Control device, control system, and control method

Abstract

To provide a control device, a control system, and a control method that can perform control via a virtual network more stably.SOLUTION: According to this embodiment, a control device periodically executes control using a plurality of virtual networks, and includes a memory unit, a selection unit, and a communication unit. The memory unit stores control data used for the control. The selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control from among the plurality of virtual networks according to an attribute of the control data. The communication unit transmits the control data using the virtual network selected by the selection unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD An embodiment of the present invention relates to a control device, a control system, and a control method. [Background technology]

[0002] It is generally known that multiple virtual networks are generated by network slicing, and that a control device periodically executes multiple types of control processes on devices via a network. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Application No. 2021-539647 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, such multiple virtual networks may be generated with different communication characteristics, so when a control device controls devices by multiple types of control processes via multiple virtual networks, depending on the selected virtual network, the control process may not be completed within a desired period, or the processing capacity of the virtual network may be excessive.

[0005] In order to solve such problems, an object of this embodiment is to provide a control device, a control system, and a control method that can perform control via a virtual network more stably. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to this embodiment, the control device periodically executes control using a plurality of virtual networks, and includes a memory unit, a selection unit, and a communication unit. The memory unit stores control data used for the control. The selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control from among the plurality of virtual networks according to an attribute of the control data. The communication unit transmits the control data using the virtual network selected by the selection unit. Effect of the Invention

[0007] Control via virtual networks can be performed more stably. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control device. [Diagram 3] 11 is a control management table showing an example of control processing. [Figure 4] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of control processing of a control management unit. [Diagram 5] Virtual network correspondence table. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a network slicing resource management unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, a control device and a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment shown below is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. In addition, in the drawings referred to in this embodiment, the same parts or parts having similar functions are given the same or similar symbols, and repeated explanations may be omitted. In addition, the dimensional ratios of the drawings may differ from the actual ratios for the convenience of explanation, and some components may be omitted from the drawings.

[0010] (First embodiment) FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a control system 100 according to this embodiment. The control system 100 is a system that controls a plurality of controlled devices 25 via a plurality of virtual networks by network slicing. The control system 100 includes a control device 10, a control device 21, a base station 22, a plurality of terminals 23, a plurality of remote IOs 24, and a plurality of controlled devices 25. In this embodiment, for simplicity of explanation, an example of two controlled devices 25 will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the number of controlled devices 25 may be three or more, and the number of control devices 21 may also be multiple.

[0011] The control device 10 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, etc. The control device 10 is installed at an edge close to the controlled devices 25, and controls the multiple controlled devices 25 by multiple types of control processing. The control device 10 also executes, for example, short-cycle control on the multiple controlled devices 25.

[0012] Furthermore, the control device 10 can perform general control processing as a 5G core network, such as relay control in 5G communication, and generation, allocation (selection), and deletion of a virtual network by network slicing. The 5G core network of the control device 10 is configured by cooperation of multiple devices such as an MME (Mobility Management Entity), an SGW (Serving Gateway), and a PGW (Packet data network Gateway). Therefore, the control device 10 may refer to a collective term for these multiple devices. Details of the control device 10 will be described later.

[0013] The control device 21 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and the like. The control device 21 is a device capable of independently controlling a plurality of controlled devices 25 together with the control device 10 via a network NW such as the Internet. That is, the control device 21 is deployed in a cloud and executes, for example, long-period control on the plurality of controlled devices 25. The control device 21 executes input and output of data to the plurality of controlled devices 25 via a shared memory unit 12 (see FIG. 2 described later) of the control device 10. This prevents redundant access from the plurality of control devices 10 and 21 to the remote IO 24.

[0014] Furthermore, the control device 10 centrally manages the virtual networks used by the control device 10 and the control device 21. This prevents interference between the virtual networks used by the control device 10 and the control device 21 and prevents the selection criteria for the virtual networks from differing between the control device 10 and the control device 21.

[0015] The network NW may be, for example, the Internet, but is not limited to this. For example, a local communication line such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area wired communication line such as a wide area network (WAN), or a wireless communication line of a communication standard such as 3G (Generation), 4G, or 5G may be used.

[0016] The base station 22 functions as, for example, a Radio Access Network (RAN) and constitutes a communication network of a 5G (5th Generation) network. The 5G network according to this embodiment is, for example, a local 5G network. The base station 22 outputs device side data of a plurality of controlled devices received from a plurality of terminals 23 to the control device 10. The base station 22 also transmits control data input from the control device 10 and generated by the control device 21 to the plurality of terminals 23. Note that the communication between the base station 22 and the control device 10 can be either wired communication or wireless communication.

