JP2012244208A - Device map display apparatus, and device map display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device map display apparatus capable of changing display of icons of devices according to a change in scale of an electronic map displayed on a display unit.SOLUTION: A device map display apparatus 10 includes: a display 11 for displaying an electronic map; a scale change unit 14b for changing a display scale for the electronic map; an icon display unit 14c for displaying device icons indicating respective devices so as to be overlapped on the electronic map; a memory section 15 for storing the plurality of types of device icons for the respective devices; and an icon change unit 14d for changing the device icons to be displayed on the display unit. The icon change unit 14d changes the device icons to be displayed according to the scale of the electronic map to be displayed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a device map display device that displays an installation position of a wireless device for collecting meter reading information such as a gas meter on an electronic map.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, automatic meter reading systems that measure the usage of water or gas using a wireless communication line have been used. For example, in an automatic gas meter reading system, a center that collects and manages usage, a master unit connected to the center via a wireless communication line, and a gas meter (meter reading target device) attached to a gas supply source such as a gas cylinder And a relay device that relays between the master device and the slave device as necessary. Then, the slave unit acquires (receives) data indicating the amount of gas used from the meter reader at a predetermined timing, and transmits this data to the master unit directly or via a relay unit. The master unit transmits this data to the center. doing.

  By the way, in such an automatic meter-reading system, these main | base station, the relay machine, and the subunit | mobile_unit connected by radio | wireless are installed in the area of a predetermined range. There is a possibility that a plurality of relay devices are installed corresponding to one parent device in the same area, and a plurality of child devices are also installed for one relay device. As described above, a technique for displaying an electronic map on a display of a personal computer or the like and displaying an icon indicating each device on the electronic map in order to grasp the installation status of each device within a predetermined range is disclosed. (See Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-99651 A

  However, if the scale when displaying the electronic map on the display is small (that is, in the case of wide area display), it is necessary to display a large number of icons, which increases the processing load on the processor. On the other hand, when the display scale of the electronic map is large (that is, in the case of narrow-area display), the number of icons is small, which is preferable in that the processing load of the processor is small. The possibility that it will end up is relatively high.

  In particular, in the installation site where the device is actually set, when performing installation and maintenance of the device, a portable information terminal that can be carried is used. In this case, since it is a portable information terminal, the screen size is often physically small, which is a big problem at an actual installation site. In the case of a portable information terminal, the processor capacity and memory resources are generally more limited than those used on a desk in an office or the like, so that the processing capacity is generally low.

  In addition, since the devices communicate with each other by wireless communication in the automatic meter reading system, it is necessary to grasp on the site which devices are actually communicating. In recent years, there are a wide variety of network forms including mesh networks, and it has become a major issue how people grasp the communication state as the network evolves. In particular, when troubleshooting such as communication failure is performed on site, it is necessary for a person in charge at the installation site to perform this operation, and it is not always a network expert. Therefore, in order for this person in charge to perform the work properly, when an operator working in the office that manages the whole or a person in charge working at the installation site uses a portable information terminal It is important that the information is properly visualized.

  Therefore, in view of the circumstances as described above, the present invention changes the display of the icon of the device in accordance with the change in the scale of the electronic map displayed on the display, and changes the status of communication between devices performed by wireless communication. An object of the present invention is to provide a device map display device capable of grasping the situation by displaying appropriately.

  The device map display device according to the present invention is a slave unit connected to the meter-reading target device, a master unit connected to the slave unit directly or via a relay unit via a wireless line, and the relay unit, A device map display device that displays an installation position of each device on an electronic map, wherein the display unit displays the electronic map, and an icon display unit displays a device icon indicating each device superimposed on the electronic map. A line display unit that displays a device icon corresponding to the device connected by communication when the device is connected by communication, and any of the device icons indicating the devices. The line display unit, when the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a parent device, all the lines connected to the parent device A line is connected and displayed between the relay unit and all the slave units connected to the relay unit, and when the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay unit, it is connected to the relay unit If the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a child device, a line is connected between all child devices, and between the parent devices directly connected to the child device or A line is connected and displayed between the parent device indirectly connected to the child device and all the relay devices that relay to the parent device.

  By adopting such a configuration, the display processing load of the processor is reduced even when the scale is relatively small, and it is less likely to be overlooked even when the scale is relatively large. You can switch to icon display.

  In addition, by selecting a device and connecting related devices with a line, it is possible to minimize the arithmetic processing and drawing processing required for line display, so that it can be used at the installation site. Even when a portable information terminal is used, smooth operability can be provided.

