JPS6326424B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a centralized monitoring and control device for various processes.

BACKGROUND ART In general, centralized monitoring and control is performed in buildings, factory equipment, etc. in order to save energy and labor. In this case, recently, microcomputers have been used to improve the reliability and miniaturize the devices. In these centralized monitoring and control systems, the reliability of the entire device,
In order to improve scalability and processing functions, we have divided functions to display advanced automatic control, monitoring, automatic recording, etc. on the host computer, the status display of important processes on a graphic panel, or the individual start/stop of equipment and failure display. , etc., including the backup function of the upper-level computer, are performed by a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as the lower-level computer). Furthermore, since the target processes are diversified and distributed, process input/output devices (hereinafter referred to as R/S: remote stations) for inputting and outputting data are installed near the processes. Data transmission between this R/S, the lower-level computer, and the higher-level computer is performed by a lower-level computer having a transmission function using software.

The conventional system configuration is shown in FIG.

The host computer 1 includes a color display device 2 that performs high-density monitoring of the entire process, a logging typewriter 3 that automatically records daily and monthly data reports, and an alarm typewriter 4 that records the operation and failures of process equipment. Processing is in progress. Reference numerals 5 and 6 denote lower-level computers for transmission, which are connected to the higher-level computer 1 through digital transmission lines 18 and 19. Reference numeral 7 indicates a switch for switching the transmission lower-order computer to a regular backup computer, and the transmission line 20 is connected to either one of the transmission computers 5 and 6.

8 is a lower-level computer that has a backup function when the upper-level computer is down, and uses the character display of 9 and the operator's console of 10 to individually start/stop process equipment, display faults, or perform individual measurements. Reference numeral 11 denotes a lower-order computer, ie, a terminal computer, for a graphic panel that constantly displays important equipment. (Hereinafter, 8 and 11 will be collectively referred to as intelligent lower-order computers.) 13 to 16 are R/Ss installed near the process 17 and perform input/output. These intelligent low-level computers, R/
S and the transmission lower-order computer are digital transmission paths 20
connected by.

Output data from the host computer is transmitted through the transmission line 18,
19, the data is transmitted to the transmission lower-level computer, and after being processed there as an output to the corresponding R/S, it is transmitted to the R/S via the transmission path 20. On the other hand, when process data is input to the corresponding R/S, it is transmitted to the transmission lower-level computer via the transmission line 20, and after processing depending on the data type, the data is transmitted to the higher-level computer or intelligent lower-level computer, and each processed by the device.

As mentioned above, the transmission lower-level computer is the core of the entire device regarding data transmission, but it is difficult to completely eliminate hardware and software abnormalities. If this transmission lower-level computer becomes abnormal, the signal transmission and even the entire device will go down, so the computers are duplicated and one is switched to regular use and the other is used as a standby system.

In the conventional method as described above, 1 one side is set as a standby system, and the transmission computer switches over in case of an abnormality, but it is difficult to ensure reliability if the standby system is always on standby. It is necessary to preserve it. for example,
Although there is test monitoring, it is difficult to completely check the function including transmission, and the maintenance cycle tends to be long, which poses problems in terms of reliability.

2 The transmission line between the R/S and the intelligent computer is switched, but since the insulated transmission line is switched, a high-voltage, high-surge resistance, and high-performance switching element is required to switch the low current level of the transmission.

3. Since two transmission computers are used, the storage space will increase.

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, an object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent lower-level computer that has been functioning until now, by giving it the function of a transmission computer when the upper-level computer determines that there is an abnormality in the transmission computer. The object of the present invention is to provide a centralized monitoring and control device that improves the maintainability and reliability of the entire device without duplication.

The present invention achieves the above-mentioned objectives by: 1. During transmission between the upper-level computer and the lower-level transmission computer;
When the higher-level computer determines that there is an abnormality in the lower-level transmission computer, the transmission function is assigned to the device that is least affected by the downtime among the intelligent computers that have been functioning up until now. (hereinafter referred to as the alternative computer).

