Multiplex transmission system and abnormality processing controlling method and apparatus used therefor

• US 5,943,315 A
• Filed: 06/19/1997
• Issued: 08/24/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Inventors: Iwasawa, Yoshio, Imaizumi, Nobuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sam, Phirin
• Application Number:
  US08/878,530
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• Field of Search: 370/216, 370/221, 370/227, 370/228, 370/553, 370/242, 370/445, 370/462, 370/252, 370/458, 370/498, 370/211, 370/230, 370/294, 370/307, 370/360, 364/138, 364/130, 307/9.1, 307/10.1, 307/412, 307/413
• US Class Current: 370/216
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 15/00 Arrangements characterised by the use of multiplexing for the transmission of a plurality of signals over a common path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40169 Flexible bus arrangements arrangements for maintenance or administration involving management of faults; events, alarms H04L41/06; automatic restoration of network faults H04L41/0654
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

A multiplex transmission system includes a multiplex transmission network through which normality and abnormality processing control specification information (PCSI) for loads are transmitted. A master load control unit (LCU) is connected to the multiplex transmission network. The master load control unit can multiplex the abnormality PCSi for a load as a main operation. A slave load control unit (LCU) is connected to the multiplex transmission network. The slave load control unit can multiplex the abnormality PCSI as a slave operation between itself and the main LCU. A storage device is mounted in the master and slave LCUs. The storage device can update and hold the information and read it at any time. In this multiplex transmission system, multiplexing abnormality can be detected and abnormality processing in the LCU in an abnormal state is controlled to urge its recovery of the LCU to a normal state.

Claims

1. A multiplex transmission system comprising:

a multiplex transmission network through which normality and abnormality processing control specification information (PCSI) for loads are transmitted;

a master load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes the abnormality PCSI for each of the loads as a main operation;

a slave load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes said abnormality PCSI as a slave operation between itself and said master LCU; and

external removable storage means, which is mountable in said master LCU and slave LCU which can update and hold the information and read the information at any time in a mounted state,

wherein said abnormality processing control specification information includes a default processing including a previous state continuing processing, a forcible ON processing, and a forcible OFF processing.

2. A multiplex transmission system according to claim 1, wherein said abnormality PSCI can be set in accordance with the kind of the load to be controlled.

3. A multiplex transmission system according to claim 1, wherein said abnormality PSCI is divided into a prescribed number of unit transmission frames.

4. A multiplex transmission system according to claim 3, wherein each of said unit transmission frames includes:

a header in which a communication protocol is described in multiplexing the abnormality PCSI through said multiplex transmission network; and

a series of data inclusive of said normality and abnormality PCSI, said header including

communication mode information indicative of a normal communicating mode for multiplexing of said normality PCSI, or an abnormal communication mode for multiplexing of said abnormality PCSI; and

code information for discriminating the master LCU and slave LCU from each other.

5. A multiplex transmission system according to claim 4, wherein said header further includes frame information for discriminating a normal frame and an ACK frame from each other, said normal frame being a unit frame of the normality PCSI to be multiplexed in the normal mode communication, said ACK frame being a unit frame of the abnormality PCSI to be multiplexed in the environment executing the normal mode communication.

6. A multiplex transmission system according to claim 3, wherein said master LCU multiplexes the abnormality PCSI taken from said external storage means during said abnormality mode communication for each of the prescribed number of said unit transmission frames in synchronism with a reception normal ACK which is transmitted when said slave LCU has normally received one of said unit transmission frames.

7. A multiplex transmission system, comprising:

a multiplex transmission network through which normality and abnormality processing control specification information (PCSI) for loads, divided into a prescribed number of unit transmission frames, are transmitted;

a master load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes the abnormality PCSI for each of the loads as a main operation;

a slave load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes said abnormality PCSI as a slave operation between itself and said master LCU; and

external removable storage means, which is mountable in said master LCU and slave LCU which can update and hold the information and read the information at any time in a mounted state,

wherein said master LCU multiplexes the abnormality PCSI taken from said external storage means during said abnormality mode communication for each of the prescribed number of said unit transmission frames in synchronism with a reception normal ACK which is transmitted when said slave LCU has normally received one of said unit transmission frames,

wherein in multiplexing during the abnormal mode communication,

when said slave LCU has normally received one of said unit transmission frames in said abnormality PCSI transmitted by said master LCU, said slave LCU transmits the reception normal ACK to the master LCU, and

said master LCU executes said unit transmission frames again until said master LCU receives the reception normal ACK, and said master LCU executing a new unit frame subsequent to the unit transmission frames already transmitted when said master LCU receives the reception normal ACK.

