Management controller, device communication system, communication procedure and program

Abstract

Management controller (10) for performing cyclic communication using time-sensitive networking with a time-sharing method, the management controller (10) comprising: Communication means (100) for communicating with a first device (30) in a first time slot (TS1) and with a second device (20-1, 20-2) in a second time slot (TS2) when communicating during a period of the time-sharing method, wherein the first device (30) is incompatible with multicast communication and the second device (20-1, 20-2) is compatible with multicast communication; and Transmission means (102) for transmitting data received in the first time window (TS1) by the communication means (100) from the first device (30) by means of the communication means (100) to the second device (20-1, 20-2) in the second time window (TS2).

Description

Technical area

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a management controller, a device communication system, a communication method, and a program. Technological background

[0002] A network used in factory automation (FA) typically comprises an inter-controller network and a field network. In the inter-controller network, a management controller, which centrally controls the network, communicates with general controllers, which serve as control devices. In the field network, the management controller communicates with input / output devices. Typically, the field network uses unicast communication as a communication method for transmitting data to a single device, whereas the inter-controller network uses multicast communication as a communication method for transmitting data to multiple devices at the same time. The input / output devices are typically only compatible with unicast communication and incompatible with multicast communication.

[0003] US patent application US 2007 / 0 274 ​​339 A1 discloses a passive optical time-division multiplexed network (TDM) comprising a plurality of optical network units and an optical line terminal for controlling downstream data transmission. The downstream data traffic transmitted from the optical line terminal is split at an optical power splitter and transmitted en bloc to all optical network units. The downstream data traffic is divided into multicast traffic, which is to be transmitted to numerous optical network units, and unicast traffic, which is to be transmitted to a single optical network unit. Downstream data transmission from the optical line terminal to the plurality of optical network units occurs in a time-division multiplexed mode, in which data is sent to all optical network units in the network via the optical power splitter and then filtered.In contrast, upstream data transmission is controlled by bandwidth reservation of the optical network unit and bandwidth allocation of the optical line terminal in a reservation-based time-division multiple access mode. Logically, downstream data transmission has a point-to-multipoint structure, while upstream data transmission has a point-to-point structure. Since each optical network unit is equipped with a transceiver module for full-duplex communication, upstream data transmission is performed independently of downstream data transmission. Downstream data transmission is based on a periodic transmission cycle and an internal time slot.Each transmission cycle consists of a time slot for a constant bit rate static traffic transmission service, a time slot for multicast traffic transmission, and dynamic time slots for unicast traffic transmission.

[0004] Some technologies perform inter-device communication in a single network without using the inter-controller network and the field network. Patent Literature 1 describes a data collection system that includes a master device and slave devices (collectively referred to as communication devices) that are highly synchronized with each other to perform cyclic communication, and a data collection management device that collects data obtained in the cyclic communication. The system includes a cyclic communication period for updating data using multicast and a non-cyclic communication period for updating data using unicast. This allows inter-device communication between the communication devices compatible with multicast communication and the data collection management device incompatible with multicast communication in a single network. Citation listPatent literature

[0005] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent No. 6,836,692 Brief description of the inventionTechnical problem

[0006] The data collection system of Patent Literature 1 performs cyclic communication to update data using multicast, and can thus collect data from communication devices compatible only with multicast communication. Therefore, the data collection system of Patent Literature 1 cannot simply collect data from input / output devices, for example. As described above, input / output devices are typically incompatible with multicast communication. The data collection system of Patent Literature 1 is therefore less user-friendly.

[0007] Under such circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a management controller that is user-friendly when used in a network that includes devices compatible with multicast communication and devices incompatible with multicast communication. Solution to the problem

[0008] To achieve the present object, a management controller according to the present disclosure is a management controller for performing communication using time-sensitive networking (TSN) with a time-sharing method. The management controller comprises communication means for communicating with a first device in a first time window and communicating with a second device in a second time window during the communication during a period of the time-sharing method, wherein the first device is incompatible with multicast communication and the second device is compatible with multicast communication, and transmission means for transmitting, by means of the communication means, data received from the first device by the communication means in the first time window to the second device in the second time window. Advantageous effects of the invention

