Monitoring system and control unit

Abstract

To make it possible to prevent deterioration of responsiveness when an operation instrument accepts an operation while suppressing an impact on traffic due to communication by the operation instrument.SOLUTION: A general-purpose controller 1 includes: an acquisition unit 13 that acquires the total number of operation instruments 60 connected to a serial communication line 30A; and a transmitting unit 14 that transmits the total number of operation instruments 60 acquired by the acquisition unit 13 to at least the operation instruments 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A. The operation instruments 60 each include: a receiving unit 61 that receives the total number of operation instruments 60 transmitted from the transmitting unit 14 of the general-purpose controller 1; a cycle calculation unit 62 that calculates a cycle at which its own instrument can access the general-purpose controller 1 based on the total number of operation instruments 60 received by the receiving unit 61; and an access unit 63 that accesses the general-purpose controller 1 according to the cycle calculated by the cycle calculation unit 62.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a surveillance system and an operating device constituting the surveillance system. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, BACnet (Building Automation and Control Network) communication, an open protocol, has become widespread in building automation systems (for example, Patent Document 1). Known communication protocols used in BACnet communication are the "BACnet IP" protocol for communicating BACnet services over Ethernet, and the "BACnet MS / TP (Master Slave Token Passing)" protocol, which uses RS485 for the physical layer of data transmission. Of these, the "BACnet MS / TP" protocol is a protocol that performs communication by combining two communication methods, the master-slave communication method and the token passing communication method.

[0003] In the BACnet MS / TP protocol, a general-purpose controller (master node) and secondary devices (field equipment) (slave nodes) are connected in a daisy chain (so-called daisy chain) via a serial communication line (MSTP line) according to the RS485 communication protocol, which is the physical layer. The general-purpose controller has two ports (a first port and a second port) to which serial communication lines can be connected, and each port is connected to a serial communication line. The general-purpose controller monitors the status of the secondary devices connected to each serial communication line via each serial communication line.

[0004] Specifically, in this system, a token (communication right) circulates on the network in the order of serial addresses, and a node that acquires this token can communicate with other nodes. When the general-purpose controller acquires a token, it acquires (scans) status information of the secondary devices connected to each serial communication line, thereby monitoring the status of the secondary devices. At this time, the general-purpose controller must proactively communicate as the master node that monitors the status of the secondary devices. On the other hand, the secondary devices are required to minimize the number of times they independently communicate, even if they acquire a token, so as not to interfere with communication by the general-purpose controller. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-215925 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, a secondary device may be partially configured with an operating device. The operating device is a device that is installed in a room of a building or the like, and switches ON / OFF a secondary device (e.g., an air conditioner) capable of conditioning the room, and displays the temperature and humidity of the room on a display unit. When the operating device receives an instruction to start (ON) an air conditioner, for example, from a user, it accesses the general-purpose controller itself and starts the air conditioner by updating the point information (on / off information) of the air conditioner held by the general-purpose controller. In this way, when the operating device receives an operation from a user, it accesses the general-purpose controller itself using the multi-master function of the BACnet MSTP protocol, and indirectly operates the secondary device by acquiring or updating the information (point information) held by the general-purpose controller.

[0007] The actuator is designed to support BACnet communication, an open protocol, so that it can display and operate point information not only from its own products, but also from devices that support BACnet communication. On the other hand, to reduce costs, the actuator uses the BACnet MS / TP protocol for serial communication, rather than the BACnet IP protocol for communication over Ethernet. Therefore, like other secondary devices, the actuator also shares a low-bandwidth network with the general-purpose controller, so the number of times it communicates independently must be reduced as much as possible. Therefore, in order to reduce the impact on traffic caused by the actuator's communication, it is important to determine how to set the cycle at which the actuator accesses the general-purpose controller.

[0008] Incidentally, up to 10 actuators can be connected to the same serial communication line. Therefore, for example, a method can be considered in which the access cycle of the actuators to the general-purpose controller is set in anticipation of the maximum number of actuators that can be connected to the same serial communication line. In other words, assuming that 10 actuators, the maximum number that can be connected, are connected to the same serial communication line, a cycle at which each actuator can access the general-purpose controller is calculated. The calculated cycle is then set for each actuator, and the set cycle is fixed and used.

[0009] The access cycle calculated by the above method is calculated in anticipation of the maximum number of controllers that can be connected to the same serial communication line, so the number of times each controller spontaneously accesses the general-purpose controller is reduced. Therefore, the impact on traffic caused by communication by each controller can be suppressed. On the other hand, since the set cycle is calculated in anticipation of the maximum number of controllers that can be connected to the same serial communication line, there is a risk that the responsiveness of each controller when it receives an operation from a user will deteriorate, making it impossible to meet the needs of the user.

