JPH10302128A - Communication system for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the worst case where the communication becomes impossible as much as possible measuring the success rate of communication among a radio master station, a radio slave station and another radio slave station and deciding a relay route based on the inter-station communication having its success rate higher than a prescribed level. SOLUTION: When an automatic vending machine is installed, the success rate is measured for the communication that is directly performed in a section where the radio machines (a radio master station 2 and a radio slave station 3) are connected to another radio slave station. The station 2 collects the success rates of communication in each section, evaluates the reliability of communication reaching the station 3 based on the collected success rates of communication, the number of relay stations, the degree of concentration of relay jobs, etc., and detects a relay route having higher evaluation of the communication reliability. In regard to the evaluation of communication reliability, only the relay routes having the success rates of inter-radio communication station higher than a prescribed level are used for communication. If these conditions are satisfied and furthermore plural relay routes exist, the general communication success rate is calculated about these relay routes. Then a route having the highest general communication success rate is applied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vending machine communication system for managing sales data and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vending machine management system,
A number of vending machines are connected by communication means, various data of these vending machines are collected in a host computer installed at one place, and sales information of all the vending machines, delivery of goods, maintenance, etc. are collected by the host computer. Centralized management is performed.

In such a management system, one vending machine and a host computer are connected by a commercial or dedicated communication line, and the one vending machine and the other vending machines are connected by wireless communication provided respectively. Some are connected by means.

The above-mentioned vending machine radio (radio master station) has a direct route to another vending machine radio (radio station) or a route passing through another radio station. Send information through.

[0005] Conversely, the wireless slave station sends information to the wireless master station via a direct route or a route passing through another wireless slave station.

All information about vending machines comes and goes via a wireless master station.

[0007] In a vending machine management system, the reliability and real-time performance of data are always required. However, these are greatly affected by a transmission path for transmitting data. It is undeniable that it lacks stability compared to the system.

[0008] This is because wireless communication is exposed to various environments and external noise, and is susceptible to these effects.

[0009] Since the location of the vending machine is limited,
If direct communication is not possible because radio waves do not reach between the radio base station and the target radio slave station, data is collected via another radio slave station that can reach radio waves from the radio master station as a relay station doing. The route to be relayed at this time is determined in advance by a communication test when the vending machine is installed.

[0010] The relay route data is registered in the wireless master station or the wireless slave station.

However, the communication environment in wireless communication is affected by various factors, such as the appearance of buildings and structures, the overgrowth of trees, the appearance of noise sources, the passage and stoppage of vehicles, and the like. Therefore, the relay route that was able to communicate well at the beginning of installation may sometimes fall into a deteriorated communication state or even become unable to transmit.

Whether the received data is normal or not is checked by an error check function. If an error is found as a result of the check, the receiving side issues a data retransmission request to the transmitting side and starts again. Receives data from. In some cases, this retransmission will be repeated many times.

Since the communication time increases due to such deterioration of the communication state, the real-time property is impaired.

If communication is not possible, data cannot be collected for some vending machines, so that the system cannot be established.

In any case, in such a state, it is necessary to reset the relay route, and to do so, it is necessary to perform a manual and time-consuming communication test which is expensive.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a system for actively determining a preferable relay route between a wireless master station and a wireless slave station of a vending machine, It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that prevents the worst situation from occurring.

[0017]

This problem is solved by the following means.

(1) First Invention A plurality of vending machines, a wireless slave station connected to the vending machine and collecting data from the vending machine, and transmitting and receiving data to and from the wireless slave station. A possible wireless master station, and a host computer communicably connected to the wireless master station via a communication line, wherein the wireless master station and the wireless slave station can mutually communicate with other wireless slave stations. In the vending machine communication system for collecting data of the vending machine via a plurality of wireless slave stations, the wireless master station, the wireless master station and the wireless slave station and other wireless slave stations and Measuring means for measuring a communication success rate during the communication, a judgment means for judging that communication is possible between the stations when the communication success rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and using the stations judged by the judgment means to be communicable. From the wireless master station to the wireless slave station Communication system of the vending machine, characterized by comprising a relay route determination means for determining a relay route communication, the.

(2) Second invention In the first invention, the measuring means transmits a test signal from the wireless master station and the wireless slave station to another wireless slave station, and receives the test signal. A vending machine communication system for calculating a success rate.