  In addition, for the line representing the state of wireless communication, by using the electric field strength (RSSI) when wireless communication is performed, the line is color-coded to indicate a place where communication is stable and a place where communication is unstable. It becomes possible to specify at a glance.

  In addition, for the color coding of the lines, the above-described electric field strength may be used, or a communication success rate may be used.

  In addition, when the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay device, the line display unit is connected between the parent device directly connected to the relay device or indirectly with the relay device. A line may be connected and displayed between the parent device connected to the terminal and all the relay devices that relay to the parent device.

  Moreover, you may provide the circle display part which displays the circle which shows the communication range of the apparatus specified by the said selection part.

  In addition, when the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay device, the circle display unit is connected between the parent device directly connected to the relay device or indirectly with the relay device. A circle indicating the communication area of all the relay devices that relay to the parent device connected to the parent device may be displayed.

  The circle display unit may be colored according to the strength of radio waves in the circle to be displayed.

The device map display method according to the present invention includes a slave unit connected to a meter-reading target device, a master unit connected to the slave unit directly or via a relay unit via a wireless line, and the relay unit. A device map display method for displaying an installation position of each device on an electronic map, the display step for displaying the electronic map, and the icon display step for displaying a device icon indicating each device over the electronic map. When,
A line display step for displaying a device icon corresponding to the device connected by communication when the devices are connected by communication;
A selection step for specifying an arbitrary device icon among the device icons indicating each device, and in the line display step, when the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a parent device All the repeaters connected to the master unit and all the slave units connected to the repeater are connected and displayed, and the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a repeater If the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a slave unit, display a line between all the slave units connected to the relay unit. A line is connected and displayed between the connected parent devices or between the parent device indirectly connected to the child device and all the relay devices that relay to the parent device.

  Such a configuration makes it possible to efficiently process a large amount of data when managing an automatic meter reading system for gas, etc., using an electronic map displayed on the display. It is possible to reduce the load such as.

  In addition, on the installation site where the device is actually set up, the screen size used when installing and maintaining the device is relatively small, and the desktop and processor resources are used in general offices. This makes it possible to solve the problems in the case of using a portable information terminal that is inferior to other PCs, and can improve convenience.

  In the automatic meter reading system, devices communicate with each other by wireless communication, so it is difficult to grasp which devices are actually communicating with each other. Since this problem can be visualized on the display and information can be obtained, a complicated communication path for humans such as a mesh network can be grasped at a glance.

  Also, by displaying in different colors according to the radio field strength, information such as which communication path should be improved and which communication path is stable can be viewed at a glance while using the portable information terminal while at the installation site. This makes it easy to understand even for on-site personnel who are not network specialists, and it is very easy to install equipment, perform maintenance work after installation, and troubleshoot troubles. A practical and highly convenient system can be provided.

In addition, by drawing the communication area of each wireless device in a circle, it is possible to determine where it is efficient to place the device when the device is actually installed. In general, the main unit, the relay unit, and the sub unit have different antenna sizes and wireless performance. It is impractical to expect the field personnel performing the installation work to have deep knowledge of wireless technology. For example, in the case of an automatic gas meter reading system, the location of the slave unit is determined in advance because it is necessary to install the slave unit in the gas meter, but how the master unit and the relay unit are arranged depends on the system. From the viewpoint of cost, it is very important to minimize the number of installation work and the number of installed devices. In constructing an efficient wireless network system, displaying a communication range on a display can play a very important role in designing a line for a wireless device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the display of the icon of an apparatus can be changed according to the change of the scale of the electronic map displayed on a display, and the apparatus map display apparatus which can confirm a radio | wireless communication path at a glance can be provided. .

The schematic diagram which shows the automatic meter-reading system assumed to use the apparatus map display apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment Schematic diagram showing the functional configuration of the device map display device Schematic diagram illustrating device icon variations (A) The figure which shows a screen image when the display scale is displayed in the wide area below a predetermined value (b) The figure which shows the screen image when the part is expanded and displayed by the scale larger than a predetermined value The figure which shows the other example of a screen image when the display scale is displayed wide area below a predetermined value Figure showing the wireless communication route with the main unit selected Figure showing the wireless communication route to the main unit by selecting the slave unit (meter) Figure showing the wireless communication path to the main unit selected by selecting the repeater Drawing of radio wave arrival circle by selecting the master unit and the repeater Diagram showing field strength and color coding of wireless communication path

  Hereinafter, a device map display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an automatic meter reading system that is assumed to use the device map display device according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, an automatic meter reading system that collects and manages the amount of gas used will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic meter reading system 1 includes a gas meter 2, a slave unit 3, a relay unit 4, a master unit 5, and a management center 6, which are meter reading target devices attached to a gas cylinder or the like. Also included is a device map display device 10 for displaying the position of each device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, and the parent device 5) so as to be visible to the operator.

