KR20110122633A - Scheme for monitoring battery of machine type communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A battery capacity monitoring technique of a machine communications device is provided to determine the battery remaining amount of the machine communications device and prevent unexpected communications disconnect. CONSTITUTION: A machine communications system is activated(250). A network device transmits a monitoring request for the battery remaining amount of a machine communications device to the machine communications device(271). The machine communications device monitors the remaining capacity of a battery. The monitored remaining capacity of the battery is transmitted to the network device(272). The network device compares a received remaining capacity with the threshold of the battery(280). An administrator terminal transmits an event response if the remaining amount of the battery in the machine communications device is recovered over a critical value(282).

Description

Battery capacity monitoring technique of the communication device of things {SCHEME FOR MONITORING BATTERY OF MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATION DEVICE}

The present invention relates to a method for monitoring the battery life of a thing communication device, and more particularly, to a technique for preventing communication disconnection due to battery consumption by checking the battery life of a device in a network.

Recently, object communication technologies such as MTC (Machine Type Communication) or M2M (Machine to Machine), such as smart metering or vending machine remote control, which control gas meter or water meter meter remotely, have become a major issue.

The thing communication service is a service for exchanging information between machines or between machines and users. The application of the thing communication is a field that requires periodic and regular communication, but the amount of data transmitted is not much. For example, in order to check safety of a bridge or the like, a safety diagnosis apparatus is installed in each part of the bridge, and each safety diagnosis apparatus may transmit safety diagnosis results to the application server by using the thing communication devices. The communication of things is performed using a specially developed device and a server such as a communication device having a high data rate.

A MOT device installed in an isolated area, such as a bridge or river, for water measurement or water quality monitoring, requires no human access except when theft detection or maintenance is required. Until monitoring, a problem occurs in which the connection is blocked by leaving the battery at the end of its life.

One side of example embodiments provides a method of pre-measuring the remaining battery capacity of a thing communication device to prevent an unexpected disconnection.

Another side of the example embodiments provides a method for determining when to measure the battery level of a thing communication device.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a method of operating a thing communication device operating using power stored in a battery, the method comprising: receiving a remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery from a network device, according to the remaining capacity monitoring request Monitoring the remaining capacity of the battery, transmitting the remaining capacity of the monitored battery to the network device in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request, and receiving a remaining capacity monitoring request from the network device according to the monitored remaining capacity. A method of operating a thing communication device is provided that includes re-receiving.

According to yet another aspect of an example embodiment, a network device operating in a network comprising at least one IoT device, wherein the IoT device is connected to the IoT device at a remaining capacity monitoring time for the IoT device. Sending a remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery of the battery, receiving a remaining capacity of the battery from the IoT device in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request, and monitoring the remaining capacity of the battery according to the remaining capacity of the battery; A method of operating a network device is provided that includes resending a request to the thing communication device.

According to yet another aspect of an example embodiment, a network device operating in a network comprising at least one IoT device, wherein the IoT communication device is configured to operate on the remaining capacity of the battery with respect to the battery operated IoT device. Predicting a driveable time, setting a specific time within the driveable time as a monitoring time, transmitting a remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery to the thing communication device at the set monitoring time and the remaining capacity Receiving a remaining capacity of the battery at the monitoring time from the thing communication device in response to a monitoring request.

In accordance with one aspect of exemplary embodiments, a method is provided for preliminarily measuring a battery level of a thing communication device to prevent an unexpected disconnection.

According to yet another aspect of exemplary embodiments, a method of determining when to measure a battery level of a thing communication device is provided.

1 is a diagram illustrating a thing communication system according to an exemplary embodiment.
2 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a thing communication system step by step.
3 is a flowchart illustrating step by step operations of the thing communication device.
4 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a network device step by step.

As the inventive concept allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, the following will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Many expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the relevant art and are to be interpreted in an ideal or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined in the present application Do not.

