DK201870523A1 - Communication structure for transmitting information - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication structure with at least one data collector (7, 8) and a communication unit (1) connectable to a central calculator (10) for transmitting information between said data collector (7, 8) and the central calculator (10), the communication unit (1) comprises the following: a data interface (2) by which the information in the form of data can be transmitted, the data interface (2) comprising a file system (3) for storing the data in a first data format and the data in the first data format can be transmitted by the data interface (2) by means of a first communication protocol provided to a data distributor unit (4) adapted to perform the transmission of the data in a second data format different from the first data format of another communication protocol, and a data bridge (5) is provided between the file system (3) and the data distributor unit (4), the data bridge (5) being arranged to import then take the second data format as data of the first data format into the file system (3) and / or export data of the first data format as data of the second data format from the file system (3).

Description

Communication structure for transmitting information

The present invention relates to a communication structure for transmitting information according to the preamble of claim 1 and a method for transmitting information between multiple measuring units and a central computer or calculator.

Technological background

Intelligent Consumers, also called Smart Meter, are Consumers, e.g. for energy, power, gas, water that is in a supply network and which shows the connected user in question the actual consumption and is integrated in a communication network. Intelligent consumption meters have the advantage that manual readings of the meter stands will lapse and short-term billing according to the actual consumption can be made on the supply side. Due to short-term readout intervals, a more accurate link between end-user tariffs and the evolution of stock market prices is again possible. The supply networks can also be utilized significantly better.

Intelligent consumption meters are usually assigned to residential units or residential buildings. The measurement data or consumption data obtained there can be read out in several different ways. Measurement data can e.g. is output via the power line (Power Line). In addition, measurement data can be transmitted in the form of data packets or telegrams also per. radio, e.g. in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band frequency range. These frequency ranges have the advantage that only a general frequency management authorization is needed from the providers.

Collection of measurement data per radio is either by means of stationary or mobile data collection devices or data collectors to which the consumption data determined by the consumption measuring devices is transmitted. The data collectors hereby concentrate or store the data (data concentrators) and subsequently send them to a central head unit (Head End), such as e.g. a central reg

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-2 device or an IT structure in the supplier's distribution center, where they are further processed for example. billing. In the data transmission between the data collectors and the central unit, there is usually a so-called far-reaching communication or tertiary communication which uses a specific communication protocol and a corresponding data format for data transmission.

Well-known prior art

DE 10 2014 102 007 B4 describes a method for transmitting data in which terminals transmit the data by means of data remote transmission to a data collector. The data collector in turn transmits the data by means of data remote transmission to a communication device of a central calculator. For this, a central data memory is provided on which the data collector can store the messages. For example, as the transmission protocol between the data collector and the calculator, an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used, where the messages are stored on an FTP server or a cloud server. This approach has the disadvantage that additional data collectors using a different communication protocol can only transmit data to the calculator by means of additional measures. For the implementation of the second communication protocol, e.g. an additional communication device is installed as a further measure, which consequently has its own data memory and control device. These measures can only be performed in a time and costly manner, so that such a connection can only be possible with corresponding disadvantages. In addition, additional communication units entail additional time- and cost-intensive maintenance and installation work.

The object of the present invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a communication structure that enables secure and inexpensive information transmission through various communication protocols in an easy manner.

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-3 Fulfillment of purpose

The present object is fulfilled by the whole doctrine of claim 1 and the lateral requirement. Suitable embodiments of the invention are claimed according to the subclaims.

The communication structure comprises at least one data collector and a communication device which can be connected to a central calculator where information can be transmitted between the relevant data collector and the central calculator. The communication unit comprises a data interface through which the information in the form of data is transmitted. The data interface comprises a file system or data memory for storing the data in a first data format, wherein the information transmission between the data collector and the central calculator is in the first data format by means of a first communication protocol.

