JP2005236340A - Communication system, communication apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology of changing an optionally selected device, when a particular operation is applied only to the optionally selected device. <P>SOLUTION: A communication apparatus 2 transmits a signal-denoting setting of grouping information to a switching sensor A3 and a human-sensing sensor A5 and transmits a signal denoting deletion of the grouping information to a switching sensor B4 and a human-sensing sensor B6 through a transmission means 9. An analysis-changing means 12 for the switching sensor A3 and the human-sensing sensor A5 analyze the information and store the information to a group storage means 11, since the information transmitted from the communication apparatus 2 indicates that the sensors are objects which are of own alerting. An analysis-changing means 12 for the switching sensor B4 and the human-sensing sensor B6 analyze the information and delete the grouping information stored in the group storage means 11, since the information transmitted from the communication apparatus 2 indicates that the sensors are no longer the objects which are of own alerting. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a “security sensor group”, “home appliance group”, “flow rate measuring device group”, and “health device group” in a home, and a communication system, communication device, and program for controlling them.

  Conventionally, the following is common for this type of system (see Patent Document 1). 9 and 10 are functional block diagrams showing an embodiment of a meter reading central device and meter reading terminal device of a remote meter reading system as a conventional example.

  In the meter reading central apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 9, a communication unit 109 having a modem connected to a telephone line 108 is connected to a host computer 110, and a database 111 and a display unit 112 are connected to the host computer 110.

  The communication unit 109 incorporates a modem necessary for data communication with the meter-reading terminal device 103 via the telephone line 108, modulates a signal from the host computer 110 and sends it to the telephone line 108. The signal from 108 is demodulated and output to the host computer 110.

  The database 111 is a storage device that stores meter reading information from each meter reading terminal device 103 received by the host computer 110, and is controlled by the host computer 110.

  The display unit 112 is for notifying the operator of a list of meter reading information in the database 111 and the operation status of the host computer 110, and generates not only characters and images but also sounds and alarm sounds. You may be able to do it.

  A meter reading terminal device 103 shown in FIG. 10 includes a line connecting unit 113 connected to a telephone line 108, a modem 114 connected to the line connecting unit 113, a meter reading unit 115, a pager receiver 116, a clock counter 117, , And a control unit 119 connected to the memory 118.

  The line connection unit 113 has a function of detecting whether or not the telephone line 108 is in use. If the line connection unit 113 is in use, the line connection unit 113 waits without making a call from the meter-reading terminal device 103 and is not in use. The control unit 119 is controlled to operate so as to make a call from the meter reading terminal device 103. In other words, the hook switch that opens and closes the telephone line loop of the telephone line is limited in its opening and closing operation by the detection signal as to whether or not the telephone line is in use.

  The modem 114 is used for data communication with the meter-reading central apparatus 101 when connected to the telephone line 108 by the line connection unit 113. The modem 114 modulates a signal from the control unit 119 to provide a telephone line. At the same time, the signal from the telephone line 108 is demodulated and output to the control unit 119.

  The meter-reading device 115 has meters (not shown) for measuring the usage of electricity, gas, water, etc., and always measures this and records the accumulated value or the regular value.

  The pager receiver 116 is also called a calling radio receiver, which is a receiver for performing one-way communication from a source to a destination using a radio communication line using radio waves. A typical use of a pager receiver is a wide range of wireless access from a pager base station 115 connected to a telephone line 108, even if the person carries the pager receiver and the person moves to various locations. The call is caught and a message is transmitted. The difference between the pager receiver 116 used in the remote meter reading system and the general pager receiver is that the functions related to the human interface can be omitted. That is, a speaker for generating a ringing tone, a vibrator for generating vibration, and a liquid crystal display unit for displaying a message or the like are not required.

  The clock counter 117 is a clock that operates based on the frequency from a local oscillator (not shown) and also has a timer function.

  The memory 118 is controlled by the control unit 119 and is used to hold a message received by the pager receiver 116, meter reading information of the meter reading device 115, and the like.

  Next, FIG. 11 is a table showing the correspondence of various number form examples which each device has in the remote meter reading system according to the conventional example.

  The number correspondence table shown in this figure is a “telephone number”, “pager number”, “group broadcast number”, and “user ID” attached to the meter reading central device and meter reading terminal device. It is classified into three.

  The first is a number by the telephone carrier of the telephone line 108, which corresponds to the telephone number, and is held by both the meter-reading central device 101 and the meter-reading terminal device 103.

  Next, the second is a number by the pager carrier of the pager base station 107, which corresponds to the pager number and the group broadcast number, and these are only in the meter reading terminal device 103. .

  Next, the third is a number assigned by a supplier of electricity, gas, water, etc., and the user ID corresponds to this number, which is only possessed by the meter reading terminal device 103. The user ID is a management number unique to the meter reading terminal device 103. The meter reading central device 101 may also be managed with a host ID number.

  As shown in FIG. 10, several numbers are assigned to the meter-reading central device 101 and the meter-reading terminal device 103. The meter-reading central device 101 has a meter-reading terminal for each of a plurality of terminal stations 106a to 106n. Various numbers of the device 3 are associated and stored in advance, and the meter reading terminal device 103 stores various numbers of the meter reading central device 101 in advance.

  The remote meter reading system shown in the examples of FIGS. 9 to 11 described above functions as follows. In addition, when the meter-reading terminal device 103 voluntarily transmits and communicates with the meter-reading central device 101, and when the meter-reading terminal device transmits and communicates with the meter-reading central device by a meter-reading information collection request from the meter-reading central device However, since the feature of this background art is in the latter and the former is the same as the conventional one, description of the former is omitted.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of a procedure in the case where the meter reading terminal device 103 sends a communication to the meter reading central device 101 in response to a meter reading information collection request (wireless call) from the meter reading central device 101 in the remote meter reading system according to the present background art. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a case where a plurality of terminal stations are collectively called as a meter reading information collection request.

