corresponding to the number of multiplexing are connected in parallel, at least one of which is a production system like the control system A, and the rest is a standby system like the control system B. System.

  When the manufacturing process is executed in the dual process control system configured as described above, the control system 100, 200 of the production system and standby system (A, B) are both in an operating state, that is, the power is ON. And an application (AP) for controlling the manufacturing process is executed in parallel. However, as a control / operation output for actually controlling the manufacturing process, the output of the production system (for example, the control system 100 in the case of FIG. 1) is output as an effective output to a device such as the following PLC. It is like that.

  The PLC-I / O group 1000 (an example of each device in the manufacturing process) at the end of the raw material transportation facility constituting the manufacturing process is connected to the production system 100 and the standby system 200 via the PLC-dedicated LAN 1100. Yes. This PLC-dedicated LAN 1100 is a LAN that is designed exclusively for the manufacturer of the PLC-I / O group. This PLC-dedicated LAN 1100 is a common (shared) device for the production system 100 and the standby system 200, and both systems constantly transmit and receive signals to and from the PLC-I / O group 1000 included in the material transportation facility. I'm doing it.

  Further, as an auxiliary device group of the entire system configuration including the process control system of the manufacturing process described above, an operation monitoring / control terminal device group 300 for the field operator to operate and control the manufacturing process, and various materials transport equipment A control DB server 400 that stores analysis data, which is measurement data of the sensor / device, and supports operation analysis based on the analysis data, and a process control server for other manufacturing processes other than the manufacturing process A plurality of other process control server connection GW devices 500 for connection to a communication control device 600 for higher transmission for connecting to a higher server system that controls the manufacturing process, etc. There are server devices and peripheral devices. These auxiliary device groups 300 to 600 are connected to the production system 100 and the standby system 200 via a network having a plurality of switching hubs 700 and 900 and a system switching router device 800.

  In FIG. 1, in the production system 100 and the standby system 200, the PLC connection GW servers 130 and 230 are used as connection configuration devices. However, the process control server 110 and the lower-level control device 140 are connected to each other such as Ethernet. When connecting via a general-purpose LAN, the PLC connection GW servers 130 and 230 may be omitted.

  In addition, a system monitoring device 1200 that performs an instruction to switch between the production system 100 and the standby system 200 input from the outside, monitors the operating status of the entire manufacturing system and outputs the operating status externally, and the system monitoring device 1200 An on-site display / setting panel 1300 for presenting the monitoring result output to the on-site operator and for the on-site operator to input a switching instruction includes the production system 100, the standby system 200, and the auxiliary device groups 300 to 600. They are connected as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a network connection configuration diagram in the process control system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, all the networks are open systems as described in [Background Art] above. Therefore, the entire network includes a system monitoring device 1200, a production system 100, a monitoring system LAN connected to the standby system 200 (for example, a general-purpose Ethernet LAN), that is, a SW-HUB 900, and an operation monitoring / control terminal. Information system LAN connected to device group 300 and control DB server 400 (for example, a general-purpose Ethernet LAN), and transmission system LAN connected to other process control server connection GW device 500 and host transmission communication control device 600 That is, it is configured by a network group such as SW-HUB700. Each network group is connected to a router device 800 having a network connection and switching function. On the other hand, the production system 100 and the standby system 200 are directly connected to the router device 800 via, for example, a general-purpose LAN, separately from the monitoring device LAN (SW-HUB 900).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the router device 800 is connected to each network group SW-HUB 700, 900 and a directly connected LAN, that is, LAN1 (804), LAN2 (805), LAN3 (806), eth0. (802), eth1 (803), and a routing information rewriting unit 801 for network switching. Note that IP addresses A1 (808), B1 (809), C1 (810), α1 (807), and β1 (807) are assigned to each connection PORT. The router device 800 can use a commercially available router device configuration having a desired number of connection PORTs.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the process control server 110 of the production system. The process control server 210 of the standby system has a similar configuration (however, the reference number is in the 200s).

