JP2010118794A - Base station apparatus, terminal and system for information collection/distribution - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a base station apparatus, a terminal and a system for information collection/distribution, in which high reliability is secured and initial cost and operation cost are reduced. <P>SOLUTION: The base station apparatus for information collection/distribution includes: a plurality of network communication means which respectively communicate with a plurality of commercial communication networks such as mobile-phone networks; a digital wireless communication means such as a specific small power wireless communication means for performing communication with a terminal; and a communication control means for transmitting digital information received from any one of the plurality of network communication means to the terminal through the digital wireless communication means. Since a contract with the mobile-phone network or the like is concluded with each base station, the operation cost can be extremely reduced. Even when one mobile-phone network is congested or shut down, information can be distributed through another communication network and only packet communication is used, so that the probability of connection is high even in congestion as compared with voice communication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information collection / distribution base station apparatus, an information collection / distribution terminal, and an information collection / distribution system, and in particular, an information collection / distribution base station apparatus and an information collection / distribution terminal that have high reliability and low initial costs and operating costs. And an information collection and distribution system.

  Conventionally, in addition to local information such as local information, news / weather forecasts, etc., emergency earthquake information and emergency notification information are distributed to a large number of terminals in a certain area using radio, and information is collected from terminals. An information collection and distribution system has been proposed. There is a well-known disaster prevention radio system as an example of distributing information to a terminal device existing in a certain area using radio, but the disaster prevention radio system uses a dedicated radio channel, and various information distribution or terminals It cannot respond to the information gathering needs from.

  Further, since it is voice communication, the contents cannot be recorded or displayed on the terminal. Furthermore, in order to distribute the household receivers to all households, a sufficient reception electric field is required for all households, but there are restrictions on the frequency (number of channels) that can be used. Distribution of individual receivers is difficult.

As another example, Patent Document 1 below discloses an information distribution system using a mobile phone as a terminal. In this system, transmission information in which target information is added to main content is broadcast from a radio base station to all mobile phones in the area. The personal attribute storage unit of each mobile phone stores its own personal attribute information in advance. When the information is received, it is determined whether or not the target information included in the information matches the personal attribute information. The information is stored in the main memory only when the information matches, and is erased when the information does not match.
JP 2002-351915 A

The conventional information collection and distribution system as described above has the following problems.
(1) If a terminal having a mobile phone function is installed in each door in the area, a mobile phone contract is required for each door, and the operation cost becomes very high, which is difficult to realize.

(2) Collection and distribution is impossible when the contracted cellular phone network is congested or down.
(3) In the case of a mobile phone terminal, the power consumption is large and the battery cannot be driven for a long time.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and to provide an information collection / delivery base station apparatus, an information collection / delivery terminal, and an information collection / distribution system that have high reliability and low initial costs and operation costs. To do.

  An information collection and distribution base station apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of commercial communication network communication means that respectively communicate with a plurality of commercial communication networks, a digital wireless communication means that communicates with a terminal, and the plurality of commercial communication network communication means. The main feature is that it comprises communication control means for transmitting digital information received from any of the terminals to the terminal using the digital wireless communication means.

  In the above information collection and distribution base station device, the commercial communication network communication means is a mobile phone network communication device that performs digital communication with a mobile phone network, and the digital wireless communication means is a specific low-power wireless communication device. There are also features.

  In the information collection and distribution base station apparatus, the communication control means controls the specific low-power wireless communication apparatus so that the communication channel has a predetermined length at a predetermined interval regardless of whether there is information to be transmitted. Another feature is that a slot signal is transmitted.

  In the information collection / delivery base station apparatus, the communication control means includes packet communication means for exchanging information with the collection / delivery server via the cellular phone network using the cellular phone network communication apparatus. There is also a feature.

  An information collection / delivery terminal according to the present invention includes a communication unit that performs bidirectional communication with an information collection / distribution base station device, a storage unit that stores received character information, a display unit that displays received character information, The main features include voice output means for synthesizing and outputting voice signals according to character information, and operation detection means for generating transmission information.

  Also, the information collection / delivery terminal of the present invention sets the time interval specified by the ACK signal returned from the information collection / distribution base station apparatus corresponding to the transmission data in the timer circuit until the timer circuit times out The main feature is that the power is turned off during the period.

