JP2003244149A - Network system, network equipment and connection control method for network - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network system and the like capable of restrain the cost for establishment and operation of the network to the same amount as that of a single LAN (local area network), and capable of simultaneously solving problems such as security, reliability and reduction of traffic load. <P>SOLUTION: The network system is provided with a plurality of information processing devices each having information processing capability and an information transmission function, a single LAN, a network device connected to the LAN to perform the information transmission between the information processing devices, a means for virtually grouping the information processing devices and assigning priorities of information transmission for the virtual group and priorities of information processing devices in the group, and a means for distributing information about the priorities of virtual group and the information processing devices to a network connection device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network system using a single network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art EA (Engineering Out)
operation) system and OA (Office Au)
LAN (Local Area)
When attempting to build a network in the same facility, it is roughly divided into multiple LAs as shown in FIG.
There are two methods, N using a dual LAN, and using a single LAN as shown in FIG.

In the former case, a LAN that prioritizes solving problems such as security, reliability, and traffic load reduction is
It is necessary to install and construct each system (EA system, OA system, etc.) as a separate line. This means that costs such as network equipment construction and maintenance costs increase. In this system, two LANs of EA system and OA system (EA system LAN 51 and OA system LAN 52) are emphasized with emphasis on LAN security, reliability, and traffic load reduction.
However, even if a conventional device such as a switching hub that connects the information processing device and the LAN is used, the LAN will be double laid in the same facility. The cost is inevitable.

On the other hand, the system shown in FIG.
Although it is going to build two networks of A system on a single LAN, it can reduce cost, but security, reliability, traffic load reduction, etc.
It leaves many problems. LAN 61 shown in FIG.
Is a conventional type that focuses only on reducing construction and operation costs, but there are many network connections and branch points, and each traffic passing through them is processed equally, in fact, in the order of occurrence and arrival. Information on both the EA system and the OA system randomly travels on the LAN, and traffic congestion is likely to occur.

As described above, there has not been a LAN system which has a high security and a high reliability while reducing the cost and can reduce the traffic load.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art.
While keeping the operation cost to the same level as a single LAN,
The objective is to provide a network system that simultaneously solves the problems of security, reliability, and traffic load reduction.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to claim 1 of the present invention, a plurality of information processing devices having an information processing capability and an information transmission function, and a single local area network are provided. A network device connected to the local area network for transmitting information between the information processing devices, and a virtual grouping of the information processing devices, and information transmission priority of the virtual group and the information processing devices in the virtual group And a means for delivering priority information of the virtual group and the information processing device to the network connection device.

According to claim 2 of the present invention, the information processing apparatus is connected to a plurality of information processing apparatuses having an information processing capability and an information transmission function, and performs information transmission between the information processing apparatuses via a single local area network. A network device, in which virtual grouping of the information processing device and setting of information transmission priority of the virtual group, assignment of priority to the information processing device belonging to the virtual group, and address and priority information of the information processing device There is provided a network device characterized by receiving the information of the virtual group and the priority order transmitted from a network management device which manages.

According to claim 3 of the present invention, information transmission between a plurality of information processing devices having an information processing capability and an information transmission function is connected via a network device connected to a single local area network. A method for controlling connection of a network to be controlled, which comprises virtual grouping the information processing devices and assigning information transmission priority of the virtual group and priority of the information processing devices in the virtual group; And a priority distribution information of the group and the information processing device is distributed to the network connection device.

According to claim 4 of the present invention, information transmission between a plurality of information processing devices having an information processing capability and an information transmission function is connected via a network device connected to a single local area network. A connection control method of a network to be controlled, which comprises a step of virtual grouping of information processing devices connected to the local network, and a step of setting information transmission priority of the virtual group virtualized by this step. A step of allocating the information processing device to the virtual group, a step of assigning a priority of each of the information processing devices allocated in this step, and a priority of the information processing device allocated in this step. Information about the priority and the information transmission priority of the virtual group is provided to the network device. Provides a connection control method for a network, characterized by a step of delivering.

According to claim 5 of the present invention, information transmission between a plurality of information processing devices having an information processing capability and an information transmission function is connected via a network device connected to a single local area network. A method for controlling connection of a network to be controlled, which comprises virtual grouping of the information processing devices and their priorities, addresses and priorities of the information processing devices from a network management device that sets and distributes the addresses and priorities of the information processing devices. Of the information, the step of storing the address and the priority information received by this step, and the step of storing the address and the priority information previously stored when the information transmission request is received from the information processing device. And a step of performing priority control based on the network control method.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an embodiment of the present invention.
The virtual LAN shown in FIG. 1 is an example in which two EA systems and OA systems are provided as virtual groups.