  The subunit | mobile_unit 3 is connected with the gas meter 2 by wire or radio | wireless, and is data (meter-reading data or original data for calculating meter-reading data in the subunit | mobile_unit 3) which shows the usage-amount of gas regularly. Pulse signal). The handset 3 is connected to the base unit 5 directly or via the relay unit 4 via a wireless communication line, and the meter reading data acquired by the handset 3 is directly or via the relay unit 4. 5 is transmitted. The master unit 5 transmits the meter reading data received from the slave unit 3 or the relay unit 4 to the management center 6 via the wireless communication line. Note that communication between the parent device 5 and the management center 6 can use communication via the Internet (for example, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)), or is not limited to wireless communication, for example, PLC Wired communication such as (Power Line Communications) may be used. On the other hand, for communication among the slave unit 3, the relay unit 4, and the master unit 5, for example, a specific low power radio can be used.

Note that a predetermined number of channels is set in the relay device 4, and one relay device 4 can relay the meter reading data from the handset 3 for the set number of channels to the base device 5. Similarly, a predetermined number of channels is set for the master unit 5, and one master unit 5 relays the meter reading data from the slave unit 3 and the relay unit 4 for the set number of channels to the management center 6. Can do. The device map display device 10 is connected to the management center 6 via a wireless communication line, and as will be described later, the device map display device 10 is a device indicating each device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, and the parent device 5). The icon can be displayed on the electronic map.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the device map display device 10. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the device map display device 10 includes a display 11, a communication unit 12, an operation unit 13, a control unit 14, and a storage unit 15. Among these, the display 11 is a display unit composed of a liquid crystal display device or the like, and can display an electronic map. The communication unit 12 has a wireless communication function for communicating with the management center 6 via, for example, the Internet. The operation unit 13 is a device for accepting an operator's operation input, and various forms such as a keyboard and a touch panel can be employed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 14 functions as a map display unit 14a, a scale change unit 14b, an icon display unit 14c, an icon change unit 14d, a line display unit 14e, a circle display unit 14f, and a color change unit 14g. have. The map display unit 14a displays (outputs) an electronic map, such as a city or a suburban residential area, stored in advance in the storage unit 15 on the display 11 in accordance with an operation performed by the operator on the operation unit 13. . The scale changing unit 14b changes the scale of the electronic map displayed on the display 11 according to the operation of the operator on the operation unit 13, and enlarges the scale to display a part of the scale. The scale can be reduced to display a wider area.

  The icon display unit 14 c displays icons (device icons) corresponding to each device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, and the parent device 5) stored in the storage unit 15 on the electronic map displayed on the display 11. It is displayed in a superimposed manner. In addition, the icon changing unit 14d appropriately selects a device icon to be displayed on the electronic map according to the scale of the electronic map displayed on the display 11, from among those stored in the storage unit 15, and electronically It is displayed on the map. Such device icons will be described later. The line display unit 14e displays a communication path of wireless communication on an electronic map, and how the devices that perform wireless communication of the parent device 5, the relay device 4, the child device 3, or the gas meter 2 are communicated with each other. This is a visual representation of whether or not each device icon is connected with a line.

  The circle display unit 14f is centered on any one of the device icons such as the base unit 5, the relay unit 4, the handset 3 or the gas meter 2 where wireless communication is performed. It expresses whether it is within a range.

  The color changing unit 14g plays a role of changing to a predetermined color according to the electric field strength or the communication success rate when the communication path of the wireless communication displayed on the electronic map is displayed on the line display unit 14e. . The circle display portion 14f also changes the display color of the circle in the same manner as the line display portion 14f represents the range where the radio wave is strong or the radio wave is weak.

  FIG. 10 shows examples of colors displayed according to the electric field strength or the communication success rate. In this example, when the electric field strength is strong, it is expressed in red, and conversely, when the electric field strength is weak, it is expressed in blue. By providing a threshold value of the electric field strength, the color is clearly divided into stages such as orange, yellow, and green indicating between red and blue. As shown in FIG. 10, the communication success rate may be used in the same manner as the electric field strength. What is important is to intuitively judge whether the communication is stable and stable, or whether the communication needs to be improved due to the occurrence of events such as weak radio waves and occasional communication failures.

