JP2003018667A - Network distribution type building facilities supervisory control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network distribution type building supervisory control system open to remote supervisory and control of building facilities through an external communication network. SOLUTION: A gateway G comprises an interface cooperative with communication networks conformed with protocols for communication with a plurality of local communication networks L2 composed of various apparatus installed in a building, etc., and communication terminals T added thereto, a data allotting table of information of addresses, etc., registered according to the kind of data for distributing control point data received from the communication terminal T to the addresses, a data distributing interface for distributing the data to previously registered and set addresses according to the data distribution allotting table upon receipt of the control point data, and a wave server interface for reading data and controlling from a communication apparatus C connected to an external communication network after operating a web browser used at the communication apparatus C.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an integrated management system for building equipment using a communication network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in building equipment monitoring and control systems, it has become possible to easily embed communication devices in all equipment by the development of communication technology. Connected to the central monitoring device via the
It is easy to control.

[0003]

However, since such a conventional system adopts various methods as communication methods for monitoring and controlling various equipments, monitoring is performed only in a closed environment. , It was not possible to control, and there were not enough open interfaces to monitor and control from gateways of other buildings or floors or external client terminals.

The present invention was developed to solve such problems, and an object thereof is an open network distributed building equipment monitoring system capable of remotely monitoring and controlling building equipment through an external communication network. To provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the network distributed building equipment monitoring and control system according to claim 1 is provided with a plurality of gateways to which communication addresses are assigned, and external communication such as the Internet. A network distributed building equipment monitoring and control system configured to be connected to a network, and has the following features.

That is, each of the above gateways performs two-way communication with a plurality of local communication networks in which communication terminals are added to various equipments installed in a building for monitoring and control. Communication network cooperation interface, a data distribution distribution table for registering and setting the distribution form and distribution destination of the control point data transmitted from the communication terminals of the plurality of local communication networks, and the local communication. When receiving control point data from one of the communication terminals of the network, a data distribution interface for distributing the received control point data to a pre-registered distribution destination according to the data distribution distribution table. , Environment setting information set in the gateway and the communication network An internal information database for storing and storing at least control point data received by the work cooperation interface from the local communication network, and a web browser on the communication device side connected to the external communication network to operate the communication device. Through the two-way communication between the gateway and the gateway, the environment setting information stored in the internal information database,
It is provided with a web server interface that allows the communication device side to browse, write, and rewrite registration setting information stored in the data distribution table, control point data accumulated in the internal information database, and the like. ing.

Here, the communication network cooperation interface is used for data monitoring and control, with a plurality of local communication networks configured by adding communication terminals to various equipments installed in a building or the like. The two-way communication is performed, and the data distribution interface sends the control operation and setting information of the equipment transmitted from the communication terminals of multiple local communication networks as control point data to the desired distribution destination on the network. The data distribution sorting table provided for that purpose includes a distribution destination, an electronic mail transfer, and a distribution destination according to the type of the control point data received from the communication terminal.
It is possible to select and register the distribution form such as external database transfer and gateway cooperation.

Further, the web server interface is
Connected to an external communication network such as the Internet, and by accessing it by operating a web browser from the communication device side such as a personal computer and a mobile terminal through the external communication network, the internal information database, data distribution distribution table, etc. Various stored data can be viewed, written and rewritten.

Therefore, the gateway is easily accessed from a communication device such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal through an external communication network and stored in environment setting information, an internal information database, a data distribution distribution table, etc. You can browse, write, and rewrite saved information. It is needless to say that a security measure is usually taken in the gateway, such as by constructing a firewall, so that only a specific administrator can easily access it.

Further, when the local communication network requires different protocols, the communication network cooperation interface also has a function corresponding to a plurality of different communication protocols correspondingly, so that various local communication networks can be used. It is possible to receive data from communication terminals and send control signals. Furthermore, through the data distribution distribution table, transfer to external communication networks and transfer between gateways are also possible, so an open building management system is possible. realizable.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the data distribution allocation table includes electronic mail transfer in the distribution form of the control point data received from the communication terminals attached to various equipments for monitoring and controlling the building. As the delivery destination, the communication address of the electronic mail server provided on the external communication network and the communication address of the transmission destination are included.

