JP2016005180A - Notification control system, controller, and notification control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for notifying a user of an error to occur in a monitored apparatus at an appropriate frequency.SOLUTION: In a notification control system, a server receives error information that indicates that an error has occurred in a monitored apparatus. The server outputs a degree of occurrence of an error in respective periods for each fixed period in accordance with a periodic confirmation period as an error count value on the basis of the received error information. The error count values of the respective periods to be output are compared, so as to notify a communication device of the occurrence of the error concerning a period in which the occurrence of the error is increasing, and to suppress the notification of the error to the communication device concerning a period in which the occurrence of the error is not increasing since the error count value is the same as or lower than the previous value.

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a technique for detecting an abnormality of a device and notifying the occurrence of the abnormality.

  Operation of the device can be performed stably by detecting an abnormality of the device and notifying the device outside the device. For example, in a system that connects a plurality of devices such as HEMS (Home Energy Management System) and manages the operating status of these devices, it is possible to effectively detect an abnormality of each device and notify the abnormality. Necessary for stable operation.

  For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-57471 (Patent Document 1) describes a technique for increasing the possibility of detecting an abnormality in a vehicle as a technique for detecting an abnormality in a device. According to the technique described in Patent Literature 1, the control device relays when the number of abnormal stops of charging by the charging device becomes equal to or more than a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time after power supply from the outside of the vehicle is started. Outputs a command to prohibit power supply. As a result, it is possible to increase the possibility of detecting an abnormality of the vehicle, and it is possible to avoid a situation where the user resets the breaker many times and repeatedly turns on and off the power.

JP 2014-57471 A

  However, depending on the type of abnormality that occurs in the device, it is not always necessary to notify the system user frequently. For example, if an abnormality is detected but the abnormality does not require urgency, it may be troublesome for the user to notify the abnormality each time an abnormality is detected. In addition, when a large number of abnormalities that do not require urgency are notified to the user, the user may miss other important abnormalities. For this reason, it is necessary to make a technique for notifying an abnormality occurring in a device more user-friendly.

  The notification control system according to an embodiment is for notifying the communication device of the occurrence of an error. The notification control system includes a receiving unit for receiving error information indicating that an error has occurred in the monitoring target device, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the notification control system. Based on the received error information, the control means compares the error occurrence rate in each output period with an output unit that outputs the error occurrence rate in each period, and generates an error occurrence. A notification control unit that notifies the communication device of the occurrence of an error during a period when the error is increasing, and a notification control unit that suppresses notification of an error to the communication device during a period when the occurrence of error does not tend to increase.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the occurrence of an error is notified to the communication device when the occurrence of the error tends to increase, and the notification is suppressed when the occurrence of the error does not tend to increase. For example, when a certain device becomes abnormal and continues to output abnormalities periodically, the notification control system notifies the communication device of the error at the initial stage of detection of the error, and the occurrence of the error does not tend to increase. Suppresses notification of error occurrence to the device. Therefore, even when device errors are frequently detected, the timing of notification of errors to the communication device can be controlled, and the notification control system can be made even easier for the user.

  The above and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a notification control system 1 according to a first embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server 100. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication device 300. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of error information 181 stored in an error DB 108 of the server 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of error code information 163 stored in a storage unit 106 of the server 100. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for the server 100 according to the first embodiment to control notification of error information. It is a figure which shows the process which the server 100 controls the error notification to the communication apparatus 300 by whether the occurrence of an error is increasing. It is a figure which shows the structure of the server 20A of Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating processing in which the server 20A controls error notification to the communication device 300 depending on whether or not an error generation tendency is increasing when errors continue to occur.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a notification control system 1 according to the first embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, a notification control system 1 includes a server 100, a plurality of communication devices 300A and 300B (hereinafter, the plurality of communication devices 300A and 300B may be collectively referred to as “communication device 300”), A plurality of radio base stations 400 and 400A, a plurality of MME (Mobility Management Entity) 500 and 500A, a broadband router 600, and a HEMS controller 700 are arranged. Each device such as the communication device 300A, the communication device 300B, the broadband router 600, and the server 100 is connected to the Internet 900.

  The broadband router 600 and the HEMS controller 700 are arranged in the building. In the building, a solar cell module 810 including a plurality of solar cell modules is arranged on an outdoor roof portion. A power conditioner 820, a storage battery 830, a water heater 840, a flow meter 891, and a gas meter 892 are also disposed outdoors. In the building, a distribution board 850, a multi-energy monitor 860, a multi-circuit CT (Current Transformer) sensor 870, and a plurality of home appliances (such as an air conditioner 801, an air purifier 802, a refrigerator 803, and a washing machine 804) are provided. A home electric appliance 800 including a tap 880 and a flow rate data transmitter 890 are arranged.