  The information collection / delivery system of the present invention is a collection / distribution connected to the above-described information collection / distribution base station apparatus, the above-described information collection / distribution terminal, and a plurality of commercial communication networks with which the information collection / distribution base station apparatus can communicate. The main feature is that it has a server.

The present invention has the following effects.
(1) If text-based display information is transmitted to the base station device via the mobile phone network, and this display information is transmitted from the base station to terminals in the area by radio, the contract with the mobile phone network is This is done for each station, and the operation cost is very low.
(2) Since the base station device includes means for communicating with a plurality of mobile phone networks, information can be distributed via another communication network even if one mobile phone network is congested or down. In addition, since only packet communication is used, the probability of being able to connect even during congestion is high compared to voice communication.

(3) By shortening the arrangement interval of the base stations, the power consumption of the terminal can be reduced. For example, the meter-reading terminal can be driven with a battery for a long time.
(4) By making the distribution information text-based digital information, a large amount of distribution information can be stored, searched, and displayed.
(5) The base station collects meter reading data and the like in the area and transfers them together to reduce communication costs.

(6) Distribution information can be transmitted from a plurality of distribution sources using a general personal computer, and a distribution system from a plurality of locations can be constructed at low cost in response to various information collection and distribution needs including government. .
(7) A plurality of services such as a regional information distribution system, an emergency disaster information distribution system, a meter reading system, and a telemeter / telecon system can be independently provided in the coverage area of one system of the present invention.

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the information collection and distribution system of the present invention. The collection / delivery server 12 installed by the service provider of the present invention is provided with distribution information installed in, for example, a government agency via the intranet 13 or the Internet 10 consisting of a LAN, a dedicated line, or a VPN (Virtual Private Network). A transmission terminal 11 is connected.

  The collection / delivery server 12 is connected to the first communication module of the base station apparatus 30 via the IP-VPN-J17 and the mobile communication network A20, and the IP-VPN-K18 and the mobile communication network. It is connected to the second communication module of the base station device 30 via B21. IP-VPN-J17 and IP-VPN-K18 are known IP-VPN services provided by the commercial IP network A15 and the commercial IP network B16, respectively.

  By using known services of the commercial IP networks 15 and 16 and the mobile phone networks 20 and 21, the collection and distribution server 12 can perform packet communication with the communication module by designating an IP address. An Internet VPN using the Internet 10 can also be used.

  For example, the mobile communication network A20 and the mobile communication network B21, which are well-known mobile phone networks, are configured so that a mobile terminal 25 and a plurality of base station devices 30 can be connected. When the mobile communication network is a mobile phone network, it has a voice communication function and a packet communication function, but in the present invention, only the packet communication function is used.

  A plurality of base station apparatuses 30 are installed at arbitrary intervals in the service area. The base station device 30 has a communication function with a plurality of mobile communication networks A20 and mobile communication networks B21, and further by specific low power radio with the door-to-door terminal 35, the meter-reading terminal 36, the electric light display terminal 37, and the relay station device 38. It has a digital wireless communication function. In addition, in order to collect the data of the meter-reading terminal 36 in a base station insensitive area, the relay station apparatus 38 or the handy terminal 39 may be installed and deployed.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the collection / delivery server 12 in the present invention. The collection / delivery server 12 may have a configuration in which, for example, a well-known Web server 40, a well-known mail server 41, an application server 42 that executes an application program related to the present invention, and a management terminal 43 are connected by a LAN. Is connected to the Internet 10 via the Internet and is also connected to the intranet 13. The application server 42 is connected to IP-VPN-J17 and IP-VPN-K18 lines. The Web server 40 and the mail server 41 are not essential devices in the present invention, but may be used for communication with the distribution information transmission terminal 11, the PC terminal 14, the portable terminal 25, or the base station device 30, for example.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the base station device 30. The base station device 30 includes a communication control unit 50, a communication network A communication module 51, a communication network B communication module 52, a specific low power wireless module (transmission unit) 53, a specific low power wireless module (reception unit) 54, and a diversity circuit 55. , An antenna, an operation display unit 56, a solar cell unit, and a power source 57.

  The communication control unit 50 is obtained by installing a program for executing processing to be described later in a known control device including a CPU, RAM, ROM, flash memory, I / O port, timer circuit, clock circuit, and the like. The communication network A communication module 51 and the communication network B communication module 52 are modules that perform packet communication with the mobile communication network A20 and the mobile communication network B21, respectively, and are assigned unique addresses. Such a communication module is commercially available.