[0010] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a monitoring system that can suppress the impact on traffic caused by communication via a controller, while also suppressing a deterioration in responsiveness when the controller accepts an operation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The monitoring system of the present invention is a monitoring system including a controller and one or more devices daisy-chained to the controller by a serial communication line, at least one of the devices being composed of an actuator accessible to the controller, the controller comprising an acquisition unit that acquires the total number of actuators connected to the serial communication line, and a transmission unit that transmits the total number of actuators acquired by the acquisition unit to at least the actuator connected to the serial communication line, the actuator comprising a receiving unit that receives the total number of actuators transmitted from the transmission unit of the controller, a period calculation unit that calculates a period during which the actuator can access the controller based on the total number of actuators received by the receiving unit, and an access unit that accesses the controller in accordance with the period calculated by the period calculation unit. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, with the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to suppress the influence on traffic caused by communication by the controller, while also suppressing deterioration in responsiveness when the controller accepts an operation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a monitoring system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a general-purpose controller according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operating device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the general-purpose controller according to the first embodiment; [Diagram 5]5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating an example of the operation of the controller according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a general-purpose controller according to a second embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operating device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the general-purpose controller according to the second embodiment. [Figure 9] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of the operation of an operating device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 10] 13 is a table showing the relationship between point information (objects) that an operator acquires from a general-purpose controller and the number of transactions required to acquire the point information, for each area type, in the second embodiment. [Figure 11] 13 is a table showing the cycles required to acquire point information for each area type. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a general-purpose controller according to a third embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operating device according to a third embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a procedure for deriving the total number of controllers and the total number of secondary devices from a composite value in the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a monitoring system 100 according to the first embodiment.

[0015] The monitoring system 100 includes a general-purpose controller (first controller) 1 and one or more secondary devices 50 connected to the general-purpose controller 1 via serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The secondary devices 50 are connected to the general-purpose controller 1 in a daisy chain manner via the serial communication lines 30A and 30B.

[0016] The general-purpose controller 1 monitors the state of the secondary device 50 via the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. Specifically, as described above, the general-purpose controller 1 has two ports (the first port 11 and the second port 12) to which the serial communication line 30 can be connected, and the serial communication line 30A is connected to the first port 11, and the serial communication line 30B is connected to the second port 12. The general-purpose controller 1 monitors the state of the secondary device 50 connected to each of the serial communication lines 30A and 30B via each of the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. Note that, here, an example in which two serial communication lines 30A and 30B are connected to the general-purpose controller 1 will be described, but one serial communication line (for example, the serial communication line 30A) may be connected to the general-purpose controller 1.

[0017] In the monitoring system 100, as described above, a token (communication right) circulates on the network in the order of serial addresses, and a node that acquires this token communicates with other nodes. When the general-purpose controller 1 acquires a token, it acquires (scans) status information (alive / dead information) of each secondary device 50 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B, thereby monitoring the status of each secondary device 50. When the general-purpose controller 1 acquires a token, it accesses the secondary device 50 and acquires various information (hereinafter referred to as retained information) other than the status information retained by the device 50. The general-purpose controller 1 manages the acquired retained information as point information of the secondary device 50. Note that serial addresses are assigned in advance by an engineer to two ports (the first port 11 and the second port 12) of the general-purpose controller 1 and each secondary device 50.

[0018] The secondary device 50 is a field device from which status information or retained information is acquired by the general-purpose controller 1. The secondary device 50 is composed of, for example, a controller that controls a variable air volume (VAV) in air conditioning control, a controller that controls a fan coil unit (FCU) in air conditioning control, and an operation device 60. Of these, the operation device 60 is a device that can receive an operation from a user and access the general-purpose controller 1 and the integrated controller (second controller) 80 by itself in response to the operation.

[0019] The integrated controller 80 is a higher-level controller that comprehensively manages lower-level controllers including the general-purpose controller 1, and is connected to the general-purpose controller 1 via a communication line 70 that is different from the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The integrated controller 80 holds schedule information for secondary devices 50 (such as air conditioners) that are monitored by the general-purpose controller 1. The integrated controller 80 instructs the general-purpose controller 1 to turn the secondary devices 50 ON / OFF (start / stop) in accordance with this schedule information. The communication line 70 is a communication line that allows Ethernet communication using the "BACnet IP" protocol, and the integrated controller 80 and the general-purpose controller 1 can communicate with each other via Ethernet via the communication line 70.

[0020] Next, a description will be given of a configuration example of the general-purpose controller 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the general-purpose controller 1 includes a first port 11, a second port 12, an acquisition unit 13, a transmission unit 14, a reception unit 15, a response unit 16, a transfer unit 17, and a storage unit 18.

[0021] The first port 11 is a physical port (terminal) to which an end of the serial communication line 30A is connected. The second port 12 is a physical port (terminal) to which an end of a serial communication line 30B different from the serial communication line 30A is connected.

[0022] The acquisition unit 13 acquires the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. For example, the acquisition unit 13 acquires the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A based on the connected device information stored in the storage unit 18. The acquisition unit 13 also acquires the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30B based on the connected device information.

[0023] Here, the connected device information is information indicating what kind of secondary devices 50 are connected to the general-purpose controller 1 via the serial communication lines 30A and 30B, and this information enables the acquisition unit 13 to acquire the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The connected device information is input in advance to the general-purpose controller 1 by an engineer using an engineering tool, for example, and is stored in the storage unit 18.

[0024] Note that the method for obtaining the total number of the controllers 60 by the obtaining unit 13 is not limited to this. For example, the obtaining unit 13 may obtain the total number of the controllers 60 by reading the total number of the controllers 60 connected to each of the serial communication lines 30A and 30B from a device external to the general-purpose controller 1.

[0025] The transmission unit 14 transmits the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B, acquired by the acquisition unit 13, to at least the controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B.