[0009] According to the present disclosure, a management controller can be provided that is user-friendly when used in a network that includes devices compatible with multicast communication and devices incompatible with multicast communication. Short description of the characters Fig. 1 illustrates a general configuration of a device communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of cyclic communication in the device communication system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; Fig. 3 illustrates a functional configuration of a management controller according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a cyclic memory in the management controller according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a hardware structure of the management controller according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; Fig. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a device identification operation performed by the management controller according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; and Fig. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a device communication operation performed by the management controller according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Description of embodiments

[0010] A device communication system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figures, like reference numerals denote like or corresponding components. Embodiment

[0011] A device communication system 1 according to an embodiment is described with reference to Fig. 1. The device communication system 1 is, for example, a device communication system installed in a factory network. The device communication system 1 includes a management controller 10, one or more general-purpose controllers 20, and one or more input / output devices 30. Fig. 1 illustrates two multipurpose controllers 20 and an input / output device 30. The two multipurpose controllers 20 are referred to as a multipurpose controller 20-1 and a multipurpose controller 20-2. The multipurpose controller 20-1 and the multipurpose controller 20-2 may be referred to simply as the multipurpose controllers 20 hereinafter, without being distinguished from one another. Fig. 1, the network is a line network. In some embodiments, the network may be a bus network, a star network, or a network comprising multiple network types. Device communication system 1 is an example of a device communication system according to the present disclosure.

[0012] The management controller 10, the multi-purpose controllers 20 and the input / output device 30 may be referred to collectively as devices hereinafter.

[0013] In the device communication system 1, the devices perform cyclic communication using Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) with a time-sharing method. To perform cyclic communication, the devices are highly synchronized under a time synchronization protocol. In the device communication system 1, the management controller 10 communicates with the multipurpose controllers 20 using multicast and with the input / output device 30 using unicast. The multipurpose controllers 20 cannot communicate directly with the input / output device 30. Although the management controller 10 and the multipurpose controllers 20 are compatible with multicast communication, the input / output device 30 is incompatible with multicast communication.Being incompatible with multicast communication refers here to not being able to transmit data to multiple devices at the same time and also to not being able to process frames transmitted using multicast.

[0014] The management controller 10 and the multipurpose controllers 20 are, for example, programmable logic controllers. The input / output device 30 is, for example, a sensor or an actuator. The functional components of the management controller 10 will be described later. The management controller 10 is an example of a management controller according to the present disclosure. Each multipurpose controller 20 is an example of a multipurpose controller or a second device in the present disclosure. The input / output device 30 is an example of an input / output device or a first device in the present disclosure.

[0015] As described above, the multi-purpose controllers 20 cannot communicate directly with the input / output device 30. Therefore, the multi-purpose controllers 20 communicate with the management controller 10 to control the input / output device 30, and the management controller 10 communicates with the input / output device 30 based on the communication between the multi-purpose controllers 20 and the management controller 10.

[0016] An example of cyclic communication in the device communication system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The devices carry out cyclic communication with a period T as a unit. Communication during a period includes at least one unicast communication, which is to be carried out in a first time slot TS1, and one multicast communication, which is to be carried out in a second time slot TS2. Other communication can be carried out in a third time slot TSx or in a fourth time slot TSy. Other communication is, for example, non-cyclic communication, which is carried out independently of the cyclic communication. The third time slot TSx and the fourth time slot TSy can also be omitted. In the example described in detail below, the period T does not include a third time slot TSx or a fourth time slot TSy.

[0017] The management controller first transmits data to the input / output device 30 using unicast (step U1). The input / output device 30 then transmits data to the management controller 10 using unicast (step U2). The unicast communication in steps U1 and U2 is performed in the first time slot TS1.

[0018] The management controller 10 then transmits data to the multi-purpose controllers 20 using multicast at the same time (step M1). The multi-purpose controllers 20 each transmit data to the management controller 10 and the other multi-purpose controller 20 using multicast (steps M2 and M3). The multicast communication in steps M1, M2, and M3 is performed in the second time slot TS2. In this state, the unicast communication and multicast communication to be performed during one period of cyclic communication are complete.

[0019] As described above, during a period of cyclic communication, the management controller 10 first communicates with the input / output device 30 using unicast in the first time slot TS1 and then communicates with the multipurpose controllers 20 using multicast in the second time slot TS2. Thus, the management controller 10 can transmit the data received from the input / output device 30 to the multipurpose controllers 20 during a period of cyclic communication. The manner in which the data received from the input / output device 30 is transmitted to the multipurpose controllers 20 will be described in more detail later.

