WO2016104114A1

WO2016104114A1 - Search device and system

Info

Publication number: WO2016104114A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/084224
Authority: WO
Inventors: 整山崎; 義弘北; 俊治伊藤
Original assignee: 株式会社タクテック
Priority date: 2014-12-26
Filing date: 2015-11-30
Publication date: 2016-06-30

Abstract

The objective of the present invention is to provide a search device and system with which reception time between a master unit and a slave unit can be further reduced, and with which power consumption can be restricted, even under a condition in which the number of slave units that can be managed has been increased. A search device which uses a radio signal from a master unit, provided with a transmitter and a receiver, to search for a specific slave unit from among a plurality of slave units which are provided with a transmitter and a receiver and which perform intermittent reception, wherein: the radio signal includes time management information instructing the plurality of slave units to enter a receiving state simultaneously after a fixed time period has elapsed; a radio signal containing an action instruction is transmitted from the master unit to a specific slave unit when the plurality of slave units have simultaneously entered the receiving state; the action instruction includes slave unit response time information; an action corresponding to the action instruction is performed by the specific slave unit that has received the specific radio signal from the master unit; and at the response time associated with the slave unit response time information, reply information related to the action instruction is transmitted by the slave unit.

Description

Search device and system

The present invention relates to, for example, a search device and system, and more particularly to a search device and system for performing radio wave communication between a parent device and a child device.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for example, in collection / delivery work at a postal or transportation company, tags are attached to packages to be collected / delivered, and overall management is performed by a computer-based package management system. For example, by recording data and ID information related to delivery destinations, package contents, and the like in tags, it contributes to efficient package classification management and collection and delivery work.
Furthermore, if the tag is equipped with a light emitting element, a sound generation device, etc., a tag that is a slave unit attached to a package to be picked (taken out) by transmission from a master unit that transmits management information by radio waves It emits light and generates sound so that workers can easily pick.
Conventionally, when communicating with a parent device that transmits radio waves and a tag that is a child device attached to a package, a battery is often used as a power source of the child device. In this case, in order to reduce battery consumption, the slave unit does not always receive, but intermittently receives.
For example, when WiFi (registered trademark), which is well known as one of the communication means, is used for communication between the master unit and the slave unit, even if intermittent reception is performed, the power consumption of the slave unit is large. There is a problem that it is difficult to use with batteries.
In addition, there are broadcast communications such as radio and television among those using beacon signals as a means of communication, but this is unilateral communication from radio stations and television stations to customers, and to specific devices. It is not command communication. That is, no reply is sent from the slave unit to the master unit regarding the slave unit information.
For example, in Patent Literature 1, the slave unit does not perform intermittent reception, but enters a reception state using energy generated by electromagnetic coupling of LF band transmission radio waves from the master unit as a power source. Due to this energy transmission by electromagnetic coupling, it is difficult to manage a large number of slave units with a narrow coverage area.
Further, in Patent Document 1, since a relatively small number of slave units are targeted, there is a low probability that reply radio waves from a plurality of slave units are superimposed, and active means such that reply radio waves from a plurality of slave units are not superimposed. Has not taken.
In Patent Document 2, in order to suppress power consumption of the slave unit, the slave unit is intermittently received and synchronized with the transmission timing of the master unit. However, although there is no strict description, it is considered that the same frequency is used for transmission and reception from FIGS. 2 and 5 and the related description.
For this reason, the command transmission from the master unit, the reply from the slave unit related to the command, and the reception of the reply at the master unit are performed in time series, so it is very difficult to search and manage many slave units. It takes time.

