CN115769595A - Communication terminal, communication system, power saving control method, and power saving control program - Google Patents

Communication terminal, communication system, power saving control method, and power saving control program Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN115769595A
CN115769595A CN202080102316.5A CN202080102316A CN115769595A CN 115769595 A CN115769595 A CN 115769595A CN 202080102316 A CN202080102316 A CN 202080102316A CN 115769595 A CN115769595 A CN 115769595A
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
communication
sleep time
communication terminal
state
service
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
CN202080102316.5A
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Inventor
金子直树
松原茂正
阿部充伸
黑泽怜志
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Original Assignee
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp filed Critical Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Publication of CN115769595A publication Critical patent/CN115769595A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
    • H04M1/724—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
    • H04M1/72403—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
    • H04M1/72409—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality by interfacing with external accessories
    • H04M1/72412—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality by interfacing with external accessories using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
    • H04M1/725—Cordless telephones
    • H04M1/73—Battery saving arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q9/00—Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
    • H04W52/02—Power saving arrangements
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
    • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
    • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
  • Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
  • Arrangements For Transmission Of Measured Signals (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

A communication terminal (1) performs an intermittent operation in which an active state and a sleep state, which consumes less power than the active state, are alternately repeated, and includes: a battery (106); a wireless communication processing unit (101) capable of communicating with a 2 nd service system for providing a 2 nd service via a communication network constructed for the 1 st service; a connected device communication processing unit (103) that can communicate with a connected device; a control unit (102) that, in an active state, performs an affiliation process with a communication network via a wireless communication processing unit (101), and that repeats the affiliation process if the affiliation process fails; and an intermittent operation processing unit (104) for, when the joining process fails, causing the communication terminal (1) to transition to the dormant state, determining a dormant time, which is the duration of the dormant state after the joining process fails, based on the number of times the joining process is repeated, and causing the communication terminal (1) to transition to the active state after the dormant time has elapsed.

