JPH01293086A - Uniterruptive power supply device for bidirectional catv system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily obtain the maintenance and inspection information of a battery by measuring the power supply capability of a battery circuit from the discharging state of the battery circuit, and transmitting it to a center. CONSTITUTION:A switch SW2 is switched to a terminal (b) side by turning off a switch SW. Next, the voltage of the battery 54, that is, the voltage at a point (1) is measured. And a measure voltage is compared with a preset voltage, and when the value of the measured voltage becomes less than that of the preset voltage, the switch SW is recovered, and also, the switch SW2 is recovered to a terminal (a) side. And time data from a time starting the measurement of the voltage at the point (1), namely, the holding time data of the battery is transmitted to a broadcasting center 10 side. In such a way, it is possible to recognize the holding time of the battery 54.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to an uninterruptible power supply for a bidirectional CATV system that supplies power to a mains amplifier in a cable television (hereinafter referred to as CATV) system. Regarding equipment.

(Prior Art) A CATV system has problems when the power from the commercial power source is turned off due to a power outage or repair/inspection.

An uninterruptible power supply is provided so that power can be automatically supplied by the battery. The uninterruptible mains power supply has two output switches that select the output of the battery when power is turned off, usually from the commercial power source.

Here, there are three types of battery retention time standards: about 1 hour, 2 hours, and 4 hours. However, batteries deteriorate with use, and the retention time differs between new and old batteries. Therefore, on the operating side, it is necessary to maintain the retention time of the battery, and if the battery has deteriorated significantly, it must be replaced.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The problem here is battery maintenance and inspection work. In a CATV system, in order to know the deterioration status of a battery, a worker goes to the location where each uninterruptible power supply device is installed and performs maintenance inspection. To perform a battery check, turn off the utility power, and
Switch to battery usage mode. Then, the output voltage of the battery is measured and the retention time is measured. here,
If the holding time meets the rating, there is no need to replace it, but if the time during which the output voltage drops below the specified voltage (specified voltage value required for system operation) is less than the holding time rating. , it is necessary to switch to the commercial power source and replace the battery just before the voltage drops to the predetermined voltage.

This kind of battery maintenance work involves monitoring the battery output voltage as it decreases over time while the system is in operation, but the waiting time is very long.
In other words, if the standard is for 4 hours, the voltage state must be measured for a period close to this. Furthermore, if we consider that the above-mentioned maintenance and inspection work must be performed on all of the uninterruptible power supply devices, the amount of labor and cost required over the entire area where the CATV system is installed becomes extremely large. Furthermore, this makes it difficult to perform frequent maintenance and inspection of the battery, and the maintenance and inspection cycles are also passive and long, potentially making the battery susceptible to large losses due to power outages and the like.

Therefore, this invention provides easy-to-read information on battery maintenance and inspection.
An object of the present invention is to provide an uninterruptible power supply device for a cable television system that can be obtained in a timely manner and is effective in improving the reliability of the cable television system.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a power supply device for supplying power to a bidirectional trunk amplifier, in which commercial AC power is introduced through a test switch, and a test mode setting means is provided. Based on a command from the center, the test switch is forcibly turned off to create a power outage state, and a test mode is established in which power from the battery circuit is supplied to the bidirectional main amplifier.

Then, from the discharge state of the battery circuit monitored by the monitor means, the power supply capacity of the battery circuit is measured, and all stabilization is provided to transmit it to the center. Further, after the monitoring by the monitor means is completed, the test switch is turned on again by the test mode release means.

(Function) According to the above-mentioned means, the power supply device can independently store L$ of battery information at any time in response to a batch retrieval command from the center. Therefore, deteriorating battery identification information can be read by polling from the center when necessary, maintenance and inspection is inexpensive and one cycle is short, and the reliability of the CATV system can be improved.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of this invention.

The broadcasting center 10 is provided with a transmitting and receiving device 101 capable of modulating and transmitting television signals and downstream data and receiving modulated upstream data from each terminal. The downstream data is, for example, various command signals for each terminal or service data for the user. Further, upstream data includes data stored in each terminal, response signals from each terminal, and the like. In this way, the CATV system allows two-way communication between the broadcast center and each terminal.

Upstream data received and demodulated by the transmitting and receiving device 101 is processed by a data processing unit 102, and its contents are displayed or printed on a display 103 or a printer 104.

A broadcast signal (television signal or FM signal) transmitted from the transmitting and receiving device 101 is transmitted to a remote location via the cable 20.

Here, a plurality of trunk amplifiers 31, 32, . . . are provided along the cable 20 in order to compensate for transmission loss of the cable. The main amplifiers 31, 32, . . . each have an amplifier DA for downstream signals and an amplifier AA for upstream signals. Also, each trunk amplifier 31.3
2... A status monitor device STM is also provided inside and holds status information of the amplifiers DA and AA.

This status information is, for example, amplifier gain and voltage information, and the status information can be sent as an upstream signal by polling from the broadcasting center 10.

By the way, regarding the main line amplifiers 31, 32...

It is necessary to supply power from the power line installed by the power company. Therefore, uninterruptible power supply devices 41, 42 are connected to the main amplifiers 31, 32, . . . , respectively. In the drawing, the configuration of the uninterruptible power supply device 42 is representatively shown.

The configuration of the uninterruptible power supply device 42 will be described below.

Commercial power from a power line installed by a power company is supplied via a terminal 51 to an input terminal of a switch SWI driven by a relay, for example. The output terminal of this switch SWl is connected to a transformer T that converts ACloo [V] to AC60 [V] or AC30 [V] l:, for example, and is also connected to the battery charge circuit 53. When the switch SWl is on, the output of the transformer T is obtained and supplied to one terminal a of the switch SW2.