According to the invention, the communication structure comprises a data distributor unit which serves to perform the transmission of the data in a second data format different from the first data format by a second communication protocol. In addition, a data bridge is arranged between the file system and the data distributor unit which can import the data of the second data format as data of the first data format into the file system and / or export data of the first data format as data of the second data format from the file system, ie. can convert the data formats and transmit them between the file system and the data distributor unit. This results in the advantage that the communication unit e.g. receives the data from multiple data collectors via multiple communication protocols, converts these and optionally can forward them to the central calculator via a single communication protocol. In this way, different data collectors with different communication protocols can be connected to the communication device. In contrast, an overall central calculator, e.g. only one interface for receiving the data, ie. should support only one communication protocol. The information transmission is thus considerably simplified. Advantageously, e.g. data collectors are thereby renewed incrementally, including older data collectors, e.g. still

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-4Communicates via an older communication protocol, can transmit information to the central calculators. The central calculator does not have to support the older communication protocol.

Preferably, if other communication protocol is an Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. This includes both MQTT specifications that are TCP / IP-based or not TCP / IP-based (such as, for example, MQTT-SN). Similarly, the data distributor unit may preferably be an MQTT broker responsible for distributing and assigning the data and preferably operating according to the Publish / Subscribe method. By using the MQTT protocol together with an additional protocol, the security of the information transmission can be particularly increased.

Conveniently, the data interface may be a web, cloud or file server. Preferably, it is an FTP server that provides a file system or at least part of a file system, ie. for example, includes a data memory (e.g., a hard drive) with file organization. Furthermore, when using such a file server, access rights can be checked, e.g. using the file server itself or an eligibility query in the file system.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the data collector and the central calculator each comprise only an interface and a communication protocol for transmitting the data. In this way, the structure of the data collector and / or the central calculator can be greatly simplified. In addition, the transmission of information throughout the communication system in terms of mode of transmission and transmission standard can be substantially standardized.

Furthermore, transmission means are provided which enable wireless and / or wired transmission between the communication unit and the data collector and / or between the communication unit and the central calculator. In the transmission means, e.g. this may also be a transmitting and receiving device or a wiring connection (eg Powerline).

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Preferably, the transmission of data between the communication unit and the data collector and / or the central calculator takes place via a secured data channel, in particular via an end-to-end encrypted data channel.

To transmit the information, the data distributor unit may conveniently require an authentication from a client such as the data collector, e.g. using a valid username / password combination that the data collector must use or send when establishing the connection with the communication device in order to perform a transmission of the data. This significantly improves the security of data transmission and data integrity.

The data bridge is preferably designed as a software solution that adapts the communication parameters of the first and second communication protocols. In this way, the data bridge can easily be implemented or upgraded in existing systems, e.g. by a firmware update or similar.

The communication unit may further be arranged to convert the first communication protocol and / or the second communication protocol and / or additional communication protocols into a communication protocol which has a higher security than the original communication protocol. In addition, data of the first data format and / or the second data format can also be converted to a data format that has a higher security than the original data format. Thus, security is further improved. For example, data transmitted using an FT protocol can thereby be converted to an SSH (Secure Shell) data format and transmitted using the SSH protocol.

Conveniently, at least one additional data interface may be provided which is adapted to perform the transmission of the data by a third communication protocol. In this way, the information transmission can also be extended to additional communication protocols, whereby the communication unit can be used even more flexibly.

According to a particular embodiment, the communication unit may be arranged to optionally support a plurality of communication protocols. Knowing that

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-6 can be chosen between different communication protocols, becomes the connection of external devices, e.g. data collectors, even more flexible. Furthermore, additional communication protocols may be provided (e.g., a fourth and fifth communication protocol).

The communication unit may conveniently be a functional unit of the central calculator. The communication unit can e.g. hardware and / or software technically connected to or integrated in the central calculator.

Preferably, the information refers to consumption data recorded by a consumption measuring device, and such as for example. is transmitted from the consumption meter to the central unit via the data collector. For instance, the consumption measuring devices may include a Smart Meter for recording the electricity, water, gas and / or heat consumption.

Made applicable side by side with the present invention is a method of transmitting information between multiple units of measurement, in particular consumption measuring devices for recording power, water, gas and / or heat consumption, and a central calculator. In the method, the information is transmitted from the measuring unit to the central calculator and / or from the central calculator to the measuring unit in the form of data. The transmission of information between the measuring unit and the central calculator is thereby effected via a communication structure according to the invention comprising a data distributor unit adapted to transmit the data in a second data format different from the first data format by a second communication protocol. . Furthermore, a data bridge is provided between the file system and the data distributor unit, which serves to import data in the second data format as data in the first data format into the file system and / or export data of the first data format as data of the second data format from the file system.

