JP2003284164A - Apparatus communication control adaptor and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus communication control system for using a sensor signal for a trigger so as to reduce a time when an apparatus operation is started. <P>SOLUTION: In the apparatus communication control system comprising: an apparatus communication control adaptor connected to sensors and controlling an apparatus connected to itself on the basis of a signal sent via an electric lamp line; an operation section for exchanging a signal in two-way via the electric lamp line with the apparatus communication control adaptor to set the operation of the apparatus; and a centralized controller having a central control arithmetic section for producing a signal for controlling the apparatus by the signal from the sensors collected on the basis of the setting of the operation section and transmitting the signal to the apparatus communication control adaptor, the operation section is provided with a means for selecting a subject to control the apparatus from the centralized controller and the apparatus communication control adaptor, the central controller stops the signal for controlling the apparatus when the apparatus communication control adaptor is selected and the apparatus communication control adaptor produces the signal to control the apparatus on the basis of the signal of the sensors. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention measures the usage status and power consumption of an electric device (hereinafter simply referred to as a device) connected to a power line in a house or office, and detects the presence or absence of a person. The present invention relates to a device communication control adapter and a system for controlling a device based on outputs of various sensors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has been considered to control a device connected to a domestic power line based on outputs of various sensors by using an existing power line as a communication path. This method
Since there is no need to newly lay a communication path, it has an advantage that the system can be constructed inexpensively and easily. In Japan, under the regulations of the Radio Law, various systems are being studied with a transmission rate of up to 9.6 Kbps. An example of such a system is a device control system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-54176, which uses a power line as a communication path.

The device control system disclosed in this publication discloses various devices connected to an electric power line, a power control device for controlling a power supply for supplying power to these devices, and measurement of the usage status of each device. Various sensors that detect the presence or absence of people, a storage device that records the time change of sensor information by these sensors, and predict the usage status and power usage status of each device from the information recorded in this storage device. It is composed of a processing device for processing by.

With such a configuration, it is possible to centrally control the usage status of each device and the amount of power used, and it is possible to provide a power control system that satisfies both energy saving and convenience.

[0005]

The conventional control system is configured as described above and has the following problems.

In order to perform centralized control, all sensor outputs are once sent to a control device, arithmetic processing is performed there to create a control command, and the control command is sent to each device. Therefore, a delay time occurs from the detection of the sensor to the start of the control operation. This delay time depends on the transmission speed of the communication path and the processing time of the communication protocol,
This was particularly noticeable when the communication path was a power line.

For example, assuming that the centralized controller controls the equipment based on a human body detection signal from a human sensor, the transmission speed of a telegram is slow in a communication path using a power line, and therefore the calculation speed of the centralized controller is high. Is much faster,
There was a delay of a few seconds. Such a delay of several seconds has been a factor causing the user to feel uneasy especially when the lighting device is turned on and off. Further, in the case of a sensor that detects an urgent state change such as a gas leak or a fire alarm, it has been a problem that a large delay occurs and the cutoff operation is delayed.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and the control operation of the device is started by using a detection signal from a sensor that detects a state change of the human body, power consumption, environmental physical quantity, etc. as a trigger. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device communication control system capable of quick control, which greatly shortens the time.

[0009]

A device communication control system according to the present invention is connected to sensors for detecting a human body, power consumption, environmental physical quantity, etc., and responds to the types of sensors, detection states, measured values, etc. A device communication control adapter that acquires the object information including the property code and that is connected to the power line and controls the electric device connected to itself based on the object information sent via the power line, The device communication control adapter and the object line are exchanged bidirectionally through the power line, and the operation unit that sets the property code corresponding to the control operation of the electric device, the property value set by the operation unit, and the device communication control Based on the property values corresponding to the types of sensors, detection status, measured values, etc. collected via the adapter, control commands for electrical equipment A device communication control system comprising a centralized controller having a centralized control arithmetic unit for creating an instance of an object corresponding to the object and transmitting the object information to the device communication control adapter, wherein the operation unit is a centralized unit. If the device communication control adapter is selected as the subject that controls the electric device by the property value, the centralized controller is equipped with a property code to be selected from the controller and the device communication control adapter.
In addition to stopping the generation and transmission of instances that control electrical equipment, the equipment communication control adapter uses the property values corresponding to the control operation of electrical equipment set by the operation unit, and the types of sensors, detection status, and measurement. Based on the object information including the property value corresponding to the value etc.,
An instance of object information corresponding to a control instruction of an electric device is created, and the electric device is controlled based on this instance.

