JP2015111749A - Terminal and diagnostic device having self-diagnostic function by wireless power supply - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal and a diagnostic device which execute self-diagnostic processing without battery consumption or execute the self-diagnostic processing without power supplied from an external power supply.SOLUTION: A radio communication terminal 1 which wirelessly receives power from a diagnostic device 2 via a coil 101, starts up each function block unit concerning self-diagnostic processing, and executes the self-diagnostic processing of its own radio communication terminal. Further, the radio communication terminal establishes wireless communication via the coil 101, and transmits a diagnostic result to the diagnostic device 2 via the established wireless communication.

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal having a self-diagnosis function and a diagnostic apparatus.

  There is a terminal technology for self-diagnosis of whether a specific function installed in the terminal itself is normal (for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, when a terminal receives a test request signal from a specific server, the terminal performs self-diagnosis on a specific function mounted on the terminal according to the content of the received test request signal, A technique for transmitting to a server is described.

JP 2005-101704 A

  However, when the technology related to self-diagnosis described in Patent Literature 1 is applied to a battery-operated terminal, the battery is consumed each time the self-diagnosis process is executed, and the life of the battery is shortened. There is a problem of end.

  In addition, when applied to a terminal operating with an external power source (for example, commercial AC 100V), there is a problem that self-diagnosis cannot be performed in a state where power is not supplied from the external power source.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to execute a self-diagnosis process without depleting a battery, or to execute a self-diagnosis even when power is not supplied from an external power source. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a wireless power receiving means for receiving power by wireless power feeding from a predetermined diagnostic device existing in the vicinity of a terminal having a self-diagnosis function, and the wireless power receiving means receives power. Alternatively, when data related to self-diagnosis is received from the diagnostic device, self-diagnosis means for self-diagnosis of some or all of the functions of the terminal and information related to the self-diagnosis result to the diagnostic device A self-diagnosis result notifying unit for transmitting, wherein the self-diagnosis unit and / or the self-diagnosis result notifying unit are operated by the power received by the wireless power receiving unit.

  According to the present invention, since a terminal that operates on a battery performs self-diagnosis with power received by wireless power feeding, there is no battery consumption related to self-diagnosis. In addition, a terminal that operates with an external power supply can execute self-diagnosis even when power is not supplied from the external power supply.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the wireless communication terminal. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the diagnostic apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a test item table. FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the wireless communication terminal.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system including a wireless communication terminal 1 and a diagnostic device 2 according to the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, the present invention will be described by taking as an example a gas meter metering system in which a server 5 at a remote location automatically acquires a gas flow rate measured by a gas meter 3 installed in a house.

  The gas meter metering system includes a wireless communication terminal 1, a diagnostic device 2, a gas meter 3, an AP 4, and a server 5.

  The wireless communication terminal 1 is a battery-operated wireless terminal. When the gas flow rate is received from the gas meter 3, the wireless communication terminal 1 converts it into meter reading data, and transmits the converted meter reading data to the server 5 via the AP 4 (this processing is performed as meter reading data processing). Called). Further, when the wireless communication terminal 1 wirelessly receives power from the diagnostic device 2, the wireless communication terminal 1 activates a function related to self-diagnosis processing from the received power, and establishes wireless communication between the wireless communication terminal 1 and the diagnostic device 2. When receiving a diagnosis start instruction for instructing the start of the self-diagnosis process from the diagnostic device 2 via the established wireless communication, the wireless communication terminal 1 executes the self-diagnosis process according to the power received by the wireless power reception. Then, the diagnosis result of the self-diagnosis process is transmitted to the diagnosis device 2.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, wireless power transmission is referred to as wireless power transmission, and wireless power reception is referred to as wireless power reception, and the two are collectively referred to as wireless power feeding. In the embodiment of the present invention, bidirectional communication is realized based on a communication method such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or power line carrier between a power transmission side and a power reception side using a power feeding path of wireless power feeding (this method) Two-way communication is called wireless communication).

  When receiving a self-diagnosis request operation for requesting self-diagnosis processing of the wireless communication terminal 1 from the user, the diagnostic device 2 wirelessly transmits power to the wireless communication terminal 1 and transmits a diagnosis start instruction to the wireless communication terminal 1 via wireless communication. To do. Further, when receiving the diagnosis result from the wireless communication terminal 1 that has transmitted the diagnosis start instruction, the diagnosis device 2 displays this on the display unit of the own device.

  The gas meter 3 is a measuring instrument that measures the amount of gas used. The gas meter 3 periodically transmits the measured gas flow rate to the wireless communication terminal 1.

  The AP 4 is a wireless access point that performs wireless communication with the wireless communication terminal 1 and relays communication with the server 5.

