KR100977503B1 - Automatic meter reading system using binary cdma technology - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A remote inspection system is provided to implement a economic and efficient remote inspection by using a binary CDMA technology. CONSTITUTION: A collecting device(400) is operated as a master of a piconet while a remote inspection terminal is operated as a slave. The collecting device and the remote inspection terminal are connected through a multiple access after a mutual authentication. The collecting device obtains power metering information from a plurality of customers and simultaneously upgrades the plural remote inspection terminals through a multiple access.

Description

Automatic meter reading system using binary CDMA technology

The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system using a binary CDMA technology, and more particularly, by applying a binary CDMA technology having advantages in transmission speed, transmission distance, data processing capacity, etc., a more economical and efficient remote meter reading for a power meter. It relates to a remote meter reading system using binary CDMA technology to enable this.

In the intelligent remote meter reading field, the global market is expected to reach about 120 trillion won in the next 10 years, and the domestic market is estimated to be about 1.3 trillion won.

Accordingly, the development of low cost, high performance remote metering technology is one of the big issues in many countries and companies.

Currently, the remote meter reading for the electricity meter, which is proposed or implemented in Korea, is mainly attempted a wireless method such as a wired method, a zigbee or an RF communication method using a telephone line or a power line communication method.

However, the wired method has the advantage of being able to perform additional services due to its high speed and large data processing capacity, but has the limitation of convenience of installation and operation of the wired communication method, and of wireless communication method such as RF communication method. In this case, there is a problem in that there is a limit in transmission speed, transmission distance, and data processing capacity.

Accordingly, there is a need for the development of a new remote meter reading technology to solve the problems of the conventional communication method as described above, and to economically and efficiently perform the construction and operation of the system.

Thus, Koinonia is currently under study. Koinonia is a high-speed wireless personal network (WPAN) technology developed to connect and communicate with short-range devices wirelessly. Koinonia's physical layer is based on binary CDMA, and the data link layer is composed of a media access control (MAC) layer and an adaptation layer. The physical layer using Koinonia's phase modulation method and multi-code spread spectrum technology provides strong noise resistance and freely adjustable bandwidth, and the data link layer guarantees the quality of service for each traffic characteristic. It supports multimedia services such as voice and video.

The scope of the Koinonia standard extends the Physical Layer (PHY) and Data Link Layer (Data) to create a high-speed data transfer network between fixed, portable, and mobile devices that enter into or out of a personal operating space. link layer) Defines the protocol specification. POS is a space that includes 10m in all directions with respect to a human or an object, and includes a stationary or moving human. The purpose of the Coinonia standard is to define a set of protocol specifications necessary to ensure interoperability between Coinonia devices.

Koinonia is based on an ad hoc network that can be configured without a network infrastructure. The devices participating in the Koinonia network are divided into master and slave according to their role, but all stations can act as master and slave, and they select the master according to the situation and configure the network according to the situation without the help of a separate network infrastructure. Free network configuration is possible with only the devices.

In a personal wireless network, the number of devices joining the network varies considerably with time due to the channel conditions in the wireless environment and the operation of the personal mobile devices. This also affects the bandwidth and delivery delay time allocated to each device, making it difficult to support real-time multimedia traffic services that require a certain level of service quality. In Koinonia, a station of a network becomes a master and allocates and manages resources to manage network connection quality for each traffic.

In addition, Koinonia has advantages such as noise resistance and fine and flexible resource allocation by using Binary-CDMA technology. First of all, Binary-CDMA has high noise resistance inherent in CDMA technology, which can be distinguished from a wireless network environment that is very noisy, unlike wired. In addition, bandwidth can be adjusted by code unit according to the characteristics of binary CDMA, enabling flexible and detailed resource allocation.

In order to configure a remote meter reading system using the Koinonia, first, authentication and security functions, which can be said to be weaknesses of wireless communication, should be reinforced. This is because the remote meter reading system using the conventional wireless communication method is vulnerable to security, and thus it is easy to access or tamper with and damage information in an external network, which may cause problems.

Second, the conventional meter reading system transmits and receives data by 1: 1 communication between the instrument and the data collecting device based on the serial method. Since the maximum usable capacity of one superframe is 65.535 ms, the usable capacity decreases as the number of lower piconets formed according to the layer and the number of slaves belonging to the piconets increase. In case of sending / receiving data by serial method, the collecting device does not acquire the value of other instrument until communication with one instrument is terminated.In particular, if a problem occurs during communication, data must be retransmitted until transmission is successful from a specific slave. Acquiring the values of all instruments connected to the collector can be lengthy. This delays the acquisition period of the meter data, which reduces the quality of power information management, and especially long periods can increase the probability of failing to acquire the value of a particular meter.

Third, conventional modems have only data transfer functions, and only display hardware errors in error detection. However, since the actual error occurs mainly in the data communication process rather than a hardware error, it is required to develop an error detection function.

Of course, the communication status between the instrument and modem or the communication status between the collecting device and the modem can be managed by test packet test at the collecting device stage. Because it is not easy to access as normal, it is not easy to check the status of data transmission and reception by accessing the collecting device with each modem installation.

Fourth, as data transmission and reception speed and data throughput increase, there is a need to upgrade the version of the modem installed adjacent to the instrument from time to time. However, upgrading many modems manually requires significant manpower and maintenance costs. Therefore, the development of a method that can simultaneously handle the multiple versions of each modem using a wireless communication network formed between the master and the slave is required.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention to solve the above problems is, by applying binary CDMA technology having advantages in transmission speed, transmission distance, data processing capacity, etc. to the remote meter, a more economical and efficient remote meter for the meter It is to provide a remote meter reading system using binary CDMA technology to enable this.

Further, first, the conventional remote meter reading system using a wireless communication method has a problem that it is easy to access or eavesdrop or damage information in an external network because it is vulnerable to security. An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless remote meter reading system that solves the above problems and enhances security and authentication.

