KR100265979B1 - Method and apparatus for converting communication protocol between host computer and branch processor - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of converting a communication protocol between a host computer and a branch processor configuring a network in a client / server manner using a TCP / IP interface instead of a high level protocol (HLP), which is a communication interface specification used between a host computer and a branch processor. Relates to a device.

The communication protocol conversion method between the host computer and the branch processor of the present invention disclosed is a branch processor for controlling communication transmission between the host computer and the terminal device during mutual data transmission between the host computer and the terminal period using the TCP / IP protocol. Interfacing between a high level protocol and the TCP / IP protocol, the method comprising: allocating a transport port to perform an interfacing in an initial idle state of a branch processor; When a connection request is generated from the terminal device according to the assigned transmission port, the transmission path for data transmission is set, and the transmission path is set according to the format of the destination to be transmitted according to the data unit transmitted from the host computer and the terminal device. Mapping; And performing the data transmission through the interconnected transmission paths after mapping of the transmission paths, thereby not only managing the terminal device more easily, but also improving the transmission speed, reducing the circuit cost, and expanding the network. There is an easy advantage.

Description

Method and apparatus for converting communication protocol between host computer and branch processor

The present invention relates to an interface of a communication network, and more particularly, to configure a communication protocol between a host computer and a branch processor (BP) using an open network of a client / server method using TCP / IP. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for converting a communication protocol between a host computer and a branch processor to effectively manage a processor and a plurality of terminal devices.

In general, financial institutions such as banks install host computers in the head office, etc., and install a plurality of terminal devices that perform input / output and cash transfers as cash inputs and outputs as data input / output devices in windows, terminals, underground shopping malls, etc. The host computer and the terminal device are connected to each other by wire or wirelessly, and data generated in the terminal device is performed online.

At this time, a branch processor for relaying and controlling communication between the host computer and a terminal device as an end-user is installed. Such a branch processor generally includes high level data link control (HDLC). Order, the terminal device control method according to the SDLC (Synchronous Data Link Control) order, and the terminal device control method using Ethernet (Etherner) to perform the online work.

On-line performance with terminal equipment according to HDLC, SDLC, etc., can generally be performed by installing devices with relay functions such as gateways on communication lines at regular intervals, and also controlling terminal equipment through Ethernet networks. Interconnections can be made through, for example, a router.

Using the branch processor as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to perform a request generated from a plurality of terminal devices while performing a mutual relay function between the host computer and the terminal period.

The host computer 10 is connected to the branch processor 14 via a Data Control Processor (DCP) 12, and a plurality of terminal devices 16a to 16n and 18a to 18n respectively control synchronous data link control. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a communication service is provided by being connected to an Ethernet network by interconnection of routers 18a and 18b, and FIG. 2 shows a protocol configuration, that is, an application ( Host computer consisting of an application program, a communication program, a high level protocol (HLP) for communication between the host computer and a branch processor, a high level data link control sequence, a branch processor connected to the host computer, and an Ethernet or loop It consists of a number of terminal devices connected to the network.

The protocol configuration of the branch processor includes HLP for communication between the host computer and the branch processor, an interface unit that is an internal process of the branch processor for terminal device communication, TTCP that is an internal process for the branch processor for terminal communication, and HDLC, a process for data link control communication. It is configured to connect the host computer and the terminal device.

In the network configured as described above, request processing generated from a specific terminal device will be described as follows.

First, any terminal device operator operates a specific terminal device to be used to connect to the branch processor 14 connected by wire or wirelessly. When the connection is made, the branch processor 14 notifies the operator of the available state of the terminal device with a response signal indicating that the connection is made.

Thereafter, a communication path is established between each other, and the operator can remotely control the host computer 10 through the terminal device according to the control operation of the branch processor 14.

When the connection between the branch processor 14 and any terminal device via the host computer 10 is completed, the host computer 10 detects a request input from the terminal device, and the operator responds to the request for the corresponding data through the terminal device. To provide.