  The server 5 is a counting server that counts meter reading data received from the wireless communication terminal 1 or a plurality of wireless communication terminals (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the wireless communication terminal 1.

  The wireless communication terminal 1 includes a coil 101, a power reception unit 102, a power switching unit 103, a battery 104, a voltage measurement unit 105, a self-diagnosis processing unit 106, a wireless communication control unit 107, a test item storage unit 108, an antenna 109, and wireless communication control. Unit 110, meter reading data control unit 111, gas flow rate reception unit 112, and communication control unit 113.

  The coil 101 is a coil that receives power wirelessly transmitted by the diagnostic apparatus 2.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the wireless power feeding is an electromagnetic induction method in which power is induced in the coil on the power receiving side through the magnetic flux generated in the coil on the power transmission side, and the power received by the coil 101 is AC power. An example of the same system using the electromagnetic induction method is “Suica” (registered trademark). The coil 101 sends the wirelessly received power to the power receiving unit 102. The coil 101 also serves as a communication interface for wireless communication. When a communication signal related to wireless communication is detected, the coil 101 transmits the detected communication signal to the wireless communication control unit 107. Further, when receiving a communication signal from the wireless communication control unit 107, the coil 101 amplifies and transmits the communication signal.

  The power receiving unit 102 sends the power sent from the coil 101 to the power supply switching unit 103. At this time, the power transmitted from the coil 101 is AC power, and the power receiving unit 102 converts the AC power into DC power and transmits it.

  The power supply switching unit 103 is connected to the power receiving unit 102 that is a power transmission source, the battery 104, and each functional block unit that is a power transmission destination, and switches power to be transmitted to each functional block unit in accordance with an instruction from the self-diagnosis processing unit 106. Specifically, when power from the battery 104 is transmitted, the power supply switching unit 103 includes a function block unit (antenna 109, wireless communication control unit 110, meter reading data control unit 111, gas amount receiving unit 112) related to meter reading data processing. The power is transmitted to the communication control unit 113). When transmitting power from the power receiving unit 102, the power supply switching unit 103 includes a functional block unit related to the meter reading data processing and functional block units related to the self-diagnosis processing (voltage measurement unit 105, self-diagnosis processing unit 106. , Power is transmitted to both the wireless communication unit 107 and the test item storage unit 108).

  The battery 104 is a battery for operating the wireless communication terminal 1, and transmits the battery power to the power switching unit 103.

The voltage measuring unit 105 measures the voltage value of the power receiving unit 102 and transmits the measured voltage value to the self-diagnosis processing unit 106. Specifically, a resistance equivalent to the internal resistance when connected to all the functional block units of the wireless communication terminal 1 is connected in parallel to the power receiving unit 102 or the battery 104, and the voltage value when the voltage drops due to the internal resistance is measured. . If you call the power transmission processing unit 202 that is the processing unit

  The wireless communication control unit 107 performs overall communication control of wireless communication via the coil 101. The wireless communication control unit 107 demodulates the communication signal passed from the coil 101 into data and transmits the demodulated data to the self-diagnosis processing unit 106. In addition, when receiving data from the self-diagnosis processing unit 106, the wireless communication control unit 107 modulates a communication signal and transmits the modulated communication signal to the coil 101.

  The self-diagnosis processing unit 106 performs the entire self-diagnosis processing related to the meter reading data processing of the wireless communication terminal 1. Specifically, when the data received from the wireless communication control unit 107 is a diagnosis start instruction, the self-diagnosis processing unit 106 acquires a voltage value measured by the power reception unit 102 from the voltage measurement unit 105, which will be described later. The test item is determined according to the test item determination method. When the test item is determined, the self-diagnosis processing unit 106 executes self-diagnosis processing according to the test content of the test item, generates a diagnosis result, and transmits data of the diagnosis result to the wireless communication control unit 107.

  The test item storage unit 108 is a storage unit that stores a test item table 1080 for determining a test item. Next, a test item determination method will be described using the test item table 1080 of FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the contents of the test item table 1080.

  As shown in the figure, the test item table 1080 includes a test item field 1081 for storing a test content for executing a self-diagnosis process and an operation voltage field 1082 for an operation voltage necessary for executing the self-diagnosis process for the test content. Composed. In the test item table 1080, a record 1083 is registered for each of the simultaneous processing test and the block-by-block test, and the operating voltage 1080 is a minimum battery voltage necessary to execute the test.

  Here, the test contents are prepared for each functional block unit related to meter reading data processing, and power is transmitted to one of the functional block units, and self-diagnosis processing is executed only for the functional block unit (antenna unit) Test, wireless communication control unit test, meter reading data control unit test, gas flow rate reception unit test, communication control unit test) and all the functional block units related to meter reading data processing and simultaneously execute all self-diagnosis processing Divided into simultaneous processing tests.

