WO2017208963A1 - Wireless communication device, wireless communication method, control system, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless communication device in a mode of embodiment of the present invention is used in an appliance control system, and is capable of forwarding received data relating to appliance control to another wireless communication device on the basis of destination information appended to the data. The wireless communication device includes a storage unit and a transmitting unit. The storage unit stores correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between the plurality of wireless communication devices and the appliances. If the destination identified on the basis of the data destination information is an appliance that corresponds, by means of the correspondence information, with the device itself, the transmitting unit transmits the control-related data to said appliance.

Description

Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method, control system, and computer program

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a wireless communication device, a wireless communication method, a control system, and a computer program.

In order to realize integrated management (monitoring, control, etc.) of equipment in buildings such as office buildings, hotels, factories or commercial facilities (hereinafter collectively referred to as “buildings”), the equipment to be managed In addition, it is necessary to collect information necessary for equipment management from various sensors that measure the inside and outside of the building and devices such as setting devices for operating the equipment to be managed. For example, management of air conditioning equipment requires information such as the temperature and humidity in the room and information such as the set temperature input to the setting device. Therefore, in order to realize integrated building management, a network for communicating information necessary for facility management is indispensable, and communication related to facility management has generally been realized by wired communication. .

JP 2008-15837 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-273770 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-307740

However, there are a large number of communication devices related to such building management, and communication wiring becomes complicated. Therefore, there is a possibility that much labor is required for wiring work and wiring management. On the other hand, in recent years, for the construction of equipment control systems for building construction and renovation, there has been a demand for shortening the construction period, and control systems that can meet this demand have been developed and studied.
The present invention is to provide a wireless communication apparatus, a wireless communication method, a control system, and a computer program that can solve the above-described problems.

The wireless communication device according to the embodiment is a wireless communication device used in a device control system capable of transferring received data relating to device control to another wireless communication device based on destination information added to the data. . The wireless communication apparatus includes a storage unit and a transmission unit. The storage unit stores correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between the plurality of wireless communication devices and the device. When the destination identified based on the destination information of the data is a device associated with the own device by the correspondence information, the transmission unit transmits the data related to the control to the device.

The figure which shows the specific example of the system configuration | structure of the control system of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of a function structure of the gateway apparatus in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the correspondence information in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the correspondence information in 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of the relay process which the gateway apparatus 1 performs. The figure which shows the operation example of the control system of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the flame | frame transmitted / received in the operation example of FIG. The sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the control system of 1st Embodiment. The sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the control system of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of a function structure of the gateway apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the correspondence information in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the correspondence information in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of a logical path. The figure which shows the specific example of a logical path. The figure which shows the operation example of the control system of 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of the flame | frame transmitted / received in the operation example of FIG. The figure which shows the specific example of a function structure of the gateway apparatus in 3rd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of the process by which correspondence information is produced | generated. The figure which shows the specific example of a function structure of the gateway apparatus in 4th Embodiment. The figure which shows the specific example of a function structure of the gateway apparatus in 5th Embodiment.

Hereinafter, a wireless communication device, a wireless communication method, a control system, and a computer program according to embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the system configuration of the control system 100 according to the first embodiment. In the control system 100 of the first embodiment, a host control device 10 installed in a building monitoring control room has various facilities (hereinafter referred to as “management”) installed in each floor and machine room of the first floor to the Nth floor. It is a system that manages the target equipment. In the example of FIG. 1, an air conditioning facility 21, a lighting facility 31, a heat source pump 41 as a heat source facility, and a heat source valve 42 are illustrated as examples of management target facilities. The air conditioning equipment 21 and the lighting equipment 31 are installed on each floor from the first floor to the Nth floor, and the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42 are installed in the machine room. The management terminal 101 installed in the monitoring control room is a terminal used for the operation of the control system 100, for example, a terminal used for displaying information related to the control system 100 and inputting operations for the control system 100.

Each floor and machine room will be equipped with various equipment necessary for managing the managed equipment in addition to the managed equipment. For example, an air conditioning setter 22, an air conditioning sensor 23, and an air conditioning control device 24 are installed on each floor as devices necessary for managing the air conditioning equipment 21. The air conditioning setting device 22 is a device used by a user to input ON / OFF of the air conditioning equipment 21, temperature setting, and the like. The air conditioning sensor 23 is a sensor that acquires information necessary for controlling the air conditioning equipment 21 (for example, room temperature). The air conditioning control device 24 is a device that performs air conditioning control processing.

The air conditioning control process is a process related to the control of the air conditioning equipment 21. For example, the air conditioning control process includes a process for determining the operating condition of the air conditioning equipment 21, a process for notifying the determined operating condition, and a process for transmitting and receiving information necessary for determining the operating condition. For example, the air conditioning control device 24 transmits sensor information such as room temperature and humidity acquired from the air conditioning sensor 23 to the host control device 10. The host control device 10 determines the set temperature of the first floor based on the sensor information and notifies the air conditioning control device 24 of it. The air conditioning control device 24 determines the operating condition of the air conditioning equipment 21 based on the notified set temperature. Hereinafter, the air conditioning equipment 21, the air conditioning setting device 22, the air conditioning sensor 23, and the air conditioning control device 24 are collectively referred to as the air conditioning system equipment 20.

Further, for example, an illumination setting device 32, an illumination sensor 33, and an illumination control device 34 are installed on each floor as devices necessary for managing the illumination facility 31. The lighting setting device 32 is a device used by the user to input ON / OFF of the lighting equipment 31, a dimming rate, and the like. The illumination sensor 33 is a sensor that acquires information necessary for controlling the illumination facility 31 (for example, brightness of a room, distribution of people, incident state of external light, and the like). The illumination control device 34 is a device that performs illumination control processing.

The lighting control process is a process related to the control of the lighting equipment 31. For example, the lighting control process includes a process for determining the operating condition of the lighting equipment 31, a process for notifying the determined operating condition, and a process for transmitting and receiving information necessary for determining the operating condition. For example, the illumination control device 34 transmits sensor information such as brightness acquired from the illumination sensor 33 to the host control device 10. The host control device 10 determines the set illuminance of the first floor based on the sensor information, and notifies the lighting control device 34 of it. The lighting control device 34 determines the operating condition of the lighting equipment 31 based on the notified set illuminance. Hereinafter, the lighting equipment 31, the lighting setting device 32, the lighting sensor 33, and the lighting control device 34 are collectively referred to as the lighting system device 30.

Further, for example, a pump sensor 43, a valve sensor 44, and a heat source control device 45 are installed in the machine room as devices necessary for managing the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42. When the heat source pump 41 is a compressor that compresses the refrigerant and the heat source valve 42 is an expansion valve that depressurizes the refrigerant, for example, the pump sensor 43 and the valve sensor 44 include the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42. It is a sensor which measures the electric current and voltage which show the operation state of, temperature of a refrigerant | coolant, etc. The heat source control device 45 is a device that performs heat source control processing.