Normally, switch SW2 selects terminal a and outputs the output of transformer T to terminal 52. The power derived here is supplied to the power supply terminal of the main amplifier 32.

The battery charge circuit 53 charges the battery 54 when the switch SWI is turned on and power is being supplied. If some abnormality occurs in the power supply system of the electric power company and power is not supplied, the DC voltage of the battery 54 is converted to AC by the inverter circuit 55 that performs AC conversion by the switching regulator, and the supplied to

At this time, the switch SW2 is switched to select the terminal. Control of the switch SW2 is performed by a control circuit 59. As a result, power can be obtained from the output terminal 52 even during a power outage.

Whether or not the electric power company has stopped supplying power is detected by the five control circuits detecting the output of the switch SWI, for example, and determining whether or not a predetermined voltage is present. When the power supply is restored, the control circuit 59
controls the switch SW2 to switch to the terminal a side so that the output of the transformer T is supplied to the main amplifier 32.

Next, a system monitor device, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be explained.

The system monitor device 57 is composed of the above-mentioned control circuit 59 and modulator/demodulator 58, and can perform two-way data communication with the broadcasting center 10 via the cable 20. That is, terminal 56 is connected to cable 20, and the downstream signal from cable 20 is
The modulator and demodulator 58 demodulates the signal. The demodulated data is input to five control circuits and processed. Furthermore, the control circuit 5 can supply stored data to the modulator/demodulator 58 based on a command signal from the broadcast center 10 . As a result, data from the control circuit 59 is transmitted to the broadcast center 10 as an upstream signal.

The uninterruptible power supply device is configured as described above, and independently checks the retention time of the battery 54, self-retains information indicating its deterioration status, and transmits it as upstream data when there is a request from the broadcasting center 10, for example. Can you send it out?

FIG. 2 is an example of a flowchart for performing an automatic battery check. When the system monitor device 57 receives a battery check command from the broadcast center 10, it measures the voltage on the output side of the battery 54, that is, at point (2). If the voltage here is measured and is below a preset value, this indicates that the battery 54 is not supplying the rated output, so the process is interrupted without proceeding to the battery check process (step SL-33). If the value is greater than or equal to the set value, the process moves to a battery check process, where the switch SWI is first turned off and the switch SW2 is switched to the terminal side (step S4). Next, the voltage of the battery 54, that is, point 7
The u pressure is calculated by Δp1 (step S5). Then, the measured voltage and the set voltage are compared, and if the measured voltage value is large, the process returns to step S5.

While repeating this routine, when the total J1 voltage value becomes smaller than the set voltage value, the process moves to step S7 to return the switch SWI and return the switch SW2 to the terminal a side.

Then, the time data from the start of the voltmeter ap1 at the point ■ until the transition to step S7, that is, the battery holding time data, is transmitted to the broadcasting center 10, and the process ends (step 38.S9). This allows you to know how long the battery lasts.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between a predetermined set voltage and a decrease in battery voltage after the start of the battery check process.

The set voltage is set to a value slightly higher than the voltage sufficient for the system to operate. Therefore, even if a battery check is performed, there is no effect on the system.

In the above explanation, the holding time data is transmitted to the broadcasting center 10 immediately after the switch returns in step S7. However, as shown in step SIO, the holding time data is temporarily stored in the internal memory. The retention time data may be transmitted as an upstream signal only when there is a data request from the broadcast center.

Further, in the above embodiment, in the battery check process, the battery voltage was waited until it became close to the set voltage, and that time was taken as the holding time.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the battery voltage change may be measured for a certain period of time, the battery holding time may be predicted based on the curve of the change, and the data may be transmitted to the broadcasting center.

At the broadcasting center, the data processing unit analyzes the upstream data and displays the battery life of each terminal on a cathode ray tube or prints it out on a printer. As a result, as a CATV operator,
You can immediately find a terminal whose retention time is shorter than the rated value and go to have it replaced. It is also easy to determine when to replace the battery from the content of the retention time data. Furthermore, since it is easy to check the battery, if there is a planned power outage due to the power supply system of the power company, the batteries in the power outage area can be checked in advance and those that have a short battery life should be replaced. You can keep it.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention allows battery maintenance and inspection information to be easily obtained and maintenance and inspection to be performed at low cost, and is effective in improving the reliability of the CATV system. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart shown to explain an example of the operation of the device of this invention, and Fig. 3 is the voltage of the battery shown in Fig. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between and set voltage. 10...Broadcast center, 20...Cable, 3 cables,
32... Main amplifier, 41.42... Uninterruptible power supply device, 53... Battery charge circuit, 54...
・Battery, 55... Inverter circuit, 57...
Modulator and demodulator, 59...control circuit. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] A center and a terminal are connected by a cable, bidirectional communication can be performed between the center and the terminal, and a bidirectional trunk amplifier is provided in the middle of the cable, and the bidirectional trunk amplifier is supplied with power from an uninterruptible power supply, and the uninterruptible power supply is configured to output input commercial AC power during normal times and output power from a battery circuit during a power outage. The supply device includes a test switch to which the commercial AC power is supplied, and a power outage state by forcibly turning off the test switch based on a command from the center, and transmitting power from the battery circuit to the bidirectional main amplifier. a test mode setting means for supplying power to the battery circuit; a measuring means for measuring the power supply capability of the battery circuit from the discharge state of the battery circuit monitored by the monitor means and transmitting it to the center; and after the monitor means finishes monitoring; An uninterruptible power supply device for a bidirectional CATV system, characterized in that it comprises test mode release means for returning the test switch to on.