JP6265321B2 - Data transmission / reception module and data transmission / reception system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for suitably transmitting data held by a module to another module.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a monitoring system is provided in which a plurality of sensor modules and other information acquisition modules (camera devices, etc.) are installed at various locations, and the sensing results are collected and analyzed. For example, modules equipped with various sensors and cameras such as temperature, humidity, sunshine, and atmospheric pressure are installed near the entrance and back of the greenhouse, near the ground and near the ceiling, etc. For example, a suitable growth environment is analyzed and specified.

  In particular, in a wide-area monitoring system such as the above example, it may be difficult for all modules to communicate directly with a data server that collects sensing results at various locations and transmit the sensing results and the like. .

  Therefore, such a monitoring system has a configuration in which data is transmitted by a so-called “bucket relay method” in which sensing results are sequentially transmitted to nearby modules and the like.

  Here, communication between modules in the monitoring system is executed as follows. That is, each module is controlled so that the sleep state and the activation state are periodically repeated at a predetermined cycle for power saving, etc., and at the timing controlled to the activation state, the module A transmits a beacon including its own ID, Notifies other modules that it is in the active state, not in the sleep state.

  Then, another module B that has received the beacon transmits a request for establishing communication on a one-to-one basis to the module A using the ID included in the beacon until the data reception ends. Communication between modules A and B is established by preventing module A from entering a sleep state (execution of pairing) and determining and controlling a band and channel frequency for data transmission and reception. Then, data transmission is executed from module B to module A. Data transmission / reception between the module and the data server is performed in the same manner.

  In addition, many modules installed in various places are driven by a battery or the like in order to secure the degree of freedom in arrangement, and therefore higher power saving is required. Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a wireless communication network system that can reduce the number of communication by selectively establishing a suitable communication path, thereby reducing power consumption.

JP 2005-094530 A

  However, in the above-described conventional technique, there is a problem that wasteful power is consumed only when communication establishment processing is performed so that all data transmission / reception is performed one-to-one between modules.

  This is because, for example, when a large amount of data such as image data takes a long time to complete the transmission / reception of data, all the data is transmitted to the module that is the transmission partner as in the prior art. On the other hand, it is necessary to transmit a pairing request for establishing communication on a one-to-one basis and execute a pairing process (so that the module does not shift to a sleep state or the like until data reception is completed).

  However, on the other hand, when the transmission data is simple numerical data such as thermometer data, the data transmission / reception is completed in an instant. Therefore, the pairing process is performed by the above request, and the transmission partner module does not enter the sleep state. Even if it does not do it, it is because all the data can fully be transmitted in the time concerning the starting state before shifting to the sleep state by the repetitive control.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a data transmission / reception module having a function of transmitting data by switching whether or not to perform the pairing process according to the data size to be transmitted.

  Specifically, it is a data transmission / reception module controlled so that its own state is switched between a sleep state and an activation state at a predetermined cycle, and in the activation state, a beacon reception unit that receives a beacon from another data transmission / reception module A beacon transmission unit that transmits a beacon including a module ID for identifying itself to other data transmission / reception modules according to a predetermined beacon transmission schedule, a data holding unit that holds data to be transmitted, and a beacon reception unit When the data holding unit holds data smaller than a predetermined data size when the beacon is received, the holding is performed for the other data transmission / reception module identified by the module ID included in the beacon. To transmit the transmitted data according to the beacon transmission schedule When the data to be transmitted and the data to be transmitted are larger than a predetermined data size, the data is transmitted to the other data transmission / reception module identified by the module ID included in the beacon until the data transmission / reception is completed. A pairing execution unit for executing pairing, which is a process for controlling so as not to shift to, and a pairing transmission unit for transmitting the data to another paired data transmission / reception module, A data transmission / reception module is provided.

  Further, in addition to the above configuration, when the beacon receiving unit receives a beacon, the beacon determines whether the data held in the data holding unit should be transmitted from the schedule transmission unit or the pairing transmission unit. A transmission availability determination information holding unit that holds transmission availability determination information that is information for determination using the included module ID, and the transmission availability determination that is held when the beacon reception unit receives a beacon. A data transmission / reception module having a transmission permission / inhibition determining unit that determines whether transmission is possible using information is also provided.

  Also provided is a data transmission / reception module having the above-described configuration and further including a sensor unit and a data output unit that outputs a signal from the sensor unit as data to be transmitted to the data holding unit. Also provided is a data transmission / reception module having the above-described configuration and having an imaging unit and an imaging data output unit that outputs imaging data from the imaging unit as data to be transmitted to the data holding unit.

