Monitoring control device and monitoring control system

Abstract

To provide a monitoring control device and a monitoring control system, capable of guaranteeing a long-term operation.SOLUTION: Processes 10 as a program for a monitoring control device, include process monitoring functions 20 of determining whether or not to reactivate the process 10 itself, respectively. In the monitoring control device 50, the process monitoring function 20 includes a threshold definition 31 that records a threshold value for a use state of a resource by the process 10, which is used for determining whether or not to reactivate the process 10, and a determination reference definition 30 that records a determination reference 32 used for determining that an operator of the monitoring control device 50 does not use the process 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present application relates to a supervisory control device and a supervisory control system. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, computer program processes within a monitoring and control system dynamically acquire and release resources such as memory, handles, file pointers, and GDI objects from the system as they perform their processing. However, there are cases where a process dynamically acquires a resource, performs processing, and then does not release the resource even though it is no longer needed, leaving the process retained. This failure to release a resource is called a resource leak.

[0003] The leaked resources are occupied by the process that acquired them, and other processes cannot use them until that process terminates. Therefore, if a leak occurs in a process that resides in the system, the resources available to the system will continue to decrease, eventually running out of resources and causing the system to abnormally terminate.

[0004] Therefore, these leaks can have a serious impact on monitoring and control systems for plants, etc., which are designed to run for long periods of time. However, because the processes that make up the system are diverse, including open source software and purchased software, it is extremely difficult to build a system that guarantees zero resource leaks for all processes.

[0005] Therefore, as a conventional technique, a process management method has been proposed that addresses resource leaks so as to reduce the impact even if a resource leak occurs. For example, in Patent Document 1, each process running on a system has a function to monitor the usage of resources such as memory, either internally or as an independent function (process) on the system. These monitoring functions monitor the resource usage of the target process in accordance with upper limit definitions separately prepared by the system, and restart the process if necessary.

[0006] The system prepares an upper limit definition in advance in the form of a file or shared memory. This upper limit definition includes thresholds for which processes are subject to resource leak response (restart), the extent to which the processes must use resources such as memory before restarting, the duration for which the processes must run, and the number of times the processes must be processed before restarting (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-75823 A (0012-0013, 0019-0020, 0023-0025) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] In the process management method for dealing with resource leaks as described above, the process is restarted when the resource usage threshold is exceeded. This means that the process may be suddenly restarted while an operator is performing plant monitoring and control operations, which can cause disruption to the operator's work.

[0009] The present application discloses technology for solving the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a monitoring control device and a monitoring control system that can release unnecessary resources and ensure long-term operation of the system by restarting those processes in a way that does not affect the monitoring and control operations performed by the operator, even if a resource leak occurs in some processes and puts strain on system resources. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The monitoring control device disclosed in the present application comprises: A monitoring control device used for monitoring and controlling a runt, Each process, which is a program of the monitoring and control device, has a process monitoring function that determines whether or not to restart the process itself; The monitoring control device includes a threshold definition that records a threshold value of resource usage by the process, which is used by the process monitoring function to determine whether or not to restart the process, and a judgment criterion definition that records a judgment criterion that the process monitoring function uses to determine that the process is not being used by an operator of the monitoring control device. picture, A resource management definition change function is provided for changing the contents of the threshold definition and the judgment criteria definition while the process is running. It is something. The monitoring and control system disclosed in the present application comprises: the monitoring control device; The system includes a monitored device connected to the monitoring control device via a network. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the monitoring control device and monitoring control system disclosed in the present application, even if a resource leak occurs in some processes and puts strain on system resources, those processes can be restarted in a way that does not affect the monitoring control operations performed by the operator, thereby freeing up unnecessary resources and ensuring long-term operation of the system. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring and control system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring and control device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the process management operation of the monitoring and control device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a threshold definition for resource usage according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a criterion definition for determining a usage state by an operator according to the first embodiment [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the process management operation of the monitoring and control device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function according to the second embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is an image diagram illustrating the process management operation of the monitoring and control device according to the third embodiment. [Figure 10] 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function according to the third embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is an image diagram illustrating the process management operation of the monitoring and control device according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is an image diagram illustrating the process management operation of the monitoring and control device according to the fifth embodiment. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function according to the fifth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Embodiment 1 A monitoring control device and a monitoring control system according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring and control system 100. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitoring and control device 50. As shown in FIG. The monitoring and control system 100 includes a monitoring and control device 50 used for monitoring and controlling a plant or the like, and monitored devices 51A, 51B, etc. connected to the monitoring and control device 50 via a network 4. An operator uses the monitoring and control device 50 to monitor and control the monitored devices 51A, 51B.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring control device 50 has a processor 52 which is a computing device, a display device 53 which displays a monitoring screen, an input device 54 which is operated by an operator, and a storage device 55 which stores data and the like.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the process management operation of the monitoring and control device 50. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the resource usage threshold definition 31. As shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the operator's definition 32 of criteria for determining the state of use. The monitoring control device 50 includes, in the resource management definition 30, not only a threshold definition 31 of resource usage (hereinafter simply referred to as threshold definition 31), but also a usage status judgment criterion definition 32 (hereinafter simply referred to as judgment criterion definition 32) that judges the process management operation based on the usage status of the monitoring control device 50 by the operator. In addition, each process 10, which is one unit of the program of the monitoring control device 50, includes a process monitoring function 20.

