JP2017034596A - Terminal network control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal network control device which can be easily installed and hardly requires battery exchange.SOLUTION: The terminal network control device includes: an upper level unit 1 disposed in the middle of a telephone line 3 to accommodate a communication terminal 4; and a lower level unit 2 disposed on the lower level side of the upper level unit to accommodate a telephone terminal 5. An intermediary line part 3b extending between the upper level and lower level units is connected to an office line 3a at the upper level unit 1 and to the telephone terminal at the lower level unit, so that a mode is changed between a communication mode in which communication through the telephone line can be made and a power supply mode in which the intermediary line part is separated from the office line at the upper level unit and connected to a commercial power at the lower level unit, so that power is supplied from the lower level unit to the upper level unit. The communication mode is executed when a call arrives to the telephone line and a call is originated at the telephone terminal, whereas the power supply mode is executed when the telephone line is in an idle state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention is provided in a telephone line connected to a communication network that provides a telephone service, and controls communication between a telephone terminal and a communication terminal (meters, sensors, actuators, etc. such as gas and water) and the telephone line. The present invention relates to a terminal network control device (hereinafter referred to as “T-NCU”).

  In recent years, automatic meter-reading systems that automatically measure the amount of gas, water, and power used by each consumer using a telephone line have become widespread (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). In this type of automatic meter reading system, the central monitoring center and each customer's gas meter, water meter, and electric meter (also referred to as “microcomputer meter”) are connected via a telephone line and communicate with each other via the telephone line. However, a T-NCU is provided on the telephone line, and these meters are accommodated together with the telephone terminal in the T-NCU.

  In this case, the meter is usually connected to the T-NCU by wire, but the gas meter, water meter, and electric meter are installed outdoors. Therefore, when the T-NCU is installed indoors, the meter is connected to the wall of the house. It is necessary to make a hole and draw the electric wire connecting the meter and the T-NCU indoors to carry out the indoor wiring, which requires labor and cost for the construction, and it is difficult to obtain the consent of the customer.

  For this reason, the T-NCU is installed near the meter under the eaves of the house or the outer surface of the wall and in a place suitable for protecting the device. Such a place is separated from the outlet of the commercial power source, and therefore the T-NCU has a battery built in as a power source.

However, since the power supply by the battery is limited, it is necessary to replace the battery after using the T-NCU for a certain period.
By the way, although T-NCU is installed in the vicinity of an outdoor meter as described above, it is not always provided in an easily accessible place for battery replacement work. Therefore, there may be a case where the battery cannot be easily replaced.

In this case, the meter is wirelessly connected to the T-NCU, the T-NCU is used as a wireless master unit, and the meter is used as a wireless slave unit. -It is conceivable to supply power to the NCU, but considering the location of the outlet of the commercial power supply and the range where radio waves can reach stably, the T-NCU cannot always be connected to the outlet of the commercial power supply.
Therefore, even when the meter is wirelessly connected to the T-NCU, most T-NCUs have a built-in battery as a power source and require battery replacement as in the case of wired connection.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-23278 JP 2004-153522 A JP 2013-239781 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal network control device that is easy to install and requires little battery replacement.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to the present invention, a terminal network is provided in a telephone line connected to a communication network that provides telephone service, and controls communication between the telephone line and a telephone terminal and a communication terminal. A control unit disposed in the middle of the telephone line and accommodating the communication terminal; and a lower unit disposed on the lower side of the upper unit in the telephone line and accommodating the telephone terminal; The upper unit connects an intermediate line portion extending between the upper unit and the lower unit in the telephone line to a higher line portion of the upper unit in the telephone line, or is connected to the upper unit of the upper unit. An upper switching unit that separates from the line part on the side, and an upper line monitoring unit that monitors the state of the telephone line on the upper side of the upper switching unit; An interface unit that communicates with the communication terminal, a primary battery or a secondary battery, and an upper control unit that controls operations of the upper switching unit and the interface unit, wherein the lower unit is fed from a commercial power source. The power supply unit for outputting predetermined power, the lower line switching unit for switching and connecting the intermediate line part to the power supply unit and the telephone terminal, and the state of the telephone line on the lower side of the lower level switching unit A lower line monitoring unit that monitors the operation of the power supply unit and the lower switching unit, and the intermediate line portion is a higher-level line of the upper unit in the upper switching unit. A call mode capable of making a call through the telephone line by being connected to the telephone terminal by being connected to the telephone terminal in the lower switching unit, and the intermediate line part A power supply mode in which power is supplied from the lower unit to the upper unit by being disconnected from the upper line portion of the upper unit in the upper switch unit and connected to the power supply unit in the lower switch unit. The switching operation is performed, and the upper unit has a power supply detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the power supply from the lower unit, and is operated by the primary battery or the secondary battery in the call mode. In the power supply mode, when a part of power supplied from the lower unit is stored, and the lower line monitoring unit of the lower unit detects a call of the telephone terminal, the lower control unit passes through the intermediate line part A call detection signal is transmitted to the host control unit, and the host line monitoring unit of the host unit is connected to the telephone line. When a call is detected, the upper control unit transmits an incoming call detection signal to the lower control unit through the intermediate line part, and the upper control unit monitors the monitoring information of the upper line monitoring unit, the call detection signal, and the The operation of the upper switching unit is controlled based on the detection information of the power feeding detection unit, and the lower control unit is configured to control the power feeding unit and the lower switching unit based on the monitoring information of the lower line monitoring unit and the incoming call detection signal. By controlling the operation of the terminal, the terminal operates in the call mode when a call is made through the telephone line, and operates in the power supply mode when the telephone line is idle. A network controller is provided.

