JPH10229451A - Data communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify the processing of a center side equipment or a private branch of exchange in the case that a power failure is restored in a short time in the data communication system where the center side equipment, the private branch of exchange connected to the center via a transmission line and a plurality of terminal equipments connected to the private branch of exchange. SOLUTION: On the occurrence of a power failure, the private branch of an exchange uses a timer to count the time from the occurrence. When the counted time exceeds a 1st prescribed time, the private branch of exchange instructs it to a terminal network controller that the occurrence of the power failure is reported to the center side equipment. Upon receipt of a notice instruction from the private branch of exchange, the terminal network controller informs the center side equipment of it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relay device connected to a center device via a transmission line, and a data communication system including a plurality of terminal devices connected to the relay device. Private branch exchange (hereinafter referred to as PBX (Pri-vate Branch)
Exchange). ), And a no-ringing communication system that includes a plurality of terminal-side network controllers connected to the PBX and performs remote automatic meter reading and telecontrol of gas, water, electricity, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a no-ringing communication system for performing remote automatic meter reading of gas, water, electricity or the like using a telephone line. In this no-ringing communication system, there is a PBX in apartment buildings and apartment buildings.
Some systems are installed to improve wiring efficiency.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the no-ringing communication system. This non-ringing communication system is connected to a center device 1 having a host computer and the center device 1 via a telephone line L via a center telephone station 2 and a terminal telephone station 3. PBX installed
4 and a terminal-side system T having a plurality of terminal-side network controllers 5 and the like connected thereto.
To each terminal-side network control device 5, a meter 6 for automatic meter reading of gas, water, electricity or the like and a telephone 7 are respectively connected.

In this configuration, data transmission is performed between the center-side device 1 and the terminal-side system T by no-ringing communication, and the meter 6 transmits data to the center-side device 1 when automatic meter reading data or abnormalities (such as gas leakage) occur. Notification data and the like are sent.

When a power failure occurs in an apartment house or the like in which such a PBX 4 is arranged, each terminal-side network control device 5
Switches the power supply to the built-in backup battery and notifies the center device 1 that a power failure has occurred. Based on this notification, the center-side device 1 recognizes which terminal-side network control device 5 has caused the power failure, and provides guidance to the user through the terminal-side network control device 5 that the power failure has occurred.

However, at this time, each terminal-side network control device 5
Informs the center device 1 of the occurrence of a power failure all at once, so that the extension of the PBX 4 and the telephone line L to the center device 1
Are congested, and the telephone 7 cannot be used, or the center device 1 cannot receive a report from another terminal-side network control device 5.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 8-544.
In the specification and the drawings of No. 21, the terminal-side network control device 5
Proposed a no-ringing communication system for restricting simultaneous notification to the center device 1. That is, when a power failure occurs, the PBX 4 can also detect the power failure,
The PBX 4 instructs a specific terminal-side network control device 5 to notify the center-side device 1 of the occurrence of a power failure. As a result, in the center-side device 1, the occurrence of a power failure is reported only from a specific terminal-side network control device 5, so that the above problem can be solved.

[0008]

However, in the no-ringing communication system described above, when the PBX 4 detects a power failure, the terminal-side network control device 5 is immediately instructed to report a power failure to the center-side device 1. . in this case,
If the power failure is recovered in a short time, the PBX 4 may issue a power failure notification instruction to the center device 1 to the terminal-side network control device 5 from which the power failure has been recovered.
No. 4 may perform useless processing.

[0009] Further, the terminal side network control device 5 that has received the power failure notification instruction from the PBX 4 to the center device 1 immediately reports the power failure to the center device 1. The center-side device 1 that has received the notification performs a measure against the power failure, for example, guides the user to the power failure through the terminal-side network control device 5. However, at that time, the power failure may already be recovered in the terminal-side network control device 5, and the center-side device 1 may perform useless processing.

Further, in the above-mentioned no-ringing communication system, when the center device 1 wants to know whether or not the power failure has been recovered, the center device 1 accesses the terminal-side network control device 5 which has been notified of the power failure, and recovers from the power failure. I was checking if it was done. For this reason, a time lag has occurred between the center-side device 1 and the terminal-side network control device 5 in recognizing the power recovery time.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a data transmission system capable of simplifying the processing of a PBX and a center-side device when a power failure is restored in a short time.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a center device, a relay device connected to the center device via a transmission line, and a plurality of terminal devices connected to the relay device. A data communication system comprising: a relay device that, when a power failure occurs, measures time from the occurrence of the power failure, and when the measured time exceeds a first predetermined time, the relay device transmits a center signal to the terminal device. The terminal device has an instructing means for instructing the side device to report the occurrence of a power failure, and the terminal device has a notifying device for notifying the center device when there is a reporting instruction from the relay device. .

