JPH04160852A - Remote supervisory equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow a master station side to easily recognize whether or not down-loading is normally implemented by allowing a slave station to give a notice to the master station in response to the down-loading after a new setting data is down-loaded from the master station to the slave station. CONSTITUTION:A slave station 1 provided with a data collection processing section 4 and a communication unit 7 and a master station 12 provided with a communication unit 15 and a data processing section 22 are interconnected by a telephone line 8 to form the remote supervisory equipment which processes a data of quantity to be consumed and manages the utility charge of gas, power and water supply or the like. Then after a prescribed setting data such as a transmission condition and an identification code of a measuring device or the like is sent from the master station 12 to the slave station 1 via the interconnected telephone line 8, the slave station 1 gives a notice to the master station 12 in response to the transmission of the prescribed setting data to the slave station 1. Thus, whether or not the down-loading is normally implemented is easily discriminated by the master station side and the reliability of the equipment is improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention transmits consumption data of gas, electricity, water, etc. measured by various measuring instruments from a slave station to a master station via a telephone line. The present invention relates to a so-called terminal notification type remote monitoring device.

(Prior art) As a so-called terminal alarm type remote monitoring device, conventionally disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-240999 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-2619
There is an automatic meter reading device described in Publication No. 63, and this type of remote monitoring device generally transmits data using a telephone line.

4 and 5 show the configurations of a slave station and a master station of a remote monitoring device, which is the background of this invention. As shown in FIG. The measured values of the measuring instruments are collected by the data collection processing unit 4 consisting of the data collection unit 2 and the calculation processing unit 3, and the calculation processing unit 3 calculates the usage of gas etc. in a predetermined period from each collected measurement value. The amount is calculated, and the calculated usage data is sent to the modem 5 and N CU (Network Control
The signal is modulated by the modem 5 of the communication unit 7 consisting of the ROL Unit 6 into a form that can be transmitted over the telephone line 8, and then transmitted to the telephone line 8.

At this time, the NCU 6 calls the NCU on the master station side to connect the telephone line 8, but the arithmetic processing unit 4 determines whether or not the current time according to the clock 9 is the preset date and time. When it is determined that it is the date and time, the NCU
6 operates to connect the telephone line 8 with the master station.

By the way, the date and time of data transmission, etc. are set in advance in the storage device 11 by operating the keyboard of the operation unit 10, and other transmission conditions such as setting of the telephone number of the master station and what kind of data to transmit and when are set. Setting or assignment of an identification code to each measuring device for associating data with the measuring device is also performed by operating the operation unit 10 or by setting transmission from a master station (so-called downloading) to be described later.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, in the master station 12, the NCU 13 and modem 14
The NCU 13 of the communication unit 15 that consists of
PB) - is demodulated and the arithmetic processing unit 17 is activated, the demodulated data is processed by the arithmetic processing unit 17, the usage charges for gas etc. for a predetermined period are derived, and the C
Displayed on RTlg.

At this time, the arithmetic processing section 17 determines whether or not the current time measured by the clock 19 is the date and time at which preset data is transmitted.If it is determined that the current time is the preset date and time, the arithmetic processing section The unit 17 performs predetermined processing on the transmission data.

By the way, programs such as processing procedures of the arithmetic processing section 17 are set in advance in the storage device 21 by operating the operation section 20.

Here, PB)-n demodulator 16. Arithmetic processing unit 17, CR
Tlg, clock 19. Operation unit 20. By the storage device 21,
A data processing section 22 is configured.

With such a configuration, predetermined usage data is periodically transmitted from the slave station 1 to the master station 12 via the telephone line 8, and so-called scheduled alarms are performed. At the same time, charges for gas, electricity, water, etc. on the slave station 1 side can be managed.

In addition, if an abnormality occurs in the measuring instrument or other parts on the slave station 1 side, the NC
The telephone line 8 is connected by U6, 13, and the abnormality data for notifying the abnormality is transmitted to the master station 12, so-called abnormality notification is performed. It is possible to detect the occurrence of an abnormality.

By the way, in this type of remote monitoring device, when there is a change or increase/decrease in the measuring instruments installed on the slave station 1 side, for example, an operator goes to the slave station 1 and operates the operation unit 10 of the slave station 1. It is necessary to allocate a new identification code or reassign it to a measuring instrument that has been changed or increased or decreased, which is very complicated and time-consuming, and the assignment is prone to operational errors. be.

Therefore, as described in JP-A-1-108658, for example, predetermined setting data is transmitted from the master station to the slave station.
It has been considered to perform so-called downloading to eliminate the need for operating the operation unit 10 on the slave station 1 side.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of the conventional download F method, in order to check whether the slave station 1 operates normally according to the data newly set in the slave station 1, it is necessary to Either wait until the telephone line 8 is connected due to scheduled alarms, or artificially create an abnormal state by short-circuiting one of the measuring instruments of slave station 1, and have slave station 1 issue an error alarm. The only way to check whether each part of the slave station 1 is operating normally is to confirm that the specified data is being sent normally from the slave station 1 through regular alarms or abnormal alarms. Therefore, there is a problem that the checking work becomes extremely complicated.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art.After downloading, in order to check whether the slave station is operating normally, it is not necessary to wait until the scheduled alarm is issued as in the past. It is an object of the present invention to enable a master station to easily know whether or not downloading has been performed normally, without having to issue an abnormality report based on an artificial abnormality.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a remote monitoring method according to the present invention provides a method for monitoring gas measured by various measuring instruments.