2 After receiving a transmission function command from the upper computer, the alternative computer uses the same transmission path as the transmission computer, so in order to prevent mutual interference of transmission signals, for example, if the transmission computer is unable to communicate with the upper computer and the intelligent lower If the computer and R/S are communicating normally, it is confirmed that the transmission computer has stopped, and signal transmission is started. On the other hand, in this case, the transmission lower-level computer confirms that the alternative lower-level computer has been switched to transmission, and stops the transmission function. That is, they are mutually interlocked.

3. When the lower-level transmission computer becomes normal and the higher-level computer confirms that it is normal, the alternate computer stops its transmission function, returns to its original function, and starts, and then issues a command to the lower-level transmission computer to start transmission. The system returns to normal operation status.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The same symbols as in FIG. 1 indicate the same contents. The difference is that the two lower-level transmission computers are replaced by one transmission computer 5.
A, and the graphic panel intelligent lower computer 11 is used as a substitute for this lower computer in the event of an abnormality. This is because although graphical monitoring becomes impossible, monitoring is possible through selective display on the color display device 2. This alternative lower-level computer 11 and the higher-level computer are connected by a digital transmission line 21. Note that 18A and 18B are digital transmission lines. Third
The figure shows the flow of data between devices when the lower-order transmission computer 5A is normal, and the flow of data when a failure occurs on the process side. Signal transmission between the higher-level computer and the lower-level transmission computer is carried out under the initiative of the higher-level computer. However, in FIG. 3 and the following explanation, outputs from the upper computer and the intelligent lower computer will be omitted.

1 Response confirmation transmission (c) to check whether the transmission lower-level computer is normal in the T1 cycle (hereinafter referred to as polling processing) 2 Intake of process data and control data processed by the transmission lower-level computer in the T2 cycle etc. is output (d).

The lower-level transmission computer responds to instructions from the higher-level computer by responding to polling (e) and transmitting and receiving data. On the other hand, signal transmission between the transmission lower-level computer, the intelligent lower-level computer, and the R/S is as follows:
This is carried out under the initiative of the lower-level transmission computer, and on the condition that there is polling from the higher-level computer, the normality of this computer is registered in the alternative computer, and 1. Process data is imported (h) to and from R/S. Process the data for each S into data for each type, such as status and failure (g).

2 Transmit the processed data to the intelligent lower-level computer (i).

3 Transmission of processed data upon request from the host computer (f).

Do the following.

The alternative graphic display computer displays status or failure on a graphic panel simulating process equipment using data (j) from the transmission computer.

The flow of data when a failure occurs in a process will be explained below.

When a failure occurs, the signal (m) first changes to R/S.
be taken into account. The data (l) taken into the R/S is taken into the transmission lower computer by data import (h) from the transmission lower computer. After processing (i), this captured fault data (h) is transmitted to the graphics display lower computer (j), and in (k), the corresponding fault indicator lamp of the graphics is turned on. On the other hand, the fault data (f) is also transmitted to the host computer, and the corresponding symbol is displayed on the color display device (a), and the time and details of the fault are printed on the alarm typewriter.
Do (b).

FIG. 4 shows the flow of data when a transmission abnormality occurs between the upper-level computer and the lower-level transmission computer during normal operation as described above.

During boring transmission (f) with the transmission lower computer, the upper computer considers the transmission lower computer to be abnormal if there is no response for a certain period of time T2. If it is deemed abnormal, perform polling (d), check whether the alternative graphics computer is normal in (a), and write the processing machine function for transmission after stopping the graphics display processing.

On the other hand, when the transmission lower-level computer 5A is unable to communicate only with the upper-level computer 1 and is transmitting with the R/S and intelligent lower-level computers 8 and 11 as in (h), (l), and (m), the The lower-level computer continues the transmission until the transmission function is established, and automatically stops the transmission after confirming the establishment of (p). The alternative lower-level computer establishes the transmission function and confirms that there is no transmission of T4 or higher from the transmission lower-level computer, (q),
Alternative transmissions such as (r) and (s) are started.

