JP6449758B2 - Wireless sensor relay device and sensing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless sensor relay device that aggregates and transfers sensor data from a plurality of sensor terminals to a data processing device, and a sensing system including the wireless sensor relay device.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a sensing system that accommodates a conventional general sensor terminal. The wireless sensor terminals 100-1 to 100-N wirelessly transmit the measured physical quantities. The computer 101 that receives sensor data from the wireless sensor terminals 100-1 to 100-N has other functions such as a display function in addition to a function of receiving sensor data and a function of processing sensor data. A computer, a smart phone, etc. correspond (refer nonpatent literature 1).

  Consolidation of sensor data using a conventional computer has high functions and unnecessary functions for processing sensor data, so increasing power consumption when consolidating sensor data is an issue. Therefore, there is a possibility that the operation that is really necessary cannot be performed due to the traffic of the sensor.

  For example, in Non-Patent Document 1, a smartphone is used as a computer for collecting sensor data, but the smartphone has functions unnecessary for sensor data transmission itself, such as an OS (Operating System), a display function, and an application function. Has been. Smartphones are equipped with a plurality of wireless communication functions such as a wireless local area network (LAN) communication function in addition to a public wireless communication function, but they operate independently and coordinated control functions such as It does not have a control function that actively switches between short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication according to the communication environment, or minimizes average power consumption. It is in a state that it is only equipped. For this reason, problems such as a decrease in battery driving time due to an increase in power consumption occur, and it is recommended to avoid simultaneous use of a plurality of radios in order to maximize the battery driving time (see Non-Patent Document 2). ).

Atsushi Shinoda, Koji Tajima, “Prototype of Sensing System for Sports Bicycle Using Smartphone and Embedded Device”, Multimedia, Distributed, Cooperation and Mobile (DICOMO2014) Symposium, pp. 538-544, July 2014 “Maximize battery life and service life”, Apple Japan, November 2015, <http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/>

  As described above, the conventional sensing system has a problem that the power consumption of a computer such as a smartphone that receives sensor data is large, and the driving time is short particularly in a battery-powered computer. In the technology disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, sensor data from each sensor is collected by a sensor controller and transferred to a smartphone. However, communication control is not performed in consideration of power consumption of the smartphone, and efficiency is improved. Communication control has not been realized.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to realize efficient communication control and low power consumption using a wireless sensor relay device specialized for aggregation and transmission of sensor data.

The present invention provides a wireless sensor relay device that relays between a first sensor terminal that wirelessly transmits sensor data indicating a measured physical quantity and a data processing device that processes the sensor data, the sensor terminal or the data processing device When transferring sensor data from the sensor terminal and a plurality of wireless communication means having different wireless communication standards for communication with the wireless communication means, select one of the plurality of wireless communication means and transfer to the data processing device Communication processing means for selecting the wireless communication means corresponding to the profile information of the sensor terminal from the plurality of wireless communication means, and transferring the sensor data to the data processing device. and, wherein the profile information is information of an application for processing the sensor data in said data processing apparatus It is intended to.
In addition, one configuration example of the wireless sensor relay device of the present invention further includes wired communication means for communicating with a second sensor terminal that wire-transmits sensor data, and the communication processing means includes the first In addition to the sensor data from the sensor terminal, the sensor data from the second sensor terminal is transferred to the data processing device by wireless communication means corresponding to the profile information of the second sensor terminal. Is.

In addition , the wireless sensor relay device of the present invention may have a shape that can be mechanically connected to the data processing device or a shape that can be carried around by a person.

Further, the present invention provides a wireless sensor relay device, a sensor terminal that transmits sensor data indicating a measured physical quantity, and a data processing device that processes the sensor data. The apparatus is characterized by being connected in multiple stages.
Further, in the sensing system of the present invention, the data processing device is received by any one of the plurality of wireless communication units having different wireless communication standards for performing communication with the wireless sensor relay device and the plurality of wireless communication units. And a data processing means for processing sensor data.

