JPH04247597A - Line control circuit for pos system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent load from being concentrated on a controller while keeping a state responding to system down by setting a terminal at a down side under the control of the controller on the other side when the controller on one side goes down and performing the transmission control of the transmission lines of two systems between the terminal and the controllers. CONSTITUTION:Even when the memory device 15a or 15b of either communication control units 11a and 11b goes down, the memory device 15b or 15a of the communication control units 11b and 11a on the other side can be used if the transmission lines 16a, 16b between both communication control units 11a, 11b are operated normally. In such a case, communication load on the transmission lines 14a, 14b can be distributed, and the load can be reduced. Also, when either the communication control unit 11a or 11b, or either the communication control unit 14a or 14b goes down, all ECRs 12 can be controlled by the communication control unit 11b or 11a, or either the transmission line 14b or 14a.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention is applicable to POS (point and
The present invention relates to a line control method for a POS system, such as when a line control device of a controller controls a terminal such as an ECR (electronic cash register) used in an off-sales system to a higher-level center.

0002

Conventionally, in a POS system, in order to prevent the system from going down and to distribute the processing load, two controllers distribute the terminals and control each other's terminals, and one controller goes down. In this case, there is a known dual controller system in which the other controller controls all the terminals.

However, in the case of this dual controller system, if one controller goes down, the other controller controls all the terminals, so the load is concentrated on the other controller. Also, a method is known in which the line between the two controllers and each terminal device is redundant as described above, but in the case of this line duplication method, there are two types of connection between the controller and the terminal device for each terminal device. Since the controller is distributed over two controllers, there is a problem in that the processing load is concentrated on one controller.

0004

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a line control method for a POS system that can prevent concentration of load on the controller while being able to cope with system failure.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention connects a plurality of terminals to two controllers in a controllable manner, and connects the terminals and both controllers with two transmission lines. The controllers are connected to each other through a transmission line and a monitoring line so that they can be controlled, and when one goes down, the other one takes control of the terminal on the down side, and the two transmission lines between the terminal and both controllers are transmitted. POS to control
It is characterized by being a system line control method.

[0006]

[Operation] According to the POS system line control method of the present invention, even if the storage device of one controller goes down,
If the transmission line between both controllers is normal, the storage device of the other controller can be used, so 2
Communication can be distributed across the system's transmission lines, distributing the communication processing load. Furthermore, even if one controller and one transmission line go down, the system can be operated using the other controller and transmission line.

[0007]

[Effect of the invention] As a result, when the POS system is operating normally, the transmission line between the controller and the terminal is selectively used for one side and the other, so the load on the controller and transmission line is distributed and reduced.

Furthermore, even if the storage device of one controller goes down, if the transmission line between both controllers is normal, the storage device of the other controller can be used, so the communication load on the transmission line can be distributed. It is possible to reduce the load. Of course, if one controller or one transmission line goes down, the other controller or transmission line can control all the terminals.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The drawing shows a line control method for a POS system. In FIG. 1, this POS system includes a store controller SC, two line control devices 11a and 11b as controllers, and a plurality of ECRs 1 as terminals.
It is composed of 2...

[0011] The above-mentioned store controller SC executes sales management, inventory management, product management, etc., and the above-mentioned management items are updated based on input sales data.

[0012] The line control devices 11a and 11b are ECR1
2... and the store controller SC, and the store controller SC is connected to the upper transmission line 13a, respectively.
, 13b for transmission, and many installed ECs.
R12... means the main transmission line 14a and the sub transmission line 14.
It is connected to allow transmission through two transmission lines 14a and 14b.

When connecting the main transmission line 14a and the sub-transmission line 14b, approximately half of the ECRs 12 out of all the ECRs 12 are main connected to one line control device 11a, and the remaining half ECRs 12 are connected to the other line control device 11a. The main connection is made to the line control device 11b, and the remaining sub-connection sides are sub-connected to line connection devices different from the main connection side. This allows the two line control devices 11a and 11b to be used equally and to operate efficiently in terms of transmission control processing.