  The process control server 110 of the production system 100 switches the server body in addition to the process control unit 114 that controls and controls the manufacturing process for operation, that is, the operation mode is changed from the production system mode to the standby system mode. Alternatively, the server switching unit 111 for switching to the reverse, the routing rewriting unit 112 for switching the routing definition information of the router device 800 at the time of switching the operation mode of the server body, that is, system switching, and the operation state of the manufacturing process at the time of system switching Save / restore AP data input / output data (an example of application data; hereinafter also referred to as “AP data”) necessary to enable the tracking of the application. And a restoration unit 113. The process control server 210 of the standby system 200 that is operating in parallel has the same configuration as the process control server 110 of the production system.

  This will be described more specifically. The server switching unit 111 receives a system switching instruction (that is, a switching instruction from the production system mode to the standby system mode, an example of an operation mode switching instruction) from the system monitoring apparatus 1200, and first, for process control of the production system. Server operation state (normal state: ON or hibernation state: OFF) of the server 110 and the process control server 210 of the standby system, and a server computer startup (operation) mode (production system mode or standby system mode) switched according to the switching instruction ) To the system monitoring apparatus 1200. The routing rewriting unit 112 receives a router definition reading instruction and a definition rewriting instruction (an example of a router apparatus routing setting information switching instruction) from the system monitoring apparatus 1200, and the router definition information reading result in the router apparatus 800 and the router The definition rewriting completion result is reported to the system monitoring apparatus 1200. More specifically, the routing change performed in the router device 800 is started in accordance with a routing information rewriting instruction output from the routing rewriting unit 112 or 212, and is performed based on a routing definition information file described later. Then, the routing rewriting unit 112 or 212 acquires the routing change result from the router device 800 and reports it to the system monitoring device 120. The AP data storage / restoration unit 113 is autonomously periodically at a predetermined cycle, receives an AP data storage instruction input from the AP data alignment instruction unit 1203 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200, or receives from the system monitoring apparatus 1200. In response to the single system switching instruction, AP data of an application (AP) that controls the manufacturing process being executed is transmitted to the control DB server 400. The AP data storage / restoration unit 113 receives an AP data restoration instruction from the AP data matching instruction unit 1203 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200, and receives and restores the latest AP data from the control DB server 400.

<Control DB server>
As shown in FIG. 4, the control DB server 400 enables the AP data storage / restoration unit 113 of the production process control server 110 to follow the operation / equipment at the time of system switching. It has an AP data storage DB unit 401 for storing necessary input / output data (AP data) of a running application periodically or based on a single system switching instruction from the system monitoring apparatus 1200.

<Router device>
As shown in FIG. 5, the router device 800 may be a commercially available router device, and has a routing information rewriting unit 801 that stores and rewrites routing setting information as a basic function of a general router device. The routing setting information is information on connection paths of network devices, and can normally be rewritten in the router device.

  For example, in this embodiment, based on a switching instruction (an example of an instruction for switching the operation mode) between the production system and the standby system that is output from the system switching unit 1201 of the system monitoring device 1200, the operation is performed among the control systems A and B. From the routing rewrite units 112 and 212 of the process control server 110 of the production system or the process control server 210 of the standby system that are selected to use the routing information rewrite command (routing information rewrite instruction Example) is output. Then, the routing information rewriting unit 801 operates to rewrite / save the routing information based on the routing information rewriting command. At this time, assuming that there is a problem in the production system, the routing information rewriting unit 801 may use the routing information rewriting command from the routing rewriting unit 212 of the standby system.

  In the routing information rewriting unit 801, a list of routing setting information (an example of a routing definition information file) when the control systems A and B are in the production mode, the standby mode, etc. is preset. It is recorded. Then, the router device 800 connects each PORT of the router device 800 to a new connection destination based on the routing setting information defined in the routing definition information file in accordance with an instruction from the routing rewriting unit 112 or 212.