[0026] At that time, the transmission unit 14 uses the "COVNotification service" of BACnet to simultaneously transmit (broadcast) the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A to the secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A. Similarly, the transmission unit 14 uses the "COVNotification service" of BACnet to simultaneously transmit (broadcast) the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30B to the secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30B.

[0027] The transmission by the transmission unit 14 is performed according to a preset transmission cycle (hereinafter referred to as the "transmission cycle"). For example, if the transmission cycle is 60 seconds, even if the general-purpose controller 1 acquires a token, if at least 60 seconds have not passed since the previous transmission was completed by the transmission unit 14 at that point in time, the transmission unit 14 will not broadcast the total number of controllers 60 at the point in time when it acquires the token. On the other hand, if at least 60 seconds have passed since the previous transmission was completed at the point in time when the general-purpose controller 1 acquires the token, the transmission unit 14 will broadcast the total number of controllers 60 at the point in time when it acquires the token.

[0028] The receiving unit 15 receives an access request to the controller itself or to the integrated controller 80, which is transmitted from an access unit 63 of the controller 60, which will be described later.

[0029] The response unit 16 responds to the access request when the access request received by the receiving unit 15 is a request for the device itself. For example, when the access request received by the receiving unit 15 is a request for acquiring the temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, etc. for the device itself, the response unit 16 transmits the requested information such as the temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration to the controller 60 as a response.

[0030] When the access request received by the receiving unit 15 is directed to the integrated controller 80 , the transferring unit 17 transfers the access request to the integrated controller 80 via the communication line 70 .

[0031] The functions of the acquisition unit 13, the transmission unit 14, the reception unit 15, the response unit 16, and the transfer unit 17 are realized, for example, by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) provided in the general-purpose controller 1 executing a predetermined program expanded in memory.

[0032] The storage unit 18 stores various information used by the general-purpose controller 1. For example, the storage unit 18 stores information such as the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B and serial addresses assigned to each device, which are acquired by the acquisition unit 13. The storage unit 18 is configured, for example, with an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a memory. Note that, although FIG. 2 shows a case in which the storage unit 18 is provided inside the general-purpose controller 1, the storage unit 18 may be provided outside the general-purpose controller 1.

[0033] Next, a configuration example of the controller 60 is shown in Fig. 3. Note that, as an example, a configuration example of the controller 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A will be described here, but the configuration example of the controller 60 connected to the serial communication line 30B is similar.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 60 includes a receiving unit 61, a period calculation unit 62, an access unit 63, a storage unit 64, and a display unit 65.

[0035] The receiving unit 61 receives the total number of controllers 60 (including its own) connected to the serial communication line 30A, transmitted from the transmitting unit 14 of the general-purpose controller 1. The receiving unit 61 also receives information transmitted from the responding unit 16 of the general-purpose controller 1, i.e., information transmitted in response to an access from the accessing unit 63 (e.g., information on temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration). The receiving unit 61 may store the received total number of controllers 60 and the information received in response to an access from the accessing unit 63 in the storage unit 64.

[0036] The period calculation unit 62 calculates a period during which the device itself can access the general-purpose controller 1 (hereinafter referred to as an "access period") based on the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A received by the receiving unit 61. Note that the period calculation unit 62 calculates a longer access period as the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A received by the receiving unit 61 increases. The period calculation unit 62 may store the calculated access period in the storage unit 64.

[0037] The access unit 63 accesses the general-purpose controller 1 in accordance with the access cycle calculated by the cycle calculation unit 62 .

[0038] For example, when the access unit 63 acquires a token, it checks whether or not an access period has elapsed since the completion of the previous access to the general-purpose controller 1. If the access period has elapsed, the access unit 63 can access the general-purpose controller 1 when it acquires the token. On the other hand, if the access period has not elapsed when it acquires the token, the access unit 63 does not access the general-purpose controller 1 when it acquires the token.

[0039] The storage unit 64 stores various information used by the controller 60. For example, the storage unit 64 stores the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A received by the receiver 61, information received by the receiver 61 as a response to an access from the access unit 63, and an access period calculated by the period calculation unit 62. The storage unit 64 is configured with, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a memory. Note that, although FIG. 3 shows a case where the storage unit 64 is provided inside the controller 60, the storage unit 64 may be provided outside the controller 60.

[0040] The display unit 65 displays information (such as temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration) received by the receiving unit 61 from the response unit 16 of the general-purpose controller 1. The display unit 65 also displays various screens such as a screen for turning the air conditioner on / off or a screen for changing the schedule information of the air conditioner.

[0041] Next, an operation example of the general-purpose controller 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Note that, as an example, a process example in which the general-purpose controller 1 communicates with the secondary device 50 and the operation device 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A will be described here.

[0042] First, the acquisition unit 13 acquires the total number of operation devices 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A (step ST401).

[0043] Next, the transmission unit 14 transmits the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A, acquired by the acquisition unit 13 in step ST401, to the secondary devices 50 and controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A (step ST402), and ends the process. Note that in step ST402, the transmission unit 14 transmits the total number of controllers 60 simultaneously if the transmission unit 14 has acquired a token and a transmission period (e.g., 60 seconds) has elapsed since the previous transmission of the total number of controllers 60 was completed.

[0044] Next, an example of the operation of the controller 60 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Note that, as an example, an example of the operation of the controller 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A will be described here.