According to the present invention, when the telephone line is idle, the terminal network control device operates in the power supply mode, whereby power is supplied from the power supply unit of the lower unit to the upper unit.
When a telephone terminal originates a call, it is detected by the lower line monitoring unit of the lower unit, whereby the operation of the power supply unit (power supply) is stopped, and the call detection signal is controlled by the lower level control unit through the intermediate line part. The intermediate line portion is connected to the telephone terminal in the lower switching unit. When the call detection signal is received by the host control unit and the power reception detection unit of the host unit detects that the power feeding unit has stopped operating, the upper switch unit sets the intermediate line portion to the local line (upper side of the host unit). Line part). In this way, the telephone terminal is connected to the office line, the terminal network control device starts operating in the call mode, and a call is made through the telephone line.

  Thereafter, when the call ends and the restoration of the line is detected by the upper line monitoring unit of the upper unit, the upper line switching unit disconnects the intermediate line portion from the office line. The disconnection from the office line in the upper switching unit is detected by the lower line monitoring unit of the lower unit, whereby the power feeding unit starts operating after the intermediate line part is connected to the power feeding unit in the lower switching unit, and the terminal The network control device operates again in the power supply mode.

When an incoming call is made to a telephone line, the incoming call is detected by the upper line monitoring unit of the upper unit, an incoming call detection signal is transmitted from the upper control unit to the lower control unit through the intermediate line part, and the power supply unit stops operating. Then, the intermediate line portion is connected to the telephone terminal in the lower switching unit. This stoppage of the operation of the power supply unit is detected by the power supply detection unit of the host unit, whereby the intermediate line part is connected to the office line in the host switching unit. As a result, the telephone terminal is connected to the office line, the terminal network control device starts operating in the call mode, and a call signal indicating an incoming call is transmitted to the telephone terminal through the telephone line.
When the call ends, the terminal network control device operates again in the power supply mode, as before.

  In this way, the upper unit is installed near the water meter, gas meter, etc. under the eaves of the house or outside of the wall, etc., while the lower unit is installed indoors and the existing indoor line is used as the intermediate line part. Thus, it is possible to easily install the terminal network control device without making a hole in the house wall or newly performing indoor wiring.

  Furthermore, when the telephone line is idle, that is, in most of the time of the day, a commercial power source can be used as the power source for the terminal network control device. When the number of battery replacements of the control device is drastically reduced and the secondary unit is equipped with a secondary battery, there is no need to replace the battery.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the automatic meter-reading system provided with the terminal network control apparatus by one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal network control apparatus in the automatic meter-reading system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the automatic meter-reading system provided with the terminal network control apparatus by another Example of this invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic meter reading system provided with a terminal network control device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a terminal network control device in the automatic meter reading system of FIG. It is a block diagram.
Referring to FIG. 1, a terminal network control apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “T-NCU”) according to the present invention is connected to a telephone line 3 of a communication network 16 (in this embodiment, a public telephone network) that provides a telephone service. An upper unit 1 that is disposed in the middle and accommodates (connects) the communication terminal 4 and a lower unit 2 that is disposed on the lower side of the upper unit 1 in the telephone line 3 and accommodates (connects) the telephone terminal 5 are provided. Yes.

The communication terminal 4 is a water meter, a gas meter, an electric meter, or a smart meter, and has a function of communicating with the upper unit 1. In the illustrated embodiment, the upper unit 1 accommodates one communication terminal 4, but the upper unit 1 can accommodate a plurality of communication terminals 4.
The communication terminal 4 may be connected to the upper unit 1 by wire or may be connected wirelessly.

  As is apparent from FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the upper unit 1 is installed near the communication terminal 5 under the eaves of the house or the outer surface of the wall, and the lower unit 2 is arranged indoors. The upper unit 1 and the lower unit 2 are connected to each other by an existing indoor line 3b (telephone line 3) (hereinafter referred to as “intermediate line portion”).