(3) Third invention In the first and second inventions, the relay route determining means determines the relay route so as to reduce the number of relay stations. Vending machine communication system.

(4) Fourth Invention In the second invention, the relay route determination means is
A communication system for a vending machine, wherein a relay route is determined so that a product of a communication success rate between respective stations from the wireless master station to a target wireless slave station is maximized.

(5) Fifth Invention A plurality of vending machines, a wireless slave station connected to the vending machine and collecting data from the vending machine, and transmitting and receiving data to and from the wireless slave station. A possible wireless master station, and a host computer communicably connected to the wireless master station via a communication line, wherein the wireless master station and the wireless slave station can mutually communicate with other wireless slave stations. In the vending machine communication system for collecting data of the vending machine via a plurality of wireless slave stations, the wireless master station, the wireless master station and the wireless slave station and other wireless slave stations and Measuring means for measuring the communication success rate during the communication, and determining a relay route from the wireless master station to each wireless slave station such that the communication success rate of the entire relay route is optimized based on the communication success rate between the stations. Relay route determining means Communication system of the vending machine, characterized in that the.

(6) Sixth invention A communication system for a vending machine according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, wherein the measurement of the communication success rate by the measuring means is performed periodically.

(7) Seventh invention In the first to fifth inventions, the measurement of the communication success rate by the measuring means is performed before the wireless master unit collects sales data of each vending machine. Vending machine communication system.

[0025]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a vending machine communication system in a vending machine according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer which forms the center of a vending machine management system.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a wireless master station, which is connected to the host computer 1 via a communication line.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a wireless slave station, which can communicate with the wireless master station 2 and other wireless slave stations via radio.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a vending machine. The above-mentioned wireless slave station 3 is connected to each vending machine 4 by a communication cable, and the latest data of the vending machine 4 is always transmitted to the wireless slave station 3. It is stored. Note that the wireless master station 2 may also be connected to the vending machine 4.

Information generated by the vending machine 4 and the host computer 1 or the wireless master station 2 directed to the vending machine 4
Is transmitted or received by directly communicating with the wireless master station 2 or indirectly through another wireless slave station 3.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing how a wireless master station and a plurality of wireless slave stations communicate between an unspecified number in a vending machine communication system in a vending machine according to the present invention.

A bent line connecting between the wireless master station 2 and each wireless slave station 3 indicates that communication is performed between them.

The host computer 1 and the wireless master station 2 are connected through a communication line such as a wired telephone line or PHS.

Although the wireless master station 2 and the wireless slave station 3 are wirelessly connected, depending on the location of the vending machine 4, there is a case where the wireless master station 2 and the wireless slave station 3 cannot directly communicate with each other. Therefore, in this case, communication is ensured by relaying via one or more other wireless slave stations 3.

Since the wireless slave station 3 sends out data in response to a data request from the wireless master station 2, the data of all the vending machines 4 are always collected in the wireless master station 2, and the host computer 1 is connected to the wireless communication apparatus. Data of all vending machines 4 can be collected from the master station 2.

The route of the above-mentioned relay is determined by a communication test when the vending machine is installed. In the present invention, this route is actively determined according to a change in communication conditions.

The above route is determined as follows.

First, a communication success rate of communication directly performed in a section connecting a wireless device (the wireless master station 2 and the wireless slave station 3) to another wireless device is measured. This measurement may be performed periodically or when it is expected that vending machines will be sold relatively infrequently.

The wireless master station 2 (or the host computer 1 in some cases) collects the communication success rate for each section, and based on the communication success rate, the number of relay stations, the degree of concentration of relay work, etc. The reliability of the communication up to the wireless slave station 3 is evaluated, and a relay route with a higher evaluation is found.

Various evaluations of communication reliability are conceivable. For example, the following determination can be made as the relay route.

(A) Only those whose communication success rate between the respective radio stations is equal to or higher than a predetermined value are used for communication.

If a plurality of relay routes exist after satisfying the above conditions, a route having a smaller number of relay stations is adopted.

(B) Only those whose communication success rate between the radio stations is equal to or more than a predetermined value are used for communication.

If a plurality of relay routes exist after satisfying the above conditions, the total communication success rate of the relay routes is calculated, and the route that maximizes the total communication success rate is adopted.

