Control device, control method, and control program

Abstract

This control device (1) comprises: an auxiliary storage unit (11); a main storage unit (12) including a first region (121) and a second region (122); a noise acquisition unit (13); an fault occurrence determination unit (14); and a control unit (16) that executes a program of the first region (121) and stores the execution result obtained by executing the program of the first region (121) in the first region (121) and the second region (122). When information regarding noise is acquired by the noise acquisition unit (13), and the fault occurrence determination unit (14) determines that a fault has occurred in the first region (121), the control unit (16) i) stops the execution of the program in the first region (121), and ii) using the execution result obtained by executing the program in the first region (121) and stored in the second region (122), executes the program in the second region (122) to continue operation, and stores the program in the first region (121) from the auxiliary storage unit (11) to restore the first region (121).

Description

Control device, control method, and control program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to control devices and the like.

[0002] Machines and equipment used in production sites are controlled by control devices such as PLCs. Such control devices are exposed to a noisy environment, such as electromagnetic energy caused by electrostatic discharge from surrounding machines and equipment, and this noise can cause memory malfunctions in the control devices. When a memory malfunction occurs, it can stop not only the device containing the malfunctioning memory, but the entire device, causing unnecessary shutdowns at the production site.

[0003] To address this issue, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that can prevent unnecessary shutdowns by stopping only the parts of the control equipment related to the memory where the abnormality occurred, while allowing the rest of the equipment to continue operating.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-128820

[0005] However, in Patent Document 1, memory recovery is not performed while operation continues. In this case, to recover the memory, it is necessary to reset the PLC system, but resetting the PLC system may stop the entire device, which may affect productivity. Therefore, a technology is needed that can simultaneously recover the memory while continuing operation.

[0006] The present disclosure aims to provide a control device or the like that is capable of recovering memory while continuing operation when an abnormality occurs in memory due to noise.

[0007] The control device according to the present disclosure comprises a volatile memory including a non-volatile memory in which a program is stored, a first area used under normal circumstances and in which the program is stored from the non-volatile memory, and a second area used in the event of an abnormality in the first area and in which the program is stored from the non-volatile memory, a noise acquisition unit that acquires information about noise, an abnormality occurrence determination unit that determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the volatile memory, and a control unit that executes the program stored in the first area and stores the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the first area in the first and second areas, wherein when the noise acquisition unit acquires information about noise and the abnormality occurrence determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area, the control unit i) stops the execution of the program stored in the first area, and ii) stores the program stored in the second area using the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the first area and stored in the second area to continue operation, while storing the program from the non-volatile memory to restore the first area.

[0008] The control device etc. disclosed herein can continue operation while simultaneously recovering the memory when an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of a control device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a control device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a control device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a control device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a control device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a control device according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure in a second region. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a control device according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure in a first region. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a control device according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0010] Hereinafter, a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

[0011] First Embodiment A control device according to this embodiment is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) unit that executes a program to control controlled devices in a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) system.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 1 includes an auxiliary memory unit 11, a main memory unit 12, a noise acquisition unit 13, an abnormality occurrence determination unit 14, a setting unit 15, a control unit 16, a notification unit 17, and a communication unit 18.

[0013] The auxiliary storage unit 11 stores a program for control by the control device 1. The auxiliary storage unit 11 also stores noise acquisition information from the noise acquisition unit 13 and abnormality occurrence information from the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14. The noise acquisition information and abnormality occurrence information will be described later in the description of the noise acquisition unit 13 and the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14, respectively. The auxiliary storage unit 11 is an example of a non-volatile memory in which a program is stored.

[0014] The main memory unit 12 stores programs from the auxiliary memory unit 11. The main memory unit 12 also includes a first area 121 and a second area 122. The first area 121 is an area of ​​the auxiliary memory unit 11 that is used in normal operation, and the second area 122 is an area of ​​the auxiliary memory unit 11 that is used in the event of an abnormality in the first area 121. Hereinafter, the first area 121 or the second area 122 of the main memory unit 12 may be simply referred to as an area. Note that, in this embodiment, an abnormality refers to a case where the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121, and a normal operation in this embodiment refers to a case other than an abnormality. Abnormalities will be described later in the explanation of the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14. The main memory unit 12 is an example of a volatile memory that includes a first area that is used in normal operation and that stores programs from a non-volatile memory, and a second area that is used in abnormal operation and that stores programs from a non-volatile memory.

[0015] The noise acquisition unit 13 acquires information related to noise. In this embodiment, noise includes, for example, static electricity generated when peripheral devices of the control device 1 are operating. Acquiring information related to noise may involve the noise acquisition unit 13 directly detecting noise, or may involve connecting the control device 1 to an external detector capable of detecting noise, and having the noise acquisition unit 13 receive a notification from the detector when the detector detects noise. By using an external detector, even if the detector is not built into the control device 1, the noise detected by the external detector can be acquired by the noise acquisition unit 13 within the control device 1. Furthermore, upon acquiring information related to noise, the noise acquisition unit 13 stores the noise acquisition information in the auxiliary storage unit 11. The noise acquisition information includes information related to the noise acquired by the noise acquisition unit 13 and the date and time when the noise was acquired. The noise acquisition unit 13 is an example of a noise acquisition unit that acquires information related to noise.