JP 2008-217477 A JP 2010-136270 A

In the past technology or technical idea, when used in a distribution center, when a command to the slave unit attached to each item to be picked is transmitted from the master unit, malfunction due to display failure or battery exhaustion, etc. I couldn't manage all of my handsets. In distribution centers, there are often thousands or tens of thousands of slave units, and it takes time to search for slave units whose indicators do not light up. There was a problem of poor work efficiency.
The present invention solves such problems in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a search device capable of dramatically improving economic efficiency while dramatically improving the safety and workability of the main body. And More specifically, a search device and system that can further reduce the reception time between the master unit and the slave unit and reduce power consumption even in a situation where the number of slave units that can be managed is increased. The issue is to provide.
Also, due to the use of radio waves, interference of external radio waves and external noise may be expected depending on the usage environment, and even in these environments, the reception time between the master unit and the slave unit is shortened and power consumption is reduced. It is another object of the present invention to provide a search device and a system that can be used.

In order to solve such a problem, a search device and system according to the present invention provides a search device for searching for a specific article from an article using a radio signal from the master unit. The master unit and the plurality of slave units are configured to be in a synchronized state after a certain period of time between the master unit and the plurality of slave units.
When a radio signal is transmitted to the slave unit multiple times from the master unit, it is not known when the slave unit that repeats intermittent reception will receive it, but it will enter the reception state again after a certain time from the time of reception. The time management information containing the instruction is received.
Depending on the intermittent reception timing of many slave units, the time management information for re-reception in the time management command differs depending on the time received by each slave unit, but the re-reception is set to be the same time. . As a result, all the slave units can be in the reception state at the same time, and the master unit and the slave units can be synchronized.
In addition to the time management information described above, the radio signal from the master unit is not only the time management information, but also a lighting command for the display, generation of sound and vibration, confirmation transmission of each command, transmission of remaining battery power, etc. and reply for each slave unit Command information for specifying the time timing and the reply frequency channel.
By setting the transmission timing for each slave unit, the master unit can receive each response signal without superimposing even if there are a large number of slave units that should respond.
The slave units can receive each command included in the radio signal from the master unit when entering the reception state all at once. If the handset receives the radio signal for itself, it operates the handset according to the contents. For example, if there is display lighting information, lighting is performed. If there is no command addressed to you, it will shift to the intermittent reception state.
With the operation as described above, the reception state time of the slave unit can be minimized, so that the power consumption can be significantly reduced.
Furthermore, in the search device and system of the present invention, the master unit is provided with a transmitter that can transmit different frequencies and a receiver that can receive different frequency channels. Similarly, the transmitter and receiver of the slave unit can transmit and receive different frequency channels. Thereby, as will be described later, it is possible to prevent a signal transmitted from the master unit to the slave unit and a signal transmitted from the slave unit from being superimposed and interfere with each other and to manage a large number of slave units in a short time. .