  The server 100 is a computer system including a large-capacity storage device, and functions as a DBMS (database management system). In the house, there are devices to be monitored, such as home appliances 800 and the like, which are targets for monitoring device abnormalities. When an abnormality occurs, these monitoring target devices output error information indicating that an error has occurred to the server 100 via the HEMS controller 700, for example. The server 100 receives error information from these monitored devices via the Internet 900 and accumulates the received error information in a database. Based on the accumulated error information, the server 100 notifies the communication device such as the communication device 300 that an error has occurred in the monitored device.

  The server 100 according to the first embodiment sequentially outputs the degree of error occurrence (number of occurrences of errors within a certain period) in each device based on the error information received from the monitoring target device. The server 100 monitors the degree of occurrence of an error, and notifies the occurrence of an error to a communication device such as the communication apparatus 300 when the degree of occurrence of the error tends to increase. Also, when the degree of error occurrence does not tend to increase (such as when the frequency of error occurrence is constant or when error occurrence tends to decrease), the server 100 records the occurrence of an error. Even so, the error notification is suppressed by not notifying the communication device 300 or the like of the error. Thereby, although the error frequently occurs in the monitoring target device, it is possible to reduce the frequency of the error notification to the user below a certain level when it is not necessary to notify the user every time.

  The broadband router 600 is connected to the Internet 900 and has a wireless local area network (LAN) function corresponding to a standard such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11, and communication equipment such as the communication device 300A. Perform wireless communication.

  The HEMS controller 700 is connected to the broadband router 600 by a wired LAN. The HEMS controller 700 discovers wireless communication devices connected to the broadband router 600 and updates the list of these devices to the latest state. The HEMS controller 700 has a wireless communication function. For example, the HEMS controller 700 wirelessly communicates with devices such as the CT sensor 870, the tap 880, and the flow rate data transmitter 890, and receives and stores measurement results of power consumption from these devices. .

  The CT sensor 870 measures the power consumption of the installation target device, and transmits the measured power consumption data to the HEMS controller 700. In the first embodiment, the CT sensor 870 can be connected to the main breaker and the branch breaker of the distribution board 850. When the CT sensor 870 is connected to the main breaker of the distribution board 850, the CT sensor 870 measures the power consumption of the entire building. Further, if the branch breaker corresponds to the entire room, the CT sensor 870 measures the power consumption of the entire room by connecting the CT sensor 870 to the branch breaker of the distribution board 850.

  The multi-energy monitor 860 displays the operation status of a plurality of energy systems such as a solar power generation system, a storage battery system, and a water heater system, and allows the user to easily control the operation status of various devices. This is a monitor device. Multi-energy monitor 860 is connected to power conditioner 820 and water heater 840. A storage battery 830 and a solar cell module 810 are connected to the power conditioner 820. The power conditioner 820 has a function of converting DC power generated by the solar cell module 810 into AC power that can be used in a building. Further, the power conditioner 820 controls charging to the storage battery 830 and discharging from the storage battery 830.

  The multi-energy monitor 860 controls an operation of the water heater 840 by accepting an input operation to the water heater 840 such as increasing the hot water storage tank or changing the hot water temperature.

  The tap 880 is a power consumption measuring device that measures the power consumption of the home appliance 800, and transmits the measurement result of the power consumption to the HEMS controller 700 by wireless communication. The tap 880 includes a plug (not shown) and connects to an outlet in the building. Each household electrical appliance connected to the tap 880 (for example, an air conditioner 801, an air purifier 802, a refrigerator 803, a washing machine 804, etc.) is supplied with power from the distribution board 850 by connecting the tap 880 and an outlet. The

  The flow rate data transmitter 890 receives the measurement result of the water flow rate from the flow meter 891 and receives the measurement result of the gas flow rate from the gas meter 892. The flow rate data transmitter 890 transmits the measurement results of the flow meter 891 and the gas meter 892 to the HEMS controller 700.

  As described above, the HEMS controller 700 receives the measurement result of power consumption from each device in the building, and transmits the received measurement result to the server 100 via the broadband router 600. Further, when each device outputs an abnormality, the HEMS controller 700 receives error information indicating that an error has occurred from these devices. The HEMS controller 700 associates information identifying each device as error information, information identifying error contents (error code), and an error occurrence time, and transmits the associated information to the server 100. The server 100 receives error information from the HEMS controller 700 and stores it in the database.

<Configuration of Server 100>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the server 100. Referring to FIG. 2, server 100 includes a communication unit 102, an input / output I / F 105, a storage unit 106, a control unit 107, and an error DB 108.

