JP5224833B2 - Reporting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for monitoring communication quality of a communication network, and more particularly to a technique for monitoring communication quality of a communication network for reporting the status of an elevator or building facility to a monitoring center.

  A reporting device connected to equipment that detects abnormalities in elevators and building equipment (air conditioning, lighting, unauthorized intrusion, etc.) can send various abnormal information data, video data and audio data in elevator cars, telephone lines, wireless networks, IP (Remote Protocol) In a remote monitoring system that notifies a monitoring center via a communication path such as a network, for example, when an unauthorized intrusion occurs, notification to the monitoring center is delayed due to a problem with the communication path, or cannot be notified in the worst case. There can be cases. This situation is fatal because it does not fulfill its main purpose despite the introduction of a remote monitoring system.

A remote monitoring system for elevators and building facilities generally has a configuration as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an elevator control device that controls an elevator.
Reference numeral 2 denotes an equipment abnormality monitoring device that monitors abnormalities such as air conditioning, lighting, and unauthorized intrusion.
3 is a reporting device for notifying the monitoring center of an abnormality notified from the elevator control device 1 and the facility abnormality monitoring device 2.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a communication path such as a telephone line, a wireless network, or an IP network.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a receiving device that receives abnormal data notified from the reporting device 3 via the communication path 4, and reference numeral 6 denotes a device that displays and manages the received abnormality.
The reporting device 3 periodically reports the status of elevators and building facilities to the monitoring center, and as shown in FIG. 2, information about the degree of success or failure of the reporting is left in the log.
When a telephone line is used as a communication path, the main failure factors are deterioration of the S / N ratio and line level, contact of the telephone cable, and deterioration.
However, as described above, the use of wireless networks and IP networks as communication paths is increasing, and as a result, there are the following problems.

(1) There are many causes for failure in reporting, and it is difficult to identify the cause of failure and the countermeasures.

(2) Although the state of the communication path may be deteriorated due to changes in the surrounding conditions at the time of installation, it can be known only by an increase in the failure occurrence rate. Originally, a sign of communication channel deterioration should be detected and countermeasures should be taken early.
For example, when using a wireless network as a communication path, the situation of surrounding buildings deteriorates (the radio wave level deteriorates) and the number of base stations that can be captured. Change (decrease in connection rate), increase in the number of wireless network users in the surroundings (interruption during communication due to increase in the number of speed switching, or deterioration in connection rate).
Further, when an IP network is used as a communication path, for example, there is a change in the amount of packets using the same line (packet loss, packet fluctuation amount, packet delay increases).
Further, when a telephone line is used as a communication path, for example, deterioration of a telephone cable (deterioration of connection rate) can be mentioned.

(3) Even if there is a failure in reporting, the meaning of accidental failure and failure other than that differs greatly, but the difference is not understood. Originally, it should be clarified and taken measures.

(4) Even if there are few or no notification failures, improvement may be possible, but I do not know.
For example, when using a wireless network, if the radio wave level is the lowest level that can be communicated, the report will normally succeed, but the report will fail due to some external influence such as weather conditions and surrounding wireless user conditions. There is a high possibility of doing. This may be improved simply by changing the location of the radio antenna, but if the radio wave level is not measured, the need for improvement cannot be recognized.
Originally, such a defect should be clarified and countermeasures should be taken to keep the communication path in the best condition.

And maintaining the communication quality of the communication path optimally is also important from the following points.
When a confinement accident occurs in which a passenger is confined in an elevator car, a call using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) may be performed between the intercom in the elevator car and the monitoring center. In this case, it is necessary not only to be able to simply report an abnormality, but also to maintain the quality of the communication path. For example, if the number of packet loss and packet delay are large, a VoIP call that requires real-time transmission may be interrupted, and the situation in the elevator may not be accurately transmitted to the monitoring center.

  As described above, the communication path used for communication with the monitoring center needs to be kept in high quality, but if the problems (1) to (4) described above can be solved, an abnormality notification to the monitoring center is made due to the influence of the communication path. It is possible to greatly reduce the incidence of problems such as delays or inability to notify.