  The specific low-power radio module (transmission unit) 53 and the specific low-power radio module (reception unit) 54 are also modules that perform transmission and reception of known specific low-power radio, and are commercially available. Diversity circuit 55 is a known circuit that switches or synthesizes and outputs received signals from a plurality of receiving antennas so that the received signal level becomes higher.

  Since the communication distance in data transmission depends on the energy per bit, for example, if the transmission speed is increased by 10 times, 10 times the transmission power is required, but conversely if the transmission speed is 1/10, 1 / A transmission power of 10 is sufficient. Since this system is based on text transmission and the transmission speed is low, the communication distance is extended by reducing the transmission speed within the range of the specific low power radio standard.

  The operation display unit 56 includes a display device and a switch for setting a status display and parameters for maintenance. The solar cell unit includes a solar cell 60, a battery 62, and a charge control unit 61, and outputs DC power to the power supply circuit 57. A circuit for charging the battery with 100 VAC is also provided in order to cope with the shortage of power generation by the solar cell.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the door-to-door terminal 35 in the present invention. The door-to-door terminal 35 includes a control unit 70, a specific low power radio unit 71, an AM / FM radio module 72, a liquid crystal display 73, an amplifier 74, an audio output terminal 75, a speaker 76, an illumination LED 77, an operation switch 78, and a charge control unit. 79, a battery 80, and a power supply unit 81.

  The control unit 70 is a well-known control device having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, an I / O port, a D / A conversion circuit, a timer circuit, a clock circuit, and the like installed with a program for executing processing to be described later It is. The specific low-power radio unit 71 is a module that performs data communication with the base station device 30 and is commercially available. The AM / FM radio module 72 is a radio module that can be turned on / off from the outside, can be selected, and can be adjusted in volume, and is also commercially available.

  The liquid crystal display 73 is a known color liquid crystal display device capable of displaying characters and images, for example. The amplifier 74 is an amplifier circuit that mixes and amplifies the audio output signal from the radio module 72 and the synthesized audio signal output from the D / A conversion circuit output port of the control unit 70. The output signal of the amplifier 74 drives the speaker 76 via the audio output terminal 75.

  The illumination LED 77 is a white high-intensity LED for illumination, and the LED drive circuit is on / off controlled by a control signal from the control unit 70. The operation switch 78 is a switch circuit for inputting various instructions to the control unit 70. The operation switch 78 includes a control switch for power, tuning, band, volume, light (LED), etc., as well as an emergency notification, confirmation response information transmission switch, read, previous, next, confirmation (erase) There is an information display switch.

  The charging control unit 79 charges the battery 80 with AC 100 V and supplies DC power to the power supply unit 81, and DC power is supplied from the battery 80 to the power supply unit 81 during a power failure. In addition to the above functions, for example, an external device control terminal for on / off control of an external device, an external device input terminal for collecting and transmitting data from an external device, a general-purpose input / output port for a printer May be provided. Further, the electric light display terminal 37 is a terminal using an electric light display board as a display device in the door-to-door terminal 35.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the meter reading terminal 36 in the present invention. For example, when performing meter reading of a water meter, since the water meter is installed outdoors, it is difficult to supply power from a commercial power source, and it is necessary to drive the battery for a long time. The meter-reading terminal 36 incorporates a wireless module, an antenna and a battery 93 inside a resin case 94.

  The wireless module includes a control unit 90, a specific low power wireless unit 91, and a timer circuit 92. The control unit 90 is obtained by installing a program for executing processing to be described later in a known control device including a CPU, RAM, ROM, flash memory, I / O port, and the like.

  The specific low-power radio unit 91 is a module that performs data communication with the base station device 30, the relay station device 38, or the handy terminal 39, and is commercially available. The timer circuit 92 is a timer circuit capable of measuring time for a long time. When the timer is set, the electronic switch is turned off to stop the power supply to the wireless module, and when the time is up, the power supply is resumed.

  FIG. 6 is a front view and a side view showing the configuration of the door-to-door terminal 35 in the present invention. The door-to-door terminal 35 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a liquid crystal display 73, a speaker 74, and "emergency call", "confirmation response", "read", "previous", "next", and "confirm" operation switches 78 are arranged on the front surface. ing.