[0014] The above-mentioned line control devices 11a and 11b are respectively equipped with storage devices (PLU files) 15a and 15b, and these storage devices 15a and 15b store the product name, product category, price, and sales amount of each product. , stores and updates product data for each product, such as the number of units sold.

Furthermore, both storage devices 15a and 15b are connected by transmission lines 16a and 16b so that they can be controlled by each other's line control devices 11a and 11b, and furthermore, when one of the line control devices 11a and 11b goes down, , the other is all E
Connect with the monitoring line 17 to control CR12...
They monitor each other.

[0016] When the ECR 12 described above reads the barcode of a product to be sold, it performs an inquiry process that inquires about the product name and price of this barcode data, and when the product is sold, it registers the sales data. When performing these tasks, the transmission lines 14a, 14
b is used differently.

Next, the processing operation of the ECR 12 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the ECR 12 reads the barcode of the product based on the sale of the product, an inquiry process occurs (step n11).

When the above inquiry service is determined (step n12), barcode data (inquiry data) is transmitted to the line control device 11a via the transmission line 14a set for the inquiry service (step n13).

Next, it is determined whether or not this transmission line 14a is normal based on various check processes (step n14).
), if normal, move on to the next inquiry or registration task.

However, when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the transmission line 14a, the transmission line 14b set for the other registration service is used to carry out the above-mentioned inquiry service, that is, to transfer the barcode data to the line control device 11b. (step n15).

[0022] Next, it is determined whether or not the transmission line 14b for the registration service is normal based on various check processes (step n16), and if it is normal, the process moves to the next inquiry service or registration service. .

[0023] However, the transmission line 14b for this registration business
If it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in both transmission lines 14,
Since lines a and 14b are disconnected, the ECR 12 displays a line error on its equipped display (step n17).
This will end the process.

Next, in step n12 described above, the inquiry data indicating the product name and price of the barcode in the registration process, that is, the previous inquiry process, is transferred to the line control device 11a or 11b.
When the information is transmitted from the inquiry data, a registration operation for registering the sales data of the product is executed based on this inquiry data.

[0025] When the above-mentioned registration service is determined (steps n12, n18), the transmission line 14 set for the registration service is
b to send the above sales data to the line control device 11b.
(step n19).

Next, it is determined whether or not this transmission line 14b for registration business is normal based on various check processes (step n20), and if it is normal, the transmitted sales data is transferred to this line control device 11b. The same sales data is inputted to the other line control device 11a via the transmission line 16b to update the corresponding data in the storage device 15a, and the store controller It is input to the SC via the upper transmission line 13b.

[0027] When these processes are completed, the process moves to the next inquiry business or registration business.

However, when it is determined in step n20 that an abnormality has occurred in the transmission line 14b for the registration business, the transmission line 14a set for the inquiry business is used to
The above-mentioned registration work, that is, sales data is sent to the line control device 1.
1a (step n21).

Next, it is determined based on various check processes whether or not this transmission line 14a for inquiry business is normal (step n22), and if it is normal, the transmitted sales data is transferred to this line control device 11a. The same sales data is input to the other line control device 11b via the transmission line 16a, the corresponding data in the storage device 15b is updated, and the store controller SC is input to the host via the upper transmission line 13a.

[0030] When these processes are completed, the process moves to the next inquiry business or registration business.

However, if it is determined in step n22 that an abnormality has also occurred in the transmission line 14b for the inquiry service, both transmission lines 14a and 14b are disconnected, so E
The CR 12 displays a line error on its equipped display (step n17), and ends the process.

[0032] If it is determined in the above-mentioned step n18 that it is not a registered business, a process corresponding to the process is executed (step n23).

As mentioned above, both transmission lines 14a and 14b
When is normal, the inquiry task is processed by the line control device 11a via the transmission line 14a, and the registration task is processed by the line control device 11b via the transmission line 14b.
Each line control device 11a, 11b and transmission line 14a
, 14b can be distributed.

[0034] Also, one of the transmission lines 14a and 14b, or the line control devices 11a and 11b, or the storage device 1
If an error occurs in 5a or 15b, it can be covered by the other one.

Next, the processing operations of the line control devices 11a and 11b will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, it is determined whether maintenance data is transmitted from the store controller SC (step n31).
), when the data is transmitted, it is received (step n32) and maintenance write processing is executed in subroutine n33.