Description

Communication terminal, communication system, power saving control method, and power saving control program
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a communication terminal, a communication system, a power saving control method, and a power saving control program that request to join a network.
Background
In recent years, attention is being paid to energy-saving society, and introduction of an automatic meter reading device called a smart meter, which realizes visualization of power consumption by automatically reading electric power and realizes control of power supply and demand, has been advanced. The smart meter plan is installed in all homes, and is constructed and operated as a wide-area and large-scale network in each power company jurisdiction, except for a part of areas where communication is difficult.
Such a network constructed for automatic meter reading of electric power is being studied and utilized as a social infrastructure. For example, it is conceivable to connect a communication terminal to devices such as various meters for gas and water and sewage, and various sensors for monitoring, control, and data collection, and to implement a gas and water and sewage automatic meter reading service, a data collection service for monitoring, control, and the like by adding a network constructed by automatic meter reading of electric energy to the communication terminal. Thus, automatic meter reading services for gas, water and sewage, data collection services for monitoring, control, and the like can be realized without newly constructing a large-scale network.
Since the smart meter provided for automatic meter reading of electric power is provided near the power line, it is easy to secure a commercial power supply. On the other hand, devices such as various meters for gas, water and sewage, and various sensors for monitoring, control, data collection, and the like are generally disposed at positions where it is difficult to secure a commercial power supply. Therefore, it is also difficult for communication terminals connected to these devices to secure a commercial power supply, and these communication terminals are often driven by batteries. Therefore, it is desirable to suppress power consumption in these communication terminals.
One of the methods for power saving in a communication terminal is a method in which an active state and a sleep state of a communication function are repeated every intermittent period. In communication using this method, the longer the sleep time, which is the duration of the 1-time sleep state, the more the power consumption can be suppressed, but the longer the response time of communication becomes. Therefore, it is desirable to appropriately set the sleep time in the intermittent operation so as to achieve power saving while maintaining the responsiveness of communication.
Patent document 1 discloses the following technique: in a meter reading system for performing automatic meter reading of a water meter, a wireless device connected to the water meter performs intermittent reception to reduce power consumption. The wireless device described in patent document 1 normally performs intermittent reception with a long intermittent period, and when a command to shorten the intermittent period is received from another wireless device that performs wireless communication with the wireless device, the intermittent period is shortened. By shortening the intermittent period, the sleep time is also shortened. Thus, the meter reading system described in patent document 1 generally reduces power consumption of the wireless device, and shortens the data acquisition time by shortening the sleep time when data acquisition is requested at any time such as at the time of installation or maintenance.
However, in order to realize an automatic meter reading service for gas and water and a data collection service for monitoring, control, and the like via a network constructed for automatic meter reading of electric energy, the communication terminal needs to perform a process of joining to the network before performing data communication for providing the service. The communication terminal performs a join process in an active state, and when the join process is completed, repeats the active state and the sleep state for each intermittent cycle, thereby performing normal communication for providing a service. The sleep time in the intermittent period of the normal communication is, for example, 30 seconds.
On the other hand, the communication terminal is generally in the dormant state even when the joining process fails, and when the dormant state is completed, the joining process is performed again. The reason why the joining process fails may be considered as a reason that there is no smart meter belonging to a network to which the communication terminal can join in the vicinity, the communication environment is not good, and the like, and these factors are not necessarily eliminated after the usual communication sleep time. Although the main cause of the joining process failure is not eliminated, the communication terminal wastes power if frequently shifted to the activated state. Therefore, the sleep time after the joining process fails is set to be longer than the sleep time in the normal intermittent operation.
Documents of the prior art
Patent literature
Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 8-70488
Disclosure of Invention
Technical problems to be solved by the invention
However, the automatic meter reading of the electric energy has a certain limit on a metering cycle of the electric energy, and on the other hand, a monitoring control service using a meter such as gas or tap water or various sensors does not have a limit on a collection cycle, and the collection cycle differs depending on a request of a manager or the like. Therefore, if the sleep time after the join process fails is uniformly set, the service requirement may not be met. Therefore, it is difficult to set an appropriate sleep time suitable for the demand while suppressing the battery consumption.
The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a communication terminal capable of setting an appropriate sleep time.
Means for solving the problems
In order to solve the above problem and achieve the object, a communication terminal of the present disclosure performs an intermittent operation in which a 1 st state and a 2 nd state, which consumes less power than the 1 st state, are alternately repeated, the communication terminal including: a battery driving a battery of the communication terminal; a 1 st communication processing unit which is capable of communicating with a 2 nd service system for providing a 2 nd service via a communication network constructed for the 1 st service; and a 2 nd communication processing unit, the 2 nd communication processing unit being capable of performing communication with the connected device. The communication terminal further includes a control section that performs a joining process of joining the communication network with the communication network via the 1 st communication processing section in the 1 st state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails. The communication terminal further includes an intermittent operation processing unit configured to transition the communication terminal to the 2 nd state if the joining process fails, determine a sleep time, which is a duration of the 2 nd state after the joining process fails, based on the number of times the joining process is repeated, and transition the communication terminal to the 1 st state after the sleep time elapses.
Effects of the invention
The communication terminal of the present disclosure has an effect of being able to set an appropriate sleep time.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an overall system including a communication system according to an embodiment.
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration obtained by embodying fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication terminal and a gas meter according to the embodiment.
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the SM of the embodiment.
Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing one example of joining processing steps in the communication terminal of the embodiment.
Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating one example of a re-search sleep schedule of an embodiment.
Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating the setting of the SM re-search sleep time of the embodiment.
Detailed Description
Hereinafter, a communication terminal, a communication system, a power saving control method, and a power saving control program according to embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Description of the preferred embodiment
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an overall system including a communication system according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the overall system of the embodiment includes: 1 st service systems 10, 20, 30 that perform processing for providing 1 st service; and communication systems 11, 21, 31 configured for each of the 1 st service systems 10, 20, 30. The overall system further includes 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 that perform processing for providing the 2 nd service. In addition, the entire system itself is also 1 communication system.
The 1 st service is, for example, an automatic meter reading service of usage amount of electric power, gas, water supply and drainage, a monitoring control service based on various sensor data, and the like. For example, in the case where the 1 st service is an automatic meter reading service of usage of electric power, gas, water supply/drainage, or the like, the 1 st service systems 10, 20, and 30 are automatic meter reading systems that manage meter data collected via the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, respectively. For example, when the 1 st service is a monitoring control service, the 1 st service systems 10, 20, and 30 are monitoring control systems that perform monitoring control based on sensor data collected via the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, respectively.
The 1 st service means a service having a communication system constructed for the service, and the 1 st services provided by the 1 st service systems 10, 20, and 30 may be the same type of service or different types of services. For example, the 1 st service provided by the 1 st service systems 10, 20, 30 may be heterogeneous services such that the 1 st service provided by the 1 st service system 10 is an automatic meter reading service of electric power usage and the 1 st service provided by the 1 st service system 20 is a monitor control service.
Each of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31 includes a plurality of communication devices. Each of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31 is a communication network constructed for the 1 st service. Each communication device constituting the communication system 11 may be connected wirelessly, may be connected by a dedicated line, may be connected by a power line, or may be connected via a mobile communication network provided for communication of a mobile terminal. Similarly, the communication devices constituting the communication systems 21 and 31 may be connected wirelessly, may be connected by dedicated lines, may be connected by power lines, or may be connected via a mobile communication network provided for communication with mobile terminals.
Each of the communication systems 11, 21, 31 is connectable to the 2 nd service system 40 and the 2 nd service system 50, respectively, via a WAN (Wide Area Network) 60. In addition, in fig. 1, each of the communication systems 11, 21, 31 is connected to each of the 2 nd service systems 40, 50, respectively, via the WAN60, but the connection manner thereof is not limited to the example via the WAN 60.
The 2 nd service means a service having no communication system configured for the service, and the 2 nd services provided by the 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 may be the same type of service or different types of services. The 2 nd service is, for example, an automatic meter reading service of the usage amount of electric power, gas, tap water, or the like, a monitoring control service based on various sensor data, or the like. Further, the 2 nd service may be a service that collects or distributes data, or the like.
The communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 are communication devices that do not belong to any of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, and communicate with any of the 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 via any of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, thereby implementing the 2 nd service. That is, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, 1-22 perform communication for the 2 nd service. In detail, in the example shown in fig. 1, the communication terminals 1-1 and 1-2 communicate with any of the 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 via the communication system 11, the communication terminals 1-10 communicate with any of the 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 via the communication system 21, and the communication terminals 1-21 and 1-22 communicate with any of the 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 via the communication system 31. Thus, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 communicate with any of the 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 via the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, thereby providing the 2 nd service without constructing a new communication network for the 2 nd service. That is, the 2 nd service can be efficiently realized by using the existing communication systems 11, 21, and 31 as infrastructure.