  The communication unit 102 is a communication interface that performs modulation / demodulation processing for the server 100 to transmit and receive signals to and from other communication devices. The input / output I / F 105 is a general-purpose interface for connecting the server 100 and various devices. The storage unit 106 includes a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, stores a program used by the server 100, and accumulates various data used by the server 100. In a certain aspect, the storage unit 106 stores monitoring target device information 161, confirmation cycle information 162, error code information 163, and error count value history information 164.

  The monitoring target device information 161 includes information for identifying a monitoring target device that is a target for monitoring the occurrence of an error in the building. The server 100 receives error information of each device from the HEMS controller 700. Among these devices, the server 100 displays the identification information of the device that controls the timing of notifying the communication device 300 of the occurrence of the error. Stored as information 161.

  The confirmation cycle information 162 indicates a cycle in which the server 100 performs a process for determining whether or not an error notification is possible for the error information stored in the error DB 108. The server 100 sequentially receives error information of each device from the HEMS controller 700, but determines whether or not to notify the error information to the communication apparatus 300 according to the period indicated by the confirmation period information 162, and the error information according to the determination result. Is transmitted to the communication device 300.

  The error code information 163 includes identification information (error code) of an error that is subject to notification control among errors that occur in the monitoring target device. The server 100 outputs the error occurrence degree according to the period indicated in the confirmation period information 162 or the period associated with the error code information 163 for the error indicated in the error code information 163, and according to the output result. Perform error notification control. Examples of the error include an error indicating that the communication connection between the HEMS controller 700 and the broadband router 600 is interrupted and that there is an unset tap 880. For example, these errors need not be reported to the user immediately after the occurrence of the error, but it is necessary to notify the user.

  The error count value history information 164 is information indicating that the server 100 counts the number of occurrences of various errors in accordance with the period indicated in the confirmation period information 162, and indicates the history of the count value in each period.

  The control unit 107 controls the operation of the server 100 by reading and executing a control program stored in the storage unit 106. The control unit 107 is realized by a plurality of processors, for example. The control unit 107 functions as an error occurrence degree output unit 171, a notification control unit 172, and a cycle control unit 173 by operating according to a program.

  Based on the error information of each device received from the HEMS controller 700, the error occurrence degree output unit 171 outputs the error occurrence degree in each period (according to the period indicated by the confirmation period information 162). For example, the error occurrence degree output unit 171 causes the server 100 to count the number of occurrences of each error in each period, and store the count value of each error in the error count value history information 164 as the occurrence degree of error.

  The notification control unit 172 refers to the error count value history information 164 and compares the error occurrence rate of each period to determine a period in which the occurrence of errors tends to increase (this time than the error count value of the previous period). For example, when the error count value during the period is large), the communication apparatus 300 is notified of the occurrence of the error. In addition, the notification control unit 172 displays a period in which the occurrence of errors does not tend to increase (when the error count value of the previous period and the current error count value are the same, or the error count value of the previous period When the error count value is smaller), the error notification to the communication device 300 is suppressed even when the error information is received by not notifying the communication device 300 of the error.

  The cycle control unit 173 controls the length of the cycle for notifying the communication device 300 of error information, which is indicated by the confirmation cycle information 162.

  The error DB 108 is a storage device for accumulating error information of each device received by the server 100 from the HEMS controller 700.

<Configuration of Communication Device 300>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the communication device 300. The communication device 300 receives notification of error information generated in each device in the building from the server 100 and notifies the error information on the display 304 or the like.

  Referring to FIG. 3, communication apparatus 300 includes antenna 301, transmission / reception unit 302, touch panel 303, display 304, storage unit 306, control unit 307, microphone 312, speaker 313, and vibrator 315. including.

  The antenna 301 radiates a signal emitted from the communication device 300 as a radio wave. The antenna 301 receives a radio wave from the space and gives a reception signal to the transmission / reception unit 302. The transmission / reception unit 302 is a communication interface that performs modulation / demodulation processing and the like for transmitting and receiving signals for the communication device 300 to use with other communication devices. The touch panel 303 receives an input operation of a user on the consumer side. The touch panel 303 accepts a user's contact operation by using, for example, a capacitive type. The touch panel 303 outputs an input operation by a user on the consumer side to the control unit 307. The display 304 is realized by an LCD, for example, and displays a file received from the server 100 by the communication device 300.

  The storage unit 306 includes a flash memory, a RAM, and the like, and stores programs and data used by the communication device 300.

  The control unit 307 controls the operation of the communication device 300 by reading and executing a control program stored in the storage unit 306. The control unit 307 is realized by an application processor. The control unit 307 operates as a reception processing unit 371, a display control unit 372, a notification information notification unit 373, and an error designation processing unit 374 by operating according to a program.