The heat source control process is a process related to the control of the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42. For example, the heat source control process includes a process for determining the operating conditions of the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42, a process for notifying the determined operating conditions, and a process for transmitting and receiving information necessary for determining the operating conditions. For example, the heat source control device 45 transmits sensor information indicating operation information of the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42 acquired from the pump sensor 43 and the valve sensor 44 to the host control device 10. The host controller 10 determines the output intensity of the heat source pump 41 and the opening degree of the heat source valve 42 based on the sensor information, and notifies the heat source controller 45 of the output intensity. The heat source control device 45 determines the operating conditions of the heat source pump 41 and the heat source valve 42 based on the notified output intensity and opening. Hereinafter, the heat source pump 41, the heat source valve 42, the pump sensor 43, the valve sensor 44, and the heat source control device 45 are collectively referred to as a heat source system device 40.

Generally, the above-mentioned managed equipment and related equipment have different communication protocols for each type of equipment such as air conditioning system, lighting system, heat source system, and control system. Therefore, in a conventional control system, a local server that performs intermediate processing for each type of various devices is installed on each floor or machine room. The intermediate processing here refers to relaying communication (for example, protocol conversion), conversion and aggregation of information to be transmitted and received between the higher-level control device and the lower-level control device (for example, an air-conditioning control device). It is processing. Each local server is configured to be communicable with a higher-level control device via a higher-level network and configured to be able to communicate with a lower-level control device via a lower-level network.

Note that the communication medium and communication protocol constituting the upper network are arbitrary, but at present, a configuration in which the Ethernet (registered trademark) and the BACnet (Building Automation and Control Networking protocol) protocol are combined is widespread. Thus, the intermediate control performed by the local server is configured such that the higher-level control device can manage different types of management target equipment in an integrated manner. In such a conventional control system, communication between the upper control device, the lower control device, various sensors, a setting device, and the like is generally configured by wire. In contrast to such a conventional configuration, the control system 100 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 configures a first wireless network 63 and a second wireless network 64 for each floor or machine room, thereby various devices and devices. Wireless communication is realized.

The first wireless network 63 is a wireless mesh network. The wireless mesh network is a mesh network that does not require an access point or a base station, and is configured by directly connecting nodes constituting the network to a plurality of other nodes. In such a wireless mesh network, a communication path is dynamically constructed according to the state of a node participating in the network. Therefore, by using a wireless mesh network, a wireless communication network with high fault tolerance can be constructed while omitting physical wiring.

One first wireless network 63 is provided for each control area in the building. The control area means each area obtained by dividing a space where a management target facility may be installed in a building according to a predetermined standard. FIG. 1 shows an example in which each of the first to Nth floors and the machine room is set as one control area. In this case, one first wireless network 63 is provided on each of the first to Nth floors and the machine room. In FIG. 1, a first wireless network 63-n is provided on each of the nth floors (1 ≦ n ≦ N), and a first wireless network 63-M is provided in the machine room. In the first wireless network 63 of each control area, the gateway device 1 constituting the edge of the wireless mesh network is arranged. The gateway device 1 (wireless communication device) connects another device or network that the device itself or directly accommodates to the first wireless network 63.

For example, in FIG. 1, the gateway device 1-1 (second gateway device) and the gateway devices 1-11 to 1-14 are arranged in the first wireless network 63-1. The gateway device 1-1 connects the upper network 61 to the first wireless network 63-1. The gateway device 1-11 connects the air conditioning control device 24 to the first wireless network 63-1. The gateway device 1-12 connects the second wireless network 64-1-1 to the first wireless network 63-1. The gateway device 1-13 connects the lighting control device 34 to the first wireless network 63-1. The gateway device 1-14 connects the second wireless network 64-1-2 to the first wireless network 63-1.

The second wireless network 64 is a network that wirelessly accommodates each device in the control area. For example, in FIG. 1, the second wireless network 64-1-1 accommodates an air conditioning setting device 22, an air conditioning sensor 23, and an illumination sensor 33. The second wireless network 64-1-2 accommodates the air conditioning equipment 21, the lighting equipment 31, and the lighting setting device 32. In this case, each device connected to the first wireless network 63 via the second wireless network 64 has a wireless communication function for connecting to the second wireless network 64.

The second wireless network 64 may be realized by a network having any configuration as long as it is a network that wirelessly accommodates each device to be accommodated. For example, the second wireless network 64 may be configured as a mesh network similarly to the first wireless network 63, or may be configured as a tree-like network such as a network including access points and base stations. . When there are many devices to be accommodated, a tree-like network with a relatively low processing load may be adopted as the second wireless network 64 instead of a network with a high communication control processing load such as a mesh network. For example, in this case, the gateway device 1-12 has a function as an access point, and configures the second wireless network 64-1-1 that accommodates the air conditioning setting device 22, the air conditioning sensor 23, and the illumination sensor 33. Also good.

Incidentally, in the control system 100 of the first embodiment, any one of the gateway devices 1 in each control area is configured to function as a local server in each control area. For example, on the first floor, any one of the gateway device 1-1 and the gateway devices 1-11 to 1-14 has a function of executing an intermediate process. In this case, for example, as in the conventional configuration, the gateway device 1-1 serving as a connection point between the host network 61 and the first wireless network 63-1 has a function of executing intermediate processing for both air conditioning and lighting. May be. Further, the gateway device 1-11 connected to the air conditioning control device 24 has a function of executing intermediate processing for air conditioning, and the gateway device 1-13 connected to the lighting control device 34 executes intermediate processing for lighting. You may have the function to do. When there is no system limitation on the length of the communication path, the gateway device 1-12 and the gateway device 1-13 may have a function of executing intermediate processing.

In addition, for the sake of simplicity, illustration of the equipment configuration for the second floor to the Nth floor is omitted, but the second floor to the Nth floor also basically have the same equipment configuration as the first floor. Have. The machine room also basically has the same device configuration as that of the first floor, although the number of second wireless networks 64 and the types of devices to be accommodated are different.

The flow of control communication in the control system 100 having such a configuration is the same as that of the conventional control system. However, the control system 100 of the first embodiment is different from the conventional control system in that each device in the control area communicates with other devices via the first wireless network 63 or the second wireless network 64. For example, when the air conditioning control device 24 transmits data to the air conditioning equipment 21, the gateway device 1-11 needs to transfer the received data to the gateway device 1-14 that accommodates the destination air conditioning equipment 21. In this case, the gateway device 1-11 needs to identify the gateway device 1 that accommodates the destination air conditioning equipment 21 among the gateway devices 1-11 to 1-14. Therefore, the gateway device 1 according to the first embodiment is configured to be able to identify the correspondence between the device that is the destination of data transmission and the gateway device 1 that accommodates the destination device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the gateway device 1 according to the first embodiment. The gateway device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) connected via a bus, a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like, and executes a gateway device program. The gateway device 1 includes a first communication unit 11, a second communication unit 12, a storage unit 13, a first protocol processing unit 14, a second protocol processing unit 15, and a relay processing unit 16 by executing a gateway device program. Function. Note that all or a part of each function of the gateway device 1 may be realized by using hardware such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The gateway device program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. The gateway device program may be transmitted via a telecommunication line.