Second, the conventional meter reading system has a problem in that the accuracy and the accuracy is reduced by increasing the time that the master transmits and receives data with a plurality of slaves because the instrument and the data collection device communicate 1: 1 to transmit and receive data based on the serial method. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-access remote meter reading system to solve this problem.

Third, the conventional modem has only a data transfer function and is vulnerable to error detection in the data transmission and reception process. An object of the present invention is to provide a remote meter reading system that can easily detect error information by mounting a communication test and display function to the modem to solve such problems.

Fourthly, in order to upgrade the version of the conventional modem, a large number of modems must be upgraded one by one, which entails enormous manpower and maintenance costs. An object of the present invention is to provide a remote meter reading system that can simultaneously handle the version of each modem using a wireless communication network formed between the master and the slave to solve this problem.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects which are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

The present invention for achieving the above object is, a remote meter reading terminal connected to the electricity meter formed in each customer to obtain the power meter reading information and transmits through a binary CDMA communication network; A repeater formed on the binary CDMA communication network to transfer data transmitted from the remote meter reading terminal; A collection device for receiving, collecting and storing power metering information from the repeater, and transmitting the stored power metering information at predetermined intervals; Wired and wireless communication network for transmitting the data collected by the collection device; And a metering server that receives, records, and stores power usage data for each electricity meter from the wire / wireless communication network, and charges the electricity usage fee for the electricity meter. The collection apparatus includes a master of a piconet. The remote meter reading terminal operates as a slave, and the collecting device and the remote meter reading terminal authenticate and secure mutual devices, and simultaneously connect the remote meter reading device and the collecting device in a multiple access manner in the collecting device. Acquiring power metering information from a plurality of consumers, and simultaneously upgrading a plurality of remote metering terminals in the collecting device using the multiple access method, wherein the authentication and security are based on an arbitrary piconet of the slave. Joining procedure to access Authentication procedure for performing transmission authority and key determination between slaves to transmit needle information or between master and slave, and authentication and key distribution every time the initial security network is established and the security network is established by joining or releasing a new slave. And a status display portion formed in a binary CDMA modem forming the remote meter reading terminal, wherein the status display part is in a communication state between the remote meter reading terminal and the collecting device, the power meter and the remote The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system using binary CDMA technology characterized by testing the communication status between meter reading terminals to indicate whether the modem is abnormal.

Advantageously, said joining procedure comprises the steps of: an unjoined slave receiving a beacon signal from a master of any piconet; Checking, by the unjoined slave, the piconet ID and channel of the received beacon signal, and transmitting a join request command block to the master; The master receiving the join request command block confirms the MAC of the unjoined slave, and then transmits a join response command block; And when the reason information included in the join response command block is “success,” joining the slave to the master, wherein the authenticating procedure includes a slave connected to the piconet transmitting an authentication request command block to a security manager. step; Transmitting, by the security manager receiving the authentication request command, a challenge request command block including a management key to the connected slave; Transmitting, by the connected slave, the challenge response command block to the security manager by encrypting the management key with a shared key; And decrypting the challenge response command block received by the security manager with a shared key to determine whether it is the same as the management key, determining authorization for authentication, and transmitting an authentication response command block to the slave. And a key establishment procedure, the security manager periodically transmitting a distribution request command block including a shared key and a secure session ID to the slave; And transmitting, by the slave, a distribution response command block to the security manager after confirming group member and peer-to-peer key establishment in the received distribution request command block, and for the slave to use a shared key. Sending the key request command block to the security manager; And a key request protocol comprising the security manager confirming the key request command block and transmitting a key response command block including a shared key to a slave.

More preferably, the management key and the peer-to-peer key comprise: generating a 118 bit by selecting a bit string with a random generation function; Enumerating them by seven bits; Taking the parity bits to create an 8 bit string; And generating a 128-bit key by taking the order from the first line.

In the multiple access method, a plurality of binary CDMA modems are formed in the collection device, and the plurality of binary CDMA modems and the binary CDMA modems formed in the remote meter reading terminal are connected in a one-to-one correspondence through a binary CDMA communication network. It features.

In the multiple access method, a multiport is formed in a binary CDMA modem formed in the collecting device, and the binary CDMA modem and a binary CDMA modem formed in the remote meter reading terminal are one-to-many correspondence through a binary CDMA communication network. It is characterized in that the connection.

In addition, the communication state test step of forming a binary CDMA modem formed in the remote meter reading terminal to interlock with a power meter and a collecting device; Transmitting and receiving a test packet from the binary CDMA modem to a power meter; Determining an error state or a normal state after repeating the reference time or more; Transmitting and receiving a test packet from the binary CDMA modem to a binary CDMA modem formed in the collecting device; Determining an error state or a normal state after repeating the reference time or more; And displaying an error occurrence and a cause of occurrence in the status display unit when an error condition exists.

In addition, the upgrade comprises the steps of synchronizing with the master by setting a slave type emulator and PNID of the master RF channel; If the emulator is synchronized with the master, transmitting the firmware to the master via RF to the master in the emulator; Storing the data received by the master in serial to an external memory of the master, and transmitting the stored data one-to-one to the slave through RF; Serially storing data received from the slave in its own external memory; Uploading data previously stored in an external memory to the flash memory using a boot code in the slave; Updating to new firmware in the slave, attempting to reset, transitioning to an active state, and synchronizing with the master; Sending a newly upgraded firmware version to the master at the slave; And transmitting the MAC address and firmware version of the slave received from the master to the emulator.

The present invention firstly provides a wireless remote meter reading system that improves security and authentication by improving a conventional wireless communication method that is vulnerable to security.

Secondly, in the conventional meter reading system, the master transmits and receives data in a serial manner with a plurality of slaves, thereby improving a problem that the data transmission time is increased and thus the accuracy is reduced, thereby providing a remote meter reading system of a multiple access method.

Third, by improving the conventional modem that is vulnerable to error detection in the data transmission and reception process, it provides a remote meter reading system that can easily detect the error information by mounting the communication test and display function on the modem.

Fourthly, by improving the upgrade method of a conventional modem that requires a great amount of manpower and maintenance costs, the present invention provides a remote meter reading system that can simultaneously handle multiple versions of each modem using a wireless communication network formed between a master and a slave. .