  The reception processing unit 371 controls reception processing by the communication device 300. For example, the reception processing unit 371 performs processing for receiving data from the server 100.

  The display control unit 372 controls a process in which the communication device 300 displays information on the display 304.

  The notification information notification unit 373 displays the error information received from the server 100 by the communication apparatus 300 on the display 304 or notifies the error information received by the speaker 313, the vibrator 315, or the like.

  The error designation processing unit 374 receives an operation for designating an error to be notified by the communication device 300 based on an input operation by a user of the communication device 300. The communication device 300 receives an error code specification for notifying the communication device 300 of an error from the server 100 by the error specification processing unit 374 and transmits the received specification content to the server 100. The server 100 receives the specification of the error code transmitted from the communication device 300 and updates the error code information 163. Thereby, it is possible to control notification of error information by the server 100 for an error that the user desires to be notified.

<Data structure>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the data structure of the error information 181 stored in the error DB 108 of the server 100.

  Referring to FIG. 4, one record of error information 181 is obtained by associating error-generating device 181A, error code 181B, and error occurrence date / time 181C. The error generating device 181A is information for identifying a device in which an error has occurred. The error code 181B is a code for specifying the content of an error that has occurred in each device. The error occurrence date and time 181C indicates the date and time of an error that has occurred in each device.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of the error code information 163 stored in the storage unit 106 of the server 100. With reference to FIG. 5, one record of the error code information 163 is obtained by associating the monitoring target device 163A with the error code 163B. The monitoring target device 163A indicates identification information of each monitoring target device. The error code 163B indicates identification information of each error that is a target for controlling the timing of notifying error information.

<Operation>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for the server 100 according to the first embodiment to control notification of error information.

  In step S <b> 601, when the period for confirming the occurrence of an error in the monitoring target device comes according to the period indicated in the confirmation period information 162, the control unit 107 stores the error accumulated in the error DB 108 in the period indicated in the period. Information 181 is read.

  In step S603, the control unit 107 counts the number of times an error having the error code indicated in the error code information 163 has occurred during the period read in step S601, and stores the count value in the error count value history information 164. That is, the control unit 107 counts the number of error occurrences for each error content.

  In step S605, the control unit 107 reads the count value in the previous cycle from the error count value history information 164 for each error code, and counts the read value (count value in the previous cycle) in step S603. Compare the magnitude relationship of the count values in this cycle.

  In step S607, for each error code, the control unit 107 determines whether or not the count value in the current cycle exceeds the threshold value and the count value in the current cycle is larger than the count value in the previous cycle. Judging. That is, the control unit 107 determines whether or not the number of error occurrences in the current cycle is equal to or greater than a certain number and is more likely to increase than the number of error occurrences in the previous cycle. If the determination result in step S607 is affirmative (YES in step S607), the control unit 107 performs the process of step S609. If not (NO in step S607), the control unit 107 performs the process of step S611. Do.

  In step S609, the control unit 107 determines to notify the communication apparatus 300 that an error has occurred in the current cycle.

  In step S611, the control unit 107 determines not to notify the communication device 300 that an error has occurred in the current cycle.

  In step S613, the control unit 107 controls error notification to the communication apparatus 300 according to the content determined in step S609.

  As described above, the server 100 controls the error notification to the communication apparatus 300 according to the result of the process in step S607. Details of the processing will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating processing in which the server 100 controls error notification to the communication device 300 depending on whether or not errors are increasing. FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating processing of the server 100 when the occurrence of errors does not tend to increase and is at a certain degree. FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a process in which the server 100 notifies the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of an error when the occurrence of the error tends to increase. In FIG. 7, the server 100 counts the number of occurrences of errors according to a cycle T1 (periodic confirmation cycle) as the confirmation cycle information 162. When error information is continuously output from the monitoring target device, the error information is transmitted to the server 100 according to the cycle of the error occurrence cycle (T1 / 2). In FIG. 7, the server 100 does not notify the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of an error when the count value of the number of error occurrences falls below a threshold value (2 times) in each cycle (NO in step S607).

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the server 100 reads the error information 181 from the error DB 108 at each timing of times t1, t2, t3, and t4 according to the cycle T1. The server 100 counts the number of error occurrences in each cycle (step S603 [t1] to step S603 [t4]). In the example of FIG. 7A, since the number of error occurrences is less than the threshold value (2 times) in the process of step S607, the server 100 notifies the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of the error in any cycle. There is not (step S611 [t1] to step S611 [t4]).