The first communication unit 11 includes a wireless communication interface for connecting the own device to the first wireless network 63. Moreover, the 2nd communication part 12 is comprised including the communication interface for connecting an own apparatus to a 2nd network. The second network is a network connected to the first wireless network 63 by the gateway device 1 and is a second network when the first wireless network 63 is the first network. For example, in the gateway device 1-1, the upper network 61 is the second network, and in the gateway device 1-11, the wired network with the air conditioning control device 24 is the second network. In the gateway device 1-12, the second wireless network 64 is the second network.

FIG. 2 illustrates the functional configuration of the gateway device 1-12 as an example of the gateway device 1, but the other gateway devices 1 also basically have the same functional configuration as FIG. . Therefore, by replacing the second wireless network 64 to which the second communication unit 12 is connected with another second network, FIG. 2 can be read as a functional configuration diagram of another gateway device 1.

The storage unit 13 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 13 stores in advance correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between a device serving as a communication destination and the gateway device 1 to which the destination device is connected.

The first protocol processing unit 14 executes communication processing (hereinafter referred to as “first protocol processing”) according to the communication protocol of the first wireless network 63 (hereinafter referred to as “first protocol”). By executing the first protocol process, frame transmission / reception in the first wireless network 63 is realized.

The second protocol processing unit 15 performs communication processing (hereinafter referred to as “second protocol”) corresponding to a communication protocol (hereinafter referred to as “second protocol”) of the second network (corresponding to the second wireless network 64 in the example of FIG. 2). 2 protocol processing ”). By executing the second protocol process, frame transmission / reception in the second network is realized.

The relay processing unit 16 (transmission unit) performs relay processing for relaying frames between the first wireless network 63 and the second wireless network 64. Specifically, the relay processing unit 16 relays the received frame on the second wireless network 64 side to the first wireless network 63 side, and relays the received frame on the first wireless network 63 side to the second wireless network 64 side. To do. At this time, the relay processing unit 16 determines whether or not relay processing is necessary based on the destination information included in the received frame. Specifically, the destination information is information indicating a frame destination and a transmission source. The relay processing unit 16 executes a relay process when the destination of the received frame on the second wireless network 64 side is in another second network, and relays the received frame to the first wireless network 63 side.

At this time, the relay processing unit 16 determines the gateway device 1 (hereinafter referred to as “transfer destination gateway”) as the transfer destination of the received frame in the first wireless network 63 based on the correspondence information. Specifically, the gateway device 1 connected to the second network to which the destination of the received frame belongs is determined as the transfer destination gateway. The relay processing unit 16 receives the data and destination information acquired from the received frame, and information indicating the gateway device 1 determined as the transfer destination gateway (hereinafter referred to as “transfer information”), the first protocol processing unit 14. Output to.

On the other hand, when the destination of the frame received from the first wireless network 63 side exists on the second wireless network 64 side to which the device belongs, the relay processing unit 16 relays the received frame to the second wireless network 64 side. . Specifically, the relay processing unit 16 outputs data acquired from the received frame and destination information to the second protocol processing unit 15.

3 and 4 are diagrams showing specific examples of correspondence information in the first embodiment. The correspondence information in the first embodiment is held, for example, as the correspondence information table 131 shown in FIGS. The correspondence information table 131-1, the correspondence information table 131-11, and the correspondence information table 131-12 of FIG. 3 are respectively the correspondence information held by the gateway device 1-1, the gateway device 1-11, and the gateway device 1-12. It is an example. Also, the correspondence information table 131-M, the correspondence information table 131-M1, and the correspondence information table 131-M2 in FIG. 4 are correspondences held by the gateway device 1-M, the gateway device 1-M1, and the gateway device 1-M2, respectively. It is an example of information.

The correspondence information table 131 has a correspondence information record for each destination identifier. The correspondence information record has values of a destination identifier, a destination address, and a destination GW address. The destination identifier is identification information of a device or device that is a data destination (hereinafter referred to as “destination device”). The destination address represents the network address of the destination device indicated by the destination identifier. The destination GW identifier is identification information of a transfer destination gateway that accommodates the destination device on the second network side. The destination GW address represents the network address of the transfer destination gateway.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of relay processing performed by the gateway device 1. First, the gateway device 1 receives a frame transmitted from the second network side (step S301). The gateway device 1 refers to the correspondence information and determines the gateway device 1 corresponding to the destination device indicated by the received frame as the transfer destination gateway (step S302). The gateway device 1 adds transfer information indicating the determined transfer destination gateway to the received data (step S303). The gateway device 1 sends the received data to which the transfer information is added to the first wireless network 63 side via the first communication unit 11 (step S304). The reception data sent to the first wireless network 63 side is transferred to the transfer destination gateway by the wireless mesh network.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of the control system 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the air conditioning sensor 23 transmits data to the air conditioning control device 24. As described above, in the first wireless network 63, a communication path between two points is dynamically determined according to the state of the network. In the description here, in data transmission from the air conditioning sensor 23 to the air conditioning control device 24, the transfer path on the first wireless network 63 is a permutation of the gateway device 1-12, the gateway device 1-13, and the gateway device 1-14. It is assumed that the case is determined.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of frames transmitted and received in the operation example of FIG. A frame 511 in FIG. 7 represents a frame transmitted from the air conditioning sensor 23 to the gateway device 1-12. A frame 512 represents a frame transmitted from the gateway apparatus 1-12 to the gateway apparatus 1-13. A frame 513 represents a frame transmitted from the gateway device 1-13 to the gateway device 1-14. A frame 514 represents a frame transmitted from the gateway device 1-14 to the air conditioning control device 24.

Each frame includes a data part, a destination information storage part, and a protocol information storage part. The data part is an area in which transmission data is stored. The destination information storage unit is an area in which destination information of transmission data is stored. The protocol information storage unit is an area for storing information (hereinafter referred to as “protocol information”) necessary for communication in the network to be used. The protocol information includes at least identification information of a device that is a transmission source and a destination. The protocol information is stored in the protocol information storage unit in a format corresponding to the protocol used. In FIG. 7, in order to simplify the description of the operation example, only the identification information of the transmission source and destination devices is described as protocol information.

In this case, the air-conditioning sensor 23 that is a transmission source includes, for example, a data transmission unit 231, a second protocol processing unit 232, and a wireless communication unit 233. First, the data transmission unit 231 generates (or acquires) transmission data. Here, the data transmission unit 231 is configured to be able to identify a destination device (here, the air conditioning control device 24) that is a transmission destination of the transmission data according to the type of the generated transmission data. For example, the data transmission unit 231 may store a correspondence table between transmission data types and destination devices in advance. The data transmission unit 231 outputs the generated transmission data and information indicating the destination device of the transmission data to the second protocol processing unit 232 (step S401).

