Power monitoring device

Abstract

The power supply monitoring device (1A) includes a power supply unit (11-1), control units (12-1, 12-2) that operate with power supplied from the power supply unit (11-1), and a switching unit (13-1) that performs switching control to switch between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the power supply unit (11-1) to each of the control units (12-1, 12-2) and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off in response to a switching request output by the control units (12-1, 12-2), and is connected in parallel with the switching unit (13-1); The power supply circuit is characterized by comprising a switching unit (13-2) that performs switching control to switch between a conductive state and a cut-off state in response to a switching request output by the control units (12-1, 12-2), a masking unit (14-1) that disables the switching control by the switching unit (13-1) in response to a first masking request output by the control unit (12-1), and a masking unit (14-2) that disables the switching control by the switching unit (13-2) in response to a second masking request output by the control unit (12-2).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a power supply monitoring device that monitors abnormalities in power supply from a power supply unit. [Background technology]

[0002] Some control devices with built-in control means such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), have redundant control units to provide users with higher safety. By making the control units redundant, even if one of the control units experiences an abnormality, it is possible to maintain safe operation and safely stop the abnormal control unit. In addition, a power supply monitoring function is provided that monitors the power supplied to the control unit, detects an abnormal state, and cuts off the power supply to the control unit. In addition to the power supply monitoring function, some devices also have a function to diagnose whether the function is operating normally.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a power supply path is divided into two to provide a redundant configuration for a CPU circuit, a power cutoff circuit, and a power monitoring circuit, and which diagnoses whether the power monitoring function is operating normally. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-021308 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technology, the power supply to one of the redundant control units is cut off during diagnosis, causing the other control unit to stop. After the diagnosis is completed, the power is supplied again to restart the device, but restarting takes time. Thus, there is a problem that the redundant configuration of the control units is not maintained during diagnosis, compromising the safety of the device with redundant control units and impeding high-speed information processing by the control units.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to obtain a power supply monitoring device that can maintain the safety of a redundant control unit and continue high-speed information processing when diagnosing that the power supply monitoring function for a redundant control unit is operating normally. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the power supply monitoring device of the present disclosure is characterized by comprising a first power supply unit that supplies power, a first control unit that operates with power supplied from the first power supply unit, a second control unit that operates with power supplied from the first power supply unit, a first switching unit that performs switching control to switch between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the first power supply unit to each of the first control unit and the second control unit and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off in response to switching requests output by the first control unit and the second control unit, a second switching unit connected in parallel with the first switching unit and that performs switching control to switch between a conductive state and a cut-off state in response to switching requests output by the first control unit and the second control unit, a first mask unit that disables switching control from the conductive state to the cut-off state by the first switching unit in response to a first mask request output by the first control unit, and a second mask unit that disables switching control from the conductive state to the cut-off state by the second switching unit in response to a second mask request output by the second control unit. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The power supply monitoring device of the present invention has the advantage that, when diagnosing that the power supply monitoring function for a redundant control unit is operating normally, it is possible to maintain the safety of the redundant control unit and continue high-speed information processing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a first embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device shown in FIG. 3. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a third embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device shown in FIG. 7. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a seventh embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to an eighth embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a ninth embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a tenth embodiment. [Figure 16]FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to an eleventh embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device according to a twelfth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A power supply monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Embodiment 1 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1A according to embodiment 1. The power supply monitoring device 1A includes a power supply unit 11-1, control units 12-1 and 12-2, switching units 13-1 and 13-2, and mask units 14-1 and 14-2.

[0012] The power supply unit 11-1 supplies power to the control units 12-1 and 12-2.

[0013] The control units 12-1 and 12-2 are driven by power supplied from the power supply unit 11-1. The control units 12-1 and 12-2 will be described in detail later.

[0014] The switching unit 13-1 is connected to a power supply path between the power supply unit 11-1 and the control units 12-1 and 12-2. The switching unit 13-1 performs switching control to switch between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the power supply unit 11-1 to each of the control units 12-1 and 12-2 and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off. The function of the switching control by the switching unit 13-1 is called a first cut-off function. The switching unit 13-1 can switch between the conductive state and the cut-off state in response to a switching request requesting switching between the conductive state and the cut-off state. In this embodiment, the switching unit 13-1 switches between the conductive state and the cut-off state in response to a first cut-off request or a second cut-off request, which is an example of a switching request.

[0015] The switching unit 13-2 is connected in parallel with the switching unit 13-1 to a power supply path between the power supply unit 11-1 and the control units 12-1 and 12-2. The switching unit 13-2 performs switching control to switch between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the power supply unit 11-1 to each of the control units 12-1 and 12-2 and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off. The function of the switching control by the switching unit 13-2 is called a second cut-off function. The switching unit 13-2 can switch between a conductive state and a cut-off state in response to a switching request. In this embodiment, the switching unit 13-2 switches between a conductive state and a cut-off state in response to a first cut-off request or a second cut-off request, which is an example of a switching request.

[0016] The mask unit 14-1 can disable the switching control from the conductive state to the cutoff state by the switching unit 13-1 in response to the first mask request output by the control unit 12-1. The mask unit 14-1 is provided on a path that transmits the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request output by the control units 12-1 and 12-2 to the switching unit 13-1. The mask unit 14-1 has a first mask function that can switch between a conductive state in which the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request output by the control units 12-1 and 12-2 are transmitted to the switching unit 13-1 and a cutoff state in which the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request are cut off. When the mask unit 14-1 cuts off the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request, even if the control units 12-1 and 12-2 output the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request, they are not transmitted to the switching unit 13-1, so that the switching control by the switching unit 13-1 is disabled.