[0045] First, the receiving unit 61 receives the total number of operation devices 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A, which is transmitted from the transmitting unit 14 of the general-purpose controller 1 (step ST501).

[0046] Next, the cycle calculation unit 62 calculates the access cycle of its own device based on the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A received by the receiving unit 61 (step ST502). At this time, the cycle calculation unit 62 calculates a longer access cycle as the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A received by the receiving unit 61 increases.

[0047] Next, the access unit 63 accesses the general-purpose controller 1 (step ST503) and ends the process. Note that, in step ST503, the access unit 63 accesses the general-purpose controller 1 if the access unit 63 has acquired a token and the access period calculated in step ST502 has elapsed since the previous access to the general-purpose controller 1 was completed. Also, the process in this step ST503 is not essential, and may be executed when the operation device 60 (access unit 63) needs to access the general-purpose controller 1 (for example, when acquiring information such as temperature and humidity from the general-purpose controller 1).

[0048] As described above, according to the first embodiment, the monitoring system 100 includes a general-purpose controller 1 and one or more secondary devices 50 daisy-chained to the general-purpose controller 1 via a serial communication line, and at least one of the secondary devices 50 is configured with an operator 60 that can access the general-purpose controller 1. The general-purpose controller 1 includes an acquisition unit 13 that acquires the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B, and a transmission unit 14 that transmits the total number of controllers 60 acquired by the acquisition unit 13 to at least the controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The controller 60 includes a receiver 61 that receives the total number of controllers 60 transmitted from the transmitter 14 of the general-purpose controller 1, a cycle calculation unit 62 that calculates a cycle during which the controller 60 can access the general-purpose controller 1 based on the total number of controllers 60 received by the receiver 61, and an access unit 63 that accesses the general-purpose controller 1 in accordance with the cycle calculated by the cycle calculation unit 62. This makes it possible for the monitoring system 100 to suppress the impact on traffic caused by communication by the controller 60, while also suppressing deterioration in responsiveness when the controller 60 accepts an operation.

[0049] Furthermore, according to the monitoring system 100, the controller 60 dynamically calculates the access cycle according to the total number of controllers 60 connected to the same serial communication line as the controller 60 itself, eliminating the need for engineers to set cycles for each controller 60 individually, thereby reducing the engineering workload.

[0050] Furthermore, the greater the total number of controllers 60 received by the receiver 61, the longer the period that the cycle calculation unit 62 calculates for which the controller 60 can access the general-purpose controller 1. As a result, when many controllers 60 are connected to the same serial communication line to which the controller 60 is connected, the controller 60 can calculate a longer accessible period and effectively suppress the impact on traffic.

[0051] Embodiment 2 In the first embodiment, an example is described in which the period calculation unit 62 of the controller 60 calculates the access period of the controller 60 based on the total number of controllers 60 for the same serial communication line as the serial communication line to which the controller 60 is connected. In the second embodiment, an example is described in which the period calculation unit 62 calculates the access period of the controller 60 based on the total number of controllers 60, as well as the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the same serial communication line as the serial communication line to which the controller 60 is connected, and an area type, which will be described later.

[0052] 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a general-purpose controller 1b according to embodiment 2. In the general-purpose controller 1b according to embodiment 2, the acquisition unit 13 is changed to an acquisition unit 13b, and the transmission unit 14 is changed to a transmission unit 14b, compared to the general-purpose controller 1 according to embodiment 1. Since the other configurations of the general-purpose controller 1b are the same as those of the general-purpose controller 1 according to embodiment 1, the same reference numerals are used and the description thereof is omitted.

[0053] The acquiring unit 13b acquires the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The acquiring unit 13b also acquires the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The total number of secondary devices 50 includes the total number of controllers 60. The total number of secondary devices 50 can be acquired based on the connected device information described in the first embodiment.

[0054] The transmitter 14b transmits the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B and the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B, acquired by the acquirer 13b, to at least the controllers 60 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B.

[0055] At this time, similarly to the transmitter 14 in the first embodiment, the transmitter 14b uses the "COVNotification service" of BACnet to simultaneously transmit (broadcast) the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50 to the secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A. Similarly, the transmitter 14b uses the "COVNotification service" of BACnet to simultaneously transmit (broadcast) the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30B and the total number of secondary devices 50 to the secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30B.

[0056] The transmission by the transmission unit 14b is performed in accordance with a transmission period (for example, 60 seconds) in the same manner as the transmission unit 14 of the first embodiment.

[0057] 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an controller 60b according to embodiment 2. In the controller 60b according to embodiment 2, the receiving unit 61 is changed to a receiving unit 61b, the period calculation unit 62 is changed to a period calculation unit 62b, and an area setting unit 66 is added, compared to the controller 60 according to embodiment 1. Since the other configuration of the controller 60b is the same as that of the controller 60 according to embodiment 1, the same reference numerals are used and the description thereof is omitted.

[0058] Although an example of the configuration of the controller 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A will be described here as an example, the same applies to the example of the configuration of the controller 60b connected to the serial communication line 30B.

[0059] The receiving unit 61b receives the total number of controllers 60 connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A, which are transmitted from the transmitting unit 14b of the general-purpose controller 1b.

[0060] The area setting unit 66 sets the area type in response to a user instruction. Here, the area type is setting information that is pre-installed in the controller 60b and is information that indicates the number of areas that the controller 60b is to monitor.

