JP2008058006A - Data memory device and program of gas meter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data memory device capable of compressing and storing the integration value of gas meter. <P>SOLUTION: The data memory device (data collection device 2) includes a compression part 22 for compressing the integrated value of the gas consumption amount measured by the gas meter (micro computer meter) 1, and a memory part 23 for storing the compressed value compressed by the compression part 22. The compression part 22 may include the conversion means for converting the measured integration value into the memory interval information indicating the memory interval in the memory part 23 and its integration value or the difference between previous integration value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data storage device and program for a gas meter, and more particularly to a data storage device for storing gas usage data measured by a gas meter for external output, and a program for incorporation in the device.

  Conventionally, gas usage data of a gas meter installed in each gas consumer's house is stored as an integrated value at a predetermined time interval in a data storage device inside the gas meter or externally. Then, this integrated value is transmitted to a centralized monitoring device installed in a gas dealer or a data collection center device of an operating company that operates a plurality of gas dealers. This transmission is performed via a communication network from a communication terminal device connected to the gas meter or the data storage device, or is read from the gas meter or the data storage device with a handy terminal and transferred to a gas store for transfer. .

Patent Document 1 discloses that the time required for collecting load survey data is shortened, the total amount of power consumed for collecting load survey data is reduced, a communication path such as a telephone line, and a data communication modem. A photothermal material usage measuring device and a load survey data collection system for the purpose of shortening the usage time of the device are disclosed. In the system described in Patent Literature 1, every time the number of load survey data newly stored in the load survey data storage unit reaches a predetermined number, a gas meter (photothermal material usage measuring device) is connected to an external load survey data collecting device. Is accessed via the telephone line of the communication path, and a single number of load survey data is collected and continuously transmitted to the load survey data collecting device with one access.
JP 2003-58975 A

  However, the conventional load survey function including Patent Document 1 acquires and analyzes the integrated amount of gas, but a large amount of memory is required to obtain detailed data. For example, in the data storage process shown in FIG. 9, in order to store 64 data (in this case, 64 hours of data with a data interval of 1 hour) as 8-digit data, 4 bytes × 64 = 256 bytes. Capacity is required. In addition, the more detailed the data, the more time and communication costs are required for data transmission.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a data storage device capable of compressing and storing an integrated value of a gas meter and a program incorporated in the data storage device. Objective.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is constituted by the following technical means.
The first technical means is a data storage device for storing the gas usage measured by the gas meter, and compresses the integrated value of the measured gas usage, and stores the data compressed by the compression means. And a compressed data storage means.

  According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, the compression means includes the measured integrated value, storage interval information indicating a storage interval in the compressed data storage means, and the integrated value or previous integrated value. It is characterized by having conversion means for converting into a value difference.

  According to a third technical means, in the second technical means, the compression means includes a changing means for changing the storage interval.

  According to a fourth technical means, in the third technical means, the changing means changes the storage interval in accordance with a current storable capacity in the compressed data storage means.

  According to a fifth technical means, in the third technical means, the changing means predetermines a processing start interval for starting the storing process in the compressed data storing means, and the gas starts every time the processing start interval elapses. Whether or not there is a use amount is determined, and only when there is a gas use amount, the conversion means is instructed to execute the conversion.

  According to a sixth technical means, in the first technical means, the compression means predetermines a storage interval in the compressed data storage means, and determines the presence or absence of a gas usage each time the storage interval elapses. And a second conversion means for converting into a value of 1, 0 indicating the presence or absence.

  According to a seventh technical means, in the first technical means, the compression means predetermines a storage interval in the compressed data storage unit, and each time the storage interval elapses with respect to the measured integrated value. It has a third conversion means for performing threshold processing with a predetermined threshold and converting the integrated value into one of a plurality of digital values.

  According to an eighth technical means, in any one of the first to fifth technical means, the compression means predetermines a processing start interval for starting storage processing in the compressed data storage means, and the processing start interval A fourth conversion means for converting the measured integrated value into elapsed time information from the time when the previous integrated value was stored in the case where there is no gas usage. It is characterized by having.

  According to a ninth technical means, in the first technical means, the compression means predetermines a storage interval in the compressed data storage means, and each time the storage interval elapses with respect to the measured integrated value. The fifth conversion means for converting the difference into the previous integrated value is provided.

  According to a tenth technical means, in any one of the first to ninth technical means, there is provided a data transmission means for transmitting the compressed data stored in the compressed data storage means to an external device. .