In the example shown in fig. 1, 31 st service systems 10, 20, 30 are illustrated, but the number of 1 st service systems is not limited thereto. Further, in the example shown in fig. 1, 2 nd service systems 40, 50 are illustrated, but the number of 2 nd service systems is not limited thereto. In addition, a plurality of 2 nd services may coexist within the same communication system. Further, in the example shown in fig. 1, 5 communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, 1-22 are illustrated, but the number of communication terminals is not limited thereto.
In the present embodiment, although the 2 nd service is efficiently provided by using the existing communication systems 11, 21, and 31 as infrastructure facilities, the example is described, but the method of communicating the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 with the corresponding 2 nd service systems 40 and 50 is not limited to this. For example, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, 1-22 may constitute dedicated communication systems for the 2 nd service together with the corresponding 2 nd service systems 40, 50, respectively. Alternatively, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, 1-22 may communicate with the corresponding 2 nd service systems 40, 50 using a common line or the like other than the communication systems 11, 21, 31.
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example obtained by embodying fig. 1. In fig. 2, the 1 st service systems 10 and 20, the communication systems 11 and 21, and the 2 nd service system 40 in fig. 1 are embodied. In fig. 2, as a specific example, the following example is shown: the 1 st service provided by the 1 st service systems 10 and 20 is an automatic meter reading service for the amount of power used, and the 2 nd service provided by the 2 nd service system 40 is an automatic meter reading service for the amount of gas used. The automatic power meter reading system 9 shown in fig. 2 is an example of the 1 st service system 10 shown in fig. 1, and manages a measurement result of a power usage amount and the like. The automatic power meter reading system 9 is connected to a communication system 11 configured to automatically read the amount of power used. Similarly, the communication system 21 is constructed for automatic meter reading of the amount of power used, and is connected to an automatic power meter reading system, not shown, which is an example of the 1 st service system 20 shown in fig. 1.
The gas meter reading system 7 is an example of the 2 nd service system 40 shown in fig. 1. In fig. 2, the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 11, and the communication terminals 1-10 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 21. The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 are often installed in places where it is difficult to secure a commercial power supply together with the gas meter. Therefore, the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 are often driven by batteries, and power saving is desired. The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6, 1-10 perform an intermittent operation in which a startup state (Active state: active state) which is the 1 st state and a Sleep state (Sleep state: sleep state) which is the 2 nd state and consumes less power than the 1 st state are alternately repeated to achieve power saving. A communication method in consideration of power saving of the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6, 1-10 will be described later.
The following example is illustrated below, as shown in fig. 2: the 1 st service provided by the 1 st service systems 10 and 20 is an automatic meter reading service for the amount of power used, and the 2 nd service is an automatic meter reading service for the amount of gas used, but the contents of the 1 st service and the 2 nd service are not limited to these.
As shown in fig. 2, the communication system 11 includes smart meters (hereinafter abbreviated as SM) 2-1 to 2-13 that measure the amount of power used and transmit the measurement result to the automatic power meter reading system 9. The communication system 11 also includes a concentrator station, concentrator 3-1, that will receive the metering result sets from the SMs 2-1-2-6, and a concentrator station, concentrator 3-2, that will receive the metering result sets from the SMs 2-7-2-11. Concentrators 3-1 and SM 2-1-2-6 form a wireless multi-hop network. Concentrators 3-2 and SM 2-7-2-11 form a power line multi-hop network. The concentrators 3-1 and 3-2 are connected to an HES (Head End System) 6-1, which is a communication management device that manages communication in the communication System 11, via a WAN 5.
The multihop network constructed by the concentrators 3-1 and 3-2 and the SMs 2-1 to 2-11 is the same as the multihop network in a general smart meter system, and descriptions of path construction and the like in the multihop network are omitted. As in the multi-hop network in a general smart meter system, the path in the wireless multi-hop network can be changed. Although not shown in fig. 2, 1 concentrator is illustrated in each of the wireless multihop network and the power line multihop network, but generally, a plurality of concentrators are provided in each of the wireless multihop network and the power line multihop network.
The SMs 2-12, 2-13 are connected to the HES6-1 via the mobile communication network 4 and the WAN5 provided for communication of the mobile terminal. In fig. 2, for the sake of convenience of illustration, the mobile communication network 4 and the WAN5 are also shown within a broken line showing the communication system 11, but the mobile communication network 4 and the WAN5 are not included in the communication system 11. Further, the concentrators 3-1, 3-2 may be connected via the mobile communication network 4 to a communication management device, HES6-1, which manages communication within the communication system 11.
Thus, in the example shown in fig. 2, the communication system 11 includes the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 that perform communication by 3 types of communication systems, but the number of communication systems of the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 in the communication system 11 is not limited to 3. For example, SMs 2-1-2-13 within communication system 11 may all communicate via the same communication scheme. For example, SMs 2-1-2-13 within communication system 11 may all communicate over a wireless multi-hop network.
The communication system 21 shown in fig. 2 includes HES6-2 and SMs 2-21, 2-22. Although not shown in fig. 2, in the communication system 21, for example, 1 or more of 3 communication methods, such as a wireless multihop network, a power line multihop network, and the mobile communication network 4, are used, similarly to the communication system 11. Here, the SMs 2-21, 2-22 constitute a wireless multi-hop network together with a concentrator, not shown. The HES6-2 is a communication management device that manages communication within the communication system 21.
Hereinafter, SM2 will be referred to when SM2-1 to 2-13, 2-21, and 2-22 are each represented without distinction, concentrator 3 will be referred to when concentrators 3-1 and 3-2 are each represented without distinction, and HES6 will be referred to when HES6-1 and 6-2 are each represented without distinction. In fig. 2, 15 SMs 2 are illustrated, but in reality, since the SMs 2 are installed in each home of the electric power consumers, the number of the SMs 2 is more than 15. Generally, the communication system 11 is a large-scale system including a plurality of SMs 2 in a wide area. SM2-1 to 2-13 are examples of a plurality of communication apparatuses constituting the communication system 11, and SM2-21 and 2-22 are examples of a plurality of communication apparatuses constituting the communication system 21. A part of SM2 performs communication based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.15.4g/4e, for example.
The communication devices 1-1 to 1-6 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 11. Specifically, the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 can join the SM network a, which is a network configured by communication devices belonging to the communication system 11. The communication devices belonging to the communication system 11 include the SM2-1 to 2-13, the concentrators 3-1, 3-2, and the HES6-1. Similarly, the communication devices 1 to 10 can communicate with the gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 21. Specifically, the communication terminals 1 to 10 can join the SM network B, which is a network constituted by communication devices belonging to the communication system 21. The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 can join the SM network by performing network joining processing for the corresponding SM network. As the network joining process, any process may be used, and a general process can be used.
In the present embodiment, SM2-1 to SM 2-13 have a function as a general smart meter, and can perform communication with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 of the communication system 11 by performing a network join process with the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6. Similarly, the SMs 2 to 21 and 2 to 22 function as a general smart meter, and can perform communication with the gas meter automatic reading system 7 via the communication terminals 1 to 10 of the communication system 21 by performing a network joining process with the communication terminals 1 to 10.
The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6, 1-10 are connected to gas meters 70-1 to 70-6, 70-10, which are one example of devices, respectively. The gas meters 70-1-70-6 and 70-10 respectively measure the use amount of the gas and output the measurement results to the communication terminals 1-6 and 1-10. The communication devices 1-1 to 1-6 transmit the measurement results to the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 11. The communication devices 1 to 10 transmit the measurement results to the gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 21. Thus, the automatic gas meter reading system 7 can collect the usage amounts of the gas measured by the gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 via the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10. The gas meters 70-1 to 70-6, 70-10 are one example of devices connected to a communication terminal. Since the devices can utilize the network by being connected to the devices in this manner, the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 may also be referred to as IoT terminals that implement IoT (Internet of Things). Hereinafter, the communication terminal 1 is referred to as a communication terminal 1 when each of the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 is not separately indicated, and the gas meter 70 is referred to as a gas meter 70 when each of the gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 is not separately indicated.
In the configuration example shown in fig. 2, automatic meter reading of the usage amount of gas can be realized by using the SM network a and the SM network B, which are constructed for automatic meter reading of the usage amount of electric power. In general, a plurality of SMs 2 are arranged in a wide range, and the SM network a and the SM network B are large-scale networks. In the configuration example shown in fig. 2, by using such a wide-area and large-scale SM network, it is possible to collect measurement results of the usage amount of gas from a plurality of gas consumers over a wide range without newly constructing a network for automatically recording the usage amount of gas.
Next, a description will be given of configuration examples of the communication terminal 1 and the gas meter 70. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the communication terminal 1 and the smart meter 70 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the communication terminal 1 includes an antenna 100, a wireless communication processing unit 101, a control unit 102, a connected device communication processing unit 103, an intermittent operation processing unit 104, a storage unit 105, and a battery 106. The battery 106 serves as a power source to drive the communication terminal 1.
The wireless communication processing unit 101 is a 1 st communication processing unit that can communicate with the gas meter reading system 7, which is a 2 nd service system for providing the 2 nd service, via a communication network configured for the 1 st service. Specifically, the wireless communication processing unit 101 performs wireless communication with the SM2 via the antenna 100. The wireless communication processing unit 101 includes a communication circuit for performing communication according to the wireless communication method between the SMs 2. Here, although an example in which the communication terminal 1 performs wireless communication with the SM2 is described, the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the SM2 may be wired communication. When the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the SM2 is performed by wired communication, the communication terminal 1 includes a communication processing unit that performs communication processing according to a communication method of wired communication, instead of the antenna 100 and the wireless communication processing unit 101.
