JP2005051557A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system in which a recipient terminal for receiving information can receive all of the information certainly, even if the information is transmitted simultaneously from a plurality of sensor terminals, and which can suppress power consumption of the sensor terminals as much as possible. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of sensor terminals 3 are configured to be operable in radio communication to the network terminal 2 of the communication system 1. While the network terminal 2 comprises a plurality of radio receiving units 21 for communicating in radio with a frequency different from each other, the sensor terminals 3 do not comprise a radio receiving unit and they are configured to transmit information only to the network terminal 2. In addition, transmit frequency data of a radio transmitting unit 34 in the sensor terminals 3 is transmitted in radio from a mobile terminal 4 to the network terminal 2 so that each of sensor terminals 3 are associated with each of radio receiving units 21. Consequently, radio communications are conducted between the associated sensor terminal 3 and the associated radio receiving units 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system that wirelessly communicates information related to an indoor environment (temperature, humidity, etc.).

  For the purpose of managing and monitoring the environment (temperature, humidity, etc.) of a specific area, the sensor that detects the environment of that area and the communication function is installed in the sensor, and the environment information transmitted from this sensor is received. Communication systems equipped with receivers that perform such operations are widely known.

  One example is described in Patent Document 1 below. In Patent Document 1, in order to manage the temperature of the hot spring, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the hot spring and a control for temporarily storing the temperature of the hot spring measured by the temperature sensor are provided corresponding to each temperature sensor. There is disclosed a communication system that includes a device and a management device that is owned by an administrator and to which the temperature of the hot spring is transferred from the control device via a PHS (Personal Handy phone System) network.

  Further, as a technique for enabling each information from a plurality of sensors to be received simultaneously, for example, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 2 below.

In Patent Document 2, in a wireless communication device that wirelessly transmits operation information and the like of a controller to a receiver from a transmitter such as a controller in a game device, the operation information and the like are transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver. A plurality of transmitters repeatedly and asynchronously transmit a transmission signal sequence including a signal indicating the operation information at a number of times equal to or more than the number of transmitters in different periods, and two of the transmitters. In all combinations of the above, the transmission cycle of each transmitter is determined so that even if two or more signal sequences are repeatedly transmitted from the two combined transmitters more than the number of transmitters, even part of each other Techniques to do this are disclosed.
JP 2001-355913 A JP 2002-319884 A

  However, in the system of Patent Document 1, when the management device includes only one receiving unit (receiving circuit), when the temperature of the hot spring is transmitted from a plurality of control devices at the same time, an interference state occurs, and the temperature of all the hot springs. May not be reliably received by the management device.

  Therefore, for example, if communication is performed by a polling method, the management device can reliably receive the temperature of all the hot springs. In this case, for example, information indicating that transmission of temperature information is permitted from the management device, etc. In order to receive data, the control device requires a wireless receiver, which increases the cost of the control device, and thus the overall communication system, and increases the size of the control device.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, if the determined transmission cycle of the transmitter is relatively large, the transmission time of the transmitter becomes long and relatively large power is consumed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and information received simultaneously from a plurality of terminals can be reliably received by a receiving terminal, and power consumption of a terminal provided with a sensor can be reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system that can be suppressed as much as possible.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a communication system according to the first means of the present invention is configured such that a plurality of transmission terminals including only a radio transmission unit among radio transmission units and radio reception units and reception frequencies different from each other are set. Wireless communication of information between a wireless reception unit of the reception terminal and a transmission terminal in which a transmission frequency corresponding to the reception frequency of the wireless reception unit is set. Then, the receiving terminal distributes information received by the wireless receiving unit over a communication network.

  Furthermore, in the communication system described above, when the receiving terminal receives information indicating the transmission frequency of the transmitting terminal, the reception frequency of one of the plurality of wireless reception units is changed to information indicating the transmission frequency. Is set to the transmission frequency of the transmitting terminal that transmitted.