[0013] According to this configuration, the relay device issues an instruction to the terminal device to notify the center device of the occurrence of a power failure.
This is performed when the power failure continues even after the first predetermined time has elapsed since the power failure occurred. Therefore, when the power failure recovers within the first predetermined time, the relay device does not need to notify the terminal-side device of the power failure or the like, so that unnecessary processing of the relay device can be omitted.

[0014] Further, the terminal-side device notifies the center-side device of the occurrence of a power failure when there is a report instruction from the relay device. However, if the power failure is restored within the first predetermined time, there is no notification instruction from the relay device, so the terminal device does not make a report, and the center device transmits, for example, a power failure guidance to the terminal device. The processing need not be performed. Therefore, useless processing of the center-side device can be omitted.

The instructing means may instruct any one of the terminal devices. In this way, it is possible to prevent simultaneous notification of a power failure from the terminal device to the center device. In addition, when a plurality of relay devices are connected to the center device, the center device can know which of the regions controlled by the relay device has experienced a power failure.

The relay device has a notifying means for notifying all terminal devices of the occurrence of a power failure. Thus, the terminal device can recognize that a power failure has occurred locally if the occurrence of a power failure is reported from the relay device.

[0017] The relay device may have storage means for storing the presence or absence of a power failure notification for all terminal devices. Thereby, the relay device can perform notification of the power failure to all terminal devices without leaking.

Further, the terminal device measures the time since the supply power was cut off, and when there is no power failure notification from the relay device even if the measured time exceeds a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time. And a non-instruction notifying unit for notifying the center-side device that the power supply has been cut off.

According to this configuration, if there is no power failure notification from the relay device until the second predetermined time elapses after the power supply is cut off, the terminal-side device may determine that the power supply is cut off due to the power failure. However, it can be recognized that the problem is caused by other factors, such as disconnection of the plug from the AC outlet. Further, since the center device receives the notification from the terminal device, it is possible to know in which terminal device the supply power has been cut off.

Further, when the terminal device notifies the center device that the power supply has been cut off, for example, the occurrence of a power failure, the terminal device notifies the center device when the power supply is restored. Recovery notification means. According to this, the terminal device that has notified the center device that the supply power has been cut off notifies the center device that the supply power has been restored. Therefore, the center-side device does not need to check whether the supply power has been restored to the terminal-side device, and the processing can be simplified.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The configuration of the no-ringing communication system in one embodiment of the present invention is basically the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 6 described in the section of "Prior Art". Therefore, the following description will refer to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of PBX 4 shown in FIG. The PBX 4 includes an exchange processing unit 11 for exchanging voice signals and data signals from each terminal side network control device 5 and the telephone line L, and a control unit 1 having a CPU.
2, a storage unit 13 as storage means for storing the presence or absence of a power failure notification to all terminal-side network control devices 5, a timer 14 for measuring the time from the occurrence of a power failure when a power failure occurs, A power supply unit 15 for supplying a power supply voltage thereto and an auxiliary power supply 16 for backup are provided.

The control unit 12 has a function of making a no-ringing call to the terminal-side network control device 5 and, when the time measured by the timer 14 exceeds the first predetermined time, which is a feature of the present embodiment. A function as an instructing unit for instructing the terminal-side network control device 5 to report the occurrence of a power failure to the center-side device 1 and a notification unit for reporting the occurrence of a power failure to all terminal-side network control devices 5 Function.

The storage unit 13 stores an ID number or a symbol for identifying each terminal-side network control device 5.
An access flag indicating whether or not there is a power failure notification is set for each terminal-side network control device 5. When the terminal side network controller 5 responds to the no ringing call of the PBX 4, the access flag changes from, for example, “0” to “1”. By monitoring the change of the access flag, the PBX 4 It is possible to know whether or not the power failure notification has been made to the control device 5.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the terminal-side network control device 5 shown in FIG. The terminal-side network control device 5 includes a telephone line interface unit 21 connected to the PBX 4 and the telephone 7, a no-ringing receiving unit 22 for processing a signal transmitted by the no-ringing communication, a modem unit 23, a CPU, A control unit 24 having a ROM for storing a predetermined program and a RAM for storing variable data and the like; a power supply interface unit 26 connected to an AC adapter 25 having a plug for connecting to an AC outlet; A constant voltage circuit unit 27 for converting AC power into a predetermined DC power supply for supplying the control unit 24; a backup battery 28 for supplying voltage to the control unit 24 during a power failure;
A power supply switching section 29 for switching between a power supply and a backup battery 28 and a meter interface section 30 for controlling an interface with the meter 6 are provided.