  First, the meter reading central device 101 generates a message to be attached at the time of simultaneous calling (STEP 1), and then sends a dial signal with a group broadcast number to the telephone line 108 to issue a meter reading information collection request (simultaneous calling) ( (Step 2). As a result, radio waves are emitted from the pager base station 7, and the pager receivers 116 incorporated in the meter-reading terminal devices 3 of the plurality of terminal stations 106a to 106n are called all at once. Here, this calling radio wave is referred to as a wireless communication line, and this wireless communication line can only perform one-way communication from the meter reading central device 101 to the meter reading terminal device 103.

  On the other hand, the meter reading terminal device 103 constantly measures the amount of electricity, gas, water, etc. used by the meter meter 115 and records the meter reading value (STEP 3). In this state, it is determined whether or not there is a meter reading information collection request (calling) from the meter reading central device 1 (STEP 4). If there is no meter reading information collection request (NO), the metering information collection is continued and meter reading information is collected. If there is a request (YES), the process proceeds to the next STEP5. In STEP 5, it is determined whether or not a message is attached to the meter reading information collection request (call).

  In STEP 5, if no message is attached to the call (NO), a call is sent to the telephone line 108 after a preset time for each meter reading terminal device 103 and the meter reading central device 101 reads the meter. Information is transmitted (STEP 6). Here, the preset time is set to be different for each meter reading terminal device 103. For example, the terminal station 106a is set to 0 minutes, the terminal station 106b is set to 3 minutes, and the terminal station 6c is set to 106 minutes. Thus, each meter-reading terminal device 103 measures each set time by the clock counter 117 from when a call is made, and makes a call when the time has elapsed. That is, the plurality of meter reading terminal devices 103 that are called all at once transmit meter reading information to the central meter reading device 101 at different times.

  In STEP 5, if a message is attached to the call (YES), the message is analyzed (STEP 7). Then, based on the content of the analyzed message, a call is made to the telephone line 108 and meter reading information is transmitted to the meter reading central device 101 (STEP 8). Here, a transmission line that communicates via the telephone line 108, that is, using only the telecommunication network provided by the telephone carrier, is referred to as a wired communication line. Two-way communication between the terminal 101 and the meter reading terminal device 103 is possible.

  When an incoming call is made to the meter reading central device 101 in STEP 6 or STEP 8, the meter reading central device 101 responds to this and performs data communication with the meter reading terminal device 103 to receive meter reading information (STEP 9). Then, the meter reading central device 101 performs processing such as organizing the received meter reading information for each meter reading terminal device 103 (STEP 10), and then stores it in the database 111 (STEP 11).

  As described above, meter reading information is collected according to the series of procedures shown in FIG. 12. In the STEP 1, STEP 7 and STEP 8, specific numbers of messages used and examples of sending messages are shown below. This will be described in more detail.

  Here, it is assumed that there are 200 meter reading terminal devices 3 under the control of the meter reading central device 101, and each of the meter reading terminal devices 3 is referred to as “●●● -001” to “●●● -200”. It is assumed that a user ID has been assigned, and further, all the 200 units belonging to the group broadcast number “◇◇◇ − ▽▽▽▽ − △△△△” consisting of 200 units are called at once here. The meter-reading terminal device 103, among the meter-reading terminal devices 103 corresponding to this group, makes a meter-reading information collection request to 100 meter-reading terminal devices with the user ID “●● -101 to 200”. The case will be described. Also, symbols such as ●, ◇, ▽, Δ, ◎ appearing here indicate predetermined numbers.

  First, the meter-reading central device 101 sends a group broadcast number “◇◇◇ − ▽▽▽▽ −ΔΔΔΔ” to the telephone line. Then, after connecting to the pager system automatic response device, the password “◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎” for this group broadcast number is sent (if the pager system has a password service).

  Subsequently, a message “●●● * 2 * 423 * 200 * 403 * 4101 * 2200 ##” attached to the general call is transmitted (in this case, the number of digits is limited to 34 digits).

  If the above message is displayed and converted, for example, the following will explain the meaning of this message.

●●●-[23-00 [03 [101-200
This message indicates a delimiter by “[], and is given in the order of group → current time (hour / minute) → interval (minute) → target user. In an actual meter reading terminal device, analysis processing is performed without display conversion.

  That is, the first “●●● −” is a predetermined user group number corresponding to the called group broadcast number, and is a number added to the head of the user ID of each meter-reading terminal device 3. This is for confirming whether the meter reading central device 101 that is a message transmission source intentionally makes a meter reading information collection request to the group. For example, if the group of users related to this call is user IDs “102-001” to “102-200”, the value corresponding to the “●●● −” is “102−”.

  The next “23-00” is the current time given by the meter-reading central device 101 at the time of simultaneous calling, and actually a delay time until a plurality of called meter-reading terminal devices 103 recognize this time information. The time is taken into consideration. In the above example, 23:00 is the current time, and the meter reading terminal device 103 called by this call sets the time as the initial value of the clock counter 117, and then starts time measurement.

  The next “03” indicates a time interval value at which the meter reading terminal device 103, which is the target of the meter reading information collection request by this call, should sequentially transmit the meter reading information to the meter reading central device 101. In the above example, every 03 minutes is the time interval, and each meter reading terminal device 103 cuts the transmission time to the meter reading central device 101 by tamming every 3 minutes from the time set at the initial value (23:00). It will be replaced.

  The next “101-200” indicates the meter reading terminal device 103 that is the target of the meter reading information collection request by this call. In the above example, of 200 user IDs “102-001” to “102-200” to be called at the same time, 100 meter user information “102-101” to “102-200” are requested to collect meter reading information. It is a target.

  In this way, each meter-reading terminal device that has received a simultaneous call performs message analysis processing in the control unit, and operates based on this message. For example, when the meter reading terminal device 103 whose user ID is “102-105” receives the simultaneous call, the meter reading terminal device 103 operates as follows.