Therefore, when the communication network cooperation interface receives control point data for which electronic mail transfer is registered and set by the data distribution distribution table, the data distribution interface allocates the received data to the data distribution distribution table. It is configured to be delivered to a mail server registered and set in the table and further transferred as an electronic mail to a desired destination through the mail server.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the data distribution allocation table includes an external database transfer as a distribution form of the received control point data, and as the communication destination information thereof,
The communication address of the external database provided on the external communication network is included, and the data distribution interface is the communication network cooperation interface, and the control point data in which the external database transfer is registered and set by the data distribution sorting table. When received, the received data is distributed to the external database registered and set in the data distribution table.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the data distribution table includes gateway cooperative transfer as a distribution form of the received data, and other gateways connected to an external communication network as communication destination information thereof. As for the data distribution interface, the communication network cooperation interface uses the data distribution distribution table
When the control point data in which the gateway cooperative transfer is registered and set is received, the received data is distributed to other gateways registered and set in the data distribution table.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the data delivery distribution table enables setting and registration of whether or not to give an alarm notification when control point data is received, corresponding to the type of data.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the communication network cooperation interface includes basic data of a local communication network including at least data of communication terminals and communication protocols connected to the respective local communication networks, and basic data of the basic data. A virtual control point management table in which virtual type data including the type of data of the communication terminal and virtual data is registered in association with the data is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the local communication network is registered in the virtual control point management table of the communication network cooperation interface when a communication terminal is connected to or disconnected from the local communication network. The virtual point data is automatically written or erased.

In the present invention, the gateway stores the job to be executed according to the data distribution table when the communication network cooperation interface receives the control point data of the local communication network. When the unprocessed job is stored in the job management memory when the power is restored, the job is executed according to a preset priority order set in advance.

According to a ninth aspect, the communication network cooperation interface notifies the other gateway connected to the external communication network of the abnormality when detecting an abnormality of any one of the communication terminals through the local communication network. The virtual point data corresponding to the communication terminal registered in the virtual control point management table is rewritten so that it can be identified that the point state is abnormal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the gateway is connected to the external communication network via a parent gateway having a plurality of child gateways as subordinates, and the parent gateway is arranged in each specific area of the building. By selectively operating the parent gateway, the specific area to be monitored and controlled in the building can be selectively controlled.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention system will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an example of the configuration of a network distributed building equipment monitoring system.

In this system, a plurality of gateways G ... Provided for building monitoring and control are connected to an external communication network L1 such as the Internet, and a plurality of communication devices C and a plurality of communication devices C connected on the external communication network L1 are connected. Bidirectional communication is possible with the gateway G ....

Each of the gateways G is a local communication network L2 installed individually according to the purpose of monitoring and control.
To enable two-way communication with these local communication networks.

Such a gateway G may be provided as a building server for each building, or may be installed for each floor of the building. When installing a plurality of gateways in a building, a parent gateway may be installed for overall management, and a plurality of child gateways connected to this may be installed on each floor.

The local communication network L2 connects a disaster prevention sensor such as a fire sensor and a crime prevention sensor and a disaster prevention device such as a smoke exhaust port and a damper to the signal line as a communication terminal T,
Connect the disaster prevention monitoring network L2a that performs disaster prevention monitoring control, environmental sensors such as temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and illuminance sensors, and multipoint watt-hour meters, and facility equipment T such as air conditioners, lighting equipment, and blinds to the signal line Comfortable environment network L2 for maintaining the living and working environment comfortably through control of living environment temperature, humidity, illuminance, etc. and integrated control of environmental sensors and lighting equipment, air conditioners, blinds, etc.
b, an indoor information communication network L2c configured to control various living equipments installed in the building from the communication device T connected to the external network L1.

Here, the disaster prevention monitoring network L2a is
The communication terminal T connected to the signal line can use the communication network of the time division multiplex transmission method by the polling method,
The comfortable environment network L2b is a LON (local operation network) type communication network, and the indoor information communication network L2c is a communication terminal T in which a communication device compatible with the Internet protocol (TCP / IP) is incorporated by using the micro Internet technology. Communication network can be applied.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the gateway.

The gateway G includes a signal processing unit (not shown) including a CPU, MPU, etc., a web server interface 1a and a data distribution interface 1b.
The internal information database 3, the data distribution distribution table 4, the virtual control point management table 5, and the control point data receiving memory 6 are provided.