  A data transmission / reception system including a plurality of data transmission / reception modules having the above-described configuration and a data server apparatus having a data aggregation holding unit for collecting and acquiring data from the plurality of data transmission / reception modules is also provided. In particular, the transmission permission / inhibition determination information held in each of the plurality of transmission / reception modules is such that the data held in the data holding unit of the data transmission / reception module is finally collected in the data aggregation holding unit of the data server device. A data transmission / reception system composed of rules is provided.

  In addition, the data server device further includes an aggregated data receiving terminal that is a device that has the above-described configuration and is to transmit the aggregated and retained data. A data transmission / reception system having an e-mail transmission unit for transmitting to the aggregated data receiving terminal is also provided.

  A data transmission / reception system having the above-described configuration, and further comprising: a data analysis unit that analyzes the received aggregated data, and an analysis result output unit that outputs an analysis result in the data analysis unit Also provide. The analysis result output unit also provides a data transmission / reception system having WEB output means for outputting the analysis result to the WEB.

  Moreover, the data transmission / reception system which has the said structure and further has a beacon transmission schedule management part which manages the beacon transmission schedule of a beacon transmission part is also provided.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, the data transmission / reception module can transmit data by switching whether or not to perform pairing processing according to the data size to be transmitted.

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption caused by unnecessary pairing processing depending on the case, and to provide a data transmission / reception module that operates with lower power consumption.

Conceptual diagram illustrating an example of data transmission / reception by the data transmission / reception module according to the first embodiment. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the data transmission / reception module of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the data currently hold | maintained at the data holding part of the data transmission / reception module of Example 1. FIG. The figure for demonstrating an example of the pairing process in the pairing execution part of the data transmission / reception module of Example 1. FIG. The figure showing an example of the hardware constitutions in the data transmission / reception module of Example 1. The flowchart showing an example of the flow of the data transmission / reception process in the two data transmission / reception modules of Example 1. Conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a data transmission / reception system according to the second embodiment. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the data transmission / reception module of Example 2. The figure for demonstrating an example of the transmission decision | availability judgment information of the data transmission / reception module of Example 2. FIG. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the data transmission / reception system of Example 2. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of transmission permission / inhibition determination information in the data transmission / reception system according to the second embodiment. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of data aggregation processing in the data transmission / reception system according to the second embodiment. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the data transmission / reception system of Example 3. A flowchart showing an example of a flow of an analysis result output process in the data transmission / reception system according to the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, claims 1, 3, 4 and 9 will be mainly described. In the second embodiment, claims 2, 5 and 6 will be mainly described. In the third embodiment, claims 7 and 8 will be mainly described.

  Example 1

    <Overview>

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of data transmission / reception by the data transmission / reception module of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, data transmission / reception modules A to E (0100A to E) are arranged in a wide area as monitoring targets to form a wireless communication network that transmits and receives data between the modules.

  Here, the data transmission / reception module D is controlled to switch between the sleep state and the activation state according to a predetermined cycle. Module D then transmits a beacon including its own ID to notify that, and shifts to a reception waiting state. Then, the beacon is received by the data transmission / reception module C which holds the temperature change information measured by the temperature sensor for the last hour as data for transmission. Since this transmission data is extremely small data composed only of numerical data, transmission can be completed in an instant. Therefore, the module C received without performing the pairing process with the module D (that is, the one-to-one communication establishment process for controlling so as not to enter the sleep state until the data transmission / reception is completed). The data is transmitted using the ID included in the beacon as the transmission destination.

  On the other hand, the module E that receives the beacon from the module D similarly holds a plurality of pieces of image data captured by the camera device as transmission data. Since this transmission data is large image data, it is not possible to transmit all of the image data within the normal startup time. Therefore, the module E transmits a pairing request for performing a one-to-one communication establishment process with the module D. One-to-one communication between modules DE is established. Then, image data is paired and transmitted with the ID included in the beacon received from module E as the transmission destination. In this case, communication is performed beyond the normal start-up time, and communication ends when data transmission is completed.

    <Functional configuration>

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the data transmission / reception module of the present embodiment. Note that the functional blocks of the present module and system described below can be realized as a combination of hardware and software. Specifically, if a computer is used, a CPU, a main memory, a bus, or a secondary storage device (a hard disk, a non-volatile memory, a storage medium such as a CD or a DVD, a read drive for the medium, etc.), information Input devices used for input, printing equipment, display devices, other hardware components such as external peripheral devices, interfaces for external peripheral devices, communication interfaces, driver programs for controlling these hardware, Other examples include application programs and user interface applications. Then, by CPU processing according to the program developed on the main memory, the data input from the input device or other interface and held in the memory or hard disk is processed and stored, An instruction for controlling the software is generated. Alternatively, the functional blocks of this module may be realized by dedicated hardware.

  Each embodiment described in the present specification can be realized not only as a module but also as a method. Moreover, a part of such an apparatus can be configured as software. Furthermore, a software product used to cause a computer to execute such software and a recording medium on which the product is fixed are naturally included in the technical scope of each embodiment described in this specification (this specification The same throughout.)