[0020] The functional components of the management controller 10 are described with reference to Fig. 3. The management controller 10 includes a communicator 100, a communication controller 101, a transmitter 102, an identifier 103, and a memory 104.

[0021] The communicator 100 performs unicast communication with the input / output device 30 based on the control performed by the communication controller 101, and performs multicast communication with the multi-purpose controllers 20. The communicator 100 is an example of a communication means of the present disclosure.

[0022] The communication controller 101 determines the time window containing the current time in the cyclic communication and performs communication control based on the time window. For example, if the current time in the first time window TS1 of Fig. 2, the communication controller 101 controls the communicator 100 to communicate with the input / output device 30 using unicast. If the current time is in the second time slot TS2 of Fig. 2, the communication controller 101 controls the communicator 100 to communicate with the multipurpose controllers 20 using multicast.

[0023] The communication controller 101 outputs data received from the communicator 100 to the transmitter 102 described later. The communication controller 101 controls the communicator 100 based on data output by the transmitter 102 to the communication controller 101. As described in detail below, the management controller 10 can thus transmit data transmitted from the input / output device 30 to the management controller 10 using unicast to the multipurpose controllers 20 using multicast. Similarly, the management controller 10 can transmit data transmitted from the multipurpose controllers 20 to the management controller 10 using multicast to the input / output device 30 using unicast.

[0024] The communication controller 101 determines, by means of the identifier 103 described later, for each of the devices in the device management system 1, it as either a multicast-compatible device or a multicast-incompatible device, and executes communication control based on the determination results.

[0025] The transmitter 102 stores the data received from the communicator 100 and output from the communication controller 101 in a cyclic memory in the memory 104 using a method described later. The transmitter 102 reads the data from the cyclic memory in the memory 104 and outputs the data to the communication controller 101. This allows data to be transmitted from the input / output device 30 to the multi-purpose controllers 20 and from the multi-purpose controllers 20 to the input / output device 30. The transmitter 102 is an example of transmission means in the present disclosure.

[0026] The cyclic working memory in the memory 104 is described below with reference to Fig. 4. As described in Fig. As shown in Figure 4, the cyclic RAM stores data pieces received from the devices and data pieces to be transmitted to the devices separately. The transmitter 102 stores data pieces received from the communicator 100 and output by the communication controller 101 for each device as a transmission source in the cyclic RAM.

[0027] The transmitter 102 reads a piece of data to be transmitted to a target device from the data pieces stored in the cyclic memory and outputs the data piece to the communication controller 101. The target device is either the input / output device 30 or one of the general-purpose controllers 20, as appropriate for the time slot containing the current time in the cyclic communication. Thus, the piece of data to be transmitted to the target device differs as appropriate for each time slot containing the current time in the cyclic communication.

[0028] For example, if the current time falls within the first time slot TS1 and communication with the input / output device 30 is performed using unicast, the transmitter 102 outputs to the communication controller 101 a piece of data to be transmitted to the input / output device 30, a piece of data received from the multi-purpose controller 20-1, and a piece of data received from the multi-purpose controller 20-2. Similarly, if the current time falls within the second time slot TS2 and communication with the multi-purpose controllers 20 is performed using multicast, the transmitter 102 outputs to the communication controller 101 a piece of data received from the input / output device 30, a piece of data to be transmitted to the multi-purpose controller 20-1, and a piece of data to be transmitted to the multi-purpose controller 20-2.

[0029] The identifier 103 identifies each of the devices that are to be communication targets of the management controller 10 as either a device compatible with multicast communication or a device incompatible with multicast communication. The identifier 103 broadcasts, for example, a connected device detection frame to all devices and, based on device information received as a response from each device to the connected device detection frame, identifies the device as either a device compatible with multicast communication or a device incompatible with multicast communication. The device information includes, for example, information indicating compatibility or incompatibility with multicast communication. The device information as a response from each multipurpose controller 20 includes information indicating compatibility with multicast.The device information as a response from the input / output device 30 includes information indicating the incompatibility with multicast.