In addition, all online operations are performed through sequential protocol processing from the connection of an arbitrary terminal device and a branch processor until the request generation and response processing of data are performed.

In other words, the data request is generated from the branch processor, and the online work performed after the terminal device is connected to the branch processor 14 is performed by connecting the terminal device 14 and the host computer 10 through a communication line and simultaneously generating data. After transferring and processing the data to the host computer 10, the result is outputted from the host computer 10 to the terminal device at the data generation point. At this time, the data input to the terminal is transmitted while being controlled by the communication protocol procedure between the host computer 10 and the branch processor 14.

Here, the branch processor 14 connected to the host computer via TCP / IP and the Ethernet network, and the routers 18a and 18b for connecting and connecting the other computer networks to each other by using a relay function in the network network, are connected to each other. As a device to be connected, a speed conversion function that provides communication functions to computers and terminal devices of different speeds, a protocol conversion function for converting data such as connection of lines and various control functions, and a conversion function between different character codes Various functions such as things can be provided to enable communication between different devices.

However, the above-described conventional communication method between the branch processor and the host computer using the high-level protocol uses only a specific protocol when constructing a network, so that another network can be connected and used when expanding the work separately from the existing work. Not only is it impossible to upgrade, it is impossible to upgrade in terms of speed and stability, and thus, financial institutions cannot manage branch processors and terminal devices effectively.

Accordingly, the present invention excludes the provision of the service by the high level protocol (HLP) used between the host computer and the branch processor in the above-described conventional technology, and the general scheme between the branch processor and the host computer is TCP / IP and HLP. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for converting a communication protocol between a host computer and a branch processor that can easily expand a network and provide an open network that can be easily managed by providing a separate communication conversion module that interfaces with each other.

In another aspect of the present invention, the purpose of the present invention is to effectively manage a branch processor and a plurality of terminal devices connected thereto by providing a communication conversion module for interfacing TCP / IP and HLP.

1 is a network diagram illustrating a state where a branch processor and a terminal device are connected to a host computer by a general communication protocol.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal protocol for each communication interface in FIG. 1;

3 is a diagram illustrating a schematic network configured by applying a communication protocol conversion apparatus between a host computer and a branch processor according to the present invention;

4 is a configuration diagram showing an internal protocol for each communication interface in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of an interface unit between TCP / IP and HLP in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a socket interface unit in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating data in a data manager in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a state diagram illustrating command conversion for data transmission between the TCP / IP and the HLP interface in FIG. 5.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

100: host computer 102: branch processor

106a, 106b: Luther 104a, 104n, 108a, 108b: Terminal device

110: communication conversion unit 112: socket interface unit

114: gateway controller 116: HLP interface

118: path management unit 120: data management unit

122: COM conversion unit 124: data management unit

A communication protocol conversion method between a host computer and a branch processor according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above objects is, when the host computer using the TCP / IP protocol and the terminal data transfer time between each other, the host computer In the interface between the high-level protocol of the branch processor for controlling communication transmission between the terminal and the terminal and the TCP / IP protocol,

Assigning a transport port to perform an inter-interface in the initial idle state of the branch processor; The transmission path for transmitting data when the connection request is generated from the terminal device according to the assigned transmission port, and the format of the destination to be transmitted according to the data unit transmitted from the host computer and the terminal device. Mapping the transmission paths accordingly; And performing the data transmission over the interconnected transmission paths after mapping of the transmission paths.

Preferably, when transmitting data from the terminal device to the host computer, the data is transmitted without performing an assembly and disassembly process.

Preferably, in the data transmission from the host computer to the terminal, the data is transmitted after performing the assembly and disassembly process.