  As shown in FIG. 2, the “data transmission / reception module” (0200) of the present embodiment includes a “beacon reception unit” (0201), a “beacon transmission unit” (0202), and a “data holding unit” ( 0203), “schedule transmission unit” (0204), “pairing execution unit” (0205), and “pairing transmission unit” (0206).

  The “beacon receiving unit” (0201) has a function of receiving a beacon from another data transmission / reception module, and can be realized by, for example, a communication circuit or its control circuit. Specifically, radio waves received by an antenna connected to a communication circuit are demodulated through a demodulator, and data of a predetermined bit string is acquired. Then, the obtained predetermined bit string data is decoded by a decoder, and the content of the decoded packet data is analyzed by arithmetic processing of the control circuit. As a result, it is determined whether or not the received packet is a management frame beacon from the frame type or subtype of the decoded packet.

  If the received packet is determined to be a beacon, the module ID included in the beacon is confirmed as described later, and after determining whether or not it is a module in the network to which it belongs, communication is performed. When it is necessary to do so, a communication process with the module that transmitted the beacon is executed.

  The “beacon transmission unit” (0202) has a function of transmitting a beacon including a module ID for identifying itself to other data transmission / reception modules according to a predetermined beacon transmission schedule. For example, a communication circuit or a control circuit thereof Can be realized. Further, the beacon transmission unit may be configured to transmit beacons at predetermined intervals according to a beacon transmission schedule managed by a beacon transmission schedule management unit (not shown) (for example, configured with a task scheduler program or a computing device).

  Specifically, the control circuit constructs packet data to be a beacon according to the timing and procedure indicated by the task scheduler program. At this time, for example, if the communication standard in this module is IEEE 802, packet data including the SSID that is the module ID in the SSID (service set identifier) field of the packet is constructed. For other wireless communication standards, packet data is constructed so that a module ID is included in a field or frame body defined by the standard. Then, the constructed packet is modulated by the process of the modulator and transmitted from the antenna of the communication circuit.

  The “module ID” included in the packet is not particularly limited as long as it is information that can identify the module. For example, as described above, if the communication standard between the modules of this embodiment is IEEE 802, the module ID may be an SSID, or another ID that is uniquely set for each module by a network administrator or the like. It may be.

  Then, the module that transmitted the beacon packet controls itself as a reception mode capable of receiving data indicating observation values transmitted from other modules for a predetermined period determined by a task scheduler program or the like, and stands by.

  As described above, according to the general wireless communication procedure, the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment determines whether another module is in a data reception state by a beacon and transmits / receives data. The present embodiment is characterized in that the subsequent data transmission is switched between the schedule transmission and the pairing transmission by the following configuration.

  The “data holding unit” (0203) has a function of holding data to be transmitted, and can be realized by, for example, a flash memory or other storage device. The data held here is transmitted to the beacon transmission source module in response to the reception of the beacon as described above.

  Note that the data held here is not particularly limited. For example, text data, numerical data, chart data, image data, audio data, or moving image data can be used.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of data held in the data holding unit. As shown in FIG. 3A, for example, the data holding unit may hold photographed image data photographed by a photographing unit such as a camera device. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, if the measurement target is an environmental condition, for example, a thermometer, hygrometer, photometer, calorimeter sensor, moisture meter, barometer, sunshine meter, component analysis sensor, or the measurement target is a human body. For example, chart data indicating a sensing result by other sensors such as a thermometer, a heart rate monitor, an electroencephalogram sensor, a blood flow meter, a gravity sensor, an acceleration sensor, and an angle sensor may be held.

  In this case, the data transmission / reception module preferably includes a sensor unit and a data output unit that outputs a signal from the sensor unit as data to be transmitted to the data holding unit. Or you may have an imaging | photography part and the imaging | photography data output part which outputs the picked-up image data in an imaging | photography part as data which should be transmitted to the said data holding part. That is, each data transmission / reception module is also a sensor module / photographing module, and constitutes a monitoring (sensing) system that senses or photographs the vicinity of the position where it is arranged and transmits the sensing result and the photographed image for analysis. It may be a thing.

  In such a monitoring system, a data transmission network system that transmits data by the “bucket relay method” as described above is preferable. In this case, data transmitted from other modules is transmitted by the data holding unit. It may be stored and transmitted to the next module together with the acquired data.

  The “schedule transmission unit” (0204) is a module ID included in the beacon when the data holding unit holds data smaller than a predetermined data size when the beacon receiving unit receives the beacon. It has a function for transmitting the held data to another identified data transmission / reception module according to the beacon transmission schedule, and is realized by, for example, a CPU, a main memory, a communication circuit, a schedule transmission program, etc. Can do.

