JPH02207643A - Communication control equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily investigate causes when abnormality is generated by providing a signal folding circuit, which folds the output signal of a line controller to an input side according to a folding instruction signal from a first or a second line controller, on the terminal connection side of a switching device. CONSTITUTION:In a switching device 16, switching circuits 18-21 of (n)-channels are provided to switch the connection to a side instructed by a network processor 1 or 2 and a switch control circuit 17 is provided. Folding circuits 23-26 are inserted to the terminal connection side of the switching circuit and a folding control circuit 22 is provided. The folding control circuit 22 makes each folding circuit be in a folding state according to the instruction signal from the network processors 1 and 2. By executing the folding test of a signal from the two line controllers 1 and 2, it can be confirmed whether the switch of a line is executed samely as the instruction or not. Thus, it can be easily discriminated whether a terminal or a host computer side is abnormal or the line controller side is abnormal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (AL Industrial Field of Application) This invention duplicates a line control device that performs line control between a plurality of terminals and a host computer, and also switches the line control device using a switch. The present invention relates to a communication control device configured as described above.

(bl Prior Art) This type of communication control device is used, for example, in a system with ATMs and ECRs as terminals. In this case, two line control devices mutually detect faults, and one line control device detects a fault. If this occurs, the line to the terminal is switched to the normal line control device based on instructions from the other line control device, and switching control is performed so that the terminal can be continuously controlled.

The configuration and control method of a conventional communication control device are shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

In FIG. 4, network processor 1 and network processor 2 are line control devices that control lines between a plurality of terminals and a host computer, and a switch 16 selectively connects a plurality of terminals to two network processors 1 or 2. It is a device that does Also, 11 and 12 are monitor devices, 13 and 14 are floppy disk devices,
15 is a hard disk device. The two network processors 1 and 2 each have an independent CPU 3.4.
, I10 controllers 5 and 6 that control the monitor device and mutually detect the status of the network processor, and an external storage device controller 7.8 that controls reading and writing of data to the floppy disk device and the hard disk device.
and a communication controller 9 that controls communication with the host computer, remote monitoring device, and terminal and controls the switching device.
10 are provided. In addition, the switching device 16 has a switching circuit 1.
8, 19, 20, . . . 21 and a switching control circuit 17 for controlling these.

FIG. 5 shows the communication controller 9.10 and the switching device 1.
6 (ICH). Switch 16
Inside is a flip-flop (Xi) 3 that stores the switching state.
0 is provided, and the connection state of the switching circuit 18 etc. is switched depending on the state. Normally network processor 1 is a mask (active system), network processor 2
is a slave (standby system), and if network processors 1 and 2 are both normal, Xl is in the recent state,
The line between the terminal group and the host computer is now connected to the network processor 1 side. If the network processor 1 becomes abnormal in this state, the network processor 2 detects this and outputs a signal to set xl from the communication controller 10 to set Xi. As a result, the line between the terminal group and the host computer is switched to the network processor 2 side. FIG. 6 shows the processing contents of these switching devices.

Problems to be Solved by the FC1 Invention However, in conventional communication control devices that duplicate line control devices and use switching devices, it is difficult to check whether the line has actually switched to the instructed line control device. I can't. For this reason, if the terminal cannot be continuously controlled even after line switching processing, there is a problem in that it takes time to recover because it is impossible to determine whether there is an abnormality on the terminal side or on the line control device side. .

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to check the operation of a switching device from a line control device, so that the cause of an abnormality can be easily investigated, and also allows the switching device to be operated from a remote location when a remote monitoring device is connected to the line control device. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a communication control device that allows maintenance personnel to confirm the operation of the device, thereby limiting the scope of a failure before a maintenance worker goes to the site, and improving maintainability on site.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems This invention provides first and second line control devices that perform line control between a plurality of terminals and a host computer, and a plurality of terminals connected to the two line control devices. In a communication control device consisting of a switching device that is selectively connected to either one, the output signal of the first or second line control device is switched to the input side by a return instruction signal from the first or second line control device. The present invention is characterized in that a signal folding circuit for folding back is provided on the terminal connection side of the switching device.

(Q) Effect In the communication control device of the present invention, the signal winding turn-back circuit provided in the switching device receives the turn-back instruction signal outputted from the first or second line control device.
Alternatively, the output signal of the second line control device is returned to the input side. Therefore, the first or second line control device can check the switching state of the line by outputting a loopback instruction signal to the switching device and then performing a loopback test.

That is, by determining the match between the transmitted signal and the received signal while the switching device is in the looping state, it can be confirmed that the switching device has been switched to the line control device side as instructed.

Furthermore, if a remote monitoring device is connected to the line control device, the status of the switching device can be checked from a remote location in the same way.

