CONTROLLER

• US 20110026407A1
• Filed: 02/25/2010
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Original Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Inventors: YAMADA, Hiroaki, NISHI, Masahiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,457,003 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/242
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0264 Control of logging system, e.g. decision on which data to store; time-stamping measurements

Abstract

This invention enables an abnormality analysis to be easily and reliably performed in the FA system of the EtherCAT (registered trademark). A controller has a protocol monitor function of operating in a monitor system program, and constantly monitors data communicated with a remote device. The controller has an abnormality diagnosis function of detecting abnormality, and thus holds the data monitored immediately before when abnormality is detected. As the protocol monitor function is incorporated, a protocol monitor does not need to be newly plugged into the network as an external device after the occurrence of abnormality, and the data that becomes the cause can be held from the abnormality that occurred first by monitoring from the beginning of the operation of the system and can be used for analysis.

Claims

1. An FA controller comprising:

abnormality diagnosis function of determining presence of abnormality of a network to be connected;

protocol monitor function of monitoring data communicated with a device connected to the network; and

function of holding the data monitored with the protocol monitor function in advance when abnormality is detected by the abnormality diagnosis function.

2. The controller according to claim 1, further comprising a ring buffer, and wherein

the data communicated with the device adopts a communication method of once being stored in the ring buffer;

the data held in the ring buffer is used as monitor data and, when abnormality is detected by the abnormality diagnosis function, data immediately before the abnormality detection is held, and a communication after the abnormality is detected is continued using a region other than a region holding the data immediately before the abnormality detection in the ring buffer.

3. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the controller corresponds to Ethernet (registered trademark) or EtherCAT (registered trademark).

4. The controller according to claim 2, wherein the controller corresponds to Ethernet (registered trademark) or EtherCAT (registered trademark);

and

the ring buffer is set in an Ethernet driver unit.