<System monitoring device>
As shown in FIG. 6, the system monitoring apparatus 1200 switches the operation mode between the production system 100 and the standby system 200 for the pair of control systems A and B (that is, selection of a system that executes control of the manufacturing system). ) And has the following four functional blocks.
(1) Server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201
(2) Router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202
(3) AP data alignment instruction unit 1203
(4) Switching mode holding unit 1204

The above (1)-(4) will be described below.
(1) The server mode input / switching instructing unit 1201 provides dedicated hardware signals to the RAS 150 of the production system and the RAS 250 of the standby system that enable system abnormality detection and startup instructions from an external device. They are connected by a line A160, and the operation status and operation mode information (also referred to as RAS hard signals) of the process control server 110 of the production system and the process control server 210 of the standby system from the RAS 150 and 250, respectively. Is entered. The server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201 is in standby with the process control server 110 of the production system based on a switching instruction (an example of an operation mode switching instruction) input by the work operator on the site display / setting panel 1300. Outputs a system switching instruction (an example of an instruction to switch the operation mode) to instruct the process control server 210 (particularly the server switching units 111 and 211) of the active system to switch the manufacturing system to be executed or not to be executed. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the switching HUB 900, the production process control server 110, the standby process control server 210, and the router device 800 are connected to each other via a general-purpose interface (for example, Ethernet). .

  (2) The router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 performs routing via the hardware signal line A160 toward the routing rewrite units 112 and 212 of the production process control server 110 or the standby process control server 210. A switching instruction (an example of switching instruction of routing setting information of the router device) is output. As described above, the routing rewriting units 112 and 212 rewrite the routing information to the routing information rewriting unit 801 of the router device 800 via the general network (Ethernet) using the Telnet command to the router device 800 based on the routing switching instruction. A command (an example of a routing information rewriting instruction) is input, and a switching instruction for switching routing information is input. Here, for the control systems A and B, a list of routing definition information including the routing setting information for the production system and the standby system and the routing setting information for the peripheral devices (for example, the terminal device group 300) is preliminarily stored in a work operator or a computer. It is desirable that maintenance personnel or the like set in advance in the routing information rewriting unit 801 of the router device 800 as a routing definition information file.

  (3) The router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 receives a signal from the production process control server 110 and the standby process control server 210 indicating that the switching of each operation mode has been normally completed (operation mode switching is completed). Is received via the hardware signal line A160, the AP data matching instruction unit 1203 is activated and used for the production system process control server 110 or standby system process control that is activated in parallel. A data alignment instruction (for example, an AP data save instruction and an AP data restore instruction) of the application being executed is output to the AP data save / restore unit 113 of the server 210, and then the production process control server 110 and the standby process In response from the control server 210 that application data matching is complete It receives a completion signal that. Here, application data alignment means processing between applications that are executing control in the production system process control server 110 and the standby system process control server 210 when the operation mode of the control system is switched (production system standby system). It is to match values between corresponding data in.

  In other words, the “operation mode switching instruction” input from the system monitoring apparatus 1200 to the control system in the production system mode or the standby system mode via the hardware signal line A160 is the above (1) server mode input / switching instruction. Sections 1201 to (3) three instruction signals output from the AP data alignment instruction section 1203 (that is, “instruction to switch operation mode”, “instruction to switch routing setting information of router device”, and “AP data storage instruction”) Or “AP data restoration instruction”).

  (4) The switching mode holding 1204 is connected to the production system PLC 140 and the standby system PLC 240 via the dedicated hardware signal line B170, and the process control servers 110 and 210 are switched and the route connection of the router device 800 is changed. , And the completion of the application data matching based on the communication from the server status input / switching instruction unit 1201, the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202, and the AP data matching instruction unit 1203, and the control system This is a function for outputting the system switching completion status, which is information on the operation modes of A and B, to the PLC 140 of the control system A (production system) and the PLC 240 of the control system B (standby system). Each of the PLCs 140 and 240 is connected so that the manufacturing process operates with the control / operation output of the production system based on the system switching completion state.

  The system monitoring apparatus 1200 may be constituted by an FA computer having a LAN board, for example. The on-site display / setting panel 1300 may be configured by a liquid crystal display or a keyboard, but may be configured as a dedicated operation panel in which the apparatus is incorporated.

<Description of routing definition information file and routing setting information>
Routing setting information used when the router device 800 is connected to the network will be described.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a list of routing setting information input / set in the routing information rewriting unit 801 in the router device 800. The routing rewriting units 112 and 212 of the production system process control server 110 and the standby system process control server 210 previously set and hold (record) a list of routing setting information as a routing definition information file.