  According to an eleventh technical means, in any one of the first to tenth technical means, the compression means calculates the measured integrated value according to a compression condition set from an external device connected to the data storage device. It is characterized by performing compression.

  A twelfth technical means is any one of the first to eleventh technical means, wherein the data storage device is built in or externally attached to the gas meter.

  The thirteenth technical means is any one of the first to eleventh technical means, wherein the data storage device incorporates a part of the compression means and the compressed data storage means in the gas meter and externally attaches the rest. It is characterized by becoming.

  The fourteenth technical means is a program for causing a computer to function as compression means in the data storage device of any one of the first to thirteenth technical means.

  According to the present invention, the integrated value of the gas meter can be compressed and stored.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a data collection system provided with a data storage device of a gas meter according to the present invention. The data collection system according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present system) is a system for transmitting gas usage data in the field of city gas, LP gas, etc., and the gas usage load of a gas consumer in which a gas meter is installed. It is a system for grasping the actual situation.

  In this system, a gas meter (microcomputer meter) 1 is installed in each gas consumer's home, and a gas collection center, a plurality of gas sales stores, or an operating company that becomes a parent company have a data collection center device (hereinafter, referred to as a data collection center device). (Referred to as center device) 5 is installed. In this system, in order to acquire gas usage data from the gas meter 1, the data collection device 2 connected to the gas meter 1 and the communication terminal device 3 connected to the data collection device 2 (or a handy terminal not shown) The same applies hereinafter). The communication terminal device 3 and the center device 5 are connected by a telephone line network, a mobile phone line network, a PHS network, or the like.

  The gas meter 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a measurement unit 11 that measures a gas flow rate and a communication unit 12 that communicates with the data collection device 2 and is used in a load survey system for gas usage. It is a meter.

  The data collection device 2 illustrated in FIG. 1 corresponds to a data storage device according to the present invention. The data collection device 2 stores the gas usage measured by the gas meter 1 as an integrated value. However, in the present invention, as will be described later, the compression value is appropriately compressed and the integrated value is stored.

  The data collection device 2 receives the integrated value of the measured gas usage from the gas meter 1 and compresses the compressed data (illustrated by the compression unit 22), and the compressed data storage unit (stores the data compressed by the compression unit 22). Part 23). The data collection device 2 includes a communication unit 21 for performing communication with the gas meter 1 and the communication terminal device 3. The communication unit 21 includes a data transmission unit that transmits the compressed data stored in the storage unit 23 to an external device such as the communication terminal device 3.

  The data collection device 2 may incorporate the compression process as software (or firmware). The data collection device 2 in such a form includes a CPU as an arithmetic processing device that controls the whole, a RAM as a work area, a ROM as a storage area for a compressed program, a storage device corresponding to the storage unit 23, and an external device A communication I / F or the like for performing communication is connected by a bus. The above-described compression program is read and executed by the CPU in the RAM, and is subjected to compression processing on the integrated value received from the communication I / F and temporarily stored in the RAM, and the compressed data is stored. Store in the device.

  As described above, the present invention is incorporated into the data storage device as described above, or incorporated into the gas meter 1 as will be described later, or incorporated into both, and compression for causing a computer comprising a CPU or the like to function as the compression means described above. A form as a program can also be adopted. Further, the present invention can also adopt a form as a computer-readable recording medium on which this compression program is recorded, such as an FD, CD, DVD, MO, or USB memory.

  On the other hand, the integrated value data stored after compression in the storage unit 23 is transmitted to the center device 5 via the communication terminal device 3. The center device 5 stores the communication unit 51 that receives the transmitted data, the decompression unit 52 that decompresses the compressed data, and the integrated value data decompressed by the decompression unit 52 or is received by the communication unit 51. And a storage unit 53 that stores the compressed data as it is. In the decompression unit 52, data decompression is basically performed by a process reverse to the compression process in the compression unit 22.

  Actually, a large amount of memory is required to obtain fine data. However, by compressing the data, the memory can be used efficiently and more effective data can be accumulated. Further, the communication time can be shortened and an inexpensive memory can be used.

  As described above, in the present invention, by compressing the integrated value data, it is possible to efficiently use the memory and to accumulate only more effective data. Actually, in a gas meter, it is necessary to use a memory for processing other than accumulation of accumulated values, and even if there is such a memory use restriction, the memory can be used efficiently in the present invention. Reduction is also possible. In addition, compressing and reducing the amount of data is advantageous in terms of time and cost when collecting data with a communication or data collection device.

