CN110248328B

CN110248328B - Method for operating a communication system

Info

Publication number: CN110248328B
Application number: CN201811605720.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: H·派特可夫; T·劳滕巴切尔; T·考伯特; K·高特沙克
Original assignee: Diehl Metering Systems GmbH
Current assignee: Diehl Metering Systems GmbH
Priority date: 2018-03-10
Filing date: 2018-12-27
Publication date: 2024-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-27
Also published as: CN110248328A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating a communication system, data being transmitted and/or received by a communication partner, said communication partner comprising: communication device, microprocessor and energy supply device, the energy supply device has the following electric parameter, its value changes from the initial value in supplying energy to microprocessor and/or communication device, microprocessor encodes and/or decodes the data and go on an operation cycle, the operation cycle is interrupted and continued in the electric parameter change preferably at any place, encode and/or decode divide into each encode stage during the operation cycle, wherein the value change of the electric parameter, there is a recovery stage used for recovering the electric parameter at least partially between and/or in the encode stage, and the duration of the recovery stage is determined to be so that the value of the electric parameter changes towards the initial value and/or reaches the initial value during the recovery stage. The invention relates to a terminal device for determining parameters.

Description

Method for operating a communication system

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method for operating a communication system and to a terminal for determining parameters.

Background

An intelligent consumption meter (also called smart meter) is a consumption meter connected into the supply network, for example for heat or energy, electricity, gas, water, which displays the actual consumption to the respective connected user and is connected into the communication network. The intelligent consumption meter has the advantage that manual reading of the consumption meter reading is dispensed with and a shorter term billing can be made on the supplier side in terms of the actual consumption. End user billing can be more accurately correlated to the development of transaction stream prices by shorter read intervals. The supply network can also be utilized significantly better.

The same type of consumption meter is usually assigned to a housing, an enterprise or an industrial unit, respectively. The consumption data accumulated there can be read in different ways, for example by means of a radio connection. Since such a consumption meter part has to operate autonomously over many years, i.e. detect consumption and communicate said consumption, for example by means of radio transmission, special demands are made on the energy supply of the consumption meter. In this case, batteries are mostly used as energy storages, which are installed in the fuel cell, for example, by way of calibration of the fuel cell or the required protection level, for example, by injection molding with a casting compound together with the electronics of the fuel cell, so that replacement is not possible without additional time-and cost-intensive measures. The operating duration of the consumption meter is therefore usually calculated as the durability of the energy store, so that in particular further developments of energy management are in the focus of research and development in order to extend the operating duration of the same type of consumption meter.

Document DE 10 2011 113 828 A1 describes a method for determining the battery state of a battery in a battery-operated consumption detector, such as a heat distribution meter, a water meter or a data collector, which forwards data transmitted by a consumption meter to a central collection site, wherein the consumption meter transmits the consumption data to the data collector by radio at predetermined time intervals. The consumption detector has a time-varying, in particular pulsed, current consumption, which occurs in particular during transmission and/or reception of data in radio transmission. Furthermore, the different operating powers of the microprocessors contained in the instrument may lead to a time-varying current consumption. In a method for determining the state of charge of a battery, the voltage of the battery is measured, from which criteria for the state of charge of the battery are derived. This has the disadvantage that the battery voltage must be measured continuously or triggered in time and thus additional and costly circuit arrangements should be provided. Furthermore, data transmission by radio is achieved without additional protection measures, whereby problems in terms of data transmission security can arise.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention is based on the object of providing a method for operating a communication system, by means of which the security of data transmission in the communication system is improved and the energy requirement is reduced.

The above-mentioned task is solved by the full teachings according to the present invention. The inclusion of a desirable embodiment is required in the present invention.

In a method for operating a communication system, data is transmitted and/or received by a communication participant. In particular, the communication system may be a communication system for transmitting sensor and/or consumption data, wherein the sensor and/or consumption data and the operating data are transmitted between the communication participants. The communication participants are preferably terminals, which are each configured, for example, as sensors, consumption meters, data collectors or the like. The communication participant or terminal comprises communication means for transmitting and/or receiving data, a control and evaluation unit, a microprocessor or microcontroller, and an energy supply means, such as a dry cell or a battery. The power supply device here supplies the control and evaluation unit and the microprocessor and/or the communication device with power for its operation. The power supply device furthermore has an electrical variable whose value changes from an initial value during the power supply to the microprocessor and/or the communication device, preferably substantially in proportion to the supply. The microprocessor is operated in such a way that it encodes the data before transmission and/or decodes it after reception, wherein the encoding or decoding takes place over an arithmetic cycle. An "operation cycle" is understood, for example, to mean an operation of a microprocessor, which includes the processing of a complete encoding or decoding task.

