Double-backup conference system for fast switching of double virtual links and voting method of double-backup conference system

Abstract

The invention discloses a double-backup conference system for fast switching of double virtual links and a voting method of the double-backup conference system, and belongs to the technical field of conference systems. The dual-backup conference system comprises a host and at least one standby, and further comprises a power supply HUB module for supplying power and N microphone devices, and the N microphone devices, the host and the standby are electrically connected with the power supply HUB module respectively; a TCP link is established between the standby machine and the host; each microphone device establishes a TCP link with the host, and each microphone device also establishes a TCP link with the standby machine to form double virtual links. Compared with an existing double-physical-link scheme, the cost of the double virtual links is lower; moreover, even if any one of the host machine and the standby machine breaks down, the single-chip microprogrammed control unit (MCU) of each microphone device can communicate by using the TCP link previously established with the standby machine, and each microphone device does not need to re-establish the TCP link with the standby machine, so that the time for switching to recovery is within 1 second.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of conference systems, and in particular relates to a dual-backup conference system with fast switching of dual virtual links and a voting method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Traditional conference voting systems generally use a service host, which supports the operation of the conference system. For example, in the prior art, a Chinese patent with publication number CN1811827A discloses a voting system with a charge detection device, which includes several voting devices and a host. The voting device includes a keyboard circuit, a power circuit, a microcontroller and a wireless communication module. The voting device communicates wirelessly with the host through the wireless communication module. The system can detect the power of the voting device at a long or short distance, which is convenient for conference organizers to understand the status of each voting device in time and take corresponding solutions, which is conducive to ensuring the smooth progress of the conference voting procedure. However, a major drawback of the above system is the lack of configuration of a backup host. Once the host fails, the entire voting system will be paralyzed.

[0003] Therefore, a dual-backup voting system has emerged on the market. However, in these dual-backup voting systems, the backup machine generally communicates with the host machine through heartbeat. After the backup machine finds that the host machine has failed, it will actively switch to the host machine's IP address and broadcast ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) to refresh the ARP table on the microphone end, requiring the microphone to reconnect to the backup machine. However, the time it takes for the microphone to restore the connection will be affected by many factors, such as the underlying IP switching of the host machine, the ARP table refresh of the microphone, and the number of microphones. For example, as the number of microphones increases, the time it takes to switch from each microphone to the entire conference system to restore normal operation will become longer and longer.

[0004] Moreover, in a dual-backup voting system, each microphone end is generally unaware of the existence of a backup machine. After the main machine fails, the backup machine will take over, switch the backup machine to the main machine's IP, and then the microphone end will reconnect to the backup machine. If the entire system is to be switched to normal use, this switching process will also be affected by the scale of the concurrency of each microphone end. The larger the concurrency, the longer it will take for the system to resume use, and the greater the impact on the overall meeting process.

[0005] In addition, there is also a solution that uses dual physical links to connect the main machine and the backup machine respectively, but the cost of this solution is generally twice that of a single physical link. Due to the disadvantages of high energy consumption and high cost, this solution is not suitable for most venues, and the scale of the meeting will also be limited.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a dual backup conference system with dual virtual links and fast switching to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the problems in the related technology, the present invention proposes a dual backup conference system with dual virtual links that can quickly switch and a voting method thereof to overcome the above-mentioned technical problems existing in the existing related technology. The dual virtual links adopted by the present invention have lower costs, and each of the microphone devices has established a TCP link with the host and the backup machine. Even if either the host or the backup machine fails, the dual backup conference system of the present invention can switch to the healthy host or backup machine in a short time.

[0008] The technical solution of the present invention is implemented as follows: a dual virtual link fast switching dual backup conference system, including a host, and at least one backup machine, and also includes a power supply HUB module for power supply and N microphone devices, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1;

[0009] The N microphone devices and the host and the backup device are electrically connected to the power HUB module respectively; the backup device establishes a TCP link with the host; each microphone device establishes a TCP link with the host, and each microphone device also establishes a TCP link with the backup device to form a dual virtual link.