[0016] The abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 of the main memory unit 12. In this embodiment, an abnormality refers to, for example, an unintended change of a data bit in the volatile memory from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1. In this embodiment, the main memory unit 12 is a volatile memory, and the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 monitors the data bits in the area of ​​the main memory unit 12 and treats any unintended changes in the data bits as an abnormality. Furthermore, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 of the main memory unit 12, it stores abnormality occurrence information in the auxiliary memory unit 11. The abnormality occurrence information includes information about the abnormality acquired by the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 and the date and time the abnormality occurred. The abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 is an example of an abnormality occurrence determination unit that determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the volatile memory.

[0017] The setting unit 15 sets whether to continue operation and restore the first region 121 when an abnormality occurs in the first region 121 due to noise. Hereinafter, the setting of whether to continue operation and restore the first region 121 when an abnormality occurs in the first region 121 due to noise may be simply referred to as an operation continuation setting. If the operation continuation setting is set to continue, operation continues and the first region 121 is restored when an abnormality occurs in the first region 121 due to noise. If the operation continuation setting is not set to continue, operation is not continued and the first region 121 is not restored even when an abnormality occurs in the first region 121 due to noise, and operation is stopped as a result. Note that the operation continuation setting is set in advance by a user. For example, the operation continuation setting may be set on an external device such as a personal computer using an engineering tool connected to the external device, or the operation continuation setting may be set by connecting a programmable display as an external device, or a decision branch for determining whether to continue operation depending on conditions may be created in a program created by the user. The setting unit 15 is an example of a setting unit that sets whether to continue operation or restore the first area when the noise acquisition unit acquires information about noise and the abnormality occurrence determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area.

[0018] The control unit 16 stores programs from the auxiliary storage unit 11 in the first area 121 and the second area 122 of the main storage unit 12. The storage of programs from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the first area 121 and the second area 122 is performed when the control device 1 starts operating or when an area in which an abnormality has occurred, as described below, is restored. The control unit 16 also executes programs stored in the first area 121 or the second area 122 of the main storage unit 12. The control unit 16 determines which area to execute the program from by referring to the noise acquisition unit 13 and the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14, as will be described in detail later in the description of the operation of the control device 1. When a program is executed, the results of the program execution are used, but if the results of the program execution are not stored, such as at the start of operation, an initial value is used. The initial value may be predetermined in the program or may be set by the user as necessary. The control unit 16 also stores the results of the program execution in both the first area 121 and the second area 122 of the main storage unit 12. Furthermore, the control unit 16 references the noise acquisition unit 13 and the abnormality determination unit 14 to stop the running program, restore the area where the abnormality occurred, and resume the stopped program. The area where the abnormality occurred is restored by the control unit 16 storing the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the area where the abnormality occurred. The stopped program is resumed by the control unit 16 stopping the running program and using the execution result of the program stored by the running program. Note that the recovery of the area where the abnormality occurred and the restart of the stopped program are performed only when the control unit 16 references the setting unit 15 and the operation continuation setting is set to continue. While the stopping of the running program, the recovery of the area where the abnormality occurred, and the restart of the stopped program have been individually described, details of the overall flow will be described later in the description of the operation of the control device 1. The control unit 16 is an example of a control unit according to the present disclosure.

[0019] The notification unit 17 notifies the user of the area between the first area 121 and the second area 122 of the main memory unit 12 in which a program is being executed. More specifically, the notification unit 17 identifies the area in which a program is being executed by referring to the first area 121 and the second area 122 of the main memory unit 12, and then notifies the user of the identified area as the area in which the program is being executed. However, if the result of referencing the first area 121 and the second area 122 indicates that a program is not being executed in either the first area 121 or the second area 122, the notification unit 17 does not notify the user. Note that the notification unit 17 preferably periodically references the first area 121 and the second area 122 in accordance with the execution of the program from the start of operation of the control device 1 until the end of operation. Here, the notification to the user may be performed in any manner as long as the user can recognize the area in which the program is being executed. For example, the control device 1 may be connected to an external device such as a computer such as a personal computer and displayed on the external device using an engineering tool, or a programmable display may be connected as an external device and displayed on the programmable display, or a light-emitting unit such as an LED may be provided on the housing of the control device 1 and the light-emitting unit may flash for a certain period of time to notify the user. The notifying unit 17 is an example of a notifying unit that notifies the user which of the first and second areas of the volatile memory is executing the program.

[0020] The communication unit 18 communicates with devices connected to the control device 1. For example, the control device 1 connects to devices controlled by the control device 1 via the communication unit 18 to exchange control data, connects to external devices such as computers such as personal computers to exchange various types of data with the external devices using an engineering tool, or connects to a programmable display as an external device to exchange various types of data with the programmable display.

