JP2021019443A - Optical power supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

To achieve efficient power supply corresponding to an electric power load on a power reception side.SOLUTION: An optical fiber power supply system 1C comprises: a power supply device 110 that outputs power supply light 112; and a power receiving device 310 that converts the power supply light 112 from the power supply device 110 into electrical power. The electrical power converted by the power receiving device 310 is supplied to a radio communication device 360. The optical fiber power supply system 1C comprises: a communication monitoring unit 370 that acquires communication operation information on the state of operation of radio communication performed by the radio communication device 360; and a power supply control unit 150 that controls the output of the power supply light 112 from the power supply device 110 based on the communication operation information acquired by the communication monitoring unit 370.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present disclosure relates to optical power supply.

Recently, an optical power supply system that converts electric power into light (called feed light) and transmits it, converts the feed light into electrical energy, and uses it as electric power has been studied.
Patent Document 1 describes an optical transmitter that transmits signal light modulated by an electric signal and feed light for supplying power, a core that transmits the signal light, and a core formed around the core. An optical fiber having a first clad having a small refractive index and transmitting the feeding light and a second clad formed around the first clad and having a lower refractive index than the first clad, and a first clad of the optical fiber are used for transmission. Described is an optical communication device including an optical receiver that operates with the converted power of the fed light and converts the signal light transmitted by the core of the optical fiber into the electric signal.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-135989

In optical power supply, further improvement in optical power supply efficiency is required. As one of the means, it is required to realize efficient power supply corresponding to the power load on the power receiving side.

The optical power supply system of one aspect of the present disclosure is
An optical power supply system including a power supply device that outputs power supply light and a power reception device that converts the power supply light from the power supply device into electric power, and the power converted by the power reception device is supplied to a communication device.
An information acquisition unit that acquires communication operation information regarding the operation status of communication by the communication device, and
It includes a power supply control unit that controls the output of the power supply light from the power supply device based on the communication operation information acquired by the information acquisition unit.

According to the optical power supply system of one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to realize efficient power supply corresponding to the power load on the power receiving side.

It is a block diagram of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this disclosure. It is a block diagram of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this disclosure. It is a block diagram of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this disclosure, and shows the optical connector and the like. It is a block diagram of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on another Embodiment of this disclosure. It is a block diagram of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this disclosure. It is a block diagram of the modification of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this disclosure. It is a block diagram of the optical fiber power supply system which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this disclosure.

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(1) System overview [First embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber power supply (PoF: Power over Fiber) system 1A of the present embodiment includes a power supply device (PSE: Power Sourcing Equipment) 110, an optical fiber cable 200A, and a power receiving device (PD: Powered Device) 310. Be prepared.
The power feeding device in the present disclosure is a device that converts electric power into light energy and supplies it, and a power receiving device is a device that receives the supply of light energy and converts the light energy into electric power.
The power feeding device 110 includes a power feeding semiconductor laser 111.
The optical fiber cable 200A includes an optical fiber 250A that forms a transmission line for feeding light.
The power receiving device 310 includes a photoelectric conversion element 311.

The power feeding device 110 is connected to a power source, and a power feeding semiconductor laser 111 or the like is electrically driven.
The power feeding semiconductor laser 111 oscillates the laser with the electric power from the power source and outputs the power feeding light 112.

In the optical fiber cable 200A, one end 201A can be connected to the power feeding device 110, and the other end 202A can be connected to the power receiving device 310 to transmit the feeding light 112.
The power feeding light 112 from the power feeding device 110 is input to one end 201A of the optical fiber cable 200A, the feeding light 112 propagates in the optical fiber 250A, and is output from the other end 202A to the power receiving device 310.

The photoelectric conversion element 311 converts the feed light 112 transmitted through the optical fiber cable 200A into electric power. The electric power converted by the photoelectric conversion element 311 is used as the driving power required in the power receiving device 310. Further, the power receiving device 310 can output the electric power converted by the photoelectric conversion element 311 for an external device.