[Device icon]
FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating variations of the above-described device icons. As shown in FIG. 3, various device icons are set for each device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, and the parent device 5) according to the state and the display scale, and data indicating these device icons is displayed. Are stored in the storage unit 15 in advance. In addition, the device map display device 10 provides information on the installation location and state of devices (slave unit 3, relay unit 4, and base unit 5) that are actually installed (or planned to be installed) to the management center 6. Can be obtained by communication between. However, information regarding installed devices may be acquired from each device itself by communication.

  Each device icon will be described in detail. First, “Not Installed” and “Installed” are displayed as device icons when the scale when displayed on the display 11 is larger than a predetermined value R. Different display modes are set in accordance with the four types of states, “Active” and “Alarm”. In FIG. 3, “gray”, “blue”, and “red” are notated, but these notations themselves do not constitute device icons, but describe the color of the part designated by the instruction line. To do.

  Among these, the “uninstalled” state of the slave unit 3 means a state in which the slave unit 3 is not installed at a place where the slave unit 3 is scheduled to be installed. The device icon indicating the “not installed” state has a background 100 which is a substantially square shape with four corners chamfered in an R shape and colored in gray, and the gas meter 2 to which the handset 3 is attached is provided in the background. A white illustration 101 simulating the external shape is arranged. Note that a device icon indicating “not installed” is also set for the relay device 4 and the parent device 5, and the difference from the device icon of the child device 3 is that the illustration displayed in a gray background is a child device. 3 is an illustration simulating the gas meter 2, whereas the repeater 4 or the master unit 5 is only an illustration simulating the external shape of the own device.

  Further, the “installed” state of the slave unit 3 means that the slave unit 3 is installed at a planned location, but the corresponding relay unit 4 or the master unit 5 is not installed, so that information is sent to the management center 6. In other words, it means a state in which communication with the management center 6 is impossible. In the device icon indicating the “installed” state, the illustration 102 indicating “communication impossible” is displayed in duplicate with the above-described “not installed” device icon. In the example shown in FIG. 3, an illustration 102 is shown in which a check mark (so-called “check point”) is displayed inside a substantially circular green background. The device icon indicating the “installed” state of the handset 3 is made such an illustration so that it can be clearly distinguished from the “not installed” state.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the “installed” device icon is set only for the child device 3, and is not set for the relay device 4 and the parent device 5. As described above, the “installed” state indicates that the slave unit 3 is installed but the communication with the management center 6 is “not possible to communicate”. This is because there is almost no possibility of such a situation with respect to 5. That is, since the relay device 4 and the master device 5 are in a state where communication with the management center 6 is possible almost at the same time as the installation is completed, the relay device 4 and the parent device 5 can be in the “installed” state shown in FIG. There is almost no sex. Therefore, no device icons indicating the “installed” state are set for the relay device 4 and the parent device 5.

Next, the “operating” state of the slave unit 3 means that the slave unit 3 is installed at a predetermined location, and information regarding the flow rate acquired from the gas meter 2 is directly or via the relay unit 4. This means that transmission to 5 is possible. That is, it means a normal use state. The device icon indicating the “in operation” state is the above-described device icon indicating the “not installed” state in which the background 100 is colored in blue instead of gray. The relay device 4 and the parent device 5 are also set with device icons indicating “in operation”. The difference from the device icon of the child device is that the illustration displayed in the blue background is the child device 3. In the illustration, the illustration represents the gas meter 2, whereas the relay device 4 or the parent device 5 is only an illustration simulating the external shape of the own device.

  In addition, the “alarming” state of the slave unit 3 means a state in which a failure has occurred within the device itself or other detectable range. In the device icon indicating the “alarming” state, the background 100 is colored in red instead of gray in the device icon indicating the “not installed” state, and the illustration 103 indicating “problem occurrence” is displayed in duplicate. It has become a thing. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the illustration 106 displays a state in which sound is emitted inside a gray background having a substantially circular shape. Note that a device icon indicating an “alarming” state is also set for the relay device 4 and the parent device 5, and the difference from the device icon of the child device 3 is that the illustration displayed in a red background is a child device. 3 is an illustration simulating the gas meter 2, whereas the repeater 4 or the master unit 5 is only an illustration simulating the external shape of the own device.