The second protocol processing unit 232 generates a frame 511 for transmitting transmission data to the destination device by executing the second protocol processing. Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 232 first stores the transmission data in the data unit, and the transmission source is the own device (“0x1043”) and the destination is the air conditioning control device 24 (“0x1044”). Destination information indicating the presence is stored in the destination information storage unit. Subsequently, the second protocol processing unit 232 generates protocol information of the second protocol (hereinafter referred to as “second protocol information”) and stores it in the protocol information storage unit. Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 232 identifies that the destination device is not a device belonging to the second wireless network 64-1-1 based on the destination information. In this case, the second protocol processing unit 232 generates second protocol information indicating that the transmission source is the own device (“0x1043”) and the transmission destination is the gateway device 1-12 (“0x1002”). . The second protocol processing unit 232 outputs the frame 511 thus generated to the wireless communication unit 233 (step S402). The wireless communication unit 233 modulates the transmission frame 511 output from the second protocol processing unit 232 into a radio wave and sends it to the second wireless network 64-1-1 side (step S403).

The frame 511 sent from the air conditioning sensor 23 is received by the gateway device 1-12 via the second wireless network 64-1-1. The second communication unit 12 of the gateway device 1-12 outputs the received frame to the second protocol processing unit 15 (step S404). The second protocol processing unit 15 removes the second protocol information from the received frame 511 by executing the second protocol processing, and outputs it to the relay processing unit 16 (step S405). Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 15 determines whether or not the transmission destination of the frame is the own device based on the second protocol information of the received frame 511. If the transmission destination of the received frame is not its own device, the second protocol processing unit 15 discards the received frame. On the other hand, when the received frame is addressed to the own apparatus, the second protocol processing unit 15 removes the second protocol information from the received frame and outputs the second protocol information to the upper functional unit (here, the relay processing unit 16).

The relay processing unit 16 acquires destination information and transmission data from the frame 511 output from the second protocol processing unit 15. The relay processing unit 16 performs relay processing based on the acquired destination information. By executing this relay process, a transfer destination gateway as a transfer destination of the received frame is determined. Specifically, the relay processing unit 16 refers to the correspondence information table 131-12 and selects a correspondence information record having a destination address value indicated by the destination information. The relay processing unit 16 acquires the value of the destination GW address (“0x1004”) from the selected correspondence information record. The relay processing unit 16 determines the gateway device 1-14 indicated by the acquired value of the destination GW address as the transfer destination gateway. The relay processing unit 16 outputs the transfer information indicating the transfer destination gateway determined as described above to the first protocol processing unit 14 together with the transmission data and the destination information (step S406).

The first protocol processing unit 14 generates a frame 512 for transferring the transmission data to the gateway device 1-14 determined as the transfer destination gateway by executing the first protocol processing. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 first stores transmission data in the data unit and stores destination information in the destination information storage unit. Subsequently, the first protocol processing unit 14 generates protocol information related to the first protocol (hereinafter referred to as “first protocol information”) and stores it in the protocol information storage unit. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 receives the first protocol information indicating that the transmission source is the own device (“0x1002”) and the destination is the transfer destination gateway (“0x1004”) indicated by the transfer information. Generate. The frame to which the first protocol information destined for the transfer destination gateway is added in this way is transferred to the transfer destination gateway in the order of the transfer route by the first protocol processing of each gateway device 1 on the transfer route. Hereinafter, the process in which the first protocol processing unit 14 transfers the received frame to the transfer destination gateway in this manner is referred to as a transfer process. The first protocol processing unit 14 outputs the frame 512 generated in this way to the first communication unit 11 (step S407). The first communication unit 11 modulates the transmission frame 512 output from the first protocol processing unit 14 into a radio wave and transmits the radio frame to the first radio network 63-1 side (step S408).

The frame 512 sent from the gateway device 1-12 is received by the gateway device 1-13 located next to the gateway device 1-12 on the transfer path. The first communication unit 11 of the gateway device 1-13 outputs the received frame 512 to the first protocol processing unit 14 (step S409). The first protocol processing unit 14 generates a frame 513 for transferring the transmission data to the gateway device 1 positioned next to the own device on the transfer path by executing the first protocol processing. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 identifies that the transfer destination gateway is the gateway device 1-14 based on the first protocol information of the received frame 512. In this case, the first protocol processing unit 14 determines that the transmission source is its own device (“0x1003”) and the destination is the gateway device 1-14 (“0x1004”) located next to its own device on the transfer path. The first protocol information indicating is generated. The first protocol processing unit 14 generates the transmission frame 513 by replacing the first protocol information of the reception frame 512 with the newly generated first protocol information. The first protocol processing unit 14 outputs the frame 513 generated in this way to the first communication unit 11 (step S410). The first communication unit 11 modulates the transmission frame 513 output from the first protocol processing unit 14 into a radio wave and sends the radio frame to the first radio network 63-1 side (step S411).

The frame 513 sent from the gateway device 1-13 is received by the gateway device 1-14 located next to the gateway device 1-13 on the transfer path. The first communication unit 11 of the gateway device 1-14 outputs the received frame 513 to the first protocol processing unit 14 (step S412). The first protocol processing unit 14 removes the first protocol information from the received frame 513 by executing the first protocol processing, and outputs it to the relay processing unit 16 (step S413). Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 determines whether the frame is addressed to the own apparatus based on the first protocol information of the received frame 513. If the received frame is not addressed to the own apparatus, the first protocol processing unit 14 discards the received frame. On the other hand, when the received frame is addressed to the own apparatus, the first protocol processing unit 14 removes the first protocol information from the received frame and outputs the first protocol information to the upper functional unit (here, the relay processing unit 16).

The relay processing unit 16 acquires destination information and transmission data from the frame 513 output from the first protocol processing unit 14. The relay processing unit 16 performs relay processing based on the acquired destination information. Specifically, the relay processing unit 16 identifies, based on the destination information, that the destination device of the received frame is the air conditioning control device 24 accommodated in the own device. The relay processing unit 16 outputs the acquired destination information and transmission data to the second protocol processing unit 15 (step S414).

The second protocol processing unit 15 generates a frame 514 for transmitting transmission data to the destination device by executing the second protocol processing. Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 15 first stores transmission data in the data unit and stores destination information in the destination information storage unit. Subsequently, the second protocol processing unit 15 generates second protocol information and stores it in the protocol information storage unit. Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 15 generates second protocol information indicating that the transmission source is the own device (“0x1004”) and the destination is the air conditioning control device 24 (“0x1044”). The second protocol processing unit 15 outputs the frame 514 generated in this way to the second communication unit 12 (step S415). The second communication unit 12 sends the transmission frame 514 output from the second protocol processing unit 15 to the second network side (step S416).

The frame 514 sent from the gateway device 1-14 is received by the air conditioning control device 24 via the wired second network. In this case, the air conditioning control device 24 that is a destination includes, for example, a communication unit 241, a second protocol processing unit 242, and a data receiving unit 243. The communication unit 241 outputs the received frame to the second protocol processing unit 242 (step S417). The second protocol processing unit 242 removes the second protocol information from the received frame 514 by executing the second protocol process, and outputs the second protocol information to the data receiving unit 243 (step S418). Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 242 determines whether the frame is addressed to the own apparatus based on the second protocol information of the received frame 514. If the received frame is not addressed to the own apparatus, the second protocol processing unit 242 discards the received frame. On the other hand, when the received frame is addressed to the own apparatus, the second protocol processing unit 242 removes the second protocol information from the received frame and outputs the second protocol information to the upper functional unit (here, the data receiving unit 243). The data receiving unit 243 acquires transmission data from the frame 514 output from the second protocol processing unit 242.