  Specifically, as described above, when there is data to be transmitted, the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment responds to reception of a beacon from another module according to a general wireless communication standard with respect to the transmission source module of the beacon. Execute data transmission. For this purpose, first, referring to the SSID or the like included in the received beacon, a process of determining whether or not the module of the transmission source is a module in the network to which it belongs is executed by a calculation process of the CPU.

  When the module of the beacon transmission source (data transmission destination) can be confirmed to be a module in the network to which the beacon belongs, the CPU subsequently holds the data held in the data holding unit and should be transmitted. A process for determining whether the size is larger or smaller than a predetermined threshold is performed. If the data is, for example, chart data, and the data size is about several tens of bytes smaller than a threshold value of, for example, 10 kilobytes, the module ID included in the beacon is used using the held data. Is generated, and the schedule transmission is executed from the communication circuit without performing the process related to the one-to-one communication establishment (pairing described later) with other modules.

  Since the data transmitted here has a small data size as described above, it is possible to transmit almost no errors such as interference without performing pairing processing.

  Regarding the above-described data size determination processing, for example, image, audio, and moving image data has a large data size, while data such as numerical values, characters, and charts has a small data size. A format determination process may be performed to determine the size of the data size.

  When the data to be transmitted is larger than a predetermined data size, the “pairing execution unit” (0205) ends data transmission / reception with respect to another data transmission / reception module identified by the module ID included in the beacon. And a function for executing pairing, which is a process for controlling each other so as not to enter the sleep state, and can be realized by, for example, a CPU, a main memory, a communication circuit, a pairing execution program, and the like. “Pairing” refers to a process of establishing a one-to-one communication path for data transmission / reception between two modules. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, bands and channels used for data transmission / reception The processing of setting the frequency of both of the modules in common and synchronizing the timing of transmission and reception can be mentioned. The pairing execution unit maintains the establishment of a communication path for data transmission until the data transmission by the pairing transmission unit described later is completed, and transmits a pairing release request after the data transmission is completed. Release the ring.

  The “pairing transmission unit” (0206) has a function for transmitting the data to another paired data transmission / reception module, such as a CPU, a main memory, a communication circuit, a pairing transmission program, etc. Can be realized.

  Specifically, for example, data to be transmitted is modulated and transmitted in accordance with the band or channel frequency determined by the processing of the pairing processing unit.

  In addition, by sharing the data transmission / reception band and channel frequency between the two modules in this way, it is possible to accurately transmit and receive large-capacity data while suppressing interference such as data transmission / reception in other modules. it can.

  The schedule transmission unit and the pairing transmission unit may perform data transmission using a frequency band of 1 Ghz or less such as 920 MHz or 950 MHz, for example.

  As described above, in the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment, the transmission method can be switched between “schedule transmission” and “pairing transmission” in which pairing processing is not performed according to the data size of data to be transmitted. Therefore, the power consumption of the module can be suppressed by omitting a pairing process that is not necessary at the time of transmitting small size data without impairing the reliability of data transmission / reception.

    <Hardware configuration>

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the data transmission / reception module when the functional components are realized as hardware. The operation of each hardware component in the data transmission process will be described using this figure.

  As shown in this figure, the data transmission / reception module is a “CPU (central processing unit)” for executing data transmission / reception and other various arithmetic processes related to the schedule transmission unit, pairing execution unit, and pairing transmission unit. (0501) and "main memory" (0502). In addition, the “flash memory” (0503) that is a data holding unit, the “communication circuit” (0504) for transmitting beacons and data to the beacon receiving unit, the beacon transmitting unit, the schedule transmitting unit, and the pairing transmitting unit. It also has. In addition, it is preferable to provide “various sensors” and “imaging device” (not shown) for acquiring data held in the flash memory.

  They are connected to each other via a data communication path such as a “system bus” to transmit / receive information and process information.

  A program is read out to the “main memory”, and the “CPU” refers to the read out program and executes various arithmetic processes according to the procedure indicated by the program. In addition, a plurality of addresses are assigned to each of the “main memory” and “flash memory”, and in the calculation processing of the “CPU”, the addresses are specified and accessed to store the data. It is possible to perform arithmetic processing using.

  Here, in order to explain data transmission / reception between modules, the processing of each hardware configuration will be described by dividing the data transmission / reception module A on the data transmission side and the data transmission / reception module B on the reception side. Both modules B have the same hardware configuration as described above.

  First, according to a scheduler program held in the “flash memory” of the data transmission / reception module A, the “CPU” outputs a beacon packet generation command at a predetermined timing. And according to the generation command, packet data including its own module ID such as SSID in a predetermined field is constructed as a beacon. Then, the constructed packet is modulated by the process of the modulator included in the “communication circuit”, and in some cases, after other processes such as an encryption process, the modulated radio wave is scheduled and transmitted from the antenna of the communication circuit. Further, the data transmission / reception module A controls itself as a reception mode capable of receiving data transmitted from other modules for a predetermined period determined by a scheduler program or the like, and stands by.

