KR-102961795-B1 - Method for collecting metering data remotely

KR102961795B1KR 102961795 B1KR102961795 B1KR 102961795B1KR-102961795-B1

Abstract

A method for collecting meter reading data remotely may include: a step of performing pairing of a meter reader terminal with a master terminal located at a master point among wireless communication-based meter reading terminals that collect meter reading data by household; a step in which the master terminal receives a request to provide meter reading data from the paired meter reader terminal; a step in which the master terminal that received the request and a plurality of slave terminals located at a plurality of slave points among the meter reading terminals share the request based on a preset first communication path protocol; a step in which the plurality of slave terminals that received the shared request transmit the meter reading data to the master terminal based on a preset second communication path protocol having a larger data size than the first communication path protocol; and a step in which the master terminal transmits the received meter reading data to the meter reader terminal.

Inventors

백재우

Assignees

하니웰스마트홈케어 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20250716

Claims (7)

Regarding the method of collecting remote meter reading data, A step of performing pairing of a meter reader terminal with a master terminal located at a master point among wireless communication-based meter reading terminals that collect meter reading data by generation; The step of the master terminal receiving a request to provide meter reading data from the paired meter reader terminal; A step in which a plurality of slave terminals, each located at a plurality of slave points among the master terminal and the meter reading terminal that received the above request, share the above request based on a preset first communication path protocol; A plurality of slave terminals that have received the above request transmit the meter reading data to the master terminal based on a pre-configured second communication path protocol having a larger data size than the first communication path protocol; A step of determining that the slave terminal that transmitted the meter reading data has a response timeout error if the master terminal does not receive the meter reading data within a preset time after sharing the request; A step in which the master terminal determines the slave terminal that transmitted the meter reading data as a data error if the packet of the received meter reading data does not satisfy a preset format; When the master terminal receives a code indicating a low battery state along with the received meter reading data, a step of determining a slave terminal corresponding to the received code indicating a low battery state to be in a low battery state; A step of generating at least one of the code indicating the response timeout error, the code indicating the data error, and the code indicating the battery low state, and identification information of at least one slave terminal corresponding thereto as error state information; and A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by including the step of the master terminal transmitting the received meter reading data and the generated error status information to the meter reader terminal.
In paragraph 1, The above meter reading terminal is, A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by performing UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) based wireless communication.
In paragraph 1, The step in which the above pairing is performed is, A step of activating the master terminal as the magnet of the meter reader terminal is tagged to the tag portion of the master terminal; When a pairing request of the meter reader terminal is transmitted to the activated master terminal, a step of receiving meter reader identification information from the meter reader terminal that transmitted the pairing request; and A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by including a step of determining whether to pair based on the meter reader identification information.
In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned first communication path protocol is, A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by including first transmission and reception target information, which is information regarding the transmission target and reception target of the request, which is preset for each of the master terminal and the plurality of slave terminals.
In paragraph 4, The step of sharing the request based on the first communication path protocol is, A master terminal that has received the above request transmits the request to a first receiving target corresponding to the first transmission/reception target information; and A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by including the step of the plurality of slave terminals receiving the request as the first receiving target and the plurality of slave terminals each sequentially transmit and receive the request based on the first transmitting and receiving target information.
In paragraph 1, The above second communication path protocol is, A second transmission/reception target information, which is information regarding the transmission target and reception target of the meter reading data preset for each of the plurality of slave terminals; and A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by including transmission target information, which is information about the transmission target of the meter reading data pre-configured for the master terminal.
In paragraph 6, The step of transmitting the meter reading data to the master terminal based on the second communication path protocol is A first step in which a plurality of slave terminals that have received the above request transmit the meter reading data to a second receiving target corresponding to the second transmission/reception target information; A second step of transmitting the received meter reading data to a terminal corresponding to the second receiving target information when the slave terminal corresponding to the second receiving target receives the meter reading data transmitted according to the first step; and A method for collecting meter reading data remotely, characterized by including a step of transmitting the meter reading data to the master terminal according to the first step and the second step.

Description

Method for collecting metering data remotely The technical concept of the present disclosure relates to a method for collecting meter reading data remotely, and more specifically, to a method in which a meter reader terminal can collect meter reading data for each household through a terminal located at a master point among wireless communication-based meter reading terminals provided for each household within a building. Conventional meter reading methods for energy consumption and other metrics relied on a labor-intensive approach where meter readers visited each household in person to verify and record meter readings. This method was not only inefficient due to the significant time and manpower required for reading, but also carried the risk of errors, such as misreading or incorrect recording of values. Furthermore, there were issues regarding privacy infringement when visits to households were necessary, as well as difficulties associated with revisiting households that were absent. To address the shortcomings of this manpower-based metering method, a wired remote metering system was introduced, which collects data from each household from a single point, such as a management office, using communication lines. However, the wired method had clear limitations; initial installation costs were high because communication lines had to be laid throughout the entire building, and construction was particularly complex when applied to existing buildings. Furthermore, it presented problems such as difficult maintenance and reduced overall system stability in the event of line disconnection or aging. Therefore, there is a growing need for wireless remote meter reading technology that can simultaneously overcome the inefficiency of door-to-door meter reading and the high costs and installation difficulties of wired methods. Meanwhile, the wireless remote metering technology introduced accordingly primarily utilized a Star structure in which terminals in each household communicate directly with a single central concentrator. However, this centralized structure has a fundamental limitation: if communication dead zones occur due to factors such as building structure complexity or radio interference, data collection becomes impossible in those areas. While there is a solution involving the installation of additional repeaters, this approach has the disadvantage of increasing network design complexity and raising system construction and maintenance costs, thus failing to resolve the existing issues. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a remote meter reading system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a master terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a slave terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each component of a remote meter reading system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of transmitting meter reading data from a slave terminal to a master terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure are described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. As various embodiments of the present disclosure may be subject to various modifications and may have various forms, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the various embodiments of the present disclosure to specific forms, and it should be understood that they include all modifications and/or equivalents and substitutions that fall within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure. In relation to the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals have been used for similar components. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, terms such as “comprising” or “having” are intended to specify the existence of the features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and should be understood as not precluding the existence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, expressions such as “or” include any and all combinations of the words listed together. For example, “A or B” may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B. Expressions such as “first,” “second,” “first,” or “second” used in various embodiments of the present disclosure may modify various components of the various embodiments, but do not limit such components. For example, such expressions do not limit the order and/or importance of such components and may be used to distinguish one component from anot