In the above (a) and (b), if one station is responsible for relaying too many relay routes, that may cause a bottleneck and increase the waiting time. When a station becomes a relay station of a certain number or more of relay routes, it may be a suboptimal relay route not including the station.

The relay route determined in this way is usually used from the next communication.

Further, a plurality of relay routes having the same evaluation can be stored. Thus, when a sudden change in the situation occurs, data of a new communication success rate is collected, and the route can be changed to the next best route until a new relay route is determined based on the data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the operation of the radio cell station 2 for collecting the above-mentioned communication success rate in each section.

When this subroutine is entered (# 301),
In # 302, the test data is transmitted to the N-th wireless slave station, and the communication success rate between the wireless master station 2 and the wireless slave station 3 is measured. This content is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and will be described later.

In step # 303, the obtained communication success rate is compared with a threshold value set in this system, and when the communication success rate is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the communication success rate is determined with the Nth station as a communicable station. It is registered (# 304).

In step # 305, it is checked whether or not the communication success rates have been measured for all the wireless slave stations 3. If not, the flow returns to step # 302 to repeat the same operation. When the measurement has been performed for all the wireless slave stations 3, the process proceeds to the next step # 306.

In step # 306, for one of the registered wireless slave stations 3 obtained in the above process, the communication success rate between the wireless slave station 3 and the other wireless slave stations 3 is determined. Make a request to measure.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the operation performed by the wireless slave station 3 which has issued the request, but the description will be given later.

In step # 307, step # 3
In step 06, the wireless master station 2 waits for the communication success rate requested by the wireless slave station 3 to be sent, and if sent, measures the communication success rate from the information to the wireless slave station 3 capable of communication. Make a request to do so. When this request cannot be made by direct communication, the request is made via a relay of another communicable wireless station 3.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the operation performed by the wireless slave station 3 that has issued the above request, but will be described later.

In step # 309, it is checked whether or not a response to the request has been made from all the wireless slave stations 3. If not, the process returns to step # 306, and until all the wireless slave stations respond. After repeating the same operation, the process exits from this routine (# 310).

FIG. 4 shows a request from the radio cell station 2 (# 306, # 3).
08] is a flowchart showing the response operation of the wireless child station 3 to 08).

Radio slave station 3 requested to measure the communication success rate
Transmits test data to another wireless slave station 3 and measures the communication success rate. This content is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and will be described later.

In step # 403, the obtained communication success rate is compared with a threshold value set in this system, and when the communication success rate is equal to or more than the threshold value, the communication success rate is registered with this station as a communicable station ( # 404).

In step # 405, it is checked whether or not the communication success rate has been measured for all the wireless slave stations 3, and if not, the process returns to step # 402 and the same operation is repeated. When the measurement has been performed for all the wireless slave stations 3, the process proceeds to the next step # 306.

In step # 306, the data obtained in the above process is transmitted to the radio base station 2, and the routine exits (# 407).

FIG. 5 shows a subroutine in which the wireless master station 2 or the wireless slave station 3 performs communication with another wireless slave station 3 and measures a communication success rate therebetween.

Here, the master station or the master station is a side that performs test communication for measuring a communication success rate, and the slave station or the slave station is a side that can initiate the test communication. That is, in this expression, since there is a test communication from the wireless master station to the wireless slave station and a test communication from the wireless slave station to another wireless slave station, both are expressed.

In this example, the test data is predetermined. All wireless master stations and wireless slave stations have the same data, and by comparing this data with the received data, it is determined whether the data has been normally received.

The method of determining whether or not the data has been normally received is not limited to the method in which test data is determined in advance, but may be any method such as transmitting random data, taking a checksum, taking a CRC, and the like. Can be adopted.

This subroutine starts in step # 501.

In step # 502, the test data is transmitted to the slave station.

When the slave station recognizes the transmission of the master station, the subroutine of test data reception starts (# 55).
1), receive test data sent from the main station (# 552).

Whether the test data has been received correctly is determined by whether or not the test data held by the user matches the received test data (# 55).
3).

As a result, when it is determined that the signal has been correctly received, an [OK] signal is transmitted to the master station (# 555). When the signal cannot be correctly received, an [NG] signal is transmitted (# 555). This routine is exited (# 55).
6).