The semiconductor material constituting the semiconductor region that exerts the light-electric conversion effect of the power feeding semiconductor laser 111 and the photoelectric conversion element 311 is a semiconductor having a short wavelength laser wavelength of 500 nm or less.
Since a semiconductor having a short wavelength laser wavelength has a large band gap and high photoelectric conversion efficiency, the photoelectric conversion efficiency on the power generation side and the power receiving side of optical power supply is improved, and the optical power supply efficiency is improved.
For that purpose, as the semiconductor material, for example, a semiconductor material of a laser medium having a laser wavelength (fundamental wave) of 200 to 500 nm, such as diamond, gallium oxide, aluminum nitride, and GaN, may be used.
Further, as the semiconductor material, a semiconductor having a band gap of 2.4 eV or more is applied.
For example, a semiconductor material of a laser medium having a bandgap of 2.4 to 6.2 eV, such as diamond, gallium oxide, aluminum nitride, and GaN, may be used.
The longer the wavelength of the laser light, the better the transmission efficiency, and the shorter the wavelength, the better the photoelectric conversion efficiency. Therefore, in the case of long-distance transmission, a semiconductor material of a laser medium having a laser wavelength (primary wave) larger than 500 nm may be used. When the photoelectric conversion efficiency is prioritized, a semiconductor material of a laser medium having a laser wavelength (fundamental wave) smaller than 200 nm may be used.
These semiconductor materials may be applied to either one of the power feeding semiconductor laser 111 and the photoelectric conversion element 311. The photoelectric conversion efficiency on the power feeding side or the power receiving side is improved, and the optical power feeding efficiency is improved.

[Second Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 2, the optical fiber power supply (PoF: Power over Fiber) system 1 of the present embodiment includes a power supply system via an optical fiber and an optical communication system, and is a power supply device (PSE: Power Sourcing Equipment) 110. It includes a first data communication device 100 including the above, an optical fiber cable 200, and a second data communication device 300 including a power receiving device (PD) 310.
The power feeding device 110 includes a power feeding semiconductor laser 111. The first data communication device 100 includes a power supply device 110, a transmission unit 120 that performs data communication, and a reception unit 130. The first data communication device 100 corresponds to a data terminal device (DTE (Date Terminal Equipment)), a repeater (Repeater), and the like. The transmitter 120 includes a signal semiconductor laser 121 and a modulator 122. The receiving unit 130 includes a signal photodiode 131.

The optical fiber cable 200 includes an optical fiber 250 having a core 210 forming a signal light transmission path and a clad 220 arranged on the outer periphery of the core 210 and forming a feeding light transmission path.

The power receiving device 310 includes a photoelectric conversion element 311. The second data communication device 300 includes a power receiving device 310, a transmitting unit 320, a receiving unit 330, and a data processing unit 340. The second data communication device 300 is a power end station.
Etc. The transmitter 320 includes a signal semiconductor laser 321 and a modulator 322. The receiving unit 330 includes a signal photodiode 331. The data processing unit 340 is a unit that processes a received signal. The second data communication device 300 is a node in the communication network. Alternatively, the second data communication device 300 may be a node that communicates with another node.

The first data communication device 100 is connected to a power source, and a power feeding semiconductor laser 111, a signal semiconductor laser 121, a modulator 122, a signal photodiode 131, and the like are electrically driven. The first data communication device 100 is a node in the communication network. Alternatively, the first data communication device 100 may be a node that communicates with another node.
The power feeding semiconductor laser 111 oscillates the laser with the electric power from the power source and outputs the power feeding light 112.

The photoelectric conversion element 311 converts the feed light 112 transmitted through the optical fiber cable 200 into electric power. The electric power converted by the photoelectric conversion element 311 is the driving power of the transmitting unit 320, the receiving unit 330, and the data processing unit 340, and other driving power required in the second data communication device 300. Further, the second data communication device 300 may be capable of outputting the electric power converted by the photoelectric conversion element 311 for an external device.

