Monitoring and control system

Abstract

To provide a monitoring control system capable of recovering a schedule even if processing stagnates.SOLUTION: A monitoring control system 100 comprises a monitoring control device 20 and an engineering tool 30. The engineering tool 30 comprises fixed cycle processing data 32A, schedule management data 32B, and a fixed-cycle processing instruction unit 33. The monitoring control device 20 comprises a fixed-cycle processing execution unit 21 and a feedback unit 22. The fixed-cycle processing instruction unit 33 determines whether execution of a series of fixed-cycle processing before N-2-th time has stagnated beyond a start schedule time of a series of fixed-cycle processing of N-th time (N is a natural number higher than or equal to 3) performed by the monitoring control device 20. When execution of a series of fixed-cycle processing has stagnated, the fixed-cycled processing instruction unit skips a series of fixed cycle processing of time before N-th time or non-execution time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to a monitoring control system.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, as a monitoring control system for plants and the like, equipment arranged in a plant, a monitoring control device for monitoring and controlling the equipment, and an engineering tool for performing various settings and the like on the monitoring control device have been used. The monitoring control device repeats various processes at regular intervals (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When the periodic processing in the monitoring control device increases, there is a problem that processing delays and stagnation occur. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, in a display device with a control function, by providing priorities for the periodic processing of control processing, important display components are displayed, and control means are provided such that display components with low priorities are also always displayed at a certain period. However, when performing a predetermined periodic process according to a schedule, in the event of processing stagnation, there is a problem that there is no means to resume the schedule, that is, all subsequent processes are delayed more than planned.

[0005] This application discloses a technology for solving the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a monitoring control system that can resume a schedule even if processing stagnation occurs when performing a series of periodic processes according to a schedule.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The monitoring and control system disclosed herein is The system comprises a monitoring and control device that monitors and controls devices connected via a network, and an engineering tool that configures and instructs the monitoring and control device to perform processing. The aforementioned engineering tool is Periodic processing data that records a series of periodic processes, Schedule management data that records a schedule for repeatedly executing the aforementioned series of periodic processes, A data creation unit that creates the aforementioned periodic processing data and the aforementioned schedule management data, The monitoring and control device includes a periodic processing instruction unit that monitors whether the series of periodic processing performed by the monitoring and control device is proceeding according to the schedule, The monitoring and control device includes a periodic processing execution unit that performs the series of periodic processing, The system includes a feedback unit that reports the total execution time of the series of periodic processes to the data creation unit, The periodic processing instruction unit determines, based on the periodic processing data, the schedule management data, and the total execution time, whether a bottleneck has occurred where the series of periodic processing has been executed for N-2 or earlier times beyond the scheduled start time of the Nth (N is a natural number of 3 or more) of the series of periodic processing performed by the monitoring and control device. If a bottleneck has occurred, the unit skips all of the unexecuted sessions of the series of periodic processing for N or earlier times. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the monitoring and control system disclosed herein, even if a delay in processing occurs, the schedule of a series of periodic processing steps can be restored. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows the schematic configuration of the monitoring and control system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] This figure shows the configuration of periodic processing data according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] This figure shows the configuration of periodic processing data according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] This figure shows the configuration of the schedule management data according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 5] The flowchart shows the flow of periodic processing by the monitoring and control system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 6] This figure shows the hardware configuration of the monitoring and control device and engineering tool according to Embodiment 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the monitoring and control system 100 according to Embodiment 1. Figure 2 shows the structure of the periodic processing data 32A, and displays the data in a state where no delay has occurred. Figure 3 shows the structure of the periodic processing data 32A, and illustrates the data in a state where a delay is occurring. Figure 4 shows the structure of the schedule management data 32B.

[0010] This specification primarily describes techniques for recovering from delays that occur in the repetition of a series of periodic processes performed by the monitoring and control device 20, in accordance with the schedule management data 32B created by the engineering tool 30 of the monitoring and control system 100. While periodic processes 1 to 6 are used as an example of the series of periodic processes, this is merely an example.

