JPH09149143A - Slave radio equipment for automatic metering system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid uncollection of data due to expiration of time of a data request. SOLUTION: A control means 13 of the slave radio equipment 1 discriminates whether or not a retrial request comes within a prescribed time when a data request from a center equipment sent via a master radio equipment means through a radio channel is not normally finished due to expiration of time, and controls a radio communication circuit 10 to send data stored in a storage means 12 to the center equipment via a meter radio equipment means when a retrial request is received from the center equipment. Furthermore, when no retrial request is received from the center equipment within a prescribed time, the control means 13 controls the radio communication circuit 10 to send the data stored in the storage means 12 to the center equipment by the transmission of the slave radio equipment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention collects a usage amount from a terminal device such as a water meter, a gas meter, a power meter, a hot water meter, a calorimeter, etc. by a slave wireless device, and collects the usage data by wireless communication. In an automatic meter-reading system in which communication is performed with the wireless device means and further transmitted from the master wireless device means to the center device by using the telephone network control device for the terminal, wireless communication is performed between the terminal device and the master wireless device means. Regarding the improvement of the child radio to be performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such a wireless communication system is
Unlike the system in which the terminal network control device and the terminal device are connected by wire, the data is temporarily stored in the storage means in order to convert the data to the wireless in the parent wireless device and the child wireless device. Communication may take a long time, and communication may not end normally. For example, in the center device, if the response signal does not arrive within 10 seconds in response to the data request signal, the time is over and the telephone line is disconnected. Therefore, even if a retry signal is sent from the center device for a request signal that has timed out, the response signal of the slave radio does not come within 10 seconds, so it is timed and data is collected by the center device. Will not be possible.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a slave radio which can eliminate uncollected data due to time-out in an automatic meter reading system using radio.

[0004]

The present invention is connected to a parent radio unit 3 connected to a center unit 7 via a telephone line by a terminal network control unit 4 via a radio transmission line, and the parent radio unit While performing wireless data communication with the machine means 3,
A slave radio 1 that is connected to a terminal device 2 and collects data of the terminal device 2, and a wireless communication circuit 10 for performing wireless communication with a master wireless device means 3, and power supply to the wireless communication circuit 10. Power supply means 11 for performing the above, storage means 12 for storing data from the terminal device 2, and control means 13. The control means 13 has a function of controlling the power supply means 11 so as to supply power to the wireless communication circuit 10.
In addition to the function of controlling the wireless communication circuit 10 to transmit the data to the master radio unit 3 and the control function of storing the data from the terminal device 2 in the storage unit 12, a data request from the center unit 7 is received. A function of determining whether or not there is a retry request from the center apparatus 7 within a certain time after the normal termination due to time-out, and a data stored in the storage means 12 when the retry request is made, 7 is added with a function of controlling the wireless communication circuit 10 so as to communicate with the communication terminal 7.

Further, when there is no retry request from the center device 7 to the control means 13 within a fixed time, the storage means 1
It is possible to add a function of controlling the wireless communication circuit 10 so that the data stored in 2 can be communicated to the center device 7 by calling the slave wireless device.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an automatic meter reading system using a slave radio according to the present invention. This system connects the slave wireless device 1 according to the present invention to a terminal device, for example, a meter 2 such as a water meter, a gas meter, an electric power meter, a hot water meter, a calorimeter, or the like in a wired manner, and is used from the meter 2. Child radio 1 for quantity data and security data
Is transmitted to the master radio unit 3 through the radio transmission path.
Upon receiving this, the master radio unit 3 operates the terminal network controller 4
The data is transmitted to the center device 7 by the no-linking method by the telephone line passing through the telephone exchange 5, the center network control device 6, and the center switch 7. A telephone 8 is connected to the terminal network control device 4, and a no-linking trunk 9 is connected to the telephone exchange 5.
Is connected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the slave radio 1 includes a radio communication circuit 10 for performing radio communication with the master radio means 3,
Power supply means 11 using a battery, RAM and EERO
It has a storage means 12 such as M and a control means (CPU) 13. The control means 13 controls the power supply means 11 to supply power to the wireless communication circuit 10, controls the wireless communication circuit 10 to transmit data to the master radio means 3, and controls the meter 2 In addition to the control function for storing the data in the storage means 12, the following functions are further provided.