[0017] The terminal 23 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a storage, and the like. A virtual network selected by the control device 10 is assigned to these terminals 23. The multiple virtual networks are logical networks generated by network slicing, which is a function of 5G. In this embodiment, the division of the network is referred to as network slicing. This makes it possible to divide the network resources into multiple virtual networks with different communication characteristics and provide wireless communication suitable for each of the control processes for the multiple controlled devices 25.

[0018] In this embodiment, a 5G network consisting of a base station 22 and a plurality of terminals 23 includes two virtual networks: a wideband, low-latency virtual network (network slicing) 1 and a narrowband, high-latency virtual network (network slicing) 2. Note that, although there are two virtual networks in this embodiment, this is not limiting. For example, three or more virtual networks with different communication characteristics may be used.

[0019] The remote IO 24 has a plurality of physical communication ports. Different networks can be connected to each communication port. One end of the remote IO 24 is connected to the terminal 23, and the other end is connected to the controlled device 25.

[0020] The controlled device 25 executes a predetermined control process according to the control data received from the remote IO 24. The controlled device 25 is, for example, an industrial robot arm, a drive motor, a camera, etc. Device side data obtained from the controlled device 25 (for example, the position and angle of each joint in the case of a robot arm, image data in the case of a camera, and the rotation speed and number of rotations in the case of a drive motor) is sent to the shared memory unit 12 (see FIG. 2) of the control device 10 via the remote IO 24, the terminal 23, the virtual network, and the base station 22.

[0021] The communication of device side data may be, for example, a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) using IP (Internet Protocol) packets, or a UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communication or a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer communication using RAW packets, but is not limited to these methods.

[0022] In addition, for example, full duplex is used for the virtual network and the network NW. This allows upstream and downstream communications to be performed simultaneously. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the network slicing resources, such as the frequency bandwidth, delay time, and number of available terminals 2 for each virtual network, are determined in advance.

[0023] Here, the details of the control device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the control device 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 10 is configured to include a control management unit 11, a shared memory unit 12, a control calculation unit 13, a network slicing selection unit 14, and a communication unit 15. The control device 10 periodically communicates with, for example, another control device 21 deployed in a cloud via a network NW, or a controlled device 25 connected by a 5G network, using the communication unit 15. Note that the shared memory unit 12 according to this embodiment corresponds to the memory unit, and the network slicing selection unit 14 corresponds to the selection unit.

[0024] Fig. 3 is a control management table showing an example of control processing. As shown in Fig. 3, the control processing executed by the control device 10 and the control device 21 is associated with indexes 1 to N in advance as a control management table and stored in the shared memory unit 12. The indexes 1 to N correspond to each control processing. The control processing of index m is, for example, a control processing for a robot arm by the controlled device 25, and is a processing for acquiring, for example, the current arm position and joint angle, which are device data, and calculating control data for shifting to the arm position and joint angle for the next cycle. As a result, for example, the robot arm changes its posture to the arm position and joint angle for the next cycle.

[0025] As shown in Fig. 3, the shared memory unit 12 has an area for I / O data handled by the control device 10 and an area for I / O data handled by the control device 21. In Fig. 3, the top addresses of the area for I / O data and the area for storing the control data after calculation are set as shared memory addresses. Note that the setting of the areas of the shared memory unit 12 is an example, and is not limited to this.

[0026] Further, the area for I / O data handled by the control device 10 is divided into areas for each of the multiple controlled devices 25. Similarly, the area for I / O data handled by the control device 21 is divided into areas for each of the multiple controlled devices 25.

[0027] The control management unit 11 is configured with, for example, multiple CPUs, and controls the entire control device 10 by reading and executing a control program and a control management table (see FIG. 3 described later) stored in the shared memory unit 12. The control management unit 11 executes general control processing as a 5G core network, such as relay control in 5G communication, and generation, allocation, and deletion of a virtual network by network slicing.

[0028] Furthermore, the control management unit 11 causes the control calculation unit 13 to execute calculations of the control process contents for each of the multiple controlled devices 25. That is, under the control of the control management unit 11, the control calculation unit 13 generates and calculates control data on the control device 10 side at predetermined intervals determined for each control process. Furthermore, the control management unit 11 has a control timer, and generates a timing control signal associated with each control process in conjunction with multiple control periods required for each control process.

