JPH02238323A - Sunshine duration recording apparatus using non-volatile semiconductor memory - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically and simply record sunshine duration by using a solar cell as a sunshine duration sensor which is also used as a power supply and using a non-volatile semiconductor memory as a sunshine duration recording medium. CONSTITUTION:The output of a solar cell 11 is supplied to a timer 12, an EEPROM 13, a display part 15 and a CPU 14 controlling the circuits of them as a drive power supply. When the solar cell 11 becomes an ON-state, the timer 11 is driven by said solar cell 11 to output an output pulse at every predetermined time. In a measuring mode, the output pulse of the timer 12 is successively written in the EEPROM 13 as sunshine duration data and, in a display mode, the present written data of the EEPROM 13 is read and the accumulation value of sunshine duration is calculated on the basis of the final address of said data and the preset output pulse interval of the timer 12 to be displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a sunshine hour recording device using a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, which is useful for predicting the harvest of agricultural crops.

(Prior Art) It is well known that the growth and development of agricultural crops is greatly influenced by the amount of sunlight. There is no problem if the growth status can be easily monitored visually.

However, if there are fields deep in the mountains or high mountains,
It is not easy to frequently monitor the growth status of agricultural crops. Furthermore, there are some things, such as watermelons, for which it is difficult to know the growth status from just their appearance. For such crops, the total amount of sunlight over several months is an important guideline for determining the harvest time.

In addition, not only for short-term crop yield predictions, but also for measuring, recording, and storing sunlight hours in units of months to years is considered to be useful as agricultural and other basic data. .

However, until now, the reality has been to rely on individuals' rough memories of sunshine hours or on data from the Japan Meteorological Agency.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, although sunshine hours are important, especially for those engaged in agriculture, there has been no device that automatically and easily records sunlight hours.

The present invention was made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device that automatically and simply records sunshine hours.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) The sunlight time recording device according to the present invention uses a solar cell as a circuit power supply and sunlight time sensor, and when the solar cell has reached a predetermined output level (on It is equipped with a timer driven by the timer, an electrically rewritable non-volatile semiconductor memory (EEPR(}M), and a control circuit for these).Then, the output pulses generated from the timer at predetermined time intervals are Serially write data to EEPROM.

(Function) According to the present invention, the circuit operates normally only while the solar cell is generating power at a predetermined level, and by setting the timer to output an output pulse, the time when the brightness is above the predetermined level is exposed to sunlight. It can be recorded in EEPROM as time. This makes it possible to automatically record sunlight hours over a period of several months to several years. This device makes it easy to monitor areas that are difficult for people to access, such as high mountains and deep mountains, and to predict agricultural yields.

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a sunlight time recording device according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an external view thereof. The solar cell 11 serves not only as a power source for the circuit but also as a sunlight time sensor. The output of the solar cell 11 is determined by the timer 12, EE
The PROM 13 is supplied as a driving power to the display section 15 and the CPU 14 that controls these circuits. Human resources department 1
6 consists of a measurement switch, a display switch, an initial setting switch, a reset switch, etc.

The timer 12 is driven by the solar cell 11 when it is turned on, and outputs an output pulse at predetermined intervals (for example, every 30 minutes or every hour). In the measurement mode in which the measurement switch is turned on, the output pulses of the timer 12 are sequentially written into the EEPROM 13 as sunshine time data.

In the display mode where the display switch is turned on, the EEPR
The current write data of the OM 13 is read out, and the cumulative value of sunshine hours is calculated from the final address or from this and the preset output pulse interval of the timer 12, and this is displayed.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the EEPROM 13 used in this embodiment. As external control signal terminals, it has a chip enable terminal τT1, an output enable terminal OE, and a write enable terminal WE, and 18 address signal terminals A. - AI8, has eight data output terminals 1/O o = I/07, and has power terminals VCC and VSS. The memory cell array 1 here has a capacity of 4 Mbits and is made up of four memory cells collectively configured in a NAND type, as will be described later.

Bit lines BLI to BLm ( m
-2048) is the sense amplifier/data latch circuit 5
It is connected to the. Selection gate line SG in, SG2
n and word line W L ln = W L 4n ( n
= 512) is connected to the row decoder 3. The address signal is input to the row decoder 3 and column decoder 4 via the address buffer 2,
This allows address selection. When reading, bit line B
The data output to LI to BLm is amplified and latched by the sense amplifier/data latch circuit 5, and then sent to the output buffer 6.
via the input/output terminal I/O. ~ Output from I/07 to the outside. When writing data, input/output terminal 1/O o
"The data input from I/07 is taken into the sense amplifier/data latch circuit 5 via the input buffer 7, and then written into the memory cell at the selected address.8
is a control logic circuit that generates internal control signals from external control signals.