Here, the web server interface 1
a is stored in the internal information database 3 in the gateway G by accepting access from a communication terminal device such as a personal computer C, a mobile phone, or a mobile terminal device via the external communication network L1 to enable remote operation. It has a structure that allows you to browse various types of data,
The data distribution interface 1b receives control point data indicating the operating state of equipment and setting information received from each control point of various local communication networks L2 provided for building monitoring and control, and a data distribution distribution table. The distribution form according to No. 5 and the structure for distribution to the distribution destination are provided.

Further, the various local communication networks L2 described above are connected to the communication network cooperation interface 2 corresponding to a plurality of communication protocols, and are capable of bidirectional communication with the gateway G.

The virtual control point management table 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the communication protocol applied to each communication terminal of the local communication network L2 and the control points corresponding to the equipment of each local communication network L2 are stored as virtual points αA, αB, βA, etc. And these virtual points αA, αB, βA
Are the communication address points A, B, and A of the communication terminal T connected and added to the equipment and control equipment, and the types of sensors, equipment, and control equipment connected and added to the communication terminal, such as air conditioning, electric power, The data is stored in association with the type of monitoring and control of lighting and the like, each interface 2a can communicate with each device T according to the information in the table 5, and the received data is once stored in the memory 6. Then, the logging information and the gateway environment setting information are accumulated in the internal information database 3.

Here, the control point receiving memory 6 is
As a job management memory 7 for accumulating and storing a job to be executed in consideration of asynchronous timing of data reception from the communication terminal T and data transfer that occurs thereafter, and data transfer after power failure recovery. Have the role of. That is, the job management memory 7 has a so-called queue structure in which received data is successively stored each time it is received and executed job data is erased one after another. Since this memory 7 is not erased by a power failure, it is backed up by a battery or a non-volatile memory is used.

The signal processing unit of the gateway G executes jobs according to the job management memory 7, and jobs that have not been executed due to a power failure are saved in the job management memory 7 when the power is restored, so they cannot be executed. Never be. The jobs executed when the power is restored may be executed in the order of accumulation, or the priority may be set according to the type.

Although the reception memory 6 and the job management memory 7 have the same structure here, they may be provided separately.

In addition, in this gateway G, when the communication terminal T of the equipment is connected or disconnected, the virtual point data corresponding to the communication terminal T is stored in the virtual control point management table 5. ,
It can be written or erased automatically. That is, it has a so-called plug-and-play function.

Further, when an abnormality occurs in the communication terminal T, the virtual control point management is carried out so that the abnormality can be detected and notified to the other gateway G, and the point state of the communication terminal can be identified as abnormal. Table 5 is automatically updated. Then, the diagnosis and operation management of the communication terminal can be performed.

On the other hand, the web server interface 1a
The data distribution interface 1b transfers the data received by the gateway G and stored in the memory 6 to a predetermined distribution destination according to the data distribution distribution table 4.

That is, in the data distribution table 4, the distribution form and distribution destination for distributing the received data, such as the web server interface 1a, e-mail transfer, external database transfer, and cooperative transfer to another gateway. Communication address etc. of air conditioning, power monitor,
It can be saved by classifying it into the types of monitoring, control such as lighting, disaster prevention, and environment. Writing, rewriting, and erasing the table data of the data distribution allocation table 4 as described above
Every time the number of communication terminals T connected and added to the local communication network is changed, increased, and deleted, the administrator side can rewrite and register and save in advance.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the data distribution distribution table 4. In this example, it is defined in the form of a decision table in which the availability of alarm notification can be set and registered, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a communication address of a delivery destination may be defined for each device type.

The data distribution interface 1a edits the control point data from the device T and, according to the definition of the data distribution table 4, through the communication network,
The data is distributed to the mail server M, the external database server D, and the cooperation gateway G.

In the gateway cooperative transfer, when a parent-child gateway configuration is adopted, data is distributed from the parent to all the children, and the data is distributed only from the child to the parent and transferred from the parent to other children. , The load on the child gateway can be reduced. Also, the child gateway may be selectively operated from the parent gateway.

Also, the web server interface 1a
Is a web client terminal (a personal computer having a web browser) that has been registered in advance after the control point data received from the communication terminal T provided corresponding to the equipment is edited in a form that can be viewed and controlled by the web browser. C) and so on.

Each such interface 1a, 1b
May operate at regular or irregular timings, in addition to operating at the timing of data reception.