According to the remote meter reading system using the binary CDMA technology of the present invention as described above, binary CDMA technology having a relative advantage compared to the wired and wireless communication methods generally used in various items such as transmission speed, transmission distance and data processing capacity, etc. Can be applied to the field of remote meter reading.

Accordingly, it is possible to implement a more economical and efficient remote meter reading system, which enables the creation of new businesses through preoccupation of the domestic and overseas remote meter reading market and various additional services.

1 illustrates elements constituting koinonia according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a super frame of koinonia according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a schematic diagram of a remote meter reading system using a binary CDMA technology according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of a remote meter reading terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view showing the internal configuration of the collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flow chart illustrating a joining procedure among security procedures according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating an authentication and challenge protocol during an authentication and key establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a flow chart illustrating a key distribution protocol among authentication and key establishment procedures according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a key request protocol during an authentication and key establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a view showing a structure of a collecting device for connecting multiple modems according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a collecting device having a modem supporting multi-ports according to an embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of checking a data transmission / reception state of a remote meter reading terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
13 is a diagram illustrating a method of upgrading a master and slave modem according to an embodiment of the present invention.
14 illustrates a method of upgrading a slave modem according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In order to fully understand the present invention, the advantages of the operability of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a diagram illustrating elements constituting koinonia according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the basic element in Koinonia is a station. Stations are divided into master and slave according to their roles. The master manages the entire Koinonia network and there can only be one in a network. The master controls the slave by broadcasting the beacon. The slave can transmit / receive data under the control of the master. In addition, the slave may request its requirements from the master in the contention period.

More specifically, the master transmits beacons to provide timing of Koinonia's superframes. He also manages service quality and power, or plays a role in security certification. Koinonia is configured when there are two or more stations operating on the same radio frequency channel within the personal activity area.

On the other hand, a piconet consists of a master and one or more slaves, and a multi-piconet consists of a piconet (parent piconet) and a lower piconet formed based thereon. child piconet). The lower piconet is composed of a slave master in the upper piconet and a child master and slave in the master role in the lower piconet.

The resources available in Koinonia are Code Channel in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Time Slot in Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). In the case of the code division access scheme, when many channels are used at the same time, the transmission rate increases, but the error rate also increases. Therefore, it is possible to actively cope with the channel environment by changing the number of code channels for transmitting data according to the channel situation. The code channel transmits data using all code channels in a good channel condition and a few channels in a bad channel environment. The time slot is managed by the master as an important resource of Koinonia and is distributed at the request of the slaves and the judgment of the master.

Koinonia's media access control layer provides functions such as network synchronization, data transfer, device authentication, power management, and master change.

1. Network Synchronization

The Koinonia network is started by the master sending beacon packets. The beacon packet has reference information about the network, and all slaves in the Koinonia network synchronize the network using the reference information in the beacon packet.

2 is a diagram illustrating the structure of a super frame of koinonia according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the super frame of Koinonia is composed of three parts, and the length of each section is variable. (In case of allocation section, it can only be a multiple of the timeslot length.)

(1) Beacon section: The master transmits a beacon packet with network reference information to slaves.

(2) Contention period: Slave and master transmit command packet such as network join request / disassociation request / allow, resource allocation request / allow, connection request / allow, authentication request / allow in random access method.

(3) Allocation section: It is divided into several time slots and assigned to each station in time slot units. The station assigned the timeslot transmits synchronous / asynchronous data and command packets during that slot.

2. Data transfer

To transfer data, Koinonia provides two types of connections, synchronous and asynchronous. Asynchronous connections that have a small load at the time of connection creation but are not guaranteed for bandwidth are mainly used to transmit general data which is relatively insensitive to time delays. It is used to transmit data close to its real-time service.

3. Certification

Stations that want to join the Koinonia network first go through the authentication process from the master and then join the network.

4. Guaranteed service quality

Synchronous and asynchronous data packets are transmitted through the allocation interval. The master allocates necessary resources to satisfy the quality of service required by the stations, and each station transmits / receives data using the allocated resources.

5. Power Management

In Koinonia, which supports mobile devices, efficient power management is paramount. Each station can know if and when data to be transmitted to it during the corresponding super frame through the beacon packet, and can reduce power consumption by deactivating the physical layer except when receiving or transmitting. Stations that do not receive data during the corresponding superframe period are deactivated until the next superframe starts. Stations that have data to receive are only active in the beacon section and the section where they receive frames. A station that needs to send data or request a command activates during the period in which there is data to send.

6. Master change

The master can determine whether it is reasonable for another slave to act as the master based on the information about each station's capabilities. If it is determined that the newly connected station can perform the master function better, the process of transferring the master function can be performed. In addition, due to the nature of the ad hoc network, the master may stop working without notice or leave the established service area. In this case, the most suitable slave in the master role among the remaining slaves becomes the master and manages the network.

As described above, in Koinonia, the super frame is divided into a beacon section, a contention section, and an allocation section, and the station operates in a different manner for each section.

1. Broadcasting in Beacon

In the beacon period, the master broadcasts a beacon packet to all slaves. The beacon packet includes network reference information and resource allocation information, and the slaves receiving the beacon packet identify the format and allocated resources of the corresponding super frame. The master transmits network reference information in a beacon packet to the entire slave.

2. Random Access in Competition

During the contention period, the slave and master communicate using the CSMA / CA method. Command packets, such as network join requests and resource allocation requests, are sent to the master through this interval, and the master sends an acknowledgment and response packet for them.

3. Proprietary Approach in Allocation Zone

During the allocation interval, only stations authorized by the master communicate using their assigned timeslots and codes via beacon packets. The master evaluates the currently available resources for the quality of service requested from the stations, and then determines whether to accept the request and what resources to allocate. Data services using an asynchronous connection are basically acknowledged for transmitted frames, and synchronous connections are optionally acknowledged.

Koinonia's stations have an operational state of network formation, network joining, data transfer, master change, network detachment, and network disconnection.