Further, the electric device is a lighting device, and at least one of the illuminance threshold value and the lighting maintaining time can be set by the operation unit as a property value corresponding to the control operation of the lighting device.

Further, the device communication control adapter according to the present invention is the device communication control adapter connected to the device communication control system according to claim 2, wherein the illuminance threshold value of the lighting device set by the operation unit or the lighting maintenance. When the object information including the property value corresponding to time is transmitted, the lighting device is controlled based on this.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a device communication control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a centralized control arithmetic processing unit 3 for centrally controlling the equipment, a centralized controller having a centralized control / local control setting processing unit 4 capable of switching to local control and an operation unit 2, and 5 is a local control for the equipment. A device communication control adapter capable of communicating with the centralized controller 1 and other adapters, having a local control arithmetic processing unit 6, and a device communication control adapter 7 connected to the device communication control adapter 5 for detecting a human sensor 8 for detecting a human body and ambient illuminance A sensor module including an illuminance sensor 9 for detection, 10 is a lighting device to be controlled,
Is a power line that serves as a communication path. The lighting device 10 is connected to the device communication control adapter 5, and the centralized controller 1 and the device communication control adapter 5 are connected to the power line 11.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the centralized controller 1 and the device communication control adapter 5 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 12 is a power line gate array module that separates and extracts signals from the power line 11 and superimposes signals on the power line 11, and 13 processes signals according to the power line communication protocol and determines the control state of each device. Control arithmetic unit, 14 is a control arithmetic unit 1
3, a voltage conversion device for converting a power supply voltage to supply a voltage to 3, a storage device 15 in which power line communication middleware information of the power line 11, device object information, state information and the like are recorded, and 16 a control arithmetic device 13 A device control unit including a relay and a dimmer that performs lighting control and dimming control of the lighting device 10 based on the result of 17), and 17 is a device connection unit for connecting the lighting device 11 and the device control unit 16. Is. The centralized control arithmetic processing unit 3 and the centralized control / local control setting processing unit 4 are control arithmetic units incorporated in the centralized controller 1, and the local control arithmetic processing unit 6 is a control arithmetic unit incorporated in the device communication control adapter 5. Included in device 13.

FIG. 3 shows a software stack (software hierarchical structure) of communication processing of the system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 32 is a device adapter interface having a function of mutually converting a power line signal of a power line 31, which is a lower layer, and a power line communication middleware signal based on a power line communication protocol, and 33 is a message generation in power line communication, Power line communication middleware (middle layer) that handles object information 34 such as devices and sensors that form a system by performing transmission and reception, and 35 is application software necessary for device communication and device control, which is an upper layer.

The object information 34 and application software are stored in the storage device 15 built in the centralized controller 1 and the storage device 15 built in the equipment communication control adapter 5, respectively. Data for status monitoring and device control is prepared for each object inside the power line communication middleware 33, and an instance code of each object is generated based on the calculation of the application software 35. Then, communication control based on these object information 34 is performed between the centralized controller 1 and the device communication control adapter 5.

As the object information 34 in the figure,
A lighting device 10 connected to the system, and a human sensor 8 and an illuminance sensor 9 connected to the device communication control adapter 5 are included. Also, the number “1” in the middle of the object information 34 indicates the instance code. Further, although the figure shows the case where the number of instance codes is one, this number varies depending on the system design, and there may be a plurality of instances.

In the present embodiment, the object information 34 of the centralized controller 1 includes the object information of the lighting device 10, but when another device such as an air conditioner is connected to the system. Is configured to include object information corresponding to these devices.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the contents of the illuminance sensor 9, the human sensor 8 and the illumination object data in the system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A group code is defined for each major category such as sensors / devices, and a class code and an instance code are defined for each minor category such as a human sensor object. Under the defined data format and access rules, a communication control property code Data is managed.

Property values having the contents shown in FIG. 4 are given to each property code as property values. The access rule “Get” is the central controller 1
Also, "Set" means that data can be acquired by designating the address of each device communication control adapter 5, and "Set" also means that data can be set by designating the address.

