JPH08274799A - Communication controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To monitor abnormality of a LAN and inform the host computer of the abnormality by detecting abnormality of two-series of LANs by a communication controller and performing switching to the LAN of the normal system. CONSTITUTION: Communication controllers 2, 3, and 6 are connected to the two series of LANs 4 and 5, and the host computer 1 or a work station 7 to perform communication control. The master communication controller 2 communicates with the client communication controller 6 to detect abnormality of the LANs 4 and 5. For the purpose, the controller 2 recognizes all address information of the controller 6. The slave communication controller 3 always copies the information of the controller 2 and performs abnormality of the LANs 4 and 5 even if the controller 2 is shut down. The controllers 2, 3, and 6 can inform the computer 1 or work station 7 of abnormality information with the TCP/IP protocol. A communication controller 8 has three LAN I/Fs 9, 11, and 12. An input packet from the I/F 9 is transferred by a LAN switching part 10 to the I/F 11 or I/F 12. A LAN control part 13 performs switching control in response to abnormality of the two-series of LANs.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication control device for monitoring abnormality of a 2-system LAN and switching to a normal LAN for operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to prevent a LAN from stopping due to an abnormality in the LAN, two LAN boards were installed in each host computer and a two-system LAN was operated at the same time to parallelize the LAN. .

[0003]

Conventionally, two LAN boards are installed in a host computer and operated at the same time for communication by parallelizing a two-system LAN. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the abnormality of the LAN cannot be known.
Therefore, the present invention is capable of monitoring a LAN abnormality,
In addition, the abnormal information can be notified to the host computer.

[0004]

A communication control device of the present invention is connected to a host computer and a 2-system LAN to monitor the 2-system LAN. Monitoring is carried out by detecting carrier signals and communication between communication control devices. The communication control device can be set to three device states: master, slave, and client. LAN abnormality monitoring by communication between communication control apparatuses means abnormality detection by the master communication control apparatus periodically polling the slave or client communication control apparatus. Also, the communication control device is TCP / IP
It is possible to implement the protocol and establish a communication path with the host computer.

[0005]

With the above-mentioned means, the communication control device is a 2-system LAN.
It is possible to build a fault-tolerant LAN by monitoring the abnormality of No. 1 and switching to the normal LAN. In addition, the information about the LAN abnormality can be notified to the host computer by the TCP / IP protocol, and the host computer can collect the LAN abnormality information.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a communication control device of the present invention, (A) is a diagram showing the positioning on a 2-system LAN, and (B) is an internal structure of the communication control device. It is a figure. First, description will be made with reference to FIG. Communication control devices of the same type can be set as master, slave, and client. The master communication control device 2, the slave communication control device 3, and the client communication control device 6. These communication control devices 2, 3 and 6 are all connected to the 2 system LANs 4 and 5. The communication control devices 2, 3, 6 are connected to the host computer 1 or the workstation 7.

As described above, the communication control devices 2, 3 and 6 are connected to the parallel system 2 LANs 4 and 5 and the host computer 1 or the workstation 7 and are in a position to control communication. The master communication control device 2 detects an abnormality in the LANs 4 and 5 by communicating with the client communication control device 6. Therefore, the master communication control device 2 recognizes all the address information of the client communication control device 6. The slave communication control device 3 is the master communication control device 2
Information is always copied, and even if the master communication control device 2 goes down, it plays a role of detecting an abnormality in the LANs 4 and 5 instead. These communication control devices 2, 3 and 6 are connected to the host computer 1 or the workstation 7 by TC.
Abnormality information can be notified by the P / IP protocol.

The communication control device 8 has three LAN interfaces 9, 11, 12. The input / output packet from the LAN interface 9 is transferred to the LAN interface 11 or the LAN interface 12 by the LAN switching unit 10. The LAN control unit 13 controls LAN switching. The LAN control unit 13 performs switching control depending on the abnormal state of the 2-system LAN. LA
The LAN monitoring unit 14 monitors the abnormality of N4 and N5. L
The abnormality detection method for the ANs 4 and 5 is performed by detecting carrier signals of the LANs 4 and 5 or by communication between communication control devices performed by the communication unit between communication control devices 18 of the LAN communication unit 16. That is, in the latter case, the LAN monitoring unit 14 determines the
Judge abnormalities of 4 and 5.

The communication control device 8 can communicate with the host computer 1 through the LAN interface 9. The TCP / IP communication unit 17 of the LAN communication unit 16 carries out the communication. The communication packet is, for example, notification of LAN abnormality information. The device state unit 15 determines the type of the communication control device. The device state unit 15 determines a master, a slave, and a client, and the communication control device 8 operates so as to perform its role.

[0010]

As described above, the communication control device of the present invention detects an abnormality in the 2-system LAN and switches to the normal LAN, thereby establishing a fault-tolerant LAN.
It is possible to build. In addition, the communication control device communicates with the host computer, so that the host computer side can collect and manage LAN abnormality information.
Centralized management of 2-system LAN can be implemented by the host computer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a communication control device of the present invention,
(A) is a diagram showing the positioning on the 2-system LAN,
(B) is a diagram showing an internal structure of the communication control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 host computer 2 master communication control device 3 slave communication control device 4 LAN 5 LAN 6 client communication control device 7 workstation 8 communication control device 9 LAN interface 10 LAN switching unit 11 LAN interface 12 LAN interface 13 LAN control unit 14 LAN monitoring unit 15 device status section 16 LAN communication section 17 TCP / IP communication section 18 communication control apparatus communication section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A network interface in a communication control device is composed of three interfaces, an interface directly connected to a host computer and a system 2 interface connected to a system 2 LAN, and the communication control device is a carrier for an abnormality of the system 2 LAN. LA that monitors by signal detection or periodic polling of communication between communication control devices
TCP / IP for N monitoring unit, LAN control unit for switching LAN of 2 system due to LAN abnormality, communication between communication control devices or communication between host computer and communication control device
A communication control device comprising a LAN communication part that performs a protocol and a device status part that indicates whether the communication control device is set as a master, a slave, or a client.