[0021] An example of the hardware configuration of the control device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The control device 1 comprises a non-volatile memory 1001, a volatile memory 1002, a communication interface 1003, and a processor 1004, which are all connected by a bus 1000.

[0022] The nonvolatile memory 1001 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory). The nonvolatile memory 1001 stores programs executed by the processor 1004. The nonvolatile memory 1001 also stores information acquired by each function implemented by the processor 1004. For example, the nonvolatile memory 1001 stores noise acquisition information acquired from the noise acquisition unit 13 and abnormality occurrence information acquired from the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14. The nonvolatile memory 1001 functions as the auxiliary storage unit 11.

[0023] The volatile memory 1002 includes, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory). The volatile memory 1002 stores a program that the processor 1004 has loaded from the non-volatile memory 1001. The volatile memory 1002 also functions as a working memory when the processor 1004 executes the program. The volatile memory 1002 functions as the main storage unit 12. In other words, the first area 121 and the second area 122 of the volatile memory 1002 function as a working memory when the processor 1004 executes the program.

[0024] The communication interface 1003 includes, for example, an I / O (Input / Output) interface, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, and a serial port. Via the communication interface 1003, the control device 1 communicates with devices controlled by the control device 1 as well as with external devices such as computers and programmable displays, exchanging data with various devices. The communication interface 1003 functions as the communication unit 18.

[0025] The processor 1004 includes, for example, a CPU and an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). The processor 1004 stores a program from the non-volatile memory 1001 to the volatile memory 1002 and executes the program stored in the volatile memory 1002, thereby realizing each function and executing each operation. Each operation will be described later in the explanation of the operation of the control device 1.

[0026] Next, the operation of the control device 1 configured as above will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 5. Here, Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the control device 1, Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of "operation in the first area" (step S12) among the operations of the control device 1 shown in Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of "operation in the second area" (step S14) among the operations of the control device 1 shown in Figure 3. Note that "operation in the first area" refers to operation that executes a program stored in the first area, and "operation in the second area" refers to operation that executes a program stored in the second area. Hereinafter, operation that executes a program stored in the first area 121 will be referred to as "operation in the first area 121," and operation that executes a program stored in the second area 122 will be referred to as "operation in the second area 122."

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, after starting operation, the control unit 16 stores the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 into the first area 121 and the second area 122 of the main storage unit 12 (step S11).

[0028] After control unit 16 stores the program from auxiliary storage unit 11 to first area 121 and second area 122 of main storage unit 12 in step S11, control device 1 performs operation in first area 121 (step S12). That is, when step S11 is completed, the operations from step S121 to step S127 shown in Fig. 4 are performed. Hereinafter, specific operations of operation of control device 1 in first area 121 after step S11 is completed will be described with reference to Fig. 4.

[0029] In the operation in the first area 121, the control unit 16 first executes the program stored in the first area 121 (step S121). Note that when step S121 is performed after step S11, the execution result of the program has not yet been stored, and therefore initial values ​​are used for the execution of the program.

[0030] After the control unit 16 executes the program stored in the first area 121 in step S121, the control unit 16 stores the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the first area 121 in the first area 121 and the second area 122 (step S122).

[0031] In step S122, the control unit 16 stores the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the first area 121 in the first area 121 and the second area 122, and then the control unit 16 refers to the noise acquisition unit 13 to determine whether the noise acquisition unit 13 has acquired information regarding noise (step S123).

[0032] If noise acquisition unit 13 has not acquired information related to noise (step S123: No), control device 1 repeats the operations from step S121. In this case, in step S121, the program execution result stored in step S122 is used for executing the program.

[0033] If the noise acquiring unit 13 has acquired information about noise (step S123: Yes), the noise acquiring unit 13 stores the acquired noise information in the auxiliary storage unit 11 (step S124).

[0034] After the noise acquisition unit 13 stores the noise acquisition information in the auxiliary memory unit 11 in step S124, the control unit 16 refers to the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 to determine whether the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 has determined that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 (step S125).

[0035] If abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 has not determined that an abnormality has occurred in first area 121 (step S125: No), control device 1 repeats the operations from step S121. In this case, in step S121, the program execution result stored in step S122 is used for executing the program.

[0036] If the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 (step S125: Yes), the control unit 16 stops the execution of the program stored in the first area 121 (step S126).

[0037] After the control unit 16 stops the execution of the program stored in the first area 121 in step S126, the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 stores the abnormality occurrence information in the auxiliary memory unit 11 and terminates operation in the first area 121 (step S127).

[0038] Returning to FIG. 3, after the operation of the control device 1 in the first area 121 is completed in step S12, the control unit 16 refers to the setting unit 15 to determine whether the operation continuation setting is set to continue (step S13).

[0039] If the operation continuation setting is not set to continue, the control device 1 ends the operation (step S13: No).