[0011] The monitoring and control system 100 includes a monitoring and control device 20 that monitors and controls devices 10A to 10X connected via the network 4, and an engineering tool 30 that makes various settings to the monitoring and control device 20 and instructs it to perform processing.

[0012] The engineering tool 30 has a data creation unit 31, a data storage unit 32, and a fixed-period processing instruction unit 33. The data creation unit 31 has a function of creating, maintaining, and updating the fixed-period processing data 32A, and a function of creating and maintaining the schedule management data 32B used to repeatedly execute the fixed-period processes 1 to 6 recorded in the fixed-period processing data 32A. The fixed-period processing data 32A and the schedule management data 32B created by the data creation unit 31 are stored in the data storage unit 32.

[0013] The fixed-period processing data 32A shown in FIG. 2 is data of a series of fixed-period processing groups executed at a fixed period. In the fixed-period processing by the monitoring control device 20, the fixed-period processes 1 to 6 recorded in the fixed-period processing data 32A shown in FIG. 2 are continuously executed as a series of processes, and this series of fixed-period processes 1 to 6 is used as one processing group and repeated according to the schedule recorded in the schedule management data 32B shown in FIG. 4. Note that FIG. 2 shows the content in a state where a series of fixed-period processes 1 to 6 are being normally executed, and FIG. 3 shows a state where a delay described later has occurred.

[0014] In the "Item" column of the fixed-period processing data 32A, the name of the process to be fixed-period processed is recorded. In the "Execution Period" column, the specified execution period of each process is recorded. In this embodiment, the execution periods of all fixed-period processes are basically the same as long as no delay or stay described later occurs. In the "Execution Time" column, when the previous series of fixed-period processes 1 to 6 are executed, the time required for each of the fixed-period processes 1 to 6 is overwritten and saved. In the "Total Fixed-Period Processing Execution Time" column, the total time of the "Execution Time" required for the previous execution of each of the individual fixed-period processes 1 to 6 included in the fixed-period processing data 32A is recorded. This is the time required for the overall execution of the series of fixed-period processes 1 to 6. In the "Delay Tolerance Time" column, the allowable time for delay for determining whether to execute priority processing is recorded, and the details will be described later. The check box in the "Priority" column is used when designating the fixed-period process as the target process for priority processing.

[0015] The schedule management data 32B shown in FIG. 4 indicates a schedule for continuously processing the periodic processes 1 to 6 recorded in the periodic process data 32A as a series of periodic processes. The horizontal axis represents the time axis in units of 500 ms with the scheduled start time of the first series of periodic processes 1 to 6 being set to 0. The vertical axis records, in order from the first time, the planned number of times to execute the series of periodic processes 1 to 6 with one series of periodic processes 1 to 6 being taken as one unit. In FIG. 4, the execution of the first series of periodic processes 1 to 6 is scheduled for the time period from 0 seconds to less than 1 second. The scheduled start time of the second series of periodic processes 1 to 6 is 1 second after the start time of the first series, and the scheduled end time is less than 2 seconds. This shows that for each series of continuously repeated periodic processes 1 to 6, 1 second is scheduled each time. The range of the solid line A in FIG. 4 is the time (time period) between the scheduled start time and the scheduled end time as the relative time with the start time of the first series of periodic processes being 0.

[0016] Below the scheduled time for each round, the time actually taken to execute the series of periodic processes 1 to 6 is recorded. The range of the dashed line B is the time taken to execute all of the periodic processes 1 to 6. The range of the dashed line C is the time taken to execute only the periodic processes 2, 3, and 4 with priority processing specified as shown in FIG. 2. The range marked "skip" indicates that all of the series of periodic processes 1 to 6 scheduled for that time were skipped and not executed.