Description of the invention by means of exemplary embodiments

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Suitable embodiments of the present invention are further elaborated below with the aid of drawing figures. Here shows:

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic representation of a prior art communication system of this kind;

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic representation of a first embodiment of a communication system with a communication structure according to the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic representation of a further embodiment of a communication system with a communication structure according to the invention.

In FIG. 1, a prior art communication system is shown, in which information is transmitted between a central calculator 100 and several data collectors 101, 102, 103 via various communication protocols. Between the data collectors 101, 102, 103 and the central calculator 100, in each case, corresponding data interfaces 104, 105, 106 are provided, each comprising a file system 104a, 105a, 106a and a control device 104b, 105b, 106b. The communication system of FIG. 1 has the disadvantage that a large hardware and software cost is needed to implement the various communication protocols of the data collectors 101, 102, 103. Furthermore, the central calculator 100 must support all the communication protocols used and adapt the corresponding communication parameters of the communication protocols, ie. includes appropriate interfaces to ensure successful information transmission.

In FIG. 2, there is shown a communication system in which information is transmitted between a central calculator 10 and several measuring units or consumption measuring devices 11-15. For example, the consumption measuring appliances 11-15 may be electricity, water, gas or heat flow meters. Current counters of the consumption measuring devices 11-15 are transmitted to the calculator 10 in the form of data or consumption data via a communication structure according to the invention.

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-8The communication structure includes a communication unit 1 and several data collectors 7, 8 or data concentrators to concentrate and / or (intermediate the data). The data transmission between the consumption measuring devices 11-15 and the data collectors 7, 8 can be optional (eg via radio) or wired (for example, via Powerline).

The communication unit 1 comprises a data interface 2 which e.g. is designed as FTP server (FTP file server). An FTP protocol hereby serves as the first communication protocol for information transmission between the data collector 7 and the data interface 2. In addition, a file system 3 is assigned to the FTP server, which file system serves as infrastructure and data or storage. Thus, the data of the data collector 7 can be transmitted from the data collector 7 to the data interface 2 in a first data format, ie. in this case in an FTP file format, and subsequently stored in the file system 3.

The data transmission between the communication unit 1 and the central calculator 10 takes place via a data distributor unit 4, which is designed as MQTT broker (MQTT distributor) in the embodiment of FIG. 2. The data of the data collector 8 can be easily transmitted to the data distributor unit 4 via the second communication protocol, a so-called MQTT protocol, in another data format, ie. as messages or telemetry data in MQTT data format. This data can subsequently be transmitted from the data distributor unit 4 to the central calculator 10 or first imported into the file system 3 to store it. The communication unit 1 comprises for data import a data bridge 5 located between the data interface 2 and the data distributor unit

4. The data can hereby be imported from the data distributor unit 4 to the file system 3 via the data bridge 5. The data bridge 5 comprises for this a conversion unit 6, designed as MQTT client. The converter 6 converts the data of the second data format, i.e. The MQTT data format, for data of the first data format and transmits them to the file system 3.

The data can furthermore be transmitted or exported from the file system 3 to the data distributor unit 4 via the data bridge 5, so that the data of the file system 3 can also be transmitted to the central calculator 10 via the data distributor unit 4

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-9of the second communication protocol. Converter unit 6 can thereby convert the data of the first data format (FTP file format) located in the file system 3 into data of the second data format (MQTT data format) and transmit, ie. export them to the data distributor unit 4.

The central task of the data distributor unit 4 is to distribute or assign the data or messages so that e.g. the messages sent from the data collector 8 also reach the corresponding receiving units, such as the central calculator 10. The data distributor unit 4 may advantageously include for this an authentication function, e.g. only a subscriber or publisher using a valid password / username combination for transmission or establishing a connection to the data distributor unit is accepted 4.

The two communication protocols, e.g. MQTT and FTP are thus connected via the data bridge 5. These data bridges 5 can e.g. be designed as a software solution located between the data distributor unit 4 (MQTT broker) and the data memory 3 (FTP file server). Thus, through the import and export function of the conversion unit 6 (MQTT client), a bidirectional communication between FTP and MQTT can be created. In this way, data collectors 7, 8 can be arbitrarily connected, even if they communicate via MQTT or FTP.