  2 to 4 are diagrams for explaining another compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. The compression unit 22 described above may include conversion means for converting the measured integrated value into storage interval information indicating the storage interval in the storage unit 23 and the difference between the integrated value or the previous integrated value. FIG. 2 shows 2-bit storage interval information and its meaning. In this example, “00” is storage interval information indicating a 15-minute interval, “01” is an hour interval, and “10” is a one-day interval. Thereby, the storage capacity can be reduced by various methods described later.

  For example, the compression unit 22 described above may be provided with a changing unit that changes the storage interval based on a predetermined condition such as the capacity of the storage unit 22 (current storage capacity) being less than a certain threshold. . That is, as data stored in the storage unit 23, it is preferable to have a difference between integrated values or an integrated value and storage interval information (also referred to as storage conditions), and to automatically change the storage conditions. The storage interval may be changed by changing the measurement time interval in the measurement unit 11, and the storage execution may be performed for each measurement.

  By providing storage interval information with 2 bits, it is preferable to store at a short interval at the beginning of measurement so that the data area is freed when the memory capacity of the storage unit 23 overflows. For example, the data on the left side of FIG. 3 is the one at the time of overflow, but old data (here, the lower four data) are collected as one hour interval data (storage condition = “01”), that is, the storage interval Is updated (updated at the next time interval), and is re-stored as shown on the right side of FIG. 3 to free up the data area. If the data area becomes insufficient, the next oldest data may be stored again with the storage condition “10”. If the data area becomes insufficient, the storage condition may be re-stored as “10”, and the storage interval may be automatically extended one by one in this way.

  Further, although the data on the left side of FIG. 4 is the one at the time of overflow, all the data among the 32 data are collected and set as one hour interval data (storage condition = “01”), that is, the storage interval is extended by one ( Update at the next time interval), and re-store the data area as shown on the right side of FIG.

  Thus, by automatically compressing and accumulating data, for example, if it is 30-day data, it is composed of 56 data of 29 daily data, 23 hourly data, and 4 15-minute data. Can be represented including the latest fine data. In other words, within the determined memory capacity, the most recent data can be taken and data can be accumulated for a longer time with the passage of time.

  5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining another compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. The above-mentioned changing means determines in advance the processing start interval for starting the storage processing in the storage unit 23, determines the presence / absence of the gas usage each time the processing start interval elapses, and only when the gas usage is present The conversion unit may be instructed to execute conversion. That is, in the compression unit 22 in this embodiment, the time interval of the integrated amount recording is determined in advance, and the elapsed time information (counter etc.) from the start time and the integrated amount at that time are stored in the storage unit 23 only when the gas flow rate is present. You may make it memorize.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the start date and time (in this example, 8:00) and the processing start interval (time interval: every hour in this example) are stored at the start, and the elapsed time and integration at that time only when there is an integration amount. The amount of data is reduced by storing the value difference (or integrated value). The elapsed time can be represented by a data amount of 5 bits (less than 1 byte). When the integrated value is 3-digit data, it can be expressed by 4 bits × 3 = 12 bits (less than 2 bytes).

  Therefore, in this example, the integrated amount is 100 L after 1 hour from the start, 200 L after 1 to 5 hours, and 50 L after 5 to 23 hours, and one data (2 bytes) when using gas for 6 hours a day. +1 byte) × 24h × 7 ÷ 4 = 126 bytes. Such compressed data can also be decompressed as shown on the right side of FIG. On the other hand, in the prior art, the memory capacity when the integrated value of 6 digits is acquired for 7 days at an interval of 1 hour is 1 data 3 bytes × 24h × 7 = 504 bytes.

  Referring to FIG. 6, the start date and time (in this example, 8:00) and the processing start interval (time interval: every 15 minutes in this example) are stored at the start, and only when there is an integration amount, the elapsed time and integration at that time are stored. The amount of data is reduced by storing the value difference (or integrated value). In this example, time-series values are not illustrated, but when there is a gas flow rate, the elapsed time can be expressed by a data amount of 8 bits (1 byte) as in the data on the left side of FIG. When the integrated value is 6-digit data, it can be expressed by 4 bits × 6 = 24 bits (3 bytes) as illustrated on the right side of FIG.

  Therefore, when using gas for 6 hours a day, 1 data (3 bytes + 1 byte) × 24 ÷ 4 = 24 bytes is sufficient. On the other hand, in the prior art, the memory capacity when 6-digit integrated values are acquired for one day at 15-minute intervals is 1 data 3 bytes × 4 × 24 = 288 bytes.

