JP6282840B2 - Wireless communication apparatus and wireless information collecting system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless information collection system that collects detection information such as usage amounts of gas, water, electricity, and the like, and a wireless communication terminal used in the system.

  To check if there is another wireless slave unit that can communicate with a wireless slave unit in a wireless information collection system that can be relayed in multiple stages, developed for acquiring meter information such as gas and water and sensor information. There is a method of sending and confirming a beacon. This is because the terminal (wireless handset or wireless base unit) periodically sends a beacon, and if the terminal (wireless handset or wireless base unit) that receives it holds the data to be transmitted wirelessly, the beacon is sent. Data is sent to the terminal that sent it. By using this method, multistage relaying between terminals is enabled. Such a method is called a multi-hop method (bucket relay method).

  Here, a wireless information collection system has been developed for the purpose of effectively reducing power consumption in multihop wireless communication by changing the beacon transmission timing. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the contents.

  According to the multistage relay wireless telemeter system described in Patent Document 1 and the wireless slave device used in the wireless telemeter system, after the start of operation, the wireless slave device communicates with a microcomputer meter that detects gas, water, and the like. Then, after a response message from the microcomputer meter is normally received, beacon transmission is started, thereby eliminating wasteful power consumption.

JP 2012-175226 A

  However, in the wireless telemeter system described in Patent Document 1, a wireless master device or a wireless slave device periodically transmits a beacon at a predetermined fixed period to confirm transmission data of other wireless slave devices. . Therefore, every terminal transmits a beacon at a fixed time period. Depending on the timing, there is a high possibility that the terminals that perform relaying will be biased, and that there will be individual differences in the degree of battery consumption of the terminals.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object thereof is to provide a new and improved wireless information collection that can cope with multi-hop wireless communication and can effectively reduce power consumption. To provide a system and a wireless slave unit.

  The wireless information collecting system according to the present invention is connected to a center-side network control device (center NCU) by a wired telephone network, a wireless network such as FOMA, and a microcomputer meter such as gas and water. The wireless slave unit performs wireless communication directly with the wireless master unit or with the wireless master unit while relaying other wireless slave units using radio of specific low power or the like. In a wireless telemeter system capable of multi-stage relay, a wireless slave unit or wireless master unit can check whether there is information to be communicated by another wireless slave unit or wireless master unit at regular intervals. The cycle of the beacon transmitted by the master unit is changed according to the battery consumption for every fixed time.

  According to the present invention, a multistage relay wireless information collection system that performs communication by transmitting a beacon and a wireless slave unit used in the wireless information collection system, the beacon generation period according to the battery consumption Therefore, there is no bias in battery consumption in the wireless slave unit, leading to longer life of the wireless slave unit and the entire system.

1 is a system diagram of a wireless information collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless master device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the radio | wireless handset which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a processing sequence diagram of the wireless slave unit related to the beacon transmission timing. It is a processing sequence diagram of the wireless slave unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart regarding the beacon and data communication of a radio | wireless main | base station and a radio | wireless subunit | mobile_unit. It is a table which calculates the transmission cycle of a beacon. It is a table which calculates the transmission cycle of a beacon. It is a table which calculates the transmission cycle of a beacon. It is a table which calculates the transmission cycle of a beacon.

[Embodiment 1]
(Configuration of wireless information collection system)
As shown in FIG. 1, a wireless information collection system according to the present invention includes a center side network control device (hereinafter referred to as “center NCU”) 102 connected to a host computer (hereinafter referred to as “host”) 101, and A wireless master device (hereinafter referred to as “main”) 103 connected to the center NCU 102 via a network 106 such as a telephone line or FOMA network, and the main 103 and other wireless slave devices (hereinafter referred to as “sub”). It comprises a plurality of sub-104s that perform wireless data communication, and a meter 105 such as a gas that is connected to the sub-104 in a wired manner. The main 103 may incorporate a terminal-side network control device, or may be connected to a terminal-side network control device externally.

  Further, the main 103 and the sub 104 wirelessly transmit beacons at regular intervals in order to check whether there is information to communicate. If the terminal (main 103 or sub 104) that received the beacon has detection information to be sent (for example, usage amount of gas, water, electricity, etc.), the information is transmitted to the terminal that transmitted the beacon. In this way, multistage wireless relaying between terminals becomes possible. By using this, a multi-hop topology in which all the mains 103 and sub-104s corresponding to the nodes are connected can be configured.