  According to the present invention, the wireless sensor relay device is provided with a plurality of wireless communication means and communication processing means, so that the communication processing means adaptively switches the wireless communication standard and transfers the sensor data to the data processing device. Therefore, efficient communication control and low power consumption can be realized.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the wireless sensor relay apparatus of the sensing system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and a sensing system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the data processor of the sensing system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining a mode that the communication processing circuit of a wireless sensor relay apparatus selects a middle distance and a high-speed wireless communication part, and transmits sensor data in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining a mode that the communication processing circuit of the wireless sensor relay apparatus selects a long distance and low speed wireless communication part and transmits sensor data in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining a mode that the communication processing circuit of the wireless sensor relay apparatus transmits sensor data by temporally switching the wireless communication standard in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the wireless sensor relay apparatus of the sensing system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and a sensing system. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the sensing system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the sensing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the sensing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the sensing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the sensing system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the sensing system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional sensing system.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing a configuration of a sensing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The sensing system uses wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N (N is an integer of 2 or more) that wirelessly transmits sensor data indicating the measured physical quantity, and sensor data from the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N. A data processing device 2 such as a smartphone or a personal computer that receives and processes and a wireless sensor relay device 3 that transfers sensor data from the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N to the data processing device 2.

  FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the wireless sensor relay device 3. The wireless sensor relay device 3 includes a long-distance / low-speed wireless communication unit 30-1 for communicating with the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N or the data processing device 2 according to a wireless communication standard such as Zigbee (registered trademark). Medium-range / high-speed wireless communication unit 30-2 for communicating with wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N or data processing device 2 according to wireless communication standards such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) ), A short-range / low-power-consumption wireless communication unit 30-3 for communicating with the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N or the data processing device 2 according to a wireless communication standard such as NFC (Near Field Communication), and wireless When transferring sensor data from the sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N, the long-range / low-speed wireless communication unit 30-1, the medium-range / high-speed wireless communication unit 30-2, the short-range / low-power consumption wireless communication unit One of 30-3 Is selected and transferred to the data processing device 2 and a memory 32 for storing sensor data and a program for the wireless sensor relay device 3.

  Such a wireless sensor relay device 3 can be realized by a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and an interface, and a program for controlling these hardware resources. The CPU of the wireless sensor relay device 3 executes processing described in the present embodiment in accordance with a program stored in the memory.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data processing device 2. The data processing device 2 communicates with the wireless sensor relay device 3 according to a long distance / low speed wireless communication unit 20-1 for communicating with the wireless sensor relay device 3 according to a wireless communication standard such as Zigbee, and with a wireless communication standard such as WiFi. A short-range / low-power consumption wireless communication unit 20-3 for communicating with the wireless sensor relay device 3 according to a wireless communication standard such as BLE or NFC, A data processing unit 21 that processes sensor data from the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N, a performance requesting unit 22 that requests a desired performance from the wireless sensor relay device 3, and an input unit such as a touch panel or a keyboard 23 and a display unit 24 such as a liquid crystal display.

  Such a data processing device 2 can be realized by a computer (or a smartphone) having a CPU, a memory and an interface, and a program for controlling these hardware resources. The CPU of the data processing device 2 executes processing described in the present embodiment in accordance with a program stored in the memory. An example of specific processing of sensor data by the data processing device 2 is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, for example, and is a well-known technique, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

The wireless sensor relay device 3 of the present embodiment is equipped with a plurality of wireless communication functions, and these wireless communication functions can be automatically switched by the communication processing circuit 31.
The wireless sensor relay device 3 is connected to the wireless sensor terminal 1-1 by any one of the long distance / low speed wireless communication unit 30-1, the medium distance / high speed wireless communication unit 30-2, and the short distance / low power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3. Communicate with 1-1-N. In general, wireless communication with the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N is performed according to a predetermined low-power-consumption wireless communication standard (for example, the short-range / low-power-consumption wireless communication unit 30-3). The sensor data received by any of the long-range / low-speed wireless communication unit 30-1, the medium-range / high-speed wireless communication unit 30-2, and the short-range / low-power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3 is temporarily stored in the memory 32. Stored.

