JP2017194810A - Remote monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

A remote monitoring system capable of realizing physical one-way communication from a controller of a monitored device to a remote monitoring device with a low cost and simple configuration. SOLUTION: A data acquisition device 12 for acquiring data indicating the operating state of a monitoring target device A, a monitoring device 16 for monitoring data indicating the operating state of the device A, and the device A from the data acquisition device 12. In a remote monitoring system 1 including an external connection device 14 that receives data indicating an operating state and transmits the data to the monitoring device 16 via a network 15, the data acquisition device 12 and the external connection device 14 However, in a state where the signal line L2 in one communication direction of the cross cable 13 for serial communication is cut off, the connection is made so that only one-way communication from the data acquisition device 12 to the external connection device 14 is possible. . [Selection drawing] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system for remotely monitoring the operating state of a machine.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, remotely monitoring the operating state of equipment used in factories, infrastructure facilities, etc., such as transport equipment, has been performed. When remotely monitoring the operating status of a device, connect a data acquisition device that acquires data indicating the operating status from the device controller that controls the operation of the target device, and a remote monitoring device via a network. The constructed remote monitoring system is used.

  By using such a remote monitoring system, it is possible to monitor the operating state of a device using a monitoring device even in a place remote from a monitored factory or infrastructure facility.

JP 2015-18550 A

  The remote monitoring system as described above can be easily constructed by using a general-purpose computer or network technology. However, if a system is constructed using these general-purpose technologies, it is easy for unauthorized third-party computers to access the controller of the monitored device, and data tampering or inappropriate device operation may occur. There was a problem that there was. In particular, it was necessary to completely block unauthorized access in critical facilities such as infrastructure.

  In order to prevent unauthorized access to the system, it may be possible to limit the access to the device controller by installing a firewall on the controller of the monitored device. However, since the computer and network technologies that are currently widely used are configured on the assumption of two-way communication, when data is transmitted from the data acquisition device to the monitoring device, the monitoring device responds accordingly. An ACK (ACKnowledgement) signal or the like transmitted to the data acquisition device is transmitted into the network. For this reason, even if access to the device controller is restricted by a firewall, there is a possibility that a third party may illegally access the data acquisition device or the device controller connected thereto using an ACK signal or the like transmitted within the network. End up.

  Therefore, a device having only laser light emitting means (no light receiving means) is connected to the data acquisition device, and the network has only laser light receiving means for receiving the laser light from the laser light emitting means (no laser light emitting means). There is a technique in which devices are connected to perform physical one-way communication between a data acquisition device in a remote monitoring system and a network. By using this technology, communication from the network side to the data acquisition device (device controller side) is completely blocked, and unauthorized access can be reliably prevented.

  However, when such a dedicated device for one-way communication is to be installed in the system, there is a problem that a great deal of cost is required and it takes time to construct the system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to realize physical one-way communication with a low-cost and simple configuration from a controller of a monitoring target device to a monitoring device at a remote location. The object is to provide a remote monitoring system.

  In order to achieve the above object, a remote monitoring system of the present invention has a bidirectional communication function, a data acquisition device for acquiring data indicating an operating state of a monitored device, and a bidirectional communication function, A monitoring device that monitors data indicating the operating status of the external device, and an external device that has a bidirectional communication function, receives data indicating the operating status of the device from the data acquisition device, and transmits the data to the monitoring device via a network In the remote monitoring system comprising a connection device, the data acquisition device and the external connection device are disconnected from the data acquisition device in a state where a signal line in one-side communication direction of a cross cable for serial communication is interrupted. The external connection device is connected so that only one-way communication is possible.

  According to the remote monitoring system of the present invention, physical one-way communication can be realized with a low-cost and simple configuration from a controller of a monitoring target device to a monitoring device at a remote location.

1 is an overall view showing a configuration of a remote monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which connected between the data acquisition apparatus and external connection apparatus of the remote monitoring system by one Embodiment with the serial communication cable. It is a general view which shows the structure of the remote monitoring system 2 by another form.

  As an embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of a remote monitoring system that remotely monitors the operating state of a transporting device A used in infrastructure facilities or the like will be described with reference to FIG. The remote monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a device controller 11 connected to the monitored transport device A, a data acquisition device 12 connected to the device controller 11 by bidirectional communication, a data acquisition device 12, and a serial communication cable. 13, and an external connection device 14 connected at 13, and a monitoring device 16 that is installed remotely from the transport device A and is connected to the external connection device 14 via the network 15.

  In the present embodiment, a general-purpose personal computer or the like is used for the device controller 11, the data acquisition device 12, the external connection device 14, and the monitoring device 16 that constitute the remote monitoring system 1, and these devices are both external devices. It has a function to perform bidirectional communication. Further, the data acquisition device 12 and the external connection device 14 have a serial port for serial communication with an external device. The network 15 that connects the external connection device 14 and the monitoring device 16 is a network that uses a general-purpose technology such as a TCP / IP protocol. The external connection device 14 and the monitoring device 16 are connected by a VPN (Virtual Private Network) using the network 15.