The master station checks whether or not the judgment result from the slave station has been received (# 503). If it has not received this, it checks whether or not a timeout has occurred (# 504). It returns to step # 503 again. That is, it waits for the determination result to be transmitted from the slave station for a certain period of time.

If the judgment result is not received after the elapse of the above time, it is determined that normal communication was not performed in this test, and the flow moves to step # 507.

When the test result is received in step # 503, in the next step # 505,
The contents of the test result are checked, and if this is correct, that is, if the "OK" signal has been sent, the variable "OK count" is increased by 1 in step # 507.

If the test result in the check in step # 505 is not correct, the flow moves to step # 507.

In step # 507, the value of the variable "number of transmissions" indicating the number of transmissions of test data is increased by one.

In the above process, the number of times test data is sent and the number of times test data are normally received are counted.

Then, it is checked whether or not the number of transmissions of the test data has reached a specified number (# 508). If not, the process returns to step # 502 again and the same processing is repeated until the specified number is reached. If the next step # 50
Move to 9.

In step # 509, the ratio of the variable "OK count" to the variable "transmission count" is calculated to determine the communication success rate.

In the above description, the communication success rate is calculated. However, the communication error rate between stations, that is, the number of errors / the number of transmissions may be measured.

In this case, since the communication success rate = 1−communication error rate, the relay route can be selected so that the total sum of the communication error rates is as small as possible to simplify the calculation. Whichever calculation is performed, the communication success rate of the relay route is substantially obtained.

[0081]

As described above, the present invention is a system for actively determining a more preferable relay route between a wireless master station and a wireless slave station of a vending machine. There is no need to perform a troublesome communication test again, and it is possible to prevent the worst case of communication failure from occurring.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a vending machine communication system in a vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a wireless master station and a plurality of wireless slave stations communicate between an unspecified number in a vending machine communication system in a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow in which a wireless master station collects a communication success rate with a wireless slave station in a vending machine communication system in a vending machine according to the present invention; 4 is a flowchart showing a flow for issuing a request to measure a communication success rate during the period.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow in which a wireless slave station collects a communication success rate with another wireless slave station.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow in which a master station measures a success rate of communication with a slave station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 host computer 2 wireless master station 3 wireless slave station 4 vending machine

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of vending machines, a wireless slave station connected to the vending machine and collecting data from the vending machine, and a wireless master station capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the wireless slave station And a host computer communicably connected to the wireless master station via a communication line, wherein the wireless master station and the wireless slave station can mutually communicate with other wireless slave stations, and In a vending machine communication system for collecting data of the vending machine via a plurality of wireless slave stations, the wireless master station can successfully communicate between the wireless master station and the wireless slave station and another wireless slave station. Measuring means for measuring the rate; determining means for determining that communication between the stations is possible when the communication success rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value; and the wireless master station using the stations determined to be communicable by the determining means. Relay of communication from the above to the above-mentioned wireless slave station Communication system of the vending machine, characterized by comprising a relay route determination means for determining the over bets, the. 2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit transmits a test signal from the wireless master station and the wireless slave station to another wireless slave station, and calculates a ratio of successful reception of the test signal. Item 4. A vending machine communication system according to item 1. 3. A communication system for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said relay route determining means determines a relay route so as to reduce the number of relay stations. 4. The relay route determining means determines a relay route such that a product of a communication success rate between each station from the wireless master station to a target wireless slave station is maximized. 2. The vending machine communication system according to 2. 5. A plurality of vending machines, a wireless slave station connected to the vending machine and collecting data from the vending machine, and a wireless master station capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the wireless slave station. And a host computer communicably connected to the wireless master station via a communication line, wherein the wireless master station and the wireless slave station can mutually communicate with other wireless slave stations, and In a vending machine communication system for collecting data of the vending machine via a plurality of wireless slave stations, the wireless master station can successfully communicate between the wireless master station and the wireless slave station and another wireless slave station. Measuring means for measuring the relay rate, and relay route determining means for determining a relay route from the wireless master station to each wireless slave station based on a communication success rate between the stations so that a communication success rate of the entire relay route is optimized. And that Communication system of the vending machine to be. 6. The vending machine communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication means measures the communication success rate periodically. 7. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of the communication success rate by the measuring means is performed before the wireless master device collects sales data of each vending machine. Communications system.