In the search device according to the present invention, by using an instruction including time information for instructions to thousands or tens of thousands of slave units, all the slave units can be put into a receiving state at a time, The reply from the machine to the parent machine can be a time-controlled reply so that the radio wave superposition failure does not occur.
Furthermore, the slave unit that has received a command from the master unit can not only perform display lighting, sound generation operation, and the like, but can also send back information on operation confirmation and remaining battery level to the master unit.
As a result, it is possible to easily manage thousands or tens of thousands of slave units because the trouble of searching for slave units that are malfunctioning can be saved. When considering workability, it is an essential requirement for management to confirm the operation status of many slave units.
In addition, the time management command causes the parent device and the child device to be in a synchronized state, and in this state, for example, a signal for turning on the display device can be received. The intermittent reception state of the machine can be lengthened, and power consumption can be reduced.
In conventional communication, reception and transmission are usually performed on the same frequency channel. However, in the present invention, for example, multiple frequency channels such as ZigBee (registered trademark) can be used for radio communication between the master unit and the slave unit. Standards are used to isolate frequency channels so that frequency interference does not occur. The master unit can use different frequency channels for command signal transmission and reply signal reception. By sending a signal with a frequency channel different from the response radio signal from the machine, interference between the frequency at the time of transmission and the frequency at the time of reception can be suppressed, and radio interference that causes the question signal and response signal to be superimposed Can be prevented.
Furthermore, since the master unit can transmit and receive simultaneously by separating the transmission frequency channel and the reception frequency channel, it can receive a reply from another slave unit simultaneously in parallel with sending a command to a certain slave unit, If the base unit is provided with a plurality of transmitters and receivers, simultaneous parallel processing can be performed, and processing time can be shortened and power saving can be achieved.
Therefore, the present invention provides a solution for the control of thousands and tens of thousands of slave units that could not be realized in the past, and the large power consumption and management of faulty slave units, which have been problems in the past. Will be.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of simultaneous reception of slave units according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a reply sequence diagram from the slave unit to the master unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of handset reply with different frequencies according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the range necessary for the description for achieving the object of the present invention is schematically shown, and the range necessary for the description of the relevant part of the present invention will be mainly described. According to a known technique.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the present system is composed of one or a plurality of master units M and a plurality of slave units S1 to SN. The slave units S1 to SN are attached to, for example, an article to be picked at a distribution center and operate with the built-in battery s01.
The master unit M has a central unit (Central Processing Unit (hereinafter abbreviated as “CPU”)) and peripheral circuits for managing articles to be picked and a transmitter m04 controlled by the control unit m08. The transmitter antenna m06 for the transmitter, the receiver m05 controlled by the controller, and the receiver antenna m07 for the receiver are configured.
In addition, when transmission and reception are performed alternately, it is a known technique that the transmission antenna m06 and the reception antenna 07 are common and can be switched.
Control of the control device m08 of the base unit M may be provided with a controller including a display device in the control device m08, or a general-purpose personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as “PC”) m02 or a terminal device m03 such as a tablet. You may connect. Furthermore, it can be connected to the central control device m01 that performs integrated control of the entire distribution center by wire or wireless.
In addition, since the master unit is often operated at all times, the commercial power source drive is preferable to the battery drive. Therefore, the power supply unit is not shown in FIG.
The slave units S1 to SN have the same configuration, and are controlled by a control device s05 including a CPU and peripheral circuits, a transmitter s07 controlled by the control device s05, a transmission antenna s09 for the transmitter, and the control device. The same control device s05 as the sound generator s03 controlled by the same control device s05 as the display device s02 composed of the light emitting elements controlled by the control device s05 as well as the receiver s06 and the receiver antenna s08. And a battery s01 as a power source for the entire slave unit S1. The display device s02 can be intermittently turned on by a command from the parent device M, or can display characters and figures.
If the slave units S1 to SN do not perform simultaneous transmission / reception, the transmission antenna s09 and the reception antenna s08 can be shared and switched.
FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining a state in which all the slave units are simultaneously in a reception state by a transmission command from the master unit, which is a feature of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the transmission signal MT from the base unit M and the managed N slave units S1 to SN are shown as reception states as S1R, S2R, S3R, and SNR for easy understanding.
The slave units S1 to SN repeat intermittent reception at a time interval L until a transmission signal from the master unit is received. The intermittent reception interval of each slave unit is a time interval of approximately L, but the timing is different as shown in FIG.