[0016] Then, when the process monitoring function 20 determines that the resource usage of the monitoring control device 50 has exceeded the value defined in the threshold definition 31, it checks whether the conditions in the judgment criterion definition 32 are also met before restarting the process 10. Only when the conditions in the judgment criterion definition 32 are met (when the operator is not operating the process 10), does the process 10 itself restart.

[0017] Next, the restart operation of the process 10 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function 20 according to the first embodiment. When the process monitoring function 20 of each process 10 is started, it first reads the threshold definition 31 and the judgment criterion definition 32 (S0010). Next, it acquires the resource usage status of its own process 10 from the system of the monitoring control device 50 (S0020), and checks whether these values ​​exceed the threshold recorded in the threshold definition 31 (S0030), and further checks whether they satisfy the judgment criterion recorded in the judgment criterion definition 32 for determining that the operator is not performing a monitoring control operation (S0040).

[0018] If either of these two conditions is not met, the process waits for a certain period of time (S0050) and then repeats the process of obtaining the resource usage status (S0020) and subsequent steps.If both conditions are met, the process monitoring function 20 of the process 10 restarts itself (S0060) at that point, thereby releasing the resources that are straining the monitoring control device 50 system.

[0019] According to the monitoring control device 50 and monitoring control system 100 of the first embodiment, even if a resource leak occurs in the monitoring control device 50, restarting of the process 10 while the operator is performing a monitoring control operation is suppressed, and restarting is performed during a time period when no operation is being performed, allowing the operator to continue performing their work. Also, because only necessary processes can be restarted when the operator is not performing their work, resources can be released in a short time.

[0020] Embodiment 2 A monitoring control device and a monitoring control system according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the process management operation of the monitoring control device 50 according to the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the threshold definition 31 and the judgment criterion definition 32 of the resource management definition 30 were fixed, and the contents of each definition could not be dynamically changed later by an operator. Therefore, in the second embodiment, a resource management definition change function 240 is provided so that the threshold definition 31 and the judgment criterion definition 32 can be dynamically changed without restarting the process 10 in the monitoring control device 50 even while the monitoring control system 100 is in operation.

[0021] Next, the restart operation of the process 10 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function 20. When the process monitoring function 20 of each process 10 is started, it first reads the threshold definition 31 and the judgment criterion definition 32 (S0010). Next, it acquires the resource usage status of its own process 10 from the system of the monitoring control device 50 (S0020), and checks whether these values ​​exceed the threshold recorded in the threshold definition 31 (S0030), and further checks whether they satisfy the judgment criterion recorded in the judgment criterion definition 32 for determining that the operator is not performing a monitoring control operation (S0040).

[0022] If either of these conditions is not met, the process waits for a certain period of time (S0050) and then repeats the process of obtaining the resource usage status (S0020) and subsequent steps. At this time, if the data in the threshold definition 31 or judgment criterion definition 32 is rewritten during the monitoring loop R, a judgment is made in S0030 based on the new threshold and judgment criterion. If both conditions are met, the process monitoring function 20 of the process 10 restarts itself at that point (S0060), thereby releasing the resources that are straining the monitoring control device 50 system.