In principle, the subject matter of the present invention can also be extended to other communication protocols. According to a preferred embodiment, a third communication protocol may be provided. This is a communication protocol which has a higher security than the first and / or second communication protocol, such as e.g. SFTP (Simple File Transfer Protocol) or SSH (Secure Shell). The communication unit is suitably arranged for e.g. converting the first and / or second communication protocol into such a secure communication protocol. For example, also provided an additional data interface 9, as shown in FIG. 3, which enables data transmission using the third communication protocol.

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-10Alternatively or further, in addition to the said communication protocols (FTP, MQTT, SFTP, SSH), other communication protocols and associated data formats may also be provided. For example, also include a WebDAV protocol and / or SCP protocol and / or HTTP protocol and / or HTTPS protocol and / or SMTP protocol and / or POP3 protocol and / or IMAP protocol and / or NTP protocol and / or SMB / CIFS protocol and / or NFS protocol. In addition, additional communication protocols of the application layer (OSI layer 5-7) can also be used.

Conveniently, via the communication unit 1, other structural units, such as e.g. a mobile read-out device 16 (mobile data collector) for drive-by or walk-by-read or an analysis tool 17 e.g. for characterizing the connection / transmission.

Also, combinations of single features (sub-combinations) and possible combinations of single features of different designs not shown in the drawing figures are expressly included in the contents of the publication.

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- 11 REFERENCE STALLIST

1 communication Unit 2 data Interface 3 File system 4 Data Distribution Unit 5 Databro 6 conversion Device 7 data Collector 8 data Collector 9 data Interface 10 Central calculator 11-15 Consumption Measuring Device 16 Mobile readout device 17 Analysis Tools 100 Central calculator 101-103 data Collector 104-106 data Interface 104a-106a File system 104b-106b Control device

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Claims (5)

patent claims A communication structure with at least one data collector (7, 8) and a communication unit (1) connectable to a central calculator (10) for transmitting information between said data collector (7, 8) and the central calculator (10) , wherein the communication unit (1) comprises the following: a data interface (2) by which the information in the form of data can be transmitted, the data interface (2) comprising a file system (3) for storing the data in a first data format and the data in the first data format can be transmitted by the data interface (2) by means of a first communication protocol, characterized in that a data distributor unit (4) is provided which is adapted to perform the transmission of the data in a second data format different from the first data format by a second one. communication protocol, and a data bridge (5) is arranged between the file system (3) and the data distributor unit (4), wherein the data bridge (5) is arranged to import data in the second data format as data in the first data format into the file system (3) and / or export data in the first data format as data in the second data format from the file system (3). Communication structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the data distributor unit (4) is an MQTT broker and the second communication protocol is an MQTT protocol. Communication structure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the data interface (2) is a web, cloud and / or file server. DK 2018 70523 A1 Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data collector (7, 8) and the central calculator (10) comprise only an interface and a communication protocol for transmitting the data. Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that transmission means are provided which enable wireless and / or wired transmission between the communication unit (1) and the data collector (7, 8) and / or between the communication unit (1) and the central calculator (10). Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission of the data between the communication unit (1) and the data collector (7, 8) and / or the central calculator (10) takes place via a secured data channel. Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data distributor unit (4) for transmitting information requires an authentication in such a way that the data collector (7, 8) must use a valid username / password combination in establishing connection. Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data bridge (5) is designed as a software solution that adapts the communication parameters of the first and second communication protocols. DK 2018 70523 A1 Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communication unit (1) is adapted to convert the first communication protocol and / or the second communication protocol into a communication protocol having a higher security than the first or second communication protocol. . Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one additional data interface (9) is provided which is adapted to perform transmission of the data by means of a third communication protocol. Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communication unit (1) is arranged to optionally support a plurality of communication protocols. Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communication unit (1) is a functional unit of the central calculator (10). Communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information is consumption data recorded by a consumption meter (11-15) and transmitted from the consumption meter (11-15) to the data collector (7, 8). ). A method of transmitting information between several units of measurement, in particular consumer measuring devices (11-15), and a central calculator (10), wherein DK 2018 70523 A1 - the information is transmitted from the measuring unit to the central calculator (10) and / or from the central calculator (10) to the measuring unit in the form of data, characterized in that Transmission of information between the measuring unit and the central calculator (10) is effected via a communication structure according to at least one of the preceding claims.