  As shown in FIG. 7B, the server 100 reads the error information 181 from the error DB 108 at each timing of times t11, t12, t13, and t14 according to the cycle T1. The server 100 counts the number of error occurrences in each cycle (step S603 [t11] to step S603 [t14]).

  In the example of FIG. 7B, the server 100 counts the number of occurrences of errors for the period from time t12 to time t13 (step S603 [t13]). In the process of step S607, the number of error occurrences is equal to or greater than the threshold value (twice) and the count value “2” exceeds the count value of the previous cycle (the count value “1” in the cycle of time t11 to time t12). (YES in step S607), the server 100 determines to notify the error for this cycle (step S609 [t13]).

  In addition, the server 100 counts the number of occurrences of errors for the period of time t13 to t14 (step S603 [t14]). In the process of step S607, although the number of error occurrences is equal to or greater than the threshold value (twice), the count value of this period (period from time t13 to time t14) is different from the count value “2” of the previous period. 2 ”, it does not exceed the count value of the previous cycle (NO in step S607). Therefore, the server 100 does not notify an error for this cycle (time t13 to time t14) (step S611 [t14]).

<Summary of Embodiment 1>
By performing the processing described above, the server 100 can provide an error to the communication device 300 when it is desired to avoid notifying the user of the error every time when errors frequently occur in the monitored device. The notification frequency can be made appropriate, and the convenience of the user of the communication device 300 can be improved.

  Even when the occurrence of an error is not regular, the server 100 performs the processing described in the first embodiment, thereby suppressing the frequency of error notification and making the frequency of notification appropriate. .

  Further, the server 100 controls the error notification by recording the error occurrence status in a period twice as long as the period T1 (periodic confirmation period) indicated in the confirmation period information 162 described in FIG. It can be performed. That is, if no error has occurred in a period twice as long as the periodic confirmation cycle, the server 100 does not need to record anything as error information.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a notification control system according to another embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, even when errors continuously occur from the monitoring target device, the error notification to the communication apparatus 300 is performed in a longer period compared to the frequency of occurrence of errors. That is, even when errors frequently occur in the monitoring target device, the user is not notified every time, but the error is notified to the user at an appropriate cycle specified by the user, for example.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the server 20A according to the second embodiment. The storage unit 106 of the server 20A stores error notification cycle information 165 and adjustment time information 166.

  The error notification cycle information 165 indicates a cycle in which the server 20A notifies the communication device 300 of an error. The period indicated in the error notification period information 165 may be stored in advance as a fixed value, or may be editable by the user of the communication apparatus 300.

  The adjustment time information 166 indicates the length of the cycle in which the server 20A notifies the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of an error. The server 20A adjusts the confirmation cycle information 162 and the like so that the cycle indicated by the adjustment time information 166 is obtained.

  The cycle control unit 173 of the control unit 107 adjusts the cycle in which the server 20A confirms the occurrence of the error based on the length of the cycle in which the error occurs and information such as the adjustment time information 166, and the adjusted cycle length Is stored in the storage unit 106 as confirmation period information 162.

  In the second embodiment, when a certain abnormality continues to occur from the monitoring target device, error information may be repeatedly transmitted to the server 20A in the first cycle. The server 20A sets a period of a length obtained by adding the adjustment time indicated by the adjustment time information 166 to a time that is an integral multiple of the length of the first period, and sets the length of the second period. Is stored in the storage unit 106 as confirmation cycle information 162. The server 20A counts the number of occurrences of errors with reference to the error information stored in the error DB 108 according to the second period. The server 20A outputs the error occurrence degree based on the number of times counted in this way.

  That is, the server 20 </ b> A sets a second period of time obtained by adding adjustment time (adjustment time information 166) to a period that is an integral multiple of the period in which error information is output from the monitoring target device (first period). As the period, the number of error occurrences is counted based on the error DB. The length of this adjustment time is set to ½ or less of the length of the first cycle. For example, it is assumed that the error information is transmitted from the communication apparatus 300 to the server 20A at a period of 3 hours as the first period. The server 20A sets a period (6 hours and 1 minute), which is obtained by adding 1 minute as an adjustment time to a time that is twice as long as an integral multiple of the first period, and sets the second period. The error information stored in the error DB 108 is referred to. Therefore, when the monitoring target device continues to output error information, the error information is transmitted to the server 20A in a cycle of 3 hours, so that the server 20A performs two or three times in each period according to the second cycle ( The occurrence of an error of 3 times during a period of 6 hours and 1 minute may be counted in a period of 3 hours. In this case, the server 20A counts the occurrence of two errors over most of the period, but even if the monitored device continues to output error information, the server 20A counts the number of occurrences of the error twice. 6 may increase to 3 times, and in the process of step S607 in FIG. 6, an affirmative determination result is obtained, and an error is notified from the server 20A to the communication apparatus 300 (step S609).