The control unit 24 has a function of transmitting the meter reading data from the meter 6 and the notification data at the time of abnormality to the center device 1 and a power failure from the PBX 4 to the center device 1 which is a feature of the present embodiment. Function as a notifying means for notifying when a notification instruction is given, and P is set even if the time after the AC power supply is cut off exceeds a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time.
When there is no power failure notification from the BX4, the center device 1
Function as a non-instruction notification means for notifying that the power supply has been cut off, and the fact that the power supply has been cut off when the power supply has been cut off to the center device 1 As a recovery notifying means for notifying the center apparatus 1 of the error.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the PBX 4 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the processing operation of the PBX 4 at the time of a power failure will be described with reference to FIG.

When a power failure occurs, the PBX 4 detects the power failure (step S 1), and switches the power supply to the auxiliary power supply 16. At about the same time, the timer 14 for measuring the time from the detection of the power failure is started. Then, it is determined whether or not the time measured by the timer 14 has passed a predetermined time, for example, 30 minutes (step S2). If the predetermined time has not elapsed, it is determined whether or not the power failure has continued (step S3), and if the power failure has been recovered, this processing ends.

On the other hand, if the power failure continues, the process returns to step S2. If it is determined in step S2 that 30 minutes have elapsed since the occurrence of the power failure, the PBX 4
Performs a no-ringing call to the terminal-side network control device 5 connected to the extension for instructing the center-side device 1 to report (step S4).

As described above, the PBX 4 makes a call to the terminal-side network control device 5 only when a predetermined time has elapsed without recovery from the power failure after the power failure occurred. for that reason,
If the power outage recovers within a short time, for example within 30 minutes,
Since no call is made to the terminal side network control device 5,
Useless PBX4 processing can be omitted.

Next, the PBX 4 is controlled by the terminal-side network controller 5.
, A notification of the occurrence of a power failure and an instruction to notify the center-side device 1 of the occurrence of the power failure. In this case, the notification of the occurrence of the power failure is issued to all the connected terminal side network controllers 5, and the notification of the occurrence of the power failure to the center apparatus 1 is issued to any one of the terminal side network controllers 5. Do.

That is, after making a no-ringing call, the PBX 4 determines whether or not there is a response from the called terminal side network control device 5 (step S5). Since an ID number or a symbol is set in the terminal-side network control device 5, the PBX 4 calls the terminal-side network control device 5 based on the ID number or the like. If the terminal-side network controller 5 does not respond, for example, if the telephone 7 is being used, the call to the terminal-side network controller 5 is postponed, and the next terminal-side network controller 5 Called (step S6). The order in which the PBX 4 calls the terminal-side network control device 5 is set in advance.

When the next terminal-side network control device 5 responds, it is determined whether or not it is the terminal-side network control device 5 called last (step S7). If the called terminal-side network control device 5 is not the last terminal-side network control device 5, the terminal-side network control device 5 is notified that a power failure has occurred (step S8). At this time, assuming that the power failure notification has been performed, the access flag corresponding to the terminal side network control device 5 stored in the storage unit 13 is changed from “0” to “1”.

Next, the PBX 4 refers to the access flag and calls the next terminal-side network control device 5 that has not yet issued the power failure notification. And the last terminal side network control device 5
Is notified, the terminal-side network control device 5 is notified that a power failure has occurred. Further, only the last terminal-side network control device 5 is instructed to notify the center-side device 1 that a power failure has occurred (step S9).

As described above, the PBX 4 instructs the terminal-side network control device 5 to notify the center-side device 1 of the occurrence of a power failure after a predetermined time has elapsed without recovery from the power failure. Therefore, when the power failure is recovered in a shorter time than the first predetermined time, the PBX 4 does not need to issue a notification instruction or the like to the terminal-side network control device 5.
4 can be omitted.

The terminal-side network control device 5 reports the occurrence of a power failure to the center-side device 1 when receiving a report instruction from the PBX 4. However, if the power failure is recovered within a predetermined time, the PBX 4 does not issue a notification instruction. Therefore, despite the restoration of the power outage, the center-side device 1
Can be prevented, and the center-side device 1 does not need to perform processing such as guidance of a power failure to the terminal-side network control device 5. Therefore, useless processing of the center apparatus 1 can be omitted.