(Configuration of main 103 and sub 104)
2 and 3 are block diagrams showing the circuit configurations of the main 103 and sub 104 used in the wireless information collection system shown in FIG. Both the main 103 and the sub 104 incorporate a nonvolatile memory 202 for storing an identification code for identifying each terminal, path information, and the like. Further, there are a display unit 209 such as an LED for displaying some processing result, and a DIPSW 211 and a button 212 as input devices. The CPU 203 has a clock, a timer function, and a buffer, and is connected to the antenna 205 through the wireless unit 204. The wireless unit 204 is connected to a beacon transmission control unit 215 that controls generation of a beacon based on an instruction from the CPU 203. The beacon transmission control unit 215 includes a beacon transmission period generation unit 216 that generates a beacon transmission period based on the beacon period calculation table 217 and the beacon period calculation table 217 that are the basis of beacon transmission timing. The CPU 203 is connected with a ROM 206 and a RAM 207 for control, and further includes a battery 208 as a power source.

  The main 103 and the sub 104 are composed of the same components described above, and the following different parts will be described. First, in the main 103 shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 203 is connected to the public network through the network control unit 201.

  On the other hand, in the sub 104, as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 203 of the sub 104 is connected to a meter I / F 210 for connection to the meter 105 and an external setting machine I / F 213 for connection to an external setting machine. Yes. Further, the sub 104 includes a power source SW 214 in addition to the battery 208.

(Processing flow of wireless information collection system)
One processing sequence (flow of beacon signals, data transmission, etc.) performed by the wireless information collection system composed of the main and the plurality of subs shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described with reference to FIG. This is an example for understanding the invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

  Note that information flowing in the wireless information collection system includes emergency communication for notifying meter shutdown from the meter 105 to the host 101 and regular communication for periodically collecting meter examination results from the host 101.

  For emergency communication, for example, in the case of gas meter reading, forgetting to use or turn off gas equipment for a long time (when using a gas appliance for a long time or forgetting to turn it off), overflow (maximum use of meter) Gas flow exceeding the volume), earthquake / vibration detection (when there is an earthquake with a seismic intensity of less than 5 while using gas, or when strong vibration is given to the gas meter), gas pressure drop (gas flow Meter shutoff information is transmitted, such as when the gas pressure drops abnormally during use. Periodic communication includes collection of periodic meter reading results on the day determined once a month for meter reading of the gas meter.

  In the figure, the portions shown as terminals 1, 2, 3, 4,... Are a plurality of sub-104s, and are shown as examples to distinguish the sub-104s. In FIG. 4, a plurality of sub-104s (terminals 2, 3, 4) around one sub-104 (terminal 1) are now sending out beacons at a predetermined period (3 seconds).

  When there is no data to be transmitted, the terminal 1 ignores beacons transmitted from surrounding terminals. The same applies to other terminals. Also, the terminal 1 itself sends out a beacon to surrounding terminals. Therefore, the terminal 1 receives detection information (transmission data A) to be transmitted to the main 103 from the meter 105 connected to the terminal 1 itself, and enters a state with transmission data. When the transmission data is present, the terminal 1 starts detecting beacons from nearby terminals. Then, the terminal 1 transmits data A as detection information to the terminal 3 that has transmitted the beacon that can be detected first.

  As a condition for transmitting data A to the detected beacon, in addition to the beacon reception timing, the number of wireless slaves that pass through to the destination (main in the case of FIG. 4) is considered. The number of subs that pass through to the destination is called the number of hops.

  For example, the number of hops from the sub that currently has information to the main destination destination is 4 (the number of subs that pass through is 4), and the sub that is the next information transmission destination (next data is passed) When the number of hops from the planned sub) to the destination (main) is 4 or more, the number of hops does not decrease even if data is passed to the sub that is the next data transmission destination. In this case, since it is considered that the data is not approaching the target destination (main), data transmission is not performed. We will wait for the reception of the beacon from the next other sub.

  Note that each sub stores the number of hops between all other subs on the system belonging to the same base unit in the nonvolatile memory 202, and this information is newly added by the sub. It is updated whenever it is done.