  The communication system further includes a transmission terminal that is communicably connected to the transmission terminal and is communicably connected to the reception terminal via the communication network, and the transmission terminal includes the communication network. Information indicating the transmission frequency of the transmitting terminal is transmitted to the receiving terminal.

  In the communication system according to the first means, the transmission terminal includes a transmission terminal that is communicably connected to the transmission terminal and is communicably connected to the reception terminal via the communication network. Transmits information indicating the reception frequency of one radio reception unit of the reception terminal received via the communication network to one transmission terminal, and the transmission terminal receives the information indicating the reception frequency. Then, the transmission frequency is set to the reception frequency.

  The communication system having such a configuration includes a plurality of transmission terminals including only a radio transmission unit among a radio transmission unit and a radio reception unit, and one reception terminal including a plurality of radio reception units set with different reception frequencies. Information is wirelessly communicated between the wireless receiving unit of the receiving terminal and a transmitting terminal in which a transmission frequency corresponding to the reception frequency of the wireless receiving unit is set. Even if is transmitted, the receiving terminal can reliably receive all information, and since the transmitting terminal is not equipped with a wireless receiving unit, transmission is performed compared to a communication system employing a polling method. The increase in cost and size of the terminal can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a communication system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes a network terminal 2, a sensor terminal 3, a mobile terminal 4, a database 5, and a WEB server 6. The network terminal 2 and the sensor terminal 3 are capable of wireless communication using radio waves and the like, and the mobile terminal 4 communicates with the sensor terminal 3 by, for example, a wire or via the communication network 7. Connected as possible. The database 5 and the WEB server 6 are communicably connected to the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7. The communication network 7 includes a telecommunication line such as a public telephone line or a dedicated line. Moreover, the portable terminal 4 and the sensor terminal 3 may always be connected by a wire etc., and may be connected suitably as needed.

  The communication system 1 is used for the following applications, for example.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the air conditioners 9 are installed at a plurality of positions on a certain floor 8 of the building, the control of the air conditioner 9 is performed so that the room on the floor 8 has a uniform room temperature. When a plurality of sensor terminals 3 capable of detecting the temperature are distributed and installed on the floor 8, the network terminals 2 connected to the communication network are installed at appropriate locations, and the sensor terminals 3 are connected to the network terminals 2. The temperature information at each installation location is transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, a control device (not shown) that controls the operation of the air conditioning device 9 is connected to the communication network 7, and temperature information is transmitted from the network terminal 2 to the control device via the communication network 7. Control air conditioning equipment based on this.

  Alternatively, when it is desired to manage the environment such as temperature, humidity, illuminance, and carbon dioxide concentration in one floor of the building, sensor terminals 3 that can detect the temperature, humidity, illuminance, and carbon dioxide concentration are respectively installed on the floor. At the same time, the network terminal 2 is installed at an appropriate place in the building, and information related to the environment (hereinafter referred to as environment information) is wirelessly transmitted from each sensor terminal 3 to the network terminal 2. Further, the environmental information is transmitted from the network terminal 2 to the portable terminal 4 via the communication network 7, and the administrator browses and manages and monitors the environmental information of the floor with the portable terminal 4, and the network terminal 2 performs air conditioning. The environmental information is transmitted via a communication network 7 to a control device (not shown) that controls the operation of equipment such as equipment and lighting equipment, and the control equipment controls the equipment based on the environmental information.

  In such a communication system 1, from the viewpoint of workability of the sensor terminal 3, a configuration in which a power line is laid and driving power is supplied to the sensor terminal 3 using the power line is not adopted. When it is configured to be driven by, it is required to extend the life of the battery by suppressing the power consumption of the sensor terminal 3.