  Furthermore, there are a plurality of devices that are in the “in operation” state (slave unit 3, relay unit 4, and base unit 5) and devices that are in the “alarm state” (slave unit 3, relay unit 4, and base unit 5). When devices (unquestioned types) are overlapped on the map, they are displayed with device icons slightly different from those described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when a plurality of “in operation” devices overlap, each device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, and the parent device 5) corresponds to the blue background. Instead of the illustration, the white letter “M” (Multiple initial) is displayed with a substantially square frame. Even when multiple devices in the “alarming” state are overlapped, a white background “M” is displayed with a substantially square frame in the red background with an illustration 103 indicating “defect”. To do. As an overlapping state of devices in which this device icon is used, for example, in a housing complex such as an apartment, a state in which a plurality of devices are present at substantially the same location is assumed. In addition, as a device which exists in the same location, it is not restricted to a single kind of apparatus (for example, only the subunit | mobile_unit 3), A different kind of apparatus (for example, the subunit | mobile_unit 3 and the relay machine 4) may be sufficient.

  By using the device icons as described above, it is possible to identify the type of each device (slave unit 3, relay unit 4, and base unit 5) and its state.

  On the other hand, as a device icon to be displayed when the scale when displayed on the display 11 is equal to or less than the predetermined value R, the device icon is common regardless of the type and state of the device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, the parent device 5). It is supposed to display with one kind of basic figure. In the example shown in FIG. 3, such a device icon has a simple square shape. However, the figure may be varied depending on the type of the device (the child device 3, the relay device 4, the parent device 5), and the coloring may be varied depending on the state. For example, the slave unit 3 may be a square, the relay unit may be a triangle, and the master unit may be a circle. In addition, the “not installed” state may be colored gray, the “installed” state green, the “in operation” state blue, and the “alarming” state red.

[Display icon on map]
FIG. 4 is a schematic screen image illustrating an electronic map and a device icon displayed on the display 11 of the device map display device 10. FIG. 4A shows a case where the display scale is wide-area displayed with a predetermined value R or less. (B) shows a screen image when a part thereof is enlarged and displayed at a scale larger than a predetermined value R. Note that the notations “gray”, “blue”, and “red” in FIG. 4 do not constitute device icons as in the case of FIG. It explains the color. In addition, such display of the electronic map on the display 11 is executed by the control unit 14 functioning as the map display unit 14 a by the operator's operation on the operation unit 13.

In the screen image shown in FIG. 4A, a large number of device icons I are displayed on the electronic map. Since the display scale of the map is less than or equal to the predetermined value R, these device icons I are simple square device icons (see FIG. 3), and the devices (the slave unit 3, the relay unit 4, the master unit) 5) Although the state cannot be identified, since the display is simple, the processing load on the control unit 14 of the device map display device 10 can be reduced. In the device map display device 10 according to the present embodiment, when the device icon I is simply displayed as shown in FIG. 4A (scale ≦ R), the device icon displayed on the upper right and lower sides of the screen. The total number of I is displayed.

  On the other hand, the screen image shown in FIG. 4B is obtained by enlarging and displaying only the portion indicated by the broken line in the screen image of FIG. The switching from the wide-area display screen image of FIG. 4A to the enlarged screen image of FIG. 4B is performed by the control unit 14 as the scale changing unit 14b according to the operation of the operator to the operation unit 13. Performed by functioning. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the scale ratio is larger than a predetermined value R, each device is displayed with a mutually distinguishable device icon as shown in FIG. Such a change of the device icon according to the scale ratio is executed by the control unit 14 functioning as the icon change unit 14d.

  Specifically, the screen image of FIG. 4B will be described. In this screen image, device icons Ia to Ih indicating eight devices are displayed, and the device icon Ia at the lower left of the screen is displayed from the display mode. It can be seen that the parent device 5 is “in operation”. Further, it can be seen from the display mode of the device icons Ib and Ic that two relay devices 4 that are also “in operation” are arranged in the vicinity thereof. Two slave units 3 are arranged on the opposite side of the relay unit 4 across the road extending in the vertical direction of the screen, and both of these are in the “installed” state. It can be seen from the display mode of Id and Ie. Further, three slave units 3 are arranged in the upper right of the screen. Of these, two devices are “operating” but one is “alarming” from the display mode of the device icons If to Ih. I understand.

  As described above, when the map is enlarged and displayed at a scale ratio larger than the predetermined value R, each device icon I is set to a specific display mode including an illustration in the background. It is easy to see one. Further, by adopting the display mode as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to identify the device (slave unit 3, relay unit 4, base unit 5) and the type of state from the display on the map.