[0040] If the operation continuation setting is set to continue, control device 1 performs operation in second region 122 (step S13: Yes). That is, if the determination in step S13 is positive, the operations from step S141 to step S147 shown in Fig. 5 are performed. Hereinafter, specific operations of control device 1 in second region 122 after the determination in step S13 is positive will be described with reference to Fig. 5.

[0041] In operation in the second area 122, first, the control unit 16 starts storing the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the first area 121 (step S141). That is, the control unit 16 starts storing the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the first area 121, which is the area where the abnormality occurred, thereby starting recovery of the first area 121, which is the area where the abnormality occurred.

[0042] After the control unit 16 starts storing the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the first area 121 in step S141, the control unit 16 executes the program stored in the second area 122 (step S142). Note that when step S142 is performed after step S13 and step S141, the program stored in the second area 122 has not yet been executed, and therefore the execution result of the program stored in the second area 122, which is obtained by executing the program stored in the first area 121 in step S122, is used to execute the program.

[0043] After the control unit 16 executes the program stored in the second area 122 in step S142, the control unit 16 stores the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the second area 122 in the first area 121 and the second area 122 (step S143).

[0044] After the control unit 16 stores the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the second area 122 in the first area 121 and the second area 122 in step S143, the control unit 16 determines whether the storage of the program from the auxiliary memory unit 11 to the first area 121 has been completed (step S144).

[0045] If storage of the program in first area 121 is not complete (step S144: No), control device 1 repeats the operations from step S142. In this case, in step S142, the execution result of the program stored in step S143 is used for executing the program.

[0046] If the storage of the program in the first area 121 has been completed (step S144: Yes), the control unit 16 refers to the abnormality occurrence judgment unit 14 and determines whether the abnormality occurrence judgment unit 14 has determined that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 (step S145).

[0047] If the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 (step S145: Yes), the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 stores the abnormality occurrence information in the auxiliary storage unit 11 (step S146). Thereafter, the control device 1 repeats the operations from step S141. In other words, if the abnormality in the first area 121 has not been resolved, the control device 1 returns to step S141 and stores the program in the first area 121 again to attempt recovery. In this case, in step S142 following step S141, the execution result of the program stored in step S122 is used to execute the program.

[0048] If the abnormality occurrence judgment unit 14 does not judge that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 (step S145: No), that is, if the abnormality in the first area 121 has been resolved, the control unit 16 stops execution of the program stored in the second area 122 and terminates operation in the second area 122 (step S147).

[0049] 3, after the operation of the control device 1 in the second area 122 ends in step S14, the control unit 16 repeats the operation from step S12, i.e., resumes operation in the first area 121. When resuming operation in the first area 121, the program execution result stored in step S143 is used for executing the program in step S121.

[0050] As described above, in the control device 1 according to the present embodiment, when the noise acquisition unit 13 acquires information related to noise and the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121, the control unit 16 stops the execution of the program stored in the first area 121. However, the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area 121 is stored not only in the first area 121 but also in the second area 122. Therefore, the control unit 16 executes the program stored in the second area 122 using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area 121 and stored in the second area 122. This makes it possible to continue operation in the second area 122 even if operation in the first area 121 is stopped. Furthermore, the control unit 16 restores the first area 121 by storing the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11, i.e., the non-volatile memory 1001, into the first area 121 while continuing operation. This provides the advantage that, if an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise, it is possible to restore the memory while continuing operation.

[0051] Furthermore, in control device 1 according to the present embodiment, when abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 no longer determines that an abnormality has occurred in first area 121, execution of the program stored in second area 122 is stopped, but the program stored in second area 122 is executed to continue operation, and the execution result of the program obtained is stored not only in second area 122 but also in first area 121. Therefore, control unit 16 can resume execution of the program stored in first area 121 using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in second area 122 and stored in first area 121, and return from operation in second area 122 to operation in first area 121. Since normal operation is resumed only after the abnormality no longer occurs in the memory, it is possible to prevent a return to normal operation when an abnormality has occurred in the memory, which has the effect of improving maintainability.

[0052] As described above, in the control device 1 according to the present embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise, operation can be continued without stopping the control device from the time the memory is restored to normal operation. Being able to continue operation in this way prevents the control device from being stopped unintentionally, leading to improved productivity. Furthermore, since it is no longer necessary to check the stop status of the control device or investigate the impact of stopping it, it also leads to improved maintainability.

[0053] Here, an example of a memory abnormality not caused by noise is a memory component failure. In the case of such a component failure, the memory cannot be restored. If operation in the second region 122 were to be transitioned to without detecting noise, the transition to operation in the second region 122 would occur without being able to distinguish whether the memory abnormality is caused by a component failure or noise. This would make it impossible to return from operation in the second region 122 to operation in the first region 121, and operation of the control device 1 would have to be stopped. If the memory abnormality is caused by noise, the component is not broken, and safe recovery is possible. To ensure that the memory abnormality is not caused by a component failure, the occurrence of a noise-induced memory abnormality is set as a condition for transitioning to operation in the second region 122. In other words, by setting the conditions for transitioning to operation in the second region 122 as being that the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 has determined that an abnormality has occurred in the first region 121 and that the noise acquisition unit 13 has acquired information related to noise, the transition to memory recovery operation can be performed after it is determined that the memory abnormality is not caused by noise, such as a memory component failure, thereby improving maintainability.

