KR20150025641A - Apparatus and method for ami communication preventing mass concurrent ack packets - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and a communication method for a remote meter reading infrastructure suppressing generation of a mass amount of concurrent response packets. The communication apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a data concentrating device having a first control unit, a first communication unit, and a second communication unit; and a device to be controlled having a third communication unit, 1 a second control unit, and a storage unit. According to the invention, the devices to be controlled are classified into a plurality of groups and only an assigned group of devices are allowed to transmit approval signals to the data concentrating device according to a multicast method, thereby suppressing concurrent generation of a large amount of approval signals and preventing an overload on the data concentration device and a communication failure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and method for a telemetering infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets,

More particularly, the present invention relates to a communication apparatus and method for a remote metering infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets, and more particularly, The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and method for a telemetry infra-structure that suppresses the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets so as to prevent an overload and a communication failure of the data concentrator.

In general, in the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a data concentrating unit is connected to a server through a dedicated communication network, and an electronic meter, smart appliance, electric And may be connected to a plurality of control target devices, which may include a cooling / heating device having a demand control function, by wireless communication.

In this remote meter reading infrastructure, the data concentrator collects the meter reading data from the scattered control target devices and transmits the collected meter reading data to the upper server. In order to collect the meter reading data, the data concentrator generally receives the measurement command from the server and transmits the measurement command to the plurality of control target devices in a broadcast manner.

When receiving the measurement command from the server, the control subject device sends an acknowledgment signal (ACK signal) indicating that the measurement command has been received to the data concentrator and transmits the measurement data obtained as a result of the measurement command to the data concentrator.

The data concentration device transmits the approval signal and the meter reading data received from the plurality of control target devices to the server. At this time, since the data concentrator transmits commands to the plurality of control target devices in a broadcast manner, it is possible for all the broadcast target control target devices to simultaneously transmit an acknowledgment signal to the data concentrator.

In this case, the frequency bandwidth used for wireless communication between the data concentrator and the control target devices is exceeded due to the approval signals transmitted to the data concentrator at the same time, or the number of packets of the acknowledgment signal received exceeds the processing capacity May cause the data concentrator to malfunction.

A related prior art is Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1171435 (registered Jul. 30, 2012, entitled "Metering Data Collecting Device," an automatic meter reading system including the same, and a remote meter reading method using the same).

The present invention relates to a data concentrator and a control target device connected to a telecommunication network for remote metering infrastructures in which a large amount of concurrent response packets are transmitted to prevent simultaneous generation of a large amount of acknowledgment signals, And to provide a communication apparatus and method for a remote meter-reading infra.

A communication apparatus for a remote meter reading infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets according to an aspect of the present invention receives a meter reading command from a server connected through a network and transmits the meter reading command to a control target apparatus, And a control target device for receiving the meter reading command received from the data concentrator and transmitting an approval signal for the meter reading command to the data concentrator, wherein the data concentrator transmits the meter reading command The control target device sends a group identifier for specifying a group of control target devices to which the approval signal is to be transmitted to the control target device together, and when the group identifier received together with the probe reading command matches the group to which the control target device belongs, And transmits an approval signal to the data concentrator.

In the present invention, the data concentrator may include a first communicator communicating with the server, a second communicator communicating with the control target device, and a first controller controlling the data concentrator as a whole.

In the present invention, the control target device may include a third communication unit that communicates with the data concentrator, a storage unit that stores the approval signal, and a second control unit that performs the meter reading command and controls the control target device as a whole .

In the present invention, when receiving the approval signal from the control target device, the data concentration device retransmits the approval signal to a plurality of control target devices.

In the present invention, when receiving the negative acknowledgment signal from the control target device in response to the retransmitted acknowledgment signal, the data concentrator initializes the group identifier and retransmits the inspection target instruction to the plurality of control target devices , And transmits information on the specific control target device that has transmitted the negative approval signal and the negative approval signal to the server.