  In response to this request, in the communication system 1 of the present embodiment, a plurality of sensor terminals 3 are configured to be capable of wireless communication with one network terminal 2, and the sensor terminal 3 includes a wireless transmission unit and a wireless reception unit. It is characterized in that it has a wireless transmission unit 34, which will be described later, and is configured to transmit information from the sensor terminal 3 to the network terminal 2 only in one direction, thereby realizing a long battery life. Have.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, even if a plurality of sensor terminals 3 are configured to be able to perform wireless communication with respect to one network terminal 2, so that all information transmitted simultaneously from the plurality of sensor terminals 3 can be reliably received. The network terminal 2 includes a plurality of later-described wireless reception units 21 having different reception frequencies, and the wireless transmission unit 34 of the sensor terminal 3 is a wireless device in which the reception frequency is set to the same frequency as the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34. It is configured to communicate environment information and the like with the receiving unit 21. Hereinafter, this configuration will be described.

  The network terminal 2 includes a plurality of wireless reception units 21 and a network control unit 22. The network terminal 2 corresponds to the receiving terminal in the claims.

  The wireless reception unit 21 receives information wirelessly transmitted from the sensor terminal 3. In the present embodiment, the same number of wireless reception units 21 as sensor terminals 3 that communicate with the network terminal 2 are provided, and each wireless reception unit 21 has a unique reception frequency, and the reception frequency is The transmission frequency of any one of the sensor terminals 3 is set in advance.

  Note that the wireless reception unit 21 that has never communicated with the sensor terminal 3 is not associated with the sensor terminal 3, and before transmitting environmental information from the sensor terminal 3, the sensor terminal 3 (the wireless terminal described later) By transmitting information indicating a transmission frequency used when the transmission unit 34) transmits information to the network terminal 2 (hereinafter referred to as transmission frequency data), the sensor terminal 3 and a radio frequency corresponding to the transmission frequency are transmitted. Is associated with the wireless reception unit 21 having.

  The network control unit 22 includes a storage unit 23. When the transmission frequency data is received from the sensor terminal 3 by the wireless reception unit 21 having a reception frequency corresponding to the transmission frequency of the sensor terminal 3, the network control unit 22 stores The information of the wireless reception unit 21 and the ID of the sensor terminal 3 are stored in a table format, and the wireless reception unit 21 and the sensor terminal 3 are associated with each other. After the frequency setting operation is completed, when the wireless reception unit 21 receives environment information wirelessly transmitted from the sensor terminal 3 having a transmission frequency corresponding to the reception frequency, the network control unit 22 detects the environment information as a sensor. The information is distributed on the communication network 7 with the ID of the terminal 3 added.

  The sensor terminal 3 includes a sensor unit 31, a timer 32, a control unit 33, and a wireless transmission unit 34. The sensor terminal 3 corresponds to a transmission terminal in the claims.

  The sensor unit 31 is connected to the control unit 33 and is a circuit that detects, for example, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, illuminance, and the like as described above.

  The control unit 33 is a circuit that causes the sensor unit 31 to perform a detection operation every time the timer 32 counts a predetermined time, and outputs environmental information output from the sensor unit 31 to the wireless transmission unit 34. Further, when performing the frequency setting operation, the control unit 33 transmits the transmission frequency data of the wireless transmission unit 34 and the ID (identification) given in advance to the sensor terminal 3 to the network terminal 2. Information is sent to the wireless transmission unit 34. The ID is an identifier for identifying each sensor terminal 3.

  The wireless transmission unit 34 wirelessly transmits environment information transmitted from the sensor unit 31 via the control unit 33 and transmission frequency data and ID transmitted from the control unit 33 to the network terminal 2. Each has a unique transmission frequency.

  The portable terminal 4 is a notebook personal computer or the like that is communicably connected to the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7. The mobile terminal 4 receives the environment information distributed from the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7 and displays the environment information on a display unit (not shown). The portable terminal 4 corresponds to the transmission terminal in the claims.

  The database 5 receives and stores environment information transmitted from the sensor terminal 3 to the network terminal 2 from the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7.

  The WEB server 6 has a function of providing environmental information to a device when the environmental information stored in the database 5 is requested from a device (not shown) connected to the communication network 7.

