KR100850639B1 - Watt-hour meter with wireless remote meter reading function - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a power meter capable of wireless remote meter reading for power supplied to a customer, wherein the amount of power supplied is measured, the metering / RF one chip module wirelessly transmits to the center of a remote location while displaying the metering data. It provides a power meter capable of wireless remote meter reading configured.

Description

Watt-hour meter with wireless remote meter reading function}

1 is a block diagram of a power meter capable of wireless remote meter reading according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow of a power meter capable of remote meter reading according to the present invention.

3 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an application example of a power meter capable of remote meter reading according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a flow chart of the communication control via the RF transmitter and receiver in the meter reading capable of remote meter according to the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10: Weighing / RF one chip module 12: Main control part

14 memory 16 RF control unit

18: RF transmitter and receiver 20: current detector

30: voltage detector 40: display

50: power supply unit 60: pulse output circuit

The present invention is configured to measure (read) the amount of electricity used at each electricity meter installed at the customer for the power supplied to each home or workplace (hereinafter referred to as "consumer"), and to wirelessly transmit the metering data to the remote site. The present invention relates to a watt-hour meter capable of wireless remote meter reading, consisting of one-chip metering and meter reading functions.

In each home or business, people need electricity to keep their lives and activities smooth. Businesses that supply such power to each customer will install electricity meters in each customer to measure the amount of power supplied to each customer, and charge the usage fee according to the measured value. However, when a large number of subjects charge the usage fee, the method of imposing a usage fee by checking the electricity meter by the meter reader becomes inappropriate. In order to solve these problems, various remote meter reading systems have been proposed.

Such a remote meter reading system has evolved from a remote meter reading system through a wire to a remote meter reading system through a wireless system, and the wireless remote meter reading system is particularly useful for wide area remote meter reading because no communication line is required.

The electricity meter currently used for wireless remote meter reading is configured by combining an electricity meter for metering and displaying the amount of power supplied to and used by a customer, and a wireless communication device for transmitting the metered data measured in the electricity meter to a remote center. .

The watt-hour meter includes a current detection unit for detecting a current from the power line to the customer; A voltage detector for detecting a voltage on a power line drawn into the customer and a display unit for displaying the amount of power used; Using the current and voltage detected by the current detector and the voltage detector, the effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, etc. are calculated, and the detected current and voltage and the calculated effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, A microcomputer that stores metering data such as power factor and controls the display to display the calculated amount of power; And a communication interface for sending and receiving data to transmit metering data to the wireless communication device.

The wireless communication apparatus may further include a communication interface for exchanging data with the electricity meter, a memory for storing meter data received from the electricity meter, a communication protocol, and a control program, and for wireless communication with a remote center. And a wireless communication controller for controlling the wireless transceiver by a communication protocol and a control program stored in the memory to perform wireless data communication with a remote center.

As described above, the conventional electricity meter used for wireless meter reading has a problem in that the structure is complicated and the manufacturing cost is high because the wireless communication device is attached to the electricity meter.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and is configured to be able to meter (read) the amount of power supplied to each customer and wirelessly transmit the meter (read) data to a remote site. Its purpose is to provide a power meter capable of wireless remote meter reading that can be manufactured at a low cost while simplifying the structure by configuring the chip and remote meter reading function in one chip.

A wireless meter reading capable of wireless remote metering according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the electricity meter capable of wireless remote metering with respect to the power supplied to the consumer, It is equipped with the metering / RF one-chip module which displays the metering data and transmits to the center of a remote place wirelessly.

Here, the metering / RF one chip module receives the detected current data and the detected voltage data respectively detected from the current detector and the voltage detector with respect to the supplied power, calculates, stores and displays the metering data, and uses the Zigbee communication standard. By wireless communication with the remote center, and by wireless communication using the field connection device and the Zigbee communication standard, and to provide the weighing data and control parameters adjustment according to the request from the field connection device.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings it will be described in detail with respect to the wireless meter reading capable meter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of a power meter capable of wireless remote meter reading according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the wireless meter reading capable of wireless remote metering according to the present embodiment, the current detector 20, the voltage detector 30, the display 40, the power supply unit 50, the weighing / RF one chip module (10) and a pulse output circuit 50, the amount of power supplied to each customer is measured, the metering data is displayed, and wireless transmission is made to a remote center.

