TW202201993A - Comunication terminal, communication system, power saving control method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication terminal (1) which performs an intermittent operation of alternately repeating an Active state and a Sleep state that consumes power less than the Active state, includes: a battery (106); a radio communication processing unit (101) which can communicate with a second service system for providing a second service via a communication network constructed for a first service; a connected machine communication processing unit (103) which can communicate with machines connected thereto; a control unit (102) which performs an entering process with the communication network via the radio communication processing unit (101) at the Active state, and repeats the entering process if the entering process has failed; and an intermittent operation unit (104) which migrates the communication terminal (1) to the Sleep state if the entering process has failed, and determines a downtime that is a duration of the Sleep state after the entering process has failed, according to the times of the entering process having repeated, and migrates the communication terminal (1) to the Active state after the downtime has elapsed.

Description

Communication terminal, communication system, power saving control method and recording medium

The present invention relates to a communication terminal required to be added to a network, a communication system, a power saving control method and a recording medium.

In recent years, attention has been paid to an energy-saving society, and the introduction of an automatic meter reading device called a smart meter is being promoted. and electricity supply and demand control. The plan is to install smart meters in all consumers, and to construct a wide-area and large-scale network for operation in areas managed by each power company, except for some areas where communication is difficult.

The use of such a network constructed for automatic meter reading of electricity consumption as a social infrastructure is also being considered. For example, by connecting the communication terminal to various meters of gas, water supply, and drainage, etc., various devices such as sensors for monitoring, control, data collection, etc., are considered, and then the communication terminal is added to the The network constructed by the automatic meter reading of electricity consumption realizes the automatic meter reading service of gas, water supply and drainage, and the data collection service for the purpose of monitoring and control. In this way, automatic meter reading services for gas, water supply and drainage, and data collection services for monitoring and control can be realized without rebuilding a large-scale network.

The smart meter installed for automatic meter reading of electricity consumption is easy to secure commercial power because it is installed near the power line. On the other hand, various meters for gas, water supply, and drainage, and various sensors for monitoring, control, data collection, and the like are usually installed in places where it is difficult to secure commercial power. Therefore, it is difficult to ensure that there is a commercial power supply available for the communication terminals to be connected to these devices, and most of these communication terminals are driven by batteries. Therefore, it is desired to suppress power consumption in these communication terminals.

An example of a method of saving power in a communication terminal is a method of repeating the activation state and the deactivation state of the communication function every intermittent period. In the communication using this method, although the duration of a rest state (ie, the rest time) is longer, the power consumption can be restrained, but the response time of the communication will be longer. Therefore, it is desired to appropriately set the pause time in the intermittent operation so that power saving can be achieved while maintaining the responsiveness of the communication.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which, in a meter reading system for automatic meter reading of a water meter, a wireless device connected to the water meter performs intermittent reception in order to reduce power consumption. The wireless device disclosed in Patent Document 1 generally performs intermittent reception with a long intermittent period, and when a command to shorten the intermittent period is received from another wireless device that wirelessly communicates with the wireless device, the intermittent period is shortened. The rest time is also shortened by shortening the rest period. Therefore, in the meter reading system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the power consumption of the wireless device is suppressed in normal times, and the data acquisition time is shortened by shortening the idle time when immediate data acquisition is required during installation or maintenance.

However, in order to realize automatic meter reading services for gas, water supply, and drainage through a network constructed for automatic meter reading of electricity consumption, and data collection services for monitoring and control, etc., the above-mentioned communication terminals must be used for Data communications that provide services are preceded by the join processing required to join the network. The communication terminal performs the joining process in the active state, and after the joining process is completed, the active state and the inactive state are repeated in an intermittent cycle to perform normal communication for providing services. The rest time in a normal communication intermittent period is, for example, 30 seconds.

On the other hand, a communication terminal generally enters a dormant state when the joining process fails, and performs the joining process again after the end of the dormant state. The main reasons for the failure of the joining process include the existence of smart meters nearby that do not belong to the network that the communication terminal can join, and the poor communication environment. These reasons may not be overcome after the normal communication pause time. . Regardless of whether the cause of the join process failure is overcome, power is wasted if the communication terminal frequently changes from the inactive state to the active state. Therefore, the rest time after the addition process fails is set to be longer than the rest time in the normal intermittent operation. [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-70488

[The problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the automatic meter reading of electricity consumption, the measurement cycle of electricity consumption and the like are fixed to a certain extent. On the other hand, in the monitoring and control services of gas, tap water, etc., and monitoring and control services using various sensors , the collection cycle is not fixed, and the collection cycle will vary according to the needs of the administrator. Therefore, setting the pause time after the joining process fails to a fixed value may not meet the needs of the service. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to set an appropriate rest time that meets demand while suppressing battery consumption.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal capable of setting an appropriate rest time. [Means of Solving Problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above-mentioned objects, a communication terminal of the present invention performs an intermittent operation of alternately repeating a first state and a second state that consumes less power than the first state, and the communication terminal includes: a device for driving the communication terminal. A battery; a first communication processing unit capable of communicating with a second service system for providing a second service via a communication network constructed for the first service; and a first communication processing unit capable of communicating with the connected device 2. Communication Processing Department. The communication terminal further includes a control unit that performs a joining process of joining to the communication network via the first communication processing unit and the communication network in the first state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails. The communication terminal is further provided with an intermittent action processing part, which makes the communication terminal change to the second state when the joining process fails, and determines the pause time according to the number of times the joining process is repeated, that is, the time after the joining process fails. duration of the second state, and the communication terminal changes to the first state after the inactivity time elapses. [Effect of invention]

The communication terminal of the present invention has the effect that an appropriate rest time can be set.

Hereinafter, the communication terminal, the communication system, the power saving control method and the power saving control program of the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Implementation type. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the entire system including the communication system according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the overall system of the embodiment includes: first service systems 10, 20, and 30 that perform processing for providing a first service; and corresponding first service systems 10, 20, and 30, respectively The communication systems 11, 21, and 31 are constructed. The overall system further includes second service systems 40 and 50 that perform processing for providing the second service. This overall system is itself a communication system.

The first service is, for example, an automatic meter reading service for the usage of electricity, gas, water supply and drainage, etc., a monitoring and control service based on various sensor data, and the like. For example, if the first service is an automatic meter reading service for the usage of electricity, gas, water supply and drainage, etc., the first service systems 10 , 20 , and 30 manage the data collected through the communication systems 11 , 21 , and 31 for management The automatic reading system of the scale data. Furthermore, for example, when the first service is a monitoring and control service, the first service systems 10, 20, and 30 are monitoring and control systems that implement monitoring and control based on sensor data collected through the respective communication systems 11, 21, and 31. .

The first service refers to a service having a communication system constructed for the service, and the first service provided by each of the first service systems 10 , 20 , and 30 may be of the same type or may be of a different type. For example, the first service provided by the first service system 10 may be an automatic meter reading service of power usage, the first service provided by the first service system 20 may be a monitoring and control service, etc., and the first service systems 10, 20, The first service provided by 30 is a different kind of service.