[0017] The mask unit 14-2 can disable the switching control from the conductive state to the cutoff state by the switching unit 13-2 in response to the second mask request output by the control unit 12-2. The mask unit 14-2 is provided on a path that transmits the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request output by the control units 12-1 and 12-2 to the switching unit 13-2. The mask unit 14-2 has a second mask function that can switch between a conductive state in which the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request output by the control units 12-1 and 12-2 are transmitted to the switching unit 13-2 and a cutoff state in which the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request are cut off. When the mask unit 14-2 cuts off the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request, even if the control units 12-1 and 12-2 output the first cutoff request and the second cutoff request, they are not transmitted to the switching unit 13-2, so that the switching control by the switching unit 13-2 is disabled.

[0018] Here, the details of the control units 12-1 and 12-2 will be described. The control unit 12-1 has a cutoff request function 121-1, which is a function capable of outputting a first cutoff request that requests switching between the conductive state and the cutoff state of the switching units 13-1 and 13-2. The control unit 12-1 also has a mask request function 122-1, which is a function capable of outputting a first mask request that requests the first cutoff request transmitted from the control unit 12-1 to the switching unit 13-1 and the second cutoff request transmitted from the control unit 12-2 to the switching unit 13-1 to be made conductive and cutoff. It can also be said that the first mask request requests that the switching control by the switching unit 13-1 be disabled.

[0019] The control unit 12-2 also has a cutoff request function 121-2 which is a function capable of outputting a second cutoff request which requests switching between the conductive state and the cutoff state of the switching units 13-1 and 13-2. The control unit 12-2 also has a mask request function 122-2 which is a function capable of outputting a second mask request which requests the first cutoff request transmitted from the control unit 12-1 to the switching unit 13-2 and the second cutoff request transmitted from the control unit 12-2 to the switching unit 13-2 to be made conductive and cutoff. It can also be said that the second mask request requests that the switching control by the switching unit 13-2 be disabled.

[0020] Control units 12-1, 12-2 can cut off the power supply from power supply unit 11-1 using cut-off request functions 121-1, 121-2, and can also use cut-off request function 121-1 and mask request function 122-1, or cut-off request function 121-2 and mask request function 122-2, to cut off only one of switching unit 13-1 or switching unit 13-2 while maintaining the power supply.

[0021] When cutting off the power supply to switching units 13-1 and 13-2, control unit 12-1 outputs a first cut-off request or control unit 12-2 outputs a second cut-off request, causing the first cut-off function of switching unit 13-1 and the second cut-off function of switching unit 13-2 to function, thereby transitioning switching units 13-1 and 13-2 to a cut-off state.

[0022] When only switching unit 13-2 is cut off while maintaining the power supply to control units 12-1 and 12-2, first, control unit 12-1 outputs a first mask request to mask unit 14-1. As a result, mask unit 14-1 transitions to a cut-off state and the switching control of switching unit 13-1 is disabled. In this state, control unit 12-1 outputs a first cut-off request. As a result, the first cut-off request is not transmitted to switching unit 13-1, and only switching unit 13-2 transitions to a cut-off state in response to the first cut-off request. At this time, switching unit 13-2 is in a cut-off state and switching unit 13-1 is in a conductive state, so that power supply is maintained to control units 12-1 and 12-2 via switching unit 13-1.

[0023] When only the switching unit 13-1 is cut off while maintaining the power supply to the control units 12-1 and 12-2, similarly to the case of cutting off only the switching unit 13-2 described above, the control unit 12-2 first outputs a second mask request to the mask unit 14-2. As a result, the mask unit 14-2 transitions to a cut-off state, and the switching control of the switching unit 13-2 is disabled. In this state, the control unit 12-2 outputs a second cut-off request. As a result, the second cut-off request is not transmitted to the switching unit 13-2, and only the switching unit 13-1 transitions to a cut-off state in response to the second cut-off request. At this time, the switching unit 13-1 is in a cut-off state and the switching unit 13-2 is in a conductive state, so that the power supply to the control units 12-1 and 12-2 is maintained via the switching unit 13-2.

[0024] Furthermore, various states can be realized by combining the connections of each request. For example, it is possible to shut down only the switching unit 13-2 by a first mask request from the control unit 12-1 and a second shut-off request from the control unit 12-2, and it is also possible to shut down only the switching unit 13-1 by a second mask request from the control unit 12-2 and a first shut-off request from the control unit 12-1.

[0025] If an abnormality occurs in either the control units 12-1, 12-2 or the mask units 14-1, 14-2, resulting in an unstable situation in which the originally intended operation cannot be performed, both of the switching units 13-1, 13-2 will be shut off in any operation resulting from the combination of the above-mentioned requests, thereby improving the reliability of the power supply monitoring device 1A and the control equipment incorporating the power supply monitoring device 1A.

[0026] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the power supply monitoring device 1A is realized using a power supply circuit 91-1, control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, interruption circuits 93-1 and 93-2, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1 and 94-2, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, and peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2.

[0027] The power supply circuit 91-1 is, for example, a circuit such as a DC stabilized power supply device installed outside the control device to supply power to the control device, a linear regulator circuit that steps down the voltage supplied from the DC stabilized power supply device, a switching regulator circuit that steps up or down the voltage, or an AC power supply installed outside the control device.

[0028] The control circuits 92-1, 92-2 are, for example, circuits realized by a microcomputer, elements such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a logic IC (Integrated Circuit) that drives an output circuit with a predetermined logic in response to an external input.

[0029] The interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2 are realized by, for example, switches configured with field effect transistors (MOSFETs), and are circuits that can control switching between a conductive state and a cutoff state by controlling a gate voltage from the outside.

[0030] The power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2 are, for example, power supply monitoring ICs, and are voltage comparison circuits such as circuits that have terminals for identifying overvoltage and undervoltage conditions by comparing the voltage of the monitored object with an arbitrarily determined reference voltage, and that can output a signal that can distinguish the result of the voltage monitoring by two voltage signal values, H level and L level.

