WO2013159294A1

WO2013159294A1 - A fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system and a system thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2013159294A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/074670
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kai Meng; Wei Fu; Jinshu CHEN
Original assignee: Abb Technology Ltd.
Priority date: 2012-04-25
Filing date: 2012-04-25
Publication date: 2013-10-31
Also published as: CN103875209B; CN103875209A

Abstract

The present invention discloses a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system and a system thereof. The fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system comprises: broadcasting a broadcast message to the system bus by a testing device; generating and sending a detecting message to the lower level device by each intermediate device; identifying an error on a faulted device according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to said faulted device; and sending an error message to said testing device, in which said error message includes the codes of all faulted devices. The solutions of the present invention achieve easily maintenance for intercom system by fast locating and diagnosing the fault.

Description

A FAST DETECTING AND LOCATING FAULT METHOD FOR INTERCOM SYSTEM

AND A SYSTEM THEREOF

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the door entry system or intercom system technical field, and more particularly to a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system and a system thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At present, when an error or fault occurs in the most of door entry systems during daily operation, a simple message can be displayed on the screen of the terminal, for example line busy', 'no response' etc displayed in the monitor, or a sound indication can be generated by a speaker or buzzer of the terminal. Generally speaking, it's impossible to fast locate the error or fault position according to such kind of simple message. It's obvious to the person skilled in art that the maintenance engineer will fall into trouble in maintaining, debugging, repairing or replacing equipment.

Consequently, existing solutions cannot fast detect and locate an error or fault, and also cannot be directly displayed on the screen of the terminal. Due to the above mentioned problems, the present invention is to propose a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system and a system thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve above problems, the present invention provides a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system and a system thereof. Based on the present solution, the time spent in the error or fault detecting and locating can be greatly shorten.

According to an aspect of the present invention, it provides a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system. The method comprises: broadcasting a broadcast message to the system bus by a testing device; generating and sending a detecting message to the lower level device by each intermediate device; identifying an error on a faulted device according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to the faulted device; and sending an error message to the testing device, in which the error message includes the codes of all faulted devices.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: judging the types of each device after the device received the detecting message; sending the detecting message to the lower level device directly connected to the device if the device is an intermediate device; and replying an acknowledge message to the higher level device directly connected to the device if the device is a terminal device at present.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: receiving the acknowledge message from the lower level device; judging whether the lower level device is an terminal device or not; identifying an error on the faulted device directly connected to the lower level device replying the acknowledge message if the lower level device is an intermediate device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: generating the error message by the lower level device directly prior to the faulted device or by the faulted device itself, in which the error message consists of the identification code of the faulted device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: displaying the error message on the testing device after receiving it.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it provides another fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system. The method comprises: sending a diagnostic message to an assigned device by a testing device; measuring the electronic performances after receiving the diagnostic message; sending the measuring message to the testing device; and decoding the measuring message and displaying corresponding information on the testing device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: replying an error message to the higher level device by the device directly prior to a faulted device when an error occurs during forwarding the diagnostic message to the assigned device; and decoding the error message and displaying corresponding information on the testing device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the code includes the type and address of each device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, it provides fast detecting and locating fault system. The fast detecting and locating fault system comprises: a testing device, configured to broadcast a broadcast message to the system bus and display an error message after receiving it, in which the error message includes the codes of all faulted devices; at least an intermediate device, each of which is configured to generate and send the detecting message to the lower level device; identify an error on a faulted device according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to the faulted device; and send the error message to the testing device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, each device judges the type after receiving the detecting message, sends the detecting message to the lower level device directly connected to the device if the device is an intermediate device; and replies an acknowledge message to the higher level device directly connected to the device if the device is a terminal device at present.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate device is further configured to receive the acknowledge message from the lower level device, judge whether the lower level device is an terminal device or not; and identify an error on the faulted device directly connected to the lower level device replying the acknowledge message if the lower level device is an intermediate device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lower level device directly prior to the faulted device or the faulted device itself generates the error message, in which the error message consists of the identification code of the faulted device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the testing device is further configured to send a diagnostic message to an assigned device, decode an measuring message and display corresponding information; and the assigned device measures the electronic performances after receiving the diagnostic message and sends the measuring message to the testing device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device directly prior to a faulted device replies an error message to the higher level device when an error occurs during forwarding the diagnostic message to the assigned device; and the testing device is further configured to decode the error message and display the corresponding information on the testing device.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, each device in the system is constructed in the form of hierarchical star or daisy chain.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system and a system thereof, which can fast locate and diagnose the error or fault on the device from the message and the electronic performance. And then the maintenance engineer can easily and visually replace the faulted device and eliminate the fault in the intercom system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the invention will be explained in more details in the following description with reference to preferred exemplary embodiments which are illustrated in the drawings, in which:

Fig.1 illustrates a flow chart of a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.2 illustrates a flow chart of a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.3 illustrates a flow chart of a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig.4 illustrates a fast detecting and locating fault system and report flow according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings hereinafter. For the sake of clarity and conciseness, not all the features of actual implementations are described in the specification.