Each of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31 includes a plurality of communication devices. The communication systems 11, 21, and 31 are all communication networks constructed for the first service. The communication devices constituting the communication system 11 can be connected by wireless, by dedicated lines, by power lines, or by a mobile communication network provided for communication of mobile terminals. connect. Likewise, the communication devices constituting the communication systems 21 and 31 may be connected wirelessly, may be connected by a dedicated line, may be connected by a power line, or may be provided for communication with a mobile terminal. connected to the mobile communication network.

Each of the communication systems 11 , 21 , and 31 can be connected to the second service system 40 and the second service system 50 via a WAN (Wide Area Network) 60 , respectively. Although FIG. 1 shows the type in which each of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31 and each of the second service systems 40 and 50 are connected via the WAN 60, the connection type is not limited to the connection via the WAN. 60 and connection example.

The second service refers to a service that does not have a communication system constructed for the service, and the second services provided by the second service systems 40 and 50 may be of the same type or of different types. The second service is, for example, an automatic meter reading service for the usage of electricity, gas, tap water, etc., a monitoring and control service based on various sensor data, and the like. The second service may also be a service for collecting or publishing information, etc.

The communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 are communication devices that do not belong to any of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, and pass through any of the communication systems 11, 21, and 31. One communicates with either of the second service systems 40 and 50 to implement the second service. That is, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 perform communication for the second service. More specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 1 , the communication terminals 1-1 and 1-2 communicate with either of the second service systems 40 and 50 via the communication system 11, and the communication terminals 1-10 are The communication terminals 1 - 21 and 1 - 22 communicate with either of the second service systems 40 and 50 via the communication system 21 . In this way, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 communicate with any one of the second service systems 40 and 50 via the communication systems 11, 21, and 31, and do not need to renew the communication. A communication network for the second service is constructed to provide the second service. That is, the existing communication systems 11, 21, and 31 can be used as infrastructure to efficiently implement the second service.

Although the example shown in FIG. 1 illustrates three first service systems 10 , 20 and 30 , the number of the first service systems is not limited to this. Similarly, although the example shown in FIG. 1 shows two second service systems 40 and 50 , the number of second service systems is not limited to this. In addition, a plurality of second services may coexist in the same communication system. Furthermore, although the example shown in FIG. 1 illustrates five communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22, the number of communication terminals is not limited to this.

Furthermore, although the present embodiment describes an example in which the existing communication systems 11, 21, and 31 are used as infrastructure to efficiently provide the second service, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, and 1-10 The methods for communicating with the corresponding second service systems 40 and 50 by 1-21 and 1-22 are not limited to this. For example, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 may constitute a dedicated communication system for the second service together with their corresponding second service systems 40 and 50, respectively. Alternatively, the communication terminals 1-1, 1-2, 1-10, 1-21, and 1-22 can use public lines other than the communication systems 11, 21, and 31 to communicate with their corresponding second service systems 40, 50. .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example in which FIG. 1 is embodied and displayed. FIG. 2 embodies the first service systems 10 and 20 , the communication systems 11 and 21 and the second service system 40 in FIG. 1 . The specific example shown in FIG. 2 is that the first service provided by the first service systems 10 and 20 is the automatic meter reading service of electricity usage, and the second service provided by the second service system 40 is one of the automatic meter reading services of gas usage. example. The electric power automatic meter reading system 9 shown in FIG. 2 is an example of the first service system 10 shown in FIG. 1 , and manages the measurement results and the like of electric power usage. The electric power automatic meter reading system 9 is connected to a communication system 11 constructed for automatic meter reading of electric power usage. Similarly, the communication system 21 is constructed for automatic meter reading of power usage, and is connected to a not-shown power automatic meter reading system, which is an example of the first service system 20 shown in FIG. 1 .

The automatic gas meter reading system 7 is an example of the second service system 40 shown in FIG. 1 . 2 , the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 11, and the communication terminal 1-10 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 through the communication system 21. The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 are often installed in places where it is difficult to secure a commercial power supply together with a gas meter. Therefore, many of the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 are driven by batteries, and power saving is desired. The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 alternately repeat an activated state (active state) belonging to the first state and a rest state (active state) belonging to a second state that consumes less power than the first state. Sleep (Sleep) state) intermittent action to achieve power saving. A communication method in consideration of power saving of the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 will be described later.

Hereinafter, an example will be described in which the first service provided by the first service systems 10 and 20 shown in FIG. 2 is the automatic meter reading service of electricity usage, and the second service is the automatic meter reading service of gas usage. The contents of both the first service and the second service are not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the communication system 11 includes smart meters (hereinafter abbreviated as SM) 2-1 to 2-13 that measure the power usage and transmit the measurement results to the automatic power meter reading system 9 . The communication system 11 further includes: a concentrator 3-1 belonging to a concentrating station that collects measurement results received from the SMs 2-1 to 2-6; The measurement result belongs to the concentrator 3-2 of the concentrating station. The concentrator 3-1 and the SMs 2-1 to 2-6 constitute a wireless multi-hop network. The concentrator 3-2 and the SMs 2-7 to 2-11 constitute a power line multiple jumper network. The concentrators 3-1 and 3-2 are connected via the WAN 5 to an HES (Head End System) 6-1 which is a communication management device that manages communication in the communication system 11.

The multiple jumper network constructed by the concentrators 3-1, 3-2 and SM 2-1 to 2-11 is the same as the multiple jumper network in the general smart meter system. The description of the path construction and the like of the jumper network is omitted. Similar to the multi-hop network in the general smart meter system, the path in the wireless multi-hop network can be changed. Although the illustration is omitted in FIG. 2, it is shown that the wireless multi-hop network and the power line multi-hop network each have a concentrator, but generally speaking, the wireless multi-hop network and the power line multi-hop network The concentrators in the connected network are plural.

The SMs 2-12 and 2-13 are connected to the HES 6-1 via the mobile communication network 4 and the WAN 5 provided for the communication of the mobile terminals. In FIG. 2 , the mobile communication network 4 and the WAN 5 are also described in the dotted frame representing the communication system 11 for convenience of illustration, but the mobile communication network 4 and the WAN 5 are not included in the communication system 11 . The concentrators 3-1, 3-2 can also be connected via the mobile communication network 4 to the HES 6-1 belonging to the communication management device that manages the communication in the communication system 11.

As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 2 , the communication system 11 includes SMs 2-1 to 2-13 that communicate by three communication methods, but the communication methods of the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 in the communication system 11 The number is not limited to three. For example, the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 in the communication system 11 may all communicate in the same communication manner. For example, the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 in the communication system 11 may all communicate using a wireless multi-hop network.