The connected device communication processing section 103 is a 2 nd communication processing section that can perform communication with a connected device. The connected device communication processing unit 103 stores the data received from the device in the storage unit 105. For example, the connected device communication processing unit 103 stores meter reading data received from the gas meter 70, which is one example of a device, in the storage unit 105. The connected device communication processing unit 103 includes a communication circuit for performing communication according to a communication method between devices. Fig. 3 shows a state in which the communication terminal 1 is connected to a gas meter 70, which is an example of a device. Hereinafter, an example in which the communication terminal 1 is connected to the gas meter 70 will be described, but the device connected to the communication terminal 1 is not limited to the gas meter 70, and may be various meters such as a water supply and sewerage system, and various sensors for monitoring, control, data collection, and the like. Here, the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the device is wired communication, but may be wireless communication.
The control unit 102 controls the operation of the communication terminal 1. For example, when a control instruction for the gas meter 70, which is an example of a device, is received from the gas meter reading system 7 via the wireless communication processing unit 101, the control unit 102 causes the connected device communication processing unit 103 to execute a communication process with the device. For example, when it is time to acquire regular meter reading data from the gas meter 70, the control unit 102 transmits a transmission instruction of the meter reading data to the gas meter 70 via the connected device communication processing unit 103. When the transmission timing of the regular meter reading data to the gas meter reading system 7 is reached, the control unit 102 transmits the meter reading data stored in the storage unit 105 to the gas meter reading system 7 via the wireless communication processing unit 101. Further, the control unit 102 requests the gas meter 70 to acquire data corresponding to the control instruction based on the control instruction received from the gas meter reading system 7. In addition, the control unit 102 performs an joining process of joining an SM network between SM networks as a communication network via the wireless communication processing unit 101 in the 1 st state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails.
The intermittent operation processing section 104 controls the intermittent operation of the communication terminal 1. The intermittent operation processing unit 104, for example, shifts the communication terminal 1 to a Sleep (Sleep) state when the joining process fails, determines a Sleep time, which is a duration of the Sleep (Sleep) after the joining process fails, based on the number of times the joining process is repeated, and shifts the communication terminal 1 to an Active (Active) state after the Sleep time elapses. The operation of the intermittent operation processing section 104 will be described later.
The control Unit 102 and the intermittent operation Processing Unit 104 are realized by, for example, processing circuits including processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). The storage unit 105 is a memory for storing data and the like used by the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 for processing. When the respective functions implemented by the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 are provided as software, the storage unit 105 stores a program for the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 to execute the respective functions, and the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 are realized by executing the program by a processor. The program may be provided by a storage medium or a communication medium. This program includes a power saving control program for performing power saving control in the communication terminal 1 of the present embodiment.
The intermittent operation processing unit 104 includes: a state determination unit (111) for managing a state relating to power saving of the communication terminal; a timer 112 that measures the duration of the Sleep state, i.e., a Sleep time (Sleep time); and a sleep time determination unit 113 for determining the sleep time. As described above, the communication terminal 1 performs the intermittent operation of repeating the active state and the sleep state for power saving. The states related to power saving of the communication terminal 1 include 2 states of an active state and a sleep state. The sleep state is a state that consumes less power than the active state. The definitions of the sleep state and the active state may be arbitrary as long as the power consumption of the sleep state is smaller than that of the active state. In general, since a large amount of power is consumed in transmission processing of wireless communication, at least the transmission function of the wireless communication processing unit 101 is stopped in the sleep state. In the sleep state, the operating frequencies of the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104, that is, the operating frequencies of the processors that implement the processing circuits of the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104, may be set lower than those in the active state.
Before performing the normal operation, the communication terminal 1 performs an attach process for attaching to the SM network. The normal operation is, for example, an operation for transmitting a meter reading result measured by the gas meter 70 to the gas automatic meter reading system 7, an operation for monitoring and controlling the operation, and the like. The communication terminal 1 is in the sleep state when the joining process fails, and performs the joining process again when the sleep state is completed. The reason why the joining process fails may be considered as a reason that there is no smart meter belonging to a network to which the communication terminal can join in the vicinity, a communication environment is not good, and the like, and these factors are not necessarily eliminated after a normal communication sleep time. Although the cause of the joining process failure is not eliminated, power is wasted when the communication terminal frequently shifts to the active state, and therefore the sleep time after the joining process failure is set to be longer than the sleep time in the normal intermittent operation.
However, if the sleep time after the joining process fails is uniformly set to a long time such as 10 hours, it is difficult for the worker to confirm the connection to the network if the joining process fails during a confirmation operation such as when the communication terminal is installed. Therefore, since the joining process is executed again by restarting the communication terminal or the like, the job cannot be efficiently performed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the sleep time determination unit 113 determines the sleep time after the joining process has failed, based on the number of times the joining process has failed, that is, the number of times the joining process has been repeated. Specifically, the sleep time determination unit 113 determines the sleep time such that the sleep time after the joining process has failed becomes longer as the number of times of repeating the joining process increases. For example, the sleep time is determined so that the sleep time when the number of joining processes is 2 nd order which is more than 1 st order becomes longer than the sleep time when the number of joining processes which is the number of times of repeating the joining processes is 1 st order. Thus, when the joining process fails due to a short-time communication failure or the like, the joining process can be performed again in a short time, and thus the work efficiency at the time of setting the communication terminal or the like can be improved. In addition, the join process may fail multiple times due to the absence of smart meters nearby, etc. At this time, the sleep time determination unit 113 sets the sleep time to be long, and therefore, can suppress wasteful startup, and therefore can suppress power consumption. Hereinafter, the sleep time after the joining process fails is also referred to as an SM re-search sleep time.
The sleep time determination unit 113 determines the sleep time and notifies the timer 112 of the determined sleep time. In the normal operation, the sleep time determination unit 113 determines the sleep time based on, for example, information indicating the sleep time for the normal operation stored in the storage unit 105, and notifies the timer 112 of the determined sleep time. The sleep time during the normal operation is, for example, about 15 seconds, but the sleep time during the normal operation is not limited to this. When the joining process fails, the sleep time determination unit 113 determines the SM re-search sleep time based on the joining process count, which is the number of times the joining process failed, and notifies the timer 112 of the determined SM re-search sleep time. The decision method of the SM in the sleep time decision section 113 to re-search for the sleep time will be described later.
The timer 112 measures an elapsed time from the start of the sleep state, that is, the end time of the active state, and if the elapsed time is the sleep time notified from the sleep time determination unit 113, the timer 112 notifies the state determination unit 111 that the sleep time has elapsed.
When the timer 112 notifies that the sleep time has elapsed, the state determination unit 111 changes the operating frequency of the control unit 102 to the active state, or changes the wireless communication processing unit 101 to a state in which transmission and reception are possible, thereby causing the communication terminal 1 to transition to the active state. Further, when the end condition of the active state is satisfied after the active state is started, the state determination unit 111 changes the operating frequency of the control unit 102 or causes the wireless communication processing unit 101 to sleep, thereby causing the communication terminal 1 to shift to the sleep state. The termination condition of the active state may be any condition such as a condition that a predetermined startup time has elapsed, or a condition that a process to be executed in the active state is terminated. When the activated state ends, the state determination unit 111 notifies the timer 112 that the activated state has ended.
Next, a configuration example of the gas meter 70 will be described. As shown in fig. 3, the gas meter 70 includes a communication processing unit 71, a control unit 72, a storage unit 73, and a measurement unit 74. When the device connected to the communication terminal 1 is a variety of meters such as a water supply/drainage channel, the device has the same configuration as the gas meter 70, although the measurement target of the measurement unit 74 is different. When the device connected to the communication terminal 1 is a variety of sensors for monitoring, control, data collection, and the like, the device may include a detection unit instead of the measurement unit 74, and may include a communication processing unit 71, a control unit 72, and a storage unit 73 in the same manner as the gas meter 70. The detection unit may be a detector for detecting temperature, humidity, or the like, or may be a camera or the like for acquiring an image.
The communication processing unit 71 performs communication with the terminal device 1. The control unit 72 controls the operation of the gas meter 70. Specifically, for example, when receiving an instruction to transmit meter reading data, which is a measurement result of the measuring unit 74, via the communication processing unit 71, the control unit 72 transmits the measurement result of the measuring unit 74 as meter reading data to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71.
The metering unit 74 meters the amount of gas used, and transmits the measurement result to the control unit 72. The measurement unit 74 may perform measurement at a predetermined cycle, or may perform measurement when instructed by the control unit 72. The control unit 72 stores the measurement result in the storage unit 73, and when receiving an instruction to transmit meter reading data, reads the measurement result from the storage unit 73 and transmits the result to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71. The measurement unit 74 may directly store the measurement result in the storage unit 73. When the autonomous data notification is valid, the measurement result is read from the storage unit 73 at predetermined intervals and transmitted to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71. The control unit 72 may transmit the measurement result received from the measurement unit 74 to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71.
In the case where the device connected to the communication terminal 1 is provided with a detection section instead of the metering section 74, the detection result of the detection section is similarly transmitted from the device to the communication terminal 1 instead of the above-described metering result.
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of SM2 of the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 4, the SM2 includes a communication section 201 and a meter 202. The meter 202 measures the amount of power used and outputs the measured amount to the communication unit 201. The communication unit 201 transmits the measurement result received from the meter 202 to the automatic power meter reading system 9 via the other SM2, the concentrator 3, and the HES6, or receives the control signal transmitted from the HES6, and operates based on the received control signal. The communication section 201 includes a communication processing section 211, a 1 st control section 212, a connected device communication processing section 213, a storage section 214, and a 2 nd control section 215. The communication processing section 211 can communicate with the other SM2 and the concentrator 3. The communication processing unit 211 can communicate with the communication terminal 1. The communication performed by the communication processing unit 211 may be wired communication or wireless communication. The communication processing unit 211 includes a communication circuit for performing communication according to a communication method. When the communication processing unit 211 performs wireless communication, the communication processing unit 211 includes an antenna.