[0031] The mask circuits 95-1, 95-2 are realized, for example, by open-drain connection of MOSFETs, and output a signal that can distinguish the first shutoff request from the control circuit 92-1 based on the binary voltage signal value of H level or L level, and output a second shutoff request from the control circuit 92-2 based on the binary voltage signal value of H level or L level. By controlling the gate voltage from the outside, the output signals indicating the first shutoff request and the second shutoff request are forcibly set to L level, thereby masking the first shutoff request and the second shutoff request and not outputting them to the shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2, and disabling the switching control of the shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2.

[0032] The peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2 are, for example, memory circuits and are circuits that assist the functions of the control circuits 92-1 and 92-2 by communicating with the control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, respectively.

[0033] The power output from power supply circuit 91-1 is input to interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2. When interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2 are in a conductive state, they supply power from power supply circuit 91-1 to control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, respectively, and when in a cut-off state, the power supply is cut off in interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2, which are in a cut-off state. Since interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2 are connected in parallel, power is supplied to control circuits 92-1 and 92-2 when at least one of interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2 is in a conductive state.

[0034] The control circuit 92-1 has a shutoff request function 921-1, and can arbitrarily control and output the voltage monitoring result of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-2 by a first shutoff request. This can be realized, for example, by controlling the enable of the IC of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-2, or by changing the voltage division ratio of the power supply that is input and monitored after being divided by a resistor by making a MOSFET conductive. The power supply monitoring circuit 94-2 recognizes an overvoltage or undervoltage state upon receiving the first shutoff request from the control circuit 92-1, and can communicate the first shutoff request to the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2. This allows the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2 to transition their switches to the shutoff state.

[0035] The control circuit 92-2 has a shutoff request function 921-2, and can arbitrarily control and output the voltage monitoring result of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-1 by a second shutoff request. This can be realized, for example, by controlling the enable of the IC of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-1, or by changing the voltage division ratio of the power supply that is input and monitored after being divided by a resistor by making a MOSFET conductive. The power supply monitoring circuit 94-1 recognizes an overvoltage or undervoltage state upon receiving the second shutoff request from the control circuit 92-2, and can communicate the second shutoff request to the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2. This allows the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2 to transition their switches to the shutoff state.

[0036] The control circuit 92-1 has a mask request function 922-1 and can shut off a second shutoff request communicated from the control circuit 92-2 to the shutoff circuit 93-1 via the power supply monitoring circuit 94-1 or a first shutoff request signal communicated from the control circuit 92-1 to the shutoff circuit 93-1 via the power supply monitoring circuit 94-2 by operating the mask circuit 95-1. This makes it possible to selectively prevent the shutoff circuit 93-1 from transitioning to the shutoff state in response to the first shutoff request or the second shutoff request communicated from the control circuit 92-1 or the control circuit 92-2.

[0037] The control circuit 92-2 has a mask request function 922-2 and can shut off a first shutoff request signal communicated from the control circuit 92-1 to the shutoff circuit 93-2 via the power supply monitoring circuit 94-2 or a second shutoff request signal communicated from the control circuit 92-2 to the shutoff circuit 93-2 via the power supply monitoring circuit 94-1 by operating the mask circuit 95-2. This makes it possible to selectively prevent the shutoff circuit 93-2 from transitioning to the shutoff state in response to the first shutoff request or the second shutoff request communicated from the control circuit 92-1 or the control circuit 92-2.

[0038] The control circuit 92-1 also has a communication function 923-1 and communicates with the peripheral circuit 96-1, while the control circuit 92-2 has a communication function 923-2 and communicates with the peripheral circuit 96-2.

[0039] As described above, by using a circuit having a configuration as shown in FIG. 2, for example, it is possible to realize a power supply monitoring device 1A having the functions shown in FIG.

[0040] As described above, power supply monitoring device 1A according to the first embodiment includes power supply unit 11-1 which is a first power supply unit that supplies power, control unit 12-1 which is a first control unit that operates with power supplied from power supply unit 11-1, control unit 12-2 which is a second control unit that operates with power supplied from power supply unit 11-1, switching unit 13-1 which is a first switching unit that performs switching control between a conductive state in which power is supplied from power supply unit 11-1 to control units 12-1 and 12-2 and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off in response to a first cut-off request and a second cut-off request which are switching requests output by control units 12-1 and 12-2, and switching unit 13- The power supply unit 11-1 is connected in parallel with the control unit 12-1 and is a second switching unit that performs switching control between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the power supply unit 11-1 to the control units 12-1 and 12-2 and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off in response to a first cut-off request and a second cut-off request output by the control units 12-1 and 12-2, a masking unit 14-1 that is a first masking unit that disables the switching control by the switching unit 13-1 in response to a first masking request output by the control unit 12-1, and a masking unit 14-2 that is a second masking unit that disables the switching control by the switching unit 13-2 in response to a second masking request output by the control unit 12-2. According to the above configuration, the redundant switching units 13-1 and 13-2 can be individually transitioned to a cut-off state while maintaining the power supply to the control units 12-1 and 12-2. This makes it possible to diagnose the power supply monitoring function without interfering with the information processing of the control units 12-1 and 12-2. If an overvoltage or undervoltage state is detected in the monitored object, the power supply to the monitored object is promptly cut off after diagnosis.

[0041] Embodiment 2 3 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1B according to the second embodiment. Power supply monitoring device 1B has power supply unit 11-1, control units 12B-1 and 12B-2, switching units 13-1 and 13-2, mask units 14-1 and 14-2, and cutoff confirmation units 15-1 and 15-2. In addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A according to the first embodiment, power supply monitoring device 1B has cutoff confirmation units 15-1 and 15-2, and has control units 12B-1 and 12B-2 instead of control units 12-1 and 12-2 of power supply monitoring device 1A. The following mainly describes the parts that are different from power supply monitoring device 1A.

[0042] The cutoff confirmation unit 15-1 is connected to the rear stage of the switching unit 13-1 in the power supply path through the switching unit 13-1. The power supply path branches off at the rear stage of the cutoff confirmation unit 15-1 to supply power to each of the control units 12B-1 and 12B-2.

