JP5245996B2 - Meter reading system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a meter meter reading system that wirelessly transmits meter meter data such as gas, water and electricity.

  In recent years, a wireless meter-reading system has been introduced and popularized in gas meters that measure the amount of gas used.

  In this system, a device has also been devised that relays information as wireless data to a parent device by relaying a plurality of child devices. This device is composed of a master unit and a plurality of slave units. The former is connected to the center, the latter is connected to a meter, and data transmission / reception is performed by relaying the master unit and the plurality of slave units. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In addition, a means for measuring the signal strength of wireless data as the electric field strength has been devised, and the measurement data is sent to the center (for example, see Patent Document 2).

JP 2001-283367 A JP 2002-152853 A

  However, once the route between the master unit, slave unit, and relay device is set up at the time of installation, even if the radio wave environment changes and the conditions change to allow communication with a smaller number of relays, once until communication becomes impossible There was a problem of not changing the determined route.

  In addition, due to the deterioration of the radio wave environment, there was a problem that what was able to communicate at the beginning of installation cannot be communicated.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention compares the field strength of communication data received during wireless communication with the stored field strength, and if there is a change beyond a certain range, the data relay route by the device is automatically set. It has been changed to.

  The present invention provides means for monitoring the electric field strength during communication so that it can be changed to the minimum necessary relay path even when the radio wave environment changes.

  Moreover, even if it becomes difficult to relay due to changes in the radio wave environment, the system can be maintained by using another repeater.

System diagram of meter meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention Wireless data transfer flowchart in the embodiment of the present invention Configuration diagram of repeater in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Configuration diagram of wireless data in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Processing flow diagram of repeater in embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows the measurement result of the electric field strength in Embodiment 1 of this invention System diagram of meter meter reading system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention

Meter reading system of the first invention is composed of a radio cell station and relay and the slave unit with a built-in radio unit for transmitting and receiving meter information as a radio signal, the repeater includes means for relaying the radio signal, a first measuring means for measuring the field strength of the radio signal, the first measuring means measures
The first comprises storage means, if the electric field strength at the time of transmitting and receiving radio signals the first storage unit is changed beyond a certain range of field strength storage for storing the field strength, a warning to the base unit It is a thing to give out.

  Thereby, when there is a change in the radio wave environment, it can be recognized as a change in the installation environment information through the parent device, and the manager can be encouraged to respond.

The meter metering system of the second invention is the meter metering system of the first invention, wherein the electric field strength when transmitting / receiving a radio signal changes beyond a certain range from the electric field strength memorized by the first memory means. The route is changed to a route that relays another repeater .

  Thereby, when the electric field strength becomes higher than a certain level, the meter reading can be executed in a shorter time by reducing the number of relays and performing communication through the minimum necessary relay route.

  Further, when the electric field strength becomes weaker than a certain level, it can be determined that the quality of wireless communication has deteriorated due to the environmental change, and can be quickly changed to another route.

  The meter metering system of the third invention is such that, when the relay route is changed in the meter metering system of the second invention, the change status is displayed on the management system connected to the master unit. .

  Thereby, the administrator can grasp the change of the data relay route.

The meter metering system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the meter metering system according to the third aspect of the present invention , wherein the slave unit is measured by a second measuring unit that measures the electric field strength of the radio signal, and the second measuring unit. a second storage means for storing the electric field intensity, if the electric field strength at the time of send and receive radio signals are turned into variable exceeds a certain range of electric field strength and the second storage means is stored, other repeaters Is changed to a relay route .

  Thereby, it is possible to measure the electric field intensity during communication from the repeater to the slave unit, check the radio wave environment more closely, and cope with the change.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a basic system diagram constituting a meter meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention, taking a gas meter as an example.

A gas meter 1 has means for detecting the gas flow rate and outputting it as electronic data. Reference numeral 2 denotes a wireless slave unit that is electrically connected to the gas meter 1 and can replace the gas flow rate output as electronic data with wireless data and radiate it as radio waves into the space. The repeater 3 has means for receiving wireless data from the wireless slave unit 2 and transmitting the same data again. The wireless data from the repeater 3 is received by the wireless base unit 4 and sent to the management center through a handy terminal or public telephone line connected by wire and used for operation.

  FIG. 2 shows the flow of data exchange in the wireless section. First, a request for data is made from the wireless master device 4 to the repeater 3. The repeater 3 returns a confirmation signal indicating that the request signal has been received to the wireless master device 4 and makes a data request to the wireless slave device 2. The wireless handset 2 that has received the data request signal transmits data to the repeater 3. The repeater 3 returns a confirmation signal indicating that this data has been received to the wireless slave device 2 and transmits the data to the wireless master device 4. Finally, a data reception signal is transmitted from the wireless master device 4 to the repeater 3 to complete a series of communications.

  Not only the flow of data transfer from the wireless master device to the wireless slave device as described above, but also the opposite flow from the wireless slave device to the wireless master device can be executed in exactly the same way.

  According to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the repeater 3 is equipped with wireless data transfer means as wireless data relay means 5. The data from the wireless slave unit 2 received by the relay unit 5 can measure the strength of the radio wave by the electric field strength measuring unit 6, and the result is added to the transmission data to the wireless base unit 4. be able to.

  The measured radio field strength is stored in the electric field strength storage means 7 as strength data corresponding to each of the wireless slave units 2.

  The transmission data from the repeater 3 to the wireless master device 4 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 4, except for the header 8 indicating the information of the data itself, the ID number 9 that is the identification code of the wireless device, and the gas flow rate data 10. In addition, the strength of the signal of the wireless data from the wireless slave unit 2 is constituted by an electric field strength 11 representing as numerical data.

