KR20120032262A - Plc gateway - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A PLC(Power Line Communication) gate way is provided to enable a user to use a wireless communication apparatus without using an additional apparatus by interlocking a wireless network with the additional apparatus. CONSTITUTION: A pair of diamonds include an overlapping phenomenon in a case(101). When a connecting direction of an outlet is changed, the diamond includes a symmetrical figure. A plug is attached and detached at the outlet. A PLC communication module modulates data transmitted and received by the plug. An RF(Radio Frequency) module is connected with the PLC communication module. The RF module changes the data of the PLC communication module into wireless data.

Description

PLC gateway {PLC gateway}

The present invention relates to a PLC gateway, and in particular, connected to the outlet, the PLC network and the wireless network interlocked, and even if the mounting direction of the outlet is changed to form a left-right symmetry, as well as reducing the visual rejection, home network, and A PLC gateway suitable for a wireless meter reading system.

Power line communication (PLC) is used to build a network using an electrical outlet normally provided in a building without using a dedicated network cable. Power line communication is easy to make a hypothesis compared to the existing wired network because the network is formed by using the power line built in the house, and has various advantages over the wireless network which is affected by the data transmission speed and stability by obstacles.

As described above, a home network using power line communication is generally connected to various network devices centering on a home server or a home gateway having a home server function in a network center to provide various services. However, in order to connect a terminal that cannot use an existing power line communication network, for example, a notebook equipped with a wireless LAN card, to a power line communication network, a problem arises in that a home gateway supports a WLAN and is compatible with the power line communication network.

An object of the present invention is to provide a PLC gateway that interoperates with a PLC network and a wireless network to enable mutual data transmission with a device using wireless communication, and to reduce the visual rejection by symmetrical appearance regardless of the connection direction of the outlet. In providing.

According to the present invention, a pair of rhombuses have a shape where the vertices overlap each other, and when the connection direction with the outlet is changed, a case forming a symmetrical form, a plug detachable from the outlet for connecting to the power line, And a PLC communication module for modulating and demodulating data transmitted and received through the plug, and an RF module connected to the PLC communication module and converting data of the PLC communication module into wireless data.

As described above, the present invention allows the power line communication network and the wireless network to interwork so that the existing wireless communication device can be used without using additional devices, and can provide a symmetrical appearance regardless of the connection direction of the outlet. .

1 shows an appearance according to an example of a PLC gateway according to the present invention.
2 shows the back side of a PLC gateway connected to an outlet.
3 is a block diagram of a PLC gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 illustrates a system configuration according to an example in which a PLC gateway according to the present invention is applied to a home network.

The PLC gate A according to the present invention may operate as a bridge that enables data communication with an existing WLAN device using wireless (Zigbee) communication. When constructing a home network, the PLC gateway according to the present invention can transmit a signal received from a wireless sensor in a home to a wireless end device requiring a signal from the sensor.

The PLC gateway according to the invention can be connected to an embedded outlet which provides commercial alternating current. It is possible to perform data communication with a device having an existing wireless LAN while being connected to an embedded outlet and performing power line communication.

In addition, the PLC gateway according to the present invention shows a shape that is symmetrical regardless of the arrangement direction of the outlet in the home, so that the appearance of the device attached to the home is not considered visually rejected.

Usually, the socket grooves of an indoor outlet are arranged in one row along the left and right or up and down directions, or the socket grooves are formed in a 45 degree diagonal direction. When the socket grooves of the outlet are arranged in a row along one of the up, down, left and right directions, the rectangular shaped case is shown in its shape, but when the socket groove of the outlet is inclined at 45 degrees, the case is twisted. Accordingly, the case of the PLC gateway 100 according to the present invention has a shape in which two rhombuses overlap, and one of the vertices of each rhombus overlaps with each other so that left and right symmetry even when inclined to a 45 degree shape of the socket groove. It can keep the form.

In addition, one side of the pair of rhombus has a plug and a power supply (SMPS) connected to the outlet, the other side is generated in the power line communication by positioning the analog front end (AFE), control unit (PLC), interface unit (IF) The influence of the noise can be minimized.

PLC gateway according to the present invention,

-Plug to be inserted into the outlet is made integrally to the case 101 to minimize the inconvenience caused by occupying the outlet,

-When the plug is inserted into the 45 degree angle outlet, it is designed so that there is no visual rejection caused by the unbalance of the appearance,

-Wireless communication unit (RF) and control unit (PLC) is designed in a module structure, it is easy to replace with other communication modules if necessary, and includes an interface unit (IF) to enable replacement at a low cost,

Includes Ethernet PHY and Remote PLC configuration

-Very easy to move and install, service at relatively low communication cost,

-It secures compatibility and communication reliability by applying PLC and Zigbee standard,

-Module and Mesh Topology conforming to IEEE 802.15.4 2.4GHz ZigBee Standard (ZigBee Pro Stack) can be applied.

As described above, the PLC gateway according to the present invention may exist alone in an area where wired and wireless communication environments are mixed.

By reconstructing packet data between ZigBee and PLC in MCU, it is easy to send and receive data to other communication media.

These PLC gateways can support wired, wireless, and power line communication environment when configuring home network of home.

When interlocked with indoor sensors, it can be used as a central gateway of a home network.

1 shows an appearance according to an example of a PLC gateway according to the present invention, FIG. 2 shows a back side of a PLC gateway connected to an outlet, and FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a PLC gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 illustrates a system configuration of an example in which a PLC gateway according to the present invention is applied to a home network.

1 to 4, the PLC gateway 100 according to the present invention includes a plug, an analog front end (AFE), a power supply unit (SMPS), a control unit (PLC), a wireless communication unit (RF), an interface unit (IF), And an interface terminal GPIO and a display unit LED.

The power supply (SMPS) rectifies the commercial AC to drive the analog front end (AFE), the control unit (PLC), the wireless communication unit (RF), the interface unit (IF), the interface terminal (GPIO), and the display unit (LED). Generate power. The power supply SMPS may be located adjacent to the plug AC. The power supply SMPS may be located at one side of the pair of lozenge cases 101 together with the plug AC.

The analog front end (AFE) is responsible for at least one of filtering, modulating, or demodulating a signal transmitted and received via the plug (AC), and the controller (PLC) controls the overall PLC gateway according to the present invention, the plug (AC) It can be in charge of one of the modulation and demodulation of the signal transmitted and received through. The wireless communication unit RF processes a signal of power line communication through a plug AC as a wireless signal, and a communication standard thereof may be determined to perform data communication with wireless communication equipment that is commonly used. For example, the wireless communication unit RF may perform Zigbee communication according to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.

The specifications of the PLC gateway developed by the applicant are shown in Table 1 below.

Figure 4 shows an example of a network for measuring the amount of power using the PLC gateway developed by the applicant and transmits it to the outside, the PLC gateway according to the present invention, as well as the gateway of the home network, the wireless sensor and the home sensor While performing communication, it may also be linked with a server located in an external network to check and provide power, water and sewage usage, gas usage, and oil movement.

100: PLC gateway 101: case

Claims (1)

A pair of rhombuses having a shape in which the vertices overlap each other, the case forming a symmetrical shape when the connection direction with the outlet is changed;
A plug detachable from an outlet for connecting to a power line;
A PLC communication module for modulating and demodulating data transmitted and received through the plug; And
And a RF module connected to the PLC communication module and converting data of the PLC communication module into wireless data.

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