[0017] The periodic process instruction unit 33 of the engineering tool 30 instructs the monitoring control device 20 to start the above-described series of periodic processes scheduled, execute priority processing, eliminate delays, stop the series of periodic processes, etc. Based on the periodic process data 32A and the schedule management data 32B, the periodic process instruction unit 33 monitors whether the series of periodic processes 1 to 6 performed by the monitoring control device 20 is proceeding as scheduled, and if necessary, issues an instruction to the monitoring control device 20 to attempt to recover from the delay.

[0018] The monitoring and control device 20 includes a periodic processing execution unit 21 and a feedback unit 22. The periodic processing execution unit 21 repeatedly executes a series of periodic processes instructed by the periodic processing instruction unit 33 of the engineering tool 30. That is, in the execution instruction based on the schedule management data 32B in Figure 2, periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 are executed consecutively. When the series of periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 is completed, the feedback unit 22 reports the execution time of each periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 and the total execution time of the series of periodic processing to the data creation unit 31 of the engineering tool 30. Upon receiving this execution time, the data creation unit 31 updates the "execution time" and "total periodic processing execution time" in the periodic processing data 32A.

[0019] When the Nth series of periodic processing is completed, the periodic processing instruction unit 33 compares the scheduled end time (relative time from the start) of the Nth series of periodic processing recorded in the schedule management data 32B of the data storage unit 32 with the actual end time (relative time from the start), and determines how to proceed with the subsequent series of periodic processing.

[0020] Next, we will explain the operation of the series of periodic processing steps. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of a series of periodic processing operations by the monitoring and control system 100. As pre-processing for the series of periodic processing operations, the periodic processing data 32A shown in Figure 2 and the schedule management data 32B shown in Figure 4 are created in advance.

[0021] First, the periodic processing instruction unit 33 of the engineering tool 30 instructs the periodic processing execution unit 21 of the monitoring and control device 20 to start a series of periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 (step S001). At this time, the periodic processing instruction unit 33 passes the names and order of the processing included in the series of periodic processing to be performed by the monitoring and control device 20 to the periodic processing execution unit 21 of the monitoring and control device 20. The periodic processing execution unit 21 then executes the series of periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 in order.

[0022] The periodic processing instruction unit 33 determines whether a delay exceeding the allowable range has occurred in the execution of a series of periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 ("delay" means a state in which the N-1 series of periodic processing is being executed beyond the scheduled start time of the Nth series of periodic processing (where N is a natural number of 2 or more)) (step S002). The allowable range is recorded as "allowable delay time" in the periodic processing data 32A.

[0023] Here, the acceptable range is set to 0.05 seconds or less. Therefore, if the (N-1) series of periodic processes 1 to 6 is executed more than 0.05 seconds after the scheduled start time of the Nth series of periodic processes 1 to 6, the system proceeds to the delay recovery process (Step S002-YES). If the delay is 0.05 seconds or less, which is within the acceptable range, the periodic process instruction unit 33 determines that no delay exceeding the acceptable time has occurred and passes the names (periodic processes 1 to 6) and order of all periodic processes to the periodic process execution unit 21 of the monitoring and control device 20 as targets for the (N+1) series of periodic processes (Step S002-NO-Step S003).

[0024] As shown in Figure 3, if a delay exceeding the acceptable range occurs in the execution of the previous series of periodic processes 1 to 6, the periodic process instruction unit 33 determines whether the delay is greater than or equal to the time allocated to one series of periodic processes (in this case, 1 second), that is, whether a delay has occurred in the series of periodic processes 1 to 6 (step S004). "Delay" refers to a state in which a series of periodic processes prior to the N-2th (where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 3) is being executed beyond the scheduled start time of the Nth (where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 3) series of periodic processes.

[0025] If a delay exceeding the acceptable range occurs but no bottleneck occurs (see step S004-NO, Figure 4, second execution time), the periodic processing instruction unit 33 instructs that only the prioritized periodic processing be executed as the next series of periodic processing (see Figure 4, third execution) (step S005). In this case, the prioritized periodic processing 2, 3, and 4 are those for which the checkbox at the beginning of each processing in the periodic processing data 32A shown in Figure 2 is checked. The next periodic processing will only perform the series of periodic processing 2, 3, and 4 to recover the delay of the overall periodic processing.