When the lighting controller 10 is turned on and off by the centralized controller 1, sensor information is collected and control calculation is performed to determine a control command and data. The light is transmitted to the communication control adapter 5, and the lighting device 10 is controlled to be turned on and off via the device communication control adapter 5.

FIG. 5 shows an example of arithmetic contents in application software of the device communication control system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The calculation shown here turns on and off the illumination according to the sensor level, and defines a rule to turn on the illumination when a human body is detected below a preset illuminance threshold.

Based on the above configuration, the system further sets the autonomous control function property as a lighting object in the centralized controller 1 and the device communication control adapter 5 as shown in FIG. 4C. This property is the centralized control that collects all the sensor information in the centralized controller 1 and performs the control calculation here to determine the control command to control the device, while the control described so far is the acquired sensor. Without sending information to the centralized controller 1, it is possible to set local control in which the device communication control adapter 5 performs a control operation to uniquely determine a control command.

This property code is, for example, as shown in FIG.
When local control is performed as shown in (C), the property code (0x30) is set to enable the local control property, and when centralized control is performed, the local control property is disabled. Set the property code (0x31). This setting is set from the operation screen of the centralized controller 1. Further, in this case, the application software 35 that performs the calculation need not be common between the centralized controller 1 and the device communication control adapter 5.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of communication control sequences when the local control property is invalid and valid, respectively. The operation will be described with reference to these figures. First, FIG. 6 shows a case where the local control property is invalidated, and the centralized controller 1 acquires (Get) the illuminance measurement property value at a certain timing. The human sensor 8 is set so as to automatically notify the centralized controller 1 of human body detection information (state change) when a human body is detected. Based on these pieces of information, the centralized controller 1 calculates the lighting control using application software, creates a control command, and sends it to the device communication control adapter 5. The device communication control adapter 5 controls the lighting device 10 based on this control command. The central controller 1 is notified of the state change of the lighting device 10 at this time.

Next, FIG. 7 shows a case where the local control property is enabled, and the output of the illuminance sensor 9 is not transmitted to the centralized controller 1 and the output of the human sensor 8 and the device communication control adapter 5 are provided. Lighting control is calculated using application software. The calculation result is sent to the lighting device control in the device communication control adapter 5, and the device communication control adapter 5 controls the lighting device 10 based on this control command. It should be noted that if there is a request from the centralized controller 1, various sensor information is transmitted at any time. In the figure, the transmission when there is a request is indicated by a dotted arrow.

Comparing the two, in the centralized control, since the power line 11 is used as the communication path, the power line communication middleware 34
It takes several seconds until the human body detection information is transmitted to the centralized controller 1 and the control is determined due to the internal electronic message processing and the above-mentioned transmission speed. Further, when a plurality of telegrams are flowing on the power line 11, the signals collide with each other and accurate sensor information cannot be obtained or arrives later than usual, so that it takes more time to control the device. In some cases. As a result, even if the lighting device 10 is turned on, it does not respond immediately, which causes the user to feel anxiety.

On the other hand, in the case of local control, since the lighting control is performed by using the application software in the device communication control adapter 5 without passing through the power line 11, there is almost no delay time, and the lighting device Ten began to respond immediately. Therefore, if the responsiveness of the device is required, the local control property should be enabled, and sensor information should not be sent to the communication path (light line 11).
It is possible to perform control calculation in the device communication control adapter 5 and immediately perform device control. As a result, the user does not feel anxiety when the light is turned off.

As described above, the lighting object is provided with a new property for determining the validity / invalidity of the local control, and when it is valid, the lighting control is performed by using the application software in the device communication control adapter 5. Control and local control can be selected, and highly responsive equipment control according to the purpose of control and the required control speed depending on the usage pattern of lighting becomes possible. In addition, since the object data is collectively managed, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated control line for function selection, and there is an advantage that the management is easy and the wiring is saved.

Although the present system is particularly useful in the power line carrier communication control due to the problem of control time delay as described above, it is also effective in constructing a control system mainly for controlling each device. However, regardless of the communication medium or the communication system, for example, the infrared or high frequency wireless communication system may be targeted.