1. Network formation

The master forms a network by transmitting network synchronization information such as a superframe, a contention section, and an allocation section length in a beacon packet. The beacon packet contains ID information of the Koinonia network in addition to the network synchronization information, so that the station can identify the network to be connected.

2. Joining networks

Stations that want to join the Koinonia network will periodically receive each frequency channel for the master to listen for beacon packets. If the received packet is a beacon packet of the desired network, the joining procedure is started with the master of the corresponding network, and if the packet is successfully performed, the joining is performed.

When a station joins the network, it sends its capability information to the master. This capability information contains information about the capabilities of the station, such as supportable physical layer data transfer rates, power management status, whether the master function can be performed, and the size of the storage area, and changes the master at the discretion of the master based on this information. You can also start the process.

3. Data transfer

The slave that wants to transmit data requests the master to allocate resources for data transmission in a contention period, and when resources are allocated from the master, the slave transmits data using the allocated resources. Data transmission can be performed between any station such as a slave or a slave as well as between masters and slaves. The master is only involved in initial resource allocation, and data transmission is performed between stations after resource allocation.

4. Master change

Due to the nature of the ad hoc network, the master can change very often. The two most likely are:

(1) The current master cannot perform the requested service (eg cannot guarantee the requested quality of service)

(2) Master suddenly disappears (powers off or moves out of POS)

5. Network Separation

Stations joining Koinonia can be detached from the network either voluntarily or at the command of the master. In case of spontaneous detachment, the station wanting to detach is sent to the master by sending a request for detachment. If the master wants to spontaneously detach, it can detach after transferring the master function to the most capable station among the slaves. The master can forcibly detach by sending a detach command to a slave that is difficult to service due to current network conditions.

6. Network Off

The release of the Koinonia network can be classified into two types: normal release at the request of a station and abnormal release occurring due to an unexpected situation. Normal release means that the master releases the network by notifying the entire slave by deciding whether or not to release upon receiving the slave's request. The master may begin this process by requesting a network release. Abnormal network disconnection refers to a situation in which the network is disconnected by turning off all of the stations participating in the network at once or leaving the personal activity area, but the possibility is very unlikely.

3 is a schematic diagram of a remote meter reading system using binary CDMA technology according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the remote meter reading system using the binary CDMA technology according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to the electricity meter 110 formed in the customer 100 to transmit the power meter reading information 120. ), A repeater 300 for transmitting data transmitted from the remote metering terminal 120 using the binary CDMA communication network 200, a collecting device 400 for receiving and collecting power metering information from the repeater 300, Wired and wireless communication network 500 for transmitting data collected by the collection device 400, meter reading server 600 for receiving, storing and processing data from the wired and wireless communication network 500, data collected in the metering server 600 And a DB 610 for storing the processed data, and an FEP 620.

In the remote meter reading system, the collection device 400 may operate as a master of the Koinonia network, and the remote meter reading terminal 120 formed in the electricity meter 110 of each customer may operate as a slave. Of course, depending on the transmission and reception of data or the state of the binary CDMA communication network, any one of the remote metering terminal 120 may play a master role.

The remote meter reading terminal 120 is mounted on the electricity meter 110 to measure and record power usage data of the electricity meter, and transmits it through a binary CDMA communication scheme. The remote metering terminal 120 may be configured to include a sensor unit, a memory, a modem for binary CDMA communication, and the like for sensing or reading the amount of power used, and preferably, may be a remote meter capable of remote meter reading. That is, it is preferable that the electricity meter provided with each of the remote meter reading terminals is an electronic electricity meter rather than an analog method. Detailed configuration of the remote meter reading terminal 120 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

The repeater 300 may be formed in plural between the binary CDMA communication network 200 in order to relay the transmission data according to the binary CDMA communication method between the remote meter reading terminal 120 and the collecting device 400.

The collection device 400 collects and stores power usage data transmitted from the remote meter reading terminal through a binary CDMA communication method.

The meter reading server 600 records and preserves power usage data for each of the electricity meters transmitted from the plurality of collection devices 400, and charges the electricity usage fee for the corresponding electricity meters as necessary.

Data transmission between the collection device 400 and the meter reading server 600 may be made by any one of various conventional wired and wireless communication methods including binary CDMA, TRS, Ethernet, or optical communication. The communication modem provided in the collection device 400 is preferably an integrated modem capable of performing all communication methods for data transmission between the electricity meter 110 and the metering server 600.

4 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a remote meter reading terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the remote meter reading terminal 120 controls the electricity meter interface 121 connected to the electricity meter 110, a controller 122 for controlling each part of the remote meter reading terminal 120, and the control of the controller 122. A binary CDMA modem 123 for transmitting power information read from the electricity meter 110 according to a signal using a binary CDMA communication network, an RF module 124 formed between an antenna and the binary CDMA modem 123, and A pair of SDRAMs 125 connected between the control unit 122 and the binary CDMA modem 123, a flash memory 126 connected between the control unit 122 and the binary CDMA modem 123, and an RS232C driver 127. Include.

The electricity meter interface 121 interoperates with the electricity meter 110 to receive power metering information previously stored in a memory formed in the electricity meter 110. The power meter reading information may be current data measured through a current detector formed in the electricity meter 110 and voltage data measured through a voltage detector.

The controller 122 processes, stores and manages the amount of power supplied to the customer measured through the electricity meter 110, and controls a data communication process using the binary CDMA modem 123. The controller 122 may calculate an effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, and the like using the current data measured through the current detector and the voltage data measured through the voltage detector. In some cases, this can be used to calculate the electricity use charges to be paid to the utility company by the consumer. The power usage fee calculation method may be calculated by multiplying the measured power usage by a standard fee charged for each power amount. The reference fee information may be stored and used in a memory unit such as the SDRAM 125 or the flash memory 126. In addition, the controller 122 may generate statistical values by dividing the measurement data by time zone, daily, weekly, monthly, nightly, and date.

