JPS6282847A - Line loopback method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain transmission from plural lines and to prevent the capacity of a local memory from increase by forming a loopback control latch, a loopback transmission data holding latch and a loopback operation start indicating latch. CONSTITUTION:In a communication control device for connecting many lines and controlling them, a loopback control latch 135' is set up at a period corresponding to a cyclical communication speed. Under the state that the latch 135' is set up, the cyclical operation start indicating latch 137 is set up to start the loopback operation. In specific areas corresponding to respective circuits in a local memory 132, the circuit specified at its loopback operation is scanned. If a transmission indication is generated as the result of scanning, transmission data are transferred to the loopback transmission data holding latch 136, but there is no transmission data, a mark polarity bit is transferred. Since the contents of the latch 136 are successively and repeatedly read/updated through the circuit specified at its loopback operation, transmission from plural lines can be attained without increasing the capacity of the local memory 132.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Table of Contents] Overview Industrial Application Fields Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems Actions Embodiments Effects of the Invention [(Summary]) Many lines In the communication control device that connects and controls the
The scanning address is set at a cycle corresponding to the loopback communication speed, and is reset when the scanning address reaches, for example, the final line, and when the latch is set, the specific address currently being scanned. A second latch is provided which is set by the line to instruct the start of loopback, and when the line for which loopback mode is instructed is scanned while the second latch is set, a second latch for holding loopback data is provided. The contents of the latch No. 3 are read and stored as received data in the memory area corresponding to the line, and the contents of the latch are updated with the transmission data stored in the memory area corresponding to the line. be.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a line return method used for fault isolation, performance evaluation, etc. of a communication control device that connects and controls a large number of lines.

In recent communication control, full-duplex communication has become popular in order to make effective use of limited lines.

Conventionally, in communication control equipment that connects and controls a large number of lines, line loopback methods have been known for use in fault isolation or performance evaluation. Due to capacity issues, transmission was limited to one line and reception was limited to multiple lines.

However, if we consider return assuming full-duplex communication,
Since a loopback method that can perform transmission over at least two lines is required, a loopback method for full-duplex communication without increasing the memory capacity within the communication control device has been desired.

[Problems that can be solved by conventional technology and inventions] In general,
A communication control device is a device that controls various terminals located in remote locations, and has traditionally been used in various ways to facilitate investigation of the cause of failures, debugging control programs for terminal control, etc. For example, folding methods have been adopted.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general communication control device.

In this figure, 1 indicates a communication control device main body, 2 a modem device, 3 a host processor, and 4 a terminal device.

In the communication control device body 1, a line adapter 11 performs level conversion between the modem and the modem 2.

It holds transmit/receive bits and control/monitoring signals. Reference numeral 12 denotes a line connection common section, to which a plurality of line adapters 11 are connected, and the various signals mentioned above are concentrated and distributed. 13
is a line scanning unit which sequentially selects the line adapters 11 via the line connection common unit 12, exchanges the transmission/reception bits and control/monitoring signals, and performs character assembly/disassembly processing. 14 is a main control section, which executes a control program stored in the storage section 15 and controls the line scanning section 13. and controls the channel connection section 16. Is Part 19, Part 15 of the article legal?
It is used for storing 'fl programs, buffering data, etc. The channel connection unit 16 controls reception of commands from the host processor 3 and data transfer between the host processor 3 and the storage unit 15.

First, transmission data transmitted from the host processor 3 is stored in the alpha section 15 in memory steal format via the channel connection section 16.

The main control unit I4 completely extracts one character of the transmission data from the storage unit 15 and stores it in a character buffer corresponding to the line to be transmitted on the local memory in the line scanning unit 13.

The line scanning unit 13 sequentially sends addresses for selecting line adapters 11 via the line connection common unit 12, and when a bit sending request is generated from the selected line adapter 11, the data in the character buffer is sent out. It is extracted and converted into serial data, and one bit of it is stored in the transmission bit buffer of the line adapter 11.

This data is sent to the terminal device 4 via the modem 2.

On the other hand, the data sent from the terminal device 4 is transmitted to the modem device 2.
The data is stored in the receive bit buffer of the line adapter 11 via the .

The line scanning unit 13 extracts the received data sent from the specified line adapter 11 via the line connection common unit 12, and stores it in the character buffer corresponding to the line on the local memory in the line scanning unit 13. Assemble into letters.

The main control section 14 extracts the assembled characters of the line designated by the line scanning section 13 and stores them in the main storage section 15. This data is transferred to the host processor 3 via the channel connection 16 in memory steal format.

In such a communication control device, in order to perform the functions of transmitting operation 1 and receiving operation without using the modulation/demodulation device 2 and the terminal device 3, the following methods have conventionally been adopted. It's here.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a line adapter and a line scanning section.