Second Embodiment A second embodiment will be described. Since the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description will be omitted and only different points will be described. In the present embodiment, the illuminance threshold property for newly determining the lighting device operating state as shown in FIG. 8 is newly included in the object information of the centralized controller 1 which constitutes the device communication control system and the device communication control adapter 5. It is configured to be provided. For example, an item is provided as an illuminance threshold property in a general lighting object, and a desired illuminance value can be stored in that item. The illuminance threshold value of the property content may be a numerical value corresponding to the actual illuminance or an illuminance level of several to several tens of levels indicating the brightness level.

By providing the illuminance threshold property in this way, it is possible to set the illuminance threshold illuminance information used for control from the operation screen of the centralized controller 1 as data through communication, and control is performed regardless of the conventional control method. It becomes possible to set the illuminance information to be used. This makes it possible to set the brightness level for turning on / off the illumination device 10 that constitutes the system, according to the user's preference.

Similarly, the lighting time of the lighting device 10 as shown in FIG. 8 is newly determined in the object information held by the centralized controller 1 and the device communication control adapter 5 constituting the device communication control system of the first embodiment. Is configured to provide a lighting maintenance time property for. For example, an item is provided as a lighting maintenance time property in the general lighting object, and a desired lighting maintenance time can be stored in that value. The lighting maintenance time of the property content may be a numerical value corresponding to the actual time or a time level of several to several tens of stages indicating the length level of the lighting time.

By having the lighting maintenance time property in this way, it is possible to set the lighting time during control from the operation screen of the centralized controller 1 as data through communication, and it is used for control regardless of the conventional control method. It becomes possible to set the lighting time information. As a result, the lighting maintenance time of the lighting device 10 that constitutes the system is
It can be set according to the user's preference. For example, when installing this system in a house, by setting the lighting maintenance time to 5 seconds, etc., it is possible to immediately turn off the light when a person is absent, save energy, and set a long time. For example, even when an elderly person slowly moves away from the motion sensing area, the surrounding environment can be kept bright, which is effective in terms of safety.

9 and 10 show an example of a communication control sequence when the illuminance threshold property function and the lighting maintenance time property function in the present embodiment are enabled and disabled, respectively. Since the operation is the same as the local control property function described in the first embodiment, the description will be omitted.

[0035]

The lighting object is provided with a new property for determining whether the local control is valid or invalid, and when the property is valid, the lighting control is performed by using the application software in the device communication control adapter 5, so that the central control is performed. And local control can be selected, and highly responsive device control according to the control purpose and required control speed according to the usage pattern of the device becomes possible. Further, since the object data is collectively managed, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated control line for selecting a function, and there is an advantage that the management is easy and the wiring is saved.

Since the illuminance threshold property is provided, the illuminance threshold illuminance information can be set as communication data from the operation screen of the centralized controller 1, and the lighting equipment 10 constituting the system is turned on and off. The brightness level can be set according to the user's preference.

Since the lighting maintenance time property is further provided, the lighting time during control can be set as data from the operation screen of the centralized controller 1 by communication, and the lighting equipment 1 constituting the system can be set.
It is possible to set the lighting maintenance time of 0 according to the preference of the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram illustrating an illumination system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block structure diagram of a device communication control adapter and a centralized controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a software stack of communication processing of the lighting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of object information of sensors and lighting devices included in the device communication control adapter and the centralized controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a lighting device control calculation executed in the device communication control adapter and the centralized controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication control sequence when “centralized control” is selected in the lighting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication control sequence when “local control” is selected in the lighting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an example of object information of sensors and lighting devices included in the device communication control adapter and the centralized controller according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication control sequence when “centralized control” is selected in the lighting system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication control sequence when “local control” is selected in the lighting system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Centralized controller 2 Operation panel 3 Centralized control arithmetic processing unit 4 Centralized control / local control setting processing unit 5 Device communication control adapter 6 Local control arithmetic processing unit 7 sensor module 8 Human sensor 9 Illuminance sensor 10 Lighting equipment 11 power lines 12 Power line communication gate array module 13 Control arithmetic unit 14 Voltage converter 15 Memory device 16 Equipment control section 17 Equipment connection 31 light lines 32 device adapter interface 33 Power line communication middleware 34 Object information 35 Application S / W