[0026] If a delay and a stagnation occur (step S004-YES), all unexecuted cycles of the cycle that have already passed the scheduled start time in the schedule management data 32B are skipped (step S006, see Figure 4, 5th time).

[0027] Then, if there is no scheduled start time for a series of periodic processes within a predetermined time (e.g., 0.3 seconds) from the current time, starting from the start time of the first series of periodic processes (see step S007-NO, Figure 4, the end time of the 4th and execution time of the 6th, with the 5th being skipped), the periodic process instruction unit 33 instructs the periodic process execution unit 21 of the monitoring and control device 20 to execute only the series of periodic processes 2, 3, and 4 that correspond to priority processing (step S005).

[0028] Conversely, if there is a scheduled start time for a series of periodic processing that is scheduled within a predetermined time (e.g., 0.3 seconds) from the current time, starting from the start time of the first series of periodic processing (see step S007-YES, Figure 4, the end time of the 6th time and the 9th time when the 7th and 8th times are skipped), the periodic processing instruction unit 33 waits until that time (step S008) and then instructs the periodic processing execution unit 21 of the monitoring and control device 20 to return to the scheduled series of periodic processing.

[0029] When step S003 or step S005 is completed, the feedback unit 22 of the monitoring and control device 20 transmits to the data creation unit 31 of the engineering tool 30 the time taken for the previous individual periodic processing - periodic processing 6 and the total execution time of the series of periodic processing 1 to periodic processing 6 (step S009). The data creation unit 31 then updates the periodic processing data 32A and the schedule management data 32B.

[0030] Next, the periodic processing instruction unit 33 of the engineering tool 30 determines whether or not a command to cancel the series of periodic processing has been input (step S010). If it has been input, it terminates the processing there (step S010-YES). If it has not been input, it returns to step S001 and continues the next series of periodic processing (step S010-NO).

[0031] The monitoring and control device 20 and the engineering tool 30 are composed of a processor 100A and a storage device 101A, as shown in Figure 6. The storage device 101A includes a volatile storage device such as random access memory (not shown) and a non-volatile auxiliary storage device such as flash memory. Alternatively, a hard disk may be provided as an auxiliary storage device instead of flash memory. The processor 100A executes the program input from the storage device 101A. In this case, the program is input from the auxiliary storage device to the processor 100A via the volatile storage device. The processor 100A may also output data such as calculation results to the volatile storage device of the storage device 101A, or it may save the data to the auxiliary storage device via the volatile storage device.

[0032] According to the monitoring and control system of Embodiment 1, The system comprises a monitoring and control device that monitors and controls devices connected via a network, and an engineering tool that configures and instructs the monitoring and control device to perform processing. The aforementioned engineering tool is Periodic processing data that records a series of periodic processes, Schedule management data that records a schedule for repeatedly executing the aforementioned series of periodic processes, A data creation unit that creates the aforementioned periodic processing data and the aforementioned schedule management data, The monitoring and control device includes a periodic processing instruction unit that monitors whether the series of periodic processing performed by the monitoring and control device is proceeding according to the schedule, The monitoring and control device includes a periodic processing execution unit that performs the series of periodic processing, The system includes a feedback unit that reports the total execution time of the series of periodic processes to the data creation unit, The periodic processing instruction unit determines, based on the periodic processing data, the schedule management data, and the total execution time, whether a bottleneck has occurred where the series of periodic processing has been executed for N-2 or earlier times beyond the scheduled start time of the Nth (N is a natural number of 3 or more) of the series of periodic processing performed by the monitoring and control device. If a bottleneck has occurred, the unit skips all of the unexecuted sessions of the series of periodic processing for N or earlier times, thereby restoring the schedule of the series of periodic processing even if a processing bottleneck occurs. Furthermore, according to the monitoring and control system of Embodiment 1, If the aforementioned delay occurs, and there is a scheduled start time for the series of periodic processes within a predetermined time after the end time of the series of periodic processes, the periodic process instruction unit of the engineering tool instructs the periodic process execution unit of the monitoring and control device to wait until the scheduled start time, thereby forcibly restoring the schedule of the series of periodic processes. Furthermore, according to the monitoring and control system of Embodiment 1, The aforementioned periodic processing data allows for specifying the target of priority processing for each individual periodic processing. If the aforementioned delay occurs, and there is no scheduled start time for the series of periodic processes within a predetermined time after the end time of the series of periodic processes, the periodic process instruction unit of the engineering tool instructs the periodic process execution unit of the monitoring and control device to continue executing only the periodic processes that correspond to priority processes. Therefore, if there is sufficient time before the scheduled start time, the schedule for the series of periodic processes can be restored while making effective use of the time by executing the priority processes. Furthermore, according to the monitoring and control system of Embodiment 1, The aforementioned periodic processing data has a delay tolerance time that indicates the acceptable range of delays for the series of periodic processing. If the delay is within the allowable range, the periodic processing instruction unit will treat it as if no delay has occurred, so in the case of a minor delay, recovery of the delay in the subsequent series of periodic processing can be expected.