[0029] For example, the control management unit 11 acquires device-side data required for computing predetermined control data based on a timing control signal, and stores the data in the shared memory unit 12 (see FIG. 2). Then, the control management unit 11 causes the control computation unit 13 to compute control data according to the control processing content using the device-side data. This control data is written in an area of ​​the shared memory unit 12 (see FIG. 3) allocated to each control data. The control data is associated with, for example, the controlled device 25 as the destination, the control data capacity, the control period, and the control source. This control source is identification information that identifies the control device 10 on the edge side, or the control device 21 on the cloud side.

[0030] On the other hand, the control device 21 reads the I / O data stored for each of the multiple controlled devices 25 from the area for the control device 21 in the shared memory unit 12 via the control management unit 11 at each predetermined control period (see FIG. 3) determined for each control process, and calculates control data according to the control process content. At this time, the control management unit 11 acquires device side data in response to a request from the control device 21 side, and stores it in the shared memory unit 12. Then, the control device 21 executes a process of writing each piece of control data according to the control process content in the area of ​​the shared memory unit 12 allocated to each piece of control data via the control management unit 11. The control data is associated with, for example, the controlled device 25 as the destination, the control data capacity, the control period, and the control source. Note that these control examples are merely examples, and are not limited to these. For example, the control management unit 11 can autonomously and repeatedly write the device side data to the area of ​​the shared memory unit 12 on the control device 21 side according to a predetermined period.

[0031] The network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network to be used for communication according to the control processing contents under the control of the control management unit 11. The communication unit 15 has a 5G-side communication IF that communicates with the base station 22 and a wide area network-side communication IF such as a network NW. As described above, for example, full duplex is used for communication of the communication unit 15. This makes it possible to perform upstream and downstream communication simultaneously.

[0032] A plurality of selection algorithms are set for the network slicing selection unit 14 to select a virtual network. The control management unit 11 can set the selection algorithm in the network slicing selection unit 14 according to the control purpose. For example, the selection algorithm a is an algorithm that emphasizes the control period, the selection algorithm b is an algorithm that emphasizes the control data capacity, and the selection algorithm c is an algorithm that emphasizes the control source.

[0033] More specifically, when the control management unit 11 selects the selection algorithm a, the control management unit 11 outputs only the control period associated with the control data to the network slicing selection unit 14. The network slicing selection unit 14 performs a threshold judgment of the control period and selects a virtual network to be used. For example, in the case of control with a short control period, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a wideband, low-latency virtual network 1, and in the case of control with a long control period, selects a narrowband, high-latency virtual network 2. Using the selection information of the network slicing selection unit 14, the control management unit 11 transmits the control data to the terminal 23 of the target controlled device 25 by the selected virtual network via the communication unit 15 and the base station 22. As a result, a virtual network with communication characteristics according to the control period is selected for the control data, and the control data is transmitted within the control period.

[0034] When the control management unit 11 selects the selection algorithm b, the control management unit 11 outputs only the control data capacity associated with the control data to the network slicing selection unit 14. The network slicing selection unit 14 judges the control data capacity based on a threshold and selects a virtual network to be used. For example, when the data size of the control data is long, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a wideband, low-latency virtual network 1, and when the data size of the control data is short, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a narrowband, high-latency virtual network 2. Using the selection information of the network slicing selection unit 14, the control management unit 11 transmits the control data to the terminal 23 of the target controlled device 25 by the selected virtual network via the communication unit 15 and the base station 22. As a result, a virtual network with communication characteristics according to the data size of the control data is selected for the control data, and the control data is transmitted within the control period.

[0035] When the control management unit 11 selects the selection algorithm c, the control management unit 11 outputs only information on the control source associated with the control data to the network slicing selection unit 14. The network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network to be used depending on whether the control source is a cloud or an edge. For example, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a wideband, low-latency virtual network 1 in the case of control from an edge, and selects a narrowband, high-latency virtual network 2 in the case of control from a cloud. As a result, a virtual network with communication characteristics according to the control source is selected for the control data, and the control data is transmitted within the control period.

[0036] The selection of the virtual network may be performed by comprehensively determining the control period, the data size of the control data (control data length), and the information of the control source. In other words, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network using at least one of the information of the control period, the control data length, and the information of the control source.

[0037] The above is an example of the configuration of the control system 100 according to the first embodiment. An example of the control processing of the control management unit 11 will be described below. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the control processing of the control management unit 11. Here, an example of transmission of control data on the control device 10 side for one control processing will be described.

