JP2006319449A - Public wireless access system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a public wireless access system for providing an inexpensive public wireless access service without the need for big facility investments for the new construction of an access point. <P>SOLUTION: The public wireless access system includes each of adaptors 12 mounted to each of watthour meters 14 for home use or for business place use as an access point, wherein communication from each access point to a line concentration station 13 is carried out by power line carrier communication via distribution power lines 15. Each of the adaptors 12 is preferably mounted to a primary side of each of the watthour meters 14 and obtains its power from leakage power from the distribution power lines 15 or the watthour meters 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a public wireless access system, and more particularly to a public wireless access system using a power distribution line.

Conventionally, with the improvement of the mobility of personal computers, the introduction of wireless LAN has been progressing. In particular, in recent years, public wireless LAN services have been provided, for example, at stations, airports, various stores, etc. in response to the desire to easily access the Internet from their own computers even when away from home. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-152276 A

  In order for a public wireless access system to sufficiently function as an information communication infrastructure, it is necessary to install a large number of access points in order to cover a wide range of users scattered in a wide area. However, when an access point is newly installed, the conventional access point device is generally installed on a utility pole or hung on a communication cable, so installation work is complicated. Furthermore, with the establishment of an access point, it has been necessary to newly lay a communication line connecting the new access point to the concentrator. As described above, since the construction of the wireless access system requires a large capital investment, a large-scale commercial service has not yet been realized.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to realize a public wireless access system that provides an inexpensive public wireless access service without requiring a large capital investment.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a public wireless access system according to the present invention includes an additional device attached to a watt hour meter as an access point, and communication from the access point to a concentrating station via a power distribution line. The power line carrier communication is performed.

  According to the present invention, by using a power addition device for home use or business use as an access point, and by performing communication from the access point to the concentrating station by power line conveyance via the power distribution line, conventionally, Even a low-cost public wireless access system can be provided.

  A public wireless access system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an additional device attached to a watt-hour meter as an access point, and communication from the access point to a concentrating station is performed by power line carrier communication via a power line for distribution. It is the structure to perform.

  With this configuration, the access point of the present embodiment can be simply installed on the watt-hour meter of the house, so that the installation work is simple. Further, when a new access point is established, there is no need to newly lay a communication line to the concentrating station. Therefore, an inexpensive public wireless access service can be easily provided without requiring a large capital investment.

  In the public wireless access system, the additional device is attached to a primary side of the watt hour meter, and has a power source acquisition unit that obtains a power source from leakage power from the power distribution line or the watt hour meter. It is preferable. As the power source acquisition unit, for example, a leakage current coupling current transformer can be used. In this case, since a power source is unnecessary, the apparatus can be reduced in size and simplified, and the capital investment cost can be further reduced. Also, by using leakage power, running costs can be reduced, leading to effective use of energy.

  In the public wireless access system, it is preferable that the additional device has a power line carrier modem function and performs communication between the access point and the concentrating station by VPN. This is because data leakage and falsification can be prevented and a safe data communication service can be provided.

  Hereinafter, a public wireless access system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a public wireless access system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the public wireless access system of the present embodiment, the additional device 12 attached to the primary side (distribution line side) of the watt-hour meter 14 for home use or business office functions as an access point. . The watt-hour meter 14 is generally attached to an outer wall of a house. The additional device 12 is connected to a concentrating station VPN (Virtual Private Network) parent device 13 connected to the Internet 11 via a power distribution line 15. Communication between the additional device 12 serving as an access point and the concentrating station VPN master device 13 is realized by power line communication (PLC) using the power line 15 for power distribution. Note that the connection between the concentrating station VPN master device 13 and the Internet 11 is not particularly limited, and is realized by an arbitrary communication network. That is, the connection between the central line VPN master device 13 and the Internet 11 may be wired communication, wireless communication, satellite communication, or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the additional device 12 of the watt-hour meter 14 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the additional device 12 includes an antenna 21 and a leakage current coupling CT 22. The antenna 21 transmits and receives data wirelessly to and from a wireless LAN adapter (wireless LAN card) such as a user's personal computer. As the antenna 21, it is preferable to use an antenna having such a performance that a wireless area having an appropriate radio wave intensity is formed in an appropriate range in consideration of a positional relationship with other nearby access points. For example, when the additional device 12 can be attached to the watt hour meter 14 of a plurality of houses close to each other in an area where houses are densely packed, the wireless area covered by one access point may be relatively small. The performance of the antenna 21 may not be so high. On the other hand, in the area where the houses where the watt-hour meter 14 can be used as an access point are far apart, it is necessary for one access point to cover a wide wireless area. It is preferable to use a high-performance antenna.