  Next, the operation of the communication system 1 until the environmental information communication operation performed between the network terminal 2 and the sensor terminal 3 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a frequency setting operation. As shown in FIG. 3, when the sensor terminal 3 wirelessly transmits the transmission frequency data and ID to the wireless reception unit 21 of the network terminal 2 (step # 1), the wireless reception unit 21 transmits the transmission frequency data and ID to the network control unit 22. Frequency data is output (step # 2). The network control unit 22 stores the ID of the sensor terminal 3 and the information of the wireless reception unit 21 in a table format, and associates the sensor terminal 3 with the wireless reception unit 21 (step # 3).

  Thereafter, the network control unit 22 outputs information indicating that the sensor terminal 3 and the wireless reception unit 21 are associated with each other to the wireless reception unit 21 (step # 4), and the wireless reception unit 21 outputs the information. Radio transmission is performed to the corresponding sensor terminal 3 (step # 5).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sensor terminal 3. As shown in FIG. 4, until the timer 32 counts a predetermined time (NO in step # 11), the sensor unit 31 waits for a temperature detection operation and the timer 32 counts the predetermined time (step # 11). If YES, the sensor unit 31 performs a temperature detection operation (step # 12), and the wireless transmission unit 34 wirelessly transmits the detected environment information to the network terminal 2 (step # 13).

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication operation of environment information. As shown in FIG. 5, in the sensor terminal 3, when the timer 32 counts for a predetermined time (step # 21), the sensor unit 31 detects a temperature or the like (step # 22), and the wireless transmission unit 34 is a network terminal. The detected environment information is wirelessly transmitted to the wireless reception unit 21 having the same reception frequency as the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 among the plurality of wireless reception units 21 (step # 23). The wireless reception unit 21 that has received the environment information sends information indicating that the environment information has been received to the network control unit 22 (step # 24), and until the network control unit 22 makes an output request for the environment information, This environmental information is retained.

  When the network control unit 22 receives information indicating that the environment information has been received from the wireless reception unit 21, the network control unit 22 transmits information indicating that the environment information is requested to the wireless reception unit 21 at an appropriate timing (step # 25). For example, the network control unit 22 does not perform other operations such as processing for acquiring environment information from another wireless reception unit 21 or processing for distributing information to the database 5 via the communication network 7. It is timing.

  When receiving information from the network control unit 22 that requests environment information, the wireless reception unit 21 sends the environment information to the network control unit 22 (step # 26). When receiving the environment information from the wireless reception unit 21, the network control unit 22 transmits this environment information to the database 5, the WEB server 6, or the portable terminal 4 via the communication network 7 (step # 27).

  As described above, a plurality of sensor terminals 3 can be wirelessly communicated with one network terminal 2, and the network terminal 2 includes a plurality of wireless reception units 21 that perform wireless communication at mutually different reception frequencies. 3 is configured not to include the wireless reception unit 21 but to transmit information only from the sensor terminal 3 to the network terminal 2, so that even when environmental information is simultaneously transmitted from a plurality of sensor terminals 3. The network terminal 2 can reliably receive all the environmental information, and since the sensor terminal 3 is not provided, the lifetime of the battery that drives the sensor terminal 3 is avoided while avoiding an increase in cost and size of the sensor terminal 3. Can prolong life.

  In addition, this invention can employ | adopt not only the said 1st Embodiment but following modification (1)-(5).

  (1) In the first embodiment, transmission frequency data is directly transmitted wirelessly from the sensor terminal 3 to the network terminal 2 so that the network control unit 22 associates the sensor terminal 3 and the wireless reception unit 21 with each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the transmission frequency data may be transmitted to the network terminal 2 via the portable terminal 4.

  In this case, when the control unit 33 of the sensor terminal 3 performs the setting operation of the reception frequency of the wireless reception unit 21 in the network terminal 2 (when requested by the mobile terminal 4), the transmission frequency data of the wireless transmission unit 34 and In order to transmit the ID (identification) given in advance to the sensor terminal 3 to the portable terminal 4, these pieces of information are sent to the wireless transmission unit 34.