[0010] Furthermore, after the host is powered on and started, the host heartbeat is broadcast to the N microphone devices and the standby machine, and the host heartbeat includes the host's ID and IP address; the host includes a database synchronization module, and the database synchronization module is used to store the host's database and status; the standby machine is pre-set to send a standby heartbeat to the host every X seconds, and the standby heartbeat includes the standby machine's ID and IP address.

[0011] Furthermore, each of the microphone devices is provided with a button, and each of the microphone devices is provided with a single-chip microcomputer MCU, and the single-chip microcomputer MCU is provided with a storage unit and a judgment unit; the user presses the button to vote, and the voting result is stored in the storage unit; the judgment unit is used to judge the current state of the microphone device, and the current state of the microphone device includes the host state and the offline state.

[0012] A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links is applied to the above-mentioned dual backup conference system for fast switching of dual virtual links. The voting method comprises the following steps:

[0013] Step S1: After the host is powered on and started, it broadcasts to the N microphone devices and the standby machine all the time; the standby machine broadcasts the standby machine heartbeat and the standby machine existence information to the N microphone devices and the host, a total of two instructions; at the same time, the standby machine establishes a TCP link with the host, the standby machine backs up the database and status of the host, the standby machine sends the standby machine heartbeat to the host every X seconds, and the host replies to the standby machine after receiving the standby machine heartbeat; after receiving the command of each microphone device, the host will also copy a copy to the standby machine for storage;

[0014] Step S2: After each of the microphone devices is powered on, it establishes a TCP link with the host and sends registration information to the host; each of the microphone devices also establishes a TCP link with the backup machine and sends registration information to the backup machine. At this time, each of the microphone devices simultaneously establishes a TCP link with the host and the backup machine to form a dual virtual link; each of the microphone devices takes a random number and sends a microphone heartbeat to the host and the backup machine within 3-5 seconds to reduce the computing power of concurrent processing of the host / backup machine; the microphone heartbeat includes the ID and IP address of the current microphone device;

[0015] Step S3: When the master fails, the backup machine cannot receive the master heartbeat reply from the master within 1 second, and determines that the master fails; at this time, the backup machine broadcasts a switch to master switching message to each of the microphone devices; after receiving the switching message, each of the microphone devices switches to the backup machine for communication;

[0016] Step S4: During the voting process, the user has voted by pressing buttons on each of the microphone devices, and the voting results are stored in the MCU. Each of the microphone devices will determine the current state of the microphone and then select a link to send the voting options based on the determination result; the voting options include the voting results.

[0017] Furthermore, in step S1, the value range of X is 0.08-0.12, and in the present invention, 0.1 is preferably selected, that is, the standby machine sends a standby heartbeat to the host machine every 0.1 seconds.

[0018] Furthermore, in step S2, the value range of Y is 4-6, and 5 is preferably selected in the present invention, that is, if each of the microphone devices cannot receive the host heartbeat broadcast by the host within 5 seconds, the current state of the microphone device is recorded as offline.

[0019] Furthermore, in step S2, after each of the microphone devices receives the host heartbeat broadcast by the host, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the host status; if each of the microphone devices does not receive the host heartbeat broadcast by the host within Y seconds, the judgment unit determines that the current microphone device is disconnected from the host, that is, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the offline status, and it is necessary to start reconnecting to the server; if each of the microphone devices receives the existence information of the backup machine, it is determined that the backup machine is online, that is, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the offline status, and the backup machine is switched only after the current microphone device receives the switching information.

[0020] Furthermore, in step S3, after each microphone device receives the switching information, the MCU inside each microphone device will use the TCP link previously established with the standby device to communicate, and each microphone device does not need to re-establish the TCP link with the standby device.

[0021] Further, in step S4, if the current state is the host state, each of the microphone devices preferentially selects the TCP link of the host to send the voting option; if the current state is offline, and the host is switched to the standby machine during the offline period, each of the microphone devices switches the TCP link connected to the standby machine and uploads the voting option to the standby machine;

[0022] Furthermore, in step S4, if the current state is offline and each of the microphone devices has not received the switching information of the standby machine, it will reconnect to the server, query the current voting topic, and query whether the current topics of each of the microphone devices are consistent. If they are consistent, the voting options will be uploaded, otherwise they will be considered invalid options and will not be uploaded.