  When the scale ratio is equal to or less than the predetermined value R, it is possible to adopt a display mode as shown in FIG. 5A and 5B show a case where the entire region of Australia is displayed. In FIG. 5A, one device icon I is represented for each region where a plurality of devices are installed. The total number of devices in the area is displayed in the vicinity of the device icon I. Further, in (b), the device icon I is not displayed, the total number of devices is circled for each region, and the diameter of this circle is set to a size corresponding to the total number of devices. ing.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic screen image illustrating an electronic map and a device icon displayed on the display 11 of the device map display device 10 as in FIG. 4. By selecting a parent device, FIG. It shows the communication state of each device related to. The line indications indicated by “blue”, “green”, “orange”, and “red” in the figure indicate the wireless communication route and the communication status in the wireless route. The details of this line display will be described later separately in the description of FIG. The electronic map and device icons displayed on the display 11 may be active or inactive as described above. It is important to understand how each device is communicating when considering the contents of the installation status at the installation site or office. Here, by selecting the master unit and displaying the devices belonging to the master unit, which part should be improved in wireless communication of each device at the installation site, office, etc., or It is possible to grasp at a glance how many devices are involved in this master unit.

  The line indicated by the “red” color indicates that the electric field strength of wireless communication between the devices at both ends of the “red” color line is very high, or the wireless communication success rate is very high and there is no problem in communication. Show. The line indicated by the “orange” color indicates that the electric field strength of the wireless communication between the devices at both ends of the “orange” color line is sufficiently high, or the wireless communication success rate is sufficiently high and there is no problem in communication. Show. The line indicated by the “green” color indicates that the electric field strength of the wireless communication between the devices at both ends of the “green” color line is slightly weak or the wireless communication success rate is slightly low, and can be considered as an improvement candidate. . The line indicated by the “blue” color indicates that the wireless communication electric field strength between the devices at both ends of the “blue” color line is weak or the wireless communication success rate is low, and that the improvement must be made. It is. In this way, by selecting the parent device, all devices under the selected parent device are connected to the parent device, the relay device, and the child device based on the field strength of wireless communication or the wireless communication success rate. By making it possible to grasp the communication status at a glance, it becomes possible to properly grasp and manage invisible wireless communication paths, and complicated communication paths are established by technologies such as mesh networks. Even in such cases, appropriate management and operation become possible. In particular, in the work on the installation site, there are many cases where the equipment is installed in a place that cannot be directly seen by the operator. It is very meaningful to be able to visually understand the whole wireless communication system in this way while looking at the whole while in the installation site, and it helps such human understanding when handling the wireless communication system The function that can be performed enables a person who is not familiar with the wireless communication or the network to perform the work, which is a great advantage for the installer from the viewpoint of system operation and maintenance.

  FIG. 7 shows a state in which the slave unit 3 or the gas meter 2 is selected and the wireless communication path to the master unit is displayed. The line display indicated by “red” and “green” in the figure shows the strength of the electric field strength or the wireless communication success rate of the wireless communication of each device existing at both ends of the line as in FIG. It is shown. By selecting the icon of the gas meter 2 at the end of the line indicated by the “green” color line, the repeater 4 with which the gas meter 2 is communicating is connected with the line, and the color is classified according to the electric field strength or the communication success rate. Yes. Here, a “green” line indicating that the electric field strength is slightly weak is displayed. Then, another relay device 4 that communicates with the relay device 4 connected by the “green” color line is connected with “red” color, and further to the relay device 4 that is connected further ahead is “red”. A communication path from the selected gas meter 2 to the parent device 5 exists between the devices by connecting with the color line and further connecting with the “red” color line to the parent device 5 connected ahead. It represents the state of wireless communication.

  FIG. 8 shows a state in which the repeater is selected and the wireless communication path to the master is displayed. The line display indicated by “red” in the figure shows the strength of the radio communication field strength or the radio communication success rate of each device existing at both ends of the line, as in FIGS. Is. By selecting the repeater icon at the end of the line indicated by the “red” color line, the repeater with which this repeater is communicating is connected by a line, and is color-coded according to the electric field strength or communication success rate. doing. In this figure, it can be seen that wireless communication is performed via the two relay devices before reaching the master device from the selected relay device.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, when displaying lines between devices, it is important to draw a line from each device in the upper direction. By doing in this way, it becomes possible to grasp | ascertain clearly the apparatus directly related regarding the path | route from the selected gas meter or a subunit | mobile_unit to a main | base station. Since the master unit and the relay unit communicate directly with multiple devices, if all communication paths are displayed, high-performance hardware resources such as CPU and memory necessary for screen drawing are required. Therefore, the display takes time and the cost is high. By limiting and expressing only those directly related to the communication path from the gas meter or the slave unit to the master unit, the hardware resources such as the CPU and memory required for the drawing process are optimized to realize quick drawing. be able to. Thereby, it becomes possible to visually grasp the communication path of the gas meter or the slave unit selected at the installation site.