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 13, 2003 (2003.2.1
3)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Claims]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0009]

A device communication control system according to the present invention detects a human body, power consumption, environmental physical quantity, and the like.
Connected to the sensors that are
Acquiring the object information corresponding to the measured value, etc.
Connected to the power line and sent through the power line.
Electric machine connected to itself based on the object information
Device communication control adapter and device communication control adapter
Object information is exchanged in both directions via the adapter and power line.
In addition to changing the
It has an operation section for setting the
A centralized controller that controls electrical equipment via
A device communication control system composed of
Is a central controller and machine that controls electrical equipment.
Equipped with a property code to be selected from the communication control adapter
Also, it is connected to sensors that detect the human body, power consumption, environmental physical quantities, etc., and acquires object information including property codes corresponding to the type of sensor, detection state, measured value, etc. In addition, the device communication control adapter that controls the electric device connected to itself and the device communication control adapter and the power line are connected to the power line and based on the object information sent via the power line. Through the bidirectional exchange of object information, and setting the property code corresponding to the control operation of the electric device, the property value set by the operating unit, and the sensors collected through the device communication control adapter Based on the property value corresponding to the type, detection status, measured value, etc. of the object corresponding to the control command of the electric device, A device communication control system including a centralized controller having a centralized control calculation unit that creates a device communication and transmits this object information to the device communication control adapter. When the device communication control adapter is selected as the main body that controls the electric device by the property value, with the property code selected from the control adapter,
The centralized controller stops the generation and transmission of the instance that controls the electric device, and the device communication control adapter, the device communication control adapter, and the property value corresponding to the control operation of the electric device set by the operation unit, the type of sensor and It is configured to create an instance of the object information corresponding to the control instruction of the electric device based on the object information including the property value corresponding to the detection state and the measured value, and control the electric device based on this instance. It was done.

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H05B 37/02 H05B 37/02 F (72) Inventor Toshiyasu Hikuma 2-3-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Sanryo Denki Incorporated (72) Inventor Yoshiro Ito 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Sanryo Electric Co., Ltd. Internal F-term (reference) 3K073 AA14 AA53 AA74 AA85 BA25 BA28 BA36 CA05 CB01 CB02 CC11 CC12 CE10 CE12 CE17 CG06 CG32 CH06 CH09 CH22 CH42 CH43 CJ01 CJ05 CJ08 CJ16 CJ22 5K046 AA03 BA02 BB06 CC18 PS41 5K048 AA01 AA04 AA08 BA07 DC06 EB02 EB12 HA01 HA02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An object connected to a sensor for detecting a human body, power consumption, environmental physical quantity, etc., obtaining object information including a property code corresponding to a type of the sensor, a detection state, a measured value, etc., and a power line. And a device communication control adapter for controlling an electric device connected to itself based on the object information sent via the power line, and a device communication control adapter and the power line, An operation unit for bidirectionally exchanging object information and setting a property code corresponding to the control operation of the electric device, a property value set by the operation unit, and the property information collected via the device communication control adapter. Based on the property value corresponding to the type of sensor, detection state, measured value, etc., A device communication control system comprising a centralized controller having a centralized control operation unit that creates an instance and transmits this object information to the device communication control adapter, wherein the operation unit is the electric device. A property code for selecting the subject controlling the centralized controller and the device communication control adapter, and when the device communication control adapter is selected as the subject controlling the electric device according to the property value, The centralized controller is
The generation and transmission of the instance that controls the electric device is stopped, and the device communication control adapter sets the property value corresponding to the control operation of the electric device set by the operation unit and the type of the sensors. An instance of object information corresponding to the control instruction of the electric device is created based on the object information including the property value corresponding to the detection state, the measured value, etc., and the electric device is controlled based on this instance. A device communication control system having the above configuration. 2. The electric device is a lighting device, and at least one of an illuminance threshold value and a lighting maintaining time can be set by the operation unit as a property value corresponding to a control operation of the lighting device. The device communication control system according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 3. A device communication control adapter connected to the device communication control system according to claim 2, including a property value corresponding to an illuminance threshold or a lighting maintenance time of the lighting device set by the operation unit. A device communication control adapter configured to control the lighting device based on the transmitted object information.