[0023] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0024] (1) In the present invention, compared with the existing dual physical link solution, the dual virtual link adopted by the present invention has lower cost, and each of the microphone devices has established a TCP link with the host and the backup machine. Even if either the host or the backup machine fails, the dual backup conference system in the present invention can switch to the host or backup machine that is not faulty to ensure that the meeting proceeds normally.

[0025] (2) Whether it is a conference system with dozens of microphone devices or a conference system with more than 1,000 microphone devices, when the host fails, the backup machine can automatically take over the business work of the host, and the time from the backup machine switching to the normal operation of the entire system is consistent, which is not affected by the number of microphone devices, and the recovery time is short. The time required for switching to recovery in the present invention is within 1 second, which greatly shortens the recovery time, thereby ensuring efficient and stable operation of conference voting. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching provided by a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 A flowchart of an execution of a dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching provided by a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 An execution flow chart of a host provided for a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 The following is an execution flow chart of each microphone device provided for a specific embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0032] In this embodiment, if Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching, including a host, and at least one backup machine, and also includes a power supply HUB module for power supply and N microphone devices, where N is a positive integer greater than 1;

[0033] N microphone devices and the host and the standby are electrically connected to the power HUB module respectively; the standby establishes a TCP link with the host to ensure data synchronization between the standby and the host, and the two supervise each other, so as to facilitate subsequent switching between the two; each microphone device establishes a TCP link with the host, and each microphone device also establishes a TCP link with the standby to form a dual virtual link;

[0034] In this embodiment, compared with the existing dual physical link solution, the dual virtual link adopted in this embodiment has lower cost, and each of the microphone devices has established a TCP link with the host and the backup machine. Even if either the host or the backup machine fails, the dual backup conference system in this embodiment can switch to the healthy host or backup machine in a short time, thereby ensuring efficient and stable operation of the conference voting.

[0035] Specifically, after the host is powered on and started, the host heartbeat is broadcast to N microphone devices and standby machines, and the host heartbeat includes the host's ID and IP address; the host includes a database synchronization module, and the database synchronization module is used to store the host's database and status; the standby machine is pre-set to send a standby heartbeat to the host every X seconds, and the standby heartbeat includes the standby machine's ID and IP address.

[0036] Specifically, each of the microphone devices is provided with a button, and each of the microphone devices is provided with a single-chip microcomputer MCU, and the single-chip microcomputer MCU is provided with a storage unit and a judgment unit; the user presses the button to vote, and the voting result is stored in the storage unit; the judgment unit is used to judge the current state of the microphone device, and the current state of the microphone device includes the host state and the offline state.

[0037] like Figure 2-4 As shown, this embodiment also provides a voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links, which is applied to the above-mentioned dual backup conference system for fast switching of dual virtual links. The voting method includes the following steps:

[0038] Step S1: After the host is powered on and started, it broadcasts to the N microphone devices and the standby machine all the time; the standby machine broadcasts the standby machine heartbeat and the standby machine existence information to the N microphone devices and the host, a total of two instructions; at the same time, the standby machine establishes a TCP link with the host, the standby machine backs up the database and status of the host, the standby machine sends the standby machine heartbeat to the host every X seconds, and the host replies to the standby machine after receiving the standby machine heartbeat; after receiving the command of each microphone device, the host will also copy a copy to the standby machine for storage;

[0039] Step S2: After each of the microphone devices is powered on, it establishes a TCP link with the host and sends registration information to the host; each of the microphone devices also establishes a TCP link with the backup machine and sends registration information to the backup machine. At this time, each of the microphone devices simultaneously establishes a TCP link with the host and the backup machine to form a dual virtual link; each of the microphone devices takes a random number and sends a microphone heartbeat to the host and the backup machine within 3-5 seconds to reduce the computing power of concurrent processing of the host / backup machine; the microphone heartbeat includes the ID and IP address of the current microphone device;

[0040] Step S3: When the master fails, the backup machine cannot receive the master heartbeat reply from the master within 1 second, and determines that the master fails; at this time, the backup machine broadcasts a switch to master switching message to each of the microphone devices; after receiving the switching message, each of the microphone devices switches to the backup machine for communication;

[0041] Step S4: During the voting process, the user has voted by pressing buttons on each of the microphone devices, and the voting results are stored in the MCU. Each of the microphone devices will determine the current state of the microphone and then select a link to send the voting options based on the determination result; the voting options include the voting results.