According to the invention, when the electrical variable changes (e.g., suddenly drops) during the operating cycle, the operating cycle is preferably interrupted at any point and continued after the electrical variable or the energy supply has at least partially resumed. The encoding and/or decoding is carried out in individual encoding phases during the arithmetic cycle, in which the value of the electrical variable changes, for example in such a way that the value of the electrical variable decreases or increases. Recovery phases are provided between and/or within the encoding phases for at least partially recovering the electrical parameters. The duration of the recovery phase is dimensioned in such a way that the value of the electrical variable changes during the recovery phase towards the initial value and/or reaches the initial value. This gives rise to the advantage that, for example, the critical value of the electrical variable is not exceeded or falls below. This can prevent, for example: the voltage drop of the energy supply device does not drop to a critical value due to the operation of the microprocessor during decoding in the case of energy consumption. The energy supply or the energy store is furthermore protected, for example, in such a way that the passivation layer of the battery is not damaged by too great a voltage drop. This improves the energy supply to a particular extent and thus the durability of the entire device. Furthermore, the more cost-effective energy storage device can be used by means of this load management, whereby the production costs can be reduced. Surprisingly, it has been shown that the energy supply can be controlled in such a way that the energy supply operates more stably. In this way, for example, more accurate measurement results can be achieved in the range of the throughput determination or in the measurement range, since, for example, the sensor devices usually required for measurement technology (if they are connected to a stable energy supply device) generally have smaller measurement deviations and thus higher measurement accuracy. The method according to the invention can be implemented in a simple manner in existing instruments as a pure software solution, firmware update or functional component.

The coding phase of the arithmetic cycle may each comprise at least two, preferably a plurality of sub-coding phases, i.e. the coding or decoding of the coding phase may be carried out in sections, wherein the coded or decoded sub-sections are then spliced so that the result is not distinguished from an uninterrupted coding phase. Furthermore, recovery phases may be provided between different subsegments or sub-coding phases, respectively.

Expediently, a threshold value of the electrical variable can be specified, wherein the duration t is derived from the threshold value and the transition between the encoding phase or the sub-encoding phase and the recovery phase is controlled by a clock signal. In the preparation phase, the clock signal can be specified so that no continuous measurement of the electrical variable is provided or carried out. The clock is typically controlled or run by a low frequency oscillator, for example at 32768Hz.

Preferably, a standby mode is provided for the microprocessor, wherein the microprocessor or only a functional area of the microprocessor is shifted to standby mode during the recovery phase. Thus, a microprocessor or a functional area of a microprocessor can be temporarily switched off if the operation of the microprocessor or the functional area of the microprocessor is not necessary. This can additionally save energy.

Expediently, the coding and/or decoding may involve channel coding and/or channel decoding, source coding and/or source decoding, encryption and/or decryption, and/or telegram coding and/or telegram decoding. Encoding or decoding methods all known from the prior art are also included within the scope of the present invention. Encoding/decoding is also understood to be higher layer processing until the message is fully interpretable. Specifically, decoding also includes provision of messages or data for higher layers according to the ISO OSI layer model (open systems interconnection model).

Preferably, the electrical parameter of the energy supply device is the charge and/or voltage state of the energy store. For determining the charge and/or voltage state or as electrical parameter itself, voltage, charge, current strength, resistance, power, work, capacitance, frequency, cycle duration, inductance, current density or the like can be used. The energy store, in particular the battery, can be provided, for example, as part of the energy supply device, wherein the electrical variable of the energy supply device is the charge and/or voltage state of the energy store.

Alternatively or additionally, an energy buffer, in particular a capacitor, may be provided as part of the energy supply. The electrical variable of the energy supply device can thus also be the charge and/or voltage state of the energy buffer.

Furthermore, a threshold value of the electrical variable can be specified, wherein the value of the electrical variable changes from an initial value toward the threshold value, i.e., approaches the threshold value, during the encoding phase. The threshold value is, for example, a voltage value to which the voltage of the energy supply device may drop during decoding without adversely affecting parts of the component, for example, the sensor device or the measuring device.

Expediently, the duration of the encoding phase can be dimensioned such that the value of the electrical variable does not reach or fall below a threshold value during the encoding phase. The durability of the energy supply device is thereby significantly improved. Furthermore, adverse effects on parts of the component, for example, the sensor device or the measuring device, are prevented.

It is particularly expedient if the coding phases and the recovery phases are arranged periodically alternately. In this way, for example, it is possible to achieve that the voltage value of the energy supply device can drop during the encoding phase to a defined value and then can rise again, i.e. resume, during the recovery phase, so that only a small voltage drop for the energy supply device protection takes place accordingly. The durability of the energy supply device is thereby additionally improved.

Preferably, the data, for example consumption and/or operation data, are transmitted and received in the form of data packets.

Expediently, the microprocessor can be configured to process a plurality of tasks in addition to the encoding or decoding, for example the processing of suddenly occurring events, the control of the sensor system or the processing of determined measured values and parameters.