In the present invention, when receiving the negative acknowledgment signal, the data concentrator retransmits the inspection instruction to the control target device by a predetermined number of retries, and when the number of retransmissions of the inspection instruction is equal to the predetermined number of retries And transmits the information on the specific control target device that has transmitted the negative acknowledgment signal and the negative acknowledgment signal to the server.

In the present invention, the control subject device stores the approval signal in the storage unit when the group identifier received together with the meter reading command does not match the group to which the group identifier belongs.

In the present invention, the control subject device transmits a permission signal to the data concentration device when the identifier of the received approval signal does not match the identifier of the approval signal stored in the storage section.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets, comprising the steps of: transmitting a meter reading command and a group identifier by a data concentrator; A step in which the data concentrator retransmits an acknowledgment signal to the control target device, a step of determining whether the signal received from the control target device in response to the retransmitted acknowledgment signal is a negative acknowledgment signal The data concentrator initializes the group identifier, retransmits the inspection command, and transmits information on the control target device that transmitted the negative acknowledgment signal and the negative acknowledgment signal, And if the received signal is not a negative acknowledgment signal, And a step of updating at least one of the group of the data concentration apparatuses capable of transmitting the probe command or the approval signal to be transmitted.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets, comprising the steps of: receiving data from a data concentrator; Determining whether the group identifier received by the control subject device together with the meter reading command matches a group to which the control object device belongs, if the received data is a command to read the data, And the control target device transmits an approval signal to the data concentrator when the control target device coincides with the group to which the control target device belongs.

The communication method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets according to the present invention further includes the step of storing the approval signal in the storage unit of the control target device when the group identifiers do not match .

The communication method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets according to the present invention is characterized in that when the received data is not the meter reading command, The second control unit determines whether the identifiers of the approval signals previously stored in the storage unit of the device match each other and transmits a negative approval signal to the data concentrator only when the identifiers do not coincide with each other.

According to the present invention, since an approval signal is transmitted from only a control target device belonging to one group among all control target devices receiving an instruction from the data concentrator, the amount of data to be transmitted at one time decreases, And the communication success rate is improved, thereby preventing a communication failure.

1 is a block diagram of a communication device for a telemetry infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a data concentrator in a communication method for a remote meter reading infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control target device in a communication method for a remote meter reading infrastructure for suppressing the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A communication apparatus and method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

1 is a block diagram of a communication device for a telemetry infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a communication device for a remote meter reading infrastructure that suppresses the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a data concentrator 100 and a plurality of control subject devices 200 Lt; / RTI >

The data concentrator 100 receives a meter reading command from a server connected via a network and transmits the reading result to the server.

The data concentrator 100 includes a first communication unit 120 for communicating with a server, a second communication unit 130 for communicating with the control target device 200, and a first control unit 110 for controlling the data concentrator as a whole .

The control subject device 200 receives the readout command transmitted from the data concentrator and transmits the readout result obtained by performing the approval signal (ACK) or the readout command to the readout command to the data concentrator.

Here, the approval signal (ACK) may include an identifier (ACK ID) of an approval signal corresponding to the inspection instruction. For example, the ID of the communication packet transmitted from the server including the meter reading command can be used as the identifier (ACK ID) of the approval signal.

The control subject device 200 includes a third communication unit 220 for communicating with the data concentration device, a storage unit 230 for storing an acknowledgment signal (ACK), and a second And a control unit 210.

At this time, the plurality of control subject devices 200 may be divided into several groups, and a specific group identifier (group ID) may be assigned to each group.

This group identifier (group ID) can be represented by an 8-bit integer.

The data concentrator 100 can simultaneously transmit the meter reading command and the specific group identifier (group ID) to the plurality of control subject devices 200 in a broadcast manner.

Here, the group identifier (group ID) transmitted together with the meter reading command specifies the group of the control target device 200 that can transmit the approval signal (ACK) to the data concentration device after performing the meter reading command do.

At this time, when the value of the group identifier (group ID) transmitted by the data convergence device 100 is set to a predetermined specific first preliminary value, for example, when it is set to 0, any group transmits an acknowledge signal ACK . Also, when the value of the group identifier (group ID) is set to a predetermined specific second preliminary value, for example, when it is set to 255, all groups can transmit an acknowledgment signal (ACK).