  That is, first, the current time in the received message is set in its own clock counter 117, and it is confirmed whether or not itself is included in the meter reading terminal device that is the target of the meter reading information collection request. When it is determined that the self is included by this confirmation, the time to be transmitted by the self is calculated.

  In this example, it calculates the number of itself from the top of the 100 called vehicles (here, it is the fifth), and every 3 minutes from 23:00 set in the clock counter. It is recognized that it is an instruction to start transmission at the fifth transmission timing, i.e., when its own clock counter 17 reaches 23:15.

  As shown in this example, in a general pager system, the number of digits of a message that can be attached to one call is often limited. Therefore, if the contents to be specified by a message to a plurality of meter-reading terminal devices 103 that the meter-reading central device 101 calls at once cannot be performed within the range of the number of digits that can be attached to one call, a message is sent to a plurality of calls. It is sufficient to send it separately.

  More specifically, a symbol indicating that there is a message following, for example, “” ”, is assigned, and this is described at the end of a message other than the final message, so that simultaneous calls are repeated. Alternatively, a symbol indicating the end (end) of the message may be assigned and described only at the end of the final message. As a result, the plurality of meter-reading terminal devices 3 that are called all at once can recognize that there is a subsequent message, and wait until the last message is received and operate to comprehensively analyze the message contents. .

  Thereby, the meter-reading terminal device 103 whose user ID is “102-105” tries to make a call to the meter-reading central device 101 at 23:15. At this time, if the line connection unit 113 of the meter reading terminal apparatus 103 detects that the telephone line 108 (wired communication line) is being used by a customer of the terminal station or the like, the terminal station 103 waits for a transmission time and waits for a certain period of time. If the telephone line is not opened (for example, within 2 minutes), the transmission is abandoned. Further, if the telephone line is opened, a call is made to connect the line with the meter reading central apparatus 101, and the meter reading information is transmitted.

Even in this case, priority is given to the use of the telephone line by the consumer of the terminal station, so even if the meter reading terminal device 103 is transmitting meter reading information, the communication is interrupted and the telephone line is disconnected. Must be opened. In this case, transmission is abandoned as a transmission failure.
JP 2001-86574 A

  However, the conventional configuration described above is intended to avoid a collision by shifting the timing of response to the broadcast. However, the broadcast command is issued only to any device selected by the user among the devices under its control. There is no mechanism to put out. That is, the meter reading information collection request from the meter reading central device 101 may be transmitted simultaneously to a plurality of meter reading terminal devices 103 by broadcast, but for example, the meter reading terminal device 103 has A, B, C, D, For example, if you want to collect meter reading information from only three of A, B, and E instead of collecting meter reading information from all five of A to E, assuming that there are five units E, Since information is collected, it cannot be used, and a meter reading information collection request is sent to each of A, B, and E individually. As a result, there is a problem that a time difference occurs in collecting the meter reading information of three units A, B, and E corresponding to the time required for individual communication for each unit, and the meter reading timing varies, making it difficult to use as a system. It was.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a communication system including a terminal device integrated with or connected to a device and a communication device that communicates with the terminal device, wherein the communication device includes at least Device selection means for selecting one or more terminal devices and creating grouping information, changing means for changing the grouping information, and transmission for transmitting the grouping information changed by the changing means to the terminal device to be changed The terminal device has a group storage means for storing whether or not the terminal device belongs to a specific communication group, and analyzes the signal received by the reception means, and stores the signal in the group storage means. If the signal is to change a specific communication group, an analysis change means for changing the information in the group storage means according to the information is provided. Thus, when actually issuing a command, broadcast communication including the group broadcast address is issued, and the command signal and communication group only for a specific communication group are changed on the terminal device side. By easily discriminating the signal, the problem can be solved, and the convenience of the system can be improved and the spread can be accelerated.

  As described above, the present invention uses broadcast communication for a device arbitrarily selected by a user, and instructions and the like for a plurality of devices can be executed at the same timing. Further, even when it is desired to change a device arbitrarily selected by the user, it can be surely notified to the device side. Furthermore, since the user can group multiple devices for multiple communication groups, grouping for each application becomes easy, the convenience of the system improves, and the reliability of the system also increases. It will be able to exert a great effect on the spread and promotion of the system.

  A first invention is a communication system including a terminal device integrated with or connected to a device and a communication device that communicates with the terminal device, wherein the communication device includes at least one communication device. A device selection unit that selects a terminal device and creates grouping information; a change unit that changes the grouping information; and a transmission unit that transmits the grouping information changed by the change unit to the terminal device to be changed. The terminal device analyzes a signal received by the receiving unit and a group storage unit that stores whether or not the terminal device belongs to a specific communication group, and the signal stored in the group storage unit If it is a signal to change the communication group, the analysis change means for changing the information in the group storage means in accordance with the information is provided.

  And when specific control etc. is performed only for the device arbitrarily selected by the user, even when the user wants to change the device arbitrarily selected, it can be surely notified to the device side. In addition to improving the convenience of the system, the reliability of the system also increases, and a great effect can be exhibited in the spread and promotion of the system.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the communication device includes a device selection unit that selects a group to which the terminal device belongs from one or more predetermined communication groups.

  For example, by grouping sensors using the screen, it is easy and easy to understand, and various sensors can be grouped, and grouping can be easily changed using the screen. As the system improves, the reliability of the system also increases, and it is possible to exert a great effect on the spread and promotion of the system.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the communication device includes operation group selection means for selecting a group that performs a specific operation from one or more communication groups when the terminal device performs a specific operation.

  In addition, it is possible to easily and simultaneously set only a group that wants to perform a specific operation from among a plurality of communication groups, improving the convenience of the system and increasing the reliability of the system.・ Be able to exert a great effect on promotion.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device selection unit that selects at least one terminal device and creates grouping information, a change unit that changes the grouping information, and a terminal whose grouping information is changed by the change unit. It has a transmission means to transmit with respect to an apparatus.