[0061] For example, there are three area types: 1 area, 4 areas, and 8 areas. When monitoring one area using the controller 60b, the user sets the area type to 1 area. When monitoring four areas using the controller 60b, the user sets the area type to 4 areas. Similarly, when monitoring eight areas using the controller 60b, the user sets the area type to 8 areas.

[0062] When the area type is set to 4 areas or 8 areas, the user can select the desired areas one by one from the screen displayed on the display unit 65 of the controller 60b, and display the temperature and humidity, etc. of the selected area on the display unit 65, or can instruct the air conditioner that cools the selected area to be turned ON / OFF, etc., via the display unit 65.

[0063] The period calculation unit 62b calculates its own access period (the period for accessing the general-purpose controller 1b) based on the total number of controllers 60 and the total number of secondary devices 50 received by the receiving unit 61b and the area type set by the area setting unit 66.

[0064] Next, an operation example of the general-purpose controller 1b according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Note that, as an example, a process example in which the general-purpose controller 1b communicates with the secondary device 50 and the operation device 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A will be described.

[0065] First, the acquiring unit 13b acquires the total number of controllers 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A (step ST801).

[0066] Next, the transmitting unit 14b transmits the total number of controllers 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A acquired by the acquiring unit 13b in step ST801 to the secondary devices 50 and controllers 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A simultaneously (step ST802), and ends the process. Note that in step ST802, the transmitting unit 14b transmits the total number of controllers 60b and the total number of secondary devices 50 simultaneously if the transmitting unit 14b has acquired a token and a transmission period (e.g., 60 seconds) has elapsed since the previous transmission of the total number of controllers 60b and the total number of secondary devices 50 was completed.

[0067] Next, an example of the operation of the controller 60b according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Note that, as an example, an example of the operation of the controller 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A will be described here.

[0068] First, the receiving unit 61b receives the total number of controllers 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A, which are transmitted from the transmitting unit 14b of the general-purpose controller 1b (step ST901).

[0069] Next, the period calculation unit 62b calculates the access period of its own device based on the total number of controllers 60b and the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A received by the receiving unit 61b, and the area type set by the area setting unit 66 (step ST902).

[0070] Next, the access unit 63 accesses the general-purpose controller 1b (step ST903) and ends the process. Note that, in step ST903, the access unit 63 accesses the general-purpose controller 1b if the access unit 63 has acquired a token and the access period calculated in step ST902 has elapsed since the previous access to the general-purpose controller 1b was completed. Also, the process in this step ST903 is not essential, and may be executed when the operation device 60b (access unit 63) needs to access the general-purpose controller 1b (for example, when acquiring information such as temperature and humidity from the general-purpose controller 1b).

[0071] Next, an example of calculation of the access period by the period calculation unit 62b will be described taking as an example a case where the own device is connected to the serial communication line 30A.

[0072] First, the cycle calculation unit 62b calculates the number of idle transactions per unit time on the serial communication line 30A when the area type is set to one area.

[0073] Here, consider a case where the unit time is 30 seconds and the maximum number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A is 50. In this case, the general-purpose controller 1b acquires (scans) status information of the maximum 50 secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A at least twice every 30 seconds. Therefore, the cycle calculation unit 62b can calculate the number of free transactions Tr on the serial communication line 30A per unit time (30 seconds) using formula (1). Tr = (50-X) x 2 + Y (1) In addition, in the formula (1), X is the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A, and Y is the total number of controllers 60b connected to the serial communication line 30A.

[0074] Next, the period calculation unit 62b calculates the access period Tmin according to equation (2). Tmin=30 / (Tr / Y) (2) That is, the cycle calculation unit 62b obtains the number of free transactions that each controller 60b can use by dividing the number of free transactions Tr calculated by formula (1) by the total number Y of controllers 60b. Then, by dividing the unit time (30 seconds) by this value, it is possible to obtain the time interval during which each controller 60b can use one transaction, i.e., the access cycle.

[0075] The access cycle Tmin calculated by the above formula (2) is the access cycle when the area type is set to 1 area. On the other hand, when the area type is set to 4 areas or 8 areas, the controller 60b needs to acquire information for multiple areas from the general-purpose controller 1b. However, there is a limit to the message length that can be transmitted and received in one communication in the MS / TP protocol, and in order to acquire all the necessary information from the general-purpose controller 1b, the controller 60b needs to communicate with the general-purpose controller 1b multiple times.

[0076] In this way, when communicating multiple times with the general-purpose controller 1b, the access cycle needs to be longer than when the area type is set to area 1. Therefore, a method of calculating the access cycle when the area type is set to area 4 or area 8 will be described with reference to Figs. 10 and 11.

[0077] Fig. 10 is a table showing the relationship between the point information (object) that the controller 60b acquires from the general-purpose controller 1b and the number of transactions required to acquire the point information, by area type. In Fig. 10, reference numeral 1001 indicates the type of point information (object) that the controller 60b acquires from the general-purpose controller 1b, reference numeral 1002 indicates the area type, and reference numeral 1003 indicates the transaction unit. Note that here, taking into consideration the APDU (Application Protocol Data Unit) length of the BACnet MSTP protocol, the total number of point information (objects) is set to 17 or less.