If the predefined specific preliminary values are 0 and 255 as described above, the group identifier (group ID) may have a value from 1 to 254.

The data concentrator 100 retransmits the received acknowledgment signal ACK to the plurality of control target devices 200 when receiving the acknowledgment signal ACK indicating that the inspection object command has been received from the control target device 200 can do.

At this time, the control subject device 200 can transmit a negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) in response to the acknowledgment ACK. If the control subject device 200 transmits a negative acknowledgment signal (NACK), it means that the corresponding control target device 200 has not performed the corresponding meter reading command.

At this time, when the data concentrator 100 receives the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK), the data concentrator 100 sets the group identifier (group ID) to be transmitted to the first preliminary value (0 in this example) Retransmits the meter reading command and the group identifier (group ID). Therefore, when the control subject devices 200 can not perform the meter reading command without having to transmit the acknowledge signal ACK again, the control subject devices 200 can perform the meter reading command again.

In this case, the data concentrator 100 also transmits the information on the control target device 200 that has not performed the meter reading command and the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) received from the control target device 200 to the server. Therefore, the server can record information on the control target device 200 in which an abnormality may occur.

At this time, when the data concentrator 100 receives the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK), it may limit the number of times that the control target device 200 is retransmitted. That is, when receiving the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK), the data concentrator 100 retransmits the meter reading command to the control target device 200 by the maximum number of retries, and the number of times the meter reading command is re- (NACK) is transmitted to the server, information on the specific control target device (200) which transmitted the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) and the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) can be transmitted to the server have.

When the control target device 200 receives the meter reading command and the group identifier (group ID) from the data concentrator 100, the control target device 200 performs a meter reading command and transmits the group identifier (group ID) to the group to which the control target device 200 belongs It is possible to transmit an acknowledgment signal (ACK) to the data concentrator 100.

That is, since the control target device 200 belonging to a specific group transmits an acknowledgment signal (ACK) to the data concentrator 100 that has sent the meter reading command to itself, the transmission of the acknowledge signal (ACK) do.

If the received group identifier (group ID) does not match the group to which the control target device 200 belongs, the control target device 200 does not transmit the approval signal (ACK) to the data concentrator 100 And stores the approval signal (ACK) in the storage unit 230 of the target device 200.

Thereafter, the data concentration device 100 retransmits the acknowledgment signal ACK received from the other controlled device 200, and the controlled device 200 receives the retransmitted acknowledgment signal ACK.

At this time, the control subject device 200 compares the identifier (ACK ID) of the acknowledgment signal retransmitted with the identifier (ACK ID) of the acknowledgment signal stored in the storage unit 230 so that the identifiers (ACK ID) (NACK) to the data concentrator 100 if it is determined that the received signal is a negative acknowledgment signal (NACK).

If the retransmitted acknowledgment signal ACK matches the acknowledgment signal ACK ID stored in the storage unit 230, the control target device 200 does not match the group identifier (group ID) ACK) is stored, it means that the acknowledgment signal (ACK) for the command is retransmitted. Therefore, the control subject device 200 does not need to perform any further operation.

However, if the identifier (ACK ID) of the acknowledgment signal does not match, the control subject device 200 indicates that the command corresponding to the acknowledgment ACK has not been executed. Therefore, the acknowledgment signal (NACK) 100).

2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a data concentrator in a communication method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the data concentrator 100 transmits a meter reading command received through the first communication unit 120 from the server to the plurality of control subject apparatuses 200 in a broadcast manner through the second communication unit 130 (S110 ).

Then, the data concentrator 110 receives an acknowledgment signal (ACK) from one or more control target devices 200 through the second communication unit 130 (S120).

Thereafter, the data concentrator 110 retransmits the acknowledgment signal (ACK) received through the second communication unit 130 to the plurality of control target devices 200 (S130).

Then, the control unit 110 of the data concentrator 110 determines whether a negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) is received from the control subject device 200 (S140).

