JP2012124548A - Radio data communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a center device to easily obtain slave unit information stored in a radio slave unit.SOLUTION: A radio slave unit (sub) 104-1 creates and stores slave unit information regarding a communication failure when it has failed to perform terminal call origination to a center device. The radio slave unit 104-1 transmits the slave unit information to other radio slave units 104-2, 3 by broadcast communication. The other radio slave units 104-2, 3 store the received slave unit information. If the center device requests communication from the other radio slave unit 104-2, the other radio communication slave unit 104-2 transmits a response message to the center device after adding the stored slave unit information to a response message for the center device. The center device receives the slave unit information created by the radio slave unit 104-1 via the other radio slave unit 104-2.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless data communication system in which a wireless slave device performs wireless communication with a wireless master device and transmits information of a meter or a sensor to a center device through the wireless master device.

  In a wireless data communication system that collects meter reading values of gas and water meters and sensor detection information using wireless communication and communicates data to a center device, a wireless master device and a plurality of wireless slave devices are used. . A terminal device such as a meter or a sensor is connected to the wireless slave device, and wireless communication using specific low power wireless is performed between the wireless slave device and the wireless master device. The wireless master unit is communicably connected to the center apparatus via a wired network such as a wired telephone line or a mobile phone. The wireless slave device performs data communication with the center device through the wireless master device.

  The wireless slave device collects data such as a meter reading value from the terminal device, and transmits the collected data to the center device through the wireless master device by terminal transmission. Wireless communication is performed from the wireless slave device to the wireless master device. By the way, the wireless slave device may not be able to communicate with the wireless master device due to interference from other wireless communications or obstacles. The wireless slave unit performs a re-transmission process for performing terminal transmission a predetermined number of times. At this time, as described in Patent Document 1, in order to make the communication between the wireless slave device and the wireless master device successful as much as possible, the retransmission timing is shifted.

JP 2006-165938 A

  Even if the wireless slave device performs a predetermined number of re-transmissions, communication with the wireless master device fails if the obstacle is not eliminated. If communication cannot be performed normally even after re-transmission, the wireless slave unit creates error information indicating that terminal transmission to the center has failed, and stores the error information in a memory. The error information includes information such as terminal transmission type and date. In this way, error information accumulates in the memory every time communication fails.

  On the other hand, the center device does not know whether error information is stored in the wireless slave unit. Therefore, the system administrator cannot know that the wireless slave unit has failed in terminal transmission. In the center device, in order to confirm the presence / absence of error information, the center device must perform communication for inquiring the wireless slave device about the presence / absence of error information. When a large number of wireless slave units are present in the wireless data communication system, the center apparatus must perform communication for confirmation with each wireless slave unit, which is inefficient.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a wireless data communication system in which a center device can acquire child device information such as error information from a wireless child device without taking time and effort.

  The present invention includes a wireless master device that communicates with a center device and a plurality of wireless slave devices that can communicate with the wireless master device, and the wireless slave device performs wireless data communication with the center device through the wireless master device. In the communication system, the wireless slave unit stores slave unit information related to an event that has occurred in the own unit, and the wireless slave unit is capable of wireless communication with other wireless slave units and stores the slave unit information. The wireless slave unit transmits the slave unit information to another wireless slave unit, and the center device acquires the slave unit information from the other wireless slave unit when performing data communication with the other wireless slave unit.

  When an event such as a communication error occurs in the wireless handset, the wireless handset creates handset information and stores it in the memory. In order to inform the center device of the presence of this information, the wireless slave device transmits the slave device information to the center device by using communication of the other wireless slave devices with the center device. Therefore, the wireless slave unit transmits the slave unit information to other wireless slave units. When the other wireless slave device performs data communication with the center device, the slave device information is transmitted from the other wireless slave device to the center device.

  That is, the other wireless slave device that has received the slave device information adds the slave device information and transmits it when performing data communication with the center device through the wireless master device. Therefore, the center device can acquire the slave unit information stored in the wireless slave unit only by performing normal communication.