[0054] Furthermore, in control device 1 according to the present embodiment, control unit 16 notifies the user of the area in which a program is being executed, either first area 121 or second area 122 of volatile memory 1002. Since the user can recognize the area in which a program is being executed, the user can grasp the operating status of the control device, which has the effect of improving maintainability.

[0055] Furthermore, in control device 1 according to the present embodiment, when noise acquisition section 13 acquires information related to noise and abnormality occurrence determination section 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in first area 121, setting section 15 sets whether to continue operation or restore first area 121. Since it is possible to set in advance whether to continue operation and restore the memory when an abnormality has occurred in the memory due to noise, it is possible to set the control device according to the user's wishes, which has the effect of improving usability as a control device.

[0056] Furthermore, when the noise acquisition unit 13 acquires information regarding noise, the noise acquisition information is stored in the auxiliary memory unit 11, and when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121, the abnormality occurrence information is stored in the auxiliary memory unit 11, thereby enabling detailed confirmation of the operating status of the control equipment, which has the effect of improving maintainability.

[0057] Embodiment 2 The control device according to embodiment 2 differs from embodiment 1 in that the program stored in the second area 122 is programmed with only the operations necessary for continuing operation. The rest is the same as embodiment 1. Hereinafter, differences from embodiment 1 will be explained, but explanations of similarities with embodiment 1 will be omitted.

[0058] In the control device 1 according to the second embodiment, the program stored in the first area 121 is referred to as the first program, and the program stored in the second area 122 is referred to as the second program. The second program is programmed with the minimum operations required for the control device 1 to maintain a production-ready state. For example, the first program may be programmed with the following operations: acquiring sensor values ​​required for normal operation, including sensor values ​​required for fallback operation; displaying information on a display; uploading data to a server; and determining the operating status of other devices connected to the control device 1. In this case, the second program is programmed with only the operation of acquiring sensor values ​​required for fallback operation. Here, fallback operation refers to operation in which functions are used with fewer restrictions than in normal operation. In other words, the second program is programmed with only the operations required for continued operation, and when the second program is executed, operation is performed with more limited functions than when the first program is executed.

[0059] The auxiliary storage unit 11 stores a first program and a second program.

[0060] The main memory unit 12 stores the first program and the second program from the auxiliary memory unit 11. More specifically, the first program from the auxiliary memory unit 11 is stored in the first area 121 of the main memory unit 12, and the second program from the auxiliary memory unit 11 is stored in the second area 122 of the main memory unit 12.

[0061] The control unit 16 stores the first program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 in the first area 121 of the main storage unit 12 , and stores the second program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 in the second area 122 of the main storage unit 12 .

[0062] Furthermore, the operation of the control device 1 according to embodiment 2 is the same as that obtained by replacing the "program stored in the first area 121" with the "first program" and the "program stored in the second area 122" with the "second program," and therefore will not be described here.

[0063] Control device 1 according to the second embodiment operates in the same manner as control device 1 according to the first embodiment, and even if the second program is programmed with only the operations necessary for continuing operation, control unit 16 executes the second program using the execution result of the first program, so that even if operation in first area 121 is stopped, operation can be continued in second area 122. Therefore, control device 1 according to the second embodiment also has the effect of being able to continue operation while simultaneously recovering the memory when an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise.

[0064] Furthermore, compared to embodiment 1, as in embodiment 2, even if the second program is programmed with only the operations necessary for continuing operation, the result is the same, that even if operation in the first area 121 is stopped, operation can be continued in the second area 122.Therefore, in addition to the effects described above, the control device 1 of embodiment 2 also achieves all of the effects achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 1.

[0065] Furthermore, since the second program is programmed with only the operations necessary for continuing operation, there is an effect that operation can be continued by degenerate operation when an abnormality occurs. By operating with more limited functions used than in normal operation by degenerate operation, for example, even if an abnormality occurs that prevents control device 1 according to embodiment 1 from continuing operation, operation may be continued by limiting the functions used.

[0066] Furthermore, since the second program is programmed with only the operations necessary for continued operation, the capacity of the second program is smaller than the capacity of the first program, which has the effect of reducing the memory capacity required for the second area 122 of the main memory unit 12.

[0067] Embodiment 3. In the control device according to embodiment 1, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 no longer determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121, the control device stops execution of the program stored in the second area 122 and resumes execution of the program stored in the first area 121 using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the second area 122. However, in the control device according to embodiment 3, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 no longer determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 and the noise acquisition unit 13 no longer acquires information related to noise, the control device stops execution of the above-mentioned program and resumes execution of the above-mentioned program. That is, the control device according to embodiment 3 differs in that a condition for terminating operation in the second area 122 is added, in which the noise acquisition unit 13 re-determines whether information related to noise has been acquired in order to determine that the noise has disappeared. The rest is the same as embodiment 1. Hereinafter, differences from embodiment 1 will be described, but descriptions of similarities to embodiment 1 will be omitted.