[0043] The cutoff confirmation unit 15-2 is connected to the rear stage of the switching unit 13-2 in the power supply path through the switching unit 13-2, and is connected so that the combination with the switching unit 13-2 is in parallel with the combination of the switching unit 13-1 and the cutoff confirmation unit 15-1.

[0044] The interruption confirmation unit 15-1 has a first interruption notification function, which is a function that can identify whether the switching unit 13-1 is in a conductive state or a cut-off state and output first state information indicating whether the switching unit 13-1 is in a conductive state or a cut-off state.

[0045] The interruption confirmation unit 15-2 has a second interruption notification function, which is a function that can identify whether the switching unit 13-2 is in a conductive state or a cut-off state and output second state information indicating whether the switching unit 13-2 is in a conductive state or a cut-off state.

[0046] Control unit 12B-1 has a cutoff determination function 123-1 in addition to the functions of control unit 12-1. Cutoff determination function 123-1 is a function that receives first state information output from cutoff confirmation unit 15-1, determines whether switching unit 13-1 is in a conductive state or a cutoff state, and is capable of sharing the determination result with control unit 12B-2 through communication.

[0047] Control unit 12B-2 has a cutoff determination function 123-2 in addition to the functions of control unit 12-2. Cutoff determination function 123-2 is a function that receives second state information output from cutoff confirmation unit 15-2, determines whether switching unit 13-2 is in a conductive state or a cutoff state, and is capable of sharing the determination result with control unit 12B-1 through communication.

[0048] After switching units 13-1 and 13-2 are controlled using shutdown request function 121-1 of control unit 12B-1 or shutdown request function 121-2 of control unit 12B-2, control unit 12B-1 can determine the actual state of switching unit 13-1 by receiving first state information from shutdown confirmation unit 15-1 via shutdown determination function 123-1, and can share the determination result with control unit 12B-2 via communication.

[0049] Similarly, after switching unit 13-1 and switching unit 13-2 are controlled using shutdown request function 121-1 of control unit 12B-1 or shutdown request function 121-2 of control unit 12B-2, control unit 12B-2 can determine the actual state of switching unit 13-2 by receiving second state information from shutdown confirmation unit 15-2 via shutdown determination function 123-2, and can share the determination result with control unit 12B-1 via communication.

[0050] As described above, according to the second embodiment, the control unit 12B-2 can receive and determine a series of cutoff requests initiated and executed by the control unit 12B-1 as a result of cutoff execution. This makes it possible to efficiently separate the means that executed the cutoff from the means that determined the cutoff, and ensure safety with high reliability. If the control unit that requests and executes the diagnosis and the control unit that determines the diagnosis result are the same, there are cases where the diagnosis cannot be performed correctly if the control unit that requests, executes, and determines the diagnosis itself has an abnormality. In contrast, the above configuration makes it possible to increase the reliability of the diagnosis.

[0051] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1B shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 4, the power supply monitoring device 1B is realized using a power supply circuit 91-1, control circuits 92-B1 and 92B-2, shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1 and 94-2, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2, and shutoff confirmation circuits 97-1 and 97-2. The following mainly describes the parts that differ from the circuits shown in Fig. 2.

[0052] The interruption confirmation circuit 97-1 is connected to the rear stage of the interruption circuit 93-1. The interruption confirmation circuit 97-2 is connected to the rear stage of the interruption circuit 93-2. The combination of the interruption circuit 93-2 and the interruption confirmation circuit 97-2 is connected in parallel to the combination of the interruption circuit 93-1 and the interruption confirmation circuit 97-1.

[0053] The interruption confirmation circuit 97-1 is realized, for example, by a rectifier such as a diode, and is a circuit that can output the voltage between the interruption circuit 93-1 and the interruption confirmation circuit 97-1 as an H level when the interruption circuit 93-1 connected in the preceding stage is in a conductive state, and can output the voltage as an L level when the interruption circuit 93-1 is in an interrupted state.

[0054] The interruption confirmation circuit 97-2 is realized, for example, by a rectifier such as a diode, and is a circuit that can output the voltage between the interruption circuit 93-2 and the interruption confirmation circuit 97-2 as an H level when the interruption circuit 93-2 connected in the preceding stage is in a conductive state, and can output the voltage as an L level when the interruption circuit 93-2 is in an interrupted state.

[0055] The control circuit 92B-1 has an interruption determination function 924-1 in addition to the functions of the control circuit 92-1. The control circuit 92B-1 can receive first state information output from the interruption confirmation circuit 97-1 and determine whether the interruption circuit 93-1 is in a conductive state or an interrupted state, and can share the determination result by communicating with the control circuit 92B-2.

[0056] The control circuit 92B-2 has an interruption determination function 924-2 in addition to the functions of the control circuit 92-2. The control circuit 92B-2 can receive second state information output from the interruption confirmation circuit 97-2 and determine whether the interruption circuit 93-2 is in a conductive state or an interrupted state, and can share the determination result by communicating with the control circuit 92B-1.

[0057] As described above, the power supply monitoring device 1B according to the second embodiment further includes, in addition to the power supply monitoring device 1A, a first interruption confirmation unit, interruption confirmation unit 15-1, capable of transmitting first status information indicating whether the switching unit 13-1, which is a first switching unit, is in a conductive state or a cut-off state, and a second interruption confirmation unit, interruption confirmation unit 15-2, capable of transmitting second status information indicating whether the switching unit 13-2, which is a second switching unit, is in a conductive state or a cut-off state. The control unit 12B-1, which is a first control unit, has an interruption determination function 123-1, which is a first interruption determination function, capable of receiving the first status information and sharing the received first status information with the control unit 12B-2, which is a second control unit, by communication, and the control unit 12B-2 has an interruption determination function 123-2, which is a second interruption determination function, capable of receiving the second status information and sharing the received second status information with the control unit 12B-1 by communication.