  When the child device information is transmitted from the wireless child device, the wireless parent device determines whether the child device information has been transmitted to the center device, and if it has been transmitted, discards the received child device information. If not transmitted, the wireless master device transmits the slave device information to the center device. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the slave unit information from being duplicated and transmitted to the center device.

  The wireless slave unit stores the slave unit information received from other wireless slave units, and deletes the slave unit information after transmitting the slave unit information to the center device. Alternatively, the wireless slave unit deletes the slave unit information when a predetermined time has elapsed after storing the received slave unit information. In other wireless slave units, by deleting the transmitted slave unit information, it is possible to prevent the same slave unit information from being transmitted to the center device. Further, by deleting the handset information after a certain time, it is possible to prevent the handset information transmitted by another wireless handset from being transmitted again.

  The wireless slave unit transmits the slave unit information by broadcast communication, the wireless master unit does not store the received slave unit information, and the other wireless slave units store the received slave unit information. Accordingly, the slave unit information can be transmitted to a plurality of other wireless slave units, and the center device can always acquire the slave unit information from any one of the wireless slave units.

  According to the present invention, the center device can acquire the slave unit information stored in the wireless slave unit using normal data communication. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform communication in order to request slave unit information from a center device to a plurality of wireless slave units, and unnecessary processing and time for communication can be saved, and the processing efficiency of the entire communication system can be improved. Contributes to energy saving.

Overall configuration diagram of wireless data communication system of the present invention Block diagram showing schematic configuration of wireless master unit and wireless slave unit The figure which shows the sequence in case another radio | wireless subunit | mobile_unit transmits subunit | mobile_unit information by center apparatus. The figure which shows the sequence in the case of transmitting subunit | mobile_unit information by terminal transmission of another radio | wireless subunit | mobile_unit The figure which shows the sequence in the case of deleting cordless handset information after sending cordless handset information by terminal transmission of other wireless cordless handset The figure which shows the sequence in the case of confirming the presence or absence of transmission of subunit | mobile_unit information, when transmitting subunit | mobile_unit information by the terminal transmission of another wireless subunit | mobile_unit

  A wireless data communication system of this embodiment is shown in FIG. In this system, a center apparatus composed of a host computer 101 and a center network control apparatus (center NCU) 102 and a terminal side are connected via a network 106 so that they can communicate with each other. The terminal side includes a wireless master device (hereinafter referred to as “main”) 103 and wireless slave devices (hereinafter referred to as “sub”) 104-1, 104-2, and 104-3 that perform wireless communication with the main 103. . The sub 104 is not limited to three, and there are a plurality of sub 104. A terminal device 105 such as a meter or a sensor is connected to the main 103 and each sub 104. As the network 106 between the center and the terminal side, a telephone line network, a mobile phone network, an Internet network, or the like is used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main 103 includes a T-NCU interface 201 for communicating with a terminal network control device, a non-volatile memory 202 for storing information such as identification information, a CPU 203, and wireless communication. A wireless unit 204 for performing, an antenna 205, a ROM 206, a RAM 207, a battery 208 as a power source, a display unit 209, a switch 211 for performing various settings and inputs, and a button 212 are provided. A control unit including the CPU 203, the ROM 206, and the RAM 207 controls communication with the center device and the sub 104. The CPU 203 includes a buffer and a timer. In this system, the main 103 communicates directly with the center device without going through the terminal network control device, but the main 103 is connected to the terminal network control device so that the terminal network control device communicates with the center device. May be.

  Similar to the main 103, the sub 104 includes a nonvolatile memory 202, a CPU 203, a wireless unit 204, an antenna 205, a ROM 206, a RAM 207, a battery 208, a display unit 209, a meter interface 210, a switch 211, and buttons 212. A control unit including a CPU 203 having a buffer and a timer, a ROM 206, and a RAM 207 controls communication with the main 103. The wireless communication between the main 103 and the sub 104 is a communication system using a specific low power wireless.