For example, the timing may be a request from the web client terminal C or another event. Moreover, you may make it transmit to the database server D regularly.

In this way, the data distribution distribution table 4,
With each interface function including the virtual control point management table 5, the control point data received from the communication terminal T corresponding to the equipment provided on the local communication network can be transferred to the external communication equipment via the Internet or the like. .

Further, it is possible to remotely control facility equipment from an external communication equipment via the communication terminal T. That is, the interface function configuration capable of such communication protocol conversion allows the external communication device to monitor the state without being aware of the communication protocol with the building equipment device, thereby realizing an open building management system. .

If each table can be changed by using the Web browser from the external Web client terminal C, it is possible to maintain the building management system by an external administrator.

As a concrete and desirable mode of use of the network distributed building equipment monitoring system, there is a network distributed energy saving monitoring control system as shown in FIG.

A building server installed in the building is installed as a gateway G, and this building server includes building equipment such as lighting equipment, air conditioning controller, power monitor, smoke detector, security key box, electric blind, and sensor. Are connected. The equipment data collected by the building server is sent to a personal computer, a mobile phone, a network, such as the Internet / Intranet, by the above-mentioned interfaces, the data distribution distribution table, etc.
Delivered to databases etc.

[0051]

As can be understood from the above description, in the building equipment monitoring and control system according to the first aspect, various communication equipments provided with various equipments for monitoring and controlling the building have different communication protocols. The local communication network is integrated for each gateway that can be accessed from the external communication network, and the gateway side is provided with a web interface that can be accessed by operating a Web browser from the external communication network. Since a data distribution distribution table that sets the distribution mode is provided, by accessing the gateway from an external communication network such as the Internet from a communication terminal device or mobile terminal device, local communication under monitoring through the gateway The equipment connected to the network Not only the like can easily monitor viewing operation status and setting information of the device can also be remotely controlled, for example, by changing the distribution form. An open building equipment monitoring and control system can be realized.

Since each gateway is provided with a data distribution interface and an interface corresponding to a web server interface distribution destination, data is transferred according to applications such as electronic mail transfer, browsing by a web browser, and database storage. Minutes can be delivered.

In particular, claim 2 can transfer an electronic mail, claim 3 can transfer to an external database, and claim 4 can transfer to a cooperative gateway.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to set and register in the data distribution table whether or not to give the alarm notification, so that the external terminal can perform real-time abnormality monitoring.

In claim 6, since the control data such as the communication protocol type for each communication terminal is defined in the virtual control point management table, as long as it has a program for executing each protocol, the system can be changed by changing the equipment. Maintenance can be performed easily.

In the present invention, since the gateway has the function of automatically updating the virtual control point table for the communication terminal to be monitored and controlled, it is easy to add or disconnect the equipment. Can correspond to.

According to the present invention, since the job management memory is provided for accumulating and storing the control point data from the equipment, the data distribution is executed even when there is a power failure or when the data distribution is not in time to receive the control point data. Is never disabled.

According to the ninth aspect, when an abnormality occurs in any one of the communication terminals, the fact that the abnormality occurs is registered in the virtual control point management table. Support work such as situation analysis becomes easy.

In the tenth aspect, since the gateway has a hierarchical structure of parent and child, data transfer to all the children under the parent can be managed by the parent side, and the load on the child gateway can be reduced. , Selective transfer is also possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system system diagram showing an example of the configuration of a network distributed building equipment monitoring system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a gateway.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of a data distribution distribution table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a virtual control point management table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a basic concept of a network-distributed energy-saving monitor and control system configured using the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

G Gateway 1a Web server interface 1b Data distribution interface 2 Communication network cooperation interface 3 Internal information database 4 Data distribution distribution table 5 Virtual control point management table 6 (7) Control point data receiving memory (job management memory) T Equipment Added communication terminal M Mail server D Database server C Web client terminal