Fig.1 illustrates a flow chart of a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig.1 , a fast detecting and locating fault method 100 for intercom system comprises the following steps: Step 102, broadcasting a broadcast message to the system bus by a testing device. In the present invention, the devices of the system are cascaded in the form of some hierarchical star or daisy chains. Each terminal device (ie. a device without any lower level device) is connected to a higher level device, and each intermediate device may be connected with at least a lower level device. As to the topology, such system can be divided into multiple levels. In the system, if a fault occurs in a device, it won't affect the communication of any other devices in other chains.

In the present invention, the test message is used during the test procedure, which contains a source address and destination address. The source address is the identification code for the device who initiates the message, and the destination address is the identification code for the device who finally receives the message. A special message named broadcast message can be sent to each device in the system. When operators perform maintenance, they can initiate and broadcast a detecting message to the system bus via a testing device. Step 104, generating and sending a detecting message to the lower level device by each intermediate device. Generally, for the intermediate device, it has lower level device connected to such intermediate device; so each intermediate device will forward the detecting message to the lower level device after it receives the message.

Step 106, identifying an error on a faulted device according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to said faulted device. If everything functions well, an acknowledge message shall be sent by the terminal device, however some device or such terminal device is disconnected from the system due to some fault in the terminal device or line; so the faulted (terminal) device cannot feed an acknowledge message back, and the acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to the faulted device will be forwarded up to the higher level device. In the other embodiment, the faulted device can feed the other kind of an acknowledge message back, in which the acknowledge message shows the information about the fault; e.g. some indicated bits or flag etc. Hence, the fault can be located due to the acknowledge message.

Step 108, sending an error message to said testing device, in which said error message includes the codes of all faulted devices. In details, the lower level device directly prior to the faulted device or even the faulted device itself can generate an error message, in which the error message consists of the identification code of the faulted device.

It shall be noted that all devices in the system are labeled by a unique identification code, which contains device type and device address. In the present invention, a device code includes the type and address of each device; the device type can be distinguished or classified by the intercom levels which derive from the hierarchy information. The device address is derived from the physical address, by which the device can be easily located. In addition, the device is coded according to its level, and the code contains the codes for the devices of all the upper levels and inherits from the device of the previous level.

The present invention provides a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system, when a detectable error or fault occurs, the error or fault can be fast located; moreover, the error or fault information can also be displayed directly on the screen of the terminal, including the fault device identification and the result.

Fig.2 illustrates a flow chart of a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig.2, the fast detecting and locating fault method 200 comprises steps 202-208, in which the steps 202, 206 and 208 are the same or similar to the steps 102, 106 and 108 in Fig.1 . In order to keep the description simple and concise, such steps will not be repeated again.

Step 203, judging the types of each device after said device received said detecting message, i.e. the device judges whether it's an intermediate device or not. If so, go to step 204; otherwise, go to step 205.

Step 204, sending said detecting message to the lower level device directly connected to said device if said device is an intermediate device, and then jump to step 203.

Step 205, replying an acknowledge message to the higher level device directly connected to said device if said device is a terminal device at present. And then, locate the fault position due to the acknowledge message.

Fig.3 illustrates a flow chart of a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig.3, the fast detecting and locating fault method 300 comprises steps 302-309, in which the steps 302-305 and 309 are the same or similar to the steps 202-205 and 208 in Fig.2. In order to keep the description simple and concise, such steps will not be repeated again.

Step 306, an intermediate device receives the acknowledge message from the lower level device.

Step 307, judging whether said lower level device is an terminal device or not.

Step 308, identifying an error on the faulted device directly connected to said lower level device replying the acknowledge message if said lower level device is an intermediate device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the fast detecting and locating fault method further comprises displaying the error message on the testing device after the testing device receives it. Furthermore, in order to diagnose and classify the fault in some assigned device, the solution of the present invention also provides the following diagnostic process. In particular, according to another aspect of the present invention, it provides a fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system. The testing device sends a diagnostic message to an assigned device; the assigned device measures the electronic performances after receiving the diagnostic message, and then the assigned device sends the measuring message to the testing device via the intermediate device(s). For example, if there is a faulted device prior to the assigned device during forwarding said diagnostic message to said assigned device, the device directly prior to the faulted device will reply an error message to the higher level device. Therefore the testing device can decode the measuring message and display the corresponding information on its screen.

As shown in Fig.4, the intercom system is constructed with multiple level chains, in which AX, BX, CX, DX represent the devices with the same level respectively. The device address contains several parts which indicate the codes for different levels from the basic level and inherit from the device of the previous level. In detail, the unused parts are filled with 0 shown in Fig.4. The address 'B1 01010000' inherits from the address Ά1 01000000', and both 'B1 ' and Ά1 ' are device types.