If a failure occurs on the process side (w), the data flow will be: import into the R/S (v), import into the alternative lower-level computer 11 (s), and data processing (q). At step (h), the data is imported into the host computer 1 and displayed on the color display and recorded on the alarm typewriter in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 5 shows the lower-level computer processing for transmission. First, depending on the presence or absence of polling from the host computer, if polling is present, transmission is performed normally, and if polling is N.
Establish the transmission function of the alternative lower-level computer without any need to do so, and stop the transmission function once it is established. In Figure 6,
This shows alternative lower-level computer processing.

Graphic display processing is performed without any transmission function command from the upper computer and with normal transmission from the lower-order computer for transmission. If there is a transmission function command from the higher-level computer, the graphic display processing is stopped, and after confirming that the lower-level transmission computer has stopped the transmission, the transmission processing is performed as an alternative. On the other hand, after the maintenance personnel inspects the details of the abnormality in the abnormal transmission computer and removes the cause of the abnormality, the following processing is performed.

The higher-level computer confirms the recovery of the lower-level transmission computer by polling at the T2 period as shown in g in FIG. If a response is received from the transmission lower computer during this polling, it is assumed that normal recovery has occurred, and the alternative lower computer is commanded to stop the transmission function. Next, the transmission lower-level computer is instructed to restart the transmission process,
Furthermore, it instructs the alternative lower-level computer to restart the graphic display process.

If the transmission lower-level computer recovers as described above, normal operation will resume and monitoring will continue.

According to the present invention, when the transmission lower-level computer has an abnormality, the always-used intelligent lower-level computer is used as a substitute, which improves its maintainability and further improves the reliability of the entire device without duplication. It is measured.

In the present invention, the function of the transmission lower-level computer is replaced by another intelligent lower-level computer, but the functions of multiple intelligent lower-level computers that have not only the transmission function but also other functions are replaced according to their importance. It is possible to switch by command from the host computer. As a result of the above, important functions can be ensured, and the device can be maintained with high reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional centralized monitoring and control device.
Fig. 2 is a diagram of an embodiment of the centralized monitoring and control device of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a flow chart of failure input data during normal operation, Fig. 4 is a flow chart of data when the lower-order transmission computer is abnormal, and Fig. 5 is a flow chart of data when the transmission lower-order computer is abnormal. FIG. 6 is a processing flow diagram of the alternative lower-level computer. 1... Host computer, 5A... Transmission computer, 8,1
1... Intelligent lower-order computer (terminal computer), 17... Process to be monitored.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A host computer, a process input/output device, a transmission computer, and a plurality of input/output terminal computers; and the operation monitoring function of the transmission computer, the process input/output device has a function of inputting and outputting signals to and from the controlled process, and the transmission computer has the following functions: Provided between the process input/output device and the host computer, the host computer and the terminal computer receive and process responses to the host computer and data from the process via the process input/output device. The plurality of input/output terminal computers receive the processing results from the transmission computer and use their own input/output terminals to send data to each of the devices constituting the controlled process. It has a monitoring and operation function, and also provides a transmission path between the above-mentioned upper-level computer and one of the plurality of terminal computers, and when the above-mentioned upper-level computer detects an abnormality in the above-mentioned transmission computer, the upper-level computer Based on the instructions of , the terminal computer provided with the transmission path is selected and set as an alternative transmission computer in place of the abnormal transmission computer, and the substituted host computer and the substituted terminal computer are A centralized monitoring and control device is provided with a switching means that interfaces with the above transmission line. 2. Regarding the above switching means, when switching from a transmission computer to an alternative terminal computer when an abnormality occurs, a mutual interlock is established and when the abnormality occurs, the transmission computer is stopped and the alternative terminal computer is switched. The centralized monitoring and control device according to claim 1, which is operated. 3. Regarding the above switching means, when the transmission computer used for abnormality has recovered, the signal transmission of the alternative computer is stopped, and the functions of the original terminal computer are restored and the recovered transmission computer is restarted. The centralized monitoring and control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the centralized monitoring and control device issues a start-up command to resume operation in a normal state.