(f) Embodiment The configuration and operation of a communication control device as an embodiment of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system, and the Neso 1-Work Processor 1.2 corresponds to the first and second line control devices according to the present invention. The switch 16 is connected between the two network processors 1 and 2 and the terminal group and the host computer, and switches and connects either the network processors 1 or 2 to the terminal group or the host computer. 11 and 12 are monitor devices, 13 and 14 are floppy disk devices, and 15 is a hard disk device. The network processor 1.2 is equipped with independent main CPUs 3 and 4 each containing ROM and RAM, and controls each section. The I10 controllers 5 and 6 control personal computers, consoles, printers, monitor devices, etc., and mutually detect the states of network processors. The external storage device controller 7.8 controls writing/reading of data to/from an external storage device such as a floppy disk device, hard disk device, or streamer. Communication controllers 9 and 10 control communication with the host computer, remote monitoring device, and terminal, and control the switching device.

The switch 16 is provided with n-channel switching circuits 18, 19, 20, . Also, switching circuit 1
Return circuits 23, 24, 25, . The loopback control circuit 22 is a communication controller 9. within the network processor 1.2. Each folding circuit is put into a folding state by a folding instruction signal from IO.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the communication controller 9-10 and a part (CHI) of the switching device 16 shown in FIG.

The switch 16 is provided with a flip-flop (Xi) 3 (l) for setting the switching state and a flip-flop (X2) 31 for setting the return state.
When l is in the reset state, it is switched to the communication controller 9 side of network processor 1, and when Xl is in set state, it is switched to the communication controller 1 of network processor 2.
Switched to 0 cases. The return control circuit 23 is connected to the line on the terminal side when X2 is in the set state, and is connected to the communication controller 9 on the selected side when X2 is in the set state.
Or it is connected back to the 10 side.

The communication controller 9 includes a transmission control circuit 36, a signal output sofa 32, an input buffer 34, the above-mentioned flip-flop X1, a cent signal generation circuit, and a flip-flop X2.
A set signal and reset signal generation circuit is provided. On the other hand, the communication controller 10 on the network processor 2 side includes a transmission control circuit 37 and a signal output cover sofa 33.
, a signal man cover sofa 35, a cent signal generation circuit for the flip-flop X1, and a set signal and reset signal generation circuit for the flip-flop X2.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the switching device 16. First, there is an Xl Noricent signal, x2 seven soto 1
If there is no word, the line of the host computer or terminal is switched to the network processor 1 side and communication is performed (fll-n2-n3→n4). If there is a reset signal of Xl and a set signal of -n6). If this return test is normal, it can be confirmed that the switching circuit 18 has been switched to the network processor 1 side as instructed. After the return test is completed, X2 is reset by a reset signal from the communication controller 9 of the network processor 1 (n7). As a result, the loopback circuits 23 to 26 are switched to the terminal and host computer line side, and the network processor 1 communicates with the terminal or host computer (n2
-+n3-n4).

When there is a cent signal of Xl and no set signal of X2, switching circuits 18 to 21 are switched to the network processor 2 side, and return circuits 23 to 26 are switched to the D line side of the terminal or post computer. As a result, the network processor 2 communicates with the terminal or host computer (nl-bn8→n9→nl
o→n1l), when there is a set signal of X1 and a set signal of If the loopback test is normal, the communication controller 10 of the network processor 2 resets X2 (n14). As a result, the network processor 2 communicates with the terminal or host computer (n 9-n 10-n 1
1).

If there is no reset signal or set signal of
5).

In addition, by configuring the system to run a loopback test from each network processor as an initial test when the power is turned on to check the operation of the switching device,
It is also possible to check the operation of the switch in advance.

In the embodiment, the switching circuit and the folding circuit are each illustrated using the symbols of switches having mechanical contacts, but they can also be configured as switches based on logic circuits and ICs. Further, the signal transmission circuit is not limited to the embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate depending on the type and number of signals.

(g) Effects of the Invention According to the invention, as described above, by performing a return test of signals from two line control devices, the line control device side can determine whether or not line switching is being performed as instructed. It can be confirmed. This makes it possible to easily determine whether there is an abnormality on the terminal or host computer side or on the line control device side if communication with the terminal or host computer cannot continue even after line switching processing. .

Furthermore, if a remote monitoring device is connected to the line control device, the line connection status can be checked from a remote location, allowing maintenance personnel to identify the extent of the problem before they go to repair it.

In this case, the parts and tools needed for repair work are limited,
On-site repair time is also significantly reduced.

Figure 6

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram of a switching device and parts connected thereto. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation contents of the switching device of the communication control device. Figures 4 to 6 are diagrams related to conventional communication control devices, with Figure 4 being an overall block diagram, Figure 5 being a circuit configuration diagram of a switch and parts connected to it, and Figure 6 being a diagram of a switch. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation details of the device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) First and second line control devices that perform line control between a plurality of terminals and a host computer, and a switching device that selectively connects a plurality of terminals to either one of the two line control devices. A communication control device comprising: a signal return circuit that returns an output signal of the first or second line control device to an input side in response to a return instruction signal from the first or second line control device, is connected to a terminal of the switching device; A communication control device characterized in that it is provided on the side.