Furthermore, the data may contain priority information, which is readable by the receiver. In a practical way, the duration of the encoding phase and/or the recovery phase is specified based on the priority information. The priority information may be transmitted jointly, for example, at the beginning and/or end of the data packet. The microprocessor can then decide whether the data should be decoded as quickly or as energy-efficient as possible, i.e. immediately and continuously or at defined times with small energy requirements, section by section. Where data with higher priority has a shorter recovery phase for faster decoding. The energy supply device can thus also be loaded more efficiently, whereby, for example, additionally the decoding speed and/or the lifetime can also be increased. Furthermore, the corresponding tasks may also be assigned a priority, so that, for example, a suddenly occurring event obtains a defined priority for processing.

Preferably, the processing sequence of the queued tasks of the microprocessor is derived from the priority information, wherein tasks with higher priorities (sensor measurements) are processed immediately or at least preferentially before tasks with lower priorities. Tasks with a lower priority (e.g. encoding or decoding in this case) are stored in a memory, for example in a data memory of the terminal, and are processed in the next active phase or encoding phase. The encoding phase is displaced in time by a value which is preferably calculated from the product of the processing time for the task with the higher priority and the current required for this purpose.

Expediently, if the microprocessor processes another task, for example without real-time requirements, which however has priority before encoding or decoding and is not associated with encoding or decoding, the microprocessor can move the task in time in order to ensure that no disturbances or interruptions occur in the encoding phase or in the cycle of encoding or decoding.

Furthermore, for example, the required value of the electrical variable can be determined for tasks which are executed in parallel to the encoding or decoding task, in particular tasks with a higher priority, which correspond to the electrical variable changes which occur as a result of the processing of the tasks. For example, the voltage across the energy supply device can be calculated during a sensor-controlled task, wherein the voltage drop across the energy supply device that occurs during the sensor control constitutes a consumption value that is determined for the task. The processing duration of the task can also be determined, for example, by a timer, in that the time at which the microprocessor starts the processing of the task and the time at which the microprocessor ends the processing of the task (time requirement value) are determined. The consumption value and the time requirement value of the electrical variable can then be stored in a memory and taken into account for calculating the change in the electrical variable, for example the voltage of the energy supply device, with respect to the change in the electrical variable during the task process. The duration of the recovery phase necessary for recovery can thus be determined. This gives the advantage that the processing times can be coordinated in a simple manner with the respectively accumulated tasks to be processed. Thereby additionally reducing the energy requirements.

Preferably, the communication participant comprises a mechanism for consumption data detection. According to a preferred embodiment variant, the communication partner is a consumption data detector or a consumption meter, for example a water, current, gas or heat meter. The communication partner can also be a data collector or data concentrator, which receives and collects data, for example, of a plurality of consumption meters, via radio, so that the communication partner can send these data on to a superordinate entity, for example a control center of the supplier, at specifiable times. As terminal devices, however, other sensors, for example filling level sensors, which detect the filling level of goods and/or food items, for example in shelves, refrigerators or the like, are also included; or detect a drop in a container or dustbin.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, a measuring device for determining the value of the electrical variable may be provided. For example, a voltage meter may be provided, which is preferably connected to the energy supply and whose measurement data is available to an upstream control-evaluation unit or microprocessor. The remaining operating duration of the energy supply device can thus also be determined, for example, which can then be presented to the user in a practical manner, for example by a visual or audible alarm.

Expediently, the transmission and/or reception of the data can take place in a narrowband range. According to a preferred embodiment, the reception bandwidth of the respective measuring unit is less than 25kHz, preferably less than 20kHz, preferably less than 5kHz, preferably less than 3kHz, particularly preferably less than 2kHz. The determination of the bandwidth may be made, for example, according to the criteria ETSI EN 300 220-1V3.1.1 (case of 02/2017).

Furthermore, the overall processing of the encoding phase may last longer than 20 milliseconds, preferably longer than 50 milliseconds, particularly preferably longer than 100 milliseconds.

According to a preferred embodiment, the duration of the individual encoding phases may be different and/or the encoding phases may comprise different receiver algorithms, such as synchronization, demodulation, decoding or the like. The microcontroller can thus, for example, switch off its working memory or RAM memory (random access memory), in particular temporarily or alternatively. This additionally increases the energy saving.

The invention also requires, in parallel, a terminal device for determining preferred chemical or physical parameters, such as heat, temperature, humidity, pressure, acoustic field parameters, flow, volume, brightness, acceleration, voltage, amperage, pH, ionic strength, electrochemical potential, degree of filling (e.g. of a liquid or solid), substance properties or components and/or the like. The terminal device here comprises: means for determining a parameter (e.g. a sensing arrangement or a sensing device) and generating data (parameter data); communication means for transmitting (e.g. consumption data, measurement data or the like) and/or receiving (e.g. control data, operation data or the like) data; a microprocessor and an energy supply device. The energy supply device is, for example, designed to supply energy to the means for determining the parameters, the microprocessor and/or the communication device for the operation thereof. The energy supply device also has an electrical variable, the value of which changes, for example drops or rises, during the supply of energy. The microprocessor is furthermore used to encode the data before transmission and/or to decode it after reception, and the microprocessor can be operated such that the encoding or decoding takes place stepwise in each encoding phase, wherein the value of the electrical variable changes from an initial value. In this case, a recovery phase for at least partially recovering the electrical variables is provided between the encoding phases, in which, for example, no encoding and/or decoding takes place. The duration of the recovery phase is dimensioned in such a way that the value of the electrical variable changes towards and/or reaches an initial value during the recovery phase, for example, the voltage value of the energy supply device again rises to the level of the voltage value at the beginning of the encoding process, i.e. to the value of the initial value.