The 1 st control unit 212 controls an operation related to an automatic meter reading service that is the usage amount of electric power of the 1 st service, that is, an operation as a general smart meter. Since the operation of the 1 st control unit 212 is the same as that of a general SM, detailed description thereof is omitted. The 2 nd control unit 215 controls the operation related to the 2 nd service, that is, the operation as an access point for relaying the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the gas meter reading system 7.
The 1 st control section 212 and the 2 nd control section 215 are realized by, for example, processing circuits, and the processing circuits are, for example, a CPU, an MPU, or the like. The 1 st control unit 212 and the 2 nd control unit 215 may be implemented by the same processing circuit or may be implemented by different processing circuits. The storage unit 214 is used to store data and the like used by the 1 st control unit 212 and the 2 nd control unit 215 in processing. Further, in the case where the respective functions implemented by the 1 st control part 212 are provided as software, the storage part 214 stores the 1 st program for the 1 st control part 212 to execute the respective functions, and the 1 st program is executed by the 1 st control part 212. Similarly, in the case where each function implemented by the 2 nd control unit 215 is provided as software, the storage unit 214 stores the 2 nd program for the 2 nd control unit 215 to execute each function, and the 2 nd program is executed by the 2 nd control unit 215. The 1 st program and the 2 nd program may be provided by a recording medium, or may also be provided by a communication medium. The 1 st and 2 nd programs may be simultaneously installed on the SM2, or the 2 nd program may be installed on a general SM on which the 1 st program has been installed later, thereby implementing the SM2 shown in fig. 4.
The connected device communication processing section 213 receives the measurement result from the meter 202 and stores it in the storage section 214. The measurement result stored in the storage unit 214 is read by the 1 st control unit 212 and transmitted to the automatic power meter reading system 9 via the communication processing unit 211. If the communication unit 201 is a communication device, it may be considered that a plurality of communication devices constituting the communication system 11 are the communication units 201 of a plurality of SMs 2 constituting the communication system 11. Similarly, the plurality of communication apparatuses constituting the communication system 21 may be considered as the communication units 201 of the plurality of SMs 2 constituting the communication system 21.
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, as described above, the communication terminal 1 communicates with the gas automatic meter reading system 7 via the SM network, thereby realizing the gas automatic meter reading service as an example of the 2 nd service. In order to communicate with the gas automatic meter reading system 7 via the SM network, the communication terminal 1 first performs a joining process for joining the SM network.
The joining process includes, for example, a process of searching for an SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect, and an authentication process. Generally, in order to prevent an unauthorized terminal from being connected to an SM network, identification information of a communication terminal 1 that allows connection is registered in each SM network. Hereinafter, information for identifying the communication terminal 1 that allows connection is registered in the HES6, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be registered in the SM2. The information for identifying the communication terminal 1 may be any information, but for example, a terminal identifier such as a Media Access Control (MAC) address may be used. In the joining process, the process of searching for an SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect is a process of searching for an SM network to which it is registered, specifically, searching for an SM2 constituting the SM network.
The process of searching SM2 is performed according to the following steps, for example. The control unit 102 of the communication terminal 1 transmits a join request requesting to join the SM network by broadcasting via the wireless communication processing unit 101. When the 2 nd control unit 215 of the SM2 receives the join request from the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 211, it generates a registration confirmation requesting confirmation of whether or not the communication terminal 1 that is the source of the join request is registered, and transmits the registration confirmation to the HES6 via the communication processing unit 211. In the registration confirmation, the identification information of the communication terminal 1 is stored. When the identification information included in the registration confirmation received from the SM2 is the registered identification information, the HES6 transmits a registration response indicating that registration has been performed to the transmission source SM2 of the registration confirmation. When the SM2 receives a registration response indicating that the registration is completed from the HES6 via the communication processing unit 211, it transmits a join response to the communication terminal 1 by unicast. The joining response is received by the communication terminal 1, and the process of searching the SM2 ends.
Next, the authentication process will be described. Authentication information for performing an authentication process of the communication terminal 1 is also registered in the HES6. Here, an example in which the HES6 performs the authentication process is described, but an authentication server, not shown, that performs the authentication process of the communication terminal 1 may be provided for each SM network different from the HES6. Although the explanation is omitted, the SM2 also performs an authentication process, and this authentication process may be performed by the HES6 or by an authentication server not shown. The Authentication of the SM2 is performed, for example, according to RFC (Request For Comments) 5191PANA (Protocol For authenticating in Network Access), but the Authentication step is not limited thereto. The authentication process of the communication terminal 1 may be performed in the same procedure as the authentication process of the SM2, or may be performed in a different procedure.
The above-described joining process is performed at the time of installation, transfer, setting change, and the like of the communication terminal 1, and if the joining process is successful, the communication terminal 1 shifts to a normal operation. On the other hand, the join processing may fail. For example, in an SM search, that is, a process of searching for an SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect, the search of the SM2 may fail. As the cause of the SM2 search failure, it is considered that although there is no SM2 belonging to the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect in the vicinity of the communication terminal 1 and there is an SM2 belonging to the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect in the vicinity of the communication terminal 1, the communication environment is not good or the SM2 fails. Further, it is also conceivable that the authentication process in the joining process fails because the communication environment is not good and the authentication information on the communication terminal 1 that is the request source of the authentication process is not registered in the SM network. If the cause of failure in either SM search or authentication processing is temporary deterioration of the communication environment, it is conceivable to resolve this cause in a short time. On the other hand, when the SM2 belonging to the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect does not exist in the periphery of the communication terminal 1, the cause of the joining process failure is not generally eliminated immediately, and therefore, power consumption is wasted if the joining process is frequently performed in an active state.
In general, it is not known what cause the joining process failed, but when the joining process failed consecutively a plurality of times, the possibility of not being a temporary cause becomes high. Therefore, the communication terminal 1 of the present embodiment determines the SM re-search sleep time according to the number of times of consecutive failures of the joining process. Specifically, the communication terminal 1 sets the SM re-search sleep time when the 2 nd joining process continuously fails to be longer than the SM re-search sleep time when the 1 st joining process continuously fails, and sets the SM re-search sleep time when the joining process continuously fails 3 times or more longer than the SM re-search sleep time when the 2 nd joining process continuously fails, for example.
Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the joining process in the communication terminal 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, the control unit 102 of the communication terminal 1 initializes n indicating the number of execution times of the joining process to 0 (step S1).
Next, the communication terminal 1 performs an SM search (step S2). Specifically, the control unit 102 transmits a join request requesting to join the SM network storing the identification information of the communication terminal 1 by broadcasting via the wireless communication processing unit 101. The join request includes identification information of the communication terminal 1. For example, an Enhanced Beacon Request (Enhanced Beacon Request) frame in IEEE 802.15.4 may be used as the join Request, but the join Request is not limited thereto. The SM2 that has received the join request transmits a registration confirmation requesting confirmation of whether or not the communication terminal 1 is registered to the HES6, and the HES6 transmits a registration response indicating that the communication terminal 1 is registered to the SM2 when the communication terminal 1 is registered. When the communication terminal 1 is not registered, the HES6 transmits a registration response indicating that the registration is not performed to the SM2. When the registration response indicates that the communication terminal 1 is registered, the SM2 transmits a join response including identification information of the SM2 and network identification information indicating an SM network to which the SM2 belongs to the communication terminal 1. When the registration response indicates that the communication terminal 1 is not registered, the SM2 transmits a response indicating that it is not registered to the communication terminal 1. When a plurality of radio frequencies (radio channels) can be used, the communication terminal 1 may perform SM search for each radio frequency.
The communication terminal 1 determines whether the search of step S2 is successful (step S3). Specifically, the control unit 102 determines that the search is successful when receiving the join response including the identification information of the SM2 and the network identification information indicating the SM network to which the SM2 belongs via the wireless communication processing unit 101. The control unit 102 determines that the search has failed when no response is received from the SM2 within a certain time after the transmission of the join request, and when the response received within a certain time after the transmission of the join request is only a response indicating that the communication terminal 1 is not registered.
If the search is successful (yes in step S3), the communication terminal 1 executes authentication processing (step S4). Specifically, the communication terminal 1 performs an authentication process in accordance with a predetermined authentication procedure such as PANA authentication. The communication terminal 1 determines whether or not the authentication is successful (step S5). Specifically, the control unit 102 determines that the authentication is successful when receiving a response indicating that the authentication is successful from the SM2 via the wireless communication processing unit 101, and determines that the authentication is failed otherwise.
If the authentication is successful (yes in step S5), the communication terminal 1 ends the joining process. When the joining process is finished, the communication terminal 1 performs a normal operation or another predetermined operation.
If no in step S3 and if no in step S5, communication terminal 1 adds 1 to n (step S6), determines the SM to re-search for the sleep time (step S7), and shifts to the sleep state (step S8). Specifically, the control unit 102 adds 1 to n, stores the value of n in the storage unit 105, and notifies the state determination unit 111 and the sleep time determination unit 113 of the joining process failure. When the control unit 102 notifies the sleep time determination unit 113 that the joining process has failed, the state determination unit 111 causes the communication terminal 1 to transition to the sleep state. The sleep time determination unit 113 determines an SM re-search sleep time based on the value of n stored in the storage unit 105, that is, the number of times of join processing failures, and sets the determined SM re-search sleep time to the timer 112. The sleep time determination unit 113 determines an SM re-search sleep time corresponding to the value of n stored in the storage unit 105, for example, from the re-search sleep time table stored in the storage unit 105.