[0023] According to the monitoring control device 50 and monitoring control system 100 of embodiment 2, in addition to the effects described in embodiment 1, even if an operator changes the threshold of the threshold definition 31 or the contents of the judgment criterion definition 32, the resource management definition change function 240 makes it possible to monitor and restart the process 10 according to the new changed threshold and judgment criterion.

[0024] Embodiment 3 A supervisory control device and a supervisory control system according to the third embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the process management operation of the monitoring and control device 50 according to the third embodiment. In the first embodiment, when a resource leak occurs and the process monitoring function 20 attempts to restart the process 10, there is no means for the operator to cancel the restart immediately beforehand, even if there is an inconvenience on the operator's side, such as an emergency situation at the plant.

[0025] Therefore, in this embodiment 3, just before the process 10 is restarted, the process monitoring function 20 displays a warning message on the screen on which the operator is performing monitoring control, indicating that the process 10 will be restarted, giving the operator time to cancel the restart.

[0026] This warning message is a time-limited message, and the display of how many seconds until the restart will occur is dynamically counted down. When the time has elapsed (when the remaining seconds reach 0 seconds), the message is cleared and process 10 is immediately restarted.

[0027] Furthermore, if the operator cancels the restart of the process 10, the process monitoring function 20 will resume monitoring the resource usage status after pausing for a certain period of time (in units of several hours). The number of seconds remaining to be displayed in the message and the number of hours to pause when canceled are managed separately in a definition file or the like (which may be included in the threshold definition 31).

[0028] Next, the restart operation of the process 10 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function 20. As in the first embodiment, when the process monitoring function 20 of each process 10 is started, it first reads the threshold definition 31 and the judgment criterion definition 32 (S0010). Next, it acquires the resource usage status of its own process 10 from the system of the monitoring control device 50 (S0020), and checks whether these values ​​exceed the thresholds recorded in the threshold definition 31 (S0030), and further checks whether they satisfy the judgment criterion recorded in the judgment criterion definition 32 for determining that the operator is not performing a monitoring control operation (S0040).

[0029] If either of these conditions is not met, the process waits for a certain period of time (S0050) and then repeats the process of obtaining the resource usage status (S0020) and subsequent steps. If both conditions are met, a message is displayed indicating that the process 10 will be restarted (S3070). If the restart is explicitly canceled by the operator within a predetermined period of time (S3080-YES), the process waits for a certain period of time (S3090) and returns to the monitoring loop R from S0020. If the restart is not canceled (S3080-NO), the process restarts the process 10 (S0060) as before. By having the process monitoring function 20 restart the process 10 itself, resources that are straining the system of the monitoring control device 50 are released.

[0030] According to the monitoring control device 50 and monitoring control system 100 of the third embodiment, even if the process monitoring function 20 determines to restart the process 10 due to a resource leak or the like, if this is inconvenient for the operator's work, the operator can cancel the restart of the process 10. This allows the monitoring work to continue smoothly, and then the process 10 can be restarted when it does not interfere with the work.

[0031] Embodiment 4 A monitoring control device and a monitoring control system according to a fourth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing the process management operation of the monitoring and control device 50 according to the fourth embodiment. In the first to third embodiments, when a resource leak occurs and the process monitoring function 20 restarts the process 10, the state of the screen layout of the process 10 immediately before the restart is not confirmed. Therefore, if the process 10 displays multiple windows on the desktop screen of the display device 53, the screen layout is lost due to the restart.

[0032] Therefore, if the operator does not notice the restart of process 10, there is a risk that the operator may think that the window has suddenly disappeared. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, in order to solve the problem of the window being erased, the screen layout of the desktop screen of display device 53 can be maintained before and after the restart of process 10.

[0033] In this fourth embodiment, just before the process monitoring function 20 restarts the target process 10, the process monitoring function 20 saves the position, size, and display content of the window that the process 10 is displaying on the desktop screen of the display device 53 in the screen layout information 440, and then restarts the process 10.