  Then, the data transmission / reception module B receives the transmitted modulated radio wave with an antenna, demodulates it via a demodulator included in the “communication circuit”, and acquires data of a predetermined bit string. Then, the obtained data of the predetermined bit string is decoded by a decoder, and the content of the decoded packet data is analyzed by a calculation process of “CPU”. Specifically, a process for determining whether the received packet is a beacon of a management frame is executed based on the frame type and subtype of the decoded packet.

  If the value indicated by the frame type or subtype is “0” or “8”, the “CPU” determines that the received packet is a beacon, and the data transmission / reception module A identified by the module ID in the beacon packet. Is in a data reception standby state.

  Therefore, the “CPU” of the data transmission / reception module B refers to the data table of the “flash memory” and determines whether there is data to be transmitted. As a result, in the flash memory, for example, sensing results from “various sensors” (not shown) included in the flash memory, image data captured by the “imaging device”, or data received from other data transmission / reception modules C, etc. are retained. If it is determined that the data size of the data to be transmitted is larger than the threshold value, the “CPU” subsequently performs a determination process. Alternatively, the size of the data can be determined by determining whether the data format is a format that shows relatively large data such as images, audio, or video, or a format that indicates relatively large data such as text, numbers, or charts. Processing may be executed.

  If it is determined that the data size is small, the “CPU” generates a data packet including the module ID included in the reception beacon as the transmission destination using the data to be transmitted according to the schedule transmission program. Then, schedule transmission of the data packet from the “communication circuit” is performed without performing the pairing process.

  When the data transmitting / receiving module A determines that the data is addressed to itself by referring to the module ID indicated by the data packet received via the “communication circuit”, the received data is held in the “flash memory”. Record for.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the data size is large, the “CPU” of the data transmission / reception module B sets, for example, the band and channel frequency used for data transmission / reception in common to both modules according to the pairing execution program. A pairing request for sending is sent from the “communication circuit” to the data transmission / reception module A with the module ID included in the reception beacon as the destination.

  When receiving the response of the pairing request, the “CPU” modulates the data to be transmitted with the module ID included in the reception beacon as the transmission destination with the frequency of the designated band or channel, and from the “communication circuit”. Perform pairing transmission.

  In the data transmission / reception module A, when the data transmitted in the band or channel frequency designated by the pairing process is received by the “communication circuit”, the data is held in the “flash memory”.

  In this way, the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment switches the transmission method between “schedule transmission” and “pairing transmission” which does not perform the pairing process according to the data size of the data to be transmitted, and performs the transmission process. Run.

    <Process flow>

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of data transmission / reception processing in the two data transmission / reception modules of this embodiment. The steps shown below may be steps executed by each hardware configuration of the computer as described above, or may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling the computer recorded on a medium. I do not care.

  As shown in this figure, first, the data transmission / reception module B acquires, for example, sensing results of various sensors provided in itself or captured images of the imaging device as data to be transmitted, and the acquired data is stored in a flash memory or the like. Recording is performed (data holding step S0601).

  Thereafter, at a predetermined timing, the data transmission / reception module A transmits a beacon including a module ID for identifying itself (beacon transmission step S0602). When the data transmission / reception module B receives the beacon transmitted in step S0602 (beacon reception step S0603), the data size of the data recorded and held in the data holding step is determined. (Data size determination step S0604).

  As a result, when it is determined that data smaller than the predetermined data size is held in the data holding unit, the held data is scheduled and transmitted together with the module ID included in the beacon. (Schedule transmission step S0605). Then, the data transmission / reception module A receives the schedule-transmitted data with reference to the module ID indicated as the transmission destination and records it in its own flash memory (second data holding step S0606).

  If it is determined that the data to be transmitted is larger than the predetermined data size, pairing with another data transmitting / receiving module A identified by the module ID included in the beacon is executed (pairing). Execution step S0607), the data is transmitted to the other paired data transmitting / receiving module A (pairing transmission step S0608). Then, the data transmission / reception module A receives the paired data and records it in its own flash memory (third data holding step S0609).

    <Simple explanation of effect>

  As described above, in the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment, the transmission method is switched between “schedule transmission” and “pairing transmission” in which pairing processing is not performed according to the data size of data to be transmitted when data is transmitted / received. be able to. Therefore, the power consumption of the module can be suppressed by omitting a pairing process that is not necessary at the time of transmitting small size data without impairing the reliability of data transmission / reception.

  << Example 2 >>

    <Overview>

  The present embodiment is based on the above embodiment, and further includes a function of determining whether to transmit data when receiving a beacon with reference to a module ID included in the beacon. It is a data transmission / reception system comprising a transmission / reception module, a plurality of data transmission / reception modules having such functions, and a data server device that aggregates and manages data from the data transmission / reception module.