After step S8, the communication terminal 1 determines whether or not the SM re-search sleep time has elapsed since the transition to the sleep state (step S9), and if the SM re-search sleep time has elapsed (no in step S9), repeats step S9. Specifically, the timer 112 determines whether or not the set SM re-search sleep time has elapsed, and notifies the state determination unit 111 of the fact when the SM re-search sleep time has elapsed, that is, when the set SM re-search sleep time has expired. When the SM re-search sleep time has elapsed (yes in step S9), the communication terminal 1 transitions to the active state (step S10) and repeats the processing from step S2. Specifically, when the state determination unit 111 receives the notification from the timer 112 that the SM re-search sleep time has elapsed, the control unit 102 shifts the communication terminal 1 to the active state, and enters the active state, and performs the processing from step S2 again.
As described above, the power saving control method of the present embodiment includes the joining processing step of performing the joining processing for joining the SM network with the SM network in the 1 st state; and a sleep step of shifting to a sleep state when the joining process fails and continuing the sleep state for a period of a sleep time. In addition, the power saving control method of the present embodiment includes a sleep time determination step of determining a sleep time after the joining process has failed based on the number of times of repeating the joining process; and a starting step of causing the communication terminal to transition to the 1 st state after the elapse of the sleep time. The joining processing step is executed again after the activation step, and the sleep step, the sleep time determination step, the activation step, and the joining processing step are executed again each time the joining processing fails in the joining processing step.
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the re-search schedule of the present embodiment. As described above, when the joining process fails consecutively a plurality of times, the possibility of a non-temporary cause is high, and therefore, in the present embodiment, if the number of consecutive failures of the joining process is large, the re-search sleep time is increased. In the example shown in fig. 6, in the case where the search or authentication fails in the joining process of the 1 st time, that is, in the case where the number of failures of the joining process is 1 time, the SM re-search sleep time is 60 seconds. Thus, the installation worker of the communication terminal 1 can immediately confirm the result of the 2 nd joining process on the site, and the work can be made efficient.
In addition, in the example shown in fig. 6, in the case where the search or authentication fails in the 2 nd joining process, the SM re-search sleep time is 30 minutes. Thus, if the 3 rd addition process is successful, if the manager of the meter or various sensors for gas, tap water, or the like serving as the 2 nd service sets the period for acquiring data from the device to be slightly longer than 30 minutes, the current measurement value, or the like can be transmitted before the next data is periodically acquired. For example, when the cycle of collecting meter reading data of a meter such as gas or tap water is 1 hour, the current meter reading data can be transmitted before the acquisition timing of the next meter reading data acquisition. The cycle of collecting meter-reading data is not limited to this example.
In addition, in the example shown in fig. 6, when the search or authentication fails in the joining process of 3 rd and later, i.e., 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th times \8230; \8230, the SM re-search sleep time is 24 hours. Thus, if the 4 th and subsequent addition processes are successful, if the manager of the meter or various sensors for gas, tap water, etc. serving as the 2 nd service sets the period for acquiring data from the device to 24 hours, the possibility of transmitting the current measurement value, etc. before the next data is periodically acquired can be improved. In meters such as gas meters or tap water meters, it is assumed that the period for acquiring meter reading data is different depending on the operator. For example, the collection period may vary from about 1 hour to about 24 hours, with each operator potentially varying. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, since the SM re-search sleep time is set in two stages, that is, the value of 30 minutes when the 2 nd joining process fails and the value of 24 hours when the joining processes after 3 rd fail, it is not necessary to change the SM re-search sleep time by the operator. Therefore, for example, even for an operator who sets the acquisition cycle of the meter-reading data to 1 hour or an operator who sets the acquisition cycle of the meter-reading data to 24 hours, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the communication terminal 1 while preventing the meter-reading data from being lost as much as possible. That is, in the present embodiment, it is possible to set an appropriate SM re-search sleep time according to the needs of the administrator while suppressing the consumption of the battery. In the SM network, the HES6 confirms the connection with the communication terminal 1 connected to the SM network in a cycle of, for example, about 1 day. By setting the SM re-search sleep time at the time of the search or authentication failure in the 3 rd and subsequent join processing to 24 hours, when the cycle of the connection confirmation by the HES6 is 24 hours, the possibility of the join processing being performed before the next connection confirmation can be increased. Further, since the communication terminal 1 does not transition to the active state until day 2, power consumption can be suppressed.
In this way, in the example shown in fig. 6, the re-search sleep schedule as the sleep schedule is a table in which information indicating the 1 st sleep time, which is a sleep time after the 1 st joining process failed, the 2 nd sleep time, which is a sleep time after the joining process whose joining process frequency is the 2 nd joining process failed, and the 3 rd sleep time, which is a sleep time after the joining process frequency is the 3 rd and subsequent joining processes failed, are associated with the joining process frequency. The 2 nd sleep time is longer than the 1 st sleep time, and the 3 rd sleep time is longer than the 2 nd sleep time. The intermittent operation processing unit 104 determines the sleep time as any one of the 1 st sleep time, the 2 nd sleep time, and the 3 rd sleep time by using the number of times of the joining processing and the re-search sleep schedule. By setting the 2 nd sleep time to be shorter than the data collection cycle in the 2 nd service such as the automatic meter reading service for gas and tap water, the possibility of performing the adding process again before the next data collection cycle and collecting data can be improved. In addition, by making the 1 st sleep time shorter than the time required for the setting job of the assumed communication terminal 1, the setting job can be efficiently performed. In addition, by making the 3 rd sleep time shorter than the cycle in which the SM network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal 1, it is possible to increase the possibility that the joining process is ended before the next connection confirmation.
The automatic meter reading of the electric quantity defines a measurement cycle of the electric quantity to some extent, and on the other hand, a monitoring control service using meters such as gas and tap water and various sensors does not define a collection cycle in some cases. Therefore, it is difficult to uniformly specify the SM re-search sleep time, which is the initial setting of the communication terminal 1, according to the collection period. In addition, it is also considered that the communication terminal 1 is generalized so that the communication terminal 1 can be used for any service, and in this case, if the SM re-search sleep time is uniformly set, there is a possibility that the demand corresponding to the service is not met. In contrast, in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, since the SM re-search sleep time in the case of a search or authentication failure is made longer in the joining process of the 3 rd and subsequent times than in the case of a search or authentication failure in the joining process of the 2 nd time, it is possible to suppress power consumption while supporting a service of a collection cycle slightly longer than 30 minutes.
In addition, the SM re-search sleep time shown in fig. 6 is an example, and a specific numerical value of the SM re-search sleep time is not limited to the example shown in fig. 6. In the example shown in fig. 6, the SM re-search sleep time is determined by 3 stages, but may be determined by 2 stages or may be determined by dividing into 4 stages or more. In addition, in the example shown in fig. 6, the SM re-search sleep time may be increased every time the number of failures of the joining process increases by 1 in the case where the number of failures of the joining process is 3 or less, but the SM re-search sleep time may be increased every time the number of failures of the joining process increases by a plurality of times such that the SM re-search sleep time is set to the same value when the number of failures is 1 and 2 and the SM re-search sleep time is increased when the number of failures is 3.
Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of setting of the SM re-search sleep time according to the present embodiment. First, if the communication terminal 1 is in the active state (step S11), the communication terminal 1 transmits a join request as a beacon signal by broadcasting (step S12). Fig. 7 shows an example in which the SM2 belonging to the SM network in which the communication terminal 1 is registered does not exist in the vicinity of the communication terminal 1, and the communication terminal 1 fails in the SM search. Since the joining response is not received even after the predetermined time has elapsed, communication terminal 1 sets SM re-search sleep time #1, which is the SM re-search sleep time corresponding to the number of failures of the joining process of 1, as the sleep time, and shifts to the sleep state (step S13). The SM re-search sleep time #1 is 60 seconds in the example shown in fig. 6.
When the SM re-search sleep time #1 has elapsed since the execution of step S13, the communication terminal 1 is in an active state (step S14), and transmits a join request again as a beacon signal by broadcasting (step S15). Since the joining response is not received even after the predetermined time has elapsed, communication terminal 1 sets SM re-search sleep time #2, which is the SM re-search sleep time corresponding to the number of failures of the joining process of 2 times, as the sleep time, and shifts to the sleep state (step S16). The SM re-search sleep time #2 is 30 minutes in the example shown in fig. 6.
When the SM re-search sleep time #2 has elapsed since the execution of step S16, the communication terminal 1 is in an active state (step S17), and transmits a join request again as a beacon signal by broadcasting (step S18). Since the joining response is not received even after the predetermined time has elapsed, the communication terminal 1 sets SM re-search sleep time #3, which is an SM re-search sleep time corresponding to 3 or less failed times of the joining process, as a sleep time, and shifts to the sleep state (step S19). The SM re-search sleep time #3 is 24 hours in the example shown in fig. 6.
Thereafter, steps S20 and S21 are performed in the same manner as steps S17 and S18. In addition, in fig. 7, the SM re-search sleep times #1 to #3 are not shown according to the length of the actual time, but schematically show that the SM re-search sleep time becomes long every time the number of failures increases. As described above, if the SM re-search sleep time #3 is 24 hours, for example, and the cause of the joining process failure is removed by newly setting the SM2 or the like, the communication terminal 1 succeeds in the joining process and can perform a normal operation thereafter.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the communication terminal 1 determines the sleep time based on the number of failures in the joining process. Therefore, it is possible to set an appropriate sleep time while suppressing battery consumption.
The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and may be combined with other known techniques, may be combined with each other, and may be partially omitted or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Description of the reference symbols
1. 1-1 to 1-6, 1-10, 1-21, 1-22 communication terminals, 2-1 to 2-13, 2-21, 2-22sm,7 gas automatic meter reading system, 10, 20, 30 1 st service system, 11, 21, 31 communication system, 40, 50 nd service system 2, 70-1 to 70-6, 70-10 gas meter, 71 communication processing part, 72, 102 control part, 73, 105, 214 storage part, 74 metering part, 100 antenna, 101 wireless communication processing part, 103, 213 connection equipment communication processing part, 104 intermittent operation processing part, 106 battery, 111 state determination part, 112 timer, 113 sleep time determination part, 201 communication part, 202 meter, 211 communication processing part, 212 st control part 1, 215 nd control part 2.