Further, the notification of the power failure to the center-side device 1 is made only to one of the terminal-side network control devices 5 according to the instruction of the PBX 4, so that the terminal-side network control device 5 that has detected the power failure transmits to the center-side device. Simultaneous notification of a power failure to the side device 1 can be prevented. Therefore, PB
The extension of X4 and the telephone line L to the center apparatus 1 are congested, so that the telephone 7 cannot be used or the center apparatus 1 cannot receive a report from another terminal-side network control apparatus 5. The system can be operated smoothly.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the terminal-side network control device 5. Hereinafter, the terminal side network control device 5
Detects the AC power cut-off,
This will be described with reference to FIG. The control according to this flowchart is performed in common by all terminal-side network controllers 5.

In the terminal side network control device 5, when the supply of the AC power is cut off, it is not known at that time whether or not this is actually due to a power failure. That is, the interruption of the supply of the AC power to the terminal-side network control device 5 means that the power is not actually transmitted and a local power outage occurs. It is possible that the breaker is dropped due to a failure, the breaker is intentionally dropped by the user in order to go out for a long time on a trip or the like, or the plug is disconnected from the AC outlet due to a bad connection state of the plug to the AC outlet.

The terminal-side network control device 5 discriminates whether the cause of the AC power cut-off is a regional power failure or a factor other than a power failure for the convenience of controlling the center-side device 1. It is necessary to notify the local device 1 and the processing is performed as follows.

When the supply of AC power is cut off, the terminal-side network control device 5 switches the power supply to the backup battery 28 by the power supply switching unit 29. At the same time, the control unit 24
It is reported that the power supply has been cut off.
4 detects the interruption of the AC power (step T1) and starts a timer (not shown).

Next, the control unit 24 determines whether or not the call by the no ringing communication from the PBX 4 is within the call monitoring time (steps T2 and T3). The call monitoring time is a second predetermined time for monitoring whether there is a call from the PBX 4 after the AC power is turned off, and is set in advance to, for example, 40 minutes. The call monitoring time is the first predetermined time set in the PBX 4 (see step S2 in FIG. 1) and the PBX 4
Is set to be slightly longer than the sum of the time required for notifying the power failure notification to all terminal-side network controllers 5. This is to prevent the terminal-side network controller 5 from erroneously determining that the AC power supply has been cut off due to a factor other than a power failure while the power failure notification to the terminal-side network controller 5 is completed on the PBX 4 side. .

If the call from the PBX 4 is within the call monitoring time, it goes off-hook for a response (step T4) and receives the transmission data from the PBX 4. Then, it goes on-hook after data reception is completed (step T
5).

Next, the control section 24 determines whether or not the data received from the PBX 4 is a notification of a power failure (step T6). If the received data is not a notification of a power failure, the process returns to step T2.

On the other hand, if the received data is a notification of a power failure, it is determined whether or not the received data includes a notification instruction to the center apparatus 1 (step T7). Then, when the notification instruction to the center apparatus 1 is included, the center apparatus 1 is notified that a power failure has occurred (step T8). If the notification instruction is not included, the process ends.

As described above, when the AC power supply is cut off due to a power failure, the terminal-side network control device 5 notifies the center-side device 1 that a power failure has occurred based on an instruction from the PBX 4.

On the other hand, if the call monitoring time elapses without a call from the PBX 4 in step T2, the terminal side network control device 5 determines that the AC power has been cut off due to a factor other than a power failure. Then, the center device 1
It notifies that the C power supply has been cut off together with its own ID number (step T9).

According to the notification, the center device 1
The single terminal-side network control device 5 can recognize that the AC power has been cut off due to a factor other than a power failure, and gives guidance to the terminal-side network control device 5 by display or voice. Thereby, the user can confirm whether the plug is not disconnected from the AC outlet, for example.

Further, in this case, the center-side device 1 may transmit a command to the terminal-side network control device 5 to put the terminal-side network control device 5 into a standby state. Here, the standby state means that the terminal-side network control device 5 stops detecting the meter reading data. Therefore, for example, when it is not necessary for the user to go out for a long time on a trip or the like and read the meter, consumption of the backup battery 28 can be reduced.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control contents when the terminal side network control device 5 detects the restoration of the power failure.
The terminal-side network control device 5 that has been notified of the occurrence of the power failure by the PBX 4 detects that the power failure has been recovered (step P
1) The power supply is switched from the backup battery 28 to the AC power supply. Next, it is determined whether or not a power failure has been notified to the center device 1 according to the instruction of the PBX 4 at the time of the power failure (step P2). If the notification has been made to the center-side device 1, the fact that the power failure has been restored is notified to the center-side device 1 (step P3). If the notification has not been made, the process is terminated.