If the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) is received from the control target device 200, the data concentrator 100 sets the group identifier (group ID) to be transmitted through the control unit 110 to a predetermined first preliminary value And retransmits the meter reading command and the group identifier (group ID) through the second communication unit 130. The data concentrator 100 also receives information on the control target device 200 that has transmitted the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) through the first communication unit 120 and information on the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) received from the control target device 200 ) To the server (S150) and terminates the process.

The transmission of the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) by the control subject device 200 means that the control object device 200 has not performed the inspection instruction corresponding to the acknowledgment signal ACK retransmitted. Therefore, when the group identifier (group ID) is set as the first preliminary value and the probe command and the group identifier (group ID) are retransmitted, the control subject devices 200 can not transmit the probe signal command If not, the meter reading command can be executed again.

In addition, by transmitting the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) and information on the control target device 200 to the server, the server can record information on the control target device 200 that may cause an error.

If the negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) is not received from the control target device 200, the data concentrator 100 updates the group of the control target device 200 to process the inspection or the probe reading command to be processed (S160) And terminates.

Here, the update of the group can be performed, for example, by increasing the value of the group identifier (group ID) by one. Further, the meter reading command can be updated by transmitting a new meter reading command received from the server, for example.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control target device in a communication method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of concurrent response packets according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the control subject device 200 receives data from the data concentrator 100 through the third communication unit 220 (S210).

Here, the data received by the control target device 200 may include a meter reading command and a group identifier (group ID). The data received from at least one of the control target devices 200 and received by the data concentrator 100 ACK) may be included.

The control target device 200 determines whether the received data is a meter reading command through the second control unit 210 (S220).

If the received data is a meter reading command, the second controller 210 of the device 200 controls the received meter reading command (S230).

Next, the second control unit 210 of the control target device 200 determines whether the group identifier (group ID) received together with the meter reading command coincides with the group identifier (group ID) of the group to which the control target device 200 belongs (S240).

If the group identifiers (group IDs) coincide with each other, the control subject device 200 transmits an acknowledgment signal (ACK) to the data concentrator 100 through the third communication unit 220 (S250) (ACK) to the controller 230 and terminates the process.

In this case, the acknowledgment signal ACK may include an acknowledgment signal identifier (ACK ID), and the identifier of the acknowledgment signal (ACK ID) may be the ID of the communication packet transmitted from the server, for example.

If the group IDs do not coincide with each other in step S240, the control subject device 200 stores an acknowledgment signal ACK in the storage unit 230 (S260) and terminates the process.

That is, if the group identifier (group ID) does not coincide with each other, the control subject device 200 does not transmit the acknowledgment signal (ACK), so that the control subject device 200 transmits the group ID (ACK) to the data concentrator (100) only when the group IDs (group IDs) match.

If the received data is not the meter reading command in step S220, the received data is an acknowledgment signal ACK received from the at least one control target device 200 by the data concentrator 100 and retransmitted.

At this time, the control unit 210 of the control subject device 200 determines whether the identifier (ACK ID) of the approval signal corresponding to the received data matches the identifier (ACK ID) of the approval signal stored in the storage unit 230 (S270).

If the identifier (ACK ID) of the approval signal matches, the control subject device 200 ends the process.

The control target device 200 transmits a negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) to the data convergence device 100 through the third communication unit 220 (S280). If the ACK ID of the acknowledgment signal does not match Terminate the process.

That is, since the control target device 200 does not correspond to the group designated by the data concentration device 100 to transmit the acknowledgment signal (ACK) at the time when the control target device 200 previously performed the meter reading command, Since the acknowledgment signal ACK is stored, the ACK ID of the acknowledgment signal indicates that the control subject device 200 has already performed the probe signal corresponding to the acknowledgment signal ACK.

On the other hand, if the ACK IDs do not coincide with each other, it means that the control target device 200 has not performed the probe command corresponding to the acknowledgment signal ACK retransmitted from the data concentrator 100, The control target device 200 transmits a negative acknowledgment signal (NACK) to inform the data concentrator 100 that the control target device 200 has not performed the meter reading command.