Claims (11)

1. A communication terminal that performs an intermittent operation in which a 1 st state and a 2 nd state, which consumes less power than the 1 st state, are alternately repeated, the communication terminal comprising:
a battery for driving the communication terminal;
a 1 st communication processing unit which is capable of communicating with a 2 nd service system for providing a 2 nd service via a communication network constructed for the 1 st service;
a 2 nd communication processing unit, the 2 nd communication processing unit being capable of performing communication with a connected device;
a control unit that performs a joining process of joining the communication network with the communication network via the 1 st communication processing unit in the 1 st state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails; and
and an intermittent operation processing unit configured to cause the communication terminal to transition to the 2 nd state if the joining process fails, determine a sleep time, which is a duration of the 2 nd state after the joining process fails, based on the number of times the joining process is repeated, and cause the communication terminal to transition to the 1 st state after the sleep time elapses.
2. The communication terminal of claim 1,
the 1 st service is an automatic meter reading service of the usage amount of electric power.
3. The communication terminal of claim 1 or 2,
the 2 nd service is an automatic meter reading service of the usage amount of fuel gas or an automatic meter reading service of the usage amount of tap water.
4. The communication terminal of claim 3,
the intermittent operation processing unit determines the sleep time so that the sleep time when the joining process count is a 2 nd count which is greater than the 1 st count is longer than the sleep time when the joining process count is a 1 st count which is the number of times the joining process is repeated.
5. The communication terminal of claim 4,
includes a storage unit that stores information indicating a 1 st sleep time that is the sleep time after the 1 st join processing fails, a 2 nd sleep time that is the sleep time after the 2 nd join processing fails, and a 3 rd sleep time that is the sleep time after the 3 rd join processing fails, in association with the number of join processing times, as a sleep time table,
the intermittent operation processing unit determines the sleep time as any one of the 1 st sleep time, the 2 nd sleep time, and the 3 rd sleep time using the joining processing count and the sleep schedule,
the 2 nd sleep time is longer than the 1 st sleep time, and the 3 rd sleep time is longer than the 2 nd sleep time.
6. The communication terminal of claim 5,
the 2 nd sleep time is shorter than the 2 nd in-service data collection period.
7. The communication terminal of claim 5 or 6,
the 1 st sleep time is shorter than a time required for a setting job assuming the communication terminal.
8. The communication terminal according to one of claims 5 to 7,
the 3 rd sleep time is shorter than a period in which the communication network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal.
9. A communication system, comprising:
a communication network constructed for the 1 st service;
a 2 nd service system for providing the 2 nd service; and
a plurality of communication terminals which perform an intermittent operation of alternately repeating a 1 st state and a 2 nd state with power consumption less than that of the 1 st state and can perform communication for providing the 2 nd service with the 2 nd service system via the communication network,
the plurality of communication terminals respectively include:
a battery driving the communication terminal;
a 1 st communication processing unit that is capable of communicating with a 2 nd service system for providing a 2 nd service via a communication network constructed for the 1 st service;
a 2 nd communication processing unit, the 2 nd communication processing unit being capable of performing communication with a connected device;
a control unit that performs a join process for joining the communication network with the communication network via the 1 st communication processing unit in the 1 st state, and repeats the join process if the join process fails; and
and an intermittent operation processing unit configured to cause the communication terminal to transition to the 2 nd state if the joining process fails, determine a sleep time, which is a duration of the 2 nd state after the joining process fails, based on the number of times the joining process is repeated, and cause the communication terminal to transition to the 1 st state after the sleep time elapses.
10. A power saving control method executed by a communication terminal that performs an intermittent action of alternately repeating a 1 st state and a 2 nd state that consumes less power than the 1 st state, the communication terminal comprising: a 1 st communication processing unit which is capable of communicating with a 2 nd service system for providing a 2 nd service via a communication network constructed for the 1 st service; and a 2 nd communication processing unit that is capable of communicating with a connected device, the power saving control method comprising:
a joining processing step of performing joining processing for joining the communication network with the communication network in the 1 st state;
if the joining process fails, transferring to the 2 nd state and continuing the dormancy step of the 2 nd state in the dormancy time period;
a sleep time determination step of determining the sleep time after the joining process has failed based on the number of times the joining process is repeated; and
a starting step of transferring the communication terminal to the 1 st state after the elapse of the sleep time,
the joining processing step is executed again after the activation step, and the sleep step, the sleep time decision step, the activation step, and the joining processing step are executed again each time joining processing fails in the joining processing step.
11. A power saving control program for causing a communication terminal that performs an intermittent operation of alternately repeating a 1 st state and a 2 nd state with power consumption less than that of the 1 st state to execute an adding process step, a sleep time determination step, and a start step, the communication terminal comprising: a 1 st communication processing unit that is capable of communicating with a 2 nd service system for providing a 2 nd service via a communication network constructed for the 1 st service; and a 2 nd communication processing section, the 2 nd communication processing section being capable of performing communication with the connected device,
a joining processing step of performing joining processing for joining the communication network with the communication network via the 1 st communication processing section in the 1 st state,
a sleep step of, in the sleep step, transitioning to the 2 nd state and continuing the 2 nd state for a sleep time period if the joining process fails,
a sleep time determination step of determining the sleep time after the joining process fails, based on the number of times the joining process is repeated in the sleep time determination step,
a start-up step of shifting the communication terminal to the 1 st state after the elapse of the sleep time in the start-up step,
the joining process step is executed again after the activation step, and the sleep step, the sleep time decision step, the activation step, and the joining process step are executed again every time joining process fails in the joining process step.
CN202080102316.5A 2020-06-26 2020-06-26 Communication terminal, communication system, power saving control method, and power saving control program Pending CN115769595A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/JP2020/025325 WO2021260938A1 (en) 2020-06-26 2020-06-26 Communication terminal, communication system, power-saving control method, and power-saving control program