  In FIG. 7, config definition information 30 is a routing setting information group for each device (process control servers 110 and 210 and peripheral devices) connected to the general-purpose network, and includes a config name 31 for each definition information unit and each connected device. Connection destination name port32, IP address 33, and the like. The routing setting information is information for setting the connection state between the general-purpose interfaces of each device when the system executing the control of the manufacturing process is a production system or a standby system, or during switching (IDLE state). Therefore, it is defined in the config definition information 30.

This will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.
The system operation selection 34 in the routing setting information indicates that the production system 100 or the standby system 200 is in an operation operation state. IDLE indicates a state during the system switching of the production system 100 or the standby system 200. The config definition information 30 in the router device 800 is defined in the router device 800 for each system operation selection 34 unit. Specifically, “honban. cfg "," idle. cfg "or" taiki. The config name 31 of “cfg” is determined by the process control server 110 of the production system or the standby system process control server 210 according to the system switching instruction input from the on-site display / setting panel 1300 or the system monitoring device 1200 of FIG. A routing information rewriting command (telnet command) using Telnet is passed through the routing rewriting units 112 and 212. The router device 800 of FIG. 2 operates by validating the config name 31 and invalidating the config name 31 that has been passed. In this way, since only the config name 31 is switched, switching of the routing setting information can be realized in a short time.

  For example, when switching the routing setting information when switching the active control system from the production system state to the standby system state, the routing setting information of IDLE (production system / standby system switching in progress) is once validated. After the time elapses, the routing setting information of the standby system so far is made valid. Specifically, the IDLE routing setting information enables only the connection port (LAN3 806 in FIG. 2) with the system monitoring apparatus 1200, and the other connection ports (eth0 (802), eth1 (803) in FIG. 2), LAN1. (804), setting information for invalidating LAN2 (805)). Here, eth0 and 1 of the connection port indicate the physical connection destination of the router device 800, and are connected to the process control server 110 or the standby system process control server 210 of the production system via a directly connected general-purpose LAN. . Similarly, the LAN1 to LAN3 are connected to the information LAN and the transmission LAN (SW-HUB 700) by the monitoring device LAN (SW-HUB 900). By setting the IDLE routing setting information, data transmission / reception on the LAN using incorrect routing information is performed in the middle of system switching, and it is possible to prevent malfunction of the system and occurrence of serious troubles in operation / equipment. . This is an important switching method particularly in a process control system such as a steel industry that requires high reliability. The above-described method for making IDLE valid is the same when switching the routing setting information from the standby system state to the production system state.

  The router connection LAN route when switching the routing setting information from the production system state to the standby system state will be described. In the control system currently focused on, when the system operation selection 34 shown in FIG. 7 is a production system (state), the config name 31 is honban. cfg is valid. The IP addresses of eth0 and LAN1 to LAN3 of port 32 are α1 and A1 to C1, respectively, and the connection destinations 35 are a production system process control server, an information system LAN, a transmission system LAN, and a monitoring system LAN. . The router connection LAN route will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The control system of interest is in the production system state, and the connection destination of the IP address: α2 of the ETHERNET card of the process control server 110 of the control system is It is connected to port: LAN1 (IP address: A1) and port: LAN2 (IP address: B1) via port: eth0 (IP address: α1).

  Next, when the routing setting information is switched when the target control system is switched to the standby state, the config name 31 in FIG. cfg becomes effective. The IP addresses β1 and A1 to C1 of the port 32 eth1 and LAN1 to LAN3, respectively, and the connection destinations 35 are a standby process control server, an information system LAN, a transmission system LAN, and a monitoring system LAN. The router connection LAN route will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The connection destination of the IP address: β2 of the ETHERNET card of the standby process control server 210 passes through the port: eth1 (IP address: β1) of the router device 800, and the port : LAN1 (IP address: A1), port: Connected to LAN2 (IP address: B1).

<System switching flow: Production system ⇒ Standby system>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the control system switching process from the production system to the standby system.

  In the standby system switching selection request processing S101, a computer maintenance person or an operation operator or the like performs a system switching operation from the on-site display / setting panel 1300 in FIG. This is executed by the on-site display / setting panel 1300. That is, in this standby system switching selection request processing S101, the on-site display / setting panel 1300 outputs a standby system switching selection request (an example of an operation mode switching instruction) based on an operation by an operator or the like.