[0068] Control device 1 according to embodiment 3 differs from control device 1 according to embodiment 1 only in part of the operation of operation in second region 122. Therefore, specific operation of operation in second region 122 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Other points are the same as those in embodiment 1, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0069] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of driving in second area 122 of control device 1 according to embodiment 3, and differs from Fig. 5 showing an example of the operation of driving in second area 122 of control device 1 according to embodiment 1 in that steps S145' and S146' are added. The other steps are the same as in embodiment 1, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0070] In the control device 1 according to embodiment 3, if the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 does not determine that an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 (step S145: No), the control unit 16 refers to the noise acquisition unit 13 and determines whether the noise acquisition unit 13 has acquired information regarding noise (step S145').

[0071] If the noise acquiring unit 13 has acquired information about noise (step S145': Yes), the noise acquiring unit 13 stores the noise acquisition information in the auxiliary storage unit 11 (step S146').

[0072] After noise acquisition section 13 stores the noise acquisition information in auxiliary storage section 11 in step S146', control device 1 repeats the operations from step S145.

[0073] If the noise acquisition unit 13 does not acquire information regarding noise (step S145': No), the control unit 16 stops execution of the program stored in the second area 122 and terminates operation in the second area 122 (step S147).

[0074] Control device 1 according to the third embodiment operates in the same manner as control device 1 according to the first embodiment except for operation in second area 122, and operation in second area 122 is unchanged from that of the first embodiment except for the addition of a condition for terminating operation in second area 122 in which noise acquisition unit 13 re-determines whether or not information about noise has been acquired in order to determine that noise has disappeared. Therefore, control unit 16 still executes the program stored in second area 122 using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in first area 121, and it is possible to continue operation in second area 122 even if operation in first area 121 is stopped. Therefore, control device 1 according to the third embodiment also achieves the effect of being able to continue operation while simultaneously recovering the memory when an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise.

[0075] Furthermore, even if a condition for re-determining whether or not the noise acquisition unit 13 has acquired information regarding noise is added to embodiment 1 as a condition for terminating operation in the second area 122, as in embodiment 3, the result is the same, that even if operation in the first area 121 is stopped, operation can be continued in the second area 122.Therefore, in addition to the effects described above, all of the effects achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 1 are also achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 3.

[0076] Furthermore, as a condition for terminating operation in the second area 122, a condition has been added in which the noise acquisition unit 13 re-determines whether or not it has acquired information regarding noise in order to determine that the noise has disappeared. This makes it possible to return to operation in the first area 121 in an environment where no noise is occurring, thereby achieving the effect of enabling a safer return to normal operation.

[0077] Note that, as a condition for terminating operation in second region 122, a condition for determining again whether noise acquiring unit 13 has acquired information regarding noise in order to determine that noise has disappeared may be added to the conditions for terminating operation in second region 122 in control device 1 according to embodiment 2. Even in this case, in addition to the effect of control device 1 according to embodiment 2, an effect of being able to return to normal operation more safely is also achieved.

[0078] Embodiment 4. A control device according to embodiment 4 differs from embodiment 1 in that, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122, a program is stored from the non-volatile memory 1001 to the second area 122 to restore the second area 122. The rest is the same as embodiment 1. Hereinafter, differences from embodiment 1 will be described, but descriptions of similarities to embodiment 1 will be omitted.

[0079] Control device 1 according to embodiment 4 differs from control device 1 according to embodiment 1 only in part of the operation of operation in first region 121. Therefore, specific operation of operation in first region 121 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Other points are the same as those in embodiment 1, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0080] In the first embodiment, an abnormal state refers to a case where the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first region 121, and a normal state refers to a case other than an abnormal state, but this also applies to the fourth embodiment. For example, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the second region 122, although an abnormality has occurred, operation in the first region 121 continues, and the control device 1 operates normally.

[0081] The abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122 in addition to whether an abnormality has occurred in the first area 121 of the main memory unit 12 .

[0082] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of control device 1 in first area 121 according to embodiment 4, and differs from Fig. 4 showing an example of the operation of control device 1 in first area 121 according to embodiment 1 in that steps S122', S123', and S124' are added. The other steps are the same as those in embodiment 1, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0083] In the control device 1 of embodiment 4, after the control unit 16 stores the execution results obtained by executing the program stored in the first area 121 in the first area 121 and the second area 122 in step S122, the control unit 16 refers to the abnormality occurrence judgment unit 14 to determine whether the abnormality occurrence judgment unit 14 has determined that an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122 (step S122').

[0084] If the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 does not determine that an abnormality has occurred in the second region 122 (step S122': No), the control unit 16 refers to the noise acquisition unit 13 and determines whether the noise acquisition unit 13 has acquired information regarding noise (step S123).