  When the main 103 and the sub 104 are installed in the consumer, the main 103 and the sub 104 are connected to perform wireless communication. When the main 103 and the sub 104 each register identification information such as an ID, the association is completed, and wireless communication is possible between the main 103 and the sub 104. In addition, the sub-104s that are associated with the same main 103 can also perform wireless communication.

  When the sub 104 acquires transmission information such as a meter reading value from a meter or detection information from a sensor, the sub 104 transmits the transmission information to the center device by transmitting a terminal. The control unit of the sub 104 creates a message including the transmission information, and transmits the message to the main 103 through the wireless unit 204. When the main 103 receives the message from the sub 104, the control unit transmits a response message for notifying that the message has been received normally to the sub 104. When the sub 104 receives the response message, the control unit confirms that the message has been transmitted, and enters a standby state waiting for a message from the center device.

  The control unit of the main 103 transmits the message received from the sub 104 to the center NCU 102 via the network 106. When receiving a message from the center NCU 102, the host computer 101 transmits a response message to the transmission source sub 104. The response message is transmitted to the main 103 via the network 106, and the control unit of the main 103 transmits the response message from the center apparatus to the transmission source sub 104. When the sub 104 receives the response message, the control unit ends the data communication with the center device.

  Here, when the sub 104 makes a terminal call to transmit the transmission information to the center device, wireless communication with the main 103 may not be possible due to some obstacle such as an obstacle or radio wave congestion. At this time, the control unit of the sub 104 executes a retransmission process. In the retransmission process, a specified number of retransmissions are performed. When the communication with the main 103 is successful, the control unit ends the re-transmission process.

  When normal communication is not possible even after performing the specified number of re-transmissions, the control unit of the sub 104 creates handset information related to an event that has occurred in the own device. An event occurring in the own device is a terminal transmission to the center device, and NG history information indicating that the terminal transmission has failed is created as slave device information. The NG history information includes information such as the type of terminal transmission and the time of occurrence. The control unit stores the created slave unit information in either the buffer of the CPU 203 or the memory of the RAM 207. Note that transmission information that could not be transmitted may be included in the NG history information.

  The sub 104 that has failed in terminal transmission notifies the center device of the slave unit information through the other sub 104. In other words, the center device can automatically acquire the slave unit information related to the event that has occurred in any one sub 104 from the other sub 104. For this purpose, the sub 104 transmits the stored child device information to the other sub 104. When the other sub-104 that has received the slave unit information communicates with the center device, the slave unit adds the slave unit information to a message transmitted from the own device to the center device, and transmits a message to which the slave unit information is added. As communication between the other sub 104 and the center apparatus, there is communication by terminal transmission from the sub 104 or communication by request from the center apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the sub 104-1, when an event of terminal transmission occurs, the control unit of the sub 104-1 transmits a message to the main 103. When the wireless communication between the sub 104-1 and the main 103 cannot be performed normally, the control unit of the sub 104-1 executes a re-transmission process. If the communication is not normally terminated even if the re-transmission is performed a predetermined number of times, the control unit ends the re-transmission process and creates NG history information as slave unit information. And the control part of sub 104-1 transmits a notification message | telegram by broadcast communication. The notification message is created so as to include identification information of the main 103, identification information of the own device, and NG history information. The control unit stores the NG history information in the memory after transmission.

  By the broadcast communication, a plurality of other subs 104-2 and 3 that are associated with the same main 103 as the subs 104-1 having the slave unit information can receive the notification message. When the other subs 104-2 and 3 receive the notification message, the control unit checks the identification information of the main 103 in the notification message. When the control units of the other subs 104-2 and 3 confirm that the transmission is from the sub 104-1 associated with the same main 103, the control unit stores the NG history information included in the notification message in the memory. When the main 103 receives the notification message, the control unit determines the content of the notification message and confirms that the message is addressed to the sub, and does not save the NG history information. Note that if the communication interruption state between the main 103 and the sub 104-1 has not been eliminated, the main 103 cannot receive the notification message from the sub 104-1. Since it is uncertain to transmit the child device information using the main 103, the main 103 does not transmit the child device information. Therefore, it is not necessary to store the slave device information such as the NG history information from the sub 104-1.

