SENSOR DEVICE

• US 20150036782A1
• Filed: 03/21/2012
• Published: 02/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Jeong, Heewon
• Application Number:
  US14/384,169
• Publication Number:
  US 20150036782A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 377/19
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 21/00 Measuring or testing not otherwise provided for

Abstract

In order to provide a suitable sensor device for a sensor system in which a plurality of request sources request the acquisition of information for the same sensor, the sensor device is provided with a physical mass sensing unit (1) for measuring an external physical mass, an input-output unit (4) for receiving physical mass acquisition requests from the external plurality of request sources, and a first counter (3) for counting and storing the total number of times the input/output unit receives an acquisition request from the plurality of request sources. The input-output unit transmits the physical mass and a value stored by the first counter to the request source of the acquisition request.

Claims

1. A sensor device, characterized by comprising:

a physical quantity sensing unit to measure a physical quantity in the outside;

an input-output unit to receive an acquisition request for the physical quantity from a plurality of request sources in the outside, and a first counter which counts and stores the total of the number of operations conducted by the input-output unit to receive the acquisition request from the plurality of request sources, wherein the input-output unit transmits to the request source of the acquisition request, the physical quantity and the value stored in the first counter.

2. A sensor device according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising a second counter which counts and stores, for each of the plurality of request sources, the total of the number of operations conducted to receive the acquisition request.

3. A sensor device according to claim 2, characterized by further comprising a non-volatile memory to store therein ID information of each of the plurality of request sources.

4. A sensor device according to claim 3, characterized in that the sensor device adds ID information to the non-volatile memory or deletes the ID information stored in the non-volatile memory based on a command input from the outside.

5. A sensor device according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising a battery to drive the sensor device, wherein

the first counter comprises a first counter circuit which retains values selected from the values obtained by counting the number of operations conducted to receive the acquisition request from the plurality of request sources and in which the values thus selected are retained even when the battery is replaced and a second counter circuit in which the values stored therein are set to zero when the battery is replaced.