  And when specific control etc. is performed only for the device arbitrarily selected by the user, even when the user wants to change the device arbitrarily selected, it can be surely notified to the device side. In addition to improving the convenience of the system, the reliability of the system also increases, and a great effect can be exhibited in the spread and promotion of the system.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device selection means of a type for selecting a group to which a terminal device belongs from one or more predetermined communication groups.

  For example, by grouping sensors using the screen, it is easy and easy to understand, and various sensors can be grouped, and grouping can be easily changed using the screen. As the system improves, the reliability of the system also increases, and it is possible to exert a great effect on the spread and promotion of the system.

  6th invention has an operation group selection means which selects the group which performs specific operation from one or more communication groups, when making a terminal device perform specific operation.

  In addition, it is possible to easily and simultaneously set a plurality of groups only for a group that wants to perform a specific operation, thereby improving the convenience of the system and increasing the reliability of the system. It will be possible to exert a great effect on promotion.

  A seventh invention is a program for causing a computer to execute at least a part of the communication device. Since it is a program, it is possible to easily realize at least a part of the communication apparatus of the present invention by cooperating hardware resources such as an electric / information device, a computer, and a server. In addition, the program can be distributed / updated and installed easily by recording on a recording medium or distributing the program using a communication line.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a terminal device, 2 is a communication device, 3 is an open / close sensor A, 4 is an open / close sensor B, 5 is a human sensor A, and 6 is a human sensor B. The opening / closing sensor A3, the opening / closing sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6 are specific names of the terminal device 1.

  In FIG. 1, an open / close sensor A3, an open / close sensor B4, a human sensor A5, and a human sensor B6 are a “security sensor group”. In this example, two “open / close sensors” (open / close sensor A3, open / close sensor B4) and two “human sensors” (human sensor A5, human sensor B6) are provided for one communication device 2. The case is described.

  The “security sensor group” referred to here is, for example, an open / close sensor A3, which is installed on a window or door in a home, and sounds an alarm sound or reports that when there is an intruder from outside. B4, or human sensor A5 or human sensor B6 that detects the presence or absence of a person and uses such an alarm sound or notification to intimidate or notify the person to prevent an intruder from the outside. These are assumed to be installed around each household.

  For example, when an abnormality report from the “security sensor group” occurs, the communication device 2 notifies the user to that effect using a screen or voice, or sends it to an external mobile phone, personal computer, medical institution, service center, etc. Play the role of reporting.

  In FIG. 1, only the “security sensor group” is explicitly shown as the terminal device 1, but the “home appliance group”, “flow rate measuring device group”, “ “Health equipment group” is also considered. The “home appliance group” mentioned here refers to home appliances used at home such as “washing machine”, “microwave oven”, “air conditioner”, “refrigerator”, “rice cooker”, “hot water heater”, and the like. The communication device 2 can grasp or control the current state of these “home appliance groups”. For example, the “home appliance group” is controlled from a mobile phone outside the home via the communication device 2 or the abnormality information of the “home appliance group” is reported to an external mobile phone, personal computer, service center, etc. .

  The “flow rate measuring device group” refers to an energy measuring device called a lifeline of each household, such as electricity, gas, and water. The communication device 2 may have a function of communicating with these “flow rate measuring device groups”. That is, for example, the gas flow rate of each household is measured by a “flow rate measuring device” called a gas meter. The communication device 2 acquires the meter reading value data of the gas meter and sends the data to the gas supplier. The gas company charges the household a gas fee according to the amount of gas used.

  The gas meter measures the gas flow rate and also has various security functions. That is, the gas meter has a shut-off function for shutting off the gas flow. When a gas leak or an earthquake occurs, the gas meter automatically shuts off the gas flow and notifies that effect. The report destination is the communication device 2. The communication device 2 notifies the gas service provider of an alarm notification such as a cutoff output from the gas meter. The gas service provider notifies the home of the abnormality by telephone, or in some cases, goes to the home and responds. At this time, the communication device 2 can notify the user to that effect using a user interface such as a screen or voice.

  Further, when the gas meter is a gas meter for LP gas, for example, it has a function of detecting the remaining amount of the LP gas cylinder. That is, when the remaining amount of the LP gas cylinder falls below a predetermined level, or when the remaining amount is exhausted, the gas meter detects and notifies that fact. The reporting method is the same as in the case of the above-described blocking. Upon receipt of the report, the gas service provider delivers the gas cylinder to the household and performs work such as replacement.

  The “health equipment group” refers to health equipment such as a sphygmomanometer, a weight scale, a body fat percentage meter, and a pedometer. Each of these devices may exist as a single device, or may be incorporated in, for example, a warm water toilet seat. Devices that measure the state of excrement using a toilet and acquire health data are also included in the “health device group”. In any case, the data acquired by these “health equipment groups” can be reported to an external mobile phone, a personal computer, a medical institution, a service center, and the like via the communication device 2. Furthermore, it is also possible to acquire these data remotely from outside such as a medical institution.

  In addition, the communication device 2 sets / cancels various warning operations to the “security sensor group”, controls ON / OFF of the power supply of the “home appliance group”, and turns on the flow rate for the “flow rate measurement device group” Also plays the role of controlling / OFF etc. Here, in the case of the “security sensor group”, since it is difficult to supply AC power, the “security sensor group” generally operates with a battery. In addition, when the “flow rate measuring device group” is a gas meter or a water meter, the gas meter or the water meter is installed in the garden or the back side of each home and normally operates with a battery.

  On the other hand, in the case of the “home appliance group”, the operation is performed by supplying AC power. As described above, the communication apparatus 2 and at least one or more “security sensor group”, “home appliance group”, “flow rate measurement apparatus group”, and “health appliance group” terminal apparatus 1 constitute a system.