In order to deal with such a problem, in Patent Document 1, a monitoring device that can detect the presence or absence of abnormality of facilities and elevators and report the detection information, and a remote center device via the wireless communication network for the detection information. In the remote monitoring device having a wireless device that reports to 6, the monitoring device confirms the radio wave reception level of the radio device at predetermined time intervals, and when the radio wave reception level is lower than the predetermined reference level, the radio device 4 To the center device 6 via
And by such a structure, it is supposed that the transmission abnormality between the monitoring apparatus and center apparatus by radio wave defect can be detected at an early stage in a center apparatus.
JP 2005-346163 A

The technique described in Patent Document 1 is limited to the case where a wireless network is used as a communication path, and the monitoring target is limited only to the radio wave level.
As described above, in recent years, the use of various types of communication networks such as a telephone line, a wireless network, and an IP network is increasing as a communication path. As communication networks diversify in this way, there are various causes of communication failure (handover, channel switching, radio wave level, packet loss, packet fluctuation, etc.). It is necessary to take appropriate measures.
In addition, as noted above, there are a variety of factors that affect wireless communication quality in addition to the radio wave level, even when paying attention to the wireless network, and comprehensively monitor the communication quality including influencing factors other than the radio wave level. There is a need to.

  One of the main objects of the present invention is to solve such a problem, covering a plurality of types of communication networks, and a technique for evaluating the communication quality of a communication network using a plurality of measurement items. The main purpose is to realize.

The reporting device according to the present invention is:
A reporting device that transmits reporting data reporting whether there is an abnormality in at least one of the building facilities and the elevator to a remote center device via a communication path,
A communication quality measuring unit that measures the communication quality of the communication path over a plurality of measurement items at a predetermined time interval;
When analyzing the measurement results for each measurement item measured by the communication quality measuring unit and determining that the communication quality of the communication path is not normal, the communication quality of the communication path is not normal. And a communication quality determination unit that transmits a warning message for warning to the center device.

  According to the present invention, the communication quality of the communication network is measured over a plurality of measurement items, the measurement result for each measurement item is analyzed, and when it is determined that the communication quality of the communication network is not in a normal state, Since a warning message for warning that the communication quality is not normal is transmitted to the center device, the communication quality of the communication network connected to the center device can be maintained at a high quality.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
In order to maintain the communication quality of the communication channel connected to the monitoring center at a high quality, the notification device according to the present embodiment is in accordance with the type of communication channel (telephone line, wireless network, IP network, etc.) When the communication quality of the communication path is measured over multiple measurement items at a predetermined time interval, the measurement results for each measurement item are analyzed, and the communication quality of the communication path is determined to be not normal, A warning message is sent to the monitoring center to warn that the communication quality is not normal.

  In other words, the notification device according to the present embodiment sequentially communicates by confirming the radio wave level and nearby communicable base stations, and periodically performing communication path confirmation notification between the notification device and the monitoring center. The detailed situation of the road is grasped, and when there is an abnormality in the communication path (or when there is a sign of an abnormality), the abnormality content is notified to the monitoring center or left in the log of the reporting device. If the condition of the communication channel is bad, it is possible to shorten the interval of communication channel confirmation notification.

  When using a wireless network as a communication path, the notification device according to the present embodiment, for example, the radio wave level, the number of captured base stations, handover occurrence frequency, channel switching occurrence frequency, data communication speed change occurrence frequency, for example (For example, in the case of a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) (registered trademark) PIAFS system, when another person makes a call at a base station that is communicating data, the data communication speed depends on the resource status of the base station. In other words, if there are many people who use PHS in the vicinity, the frequency of occurrence of changes in the data communication speed will increase), the communication quality of the wireless network over multiple measurement items such as the data communication speed and the frequency of occurrence of packet loss. Measure in detail and grasp the state of communication quality of the wireless network.

  When using an IP network as a communication path, for example, the communication quality of the IP network is measured in detail over a plurality of measurement items such as data communication speed, packet loss occurrence frequency, packet fluctuation amount, and packet delay. Understand the status of communication quality.

  Also, when a telephone line is used as a communication path, for example, the telephone network covers a plurality of measurement items such as S / N (Signal to Noise) ratio and modem retrain occurrence frequency (occurred by instantaneous interruption or noise during data communication). Measure the communication quality in detail and grasp the state of the communication quality of the telephone network.