[0042] Specifically, in step S1, the value range of X is 0.08-0.12, and in this embodiment, 0.1 is preferably selected, that is, the standby machine sends a standby heartbeat to the host machine every 0.1 seconds.

[0043] Specifically, in step S2, the value range of Y is 4-6, and 5 is preferably selected in this embodiment, that is, if each microphone device cannot receive the host heartbeat broadcast by the host within 5 seconds, the current state of the microphone device is recorded as offline.

[0044] Specifically, in step S2, after each of the microphone devices receives the host heartbeat broadcast by the host, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the host status; if each of the microphone devices does not receive the host heartbeat broadcast by the host within Y seconds, the judgment unit determines that the current microphone device is disconnected from the host, that is, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the offline status, and it is necessary to start reconnecting to the server; if each of the microphone devices receives the existence information of the backup machine, it is determined that the backup machine is online, that is, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the offline status, and the backup machine is switched only after the current microphone device receives the switching information.

[0045] Specifically, in step S3, after each of the microphone devices receives the switching information, the MCU inside each of the microphone devices will use the TCP link previously established with the standby device for communication, and each of the microphone devices does not need to re-establish a TCP link with the standby device;

[0046] In this embodiment, if each of the microphone devices establishes a TCP link and sends registration information to the standby machine after receiving the switching information, the standby machine will receive a large number of concurrent TCP links. When the number of received links reaches more than 1,000, the standby machine is restricted by the CPU performance. The CPU needs to process 1,000 concurrent TCP links and registration information at the same time, which greatly increases the processing time and affects the work efficiency. The voting method described in this embodiment can process 1,000 TCP links and registration information at the same time. Assuming that in a conference system with a scale of dozens of microphone devices or more than 1,000 microphone devices, when the conference host fails, the standby machine automatically takes over the business work of the host. The time from the standby machine switching to the completion of normal operation of the entire system is consistent, which is not affected by the number of microphone devices, and the recovery time is short. The time required for switching to recovery in this embodiment is within 1 second.

[0047] Specifically, in step S4, if the current state is the host state, each of the microphone devices preferentially selects the TCP link of the host to send the voting option; if the current state is offline, and the host is switched to the standby machine during the offline period, each of the microphone devices switches the TCP link connected to the standby machine and uploads the voting option to the standby machine;

[0048] More specifically, in step S4, if the current state is offline and each of the microphone devices has not received the switching information of the standby machine, it will reconnect to the server, query the current voting topic, and query whether the current topics of each of the microphone devices are consistent. If they are consistent, the voting options will be uploaded, otherwise they will be considered invalid options and will not be uploaded.

[0049] Without significantly increasing the cost, the voting method described in this embodiment can shorten the switching recovery time of the conference system and ensure that the on-site agenda is not affected. Assuming that it takes 0.01 seconds for one of the microphone devices to establish a link and register on the server, when the number N reaches thousands, the switching recovery time is T = 0.01*N, that is, the switching recovery time is at least ten seconds. However, this embodiment does not require such a long time and can basically recover within 1 second, greatly shortening the recovery time to ensure efficient and stable operation of conference voting.

[0050] According to the disclosure and teaching of the above description, those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs may also make changes and modifications to the above embodiments. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and described above, and some modifications and changes to the present invention should also fall within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention. In addition, although some specific terms are used in this specification, these terms are only for the convenience of description and do not constitute any limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching, comprising a host machine and at least one backup machine, characterized in that: Also included is a power supply HUB module for power supply and N microphone devices, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; The N microphone devices and the host and the backup device are electrically connected to the power HUB module respectively; the backup device establishes a TCP link with the host; each microphone device establishes a TCP link with the host, and each microphone device also establishes a TCP link with the backup device to form a dual virtual link.