  Thereafter, the center device requests communication to the other sub 104-2 that has received the NG history information. When the center device transmits a request message, the main 103 receives the request message through the network 106. Based on the transmission destination information in the request message, the control unit of the main 103 transmits the request message to the other designated sub 104-2. When the designated other sub 104-2 receives the request message, the control unit creates a reply message according to the request and transmits the reply message. At this time, the control unit adds the NG history information received from the sub 104-1 having the child device information to the reply message. The reply message is transmitted to the center device through the main 103. The center device receives the reply message, and acquires NG history information from this message.

  Before the center device requests communication from the sub 104, one of the plurality of other sub 104 may make a terminal call. As shown in FIG. 4, the other sub 104-2 stores the NG history information transmitted from the sub 104-1 having the child device information. When the other sub 104-2 makes a terminal call, the control unit creates a transmission message to which the NG history information is added, and transmits this transmission message to the center device. The center device receives a transmission message transmitted through the main 103, and acquires NG history information from the transmission message.

  As described above, the sub 104 having the slave unit information can notify the center device of an event occurring in the slave unit. On the other hand, the center device can acquire the slave unit information possessed by the sub 104 without trouble by performing normal data communication with the sub 104 without performing special communication.

  Then, the center apparatus takes necessary measures for the sub 104 according to the acquired slave unit information. For example, when the center apparatus acquires NG history information, a service person is dispatched to investigate the cause of the communication failure between the main 103 and the sub 104 and to recover the communication such as removing the failure.

  Here, the sub 104 having handset information stores the handset information notified to the center apparatus as it is. The sub 104 that has received the handset information need not store the handset information of the other sub 104. Therefore, the control unit of the sub 104 deletes the child device information regarding the other sub 104.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the other subs 104-2 and 3 that have received the NG history information that is the slave unit information, the control unit of the other sub 104-2 that has transmitted the NG history information Is deleted from the memory. In addition, the control unit of the other sub 104-3 that has received the NG history information but has not transmitted it deletes the NG history information from the memory when a certain time has elapsed after the reception of the NG history information. Note that the other sub 104 that has transmitted the NG history information in response to a request from the center apparatus deletes the NG history information from the memory after the transmission to the center apparatus.

  Thereby, the subs 104-2 and 3 other than the sub 104-1 having the child device information do not keep the child device information related to the other sub 104-1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the same slave unit information from being transmitted to the center device many times.

  In the other sub 104 that has received the handset information, when each sub 104 makes a terminal transmission in order, the same handset history information is transmitted. The center device receives the same handset history information. In order to prevent such a situation, when the transmitted child device information is transmitted from a different sub-104, the control unit of the main 103 confirms that the transmitted child device information has been transmitted and discards the later child device information. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the other sub 104-2 that has received the NG history information that is the slave device information transmits a telegram to which the NG history information has been added to the center device by terminal transmission. After the transmission, the control unit of the sub 104-2 deletes the NG history information. The transmission of the NG history information is not limited to the terminal transmission, and may be a reply to the request from the center apparatus.

  When the main 103 receives this transmission message, the control unit determines whether or not the NG history information in the message has been transmitted. The control unit stores the slave unit information received from the sub 104 through communication with the sub 104. Note that the control unit does not store the slave unit information received by the broadcast communication.

  When the control unit of the main 103 confirms that there is no NG history information received this time in the stored child device information, the control unit transmits a message from the sub 104-2 to the center device. Then, the control unit stores the transmitted NG history information.