A slave station 1 equipped with a data collection processing unit 4 and a communication unit 7 for collecting usage data of electricity, water, etc., and a master station 12 equipped with a communication unit 15 and a data processing unit 22 are connected by a telephone line 8. , the communication unit 7 on the side of the slave station 1
calls the communication unit 15 on the side of the master station 12 to periodically connect the telephone line 8, and transmits the usage data collected by the data collection processing section 4 to the master station via the connected telephone line 8. 12, and the data processing unit 22 processes the usage data to generate gas, electricity,
In a remote monitoring device that manages water usage charges, etc., predetermined settings such as transmission conditions and identification codes of the measuring instruments are transmitted from the master station 12 to the slave station 1 via the connected telephone line 8. After transmitting the data, the slave station 1 notifies the master station 12 in response to transmitting the predetermined setting data to the slave station 1.

Further, after transmitting the predetermined setting data, the slave station 1 performs a self-check of the data format of the predetermined setting data, the configuration of the measuring instrument, etc. based on the predetermined setting data, and then The station 1 may notify the master station 12 of the results of the self-check.

(Operation) In this invention, after new setting data is transmitted (downloaded) from the master station 12 to the slave station 1, the slave station 1 reports to the master station 12 in response to the download, which is different from the conventional method. There is no need to wait until regular alarms are issued or to issue abnormal alarms based on human-induced abnormalities.
If there is a report in response to the download after downloading, it means that the download was performed normally, and if there is no report, it can be seen that the download was not performed normally.

In addition, after downloading the predetermined setting data, the slave station 1 performs a self-check based on the downloaded data, and then reports the self-check result, so that the master station 12 can successfully download the data. You can see what happened, or what kind of abnormality occurred if something was not done normally.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an embodiment of the remote monitoring device of the present invention.

Here, since the configurations of the slave station and the master station in this embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 described above, they will not be explained again, and will be described below with reference to FIG.

The operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Now, for example, if there is a change or an increase or decrease in the measuring instruments, etc. of the slave station 1, when the NCU 13 on the master station 12 side responds to a call from the NCU 6 on the slave station 1 side and the telephone line 8 is connected, the master station 12 New setting data such as transmission conditions such as when and where to transmit, changes, and identification codes of measuring instruments that have been increased or decreased are downloaded to the slave station 1 via the telephone line 8, as shown in Figure 1. When the download is completed (step S1), the telephone line 8 is temporarily released (step S2).
.

Next, the NCU 6 of the slave station 1 inputs the NCUI of the master station 12.
3 is called, the telephone line 8 is reconnected, and the slave station 1 notifies the master station 12 that it has responded to the download (
Step S3).

This notification is considered the zeroth alarm and is not included in the regular alarm count, and is distinguished from regular alarms and abnormal alarms.

By the way, in the master station 12, the presence or absence of the zeroth alarm is checked on the CRT1.
8, etc., the operator at the master station 12 confirms whether or not the zeroth alarm has been issued based on this display (step S4).

Then, the operator determines whether or not there is a zeroth alarm (step S5), and if there is a zeroth alarm, the download is successful, the predetermined setting data is downloaded normally, and the slave station 1 is normal. If the zero-time alarm is not issued, it is determined that the predetermined setting data has not been downloaded normally and the download has failed (step S7).

Therefore, in response to the download, the slave station 1 issues the zeroth alarm to the master station 12, so if there is the zeroth alarm in response to the download F after downloading, the download is successful; if not, the download is normal. This means that there is no need to wait until a regular alarm is issued or issue an abnormality alarm based on an artificial abnormality, as was the case in the past.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show other embodiments of the invention;
As in the case of the figure, the configurations of the slave station and the master station of the remote monitoring device applied to this embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS. The operation will be explained with reference to FIG.

Now, for example, if there is a change or an increase or decrease in the measuring instruments, etc. of the slave station 1, when the NCU1B on the master station 12 side responds to a call from the NCU 6 on the slave station 1 side and the telephone line 8 is connected, the master station 12 , new setting data such as transmission conditions such as when and where to transmit, changes, and identification codes of measuring instruments that have been increased or decreased are downloaded to the slave station 1 via the telephone line 8, as shown in Figure 2. When the download is completed (step T1), the telephone line 8 is temporarily released (step T2).
.