  The performance request unit 22 of the data processing device 2 requests the wireless sensor relay device 3 for desired performance. The requested contents include communication speed, transmission delay, power consumption, transmission distance, and the like. The performance requesting unit 22 responds to, for example, a remaining amount of a battery (not shown) that supplies power to the data processing device 2, a communication state with the wireless sensor relay device 3, a request from an application program that processes sensor data, and the like. A request for the wireless sensor relay device 3 is determined.

  The communication processing circuit 31 of the wireless sensor relay device 3 includes any one of the long distance / low speed wireless communication unit 30-1, the medium distance / high speed wireless communication unit 30-2, and the short distance / low power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3. When the performance request from the data processing device 2 is received, the sensor data is wirelessly transmitted to the data processing device 2 with the wireless communication standard and the data amount corresponding to the performance request.

  For example, when the performance request unit 22 requests high-speed communication, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, the medium-range / high-speed wireless communication unit 30-2 from the communication units that can communicate with the data processing device 2, and performs high-speed communication. Sensor data is transmitted with a data amount suitable for When the performance request unit 22 requests low-speed communication, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, the long-distance / low-speed wireless communication unit 30-1 from the communication units that can communicate with the data processing device 2, and performs low-speed communication. Send sensor data with an appropriate amount of data.

When the performance request unit 22 requests minimization of power consumption, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, the short-range / low-power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3 and transmits sensor data with a data amount suitable for low power consumption. To do. When the performance request unit 22 requests long-distance transmission, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, the long-distance / low-speed wireless communication unit 30-1 and transmits sensor data with a data amount suitable for long-distance transmission.
Note that the performance request unit 22 of the data processing device 2 may directly specify a desired wireless communication standard for the wireless sensor relay device 3.

The above example is an example in which communication control is performed in response to a performance request from the data processing device 2, but the wireless sensor relay device 3 can also perform communication control autonomously.
For example, in the memory 32 of the wireless sensor relay device 3, profile information of the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N is stored in advance for each wireless sensor terminal. The profile information includes information indicating the type of sensor data, information on an application that processes sensor data on the data processing device 2 side, information on a data processing device 2 that is a transmission destination, and the like.

  The communication processing circuit 31 of the wireless sensor relay device 3 includes any one of the long distance / low speed wireless communication unit 30-1, the medium distance / high speed wireless communication unit 30-2, and the short distance / low power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3. When sensor data from the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N is received, the sensor data is wirelessly transmitted to the data processing device 2 with a wireless communication standard and a data amount corresponding to the profile information of the wireless sensor terminal that has transmitted the sensor data. Send.

  For example, when the profile information recognizes that the application requires high-speed communication / low delay, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, medium-range / high-speed wireless communication among communication units that can communicate with the data processing device 2. The unit 30-2 is selected, and sensor data is transmitted with a data amount suitable for high-speed communication and low delay (FIG. 3). Thereby, for example, it is possible to reduce the overhead required for the authentication of the wireless sensor relay device 3 by the data processing device 2.

When the communication processing circuit 31 recognizes that the application requires long-distance transmission from the profile information, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, the long-distance / low-speed wireless communication unit 30-1, and a data amount suitable for long-distance transmission. The sensor data is transmitted (FIG. 4).
Further, when the profile information recognizes that the data processing device 2 is an application that places importance on low power consumption, the communication processing circuit 31 selects, for example, the short-range / low-power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3 to reduce power consumption. Sensor data is transmitted with a data amount suitable for electric power.

  In addition, when performing control with an emphasis on minimizing power consumption of the wireless sensor relay device 3 itself, the communication processing circuit 31 sets the wireless communication standard in terms of time as shown in FIGS. 5 (A) and 5 (B). You may make it switch to. 5A and 5B, communication with the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N is performed by the short distance / low power consumption wireless communication unit 30-3, and the long distance / low speed wireless communication unit 30 is used. -1 and the medium-range / high-speed wireless communication unit 30-2 are illustrated as an example in which communication is performed with the data processing device 2 while switching over time.