[0038] First, the control management unit 11 sets a control timer associated with a control process using information in the control management table shown in Fig. 3 (step S301). In this way, the time of the control timer is predetermined according to the type of control process. For example, the control timer is set for each control process at a specific memory address in the supply memory unit 12 according to the control management table shown in Fig. 3.

[0039] Next, the control management unit 11 outputs a timing control signal associated with the control process according to the control timer to the control calculation unit 13 and the communication unit 15, and starts the control process (step S302).

[0040] Next, the control management unit 11 causes the communication unit 15 to acquire device side data required for the control process in accordance with the timing control signal associated with the control process, and stores the data in the shared memory unit 12 (step S303).

[0041] Next, the control management unit 11 issues a control calculation instruction to the control calculation unit 13, and the control calculation unit 13 calculates control data corresponding to the control process and stores it in the shared memory unit 12 (step S304). As described above, the control data is associated with, for example, the destination controlled device 25, the control data capacity, the control period, and the control source.

[0042] Next, the control management unit 11 acquires information data according to the selection algorithm from the control data, outputs it to the network slicing selection unit 14, and causes the selection of a virtual network (step S305). Here, information indicating an edge as source information is output to the network slicing selection unit 14. As a result, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a wideband, low-latency virtual network 1, and outputs it to the control management unit 11.

[0043] Next, the control management unit 11 executes communication using the virtual network 1 between the base station 22 and the terminal 23 of the controlled device 25, which is the destination (step S306). As a result, the control data is output to the controlled device 25 via the remote IO 24. Then, the controlled device 25 executes control according to the control data.

[0044] Next, the control management unit 11 judges whether or not to end the control process (step S307), and if it judges not to end the control process (N in step S307), it repeats the process from step S302. On the other hand, if it judges to end the control process (Y in step S307), it ends this control process.

[0045] As described above, according to this embodiment, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network according to the attribute of the control data that controls the controlled device 25. As a result, even when multiple pieces of control data are transmitted periodically and repeatedly, a virtual network with communication characteristics according to the attribute of the control data can be used, and the divided network resources can be used efficiently.

[0046] In this way, it is possible to select wideband, low-latency network slicing when the control data length is large, the control period is short, etc., depending on the attributes of the control data, and to select narrowband, high-latency network slicing when the control data length is small, the control period is long, etc. This makes it possible to control while maintaining the control period of the control data by selecting a virtual network with appropriate communication characteristics depending on the control data length and control period.

[0047] Furthermore, the control device 10 centrally manages the virtual networks used by the control device 10 and the control device 21 using the shared memory unit 12. This prevents interference between the virtual networks used by the control device 10 and the control device 21 and deviations in the selection criteria for the virtual networks.

[0048] (Modification 1 of the first embodiment) The network slicing selection unit 14 according to the first modification of the first embodiment differs from the control system 100 according to the first embodiment in that a virtual network to be used for each control process is determined in advance. The following describes the differences from the control system 100 according to the first embodiment.

[0049] FIG. 5 is a correspondence table of virtual networks. As shown in FIG. 5, the control processes executed by the control device 10 and the control device 21 are previously associated with indexes 1 to N as a correspondence table and stored in the shared memory unit 12. In FIG. 5, only indexes 1 to 4 are illustrated in order to simplify the explanation. It is assumed that network slicing resources such as frequency bandwidth, delay time, and the number of available terminals 2 are determined in advance. In addition, when the network slicing selection unit 14 has a dedicated memory, the network slicing selection unit 14 may store the correspondence table of virtual networks (see FIG. 5). In addition, the correspondence table shown in FIG. 5 may be updated depending on the delay status of the network NW during operation.

[0050] As described above, an index is a number assigned in association with a control process. An index is associated with the control data calculated by the control device 10 and the control device 21 according to the present embodiment.

[0051] The control data capacity is the capacity [Bytes] allocated to the control data. As described above, the control period is the period in which the control process corresponding to the index is executed. As described above, the control source information is information indicating either the control device 10 or the control device 21. The edge is information indicating the control device 10, and the cloud is information indicating the control device 21. As described above, the shared memory address indicates the storage area for device-side data used to execute the control process corresponding to the index, and the storage area for control data on the control device 10 and the control device 21 side.

[0052] For example, a control program corresponding to an index is stored in the shared memory unit 12. As a result, the control management unit 11 executes the control program to generate control data corresponding to the index. Similarly, the control device 21 executes a control program for the control device 21 to generate control data corresponding to the index.