Preferably, the energy supply device comprises an energy store, in particular a dry cell, a storage battery and/or an energy buffer, for example a capacitor or a buffer capacitor. Explicitly, however, any type of energy storage device known from the prior art is also included.

According to a preferred embodiment variant, the terminal device can be a consumption meter for determining the consumption of the supply medium, which determines the consumption as a parameter and can transmit and/or receive the consumption in the form of consumption data via the communication system. For example, a fluid meter, such as a water, gas or heat meter, may be provided as the consumption meter.

The consumption meter generally comprises, as means for determining a parameter, means for consumption data detection or consumption data determination. For example, it may relate to an ultrasonic transducer for flow determination of a fluid. The consumption data detection is preferably carried out here on the basis of propagation time difference measurements.

Expediently, for example, the duration of the time during the power supply up to the threshold value can be determined on the basis of an additional measuring device, preferably the duration is estimated, measured and/or calculated in this case.

Drawings

The following further illustrates an advantageous embodiment of the invention according to the figures. The drawings show:

Fig. 1 shows a simplified schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communication system operating in a method according to the invention;

fig. 2 shows a strongly simplified schematic diagram of a consumption meter according to the invention;

fig. 3a shows a greatly simplified view of a voltage curve SE of the consumption meter according to the invention;

Fig. 3b shows a greatly simplified view of the voltage curve SM of the consumption meter according to the invention;

fig. 4a shows a greatly simplified view of a voltage curve SE of a consumption meter with a capacitor according to the invention;

Fig. 4b shows a strongly simplified view of a voltage curve SM of the consumption meter with a capacitor according to the invention;

Fig. 5 shows a strongly simplified view of an embodiment of a circuit arrangement for the power supply of a microprocessor;

Fig. 6 shows a strongly simplified view of an embodiment of the operation process of the microprocessor;

Fig. 7a shows a strongly simplified view of another embodiment of the operation process of the microprocessor;

Fig. 7b shows a strongly simplified view of another embodiment of the operation process of the microprocessor;

fig. 8 shows a strongly simplified view of successive encoding stages;

fig. 9 shows a strongly simplified view of successive encoding phases of an event with intervening intervention.

Detailed Description

Reference numeral 1 in fig. 1 denotes a communication system which operates according to the method according to the invention. The communication system 1 is used for transmitting data between a plurality of communication participants, i.e. a plurality of terminal devices, and a data collector 20. The terminals are designed as consumption meters 2, which each determine the consumption on a supply medium (for example water, heat, gas, current or the like) as a parameter. The data are corresponding consumption data and/or operating data, which are transmitted in the form of data packets between the communication partners by radio. Depending on whether the consumption meter 2 is just sending consumption data to the data collector 20 or receiving operation data by the data collector 20, the respective consumption meter 2 or data collector 20 may be a transmitter or a receiver, for example.

The data collector 20 comprises a communication module 21 with an antenna 22, a control unit 23 and a data memory 24 for the collection or storage of data. The data collector 20 may then transmit the data wirelessly or by wire to a central unit of a superior level, not shown in the drawings, such as a control center of the supplier. The data collector 20 furthermore comprises an energy supply (also not shown). The connection to the power grid or to an energy store, for example a dry cell or an accumulator, can be mentioned.

The consumption meter 2 in fig. 1 is configured as a fluid meter, which each comprises an electronics housing 3 for accommodating electronic components. Each of the consumption meters 2 further comprises a connection housing 4 for connecting the consumption meter 2 to a supply network, not shown in the figures for clarity reasons, such as a domestic drinking water supply. Furthermore, the consumption meter 2 comprises means (also not shown in fig. 1) for determining the consumption, from which means the consumption of the supply medium is determined. The determined consumption can be transmitted by radio via the communication means 5 to the data collector 20. Furthermore, the consumption meter 2 comprises a control and analysis unit 9 for controlling the consumption meter 2, an energy supply 7 and a display 8 for example for displaying the current consumption value. The consumption meter 2 further comprises at least one microprocessor 6, which is preferably assigned to a control and analysis unit 9. According to such a microprocessor 6, different functions of the control and analysis unit 9 can be implemented. For example, the microprocessor 6 is designed to encode and decode data or data packets. The energy supply 7 is used here to supply the microprocessor 6 and/or the communication device 5 and/or the display 8 and/or the means for determining the consumption with energy for its operation. In this case, critical states of the energy supply device 7 can occur, for example, as a result of energy-intensive processes, for example, encoding or decoding of data, whereby detrimental voltage drops can occur on the energy supply device 7.