  Note that the length of the first period is the period T2 (minutes), the adjustment time is the adjustment time Adj (minutes), the length of the second period is the period T3 (minutes), and an error is transmitted from the server 20A to the communication apparatus 300. Let the notified error notification cycle be a cycle T4 (minutes). At this time, error notification cycle T4 = first cycle T2 × second cycle T3 / adjustment time Adj. For example, as described above, when the first cycle T2 = 180 minutes (3 hours), the adjustment time Adj = 1 minute, and the second cycle T3 = 2 × T2 + Adj = 361 minutes, the error notification cycle T4 = 1083 hours. . Therefore, even when the monitoring target device continues to output an error, the server 20A notifies the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of the error according to the error notification cycle T4 = 1083 hours.

  The server 20A accepts designation from the user of the communication device 300 regarding the length of the third cycle, which is a cycle for notifying the communication device 300 of the occurrence of an error. The server 20A stores the length of the third cycle designated by the user in the storage unit 106 as the error notification cycle information 165. The server 20A, according to the length of the third cycle (error notification cycle information 165) received the designation by the user and the length of the first cycle in which the error information is transmitted from the monitored device to the server 20A, The length of the second period (confirmation period information 162) is calculated.

  For example, it is assumed that the server 20A receives a designation from the user with an error notification cycle T4 = 1083 hours (about 45 days). Here, it is assumed that a first period T2 in which an error is notified from the monitoring target device to the server 20A is determined in advance (for example, period T2 = 3 hours).

  Since the error notification cycle T4 = the first cycle T2 × the second cycle T3 / the adjustment time Adj as described above, the second cycle T3 / the adjustment time Adj = the error notification cycle T4 / the first cycle T2 = 361. It becomes. Since the second cycle T3 = (N × first cycle T1 + adjustment time Adj) = 361 × adjustment time Adj (N is an integer), adjustment time Adj = (N × first cycle T2 (3 hours) ) / 360.

  For example, when N = 1, the adjustment time Adj = 30 seconds and the second period T3 = 3 hours 30 seconds. In the case of N = 2, the adjustment time Adj = 1 minute and the second period T3 = 6 hours 1 minute. When N = 3, the adjustment time Adj = 1 minute 30 seconds and the second period T3 = 9 hours 1 minute 30 seconds.

  In this way, the server 20A receives the designation of the cycle (third cycle) at which the server 20A notifies the communication device 300 of the occurrence of the error, thereby allowing the length of the third cycle and the length of the first cycle. Accordingly, the length of the second period is determined, and the occurrence degree of the error information 181 stored in the error DB 108 is output according to the determined second period. For example, when the communication device 300 accepts an input operation of the third cycle by the user, the specified value of the length of the third cycle is transmitted from the communication device 300 to the server 20A.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating processing in which the server 20A controls error notification to the communication apparatus 300 depending on whether or not the error occurrence tendency is increasing when errors continue to occur. FIG. 9A shows an example in which the period for confirming an error is an integer multiple of the error occurrence period for comparison. FIG. 9B illustrates an example in which the server 20A according to the second embodiment has a period in which the error is confirmed to be a length obtained by adding an integral multiple of the period in which the error occurs and the adjustment time.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, the second period T3 (periodic confirmation period) in which the server confirms the error from the error DB 108 is compared to the first period T2 in which the error is notified from the communication apparatus 300 to the server. , An integer multiple of the first known T2 (twice in the example of FIG. 9A, cycle T3 = 2T2). As shown in FIG. 9A, the server reads the error information 181 from the error DB 108 at each timing of times t20, t21, t22, t23, and t24 according to the cycle T3 (2T2). The server counts the number of error occurrences in each cycle (step S603 [t20] to step S603 [t24]). In the example of FIG. 9A, in the process of step S607, the number of error occurrences does not exceed the count value of the previous cycle (the count result of the error count in each cycle from time t20 to time t24 is the count value “ 2 ”. It is assumed that the number of errors is the count value“ 2 ”in the previous period of time t20). For this reason, the server does not notify the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of an error in any of these cycles (steps S611 [t20] to S611 [t24]).

  In the example of FIG. 9B, the server 20A sets the second period T3 to an integral multiple of the first period T2 (twice in the example of FIG. 9B) in the adjustment time information 166. It is assumed that the adjustment time shown is added (period T3 = 2T2 + adjustment time).