[0053] The network slicing selection unit 14 can also select a virtual network by referring to the correspondence table shown in FIG. 5. For example, if the index (Index) associated with the control data is 1, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects virtual network 1 if the index is 2, selects virtual network 3 if the index is 3, and selects virtual network 1 if the index is 4. The virtual network (network slicing) 3 is, for example, a medium-bandwidth, medium-latency virtual network. Then, the control management unit 11 transmits the control data, which is the result of the control calculation, from the communication unit 15 via the base station 22 to the terminal 23 of the target controlled device 25 using the virtual network selected by the network slicing selection unit 14.

[0054] As described above, according to this embodiment, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network previously associated with a control process. This allows the network slicing selection unit 14 to select a virtual network previously associated with a control process when control data for each control process is stored in a shared memory address. This allows the control process to be performed at a higher speed.

[0055] (Modification 2 of the first embodiment) The network slicing selection unit 14 according to the second modification of the first embodiment differs from the control system 100 according to the first modification of the first embodiment in that the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network that is previously associated with a shared memory address. The following describes the differences from the control system 100 according to the first modification of the first embodiment.

[0056] The network slicing selection unit 14 according to the second modification of the first embodiment can also select a virtual network that is previously associated with a shared memory address used for the control process. For example, the control management unit 11 executes a control program, whereby control data corresponding to the control process is stored in a shared memory address of the shared memory unit 12. Similarly, the control device 21 executes a control program for the control device 21, whereby the control management unit 11 stores control data corresponding to the control process in a shared memory address of the shared memory unit 12.

[0057] As shown in Fig. 5, virtual networks 1 to 3 are associated in advance with shared memory addresses. In this way, since the shared memory addresses are address-mapped for each control process, it is possible to divide the virtual networks according to the addresses. This allows the network slicing selection unit 14 to select a virtual network associated with the shared memory address at which the control data is stored in the shared memory unit 12.

[0058] As described above, according to this embodiment, the network slicing selection unit 14 selects a virtual network associated with a shared memory address at which control data is stored in the shared memory unit 12. This allows the network slicing selection unit 14 to select a virtual network that is previously associated with a shared memory address when each control data is saved in the shared memory address. This makes it possible to speed up the control process.

[0059] Second embodiment The control system 100 according to the second embodiment differs from the control system 100 according to the first embodiment in that the resources of the virtual network are determined according to the control data length and the control period. The differences from the control system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described below.

[0060] Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control device 10a according to the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, the control device 10a according to the second modification of the first embodiment is different from the control system 100 according to the first embodiment in that the control device 10a further includes a network slicing resource management unit 51.

[0061] The network slicing resource management unit 51 selects a network resource by using information on the control period and the control data capacity (see FIG. 5) stored in the shared memory unit 12. The network slicing resource management unit 51 may have a dedicated memory and store information on the control period and the control data length (see FIG. 4).

[0062] The network slicing resource management unit 51 calculates the required frequency bandwidth, delay time, and number of available terminals using the control period and control data length of each control process that is repeated periodically. In this case, for example, the frequency bandwidth may be set to a value obtained by adding a margin to the amount of data calculated from the control period and the control data length. The delay time may be set to be less than half the control period. The number of available terminals may also be set to a number obtained by adding a margin to the number of terminals expected to be used, and is not limited to these methods. The control data length means, for example, the capacity including the control data capacity and the processing code required for the control process.

[0063] More specifically, the network slicing resource management unit 51 divides the network resources using the control period and control data length of each periodically repeated control process to generate a plurality of virtual networks each having a set bandwidth and a required delay time. For example, the network slicing resource management unit 51 uses the control period and control data length of each periodically repeated control process to generate a virtual network selected from the following combinations of types A to D of virtual networks so as to maximize transmission efficiency.

[0064] Type A is, for example, a combination of a wideband, low-latency virtual network (network slicing) 1 and a narrowband, high-latency virtual network (network slicing) 2. Type B is, for example, a combination of a wideband, low-latency virtual network (network slicing) 1, a narrowband, high-latency virtual network (network slicing) 2, and a medium-band, medium-latency virtual network (network slicing) 3. Type C is, for example, a combination of a wideband, low-latency virtual network (network slicing) 1 and a medium-band, medium-latency virtual network (network slicing) 3. Type D is, for example, a combination of a narrowband, high-latency virtual network (network slicing) 2 and a medium-band, medium-latency virtual network (network slicing) 3. Alternatively, four or more virtual networks may be generated.