  In response to the standby system switching selection request input in the standby system switching selection request processing S101, the server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 shown in FIG. In order to acquire each RAS hardware signal of the system system process control server 210 and determine whether the system switching can be normally processed, a system switching condition determination process S102 is performed. Before the system switching operation, the external system (for example, on-site display / setting panel 1300) is notified (input) which of the production system and the standby system is in operation. Until the switching is completed, the fact that the system is being switched is notified (input) to the outside (for example, on-site display / setting panel 1300).

  In this system switching condition determination process S102, the production system RAS 150 and the standby system RAS 250 of FIG. 1 which are input by the hardware contact signals (RAS hardware signal via the hardware signal line A160) of the production system. Based on the hardware operation signals of the process control server 110 and the process control server 210 of the standby system, whether or not the operation mode of the control system can be switched is determined based on the system switching condition, and the system monitoring apparatus 1200 The server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201 determines whether the process control servers 110 and 210 are operating normally (ON state) or stopped (OFF).

  As an example of the system switching condition, the server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 cannot switch the system when the process control server 110 of the switching destination standby system is in a stopped state. Then, it is determined that the operation mode cannot be switched, the abnormality process S110 is performed, the switching condition of the on-site display / setting panel 1300 in FIG. 1 is not established, and the continuation of the system switching process is stopped. The system switching condition determination processing S102 is intended to detect whether the hardware of each process control server is operating normally.

  If the process control server 110 of the standby system is normal (ON) as a result of the system switching condition determination processing S102, the server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. The switching instruction process S103 is executed, and a system switching instruction (an example of an instruction for switching the operation mode included in the operation mode switching instruction) is set as a standby system to the server switching unit 111 of the production system in FIG. 2 is output to the server switching unit 211 of the active system via the monitoring device LAN (SW-HUB 900) of FIG. The process control server 110 of the production system and the process control server 210 of the standby system shown in FIG. 1 are in the operation mode of the production system mode or the standby system mode based on the system switching command signal. Recognize That is, the operation mode of each server is determined. In this example, the process control server 110 that has been in the production mode until then recognizes that it is set to the standby mode, while the process control server 210 that has been in the standby mode has Is recognized as the production mode.

  The server switching units 111 and 211 of the process control server 110 in the production system and the process control server 210 in the standby system shown in FIG. 1 set their own (computer) operation mode, that is, the production system mode or the standby system mode. Then, an operation mode signal (an example of a signal indicating that the operation mode switching has been completed) as a recognition result is output to the hardware contact signal (hardware signal line A160) of each RAS. Next, the server mode input / switching instruction unit 1201 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. 1 has correctly recognized the operation mode of each process control server based on the operation mode signal input from each RAS 150, 250. System switching determination processing S104 for determining whether or not is executed. If the operation mode signal of each process control server is not in accordance with the system switching instruction in the system switching instruction processing S103, it is determined that the system cannot be switched, and the server mode input / switching instruction in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 is determined. The unit 1201 performs the abnormality process S110. The system switching determination process S104 is intended to detect whether the OS, middleware, and AP of each process control server are operating normally.

  If the system switching result obtained in the system switching determination process S104 is normal, that is, the system switching is normal, the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200 in FIG. 1 executes the router definition switching instruction process S105. Then, a router definition switching instruction (an example of a router apparatus routing setting information switching instruction) is output to the standby process control intra-server routing rewriting unit 212 of FIG. 3 using TCP / IP transmission of the general-purpose interface. . Similarly, the routing rewriting unit 212 switches the routing setting definition information of the router device 800 using TCP / IP transmission. In response to the above instruction, the routing rewriting unit 212 switches the routing setting definition information by inputting a routing setting information switching instruction to the routing information rewriting unit 801 of the router device 800. First, the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. 1 sends a current router setting definition information reading instruction (an example of a router apparatus routing setting information switching instruction) to the routing rewriting unit. To 212. The purpose of this is to confirm the operating state of the router device 800 and to determine whether or not the currently set routing setting definition information needs to be changed.