  For example, when the mobile terminal 4 is connected to the sensor terminal 3, the mobile terminal 4 requests the transmission frequency data from the sensor terminal 3 and acquires the transmission frequency data from the sensor terminal 3. Transmit to.

  In the network terminal 2, unlike the first embodiment, the reception frequency of the wireless reception unit 21 is not set in advance, and the network control unit 22 receives transmission frequency data from the mobile terminal 4 via the communication network 7. Then, the radio reception unit 21 to be set as the reception frequency is set as the reception frequency indicated by the transmission frequency data, and the reception frequency of the radio reception unit 21 is set as the transmission frequency. Further, the network control unit 22 stores the ID of the sensor terminal 3 and the information of the wireless reception unit 21 in which the reception frequency is set to the transmission frequency of the sensor terminal 3 in the storage unit 23 in a table format.

  This enables wireless communication between the wireless reception unit 21 of the network terminal 2 set with the transmission frequency of the sensor terminal 3 as the reception frequency and the sensor terminal 3.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a detailed frequency setting operation using the mobile terminal 4. As shown in FIG. 6, when the mobile terminal 4 is connected to the sensor terminal 3 (step # 31), the mobile terminal 4 makes a frequency setting request to the sensor terminal 3 (step # 32). Upon receiving this request, the sensor terminal 3 transmits the transmission frequency data of the wireless transmission unit 34 to the portable terminal 4 (step # 33).

  When receiving the transmission frequency data, the portable terminal 4 transmits this data to the network control unit 22 of the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7 (step # 34), and the network control unit 22 has the reception frequency set. The information is transmitted to any one of the wireless receivers 21 not present (step # 35). After receiving the transmission frequency data and setting the reception frequency (step # 36), the wireless reception unit 21 transmits information indicating that the setting is completed via the network control unit 22 and the communication network 7 to the portable terminal 4. (Steps # 37 and # 38).

  As described above, even if the mobile terminal 4 acquires the transmission frequency data of the wireless transmission unit 34 in the sensor terminal 3 and transmits it to the network control unit 22 via the communication network 7, the transmission frequency of the sensor terminal 3 can be obtained. It is possible to construct a communication system that performs wireless communication between the wireless reception unit 21 set as the reception frequency and the sensor terminal 3 having the transmission frequency.

  (2) In the modification (1), the mobile terminal 4 acquires the transmission frequency data of the wireless transmission unit 34 from the sensor terminal 3 and transmits the data to the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7. 2 is set to the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 in the sensor terminal 3, but not limited to this, the reception frequency of each wireless reception unit 21 of the network terminal 2 is Information that indicates a reception frequency of one of the wireless reception units 21 of the network terminal 2 (hereinafter referred to as reception frequency data) is transmitted to the sensor terminal 3 via the portable terminal 4. Good.

  In this case, when the network control unit 22 of the network terminal 2 performs the setting operation of the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 in the sensor terminal 3 (when requested by the portable terminal 4), the reception frequency data of the wireless reception unit 21 is received. Is transmitted to the portable terminal 4 via the communication network 7.

  For example, when the mobile terminal 4 is connected to the network terminal 2, the mobile terminal 4 requests the reception frequency data from the network terminal 2 and acquires the reception frequency data from the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7. To transmit.

  The sensor terminal 3 includes a wired transmission / reception unit (not shown) that communicates information with the portable terminal 4 via a wired line, and receives supply of driving power for driving the wired transmission / reception unit from the portable terminal 4. It is configured. The wired transmission / reception unit is configured to be connected to the control unit 33. When the wired transmission / reception unit receives the reception frequency data from the portable terminal 4, the control unit 33 sets the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 to the reception frequency indicated by the reception frequency data.

  In this case, the detailed frequency setting operation is as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the portable terminal 4 is connected to the sensor terminal 3 (step # 41), and the portable terminal 4 sends a frequency setting request to the network control unit 22 of the network terminal 2 via the communication network 7 ( In step # 42), the network control unit 22 makes a setting request to any of the wireless reception units 21 that are not performing reception processing at that time (step # 43).