  Then, the repeater 3 performs the process shown in FIG. First, when the repeater 3 is installed, the wireless data relay unit 5 of the repeater 3 receives data from the wireless slave unit 2 (step S501). The electric field strength measuring means 6 measures the electric field strength (step S502) and stores the measured value in the electric field strength storage means 7 (step S503). Thereafter (normal communication after installation), the same data from the wireless slave unit 2 is received again (step S504), and the electric field strength measuring means 6 measures the electric field strength (step S505). Then, the electric field strength measuring means 6 compares the value stored in step S503 with the electric field strength measured in step S505, and if it is determined that there is a change exceeding a certain range, the wireless data relay means 5 The machine 4 is contacted (step S507).

  The fixed range may be determined arbitrarily, but the influence on the radio wave is not only due to changes in the installation environment, but may be due to momentary factors. However, if the change is made NG, the judgment may be wrong. Considering such factors, if a certain range is set to “± 2 dB”, for example, if the measurement result of the electric field strength is as shown in FIG. 6, the hatched portion is “−3 dB” or “−4 dB” from the time of installation. Therefore, the determination is NG.

  Thereby, when the change of the radio wave environment is in a certain range or more, it can be recognized as the change of the installation environment information through the master unit, and the manager can be encouraged to respond.

  The determination in FIG. 6 is an example in which the determination is performed when the change continues three times or more, but the determination may be performed once or may be performed by a larger number of times.

  Although the example of determining the unit of change level as “dB” as a numerical value is shown as an example, it may be determined by changing the unit of several dB as one level.

  In addition, the wireless slave unit may be provided with the same means as the repeater so that the wireless slave unit can also perform relaying.

(Embodiment 2)
According to the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the same as the group of “A” of the repeater 3 and “AD” of the wireless slave unit managed by “A” of the wireless master unit 4 Further, assuming a situation where there are a plurality of groups in the actual installation environment, such as the group “B” of the repeater 3 and the groups “E to H” of the wireless slaves managed by “B” of the wireless master device 4, for example, When the electric field strength of the wireless data from “D” of the wireless slave unit 2 to “A” of the repeater 3 changes by a certain level or more, “A” of the wireless master unit 4 automatically becomes “B” of the repeater 3. The data request is made to “D” of the wireless slave unit 2 via “”.

  Thereby, when the electric field strength becomes weaker than a certain level, it can be determined that the quality of the wireless communication has deteriorated due to the environmental change, and can be promptly changed to another route.

  In addition, although the example of one relay has been described, the relay may be installed more than once, and if the electric field strength from the wireless slave unit becomes higher than a certain level in this installed state, the number of relays is reduced to the minimum necessary. The meter reading can be executed in a shorter time by automatically changing to perform communication through a limited relay route.

  When the repeater is battery driven, the number of relays is reduced, which contributes to extending the battery life.

(Embodiment 3)
According to the third embodiment of the present invention, in response to the change of the relay route executed in the second embodiment, the relay route change signal is sent to the management system connected from the wireless master unit, thereby managing Allows the system to display the change status.

  Thereby, the administrator can grasp the change of the data relay route by visual observation on the display unit of the management system.

  The change status may be a display simply indicating that the change has been made, or if the management system has map data, the relay route may be displayed in cooperation with this data.

(Embodiment 4)
According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the radio slave unit 2 is equipped with the constituent means of the repeater 3 constituting the third embodiment, whereby the radio data radio wave strength from the repeater 3 to the radio slave unit 2 is increased. Measurement and storage of the value, and determination when the strength of the radio wave changes beyond a certain range are possible. In this case, the repeater 3 is automatically changed.

  Thereby, it is possible to measure the electric field intensity during communication from the repeater to the slave unit, check the radio wave environment more closely, and cope with the change.

  The above is an example of a gas meter, but the same applies to other meters such as water and electricity.

  As described above, the meter metering system according to the present invention allows the system administrator to know the information when the electric field strength of the radio signal changes beyond a predetermined range from the stored strength or automatically. Or change the data relay route.

1 Meter 2 Wireless slave unit 3 Repeater 4 Wireless master unit 5 Wireless data relay unit 6 Electric field strength measuring unit 7 Electric field strength storage unit 8 Header 9 ID No.
10 Various data 11 Electric field strength

Claims (4)

Consists of a wireless master unit, a repeater, and a slave unit with built-in wireless means for transmitting and receiving meter information as a wireless signal ,
The repeater includes means for relaying the radio signals, a first measuring means for measuring the field strength of the radio signal, a first memory means for said first measuring means for storing the field strength measurement Prepared,
Meter reading system field strength that was the case the first storage means is changed beyond a certain range of field strength stored, characterized in that a warning to the base unit when transmitting and receiving radio signals. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the electric field intensity when transmitting / receiving a radio signal changes beyond a certain range from the electric field intensity stored in the first storage means , the path is changed to a path that relays another repeater. The meter reading system described. 3. The meter metering system according to claim 2, wherein when the relay route is changed, the change status is displayed on a management system connected to the master unit. The slave includes second measuring means for measuring the electric field strength of the wireless signal, and second storage means for storing the electric field strength measured by the second measuring means ,
If the electric field intensity at the time of send and receive radio signals are turned into variable exceeds a certain range of electric field strength and the second storage means is stored, claims and characterized in that to change the path to relay other repeaters Item 4. The meter reading system according to Item 3.

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