The term 'device' used in the present application is a mobile terminal or a terminal device, a mobile station (MS), a user equipment (UE), a user terminal (UT), a wireless terminal, an access terminal (AT), a terminal, a subscriber. Unit (Subscriber Unit), Subscriber Station (SS), wireless device (wireless device), wireless communication device, Wireless Transmit / Receive Unit (WTRU), mobile node, mobile or other terms. have. Various embodiments of the device may be photographed such as cellular telephones, smart phones with wireless communication capabilities, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with wireless communication capabilities, wireless modems, portable computers with wireless communication capabilities, and digital cameras with wireless communication capabilities. Portable units or small purpose-specific sensors incorporating devices, gaming devices with wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback appliances with wireless communication capabilities, Internet home appliances with wireless internet access and browsing, as well as combinations of such functions And devices, but is not limited thereto.

The term 'network device' used in the present application generally refers to a fixed network point for communicating with a terminal, which is a base station or a base station, a Node-B, an eNode-B. ), A base transceiver system (BTS), and an access point.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements in the drawings and redundant descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing a thing communication service according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the thing communication device 110 represents one or more terminals installed in an isolated area for safety diagnosis of a bridge, water quality monitoring, and the like. The IoT communication devices 110, 120, and 130 perform a predetermined task, and collect the data configuring the IoT to communicate with the IoT communication server 150 and other IoT communication devices via the communication network 140. An end-to-end device that is required for communication of things with devices, sensors and communications.

In general, the communication device (110, 120, 130) is installed in a well-equipped home or infrastructure such as a water meter or electricity meter, while the risk, such as a field or bridge for the measurement of quantity or environmental pollution It is often installed in suburbs where it is difficult for people to access the area. In this case, no human access is required except for theft detection or maintenance.

The thing communication device 110, 120, 130 may operate using power stored in a battery. When the power stored in the battery is exhausted, the thing communication devices 110, 120, and 130 may no longer operate. Until monitoring the case in which there is no response from the thing communication devices 110, 120, and 130, even when the battery life is over, it may be left unattended and difficult to collect proper information. Therefore, the manager of the thing communication device 110, 120, 130 must exchange the batteries before the batteries are all discharged.

According to one side, it is possible to predict the battery life of the things communication devices (110, 120, 130), and to replace the battery of all the things communication devices (110, 120, 130) before the battery life. However, due to environmental factors, the battery life may not be constant.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the MTC device 110, 120, 130 may measure the remaining amount of the battery and transmit the measured remaining amount to the manager terminal 160 via the communication network 140.

An administrator who manages the MTC devices 110, 120, and 130 may report the battery level of the MTC devices 110, 120, and 130, and replace the battery of the MTC devices 110, 120, and 130 according to the battery level. can do.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating step by step operations of a thing communication system according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation 250, the IoT communication system including the IoT communication device 210, the network apparatus 220, the IoT communication server 230, and the manager terminal 240 is activated. When the thing communication system is activated, the thing communication device 210 performs a predetermined task and transmits the result to the thing communication server 230 via the network device 220. When the thing communication device 210 performs a predetermined task, power stored in the battery of the thing communication device 210 is consumed, and the remaining amount of the battery is reduced. In operation 260, the network device 220 generates a t_Power event. The t_Power event is an event informing a predetermined time for monitoring the remaining battery level of the thing communication device 210. According to one side, the network device 220 may determine the monitoring time in consideration of the minimum threshold of the life of the battery of the thing communication device 210 and the life of the battery. The monitoring time may be set again in consideration of the remaining battery capacity.

In step 271, the network device 220 sends a remaining capacity monitoring request (Power_Monitoring_REQ) for the battery of the thing communication device 210 to the thing communication device 210.

The thing communication device 210 monitors the remaining capacity of the battery and transmits the remaining capacity of the monitored battery to the network device 220 in step 272. According to one side, the thing communication device 210 may transmit the remaining capacity of the monitored battery in the monitoring response Power_Monitoring_RES.