The communication system 21 shown in FIG. 2 includes the HES 6-2 and the SMs 2-21 and 2-22. Although the illustration is omitted in FIG. 2 , the communication system 21 is also the same as the communication system 11 , and employs any of the three communication methods such as the wireless multi-connection network, the power line multi-connection network and the mobile communication network 4 . any one or more. Here, it is assumed that the SMs 2-21 and 2-22 constitute a wireless multi-hop network together with a concentrator (not shown). The HES 6-2 is a communication management device that manages communication in the communication system 21 .

Hereinafter, SM 2-1 to 2-13, 2-21, and 2-22 will be collectively referred to as SM 2 when not individually distinguished, and will be collectively referred to as SM 2 when each of concentrators 3-1 and 3-2 is not individually distinguished. It is collectively called the concentrator 3, and the HES 6-1 and 6-2 are collectively called the HES 6 unless they are individually distinguished from each other. Although 15 SM 2s are shown in FIG. 2 , the number of SM 2 is more than 15 because the SM 2 is actually installed for each electric power user. In general, the communication system 11 is a large-scale system that is wide-area and includes many SMs 2 . SM 2-1 to 2-13 are examples of a plurality of communication devices constituting the communication system 11 , and SM 2-21 and 2-22 are examples of a plurality of communication devices constituting the communication system 21 . A part of the SM 2 performs communication according to, for example, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.15.4g/4e standard.

The communication terminals 1 - 1 to 1 - 6 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 11 . Specifically, the communication terminals 1 - 1 to 1 - 6 can join the SM network A belonging to the network constituted by the communication devices belonging to the communication system 11 . Communication devices belonging to the communication system 11 include SMs 2-1 to 2-13, concentrators 3-1, 3-2, and HES 6-1. Likewise, the communication terminals 1-10 can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 21 . Specifically, the communication terminal 1 - 10 can join the SM network B belonging to the network composed of the communication devices belonging to the communication system 21 . The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 can join the corresponding SM network by performing the network joining process to the corresponding SM network. Any type of processing can be used to join the network processing, and general processing can be used.

In this embodiment, the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 have functions as normal smart meters, and the SMs 2-1 to 2-13 can be added to the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 by performing network processing, so that the Communication between the communication terminals 1 - 1 to 1 - 6 and the automatic gas meter reading system 7 is possible via the communication system 11 . Similarly, the SMs 2-21 and 2-22 have functions as normal smart meters, and can also make the communication terminal 1-10 a Communication with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 is possible via the communication system 21 .

The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 are connected to gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10, which are examples of equipment, respectively. The gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 measure the gas usage, respectively, and output the measurement results to the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10. The communication terminals 1 - 1 to 1 - 6 send the measurement results to the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 11 . The communication terminals 1-10 send the measurement results to the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the communication system 21 . Therefore, the gas automatic meter reading system 7 can collect the gas usage measured by the gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 via the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10. Gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 are examples of devices connected to the communication terminal. The communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 can be said to be IoT terminals that realize IoT (Internet of Things) because the devices can use the network by connecting to the devices in this way. Hereinafter, the communication terminals 1-1 to 1-6 and 1-10 will be collectively referred to as the communication terminal 1 when they are not individually distinguished, and the gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 will be collectively referred to as the gas meters 70-1 to 70-6 and 70-10 when they are not individually distinguished. It is collectively referred to as the gas meter 70.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2 , the automatic meter reading of the gas consumption can be realized by using the SM network A and the SM network B constructed for the automatic meter reading of the electric power consumption. In general, a large number of SMs 2 are widely deployed, and the SM network A and the SM network B are large-scale networks. The configuration example shown in FIG. 2 utilizes such a wide-area and large-scale SM network, and it is possible to collect data from a wide-area and large number of gas users without rebuilding the network for automatic meter reading of gas usage. The measurement result of gas usage.

Next, a configuration example of the communication terminal 1 and the gas meter 70 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the communication terminal 1 and the gas meter 70 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3 , the communication terminal 1 includes an antenna 100 , a wireless communication processing unit 101 , a control unit 102 , a connected device communication processing unit 103 , an intermittent operation processing unit 104 , a memory unit 105 , and a battery 106 . The communication terminal 1 is driven by the battery 106 as a power source.

The wireless communication processing unit 101 is a first communication processing unit that can communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 belonging to the second service system for providing the second service via the communication network constructed for the first service. Specifically, the wireless communication processing unit 101 performs wireless communication with the SM 2 via the antenna 100 . The wireless communication processing unit 101 includes a communication circuit for performing communication according to the wireless communication method with the SM 2 . Here, although the example of wireless communication between the communication terminal 1 and the SM 2 is described, the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the SM 2 may also be wired communication. In the case where the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the SM 2 is performed by wired communication, the communication terminal 1 is provided with a communication processing unit that performs communication processing according to the communication method of wired communication, instead of the antenna 100 and the wireless communication processing unit 101 .

The connected device communication processing unit 103 is a second communication processing unit that can communicate with the connected device. The connected device communication processing unit 103 stores the data received from the device in the memory unit 105 . For example, the connected device communication processing unit 103 stores the meter reading data received from the gas meter 70 , which is an example of the device, in the memory unit 105 . The connected device communication processing unit 103 includes a communication circuit for performing communication according to the communication method with the device. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the communication terminal 1 is connected to a gas meter 70 as an example of a device. Hereinafter, an example in which the communication terminal 1 is connected to the gas meter 70 will be described. However, the equipment connected to the communication terminal 1 is not limited to the gas meter 70, and may be various meters for water supply and drainage, etc., for monitoring, control, and data collection. Various sensors provided by etc. Here, although the communication between the communication terminal 1 and the device is wired communication, it can also be wireless communication.

The control unit 102 controls the operation of the communication terminal 1 . For example, when the control unit 102 receives a control instruction for the gas meter 70, which is an example of an appliance, from the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the wireless communication processing unit 101, it causes the connected appliance communication processing unit 103 to perform communication with the appliance. deal with. For example, the control unit 102 transmits a meter reading data transfer instruction to the gas meter 70 via the connected device communication processing unit 103 when it is time to periodically acquire the meter reading data from the gas meter 70 . When the control unit 102 periodically transmits the meter reading data to the automatic gas meter reading system 7 , it transmits the meter reading data stored in the memory unit 105 to the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the wireless communication processing unit 101 . In addition, the control unit 102 requests the gas meter 70 according to the control instruction sent from the automatic gas meter reading system 7 and acquires the data according to the control instruction. In addition, the control unit 102 performs the joining process to the SM network with the SM network belonging to the communication network via the wireless communication processing unit 101 in the first state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails.

The intermittent operation processing unit 104 controls the intermittent operation of the communication terminal 1 . The intermittent operation processing unit 104, for example, puts the communication terminal 1 into a sleep state if the joining process fails, and determines the pause time belonging to the duration of the sleep after the joining process fails according to the number of times the joining process is repeated, and sets it at the pause time. After the elapse, the communication terminal 1 is brought into an active state. The operation of the intermittent operation processing unit 104 will be described later.