  Thereafter, another sub 104-3 that has received the NG history information transmits a message to which handset information including the NG history information is added. The other sub 104-3 transmits a message to which the stored NG history information is added because a predetermined time has not elapsed since the reception of the NG history information. After the transmission, the control unit of the sub 104-3 deletes the NG history information.

  When the main 103 receives this transmission message, the control unit determines whether or not the slave unit information in the transmission message has been transmitted. Since the NG history information included in the slave unit information is stored, the control unit confirms that the NG history information has been transmitted, and deletes the transmitted NG history information from the transmission message. And a control part transmits the transmission telegram to which the untransmitted subunit | mobile_unit information was added to a center apparatus.

  Thus, even if another different sub 104 tries to notify the center device of the same child device information, it is possible to prevent the transmitted child device information from being transmitted again in the main 103. Therefore, the center device does not acquire the child device information redundantly, and it is possible to prevent unnecessary processing from being performed.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, many corrections and changes can be added to the said embodiment within the scope of the present invention. When a sub having child device information transmits child device information to another sub, it may be transmitted to a plurality of predetermined subs in order. When the subs communicate with each other, the sub having the slave unit information can confirm that the transmission of the slave unit information has been normally performed by a response from the sub of the transmission partner. When there is no response from the transmission partner sub, the sub having the child device information transmits the child device information to the next sub. The transmission of the slave unit information is repeated until the other sub receives the slave unit information. The other sub receiving the slave unit information adds the slave unit information and transmits it when communicating with the center device.

  In addition to the NG history information, the sub includes communication history information related to communication with the center and the main, measurement result history related to meter reading, battery remaining amount information, operation information indicating that the sub is operating normally, communication channel Alternatively, slave device information such as wireless environment information related to wireless communication such as noise may be created and stored in a memory, and the stored slave device information may be transmitted using another sub. When the center device acquires the child device information, the center device can take a measure corresponding to the child device information. For example, in the case of information on sub battery exhaustion, arrangement is made to replace the corresponding sub battery. In the case of operation information indicating that there is an abnormality in the operation of the sub, a service person is dispatched for inspection of the sub.

  As a timing for transmitting the slave unit information as described above to another sub, the sub unit information is transmitted according to the time when the other sub transmits a terminal to the center device. The sub transmits the handset information to the other sub before the terminal transmission time. The other sub adds the slave unit information to its own data and transmits it to the center device.

101 Host computer 102 Center NCU
103 wireless master device 104 wireless slave device 105 terminal device 106 network

Claims (6)

The wireless slave device is a wireless data communication system that performs data communication with the center device through the wireless master device. The wireless slave device includes a wireless master device that communicates with the center device and a plurality of wireless slave devices that can wirelessly communicate with the wireless master device. The wireless slave unit stores the slave unit information related to the event that has occurred in its own unit, the wireless slave unit is capable of wireless communication with other wireless slave units, and the wireless slave unit that stores the slave unit information is Wireless data characterized by transmitting slave unit information to another wireless slave unit, and the center device acquires slave unit information from the other wireless slave unit when performing data communication with the other wireless slave unit Communications system. 2. The wireless data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the other wireless slave unit that has received the slave unit information adds the slave unit information and transmits the data when communicating with the center device through the wireless master unit. The wireless master unit determines whether the slave unit information has been transmitted to the center device when the slave unit information has been transmitted from the wireless slave unit, and discards the received slave unit information if it has been transmitted. The wireless data communication system according to claim 1 or 2. The wireless slave unit stores the slave unit information received from another wireless slave unit, and deletes the slave unit information after transmitting the slave unit information to the center device. Wireless data communication system. The wireless handset stores the handset information received from another wireless handset, and erases the handset information when a predetermined time has elapsed after the storage. Wireless data communication system. The wireless slave unit transmits the slave unit information by broadcast communication, the wireless master unit does not store the received slave unit information, and other wireless slave units store the received slave unit information. The wireless data communication system according to claim 1.

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