On the other hand, the modulator 122 of the transmitting unit 120 modulates the laser light 123 from the signal semiconductor laser 121 based on the transmission data 124 and outputs it as the signal light 125.
The signal photodiode 331 of the receiving unit 330 demodulates the signal light 125 transmitted through the optical fiber cable 200 into an electric signal and outputs it to the data processing unit 340. The data processing unit 340 transmits the data by the electric signal to the node, while receiving the data from the node and outputting the data as the transmission data 324 to the modulator 322.
The modulator 322 of the transmitting unit 320 modulates the laser light 323 from the signal semiconductor laser 321 based on the transmission data 324 and outputs it as the signal light 325.
The signal photodiode 131 of the receiving unit 130 demodulates the signal light 325 transmitted through the optical fiber cable 200 into an electric signal and outputs it. The data by the electric signal is transmitted to the node, while the data from the node is referred to as transmission data 124.

The feed light 112 and the signal light 125 from the first data communication device 100 are input to one end 201 of the optical fiber cable 200, the feed light 112 propagates through the clad 220, the signal light 125 propagates through the core 210, and the other end. It is output from 202 to the second data communication device 300.
The signal light 325 from the second data communication device 300 is input to the other end 202 of the optical fiber cable 200, propagates through the core 210, and is output from one end 201 to the first data communication device 100.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first data communication device 100 is provided with an optical input / output unit 140 and an optical connector 141 attached to the optical input / output unit 140. Further, the second data communication device 300 is provided with an optical input / output unit 350 and an optical connector 351 attached to the optical input / output unit 350. An optical connector 230 provided at one end 201 of the optical fiber cable 200 connects to the optical connector 141. An optical connector 240 provided at the other end 202 of the optical fiber cable 200 connects to the optical connector 351. The optical input / output unit 140 guides the feeding light 112 to the clad 220, guides the signal light 125 to the core 210, and guides the signal light 325 to the receiving unit 130. The optical input / output unit 350 guides the feeding light 112 to the power receiving device 310, guides the signal light 125 to the receiving unit 330, and guides the signal light 325 to the core 210.
As described above, the optical fiber cable 200 has one end 201 connectable to the first data communication device 100 and the other end 202 connectable to the second data communication device 300 to transmit the feeding light 112. Further, in the present embodiment, the optical fiber cable 200 transmits the signal lights 125 and 325 in both directions.

As the semiconductor material constituting the semiconductor region that exhibits the light-electricity conversion effect of the power feeding semiconductor laser 111 and the photoelectric conversion element 311, the same materials as those in the first embodiment are applied, and high light power feeding efficiency is realized. ..

As in the optical fiber cable 200B of the optical fiber feeding system 1B shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber 260 for transmitting signal light and the optical fiber 270 for transmitting the feeding light may be provided separately. The optical fiber cable 200B may also be composed of a plurality of cables.

(2) Power supply control unit Next, a power supply control unit that controls the amount of power supply will be described.
[Third Embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an optical fiber power feeding system of a third embodiment to which a power feeding control unit is applied. In FIG. 5, the same components as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the optical fiber power feeding system 1C of the third embodiment includes a first data communication device 100C, an optical fiber cable 200, and a second data communication device 300C.

The second data communication device 300C includes a power receiving device 310, a transmitting unit 320, a receiving unit 330, a data processing unit 340, a wireless communication device 360, and a communication monitoring unit 370. The second data communication device 300C corresponds to, for example, a radio base station or the like.
The wireless communication device 360 performs wireless communication for transmitting and receiving data to and from a plurality of wireless communication devices. The wireless communication device 360 transmits the data received from the data processing unit 340 by wireless communication, while transmitting the data received by wireless communication to the data processing unit 340. The wireless communication device 360 consumes electric power according to its communication load, and is driven by the electric power supplied from the power receiving device 310.

The communication monitoring unit 370 monitors the operating status of wireless communication by the wireless communication device 360, and acquires communication operating information related to this operating status.
The communication operation information is information related to the communication load of wireless communication. Specifically, the communication operation information includes at least one of actual measurement communication load information, latent communication load information, and predicted communication load information. Of these, the actually measured communication load information is information on the actually measured communication load, and includes the number of MIMO (Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) streams of wireless communication by the wireless communication device 360, the bandwidth used, and the like. The latent communication load information is information on the maximum potential communication load, and includes the number of active users accommodated in wireless communication by the wireless communication device 360 and the like. Predicted communication load information is information on the communication load based on prediction, and is date and time information (date, day of the week, etc.) such as the amount of communication load according to the time zone (for example, the communication load is small at night and the communication load is large during the day). It includes information and the like associated with at least one of the times) and the communication load predicted at that time. The predicted communication load information may include usage information (date and time of use, expected number of participants, etc.) of the event venue within the communication range where an increase in communication load is expected. Further, the communication monitoring unit 370 may record the actual daily communication load (for example, the communication amount), and create / update the predicted communication load information based on this record.
The communication monitoring unit 370 transmits the acquired communication operation information to the data processing unit 340. The data processing unit 340 includes the received communication operation information in the transmission data 324 and outputs it to the modulator 322 of the transmission unit 320. The modulator 322 outputs the signal light 325 including the communication operation information to the first data communication device 100C through the optical fiber cable 200 by modulating the laser light 323 based on the transmission data 324.