8 and 9 are sequence diagrams illustrating an operation example of the control system 100 according to the first embodiment. The operation example shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is different from the conventional control system in that communication between the devices is performed via the first wireless network 63 or the second network. The control system 100 according to the first embodiment is different from the conventional control system in that any one of the gateway devices 1 connected to the first wireless network 63 serves as a local server.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which the air conditioning control device 24 controls the air conditioning equipment 21 in accordance with a control instruction from the host control device 10. First, the host control device 10 generates first control information for instructing the set temperature of the first floor (step S101). The host control device 10 transmits the generated first control information to the gateway device 1-11 to which the air conditioning control device 24 is connected on the second network side (step S102). In the operation example of FIG. 8, the gateway device 1-11 serves as a local server for air conditioning. In this case, the first control information transmitted from the host control device 10 is transferred to the gateway device 1-11 by the transfer processing and relay processing of the gateway device 1-1 (step S103).

The gateway device 1-11 receives the first control information transmitted from the host control device 10 (step S104). The gateway device 1-11 performs an intermediate process based on the received first control information (step S105). By executing this intermediate process, the received first control information is converted into second control information which is control information for the air conditioning control device 24. The gateway device 1-11 transmits the generated second control information to the air conditioning control device 24 (step S106). The air conditioning control device 24 receives the second control information transmitted from the gateway device 1-11 (step S107). The air conditioning control device 24 performs an air conditioning control process based on the received second control information (step S108).

Specifically, the air conditioning control device 24 determines the operating condition of the air conditioning equipment 21 necessary to realize the control condition indicated by the second control information. For example, the air-conditioning control device 24 grasps the state of the first floor based on the measured value of the air-conditioning sensor 23, and sets the operating conditions of the air-conditioning equipment 21 (for example, the temperature and intensity of the output air, the operating time, etc.). Determine according to the state of. The air conditioning control device 24 generates third control information for operating the air conditioning equipment 21 under the determined operating conditions, and transmits the third control information to the air conditioning equipment 21. The air conditioning equipment 21 receives the third control information transmitted from the air conditioning control device 24, and operates the own device based on the operation condition indicated by the third control information. By executing such an air conditioning control process, the temperature of the first floor is adjusted to the set temperature instructed by the host controller 10.

Subsequently, the air conditioning control device 24 generates fourth control information for reflecting information related to the control performed on the air conditioning equipment 21 to the air conditioning setting device 22. For example, the fourth control information is information indicating a set temperature set for the air conditioning equipment 21. The air conditioning control device 24 transmits the generated fourth control information to the air conditioning setting device 22 (step S109). In this case, the fourth control information transmitted from the air conditioning control device 24 is transferred to the air conditioning setting device 22 by the transfer processing and relay processing of the gateway device 1-11 and the gateway device 1-12 (step S110).

The air conditioning setting device 22 receives the fourth control information transmitted from the air conditioning control device 24 (step S111). When the air conditioning setting device 22 includes a display unit that displays the room temperature and the set temperature of the first floor, the air conditioning setting device 22 needs to update these displays according to the execution result of the air conditioning control process. Therefore, the air conditioning setting device 22 updates the display of the set temperature, for example, based on the received fourth control information (step S112).

Subsequently, in FIG. 9, the host control device 10 acquires the processing result of the air conditioning control processing performed based on the measurement value of the air conditioning sensor 23, and updates the state of the first floor grasped by the own device. An example will be described. The host control device 10 can grasp the latest state of each floor by performing the processing described below. The status of each floor grasped in this way is information necessary for controlling the air conditioning equipment 21 according to the floor status.

First, the air conditioning sensor 23 measures the room temperature of the first floor, and generates fifth control information indicating the measured room temperature. The air conditioning sensor 23 transmits the generated fifth control information to the air conditioning control device 24 (step S201). In this case, the fifth control information transmitted from the air conditioning sensor 23 is transferred to the air conditioning control device 24 by the transfer processing and relay processing of the gateway device 1-11 and the gateway device 1-12 (step S202). The air conditioning control device 24 receives the fifth control information transmitted from the air conditioning sensor 23 (step S203). The air conditioning control device 24 executes an air conditioning control process based on the received fifth control information (step S204).

Specifically, the air conditioning control device 24 controls the air conditioning equipment 21 to lower the room temperature when the room temperature is higher than the set temperature, and increases the room temperature when the room temperature is lower than the set temperature. 21 is controlled. As described above, the air conditioning control process is not only executed in accordance with an instruction from the host control device 10, but may be adaptively executed in accordance with a change in the room temperature or the like of each floor. The air conditioning control device 24 generates sixth control information for notifying the host control device 10 of information related to the control performed on the air conditioning equipment 21. The air conditioning control device 24 transmits the generated sixth control information to the gateway device 1-11 serving as a local server for air conditioning (step S205). For example, the sixth control information is information indicating the room temperature of the first floor changed by the air conditioning control process.

The gateway device 1-11 receives the sixth control information transmitted from the air conditioning control device 24 (step S206). The gateway device 1-11 records the received sixth control information in its own device (step S207), and at the same time, a seventh control indicating a change in the state of the first floor based on the sixth control information stored in the own device Information is generated (step S208). The seventh control information may be any information as long as it is information indicating the state of the first floor obtained as a result of the air conditioning control process. For example, the seventh control information may be information indicating a change in room temperature, or may be information indicating the room temperature itself measured by the air conditioning sensor 23. The gateway device 1-11 transmits the generated seventh control information to the host control device 10 (step S209). In this case, the seventh control information transmitted from the gateway device 1-11 serving as a local server for air conditioning is transferred to the host control device 10 by the relay process of the gateway device 1-1 (step S210).

The host control device 10 receives the seventh control information transmitted from the gateway device 1-11 (step S211). The host control device 10 records the received seventh control information in its own device (step S212). The host control device 10 determines the control target (for example, set temperature) of each floor based on the seventh control information accumulated in the own device in this way, and sets the determined control target to each gateway device 1 (local The server is instructed to control the equipment to be managed.

The control system 100 according to the first embodiment configured as described above accommodates each device in the control area by wireless communication or wired communication, and transmits and receives information between the devices via the first wireless network 63. A gateway device 1 is provided. Specifically, the gateway device 1 performs transmission / reception between devices by relay processing between the first wireless network 63 and the second network based on the correspondence information and transfer processing in the first wireless network 63 based on the transfer information. Is realized. By providing such a configuration, in the control system 100, most of the communication in the system can be made wireless, and the management load on the system can be reduced.

Hereinafter, a modified example of the control system 100 of the first embodiment will be described.

In general, in a wireless communication, a certain terminal can receive a frame transmitted from another terminal existing in the wireless communication range and not destined for the own apparatus. The terminal receives data by selecting frames based on the destination of the received frame. Therefore, the gateway device 1 may be configured to relay the frame to another gateway device 1 when a frame not addressed to the gateway device 1 is received. For example, this relay function may be provided in the relay processing unit 16 of the gateway device 1.