As described above, the terminal-side network control device 5 that has notified the occurrence of the power failure directly notifies the center-side device 1 that the power failure has been restored. Therefore, the center-side device 1 does not need to access the terminal-side network control device 5 in order to confirm whether the power failure has been restored as in the related art, so that the processing can be simplified. Further, it is possible to know when the power failure has been recovered by the terminal side network control device 5.

The terminal-side network control device 5 detects the restoration of the power failure and notifies the center-side device 1
The recovery of the supply of the C power may be detected and reported to the center apparatus 1. This is to be applied to a case where the AC power supply is restored when the AC power supply is cut off due to a factor other than the power failure. In addition, restoration of power outages and restoration of AC power supply
The R condition may be detected and reported to the center device 1.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and many modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiment within the scope of the present invention. For example, P
The first predetermined time set in BX4 is not limited to 30 minutes. Further, the call monitoring time set by the terminal side network control device 5 is not limited to 40 minutes.

The instruction from the PBX 4 to the center-side device 1 to the terminal-side network control device 5 does not need to be sent to the last terminal-side network control device 5, and the terminal-side network control device responding to the first device is not required. 5 or to any terminal-side network control device 5.

In addition to the PBX as a relay device, for example, a packet switch, an ATM switch in ISDN,
The present invention may be applied to a node in an AN or a general-purpose multiplexing device, or may be applied to a general-purpose terminal device other than the terminal-side network control device.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, a relay device, for example, a PBX, issues a power failure notification instruction to a terminal device to a center device over a first predetermined time after a power failure occurs. When the power failure is restored within the first predetermined time, the relay device does not need to notify the terminal device of the power failure or the like. Therefore, unnecessary processing of the relay device can be omitted.

When the power failure is restored within the first predetermined time, the terminal equipment does not notify the center equipment of the occurrence of the power failure.
For example, it is not necessary to perform a process such as guidance of a power failure to the terminal device. Therefore, useless processing of the center-side device can be omitted. Therefore, it is possible to provide a data communication system that can simplify the processing when the power failure is restored.

Further, if the relay device instructs the terminal device to notify the center device of any one of the terminal devices, the power failure of the terminal device to the center device can be prevented. Can be prevented from being sent all at once. As a result, the PBX extension and the telephone line to the center device become congested, and the telephone of each terminal device becomes difficult to use, or the center device cannot receive a report from another terminal device. And the system can be operated smoothly. In addition, when a plurality of relay devices are connected, the center-side device can recognize in which region a power failure has occurred among the regions controlled by the relay devices.

Further, since the relay device notifies all the terminal devices of the occurrence of the power failure, the terminal device can recognize the occurrence of the power failure locally if notified of the occurrence of the power failure from the relay device. .

Further, since the relay device has storage means for storing the presence / absence of the power failure notification for all the terminal devices, the notification of the power failure can be issued to all the terminal devices without leaking. .

Further, if there is no power failure notification from the relay device until the second predetermined time elapses after the power supply is cut off, the terminal-side device determines that the power supply is cut off other than the power outage, Can be recognized as having occurred. In addition, since the center device receives the notification from the terminal device, it is possible to know that the power supply has been cut off in the single terminal device, and to take measures for that.

Further, since the terminal device that has notified the center device that the supply power has been cut off reports the restoration of power supply to the center device, the power is restored from the center device to the terminal device. You don't have to check for it. Therefore, the processing in the center-side device can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing control contents of a PBX according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a PBX.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a terminal side network control device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control contents of a terminal side network control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the terminal-side network control device when the power failure is restored.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional no-ringing communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 center-side device 4 private branch exchange (PBX) 5 terminal-side network control device 13 storage unit 24 control unit L telephone line

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A data communication system comprising: a center device; a relay device connected to the center device via a transmission line; and a plurality of terminal devices connected to the relay device. The relay device measures the time from the occurrence of the power failure when the power failure occurs, and notifies the terminal device of the power failure occurrence to the center device when the measured time exceeds a first predetermined time. Instruction means for instructing
The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal-side device has a notifying unit that notifies the center-side device when a notification instruction is issued from the relay device. 2. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein said instruction means instructs one of the terminal devices. 3. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein said relay device has a notifying unit for notifying all terminal devices of the occurrence of a power failure. 4. The data communication system according to claim 3, wherein said relay device has a storage unit for storing presence / absence of notification to all terminal devices. 5. The terminal-side device measures the time since power supply was cut off, and even if the measured time exceeds a second predetermined time longer than a first predetermined time, a power failure notification from the relay device is issued. The data communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a non-instruction notifying unit that notifies the center-side device that the supply power has been cut off when there is no power supply. 6. The terminal device, when reporting to the center device that supply power has been cut off, when the power supply is restored, reporting the fact to the center device. The data communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a notification unit.