FIG. 9 is an equivalent circuit showing the configuration of the memory cell array 1. The memory cell Mij is of the FETMOS type in which a floating gate and a control gate are stacked over the entire channel region with a thin gate insulating film interposed therebetween. For example, in the case of an n-channel, data erasing (or writing) is an operation that moves the threshold in the negative direction by applying a positive high voltage to the control gate and releasing electrons from the floating gate to the substrate by F-N tunneling. , and set the control gate to “L”.
Data writing is an operation in which a positive high voltage is applied to the drain while maintaining the current level, and electrons are injected into the floating gate by F-N tunneling to move the threshold in the positive direction (
or erasure). The high voltage used for data writing and erasing is applied to the row decoder 3 and column decoder 3 in FIG.
It is generated by a booster circuit in the decoder 4. These memory cells constitute a so-called NAND cell in which four memory cells are connected in series to form one block, with their sources and drains shared by adjacent cells.

One end of the NAND cell is connected to the bit line BL via a selection gate Qsl, and the other end is connected to the source line VS via a selection gate Qs2. The memory cells are arranged in a matrix as shown, and the control gates of the memory cells in the row direction are commonly connected to the word line WL.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart during reading. By setting the chip enable terminal CE and output enable terminal OE to "L" level and changing the address by setting the write enable terminal WE to "H" level, data from 8 memory cells is transferred to the sense amplifier/data latch circuit. Input/output line 1/O o =
Obtained on 1/07.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart during writing. By setting the chip enable terminal CE to "L" level and the output enable terminal OE to "H" level, and toggling the write enable terminal WE in synchronization with the address signal, input/output lines I/Oo to I/O The data input from O, passes through the input buffer to the sense amplifier/
The data is latched by the data latch circuit 5 and sequentially written to selected addresses.

In such a NAND cell type EEPROM, multiple memory cells are connected together to the bit line, so the number of contacts with the bit line is significantly smaller than when each memory cell is connected to the bit line. It has the advantage of being extremely densely integrated.

Next, detailed operation of the sunlight time recording device of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be explained. Although FIG. 8 shows the EEPROM configuration when handling 8-bit parallel data, in this embodiment, the simplest method is to use timer 1.
1 bit data “1#” for 1 pulse in which 2 occurs
(or "0") is written into the EEPROM in order from the first address.

FIG. 3 is a control flow by the CPU 14 in measurement mode. This flow starts when the recording device is placed at the position where the sunshine hours are to be measured and the warning switch is turned on. Detects on/off of 11a1 switch (Pi),
If it is off, a message to that effect will be displayed. If the measurement switch is on, then whether the solar cell 11 is on or off is detected (P2).

If the solar cell 11 is on, that is, outputting a predetermined output level, all the circuits will be driven. When the solar cell 11 is detected to be on, the CPU 14 turns on the EE.
The PROM 13 is accessed to read data, the first address of the unwritten area is found, and this is set in the address counter (P3). Next, the timer 12 is reset once (P5). If the solar cell 11 continues to be on, the timer 12 outputs an output pulse after a predetermined period of time, which is detected by the C'P U 1 4 (P6). Detecting this output pulse, the CPU 14 writes 1-bit data "1m" to the start address of the unwritten area of the EEPROM 13 set in the address counter (P7.
). Thereafter, the address counter is counted up (P8). Then, when the next output pulse of timer 11 is detected, the address set in the address counter is “
The operation of writing 1° data and counting up the address counter is repeated. In this way, EEPROM1
"1" is serially written into B at predetermined time intervals while the solar cell 11 is on.

When the sun sets or the sun is hidden behind thick clouds and the output of the solar cell 11 falls below a predetermined level (off state), the circuit power is lost and the EEPROM continues until it is turned on again.
1 3 data are retained as they are. When the solar cell 11 is turned on again, the same write operation is automatically repeated, and the addresses in the EEPROM 13 are sequentially filled with '1' data.

In this way, the sunshine hours at a predetermined location can be recorded unattended. The recorded data is then EEPRO
It merely indicates up to which address M13 is set to "1". Therefore, this data is displayed on the display unit 15 as a cumulative value of sunshine hours by operating a display switch. The control flow in that case is shown in FIG. C.P.
U14 detects whether the display switch is on or off (S1),
If it is off, a message to that effect is output (S2).

If the display switch is on, the CPU 14 next detects whether the solar cell 11 is on or off (S3). When the ON state of the solar cell 11 is detected, the E-color PROM 13 is read out, the final address of the field in which "1" data is written is found, and this value or the preset timer 12 is read. A cumulative value of sunshine hours is calculated from the output pulse interval (S4). This accumulated value is then displayed on the display unit 15 as shown in FIG. 2 (S5).