[0058] Embodiment 3 5 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1C according to the third embodiment. Power supply monitoring device 1C has a power supply unit 11-1, control units 12-1 and 12-2, switching units 13-1, 13-2 and 13-3, and mask units 14-1 and 14-2. Power supply monitoring device 1C has a switching unit 13-3 in addition to power supply monitoring device 1A according to the first embodiment. The following mainly describes the parts that differ from power supply monitoring device 1A.

[0059] The switching unit 13-3 is inserted in a power supply path between the power supply unit 11-1 and the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 connected in parallel.

[0060] The switching unit 13-3 has a function of monitoring the state of the power supply path from the power supply unit 11-1 to the control units 12-1 and 12-2, and of switching between conduction and cut-off.

[0061] Switching unit 13-3 provides redundancy in the first cut-off function of switching unit 13-1 and the second cut-off function of switching unit 13-2 with a single functional unit, and even if the power supply cannot be cut off due to a failure of either one or both of the functional units, by setting switching unit 13-3 to a cut-off state, it is possible to cut off both the power supply path via switching unit 13-1 and the power supply path via switching unit 13-2.

[0062] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1C shown in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 6, the power supply monitoring device 1C is realized using a power supply circuit 91-1, control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, interruption circuits 93-1, 93-2 and 93-3, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2 and 94-3, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, and peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2. The following mainly describes the parts that differ from the circuit shown in Fig. 2.

[0063] The interrupter circuit 93-3 is realized by, for example, a switch formed of a MOSFET, and is a circuit that can control switching between a conductive state and a cutoff state by controlling a gate voltage from the outside.

[0064] The power supply monitoring circuit 94-3 is, for example, a power supply monitoring IC, and is a voltage comparison circuit such as a circuit that has a terminal that identifies overvoltage and undervoltage conditions by comparing the voltage of the monitored object with an arbitrarily determined reference voltage, and that can output a signal that can distinguish the result of the voltage monitoring by two voltage signal values, H level and L level.

[0065] If the power supply monitoring circuit 94-3 detects a power abnormality in the power supply path between the power supply circuit 91-1 and the cut-off circuit 93-3, it outputs a signal determining the abnormality to the cut-off circuit 93-3, thereby transitioning the cut-off circuit 93-3 to a cut-off state and preventing the supply of abnormal power.

[0066] As described above, the power supply monitoring device 1C according to the third embodiment is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1A, it further includes a third switching unit, switching unit 13-3, which is connected to the power supply path between the power supply unit 11-1 and the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 and performs switching control between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the power supply unit 11-1 to each of the control units 12-1 and 12-2 and a cut-off state in which the power is cut off. This makes the cut-off function redundant, so that even if an abnormality occurs in the power supply, it is possible to more reliably cut off the power supply path to the control units 12-1 and 12-2, thereby improving the safety of the power supply monitoring device 1C.

[0067] Embodiment 4 7 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1D according to a fourth embodiment. The power supply monitoring device 1D has power supply units 11-1, 11-2, and 11-3, control units 12-1 and 12-2, switching units 13-1 and 13-2, mask units 14-1 and 14-2, and monitoring units 16-1 and 16-2. In addition to the configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1A according to the first embodiment, the power supply monitoring device 1D further has power supply units 11-2 and 11-3 and monitoring units 16-1 and 16-2. The following mainly describes the parts that are different from the power supply monitoring device 1A.

[0068] Power supply unit 11-2 receives power supplied from power supply unit 11-1, controls the voltage and current of the power, and supplies the power to control unit 12-1.

[0069] Power supply unit 11-3 receives power supplied from power supply unit 11-1, controls the voltage and current of the power, and supplies the power to control unit 12-2.

[0070] The monitoring unit 16-1 is inserted in the power supply path from the power supply unit 11-2 to the control unit 12-1, and has a function of monitoring the state of the power supply path and outputting the monitoring result. The monitoring unit 16-1 can monitor, for example, a first voltage which is the voltage of the power supply path between the power supply unit 11-2 and the control unit 12-1, and output a third cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 based on the first voltage, and can also relay a second cutoff request output by the control unit 12-2 and output it to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2.

[0071] The monitoring unit 16-2 is inserted in the power supply path from the power supply unit 11-3 to the control unit 12-2, and has a function of monitoring the state of the power supply path and outputting the monitoring result. The monitoring unit 16-2 can monitor, for example, a second voltage which is the voltage of the power supply path between the power supply unit 11-3 and the control unit 12-2, and output a fourth cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 based on the second voltage, and can also relay the first cutoff request output by the control unit 12-1 and output it to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2.

[0072] When the monitoring units 16-1 and 16-2 output the first to fourth cutoff requests to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2, the requests are output via the mask units 14-1 and 14-2.

[0073] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1D shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 8, the power supply monitoring device 1D is realized using power circuits 91-1, 91-2, and 91-3, control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, interrupter circuits 93-1 and 93-2, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-4, and 94-5, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, and peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2. Below, the differences from the power supply monitoring device 1A will be mainly described.

[0074] The power supply circuits 91-2 and 91-3 are, for example, a linear regulator circuit that steps down the voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 91-1, or a switching regulator circuit that steps up or down the voltage.

[0075] The power supply circuit 91-2 receives power supplied from the power supply circuit 91-1, and supplies controlled power to the control circuit 92-1 and the peripheral circuit 96-1.

[0076] The power supply circuit 91-3 receives power supplied from the power supply circuit 91-1, and supplies controlled power to the control circuit 92-2 and the peripheral circuit 96-2.

[0077] The power supply monitoring circuits 94-4, 94-5 are, for example, power supply monitoring ICs that have terminals for identifying overvoltage and undervoltage conditions by comparing the monitored voltage with an arbitrarily determined reference voltage, and are circuits that can output a signal that can distinguish the result of the voltage monitoring by the two values ​​of the voltage signal, H level and L level.