  FIG. 9 shows a state in which a circle is drawn in the form of a circle by selecting a radio wave arrival distance for estimating a radio wave reachable range as a base unit and a repeater. The range indicated by “red” indicates a wireless communication range that can be covered by the parent device located at the center of a circle. A range indicated by “yello” indicates a wireless communication range that can be covered by a repeater located at the center of the edge. The wireless communication range for estimating the reach of radio waves for each device such as a parent device and a relay device is expressed in different colors, and the size of the circle display is changed according to the antenna characteristics of each device. In general, the size of the device itself is often larger than that of the repeater and the device having the best antenna characteristics is used. For this reason, it can be considered that a circle drawn around the parent device is generally larger. In addition, since the repeater is often relatively smaller than the parent device, the antenna characteristics are likely to be slightly inferior to the parent device, so the circle display is smaller than that of the parent device. Further, a broken line connecting the devices indicates an estimated wireless communication path that indicates what route the device is likely to communicate with when a repeater is placed, for example. In this way, for example, when examining the location where the repeater is installed, it is possible to examine in advance where the installation is most efficient, and it is possible to perform a device installation simulation. . When installing a master unit, it is the same as a repeater. It is possible to estimate where a master unit can be installed to reduce the number of repeaters and to build an efficient system. . When drawing these circles, they should be set according to the specifications related to the wireless characteristics of the equipment to be installed in advance. When estimating radio wave propagation, a radio wave propagation model considering the system and installation environment may be applied.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the color coding of the lines connecting the devices, which has already appeared in the description of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. FIG. By indicating the radio field strength or the radio communication success rate in red (indicated above as “red”), this indicates that the electric field strength is strong or the radio communication success rate is high. On the contrary, when the radio field strength is weak, blue (in the above description, “blue”) indicates that the field strength is weak or the wireless communication success rate is low. By defining the best state as red and conversely defining the worst state as blue, it is possible to visually and intuitively grasp the wireless communication state by changing the color of the line at a predetermined threshold. It can be done. This color coding is expressed as red, then orange, yellow, green and blue in FIG. 10, but the purpose is to make it easy for the operator to grasp visually and intuitively. This step can be made finer or vice versa. These color change threshold values are defined in accordance with the specifications of the installed wireless system. The wireless system specifications refer to wireless characteristics. Specifically, it is the system specifications of each wireless device such as a master unit, relay unit, slave unit, or gas meter, and is used as a system. Such as the received radio frequency, device reception sensitivity, wireless output, and antenna performance of each device.

Next, how to use circle display and line display will be described. Here, a device installation simulation to be performed before installation work will be described. For example, when installing a wireless communication device such as the master unit 5 or the relay unit 4, it is necessary to consider where it is most efficient to arrange. At this time, the corresponding area is displayed on the electronic map, and the parent device 5 or the relay device 4 to be installed is selected to display a circle. By performing the circle display, it is possible to visually grasp the radio wave arrival range from the selected device. If you can't cover the handset 3 or the gas meter 2 as you think the radio wave coverage at the expected location, you can move the repeater 4 to an arbitrary position and study the optimal location. It is possible to minimize waste when actually performing the installation work on site. Since the installation worker does not necessarily have sufficient knowledge about the radio, it is very meaningful that the operator can grasp and examine it in advance as described above. Also, by using this screen on the portable information terminal at the installation site, if it is determined that the location where it was intended to install cannot be installed properly due to the site environment, etc., the installation location will be examined on site. There must be. Also in this case, if the portable information terminal can communicate with the server by GPRS communication or the like, this information can be used, and a quick and appropriate determination can be made at the site. As described above, when the system according to the present invention is used, the screen display area is limited compared to a PC used on a desk used in a general office such as a portable information terminal used in the field. Even if the processor capacity and memory resources are relatively small, the system can be used remotely efficiently.