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper unit 1 connects the intermediate line portion 3b to the office line (the upper line portion of the upper unit 1 in the telephone line 3) 3a or disconnects it from the office line 3a. An upper line monitoring unit 7 that monitors the state of the telephone line 3 on the upper side of the upper switching unit 6, an interface unit 8 that communicates with the communication terminal 4, a primary battery or a secondary battery 9, and the upper switching unit 6 And an upper control unit 10 that controls the operation of the interface unit 8 and a power supply detection unit 11 that detects the presence or absence of power supply from the lower unit 2 (which will be described later). The power supply detection unit 11 constantly monitors the voltage of the intermediate line portion 3b and detects a change in voltage value to detect power supply and power supply stoppage.
The upper line monitoring unit 7 detects an incoming signal of the telephone line 3 and also detects polarity reversal and polarity recovery.

The lower unit 2 receives power from the commercial power supply 12 and outputs predetermined power, a lower switching unit 14 that switches and connects the intermediate line portion 3b to the power feeding unit 12 and the telephone terminal 5; On the lower side of the switching unit 14, there is a lower line monitoring unit 15 that monitors the state of the telephone line 3, and a lower control unit 16 that controls the operation of the power feeding unit 13 and the lower switching unit 14.
In this embodiment, the power supply unit 13 includes a plug 18 for connecting to an outlet of the commercial power supply 12.
Further, the lower line monitoring unit 15 detects a call signal from the telephone terminal 5 and also detects polarity inversion and polarity return of the telephone line 3.

  In the T-NCU of the present invention, the intermediate line portion 3b is connected to the office line 3a in the upper switching unit 6 and is connected to the telephone terminal 5 in the lower switching unit 14, so that a call through the telephone line 3 can be made. Possible communication modes and the intermediate line portion 3b are disconnected from the office line 3a in the upper switching unit 6 and connected to the power feeding unit 13 in the lower switching unit 14, so that power is supplied from the lower unit 2 to the upper unit 1. The operation is switched to the power supply mode.

  The upper unit 1 is operated by the primary battery or the secondary battery 9 in the call mode, and when the secondary battery 9 is provided, the secondary battery 9 is a part of the power supplied from the lower unit 2 in the power supply mode. Is stored.

Next, switching operation between the call mode and the power supply mode of the T-NCU will be described.
When the telephone line 3 is idle, the T-NCU operates in the power supply mode, and power is supplied from the power supply unit 13 of the lower unit 2 to the upper unit 1.
When the telephone terminal 5 makes a call, the call is detected by the lower line monitoring unit 15 of the lower unit 2, and the operation (power supply) of the power supply unit 13 is stopped, and the call is sent from the lower control unit 16 through the intermediate line portion 3b. A call detection signal is transmitted to the upper control unit 10, and the intermediate line portion 3 b is connected to the telephone terminal 5 in the lower switching unit 14.
The call detection signal includes, for example, a pulse signal or an AC signal having a specific frequency or waveform.

  When the call detection signal is received by the upper control unit 10 and the power supply detection unit 11 of the upper unit 1 detects that the power supply unit 13 has stopped operating, the upper line switching unit 6 connects the intermediate line portion 3b to the office line 3a. The Then, it is detected by the upper line monitoring unit 7 and the lower line monitoring unit 15 that the telephone line 3 is in a communicable state. In this way, the telephone terminal 5 is connected to the office line 3a, and the T-NCU starts operating in the call mode, and a call is made through the telephone line 3.

  Thereafter, when the call is finished and the restoration of the line is detected by the upper line monitoring unit 7 of the upper unit 1, the upper line switching unit 6 disconnects the intermediate line part 3b from the office line 3a. The disconnection from the office line 3a in the higher order switching unit 6 is detected by the lower line monitoring unit 15 of the lower unit 2, whereby the lower line switching unit 14 connects the intermediate line part 3b to the power supply unit 12 and then the power supply unit. 13 starts, and the T-NCU again operates in the power supply mode.

When an incoming call is made to the telephone line 3, the incoming call is detected by the upper line monitoring unit 7 of the upper unit 1, and an incoming call detection signal is transmitted from the upper control unit 10 to the lower control unit 16 through the intermediate line part 3 b. When the incoming call detection signal is received by the lower level control unit 16, the operation of the power supply unit 13 is stopped, and the lower line switching unit 14 connects the intermediate line portion 3b to the office line 3a.
The incoming call detection signal includes, for example, a pulse signal or an AC signal having a specific frequency or waveform.

When the operation stop of the power supply unit 13 is detected by the power supply detection unit 11 of the upper unit 1, the upper line switching unit 6 connects the intermediate line portion 3 b to the office line 3 a, and the upper line monitoring unit 7 and the lower line monitoring unit 15, it is detected that the telephone line 3 is in a communicable state. Thus, the telephone terminal 5 is connected to the office line 3 a, and the T-NCU starts operating in the call mode, and a call signal indicating an incoming call is transmitted to the telephone terminal 5 through the telephone line 3.
When the call ends, the T-NCU again operates in the power supply mode, as before.