In addition, a memory unit such as the SDRAM 125 or the flash memory 126 may be accumulated by calculating and calculating measurement data such as the detected current and voltage and the calculated effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, and power usage fee. And store the data in the binary CDMA modem 123 according to a request for transmission from the collection device 400. In addition, the controller 122 controls the operation of the RF module 124, controls the data input / output process of the SDRAM 125 and the flash memory 126, and controls the operation of the RS232C driver 127.

The binary CDMA modem 123 collects the power reading information stored in the SDRAM 125 or the flash memory 126 through the binary CDMA communication network 200 according to a control signal of the controller 122. To send. The binary CDMA modem 123 may be operated in the ISM band that does not require a separate license from 2.4 GHz to 2.485 GHz, and may provide a data rate of up to 5.625 Mbps for use in a WPAN, and the data may be a constant amplitude encoder. After configuring the packet through the Q-QPSK modulation to transmit the signal.

The RF module 124 preferably uses, for example, a ZigBee standard, which is low power and low cost.

In the SDRAM 125 or the flash memory 126, voltage, current information, and power reading information processed through the controller are classified into time zone, daily, weekly, monthly, night, and date. Can be stored in real time.

In more detail, the SDRAM 125 or the flash memory 126 may be divided into a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area stores an application program used by the controller 122, and the data storage area includes measured current and voltage data and measured data such as an effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, and power usage fee. Power meter reading information including a communication network connection state between the communication modules and a data transmission / reception completion state may be stored.

The application program stored in the program storage area may include a calculation program for calculating measurement data such as an amount of effective power, an amount of reactive power, a maximum demand power, a power factor, and a power usage fee using the current and voltage detected by the controller 122; A storage management program for storing and managing measured data calculated using the detected current and voltage and a calculation program in a memory, a communication program for communicating with the collection device 400 through a binary CDMA modem 123, and And a program for calculating a power usage fee based on the detected power information.

The remote meter reading terminal 120 having such a configuration is installed adjacent to the electricity meter 110 formed in each customer to obtain power metering information from the electricity meter 110 and collected using the binary CDMA communication network 200. Send it to device 400. Data may be transmitted using a plurality of repeaters formed on a binary CDMA communication network according to the distance between the remote meter reading terminal 120 and the collection device 400. On the other hand, the collection device 400 and the remote meter reading terminal 120 formed in each customer can operate as a master and a slave, respectively, and can authenticate and secure each device to facilitate the data communication process. In addition, it can be connected to each other multi-connection to improve the data transmission speed. In addition, the plurality of remote meter reading terminal 120 can be upgraded in the collection device 400 at one time by using the multi-connection. This function will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings below.

5 is a view showing the internal configuration of the collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the collection device 400 includes a remote meter reading terminal 120 according to a control signal of a control unit 401, an RS232C driver 402, and the control unit 401 for controlling each unit of the collection device 400. A binary CDMA modem 403 for receiving power information from a CDMA communication network, an RF module 404 interposed between an antenna and the binary CDMA modem 403, the control unit 401 and a binary CDMA modem. A pair of SDRAMs 405 connected between 403, a flash memory 406 connected between the controller 401 and a binary CDMA modem 403, an RJ45 LAN connector 407 connected to the controller 401, and It includes a PHY chip 408 connected to the control unit 401.

The control unit 401 receives, collects, stores and manages the data read through the electricity meter 110 from the remote meter reading terminal 120 formed at each customer, and controls a data communication process using the binary CDMA modem 403. do. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller 401 may receive only current and voltage data through the remote meter reading terminal 120 and calculate the effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, and the like. In some cases, this can be used to calculate the electricity use charges to be paid to the utility company by the consumer. The power usage fee calculation method may be calculated by multiplying the measured power usage by a standard fee charged for each power amount. The reference fee information may be stored and used in a memory unit such as the SDRAM 405 or the flash memory 406. In addition, the controller 401 may generate statistical values by dividing the measurement data by time zone, daily, weekly, monthly, nightly, and date.

In addition, the measured current and voltage and the measured data such as the calculated effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, power usage fee, etc. are cumulatively calculated, stored in the SDRAM 405 or the flash memory 406, and meter reading. In response to a transmission request from the server 600, the process of transmitting the stored data to the meter reading server 600 is controlled. In addition, the control unit 401 controls the operation of the RF module 404, and controls the data input and output process of the SDRAM 405 and flash memory 406, RS232C driver 402, RJ45 LAN connector 407, And control the operation of the PHY chip 408.

The binary CDMA modem 403 receives the power reading information received from the remote reading terminal 120 according to the control signal of the control unit 401 and loads it into the SDRAM 405 or the flash memory 406. In addition, at the request of the meter reading server 600, the power meter reading information stored in the SDRAM 405 or flash memory 406 is transmitted to the meter reading server 600 through the wired / wireless communication network 500.

In other words, when a plurality of remote meter reading terminal 120 located within a certain block, such as a unit area, respectively transmits the power usage data of the corresponding electricity meter 110, the collecting device 400 receives and organizes the data after collecting and arranging the data. It performs the function of transmitting to the meter reading server 600 every cycle.

In this case, when the distance between each of the remote meter reading terminal 120 and the collection device 400 is an interval that is difficult to directly transmit data, as shown in Figure 3, relaying of the data transmitted between them A plurality of repeaters 300 for may be further formed.

The RF module 404 preferably uses, for example, a ZigBee standard, which is low power and low cost.

In the SDRAM 405 or the flash memory 406, voltage, current information, and power metering information transmitted from the remote metering terminal 120 are classified into time zone, daily, weekly, monthly, night, and date. Can be stored in real time.

In more detail, the SDRAM 405 or the flash memory 406 may be divided into a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area stores an application program used by the controller 401, and the data storage area includes measured current and voltage data and measured data such as an effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, and power usage fee. Power meter reading information including a communication network connection state between the communication modules and a data transmission / reception completion state may be stored.