  The routing rewriting unit 212 in the standby process control server 210 that has received the instruction to read the routing setting definition information uses the Telnet command to read the current routing setting definition information of the router device 800 of FIG. The read acquisition information is the config name 31 in FIG. 7 and is sent back to the system monitoring apparatus 1200 using TCP / IP transmission. In this example, the config name is honban. cfg. Then, the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. 1 uses the hon. After receiving cfg, a router definition change instruction (the router definition switching instruction) is output to the routing rewrite unit 212 in the standby process control server 210. If the config name is not returned from the routing rewrite unit 112 in the standby process control server 210 for a certain period of time, the router definition executed by the router mode input / switch instruction unit 1202 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. In the switching determination processing S106, it is determined that there is an abnormality, and the abnormality processing S110 in the router definition switching determination processing S106 is performed.

  In the router definition switching instruction processing S105 executed by the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. 1 after the config name is normally received, the routing in the standby process control server 210 is performed next. Via the rewriting unit 112, the routing setting definition in the router device 800 is changed (change of the config name). Specifically, the routing setting definition information is changed to (1) config name idle. change to cfg, (2) config name taiki. In the order of change to cfg, the standby process control server 210 performs general TCP / IP transmission. The routing setting definition is changed using the Telnet command with the router device 800 as in the case of reading the routing setting definition information. When the routing setting definition is changed in the router definition switching instruction process S106, a completion notification from the routing rewriting unit 112 in the standby process control server 210 is received for a certain period of time in the router mode input / output in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. If it is not returned to the switching instruction unit 1202, it is determined as abnormal in the router definition switching determination process S106 executed by the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202, and the abnormality process S110 in the router definition switching determination process S106 is performed. Done.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in the router definition switching determination process S106 that the rewriting of the router definition has been normally executed, the AP data alignment instruction unit 1203 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200 in FIG. 1 executes the AP data alignment instruction process S107. The latest AP data in the control DB server 400 of FIG. 1 that the production system process control server 110 has stored immediately before is stored in the general-purpose system via the AP data storage / restoration unit 213 in the standby system process control server 210. Restore to the AP data file in the standby process control server 210 by TCP / IP transmission.

  The AP data matching instruction unit 1203 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. 1 receives the AP data restoration completion notification from the AP data saving / restoring unit 213 in the standby process control server 210 when it has not been returned for a certain period of time. Then, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the AP data alignment determination process S108 in the AP data alignment instruction unit, and an abnormality process S110 in the AP data alignment determination process S108 is performed.

  When it is determined that the AP data matching determination S108 is normal, the switching mode holding unit 1204 of the system monitoring apparatus 1200 in FIG. 1 performs the external system switching state notification process S109. In the external system switching status notification process S109, the system monitoring device 1200 and the on-site / setting panel 1300 in FIG. 1 are turned on, and the hardware signals of the system switching status are output to the production PLC 140 and the standby PLC 240, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows a specific router definition change timing chart.
50, when the routing rewriting unit 212 in the standby process control server 210 receives a config name idle. It is a total time chart of the change request process to cfg and the restart request process for validating the change request result.

  51 a is a margin time until the next router definition reading process 51 after the router rewriting unit 212 changes the router definition. Since Telnet is an interactive basic command input tool, it is necessary to ensure sufficient responsiveness, and since it is not a command input method by a human but a command interface method by an application program and a command batch file, The following processing can be surely performed.

  51 is a time chart of a config name reading process for the routing rewriting unit 212 to confirm that the router definition has been changed reliably.

  51b is a process for determining (1) a router definition change result by the standby process control server 210, (2) a determination of a router definition confirmation result, and a determination result transmission process 51c to the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. It is a total time chart.

  52 is a processing time chart of the routing rewriting unit 112 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. The process of determining the result of changing the config name to cfg, and the next config name taiki. It is a total time chart of the process 52a which performs the change request of cfg.

  config name taiki. Regarding the router definition change to cfg and completion determination, the idle. It is a time chart similar to the router definition change and completion determination of the config name to cfg.

  Note that the router definition change timing chart in FIG. 9 is the same timing chart when the system is switched from the standby system to the production system.