In this figure, 111 is a level converter for matching the interface with the terminal device 4, 112 is a receiving bit buffer, 113 is a transmitting bit buffer, and 114 is a loopback control circuit.

In the line scanning unit 13, 131 is the line connection common unit 12.
132 is a local memory of the line interface, and assembly and disassembly between characters and bits is performed on this memory. 133
134 is a scanning counter, and a local memory 13
2 and specify a specific position on the line connection common section 12.
A specific line adapter 11 is specified via .

During normal operation, since no loopback is specified in the loopback control circuit 114, the transmission data sent from the line scanning section 13 is input to the transmission bit buffer 113.
The signal is sent from the level converter 111 to an external modem device 2 or the like.

Further, data received from the modulation/demodulation device 2 is received from the level converter 111 via the reception bit buffer 112.

If the loopback control circuit 114 enters the loopback state, the data from the line scanning section 13 is transferred to the level converter 11.
1, but is received by the receiving side of the line scanning section 13 via the transmit bit buffer 113 and the receive bit buffer 112.

With such an additional circuit, it was possible to check the basic functions of the line adapter 111, line connection common section 129, and line scanning section 13 without connecting the modulation/demodulation device 2° and the terminal device 4.

However, this folding method sometimes has the following disadvantages.

■ In particular, in online systems that require high reliability and high availability, line adapter 11 and single line connection common part 1
2 may be treated as a separate device and configured to be switchable between it and the line scanning section 13.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a communication control device having a switching function, in which the line connection common section 12 and the line scanning section 13 can be switched, and the illustrated functional block 1-2 and 1-3 constitute a working/spare block for the functional block 1-1.

In this case, there is a problem in that it is difficult to check, for example, the function of the line scanning section 13 in the spare functional block 1-3 separated from the line connection common section 12.

■ For example, in the callback function shown in FIG. 4, when a callback is performed within the line adapter 11, the callback partner is limited to the own line 1 or an adjacent line accommodated within the same line adapter 11. When searching for failure points due to lack of flexibility in loopback, restrictions on transmission control procedures, or the fact that the adjacent line is shared by other communications, etc., it is necessary to immediately use means to resolve the problem. The problem was that it was difficult.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems (1) and (2), a method is used in some cases in which a folding latch is provided in the line scanning section 13 and the looping is performed within the line scanning section 13 via this latch.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a folding method using a folding latch, in which (a) shows an example of the configuration, and (b) shows a time chart of the operation.

In this figure (a), 135 is a return timer 113
Reference numeral 6 denotes a latch for holding the loopback data, and the local memory 132 has one polarity holding bit for the loopback timer.

First, the host processor 3 issues specific instructions to the local memory 132 for the loopback mode instruction focus, the transmission mode instruction bit, and the timer polarity holding bit in correspondence with the line.

However, in this method, since the loopback data holding latch 136 has a 1-bit configuration, only one line is in the transmission mode among the loopback mode instruction lines.

When a certain line is scanned, if the loopback mode is instructed, data is sent and received to and from the loopback data holding latch 136.

At this time, if the line is in transmission mode and the timer polarity hold bit is 0, then the return timer 13
When the polarity of 5 is 1'' (that is, the rise of the loopback timer), 1 bit of the transmission data of the line is stored in the loopback data holding latch 136, and the timer polarity holding bit is set to 1''. .

This data is received and processed on an arbitrary line at the receiving side scanning timing. That is, when a certain line is scanned, the timer polarity holding bit of the line is "1", and the polarity of the loopback timer 135 at that time is "0" (that is, the falling edge of the loopback timer), the loopback is performed. The data in the data holding latch 136 is received and processed, and the timer polarity holding bit is reset to 0°.

Since loopback using this method is easy to control, loopback can be performed within any line within the line scanning unit 13, and multiple lines can be used as receiving lines, it can be used as a means for isolating faults and testing. It was extremely effective.

However, this method has the problem that, since in principle only one line can be transmitted, it cannot be used for loopback for full-duplex communication lines that require at least two transmission lines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a return means that enables transmission from multiple lines and does not require an increase in local memory capacity.

[Means for solving problems]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the present invention in detail.

Also in the present invention, the return data holding latch 136
1 bit is provided, and when a certain line is scanned and a return mode instruction is given to that line, 1 bit of data is received from the latch 136 and stored in the area corresponding to the line on the local memory. For all the lines for which the loopback mode instruction is given, the process performs the reception process to send the transmission data corresponding to the line to the latch 136, and updates the contents of the latch. Configure it as follows.

Therefore, if the number of lines for which the call-back mode is specified is one line, the transmission data of the line will be received as received data in the next call-back cycle, and the call-back mode will be specified for the line. If there are two lines, the data is mutually looped back as shown in the figure, and if there are three or more lines, data is exchanged in a circular manner.