  As in these examples, gas use is not very continuous in one day, and it is not necessary to store it as data when the integrated amount is zero. By storing and omitting this unnecessary portion only at the time interval with the flow rate as described above, a large amount of memory is not necessary.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. The compression unit 22 described above may be provided with a second conversion unit that employs the following compression method instead of the compression method described with reference to FIGS.

  The second conversion means predetermines the storage interval in the storage unit 23, determines the presence / absence of the amount of gas used each time the storage interval elapses, and converts the storage interval into a value of 1, indicating the presence / absence. 23. The storage unit 23 may store the conversion value received from the compression unit 22. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, classification is performed with or without color, and is set to 1 hour interval, and converted to whether or not gas is used every day (0, 1) depending on whether or not there is an integrated amount at that time. And remember.

  In this way, by converting and storing the determined integrated amount for each hour into the presence or absence of gas use (0, 1), it can be determined whether there is a flow rate such as every hour, so far only the usage amount for one month has been reached. Those who did not understand can grasp the actual use of gas in units of time, and can know the actual gas use of the consumer and the continuous use of gas, etc. (Easy to understand even if showing the table in FIG. 7 as it is) . It should be noted that, in this embodiment, irreversible compression is used, and decompression processing cannot be performed. Therefore, an accumulated amount for one month may be stored for billing.

  Moreover, you may employ | adopt the following 3rd conversion means instead of a 2nd conversion means. In the third conversion means, a storage interval in the storage unit 23 is determined in advance, and a threshold process is performed with a predetermined threshold value (a plurality of threshold values) each time the storage interval elapses with respect to the measured integrated value. The integrated value is converted into one of a plurality of digital values and passed to the storage unit 23. The storage unit 23 stores the conversion value received from the compression unit 22. For example, by setting an interval of 15 minutes, and determining the integrated amount at that time, for example, to four values of large, medium, small, and none (0, 1, 2, 3), the four values are obtained. Convert and memorize. If it is 4 values, it can be expressed by 2 bits.

  The integrated amount is divided by threshold processing so that it corresponds to large flow rate device, medium flow rate device, small flow rate device, none, and converted to 3, 2, 1, 0, respectively, which size device when, It is possible to grasp how long it is used, and it is possible to propose efficient instruments, more convenient instruments, energy-saving instruments, and the like.

  Moreover, you may employ | adopt the following 4th conversion means instead of a 3rd conversion means. In the fourth conversion means, a processing start interval for starting the storage process in the storage unit 23 is determined in advance, and the presence / absence of the gas usage is determined every time the processing start interval elapses. Then, the measured integrated value is converted into elapsed time information from the time when the previous integrated value was stored, and passed to the storage unit 23. The storage unit 23 may store the elapsed time information received from the compression unit 22. At this time, if there is an integrated amount, it is only necessary to store the integrated amount for that time interval, and the amount of data can be reduced by the amount of no gas used.

Further, the fourth conversion means can be used in combination with the conversion means described above. For example, there is information on the case where the integrated amount is zero and the case where there is an integrated amount. When the integrated amount is zero, the data amount (integrated value or integrated amount) is reduced by storing the information of the integrated amount zero and how long the zero has continued in the storage condition. If there is an integrated amount, the integrated value or the difference from the previous integrated value may be stored. More specifically, the time interval is every 30 minutes, start time is 8: 00,24 hours measurement, when the start value 000.000M ^3, although in the conventional requires data 3 bytes × 2 × 24 = 144 bytes On the other hand, in this example, (storage condition 1 byte + data 3 byte) × 2 × 6 = 48 bytes is sufficient. Even in this example, it is not necessary to store all the integrated value data, so that the memory can be reduced.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. As partly mentioned in each embodiment described above, the difference between the integrated values may be stored instead of the integrated value. That is, the following fifth conversion means may be employed instead of the above-described third conversion means. The fifth conversion means determines a storage interval in the storage unit 23 in advance, and converts the difference between the previous integrated values and passes it to the storage unit 23 every time the storage interval elapses with respect to the measured integrated value. The storage unit 23 stores the difference. In this way, if the integrated value at the start is stored, only the difference amount is stored thereafter, so that the data amount can be compressed and later expanded.

  Referring to FIG. 8, when the difference between the 8-digit integrated value data and the previous integrated value is stored, the stored number is 64 data, and the storage interval is 1 hour interval, the start value 4 bytes + (2 Byte × 63) = 130 bytes is sufficient. In the case of an interval of 1 hour, the capacity of a general household meter is 2500 L / h. Therefore, assuming that the integrated value is 2500 L at the maximum, 2 bytes may be used for decimal processing. On the other hand, in the prior art, 256 bytes are required as illustrated in FIG. Thus, since it is not necessary to store all the integrated value data, the memory can be reduced.