This system includes an EA system device 11 for processing technical / control system information, an OA system device 12 for processing office system information, and a physical LAN device such as a cable for connecting each information processing device to a network. 13 and the EA system L constructed logically and virtually on the physical LAN
The AN 14 and the OA system LAN 15, the switching hub 16 for connecting various information processing devices and the LAN device 13 to realize a virtual LAN, and the address and priority of each information processing device are input and transmitted to the switching hub 16 for priority. In addition to performing order control, each device on the real LAN and virtual L
The LAN management device 17 monitors and controls the AN.

In this system, a virtual LAN to be constructed on a single LAN is determined, a virtual group corresponding to the virtual LAN is set, and its priority is given. Next, by classifying each information processing device into a virtual group, a priority order is assigned to the information processing device, and priority control of traffic is performed according to the priority order to generate a virtual L
Realize AN. The above procedure will be described with reference to the configuration example of the present embodiment of FIG. 1 and the virtual group priority example of FIG.

First, a virtual LA such as an EA LAN 14 or an OA LAN 15 which is desired to be constructed on a physical network
Determine N. This virtual LAN is set as a virtual group.

For example, the EA LAN 14 is assigned to the EA network, the OA LAN 15 is assigned to the OA network, and the virtual groups are assigned the priorities as shown in FIG. That is, EA network is OA
Set the priority higher than the system network. However, "network monitoring / management", which has the highest priority,
This is the priority of information transmission requests for network monitoring and management.

Next, each information processing device on the network (EA system device 11, OA system device 12, etc.) is allocated to a virtual group. As a result, the priority of the virtual group is assigned to each information processing device. In the example of the priority order shown in FIG. 2, the EA system device 11 is an “EA system network” and the OA system device 12 is an “OA system network”. The priority of the device 12 is determined.

Finally, the address and priority information of each information processing device belonging to each virtual group to which the priority is assigned are distributed to the connected devices on the network.
Priority control is implemented in each connected device that has received this distribution.

Through this series of processes, each information processing device on the network belonging to each virtual group is given a priority order to have a network resource use priority and a line use priority, and a transmission process between the information processing devices is performed. A virtual LAN network can be configured by performing priority control in. In other words, the information processing devices belonging to the same virtual group have the same priority, and their transmission processing is exclusively processed at a priority different from that of the other virtual groups, so that a single LAN is apparently used.
It appears that there are multiple virtual LANs on top.

In the example of this embodiment, a network connection device and a network management device are used as means for realizing virtual grouping of information processing devices, setting of their priorities, and priority control. Specifically, the switching hub 16 of FIG. 1 is used as the network connection device, and the LAN management device 17 is used as the network management device.
The function and operation will be described in detail below.

First, the LAN management device 17 has a man-machine interface with a network administrator, and sets a virtual group according to an instruction from the network administrator.
After each process such as assigning priority to virtual group, assigning information processing device to virtual group, and associating address of information processing device with priority, the information is distributed to each network connection device It has the function of controlling.

The switching hub 16 has a function of a conventional switching hub, that is, a function of connecting various information processing equipments to a LAN to transmit information, and the switching hub 16 can be connected to the switching hub 16 in advance by an instruction from the LAN management device 17. The priority order corresponding to the address of the connected information processing equipment is stored, and when the information transmission request is received, it has a function of controlling the information transmission processing according to the priority order of the equipment. In this priority control processing, the switching hub 16 recognizes the priority of each information transmission request from the information processing device by the address information, makes the lower priority transmission request wait, and the higher priority transmission request first. It is a series of control processing of processing.

Next, the priority control operation of the switching hub 16 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The switching hub 16 shown in FIG. 1 constantly monitors the presence or absence of a transmission request from the information processing equipment (the EA equipment 11 or the OA equipment 12) and the network (LAN equipment 13) connected to the switching hub 16 to request the transmission. If there is, the transmission request is received in step S31. In the transmission request information, if it is a transmission request from another switching hub 16, the source address, the priority information of the information processing device at that address, and the destination address are directly connected to the switching hub 16. Information processing equipment (E
In the case of a transmission request from the A-system device 11 or the OA-system device 12), only the address and the destination address are included.

In step S32, if the switching hub 16 is executing the transmission process, the process proceeds to step S33, and if not, the process proceeds to step S38.

In step S33, the priorities of the currently transmitting virtual group and the transmission requesting virtual group are compared. Here, if it is a transmission request from another switching hub 16, the priority information of the transmission source is referred to. However, in the case of an information processing device connected to the switching hub 16, the information processing device stored in advance is stored. The priority of the corresponding information processing device is searched from the address and its priority information, and the priority is compared with the priority of the virtual group being transmitted. If the priority of the transmission request is higher than the priority during transmission, step S34
Otherwise, go to step S37.