In the above state, the transmission signal MT of the parent device M is a command common to all the child devices, and is transmitted for L hours or more at the transmission interval t time. The transmission signal MT from the master unit includes time information to be re-received by the slave unit at each timing, as shown in the enlarged view of the transmission signal MT in FIG. For example, in the first transmission, the information is to re-receive after T time, in the next transmission signal, after T-t time, in the next transmission, after T-2t time, and in the next transmission, transmit after T-3t. And information.
Next, the reception status of the slave unit will be described. Since the reception state S1R of the slave unit 1 repeats the intermittent reception state, the fifth reception signal MT from the base unit M is received, the intermittent reception is suspended, and re-reception is started after T-4t. Similarly, the slave unit S2 receives the first signal from the master unit and starts re-reception after T time, the slave unit S3 starts re-reception after T-3t, and the slave unit SN restarts after T-7t. Reception is started, and all slave units are in a reception state at time t1 of time T after the start of transmission from the master unit.
As described above, the picking command is transmitted from the parent device to each individual child device at time t1 when all the child devices are simultaneously received. FIG. 3 shows the transmission signal MT of the parent device M and the reception state MR of the parent device, the reception state S1R and the transmission signal S1T of the child device S1, as well as the reception state S2R and the transmission signal S2T of the child device S2. The reception status S3R and transmission signal S3T of the machine S3, and the reception status SNR and transmission signal SNT of the slave unit SN are shown.
In order to make the explanation easy to understand, it is assumed that an instruction to turn on the display unit is issued only to S1 and S2 among the slave units S1 to SN, and the other slave units issue commands to repeat intermittent reception. Master unit M transmits a signal including identification information, an operation command, and reply time information for each slave unit from time t1.
In FIG. 3, slave unit S1 receives the command, performs an operation in accordance with the command, and transmits a confirmation signal such as command execution confirmation after reply time information T1 included in the command from the master unit. Since the master unit is in a reception state in accordance with the timing of the confirmation signal, it is surely received by the master unit.
Similarly, when the slave unit S2 receives a command from the master unit, the slave unit S2 operates in accordance with the command, and transmits a confirmation signal such as command execution confirmation after the return time information T2 included in the command from the master unit. The base unit M transmits a command to the slave unit and then enters a reception state. In the example of FIG. 3, after receiving a reply to the command to the slave unit 1 and the slave unit 2, a command for another slave unit is started from time t2. To do.
In the example of FIG. 3, since the command to the handset 3 is a command to put in intermittent reception, the handset 3 repeats intermittent reception. Further, since the slave unit SN has not received the command yet, the intermittent reception state is automatically repeated after a predetermined time r has elapsed, and a further command from the master unit is awaited.
The above description of FIGS. 2 and 3 is an example in which the transmission and reception frequency channels of the parent device and the reception and transmission frequency channels of the child device S are all equal. It is operating in series.
FIG. 4 shows a case where different frequencies are used for transmission and reception, which is a feature of the present invention, where the transmission frequency channel f1 of the parent device M and the reception frequency channel f1 of the child device are equal, and the frequency channel f2 of the parent device M and the child device are the same. This is an example in the case where the transmission frequency channels f2 are equal.
The sensor network used for radio according to the present invention uses a standard in which the frequency channel f1 and the frequency channel f2 are sufficiently isolated so as not to cause frequency interference as described above. In the article search, since the transmission information is relatively small, the ZigBee standard or the like may be desirable.
That is, the base unit M immediately enters the reception state from the time when transmission to the handset 1 ends (T'1 hour after t1), and after receiving the reply from the handset 1, the reply time to the handset 2 continues. A reply from the slave unit 2 is received from the command T′2. By operating as described above, the base unit M can perform transmission and reception in time parallel, and can shorten the search time for the handset. The handset S3 and handset SN are the same as in FIG.
As can be seen from FIG. 4, the transmission from the master unit and the reception by the master unit can be processed in parallel by changing the transmission frequency channel and the reception frequency channel, but the master unit sets the slave unit 1 and the slave unit 2 in time series. Are receiving.
The above is further developed, and the base unit M includes a plurality of transmitters and receivers, for example, includes two transmitters Ta and Tb, two receivers Rc and Rd, and sets the transmission frequency of Ta to fa and Tb. The reception frequency of the transmission frequency fb, Rc is fc, the reception frequency of Rd is fd, the slave unit is the reception frequency fa, the plurality of groups A of the transmission frequency fc, the reception frequency fb, and the plurality of groups B of the transmission frequency fd To do. With such a configuration, group A and group B can be managed separately as shown in FIG. Of course, if the number of transmitters and receivers is further increased in the master unit, the number of slave unit simultaneous searches can be greatly increased.
When the search device of the present invention is used in an actual environment, it is expected that external radio interference or radio noise will be mixed depending on the environment. For this reason, the master unit has a function of searching and receiving the reception frequency channel sequentially before selecting a command to the slave unit, selecting a frequency channel with less interference and external noise, and setting it as a reply frequency channel of the slave unit.
On the other hand, if interference occurs after the slave unit search transmission is transmitted from the master unit, it may move to a preset frequency channel, and the slave unit similarly searches for a preset frequency channel. It is also possible to receive commands from the master unit.