[0033] Although this application describes exemplary embodiments, the various features, aspects, and functions described in the embodiments are not limited to the application of any particular embodiment, but can be applied individually or in various combinations to the embodiments. Accordingly, countless variations not illustrated are conceivable within the scope of the art disclosed herein. These include, for example, modifications, additions, or omissions of at least one component. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0034] 100 monitoring and control systems, 10A-10X equipment, 20 monitoring and control devices, 21 Periodic processing execution unit, 22 Feedback unit, 30 Engineering tool, 31 Data creation unit, 32 Data storage unit, 32A Periodic processing data, 32B Schedule management data, 33 Periodic processing instruction unit, 4 Network, 100A processor, 101A memory device.

Claims

1. The system comprises a monitoring and control device that monitors and controls devices connected via a network, and an engineering tool that configures and instructs the monitoring and control device to perform processing. The aforementioned engineering tool is Periodic processing data that records a series of periodic processes, Schedule management data that records a schedule for repeatedly executing the aforementioned series of periodic processes, A data creation unit that creates the aforementioned periodic processing data and the aforementioned schedule management data, The monitoring and control device includes a periodic processing instruction unit that monitors whether the series of periodic processing performed by the monitoring and control device is proceeding according to the schedule, The monitoring and control device includes a periodic processing execution unit that performs the series of periodic processing, The system includes a feedback unit that reports the total execution time of the series of periodic processes to the data creation unit, The periodic processing instruction unit determines, based on the periodic processing data, the schedule management data, and the total execution time, whether a bottleneck has occurred where the series of periodic processing has been executed for N-2 or earlier times beyond the scheduled start time of the Nth (N is a natural number of 3 or more) of the series of periodic processing performed by the monitoring control device, and if a bottleneck has occurred, the monitoring control system skips all of the series of periodic processing for N or earlier times that have not been executed.

2. In the event that the aforementioned delay occurs, if there is a scheduled start time for the series of periodic processes within a predetermined time after the end time of the series of periodic processes, the periodic process instruction unit of the engineering tool instructs the periodic process execution unit of the monitoring and control device to wait until the scheduled start time, as described in claim 1.

3. The aforementioned periodic processing data allows for specifying the target of priority processing for each individual periodic processing. In the event of the aforementioned bottleneck, if there is no scheduled start time for the series of periodic processes within a predetermined time after the end time of the series of periodic processes, the periodic process instruction unit of the engineering tool instructs the periodic process execution unit of the monitoring and control device to continue executing only the periodic processes that correspond to priority processes, as described in claim 1.

4. The aforementioned periodic processing data has a delay tolerance time that indicates the acceptable range of delays for the series of periodic processing. The monitoring and control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein if the delay is within the allowable range, the periodic processing instruction unit processes it as if no delay has occurred.

Images