  In the example of FIG. 9B, the server 20A reads the error information 181 from the error DB 108 in the period from the time t30 to the time t31, the period from the time t31 to the time t32, and the period from the time t33 to the time t34. In these periods, the count value “2” is output as the number of error occurrences (steps S603 [t31], 603 [t32], and 603 [t34]). Further, the error continues to be output from the monitoring target device in the period immediately before the period from the time t30 to the time t31, and the server 20A outputs the count value “2” as the number of error occurrences (step S603 [t30 ]). Here, the second period T3 is obtained by adding an adjustment time to a length that is an integral multiple of the period T2 at which the monitored device outputs an error. Therefore, in the period from time t32 to time t33, the monitoring target device outputs the error three times, and the server 20A outputs the count value “3” as the number of error occurrences (step S603 [t33]). In this cycle, the server 20A outputs a count value “3” exceeding the count value “2” of the previous cycle (in the determination process of step S607, the threshold value is set to the threshold value “2”, and the count value “3” is output). ”Exceeds the threshold value“ 2 ”), it is determined that an error is notified for this cycle (step S609 [t33]).

<Summary of Embodiment 2>
The server 20A may make the frequency of error notification to the communication device 300 appropriate when it is desired to avoid notifying the user every time when errors frequently occur in the monitored device. This can improve user convenience.

  Further, even when the monitoring target device continues to output an error, the server 20A notifies the communication device 300 of the occurrence of the error as shown in FIG. 9B, so that the monitoring target device continues to output the error. Even if this is not the case, it is possible to notify the communication apparatus 300 of an error at an appropriate frequency without notifying all of the communication apparatus 300.

  Further, the server 20A accepts designation of the length of the third period for notifying the communication apparatus 300 of an error when the monitored device continues to output an error, and the server 20A confirms the error from the error DB 108. The period can be determined. Therefore, the frequency at which the error is notified from the server 20A to the communication device 300 can be set to a period specified by the user, and the convenience for the user is improved.

  In addition, even when the occurrence of an error is not regular, the server 20A performs the processing described in the second embodiment, so that the frequency of error notification can be suppressed and the frequency of notification can be made appropriate. .

  Further, the server 20A records the error occurrence status in a period twice as long as the period T3 (periodic confirmation period) described in FIG. 9, so that the server 20A can communicate with the communication device 300 in a longer period. It is possible to control the notification of errors. For example, the server 20A records a past error occurrence state of about 12 hours as a period twice as long as the period T3, so that the server 20A transmits the error to the communication apparatus 300 at a period of about 45 days as a long period. An error can be notified. That is, if no error has occurred in a period twice as long as the periodic confirmation cycle, the server 100 does not need to record anything as error information.

<Embodiment 3>
In addition to the example described in the above embodiment, the server stores the check cycle information 162 in the memory in association with an error code to be notified to the communication device 300 among errors generated in the monitoring target device. It is good to do. The control unit 107 may read the error information 181 from the error DB 108 according to the period of the confirmation period information 162 associated with each error code, and output the error occurrence degree (steps S601 and S603).

  In the example of the above embodiment, the server is described as performing the process illustrated in FIG. 6, but the error notification control process illustrated in FIG. 6 may be performed by other devices. For example, the HEMS controller 700 may perform error notification control processing to the communication device 300.

  The notification control system of the present invention is realized by a processor and a program executed on the processor. The program for realizing the present invention is provided by transmission / reception using a network via a communication interface.

  (1) As described above, the notification control system 1 for notifying the communication apparatus 300 of the occurrence of an error has been described. The notification control system includes a receiving unit for receiving error information indicating that an error has occurred in the monitoring target device, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the notification control system. Based on the received error information, the control means compares the error occurrence rate in each output period with an output unit that outputs the error occurrence rate in each period, and generates an error occurrence. A notification control unit that notifies the communication device of the occurrence of an error during a period when the error is increasing, and a notification control unit that suppresses notification of an error to the communication device during a period when the occurrence of error does not tend to increase.

  (2) The outputting of the error occurrence degree by the output unit includes counting the number of error occurrences for each predetermined period based on the received error information, and outputting the error occurrence degree based on the count value, The notification control unit notifying the communication device includes comparing the count value of each period and notifying the communication device of an error for a period that is greater than the count value of the past period. For a period that does not increase compared to the count value, the error notification to the communication device is suppressed.

  (3) The outputting of the error occurrence degree by the output unit includes counting the number of error occurrences for each predetermined period based on the received error information, and outputting the error occurrence degree based on the count value, The notification control unit notifies the communication device that the count value of each period is compared and an error occurs for the period when the count value exceeds the threshold value, which is greater than the count value of the past period. To notify the communication device of the error for a period in which the count value has not increased compared to the count value in the past period and a period in which the count value does not exceed the threshold value. including.