In addition, the notification device according to the present embodiment recognizes the tendency of communication path conditions to deteriorate, such as a decrease in radio wave level and an increase in packet loss, and predicts the possibility of not being able to report in the future, and notifies the monitoring center of it. .
Furthermore, measures to improve the cause of communication failure are derived from the abnormal content notified to the monitoring center and the log of the reporting device.
In addition, if the communication path abnormality is improved after implementing the countermeasure, the improvement center may be notified of the improvement, and if not improved, the improvement may be notified.
As described above, early and appropriate measures can be taken and the communication path can be kept in the best state. Therefore, it is possible to significantly reduce the rate of occurrence of problems in which the abnormality notification to the monitoring center is delayed or cannot be notified due to the influence of the communication path.

Next, details of the reporting device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
A configuration example of the entire system including the notification device 3 according to the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.
Hereinafter, the centralized monitoring device 6 disposed in the monitoring center is also referred to as a center device.

FIG. 14 shows a configuration example of the reporting device 3 according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 14, a network interface 31 is a physical interface with any one of a telephone line, a wireless network, and an IP network that are communication paths.
The communication unit 32 communicates with the reception device 5, the elevator control device 1, and the equipment abnormality monitoring device 2 in the monitoring center while managing the network interface 31 and the device interface 37, managing the transmission control procedure, managing the network connection procedure, and the like. I do.
The control unit 33 controls the entire reporting device 3.
The communication quality measuring unit 34 measures the communication quality of the communication path over a plurality of measurement items at predetermined time intervals.

The communication quality determination unit 35 analyzes the measurement result for each measurement item measured by the communication quality measurement unit 34, and determines that the communication quality of the communication channel is normal when it is determined that the communication quality of the communication channel is not normal. A warning message is sent to the center apparatus via the communication unit 32 to warn that it is not in the state.
Specifically, the communication quality determination unit 35 analyzes the time transition of the measurement result for each measurement item, and if the measurement result for any measurement item continues below a predetermined threshold for a certain period of time, the communication quality determination unit 35 performs communication. It may be determined that the communication quality of the road is not normal.
In addition, the communication quality determination unit 35 analyzes the time transition of the measurement result for each measurement item, and the communication quality of the communication path is normal when the measurement result for any measurement item continuously deteriorates for a certain period. You may make it judge that it is not the state of this.
Further, after transmitting a warning message to the center device, the communication quality determination unit 35 analyzes the measurement result for each measurement item measured by the communication quality measurement unit 34, and as a result, the communication quality of the communication path is restored to a normal state. If it is determined that the communication quality of the communication path has been recovered, a recovery message is sent to the center device via the communication unit 32.

The regular-time report generation unit 36 generates report data for reporting the presence or absence of an abnormality in the elevator or the presence or absence of an abnormality in the building equipment at regular intervals, and transmits the report data to the center device via the communication unit 32.
The device interface 37 is a physical interface with the elevator control device 1 and the equipment abnormality monitoring device 2.

The notification device 3 can be realized by a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk device, and a storage interface, a communication interface, and the like.
In this case, the communication unit 32, the control unit 33, the communication quality measurement unit 34, the communication quality determination unit 35, and the scheduled notification generation unit 36 of the notification device 3 illustrated in FIG. 14 can be realized by a program, for example. These programs are stored in a storage device such as a magnetic disk device, and read and executed by the CPU.
The RAM temporarily stores at least part of a program to be executed by the CPU.
The RAM stores various data necessary for processing by the CPU.
For example, in the description of the present embodiment, in the RAM, “determination of”, “determination of”, “calculation of”, “comparison of”, “setting of”, “measurement of”, Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters indicating the results of the processes described as “measurement of”, “registration of”, “selection of”, and the like are stored.
In the description of the present embodiment, the communication unit 32, the control unit 33, the communication quality measurement unit 34, the communication quality determination unit 35, and the scheduled notification generation unit 36 of the notification device 3 may be circuits. Moreover, you may implement | achieve with the firmware memorize | stored in ROM. Alternatively, it may be implemented only by software, or only by hardware such as elements, devices, substrates, and wirings, by a combination of software and hardware, or by a combination of firmware.
In addition, the communication unit 32, the control unit 33, the communication quality measurement unit 34, the communication quality determination unit 35, and the scheduled report generation unit 36 of the notification device 3 are expressed as “˜step”, “˜procedure”, and “˜processing”. It is also possible.