In this case, there is a disconnection error between the device OD 01030101 ' and the device 1 01030100'. A testing device OD 01010201 ' broadcasts a detecting message (a request) to the system bus and such detecting message is forwarded to intermediate device 'C1 01010200', 'B1 01010000', Ά1 01000000', 'B1 01030000', 1 01030100' in turn. The intermediate device 'C1 01030100' cannot get acknowledge message from its lower level device OD 01030101 ', so an error on a faulted device OD 01030101 ' can be identified according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to said faulted device. Therefore, the error message will be forwarded back via the intermediate devices one by one. After the testing device receives the error message, it will be displayed on the screen.

For further error information, the testing device can send a diagnostic message to an assigned device 1 01030100' directly prior to the faulted device, the assigned device measures the electronic performances (e.g. current, voltage etc.) after receiving said diagnostic message and forwards the measuring message (or error message) to the testing device, and then the testing device decodes an measuring message and displays corresponding information.

Compared with the existing prior arts, the proposed solution of the present invention is adapted to the system constructed in hierarchical star or daisy chains, which uses the device type and physical address to classify the devices and locate the fault. What's more, a message is forwarded to all devices with a lower level by a higher level intermediate device. If the message is sent from the device with the same level, it will be ignored. According to the preferred embodiments, the error or fault can be located and diagnosed by the message and the electronic performance decoded from such message. It shall be noted that a specific external device can be used to test the fault in the system, or a test mode embedded in some device of the system can be used to perform a specific function described as the above processes.

Though the present invention has been described on the basis of some preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should appreciate that those embodiments should by no means limit the scope of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and concept of the present invention, any variations and modifications to the embodiments should be within the apprehension of those with ordinary knowledge and skills in the art, and therefore fall in the scope of the present invention which is defined by the accompanied claims.

Claims

1 . A fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system, wherein said method comprises:

broadcasting a broadcast message to the system bus by a testing device;

generating and sending a detecting message to the lower level device by each intermediate device;

identifying an error on a faulted device according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to said faulted device; and sending an error message to said testing device, in which said error message includes the codes of all faulted devices.

2. The fast detecting and locating fault method according to claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises:

judging the types of each device after said device received said detecting message;

sending said detecting message to the lower level device directly connected to said device if said device is an intermediate device; and

replying an acknowledge message to the higher level device directly connected to said device if said device is a terminal device at present.

3. The fast detecting and locating fault method according to claim 2, wherein said method further comprises:

receiving the acknowledge message from the lower level device;

judging whether said lower level device is an terminal device or not; identifying an error on the faulted device directly connected to said lower level device replying the acknowledge message if said lower level device is an intermediate device.

4. The fast detecting and locating fault method according to claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises: generating said error message by said lower level device directly prior to the faulted device or by the faulted device itself, in which said error message consists of the identification code of the faulted device.

5. The fast detecting and locating fault method according to claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises: displaying said error message on the testing device after receiving it.

6. The fast detecting and locating fault method according to claim 1 , wherein said code includes the type and address of each device.

7. A fast detecting and locating fault method for intercom system, wherein said method comprises:

sending a diagnostic message to an assigned device by a testing device; measuring the electronic performances after receiving said diagnostic message;

sending the measuring message to said testing device; and

decoding said measuring message and displaying corresponding information on said testing device.

8. The fast detecting and locating fault method according to claim 7, wherein said method further comprises:

replying an error message to the higher level device by the device directly prior to a faulted device when an error occurs during forwarding said diagnostic message to said assigned device; and

decoding said error message and displaying corresponding information on said testing device.

9. A fast detecting and locating fault system, wherein said fast detecting and locating fault system comprises:

a testing device, configured to broadcast a broadcast message to the system bus and display an error message after receiving it, in which said error message includes the codes of all faulted devices;

at least an intermediate device, each of which is configured to generate and send said detecting message to the lower level device; identify an error on a faulted device according to an acknowledge message from the lower level device directly prior to said faulted device; and send said error message to said testing device.

10. The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 9, each device judges the type after receiving said detecting message, sends said detecting message to the lower level device directly connected to said device if said device is an intermediate device; and replies an acknowledge message to the higher level device directly connected to said device if said device is a terminal device at present.

11 . The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 9, wherein said intermediate device is further configured to receive the acknowledge message from the lower level device, judge whether said lower level device is an terminal device or not; and identify an error on the faulted device directly connected to said lower level device replying the acknowledge message if said lower level device is an intermediate device.

12. The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 9, wherein said lower level device directly prior to the faulted device or said faulted device itself generates said error message, in which said error message consists of the identification code of the faulted device.

13. The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 9, wherein said testing device is further configured to send a diagnostic message to an assigned device, decode an measuring message and display corresponding information; and

said assigned device measures the electronic performances after receiving said diagnostic message and sends the measuring message to said testing device.

14. The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 13, wherein the device directly prior to a faulted device replies an error message to the higher level device when an error occurs during forwarding said diagnostic message to said assigned device; and

said testing device is further configured to decode said error message and display the corresponding information on said testing device.

15. The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 9, wherein said code includes the type and address of each device.

1 6. The fast detecting and locating fault system according to claim 9, wherein each device in the system is constructed in the form of hierarchical star or daisy chain.