[0034] After restarting, process 10 determines whether screen layout information 440 has been saved, and if so, restores the screen layout as described in the information.

[0035] Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function 20. When the process monitoring function 20 of each process 10 is started, it first attempts to read the screen layout information 440 (S4100). If the screen layout information 440 cannot be acquired (S4110-NO), the resource management definition (S0010) is acquired as in the first embodiment, and the monitoring loop R from S0020 onwards is started. If the screen layout information 440 can be acquired (S4110-YES), each window is arranged on the desktop screen according to the screen layout information 440 (S4120), and the resource management definition (S0010) is acquired as in the first embodiment, and the monitoring loop R from S0020 onwards is started.

[0036] When the process monitoring function 20 of each process 10 is started, it first reads the threshold definition 31 and the judgment criterion definition 32 (S0010). Next, it acquires the resource usage status of its own process 10 from the system of the monitoring control device 50 (S0020), and checks whether these values ​​exceed the threshold recorded in the threshold definition 31 (S0030), and further checks whether they satisfy the judgment criterion recorded in the judgment criterion definition 32 for determining that the operator is not performing a monitoring control operation (S0040).

[0037] If either of these conditions is not met, the process waits for a certain period of time (S0050) and then repeats the process of obtaining the resource usage status (S0020) and subsequent steps.If both conditions are met, the process saves the window position, size, and display content of the window that its own process 10 is displaying on the desktop screen in screen layout information 440 (S4130) before restarting the process (S0060).

[0038] At that point, the process monitoring function 20 of the process 10 restarts itself, thereby releasing the resources that are straining the system of the monitoring and control device 50.

[0039] According to the monitoring control device 50 and monitoring control system 100 of embodiment 4, even if the process 10 is restarted, the screen layout used by the operator before the restart can be maintained, so that the operator can perform monitoring control tasks seamlessly without feeling any discomfort.

[0040] Embodiment 5. A supervisory control device and a supervisory control system according to the fifth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing the process management operation of the monitoring and control device 50 according to the fifth embodiment. The process 10 of the system of the monitoring and control device 50 is designed to remain resident and operate for a long time, and various initialization processes must be performed at startup. It may take several tens of seconds from the time the process 10 is started until it is actually available for use by the operator.

[0041] Therefore, in the first to fourth embodiments, after a resource leak occurs and process 10 is restarted, an operator is unable to perform operations for several tens of seconds until process 10 actually becomes available for use. Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, a process 10B that is the same as process 10A is temporarily started in duplicate, and processing is switched to process 10B before process 10A terminates, thereby eliminating the waiting time that occurs during restart of process 10A in the first to fourth embodiments. Note that process 10A and process 10B, which will be described in detail below, are the same process as described above, and the reference numerals 10A and 10B are changed to distinguish between the duplicated processes 10. The same applies to process monitoring functions 20A and 20B.

[0042] Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the process monitoring function 20. In the monitoring loop R, the process monitoring function 20A acquires the resource usage status of its own process 10A from the system of the monitoring control device 50 (S0020), as in the first to fourth embodiments, and checks whether those values ​​exceed the thresholds recorded in the threshold definition 31 (S0030) and whether they satisfy the criteria recorded in the criteria definition 32 for determining that the operator is not performing a monitoring control operation (S0040). If both of these conditions are satisfied, the process monitoring function 20A of the process 10A starts a process 10B that operates in the same way as the process 10A (S5170), and waits until it receives a termination instruction from the started process 10B (S5180).

[0043] The started process 10B waits until the initialization process is completed (S5140), and checks whether another process 10 is being started twice (S5150). In this case, since the process 10A is started, the process proceeds to S5150-YES.

[0044] Next, the process monitoring function 20B of the process 10B instructs the other process 10A to terminate (S5160).

[0045] The process monitoring function 20A of the process 10A that has received the end instruction checks again whether the criteria recorded in the criteria definition 32 for determining that the operator is not performing a monitoring control operation are met (S5190).

[0046] If the criteria are not met, i.e., if the operator is operating (S5190-NO), S5190 is repeated. If the criteria are met (S5190-YES), the process monitoring function 20A of the process 10A terminates the process 10A (S5210). Since the process 10B has already started, the monitoring loop R is continued by the process monitoring function 20B of the process 10B.