  An antenna is disposed on the upper surface of the door-to-door terminal 35, and an illumination LED 76 is disposed on the right side surface. On the left side, an operation switch 78 of “volume”, “channel selection”, “AM / FM (band)”, “light”, “power” and an external power supply terminal to which DC power is input are arranged. Each operation switch 78 is also shown in braille.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the relay station apparatus 38 according to the present invention. The relay station device 38 has a circuit configuration in which the communication module with the mobile communication network is removed from the base station device 30 shown in FIG. 3 and only the specific low power wireless communication function is left. The communication control unit 101 uses a known specific low-power wireless module 102 and relays communication between the base station device 30 and the meter-reading terminal 36 using a different channel.

  Communication between the relay station device 38 and the meter-reading terminal 36 is a polling method, and uses a frequency independent of the base station device 30. The relay station device 38 acquires meter reading data from the meter reading terminal 36 before the notification time designated from the base station by a known polling method, and stores it in the memory. The base station device 30 performs the same operation as the meter-reading terminal 36, and transmits the meter-reading data stored in the memory to the base station. The handy terminal 39 is a terminal that acquires meter reading data from the meter reading terminal 36 by a known polling method and stores it in a memory, and is a terminal that can be portable / moved to the vicinity of the meter reading terminal 36 by battery driving. is there.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of channel arrangement used by each base station apparatus in the system of the present invention. The specific low-power radio does not require a radio station license, and several tens of channel pairs can be used in the 400 MHz band or the 1200 MHz band, respectively. Each channel pair is provided with an uplink channel and a downlink channel separately, and full-duplex communication is possible. Access control is CSMA / CD, and if the channel is free, it can be transmitted after confirming that there is no carrier for a predetermined time.

  In the system of the present invention, base station devices are arranged at predetermined intervals (for example, several hundred m to several km), but adjacent base station devices cannot use the same channel due to interference. Therefore, for example, by adopting a channel arrangement as shown in FIG. 8, a large area can be covered without interference by repeatedly using nine channels. The suffix “f” in FIG. 8 indicates an example of the channel pair number.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the exchange of information between devices in the present invention. In the case of information distribution, for example, distribution information is transmitted from the distribution information transmission terminal 11 installed in the administrative organization to the collection and distribution server 12. Destination information is also added to this distribution information. Upon receiving the distribution information, the collection / delivery server 12 selects a terminal device to which the distribution information is to be transmitted based on the destination information, and transmits the distribution information to the corresponding base station device.

  The distribution information is received by the base station device 30 via the IP-VPN and the mobile communication network, stored in the memory, and transmitted in a predetermined slot by the specific low power radio. In addition, retransmission is performed in a predetermined slot in order to increase the reliability of communication. Further, the base station apparatus 30 returns an ACK signal to the collection / delivery server 12, and the collection / delivery server 12 transmits ACK display information to the distribution information transmission terminal 11 when all the ACKs are received. The distribution information received by the door-to-door terminal 35 is stored in the memory, displayed on the liquid crystal display 73, and output from the speaker 74 by synthesized voice.

  In the case of notification (uplink information) from the individual terminal 35, the base station device 30 that has received the uplink notification information transmits the notification information to a predetermined collection / delivery server 12. The collection / distribution server 12 that has received the notification information performs necessary processing based on the notification contents and returns an ACK signal to the base station device 30. The base station device 30 that has received the ACK transmits an ACK signal to the terminal that has transmitted the notification information. If the ACK does not return within a predetermined time, the door-to-door terminal 35 retransmits the notification information.

  In the case of periodic notification (meter reading), when the meter reading terminal awakened from the sleep state receives the synchronization signal and the time information and confirms that the transmission time is reached, the periodic notification information is transmitted. When the base station device 30 receives the periodic notification information, the base station device 30 individually writes and stores it in the memory in association with the terminal ID, and transmits ACK and time interval designation information to the terminal. The meter-reading terminal 36 that has received the ACK / time interval designation information sets the designated time interval (for example, one day) in the timer circuit, thereby turning off the power and entering the sleep state.

  The collection and distribution server 12 transmits a collection data transmission instruction signal to the base station device 30 at a predetermined time. Receiving the transmission instruction signal, the base station apparatus 30 collectively reads the meter reading data individually written in the memory since the previous reading, generates a periodic notification information return signal, and returns it to the collection and distribution server.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a frame configuration example in communication between the base station apparatus and the terminal in the present invention. In the system of the present invention, the downlink signal from the base station device 30 is transmitted by repeating a frame of 60 seconds starting from 00 seconds per minute. The frame consists of 6 slots 0 to 5 starting every 00 seconds to 10 seconds per minute. In each slot, even if there is no data to be transmitted, a dummy signal is used for continuous transmission for 8 seconds. Transmission is paused for 2 seconds. This is an operation for occupying the channel in the specific low-power radio and suppressing the use of other radio stations.