In operation 280, the network device 220 compares the received capacity of the battery with a threshold. According to one side, the threshold compared to the remaining capacity is the minimum value of the battery capacity at which the MTC device 210 can operate stably. If the remaining capacity is higher than the threshold, the remaining capacity of the battery is sufficient to allow for a considerable time in the future. This means that there is no need to monitor the remaining battery charge. Conversely, if the remaining capacity is lower than the threshold, it means that you need to be prepared for the possibility that the battery will run out.

If the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than the threshold, the network device 220 transmits the monitoring result Monitoring_event (Battery_Low) to the manager terminal 240. An administrator who manages the thing communication device 210 or the network apparatus 220 may confirm that the remaining capacity of the battery of the thing communication device 210 is less than or equal to the threshold value using the manager terminal 240.

According to one side, the administrator may replace or charge the battery of the thing communication device 210. In this case, the remaining amount of battery of the thing communication device 210 is restored above the threshold.

When the remaining battery level of the MTC device 210 recovers above the threshold value, the manager terminal 240 transmits an event response Event_Response (Battery_Full) in step 282.

The network device 220 may set a next time for monitoring the remaining battery level of the thing communication device 210. According to one side, the network device 220 estimates the time that can be driven by the remaining capacity of the battery of the MTC device 210 reported in step 272, and the specific time within the predicted time to the next monitoring time You can set and save the set time.

3 is a flowchart illustrating step by step operations of the thing communication device.

In step 310, the thing communication device receives a request for monitoring the remaining capacity of the battery of the thing communication device from the network apparatus. According to one side, the thing communication device may perform any one of gas reading, water meter reading, bridge safety inspection, water quality monitoring, river water quantity measurement.

In step 320, the thing communication device monitors the remaining capacity of the battery.

In step 330, the thing communication device transmits the remaining capacity of the monitored battery to the network device in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request.

According to one side, the network device may compare the remaining capacity of the transmitted battery with a predetermined threshold. If the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than the predetermined threshold, the battery of the MTC device can be replaced with a new battery or charged.

According to one side, the network device may transmit the remaining capacity of the battery and the low battery warning to the terminal of the manager when the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than the threshold.

According to one side, the administrator may check the remaining capacity of the MTC device, the battery of the MTC device, or charge the battery through the terminal of the manager.

In step 340, the MTC device re-receives the remaining capacity monitoring request from the network device at the remaining capacity monitoring time reset in step 320.

According to one side, the network device may compare the monitored remaining capacity and the threshold, and set a time to retransmit the remaining capacity monitoring request according to the comparison result. According to one side, when the remaining capacity of the battery is higher than the predetermined threshold, the network device predicts a time that the device can withstand the current remaining capacity of the battery sufficiently, and then the specific time less than the estimated time to the next monitoring time Can be set.

4 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a network device step by step.

In step 410, the network device sends a remaining capacity monitoring request to the thing communication device. According to one side, the network apparatus may set the remaining capacity monitoring request transmission time for the battery of the thing communication device in consideration of the battery capacity and the remaining battery capacity of the thing communication device. In this case, the network device may transmit the remaining capacity monitoring request to the thing communication device at the set time.

In step 420, the network apparatus receives the remaining capacity of the thing communication device's battery from the thing communication device in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request.

In step 430 the network apparatus compares the remaining capacity of the battery of the thing communication device with a threshold. If the remaining capacity of the battery of the MTC device is greater than or equal to the threshold, the network device may set a time at step 460 to retransmit the remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery of the MTC device.

If the remaining capacity of the battery of the MTC device is less than the threshold, the network device may transmit the remaining capacity of the battery to the terminal of the manager managing the MTC device or the network device in step 440.

According to one side, the network apparatus may transmit a residual capacity shortage warning indicating that the time for the thing communication device to drive with the remaining capacity of the battery is short, to the device for managing the thing communication device or the network device.

The manager may check the remaining capacity of the battery of the communication device by using the terminal of the manager. According to one side, the administrator may replace or charge the battery of the communication device.

