JPS63653A - On-line system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shift control to a host device of other system when a host device breaks down, so as to backup operation, by forming an input part of a subordinate terminal equipment which is connected to the host device, by a multiplexing constitution. CONSTITUTION:To host devices 6, 7 (for instance, controllers), plural pieces of terminal equipments 8, 9 are connected, respectively. The terminal equipments 8, 9 can detect breakdown of the host devices 6, 7, and when they detect the breakdown of the host devices 6, 7, they switch an inputting circuit from a normal time line before that time to an abnormal time line by a relay RL. In such a way, the lower terminal equipment 8 which is connected to the host device 9(for instance, the host device 6) which has broken down is switched to the host device 7 of the other system and supported.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] This is an online system in which a plurality of systems each consisting of a host device and a plurality of lower-order terminals connected thereto are set together. When a device goes down, the lower terminals in that system are backed up by the higher device in another system.

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an online system, and more specifically to a PO system.
The present invention relates to an online system using a line used in an S system, etc., which can prevent lower-level terminals from stopping functioning due to a failure of a higher-level system.

As a conventional online system, for example, POS
(Point Qf 5ales) system (point of sale information management system) is known. A POS system is a system that connects a POS controller, which is a higher-level device, and a POS terminal (for example, a register), which is a lower-level device, online.The barcode attached to the product is read by a hand scanner attached to the register. This system sends the read information over a line to the head office or a central higher-level computer (host computer) to manage product inventory.

[Prior Art] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional online system of this type. In the figure, 1 is a host computer, and 2 and 3 are controllers connected to the host computer 1, respectively. 4 is a plurality of terminals connected to the controller 2, and 5 is a plurality of terminals connected to the controller 3. As the terminal 4.5, for example, in addition to the above-mentioned register, an operator console or the like can be used.

The system configured in this manner includes a controller 2 and a terminal 14 connected to the controller 2. The controller 3 and the terminal 5 connected to it each form one system,
These systems are connected by a host computer 1 to form an online system. Information is exchanged between the computer 1 and each terminal via a controller 2.3.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In such a conventional online system, if the controller 2.3 goes down for some reason, the terminals 4.5 connected to the controller 2.3 become inoperable. Therefore, there was a problem in that it became impossible to exchange information between the host computer 1 and the terminal device 4.5.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and
The purpose of this invention is to provide an online system that can back up lower-level terminals even if the upper-level device goes down.

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the online system of the present invention (the same parts as in FIG. 8 are indicated by the same reference numerals). In the figure, numerals 6 and 7 are higher-level devices (for example, controllers) connected to the host computer 1, and a plurality of terminals 118.9 are connected to these higher-level devices, respectively.

The signal line L1 connected to the host device 6 is connected to the terminal 8 as a normal line, and to the terminal 9 as an abnormal line. On the other hand, the signal line L2 connected to the host device 7 is connected to the terminal 9 as a normal line, and to the terminal 8 as an abnormal line. The input switching section (A in the figure) of these terminals can be switched to either contact a side (normal line) or bllll (abnormal line) using relay RL, as shown in Figure 2. . When the host device 6 goes down, the line to which the terminals 8 are connected is switched from the normal line to the abnormal line, and these terminals 8 are placed under the control of the host device 7 of a different system. . On the other hand, when the host device 7 goes down, the line to which the terminals 9 are connected switches from the normal line to the abnormal line, and these terminals 9 are connected to the host device of another system.
be under the control of 6.

[Function] The terminal device 8.9 is able to detect when the host device 6.7 is down, and when it detects that the host device 6.7 is down, the relay RL changes the input line from the normal line to the abnormal line. Switch to As a result, the lower terminal device 8 connected to the higher-level device (for example, higher-level device 6) that has gone down is switched to and supported by the higher-level device 7 of another system.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. Components that are the same as in FIG. 1 are not shown with the same reference numerals. In the figure, a lower-level terminal 8' connected to higher-level devices 6 and 7
, 9' has a built-in down detection circuit that detects when the host device goes down. The input section of each terminal has input switching relays RLs and R for switching the input line to either a (normal line) or b (abnormal line).
These input switching relays RL+ and RL2 are normally connected to the line side during normal operation. The operation of the device configured as described above will be explained as follows.

Now, assume that the host device 6 is down for some reason. The lower terminal RLi that is normally connected to this higher-level device
When the down detection circuit inside detects that the upper bag 6 is down, it switches the input switching relay RLt from the normal line Ll side to the abnormal line Ll side. As a method for detecting whether the host device 6 is down, for example,
Possible methods include a method of monitoring the status constantly output from the host device 6, and a method of detecting the interval of polling signals for calling the terminal device using a watchdog timer. In the former case, the down state can be known from the no response from the upper level 1i[6, and in the latter case, the down state can be known from the overflow of the watchdog timer.

By switching the input line of the terminal n RL l from Ll to Ll, these terminals II RL t are placed under the control of the host device 7 of a different system. As a result, the host device If
Although the burden on terminal 7 increases and the level of support for terminals 8' and 9' decreases, all terminals can be used. That is, all the terminals are connected to the host computer 1 and can exchange information.