  A frame synchronization signal and time information, which are unique patterns, are transmitted at the head of each slot. The terminal constantly monitors the frame synchronization signal, and the current slot number is determined by receiving the frame synchronization signal and the time information.

  When there is no distribution information, a frame synchronization signal and time information are transmitted, then a dummy signal is transmitted for a predetermined time, and if periodic notification information (meter reading data) is received from the terminal during that time, the periodic notification information ACK data is transmitted, and a dummy signal is transmitted again for the remaining time.

  If there is distribution information, the frame synchronization signal and time information are transmitted, and then the information is distributed. If the information to be distributed is short and does not reach the predetermined time, a dummy signal is transmitted at the remaining time. In the distribution information, any one of destination information addressed to a broadcast (addressed to all terminals) group (addressed to a terminal in the group) or a door-to-door terminal is given as a destination. Thereafter, when periodic notification information (meter reading data) is received from the terminal, ACK data for the periodic notification information is transmitted, and a dummy signal is transmitted for the remaining time.

  The upstream signal from the terminal includes regular notification information such as meter reading data from the meter reading terminal, and door notification information of emergency call or confirmation response information from the door terminal. The periodic notification information is normally transmitted at the time specified by the ACK signal at the previous transmission, and is transmitted from the terminal at the transmission time after detecting the frame synchronization signal and time information of each slot.

  In the present invention, the periodic notification information is scheduled by the base station so that the designated time is any one of slots 0, 1, 3, and 4. Slots 2 and 5 are vacant for use in retransmission when transmission of periodic notification information fails (ACK cannot be confirmed). The individual notification information can be transmitted after carrier sense at an arbitrary time.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of transmission of an emergency earthquake warning in communication between a base station apparatus and a terminal according to the present invention. If the earthquake early warning arrives at the base station device 30 from the communication network or from the distribution information transmission terminal via the collection and distribution server, the base station device immediately stops transmission if it is being transmitted, If it is in a pause, immediately after the carrier sense, the earthquake early warning signal including the frame synchronization signal is transmitted to all terminals continuously three times.

  The contents of processing by software in each apparatus of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the application server in the collection / delivery server. In S10, it is determined whether or not distribution information has been received from the distribution information transmission terminal 11. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S13, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S11.

  In S11, the distribution destination terminal device is determined based on the transmission source terminal information of the distribution information, the destination information of the distribution information, and the corresponding terminal ID information. In S12, the distribution information with the destination information is transmitted to all the base station devices 30 via the mobile communication network. This is because information can be received as long as the channel is matched even if the terminal moves. Information about one base station device 30 may be transmitted to both of the plurality of mobile communication networks, and duplicate information may be discarded at the base station device, or transmitted to one mobile communication network. If no ACK is returned within a predetermined time, it may be transmitted to the next mobile communication network.

In S13, it is determined whether or not a signal including notification information is received from the base station device 30, and if the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S17, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S14. In S14, notification information is extracted and analyzed.

  In S15, necessary processing is executed based on the analysis. For example, in the case of emergency call information, information such as the address, name, and telephone number of the user of the terminal is retrieved from the ID information of the transmission source terminal, read out, displayed on the management terminal 43, and a predetermined administrative organization, etc. Notify In S16, an ACK signal is transmitted to the base station apparatus via the mobile communication network.

  In S17, it is determined whether or not the periodic collection time of meter reading data has arrived. If the determination result is negative, the process returns to S10, but if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to S18. In S18, a collection data transmission instruction signal addressed to the base station apparatus 30 to be collected is transmitted.

  In S19, the process waits until a return signal is received from the base station apparatus 30. In S20, the periodically collected information is extracted from the return signal and stored. In S21, the periodic collection information is transferred to a predetermined destination.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing contents in the base station apparatus. In S30, it is determined whether or not a packet has been received from any of the mobile phone networks. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S43, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S31. In S31, it is determined whether or not the content of the received packet is emergency earthquake information. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S33, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S32.