[0047] According to the monitoring control device and monitoring control system 100 of embodiment 5, even if a resource leak or the like occurs in the monitoring control device 50 process 10 and it becomes necessary to restart it, the same process is started twice in advance, and processing is switched and taken over, so the operator can perform operator duties without any gaps without being aware of the restart of process 10 (temporary double start).

[0048] Although the present application describes various exemplary embodiments and examples, the various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more embodiments are not limited to application to a particular embodiment, but may be applied to the embodiments alone or in various combinations. Therefore, countless variations not illustrated are conceivable within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application, including, for example, cases where at least one component is modified, added, or omitted, and cases where at least one component is extracted and combined with a component of another embodiment.

[0049] Various aspects of the present disclosure are summarized below as appendices. Appendix 1 A monitoring and control device used for monitoring and controlling a plant, Each process, which is a program of the monitoring and control device, has a process monitoring function that determines whether or not to restart the process itself; The monitoring control device is equipped with a threshold definition that records the threshold value of resource usage by the process, which the process monitoring function uses to determine whether to restart the process, and a judgment criteria definition that records the judgment criteria used by the process monitoring function to determine that the process is not being used by an operator of the monitoring control device. Appendix 2 2. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, wherein the process monitoring function restarts the process when the resource usage by the process exceeds the threshold and satisfies the conditions of the judgment criterion. Appendix 3 3. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, further comprising a resource management definition change function for changing the contents of the threshold definition and the judgment criterion definition while the process is running. Appendix 4 4. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, wherein the process monitoring function displays a warning message indicating that the process will be restarted before the process is restarted. Appendix 5 5. The monitoring and control device according to claim 4, wherein the process monitoring function is capable of canceling the restart. Appendix 6 the monitoring and control device includes screen layout information that stores the position, size, and display content of a window that the process displays on a desktop screen of a display device immediately before the process is restarted by the process monitoring function; 6. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, wherein the process restores a screen layout based on the screen layout information after a restart. Appendix 7 10. The monitoring control device according to claim 1, wherein the process monitoring function starts a duplicate process identical to the process before the process is terminated, and the duplicated process takes over processing. Appendix 8 The monitoring and control device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 6; A monitoring and control system comprising a monitored device connected to the monitoring and control device via a network. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 100 monitoring and control system, 50 monitoring and control device, 10, 10A, 10B process, 20,20A Process monitoring function, 240 Resource management definition change function, 30 Resource management definition, 31 Threshold definition, 32 Criteria definition, 4 Network, 440 Screen layout information, 51A, 51B Monitored device, 52 Processor, 53 display device, 54 input device, 55 storage device, R monitoring loop.

Claims

1. A monitoring and control device used for monitoring and controlling a plant, Each process, which is a program of the monitoring and control device, has a process monitoring function that determines whether or not to restart the process itself; the monitoring control device includes a threshold definition that records a threshold value of resource usage by the process, which is used by the process monitoring function to determine whether or not to restart the process, and a judgment criterion definition that records a judgment criterion that the process monitoring function uses to determine that the process is not being used by an operator of the monitoring control device; A monitoring and control device having a resource management definition change function that changes the contents of the threshold definition and the judgment criterion definition while the process is running.

2. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1 , wherein the process monitoring function restarts the process when the resource usage by the process exceeds the threshold and satisfies the condition of the judgment criterion.

3. 2. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, wherein the process monitoring function displays a warning message indicating that the process will be restarted before the process is restarted.

4. The monitoring and control device according to claim 3 , wherein the process monitoring function is capable of canceling the restart.

5. the monitoring and control device has screen layout information that stores the position, size, and display content of a window that the process displays on a desktop screen of a display device immediately before the process is restarted by the process monitoring function; 2. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, wherein the process restores the screen layout of the display device based on the screen layout information after the process is restarted.

6. 2. The monitoring and control device according to claim 1, wherein the process monitoring function starts a duplicate process identical to the process before the process is terminated, and takes over processing to the duplicated process.

7. The monitoring and control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6; A monitoring and control system comprising a monitored device connected to the monitoring and control device via a network.

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