(1) There is a retry request from the center device 7 within a certain period of time after the data request sent from the center device 7 wirelessly via the master radio unit 3 is not normally terminated due to time-out. Function to determine whether or not. (2) A function of controlling the wireless communication circuit 10 to communicate the data stored in the storage means 12 to the center apparatus 7 via the master radio unit 3 when a retry request is issued from the center apparatus 7. (3) A function of controlling the wireless communication circuit 10 so that the data stored in the storage means 12 is communicated to the center device 7 by calling a slave wireless device when there is no retry request from the center device 7 within a fixed time.

Next, the control performed by the control means 13 of the slave radio 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, if it is a radio wave in the reception frequency band, it is received, and in the following step S2, it is judged whether or not it is a request signal from the parent radio unit 3, and if it is a different signal, it goes to step S1. Return. If it is a request signal, in step S3, the reception standby over flag is checked to determine whether it is a retry request communication performed within a fixed time. If it is a retry request communication, the process proceeds to step S6 and a retry request is made. If not, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, a data request signal is transmitted to the terminal device (meter) 2, and in subsequent step S5, the response data from the terminal device (meter) 2 is received and the data is stored in the storage means 12.

Next, in step S6, a radio wave is transmitted from the slave radio 1 to the parent radio means 3 in response to the request signal from the parent radio means 3 in S2. Then, in step S7, reception standby is performed. If no radio wave is received, the process proceeds to step S12, and it is determined whether the reception standby time has elapsed. If the reception standby time has elapsed, the center device 7 determines that the response data has not been received due to the time-out, sets the reception standby over flag in step S13, and returns to step S1.

When the radio wave is received in step S7, it is determined in the following step S8 whether the signal is an end signal,
If it is a request signal, the process returns to step S3 to repeat the same operation. If it is an end signal, the reception standby over flag is reset in step S9, and then the process returns to step S1.

On the other hand, if there is no received radio wave in step S1, it is determined in step S10 whether or not there is no received radio wave for a certain period of time.
In 1, determine whether there is a reception standby over flag,
If the reception standby over flag is present, the process proceeds to step S6 as the slave radio calling mode, communication with the master radio means 3 is started, and the same operation is performed thereafter.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate uncollected data due to time-out. Further, since the retry request can be made only once, it is not necessary to wastefully waste time and expense (telephone bill, electricity bill for facilities, etc.) at the time of the retry request.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic meter reading system using a slave radio according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a slave wireless device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control performed by the control unit of the slave wireless device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Child Radio 2 Terminal Device (Meter) 3 Parent Radio Means 4 Terminal Network Controller 5 Telephone Switch 6 Center Network Controller 7 Center Equipment 8 Telephone 9 No Linking Trunk 10 Wireless Communication Circuit 11 Power Supply Means 12 Storage Means 13 Control means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A terminal network control device is connected to a parent radio device means connected to a center device via a telephone line via a radio transmission line, and performs data communication by radio with the parent radio device means. In a slave wireless device connected to a terminal device and collecting data of the terminal device, a wireless communication circuit for performing wireless communication with the master wireless device means, and a power supply means for supplying power to the wireless communication circuit, Storage means for storing data from the terminal device, a function for controlling the power supply means so as to supply power to the wireless communication circuit, and the wireless communication circuit for transmitting data to the master radio means And a control means having a control function for storing data from the terminal device in the storage means, and further to the control means, a data request from the center device. Is not completed normally due to a time-out, and a function to determine whether or not there is a retry request from the center device within a fixed time, and when the retry request is made, the data stored in the storage means is stored in the center device. And a function of controlling the wireless communication circuit for communicating with the slave wireless device for an automatic meter reading system. 2. The wireless communication circuit is controlled so that when the control means does not request a retry from the center device within a fixed time, the data stored in the storage means is communicated to the center device by calling a slave radio device. A slave radio for an automatic meter reading system, which is characterized by adding a function to