The current detector 20 is connected to a power line drawn into the customer, detects a current drawn into the customer, converts the detected current signal into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the metering / RF one chip module 10.

The voltage detector 30 is connected to a power line drawn into the customer, detects a voltage drawn into the customer, converts the detected voltage signal into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the metering / RF one chip module 10.

The display 50 displays the amount of power used according to the display signal from the metering / RF one chip module 10, and also displays the state of the electricity meter including the reception sensitivity state of the RF signal.

The power supply unit 60 is for supplying power to each component, and converts commercial AC power into direct current, and may use, for example, a mercury battery, a dry battery, or a lithium battery as necessary.

The metering / RF one-chip module 10 measures the amount of power supplied to the customer, stores, manages and displays the metering data, and manages communication with the remote center. The main controller 12 and the memory 14 ), An RF controller 16 and an RF transmitter / receiver 18.

The main controller 12 calculates an effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, etc. by using the detected current data input from the current detector 20 using the detected voltage data input from the voltage detector 30. The measured current and voltage and the calculated data such as the calculated effective power amount, reactive power amount, maximum demand power, power factor, etc. are accumulated and stored in the memory 14 and the effective power amount among the accumulated metered data is displayed on the display 40. Provided as a signal to display.

In addition, the main controller 12 controls the RF control unit 16 to measure the RF reception sensitivity, and stores the measured RF reception sensitivity in the memory 14 and provides the display 40 as a display signal for display. You can do that. Here, the display of the RF reception sensitivity may be represented by numbers, characters, symbols, graphs, and the like.

In addition, the main control unit 12 controls the RF control unit 16 to transmit data stored in the memory 14 in response to a request for reading data from a remote center, and when the specific event occurs, the main control unit ( 12 may generate an event message corresponding to the corresponding event and wirelessly transmit the generated event message to the remote center by controlling the RF control unit 16. Here, examples of the event include fluctuations in the supply power (on / off of the supply voltage of the power line, abnormal operation of the electricity meter), abnormal RF reception sensitivity, and the like.

The RF control unit 16 controls communication with the remote center side under the control of the main control unit 12, or measures and reports the RF received signal sensitivity to the main control unit 12.

The RF transceiver 18 performs RF transmission / reception with a remote center by using RF antennas under the control of the RF controller 16.

Here, it is preferable that the RF uses, for example, a ZigBee standard that can be implemented at low power consumption and low cost.

The memory 14 may be divided into, for example, a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage station stores application programs used by the main control unit 12 and the RF control unit 16, and the data storage area includes the detected current and voltage data, active power, reactive power, maximum demand power, and power factor. Power meter status data including RF reception sensitivity is stored along with the metering data.

The application program stored in the program storage area includes a calculation program for calculating the metering data such as the effective power amount, the reactive power amount, the maximum demand power, the power factor, and the like using the current and voltage detected by the main control unit 12, and the main control unit. A display drive program for displaying and driving the display 4 in (12), a storage management program for storing and managing the weighing data calculated using the detected current, voltage and calculation program in the memory 14, and a main control word. The unit 12 and the RF controller 16 may include a communication program for communicating with the remote center through the RF transceiver 18.

On the other hand, the main controller 12 of the metering / RF one chip module 10 of the present embodiment controls the pulse output circuit 90 to output a pulse in synchronization with the minimum unit of the measured effective power amount. Here, when the electricity meter is installed indoors, the output pulse of the pulse output circuit 90 may be provided, for example, by a display terminal box (eg, water meters, gas meters, electricity meters, etc.) installed outdoors. Apparatus for displaying in a single table market value using pulse data] can be used for the purpose of checking the usage of the consumer in the outdoors.

