JP3280690B2 - Automatic meter reading system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic meter reading system for gas meters, water meters and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic meter reading system for reading a large number of gas meters, water meters and the like provided in an apartment house from a remote (metering) center via a centralized meter reading board and a telephone line is a so-called 8-bit type of electronic message output. Meter-based systems are becoming mainstream.

[0003] This 8-bit meter has its own unique ID number set in the meter, and communication is not possible unless the ID numbers match.

This type of automatic meter reading system is roughly classified into a bus connection type shown in FIG. 3 and a star connection type shown in FIG. In both figures, 1A and 1B are centralized meter reading boards, which are connected to a center (not shown) via a terminal network control unit (T-NCU) 2 and a telephone line 3.

A bus line 4 connects the centralized meter reading board 1A and the plurality of repeaters 5, 6,..., N. A plurality of (for example, 16) meters M are connected to each of the repeaters.

In the star connection system shown in FIG. 4, a large number of meters M are directly connected to the centralized meter reading board 1B in a star connection. The 8-bit meter takes advantage of the characteristic that the meter itself has a predetermined unique ID number (stored), and after the meter is installed and the connection work is completed, the meter ID number is changed. A method of reading the data and creating a comparison table of terminal numbers and ID numbers on a centralized meter reading board is performed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the reference tables 1a and 1b. In order to create these comparison tables, a start message without a meter ID number is sequentially sent to each meter, and a meter-specific ID number attached to the response message is read.

In the communication procedure at the time of automatic meter reading, in the bus connection system shown in FIG. 3, when a data request message comes from the center to the centralized meter reading board 1A, as shown in FIG. After reading, the ID is obtained from the comparison table 1a.
It finds out which meter of the number is connected to which terminal of which repeater, and transmits the information to each repeater 5, 6,..., N.

The relays 5, 6,. If it is a self, it sends a request message to the meter of the designated terminal. The response message from the meter is sent to the center through the centralized meter reading board of the repeater.

On the other hand, in the star connection system shown in FIG. 4, the communication procedure is as shown in FIG. When a data request message comes from the center, the message is read by the centralized meter reading board 1B, and the request message is sent to the meter of the ID number by the reference table 1b. The response message from the meter is sent through the centralized meter reading board 1B to the center.

[0011]

In the above prior art,
Control table 1 immediately after installing and connecting the meter
To create a and 1b, in the case of the communication format of the 8-bit system, the meter 1 is used to transmit the activation message and to receive the response data.
It takes 2 to 3 seconds for each unit, and about 2 seconds at minimum.

[0012] Therefore, if the number of meters is 160, there is a problem that at least 320 seconds are required to create the reference table. This required time becomes longer as the number of meters increases.

In an automatic meter reading requesting data from a meter, in a bus connection type system, selection is made based on a meter ID number added to a message from a center and a reference table 1a of a centralized meter reading board 1A. It is necessary to select the power meter and then give the repeater a command to read which meter.
There is a problem that extra communication time is required for the data request message sent from the centralized meter reading board 1A to the repeaters 5, 6, ..., n.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic meter reading system that can solve these problems.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic meter reading system according to the present invention has a unique ID.
A plurality of repeaters connected plurality of the meter with a number to connect to a centralized meter-reading machine in the bus line, said population of meter reading Release
Is connected to the center via a telephone line, and each repeater is provided with a reference table for the terminal number to which the meter is connected and the ID number of the meter, and the repeater is provided with a function of judging the contents of a message from the center. Collected during automatic meter reading
The middle meter reads the data request message from the center via the bus line.
Through to each repeater, and the repeaters
Reads the data request message and adds it to the data request message.
ID number of the meter and the reference
The target meter is connected to its own terminal.
Judge whether or not, if there is no connection, do nothing,
If connected, a request message is sent to the meter .

[0016]

In order to create a comparison table of terminal numbers and meter ID numbers, each repeater reads the ID numbers from the meter all at once according to a command from the centralized meter reading board, and a comparison table is prepared for each repeater. make.

Since the repeater has a reference table,
At the time of automatic meter reading, if a command to read data from a certain meter is received from the center, the message is not required to be buffered once by the centralized meter reading board, and is passed through to the repeater.