In addition, in order to achieve the object as described above, the communication protocol conversion device between the host computer and the branch processor according to another aspect of the present invention, at the time of mutual data transmission between the host computer and the terminal period using the TCP / IP protocol In a mutual interface between the high-level protocol of the branch processor for controlling communication transmission between the host computer and the terminal device and the TCP / IP protocol,

First and second interface means for interfacing data transmitted from the host computer and the terminal device with the branch processor, respectively; Control means for converting the data transmitted through the first and second interface means into a data protocol of a destination to be mutually transmitted; Management means for managing a transmission path newly set for transmitting the data to a destination to be transmitted by the first and second interface means and performing a mapping function; Conversion means for converting data having different sizes respectively processed by the host computer and the terminal device into a corresponding format; And a data manager for managing the data.

Preferably, the control means is characterized in that for changing the header portion of the predetermined data received from the host computer to the format for transmitting to the terminal.

Preferably, the management means is to interface with the data assembled / disassembled in accordance with the data format of the destination by the conversion means, so that the predetermined data is transmitted to the host computer and the terminal device.

Preferably, the data transmitted from the host computer is transmitted to the terminal unit by 256 bytes according to the data management unit.

Preferably, the data transmitted from the terminal device is transmitted to the host computer by 16Kbytes according to the data management unit.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In describing the operation of the present invention, the same parts will be described with the same reference numerals.

In the description of the operation of the present invention, the same parts as in the prior art may be omitted.

3 is a network configured by applying a communication protocol conversion apparatus between a host computer and a branch processor according to the present invention. The host computer 100 includes a plurality of terminal devices 104a through TCP / IP and Ethernet. 104n is connected, and a plurality of terminal devices 108a to 108b are connected via routers 106a and 106b for interconnecting Ethernet and other Ethernet.

Here, the transmission speed of the branch processor connecting to the host computer is usually 10 Mbps.

Referring to FIG. 4, a protocol configuration required for communication between the host computer 100 and the terminal period is configured such that the host computer 100 and the branch processor 102 perform communication services using mutual TCP / IP. In this case, a TCP / IP-HLP interface unit (hereinafter, abbreviated as "communication conversion unit") for interfacing the HLP unit and the TCP / IP unit of the branch processor 102 is provided.

In addition, in the internal protocol configuration of the branch processor 102, the HLP unit is a protocol for performing communication between the host computer and the branch processor, the interface unit is a terminal communication process, TTCP is a process for terminal communication and HDLC is a data level communication process. .

In addition, referring to FIG. 5, the communication converter 110 interconnected with the host computer 100 through TCP / IP may interface with the TCP / IP of the host computer 100 and may also be internal to the branch processor 102. The socket interface unit 112, which is a virtual area for the interface between the processors, the gateway controller 114 which converts the TCP / IP protocol transmitted from the host computer 100 and the HLP protocol for the terminal device into each other, and the HLP (which connects to the terminal device). HLP interface unit 116 that interfaces with the 124, and the path corresponding to the TCP / IP port of the host computer 100 is assigned to perform the mutual mapping function, and assembling the TCP / IP data and the data existing in the branch processor And a path management unit 118 for resolving and decomposing data, and a data management unit 120 for managing data converted into data of a destination to be transmitted. It is composed of a COM converter 122 for determining the reference format of the message to be delivered to each other.

Here, the COM (Communication Message) refers to the message to be delivered in the format of the standard for transferring messages between processes in the branch processor, and performing the mutual communication according to the criteria.

A communication protocol conversion process between the host computer and the branch processor by the protocol conversion device configured as described above is as follows.

First, in the mutual data transmission between any terminal device and the host computer 100, when the terminal device requires a connection to the branch processor 102, the branch processor 102 receives the data transmitted from the terminal device through the HLP (124) Transfer to communication conversion unit 110.

The HLP interface 116 of the communication converter 110 must first determine the TCP / IP port that can be transmitted from the path manager 118 in order to receive the transmitted data and transfer the data to the host computer 100. . In other words, the data transmitted from the HLP protocol cannot be transmitted to the host computer as it is. Therefore, the HLP port must not be used continuously, and the TCP / IP port must be newly set up and then transmitted through this TCP / IP port. .