As described above, according to the search device according to the present application, all slave units are determined by using commands such as simultaneous reception time, reply time, reply frequency channel, etc. for commands to thousands or tens of thousands of slave units. The response from the slave unit to the master unit can be returned by time control and frequency channel control so that radio wave interference does not occur.
Furthermore, the slave unit receiving the simultaneous reception time and individual reply time information from the master unit not only performs operations such as turning on the display, but also sends back information on the remaining battery level of the slave unit to the master unit. be able to. As a result, it is easy to manage thousands and tens of thousands of slave units by eliminating the trouble of searching for slave units with faulty parts.
In addition, since the slave units are synchronized by the simultaneous reception time command and the operation commands to each slave unit can be received in that state, the time for the slave unit to stay in the reception state is minimized, and the slave unit Power consumption can be reduced, and the battery life of the handset can be extended.
By providing the base unit with a plurality of transmitters and receivers, it becomes possible to easily perform parallel management for each work section or for each worker. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to a simple search device, but provides great benefits for all industries related to a wide number of article searches. The industrial applicability of the present invention is wide, and it can be expected to expand to the industrial world.

f1, f2, fa to fd: frequency channel L: time interval M: master unit MT: transmission signal m01: central control device m02: personal computer m03: portable terminal device m04: transmitter m05: receiver m06: transmitting antenna m07: Receiving antenna r: Fixed time S1 to SN: Slave unit s01: Built-in battery s02: Display device s03: Audio generating device s04: Vibration generating device s05: Control device s06: Receiver s07: Transmitter s08: Receiving antenna s09: Transmitting antenna

Claims

In a search device that searches for a specific slave unit from a plurality of slave units that perform intermittent reception using a radio signal from a master unit that includes a transmitter and a receiver,
The radio wave signal includes time management information for instructing the plurality of slave units to be in a reception state at the same time after a predetermined time has elapsed, and is specified from the master unit when the plurality of slave units are in a reception state simultaneously. A radio signal including an operation command for the slave unit is transmitted, the operation command includes slave unit response time information, and the specific slave unit that has received the specific radio signal from the master unit includes the operation command A search device characterized in that a corresponding operation is executed and reply information related to the operation command is transmitted from the slave unit at a response time related to the slave unit response time information.
The transmitter and the receiver included in the master unit and the slave unit are capable of transmitting and receiving a plurality of transmission and reception frequency channels having frequency channel intervals separated to such an extent that mutual interference does not occur. Item 4. The search device according to Item 1.
The search device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the parent device includes a plurality of transmitters and receivers.
4. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the operation command from the master unit includes information on a response frequency channel to which the slave unit should respond.
The search device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the base unit has a function of sequentially receiving the plurality of reception frequency channels and searching for a frequency channel with less noise and interference.
The search device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the slave unit has a function of sequentially receiving a plurality of predetermined frequency channels.
The operation command includes at least one of a display lighting command, sound generation command, vibration generation command, digital display command, response frequency channel designation, battery remaining amount transmission command, command response time, and confirmation transmission command. The search device according to claim 1, wherein:
In a system having a parent device including a first transmitter and a first receiver, and a child device including a second transmitter and a second receiver, a radio signal from the parent device is used. A search system for searching for a specific slave unit from among the plurality of slave units that perform intermittent reception,
The radio wave signal includes time management information for instructing the plurality of slave units to be in a reception state at the same time after a predetermined time has elapsed, and is specified from the master unit when the plurality of slave units are in a reception state simultaneously. A radio signal including an operation command for the slave unit is transmitted, the operation command includes slave unit response time information, and corresponds to the operation command in the specific slave unit that has received the radio signal from the master unit And a reply information related to the operation command is transmitted from the specific slave unit at a response time according to the slave unit response time information.