  The example in which the data storage device according to the present invention is incorporated in the data collection device 2 has been described above. In this example, the conventional gas meter can be used by connecting the data collection device 2 to the outside of the gas meter 1. . Conventional gas meters only accumulate accumulated amounts, but a meter that can acquire accumulated amount data without requiring a large memory can be easily obtained.

  Further, the compression unit 22 performs compression of the measured integrated value according to a compression condition set from an external device (for example, the communication terminal device 3) connected to the data storage device (in this example, the data collection device 2). You may make it do. Examples of the compression conditions set here include a setting of what compression method is adopted in each of the above-described embodiments, a detailed setting in each compression method, and the like.

  Further, as another system form applicable to the present invention, a part or all of the compression unit 22 and the storage unit 23 and the above-described data transmission means may be incorporated in the main body of the gas meter 1. When a part is incorporated in the main body of the gas meter 1, the rest is incorporated in the data collection device 2 (that is, provided externally to the gas meter 1), and the gas meter 1 and the data collection device 2 compress and store data while transmitting and receiving data. Processing will be executed. When the compression unit 22 is provided in the data collection device 2 and the storage unit 23 is built in the gas meter 1, the integrated value measured by the gas meter 1 is temporarily transferred to the data collection device 2 and compressed. It will be returned to the gas meter 1 again.

It is the schematic which shows the structural example of the data collection system provided with the data storage device of the gas meter which concerns on this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the other compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating a compression process with FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating a compression process with FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the other compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating a compression process with FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the other compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the other compression process of the data collection device in the system of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the data storage process in the conventional data collection system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Microcomputer meter (gas meter), 2 ... Data collection device (data storage device), 3 ... Communication terminal device, 4 ... Network, 5 ... Data collection center device (center device), 11 ... Measurement part, 12, 21, 51 ... Communication part, 22 ... Compression part, 23, 53 ... Storage part, 52 ... Decompression part.

Claims (14)

  A data storage device for storing a gas usage amount measured by a gas meter, comprising: a compression means for compressing an integrated value of the measured gas usage amount; and a compressed data storage means for storing data compressed by the compression means. A data storage device comprising:   The compression means includes conversion means for converting the measured integrated value into storage interval information indicating a storage interval in the compressed data storage means and a difference between the integrated value or a previous integrated value. The data storage device according to claim 1.   The data storage device according to claim 2, wherein the compression unit includes a changing unit that changes the storage interval.   4. The data storage device according to claim 3, wherein the changing unit changes the storage interval according to a current storable capacity in the compressed data storage unit.   The change means determines in advance a process start interval for starting the storage process in the compressed data storage means, determines the presence / absence of a gas usage amount every time the processing start interval elapses, and if there is a gas usage amount 4. The data storage device according to claim 3, wherein only the conversion means is instructed to execute conversion.   The compression means determines a storage interval in the compressed data storage means in advance, determines the presence / absence of gas usage each time the storage interval elapses, and converts it into a value of 1, 0 indicating the presence / absence. The data storage device according to claim 1, further comprising two conversion means.   The compression means predetermines a storage interval in the compressed data storage means, performs a threshold process with a predetermined threshold every time the storage interval elapses with respect to the measured integrated value, and the integrated value The data storage device according to claim 1, further comprising third conversion means for converting the value into any one of a plurality of digital values.   The compression means predetermines a process start interval for starting storage processing in the compressed data storage means, determines whether or not there is a gas usage amount every time the processing start interval elapses, and if there is no gas usage amount 6. The data according to claim 1, further comprising a fourth conversion unit configured to convert the measured integrated value into elapsed time information from a time when the previous integrated value was stored. Storage device.   The compression means determines a storage interval in the compressed data storage means in advance, and converts the difference between the previous integrated values every time the storage interval elapses with respect to the measured integrated value. The data storage device according to claim 1, comprising:   The data storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a data transmission unit configured to transmit the compressed data stored in the compressed data storage unit to an external device.   11. The compression unit according to claim 1, wherein the compression unit performs compression of the measured integrated value in accordance with a compression condition set by an external device connected to the data storage device. The data storage device described.   The data storage device according to claim 1, wherein the data storage device is built in or externally attached to the gas meter.   The data storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the data storage device includes the compression unit and a part of the compressed data storage unit built in the gas meter, and the rest is externally attached. Storage device.   The program for functioning a computer as a compression means in the data storage device of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 13.

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