[0085] If the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122 (step S122': Yes), the control unit 16 stores the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the second area 122 (step S123'). That is, the control unit 16 restores the second area 122, which is the area where the abnormality has occurred, by storing the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 to the second area 122, which is the area where the abnormality has occurred.

[0086] In step S123', the control unit 16 stores the program from the auxiliary storage unit 11 into the first area 121 where the abnormality occurred, and then the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 stores the abnormality occurrence information into the auxiliary storage unit 11 (step S124').

[0087] After the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 stores the abnormality occurrence information in the auxiliary memory unit 11 in step S124', the control unit 16 refers to the noise acquisition unit 13 and determines whether the noise acquisition unit 13 has acquired information regarding noise (step S123).

[0088] Control device 1 according to this fourth embodiment also operates in the same manner as control device 1 according to the first embodiment except for operation in first area 121, and operation in first area 121 is no different from that of the first embodiment except for the addition of a program to store a program from non-volatile memory 1001 into second area 122 and restore second area 122 when abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in second area 122. Therefore, the fact remains that control unit 16 executes a program stored in second area 122 using an execution result obtained by executing a program stored in first area 121, and it is possible to continue operation in second area 122 even if operation in first area 121 is stopped. Therefore, control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment also achieves the effect of being able to restore the memory while continuing operation at the same time when an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise.

[0089] Furthermore, even if, as in embodiment 4, a step is added to embodiment 1 in which, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122, a program is stored from the non-volatile memory 1001 to the second area 122 and the second area 122 is restored, the result is the same, that even if operation in the first area 121 is stopped, operation can be continued in the second area 122, and therefore all of the effects achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 1 are also achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 4.

[0090] Furthermore, when the abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122, a program is stored from the non-volatile memory 1001 in the second area 122 to restore the second area 122. This makes it possible to restore the second area 122 while continuing operation in the first area 121, even if an abnormality occurs in the second area 122 during operation in the first area 121. Since operation can be continued in the second area 122 after restoring the second area 122, it is possible to prevent a transition to abnormal operation when an abnormality has occurred in the second area 122, and it is possible to continue operation safely.

[0091] Note that when abnormality occurrence determination unit 14 determines that an abnormality has occurred in second area 122, storing a program from non-volatile memory 1001 into second area 122 and restoring second area 122 may be added as steps S122' to S124' after step S122 of the operation in first area 121 in control device 1 according to embodiments 2 and 3. Even in this case, in addition to the effect of control device 1 according to embodiments 2 and 3, the effect of being able to continue operation safely can be achieved.

[0092] Embodiment 5. The control device according to embodiment 1 includes a volatile memory 1002 that includes a first area 121 that is used during normal operation and that stores programs from the non-volatile memory 1001, and a second area 122 that is used when an abnormality occurs in the first area 121 and that stores programs from the non-volatile memory 1001. However, the control device according to embodiment 5 includes a volatile memory 1002 that includes a first volatile memory 1011 that includes the first area 121, and a second volatile memory 1012 that includes the second area 122. That is, the control device according to embodiment 5 differs in that the volatile memory 1002 includes the first volatile memory 1011 that includes the first area 121, and the second volatile memory 1012 that includes the second area 122. The rest of the control device is the same as embodiment 1. Hereinafter, differences from embodiment 1 will be described, but descriptions of similarities to embodiment 1 will be omitted.

[0093] The control device 1 according to embodiment 5 differs from the control device 1 according to embodiment 1 only in part of the hardware configuration of the control device 1. Therefore, an example of the hardware configuration of the control device 1 according to embodiment 5 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Other parts are the same as those in embodiment 1, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0094] As shown in FIG. 8, the volatile memory 1002 includes a first volatile memory 1011 and a second volatile memory 1012 .

[0095] Like volatile memory 1002, first volatile memory 1011 and second volatile memory 1012 include, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory). Furthermore, volatile memory 1002 functions as main memory unit 12, but a first area 121 that is part of main memory unit 12 is included in first volatile memory 1011, and a second area that is also part of main memory unit 12 is included in second volatile memory 1012. That is, in control device 1 according to embodiment 5, unlike embodiment 1, first area 121 and second area 122 are physically separated into first volatile memory 1011 and second volatile memory 1012, respectively.

[0096] Control device 1 according to embodiment 5 differs from embodiment 1 in that volatile memory 1002 includes first volatile memory 1011 including first area 121 and second volatile memory 1012 including second area 122, i.e., first area 121 and second area 122 are physically separated into first volatile memory 1011 and second volatile memory 1012, respectively. Therefore, control unit 16 executes a program stored in second area 122 using an execution result obtained by executing a program stored in first area 121, and it is possible to continue operation in second area 122 even if operation in first area 121 is stopped. Therefore, control device 1 according to embodiment 3 also achieves the effect of being able to continue operation while simultaneously recovering the memory when an abnormality occurs in the memory due to noise.