[0078] The control circuit 92-1 can arbitrarily control and output the voltage monitoring result of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-5 by a first shutoff request from the shutoff request function 921-1. The power supply monitoring circuit 94-5 can recognize an overvoltage or undervoltage state upon receiving the first shutoff request from the control circuit 92-1 and communicate the first shutoff request to the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2. This allows the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2 to transition their switches to the shutoff state.

[0079] The control circuit 92-2 can arbitrarily control and output the voltage monitoring result of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-4 by a second shutoff request from the shutoff request function 921-2. The power supply monitoring circuit 94-4 can recognize an overvoltage or undervoltage state upon receiving the second shutoff request from the control circuit 92-2, and can communicate the second shutoff request to the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2. This allows the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2 to transition their switches to the shutoff state.

[0080] As described above, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A, power supply monitoring device 1D of the fourth embodiment further includes power supply unit 11-2, which is a second power supply unit connected to the power supply path between power supply unit 11-1 and control unit 12-1 and controls the power supplied by power supply unit 11-1 to supply power to control unit 12-1, power supply unit 11-3, which is a third power supply unit connected to the power supply path between power supply unit 11-1 and control unit 12-2 and controls the power supplied by power supply unit 11-1 to supply power to control unit 12-2, and monitors a first voltage, which is the voltage of the power supply path between power supply unit 11-2 and control unit 12-1, and determines a third power supply voltage based on the first voltage. The power supply circuit further includes a monitoring unit 16-1 that is a first monitoring unit capable of outputting a cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 and relaying a second cutoff request output by the control unit 12-2 to output the cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2, and a monitoring unit 16-2 that is a second monitoring unit capable of monitoring a second voltage that is a voltage of a power supply path between the power supply unit 11-3 and the control unit 12-2, outputting a fourth cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 based on the second voltage, and relaying the first cutoff request output by the control unit 12-1 to output the first cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2. This makes it possible to monitor the power of each of the multiple power supply paths and cut off the power supply path based on the monitoring result.

[0081] Embodiment 5. 9 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1E according to the fifth embodiment. The power supply monitoring device 1E has power supply units 11-1 and 11-4, control units 12-1 and 12-2, switching units 13-1 and 13-2, mask units 14-1 and 14-2, and monitoring units 16-3 and 16-4. In addition to the configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1A according to the first embodiment, the power supply monitoring device 1E further has a power supply unit 11-4 and monitoring units 16-3 and 16-4. The following mainly describes the parts that are different from the power supply monitoring device 1A.

[0082] Power supply unit 11-4 receives power supplied from power supply unit 11-1, controls the voltage and current of the power, and supplies the power to control units 12-1 and 12-2.

[0083] The monitoring unit 16-3 is inserted between the power supply path from the power supply unit 11-4 to the control units 12-1 and 12-2, and has a function of monitoring the state of the power supply path, that is, the state of the power supplied by the power supply unit 11-4, and outputting the monitoring result. The monitoring unit 16-3 can monitor, for example, a third voltage which is the voltage of the power supply path between the power supply unit 11-4 and the control units 12-1 and 12-2, and output a fifth cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 based on the third voltage, and can relay the second cutoff request output by the control unit 12-2 and output it to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2. The monitoring unit 16-3 can output the second cutoff request and the fifth cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 via the mask units 14-1 and 14-2.

[0084] The monitoring unit 16-4 is inserted between the power supply path from the power supply unit 11-4 to the control units 12-1 and 12-2, and has a function of monitoring the state of the power supply path, that is, the state of the power supplied by the power supply unit 11-4, and outputting the monitoring result. The monitoring unit 16-4 can monitor the third voltage and output a sixth cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 based on the third voltage, similar to the monitoring unit 16-3. The monitoring unit 16-4 can also relay the first cutoff request output by the control unit 12-1 and output it to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2. The monitoring unit 16-4 can output the first cutoff request and the sixth cutoff request to the switching units 13-1 and 13-2 via the mask units 14-1 and 14-2.

[0085] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the power supply monitoring device 1E shown in Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 10, the power supply monitoring device 1E is realized using power circuits 91-1, 91-4, control circuits 92-1, 92-2, interrupter circuits 93-1, 93-2, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-6, 94-7, mask circuits 95-1, 95-2, and peripheral circuits 96-1, 96-2. The following mainly describes the parts that differ from the power supply monitoring device 1A.

[0086] The power supply circuit 91-4 is, for example, a linear regulator circuit that steps down the voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 91-1, or a switching regulator circuit that steps up or down the voltage.

[0087] The power supply circuit 91-4 receives power supplied from the power supply circuit 91-1, and supplies controlled power to the control circuits 92-1 and 92-2 and the peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2.

[0088] The power supply monitoring circuits 94-6, 94-7 are, for example, power supply monitoring ICs that have terminals for identifying overvoltage and undervoltage conditions by comparing the monitored voltage with an arbitrarily determined reference voltage, and are circuits that can output a signal that can distinguish the result of the voltage monitoring by the two values ​​of the voltage signal, H level and L level.

[0089] The control circuit 92-1 can arbitrarily control and output the voltage monitoring result of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-7 from the shutoff request function 921-1 in response to a first shutoff request. Furthermore, the power supply monitoring circuit 94-7 can recognize an overvoltage or undervoltage state upon receiving the first shutoff request from the control circuit 92-1 and communicate the first shutoff request to the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2. This allows the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2 to transition their switches to the shutoff state.

[0090] The control circuit 92-2 can arbitrarily control and output the voltage monitoring result of the power supply monitoring circuit 94-6 by a second shutoff request from the shutoff request function 921-2. Furthermore, the power supply monitoring circuit 94-6 can recognize an overvoltage or undervoltage state upon receiving the second shutoff request from the control circuit 92-2, and can communicate the second shutoff request to the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2. This allows the shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2 to transition their switches to the shutoff state.