On the other hand, the RF transceiver 18 may perform communication with the field connection device (see 400 of FIG. 4) capable of short-range wireless communication according to the same communication standard as the RF transceiver. In this case, the main controller 12 performs an authentication procedure of the corresponding field access device 400 when a communication connection request is made from the field access device 400 through the RF transceiver 18 and the RF control unit 16. After that, it can be configured to perform the control according to the request from the field connection device 400. The request from the field connection device 400 may exemplify a request for confirming information of the corresponding electricity meter, a request for parameter adjustment of the corresponding electricity meter, and the like.

In the main control unit 12, the authentication process of the field connection device 400 provides in advance the identification information (authentication information) of the field connection device 400 to the corresponding electricity meter in the remote center, and the field connection device 400 By comparing the identification information (authentication information) of the field access device 400 included in the communication connection request information of the identification information (authentication information) provided from the remote center. Alternatively, the main control unit 12 may be configured to query the remote center for identification information (authentication information) of the field access device 400 included in the communication connection request information of the field access device 400.

On the other hand, in the electricity meter of the present invention, it is preferable to make the time equal to the remote center. For this purpose, the network side including the remote center periodically transmits GPS time data, CDMA time data, or NTP (Network Time Protocol) time data. In the present invention, the meter / RF one-chip module 10 of the watt-hour meter of the present invention allows time to be synchronized with the received time data. Accordingly, in the metering / RF one-chip module 10 of the watt-hour meter of the present invention, the use flow rate data is calculated and stored based on the same time as the remote center.

Next, with reference to Figure 2 will be described the operation of the meter reading capable of remote meter according to the present invention.

The main controller 12 of the metering / RF one chip module 10 according to the present invention receives the detected current data from the current detector 20 and the detected voltage data from the voltage detector 30 (step S10).

Subsequently, the main controller 12 calculates metering data such as an effective power amount, a reactive power amount, a maximum demand power, and a power factor by using the detected current data and the detected voltage data, and stores the calculated metering data in the memory 14. And store the total effective power amount among the metered data on the display 40 (step S12).

Thereafter, the main controller 12 determines whether a transmission interrupt occurs as the metering data transmission message is received from the remote center via the RF transceiver 18 and the RF controller 16 (step S14).

When the transmission interrupt occurs in the step S14, the main controller 12 transmits the measurement data stored in the memory 14 corresponding to the measurement data transmission message from the remote center to the RF control unit 16 and the RF transmission / reception unit 18. Control to be transmitted to the remote center side via step S16). Thereafter, control in the main controller 12 proceeds to step S10 described above.

On the other hand, if no transmission interrupt occurs in step S14, the main controller 12 determines whether an RF reception sensitivity measurement interrupt occurs (step S18). The RF reception sensitivity measurement interrupt is preferably generated periodically.

When the RF reception sensitivity measurement interrupt occurs in step S18, the main controller 12 controls the RF control unit 16 to measure the RF reception sensitivity, and stores the measured reception sensitivity in the memory 14, Control to display a reception sensitivity display corresponding to the reception sensitivity on the display 40 (step S20).

On the other hand, if the RF reception sensitivity measurement interruption does not occur in step S18, the control proceeds to step S10 described above.

As described above, in the electricity meter according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately calculate and display the weighing data by the metering / RF one-chip module, and at the same time, to transmit the remote meter reading data to the remote center, and to measure and display the RF reception sensitivity. It is possible.

3 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an application example of a power meter capable of remote meter reading according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the remote meter reading power meter 100 according to the present invention is configured to be able to communicate with the remote center 200 through the wireless communication network 300, and also, the remote meter reading according to the present invention is possible The electricity meter 100 is configured to be able to communicate with a local area wireless communication apparatus 400 capable of short-range wireless communication by the same communication standard as the RF transceiver 18.

The field connection device 400 is a portable device for checking information on the electricity meter 100 and adjusting parameters of the electricity meter 100 in the field.

Next, with reference to Figure 4 will be described the communication control flow through the RF transmitter and receiver in a remote meter capable of meter reading according to the present invention.

The main controller 12 of the electricity meter 100 according to the present invention checks whether the corresponding wireless data is transmitted from the remote center 200 when the wireless data is received through the RF transceiver 18 and the RF controller 16. (Steps S30 to S34).