  In the additional device 12 that functions as an access point in the present embodiment, the leakage current coupling CT (current transformer) 22 acquires the power source current of the additional device 12 from the leakage current from the power distribution line 15 or the watt hour meter 14. To do.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the additional device 12 further includes a wireless LAN module 23, a VPN module 24, a power supply module 25, a PLC module 26, and a control module 27. These modules are embedded software of the additional device 12 and are executed by the built-in CPU of the additional device 12.

  The wireless LAN module 23 is, for example, a router function, a NAT (Network Address Translation) function, and encryption of communication data between the antenna 21 and the wireless LAN module 23 in order to enable access to the Internet 11 from a user's personal computer or the like. Provides a decoding / decoding function and the like.

  The VPN module 24 has an encryption / decryption function for communication data in order to conceal data communication between the additional device 12 and the central line VPN master device 13 from others as if on a dedicated line. Provide a firewall function, etc. if necessary.

  The PLC module 26 is a module for controlling power line carrier communication. That is, the communication data received by the antenna 21 and processed by the wireless LAN module 23 and the VPN module 24 are converted into a format in which power line carrier communication is possible. Conversely, the power line carrier communication data received via the power distribution line 15 is converted into a format that can be processed by the VPN module 24 and the wireless LAN module 23.

  The power supply module 25 converts the AC power supply current supplied from the leakage current coupling CT (current transformer) 22 into a stable DC power supply current that can be used by the additional device 12. Note that the public wireless access system of the present embodiment is configured by using a large number of access points that cover a small area, so that the power capacity required for each access point device (that is, the additional device 12) is small. Therefore, what is required of the power supply module 25 is not a large capacity but a stabilized direct current suitable for the electronic circuit constituting the additional device 12. For this reason, you may further have the electrical storage block for absorbing the fluctuation | variation of the leakage current from a commercial power source as a functional block.

  The control module 27 controls the overall operation of the additional device 12 by controlling the exchange of data between the modules described above.

  As described above, the public wireless access system according to the present embodiment uses a watt-hour meter adding device as an access point, and performs communication from the access point to the concentrating station by power line carrier communication via the power distribution line. There is an advantage that the number of access points can be increased more easily than before. That is, instead of installing on a power pole or hanging on a communication cable as in the past, the access point of this embodiment only needs to be attached to a watt hour meter in the house, so installation work is easy. is there. In addition, since communication from the access point to the concentrator is performed by power line carrier communication via the power distribution line, when installing an additional device on the watt-hour meter of an existing house, the access point newly established as before There is no need to install a new communication line from the station to the concentrator. As described above, according to the public wireless access system according to the present embodiment, an inexpensive public wireless access service can be easily provided without requiring a large capital investment.

  In addition, the public wireless access system according to the present embodiment attaches an additional device functioning as an access point to the primary side (distribution line side) of the watt-hour meter, and uses leakage power as a power source. There is also an advantage that it is not necessary to secure. That is, since no power source is required, the apparatus can be miniaturized and simplified, so that the capital investment cost can be further reduced. Also, by using leakage power, running costs can be reduced, leading to effective use of energy.

  Further, in the public wireless access system according to the present embodiment, the watt-hour meter adding device has a function of a power line carrier modem, and the VPN function allows communication from the access point to the concentrator as if it were communication on a dedicated line. Can be performed in a state where access from others is impossible. This prevents data leakage or tampering and provides a safe data communication service.

  In addition, this embodiment does not limit this invention, A various change is possible. For example, in the present embodiment, communication from the access point to the concentrator is performed by VPN, but any communication technology can be applied on condition that security is ensured. Further, in FIG. 1 of the present embodiment, for simplification of description, only a configuration in which one access point is connected to one central line VPN parent device via a power distribution line is illustrated, but the present invention is applied. Possible network topologies are arbitrary.

  Further, in the public wireless access system of the present invention, it is not necessary that all access points are realized by the watt hour meter adding device. A public wireless access system in which an access point by a watt-hour meter adding device and a conventional access point are mixed also belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

The schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the public radio | wireless access system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the watt-hour meter additional apparatus with which the public wireless access system concerning one Embodiment of this invention is provided.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Internet 12 Additional apparatus 13 Concentration station VPN master apparatus 14 Electricity meter 15 Power distribution line 21 Antenna 22 Leakage current coupling CT
23 Wireless LAN module 24 VPN module 25 Power supply module 26 PLC module 27 Control module

Claims (4)

Includes an additional device attached to the electricity meter as an access point,
A public radio access system characterized in that communication from the access point to a concentrating station is performed by power line carrier communication via a power distribution line.   2. The public wireless access according to claim 1, wherein the additional device is attached to a primary side of the watt hour meter, and further includes a power source acquisition unit that obtains a power source from leakage power from the power distribution line or the watt hour meter. system.   The public wireless access system according to claim 2, wherein the power acquisition unit is a leakage current coupling current transformer. The additional device has a power line carrier modem function,
The public wireless access system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein communication between the access point and the concentrating station is performed by VPN.

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