[0091] As described above, power supply monitoring device 1E according to the fifth embodiment has, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A, power supply unit 11-4, which is a fourth power supply unit connected between power supply unit 11-1 and control units 12-1 and 12-2 and controls the power supplied by power supply unit 11-1 to supply power to control units 12-1 and 12-2, and monitors a third voltage, which is a voltage of a power supply path between power supply unit 11-4 and control units 12-1 and 12-2, and issues a fifth shutoff request, which is a switch request, to switching units 13-1 and 13-2 based on the third voltage. The power supply circuit further includes a monitoring unit 16-3 which is a third monitoring unit capable of monitoring the third voltage and outputting a sixth shutoff request, which is a switching request based on the third voltage, to switching units 13-1 and 13-2, and a monitoring unit 16-4 which is a fourth monitoring unit capable of relaying the first shutoff request output by control unit 12-1 and outputting it to switching units 13-1 and 13-2.

[0092] The configurations of the first to fifth embodiments described above can also be used in combination. An example of combining the embodiments will be described below.

[0093] Embodiment 6 In the sixth embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the second embodiment is combined with the configuration of the third embodiment. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1F according to the sixth embodiment.

[0094] The power supply monitoring device 1F can be realized using a power supply circuit 91-1, control circuits 92B-1 and 92B-2, shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2 and 93-3, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2 and 94-3, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2 and shutoff confirmation circuits 97-1 and 97-2. Each circuit has already been described, so description thereof will be omitted here. Also, the connection relationship of each circuit is the same as that of the second and third embodiments.

[0095] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1F corresponds to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 11, that is, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1, it has shutdown confirmation units 15-1 and 15-2, and has control units 12B-1 and 12B-2 instead of control units 12-1 and 12-2 of power supply monitoring device 1A. The connection relationships of the respective functional units are the same as those in the second and third embodiments.

[0096] Embodiment 7 In the seventh embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the second embodiment is combined with the configuration of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1G according to the seventh embodiment.

[0097] The power supply monitoring device 1G can be realized using power supply circuits 91-1, 91-2, and 91-3, control circuits 92B-1 and 92B-2, shutoff circuits 93-1 and 93-2, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-4, and 94-5, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2, and shutoff confirmation circuits 97-1 and 97-2. Each circuit has already been described, so a description thereof will be omitted here. The connection relationship between each circuit is the same as in the second and fourth embodiments.

[0098] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1G corresponds to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 12, that is, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1, it has power supply units 11-2, 11-3, shutdown confirmation units 15-1, 15-2, and monitoring units 16-1, 16-2, and has control units 12B-1, 12B-2 instead of control units 12-1, 12-2. The connection relationships of the respective functional units are the same as those in the second and fourth embodiments.

[0099] Embodiment 8 In the eighth embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the second embodiment is combined with the configuration of the fifth embodiment. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1H according to the eighth embodiment.

[0100] The power supply monitoring device 1H can be realized using power supply circuits 91-1, 91-4, control circuits 92B-1, 92B-2, shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-6, 94-7, mask circuits 95-1, 95-2, peripheral circuits 96-1, 96-2, and shutoff confirmation circuits 97-1, 97-2. Each circuit has already been described, so description is omitted here. Also, the connection relationship of each circuit is the same as in the second and fifth embodiments.

[0101] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1H corresponds to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 13, that is, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1, it has power supply unit 11-4, shutdown confirmation units 15-1 and 15-2, and monitoring units 16-3 and 16-4, and has control units 12B-1 and 12B-2 instead of control units 12-1 and 12-2. The connection relationships of the respective functional units are the same as those in the second and fifth embodiments.

[0102] Embodiment 9 In the ninth embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the third embodiment is combined with the configuration of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1I according to the ninth embodiment.

[0103] The power supply monitoring device 1I can be realized using power supply circuits 91-1, 91-2, and 91-3, control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, interruption circuits 93-1, 93-2, and 93-3, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, 94-4, and 94-5, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, and peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2. Each circuit has already been described, so description is omitted here. Also, the connection relationship of each circuit is the same as in the third and fourth embodiments.

[0104] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1I has a configuration corresponding to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 14, that is, a configuration having power supply units 11-2 and 11-3, a switching unit 13-3, and monitoring units 16-1 and 16-2 in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1. The connection relationships of the respective functional units are the same as those in the third and fourth embodiments.

[0105] Embodiment 10 In the tenth embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the third embodiment is combined with the configuration of the fifth embodiment. Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1J according to the tenth embodiment.

[0106] The power supply monitoring device 1J can be realized using power supply circuits 91-1 and 91-4, control circuits 92-1 and 92-2, shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2 and 93-3, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, 94-6 and 94-7, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2 and peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2. Each circuit has already been described, so description thereof will be omitted here. Also, the connection relationship of each circuit is the same as that of the third and fifth embodiments.

[0107] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1J has a configuration corresponding to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 15, that is, a configuration having power supply unit 11-4, switching unit 13-3, and monitoring units 16-3 and 16-4 in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1. The connections of the functional units are the same as those in the third and fifth embodiments.

[0108] Embodiment 11 In the eleventh embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the second embodiment, the configuration of the third embodiment, and the configuration of the fourth embodiment are combined. Fig. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1K according to the eleventh embodiment.

[0109] The power supply monitoring device 1K can be realized using power supply circuits 91-1, 91-2, and 91-3, control circuits 92B-1 and 92B-2, shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2, and 93-3, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, 94-4, and 94-5, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2, and shutoff confirmation circuits 97-1 and 97-2. Each circuit has already been described, so a description thereof will be omitted here. The connection relationship between each circuit is the same as in the second, third, and fourth embodiments.

[0110] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1K corresponds to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 16, that is, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1, it has power supply units 11-2, 11-3, switching unit 13-3, shutdown confirmation units 15-1, 15-2, and monitoring units 16-1, 16-2, and has control units 12B-1, 12B-2 instead of control units 12-1, 12-2 of power supply monitoring device 1A. The connection relationships of the respective functional units are the same as those in the second, third and fourth embodiments.