In step S34, the current transmission process is interrupted and put on hold. In step S35, the received transmission request having the higher priority is executed. In this transmission process, first, the priority of the information processing device searched for the transmission request is added to the transmission request information, and the data is transmitted to the next switching hub 16 through the LAN device 13, and then the data body is transmitted. To do. Step S3
In step 6, after waiting for the transmission process of step S35 to end, the transmission process suspended in step S34 is restarted.

In step S37, since the priority of the currently executed transmission processing is high, the received transmission request is suspended and the current transmission processing is continued.

In step S38, since the transmission is not in progress, the transmission process of the accepted transmission request is executed.

By thus performing the priority control in each switching hub 16, a plurality of virtual networks (virtual L) are provided on the physical network (single LAN).
AN) can be realized. EA system L in FIG.
Since the priority of AN traffic is set as "EA network> OA network" as shown in Fig. 2, it is possible to send and receive traffic over the network with priority over OA LAN traffic. (Real-time property) "is guaranteed. This enables "security protection", "reliability improvement", and "traffic load reduction".

In the above embodiment, an example of constructing a virtual LAN by dividing the priority order of information transmission into virtual groups of EA system and OA system devices has been shown. However, a virtual LAN considering information transmission between systems is shown. Can also be considered. This can be realized by adding the EA system and OA system communication to the priority grouped for each system in FIG. 2, but in the case of constructing a more flexible and dynamic virtual LAN, each traffic is Alternatively, the method of controlling the priority order may be used. FIG. 4 shows an example of the priority setting.

This can be realized by recognizing the priority order corresponding to the addresses of the transmission equipment and the reception equipment of each traffic in the switching hub 16 and controlling the priority order.
This is, for example, transmitting the data input / calculated by the CAD system of the design department, the design numerical data to the manufacturing machine of the manufacturing department, and the bill of materials data processing equipment of the material procurement / stocking department. For the processing such as transmission, the former is "EA system device ⇔ EA system device", the latter is "EA system device".
System device ⇔ OA system device "has the advantage that they can be simultaneously performed from the same information processing device (in the example of the CAD system, a CAD terminal or the like).

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, by introducing the concept of virtual LAN into a single LAN,
There is an effect that the cost of network construction can be suppressed to the same level as that of a single LAN, and a network system or the like that can achieve security, reliability and traffic load reduction can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a priority order according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining priority control according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the priority of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a conventional LAN system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining another example of a conventional LAN system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... EA related equipment, 12 ... OA equipment, 13 ... LAN equipment, 14 ... EA LAN, 15 ... OA LAN, 16 ... Switching hub, 17 ... LAN management equipment.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of information processing devices having an information processing capability and an information transmission function, a single local area network, and a network device connected to the local area network for transmitting information between the information processing devices. Means for performing virtual grouping of the information processing devices and assigning priority of information transmission of the virtual groups and priorities of the information processing devices in the virtual groups; and priority information of the virtual groups and the information processing devices. A network system comprising means for delivering to a network connection device. 2. A network device which is connected to a plurality of information processing devices having an information processing capability and an information transmission function, and which transmits information between the information processing devices via a single local area network. Virtual grouping of processing equipment, setting of information transmission priority of virtual group, priority allocation to information processing equipment belonging to virtual group, and transmission from network management device managing address and priority information of the information processing equipment A network device, which receives the information of the virtual group and the priority order to be performed. 3. A network connection control method for controlling connection of information transmission between a plurality of information processing devices having information processing capability and information transmission function via a network device connected to a single local area network. And a step of performing the virtual grouping of the information processing devices and assigning the information transmission priority of the virtual group and the priority of the information processing devices in the virtual group, and the priority of the virtual group and the information processing device. And a step of delivering information to the network connection device. 4. A network connection control method for controlling connection of information transmission between a plurality of information processing devices having information processing capability and information transmission function via a network device connected to a single local area network. There is a step of virtual grouping the information processing devices connected to the local network; a step of setting the information transmission priority of the virtual group virtual grouped by this step; Assigning to the virtual group, assigning the priority of each of the information processing devices more assigned in this step, and the priority of the information processing device assigned in this step and the information transmission of the virtual group Distributing priority information to the network device. Connection control method for a network, characterized by. 5. A network connection control method for controlling connection of information transmission between a plurality of information processing devices having information processing capability and information transmission function via a network device connected to a single local area network. There is a step of receiving information on the address and priority of the information processing device from the network management device that sets and distributes the virtual grouping of the information processing device and its priority, and the address and priority of the information processing device, A step of storing the address and the priority information received in this step; and a step of performing priority control based on the address and the priority information stored in the previous period when an information transmission request is received from the information processing device. And a network connection control method.