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the data transmission / reception system according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, data transmission / reception modules A to E (0700A to E) including sensors, cameras, and the like are distributed and arranged in the plantation, for example, using the plantation as a monitoring target. In addition, data such as a sensing result and an image acquired at each point is finally transmitted to the data server device (0710) placed in the management center to be aggregated.

  Here, the module C receives the beacon from the module D and determines that the module D is in a data reception standby state. However, the module D is farther from the data server device than the module C in terms of arrangement position. Therefore, if data is transmitted to the module D, data aggregation to the data server device is delayed (the data transmission path becomes a detour). It will be. Therefore, when the module ID of the received beacon indicates the module D, the module C does not transmit data even if the beacon is received.

  On the other hand, the modules A and B are closer to each other than the module C and are arranged in the data server device. Therefore, since the data transmission / reception module C receives a beacon from the module A or B, the data transmission / reception module C schedules data to the transmission source module of the beacon. It is configured to transmit by pairing.

    (Data transmission / reception module)

    <Functional configuration>

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the data transmission / reception module of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “data transmission / reception module” (0800) of the present embodiment is based on the first embodiment, “beacon receiving unit” (0801), “beacon transmitting unit” (0802), “data It has a “holding unit” (0803), a “schedule transmission unit” (0804), a “pairing execution unit” (0805), and a “pairing transmission unit” (0806).

  Further, it may further include a “sensor unit”, “data output unit”, “imaging unit”, “imaging data output unit”, “beacon transmission schedule management unit”, etc., not shown. Since these structural requirements have already been described in the above embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

  The data transmission / reception module of the present embodiment is further characterized in that it further includes a “transmission availability determination information holding unit” (0807) and a “transmission availability determination unit” (0808).

  The “transmission availability determination information holding unit” (0807) has a function of holding transmission availability determination information, and can be realized by various storage devices such as a flash memory, for example. “Transmittability determination information” means that when the beacon receiving unit receives a beacon, the data held in the data holding unit should be transmitted to the beacon from the schedule transmitting unit or the pairing transmitting unit. Information used for determination using the included module ID.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the transmission permission / inhibition determination information. As shown in this figure, for example, list data indicating a transmission enable module ID and a transmission rejection module ID can be given.

  Alternatively, the module ID is assigned in accordance with a predetermined rule, for example, a young number is assigned in order from the position closest to the data server device described later. In addition, a determination rule such as “transmit data when the numerical value of the module ID is smaller than its own ID numerical value” may be held as transmission permission determination information.

  The “transmission availability determination unit” (0808) has a function of determining whether transmission is possible using the held transmission availability determination information when the beacon reception unit receives a beacon. This can be realized by a memory, a transmission permission / inhibition determination program, and the like.

  Specifically, for example, referring to the list data as shown in FIG. 9, the CPU determines whether the flag associated with the module ID of the received beacon is “◯ (transmission is possible)” or “× (transmission is not possible)”. That is, it is determined by an arithmetic process.

  Alternatively, when the transmission permission determination information is held as the determination rule as described above, for example, the CPU compares the value of its own module ID (A) with the value of the received beacon module ID (B). There is also a configuration in which it is determined that data is transmitted if the value of B is smaller than the value of A of itself.

  As described above, in the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment, when there is data to be transmitted, the data is not transmitted every time a beacon is received, but is selectively transmitted / not transmitted according to the transmission availability determination information. Can be judged. Therefore, in particular, when data is aggregated from a plurality of data transmission / reception modules to the data server device as described above, data to be transmitted to the data server device is prepared by preparing the transmission permission / inhibition determination information that is a suitable transmission path. Aggregation can be performed efficiently.

  Hereinafter, a data transmission / reception system including a plurality of data transmission / reception modules and a data server device will be described.

    (Data transmission / reception system)

    <Functional configuration>

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the data transmission / reception system according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the data transmission / reception system of the present embodiment includes a plurality of “data transmission / reception modules” (1000A, 1000B,... 1000X) and a “data server device” (1010). Note that the details of the “data transmission / reception module” are as described above, and a description thereof will be omitted. The data server device includes a “data aggregation holding unit” (1011).

  The “data aggregation holding unit” (1011) has a function for collecting and acquiring data from the plurality of data transmission / reception modules, and can be realized by, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (hard disk drive), or other storage device. it can.

  In this way, in the data server device, by collecting and holding the data from the data transmission / reception modules arranged at each position, for example, the temperature and humidity collected at each position, or a photographed image showing the surrounding situation, etc. Can be compared and analyzed.