The control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 are realized by, for example, a processing circuit including a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit, microprocessor). The memory unit 105 is a memory, and is used to store data and the like to be used by the control unit 102 and the intermittent motion processing unit 104 for processing. In addition, when each function implemented by the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 is provided in the form of software, the memory unit 105 stores programs required for the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 to perform each function, and is processed by the processing unit 105. The controller executes this program to realize the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 . The program may also be provided using recording media or using communication media. This program includes a power saving control program required to perform power saving control of the communication terminal 1 of the present embodiment.

The intermittent operation processing unit 104 includes: a state determination unit 111 that manages a state related to power saving of the communication terminal; a timer 112 that measures a rest time (sleep time) that is a duration of the sleep state; and determines a rest time of the rest time The time decision unit 113 . As described above, the communication terminal 1 performs intermittent operations of repeating the active state and the sleep state in order to save power. The states related to the power saving of the communication terminal 1 include two states, an active state and a sleep state. The sleep state is a state that consumes less power than the active state. The definitions of both the sleep state and the active state may be arbitrary definitions as long as the power consumption in the sleep state is smaller than that in the active state. In general, since the transmission process of wireless communication consumes a lot of power, at least the transmission function of the wireless communication processing unit 101 should be stopped in the sleep state. However, it is not limited to this. In the sleep state, the operation frequency of the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 may be lower than that in the active state. Specifically, the processing circuit of the control unit 102 and the intermittent operation processing unit 104 may be implemented. The action frequency of the device is lower than that of the active state.

In addition, the communication terminal 1 performs the joining process necessary for joining the SM network before performing the normal operation. The normal operation is, for example, an operation for transmitting the measurement result measured by the gas meter 70 to the automatic gas meter reading system 7, an operation for monitoring and controlling necessary for the operation, and the like. When the joining process fails, the communication terminal 1 enters a suspended state, and does not perform the joining process again until the end of the suspended state. The main reasons for the failure of the joining process are the existence of nearby smart meters that are not affiliated to the network that the communication terminal can join, and the poor communication environment. overcome. Regardless of whether or not the cause of the join processing failure has been overcome, power is wasted if the communication terminal frequently changes from the inactive state to the active state, so the inactive time after the joining processing failure is set to be longer than the inactive time in normal intermittent operation.

However, if the suspension time after the joining process fails is set uniformly as long as ten hours, it is difficult for the operator to connect to the above-mentioned network once the joining process fails in the confirmation operation such as the installation of the communication terminal. confirm. Therefore, it is necessary to restart the communication terminal to execute the join process again, and the operation cannot be performed efficiently. Therefore, in this embodiment, the pause time determination unit 113 determines the pause time after the addition process fails based on the number of times the addition process fails, that is, the number of times the addition process is repeated. Specifically, the pause time determination unit 113 determines the pause time so that the more times the addition process is repeated, the longer the pause time after the addition process fails. For example, it is determined so that the pause time is longer when the number of times of addition processing is the second time, which is the number of times of repeated addition processing, compared to the pause time when the number of times of addition processing is the first time. rest time. In this way, when the joining process fails due to a short-term communication failure or the like, the joining process can be performed again in a short time, so that the work efficiency at the time of installation of the communication terminal and the like can be improved. In addition, there are cases where the join processing fails several times due to reasons such as no smart meter in the vicinity. In such a case, since the inactive time determination unit 113 sets the inactive time to be long, unnecessary startup can be suppressed, and power consumption can be suppressed. Hereinafter, the pause time after the joining process fails is also referred to as the SM re-search pause time.

The pause time determination unit 113 determines the pause time, and notifies the timer 112 of the determined pause time. During normal operation, the off-time determination unit 113 determines the off-time based on, for example, the information stored in the memory unit 105 indicating the off-time for normal operation, and notifies the timer 112 of the determined off-time. The rest time during normal operation is, for example, about 15 seconds, but the rest time during normal operation is not limited to this. The pause time determination unit 113 determines the SM re-search pause time based on the number of addition processes belonging to the number of times the addition process failed, and notifies the timer 112 of the determined SM re-search pause time. The method of determining the SM re-search pause time by the pause time determination unit 113 will be described later.

The timer 112 measures the elapsed time from the start of the sleep state, that is, from the end of the active state, and notifies the state determination unit 111 that the pause has elapsed when the elapsed time reaches the pause time notified by the pause time determination unit 113 . time.

When the state determination unit 111 is notified by the timer 112 that the inactive time has elapsed, it changes the operating frequency of the control unit 102 so as to be in an active state, or enables the wireless communication processing unit 101 to enable transmission and reception, thereby enabling the communication terminal 1 becomes active. In addition, the state determination unit 111 changes the operating frequency of the control unit 102 or stops the wireless communication processing unit 101 when the end condition of the active state is satisfied after the active state starts, thereby putting the communication terminal 1 into the sleep state. The end condition of the active state may be, for example, a condition that a predetermined activation time has elapsed, a condition that a process to be performed in the active state has ended, and the like. The state determination unit 111 notifies the timer 112 that the active state has ended when the active state ends.

Next, a configuration example of the gas meter 70 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3 , the gas meter 70 includes a communication processing unit 71 , a control unit 72 , a memory unit 73 , and a measuring unit 74 . In the case where the equipment connected to the communication terminal 1 is various meters for water supply and drainage, the measuring object of the measuring unit 74 is different, but the structure of the equipment is the same as that of the gas meter 70 . In the case where the equipment connected to the communication terminal 1 is various sensors for monitoring, control, data collection, etc., the equipment is provided with a detection unit instead of the measuring unit 74, and is provided with a communication processing unit 71, a control unit, and a part 72 and memory part 73 . The detection part may be a detector for detecting temperature, humidity, etc., or a camera for acquiring an image, or the like.

The communication processing unit 71 communicates with the communication terminal 1 . The control unit 72 controls the operation of the gas meter 70 . Specifically, for example, when the control unit 72 receives a transmission instruction of the meter reading data belonging to the measurement result of the measurement unit 74 via the communication processing unit 71, the control unit 72 uses the measurement result of the measurement unit 74 as the meter reading data, and transmits the measurement result via the communication The processing unit 71 sends this to the communication terminal 1 .

The measuring unit 74 measures the amount of gas used, and transmits the measurement result to the control unit 72 . The measurement unit 74 may perform measurement at every predetermined cycle, or may perform measurement when an instruction from the control unit 72 is received. The control unit 72 stores the measurement result in the memory unit 73 , and upon receiving an instruction to transmit meter reading data, reads the measurement result from the memory unit 73 and transmits it to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71 . In addition, the measurement result may be directly stored in the memory unit 73 by the measurement unit 74 . In addition, when the automatic data notification is valid, the measurement result is read out from the memory unit 73 at a predetermined cycle and sent to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71 . The control unit 72 may transmit the measurement result received from the measurement unit 74 to the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 71 .

