Wireless data collecting system having transmission possibility determining means

• US 7,123,927 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2003
• Issued: 10/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Klaus Schmidt, Kobelco Construction Machinery Company Limited (Kobe Steel Limited)
• Original Assignee: Klaus Schmidt, Kobelco Construction Machinery Company Limited (Kobe Steel Limited)
• Inventors: Narazaki, Hiroshi, Shirasaka, Takanari, Takahashi, Eiji, Kinugawa, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rivero, Alejandro
• Application Number:
  US10/425,660
• Publication Number:
  US 20030211866A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,266 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.3, 455/66.1, 455/41.2, 340/425.5, 701/50
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0236 radio quality, e.g. interference, losses or delay
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

A wireless terminal mounted on a traveling apparatus memorizes operation data on the traveling apparatus, determines possibility of transmitting the operation data based on the electric field intensity of beacon, existence of operation data which has not been transmitted to a base station apparatus, an elapsed time after a switch of the mode (storage wait mode/delivery wait mode) of the wireless terminal, a planned storage date, and the like, and transmits a response to the beacon transmitted from the base station apparatus and operation data if the transmission is possible. When the transmission of the operation data has been completed, the wireless terminal is set to the delivery wait mode, and is switched to a state of waiting for delivery beacon transmitted from the base station apparatus to the wireless terminal waiting for delivery. When the delivery beacon is received, it is switched to the storage wait mode.

Claims

1. A wireless data collecting system comprising:

a wireless terminal mounted on a predetermined movable traveling apparatus, and obtaining and wirelessly transmitting operation data of said traveling apparatus; and

a base station apparatus receiving said operation data wirelessly transmitted from said wireless terminal, said base station apparatus comprising;

storage beacon transmitting means for transmitting storage beacon including at least a predetermined response request signal for said wireless terminal; and

operation data receiving means for receiving said operation data from said wireless terminal which has responded to said response request signal, said wireless terminal comprising;

data memorizing means for memorizing said operation data obtained from said traveling apparatus;

transmission possibility determining means for determining possibility of transmitting said operation data to said base station apparatus;

operation data transmitting means for transmitting said operation data in said data memorizing means after transmitting a response to said response request signal when said transmission possibility determining means determines that transmission is possible; and

state switching means for switching between a storage wait state where said response request signal is received and a delivery wait state, based on a record of communication with said base station apparatus.

wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, based on the electric field intensity of a signal transmitted from said base station apparatus.

2. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 1, wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, further based on the existence of said operation data which has not been transmitted to said base station apparatus.

3. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 1, wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, further based on an elapsed time after switching of the state by said state switching means.

4. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 1, wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, further based on a difference between a planned storage date set in advance and the current date.

5. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 1, wherein said base station apparatus further comprises delivery beacon transmitting means for transmitting a delivery beacon including at least a predetermined initialization signal for said wireless terminal of said traveling apparatus, and said state switching means of said wireless terminal switches at least between said storage wait state and said delivery wait state for receiving said initialization signal.

6. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 5, wherein said state switching means of said wireless terminal is in said storage wait state when the reception of said initialization signal from said base station apparatus has been completed, and said state switching means is in said delivery wait state when the transmission of said operation data to the base station apparatus has been completed.

7. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 5, wherein said wireless terminal comprises operation prohibiting means for prohibiting said traveling apparatus from operating when said wireless terminal is in said delivery wait state.

8. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 5, wherein said base station apparatus further comprises wireless terminal state determining means for determining that said wireless terminal which is a transmission source of said operation data whose reception has been completed is in said delivery wait state, and said wireless terminal which is a transmission destination of said initialization signal whose transmission has been completed is in said storage wait state.

9. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 4, wherein an initialization signal includes information on said planned storage date and said wireless terminal sets said planned storage date based on said initialization signal.

10. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 1, wherein communication data between said base station apparatus and said wireless terminal include an apparatus ID for respectively identifying said wireless terminal, and said wireless terminal of a transmission destination and/or a transmission source of the communication data is identified based on said apparatus ID.

11. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 5, wherein each of said storage beacon and said delivery beacon is one of a plurality of channel signals which are different in frequency, and said wireless terminal includes reception channel switching means for switching which of said channel signals is received according to the switching state by said state switching means.

12. A wireless terminal of a wireless data collecting system, wherein the wireless terminal is mounted on a predetermined movable traveling apparatus for obtaining and wirelessly transmitting operation data of said traveling apparatus, the wireless data collecting system further comprising a base station apparatus receiving said operation data wirelessly transmitted from said wireless terminal, said wireless terminal comprising:

data memorizing means for memorizing said operation data obtained from said traveling apparatus;

transmission possibility determining means for determining possibility of transmitting said operation data to said base station apparatus;

operation data transmitting means for transmitting said operation data in said data memorizing means after transmitting a response to a predetermined response request signal included in storage beacon transmitted from said base station apparatus when said transmission possibility determining means determines that transmission is possible; and

state switching means for switching between a storage wait state where said response request signal is received and a delivery wait state, based on a record of communication with said base station apparatus.

wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, based on the electric field intensity of a signal transmitted from said base station apparatus.

13. The wireless terminal of the wireless data collecting system according to claim 12, wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, further based on the existence of said operation data which has not been transmitted to said base station apparatus.

14. The wireless terminal of the wireless data collecting system according to claim 12 wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, further based on an elapsed time after switching of the state by said state switching means.

15. The wireless data collecting system according to claim 12, wherein said transmission possibility determining means in said wireless terminal determines the possibility of transmitting said operation data, further based on a difference between a planned storage date set in advance and the current date.