[0078] 10, a circle symbol indicates that the controller 60b acquires one area's worth of objects to which the circle symbol is attached. A square symbol indicates that the controller 60b acquires a plurality of areas' worth of objects to which the square symbol is attached in a lump (one transaction). For example, when the area type is set to 4 areas, the controller 60b acquires four areas' worth of objects to which the square symbol is attached in a lump (one transaction). When the area type is set to 8 areas, the controller 60b acquires eight areas' worth of objects to which the square symbol is attached in a lump (one transaction).

[0079] Also, the controller 60b determines the point information (object) to be acquired from the general-purpose controller 1b according to the area type, as shown in Fig. 10. For example, when the area type is set to four areas, the controller 60b acquires the necessary information in transaction units of "0", "1", and "2". Specifically, in transaction "0", the controller 60b acquires the point information marked with a square symbol, that is, the four point information of "on / off state", "temperature setting value", "temperature setting value (for two-setting method)", and "cooling / heating state", for the four areas at once.

[0080] In transaction "1", the controller 60b acquires four pieces of point information for four areas at once: "on / off state", "air volume state", "upper temperature setting / upper heating limit", and "lower temperature setting / lower cooling limit". In transaction "2", the controller 60b acquires the "on / off state" for four areas at once, and acquires seven pieces of point information for one area: "room temperature", "room humidity", "humidity setting value", "CO2 concentration", "CO2 concentration setting value", "upper humidity setting", and "lower humidity setting limit". In this way, the controller 60b requires three transactions (three cycles) to acquire all the necessary point information when the area type is set to four areas.

[0081] Similarly, if the area type is set to 8 areas, the controller 60b will require 7 transactions (7 cycles) to acquire all the necessary point information. The above can be summarized as shown in FIG.

[0082] FIG. 11 is a table showing the cycles required for acquiring point information for each area type. For example, when only on / off information is acquired, one cycle (one transaction) is sufficient for any area type. On the other hand, when information for temperature setting and air volume setting is acquired in addition to on / off information, one cycle is sufficient when the area type is set to 1 area, whereas three cycles are required when the area type is set to 4 areas, and seven cycles are required when the area type is set to 8 areas. The reason why on / off information and information for temperature setting and air volume setting are considered in FIGS. 10 and 11 is as follows. That is, it is desirable that the operating device 60b displays at least on / off information and information for temperature setting and air volume setting on the display unit 65 without delay when it receives an operation from the user, and that the setting can be changed. For this reason, here, as described above, the cycles (transactions) required for acquiring on / off information and information for temperature setting and air volume setting are considered.

[0083] In consideration of the above, the cycle calculation unit 62b calculates the access cycle of the controller 60b when the area type is set to 4 areas by multiplying the access cycle calculated by formula (2) by 3. Similarly, the cycle calculation unit 62b calculates the access cycle of the controller 60b when the area type is set to 8 areas by multiplying the access cycle calculated by formula (2) by 7.

[0084] For example, consider a case where the total number (X) of secondary devices 50 connected to serial communication line 30A is 10, and the total number (Y) of controllers 60b connected to serial communication line 30A is 4. In this case, the period calculation unit 62b calculates the access period Tmin when the area type is set to 1 area to be 1.429 seconds from the above formulas (1) and (2).

[0085] Furthermore, as described above, when the total number (X) of secondary devices 50 connected to serial communication line 30A is 10, the total number (Y) of controllers 60b connected to serial communication line 30A is 4, and the area type is set to 4 areas, the period calculation unit 62b calculates the access period Tmin to be 4.286 seconds (≈1.429 x 3).

[0086] Similarly, when the total number (X) of secondary devices 50 connected to serial communication line 30A is 10, the total number (Y) of controllers 60b connected to serial communication line 30A is 4, and the area type is set to 8 areas, the period calculation unit 62b calculates the access period Tmin to be 10.0 seconds (≈1.429 x 7).

[0087] In this example, the total number (X) of secondary devices 50 connected to serial communication line 30A is 10, and the total number (Y) of controllers 60b connected to serial communication line 30A is 4. However, the two total numbers are not limited to this, and the access period can be calculated in the same manner as above even when the total number is another value.

[0088] As described above, according to the second embodiment, the acquisition unit 13b of the general-purpose controller 1b further acquires the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B, and the transmission unit 14b of the general-purpose controller 1b transmits the total number of controllers 60b acquired by the acquisition unit 13b and the total number of secondary devices 50 to the controllers 60b connected at least to the serial communication lines 30A and 30B. The receiver 61b of the controller 60b receives the total number of controllers 60b and the total number of secondary devices 50 transmitted from the transmitter 14b of the general-purpose controller 1b, and the cycle calculation unit 62b of the controller 60b calculates a cycle during which the controller can access the general-purpose controller 1b, based on the total number of controllers 60b and the total number of secondary devices 50 received by the receiver 61b. In this way, the monitoring system 100 can calculate an access cycle that is more accurate to the actual situation by calculating the access cycle based on the total number of secondary devices 50 and the total number of controllers 60b, in addition to the effect of the first embodiment.

[0089] Moreover, the controller 60b includes an area setting unit 66 that sets an area type indicating the number of areas to be monitored by the controller 60b in response to an instruction from a user, and a period calculation unit 62b of the controller 60b calculates a period during which the controller 60b can access the general-purpose controller 1b, based on the total number of controllers 60b and the total number of secondary devices 50 received by the receiving unit 61b, and the area type set by the area setting unit 66. As a result, the monitoring system 100 can calculate an access period that is more accurate and suited to the actual situation, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, by calculating the access period based on three parameters, the total number of secondary devices 50, the total number of controllers 60b, and the area type.