Fig. 2 shows a simplified variant of the embodiment of the consumption meter 2 according to the invention. The consumption meter 2 is a water meter comprising an ultrasonic transducer as a means for determining the consumption of water. The ultrasonic transducer device comprises two ultrasonic transducers 10a, 10b and a measuring insert 11, which is produced, for example, from plastic and can be inserted or fitted into the connection housing 4 of the consumption meter 2 in a simple manner. The measuring insert 11 further comprises two deflection means 13a, 13b, which are provided for deflecting the ultrasonic measuring section 12 located between the ultrasonic transducers 10a, 10b, so that the ultrasonic measuring section extends U-shaped through the measuring insert 11. The direction of water flow is marked in fig. 2 by means of arrows.

According to a preferred embodiment variant of the consumption meter 2, the water consumption is determined in that the ultrasonic transducers 10a, 10b transmit ultrasonic signals along the ultrasonic measuring path 12. The ultrasonic signals here extend from one ultrasonic transducer 10a to the other ultrasonic transducer 10b in and counter to the water flow direction and vice versa. The propagation time difference of the ultrasonic signal can then be determined, for example, from the propagation times of the ultrasonic signal in and against the flow direction, the propagation time difference being taken into account for the determination of the flow rate.

The microprocessor 6 can be an integral part of the control and evaluation unit 9 as shown in fig. 2, the control and evaluation unit 9 also being used for controlling the ultrasonic transducers 10a, 10b (frequency selection, transmission time or the like) and for evaluating the consumption data. Furthermore, a data memory 14 may be provided, which is designed, for example, to store operating and/or consumption data, so that these can be transmitted to the data collector 20 at a later point in time via the communication device 5. The communication device 5 can have a preferably integrated antenna 15 for this purpose for radio transmission of operating and/or consumption data. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the radio chip for communication can also be integrated into the microprocessor 6.

The energy supply 7 comprises an energy store (for example a dry cell or a battery) and has at least one electrical variable whose value varies substantially in proportion to the preceding supply. According to a preferred embodiment variant, the voltage or the residual voltage of the energy supply 7 is used as an electrical variable, which decreases with the consumption of the input, for example during the decoding of the data packet by the microprocessor 6. It is clear that other electrical parameters of the energy supply 7, such as charge, amperage, resistance, power, work, capacitance, frequency, cycle duration, inductance, current density or the like, are also included within the scope of the invention.

The microprocessor 6 encodes the data before transmission and/or decodes the data after reception. As shown in fig. 3a, the encoding or decoding takes place in this phase in a so-called encoding phase KP, in which the value of the electrical variable, i.e. the voltage, changes, for example drops, from an initial value AW. A recovery phase for at least partially recovering the electrical parameter is provided between the encoding phases KP. Expediently, the duration of the recovery phase is dimensioned such that the electrical variable changes during the recovery phase toward the initial value AW or reaches it again. The encoding or decoding is thus not carried out in one piece but gradually (peu a peu) in order to protect the energy supply 7 and not allow too low voltages, i.e. a recovery interruption (recovery phase) is inserted between the respective decoding steps (encoding phases). For example, thereby preventing: the passivation layer of the cell is broken too strongly (brechen) so that the coding and recovery phases are periodically arranged alternately. In this way, the recovery phase can be dimensioned so long that the recovery time that would otherwise be required is significantly exceeded, as shown in fig. 3a, so that a sufficient recovery time is also available when the power supply (Strombezug) is unpredictable, for example, due to a sudden data transmission.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a threshold value SW of the electrical parameter is defined as a function of the electrical parameter, wherein the value of the electrical parameter changes from an initial value AW towards the threshold value SW during the encoding phase KP. The duration of the encoding phase KP is dimensioned in such a way that the value of the electrical variable does not reach or fall below the threshold value SW during the encoding phase KP. Furthermore, the initial value AW may vary over the operating duration of the energy supply, for example due to aging and wear of the energy store (for example a battery), so that, for example, the initial value AW of the voltage gradually drops from the encoding phase KP to the encoding phase KP.

An internal clock, not shown in the figures, is preferably provided for switching the entire microprocessor 6 or a functional group of microprocessors 6 into standby operation, so that the energy supply 7 can be restored, i.e. the restoration phase or the transition between the encoding phases KP1-KPn and the restoration phase is controlled as a function of the internal clock or its clock signal. The functional group of the microprocessor 6 is, for example, a circuit portion of the microprocessor 6 for encoding and decoding control. The internal clock can be implemented here, for example, as a separately installed module, as a component of the control and evaluation unit 9, as a pure software application or as a functional group of the microprocessor 6.