The application program stored in the program storage area may include a calculation program for calculating measurement data such as an effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, and power usage fee using the current and voltage received from the controller 401; And a storage management program for storing and managing the measured data calculated using the detected current and voltage and the calculation program in a memory, and the remote metering terminal 120 or the metering server 600 through the binary CDMA modem 403. A communication program for communication and a program for calculating a power usage fee based on the received power information may be included.

Meanwhile, in order to transmit and receive power metering information more safely and accurately between the remote metering terminal 120 and the collecting device 400, it is necessary to reinforce authentication and security functions. That is, the conventional remote meter reading system using a wireless communication method is vulnerable to security, so it is easy to access or eavesdrop and damage information in an external network. In order to solve this problem, the present invention further includes the following procedure to improve the security vulnerability of the remote meter reading system using the binary CDMA communication method. In the following security procedure, an encrypted algorithm (CCM mode) and a key generation / selection security algorithm (AES) are used.

The order of formation of the security network is as follows.

1. Master decision

2. Each slave joins the master to form networking

3. Each slave transmits data using the slot assigned by the master's beacon

4. Form a secure network that can be communicated by the promised key through the authentication process with the security manager.

5. Form a peer-to-peer security network that communicates between any two slaves

Broadly speaking, the security procedures include an association procedure that allows the master to operate and access any piconet of the slave, and between the slaves or master-slaves that the Security Manager (SM) wants to operate and transmit. Authentication procedure to perform transmission authority (establishment of free bus) and key determination, and key establishment to perform authentication and key distribution when the first security network is established and the security network is established upon joining / release of new slave. Protocol procedures are included.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a joining procedure among security procedures according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, an unjoined slave receives a beacon signal from a master of an arbitrary piconet (S100). The unjoined slave checks the piconet ID and channel of the received beacon signal and transmits a join request command block to the master (S110). After receiving the join request command block, the master checks the MAC of the slave and transmits the join response command block (S120). If the reason information included in the join response command block is “success,” joining to the master is completed (S130).

Once the joining process is complete, the authentication and key establishment process will proceed.

7 is a flowchart illustrating an authentication and challenge protocol during an authentication and key establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The authentication and challenge protocols are the process by which the security administrator authenticates each slave accessing the piconet and distributes a common key.

Referring to FIG. 7, a slave connected to a piconet first transmits an authentication request command block to a security manager (S200). In response to the authentication authority request, the security manager determines authorization (S210), and transmits a challenge request command block including a management key (S220). The slave encrypts the management key with the shared key and transmits a challenge response command block to the security manager (S230). The security manager decrypts the received data with the shared key and checks whether it is the same as the management key (S240), then determines authorization for authentication and transmits an authentication response command block to the slave (S250). After confirming the authentication response command block is used as a management key (S260).

Once the authentication and challenge protocols are complete, the key distribution and key request protocols proceed.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a key distribution protocol during an authentication and key establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The key distribution protocol is a process in which the security manager periodically distributes an updated encryption key to each slave in the piconet.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, the security manager periodically transmits a distribution request command block including a shared key and a security session ID to the slave (S300).

Each slave checks the establishment of a group member and a peer to peer key in the received distribution request command block (S310), and then transmits a distribution response command block to the security manager (S320).

9 is a flowchart illustrating a key request protocol in an authentication and key establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The key request protocol is a process of requesting the security manager the current key to encrypt when any slave does not receive the updated key.

Referring to FIG. 9, first, a slave transmits a key request command block to a security manager for using a shared key (S400). The security manager sends a key response command block including the shared key to the slave after confirmation (S410).

In performing the authentication or security procedure, a management key used for encrypting the key of the command block used for the key distribution and key request protocol, determined by the authentication and challenge protocol, and used for encrypting data in one piconet. The Piconet Group Data Key being used, and the Peer-to-peer data Key used to encrypt the data in the communication between any slaves can be used.

In this case, the order in which the keys are generated is

Step 1: select a string of bits with the random generation function: generate 118 bits

Step 2: list by 7 bits

Step 3: Take Parity Bits to Create 8-Bit Strings

Step 4: create a 128-bit key, ordered from line 1

Can be.

On the other hand, the CCM mode used as the integrity-encryption mechanism uses the CTR mode for data encryption and uses CBC-MAC for data integrity check. A symmetric block cipher algorithm called AES is used here.

On the other hand, the communication method between the remote meter reading terminal 120 and the collection device 400 is not out of the serial method based on a one-to-one correspondence. Because of this, the collection device does not acquire the values of other instruments until the communication with one instrument is terminated. In particular, if the communication problem occurs, the time to acquire the values of all the instruments connected to the collection unit is increased due to retransmission. There is this. This is a factor that reduces the quality of power information management by extending the acquisition period of the meter data, in particular, there is a problem that increases the probability of failing to acquire the value of a particular instrument, especially long periods.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention adopts a multiple access method between the remote meter reading terminal 120 and the collecting device 400, thereby acquiring power metering information from a plurality of consumers at the same time by the collecting device 400, By reducing acquisition cycles, you can improve power management quality and reduce the probability of data loss.

10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a collecting device for connecting multiple modems according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the collection device 400 is multi-connected with a binary CDMA modem 123 forming a plurality of remote meter reading terminals 120 installed in the customer 100. In more detail, a plurality of binary CDMA modems 403 are formed in the collecting device 400, and the collecting device 400 and the plurality of binary CDMA modems 403 are multi-connected. In addition, the plurality of binary CDMA modems 403 are connected to the binary CDMA modem 123 constituting the remote meter reading terminal 120 through a binary CDMA communication network 200. Through such a structure, the collection device 400 may simultaneously receive power metering information of a power meter formed in a corresponding customer from a plurality of modems.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a collecting device including a modem supporting multi-ports according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the collection device 400 is multi-connected with a binary CDMA modem 123 constituting a plurality of remote meter reading terminals 120 formed in the customer 100. In more detail, the binary CDMA modem 403 constituting the collecting device 400 is multi-ported through the binary CDMA modem 123 and the binary CDMA communication network 200 constituting the remote metering terminal 120 by supporting multiple ports. Connected. In addition, the binary CDMA modem 123 and the collection device 400 may transmit and receive data using a parallel serial communication method or an Ethernet method. Through such a structure, the collection device 400 may receive power metering information of the electricity meter formed in the corresponding customer from a plurality of modems at the same time.