Once the TCP / IP port is assigned by the path management unit 118, the gateway conversion unit 114 performs a protocol conversion operation for converting the HLP protocol into the TCP / IP protocol, and hosts the socket interface unit 112 through the host. Transfer data to the computer 100.

Here, a process of allocating a TCP / IP port, a data conversion process, and the like will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

On the other hand, the data transmitted from the host computer 100 also receives a new HLP port from the path management unit 118, similar to the data transmission from the terminal device described above, and at the same time the terminal through the protocol conversion process of the gateway conversion unit 114 Send data to the machine.

At this time, the path manager 114 and the data manager 120 are transmitted without performing a separate segmenting / assembling process because the size of data transmitted from the terminal device to the host computer is small. Data transmitted from the 100 to the terminal performs the assembly / disassembly process for the speed of the printer, display, and the like.

This is because the data processed by the HLP and the size and data frame of the data processed by TCP / IP is different, the mutual interface is possible only when the process of assembling and reassembling the transmission data is performed.

That is, for example, when 16 Kbytes of data is transmitted from the host computer 100, the data is divided into 256 bytes by the COM converter 122 and the data management unit 120 and transmitted to the terminal device. When is transmitted is converted to 16Kbyte and transmitted to the host computer (100).

Meanwhile, this process will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 as follows.

In order for data transmission between the host computer and the terminal device to be performed with each other, data transmitted from the host computer 100 or transmitted to the host computer 100 via TCP / IP is transferred to the socket interface unit 112 shown in FIG. 6. The port assignment for connecting to the host computer must be preceded.

First, if a host-side 1LU mapping unit composed of a logical unit (LU) such as a session or a path and a second LU mapping unit of a branch processor side are interconnected to transmit data, The path must be set.

To this end, a plurality of ports provided by the IEEE802.3 standard and a TCP connection for connecting with a counterpart TCP through the ports are provided to perform a function for establishing a connection with a counterpart to be connected. When a plurality of mutual connections are generated by a port and a TCP connection, each connection is distinguished as “fd” shown in the second LU mapping unit, and a path is 1 for each LU for each logical unit used in the HLP. Are allocated

Here, the initial 3 bits, i.e., 0, 1, and 2, respectively, in the second LU mapping unit represent data input, data output, and error occurrence, and the rest represent a path, which is a data transmission path through a port.

For example, when predetermined data is transmitted from the host computer 100 side, a constant connection by a port is generated between the host computer 100 and the branch processor 102.

When data transmission starts, the data is divided into a predetermined size, i.e. 256 bytes, according to the HLP protocol according to the data conversion operation of the COM converter 122. In this case, the second LU mapping unit is divided into the number of bytes of data to be transmitted. Accordingly, a pass is allocated. Thereafter, data transfer is performed by the assigned path.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 7, data transmission through the assembly / disassembly process of data is performed. First, transmission of TCP / IP data including a transaction ID, a data length, and data from the host computer 100 is described above. As described above, since the data unit of the TCP / IP and the data unit of the HLP are different from each other, the data unit 120 is performed after the assembly / disassembly operation of the data manager 120.

When the path to be transmitted is determined in the above-described path allocation process, the gateway is interfaced with the HLP through protocol conversion of the gateway controller 114.

That is, when data is transmitted from the host computer 100, the COM converter 122 converts the data from the TCP / IP format to the HLP format, and the HLP interface 116 of the branch processor 102 converts the converted data. Receive

Thereafter, the converted data through the data transmitter (not shown) of the HLP 124 is transmitted to the terminal through the HLP.

Meanwhile, FIG. 8 illustrates a state diagram in which the communication conversion unit 110 performs data transmission by using commands of TCP and HLP between TCP / IP and HLP interfaces in FIG. 5, which will be described in more detail.