  The self-diagnosis processing unit 106 compares the voltage value of the power receiving unit 102 acquired from the voltage measurement unit 105 with the operating voltage field 1082 of the test item table 1080, and extracts a test item that can execute the self-diagnosis process.

  When the simultaneous processing test is possible, the self-diagnosis processing unit 106 executes the self-diagnosis processing of the simultaneous processing test and generates a diagnosis result from the execution result of the executed self-diagnosis processing. When the simultaneous processing test is impossible, the self-diagnosis processing unit 106 extracts all test by block that can be tested, sequentially executes the self-diagnosis processing of the extracted block-by-block tests, and executes all the extracted self-diagnosis processing Then, a diagnostic result is generated from the execution result. When neither the simultaneous processing test nor the block-by-block test is possible, the self-diagnosis processing unit 106 generates a diagnostic result indicating that the test is impossible. Returning to the description of FIG.

  The antenna 109 is an antenna for transmitting meter reading data to the AP 4. The wireless communication processing unit 110 performs general wireless communication processing for transmitting meter reading data to the AP 4. The meter reading data control unit 111 performs a process of converting the gas flow rate received from the gas meter 3 into meter reading data. The gas flow rate receiving unit 112 receives the gas flow rate data of the gas meter 3. The communication control unit 113 performs general communication processing for receiving a gas flow from the gas meter 3.

  Further, the antenna 109 to the communication control unit 113 execute the self-diagnosis process of the block-by-block test in response to a request from the self-diagnosis processing unit 106 and transmit the execution result to the self-diagnosis processing unit 106.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the diagnostic device 2.

  The diagnostic device 2 includes an input unit 201, a terminal control unit 202, a power transmission unit 203, a coil 204, a wireless communication control unit 205, a processing control unit 206, and a display unit 207.

  The input unit 201 is an input interface such as an operation key, and transmits a self-diagnosis request operation of the wireless communication terminal 1 from the user to the terminal control unit.

  The terminal control unit 202 performs overall terminal control of the diagnostic apparatus 2. When a self-diagnosis request operation is received from the input unit 201, the accepted self-diagnosis request operation is transmitted to the processing control unit 206. When the diagnosis result is received from the processing control unit 206, it is transmitted to the display unit 207.

  The power transmission unit 203 is a power storage unit that stores power such as a storage battery. The power transmission unit 203 starts or stops power transmission for the wireless power transmission to the coil 204 in accordance with an instruction from the processing control unit 206.

  The coil 204 is a coil for wirelessly transmitting power to the wireless communication terminal 1. In addition, the coil 204 also serves as a communication interface when performing wireless communication like the coil 101, and transmits a detected communication signal to the wireless communication control unit 205 when a communication signal related to wireless communication is detected. In addition, when receiving a communication signal from the wireless communication control unit 205, the coil 204 amplifies and transmits the communication signal.

  The wireless communication control unit 205 performs overall communication control of wireless communication via the coil 204. The wireless communication control unit 205 demodulates the communication signal passed from the coil 204 into data and transmits the demodulated data to the processing control unit 206. In addition, when the wireless communication control unit 205 receives data from the processing control unit 206, the wireless communication control unit 205 modulates the communication signal to transmit it to the coil 204.

  The process control unit 206 performs overall control related to the self-diagnosis process of the wireless communication terminal 1. When the process control unit 206 receives a self-diagnosis request operation from the terminal control unit 202, the process control unit 206 instructs the power transmission unit 203 to start wireless power transmission, and transmits data of a diagnosis start instruction to the wireless communication control unit 205. In addition, when receiving the diagnosis result data from the wireless communication control unit 205, the process control unit 206 instructs the power transmission unit 203 to stop wireless power transmission and transmits the diagnosis result to the terminal control unit 202.

  The display unit 207 is a display unit such as an LCD, and when receiving a diagnosis result from the terminal control unit 202, displays it in the received diagnosis result.

  FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the wireless communication terminal 1. This flow starts from a state where power is supplied by the battery 104 of the wireless communication terminal 1. At this time, it is assumed that no power is supplied to each functional block unit related to the self-diagnosis process of the self-radio communication terminal 1.

  The wireless communication terminal 1 waits for detection of wireless power reception (S101). When wireless power reception is detected (S101, YES), the wireless communication terminal 1 transmits the power received by the wireless power reception to each function block unit related to the self-diagnosis process of the own wireless communication terminal 1 and activates each function (S102). .