By using the structure illustrated in FIG. 10 or 11, the speed of receiving power metering information from the plurality of remote metering terminals 120 can be significantly improved, and the power metering information of more consumers can be received within a limited time. Can improve the accuracy.

In more detail, the time required for data communication is illustrated in Table 1 below.

1 communication time n retries Total time required for communication of m instruments Old way t t x n t x n x m Presentation t t x n t x n x m / l

l: number of multi-connections

That is, assuming that it communicates with the m remote reading terminals 120 and retransmits n times data with a predetermined remote reading terminal 120 due to an error in data transmission, the time required is multi-connection based on the conventional time required. It will be reduced to the time divided by the number.

Meanwhile, the binary CDMA modem 123 formed in the remote meter reading terminal 120 has a conventional data transmission function, and only detects hardware errors in connection with error detection. That is, in order to check the state of data transmission and reception between the remote reading terminal 120 and the collecting device 400, a test for transmitting the test packet to the remote reading terminal 120 in the conventional collecting device 400 step was to be performed. However, in general, the distance between the collecting device 400 and the remote meter reading terminal 120 is far, and the installation location of the collecting device 400 is a region where the terrain is rugged, so it is not easy to perform the test. In addition, it is also physically impossible to access the collection device 400 and check the transmission / reception status of data every time a large number of remote meter reading terminals 120 are installed.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention may be provided with a status display unit in the binary CDMA modem 123 of the remote reading terminal 120 to perform a communication test and display function. In more detail, the status display unit tests the communication state between the modem of the remote metering terminal 120 and the collection device 400, and the communication state between the electricity meter and the modem of the remote metering terminal 120 to determine whether the modem is abnormal. Mark as external. Through this, the problem of the data communication section can be immediately confirmed on-site installation of the remote meter reading terminal 120 can reduce the installation and maintenance time and cost.

12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of checking a data transmission / reception state of a remote meter reading terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, first, the remote meter reading terminal 120 is installed, and the binary CDMA modem 123 is formed to interoperate with the electricity meter 110 and the collection device 400 (S500). The test packet is transmitted and received from the binary CDMA modem 123 of the remote reading terminal 120 to the electricity meter 110 (S510). After repeating the reference cycle or more, determine an error state or a normal state (S520). The test packet is transmitted and received from the binary CDMA modem 123 of the remote reading terminal 120 to the binary CDMA modem 403 of the collecting device 400 (S530). After repeating the reference cycle or more, determine an error state or a normal state (S540). If one or more error conditions exist, an error occurrence and a cause of occurrence are displayed on the status display unit (S550).

On the other hand, as the data transmission and reception speed and data throughput between the remote meter reading terminal 120 and the collecting device 400 increases, there is a need to upgrade the version of the modem installed adjacent to the electricity meter from time to time. However, upgrading a version of a conventional modem requires a large number of modems to be upgraded manually, which entails enormous manpower and maintenance costs.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention simultaneously upgrades the versions of each modem formed in the remote reading terminal 120 by using a wireless communication network formed between the collection device 400 and the remote reading terminal 120. Provide a remote meter reading system.

13 is a diagram illustrating a method of upgrading a master and slave modem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, in the upgrade method of the master modem, the slave type emulator is first synchronized with the master by setting an RF channel and a PNID of the master. The master may be a collecting device 400. All stations participating in one piconet are synchronized by the master's beacon frame. The beacon frame transmitted in the beacon section of each superframe includes information for synchronizing the clocks of the stations participating in the piconet.

Based on the reception time of the beacon frame of the master and the contents in the beacon frame, the slaves synchronize to the super frame determined by the master. The length of the super frame is determined by the length of the super frame, and the beacon is repeated at each time period. Between the beacon frame and the allocation section is used as the competition section. The length of the competition section shall be at least the minimum length of the competition section. The beacon packet contains the start time of the allocation section. Based on the start time and the reception time of the beacon, the slaves in the piconet know the start and end of each section in the super frame.

The master records and transmits the start offset value of the allocation section and the time slot allocation status of the allocation section in the beacon frame.

The slaves distinguish the boundary between the contention section and the contention section from the start offset value of the allocation section in the beacon, and find the start time and the end time of the timeslot allocated to them from the time slot allocation situation.

All stations in the piconet receive and synchronize beacon packets from the master. Stations that do not join the piconet use passive scanning to listen and synchronize beacon packets. Therefore, a station attempting to join a piconet must lift a beacon frame at least once before joining the piconet. If the station joining the piconet does not hear the beacon frame, it waits for the next beacon frame to be sent and listens for and synchronizes the beacon packet. If the beacon frame is not heard during the connection termination time, the data transmission stops and waits for the beacon packet.

When the emulator is synchronized with the master, the emulator sends firmware via RF to the master for upgrade. The master stores the received data serially in the master's external memory. The master resets itself and uploads the data stored in the external memory to the flash memory using the boot code. After updating with new firmware, the master attempts to reset to become an active state and synchronizes slaves with its lower stages. The master sends the newly upgraded firmware version information to the emulator. The R-master of the relay also uses the 'I' emulator to upgrade the firmware in the same way.

On the other hand, in the upgrade method of the slave modem, the slave type emulator is synchronized with the master by setting the master RF channel and the PNID. The slave may be a modem of the remote meter reading terminal 120. When the emulator is synchronized with the master, the emulator transmits firmware to the master through RF to the master. The master stores the received data serially in the master's external memory. The master transmits the data stored in the external memory 1: 1 to the slave through RF. The slave stores the received data serially in its external memory. The slave resets itself and uploads the data stored in the external memory to the flash memory using the boot code. After updating to the new firmware, try to reset and become active and sync with its master. The slave sends the newly upgraded firmware version to the master and the master sends the received slave's MAC address and firmware version to the emulator. The R-slave of the relay also uses the same method to upgrade the firmware.