  Further, in the data transmission / reception system of this embodiment, in order to collect data in the data server device, the transmission permission / inhibition determination information held in each of the plurality of transmission / reception modules is held in the data holding unit of the data transmission / reception module. It is characterized by the rule that the data to be finally collected in the data aggregation holding unit of the data server device.

  Specifically, it is preferable that the transmission permission / inhibition determination information not be a reply to the data transmission source. For example, in the list data which is the transmission permission determination information of a certain module P, data transmission to the modules Q and R is “permitted”. In such a case, the data transmission / rejection determination information of the modules Q and R sets the data transmission to the module P as “No”, thereby preventing return of data and finally collecting all data in the data server device. Can do.

  In addition, as described above, the module ID is an ID including a numerical value, and the transmission permission / inhibition determination information is a determination rule for determining whether or not transmission is possible according to the numerical value determination. Data can be collected in the data server device.

  Further, in the list data and the determination rules as described above, as shown in FIG. 11, the positional relationship between each data transmission / reception module and the data server device is considered, and if it is list data, only the module closer to the data server device than itself is included. By associating transmission permission, or if it is a decision rule, assigning numerical values of module IDs so that young numbers are assigned in order from the position closest to the data server device, the data is efficiently collected in the data server device. It is better to configure as follows.

  As described above, the data transmission / reception system according to the present embodiment can efficiently aggregate the observation and analysis data acquired at each position and held in the data transmission / reception module into the data server device.

  Further, the data server device of the present embodiment further includes an “e-mail transmission unit” (not shown), and for the external aggregated data receiving terminal, the data aggregated and retained in the data aggregation / retention unit in the email format It may be configured to transmit to the aggregated data receiving terminal.

  By comprising in this way, each data aggregated with the data server apparatus can be transmitted and browsed to terminals, such as an external supervisor and an analyst. Furthermore, when the data server device and the aggregated data receiving terminal are connected via the Internet, when trying to access the data of the data server device from the aggregated data receiving terminal using a normal protocol such as TCP / IP, various port settings, etc. Although it takes time, data can be easily acquired at the aggregated data receiving terminal by transmitting in the mail format.

    <Process flow>

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of data aggregation processing in the data transmission / reception system of the present embodiment. Note that the processes related to the selection and transmission of schedule transmission and pairing transmission in each data transmission / reception module are the same as those described in the above-described embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in this figure, first, when the data transmission / reception module B receives a beacon from the data transmission / reception module A (beacon reception step S1201), the transmission permission / inhibition held in advance using the module ID of the received beacon. It is determined whether or not to transmit data according to the determination information (transmission availability determination step S1202).

  If the result of the determination is that the data is to be transmitted, it is selectively determined whether the data is scheduled or paired according to the data size, as described in the previous embodiment, and the data is transmitted by the determined method. Transmit (data transmission step S1203). The above processing is repeatedly executed in each module, and finally all of these data are acquired and aggregated by the data server device, and then recorded and held in a flash memory or the like (data aggregation holding step S1204).

  When this data is aggregated into the data server device, it can be realized by configuring the data transmission / reception module transmission permission / inhibition determination information with a rule such that the data is finally aggregated in the data aggregation holding unit of the data server device. good.

  The data server device may further include an e-mail transmission step (not shown) that transmits the data aggregated and held in the data aggregation holding unit to the aggregated data receiving terminal in the form of an e-mail.

    <Simple explanation of effect>

  As described above, in the data transmission / reception module according to the present embodiment, when there is data to be transmitted, the data is not transmitted every time a beacon is received, but is selectively transmitted / not transmitted according to transmission permission determination information. Judgment can be made.

  Therefore, in the data transmission / reception system according to the present exemplary embodiment that aggregates data from a plurality of data transmission / reception modules to the data server device, data to the data server device is prepared by preparing transmission permission / inhibition determination information that provides a suitable transmission path. Aggregation can be performed efficiently.

  Example 3

    <Overview>

  The present embodiment is based on the data transmission / reception system of the above-described embodiment, and is received by an “aggregated data receiving terminal” used by an external monitor or analyst for a monitoring system configured by the data transmission / reception system. It is characterized by analyzing data and outputting the analysis result.

    <Functional configuration>

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the data transmission / reception system according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the data transmission / reception system of this embodiment is based on the above-described embodiment, and includes a plurality of “data transmission / reception modules” (1300A, 1300B,... 1300X) and a “data server device” (1310). And consist of Note that the details of the “data transmission / reception module” and “data server device” are as described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The data transmission / reception system of the present embodiment further includes an “aggregated data receiving terminal” (1320), and the aggregated data receiving terminal includes a “data analysis unit” (1321) and an “analysis result output unit” (1322). ).

  The “data analysis unit” (1321) has a function of analyzing the received aggregated data, and can be realized by, for example, a CPU, a main memory, a data analysis program, or the like. The data analysis method by the data analysis unit is not particularly limited, and various known analysis methods may be employed depending on the contents of the aggregated data.