FIG. 10 shows a specific router definition change procedure.
60, the routing rewriting units 112 and 212 (60a in FIG. 10) in the production system process control server 110 or the standby system process control server 210 perform a config name change request process and a change request process to the router device 800. This is a detailed Telnet command procedure for restart request processing for validation. The Telnet command uses a remote console tool such as Tera Term. When the Telnet command interface is used, the routing rewriting unit 60a in FIG. 10 monitors the log file storing the command result, which is a standard implementation function of the remote console tool, in order to obtain an event notification as to whether the input command is completed. judge.

  The routing rewriting unit 60a executes the router definition change Telnet command group 60 according to the config name instructed by the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. The router definition change Telnet command group 60 is stored in a router definition change request command file 60c previously set and input by a human by config name, and is input by the routing rewriting unit 60a to change the router definition.

  61 is for the routing rewriting unit 112 (60a in FIG. 10) in the production process control server 110 or the standby process control server 210 to confirm that the router definition for the router device 800 has been changed reliably. This is a detailed Telnet command procedure of the config name reading process.

  The routing rewriting unit 60a executes the router definition reading Telnet command group 60 according to the config name whose router definition has been changed. The router definition read Telnet command group 60 is stored in a router definition read command file 61a set and input in advance by a human, and is input by the routing rewriting unit 60a to make a router definition read request.

  The routing rewriting unit 60a returns the result to the router mode input / switching instruction unit 1202 in the system monitoring apparatus 1200 of FIG. 1 after the execution of the router definition reading Telnet command group 60 is completed.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described in detail, referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this example. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Of course, it is understood that these also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

  In the above, the embodiment of the process control system of the present invention has been described by taking the process control system of the duplex configuration as an example. However, as described above, the control system is configured as A, B,. It is possible to easily implement the above processing by multiplying the above processing by setting the priority of switching to the control system by the system monitoring apparatus using a plurality of sets.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a software program that causes the system monitoring apparatus 1200, the control systems A and B, the router apparatus 800, and the control DB server in the embodiment of the process control system described above to execute the predetermined processing described above. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by supplying each device constituting the process control system and reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or device.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the whole structural example of the process control system of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the network connection of the process control system of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure of an example of an internal structure of control system A (it is set as the system for production system process control). It is a figure of an example of an internal structure of DB server for control. It is a figure of an example of PORT of a router apparatus, and an internal structure. It is a figure which shows an example of an internal structure and signal connection of a system monitoring apparatus. It is a figure which shows the routing setting information described in the routing definition information file hold | maintained in a router apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating a system switching (operation mode switching) procedure flow (Example: Operation after operation system-> standby system switching, operation continuation of equipment). It is a figure for demonstrating a router definition change timing chart (system switching from a production system-> standby system). It is a figure for demonstrating a router definition change procedure and a processing structure.

Explanation of symbols

100 Control system A (Production process control system)
110 Production System Control Server 111 Production Server Switch Function Unit 112 Production System Routing Rewrite Function Unit 113 Production System AP Data Save / Restore Function Unit 120 Switching Hub 130 Production System PLC Connection GW Server 140 Production System PLC
160 Hardware signal line A
170 Hardware signal line B
200 Control System B (Standby Process Control System)
210 Standby system process control server 211 Standby system server switching function unit 212 Standby system routing rewrite function unit 213 Standby system AP data storage / restoration function unit 220 Switching hub 230 Standby system PLC connection GW server 240 Standby system PLC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 300 Terminal apparatus group 400 Control DB server 401 AP data storage DB part 500 Other process control server connection GW apparatus 600 High-order transmission communication control apparatus 700 Switching hub 800 Router apparatus 801 Routing information rewriting part 900 Switching hub 1000 PLC I / O group 1100 PLC dedicated LAN
1200 System Monitoring Device 1201 Server Mode Input / Switching Instruction Unit 1202 Router Mode Input / Switching Instruction Unit 1203 AP Data Matching Instruction Unit 1204 Switching Mode Holding Unit 1300 Field Display / Setting Panel

Claims (8)