In step S34, when it is confirmed that the received wireless data is transmitted from the remote center 200, the main controller 12 performs a control to perform data communication with the remote center 200.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S34 that the received wireless data is not transmitted from the remote center 200, the main control unit 12 determines that the corresponding wireless data is transmitted from the field access device 400.

Thereafter, the main controller 12 analyzes the received wireless data and performs an authentication process for the corresponding field access device 400 (step S40).

Here, in the authentication process, the remote center 200 provides the power meter 100 with the identification information (authentication information) of the field connection device 400 in advance, and wireless data (for example, the field connection device 400). For example, the identification information (authentication information) of the field access device 400 included in the communication connection request information may be made by comparing the identification information (authentication information) provided by the remote center. Alternatively, the main control unit 12 authenticates by identifying the identification information (authentication information) of the field connection device 400 included in the wireless data (for example, communication connection request information) of the field connection device 400 to the remote center. It may be done.

After the authentication process is performed on the site connection device 400 in step S40, the main control unit 12 provides the data requested by the site connection device 400 by communication with the site connection device 400. To perform the control process for the control, or to perform the control process for adjusting the parameters of the electricity meter requested by the field connection device 400 (step S42).

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, but can be modified and modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention. If such changes and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims, it will be apparent that they are included in the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to calculate and display the amount of power used by the meter / RF one-chip module in the electricity meter for the power supplied to each customer, and to manage the usage at the same time. As data can be sent and the RF reception sensitivity can be measured and displayed, it is possible to simplify the structure of the telemeterable meter and at a low cost.

In addition, according to the present invention by the portable field connection device to enable wireless communication with the RF transceiver of the meter / RF one-chip module in the power meter, the structure of the power meter capable of remote meter reading and field information confirmation and parameter adjustment Simplified, low-cost manufacturing of remotely meterable meters is possible.

Claims (6)

A power meter having a current detector, a voltage detector, and a display and capable of wireless remote meter reading on power supplied to a consumer, By using the detection data from the current detection unit and the voltage detection unit with respect to the power supplied, the amount of usage is measured, the measurement data are displayed, and wireless transmission to a center of a remote location provides one-chip measurement and RF communication functions. Equipped with a one-chip weighing / RF one-chip module, The metering / RF one chip module, Control the amount of usage, store and manage the metered data and display on the display, control to measure the RF reception sensitivity, control the storage and measurement of the measured RF reception sensitivity, and display on the display. A main control unit for controlling to transmit the storage and weighing data to a remote center in response to a request for reading data from the remote control center; An RF transmitter and receiver for performing communication with a remote center using a Zigbee communication standard; An RF controller for controlling the RF transceiver; An application program used by the main control unit and the RF control unit, and a memory for storing the electricity meter state data including the metering data and the RF reception sensitivity. The method of claim 1, The main control part of the weighing / RF one chip module is The detection current data and the detection voltage data detected from the current detector and the voltage detector, respectively, are input to the supplied power, control to calculate and store the weighing data in the memory, and to display the measured data on the display. Wireless communication with the remote center using the And controlling the RF control unit so that the RF transmitter / receiver performs wireless communication with a site access device using a Zigbee communication standard to provide meter data and control parameters according to a request from the site access device. Meter that can read meter. The method of claim 2, The main control part of the weighing / RF one chip module is The RF control unit controls the RF transmitter / receiver to receive the authentication information for the field connection device from a remote center in advance, and stores the authentication information in the memory, and pre-stores the authentication information included in the communication request information from the field connection device. If the same as the authentication information, wireless meter reading capable of wireless meter, characterized in that to allow communication with the field connection device. The method of claim 2, The main control part of the weighing / RF one chip module is Extracting the authentication information included in the communication request information from the field access device, and inquiring this authentication information to the remote center to perform the authentication of the field access device, and to allow communication with the site access device. Power meter which can perform wireless remote meter reading to do. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The main control unit of the metering / RF one chip module is configured to synchronize time using GPS time data, CDMA time data, or NTP (Network Time Protocol) time data transmitted from a network side including a remote center. Power meter with remote meter reading. The method of claim 5, The main control unit of the metering / RF one chip module measures a wireless signal sensitivity received from a center side of a remote site and displays the received signal sensitivity.

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