In fig. 3a, the voltage at the power supply 7, for example before the switching mechanism, is shown as a voltage curve SE, while in fig. 3b, for example, the voltage at the microprocessor 6, after the switching mechanism, is shown as a voltage curve SM. The voltage can be initially detected or measured or determined from a characteristic value of the energy store. Continuous voltage measurement is not required for the process flow. For example, a sudden voltage rise of the voltage curve SM and a rapid voltage drop of the voltage curve SE due to energy consumption occur by switching on the decoding control at the beginning of the encoding phase KP. The additional supply of power by the microprocessor 6 due to the decoding takes place after the initial rise of the voltage curve SM by a voltage drop of the voltage curve SM which extends substantially like the voltage drop of the voltage curve SE. In order to protect the energy store and allow a voltage that is not too low, the decoding is temporarily and periodically switched off in this case, so that the energy supply 7 can be restored in an interposed restoration phase, i.e. the data packets are decoded segment by segment as a function of the voltage value of the energy supply 7. The times of the coding phase KP and the intervening recovery phase are specified here in such a way that a sufficient recovery of the accumulator can be ensured. The aim here is that no additional voltage interruption is generated on the microprocessor 6 by the section-by-section decoding of the data packets or that too much energy is available from the energy store at one time.

Furthermore, the course of the voltage curve SE (according to fig. 4 a) and the course of the voltage curve SM (according to fig. 4 b) can be improved by adding energy buffers in a practical and cost-effective manner. The voltage drop can thereby be delayed, so that energy is additionally supplied by the energy buffer during decoding. A greatly simplified circuit arrangement 16 of the energy supply device 7 with a battery 17 as an energy store and a capacitor 18 as an energy buffer is shown in fig. 5. When no decoding occurs by the microprocessor 6, the battery 17 and the capacitor 18 can be restored. In contrast, the microprocessor 6 or the functional group is supplied with energy for decoding via the battery 17 and the capacitor 18 in the connected or on state, wherein the capacitor 18 smoothes the voltage drop. The switching means for switching on and off the decoding are located as functional groups in or on the microprocessor 6, the microprocessor 6 preferably being configured as an SMD module and being assigned to the control and evaluation unit 9.

The destination can define the duration t of the decoding phase in which the threshold SW is not reached on the basis of the speculation. The voltage interruption Δv is calculated here from the product of the current intensity I and the duration t divided by the capacitance C of the capacitor 18. The duration t of the decoding may be, for example, 20ms, so that the microprocessor 6 causes a voltage interruption of 0.08V with a required current strength of, for example, 4mA and a capacitor of 1000 uf:

U (delta discharge) =i·t/c=4ma·20ms/1000 μf=0.08V.

In addition, the voltage drop U (after discharge) generated at the time of current absorption and the voltage rise U (after charge) during charging can be determined as follows, for example, for a battery with a battery voltage (U (bat)) of 3.3V:

u (post discharge) =u (Bat) -U (delta discharge) =3, 3-0,08 = 3,22V

U (after charge) =u (after discharge) +u (after delta discharge) · (1-e (-t/τ)).

The recovery time t may also be derived, for example, from a threshold value SW, wherein the recovery time t required by the capacitor 18 for recovery may be calculated from the time constant τ. The capacitor 18 is operated by means of the voltage U (Bat) of the battery 17 via a recovery or charging exponential of a resistor 19 connected in series with the capacitor 18. The time constant τ of the series circuit of capacitor 18 and resistor 19 is the product of resistor R and capacitor C.

τ＝R·C

For example, a recovery time t of 9.2 seconds is thus calculated in the case of a battery voltage U (Bat) =3.3V, a resistance of 2000 ohms and a capacitor 18 of capacitance=1000 μf, wherein the decoding has to be switched off in order to charge the capacitor 18:

u (after discharge) =0.99U (bat)

U (Δcharge) =u (after charge) -U (after discharge)

U (delta charge) =U (delta discharge) · (1-e (-t/τ))

U (delta charge)/U (delta discharge) = (1-e (-t/tau))

E (-t/τ) =1-U (Δcharge)/U (Δdischarge)

T= - τ ln (1-U (delta charge)/U (delta discharge))

Τ=rc=2000 ohms-1000 μf=2 seconds

T= -2 ln (1- (0.99.0.08V)/(0.08V)) seconds

T=9.2 seconds.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a threshold value SW may be predetermined or specified, wherein the time constant τ is determined in dependence of the threshold value SW. The encoding phases KP1-KPn and the recovery phases can then be divided by a clock or clock signal, i.e. the duration of the individual phases is predetermined by the clock. The clock signal can be programmed in the preparation phase, predefined by radio or continuously adapted in situ to the respective conditions.

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment variant of the operation process of the microprocessor 6. The microprocessor 6 is operated in such a way that the microprocessor 6 decodes the data after reception, wherein the decoding takes place over an arithmetic cycle. The operation cycle here comprises the processing of a complete decoding task, which in fig. 6 consists of synchronization, demodulation and decoding units, i.e. is logically assigned to the bit transport layer in order to set up a physical connection for the transmission of bits or data packets. Synchronization and demodulation are used here to prepare the data. Furthermore the whole operation cycle can be divided into coding and recovery phases within the scope of the invention.