[0090] Embodiment 3 In the second embodiment, an example has been described in which the transmitter 14b of the general-purpose controller 1b transmits the total number of controllers 60b connected to the serial communication lines 30A, 30B and the total number of secondary devices 50. In the third embodiment, an example will be described in which the method of transmitting these total numbers is devised to reduce the amount of communication.

[0091] 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a general-purpose controller 1c according to embodiment 3. In the general-purpose controller 1c according to embodiment 3, the transmitting unit 14b is changed to a transmitting unit 14c and a generating unit 19 is added to the general-purpose controller 1b according to embodiment 2. Since the other configurations of the general-purpose controller 1c are similar to those of the general-purpose controller 1b according to embodiment 2, the same reference numerals are used and the description thereof is omitted.

[0092] The generation unit 19 generates a composite value (unit number distribution value) including information on the total number of controllers 60c (see FIG. 13) connected to the serial communication lines 30A, 30B and the total number of secondary devices 50.

[0093] For example, the generation unit 19 converts the total number of controllers 60c connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50 into hexadecimal numbers, respectively, and obtains a two-byte value by combining the total number of controllers 60c converted into hexadecimal numbers as the most significant byte and the total number of secondary devices 50 converted into hexadecimal numbers as the least significant byte. Next, the generation unit 19 generates a combined value (unit number distribution value) by converting the two-byte value into a decimal number. This combined value (unit number distribution value) is generated in order to distribute two pieces of information (the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50) with one value.

[0094] The transmitter 14c transmits the composite value generated by the generator 19 as a value indicating the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 simultaneously to the secondary devices 50 and controllers 60c connected to the serial communication line 30A.

[0095] 13 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an controller 60c according to embodiment 3. In controller 60c according to embodiment 3, the receiving unit 61b is changed to a receiving unit 61c and the period calculation unit 62b is changed to a period calculation unit 62c, compared to controller 60b according to embodiment 2. The other configuration of controller 60c is similar to that of controller 60b according to embodiment 2, so the same reference numerals are used and the description thereof is omitted.

[0096] The receiving section 61c receives the composite value transmitted from the transmitting section 14c of the general-purpose controller 1c.

[0097] The period calculation unit 62c converts the composite value received by the receiving unit 61c, and derives the total number of controllers 60c connected to the serial communication line 30A and the total number of secondary devices 50. The derivation procedure in this case is the reverse of the above-mentioned procedure for generating the composite value by the generating unit 19. For example, an example of the derivation procedure when a value of "1040" is received as the composite value from the transmitting unit 14c of the general-purpose controller 1c is shown in FIG.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 14, the period calculation unit 62c converts the received "1040" into a hexadecimal number to obtain a value of "0410". Next, the period calculation unit 62c converts the most significant byte "04" into a decimal number to obtain a value of "4", and converts the least significant byte "10" into a decimal number to obtain a value of "16". This "4" indicates the total number of controllers 60c connected to the serial communication line 30A, and "16" indicates the total number of secondary devices 50 connected to the serial communication line 30A. In this way, the period calculation unit 62c derives the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 from the composite value.

[0099] Then, the period calculation unit 62c calculates the access period of its own device based on the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 derived above. Note that the period calculation unit 62c may calculate the access period of its own device based on the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 derived above and the area type set by the area setting unit 66. The method of calculating the access period in these cases is the same as in the second embodiment.

[0100] In the third embodiment, as described above, first the generation unit 19 generates a composite value including two pieces of information, namely the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50, and then the transmission unit 14c transmits the composite value simultaneously to the secondary devices 50. As a result, in the third embodiment, the amount of communication (number of communications) can be reduced compared to the case where the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 are transmitted individually.

[0101] The transmitting unit 14c can simultaneously distribute the composite value as the current value of the instance number "60004", which is an instance number of an "AI (Analog Input) object" defined as a standard in BACnet and is previously agreed upon to be used between the general-purpose controller 1c and the operation device 60c. The current value of the AI ​​object is defined as a real-type value in the BACnet definition. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the amount of communication can be reduced by effectively utilizing the existing standard functions of BACnet. In the above, an example in which "60004" is used as the instance number has been described, but other instance numbers may be used as long as they are instance numbers previously agreed upon to be used between the general-purpose controller 1c and the operation device 60c. In the above, an example in which an "AI object" is used as the object type has been described, but other object types (e.g., AO (Analog Output) object or AV (Analog Value) object) may be used as long as they have a real-type current value property and can be transmitted using the COVNotification service. In either case, the engineer stores the object type and instance number to be used in advance in the memory unit 18 of the general-purpose controller 1c, and the transmission unit 14c uses the object type and instance number stored in the memory unit 18 to broadcast the composite value.