  Here, when the communication apparatus 2 communicates with the outside, a line is used. Here, the line is an analog telephone line, ISDN line, ADSL line, FTTH line, cable TV line, or the like. This line uses the various line types introduced by the household. Depending on the line, the communication device 2 is connected via a modem such as a modem, T-NCU (Terminal Network Control Unit), TA, dial-up router, ONU (Optical Network Unit) or the like for connection to the line. Built-in.

  On the other hand, the communication device 2 and an external server device, a mobile phone, a personal computer, a medical institution, a service center, etc. may be connected by a direct circuit switching method, ISP (Internet Service Provider) or ASP (Application In some cases, it is connected via the Internet via a Service Provider. Furthermore, the communication protocol between the communication device 2 and an external server device, a mobile phone, a personal computer, a medical institution, a service center, etc. may be a non-procedure unique protocol determined in advance by this system, or may be TCP / IP, In some cases, an Internet protocol such as HTTP or HTTPS is used.

  Next, communication between the communication device 2 and the terminal device 1 such as “security sensor group”, “home appliance group”, “flow rate measurement device group”, and “health device group” will be described. Here, the communication between the communication device 2 and the terminal device 1 such as “security sensor group”, “home appliance group”, “flow rate measurement device group”, and “health device group” is, for example, a specific low-power radio in the 400 MHz band. It is done using. That is, when the opening / closing sensor A3, the opening / closing sensor B4, the human sensor A5, or the human sensor A6 detects an intrusion abnormality, the “security sensor group” transmits the fact to the communication device 2 using the specific low-power radio. When reporting the meter reading value from a gas meter or water meter, or when notifying the gas meter or water meter valve in the event of an abnormality, the "flow rate measuring device group" uses a specific low-power radio to communicate that fact. 2 is transmitted. The same applies to the “health equipment group”.

  In addition, when the communication device 2 sends a signal to the “security sensor group” to shift to a warning operation, or remotely shuts off / returns the valve to the “flow rate measurement device group” of the gas meter or water meter. In this case, the specific low-power radio is also used when transmitting an operation ON / OFF command to the “home appliance group”.

  The communication between the communication device 2 and the terminal device 1 such as “security sensor group”, “home appliance group”, “flow rate measurement device group”, and “health device group” is not limited to the specific low-power radio, Communication media such as infrared, wireless LAN, and bluetooth (R) may be used.

  In the above system configuration, in this embodiment, a case where a “security sensor group” such as the opening / closing sensor A3, the opening / closing sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6 communicates with the communication device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. To do.

  As described above, the “opening / closing sensor” is attached to a door or window and threatens the intruder with its own alarm sound or the like when the suspicious person or the like intrudes, and notifies the communication device 2 to that effect. The “human sensor” detects the movement of a person, animal, or other object, threatens the intruder with its own alarm sound or the like, and informs the communication device 2 accordingly. Here, the “open / close sensor” is battery-operated as described above, and emits an alarm sound when a window or door is “open”. The “human sensor” is also battery-operated as described above, and generates an alarm sound when the presence of a person is detected. Note that both the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” may be AC driven, but both the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” are more likely to be installed in places where AC power is not available. There is convenience in time.

  Separately, the sensor may be AC driven instead of battery driven.

  As described above, since both the “opening / closing sensor” and the “human sensor” sound their own alarm sound, they cannot always be in a warning state. This is because, if the alert state is always set, a warning sound is emitted from the detected sensor every time the user opens / closes a window or door or roams around the human sensor, which causes great inconvenience to the user.

  In addition, since the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” are battery-driven as described above, there is a problem that if the alarm is always maintained, current must be supplied to the sensing portion of each sensor, and battery consumption is accelerated. is there.

  Further, when the “opening / closing sensor” and “human sensor” are detected in a warning state, a notification is sent to the communication device 2. Therefore, if the warning device is always in a warning state, the communication device 2 and the “opening sensor” and “human sensor” This increases communication traffic and increases the possibility of interference and interference. In addition, battery consumption is increased by communication.

  From the above, the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” will be described below on the assumption that two modes of “warning mode” and “non-warning mode” are provided. The “warning mode” is a mode in which three points of sensing, alarm sounding, and calling to the communication device 2 are performed, and the above three points are not performed in non-warning. The “warning mode” and “non-warning mode” of the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” are set from the communication device 2.

  Next, the following two patterns can be considered as the usage of this system by the user.

  As the first pattern, for example, when the user goes to bed in the bedroom on the second floor, only the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” installed on the first floor are set to the “warning mode”. . In this case, the “open / close sensor” and “human sensor” installed on the second floor remain in the “non-warning mode”.

  The second pattern is a pattern for detecting a suspicious person by setting the “opening / closing sensor” and the “human sensor” to the “warning mode” when all users go out and no one is in the home. In this case, all “open / close sensors” and “human sensors” installed in the home are often set to the “warning mode”.

  The case where each sensor is set to the “warning mode” from the communication device 2 under the above conditions will be described. Assume that the sensors installed in the home are four sensors: an open / close sensor A3, an open / close sensor B4, a human sensor A5, and a human sensor B6.

  First, the first pattern will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, 7 is a device selection means, 8 is a change means, 9 is a transmission means, 10 is a reception means, 11 is a group storage means, and 12 is an analysis change means. The device selection unit 7, the change unit 8, and the transmission unit 9 are inside the communication device 2. The receiving unit 10, the group storage unit 11, and the analysis changing unit 12 are inside the terminal device 1.

  First, in FIG. 1, among the “security sensor group (4 units)”, the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A5 are installed on the second floor, and the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 are installed on the first floor. It shall be. In this case, considering the first pattern described above, the sensors set to the “warning mode” are the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6.