  In S32, if transmission is currently being performed, the transmission up to that point is interrupted, and frames including emergency earthquake information are transmitted three times in succession. Since the frame synchronization signal is added to the frame and the terminal constantly monitors the frame synchronization signal, it is possible to immediately receive and display the emergency earthquake information frame.

  In S33, it is determined whether or not the content of the received packet is an information distribution signal. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S38, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S34. In S34, an ACK signal is generated and sent back to the collection / delivery server 12. In S35, the distribution information is stored in the memory, and in S36, it is transmitted to the terminal (stored in the transmission buffer memory).

  In S37, the information transmitted in S36 is transmitted again in a predetermined slot. This is because in the case of information distribution (broadcast), each terminal can reliably receive it by retransmitting it instead of confirming ACK from each terminal. Note that the number of transmissions may be three or more.

  In S38, it is determined whether the content of the received packet is an ACK for the notification information (uplink). If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S40, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S39. In S39, ACK information is transmitted to the terminal that transmitted the notification information.

  In S40, it is determined whether or not the content of the received packet is a meter reading information transmission instruction signal from the collection / delivery server 12. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S43, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S41. To do. In S41, the meter reading information individually written after the previous transmission is collectively read from the memory. In S <b> 42, a signal including the meter reading information read at once is generated and transmitted to the collection / delivery server 12.

  In S43, it is determined whether or not information has been received from the terminal. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S30, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S44. In S44, it is determined whether or not the received information is uplink notification information from the individual terminal 35. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S47, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S45. In S45, notification information transfer information is generated. In S46, the transfer information is transmitted to the collection / delivery server 12.

  In S47, it is determined whether or not the received information is periodic collection information from the meter-reading terminal 36. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S30, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S48. In S48, the meter reading information is individually written in the memory together with the transmitted terminal ID. In S49, ACK and time interval designation information is transmitted to the terminal.

  This time interval designation information is time interval information until the next transmission time of the terminal designated by the base station, and can be arbitrarily set from the collection / delivery server 12. With this configuration, the transmission schedule from the terminal can be dynamically changed, duplication of the transmission timing of the terminal can be reduced, transmission efficiency is improved, and the power consumption of the terminal is also reduced.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of timer interrupt processing in the base station apparatus. This process is preset and started by a timer interrupt that occurs every 00 seconds to 10 seconds per minute, and is processed in parallel with the process of FIG. In S100, the frame synchronization signal and time information of the unique pattern are transmitted.

  In S101, it is determined whether there is distribution information in the transmission buffer memory. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S105, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S102. In S102, the distribution information is read from the transmission buffer memory and transmitted using the specific low power wireless module (transmission unit) 53.

  In S103, it is determined whether or not transmission of all distribution information has been completed. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S102, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S104. In S104, dummy information is transmitted for the remaining time until the time allocated for transmission of distribution information. In S105, dummy information is transmitted only for the time allocated for transmission of distribution information. The time allocated for transmission of distribution information is determined so that the length of each slot is, for example, 8 seconds.

  In S106, it is determined whether or not periodic notification information has been received from the terminal. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S108, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S107. In S107, an ACK for the received periodic notification is transmitted to the corresponding terminal. In S108, a dummy signal is transmitted instead of ACK.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing in the door-to-door terminal apparatus. In S50, it is determined whether or not information has been received from the base station apparatus 30, and if the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S55, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S51. In S51, it is determined whether or not the received information is emergency earthquake information. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S52, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S53.

  In S52, it is determined whether or not the own station is included in the destination of the received information. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S55, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S53. In S53, the received information is stored and displayed on the liquid crystal display 73. In S54, the character string of the received information is converted into a synthesized voice signal and output from the speaker 74. In the case of emergency earthquake information, the volume is output at the maximum.

  In S55, it is determined whether there is information to be transmitted, that is, whether pressing of the emergency call switch or the confirmation response switch is detected. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S61. The process proceeds to S56. In S56, transmission data including information to be transmitted is generated.

  In S57, it is confirmed that there is no carrier for a predetermined time, and in S58, data is transmitted. In S59, it is determined whether or not an ACK has been received within a predetermined time. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S57 and the information is retransmitted. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S50.

  In S60, it is determined whether or not a display operation by the user, that is, pressing of any of the operation switches “read”, “previous”, “next”, and “confirm” is detected, and the determination result is negative However, if the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to S61. In S61, display contents are updated or read out by synthesized speech in accordance with the operation information.