Then, at the slave station 1, self-checks such as checking the format of the setting data and the configuration of the measuring device corresponding to the set identification code are performed based on the downloaded setting data, which will be detailed later. (Step T3), there is no abnormality in the downloaded setting data,
It is determined whether or not there is a contradiction between the system of the slave station 1 and the contents of the setting data (step T4). If there is no contradiction, the NCU 6 of the slave station 1 side changes the NCUI 3 of the master station 12 side.
is called and the telephone line 8 is connected (step T5).
, there is no abnormality in the downloaded configuration data, and slave station 1
After the master station 12 is notified that the side system has started operating (step T6), the telephone line 8 is released (step T7).

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is some abnormality as a result of the determination in step T4, the telephone line 8 is connected in the same manner as in step T5.
is connected (step T8), and for example, an inconsistency occurs in the system of slave station 1 due to an abnormality in the downloaded setting data, or there is an abnormality in the format of the setting data itself. After the parent station 12 is notified of what is abnormal (step T9), the telephone line 8 is released (step T10).

At this time, the notification in steps T5 to T7 and the notification in step T8
The report at ~T10 is treated as the zeroth alarm, as in Figure 1, and is not included in the count of regular alarms, and is distinguished from regular alarms and abnormal alarms, and the master station 12 counts it as the zeroth alarm. The contents are displayed on the CRT 18 or the like.

Incidentally, the flow of the self-check is as shown in FIG. 3, for example. When the slave station 1 downloads predetermined setting data from the master station 12 (step U1), the format of the setting data is first checked, and the data Is there an abnormality in the format due to data loss due to transmission failure?
Or, it is checked to see if there is any (step U2), and if the check result is good, then it is checked whether the date and time at the time of transmission of the master station 12 attached to the setting data Ij is 9 (step U3).

Then, if it is determined that there is no particular abnormality and the time and date are checked by the clock 9 of the slave station 1, then the configuration and quantity of the measuring instrument on the slave station 1 side are entered into the measuring instrument identification code in the setting data. A comparison is made (step U4), and if the result of this check is good, the results of the checks in steps U2 to U4 are all good, and the self-check result is good, and the system on the slave station 1 side is good. It is processed to notify that it has been activated (step U5), and step U2
If any of the checks in steps U4 are found to be defective, the result of the self-check is determined to be defective, and processing is performed to notify that the system on the slave station 1 side is not operating properly (step U6).

Therefore, depending on the contents of the zeroth alarm from slave station 1 after downloading, it can be determined whether the download was performed normally or what kind of abnormality occurred. The master station 12 can easily know what kind of abnormality has occurred.

Here, if the setting data downloaded to the slave station 1 is downloaded (uploaded) by the master station 12 at the time of the zeroth alarm, the content of the setting data can be checked on the master station 12 side. .

In this way, after downloading, the slave station 1 performs a self-check and reports the result of the self-check, so there is no need to wait until a scheduled alarm is issued as in the past, or to issue an error alarm based on an artificial error. This eliminates these troubles and allows the master station 12 to easily know whether the download was performed normally or, if the download was not performed normally, what kind of abnormality occurred. I can do it.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following unique effects.

After downloading, the slave station 1 reports to the master station 12 in response to the download, so it is no longer necessary to wait until the regular alarm is issued as in the past, or to issue an error alarm based on an artificial error. The master station 12 can easily determine that if there is a report in response to the download after downloading, the download has been performed normally, and if there is no report, the download has not been performed normally. This makes it possible to improve the reliability of the device.

In addition, after downloading the predetermined setting data, the slave station 1 performs a self-check based on the downloaded data, and then reports the self-check result, so that the master station 12 can successfully download the data. It is possible to easily know what happened or what kind of abnormality occurred when it was not performed normally, and the reliability of the device can be further improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the remote monitoring device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of another embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are block diagrams of a slave station and a master station of a remote monitoring device, respectively, which are the background of this invention. 1...Slave station, 4...Data collection processing unit, 7.16...Communication unit, 8...Telephone line, 12...Master station, 22...Data processing unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A slave station (1) equipped with a data collection processing unit (4) and a communication unit (7) that collect consumption data of gas, electricity, water, etc. measured by various measuring instruments, and a communication unit (15). ) and a master station (
12) through a telephone line (8), and the slave station (1
) side communication unit (7) calls the communication unit (15) on the master station (12) side and connects the telephone line (8).
The usage data collected by the data collection processing unit (4) is transmitted to the connected telephone line (8).
In a remote monitoring device that transmits the usage data to the master station (12) via the data processor (22) and processes the usage data by the data processing unit (22) to manage usage charges for gas, electricity, water, etc. via the telephone line (8) of the master station (12).
) to the slave station (1), transmitting predetermined setting data such as transmission conditions and an identification code of the measuring instrument, and then in response to transmitting the predetermined setting data to the slave station (1). A remote monitoring device characterized in that a slave station (1) reports to the master station (12). (2) In the remote monitoring device according to claim 1, after transmitting the predetermined setting data, the slave station (1) determines the data format of the predetermined setting data and the measuring device based on the predetermined setting data. 1. A remote monitoring device characterized in that the slave station (1) performs a self-check of the configuration, etc., and then reports the results of the self-check from the slave station (1) to the master station (12).