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN115769595A true CN115769595A (en) 2023-03-07

Family

ID=78509627

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN202080102316.5A Pending CN115769595A (en) 2020-06-26 2020-06-26 Communication terminal, communication system, power saving control method, and power saving control program

Country Status (4)

Country Link
JP (1) JP6968312B1 (en)
CN (1) CN115769595A (en)
TW (1) TWI780779B (en)
WO (1) WO2021260938A1 (en)

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2001273578A (en) * 2000-03-27 2001-10-05 Omron Corp Meter-reading data transmitting method, meter-reading method and its device
US8189577B2 (en) * 2007-06-15 2012-05-29 Silver Spring Networks, Inc. Network utilities in wireless mesh communications networks
CN102546750B (en) * 2011-11-22 2015-12-09 大连交通大学 A kind of MAC protocol for wireless sensor networks method
JP5893925B2 (en) * 2012-01-12 2016-03-23 ホーチキ株式会社 Cooperation system
CN103476099B (en) * 2013-10-11 2016-06-01 清华大学 The dual dormancy method of wireless sensor node
WO2016152307A1 (en) * 2015-03-25 2016-09-29 日本電気株式会社 Communication device, communication method and program
WO2018225226A1 (en) * 2017-06-08 2018-12-13 三菱電機株式会社 Information collection device, automatic meter-reading system, and path updating method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
TWI780779B (en) 2022-10-11
TW202201993A (en) 2022-01-01
JP6968312B1 (en) 2021-11-17
WO2021260938A1 (en) 2021-12-30
JPWO2021260938A1 (en) 2021-12-30

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
WO2016106730A1 (en) Sleeping and awakening method and apparatus for master-slave network, and power-saving system for master-slave network
US10433270B1 (en) Synchronization for battery powered IoT networks
WO2013015048A1 (en) Wireless communication system and wireless relay station
US11585838B2 (en) Managing outage detections and reporting
US9078050B2 (en) Techniques for clock recovery in a mobile information collection network following a power outage
US20140211674A1 (en) Advantageous uses of instructions instructing stations of wlan networks to desist from transmissions
JP2022527191A (en) Point-to-point communication with low-power devices
US20130021956A1 (en) Synchronized comunication for mesh connected transceiver
US20220224995A1 (en) Method for reading fluid meters
JP6968312B1 (en) Communication terminals, communication systems, power saving control methods and power saving control programs
CN111465086B (en) Method and device for sending and receiving wake-up signal and electronic device
US11991622B2 (en) Battery-powered stationary measuring device for measuring or detecting a value at a utility installation
JP6944075B1 (en) Communication devices, communication device control methods, communication device control programs, and communication systems
JP2019193382A (en) Battery remaining amount estimation system, battery remaining amount estimation method, and battery remaining amount estimation program
JP7003330B1 (en) Communication terminals, communication systems, power saving control methods and power saving control programs
CN114222330A (en) Wireless sensor network communication system
KR101144751B1 (en) Multi-channel cluster-based wireless remote checking system
EP4009656B1 (en) Stationary measuring device for measuring or detecting a value at a utility installation
WO2021176713A1 (en) Communication terminal, communication device, communication management device, communication system, network joining method, and network joining program
Sun et al. Research and design of meter reading system based on zigbee wireless sensor network
EP2725827A1 (en) Node for a 6LoWPAN network
NZ600893B (en) Synchronised communication for mesh connected transceiver
JP2014131209A (en) Communication system and signal converter

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PB01 Publication
PB01 Publication
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: HK

Ref legal event code: DE

Ref document number: 40085967

Country of ref document: HK