First, a 'socket ()' command for allocating a port provided by the TCP / IP protocol is transmitted to the communication conversion unit 110, and a 'listen ()' TCP / IP command for making the port active is transmitted. If so, the communication converter 110 changes from the idle state to the 'LISTEN' state, which is a port active state.

In the 'LISTEN' state, when the next event of the connect event (CONNECT-request) command, which is an input event, and the 'UNBIND' for disconnecting the path, occurs in the 'LISTEN' state, the communication conversion unit 110 returns to the 'UNBIND' state. Is changed.

At this time, if an error occurs when changing from 'LISTEN' state to 'UNBIND' state, it returns to 'LISTEN' state again.

Subsequently, when the next event of the input event '+ rsp' (response signal) and 'BIND' occurs in the 'UNBIND' state, it indicates that the communication conversion unit 110 is currently mapping, and then transmits data with '+ rsp'. When the command 'SDT', which indicates the completion of the preparation, is transmitted, the communication conversion unit 110 converts the path to completion and converts the data into the 'SDT' state in which data may be transmitted.

When the 'accept' TCP command for establishing a connection is transmitted with the response signal in the 'SDT' state, the communication conversion unit 110 is in the 'connected' state in the network open state.

In the 'DATA_READY' state in which the communication converter 110 is all ready to transmit data, when a command for transmitting data to be transmitted to the counterpart and an input for reading the transmitted data are received, the current data is transmitted accordingly. The status is 'DATA_SEND' indicating that it is busy.

Thereafter, after all data transmission is completed, the communication converter 110 returns to an idle state together with the response command.

As described in detail above, the present invention configures a network in a client / server manner by using a TCP / IP interface instead of a high-level protocol (HLP) that is a communication interface specification used between a host computer and a branch processor. It is possible to efficiently manage a large number of connected terminal devices and the like, and also has the effect of improving the transmission speed and reducing the circuit cost and easily expanding the network when constructing the network.

Claims (8)

In the inter-data transfer between the TCP / IP protocol and the high-level protocol of the branch processor that controls the communication transmission between the host computer and the terminal device, when the host computer and the terminal device use the TCP / IP protocol. , Assigning a transport port to perform an inter-interface in the initial idle state of the branch processor; The transmission path for transmitting data when the connection request is generated from the terminal device according to the assigned transmission port, and the format of the destination to be transmitted according to the data unit transmitted from the host computer and the terminal device. Mapping the transmission paths accordingly; And And performing the data transfer through the interconnected transmission paths after mapping of the transmission paths. The method of claim 1, When transmitting data from the terminal device to the host computer, the data is transmitted without performing the assembly and disassembly process, characterized in that the communication protocol conversion method between the host computer and the branch processor. The method of claim 1, When transmitting data from the host computer to the terminal device, the data is transmitted after performing an assembly and disassembly process. In the inter-data transfer between the TCP / IP protocol and the high-level protocol of the branch processor that controls the communication transmission between the host computer and the terminal device during mutual data transmission between the host computer and the terminal using the TCP / IP protocol. , First and second interface means for interfacing data transmitted from the host computer and the terminal device with the branch processor, respectively; Control means for converting the data transmitted through the first and second interface means into a data protocol of a destination to be mutually transmitted; Management means for managing a transmission path newly set for transmitting the data to a destination to be transmitted by the first and second interface means and performing a mapping function; Conversion means for converting data having different sizes respectively processed by the host computer and the terminal device into a corresponding format; And And a data management unit for managing the data. The method of claim 4, wherein And said control means changes a header portion of predetermined data received from said host computer into a format for transmitting to said terminal device. The method of claim 4, wherein The managing means mutually interfaces data assembled / disassembled according to the data format of the destination by the converting means so that predetermined data is mutually transmitted to the host computer and the terminal device. Communication protocol converter. The method of claim 6, And data transmitted from the host computer is transmitted to the terminal unit by 256 bytes according to the data management unit. The method of claim 6, And data transmitted from the terminal device are transmitted to the host computer by 16 Kbytes according to the data management unit.