A plurality of sets of control systems each having a process control server and peripheral devices are connected by a network device including a router device, and each of the control systems is connected to each device of the manufacturing process. The operation mode of each of the operating control systems is switched to the production system mode or standby system mode that actually controls the manufacturing process, and the manufacturing process is controlled by the control system in which the operation mode is the production system mode. A process control system,
The system monitoring device is connected to each of the process control servers via a hardware signal line A, and an operation mode in which the process control server of each of the control systems is switched to a production system mode or a standby system mode according to an operator instruction. A switching instruction is output via the hardware signal line A, and then a signal indicating that the operation mode switching is returned from each of the process control servers is received via the hardware signal line A. Via line B, a signal for switching so that the control system newly in the production mode is connected to each device in the manufacturing process is output,
The process control server of the control system that switches from the production system mode to the standby system mode, the control DB server to which the application data that has been executed so far is connected via the network device in response to the operation mode switching instruction. Save to
The process control server of the control system that switches from the standby system mode to the production system mode, the control DB server to which application data to be executed in the future is connected via the network device in response to the operation mode switching instruction. Retrieve and restore from
A process control system for continuously controlling a manufacturing process when switching operation modes of a plurality of sets of control systems. The router device of the network device is:
A routing definition information file including routing setting information in each operation mode of each of the process control servers and routing setting information of the peripheral device is set and recorded in advance.
In response to the routing information rewrite instruction input to the router device by the standby mode process control server in accordance with the operation mode switching instruction input from the system monitoring device, the process control server The process control system according to claim 1, wherein the connection with the peripheral device is switched according to the operation mode. The system monitoring device is
Via the hardware signal line A based on the operator's operation mode switching instruction input,
A server mode input / switching instruction unit for inputting an instruction to switch the operation mode from the production system mode to the standby system mode or from the standby system mode to the production system mode, to the server switching unit included in the process control server of each control system; ,
A router mode input / switching instruction unit for inputting a switching instruction of the routing setting information of the router device to a routing rewriting unit included in the process control server in the standby system mode;
An application data storage instruction for storing application data of an application being executed in the control DB server in the AP data storage / restoration unit included in each of the process control servers in the production system mode and the standby system mode, or , An AP data matching instruction unit for inputting an application data restoration instruction for restoration from the control DB server,
The process control system according to claim 2, comprising:   The server mode input / switching instruction unit of the system monitoring device includes information on the operating state and operating mode input from each process control server in the production system mode and standby system mode and the RAS device attached to each process control server. The determination as to whether or not the operation mode of each control system can be switched based on the system switching condition, and outputs an instruction to switch the operation mode based on the result of the determination. Process control system. The routing rewriting unit of each of the process control servers,
In response to the switching instruction of the routing setting information from the router mode input / switching instruction unit of the system monitoring device, the routing information rewriting instruction is input to the routing information rewriting unit of the router device,
Next, the routing definition information reading result and the router definition rewriting completion result based on the routing definition information file recorded in the router device are reported to the system monitoring device. The process control system according to claim 4.   6. The routing rewriting unit of each of the process control servers uses a Telnet command based on a predetermined timing chart to instruct the routing information rewriting unit of the router device to switch routing setting information. Process control system as described in. The AP data storage / restoration unit of each of the process control servers periodically receives a data storage instruction for application input from the AP data matching instruction unit of the system monitoring apparatus, or at a predetermined cycle, or In response to a single system switching instruction from the system monitoring device, the application data for controlling the manufacturing process being executed is transmitted to the control DB server,
The latest application data is received and restored from the control DB server in response to the application data restoration instruction input from the AP data matching instruction unit of the system monitoring device. The process control system according to any one of the above. The switching mode holding unit of the system monitoring device is
The hardware PLC is connected to each of the production PLC and the standby PLC included in the production system control system and the standby system control system via the hardware signal line B.
The server mode input / switching instructing unit, the router mode input / switching instructing unit, and the fact that the switching of the process control server, the change of the route connection of the router device, and the application data matching are completed, Recognizing based on information input from the AP data alignment instruction unit, and outputting the system switching completion status, which is information on the operation mode of each control system, to each of the production system PLC and the standby system PLC,
The production system PLC and the standby system PLC are each switched so that the control / operation output of the production system is input to a manufacturing process and operated based on the system switching completion state. The process control system according to any one of 3 to 7.