The first data communication device 100C includes a power supply device 110, a transmission unit 120, a reception unit 130, and a power supply control unit 150.

The power supply control unit 150 acquires communication operation information from the signal light 325 output from the signal photodiode 131 of the reception unit 130. Then, the power supply control unit 150 controls the output of the power supply light 112 from the power supply device 110 (semiconductor laser 111 for power supply) based on the acquired communication operation information.
Specifically, when the power supply control unit 150 acquires actual measurement communication load information (number of MIMO streams, bandwidth used, etc.) as communication operation information, the power supply control unit 150 sets the maximum value (maximum number of streams, maximum bandwidth). The output of the feed light 112 is adjusted based on the ratio of the actually measured communication load to the total. When latent communication load information (number of accommodated active users, etc.) is acquired as communication operation information, the power supply control unit 150 outputs the power supply optical 112 based on the maximum communication amount assumed from the latent communication load information. To adjust. When the predicted communication load information is acquired as the communication operation information, the power supply control unit 150 obtains the predicted communication load at the current date and time from the predicted communication load information, and outputs the power supply optical 112 based on this communication load. adjust. It should be noted that the priority order used for output adjustment (for example, the actual measurement communication load information has the highest priority) may be set in advance for these plurality of types of communication operation information.
As a result, the output of the power feeding device 110 is adjusted in accordance with the communication load of the wireless communication device 360 and the power load of the power receiving device 310. That is, in the conventional power supply system, since the power supply device supplies a constant (maximum) power regardless of the power load of the power receiving device, the surplus power is wasted when the power load of the power receiving device is low. In this respect, in the optical fiber power supply system 1C of the present embodiment, since the output of the power supply device 110 is adjusted according to the power load of the power receiving device 310, efficient power supply corresponding to the power load on the power receiving side is different from the conventional one. Can be realized.

The configuration of the third embodiment can be applied to the optical fiber feeding system of FIG. In this case, the first data communication device 100 and the second data communication device 300 in FIG. 4 may be changed to the first data communication device 100C and the second data communication device 300C.

In the optical fiber power supply system 1C of the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, communication operation information is transmitted from the communication monitoring unit 370 of the second data communication device 300C through a transmission line 281 different from the optical fiber cable 200. It may be transmitted to the power supply control unit 150 of the data communication device 100C of 1. In this case, the communication monitoring unit 370 may be an external device independent of the second data communication device 300C.

[Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the optical fiber power feeding system of the fourth embodiment to which the power feeding control unit is applied. In FIG. 7, the same components as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, the optical fiber power supply system 1D of the fourth embodiment is different from the optical fiber power supply system 1C of the third embodiment in that the communication system is mainly separated from the power supply system.

The communication system of the optical fiber power supply system 1D includes a first communication device 160, a communication cable 290, a second communication device 380, a wireless communication device 360, and a communication monitoring unit 370.
The first communication device 160 and the second communication device 380 perform data communication with each other through the communication cable 290. The wireless communication device 360 performs wireless communication with a plurality of wireless communication devices.
The wireless communication device 360 transmits the data received from the second communication device 380 by wireless communication, while transmitting the data received by wireless communication to the second communication device 380. The wireless communication device 360 consumes electric power according to its communication load, and is driven by the electric power supplied from the power receiving device 310.
The communication monitoring unit 370 monitors the operating status of wireless communication by the wireless communication device 360, and acquires communication operating information related to this operating status. The communication monitoring unit 370 transmits the acquired communication operation information to the second communication device 380. The second communication device 380 transmits the received communication operation information to the first communication device 160 in the same manner as other transmission data.