  As described above, for example, when the terminal 1 has prepared the transmission data A, which is detection information on the usage amount of gas, water, electricity, etc., the terminal 1 starts detecting beacons from nearby terminals, Transmission data A is transmitted to the terminal 3 that is the transmission source of the received beacon. Another transmission data B is similarly transmitted to the terminal 2.

  FIG. 6 shows a sub-operation flowchart of terminals 1, 2, 3, and 4 that transmit and receive information through the beacons shown in FIG. The information transmission / reception operation is performed between the main and the sub, or between the sub and the sub. The transmission and reception operations for main and sub information are common.

  In step S1, the sub determines whether there is information to be transmitted such as the amount of gas used. When there is information to be transmitted, a beacon transmitted from the surroundings is detected. When a beacon is detected in S2, in S8, the number of hops from the own device which is going to transmit data to the destination (main), and the data transmission destination sub (the partner who transmitted the beacon) to the destination (main) Compare the number of hops. As a result of comparison, when the number of hops from the sub-beacon destination to the destination is smaller than the number of hops from the own device to the destination, the destination (main) is approached. Send data to a sub.

  If it is determined in S1 that there is no information to be transmitted, a beacon is transmitted in S4, and it is detected whether a signal transmitted from a surrounding sub is received for the beacon transmitted in S5. If there is a received signal addressed to itself, information is received in S6. If there is no signal addressed to itself in S5, the received signal is detected until 3 seconds elapse in S7. When 3 seconds elapse in S7, the process returns to the determination of whether there is information to be transmitted in S1.

  When data to be transmitted is generated as described above, the transmission data is transmitted to the other party receiving the beacon. In the present invention, the system for performing this data transmission is controlled to change the beacon output period along with the data transmission as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a processing procedure related to the present invention. FIG. 5 adjusts (controls) the output period of the beacon according to the remaining amount of the battery 208 provided in each sub or main terminal. As for the remaining state of the battery, the main and sub terminals detect the remaining amount of the battery 208 every predetermined time, for example, every 24 hours. The detected remaining battery level is stored in the memory 202 of each terminal. Further, the remaining battery level may be detected at the beacon transmission timing, and the beacon output cycle may be adjusted based on the detected remaining battery level.

  The beacon output period corresponding to the remaining battery level is controlled as shown in the table of FIG. In FIG. 7, when the remaining battery level is 75% or more, a predetermined fixed period of 3 seconds, when it is 50% or more and less than 75%, 4 seconds, when it is 25% or more and less than 50%, 5 seconds, or 5% If it is less than 25%, beacon transmission control is performed at a cycle of 10 seconds. This is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  The table shown in FIG. 7 is stored in the main and sub memories 202. Therefore, the beacon output period is determined and transmitted on the main or sub terminal side according to the detected remaining battery level described below. Note that the transmission timing of each terminal, that is, the main and sub beacons is set in a shifted state, and the transmission cycle is determined based on the shift.

  In the processing procedure of FIG. 5 of the present invention, it is a processing sequence diagram when the remaining battery level of the terminal 3 and the terminal 4 described in FIG. 4 is equal to or less than a predetermined value (less than 50% in the example shown in FIG. 7).

  In FIG. 5, since the terminal 3 has a remaining battery charge of 25% or more and less than 50%, the beacon transmission cycle is set to 5 seconds. In FIG. 5, since the remaining battery level of the terminal 4 is 5% or more and less than 25%, the beacon transmission cycle is 10 seconds. In this way, the beacon transmission cycle of the terminal whose battery level is low is lengthened. In this state, data is transmitted from the terminal that has generated transmission data to the center NCU 102 via the main 103 via the terminal that transmitted the beacon. For this reason, it becomes possible to reduce communication with other terminals as a route, and it is possible to avoid that only a specific terminal runs out of battery earlier than surrounding terminals.

  The time point when the remaining battery level described above is detected is not limited to a predetermined cycle, for example, every 24 hours. For example, the remaining battery level can be detected and stored every time a beacon is sent out.

[Embodiment 2]
According to Embodiment 1 demonstrated above, in order to change the period which transmits a beacon, the remaining amount of a battery is detected and it adjusts (controls) so that a beacon transmission period may be changed based on the detection result.

  In contrast, in the second embodiment, the beacon transmission cycle can be changed based on the accumulated number of times of communication with other terminals instead of the remaining battery level. The number of times of communication is, for example, the number of times data is transmitted in response to a beacon. Specifically, the sub 104 stores the accumulated number of times of communication with other terminals in the non-volatile memory 202, and the beacon cycle calculation table 2 shown in FIG. Based on this, the period is calculated and a beacon is transmitted.