2. A dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching according to claim 1, characterized in that: After the host is powered on and started, the host heartbeat is broadcast to the N microphone devices and the standby machine, and the host heartbeat includes the host's ID and IP address; the host includes a database synchronization module, and the database synchronization module is used to store the host's database and status; the standby machine is pre-set to send a standby heartbeat to the host every X seconds, and the standby heartbeat includes the standby machine's ID and IP address.

3. A dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the microphone devices is provided with a button, and each of the microphone devices is provided with a single-chip microcomputer MCU, and the single-chip microcomputer MCU is provided with a storage unit and a judgment unit; the user presses the button to vote, and the voting result is stored in the storage unit; the judgment unit is used to judge the current state of the microphone device, and the current state of the microphone device includes the host state and the offline state.

4. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links, characterized in that: Applied to a dual backup conference system with dual virtual link fast switching as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, the voting method comprises the following steps: Step S1: After the host is powered on and started, it broadcasts to the N microphone devices and the standby machine all the time; the standby machine broadcasts the standby machine heartbeat and the standby machine existence information to the N microphone devices and the host, a total of two instructions; at the same time, the standby machine establishes a TCP link with the host, the standby machine backs up the database and status of the host, the standby machine sends the standby machine heartbeat to the host every X seconds, and the host replies to the standby machine after receiving the standby machine heartbeat; after receiving the command of each microphone device, the host will also copy a copy to the standby machine for storage; Step S2: After each of the microphone devices is powered on, it establishes a TCP link with the host and sends registration information to the host; each of the microphone devices also establishes a TCP link with the backup machine and sends registration information to the backup machine. At this time, each of the microphone devices simultaneously establishes a TCP link with the host and the backup machine to form a dual virtual link; each of the microphone devices takes a random number and sends a microphone heartbeat to the host and the backup machine within 3-5 seconds to reduce the computing power of concurrent processing of the host / backup machine; the microphone heartbeat includes the ID and IP address of the current microphone device; Step S3: When the master fails, the backup machine cannot receive the master heartbeat reply from the master within 1 second, and determines that the master fails; at this time, the backup machine broadcasts a switch to master switching message to each of the microphone devices; after receiving the switching message, each of the microphone devices switches to the backup machine for communication; Step S4: During the voting process, the user has voted by pressing buttons on each of the microphone devices, and the voting results are stored in the microcontroller MCU. Each of the microphone devices will determine the current state of the microphone and then select a link to send the voting options based on the determination result; the voting options include the voting results.

5. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step S1, the value range of X is 0.08-0.

12.

6. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step S2, the value range of Y is 4-6.

7. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step S2, after each of the microphone devices receives the host heartbeat broadcast by the host, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the host status; if each of the microphone devices does not receive the host heartbeat broadcast by the host within Y seconds, the judgment unit determines that the current microphone device is disconnected from the host, that is, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the offline status, and it is necessary to start reconnecting to the server; if each of the microphone devices receives the existence information of the backup machine, it is determined that the backup machine is online, that is, the status of the current microphone device is recorded as the offline status, and the backup machine is switched only after the current microphone device receives the switching information.

8. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step S3, after each microphone device receives the switching information, the MCU inside each microphone device will use the TCP link previously established with the standby device to communicate, and each microphone device does not need to re-establish the TCP link with the standby device.

9. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links according to claim 4, characterized in that: In the step S4, if the current state is the host state, each of the microphone devices preferentially selects the TCP link of the host to send the voting option; If the current state is offline, and the host machine is switched to the standby machine during the offline period, each of the microphone devices switches the TCP link connected to the standby machine and uploads the voting options to the standby machine.

10. A voting method for fast switching of dual virtual links according to claim 9, characterized in that: In step S4, if the current state is offline and each microphone device has not received the switching information of the standby machine, it will reconnect to the server, query the current voting topic, and query whether the current topics of each microphone device are consistent. If they are consistent, the voting options will be uploaded, otherwise they will be considered invalid options and will not be uploaded.

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