The power supply system of the optical fiber power supply system 1D includes a power supply device 110, an optical fiber cable 200A, and a power receiving device 310, and is configured in the same manner as the optical fiber power supply system 1A of the first embodiment. The output of the power supply device 110 is controlled by the power supply control unit 150.
The power supply control unit 150 acquires the communication operation information transmitted from the second communication device 380 from the first communication device 160. Then, the power supply control unit 150 controls the output of the power supply light 112 from the power supply device 110 (semiconductor laser 111 for power supply) based on the acquired communication operation information. The communication operation information may be transmitted from the communication monitoring unit 370 to the power supply control unit 150 through a transmission line different from the communication cable 290.
As a result, the output of the power feeding device 110 is adjusted according to the communication load of the wireless communication device 360 and, by extension, the power load of the power receiving device 310, as in the third embodiment. Therefore, unlike the conventional method in which the power supply device supplies a constant (maximum) power regardless of the power load of the power receiving device, it is possible to realize efficient power supply corresponding to the power load on the power receiving side.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, this embodiment is shown as an example, and can be implemented in various other embodiments, and components are omitted as long as the gist of the invention is not deviated. , Can be replaced or changed.
For example, in the third and fourth embodiments, the power converted by the power receiving device 310 is supplied to the wireless communication device 360 that performs wireless communication. However, the target of power supply may be a communication device, and may be, for example, a wire communication device instead of a wireless communication device.

1A Optical fiber power supply system (optical power supply system)
1 Optical fiber power supply system (optical power supply system)
1B optical fiber power supply system (optical power supply system)
1C optical fiber power supply system (optical power supply system)
1D optical fiber power supply system (optical power supply system)
100 First data communication device 100C First data communication device 110 Power supply device 111 Power supply semiconductor laser 112 Power supply light 120 Transmission unit 125 Signal light 130 Reception unit 140 Optical input / output unit 141 Optical connector 150 Power supply control unit 200A Optical fiber cable 200 Optical fiber cable 200B Optical fiber cable 210 Core 220 Clad 250A Optical fiber 250 Optical fiber 260 Optical fiber 270 Optical fiber 300 Second data communication device 300C Second data communication device 310 Power receiving device 311 Photoelectric conversion element 320 Transmitter 325 Signal light 330 Receiver 350 Optical input Output unit 351 Optical connector 360 Wireless communication device 370 Communication monitoring unit (information acquisition unit)

Claims (7)

An optical power supply system including a power supply device that outputs power supply light and a power reception device that converts the power supply light from the power supply device into electric power, and the power converted by the power reception device is supplied to a communication device.
An information acquisition unit that acquires communication operation information regarding the operation status of communication by the communication device, and
A power supply control unit that controls the output of the power supply light from the power supply device based on the communication operation information acquired by the information acquisition unit.
Optical power supply system equipped with. The communication device is a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication.
The communication operation information includes actually measured communication load information which is information on the communication load by actual measurement, latent communication load information which is information on the maximum potential communication load, and predicted communication load information which is information on the communication load by prediction. Including at least one of
The optical power supply system according to claim 1. The measured communication load information includes the number of MIMO streams and the bandwidth used for the wireless communication.
The optical power supply system according to claim 2. The latent communication load information includes the number of accommodated active users of the wireless communication.
The optical power supply system according to claim 2 or 3. The predicted communication load information includes information in which date and time information is associated with information on the communication load predicted at that time.
The optical power supply system according to any one of claims 2 to 4. A first data communication device including the power feeding device and a second data communication device that optically communicates with the first data communication device and includes the power receiving device are provided.
The communication device is provided in the second data communication device, and transmits / receives data communicated with the first data communication device to another communication device.
The information acquisition unit is provided in the second data communication device, and transmits the acquired communication operation information to the first data communication device.
The power supply control unit is provided in the first data communication device.
The optical power supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The information acquisition unit transmits the acquired communication operation information to the first data communication device by optical communication between the first data communication device and the second data communication device.
The optical power supply system according to claim 6.

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