In operation 450, the network apparatus may check that the battery of the MTC device is charged or the battery is replaced. According to one side, the network device may receive a battery charge confirmation message or a battery replacement confirmation message from the terminal of the administrator.

In step 460 the network device sets a time to re-monitor the remaining capacity for the battery of the thing communication device. According to one side, the network device may estimate the time that the thing communication device can run based on the remaining capacity of the monitored battery. In addition, the network apparatus may set a specific time within a time that the thing communication device can drive as the next monitoring time. The network device may retransmit the remaining capacity monitoring request to the thing communication device at the monitoring time reset in step 410. According to one side, the network device may re-receive the remaining capacity of the battery from the thing communication device in step 420 in response to the resent remaining capacity monitoring request.

110: communication device
140: network device
150: communication server
160: manager terminal

Claims (13)

A method of operating a MTC device operating in a network including at least one MTC device using power stored in a battery, the method comprising:
Receiving a remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery from a network device included in the network;
Monitoring the remaining capacity of the battery according to the remaining capacity monitoring request;
Transmitting the remaining capacity of the monitored battery to the network device in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request; And
Receiving a remaining capacity monitoring request from the network device according to the monitored remaining capacity;
Method of operation of a thing communication device comprising a. The method of claim 1,
When the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than the predetermined threshold, the battery is charged or the battery is replaced with a new battery. The method of claim 1,
Re-receiving the remaining capacity monitoring request may include receiving the remaining capacity monitoring request at a time set according to the remaining capacity of the monitored battery. The method of claim 3,
And a time set according to the monitored remaining capacity is set within a time that the thing communication device can drive to the monitored remaining capacity. The method of claim 1,
The remaining capacity of the battery is compared with a predetermined threshold, and the result of the comparison is transmitted to the device of the administrator managing the thing communication device or the network device.
A method of operating a network device operating in a network comprising at least one MTC device,
Transmitting a remaining capacity monitoring request for a battery of the thing communication device to the thing communication device at the remaining capacity monitoring time for the thing communication device;
Receiving a remaining capacity of the battery from the thing communication device in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request; And
Resending the remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery to the thing communication device according to the remaining capacity of the battery;
Method of operation of a network device comprising a. The method of claim 6,
Comparing the remaining capacity of the battery received from the MTC device with a predetermined threshold
Further comprising:
The resending may include retransmitting the remaining capacity monitoring request according to the comparison result. The method of claim 7, wherein
The battery is charged or the battery is replaced with a new battery according to the comparison result. The method of claim 6,
If the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than the threshold, sending a low remaining warning for the battery to the thing communication device or a device of an administrator managing the network device;
How network devices work. The method of claim 6,
Predicting a time that can be driven by the remaining capacity of the battery when the remaining capacity of the battery is higher than the threshold; And
Setting a specific time within the driveable time to the next monitoring time;
Further comprising:
The resending of the remaining capacity monitoring request may include retransmitting the remaining capacity monitoring request at the set next monitoring time.
A method of operating a network device operating in a network comprising at least one MTC device,
Predicting a time for which the thing communication device can drive the remaining capacity of the battery with respect to the thing-operated device;
Setting a specific time within the driveable time as a monitoring time;
Transmitting a remaining capacity monitoring request for the battery to the thing communication device at the set monitoring time; And
Receiving from the MTC device, the remaining capacity of the battery at the monitoring time in response to the remaining capacity monitoring request;
Method of operation of a network device comprising a. The method of claim 11,
Comparing the remaining capacity of the received battery with a predetermined threshold
Further comprising:
According to the comparison result, the battery is charged or the battery is replaced with a new battery operating method. The method of claim 12,
If the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than the threshold, sending a remaining low capacity warning for the battery to a device of the administrator managing the IoT communication device or the network device;
Further comprising:
And the battery is charged based on the remaining low capacity warning or replaced with a new battery.

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