  The table shown in FIG. 8 is stored in the main and sub memories 202. Therefore, the beacon output period is determined and transmitted on the main and sub terminal sides according to the accumulated communication count described below.

  In FIG. 8, when the cumulative number of communications is 0 to 100, a predetermined fixed 3-second cycle, from 101 to 200, a 4-second cycle, from 201 to 300, a 5-second cycle, or more than 301 times Then, beacon transmission control is performed at a cycle of 10 seconds. This is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

[Embodiment 3]
As described above, the first and second embodiments have described an example in which the cycle for transmitting a beacon is controlled based on the remaining battery level and the accumulated number of communications. In contrast, in the third embodiment, the beacon transmission cycle is changed based on the accumulated communication time. The accumulated communication time is, for example, the accumulated time that has been activated to transmit data in response to a beacon. Specifically, the sub 104 accumulates the time that has been activated to transmit data to other terminals in the nonvolatile memory 202, and calculates the beacon period corresponding to the accumulated communication time, as shown in FIG. Calculation is made based on Table 3, and a beacon is transmitted at this cycle.

  The table shown in FIG. 9 is stored in the main and sub memories 202. Therefore, the beacon output period is determined and transmitted on the main or sub terminal side according to the accumulated communication time described below.

  In FIG. 9, when the accumulated communication time is 0 to 1 hour, a predetermined fixed 3 second cycle, 1 hour greater than 2 hours, 4 second cycle, 2 hours greater than 3 hours, 5 second cycle, If it exceeds 3 hours, beacon transmission control is performed every 10 seconds. This is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

[Embodiment 4]
Next, Embodiment 4 will be described. In the above-described first to third embodiments, the beacon transmission cycle is changed based on a certain condition, that is, controlled to become longer gradually.

  On the other hand, in the fourth embodiment, the transmission cycle is always determined without changing the beacon transmission cycle.

  Specifically, the timing of the beacon transmission cycle is fixed (for example, 3 seconds), and the transmission timing is determined based on the remaining battery level, the accumulated number of communications with other terminals, and the accumulated communication time with other terminals. The beacon is not transmitted at a rate of once every plural times.

  FIG. 10 is a beacon cycle calculation table for calculating how many times beacons are thinned out based on the remaining battery level, the cumulative number of communications with other terminals, and the cumulative communications time.

  The table shown in FIG. 10 is stored in the main and sub memories 202. Accordingly, the beacon thinning rate is determined and transmitted on the main or sub terminal side according to the remaining battery level, the accumulated number of times of communication, and the accumulated communication time described below.

  For example, referring to the beacon period calculation table 4 in FIG. 10, when adjusting the beacon transmission period based on the remaining battery level, if the remaining battery level is 50% or more and less than 75%, the beacon transmission period is transmitted every 3 seconds. The beacon is thinned out once every four times.

  Further, when based on the cumulative communication count, if the cumulative communication count is 201 times or more and 300 times or less, the beacon signal is thinned out once every three times.

  Similarly, when based on the accumulated communication time, if the accumulated communication time exceeds 3 hours, the beacon signal is thinned out once every two times.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the original beacon transmission period is not changed, and the number of times of communication is increased once, based on a decrease in the remaining battery capacity, an increase in the number of communication times, and an increase in accumulated time. The beacon is not sent at the rate of. Therefore, since the beacon is not transmitted, the same effect as in the first to third embodiments, that is, the beacon transmission cycle can be adjusted to be longer as a whole, the use as a communication path can be reduced, and the power consumption can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to make the usage frequency of the connected devices in the entire network uniform.

  Further, according to the fourth embodiment, since the beacon transmission cycle is constant and is not changed, the trouble of changing the cycle as in the first to third embodiments is not necessary.

[Embodiment 5]
The values of the beacon period calculation tables shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 are set under the same conditions for all mains and subs. Apart from this, it is possible to change and set the table values independently of the main or sub.

  When the change is made, for example, when communication is concentrated in one sub, or when the remaining battery level is significantly lower than the remaining sub or main battery level, the beacon transmission cycle is significantly increased. Can be set as follows. Therefore, it can be displayed on the display unit 209 for displaying the processing result from the DIPSW 211 or the button 212 as an input device, and the setting value can be changed and stored in the memory 202.