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G08B 25/04 G08B 25/04 E 25/10 25/10 D H04L 12/46 H04L 12/46 M H04M 11/00 301 H04M 11/00 301 (72) Inventor Masakazu Fukunaga 1048, Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B089 GA31 GB02 GB04 HA10 JA22 JA35 JA36 JB16 KA13 KB04 KB06 KC15 MC02 MC08 5C087 AA02 AA03 AA09 AA10 AA24 AA25 BB12 BB13 BB32.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A network-distributed building equipment monitoring and control system configured by connecting a plurality of gateways, each having a communication address, to an external communication network such as the Internet, wherein each of the gateways is a monitor. A communication network cooperation interface for performing two-way communication with a plurality of local communication networks, which is configured by adding a communication terminal to various equipments installed in a building or the like for control. Any of the above-mentioned local communication network and a data distribution distribution table for registering and setting the distribution form and distribution destination of the control point data for the corresponding equipment transmitted from the communication terminals of the plurality of local communication networks. When the control point data is received from another communication terminal, According to the data distribution distribution table, the data distribution interface for distributing the received control point data to the distribution destination registered in advance, the environment setting information set in the gateway, and the communication network cooperation interface An internal information database for accumulating and storing at least the control point data received from the local communication network and a communication device connected to the external communication network operate a web browser to connect the communication device and the gateway. Through the two-way communication between the internal information database, the environment setting information, the registration setting information stored in the data distribution distribution table, the control point data accumulated in the internal information database, Browse from the communication device side , A network-distributed building equipment monitoring and control system, which is provided with a web server interface that can be written and rewritten. 2. The data distribution sorting table according to claim 1, wherein the received control point data includes an electronic mail transfer as a distribution form, and the communication destination information thereof is an electronic mail provided on the external communication network. The communication address of the server and the communication address of the destination are included, and the data distribution interface, the communication network cooperation interface, the e-mail transfer is registered and set by the data distribution table, the control point data When received from a local communication network, the received control point data is distributed to an electronic mail server registered and set in the data distribution table, and the network distributed building equipment monitoring control system is characterized. 3. The data distribution distribution table according to claim 1, wherein the data distribution distribution table includes an external database transfer as a distribution form of the received control point data,
The communication destination information includes a communication address of an external database provided on the external communication network. The data distribution interface is registered by the communication network cooperation interface, and the external database transfer is registered by the data distribution distribution table. When the set control point data is received from the local communication network, the received control point data is distributed to the external database registered and set in the data distribution table. Type building equipment monitoring and control system. 4. The data distribution distribution table according to claim 1, wherein the data distribution distribution table includes gateway coordinated transfer as a distribution form of the received control point data, and the communication destination information thereof is stored in the external communication network. It includes other connected gateways, and the data distribution interface has the communication network cooperation interface registered with the gateway cooperative transfer by the data distribution distribution table, and the control point data is set to the local communication network. A network-distributed building equipment monitoring and control system characterized in that, when received from, the received control point data is distributed to another gateway registered and set in the data distribution table. 5. The data distribution distribution table according to claim 1, wherein setting registration of whether or not to perform an alarm notification is made possible according to the type of received control point data. A network distributed building equipment monitoring and control system characterized by the above. 6. The communication network cooperation interface according to claim 1, wherein the communication network cooperation interface includes basic attribute information of the local communication network including at least control point data of each of the local communication networks and a communication protocol, and the basic attribute information. A distributed network type characterized by including a virtual control point management table in which virtual point data is associated with at least a type and its control point data corresponding to attribute information, and is registered. Building equipment monitoring and control system. 7. The local communication network according to claim 6, wherein when a communication terminal is connected to or disconnected from the local communication network, the local communication network is registered in the virtual control point management table of the communication network cooperation interface. A network distributed building equipment monitoring and control system that automatically writes or deletes corresponding virtual point data. 8. The gateway according to claim 1, wherein the gateway is executed according to the data distribution table when the communication network cooperation interface receives control point data of the local communication network. It has a job management memory for accumulating and storing jobs that should be stored. When an unprocessed job is stored in the job management memory when a power failure is restored, the job is executed according to a preset priority order. Network distributed building equipment monitoring and control system. 9. The communication network cooperation interface according to any one of claims 1 to 8, when the communication network cooperation interface detects an abnormality of any communication terminal through the local communication network, the other communication network interface is connected to the external communication network. While notifying the gateway of an abnormality, registered in the above virtual control point management table,
A network distributed building equipment monitoring control system in which virtual point data corresponding to the communication terminal is rewritten so that it can be identified that the point state is abnormal. 10. The gateway according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the gateway is connected to the external communication network via a parent gateway having a plurality of child gateways as subordinates. A network-distributed building equipment monitoring and control system, which is arranged in each specific area and has a configuration in which a specific area to be monitored and controlled in a building can be selectively controlled by selectively operating a parent gateway.