14 is a diagram illustrating a method of upgrading a slave modem according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, in a method of upgrading a slave modem, first, an emulator of a slave type is synchronized with a master by setting an RF channel and a PNID of the master. The slave may be a modem of the remote meter reading terminal 120. When the emulator is synchronized with the master, the emulator transmits firmware to the master through RF to the master. The master stores the received data serially in the master's external memory. The master transmits RF parallel data to the slaves that are stored in the external memory. The slave stores the received data serially in its external memory. The slave resets itself and uploads the data stored in the external memory to the flash memory using the boot code. After updating to the new firmware, try to reset and become active and sync with its master. The slave sends the newly upgraded firmware version to the master and the master sends the received slave's MAC address and firmware version to the emulator. The R-slave of the relay also uses the same method to upgrade the firmware.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. . Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

100: customer 110: power meter
120: remote meter reading terminal 200: binary CDMA communication network
300: repeater 400: collecting device
500: wired and wireless communication network 600: meter reading server
610: DB 620: FEP

Claims (7)

A remote metering terminal connected to an electricity meter formed at each customer to acquire power metering information and transmit the same through a binary CDMA communication network;
A repeater formed on the binary CDMA communication network to transfer data transmitted from the remote meter reading terminal;
A collection device for receiving, collecting and storing power metering information from the repeater, and transmitting the stored power metering information at predetermined intervals;
Wired and wireless communication network for transmitting the data collected by the collection device; And
In the remote meter reading system including a metering server for receiving, recording, and storing power usage data for each electricity meter from the wire / wireless communication network, and charging a power usage fee for the electricity meter.
The collection device operates as a master of the piconet, the remote meter reading terminal operates as a slave,
The collection device and the remote meter reading terminal authenticates and secures the mutual device, and connects the remote reading terminal and the collection device in a multiple access manner to acquire power metering information from a plurality of consumers at the same time in the collection device, and the multiple access It characterized in that the multiple collection of a plurality of remote meter reading terminal at the same time by using the method,
The authentication and security includes a joining procedure for allowing the slave to access any piconet, an authentication procedure for performing transmission authority and key determination between the slaves to transmit power metering information or between the master and the slave, and establishment of an initial security network. And a key establishment procedure for performing authentication and key distribution every time the security network is established upon joining or releasing a new slave,
A status display unit is formed in a binary CDMA modem forming the remote meter reading terminal, and the status display unit tests a communication state between the remote meter terminal and the collecting device and a communication state between the electricity meter and the remote meter terminal. Characterized in that it displays the status to the outside,
The communication state test is to form a binary CDMA modem formed in the remote meter reading terminal to interoperate with a power meter and a collection device, transmitting and receiving a test packet from the binary CDMA modem to the power meter, error state after repeated more than a reference time Or determining a normal state, transmitting and receiving a test packet from the binary CDMA modem to a binary CDMA modem formed in the collecting device, determining an error state or a normal state after repeating an abnormal reference cycle, and an error state exists. In the case of a remote meter reading system using the binary CDMA technology, characterized in that the step of displaying the error occurrence and the cause of occurrence in the status display unit.
The method of claim 1,
The joining procedure may comprise: an unjoined slave receiving a beacon signal from a master of any piconet;
Checking, by the unjoined slave, the piconet ID and channel of the received beacon signal, and transmitting a join request command block to the master;
The master receiving the join request command block confirms the MAC of the unjoined slave, and then transmits a join response command block; And
If the reason information included in the join response command block is “success”, the slave joins the master;
The authentication procedure may include: sending, by a slave connected to the piconet, an authentication request command block to a security manager;
Transmitting, by the security manager receiving the authentication request command, a challenge request command block including a management key to the connected slave;
Transmitting, by the connected slave, the challenge response command block to the security manager by encrypting the management key with a shared key; And
An authentication and challenge protocol comprising decrypting the challenge response command block received by the security manager with a shared key to determine whether it is the same as the management key and then determining authorization for authentication and transmitting an authentication response command block to the slave Including,
The key establishment procedure may include: periodically sending, by a security manager, a slave request command block including a shared key and a secure session ID to a slave; And
A key distribution protocol comprising the slave confirming a group member and peer to peer key establishment in the received distribution request command block and transmitting a distribution response command block to the security manager;
Sending, by the slave, the key request command block to the security manager for use of the shared key; And
And a key request protocol comprising the security manager confirming the key request command block and transmitting a key response command block including a shared key to a slave.
The method of claim 2,
The management key and peer to peer key,
Selecting a bit string with a random generation function to generate 118 bits;
Enumerating them by seven bits;
Taking the parity bits to create an 8 bit string; And
Remote meter reading system using binary CDMA technology, characterized in that it is generated by generating a 128-bit key by taking a sequence from line 1.
The method of claim 1,
The multiple access method,
A plurality of binary CDMA modem is formed in the collecting device,
And a plurality of binary CDMA modems and binary CDMA modems formed in the remote meter reading terminal are connected in a one-to-one correspondence through a binary CDMA communication network.
The method of claim 1,
The multiple access method,
A multiport is formed in the binary CDMA modem formed in the collecting device,
And the binary CDMA modem and a binary CDMA modem formed in the remote meter reading terminal are connected in a one-to-many correspondence through a binary CDMA communication network.
delete The method of claim 1,
The upgrade
Synchronizing with the master by setting the slave emulator to the PNID and the RF channel of the master;
If the emulator is synchronized with the master, transmitting the firmware to the master via RF to the master in the emulator;
Storing the data received by the master in serial to an external memory of the master, and transmitting the stored data one-to-one to the slave through RF;
Serially storing data received from the slave in its own external memory;
Uploading data previously stored in an external memory to the flash memory using a boot code in the slave;
Updating to new firmware in the slave, attempting to reset, transitioning to an active state, and synchronizing with the master;
Sending a newly upgraded firmware version to the master at the slave;
And transmitting the MAC address and firmware version of the slave received from the master to the emulator.

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