  The movement of the communication device 2 in this case will be described with reference to FIG. The user sets the sensor to be set in the “warning mode” using the device selection means 7. This is information for informing the relevant sensor that “you are a sensor to be warned”, and is represented by “0x01” in 1 byte, for example. In this case, the sensors are the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6. The information “0x01” set by the device selection means 7 is transmitted to the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 through the transmission means 9. The opening / closing sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 receive this information by the internal receiving means 10. The information received by the receiving means 10 is sent to the analysis changing means 12. The analysis changing means 12 analyzes this information, but the information sent from the communication device 2 this time is information “0x01” indicating that the sensor is the first pattern, that is, a sensor to be warned. Therefore, the analysis changing unit 12 stores this information “0x01” in the group storage unit 11. As a result, the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 are grouped into the alert target sensors.

  On the other hand, after the user selects a sensor to be set to the “warning mode” in the communication apparatus 2 as described above, the user actually executes “warning mode start”. Then, the communication device 2 uses the internal transmission means 9 to send all the sensors in the home by “broadcast”, here, the open / close sensor A3, the open / close sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6. “Warning mode start” is transmitted to the stand. Here, “broadcast” refers to transmission without specifying a partner to all the terminal devices 1 by specific low-power radio as described above.

  Here, the alerting target grouping information “0x01” is included in the signal “warning mode start”. That is, the alerting target grouping information is the same as the information indicating that the alerting target sensor has been transmitted only to the alerting target sensor. The four sensors, the open / close sensor A3, the open / close sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6, receive a signal (including “0x01”) indicating that the “warning mode is started”. The description will be divided into an opening / closing sensor B4 and a human sensor B6 which are sensors, an open / close sensor A3 and a human sensor A5 which are not alarm target sensors.

  First, the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6, which are alarm target sensors, receive the grouping information “0x01” by the internal receiving means 10 (STEP 101 in FIG. 3), and then the contents are analyzed by the internal analysis changing means 12. Is analyzed. Here, the analysis changing unit 12 compares the information “0x01” indicating that the sensor to be alerted is included in the received signal with the information stored in the group storage unit 11 (STEP 106 in FIG. 3).

  Here, since the group storage means 11 of the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 stores information “0x01” indicating that it is a sensor to be alerted that has been transmitted only to the alert target sensor, The result of comparison by the analysis changing means 12 matches. Accordingly, the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 enter the “warning mode” and shift to a mode in which sensing, alarm sounding, and calling to the communication device 2 are performed (STEP 109 in FIG. 3).

  On the other hand, the opening / closing sensor A3 and the human sensor A5 that are not the alarm target sensors also receive a signal indicating “start of the alarm mode” by the internal receiving means 10 and analyze the contents by the internal analysis changing means 12. Since the group storage means 11 does not store information indicating that the sensor is a target to be alerted, the comparison does not match (STEP 106 in FIG. 3). Here, “0x01” is not stored in the group storage unit 11 and remains “0x00 (no alarm target sensor setting)”. Therefore, since it does not coincide with the information “0x01” included in the signal indicating “start of warning mode”, it remains in the “non-warning mode” (STEP 108 in FIG. 3). In this way, only the alarm target sensor can be shifted to the “warning mode” simply by transmitting the “warning mode start” signal from the communication device 2 as “broadcast”.

  Next, consider the second pattern described above. That is, it is necessary to set all of the four sensors of the open / close sensor A3, the open / close sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6 to the “warning mode”. In this case, the communication device 2 transmits an instruction “warning mode start” as “broadcast”, but the warning target grouping information such as the first pattern is sent to the signal “warning mode start”. “0x01” is not included.

  In this case, the open / close sensor A3, the open / close sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6 that have received the signal indicating that the “warning mode start” has received this information by the internal receiving means 10 (FIG. 3). (Step 101) After that, the contents are analyzed by the internal analysis changing means 12, but the received signal is a signal indicating that “alert mode start”, but the alarm target grouping information “0x01” is not included (FIG. 3). Therefore, the terminal device 1 side receiving the “broadcast”, that is, the open / close sensor A3, the open / close sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor B6 are all in the “warning mode” (FIG. 3). (STEP 109).

  Next, in the first pattern described above, the user wanted to set only the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 to the “warning mode” yesterday, but the situation changed, and today the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A case where only A5 is desired to be changed to the “warning mode” will be described.

  In this case, the user does not want the opening / closing sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 to be in the “warning mode” using the changing means 8 of the communication device 1, but the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A5 are in the “warning mode”. Enter that you want to let me know.

  Then, the communication apparatus 2 transmits the fact to the opening / closing sensor A3, the opening / closing sensor B4, the human sensor A5, and the human sensor A6 through the transmission means 9. Here, a signal for setting grouping information (information of “0x01”) is transmitted to the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A5, and grouping information is transmitted to the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6. A signal to delete (information of “0x00”) is transmitted. The movement of the terminal device 1 at this time will be described separately for two units, an opening / closing sensor A3 and a human sensor A5, and an opening / closing sensor B4 and a human sensor B6.

  First, the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A5 receive the signal (including "0x01") by the internal receiving means 10 (STEP 101 in FIG. 3), and then analyze the contents by the internal analysis changing means 12. Here, the analysis changing means 12 analyzes this information, but the information sent from the communication device 2 this time is information “0x01” indicating that it is a sensor to be alerted (STEP 103 in FIG. 3). . Therefore, the analysis change unit 12 stores this information in the group storage unit 11 (STEP 104 in FIG. 3). Specifically, the information in the group storage unit 11 is rewritten from “0x00” to “0x01”). As a result, the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A5 are grouped into the alert target sensors.