When the device connected to the communication terminal 1 includes a detection unit instead of the measurement unit 74 , the detection result of the detection unit is similarly transmitted from the device to the communication terminal 1 instead of the measurement result described above.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the SM 2 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4 , the SM 2 includes a communication unit 201 and a meter 202 . The meter 202 measures the amount of power usage and outputs it to the communication unit 201 . The communication unit 201 transmits the measurement result obtained from the meter 202 to the automatic power meter reading system 9 via the other SM 2, the concentrator 3, and the HES 6, or receives the control signal sent from the HES 6, and performs the measurement according to the The action of the received control signal. The communication unit 201 includes a communication processing unit 211 , a first control unit 212 , a connected device communication processing unit 213 , a memory unit 214 , and a second control unit 215 . The communication processing unit 211 can communicate with another SM 2 and the concentrator 3 . The communication processing unit 211 can also communicate with the communication terminal 1 . The communication performed by the communication processing unit 211 may be wired communication or wireless communication. The communication processing unit 211 includes a communication circuit for performing communication according to the communication method. When the communication processing unit 211 performs wireless communication, the communication processing unit 211 is provided with an antenna.

The first control unit 212 controls the operation related to the automatic meter reading service as the power usage amount of the first service, that is, the operation as a general smart meter. Since the operation of the first control unit 212 is the same as that of a general SM, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The second control unit 215 controls the operation related to the second service, that is, the operation as an access point for relaying communication between the communication terminal 1 and the automatic gas meter reading system 7 .

The first control unit 212 and the second control unit 215 are realized by, for example, a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is, for example, a CPU, an MPU, or the like. The first control unit 212 and the second control unit 215 may be implemented by the same processing circuit, or may be implemented by different processing circuits. The memory unit 214 is used to store data and the like to be used when the first control unit 212 and the second control unit 215 perform processing. In addition, when each function implemented by the first control unit 212 is provided in the form of software, the memory unit 214 memorizes the first program required by the first control unit 212 to execute each function, and the first control unit 212 executes the first program. first program. Similarly, when each function implemented by the second control unit 215 is provided in the form of software, the memory unit 214 memorizes the second program required by the second control unit 215 to execute each function, and is executed by the second control unit 215 the second program. The first program and the second program may also be provided using a recording medium or provided using a communication medium. The SM 2 shown in FIG. 4 can be implemented by installing the first program and the second program on the SM 2 at the same time, or by installing the second program on the general SM with the first program already installed.

The connected device communication processing unit 213 receives the measurement result from the meter 202 and stores it in the memory unit 214 . The measurement results stored in the memory unit 214 are read out by the first control unit 212 and sent to the automatic power meter reading system 9 via the communication processing unit 211 . If the communication unit 201 is regarded as a communication device, the plurality of communication devices constituting the communication system 11 can be regarded as the communication unit 201 of the plurality of SMs 2 constituting the communication system 11 . Likewise, the plurality of communication devices constituting the communication system 21 can be thought of as the communication units 201 of the plurality of SMs 2 constituting the communication system 21 .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, as described above, the communication terminal 1 communicates with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the SM network to realize the automatic gas meter reading service as an example of the second service. In order to communicate with the automatic gas meter reading system 7 via the SM network, the communication terminal 1 must first perform the joining process required for joining the SM network.

The joining process includes, for example, a process of searching for an SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can be connected, and an authentication process. Generally, in order to prevent unauthorized terminals from connecting to the SM network, identification information of the communication terminal 1 permitted to be connected is registered in each SM network. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the information identifying the communication terminal 1 permitted to be connected is registered in the HES 6 , but it is not limited to this and may be registered in the SM 2 . The information for identifying the communication terminal 1 can be any type of information, and a terminal identification code such as a MAC (Media Access Control: Media Access Control) address can be used. In the joining process, the process of searching for the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can be connected is a process of searching for the SM network in which it is registered, specifically, the process of searching for the SM 2 constituting the SM network.

The processing of searching for the SM 2 is performed by, for example, the following procedure. The control unit 102 of the communication terminal 1 transmits a joining request for joining the SM network via the wireless communication processing unit 101 in a broadcast format. The second control unit 215 of the SM 2 receives the joining request sent from the communication terminal 1 via the communication processing unit 211, and generates a login confirmation requesting to confirm whether the communication terminal 1 that issued the joining request has already logged in, and passes the communication processing unit 211 sends a login confirmation request to HES 6. The identification information of the communication terminal 1 is stored in the login confirmation. When the identification information included in the login confirmation received from the SM 2 is the identification information of the login, the HES 6 transmits a login reply indicating the login to the SM 2 that issued the login confirmation. The SM 2 receives a log-in reply from the HES 6 via the communication processing unit 211, and transmits the join reply to the communication terminal 1 in a unicast manner. The communication terminal 1 ends the process of searching for the SM 2 upon receiving the join reply.

Next, the authentication process will be described. Authentication information for performing authentication processing of the communication terminal 1 is also registered in the HES 6 . Here, an example in which the authentication process is performed by the HES 6 will be described, but an authentication server (not shown) that performs the authentication process of the communication terminal 1 for each SM network may be separate from the HES 6 . In addition, although description is abbreviate|omitted, the authentication process is also performed with respect to SM2, and this authentication process may be performed by HES 6, and may be performed by the authentication server which is not shown in figure. The authentication of the SM 2 is performed according to, for example, RFC (Request For Comments) 5191 PANA (Protocol for carrying Authentication for Network Access, Portable Network Access Authentication Protocol), but the authentication processing procedure is not limited thereto. The authentication process of the communication terminal 1 may be performed according to the same procedure as the authentication process of the SM 2, or may be performed by a different procedure.

The above-mentioned join processing is performed at the time of installation, relocation, and setting change of the communication terminal 1, and when the join processing succeeds, the communication terminal 1 enters the normal operation. On the other hand, there are cases where join processing fails. For example, in the process of searching for the SM, that is, the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect, the search for the SM 2 may fail. The reason why the search for SM 2 fails can be assumed as follows: there is no SM 2 belonging to the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can be connected in the vicinity of the communication terminal 1; The SM 2 of the connectable SM network exists but the communication environment is poor or the SM 2 is faulty. In addition, it can also be considered that the authentication process fails during the joining process. The reason for this situation can be considered that the communication environment is not good, and the SM network has not registered the authentication information related to the communication terminal 1 required to join. If the reason for the failure of either the search SM or the authentication process is due to a temporary deterioration of the communication environment, the reason should be overcome in a short time. On the other hand, if there is no SM 2 belonging to the SM network to which the communication terminal 1 can connect, generally, the cause of the failure of the joining process is not overcome immediately, so it frequently becomes Active state for join processing would waste power unnecessarily.

Generally speaking, although the reason for the failure of the join processing is unknown, if the join processing fails several times in a row, there is a high possibility of a non-transitory cause. Therefore, the communication terminal 1 of the present embodiment determines the SM re-search pause time according to the number of consecutive failures of the join process. More specifically, the communication terminal 1 sets, for example, the SM re-search pause time when the second joining process fails continuously to be longer than the SM re-search pause time when the first joining process fails continuously, and sets the SM re-search pause time for the third and later times. The SM re-search pause time when the join process fails continuously is set to be longer than the SM re-search pause time when the second join process fails continuously.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a join processing procedure in the communication terminal 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5 , the control unit 102 of the communication terminal 1 initializes n, which indicates the number of times of execution of the joining process, to 0 (step S1 ).