  In S62, it is determined whether or not the operation of the radio or light control switch by the user is detected. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S50, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S63. In S63, the radio module or the illumination LED is controlled according to the operation information.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing in the meter-reading terminal 36. In S70, the process waits until the timer circuit 92 times out. When the timer circuit 92 expires, the meter reading terminal device 36 is turned on, and the process proceeds to S71. In S71, a frame synchronization signal and time information from the base station are detected. In S72, the process waits until the transmission time set by the previous ACK information is reached. In the case of retransmission, it waits until slot 2 or 5.

  In S73, the absence of carrier for a predetermined time is detected, and in S74, data is transmitted. In S75, it is determined whether or not an ACK has been received within a predetermined time. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S76, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S77. In S76, it is determined whether or not the data has been transmitted twice. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S72 and retransmitted. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to S78.

  In S77, based on the next transmission time instructed by ACK, the time until the next time is set in the timer circuit 92 to shift to the sleep state. Further, in S78, a predetermined time until retransmission is set in the timer circuit 92, and a transition to the sleep state is made. As described above, the power consumption of the meter-reading terminal is significantly reduced by self-calling at the scheduled timing.

  Although the embodiments have been disclosed above, the following modifications may be considered in the present invention. In the embodiment, an example in which a door-to-door terminal is used has been disclosed. However, it is also possible to perform mail delivery from the collection / delivery server 12 to the user's mobile phone simultaneously with delivery to the door-to-door terminal or selectively.

  In the embodiment, an example in which two mobile phone networks are used has been disclosed. However, in the present invention, in addition to the mobile phone network, a PHS communication network, a public wireless LAN, a telephone line, an optical fiber line, a satellite line as a communication network. Existing infrastructure facilities such as can be used.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the whole information collection delivery system of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the collection delivery server 12 in this invention. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a base station device 30. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the door terminal 35 in this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the meter-reading terminal 36 in this invention. It is the front view and side view which show the structure of the door terminal 35 in this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the relay station apparatus 38 by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the channel which each base station apparatus uses in the system of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the exchange of the information between each apparatus in this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a frame structure in communication between the base station apparatus and terminal in this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of transmission of the earthquake early warning in communication between the base station apparatus in this invention, and a terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the application server in a collection delivery server. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content in a base station apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the timer interruption process in a base station apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the process in a door-to-door terminal device. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the process in the meter-reading terminal.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Internet 11 ... Delivery information transmission terminal 12 ... Collection delivery server 13 ... Intranet 14 ... PC terminal 15, 16 ... Commercial IP network 17, 18 ... IP-VPN
20 ... Mobile communication network A
21 ... Mobile communication network B
25 ... mobile terminal 30 ... base station device 35 ... door-to-door terminal 36 ... meter-reading terminal 37 ... lightning display terminal 38 ... relay station device 39 ... handy terminal

Claims (7)

A plurality of commercial communication network communication means for respectively communicating with a plurality of commercial communication networks;
Digital wireless communication means for communicating with the terminal;
An information collection / distribution base station apparatus comprising: communication control means for transmitting digital information received from any of the plurality of commercial communication network communication means to the terminal using the digital wireless communication means. The commercial communication network communication means is a mobile phone network communication device that performs digital communication with a mobile phone network,
The information collection / distribution base station apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the digital wireless communication means is a specific low-power wireless communication apparatus.   The communication control means controls the specific low-power radio communication device to transmit a slot signal having a predetermined length to a communication channel at a predetermined interval regardless of whether there is information to be transmitted. 2. The information collection and distribution base station apparatus according to 2.   The said communication control means is provided with the packet communication means which exchanges information with a collection delivery server via a mobile telephone network using the said mobile telephone network communication apparatus. Information collection and distribution base station equipment. A communication means for performing bidirectional communication with the information collection and distribution base station device;
Storage means for storing received character information;
Display means for displaying received character information;
A voice output means for synthesizing and outputting a voice signal according to the received character information;
An information collection / delivery terminal comprising operation detection means for generating transmission information.   Set the time interval specified by the ACK signal returned from the information collection and distribution base station device corresponding to the transmission data to the timer circuit, and confirm that the power is cut off until the timer circuit times out Characteristic information collection and distribution terminal. An information collection and distribution base station apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The information collection / delivery terminal according to claim 5 or 6,
An information collection and distribution system comprising: a collection and distribution server connected to a plurality of commercial communication networks with which the information collection and distribution base station device can communicate.

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