  As a result, when the remaining battery level of a specific sub is lower than the others, it is possible to set the beacon transmission cycle to be longer, and to prevent the specific sub from becoming insufficient in power.

[Summary]
As described above, one wireless slave device connected to a wireless information collection system in which a plurality of wireless slave devices are connected in a multistage relay, the wireless slave device being a master device or another A beacon transmission control unit that controls transmission of a beacon for confirming whether there is information to be communicated to the wireless slave unit, and the beacon transmission control unit includes a beacon transmission cycle generation unit that adjusts a beacon transmission cycle .

  By adjusting the beacon transmission cycle and reducing the use as a communication path in this way, it is possible to equalize the frequency of use of connected devices throughout the network.

  The beacon transmission cycle control unit adjusts the beacon transmission cycle based on the remaining battery level. In addition, the beacon transmission cycle control unit adjusts the beacon transmission cycle based on the number of communication times or the total communication time when information is transmitted in response to reception of a beacon.

  In this way, by adjusting the beacon transmission cycle based on the remaining battery level of the connected device, the number of times the connected device has been activated for information communication, and the accumulated communication time, the frequency of use of the connected device and the remaining battery power in the entire network are adjusted. The amount can be made uniform.

  The beacon transmission cycle control unit controls the beacon not to be transmitted when the beacon transmission cycle comes based on the remaining battery level.

  In this way, by adjusting the beacon transmission cycle to be longer, it is possible to equalize the frequency of use of connected devices throughout the network.

  In a wireless information collection system in which a plurality of wireless slave devices are connected in a multistage relay, the wireless slave device is for confirming whether there is information to communicate with the master device or another wireless slave device. A beacon is transmitted, and the transmission timing is adjusted so that the beacon transmission cycle becomes longer according to the remaining battery level of the wireless slave unit.

  In this way, the multistage relay network measures the equalization of the remaining battery level of the connected devices throughout the network, so that only specific terminals do not run out of battery early, so that the performance of the entire network does not deteriorate. be able to.

  The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims.

  The wireless information collection system according to the present invention can be widely used in a wireless information collection system that collects detection information such as gas, water, or electricity usage.

101 Host computer 102 Center NCU
103 Wireless master unit (main)
104 Wireless handset (sub)
105 Meter 106 Telephone line, FOMA network 201 I / F for connection with public network
202 Non-volatile memory for data registration 203 CPU
204 Wireless communication unit 205 Antenna 206 ROM
207 RAM
208 Battery 209 Display 210 I / F for meter connection
211 Input device such as DIPSW 212 Input device such as button 213 External setting device I / F
214 Power switch
215 Beacon transmission control unit 216 Beacon transmission cycle generation unit 217 Beacon cycle calculation table

Claims (5)

A wireless slave device connected to a wireless information collecting system in which a plurality of wireless slave devices are connected in a multistage relay,
The wireless slave device includes a beacon transmission control unit that controls transmission of a beacon for confirming whether there is information to be communicated to the master device or another wireless slave device,
The beacon transmission control unit adjusts the beacon transmission cycle when communication concentrates more than the other wireless slave units or when the remaining battery level is less than the remaining battery level of the other wireless slave units. A wireless slave device including a beacon transmission cycle generation unit.   The beacon sending cycle control unit according to claim 1, wherein the beacon sending cycle control unit adjusts the beacon sending cycle based on a remaining battery level.   The beacon sending cycle control unit is the wireless slave device according to claim 1, wherein the beacon sending cycle control unit adjusts the beacon sending cycle based on the number of communication times when information is transmitted or a cumulative communication time in response to reception of a beacon.   The beacon sending cycle control unit according to claim 1, wherein the beacon sending cycle control unit controls not to send a beacon when the beacon sending cycle comes based on a remaining battery level. In a wireless information collection system in which a plurality of wireless slave units are connected in a multistage relay,
The radio personal station is,
Send out a beacon to confirm whether there is information to communicate with the master unit or other wireless slave units,
When communication concentrates more than the other wireless slave units, or when the remaining battery level is lower than the remaining battery level of the other wireless slave units , the beacon is set according to the remaining battery level of the wireless slave units. A wireless information collecting system, characterized in that the transmission timing is adjusted so that the transmission cycle of the data becomes longer.