  An example of the operation of the reporting device 3 when a wireless network is used as a communication path will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When a predetermined interval for measuring the radio wave level has elapsed (YES in S101), the communication quality measuring unit 34 measures the radio wave level of the wireless network in S102, and the result is a radio wave log in S103 (FIG. 4). To fill in.
In S104, the communication quality measuring unit 34 measures the number of surrounding base stations that can communicate (the number of captured base stations), and writes the result in the radio wave log (FIG. 4) in S105.
Next, in S106, the communication quality determination unit 35 evaluates the radio wave level and the number of captured base stations shown in the radio wave log (FIG. 4), and determines whether the radio wave level or the number of captured base stations is abnormal. to decide.
Specifically, the communication quality judgment unit 35 compares the measurement result of each item measured by the communication quality measurement unit 34 with the preset abnormal threshold value (the radio wave level and the threshold number of captured base stations) illustrated in FIG. As a result of comparison, if the radio wave level or the number of captured base stations is abnormal, or if the abnormality continues for a certain period of time, or if it is not abnormal, it continues to deteriorate for a certain number of times (cannot be reported in the future) In step S107, a warning message (clearly describing the abnormality content) is issued to the monitoring center through the communication unit 32 in S107.
At this time, if it has already been issued, it will not be issued.

On the other hand, if the radio wave level and the number of captured base stations are normal in the determination in S106, the process proceeds to S108.
If the predetermined communication channel confirmation issue time is reached (YES in S108), in S109, the communication unit 32 issues a predetermined number of communication channel confirmation packets to the wireless network based on an instruction from the communication quality measurement unit 34.
It should be noted that S108 and S109 may also be used for other purposes such as scheduled notification.
At this time, in S110, the communication quality measuring unit 34 writes the state of the communication path obtained by issuing the communication path confirmation packet in the notification log (FIG. 5).
Next, in S111, the communication quality determination unit 35 analyzes the measurement result of each measurement item shown in the notification log (FIG. 5), and determines whether or not the communication quality of the wireless network is abnormal. .
Specifically, the communication quality determination unit 35 sets the measurement result of each item measured by the communication quality measurement unit 34 to the preset abnormal threshold value illustrated in FIG. 6 (the threshold value of items other than the radio wave level and the number of captured base stations). ), If the measurement result of any measurement item is abnormal, or if the abnormality continues for a certain period of time or if it is not abnormal, In step S112, a warning message (which clearly indicates the content of the abnormality) is issued to the monitoring center through the communication unit 32.

  Next, an operation example of the notification device 3 when a telephone line or an IP network is used as a communication path will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

If it is the communication channel confirmation issue time (YES in S201), in S202, the communication unit 32 issues a predetermined number of communication channel confirmation packets to the telephone line or the IP network based on an instruction from the communication quality measuring unit 34.
S201 and S202 may also be used for other purposes such as scheduled notification.
At this time, in S203, the communication quality measuring unit 34 indicates the state of the communication path obtained by issuing the communication path confirmation packet (see FIG. 8 for a telephone line and FIG. 9 for an IP network). To fill in.
Next, in S204, the communication quality determination unit 35 analyzes the measurement result of each measurement item shown in the alert log (FIG. 8 or FIG. 9), and determines whether or not the communication quality of the communication network is abnormal. Judging.
Specifically, the communication quality judgment unit 35 compares the measurement result of each item measured by the communication quality measurement unit 34 with the abnormal threshold in the telephone line of FIG. 10 or the abnormal threshold in the IP network of FIG. As a result of comparison, if the measurement result of one of the measurement items is abnormal, or if the abnormality continues for a certain period of time, or if it is not abnormal, it continues to deteriorate for a certain number of times (cannot be reported in the future) Therefore, in S205, a warning message warning the abnormality of the communication path (clarifies the abnormality content) is sent to the monitoring center through the communication unit 32.