If no maintenance data is sent in the above step n31, then the monitoring line 17 determines whether or not the other party's line control device 11a (or 11b) is normal (step n34). If it is occurring,
The abnormality is dealt with by internal processing (step n35).

Next, it is determined whether there is an access from the ECR 12 through the transmission line 14a (or 14b) (step n36), and if there is no access, the process proceeds to step n3.
1, and the above-mentioned checks are sequentially executed.

If there is an access in the above step n36, it is determined whether the inquiry business is a registration business (step n3).
7) When it is an inquiry job, a process of reading (or reading) the inquiry data is executed in subroutine n38. That is, the ECR 1 that has accessed the inquiry data, such as the product name and price of the barcode data, is read out from the corresponding storage device 15a (or 15b).
2 (step n39).

When it is determined in step n37 that it is a registered business, in subroutine n40, the sales data is stored in the corresponding storage device 15a (or 15b), and
It executes predetermined processing such as updating cumulative sales data, and further transmits the sales data to the store controller SC (step n41).

When the ECR 12 accesses, the transmission line 14a is used for inquiry operations, and the transmission line 14b is used for registration operations.

The write processing operation of the line control device 11a (or 11b) in the above-mentioned subroutine n38 will be explained with reference to FIG.

When data is loaded to the line control device 11a (or 11b) from the upper transmission line 13a (or 13b), it first determines whether or not its own storage device 15a (or 15b) is normal (step n51).

If the storage device 15a (or 15b) goes down due to an error, an error flag indicating that it is down is set in a predetermined readable area. Read the flag and make a decision.

When the storage device 15a (or 15b) is determined to be normal, the self storage device 15a (or 15b) is determined to be normal.
5b), the maintenance data from the store controller SC is written in a predetermined area (step n52), and it is determined whether there is any error in the writing (step n53).

When there is an error in the writing, a retry is performed, but the number of retries is set, and the number of retries that is set is possible (step n54).

When the above-mentioned write error exceeds a predetermined number of times, an error flag indicating a write error is set in a predetermined readable area (step n55), and then the fact that a write error has occurred is transmitted to the store controller SC (step n55). Step n56).

As described above, if an error occurs in the own storage device 15a (or 15b), or if an error has already occurred, the process moves to the next step n57.

In step n57, it is determined whether the other (partner) storage device 15b (or 15a) is normal.

If the storage device 15b (or 15a) goes down due to an error, an error flag indicating that the storage device 15b (or 15a) is down is set in a predetermined readable area, so this error flag is read and determined.

When the storage device 15b (or 15a) is determined to be normal, the other storage device 15b (or 15a) is determined to be normal.
5a), the maintenance data from the store controller SC is written in a predetermined area (step n58), and it is determined whether there is any error in the writing (step n59).

When there is an error in the write, retry is allowed a set number of times (step n60), and when the write error exceeds a predetermined number of times, an error flag indicating a write error is set in a predetermined readable area ( step n
61), and then transmits to the store controller SC that a write error has occurred (step n62).

As described above, if an error occurs in the other storage device 15b (or 15a), or if an error has already occurred, the process moves to the next step n63.

In step n63 described above, it is determined whether an error has occurred in both the two storage devices 15a and 15b, and if the error flag of each storage device is determined and an error has occurred in both devices, the system is down, but when one is operational, it returns and continues operation.

Note that the operation of the line control device 11a (or 11b) described above has been explained as an operation for the store controller SC, but the subroutine n4 explained in FIG.
Since the same process is performed in the write process of the registration service for the access of the ECR 12 in the subroutine n40, the explanation of the subroutine n40 will be omitted.

Next, the reading (or reading) processing operation of the inquiry service of the line control device 11a (or 11b) in subroutine n38 in FIG. 3 will be explained with reference to FIG.

[0057] The line control device 11a (or 11b)
When there is an access from the CR 12 via the transmission line 14a (or 14b), it is first determined whether or not its own storage device 15a (or 15b) is normal (step n71).

If the storage device 15a (or 15b) goes down due to an error, an error flag indicating that the storage device 15a (or 15b) is down is set in a predetermined readable area, so this error flag is read and determined.