Next, the communication terminal 1 executes the SM search (step S2). Specifically, the control unit 102 broadcasts a request to join the SM network, which stores the identification information of the communication terminal 1 , via the wireless communication processing unit 101 . The joining request includes the identification information of the communication terminal 1 . The joining request may use, for example, an Enhanced Beacon Request frame in IEEE 802.15.4, but the joining request is not limited thereto. The SM 2 that receives the joining request sends a login confirmation to the HES 6 for entrusting to confirm whether the communication terminal 1 is logged in. When the communication terminal 1 is logged in, the HES 6 sends a login reply indicating that the communication terminal 1 is logged in to the SM 2 . In addition, when the communication terminal 1 is not logged in, the HES 6 sends a login reply indicating that the communication terminal 1 is not logged in to the SM 2 . When the login reply indicates that the communication terminal 1 has logged in, the SM 2 sends the join reply including the identification information of the SM 2 and the network identification information indicating the SM network to which the SM 2 belongs to the communication terminal 1 . When the login reply indicates that the communication terminal 1 is not logged in, the SM 2 sends a reply indicating that the communication terminal 1 is not logged in to the communication terminal 1 . In the case where the communication terminal 1 can use a plurality of radio frequencies (radio frequency channels), the SM search can be performed for each radio frequency.

The communication terminal 1 judges whether the search in step S2 is successful (step S3). More specifically, the control unit 102 determines that the search is successful in the case where the control unit 102 receives a join reply including the identification information of the SM 2 and the network identification information indicating the SM network to which the SM 2 belongs via the wireless communication processing unit 101 . The case where the control unit 102 does not receive any reply from the SM 2 within a certain period of time after sending the join request, and the case where the reply received within a certain period of time after the join request is sent is only a reply indicating that the communication terminal 1 is not registered , it is judged that the search failed.

The communication terminal 1 executes the authentication process (step S4) when the search is successful (the result of step S3 is "Yes"). More specifically, the communication terminal 1 performs authentication processing in accordance with a predetermined authentication procedure such as PANA authentication. The communication terminal 1 judges whether the authentication is successful (step S5). More specifically, the control unit 102 determines that the authentication has succeeded when receiving a reply indicating that the authentication is successful from the SM 2 via the wireless communication processing unit 101 , and determines that the authentication has failed in other cases.

When the communication terminal 1 succeeds in the authentication (the result of step S5 is "Yes"), the joining process ends. When the communication terminal 1 completes the joining process, the normal operation or other predetermined operation is carried out.

When the result of step S3 is "NO", and when the result of step S5 is "NO", the communication terminal 1 increments n by 1 (step S6), determines the SM re-search pause time (step S7), and then proceeds to to the sleep state (step S8). More specifically, the control unit 102 increments n by 1, stores the value of n in the memory unit 105 , and notifies the state determination unit 111 and the pause time determination unit 113 that the joining process has failed. The state determination unit 111 receives the notification of the failure of the joining process from the control unit 102, and puts the communication terminal 1 into a sleep state. The pause time determination unit 113 determines the SM re-search pause time according to the value of n stored in the memory unit 105 , that is, the number of times of processing failures, and sets the determined SM re-search pause time to the timer 112 . The pause time determination unit 113 determines the SM re-search pause time corresponding to the value of n stored in the storage unit 105 , for example, based on the re-search pause schedule stored in the storage unit 105 .

The communication terminal 1 judges whether or not the SM re-search pause time has elapsed since the change to the sleep state after step S8 (step S9), and if the SM re-search pause time has not elapsed (the result of step S9 is "No"), repeat Step S9. More specifically, the timer 112 determines whether the set SM re-search pause time has elapsed, and when the SM re-search pause time has elapsed, that is, when the set SM re-search pause time has been reached, notifies the state determination unit 111 of the situation. love affair. When the SM re-search pause time has elapsed (YES in step S9 ), the communication terminal 1 changes to the active state (step S10 ), and repeats the processing from step S2 . More specifically, when the state determination unit 111 receives a notification from the timer 112 that the SM re-search pause time has elapsed, it causes the communication terminal 1 to be in the active state, and the control unit 102 that is in the active state executes the processing from step S2 again. .

As described above, the power saving control method of the present embodiment includes: a joining process step of performing a joining process of joining the SM network between the SM network and the SM network in the first state; and going to sleep if the joining process fails The resting step of the state and continuing the sleep state during the resting time. The power-saving control method of the present embodiment further includes: a step of determining a pause time after the failure of the addition process according to the number of times the addition process is repeated; and a step of changing the communication terminal to the first state after the pause time elapses. Start step. In addition, the join processing step is executed again after the activation step, and every time the join processing fails in the join processing step, the suspension step, suspension time determination step, activation step, and join processing step are executed again.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the re-search suspension schedule of the present embodiment. As described above, when the join processing fails several times in succession, there is a high possibility of non-transitory reasons. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the number of consecutive join processing failures increases, the re-search pause time is lengthened. In the example shown in FIG. 6 , when the search or authentication fails in the first join process, that is, when the number of times the join process fails is one, the SM re-search pause time is 60 seconds. Thereby, the installer of the communication terminal 1 can immediately confirm the result of the second joining process on the spot, thereby making the work more efficient.

In the example shown in FIG. 6 , the SM re-search pause time when the search or authentication fails in the second join process is 30 minutes. As a result, if the third addition process is successful, the managers of the meters and various sensors of the second service, such as gas and water, set the cycle for obtaining data from the device to be slightly longer than 30 minutes. , the current measurement value, measurement value, etc. can be sent before the next periodic acquisition of data. For example, when the collection cycle of the meter reading data of a gas meter, a water meter, etc. is one hour, the current meter reading data may be transmitted before the next acquisition sequence of the meter reading data. The collection cycle of meter reading data is not limited to this example.