  Furthermore, when the communication path is determined to be abnormal in S106, S111 in FIG. 3 or S204 in FIG. 7, countermeasures are taken for the failure, and the communication quality of the communication network is restored to normal when the failure is recovered. It is possible to issue a recovery message to the effect to the monitoring center. The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

If it is the communication channel confirmation issue time (YES in S301), the communication unit 32 issues a predetermined number of communication channel confirmation packets to the wireless network based on an instruction from the communication quality measuring unit 34 in S302.
S301 and S302 may also be used for other purposes such as scheduled notification.
At this time, in step S303, the communication quality measuring unit 34 displays the communication path state obtained by issuing the communication path confirmation packet as a notification log (FIGS. 4 and 5 for a wireless network, and for a telephone line). In FIG. 8, for the IP network, fill in FIG. 9).
Next, in S304, the communication quality determination unit 35 determines whether the communication path has been restored (communication quality has been restored normally).
Specifically, the communication quality determination unit 35 displays the measurement result of each item measured by the communication quality measurement unit 34 as a preset abnormality threshold (the threshold shown in FIG. 6 for a wireless network and the figure for a telephone line). 10 and the threshold shown in FIG. 11 if it is an IP network). If the comparison result shows that the measurement results of all measurement items are normal values, or if the normal values continue for a certain period of time, the process proceeds to S305. Then, a recovery message (recovery details are clearly indicated) for notifying the recovery of the communication path is issued to the monitoring center through the communication unit 32.

As described above, the state of the communication path is recorded in detail in the log, and when there is an abnormality, the abnormality can be detected at an early stage by reporting the content to the monitoring center.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the information indicating the correspondence between the abnormality content and the countermeasure for each communication path is held in the log or the monitoring center, so that the notification device 3 or the monitoring center Can take appropriate measures to improve the communication quality of the communication network.
Furthermore, if the communication path abnormality is improved after implementing the measures. It is possible to notify the monitoring center of the improvement.

  As described above, according to the notification device according to the present embodiment, it is possible to always keep the communication path in the best state, and the problem of delay or failure to notify the monitoring center due to the influence of the communication path is generated. The rate can be greatly reduced.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a remote monitoring system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows the example of the notification log in the past. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a notification device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a radio wave log according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a report log (wireless network) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an abnormal threshold (wireless network) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a notification device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a notification log (telephone line) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a notification log (IP network) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an example of an abnormal threshold value (telephone line) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an abnormal threshold (IP network) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a notification device according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the corresponding information of the abnormality content and countermeasure which concern on Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of a notification device according to the first embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Elevator control apparatus, 2 Facility abnormality monitoring apparatus, 3 Notification apparatus, 4 Communication path, 5 Receiving apparatus, 6 Centralized monitoring apparatus, 31 Network interface, 32 Communication part, 33 Control part, 34 Communication quality measurement part, 35 Communication quality judgment Part, 36 scheduled alarm generation part, 37 device interface.

Claims (4)

A reporting device that transmits reporting data reporting whether there is an abnormality in at least one of the building facilities and the elevator to a remote center device via a communication path,
By transmitting the notification data to the communication path, a communication quality measuring unit that measures the communication quality of the communication path over a plurality of measurement items;
When analyzing the measurement results for each measurement item measured by the communication quality measuring unit and determining that the communication quality of the communication path is not normal, the communication quality of the communication path is not normal. A notification device, comprising: a communication quality determination unit that transmits a warning message for warning to the center device. The communication quality judgment unit
Analyzing the time transition of the measurement results for each measurement item, and the communication quality of the communication path is not in a normal state when the measurement result for any measurement item continues for a certain period and falls below a predetermined threshold The notification device according to claim 1, wherein a determination is made. The communication quality judgment unit
Analyze the time transition of the measurement results for each measurement item, and determine that the communication quality of the communication path is not normal when the measurement results for any measurement item continue to deteriorate for a certain period of time The notification device according to claim 1, wherein: The communication quality judgment unit
After sending a warning message to the center device, as a result of analyzing the measurement results for each measurement item measured by the communication quality measurement unit, when it is determined that the communication quality of the communication path has been restored to a normal state, The notification device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a recovery message notifying that the communication quality of the communication path has been restored to a normal state is transmitted to the center device.

Images