As described above, according to the communication apparatus and method for an automatic meter reading system for suppressing the generation of a large number of simultaneous response packets according to the present invention, a plurality of control target devices 200 are divided into several groups, Only the control target device 200 to which the control target device 200 belongs can be controlled so as to transmit the acknowledgment signal (ACK), so that the amount of data to be transmitted at one time is reduced and thus an overload of the data concentrator is prevented, .

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. I will understand. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

100: data concentrator 110: first control unit
120: first communication unit 130: second communication unit
200: control target device 210: second control unit
220: third communication unit 230:
Group ID: Group identifier ACK: Authorization signal
ACK ID: Identifier of the acknowledgment signal NACK: Negative acknowledgment signal

Claims (12)

A data concentrator for receiving a meter reading command from a server connected through a network, transmitting the meter reading command to a control target device, and transmitting the meter reading result to the server; And
And a control target device for receiving the meter reading command transmitted from the data concentrator and transmitting an approval signal for the meter reading command to the data concentrator,
The data concentrator transmits together with the control target device a group identifier that designates a group of control target devices to which the approval signal is to be transmitted upon transmission of the probe reading command, And transmits the approval signal to the data concentrator only when the identifier matches the group to which the identifier belongs.
The method according to claim 1,
The data convergence apparatus includes a first communication unit for communicating with the server;
A second communication unit for communicating with the control target device; And
And a first controller for controlling the data concentrator as a whole.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control subject device comprises: a third communication unit for communicating with the data concentrator;
A storage unit for storing the approval signal; And
And a second controller for performing the meter reading command and controlling the control target device as a whole.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the data concentrator retransmits the approval signal to a plurality of control target devices when receiving the approval signal from the control target device.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the data concentrator initializes the group identifier in response to the negative acknowledgment signal from the control target device in response to the acknowledgment signal, retransmits the inspection instruction to the plurality of control target devices, And transmits the information on the specific control target device that has transmitted the signal and the negative approval signal to the server.
6. The method of claim 5,
When receiving the negative acknowledgment signal, retransmits the inspection instruction to the control target device by a predetermined number of retries, and when the number of retransmissions of the inspection instruction exceeds a predetermined number of retries, And transmits the information on the specific control target device that has transmitted the negative approval signal and the negative approval signal to the server.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control object device stores the approval signal in the storage unit when the group identifier received together with the meter reading command does not match the group to which the group identifier belongs.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the control object device transmits a permission signal to the data concentration device when the identifier of the received approval signal does not match the identifier of the approval signal stored in the storage section.
Transmitting a probe command and a group identifier to the data concentrator;
Receiving the approval signal from the control target device by the data concentration device;
The data concentrator retransmitting an acknowledgment signal to the control target device;
Determining whether a signal received from the control target device in response to the retransmitted acknowledgment signal is a negative acknowledgment signal;
If the received signal is a negative acknowledgment signal, the data concentrator initializes the group identifier, retransmits the probe acknowledge command, and transmits the control target device related information that has transmitted the negative acknowledge signal and the negative acknowledge signal to the server step; And
And if the received signal is not a negative acknowledgment signal, updating at least one of a group capable of transmitting a probe command or an acknowledgment signal to be transmitted by the data concentrator.
The control target device receiving data from the data concentrator;
Determining whether the control subject device is the meter reading command or not;
Determining whether the group identifier received together with the meter reading command matches the group to which the control subject device belongs if the received data is the meter reading command; And
And when the received group identifier matches the group to which the received group identifier belongs, the control subject device transmits an approval signal to the data concentrator.
11. The method of claim 10,
And storing the approval signal in the storage unit of the control target device when the group identifiers do not coincide with each other.
11. The method of claim 10,
If the received data is not a meter reading command,
The control subject device judges whether or not the identifiers of the approval signal included in the received data and the identifiers of the approval signal pre-stored in the control target device coincide with each other, and only when the identifiers do not coincide with each other, And transmits the data to the device.

Images