[Effect]

That is, according to the present invention, in a communication control device that connects and controls a large number of lines, the scanning address is set at a cycle corresponding to the return communication speed, and is reset when, for example, the last line is reached. 1 latch, and a second latch that is set by the specific line currently being scanned and instructs to start looping when the latch is set, and while the second latch is set, ,
When a line is scanned for which loopback mode is indicated,
Third latch for retaining return data (latch 1 above)
36) is read and stored as received data in the memory area corresponding to the line, and the contents of the latch are updated with the transmission data stored in the memory area corresponding to the line. Therefore, ■ It becomes possible to conduct repeat tests from one line to multiple lines.

■ There is no need for a loopback timer polarity holding bit on the local memory, simplifying the circuit.

There are other effects.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a block diagram showing its configuration, and (b) is a time chart showing the operation at that time. Control instruction latch 135', return operation start storage latch 137. and the folded data holding latch 136 are functional blocks necessary to implement the present invention. Note that the same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

First, the loopback control instruction latch 135' is set by the loopback timer 135 at regular intervals as shown in FIG. When it reaches , it is reset and enters the state of waiting for the next return cycle.

When the scanning counter 134 is designated to a specific line, for example, the 0th line while this latch 135° is set, the loopback operation start instruction latch 137 is set, and the loopback operation according to the present invention is started. Ru.

At this time, when the specific area corresponding to each line in the local memory 132 is scanned for a line for which a return instruction has been made, the transmission data will be marked if there is a transmission instruction for that line, and the mark polarity bit will be changed if there is no transmission instruction for that line. The contents of the latch 136, which is transferred to the return transmission data holding latch 136, and which has been previously set, are received by the line and stored in the area of the local memory 132 corresponding to the line.

Therefore, after the last line for which the callback instruction has been made (in this example, the line indicated by I3) is scanned, the transmission data of the line is held until the next callback cycle, and the data is It operates so that it is read on the first line 'fa (line 111 in this embodiment) in the return operation.

As a result, as mentioned above, if there is only one line for which the callback instruction is given, the data sent from that line will be
Reception is received as received data at the timing of the next loopback cycle, and if there are two lines, mutual loopback operation is performed, and if there are three or more lines, data is exchanged in a circular manner.

Thereafter, the same operation is performed for all transmission data prepared in the storage section 15 described above.

As described above, in the present invention, in the loopback control within the line scanning section of the communication control device, the 1-pin loopback transmission data holding latch is sequentially read/updated by the line for which the loopback instruction is given. , the feature is that loopback can be performed between multiple lines.

In this embodiment, the loopback within the line scanning section 13 has been described as an example, but it is understood that similar loopback control may be performed within the line connection common section 12 in view of the gist of the present invention. Not until now.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above in detail, in the line loopback method of the present invention, in a communication control device that connects and controls a large number of lines, the scanning address is set at a cycle corresponding to the loopback communication speed, and the scanning address is set, for example, at the final a first latch that is reset when the line is reached; and a second latch that is set by the specific line currently being scanned when the latch is set, and instructs to start looping; is set, when a line for which loopback mode is specified is scanned, the contents of the third latch for holding loopback data are read and stored as received data in the memory area corresponding to the line. Since the contents of the latch are updated with the transmission data stored in the memory area corresponding to the line, (1) loopback tests on one line to multiple lines are possible.

■ The loopback timer's polarity holding bit on the local memory is no longer required, making the circuit MJp! - can be converted into

There are other effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the present invention in detail. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general communication control device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a line adapter and a single line scanning section. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a communication control device having a switching function. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a folding method using a conventional folding latch. It is. In the drawings, 1 is a communication control device main body, and 2 is a modem device. 3 is a host processor, and 4 is a terminal device. 11 is a line adapter, and 12 is a line connection common part. 13 is a line scanning section, and 14 is a main control section. 15 is a storage unit, and 16 is a channel adapter. 111 is a level converter. 112 is a receiving bit buffer. 113 is a transmission bit buffer. 114 is a return control circuit. 131 is an interface multiplexing circuit. 132 is local memory. 133 is a character assembly/disassembly processing circuit. 134 is a scanning counter. 135 is a return timer. 135" is a loopback control latch (first latch). 136 is a loopback transmission data holding latch (third latch). 137 is a loopback operation start memory latch (second).
. are shown respectively. ; Abbreviation period e Atsuka Kamihibiyo old ÷ 1 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a communication control device that connects and controls a large number of lines,
A first latch (135') instructing loopback control that is set at a cycle corresponding to the loopback communication speed, and when this first latch (135') is set, a specific line position during scanning. A second latch (137) that instructs the start of a loopback operation set from , and a third latch (136) that holds loopback data, the first latch (135') and the second Latch (13
Under the control of 7), when a line currently being scanned and for which call-back mode is detected is detected, the above-mentioned 3.
A line loopback method characterized in that the contents of a latch (136) are read as received data for the line, and the contents of the latch (136) are updated with transmission data bits of the line.