  Note that the communication processing circuit 31 may simultaneously control the wireless communication standard and the data amount when performing communication control or autonomous communication control according to the performance request from the data processing device 2. You may control only.

  In the above example, only the wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N are described as examples of the sensor terminal. However, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, the wired sensor terminal 4 that wire-transmits sensor data. May be used. In this case, the wireless sensor relay device 3 may be provided with a wired communication unit 33 for communicating with the wired sensor terminal 4 as shown in FIG.

  In the above example, the wireless sensor relay device 3 and the data processing device 2 directly communicate with each other. However, the communication may be performed via the network 5 as shown in FIG. In this case, a communication control device (not shown) in the network 5 may transmit a performance request to the wireless sensor relay device 3.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, an example in which one wireless sensor relay device 3 is used has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the wireless sensor relay devices 3 may be connected in multiple stages. As the connection method, a plurality of wireless sensor terminals 1-1 to 1-N, 6-1 to 6-N, and 7-1 to 7-N are obtained by taking a tree shape as shown in FIGS. It is possible to efficiently transmit the sensor data collectively.

[Third Embodiment]
Further, as the wireless sensor relay device of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a gadget wireless sensor relay device 3a that can be mechanically connected to the portable data processing device 2 may be used. Further, for example, the wearable wireless sensor relay device 3b attached to clothing or the wristwatch-like wearable wireless sensor relay device 3b may be used to communicate with the portable data processing device 2 (FIG. 12). ). This makes it possible to collect and transmit a large amount of body information efficiently using the sensor terminal.

  The present invention can be applied to a sensing system that collects sensor data from a sensor terminal.

  1-1 to 1-N, 6-1 to 6-N, 7-1 to 7-N ... wireless sensor terminal, 2 ... data processing device, 3, 3a, 3b ... wireless sensor relay device, 4 ... wired sensor terminal DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Network, 21 ... Data processing part, 22 ... Performance request part, 23 ... Input part, 24 ... Display part, 20-1, 30-1 ... Long distance and low speed wireless communication part, 20-2, 30-2 ... medium-range / high-speed wireless communication unit, 20-3, 30-3 ... short-range / low power consumption wireless communication unit, 31 ... communication processing circuit, 32 ... memory, 33 ... wired communication unit.

Claims (5)

In a wireless sensor relay device that relays between a first sensor terminal that wirelessly transmits sensor data indicating a measured physical quantity and a data processing device that processes the sensor data,
A plurality of wireless communication means having different wireless communication standards for communicating with the sensor terminal or the data processing device;
A communication processing means for selecting one of the plurality of wireless communication means and transferring it to the data processing device when transferring sensor data from the sensor terminal ;
The communication processing unit selects a wireless communication unit according to profile information of the sensor terminal from the plurality of wireless communication units, and transfers the sensor data to the data processing device.
The wireless sensor relay device according to claim 1, wherein the profile information is information of an application that processes the sensor data on the data processing device side . The wireless sensor relay device according to claim 1,
Furthermore, it comprises a wired communication means for communicating with a second sensor terminal for wired transmission of sensor data,
Wherein the communication processing means, in addition to the sensor data from the first sensor terminal, the sensor data from the second sensor terminal, said data by wireless communication means in accordance with the profile information of the second sensor terminal A wireless sensor relay device that transfers to a processing device. In the wireless sensor relay device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A wireless sensor relay device having a shape that can be mechanically connected to the data processing device or a shape that can be worn by a person. A sensing system comprising the wireless sensor relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , a sensor terminal that transmits sensor data indicating a measured physical quantity, and a data processing device that processes the sensor data.
A sensing system comprising a plurality of wireless sensor relay devices connected in multiple stages. A sensing system comprising the wireless sensor relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , a sensor terminal that transmits sensor data indicating a measured physical quantity, and a data processing device that processes the sensor data.
The data processing device includes:
A plurality of wireless communication means having different wireless communication standards for communicating with the wireless sensor relay device;
A sensing system comprising: data processing means for processing sensor data received by any of the plurality of wireless communication means.