[0097] Furthermore, as in embodiment 5, unlike embodiment 1, the volatile memory 1002 includes a first volatile memory 1011 including a first area 121 and a second volatile memory 1012 including a second area 122, so that the first area 121 and the second area 122 are physically separated into the first volatile memory 1011 and the second volatile memory 1012, respectively.However, the result is the same as in embodiment 1, in that even if operation in the first area 121 is stopped, operation can be continued in the second area 122, and therefore all of the effects achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 1 are also achieved by the control device 1 of embodiment 5.

[0098] Furthermore, since the first area 121 and the second area 122 are physically separated into the first volatile memory 1011 and the second volatile memory 1012, respectively, the access performance and memory data robustness are further improved compared to embodiment 1.

[0099] Similarly, in the second, third and fourth embodiments, volatile memory 1002 may include first volatile memory 1011 including first region 121 and second volatile memory 1012 including second region 122, so that first region 121 and second region 122 are physically separated into first volatile memory 1011 and second volatile memory 1012, respectively. Even in this case, in addition to the effects of control device 1 according to the second, third and fourth embodiments, there is also an effect of further improving access performance and memory data robustness compared to the first embodiment.

[0100] The present disclosure allows various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are intended to explain the present disclosure and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, not the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and the meaning of equivalent disclosures are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0101] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 control device, 11 auxiliary memory unit, 12 main memory unit, 121 first area, 122 second area, 13 noise acquisition unit, 14 abnormality occurrence determination unit, 15 setting unit, 16 control unit, 17 notification unit, 18 communication unit, 1000 bus, 1001 non-volatile memory, 1002 volatile memory, 1003 communication interface, 1004 processor, 1011 first volatile memory, 1012 second volatile memory

Claims

1. A control device comprising: a non-volatile memory storing a program; a volatile memory including: a first area used during normal operation and storing the program from the non-volatile memory; and a second area used when an abnormality occurs in the first area and storing the program from the non-volatile memory; a noise acquisition unit acquiring information related to noise; an abnormality occurrence determination unit determining whether an abnormality has occurred in the volatile memory; and a control unit that executes the program stored in the first area and stores an execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area in the first and second areas, wherein when the noise acquisition unit acquires the information related to noise and the abnormality occurrence determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area, the control unit i) stops execution of the program stored in the first area, and ii) stores the program stored in the second area using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area and stored in the second area to continue operation, while storing the program from the non-volatile memory to the first area, thereby recovering the first area.

2. The control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit executes the program stored in the second area to continue operation and stores the execution results of the program obtained in the first area and the second area.

3. The control device of claim 2, characterized in that when the abnormality occurrence determination unit no longer determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area, the control unit stops execution of the program stored in the second area and resumes execution of the program stored in the first area using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the second area.

4. The control device according to claim 3, further characterized in that when the noise acquisition unit ceases to acquire information regarding the noise, the control unit stops execution of the program stored in the second area and resumes execution of the program stored in the first area.

5. A control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that when the abnormality occurrence determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the second area, the control unit stores the program from the non-volatile memory to the second area and restores the second area.

6. A control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising an alarm unit that notifies a user which of the first and second areas of the volatile memory is executing the program.

7. A control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the programs stored in the non-volatile memory include a first program that is used under normal circumstances and stored in the first area, and a second program that is used when an abnormality occurs in the first area and stored in the second area, and the second program has a smaller capacity than the first program.

8. The control device according to claim 7, wherein the second program is programmed with only the operations necessary for the continuation of the operation.

9. A control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a setting unit that sets whether to continue the operation or restore the first area when the noise acquisition unit acquires information about the noise and the abnormality occurrence determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first area.

10. A control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the volatile memory includes a first volatile memory including the first area and a second volatile memory including the second area.

11. A control method comprising: a first step of acquiring information related to noise; a second step of determining the occurrence of an abnormality in a first area of ​​volatile memory that stores a program used under normal circumstances from nonvolatile memory in which the program is stored; a third step of executing the program stored in the first area and storing an execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area in the first area and in a second area of ​​the volatile memory that is used in the event of an abnormality in the first area and stores the program from the nonvolatile memory; a fourth step of stopping the execution of the program stored in the first area when the information related to noise has been acquired and the occurrence of the abnormality has been determined; and a fifth step of storing the program from the nonvolatile memory to the first area, while continuing operation by executing the program stored in the second area using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area and stored in the second area, thereby recovering the first area.

12. A control program causing a computer to execute the following steps: a first step of acquiring information related to noise; a second step of determining, from nonvolatile memory in which a program used under normal circumstances is stored, whether an abnormality has occurred in a first area of ​​volatile memory in which the program is stored; a third step of executing the program stored in the first area and storing an execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area in the first area and in a second area of ​​the volatile memory in which the program is stored from the nonvolatile memory in the event of an abnormality in the first area; a fourth step of halting execution of the program stored in the first area when the information related to noise has been acquired and the occurrence of the abnormality has been determined; and a fifth step of storing the program from the nonvolatile memory to the first area to restore the first area while continuing operation by executing the program stored in the second area using the execution result obtained by executing the program stored in the first area and stored in the second area.

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