[0030] The identifier 103 stores information indicating the identification results in the memory 104. The communication controller 101 refers to the information indicating the identification results stored in the memory 104. When the current time is included in the first time slot TS1, the communication controller 101 performs unicast communication with a device(s) that is / are incompatible with multicast communication as one or more communication destinations. When the current time is included in the second time slot TS2, the communication controller 101 performs communication with a device(s) that is / are compatible with multicast communication as one or more communication destinations. The identifier is an example of identification means in the present disclosure.

[0031] The memory 104 stores the information in the cyclic working memory described above and the information obtained with the identifier 103 indicating the identification results.

[0032] An exemplary hardware configuration of the management controller 10 is described with reference to Fig. 5. The Fig. The management controller 10 shown in Figure 5 is implemented, for example, by a computer such as a personal computer or a microcontroller.

[0033] The management controller 10 includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, an interface 1003, and a secondary storage device 1004, which are connected to each other via a bus 1000.

[0034] Processor 1001, for example, is a central processing unit (CPU). The functions of management controller 10 are implemented by processor 1001, which loads the operating program stored in secondary storage device 1004 into memory 1002 and executes the operating program.

[0035] The memory 1002 is a main storage device, which includes, for example, a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1002 stores the operating program loaded by the processor 1001 from the secondary storage device 1004. The memory 1002 serves as working memory when the processor 1001 executes the operating program. The memory 1002 implements the functions of the memory 104.

[0036] Interface 1003 is an input / output (I / O) interface, such as a serial port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, or a network interface. Interface 1003 implements the functions of communicator 100.

[0037] The secondary storage device 1004 is, for example, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD). The secondary storage device 1004 stores the operating program to be executed by the processor 1001.

[0038] An example of a device identification operation performed by the management controller 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Device identification refers to identifying a device as either a multicast communication compatible device or a multicast communication incompatible device. Fig. The operation shown in Figure 6 is performed when, for example, the device communication system 1 is newly installed.

[0039] The identifier 103 in the management controller 10 broadcasts the connected device detection frame to all those devices that are to be communication targets (step S101).

[0040] The identifier 103 waits for the communicator 100 to receive device information as a response to the connected device detection frame (step S102).

[0041] When the communicator 100 receives device information as a response in step S102, the identifier 103 identifies the responding device as a multicast communication compatible device or a multicast communication incompatible device based on the device information (step S103).

[0042] The identifier 103 stores information indicating the identification result obtained in step S103 into the memory 104 (step S104).

[0043] The identifier 103 determines whether device information has been received from each device that is to be the communication target (step S105). If device information has not yet been received from each device (NO in step S105), the identifier 103 repeats the operation in step S102 and subsequent steps. If device information has been received from each device (YES in step S105), the identifier 103 terminates the device identification operation.

[0044] An example of a device communication operation performed by the management controller 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The Fig. For example, the operation shown in Figure 7 is carried out after the Fig. The operation shown in Figure 6 was performed.

[0045] The communication controller 101 in the management controller 10 waits until the current time reaches the start time of the first time window TS1 (step S201).

[0046] When the current time reaches the start time of the first time slot TS1 in step S201, the transmitter 102 reads data from the cyclic working memory in the memory 104 to be transmitted to the input / output device 30 (step S202). The read data is output to the communication controller 101.

[0047] The communication controller 101 controls the communicator 100 to communicate with the input / output device 30 using unicast (step S203). The data read in step S202 is transmitted to the input / output device 30 in step S203.

[0048] The transmitter 102 stores data received by the communicator 100 from the input / output device 30 in step S203 into the cyclic working memory in the memory 104 (step S204).

[0049] The communication controller 101 waits until the current time reaches the start time of the second time window TS2 (step S205).

[0050] When the current time reaches the start time of the second time slot TS2 in step S205, the transmitter 102 reads data to be transmitted to the multi-purpose controller 20 from the cyclic working memory in the memory 104 (step S206). The read data is output to the communication controller 101.

[0051] The communication controller 101 controls the communicator 100 to communicate with the multi-purpose controllers 20 using multicast (step S207). The data read in step S206 is transmitted to the multi-purpose controllers 20 in step S207.