For example, a frame destined for the gateway device 1-14 is transmitted from the gateway device 1-11, and the transfer path of this frame is determined as a permutation of the gateway device 1-11, the gateway device 1-12, and the gateway device 1-14. Assuming that In this case, when the gateway apparatus 1-13 receives the frame transmitted by the gateway apparatus 1-11, the gateway apparatus 1-13 may relay the received frame to the gateway apparatus 1-14. In addition, for example, when a frame destined for the air conditioning equipment 21 is transmitted from the air conditioning setting device 22 and the frame is received by the gateway device 1-1, the gateway device 1-1 transmits the received frame to the gateway that is the transfer destination gateway. It may be relayed to the device 1-14. According to such a relay function, it is possible to improve the fault tolerance of the control communication related to the control system 100.

(Second Embodiment)
The control system 100 of the second embodiment is different from the control system 100 of the first embodiment in that a gateway device 1a is provided instead of the gateway device 1. The system configuration of the control system 100 of the second embodiment is the same as that of the control system 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the gateway device 1a according to the second embodiment. The gateway device 1a differs from the gateway device 1 in the first embodiment in that it includes a storage unit 13a instead of the storage unit 13 and further includes a transfer processing unit 17. Other functional units are the same as those of the gateway device 1 in the first embodiment. For this reason, the same functional units as those of the gateway device 1 in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

The storage unit 13a stores correspondence information different from the first embodiment. Specifically, in the correspondence information in the second embodiment, the correspondence between the gateway device 1a and the device accommodated in the gateway device 1a is represented by a transfer path between the gateway devices 1a.

11 and 12 are diagrams showing specific examples of correspondence information in the second embodiment. The correspondence information in the second embodiment is held, for example, as a correspondence information table 132 shown in FIG. The correspondence information table 132-1, the correspondence information table 132-11, and the correspondence information table 132-12 in FIG. 11 are respectively the correspondence information held by the gateway device 1a-1, the gateway device 1a-11, and the gateway device 1a-12. It is an example. Further, the correspondence information table 132-M, the correspondence information table 132-M1, and the correspondence information table 132-M2 in FIG. 12 are respectively held by the gateway device 1-M, the gateway device 1-M1, and the gateway device 1-M2. It is an example of information.

The correspondence information table 132 is different from the correspondence information table 131 in that the correspondence information record for each destination identifier has a logical path identifier value instead of the destination GW address. The logical path identifier is identification information of the logical path. Here, the logical path is a transfer path in the first wireless network 63 until transmission data is transferred from the transfer source gateway device 1a to the transfer destination gateway.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of a logical path. A logical path is represented by a logical path identifier and transfer path information. The logical path identifier is identification information of the logical path. The transfer route information is information representing a permutation of the gateway device 1a constituting the transfer route. For example, in FIG. 13, the logical path identified by the logical path identifier of “0x12” is a transfer that starts from the gateway device 1-1 (“0x100F”) and ends at the gateway device 1a-14 (“0x1004”). Represents a route. Such a logical path may be arbitrarily set by the user, or may be set based on route information determined by a protocol of the wireless mesh network. A logical path setting method based on the route information will be described later in the third embodiment.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. The transfer processing unit 17 performs transfer processing of received data using a logical path corresponding to the destination of the received data based on the correspondence information. Specifically, the transfer process performed by the transfer processing unit 17 is performed in an upper layer of the transfer process performed by the first protocol processing unit 14. Hereinafter, in order to distinguish these transfer processes, the transfer process performed by the first protocol processing unit 14 is referred to as a first transfer process, and the transfer process performed by the transfer processing unit 17 is referred to as a second transfer process. As described above, the first transfer process is a process of transferring the received frame to the transfer destination gateway through the transfer path determined based on the protocol of the wireless mesh network. On the other hand, the second transfer process is a process of transferring received data through a transfer path in which a part or all of the path is set in advance as a logical path. Note that a transfer of a route that is not set as a logical path in the second transfer process is performed by the first transfer process.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a specific example of a logical path. FIG. 14 shows seven logical paths 701 to 707. The start point of the arrow indicating each logical path represents the start point of the logical path, and the end point of the arrow represents the end point of the logical path. FIG. 14 shows the gateway device 1a-1 and the gateway devices 1a-11 to 1a-14 as the gateway device 1a constituting the first wireless network 63. In practice, the first wireless network 63 is A communication device other than the gateway device 1a constituting the edge is included. Therefore, these communication devices and other gateway devices 1a may be interposed between the gateway devices 1a serving as the start point and end point of each logical path. All intervening communication devices and gateway devices 1a may be set in the logical path, or only a part of them may be set.

For example, when three communication devices A, B, and C are present on the logical path 701 in FIG. 14, “gateway device 1a-1 → communication device A → communication device B → communication device C → gateway device 1a−” All the intervening devices such as “11” may be set in the logical path, or only some intervening devices such as “gateway device 1a-1 → communication device B → gateway device 1a-11” are set. May be. In the former case, the transfer path by the first transfer process and the transfer path by the second transfer process are the same path. On the other hand, in the latter case, there is a possibility that a route that does not involve the communication devices A and C is selected as the transfer route between the gateway device 1a-1 and the gateway device 1a-11 and the communication device B. In either case, the transfer path can be fixed to some extent by setting the transfer path as a logical path in advance.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of the control system 100 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 15 shows an example in which the air conditioning sensor 23 transmits data to the air conditioning control device 24 as in FIG. 6. Here, the same processes as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. In this case, the gateway device 1a-13 is set as a transfer path between the gateway device 1a-12 as the transfer source (start point) and the gateway device 1a-14 as the transfer destination (end point) in the logical path in this case. Assuming that

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a specific example of frames transmitted and received in the operation example of FIG. A frame 521 in FIG. 16 represents a frame transmitted from the air conditioning sensor 23 to the gateway device 1a-12. A frame 522 represents a frame transmitted from the gateway device 1a-12 to the gateway device 1a-13. A frame 523 represents a frame transmitted from the gateway device 1a-13 to the gateway device 1a-14. A frame 524 represents a frame transmitted from the gateway device 1a-14 to the air conditioning control device 24.

In this case, the relay processing unit 16 of the gateway device 1a-12 executes the relay processing based on the destination information output from the second protocol processing unit 15. By executing this relay process, a logical path used for transfer of the received frame is determined. Specifically, the relay processing unit 16 refers to the correspondence information table 132-12 and selects a correspondence information record having the value of the destination address indicated by the destination information. The relay processing unit 16 acquires the value of the logical path identifier (“0x19”) from the selected correspondence information record. The relay processing unit 16 outputs the acquired logical path identifier value together with the transmission data and the destination information to the first protocol processing unit 14 (step S501).

The first protocol processing unit 14 generates a frame 522 for transferring the transmission data to the gateway device 1a-14 at the end point of the designated logical path by executing the first protocol processing. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 first stores transmission data, destination information, and a logical path identifier in a data unit, a destination information storage unit, and a logical path storage unit, respectively. Subsequently, the first protocol processing unit 14 generates first protocol information and stores it in the protocol information storage unit. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 has a gateway device 1a-13 (“0x1003”) whose transmission source is its own device (“0x1002”) and whose destination is located next to its own device on the logical path. First protocol information indicating that is generated. The first protocol processing unit 14 outputs the frame 523 generated in this way to the first communication unit 11 (step S502).