The repeater reads the message sent from the center as it is, and reads the meter I added to the message.
Select a meter from the D number. At this time, the corresponding ID
If there is no meter with the number, it is determined that the meter connected to another repeater is the target, and nothing is performed.

If there is a corresponding meter, an appropriate message is sent to the meter, and a response message from the meter is passed through to the telephone line (communication line) via the bus line and the centralized meter reading board.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a centralized meter reading board, which is connected to a not-shown (meter reading) center via a terminal network controller (T-NCU) 2 and a telephone line 3.

T ₁ , T ₂ ,..., T _n are repeaters, which are connected to the centralized meter reading board 1 by a bus line 4. Each of the repeaters T ₁ , T ₂ ,..., T _n is connected to sixteen 8-bit meters. The repeater T ₁ 16
Number of the meter _{M 1 1, M 1 2,} ..., M 1 16 is, repeater 16 meter M ₂ 1 in _{T 2, M 2 2, ...} M 2 16 is also the repeater T _n 16 meter _{M n 1, M n 2,} ..., M n 16 is connected. _{T 1 a, T 2 a,} T n a respective repeater T _1,
This is a comparison table provided for T ₂ ,..., T _n , which stores the terminal number for connecting the meter of each repeater and the ID number of the meter connected to the terminal.

Each of the repeaters T ₁ , T ₂ ,..., T _n has a function of judging the contents of a message from the center. Next, FIG.
And instructions for creating a control table _{T 1 a, T 2 a,} T n a in the embodiment of the communication procedure during the automatic meter reading will be described.

In _order to create a comparison table T ₁ a, T ₂ a, T na between the terminal number and the meter ID number, the repeaters T ₁ , T _{2 ,.} Execute the reading of the ID number from the meter all at once. Each repeater only needs to read the ID numbers of the 16 connected meters and create a table for 16 meters. Further, since all repeaters perform this operation at the same time, the work of creating the reference table is short. Ends with

Creating a reference table of 16 meters with one repeater requires only 2 seconds × 16 = 32 seconds. Even if the number of repeaters is large, the same time is required. Even if the number becomes 160 in total and the number of repeaters becomes 10, it will end in 32 seconds.

FIG. 2 shows a communication procedure at the time of automatic meter reading. The centralized meter reading board 1 sends a data request message from the center to the bus line 4
Through each repeater T _1, T _2, ..., to pass through to T _n. Each of the transponders T ₁ , T ₂ ,..., T _n reads this data request message, and stores its own comparison table T ₁ a, T _1
2 a, T _n a more meter ID number is meter N ₁ to determine whether it is connected to the own terminal, nothing if not connected, the request message for the meter if it is connected Send.

The response message from the meter is sent to the center through the repeater and the centralized meter reading board. With such a communication procedure, the communication time is shorter than that of the conventional bus connection method, and is improved to the same time as the star connection method.

[0027]

Since the automatic meter reading system of the present invention is configured as described above, the time for creating the reference table is short even if a large number of meters are connected. In addition, the communication time at the time of automatic meter reading can be shorter than that of the conventional bus connection method, which can be improved to the same level as the conventional star connection method, and also helps to reduce communication costs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a communication procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 5 is a communication procedure of the related art in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a communication procedure according to the prior art of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 centralized meter reading Release 4 bus lines _{M 1 1, M 1 16,} M 2 1, ... M 2 16, M n 1, M n 16 meter T _1, T _2, T _n repeater T ₁ a, T ₂ a, T _n a control table

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04Q 9/00-9/16 G08C 15/00 H04M 11/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of repeaters each connected to a plurality of meters each having a unique ID number are connected to a centralized meter reading board via a bus line, and the centralized meter reading board is connected via a telephone line.
In a system connected to the center, provided with a control table of the terminal number and the meter ID number that connects the meter to each repeater, a function of determining the message content from the center to the repeater, concentrated meter reading at the time of automatic meter reading Board from center
Data request message to each repeater through the bus line.
And the transponder reads the data request message from the center.
ID number of the meter added to the data request message
From the reference table of the
Data is connected to your own terminal,
Do nothing if not connected, if connected
An automatic meter reading system, which sends a request message to a meter.