With the example shown in FIG. 6 , after the third time, that is, the SM re-search pause time in the case where the search or authentication fails in the third, fourth, fifth, . . . joining processing for 24 hours. As a result, if the fourth and subsequent addition processing is successful, if the managers of the meters and various sensors of the second service, such as gas, water, etc., set the cycle of acquiring data from the equipment to 24 hours, the It is possible to increase the possibility that the current measurement value, measurement value, etc. will be transmitted before the next periodic acquisition of data. It is assumed that for gas or tap water meters, the cycle for obtaining meter reading data varies depending on the manufacturer. For example, the collection period may be between about 1 hour and about 24 hours, which may vary from one provider to another. Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the SM re-search pause time is set to the value of 30 minutes in the case where the second addition process fails and 24 hours in the case where the third and subsequent addition processes fail. In the two stages of the value, there is no need to change the SM and then search the pause time according to the operator. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the communication terminal 1 while preventing the leakage of the meter reading data as much as possible, for example, for a company that sets the acquisition cycle of the meter reading data to 1 hour, and for a company that sets it to 24 hours. That is, in the present embodiment, an appropriate SM re-search pause time can be set to meet the needs of the administrator while suppressing the consumption of battery power. In addition, in the SM network, the HES 6 performs connection confirmation with respect to the communication terminal 1 connected to the SM network at a cycle of, for example, one day. The SM re-search pause time is set to 24 hours in the case where the search or authentication fails in the third and subsequent join processing, so that when the period of the connection confirmation of HES 6 is 24 hours, it can be increased before the next connection confirmation Possibility of joining processing. Furthermore, the communication terminal 1 does not become active until the next day, so that power consumption can be suppressed.

As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 6, the re-search suspension schedule belonging to the suspension schedule is a table created by associating the information indicating the first suspension time, the second suspension time, and the third suspension time with the number of times of addition processing , the first pause time is the pause time after the first addition process fails, the second pause time is the pause time after the addition process fails for the second time, and the third pause time is at The number of join processing times is the pause time after the third and subsequent join processing fails. The second rest time is longer than the first rest time, and the third rest time is longer than the second rest time. The intermittent operation processing unit 104 determines the pause time as any one of the first pause time, the second pause time, and the third pause time, based on the number of addition processes and the re-search pause schedule. Setting the second stop time to be shorter than the data collection cycle in the second service, such as automatic meter reading services for gas and water, increases the possibility that the addition process is performed again to collect data before the next data collection cycle. By setting the first pause time to be shorter than the time required for the assumed installation operation of the communication terminal 1, the installation operation can be performed efficiently. Setting the third pause time to be shorter than the cycle in which the SM network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal 1 increases the possibility that the joining process will be terminated before the next connection confirmation.

In the case of automatic meter reading of electricity consumption, the measurement cycle of electricity consumption is fixed to a certain extent. In contrast, the measurement cycle of gas, tap water, etc., and the collection cycle of monitoring and control services using various sensors are There are non-fixed situations. Therefore, it is difficult to set the SM re-search pause time, which is an initial setting of the communication terminal 1, to a constant value for each collection period. In addition, it is also considered that the communication terminal 1 should be common to be used for any service. In this case, if the SM re-search pause time is set to a constant value, there is a possibility that the service-specific needs cannot be met. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as in the example shown in FIG. 6 , the SM re-search pause time in the case of a search or authentication failure in the third and subsequent join processing is set to be longer than that in the second join processing The SM re-search pause time is long in the case of middle search or authentication failure, so it is possible to cope with the service of the collection period slightly longer than 30 minutes while suppressing the power consumption.

The SM re-search pause time shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and the specific numerical value of the SM re-search pause time is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 6 . In addition, although the example shown in FIG. 6 determines the SM re-search pause time in three stages, it may be determined in two stages or four stages or more. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 6 , when the number of failures in the addition process is three or less, the SM re-search pause time increases each time the number of failures in the addition process increases. The re-search pause time is the same value, and the SM re-search pause time is increased only when the number of failures is three times, so that the SM re-search pause time is increased every time the number of failures added to the processing increases.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram for illustrating the setting of the SM re-search pause time according to the present embodiment. First, when the communication terminal 1 is in an active state (step S11 ), a request to join is broadcast as a beacon signal (step S12 ). FIG. 7 shows an example in which the SM 2 belonging to the SM network in which the communication terminal 1 is registered does not exist in the vicinity of the communication terminal 1, and the communication terminal 1 fails to search for the SM. Since no reply to join has been received after a certain period of time, the communication terminal 1 sets the SM re-search suspend time #1 belonging to the SM re-search suspend time corresponding to the number of failures of the joining process once as the suspend time, and then changes to the sleep state (step S13 ). ). The SM re-search pause time #1 is 60 seconds in the example shown in FIG. 6 .

After the execution of step S13, when the SM re-search pause time #1 has elapsed, the communication terminal 1 becomes active (step S14), and broadcasts the joining request as a beacon signal again (step S15). Since no reply to join has been received after a certain period of time, the communication terminal 1 sets the SM re-search inactivity time #2 belonging to the SM re-search inactivity time corresponding to the number of failures of the joining process twice as the inactivity time and then changes to the sleep state ( step S16). The SM re-search pause time #2 is 30 minutes in the example shown in FIG. 6 .

After the execution of step S16, when the SM re-search pause time #2 has elapsed, the communication terminal 1 becomes active (step S17), and broadcasts the joining request as a beacon signal again (step S18). Since no reply to join has been received after a certain period of time, the communication terminal 1 sets the SM re-search inactivity time #3 belonging to the SM re-search inactivity time corresponding to the number of failures of the joining process three times as the inactivity time and then changes to the sleep state (step S19). SM re-search pause time #3 is 24 hours in the example shown in FIG. 6 .

Then, like steps S17 and S18, steps S20 and S21 are performed. FIG. 7 does not show the SM re-search pause times #1 to #3 according to the actual time length, but schematically shows the state that the SM re-search pause time becomes longer every time the number of failures increases. The SM re-search stop time #3 is 24 hours, for example, as described above. Once the cause of the failure of the join process is overcome due to the newly installed SM 2, etc., the communication terminal 1 can perform the normal operation after the join process succeeds.

As described above, in this embodiment, the communication terminal 1 determines the pause time according to the number of failures of the joining process. Therefore, it is possible to set an appropriate rest time while suppressing consumption of battery power.

The configurations disclosed in the above embodiments are merely examples, and other known techniques may be combined, or the embodiments may be combined with each other, and a part of the configuration may be omitted or changed without departing from the gist.

1,1-1～1-6,1-10,1-21,1-22: Communication terminal 2,2-1～2-13,2-21,2-22:SM 3-1, 3-2: Concentrator 4: Mobile communication network 5,60:WAN 7: Gas automatic meter reading system 9: Electric automatic meter reading system 10, 20, 30: The first service system 11, 21, 31: Communication Systems 40,50: Second service system 70,70-1～70-6,70-10: Gas meter 71: Communication Processing Department 72,102: Control Department 73, 105, 214: Memory Department 74: Metrology Department 100: Antenna 101: Wireless Communication Processing Department 103, 213: Connecting the Machine Communication Processing Department 104: Intermittent Action Processing Department 106: Battery 111: Status Determination Department 112: Timer 113: Suspended time decision department 201: Communications Department 202: Scale 211: Communication Processing Department 212: First Control Department 213: Connect to the machine communication processing department 215: Second Control Department

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the entire system including the communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example in which FIG. 1 is embodied and displayed. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication terminal and a gas meter according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the SM of the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of a joining processing procedure of a communication terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a re-search pause schedule in an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram for illustrating the setting of the SM re-search pause time according to an example.