When it is determined that the storage device 15a (or 15b) is normal, the own storage device 15a (or 15b) is determined to be normal.
5b), the inquiry data that is the inquiry service from the ECR 12 is read (step n72), and it is determined whether the reading is normal (step n73).

If the above reading is normal, storage device 1
Data such as product names and prices stored in 5a (or 15b) corresponding to the inquiry data is transmitted to the ECR 12, but if there is an error in this reading, retries of the reading are allowed a predetermined number of times ( Step n74).

When the above-described read error exceeds a predetermined number of times, an error flag indicating a read error is set in a predetermined readable area of the own storage device 15a (or 15b) (step n75), and then a read error occurs. This information is transmitted to the store controller SC (step n76).

As described above, if an error occurs in the own storage device 15a (or 15b), or if an error has already occurred, the process moves to the next step n77.

In this step n77, the transmission line 16a
via the other (partner) storage device 15b (or 15
Determine whether a) is normal.

If the storage device 15b (or 15a) goes down due to an error, an error flag indicating that the storage device 15b (or 15a) is down is set in a predetermined readable area, so this error flag is read to determine.

[0065] This other storage device 15b (or 15a
) is determined to be normal, this storage device 15b
(or 15a), the inquiry data which is the inquiry service from the ECR 12 is read (step n78), and it is determined whether the reading is normal or not (step n79).

If the above reading is normal, storage device 1
Data such as product names and prices stored in 5b (or 15a) corresponding to the inquiry data is transmitted to the ECR 12, but if there is an error in this reading, retries of the reading are allowed a predetermined number of times ( Step n80).

When the above-mentioned read error exceeds a predetermined number of times, an error flag indicating a read error is set in a predetermined readable area of this storage device 15b (or 15a) (step n81), and then a read error occurs. This information is transmitted to the store controller SC (step n82).

As described above, if an error occurs or has already occurred in the other storage device 15b (or 15a), the process moves to the next step n83.

In step n83 described above, it is determined whether an error has occurred in both of the two storage devices 15a and 15b, and if the error flag of each storage device is determined and an error has occurred in both devices, the system is down, but when one is operational, it returns and continues operation.

Next, the PO on the store controller SC side
The processing operation of the S system will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The store controller SC determines whether the control function of one line control device 11a is normal (
Step n91), if normal, communication is allowed and processing is performed (step n94); if abnormality is found, it is determined whether the control function of the other line control device 11b is normal (step n92). If an abnormality is found in both, the system is brought down, but if it is normal, the system is switched to the other line control device 11b (step n9).
3) Immediately execute the processing operation of the business content (step n94).

As detailed above, according to this embodiment, even if the storage device 15a (or 15b) of one line control device 11a (or 11b) goes down, the connection between the two line control devices 11a, 11b is If the transmission lines 16a and 16b are normal, the other line control device 11b (or 11a)
Since the storage device 15b (or 15a) can be used, the communication load on the transmission lines 14a, 14b can be distributed and the load can be reduced.

Of course, one line control device 11a (or 11b) or one transmission line 14a (or 14b)
If the other line controller 11b (or 1
1a) or transmission line 14b (or 14a)
R12... can be controlled to obtain effective operation of the POS system.

[0074] In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-mentioned embodiment, the terminal of the present invention has the ECR12 of the embodiment.
... and other terminals of the POS system, and similarly, the controller corresponds to the line control devices 11a and 11b, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a POS system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the ECR of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing operations of the line control device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the write processing operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the read processing operation of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing operations of the store controller of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11a, 11b...Line control device 12...ECR 14a, 14b, 16a, 16b...Transmission line 15a, 1
5b...Storage device 17...Monitoring line

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A plurality of terminals are connected to two controllers so that they can each be controlled, the terminals and both controllers are connected by two transmission lines, and the two controllers are connected to each other through transmission lines and monitoring. A line control method for a POS system in which the terminals are connected in a controllable manner via lines, and when one terminal goes down, the other terminal takes control of the terminal on the down side, and transmission control is performed on two transmission lines between the terminal and both controllers. .