[0111] Embodiment 12 In the twelfth embodiment, an example will be described in which the configuration of the second embodiment, the configuration of the third embodiment, and the configuration of the fifth embodiment are combined. Fig. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a power supply monitoring device 1L according to the twelfth embodiment.

[0112] The power supply monitoring device 1L can be realized using power supply circuits 91-1 and 91-4, control circuits 92B-1 and 92B-2, shutoff circuits 93-1, 93-2 and 93-3, power supply monitoring circuits 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, 94-6 and 94-7, mask circuits 95-1 and 95-2, peripheral circuits 96-1 and 96-2 and shutoff confirmation circuits 97-1 and 97-2. Each circuit has already been described, so description thereof will be omitted here. Also, the connection relationship of each circuit is the same as that of the second, third and fifth embodiments.

[0113] Although the functional configuration is not shown in the figures, the functional configuration of power supply monitoring device 1L has a configuration corresponding to the hardware configuration shown in Fig. 17, that is, in addition to the configuration of power supply monitoring device 1A shown in Fig. 1, it has a power supply unit 11-4, a switching unit 13-3, shutdown confirmation units 15-1 and 15-2, and monitoring units 16-3 and 16-4, and has control units 12B-1 and 12B-2 instead of the control units 12-1 and 12-2 of power supply monitoring device 1A. The connection relationships of the respective functional units are the same as those in the second, third and fifth embodiments.

[0114] As shown in the sixth to twelfth embodiments, when the second to fifth embodiments are combined, the effects of the combined embodiments are achieved.

[0115] The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and may be combined with other known technologies, or the embodiments may be combined with each other. Also, parts of the configurations may be omitted or modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0116] 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K, 1L Power supply monitoring device, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 Power supply unit, 12-1, 12-2, 12B-1, 12B-2 Control unit, 13-1, 13-2, 13-3 Switching unit, 14-1, 14-2 Mask unit, 15-1, 15-2 Shutdown confirmation unit, 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, 16-4 Monitoring unit, 91-1, 91-2, 91-3, 91-4 Power supply circuit, 92-1, 92-2, 92B-1, 92B-2 Control circuit, 93-1, 93-2, 93-3 Shutdown circuit, 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, 94-4, 94-5, 94-6, 94-7 Power supply monitoring circuit, 95-1, 95-2 Mask circuit, 96-1, 96-2 Peripheral circuit, 97-1, 97-2 Shutdown confirmation circuit, 121-1, 121-2, 921-1, 921-2 Shutdown request function, 122-1, 122-2, 922-1, 922-2 Mask request function, 123-1, 123-2, 924-1, 924-2 Shutdown judgment function, 923-1, 923-2 Communication function.

Claims

1. a first power supply unit that supplies power; a first control unit that operates with power supplied from the first power supply unit; a second control unit that operates with power supplied from the first power supply unit; a first switching unit that performs switching control to switch between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the first power supply unit to each of the first control unit and the second control unit and a cut-off state in which the supply of power is cut off in response to switching requests output by the first control unit and the second control unit; a second switching unit connected in parallel to the first switching unit and configured to perform switching control to switch between the conductive state and the cut-off state in response to switching requests output by the first control unit and the second control unit; a first masking unit that disables switching control from the conductive state to the cut-off state by the first switching unit in response to a first masking request output by the first control unit; a second masking unit that disables switching control from the conductive state to the cut-off state by the second switching unit in response to a second masking request output by the second control unit; A power supply monitoring device comprising:

2. a first cutoff confirmation unit capable of transmitting first state information indicating whether the first switching unit is in the conductive state or the cutoff state; a second cutoff confirmation unit capable of transmitting second state information indicating whether the second switching unit is in the conductive state or the cutoff state; Furthermore, the first control unit has a first shutdown determination function that receives the first status information and is capable of sharing the received first status information with the second control unit through communication; The power supply monitoring device according to claim 1, characterized in that the second control unit has a second shutdown determination function that receives the second status information and can share the received second status information with the first control unit through communication.

3. a third switching unit connected to a power supply path between the first power supply unit and the first switching unit and the second switching unit, and performing switching control to switch between a conductive state in which power is supplied from the first power supply unit to each of the first control unit and the second control unit and a cut-off state in which power is cut off; The power supply monitoring device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

4. a second power supply unit connected to a power supply path between the first power supply unit and the first control unit, and controlling the power supplied by the first power supply unit to supply power to the first control unit; a third power supply unit connected to a power supply path between the first power supply unit and the second control unit, and controlling the power supplied by the first power supply unit to supply power to the second control unit; a first monitoring unit that is capable of monitoring a first voltage, which is a voltage of a power supply path between the second power supply unit and the first control unit, and outputting the switching request to the first switching unit and the second switching unit based on the first voltage, and that is also capable of relaying the switching request output by the second control unit and outputting it to the first switching unit and the second switching unit; a second monitoring unit that is capable of monitoring a second voltage, which is a voltage of a power supply path between the third power supply unit and the second control unit, and outputting the switching request to the first switching unit and the second switching unit based on the second voltage, and that is also capable of relaying the switching request output by the first control unit and outputting it to the first switching unit and the second switching unit; 4. The power supply monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising:

5. a fourth power supply unit connected between the first power supply unit and the first control unit and the second control unit, and controlling the power supplied by the first power supply unit to supply power to the first control unit and the second control unit; a third monitoring unit that is capable of monitoring a third voltage, which is a voltage of a power supply path between the fourth power supply unit and the first control unit and the second control unit, and outputting the switching request to the first switching unit and the second switching unit based on the third voltage, and relaying the switching request output by the second control unit to output it to the first switching unit and the second switching unit; a fourth monitoring unit that is capable of monitoring the third voltage and outputting the switching request to the first switching unit and the second switching unit based on the third voltage, and that is capable of relaying the switching request output by the first control unit and outputting it to the first switching unit and the second switching unit; 4. The power supply monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising:

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