  On the other hand, the opening / closing sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 receive the signal (including “0x00”) by the internal receiving means 10 (STEP 101 in FIG. 3), and then analyze the contents by the internal analysis changing means 12. Here, the analysis changing means 12 analyzes this information, but the information sent from the communication device 2 this time is information “0x00” indicating that it is no longer a sensor to be alerted. Therefore, the analysis change unit 12 deletes the grouping information stored in the group storage unit 11. Specifically, the information in the group storage unit 11 is rewritten from “0x01” to “0x00”. As a result, the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 are grouped out of the alert target sensors.

  Thereafter, when the user actually executes the “warning mode start”, the communication device 2 and each terminal device 1 operate as described above, and this time, only the open / close sensor A3 and the human sensor A5 It will shift to "alert mode".

  The flowchart of the operation on the terminal device 1 side when switching the first pattern, the second pattern, and the alert mode target sensor is shown in FIG.

  In addition, in this description, after the user changed the sensor that should be set to the “warning mode” in the communication device 2 as described above, the explanation was made to actually execute the “warning mode start”. Both may be performed at the same timing. In this case, two signals or a signal containing both pieces of information in one signal is transmitted from the communication device 2 to the terminal device 1.

  In this example, the operation when a specific `` security sensor group '' is shifted to the `` warning mode '' has been described, but conversely, the warning is released (the transition from the `` warning mode '' to the `` non-warning mode ''). The same can be achieved for).

  In this embodiment, the “security sensor group” system is described. However, in the system in which “home appliance group”, “flow rate measuring device group”, “health device group” and the like are connected to the communication device 2. The same can be done. For example, in a home with 5 air conditioners, if you want to turn on / off or set the temperature of only 3 arbitrary units, each terminal device can be used only with “broadcast” communication in the same mechanism as this time. 2 can be transferred to an appropriate state.

  By performing the above-mentioned means / procedures to perform specific control only on the device arbitrarily selected by the user, even when the user wishes to change the device arbitrarily selected, it is ensured to that effect. This can be transmitted to the device side, and the convenience of the system is improved, and the reliability of the system is also increased, so that a great effect can be exhibited in the spread and promotion of the system.

  In the first embodiment described above, for example, a specific configuration as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be realized. In this case, in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the determination of “whether it is simultaneous broadcasting” or the determination of “whether it is grouping information” is determined by the “broadcast type designation code” in FIG. If the “type code” is “0x00”, “0x01” or “0x02”, it is “broadcast target”, and if it is “0x03”, it is “grouping information”.

  If it is “grouping information”, it is determined whether or not “grouping information matches the information stored inside” by checking the “broadcast target designation code” in FIG. On the other hand, the determination of “whether or not it is a signal to be warned” is determined by EPC = 0xDA of the node profile class in FIG. That is, if the received message is a message of the node profile class shown in FIG. 5, the EPC is checked, and if it is “0xDA”, the property content is written inside. That is, “0x01” in FIG. 3 is the property content in the case of EPC = 0xDA in FIG. This property content has a maximum of 32 bytes and can be determined as an arbitrary number of bytes between the terminal device 1 and the communication device 2.

(Embodiment 2)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. In FIG. 6, 13 is a screen, 14 is an icon, and 15 is a lamp. The communication device 1 has the screen 13, the icon 14, and the lamp 15.

  The communication device 2 has a screen 13 as shown in FIG. 6, and the user can make various settings for the communication device 2 via the screen 13. Here, the screen 13 (touch panel) corresponds to the device selection means 7 in FIG.

  The communication device 2 has a user interface as shown in FIG. Various icons 14 are displayed on the screen 13 as shown in FIG. 6A, and the user can make various settings by touching the necessary icons 14 on the screen 13.

  In FIG. 6A, icons 14 written as “living room”, “bedroom”, “Japanese room”, and “closet” indicate that the “security sensor group” as described in the first embodiment is installed in the home by the user. In this case, an area where the “security sensor group” is installed is shown.

  In the present embodiment, the names “living room”, “bedroom”, “Japanese room”, and “closet” may be freely set by the user.

  Here, it is assumed that the user can select which of the four groups of “living room”, “bedroom”, “Japanese-style room”, and “closet” the sensor to be set in the “warning mode” belongs to. For example, when the user wants to select a sensor to belong to the group named “living”, the user touches the “setting” icon 14 on the right side of the “living” icon 14 in FIG. Then, a screen 13 as shown in FIG. 6B appears.

  The four icons 14 “open / close sensor A”, “open / close sensor B”, “human sensor A”, and “human sensor B” shown in FIG. 6B represent all the sensors installed in the home. ing. In the screen 13 of FIG. 6B, for example, when the user touches the icon 14 “open / close sensor A”, the lamp 15 on the left side of the icon 14 “open / close sensor A” is turned on. When the user touches the icon 14 “open / close sensor A” again, the lamp 15 on the left side of the icon 14 “open / close sensor A” is turned off. The lighting and extinguishing of the lamp 15 indicate that the sensor is selected for the group.

  That is, the lamp 15 on the left side of the icon 14 “opening / closing sensor A” is lit on the screen 13 in FIG. 6B displayed by touching the icon 14 “living” in FIG. This means that the open / close sensor A3 of FIG. 1 has been selected to belong to the group called living. A user can group various sensors easily and easily by grouping the sensors using FIGS. 6A and 6B in this way. After the grouping is set in this way, the communication apparatus 2 sets the grouping to each sensor by the means / procedure described in the first embodiment.

  For example, the communication device 2 sets grouping information “0x01” for sensors belonging to the group “living”, and sets grouping information “0x02” for sensors belonging to the group “bedroom”. Then, grouping information “0x03” is set for sensors belonging to the group “Japanese-style room”, and grouping information “0x04” is set for sensors belonging to the group “closet”.

  Moreover, when changing the sensor which belongs to a group, the screen 13 of FIG. 6 (a), (b) can also be used. In this case, FIG. 6 also serves as the changing means 8 of the first embodiment.