  Next, the wireless communication terminal 1 waits for reception of a diagnosis start instruction from the diagnosis device 2 via wireless communication (S103). When a predetermined time has elapsed without receiving the diagnosis start instruction (S103, NO), the wireless communication terminal 1 stops power transmission to each functional block unit related to the self-diagnosis process, and returns to step 101.

  When the diagnosis start instruction is received (S103, YES), the wireless communication terminal 1 measures the received power received voltage and determines the test item according to the test item determination method (S104).

  When the determined test item is a simultaneous processing test (S105, Yes), the wireless communication terminal 1 executes a self-diagnosis process of the simultaneous processing test (S106), generates a diagnostic result from the executed execution result, It transmits to the diagnostic apparatus 2 via wireless communication (S107).

  If the determined test item is a block-specific test (S108, Yes), the wireless communication terminal 1 extracts all the determined test items for the block-specific test (S110). Then, the wireless communication terminal 1 selects any one of the extracted test items (S111), executes a self-diagnosis process for the test item (S112), and stores the execution result (S113). Next, the wireless communication terminal 1 determines whether or not the self-diagnosis process has been executed for all the test items extracted in step 110 (S114). When the self-diagnosis process has not been executed for all the extracted test items (S114, NO), one of the next unexecuted test items is selected (S115), and the process proceeds to step 112 and all the blocks are selected. The self-diagnosis process is repeated until another test is completed.

  When the self-diagnosis process is executed for all the extracted test items (S114, Yes), the process proceeds to step 107, where a diagnosis result is generated from the stored execution result and transmitted to the diagnosis apparatus 2 via wireless communication.

  When the test item cannot be performed (S105, No and S108, No), the wireless communication terminal 1 stores the self-diagnosis impossible as an execution result (S109), and proceeds to Step 107 to generate a diagnosis result from the stored execution result. And transmitted to the diagnostic apparatus 2 via wireless communication.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

  According to the present invention, when the power receiving unit 102 receives power by wireless power feeding from the diagnostic device 2 in the wireless communication terminal 1, the battery switching unit 103 is a voltage measuring unit that is a functional block unit related to self-diagnosis processing. 105, power is transmitted to the self-diagnosis processing unit 106, the wireless communication unit 107, and the test item storage unit 108 to activate each function block unit, the self-diagnosis process is executed, and the diagnosis result is transmitted to the diagnosis apparatus 2 by wireless communication. Thereby, the wireless communication terminal 1 can execute the self-diagnosis process without depleting the battery 104 and transmit the diagnosis result to the diagnosis device 2.

  In addition, although this embodiment demonstrated the terminal which operate | moves with a battery as an example, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention may be applied to a terminal operating with a commercial AC power source. Thus, a terminal operating with a commercial AC power supply can execute a self-diagnosis process even when power is not supplied from an external power supply.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wireless communication terminal 2 ... Diagnostic apparatus 3 ... Gas meter 4 ... AP
5 ... Server 101 ... Coil 102 ... Power receiving unit 103 ... Power switching unit 104 ... Battery 105 ... Voltage measuring unit 106 ... Self-diagnosis processing unit 107 ... Wireless communication control Unit 108 ... test item storage unit 109 ... antenna 110 ... wireless communication control unit 111 ... meter reading data control unit 112 ... gas flow rate reception unit 113 ... communication control unit 201 ... input Unit 202 ... Terminal control unit 203 ... Power transmission unit 204 ... Coil 205 ... Wireless communication control unit 206 ... Processing control unit 207 ... Display unit

The voltage measuring unit 105 measures the voltage value of the power receiving unit 102 and transmits the measured voltage value to the self-diagnosis processing unit 106. Specifically, a resistance equivalent to the internal resistance when connected to all the functional block units of the wireless communication terminal 1 is connected in parallel to the power receiving unit 102 or the battery 104, and the voltage value when the voltage drops due to the internal resistance is measured. .

Claims (2)

In a terminal with a self-diagnosis function,
Wireless power receiving means for receiving power by wireless power feeding from a predetermined diagnostic device existing in the vicinity, and when the wireless power receiving means receives power or when receiving data related to self-diagnosis from the diagnostic device Self-diagnosis means for self-diagnosis of part or all of normality of the function, and self-diagnosis result notification means for transmitting information related to the result of the self-diagnosis to the diagnosis device,
The terminal having a self-diagnosis function by wireless power feeding, wherein the self-diagnosis unit and / or the self-diagnosis result notification unit are operated by the power received by the wireless power receiving unit. The diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
Wireless power transmission means for transmitting power by wireless power feeding to the terminal existing in the vicinity, and self-diagnosis result reception means for receiving information on the result of the self-diagnosis from the terminal,
A diagnostic apparatus characterized in that information related to the result of the self-diagnosis received by the self-diagnosis result receiving means is displayed on a display unit provided in the apparatus.

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