1: Communication terminal

70: Gas meter

71: Communication Processing Department

72,102: Control Department

73,105: Memory Department

74: Metrology Department

100: Antenna

101: Wireless Communication Processing Department

103: Connect to the machine communication processing department

104: Intermittent Action Processing Department

106: Battery

111: Status Determination Department

112: Timer

113: Suspended time decision department

Claims (18)

A communication terminal, which interactively repeats a first state and an intermittent action of a second state that consumes less power than the first state, wherein the communication terminal includes: a battery, which drives the aforementioned communication terminal; The first communication processing unit can communicate with the second service system for providing the second service via the communication network constructed for the first service; The second communication processing unit is capable of communicating with the connected device; The control unit performs the joining process of adding to the communication network between it and the communication network through the first communication processing unit in the first state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails; and Intermittent operation processing unit is to make the communication terminal change to the second state if the joining process fails, and determine the pause time according to the number of times the joining process is repeated, that is, the second state after the joining process fails. duration, and make the communication terminal change to the first state after the inactivity time elapses. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned first service is an automatic meter reading service of electric power usage. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned second service is an automatic meter reading service for gas usage or an automatic meter reading service for tap water usage. The communication terminal according to claim 2, wherein, The aforementioned second service is an automatic meter reading service for gas usage or an automatic meter reading service for tap water usage. The communication terminal according to claim 3, wherein, The intermittent action processing part is in such a way that the pause time is longer when the number of addition processes is a second number of times more than the first number of times compared to the pause time when the number of addition processes is the first number of times , to determine the above-mentioned rest time, wherein the above-mentioned number of times of adding processing is the number of repeating the above-mentioned adding processing. The communication terminal according to claim 4, wherein, The intermittent action processing part is in such a way that the pause time is longer when the number of addition processes is a second number of times more than the first number of times compared to the pause time when the number of addition processes is the first number of times , to determine the above-mentioned rest time, wherein the above-mentioned number of times of adding processing is the number of repeating the above-mentioned adding processing. The communication terminal as described in claim 5 has: The memory unit memorizes a stop schedule created by associating the information representing the first stop time, the second stop time, and the third stop time with the number of times of addition processing, and the first stop time is the first stop time. The aforesaid pause time after the aforementioned addition processing fails, the second pause time is the aforementioned pause time after the aforementioned addition processing number is the second failure of the aforementioned addition processing, and the third pause time is when the aforementioned addition processing times are the first. The aforesaid rest time after the failure of the aforesaid addition treatment after three times, The intermittent operation processing unit determines the pause time to be any one of the first pause time, the second pause time, and the third pause time by using the number of addition processes and the pause schedule. The second rest time is longer than the first rest time, and the third rest time is longer than the second rest time. The communication terminal as described in claim 6 has: The memory unit memorizes a stop schedule created by associating the information representing the first stop time, the second stop time, and the third stop time with the number of times of addition processing, and the first stop time is the first stop time. The aforementioned resting time after the aforementioned addition processing fails, the second resting time is the aforementioned resting time after the aforementioned adding processing times is the second failure of the aforementioned adding processing, and the third resting time is when the aforementioned adding processing times is the first. The aforesaid rest time after the failure of the aforesaid addition treatment after three times, The intermittent operation processing unit determines the pause time to be any one of the first pause time, the second pause time, and the third pause time by using the number of addition processes and the pause schedule. The second rest time is longer than the first rest time, and the third rest time is longer than the second rest time. The communication terminal according to claim 7 or 8, wherein, The aforementioned second inactivity period is shorter than the aforementioned data collection period in the aforementioned second service. The communication terminal according to claim 7 or 8, wherein, The aforementioned first pause time is shorter than the assumed time required for the setting operation of the aforementioned communication terminal. The communication terminal as claimed in claim 9, wherein, The aforementioned first pause time is shorter than the assumed time required for the setting operation of the aforementioned communication terminal. The communication terminal according to claim 7 or 8, wherein, The third inactivity time is shorter than the period during which the communication network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal. The communication terminal as claimed in claim 9, wherein, The third inactivity time is shorter than the period during which the communication network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal. The communication terminal of claim 10, wherein, The third inactivity time is shorter than the period during which the communication network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal. The communication terminal of claim 11, wherein, The third inactivity time is shorter than the period during which the communication network confirms the connection status of the communication terminal. A communication system is provided with: The communication network constructed for the first service; a second service system for providing the second service; and A plurality of communication terminals interactively repeat the intermittent operation of a first state and a second state that consumes less power than the first state, and can communicate with the second service system through the communication network to provide the second state service communications, Each of the foregoing plurality of communication terminals has: a battery, which drives the aforementioned communication terminal; The first communication processing unit can communicate with the second service system for providing the second service via the communication network constructed for the first service; The second communication processing unit is capable of communicating with the connected device; The control unit performs the joining process of adding to the communication network between it and the communication network via the first communication processing unit in the first state, and repeats the joining process if the joining process fails; and Intermittent operation processing unit, if the joining process fails, the communication terminal is changed to the second state, and the pause time is determined according to the number of times the joining process is repeated, that is, the second state after the joining process fails. duration time, and make the communication terminal change to the first state after the inactivity time elapses. A power-saving control method is a power-saving control method executed by a communication terminal, the communication terminal alternately repeats a first state and an intermittent operation of a second state that consumes less power than the first state, and includes: a first state A communication processing unit that can communicate with a second service system for providing the second service via the communication network constructed for the first service; and a second communication processing unit that can communicate with the connected device The power control method of the province includes the following steps: The joining processing step is to perform joining processing to the above-mentioned communication network between it and the above-mentioned communication network in the above-mentioned first state; The resting step is to change to the second state if the adding process fails, and continue the second state during the resting time; The pause time determination step is to determine the pause time after the failure of the addition process according to the number of times the addition process is repeated; and The starting step is to make the communication terminal change to the first state after the inactivity time has passed, The stopping step, the stopping time determining step, the starting step, and the adding processing step are performed again every time the adding processing step is performed again after the starting step, and the adding processing fails in the adding processing step. A recording medium recording a program executed by a communication terminal that interactively repeats a first state and an intermittent operation of a second state that consumes less power than the first state, and includes: a first communication The processing unit can communicate with the second service system for providing the second service via the communication network constructed for the first service; and the second communication processing unit can communicate with the connected device. Communication; the aforementioned program causes the communication terminal to perform the following steps: The joining processing step is to perform joining processing to the above-mentioned communication network between it and the above-mentioned communication network through the above-mentioned first communication processing unit in the above-mentioned first state; The resting step is to change to the second state if the adding process fails, and continue the second state during the resting time; The pause time determining step is to determine the pause time after the addition process fails according to the number of times the addition process is repeated; and The starting step is to make the communication terminal change to the first state after the inactivity time has elapsed, The stopping step, the stopping time determining step, the starting step, and the adding processing step are performed again every time the adding processing step is performed again after the starting step, and the adding processing fails in the adding processing step.

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