[0102] As described above, according to the third embodiment, the general-purpose controller 1c is provided with a generation unit 19 that generates a composite value including information on the total number of each of the controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 for each serial communication line acquired by the acquisition unit 13b, and the transmission unit 14c of the general-purpose controller 1c transmits the composite value generated by the generation unit 19 as a value indicating the total number of the controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 via the corresponding serial communication lines 30A, 30B. The receiving unit 61c of the controller 60c receives the composite value transmitted from the transmitting unit 14c of the general-purpose controller 1c, and the period calculation unit 62c of the controller 60c converts the composite value received by the receiving unit 61c to derive the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50, and calculates the period during which the controller can access the general-purpose controller 1c based on the derived total number of controllers 60c and total number of secondary devices 50. Furthermore, the period calculation unit 62c of the controller 60c converts the composite value received by the receiving unit 61c to derive the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50, and calculates a period during which the controller 60c can access the general-purpose controller 1c based on the derived total number of controllers 60c and total number of secondary devices 50 and the area type set by the area setting unit 66. In this way, in addition to the effect of the second embodiment, the monitoring system 100 can reduce the amount of communication (number of communications) compared to the case where the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 are transmitted separately.

[0103] Furthermore, the generation unit 19 converts each of the total number of controllers 60c and the total number of secondary devices 50 acquired by the acquisition unit 13b into hexadecimal numbers, and generates a composite value by converting the resulting 2-byte value into a decimal number, with the total number of controllers 60c converted into the hexadecimal number as the most significant byte and the total number of secondary devices 50 converted into the hexadecimal number as the least significant byte. This enables the generation unit 19 to efficiently generate a composite value including information on the two total numbers.

[0104] It should be noted that, within the scope of the present invention, the embodiments may be freely combined, any component of each embodiment may be modified, or any component of each embodiment may be omitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0105] 1, 1b, 1c General-purpose controller 11 First Port 12 Second Port 13, 13b Acquisition part 14, 14b, 14c Transmitter 15 Receiving section 16 Response section 17 Transfer section 18 Memory section 19 Generation part 30A, 30B Serial communication line 50 Secondary Devices 60, 60b, 60c controller 61, 61b, 61c Receiver 62, 62b, 62c period calculation section 63 Access Section 64 Memory section 65 Display section 66 Area setting section 70 Communication Line 80 Integrated Controller 100 Surveillance System

Claims

1. A controller; and one or more devices daisy-chained to the controller via a serial communication line, At least one of the devices is configured with an operation unit accessible to the controller; The controller: an acquisition unit that acquires the total number of the controllers connected to the serial communication line; a transmission unit that transmits the total number of controllers acquired by the acquisition unit to at least one controller connected to the serial communication line, The operating device is a receiving unit that receives the total number of the operation devices transmitted from a transmitting unit of the controller; a period calculation unit that calculates a period during which the controller can access the controller based on the total number of the controllers received by the receiving unit; an access unit that accesses the controller in accordance with the period calculated by the period calculation unit; A surveillance system equipped with

2. The period calculation unit 2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring system calculates a longer period during which the controller can access the controller, the greater the total number of the controllers received by the receiving section.

3. The acquisition unit of the controller further acquires a total number of the devices connected to the serial communication line; a transmission unit of the controller transmitting the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices acquired by the acquisition unit to at least one controller connected to the serial communication line; The receiving unit of the controller receiving the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices transmitted from a transmitting unit of the controller; The period calculation unit of the operation device Calculating a period during which the device can access the controller based on the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices received by the receiving unit.

3. The monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The operating device is an area setting unit for setting an area type indicating the number of areas to be monitored by the device in response to a user's instruction; The period calculation unit of the operation device Calculating a period during which the device can access the controller based on the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices received by the receiving unit and the area type set by the area setting unit.

4. The monitoring system according to claim 3.

5. The controller: a generation unit that generates a composite value including information on the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices, based on the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices acquired by the acquisition unit; The transmission unit of the controller Transmitting the composite value generated by the generation unit as a value indicating the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices to at least one controller connected to the serial communication line; a receiving unit of the operation device receiving the composite value transmitted from the transmitting unit of the controller; The period calculation unit of the controller converts the composite value received by the receiving unit to derive the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices; Calculating a period during which the device can access the controller based on the derived total number of controllers and the derived total number of devices.

4. The monitoring system according to claim 3.

6. The controller: a generation unit that generates a composite value including information on the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices, based on the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices acquired by the acquisition unit; The transmission unit of the controller Transmitting the composite value generated by the generation unit as a value indicating the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices to at least one controller connected to the serial communication line; a receiving unit of the operation device receiving the composite value transmitted from the transmitting unit of the controller; The period calculation unit of the controller converts the composite value received by the receiving unit to derive the total number of the controllers and the total number of the devices; Calculating a period during which the device can access the controller based on the derived total number of controllers and the total number of devices and the area type set by the area setting unit.

5. The monitoring system according to claim 4.

7. The generation unit is The monitoring system described in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that a composite value is generated by converting the total number of controllers and the total number of devices acquired by the acquisition unit into hexadecimal numbers, combining the total number of controllers converted into hexadecimal numbers as the most significant byte and the total number of devices converted into hexadecimal numbers as the least significant byte to obtain a 2-byte value, and converting the resulting value into a decimal number.

8. An operating device constituting at least one of one or more devices daisy-chained to a controller by a serial communication line, an acquisition unit that acquires the total number of controllers connected to the same serial communication line as the serial communication line to which the own device is connected; a cycle calculation unit that calculates a cycle during which the device itself can access the controller based on the total number of controllers acquired by the acquisition unit; an access unit that accesses the controller in accordance with the period calculated by the period calculation unit; An operating device equipped with the above.

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