  As described above, the user can easily group the sensors and can easily confirm the grouping, and can exert a great effect on the spread and promotion of the system. In the present embodiment, the setting using the screen 13 as shown in FIG. 6 has been described. However, without using the screen 13, a switch, a separate remote controller, a mobile phone, a server, etc. A grouping method by a setting method may be used.

(Embodiment 3)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 7, and FIG.

  In FIG. 7, 16 is an operation group selection means. The operation group selection means 16 is in the communication device 2. Description of the parts having the same functions and roles as those of the first and second embodiments is omitted.

  After completing the grouping of the “security sensor group” that has been installed, the user sets the “warning mode” as in the first embodiment. Is set using the operation group setting means 16.

  Here, the operation group setting means 16 can be set by a screen (touch panel) 13 as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

  For example, when two groups of “bedroom” and “closet” are to be set in the alert mode, the user touches the “bedroom” and “closet” icons 14 in FIG. Then, the lamp 15 on the left side of the two icons 14 of “bedroom” and “closet” is turned on.

  Thereafter, when the alarm mode is actually set, the communication device 2 in FIG. 7 uses the internal transmission means 9 to transmit all the sensors in the home by “broadcast”, in this case, the open / close sensor A3 and the open / close sensor B4. , “Warning mode start” is transmitted to the four human sensors A5 and B6. Here, “broadcast” refers to transmission without specifying a partner to all the terminal devices 1 by specific low-power radio as described above.

  Here, the alarming group start information is included in the signal indicating “start of warning mode”. In this case, grouping information of two groups, “bedroom” and “closet”. For example, the “bedroom” grouping information is “0x02”, and the “closet” grouping information is “0x04”. Therefore, grouping information “0x02” and “0x04” is transmitted.

  Here, the grouping information stored in the group storage unit 11 of the open / close sensor A3 is “0x01”, the grouping information stored in the group storage unit 11 of the open / close sensor B4 is “0x02”, and the group storage of the human sensor A5. It is assumed that the grouping information stored in the means 11 is “0x03” and the grouping information stored in the group storage means 11 of the human sensor B6 is “0x04”. This indicates that the open / close sensor B4 is grouped in the “bedroom” and the human sensor B6 is grouped in the “closet”. Therefore, only the open / close sensor B4 and the human sensor B6 are shifted to the “warning mode” by the means and procedure described in the first embodiment.

  The grouping information is not limited to the above, and may be performed by a flag operation or a command operation.

  From the above, it is possible to easily and simultaneously set only a group that wants to perform a specific action from among multiple groups, improving the convenience of the system, increasing the reliability of the system, and spreading the system.・ Be able to exert a great effect on promotion.

  Note that the means described in this embodiment causes hardware resources such as a CPU (or microcomputer), a RAM, a ROM, a storage / recording device, an electrical / information device including an I / O, a computer, a server, and the like to cooperate. You may implement with the form of a program. In the form of a program, new functions can be easily distributed / updated and installed by recording them on a recording medium such as magnetic media or optical media or distributing them via a communication line such as the Internet.

  The communication system, the terminal device, and the program according to the present invention enable communication immediacy and simultaneous operation of arbitrary devices. It can also be applied to uses such as communication between terminal devices such as “health equipment group” and communication devices.

Block diagram of the entire system according to Embodiment 1, Embodiment 2, and Embodiment 3 of the present invention Block diagram of communication device and terminal device according to Embodiment 1, Embodiment 2, and Embodiment 3 of the present invention The flowchart which shows the message | telegram determination example of the terminal device in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which showed the specific example of data allocation in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which showed the specific example of data allocation in Embodiment 1 of this invention (A) An example figure which shows the screen of the communication apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention (b) An example figure which shows the screen of the communication apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention The block diagram of the communication apparatus and terminal device in Embodiment 3 of this invention The figure which shows the screen of the communication apparatus in Embodiment 3 of this invention. Functional block diagram showing a configuration example of a meter reading central device of a remote meter reading system according to a conventional example Functional block diagram showing a configuration example of a meter reading terminal device of a remote meter reading system according to a conventional example The figure which shows the example of the various number form which each apparatus has in the remote meter-reading system which concerns on a prior art example The flowchart which shows the collection procedure example (collective call) of meter-reading information in the remote meter-reading system which concerns on a prior art example

Explanation of symbols

1 Communication Device 2 Terminal Device 3 Open / Close Sensor A
4 Open / close sensor B
5 Human sensor A
6 Human sensor B
7 Device selection means 8 Change means 9 Transmission means 10 Receiving means 11 Group storage means 12 Analysis change means 13 Screen 14 Icon 15 Lamp 16 Operation group selection means

Claims (7)

A communication system comprising a terminal device integrated with or connected to a device and a communication device communicating with the terminal device, wherein the communication device selects at least one or more terminal devices and groups them Device selection means for creating information, changing means for changing the grouping information, and sending means for transmitting the grouping information changed by the changing means to the terminal device to be changed, A group storage means for storing whether or not the terminal device belongs to a specific communication group; and a signal received by the reception means is analyzed, and the specific communication group in which the signal is stored in the group storage means is changed. A communication system comprising: an analysis changing means for changing the information in the group storage means in accordance with the information when the signal is to do so. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus includes a device selection unit that is configured to select a group to which the terminal apparatus belongs from one or more predetermined communication groups. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the communication device includes an operation group selection unit that selects a group that performs a specific operation from one or more communication groups when the terminal device performs a specific operation. Device selection means for selecting at least one terminal device and creating grouping information, changing means for changing the grouping information, and transmitting the grouping information changed by the changing means to the terminal device to be changed A communication apparatus having a transmission means. 5. The communication apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a device selection unit configured to select a group to which the terminal apparatus belongs from one or more predetermined communication groups. The communication apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising an operation group selection unit that selects a group that performs a specific operation from one or more communication groups when the terminal device performs a specific operation. The program for making a computer perform at least one part of the communication apparatus of any one of Claims 4-6.

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