[0065] As described above, according to this embodiment, the network slicing resource management unit 51 generates a virtual network so as to maximize the transmission efficiency by using the control period and control data length of each control process that are periodically repeated. As a result, even when a plurality of control data are periodically and repeatedly transmitted, the transmission efficiency of the divided network resources is maximized, so that control that maintains the control period of the control data is possible by selecting an appropriate virtual network according to the control data length and control period.

[0066] (Modification 1 of the second embodiment) The control system 100 according to the first modification of the second embodiment differs from the control system 100 according to the second embodiment in that the resources of the virtual network are determined according to the communication speed of the network NW. The differences from the control system 100 according to the second embodiment will be described below.

[0067] Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the network slicing resource management unit 51 according to the first modified example of the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 7, the network slicing resource management unit 51 measures the communication speed of the network NW between the control device 10 and the control device 21 (step S401). For example, the network slicing resource management unit 51 measures the communication speed of the network NW using the round-trip time of a measurement signal such as a ping.

[0068] Next, the network slicing resource management unit 51 sets the division of the network resources that reflects the communication speed of the network NW, using the control period and control data length of each control process that is repeated periodically (step S402).

[0069] Next, the network slicing resource management unit 51 generates a plurality of virtual networks each having a set bandwidth and delay (step S403). In this case, even if the attribute of the control data includes a cloud, a virtual network that enables more efficient transmission is selected.

[0070] As described above, according to this embodiment, a virtual network is generated so as to maximize transmission efficiency by reflecting the communication speed of the network NW between the control device 10 and the control device 21 and using the control period and control data length of each control process that is repeated periodically. This enables more efficient transmission even when the control device 21 that performs control via the network NW is included, and enables control that maintains the control period of the control data.

[0071] Although several embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are presented only as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel device, method, and program described in this specification can be embodied in various other forms. In addition, various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made to the forms of the device, method, and program described in this specification without departing from the gist of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0072] 1: Virtual network, 2: Virtual network, 10: Control device, 11: Control management unit, 12: Shared memory unit, 13: Control calculation unit, 14: Network slicing selection unit, 15: Communication unit, 21: Control device, 23: Terminal, 25: Controlled device, 51: Network slicing resource management unit, 100: Control system.

Claims

1. A control device that periodically performs control using a plurality of virtual networks, a memory unit that stores control data used for the control; a selection unit that selects a virtual network to be used for the control from among a plurality of virtual networks according to an attribute of the control data; a network slicing management unit that manages allocation of network resources to a plurality of virtual networks according to at least one of a control period, a control data length, and a control source of the control data that is periodically transmitted; a communication unit that transmits the control data using the virtual network selected by the selection unit; A control device comprising:

2. a control management unit that controls the selection unit and the communication unit, The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the control management unit executes control for transmitting the control data based on an interval of a control period corresponding to the control data.

3. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects the virtual network to be used for the control based on a control period of the control data.

4. a second control device different from the control device can also execute the control via a network; the memory unit stores the control data generated by the second control device via the network, The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control based on a control source of the control data.

5. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control based on an address of the memory unit associated with the control data.

6. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control based on a data volume of the control data.

7. the control is executed on the controlled device in accordance with device-side data of the controlled device; the memory unit stores the device-side data, The control device according to claim 1 , further comprising a control calculation unit that calculates the control data using the device-side data.

8. a second control device different from the control device can also execute the control via a network; the second control device calculates the control data using the device-side data stored in the memory unit via the network, and stores the control data in the memory unit; The control device according to claim 7 , wherein the selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control based on an attribute of the control data.

9. The control device according to claim 8 , wherein the selection unit selects a virtual network to be used for the control based on at least one of a control period, a data capacity, a control source, and a corresponding memory address of the control data.

10. A controlled device; a terminal that wirelessly communicates device-side data of a controlled device and control data for controlling the controlled device; a base station that performs the wireless communication with the terminal using a plurality of virtual networks; a first control device that periodically controls the controlled devices using the plurality of virtual networks; a second control device connected to the first control device via a network and periodically controlling the controlled device via the first control device, The first control device a memory unit that stores the control data generated by the first control device and used for the control, and the control data generated by the second control device and used for the control; a selection unit that selects a virtual network to be used for the control from among the plurality of virtual networks in accordance with an attribute of the control data; a network slicing management unit that manages allocation of network resources to the plurality of virtual networks according to at least one of a control period, a control data length, and a control source of the control data that is periodically transmitted; a communication unit that transmits the control data using the virtual network selected by the selection unit; A control system having:

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