  Specifically, for example, temperature and humidity changes observed at the point A and image data taken over time at the same point are collected. Therefore, the image data is analyzed, and the temperature and humidity suitable for growth are analyzed from the growth situation of the crops taken from the analysis and changes in temperature and humidity. In addition, the observation data acquired by the sensors of the data transmission / reception modules at other points B are combined, and the cause of the difference in temperature and humidity at points A and B at the same time is analyzed from the captured image data. .

  The “analysis result output unit” (1322) has a function of outputting an analysis result in the data analysis unit, and can be realized by, for example, a CPU, a main memory, an analysis result output program, or the like. The analysis result output unit may further include a “WEB output unit” (not shown) that outputs the analysis result to the WEB.

  As described above, in the data transmission / reception system according to the present embodiment, the analysis result of the aggregated data can be output by WEB or other methods to be viewed and disclosed.

    <Process flow>

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of analysis result output processing in the data transmission / reception system of the present embodiment. The processing related to the aggregate transmission of data by schedule transmission and pairing transmission from each data transmission / reception module to the data server device and the processing related to the data aggregation retention in the data server device are the same as those described in the above-described embodiment, so the description thereof will be described. Omitted.

  As shown in this figure, first, data aggregated and held by the data server device is transmitted by a method such as mail transmission (aggregated data output step S1401). The aggregated data receiving terminal receives the data (aggregated data receiving step S1402) and analyzes the aggregated data (data analyzing step S1403). The analysis result is output via, for example, a WEB site (analysis result output step S1404).

    <Simple explanation of effect>

  As described above, the data transmission / reception system of this embodiment can analyze the aggregated data and publish it on the WEB or the like.

0200 Data transmission / reception module 0201 Beacon reception unit 0202 Beacon transmission unit 0203 Data holding unit 0204 Schedule transmission unit 0205 Pairing execution unit 0206 Pairing transmission unit

Claims (9)

A data transmission / reception module that is controlled so that its state is switched between a sleep state and a start state at a predetermined cycle, and in the start state,
A beacon receiving unit that receives beacons from other data transmitting and receiving modules;
A beacon transmitter that transmits a beacon including a module ID for identifying itself to other data transceiver modules according to a predetermined beacon transmission schedule;
A data holding unit for holding data to be transmitted;
When the beacon receiving unit receives a beacon, if data smaller than the predetermined data size is held in the data holding unit, for other data transmission / reception modules identified by the module ID included in the beacon A schedule transmission unit for transmitting the held data according to the beacon transmission schedule;
When the data to be transmitted is larger than a predetermined data size, control is performed so that the other data transmission / reception modules identified by the module ID included in the beacon do not shift to the sleep state until the data transmission / reception is completed. A pairing execution unit for executing pairing, which is a process for
A pairing transmission unit for transmitting the data to another paired data transmission / reception module;
A data transmitting / receiving module. When the beacon receiving unit receives a beacon, whether the data held in the data holding unit should be transmitted from the schedule transmission unit or the pairing transmission unit, using the module ID included in the beacon A transmission availability determination information holding unit that holds transmission availability determination information that is information for determining;
The data transmission / reception module according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission availability determination unit that determines whether the transmission is possible or not using the held transmission availability determination information when the beacon reception unit receives a beacon. A sensor unit;
A data output unit that outputs a signal from the sensor unit as data to be transmitted to the data holding unit;
The data transmission / reception module according to claim 1 or 2. A shooting section;
A shooting data output unit for outputting shooting data in the shooting unit as data to be transmitted to the data holding unit;
The data transmission / reception module according to claim 1, comprising: A plurality of data transmission / reception modules according to claim 2;
A data server device having a data aggregation holding unit for collecting and acquiring data from the plurality of data transmission / reception modules,
The transmission permission / inhibition determination information held in each of the plurality of transmission / reception modules is configured by a rule such that the data held in the data holding unit of the data transmission / reception module is finally collected in the data aggregation holding unit of the data server device. Data transmission / reception system. In addition to having an aggregate data receiving terminal that is a device that should transmit aggregated and retained data,
The data transmission / reception system according to claim 5, wherein the data server device includes an e-mail transmission unit that transmits the data aggregated and retained in the data aggregation retention unit to the aggregated data receiving terminal in an e-mail format. The aggregated data receiving terminal, a data analysis unit for analyzing the received aggregated data,
An analysis result output unit for outputting an analysis result in the data analysis unit;
The data transmission / reception system according to claim 6.   The data transmission / reception system according to claim 7, wherein the analysis result output unit includes a WEB output unit that outputs the analysis result to the WEB.   The data transmission / reception system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, further comprising a beacon transmission schedule management unit that manages a beacon transmission schedule of the beacon transmission unit.

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