Thus, according to this embodiment, by using the solar cell as both a power source and a sunshine time sensor, it is possible to record the old sunshine time very simply and automatically. By regularly or irregularly going to a place where this sunshine time recording device is installed and pressing the display switch, the total sunshine time can be known.

In the above embodiment, the timer 12 outputs an output pulse at regular intervals while the solar cell 11 is on, but it may be configured to output one output with different pulse intervals depending on the output level of the solar cell 1. You can also do it.

This can be done by using, for example, a CR integration circuit with a large time constant as the timer 12, and using a circuit configuration that outputs an output pulse when the terminal voltage of the capacitor reaches a predetermined level. In this way, the number of pulses that differs not only depending on the presence or absence of sunlight but also the intensity of sunlight can be obtained. Therefore, from the final address value corresponding to the number of "1" data, it is possible to obtain the equivalent sunshine time in which the sunlight intensity is taken into account.

Further, in the above embodiment, data "1" is continuously written into the EEPROM 13 without a break, so that data other than the total sunshine hours cannot be obtained.

If index data such as the date is written at the same time, it is convenient to know the change in sunlight hours over time. For this purpose, it is necessary to construct the data not from one bit data as in the above embodiment, but from a plurality of bits. Such an embodiment will be described below.

Figure 5 shows the control flow in the measurement mode of this embodiment in the third manner.
Figure 6 shows the EEPRO
This figure shows the state of writing to M. The header area of the memory area in Figure 6 contains measurement start date and time, measurement position information,
This is an area where user information and the like are written according to initial settings. The data shows the case of 4-bit configuration, and “△
△Δ△″ indicates index data 2 such as date
1.1, 212, for example, by detecting the rising of the solar cell 11 every day, and writing the data at the beginning of the vacant address before writing the sunshine time data. From the next address, the day's sunshine time data will be displayed for each unit of sunshine time" 1 1
1 1”.

The control flow in Fig. 5 differs from Fig. 3 in that the measurement switch is turned on. After detecting that the solar cell is on, there is a step (P41) of reading data to find the first address of the unwritten area, address 22 in FIG. 6, and writing index data to this first address. . A step (P61) of incrementing the address counter by +1 after detecting the output pulse of the timer is added.

The rest is the same as the above embodiment.

According to this embodiment, since sunshine time data including date data can be obtained, it is possible to display changes in sunshine time over time, for example, as shown in FIG. 7.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, sunlight hours can be easily and automatically recorded by using a solar cell as a power source and a sunshine hour sensor and an EEPROM as a sunshine hour recording medium. A recording device that can be effectively used for crop prediction etc. can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a sunlight time recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view thereof, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the control flow in the total 411 mode, and FIG. Similarly, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the control flow in the display mode, FIG. 7
8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the NAND cell type EEPROM used in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the memory cell array configuration, and FIG. 10 is the data FIG. 11 is a timing diagram for explaining the write operation, and FIG. 11 is a timing diagram for explaining the data read operation. 11...Solar cell, 12...Timer, 13...E
EPROM, 14...CPU, 15...Display section, 1
6...Input section. Figure 1 Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2 Figure Figure Figure Figure

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) a solar cell; a timer that receives the output of the solar cell and generates an output pulse at predetermined time intervals; an electrically rewritable nonvolatile semiconductor memory driven by the output of the solar cell; and the solar cell. A sunshine time recording device comprising: a control circuit that is driven by the output of a battery and serially writes data into the nonvolatile semiconductor memory using the output pulse of the timer as sunshine time data. (2) a solar cell; a timer that receives the output of the solar cell and generates an output pulse at predetermined time intervals; an electrically rewritable nonvolatile semiconductor memory driven by the output of the solar cell; and a measurement switch. and an input unit including a display switch; means for detecting the on state of the solar cell and the on state of the measurement switch and serially writing data into the nonvolatile semiconductor memory as sunlight time data using the output pulse of the timer; Data is read from the non-volatile semiconductor memory by detecting the on state of the solar cell and the on state of the display switch, and the cumulative value of sunshine hours is determined from the final address of the data writing area or this and the output pulse interval of the timer. 1. A sunshine hours recording device comprising: means for calculating the sunshine hours; and means for displaying the accumulated sunshine hours calculated by the means. (3) The nonvolatile semiconductor memory is an EEPROM in which a plurality of adjacent FETMOS type memory cells each having a floating gate and a control gate are connected in series so as to share a source and a drain to form a NAND cell. The sunlight time recording device according to either (1) or (2).