  In addition, the line display is useful for troubleshooting such as maintenance after device installation and failure analysis immediately after device installation. For example, it may be assumed that communication is interrupted after a few days after installation of the device and is not stable. At this time, it is necessary to specify which communication path is a problem. In this case, it is most important to specify a communication path as a judgment material. As for wireless networks that are becoming popular in recent years, there are mesh networks such as ZigBee. The mesh network has a very intelligent part such as automatically constructing routes, but on the other hand, the challenge is how to grasp the route information configured automatically, and it is very difficult for humans to make intuitive judgments With sides. If there is communication path display information by line display as shown in the present invention, it is possible for an operator to check directly on the site, and the state of the communication path is color-coded according to, for example, electric field strength and communication success rate. Since it becomes possible to express, it becomes possible to grasp at a glance which part is a bottleneck in a complicated communication path. With this function, it is possible to appropriately determine at the site whether or not the repeater should be newly installed in the field work or whether the current position of the repeater should be changed. Of course, this work can also be performed in the office where it is managed, so it is possible to conduct on-site work by thoroughly considering the countermeasures before carrying out on-site work. Can be greatly improved. Since the number of man-hours for such on-site work affects the cost as labor costs, it is a very important factor when deploying a wireless automatic meter reading system for gas.

  Also, in the confirmation work after the actual work as described above, it is possible to visually determine whether or not the expected result has been achieved, so that the reliability of the work at the site is increased. It is also possible to manage these results with electronic data as screen copies. As a result, it is possible to keep the evidence of field work firmly and manage it, so it becomes possible for the manager side to perform appropriate management, and the field worker side does not have to worry about the validity of the work he has done. This makes it possible to prove the efficiency of the entire system operation.

  The present invention changes the display of the icon of the device according to the change in the scale of the electronic map displayed on the display, and visualizes the wireless communication path by changing the color according to the electric field strength, for a human such as a mesh network. The present invention can be applied to a device map display device that can grasp at a glance the state of wireless communication that is difficult to grasp intuitively.

1 Automatic meter reading system 2 Gas meter (measuring device)
Reference Signs List 3 Slave unit 4 Relay unit 5 Master unit 6 Management center 10 Device map display device 11 Display 12 Communication unit 13 Operation unit 14 Control unit 14a Map display unit 14b Scale change unit 14c Icon display unit 14d Icon change unit 15 Storage unit

Claims (6)

For the slave unit connected to the meter-reading target device, the master unit connected to the slave unit directly or via a relay unit via a wireless line, and the relay unit, the installation position of each device on the electronic map A device map display device for displaying,
A display unit for displaying the electronic map;
An icon display unit that displays device icons indicating the respective devices on the electronic map;
When connected by communication for each of the devices, a line display unit for displaying a device icon corresponding to the device connected by the communication with a line, and
A selection unit that identifies an arbitrary device icon among the device icons indicating the devices,
The line display unit
When the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a parent device, a line is connected between all the relay devices connected to the parent device and all slave devices connected to the relay device. And
If the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay device, display a line between all the slave devices connected to the relay device,
If the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a child device, the parent device connected directly to the child device or indirectly connected to the child device and the parent device Equipment map display device that displays a line between all repeaters that relay to the machine. The line display unit
When the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay device, between the parent device directly connected to the relay device or indirectly to the relay device and the parent device 2. The device map display device according to claim 1, wherein a line is connected and displayed between all the relay devices that relay to the device. The apparatus map display apparatus of Claim 2 provided with the circle display part which displays the circle which shows the communication range of the apparatus specified by the said selection part. When the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay device, the circle display unit is connected between the parent device directly connected to the relay device or indirectly with the relay device. 4. The device map display device according to claim 3, wherein a circle indicating the communication area of the parent device to be operated and all the relay devices that relay to the parent device is displayed. The device map display device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the circle display unit is colored according to the strength of radio waves in the circle to be displayed. For the slave unit connected to the meter-reading target device, the master unit connected to the slave unit directly or via a relay unit via a wireless line, and the relay unit, the installation position of each device on the electronic map A device map display method for displaying,
A display step for displaying the electronic map;
An icon display step for displaying the device icons indicating the respective devices on the electronic map,
A line display step for displaying a device icon corresponding to the device connected by communication when the devices are connected by communication;
A step of specifying an arbitrary device icon among the device icons indicating the devices,
In the line display step,
When the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a parent device, a line is connected between all the relay devices connected to the parent device and all slave devices connected to the relay device. And
If the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a relay device, display a line between all the slave devices connected to the relay device,
If the device corresponding to the device icon specified by the selection unit is a child device, the parent device connected directly to the child device or indirectly connected to the child device and the parent device A device map display method in which a line is connected and displayed between all repeaters that relay to the machine.