  The device controller 11 controls the operation of the transport device A (device ON / OFF switching, operation speed, direction, etc.) based on an instruction from the outside, preset information, and the like, as well as data on its operating state ( Hereinafter, this is referred to as “operation data”. The data acquisition device 12 is connected to the device controller 11 in a state capable of bidirectional communication, and acquires operation data of the transport device A acquired by the device controller 11 at predetermined time intervals. The serial communication cable 13 is a general-purpose serial communication cross cable that is cut off in the one-side communication direction, and only one-way communication from the data acquisition device 12 to the external connection device 14 is established. Serial communication is connected to the data acquisition device 12 and the external connection device 14 so that communication in the direction to the data acquisition device 12 is interrupted. The external connection device 14 receives the operation data of the transport device A from the data acquisition device 12 via the serial communication cable 13 and transmits it to the monitoring device 16 via the VPN of the network 15. The monitoring device 16 receives, holds, and outputs the operation data of the transporting equipment transmitted from the external connection device 14.

  The serial communication cable 13 used in the remote monitoring system 1 configured as described above will be described. As the serial communication cable 13 according to the present embodiment, a general-purpose serial communication cross cable is used. As shown in FIG. 2, the signal line L1 used for data transmission in a predetermined direction in the cross cable, Only one of the signal lines L2 used for data transmission in the reverse direction is in a communicable state, the other is incapable of communication, and is connected to the data acquisition device 12 and the external connection device 14. Specifically, the signal line in the direction in which communication is disabled is disconnected, or is not connected to at least one of the serial ports of the data acquisition device 12 or the external connection device 14. In that case, it connects so that communication to the direction from the data acquisition apparatus 12 to the external connection apparatus 14 is attained.

  In FIG. 2, the signal line L <b> 2 is disconnected and the signal line L <b> 1 is connected so that data is transmitted from the data acquisition device 12 to the external connection device 14. By connecting the cross cable in this way, communication from the data acquisition device 12 to the external connection device 14 is possible, but communication from the external connection device 14 to the data acquisition device 12 is physically completely blocked.

  In the remote monitoring system 1, the operation data of the transport device A acquired by the device controller 11 is acquired at predetermined time intervals by the data acquisition device 12. Then, the operation data acquired by the data acquisition device 12 is transmitted from the data acquisition device 12 to the external connection device 14 via the serial communication cable 13. The operation data received by the external connection device 14 is further transmitted to the monitoring device 16 via the VPN using the network 15, and the monitoring device 16 outputs to the monitor or the like, and determines whether the operating state is normal / abnormal. Used for processing.

  This remote monitoring system 1 is configured in a state in which the data acquisition device 12 and the external connection device 14 can physically communicate in only one direction from the data acquisition device 12 to the external connection device 14. Even if the VPN security is broken by the third party device X and the external connection device 14 is accessed, the access from the external connection device 14 to the data acquisition device 12 is impossible. There is no possibility of A's inappropriate driving operation or data falsification. Therefore, the remote monitoring system can maintain high safety and reliability.

  According to the present embodiment described above, by using a general-purpose device, a cable, and a network using a general-purpose technology, it is possible to easily configure an inexpensive remote monitoring system with high safety and reliability. .

  In the embodiment described above, the case where the data acquisition device 12 and the external connection device 14 are devices having a serial port has been described, but the case where a device having no serial port is used will be described with reference to FIG. .

  In the remote monitoring system 2 shown in FIG. 3, the data acquisition device 17 connected to the device controller 11 and the external connection device 18 connected to the monitoring device 16 via the network 15 do not have a serial port but a USB port. A general-purpose personal computer or the like having the above is used.

  In this case, the serial communication converter 19 is connected to the USB port of the data acquisition device 17, and the serial communication converter 20 is connected to the USB port of the external connection device 18, and the serial communication converters 19 and 20 are connected. The serial communication cable 13 is used for connection. The serial communication cable 13 used here is configured to be communicable in only one direction, similar to the serial communication cable 13 used in the remote monitoring system 1 described above, and serial communication on the data acquisition device 17 side. Communication is possible from the converter 19 to the serial communication converter 20 on the external connection device 18 side, and the reverse communication (communication from the external connection device 18 side to the data acquisition device 17 side) is blocked. ing.

  With this configuration, in the remote monitoring system 2 using a personal computer that does not have a serial port in the data acquisition device and the external connection device, similarly to the remote monitoring system 1 described above, safety and reliability are ensured. A high-priced and inexpensive remote monitoring system can be easily configured.

1, 2 Remote monitoring system 11 Device controller 12, 17 Data acquisition device 13 Serial communication cable 14, 18 External connection device 15 Network 16 Monitoring device 19, 20 Serial communication converter

Claims (2)

A data acquisition device that has a bidirectional communication function and acquires data indicating the operating state of the monitored device;
A monitoring device having a bidirectional communication function and monitoring data indicating the operating state of the device;
An external connection device having a bidirectional communication function, receiving data indicating an operating state of the device from the data acquisition device, and transmitting the data to the monitoring device via a network;
In the remote monitoring system with
Only one-way communication from the data acquisition device to the external connection device is possible between the data acquisition device and the external connection device in a state where the signal line in the one-side communication direction of the cross cable for serial communication is cut off. A remote monitoring system characterized by being connected as possible. Between the serial communication converter connected to the data acquisition device and the serial communication converter connected to the external connection device, the signal line in the one-side communication direction of the cross cable for serial communication is cut off. The remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the remote acquisition system is connected so that only one-way communication from the data acquisition device to the external connection device is possible.

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