The host computer 1 constantly monitors the subsequent operating state of the host device f6. When the host device 6 detects that it has returned to normal operating state, it issues a command to disconnect the terminal device 8' via the host device 7, connects the terminal device 8' to the host device 6, and causes the abnormality to occur. Previous top bag @
Return to control of 6.

Next, the switching operation of each terminal will be explained in more detail. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the terminal. In the figure, RLIo is an input switching relay, 11 is an interface unit that receives data input via the input switching relay RLm, T is a transistor driven by the interface unit 11, and 12 is driven by the transistor Tr. This is a relay coil. By energizing the relay coil 12, the contact point of the input switching relay RLIo is switched to either a or b.

13 is a CPU that performs various types of operation control and controls the operation of the entire device; 14 is a memory; 15 is a timer that detects when the host device is down; 16 is a keyboard for inputting data and functions; and 17 is for displaying various information. A CRT 18 is a printer that prints various information. Memory 14, timer 15. Keyboard 16. CRT
The memory 14, which is connected to the CPU 13 of both the printer 17 and the printer 18, has an area for storing device numbers.
r4 area for storing input data and! It consists of an area for storing collected data. Both LAl and 1A2 are codes indicating number 4 of the terminal.

For example, L A 1 is the machine number code when the line is normally connected, L
A2 is the machine number code at the time of abnormal line connection.

The assignment of these machine number codes is as shown in FIG.

For example, the machine number codes L A s of the lower terminals 8' that are normally connected to the upper bag @6 are #1 to #N from the top.
(N is an integer), and the machine number code L A 2 has values #N+1 to #2N in order from the bottom. The situation during this period is the same for the lower terminal 9' connected to the upper terminal rPt7.

Now, for example, if the upper level device 7 is down, L A 1 is used as the machine number of the lower level terminal 8', and #1
~ #N and a machine number are assigned. Next, for the lower terminals 9' of other systems, the machine number L A 2 is used, and #N is used in order from the bottom.
Machine numbers are assigned from +1 to #2N. In other words, top bags @
6, it means that the lower terminals #1 to #2N are allocated in order. This is exactly the same for the upper level bag @7 of the other system when the upper level device 6 goes down.

The CPU 13 performs sequence operations as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, first input switching relay RL
Data is input via +o, data transmission is controlled, data reception is controlled, and transaction processing is performed.

Then, the above sequence will be repeated.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the transmission control operation of each terminal. First, the logical address LA and m communication data are read out, and then edited and data transmission is performed. Next, after making a PLU (Price Look Up) inquiry to the host device, a timer 15 is set. When there is a response from the host device to this inquiry, the timer 15 is reset.

If there is no response, the CPU 13 watches whether there is a response until the timer 15 times up. If there is no response (no response is detected by an interrupt from timer 15), it means that the host device is down, so input switching relay RL +o is activated and the line is switched back to the current state. Switch from the normal line a side to the abnormal line side, and change the logical address LA to L A l
It switches from LΔ2 to LΔ2, sends data to that effect to the higher-level device of the normal system, outputs L A m, reads out the transmitted data, edits it, and transmits the data.

In the explanation of item (a) above, an example was given in which the input section of the lower-level terminal is configured in a duplex manner to perform backup backup when the higher-level device is down. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and multiplexing configurations such as triplexing and quadruplexing can also be adopted.

In this case, when one of the higher-level devices goes down, it is sufficient to prioritize and store in advance which system of higher-level devices to switch to for each lower-level terminal connected to that higher-level device. . With such a multiplexed configuration, even if an accident occurs in which two higher-level devices go down at the same time, the lower-level terminals can be backed up and rescued.

Furthermore, in the above explanation, a system in which a host device is connected to a host computer has been explained as an example, but as shown in FIG. You can also do it.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, by configuring the input section of the lower-level terminal connected to the higher-level device in a multiplexed configuration, if the higher-level device goes down, the upper-level terminal of another system An online system can be provided that can transfer control to the device for backup.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a principle block diagram of the online system of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the input switching section, Fig. m3 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is the details of the terminal. A diagram showing a configuration example, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing assignment of machine number codes, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing transmission production, and FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 8th
The figure shows an example of a conventional configuration of an online system. 1 and 3, 1 is a host computer, 6.7 is a host device, 6.6', 7.7' are terminals, RL, RL1. RL2 is an input switching relay, and Ls and +2 are signal lines. Fig. 2 Flowchart showing the transmission control layer effects Fig. 6 Fig. 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of host devices (6), (7), and a plurality of terminals (8), (9) each connected to a plurality of these host devices (6), (7). ), and an input switching unit (A) for selectively connecting to the host device (6), (7) is provided to the input/output section of each of the terminals (8), (9), and the host device ( 6) An online system characterized in that, when either of (7) goes down, the input switching section (A) is switched to the higher-level device that is operating normally.