The first protocol processing unit 14 of the gateway device 1a-13 removes the first protocol information from the received frame 522 by executing the first protocol processing, and outputs it to the transfer processing unit 17 (step S503). Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 determines whether or not the frame is addressed to the own apparatus based on the first protocol information of the received frame 522. If the received frame is not addressed to the own apparatus, the first protocol processing unit 14 discards the received frame. On the other hand, when the received frame is addressed to the own apparatus, the first protocol processing unit 14 removes the first protocol information from the received frame and outputs the first protocol information to the upper functional unit (here, the transfer processing unit 17).

The transfer processing unit 17 acquires destination information, transmission data, and a logical path identifier from the frame 522 output from the first protocol processing unit 14. The transfer processing unit 17 determines whether or not the own device is the end point of the logical path in the logical path indicated by the acquired logical path identifier. When the own device is the end point of the logical path, the transfer processing unit 17 outputs the destination information and the transmission data to a higher-level function unit (for example, the relay processing unit 16). On the other hand, when the own apparatus is not the end point of the logical path, the transfer processing unit 17 executes the second transfer process based on the logical path identifier. By executing the second transfer process, the transfer processing unit 17 determines the gateway apparatus 1a-14 positioned next to the self apparatus on the logical path as the next transfer destination of the transmission data. The transfer processing unit 17 outputs the transfer information indicating the gateway device 1a that is the next transfer destination determined in this way to the first protocol processing unit 14 together with the transmission data, the destination information, and the logical path identifier (step S504). .

The first protocol processing unit 14 generates a frame 524 for transferring the transmission data to the gateway device 1a-14 determined as the next transfer destination by executing the first protocol processing. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 first stores transmission data, destination information, and a logical path identifier in a data unit, a destination information storage unit, and a logical path storage unit, respectively. Subsequently, the first protocol processing unit 14 generates first protocol information and stores it in the protocol information storage unit. Specifically, the first protocol processing unit 14 is a first protocol indicating that the transmission source is the own device (“0x1003”) and the destination is the gateway device 1a-14 (“0x1004”) indicated by the transfer information. Generate information. The first protocol processing unit 14 outputs the frame 524 generated in this way to the first communication unit 11 (step S505).

The control system 100 according to the second embodiment configured as described above includes the gateway device 1a that performs the second transfer processing based on the logical path. By providing such a configuration, in the control system 100, most of the communication in the system can be made wireless, and the management load on the system can be reduced. Furthermore, in the control system 100 of the second embodiment, it is possible to design a transfer path for transmission data to some extent in advance by setting a logical path in advance. If such a design becomes possible, when a failure occurs in the first wireless network 63, it becomes possible to more easily identify the failure site. It is also possible to localize the range of influence of the failure within a range designed in advance. In addition, by designing the transmission data transfer path to some extent in advance, the communication load of the gateway device 1a can be distributed to the plurality of gateway devices 1a according to the communication status and load.

Note that multiple logical paths for one destination identifier may be set. In this case, the relay processing unit 16a may select one logical path from a plurality of logical paths and transmit data, or select a plurality of logical paths and be the same for all the selected logical paths. Data may be sent.

(Third embodiment)
The control system 100 of the third embodiment is different from the control system 100 of the second embodiment in that a gateway device 1b is provided instead of the gateway device 1a. The system configuration of the control system 100 of the third embodiment is the same as that of the control system 100 of the second embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the gateway device 1b according to the third embodiment. The gateway device 1b according to the third embodiment is different from the gateway device 1a according to the second embodiment in that the correspondence information generation unit 18 is further provided. The correspondence information generation unit 18 generates correspondence information by communicating with the correspondence information generation unit 18 of the other gateway device 1b.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for generating correspondence information. First, the first protocol processing unit 14 of the gateway device 1b communicates with the first protocol processing unit 14 of the other gateway device 1b to configure the first wireless network 63 (step S601). Specifically, by configuring the first wireless network 63, each gateway device 1b generates communication route information destined for the other gateway device 1b. The correspondence information generation unit 18 assigns logical path identifiers to all the routes indicated by the generated route information (step S602). By giving this logical path identifier, a logical path as shown in FIG. 13 is formed.

Note that the route information generated by the first protocol processing unit 14 may include communication devices other than the gateway device 1b that configures the edge of the first wireless network 63. On the other hand, a logical path required for the relay process or the transfer process is indicated by route information indicating a route whose end point is the gateway device 1b. Therefore, the correspondence information generation unit 18 may select a route whose end point is the gateway device 1 from the route indicated by the route information and give the logical path identifier.

Subsequently, for each route (that is, logical path) for each logical path identifier, the correspondence information generation unit 18 moves from the gateway device 1b that is the end point of each logical path to the second communication unit 12 side of the gateway device 1b. Address information of a connected device (hereinafter referred to as “accommodating device”) is acquired (step S603). The correspondence information generation unit 18 generates correspondence information as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 based on the logical path information and the address information of the accommodated device acquired from the gateway device 1b other than the own device (Step 11). S604).

The control system 100 according to the third embodiment configured in this way collects the address information of the accommodated device from the gateway device 1b located at the end point of the logical path to which the own device belongs, and generates correspondence information. A generation unit 18 is provided. By providing such a function, the control system 100 does not need to set correspondence information in advance in each gateway device 1b, and thus it is possible to reduce the management load related to the control system.

(Fourth embodiment)
The control system 100 of the fourth embodiment is different from the control system 100 of the first embodiment in that a gateway device 1c is provided instead of the gateway device 1. The system configuration of the control system 100 of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the control system 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the gateway device 1c according to the fourth embodiment. The gateway device 1c according to the fourth embodiment is different from the gateway device 1 according to the first embodiment in that it includes a second protocol processing unit 15c instead of the second protocol processing unit 15, and further includes a protocol selection unit 19. . The second protocol processing unit 15c includes a plurality of protocol processing units that execute the second protocol processing using different protocols. The second protocol processing unit 15c in the example of FIG. 19 includes a third protocol processing unit 151 and a fourth protocol processing unit 152 as a plurality of protocol processing units that execute the second protocol processing with different protocols. When the frame is received from the second wireless network 64 side, the second protocol processing unit 15c causes all protocol processing units included in the second protocol processing unit 15c to execute the second protocol processing, and the frame is transmitted to the second wireless network 64. In the case of transmission to the side, the protocol processing unit designated by the protocol selection unit 19 is caused to execute the second protocol processing.