  According to the present invention, the upper unit 1 is installed near the water meter, gas meter, etc. under the eaves of the house or outside of the wall, while the lower unit 2 is installed indoors, By using the indoor line, the T-NCU can be easily installed without making a hole in the wall of the house or newly performing indoor wiring.

  Also, when the telephone line is idle (most of the time of the day is the case), a commercial power supply can be used as the power supply for the T-NCU. The number of T-NCU battery replacements is drastically reduced, and in the configuration including the secondary battery, it is not necessary to replace the battery.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on 1 Example, the structure of this invention is not limited to this Example.
For example, as the communication terminal 4, various sensors and various actuators can be accommodated in the upper unit 1 in addition to a water meter and a gas meter.
Alternatively, the host unit 1 can form a wireless communication master unit, while the communication terminal 4 can form a wireless communication slave unit to perform wireless communication between the master unit and a plurality of slave units. .

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the T-NCU further comprises a PLC (Power Line Carrier Communication) modem. In FIG. 3, the whole structure of the automatic meter-reading system provided with T-NCU incorporating PLC was shown.
Referring to FIG. 3, in this embodiment, a PLC modem (not shown) is further incorporated in the upper unit 1 of the T-NCU of FIGS.
Thereby, the T-NCU can communicate with a device (such as a smart meter) that is connected to the indoor outlet 12 and is equipped with another PLC modem through the indoor electrical wiring.
In FIG. 3, 19 is an integrating wattmeter, and 20 is a lead-in wire.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 High-order unit 2 Low-order unit 3 Telephone line 3a Office line 3b Middle line part 4 Communication terminal 5 Telephone terminal 6 High-order switching part 7 Upper-line monitoring part 8 Interface part 9 Primary battery or secondary battery 10 High-order control part 11 Feed detection part 12 Commercial power supply 13 Power feeding unit 14 Lower switching unit 15 Lower line monitoring unit 16 Lower control unit 17 Public telephone network 18 Plug 19 Integrated wattmeter 20 Service line

Claims (1)

A terminal network control device that is provided in a telephone line connected to a communication network that provides a telephone service, and that controls communication between the telephone line and a telephone terminal and a communication terminal,
An upper unit that is arranged in the middle of the telephone line and accommodates the communication terminal;
A lower unit that is disposed on the lower side of the upper unit in the telephone line and accommodates the telephone terminal;
The upper unit is
An upper switching for connecting an intermediate line portion extending between the upper unit and the lower unit in the telephone line to an upper line portion of the upper unit in the telephone line, or disconnecting from an upper line portion of the upper unit And
An upper line monitoring unit that monitors the state of the telephone line on the upper side of the upper switching unit;
An interface unit for communicating with the communication terminal;
A primary battery or a secondary battery;
An upper control unit that controls operations of the upper switching unit and the interface unit,
The lower unit is:
A power feeding unit that receives power from a commercial power source and outputs predetermined power;
A lower switching unit that switches and connects the intermediate line portion to the power feeding unit and the telephone terminal;
A lower line monitoring unit that monitors the state of the telephone line on the lower side of the lower switching unit;
A lower control unit that controls the operation of the power supply unit and the lower switching unit,
A call mode in which a call can be made through the telephone line by the intermediate line part being connected to the upper line part of the upper unit in the upper switching unit and being connected to the telephone terminal in the lower switching unit And the intermediate line part is disconnected from the upper line part of the upper unit in the upper switching unit, and is connected to the power feeding unit in the lower switching unit so that power from the lower unit to the upper unit is obtained. Switch to the power supply mode to be supplied,
The upper unit has a power supply detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the power supply from the lower unit, operates in the call mode with the primary battery or the secondary battery, and in the power supply mode, the secondary battery Stores part of the power supplied from the lower unit in the power supply mode,
When the lower line monitoring unit of the lower unit detects a call of the telephone terminal, the lower control unit transmits a call detection signal to the upper control unit through the intermediate line part,
When the upper line monitoring unit of the upper unit detects an incoming call to the telephone line, the upper control unit transmits an incoming call detection signal to the lower control unit through the intermediate line part,
The upper control unit controls the operation of the upper switching unit based on the monitoring information of the upper line monitoring unit, the call detection signal, and the detection information of the power feeding detection unit, and the lower control unit monitors the lower line monitoring By controlling the operation of the power feeding unit and the lower switching unit based on the monitoring information of the unit and the incoming call detection signal, the telephone line operates when the telephone line is used for the telephone line. The terminal network control device, which operates in the power supply mode when is idle.

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