Fig. 7a shows the operation in fig. 6 in detail. The entire transportation process includes the operational cycles shown as dotted curves. The operation cycle includes encoding stages KP1-KP3, which are each a functional part of the overall decoding task (e.g. synchronization, demodulation and decoding). The encoding phases KP1-KP3 are in turn divided into sub-encoding phases TK1-TK3, as schematically shown in fig. 8 according to the encoding phase KP 1. Such sub-coding stages TK1-TK3 do not normally constitute separate functional parts of the decoding task, but rather comprise only one sub-range thereof, whereby the coding stages KP1-KP3 comprise at least two, preferably a plurality of sub-coding stages TK1-TKn. For clarity reasons only a part of the sub-coding stages TK1-TKn are shown in the figures. The operation cycle can be interrupted at any point or at a plurality of points, for example as soon as the threshold value SW is reached or exceeded. This interruption is shown in fig. 7a according to a vertical straight line. The interruption in fig. 7a is set in the encoding phase KP2 and indicates the start of the recovery phase or standby operation of the microprocessor 6. The duration of the recovery phase is dimensioned in such a way that the value of the electrical variable changes during the recovery phase towards the initial value AW and/or reaches the initial value, i.e. at least a partial recovery of the energy supply device takes place. The operation cycle continues again at the same position after the recovery phase or standby operation has passed as shown in fig. 7 b.

As shown in fig. 8 and 9, the coding phase KP1 is the sum of its sub-coding phases TK1-TKn, so that a complete coding or decoding takes place, i.e. once all coding phases KP1-KPn and their sub-coding phases TK1-TKn are implemented phase by phase and the calculation cycle ends thereby. In addition, an event or event 25 can be provided, which is interposed in the region of the encoding phase KP1-KPn or the subcode phase TK 1-TKn. The event 25 can be an urgent task, for example, which includes a measurement process involving the sensor device, which should be carried out with a higher priority as soon as possible with deferred encoding or decoding.

In the case of an urgent need of energy during decoding for further working steps, for example for the sensor device or for the determination of the consumption or for the transmission of operating data, these working steps can be prioritized by the control and evaluation unit 9 or the microprocessor 6. In a practical manner, the control and evaluation unit 9 can calculate from the type and the duration of the prioritized work steps, i.e. for example the current or power output: how much current is needed or what voltage value the voltage of the battery 17 drops. Based on this current consumption or voltage disturbance, the consumption meter 2 can now determine or calculate by the control and evaluation unit 9: what recovery time t (reg) is required in order to ensure a preferably complete recovery of the capacitor 18. In a practical way, once this recovery time t (reg) has elapsed, i.e. the capacitor 18 is charged again, the microprocessor 6 starts decoding.

In the same way, priority settings for data decoding can be made, for example, when important operating and control data are transmitted, which are required, for example, when firmware is updated. For this purpose, the data or data packets may contain priority information, which can be read by the consumption meter 2. The processing by the microprocessor 6 is preferably performed on the basis of the priority information. The microprocessor 6 can thus decide whether the data should be decoded as fast or as energy-efficient as possible.

At least one further capacitor, not shown in the figures, for smoothing the voltage can also be used, so that energy is supplied via the capacitor during the recovery of the energy supply 7 (or the recovery of the battery 17 and the capacitor 18). Thereby limiting or completely preventing abrupt voltage drops and voltage spikes due to switching off the energy supply 7.

Specifically, the disclosure also includes combinations (subcombinations) of features and possible combinations of features of different embodiments, which are not shown in the drawings.

List of reference numerals:

1 communication system

2 Consumption meter

3 Electronic device shell

4 Connection shell

5 Communication device

6 Microprocessor

7 Energy supply device

8 Display

9 Control and analysis unit

10A ultrasonic transducer

10B ultrasonic transducer

11. Measuring plug-in

12. Ultrasonic measuring section

13A deflection mechanism

13B deflection mechanism

14. Data storage

15. Antenna

16. Circuit arrangement

17. Battery cell

18. Capacitor with a capacitor body

19. Resistor

20. Data collector

21. Communication module

22. Antenna

23. Control unit

24. Data storage

25. Event(s)

AW initial value

SW threshold value

Voltage profile of SE energy supply device

Voltage curve of SM microprocessor

KP coding stage

TK subcode stage

Claims

1. Method for operating a communication system (1), wherein data are transmitted and/or received by a communication participant, wherein the communication participant comprises:

Communication means (5) for transmitting and/or receiving data;

A microprocessor (6), and

An energy supply device (7),

Wherein the energy supply device (7) supplies the microprocessor (6) and/or the communication device (5) with energy for its operation,

The energy supply device (7) has an electrical variable whose value changes from an initial value (AW) during the supply of energy to the microprocessor (6) and/or the communication device (5),

The microprocessor (6) encodes the data before transmission and/or decodes it after reception, and

The encoding or the decoding is performed over one operation period,

It is characterized in that the method comprises the steps of,

The operating cycle is interrupted and continued again when the electrical variable changes during the operating cycle,

The encoding and/or decoding takes place during the operating cycle in individual encoding phases (KP 1-KPn) in which the value of the electrical variable changes,

A recovery phase for recovering at least part of the electrical parameters is provided between and/or within the coding phases (KP 1-KPn), and

The duration of the recovery phase is dimensioned such that the value of the electrical variable changes towards and/or reaches an initial value (AW) during the recovery phase.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the operating cycle is interrupted and continued again at any position when the electrical parameter changes during the operating cycle.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that one coding stage (KP 1-KPn) comprises a plurality of subcode stages (TK 1-TKn).

4. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a threshold value (SW) of the electrical parameter can be specified, wherein a duration (t) is derived from the threshold value (SW) and the transition between the encoding phase (KP 1-KPn) and the recovery phase is controlled by a clock signal.

5. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a standby operation is set for the microprocessor (6), and that the microprocessor (6) is transitioned to standby operation during a recovery phase.

6. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the coding involves channel coding, source coding, encryption or telegram coding; and/or

The decoding involves channel decoding, source decoding, decryption or telegram decoding.

7. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the energy store is provided as part of an energy supply device (7), and that the electrical parameter of the energy supply device (7) is the state of charge and/or the state of voltage of the energy store.

8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the accumulator is a battery (17).

9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the energy buffer is arranged as part of the energy supply device (7), and that the electrical parameter of the energy supply device (7) is the state of charge and/or the voltage state of the energy buffer.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the energy buffer is a capacitor (18).

11. A method according to claim 4, characterized in that the duration of the encoding phase (KP 1-KPn) is dimensioned such that the value of the electrical parameter does not reach or fall below a threshold value (SW) during the encoding phase (KP 1-KPn).

12. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the encoding phases (KP 1-KPn) and the recovery phases are arranged periodically alternately.

13. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data is transmitted and received in the form of data packets.

14. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the microprocessor (6) is arranged to process other tasks in addition to encoding or decoding.

15. Method according to claim 14, characterized in that the data contain priority information and/or the corresponding tasks are assigned priorities, and in that the duration of the encoding phases (KP 1-KPn) and/or the recovery phases is sized according to the priority information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized by providing for: the processing order of the tasks queued up can be derived from the priority information, and the task with the higher priority is preferentially processed.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized by providing for: tasks with higher priority than encoding and/or decoding can be moved in time in order to prevent or limit disturbances or interruptions in the period of the encoding phase (KP 1-KPn).

18. Method according to claim 15, characterized in that an electrical parametric demand value and a time demand value necessary for the processing of the respective task are determined and the demand value and the time demand value are taken into account for determining the duration of the recovery phase.

19. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the communication participant comprises a mechanism for consumption data detection.

20. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a measuring means is provided for determining the value of the electrical parameter.

21. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the transmission and/or reception of the data takes place in a narrowband range.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the reception bandwidth of the respective measurement unit is less than 25kHz.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the reception bandwidth of the respective measurement unit is less than 20kHz.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the reception bandwidth of the respective measurement unit is less than 5kHz.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the reception bandwidth of the respective measurement unit is less than 3kHz.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the reception bandwidth of the respective measurement unit is less than 2kHz.

27. A method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the total processing of the encoding phases (KP) lasts longer than 20 milliseconds.

28. Method according to claim 27, characterized in that the total processing of the encoding phases (KP) lasts longer than 50 milliseconds.

29. Method according to claim 28, characterized in that the total processing of the encoding phases (KP) lasts longer than 100 milliseconds.

30. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the duration of the individual encoding phases (KP 1-KPn) is different and/or comprises different receiver algorithms.

31. Terminal device for determining parameters, comprising:

Means for determining a parameter and generating data based on the determined parameter;

Communication means (5) for transmitting and/or receiving data;

A microprocessor (6); and

An energy supply device (7),

Wherein the energy supply device (7) is designed to supply the microprocessor (6) and/or the communication device (5) with energy for its operation,

The microprocessor (6) is designed to encode data before transmission and/or decode it after reception, wherein

The encoding or decoding is performed over one operation period,

It is characterized in that the method comprises the steps of,

The microprocessor (6) can be operated such that the operating cycle is interrupted and continued again when the electrical variable changes during the operating cycle,

The encoding and/or decoding is carried out during the operating cycle in a manner that is divided into individual encoding phases (KP 1-KPn) in which the values of the electrical variables are varied,

A recovery phase for recovering at least part of the electrical parameters is provided between and/or within the encoding phases (KP 1-KPn), and

32. Terminal device according to claim 31, characterized in that the microprocessor (6) is operable such that the operation cycle is interrupted and continued again at any position when the electrical parameter changes during the operation cycle.

33. A terminal device according to claim 31 or 32, characterized in that the energy supply means (7) comprise an energy accumulator and/or an energy buffer and/or that the terminal device is a consumption meter (2) which determines the consumption of the supply medium as a parameter and can provide the consumption in the form of consumption data.

34. Terminal device according to claim 33, characterized in that the accumulator is a battery (17).

35. Terminal device according to claim 33, characterized in that the energy buffer is a capacitor (18).