(4) The error information includes information indicating when an error has occurred in the monitored device.
The notification control system further includes
Including storage means for storing history information indicating a history when an error occurs, included in the received error information,
Output of the error occurrence level by the output unit includes that the output unit refers to the storage unit at regular intervals and outputs the error occurrence level based on the history information stored in the storage unit.

  (5) The length of the fixed period during which the output unit outputs the error occurrence degree is an integer multiple of 2 or more of the output period of error information output when an error has occurred in the monitored device.

  (6) When an error occurs, the monitored device transmits error information to the notification control system according to the first cycle, and the output unit outputs the error occurrence level first. The number of error occurrences is counted according to a second period, which is a period obtained by adding an adjustment time having a length shorter than the first period to a time that is an integral multiple of the period, and an error occurs based on the count value Including outputting the degree.

  (7) The notification control system further includes accepting means for accepting designation of a third period that is a period for notifying the occurrence of an error to the communication device, and the output unit is configured to accept the designation of the third period. The length of the second period is determined according to the length and the length of the first period, and the error occurrence degree is output according to the determined second period.

  (8) The notification control system includes storage means for storing the identification information of an error that is a target of notification control among errors that occur in the monitoring target device and a cycle for outputting the error occurrence degree in association with each other. The output unit outputs the error occurrence degree based on the identification information, according to the period associated with the error, for the error that is subject to notification control, among the error information received by the receiving unit. This includes outputting the degree of error occurrence.

  The embodiment disclosed this time must be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  1 Notification control system, 20A server, 100 server, 102 communication unit, 105 input / output I / F, 106 storage unit, 107 control unit, 108 error DB, 161 monitored device information, 162 confirmation cycle information, 163 error code information, 164 Error count value history information, 165 error notification cycle information, 166 adjustment time information, 181 error information, 300 communication device, 400 wireless base station, 500 MME, 600 broadband router, 700 HEMS controller, 800 home appliance, 810 solar cell module 820 power conditioner, 830 battery, 840 water heater, 850 distribution board, 860 multi-energy monitor, 870 multi-circuit CT sensor, 880 taps, 890 flow data transmitter, 900 Internet.

Claims (5)

A notification control system for notifying an occurrence of an error to a communication device,
A receiving means for receiving error information indicating that an error has occurred in the monitored device;
Control means for controlling the operation of the notification control system,
The control means includes
Based on the error information to be received, an output unit that outputs the degree of occurrence of the error in each period for each predetermined period;
By comparing the degree of occurrence of the error in each of the output periods, the occurrence of the error is notified to the communication apparatus for the period in which the occurrence of the error is on the increase. A notification control system including a notification control unit that suppresses the notification of the error to the communication device for a period that is not present. The output of the error occurrence level by the output unit is based on the received error information, counting the number of error occurrences for each predetermined period, and outputting the error occurrence level based on a count value. Including
The notification to the communication device is that the notification control unit compares the count value of each period and notifies the communication device of the error for a period that is greater than the count value of the past period. 2. The notification control system according to claim 1, further comprising suppressing notification of the error to the communication device for a period that is not increased compared to a count value of a past period. The monitoring target device transmits the error information to the notification control system according to a first cycle when the error has occurred,
The output of the error occurrence degree by the output unit is a period obtained by adding an adjustment time having a length shorter than the first period to a time having an integral multiple of the first period. The notification control system according to claim 1, further comprising: counting the number of occurrences of the error according to a period of the number of times and outputting the degree of occurrence of the error based on the count value. A controller in a notification control system including a controller that communicates with a monitoring target device and transmits / receives data to / from the monitoring target device, and a communication device that connects the controller via a network,
Receiving means for receiving error information indicating that an error has occurred in the monitored device from the monitored device;
Control means for controlling the operation of the controller,
The control means includes
Based on the error information to be received, an output unit that outputs the degree of occurrence of the error in each period for each predetermined period;
By comparing the degree of occurrence of the error in each of the outputted periods, the occurrence of the error is notified to the communication device for the period in which the occurrence of the error is on the increase, and the occurrence of the error is on the increase. A controller including a notification control unit that suppresses notification of the error to the communication device for a period that is not present. A method for notifying an occurrence of an error of a monitored device to a communication device via a network,
The control means receives error information indicating that an error has occurred in the monitoring target device, and based on the received error information, outputs a degree of occurrence of the error in each period for each fixed period;
The control means notifies the occurrence of the error to the communication apparatus for the period in which the occurrence of the error tends to increase by comparing the degree of occurrence of the error in each of the output periods, and the occurrence of the error And a step of suppressing notification of the error to the communication device for a period during which there is no tendency to increase.

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