The protocol selection unit 19 selects a protocol processing unit that executes the second protocol processing for the received frame or the transmission frame from a plurality of protocol processing units provided in the second protocol processing unit 15c. Specifically, when the frame is received from the second wireless network 64 side, the protocol selection unit 19 determines whether the second protocol processing corresponding to the type of received data is performed based on the processing results of the plurality of protocol processing units for the same received frame. The executed processing result is selected and provided to the upper layer. In this case, the type of received data may be identified by any method. For example, when each protocol processing unit outputs an error for an unexpected received frame, the type of received data may be identified based on the presence or absence of an error in each protocol process. For example, when information indicating the type of data (hereinafter referred to as “type information”) is included in advance in the received frame, the type of data may be identified based on the content of the received frame. In this case, the type information may be included in the reception frame on the device side that transmits data. On the other hand, when transmitting a frame to the second wireless network 64 side, a data transmission unit (not shown) outputs transmission data to which information indicating the type of data is added to the second protocol processing unit 15c.

In general, the second protocol often differs depending on the type of device that is the communication partner. For example, air-conditioning related devices communicate with the second protocol for air conditioning, and lighting-related devices communicate with the second protocol for lighting. In this way, when the communication protocol differs depending on the type of device, a second communication unit 12 is provided for each type of device of the communication partner, and each second communication unit 12 corresponds to the type of device that communicates with each other. The second protocol processing unit needs to correspond one-to-one. However, if the communication method of the physical layer is the same, providing the second communication unit 12 for each type of communication partner device may complicate the hardware configuration of the device and cause various costs.

The gateway device 1c according to the fourth embodiment includes a protocol selection unit 19 that selects a second protocol process according to the type of a device that is a communication partner with respect to a frame transmitted and received by the second communication unit 12, and thus has different types. Communication with a plurality of devices can be performed using the same wireless communication interface.

In the gateway device 1 according to the fourth embodiment, one processing result corresponding to the type of device or data is selected from all the different second protocol processing results. According to such a reception process, the second protocol process can be executed by giving priority to the frame reception process. Specifically, it is not necessary to determine the type of the second protocol process to be executed between the second communication unit 12 and the second protocol processing unit 15c. By providing such a configuration, it is possible to suppress a decrease in reception processing performance due to sharing of a wireless communication interface.

(Fifth embodiment)
The control system 100 of the fifth embodiment is different from the control system 100 of the first embodiment in that a gateway device 1d is provided instead of the gateway device 1. The system configuration of the control system 100 of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the control system 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a functional configuration of the gateway device 1d according to the fifth embodiment. The gateway device 1d according to the fifth embodiment includes a second communication unit 12d instead of the second communication unit 12, a point including a second protocol processing unit 15d instead of the second protocol processing unit 15, and an IF notification unit. It differs from the gateway apparatus 1 in 1st Embodiment by the point further equipped with 1A.

The second communication unit 12d is different from the second communication unit 12 in that the second communication unit 12 includes a single wireless communication unit, whereas the second communication unit 12d includes a plurality of wireless communication units. In the example of FIG. 20, the second communication unit 12d includes a wireless communication unit 121-1 and a wireless communication unit 121-2 as an example of a plurality of wireless communication units. Each wireless communication unit 121 includes a wireless IF unit 122 and a method information storage unit 123. The wireless IF units 122 included in each wireless communication unit 121 may communicate with each other in different radio frequency bands, or may communicate with different protocols.

The wireless IF unit 122 includes a wireless communication interface for connecting the own device to the second wireless network 64. The system information storage unit 123 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device, and stores the system information in advance. The method information is information indicating the wireless communication method of the wireless IF unit 122 provided in the same wireless communication unit 121.

The IF notification unit 1A is provided for each wireless communication unit 121 included in the second communication unit 12d, and acquires method information from the method information storage unit 123 of the corresponding wireless communication unit 121. The IF notification unit 1A outputs the acquired method information to the second protocol processing unit 15d.

The second protocol processing unit 15d executes the second protocol processing based on the method information notified from the plurality of IF notification units 1A. Specifically, the second protocol processing unit 15 d selects and executes the second protocol processing corresponding to the communication method of the wireless communication unit 121 for the received frame output from each wireless communication unit 121. For example, when the wireless communication unit 121-1 communicates with a lighting-related device and the wireless communication unit 121-2 communicates with an air-conditioning-related device, the second protocol processing unit 15d performs the first process to be performed on the received frame. It is determined based on the method information whether the two protocol processing is the second protocol processing for illumination or the second protocol processing for air conditioning. As described above, the second protocol processing unit 15d selects and executes the second protocol processing corresponding to the device communicating with each wireless communication unit 121 for the received frame.

The control system 100 of the fifth embodiment configured as described above includes a gateway device 1d that can select and execute a second protocol process according to a communication partner device. By providing such a configuration, it is possible to wirelessly accommodate a plurality of different types of devices with one gateway device 1d.

According to at least one embodiment described above, a transfer processing unit that transfers received data to a gateway device that accommodates a destination device, based on correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between the gateway device and the accommodated device, and the received data By having a relay processing unit that relays received data between the second network and the first wireless network according to the destination, the management load on the control system can be reduced.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

Claims (9)

1. A wireless communication device used in a device control system capable of transferring received data related to device control to another wireless communication device based on destination information added to the data,
   A storage unit that stores correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship between a plurality of wireless communication devices and the device;
   When the destination identified based on the destination information of the data is a device associated with the device by the correspondence information, a transmission unit that transmits the data related to the control to the device;
   A wireless communication device comprising:
2. When the destination identified based on the destination information is not a device associated with the own device by the correspondence information, the data with the destination information added is transferred to another wireless communication device based on the correspondence information. A transfer processing unit;
   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1.
3. The correspondence information is information indicating a transfer path of the data between wireless communication devices included in the control system,
   The transfer processing unit transfers the data to a wireless communication device located next to the own device on the transfer route based on the correspondence information.
   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 2.
4. A correspondence information generation unit that generates the correspondence information by acquiring information of a device associated with the other wireless communication device from another wireless communication device on a transfer path to which the device belongs;
   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1.
5. A communication unit for communicating with the device associated with the device;
   The communication unit is
   A plurality of protocol processing units for performing communication processing with different protocols;
   A protocol selection unit that selects a protocol processing unit according to the communication destination device from the plurality of protocol processing units;
   Comprising
   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1.
6. A communication unit for communicating with the device associated with the device;
   The communication unit is
   It has multiple communication interfaces with different protocols,
   The transmission unit transmits the data to the device through a communication interface according to a protocol of a communication destination device.
   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1.
7. A wireless communication device used in a device control system capable of transferring received data relating to device control to another wireless communication device based on destination information added to the data, and the plurality of wireless communication devices A wireless communication device that stores correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship with the device,
   When the destination identified based on the destination information is a device associated with the own device by the correspondence information, the device includes a transmission step of transmitting data to which the destination information is added to the device.
   Wireless communication method.
8. A wireless communication device used in a device control system capable of transferring received data relating to device control to another wireless communication device based on destination information added to the data, and the plurality of wireless communication devices For a computer that functions as a wireless communication device that stores correspondence information indicating a correspondence relationship with the device,
   When the destination identified based on the destination information is a device associated with the device by the correspondence information, a computer for executing a transmission step of transmitting the data with the destination information added to the device Non-transitory storage medium that records the program.
9. A control system for transferring data related to device control to a destination based on destination information added to the data via one or more transfer paths having one or a plurality of wireless communication devices according to claim 1.

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