  When receiving the setting request from the network control unit 22, the wireless reception unit 21 transmits the reception frequency data of the wireless reception unit 21 to the network control unit 22 (step # 44). Further, the network control unit 22 Information indicating the reception frequency of reception unit 21 is transmitted to portable terminal 4 via communication network 7 (step # 45).

  When receiving the reception frequency data, the portable terminal 4 transmits the data to the sensor terminal 3 (step # 46). In the sensor terminal 3, when the wired transmission / reception unit receives the reception frequency data, the control unit 33 performs processing for setting the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 to the reception frequency (step # 47), and then the setting is completed. Information to the effect is transmitted from the wireless transmission unit 34 to the portable terminal 4 (step # 48).

  (3) In the modification (2), when the wired transmission / reception unit receives reception frequency data from the portable terminal 4, the control unit 33 sets the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 to the reception frequency indicated by the reception frequency data. However, the transmission frequency of the wireless transmission unit 34 of the sensor terminal 3 may be switched using, for example, a known software switch provided in the mobile terminal 4.

  (4) Here, in the first embodiment and its modifications (1) to (3), the network control unit 22 of the network terminal 2 receives the ID of the sensor terminal 3 and the reception frequency of the sensor terminal 3. The storage unit 23 stores information indicating the wireless reception unit 21 set to the transmission frequency in a table format, and the network control unit 22 receives from which sensor terminal 3 the information received by the wireless reception unit 21 is transmitted. However, the storage unit 23 is not provided, and the network control unit 22 adds the ID to the environment information without performing the recognition as described above. When a control device (not shown) that distributes and controls, for example, an air conditioner receives these pieces of information via the communication network 7, the received environmental information indicates which sensor end. 3 may be recognized from the added ID or having been sent to the environment information from.

  (5) Here, in 1st Embodiment and its modification (1), (3), the sensor terminal 3 and the portable terminal 4 can communicate by radio | wireless communication using a radio wave etc. instead of a wire communication. You may connect.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the usage example of the communication system of this invention. It is a figure which shows frequency setting operation | movement. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a sensor terminal. It is a figure which shows the radio | wireless communication operation | movement of environmental information. It is a figure which shows the other frequency setting operation | movement using a portable terminal. It is a figure which shows the other frequency setting operation | movement using a portable terminal.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication system 2 Network terminal 21 Wireless receiving part 22 Network control part 3 Sensor terminal 31 Sensor part 32 Timer 33 Control part 34 Wireless transmission part 4 Portable terminal

Claims (4)

A plurality of transmission terminals including only the radio transmission unit among the radio transmission unit and the radio reception unit, and one reception terminal including a plurality of radio reception units in which different reception frequencies are set,
Information is wirelessly communicated between a wireless reception unit of the reception terminal and a transmission terminal in which a transmission frequency corresponding to the reception frequency of the wireless reception unit is set, and the reception terminal receives information received by the wireless reception unit. A communication system characterized by being distributed on a communication network. When the receiving terminal receives the information indicating the transmission frequency of the transmitting terminal, the reception frequency of one of the plurality of wireless reception units is the transmission frequency of the transmission terminal that has transmitted the information indicating the transmission frequency. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication system is set as follows. The transmission terminal includes a transmission terminal that is communicably connected to the transmission terminal and that is communicably connected to the reception terminal via the communication network, and the transmission terminal transmits the transmission frequency of the transmission terminal via the communication network. The communication system according to claim 2, further comprising transmitting information indicating to the receiving terminal. The transmission terminal includes a transmission terminal that is communicably connected to the transmission terminal and that is communicably connected to the reception terminal via the communication network, and the transmission terminal is connected to the reception terminal received via the communication network. Transmitting information indicating a reception frequency of one radio reception unit to one transmission terminal, and when the transmission terminal receives the information indicating the reception frequency, the transmission frequency is set to the reception frequency. The communication system according to claim 1.

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