8. A multiplex transmission system, comprising:

a multiplex transmission network through which normality and abnormality processing control specification information (PCSI) for loads, divided into a prescribed number of unit transmission frames, are transmitted;

a master load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes the abnormality PCSI for each of the loads as a main operation;

a slave load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes said abnormality PCSI as a slave operation between itself and said master LCU; and

external removable storage means, which is mountable in said master LCU and slave LCU which can update and hold the information and read the information at any time in a mounted state,

wherein said master LCU multiplexes the abnormality PCSI taken from said external storage means during said abnormality mode communication for each of the prescribed number of said unit transmission frames in synchronism with a reception normal ACK which is transmitted when said slave LCU has normally received one of said unit transmission frames,

wherein said slave LCU creates an acknowledge ACK which is check sum information for the abnormality PSCI received from said master LCU to decide a coincidence between the created acknowledge ACK and an acknowledge ACK received from the master LCU, if the coincidence is not obtained, executes multiplexing for each unit frame on the basis of the abnormality PSCI stored in the master LCU, if the coincidence is obtained, further decides the coincidence between the abnormality PSCI held in the storage means of the slave LCU and that received from the master LCU and if the coincidence is not obtained, updates the contents of the storage means of the slave LCU to the abnormality PSCI received from the master LCU to complete the multiplexing in said abnormality mode communication.

9. A method for controlling abnormality processing in a multiplex transmission system having:

a multiplex transmission network through which normality and abnormality processing control specification information (PCSI) for loads, divided into a prescribed number of unit transmission frames, are transmitted;

a master load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes the abnormality PCSI for each of the loads as a main operation;

a slave load control unit (LCU) connected to said multiplex transmission network, which multiplexes said abnormality PCSI as a slave operation between itself and said master LCU; and

external removable storage means, which is mountable in said master LCU and slave LCU which can update and hold the information and read the information at any time in a mounted state,

wherein said master LCU multiplexes the abnormality PCSI taken from said external storage means during said abnormality mode communication for each of the prescribed number of said unit transmission frames in synchronism with a reception normal ACK which is transmitted when each of said slave LCUs has normally received one of said unit transmission frames.

said method of controlling abnormality processing comprising the steps of;

when said master LCU falls in an abnormal state while the normal mode communication is executed and also when the normal mode communication is described as the communication mode information, executing the multiplexing for the master LCU using the normality PSCI stored in the slave LCU which is executing the normal mode communication, thereby urging its recovery to the normal state;

when the slave LCU falls in the abnormal state while the normal mode communication is executed and also when the normal mode communication is described in the communication mode information, executing the multiplexing for the slave LCU using the normality PSCI stored in the master LCU or slave LCU which is normally executing the normal mode communication, thereby urging the recovery to the normal state; and

when the slave LCU falls in the abnormal state while the normal mode communication is executed and also the abnormal mode communication is described in the communication mode information, executing the multiplexing for the slave LCU using the normality PSCI stored in the master, thereby urging the recovery to the normal state.

10. A method for controlling multiplexing abnormality according to claim 9, wherein said abnormality includes an operation abnormality in the slave control unit due to communication abnormality in the multiplex transmission network and instantaneous power failure of the multiplex transmission network.

11. An apparatus for performing the method defined in claim 9, comprising:

abnormality detecting means for detecting multiplex abnormality in occurring in said LCUs and specifying the LCU in the abnormal state on the basis of the recognition code to create abnormality information on the LCU in the abnormal state; and

recovery control means for selecting said abnormal mode communication or the said normal mode communication to be executed according to said abnormality information as said abnormality processing, describes the selected mode as the communication mode and executes a selected recovery processing to urge the recovery to the normal state.