[0052] The transmitter 102 stores data received by the communicator 100 from the multi-purpose controllers 20 in step S207 into the cyclic working memory in the memory 104 (step S208). The communication controller 101 then repeats the operation in step S201 and subsequent steps.

[0053] In the device communication system 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the management controller 10 transmits data received from the devices in an appropriate manner at an appropriate time using the transmitter 102. Therefore, the device communication system 1 is user-friendly when used in a network that includes devices compatible with multicast communication and devices incompatible with multicast communication. For example, the device communication system 1 allows a user to transmit data from the input / output device 30, which is incompatible with multicast communication, to the multi-purpose controllers 20, which are compatible with multicast communication, without creating a dedicated program, and is therefore user-friendly. Variations

[0054] In the Fig. In the hardware configuration illustrated in Figure 5, the management controller 10 includes the secondary storage device 1004. However, the secondary storage device 1004 may be external to the management controller 10, and the management controller 10 and the secondary storage device 1004 may be connected to each other via the interface 1003. In this configuration, the secondary storage device 1004 may be a removable medium such as a USB flash drive or a memory card.

[0055] Instead of the Fig. 5, the management controller 10 may have a dedicated circuit comprising an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Fig.5, individual functions of the management controller 10 can be implemented, for example, by a dedicated circuit connected to the interface 103.

[0056] The program used in the management controller 10 can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium such as a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a USB flash drive, a memory card, or a hard disk drive (HDD), and then distributed. A dedicated computer or a general-purpose computer on which the program is installed can function as the management controller 10.

[0057] The program can be stored on a storage device in another server on the Internet and downloaded from the server.

[0058] The foregoing describes some exemplary embodiments for illustrative purposes. Although the foregoing discussion has presented specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the invention will be determined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. List of reference symbols 1 device communication system 10 Management Controllers 20, 20-1, 20-2 Multipurpose Controller 30 Input / Output Device 100 Communicator 101 Communication Controller 102 transformers 103 identifiers 104 memory 1000 buses 1001 processor 1002 RAM 1003 Interface 1004 Secondary storage device TS1 first time slot TS2 second time slot TSx third time slot TSy fourth time slot

Claims

[1] Management controller (10) for performing cyclic communication using time-sensitive networking with a time-sharing method, the management controller (10) comprising: Communication means (100) for communicating with a first device (30) in a first time slot (TS1) and with a second device (20-1, 20-2) in a second time slot (TS2) when communicating during a period of the time-sharing method, wherein the first device (30) is incompatible with multicast communication and the second device (20-1, 20-2) is compatible with multicast communication; and Transmission means (102) for transmitting data received in the first time window (TS1) by the communication means (100) from the first device (30) by means of the communication means (100) to the second device (20-1, 20-2) in the second time window (TS2). [2] Management controller (10) according to claim 1, wherein the first device (30) is an input / output device (30), and the second device (20-1, 20-2) is a multi-purpose controller (20-1, 20-2) for controlling the input / output device (30), and when communicating during one period, communication in the first time window (TS1) occurs before communication in the second time window (TS2). [3] Management controller (10) according to claim 2, wherein the communication means (100) perform a non-cyclic communication in a third time window (TSx) after the first time window (TS1) and before the second time window (TS2). [4] Management controller (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: Identification means (103) for identifying a device which is to be a communication target of the communication means (100) as the first device (30) or as the second device (20-1, 20-2). [5] The management controller (10) according to claim 4, wherein the identification means (103) transmits a connected device detection frame to the device to be a communication target by means of the communication means (100), and identifies the device to be a communication target as the first device (30) or the second device (20-1, 20-2) based on device information that is a response of the device to be a communication target to the connected device detection frame. [6] Device communication system, comprising: the management controller (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5; the first device (30); and the second device (20-1, 20-2). [7] A communication method for performing cyclic communication using time-sensitive networking with a time-sharing method, the communication method comprising: Communicating with a first device (30) in a first time slot (TS1) and with a second device (20-1, 20-2) in a second time slot (TS2) when communicating during a period of the time-sharing method, wherein the first device (30) is incompatible with multicast communication and the second device (20-1, 20-2) is compatible with multicast communication; and Transmitting data received from the first device (30) in the first time window (TS1) to the second device (20-1, 20-2) in the second time window (T2). [8] A program which causes a computer to implement the communication method according to claim 7.

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