Remote information collecting device and computer readable medium

• US 9,172,755 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2011
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Ito, Toshio, Kaneko, Yu, Matsuzawa, Shigeo
• Primary Examiner(s): Lazaro, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): KOROBOV, VITALI A
• Application Number:
  US13/336,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20120254350A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,404 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/224, 340/10.1, 340/870.2, 710/58, 370/462
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• 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 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests

Abstract

A building-facility information storage stores data sizes of process data to be collected from building-side communicating devices. A schedule generating unit generates a collection schedule of the process data from the building-side communicating devices so that, in a collection period including a plurality of unit periods continuous in terms of time, a first communication load representing a total data volume received from the building-side communicating devices per unit period and second communication loads each representing a data volume transmitted from each of the building-side communicating devices per unit period are balanced among the unit periods. A network communicating unit collects the process data from the building-side communicating devices in accordance with the collection schedule.

Claims

1. A remote information collecting device which collects process data from each of a plurality of building-side communicating devices, comprising:

a building-facility information storage configured to store data sizes of the process data to be collected from the building-side communicating devices;

a computer for controlling the remote information collecting device to generate a collection schedule of the process data from the building-side communicating devices so that, in a collection period including a plurality of unit periods continuous in terms of time, a first communication load representing a total data volume received from the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods is equal to or lower than a first permissible communication load, second communication loads each representing a data volume transmitted from each of the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods are equal to or lower than second permissible communication loads, and a plurality of process data are simultaneously collected from one or more building-side communicating devices in at least one of the unit periods and

to collect the process data from the building-side communicating devices in accordance with the collection schedule, wherein

the collection schedule is generated so that a weighted total of

a minimum value of a difference between the first permissible communication load and the first communication load and

minimum values of differences between the second permissible communication loads and the second communication loads

is maximized or equal to or higher than a threshold value.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein

the building-facility information storage stores information to specify response time required from when an acquisition request of each of the process data is transmitted to one of the building-side communicating devices corresponding to each of the process data until each of the process data is received;

the computer further controls the remote information collecting device to determine transmitting time of the acquisition request of each of the process data in accordance with the information and the collection schedule and

transmit the acquisition request of each of the process data at the time determined by the time determiner and receive each of the process data from one of the building-side communicating devices corresponding to each of the process data.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein

the building-facility information storage contains information of acquisition cycles of respective process data;

the collection period is a common multiple of the acquisition cycles of the respective process data; and

the collection schedule is executed in each of collection periods.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein

the building-facility information storage contains a restriction of acquisition time among the process data;

and

the collection schedule is generated so as to satisfy the restriction.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein

each one of the process data is collected within any one of unit periods.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the computer further controls the remote information collecting device to generate the collection schedule so that the process data are collected simultaneously from two or more building-side communicating devices.

7. A remote information collecting device which collects process data from each of a plurality of building-side communicating devices, the remote information collecting device comprising a computer for controlling the remote information collecting device to perform operations comprising:

generating a collection schedule of the process data from the building-side communicating devices so that, in a collection period including a plurality of unit periods continuous in terms of time, a first communication load representing a total number of the process data received from the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods is equal to or lower than a first permissible communication load, second communication loads each representing a number of the process data transmitted from each of the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods are equal to or lower than second permissible communication loads, and a plurality of the process data are simultaneously collected from one or more building-side communication devices in at least one of the unit periods; and

collecting the process data from the building-side communicating devices in accordance with the collection schedule, wherein

the collection schedule is generated so that a weighted total of

a minimum value of a difference between the first permissible communication load and the first communication load and

minimum values of differences between the second permissible communication loads and the second communication loads

is maximized or equal to or higher than a threshold value.

8. The device according to claim 7, further comprising

a building-facility information storage configured to store information to specify response time required from when an acquisition request of each of the process data is transmitted to one of the building-side communicating devices corresponding to each of the process data until each of the process data is received, wherein

the computer further controls the remote information collecting device to determine transmitting time of the acquisition request of each of the process data in accordance with the information and the collection schedule and

transmit the acquisition request of each of the process data at the determined time and receive each of the process data from one of the building-side communicating devices corresponding to each of the process data.

9. The device according to claim 7, further comprising

a building-facility information storage configured to store information of acquisition cycles of respective process data;

wherein

the collection period is a common multiple of the acquisition cycles of the respective process data; and

the collection schedule is executed in each of collection periods.

10. The device according to claim 7, further comprising

a building-facility information storage configured to store a restriction of acquisition time among the process data;

wherein

the collection schedule is generated so as to satisfy the restriction.

11. The device according to claim 8, wherein

each one of the process data is collected within any one of unit periods.

12. The device according to claim 7, wherein the computer further controls the remote information collecting device to generate the collection schedule so that the process data are collected simultaneously from two or more building-side communicating devices.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a computer to collect process data from each of a plurality of building-side communicating devices, causes the computer to perform steps comprising:

accessing a building-facility information storage configured to store data sizes of the process data to be collected from the building-side communicating devices;

generating a collection schedule of the process data from the building-side communicating devices so that, in a collection period including a plurality of unit periods continuous in terms of time, a first communication load representing a total data volume received from the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods is equal to or lower than a first permissible communication load, second communication loads each representing a data volume transmitted from each of the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods are equal to or lower than second permissible communication loads, and a plurality of the process data are simultaneously collected from one or more building-side communication devices in at least one of the unit periods; and

collecting the process data from the building-side communicating devices in accordance with the collection schedule, wherein

the collection schedule is generated so that a weighted total of

a minimum value of a difference between the first permissible communication load and the first communication load and

minimum values of differences between the second permissible communication loads and the second communication loads

is maximized or equal to or higher than a threshold value.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a computer to collect process data from each of a plurality of building-side communicating devices, causes the computer to perform steps comprising:

generating a collection schedule of the process data from the building-side communicating devices so that, in a collection period including a plurality of unit periods continuous in terms of time, a first communication load representing a total number of the process data received from the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods equal to or lower than a third permissible communication load, second communication loads each representing a number of the process data transmitted from each of the building-side communicating devices in each of the unit periods are equal to or lower than second permissible communication loads, and a plurality of the process data are simultaneously collected from one or more building-side communication devices in at least one of the unit periods; and

collecting the process data from the building-side communicating devices in accordance with the collection schedule, wherein

the collection schedule is generated so that a weighted total of

a minimum value of a difference between the first permissible communication load and the first communication load and

minimum values of differences between the second permissible communication loads and the second communication loads

is maximized or equal to or higher than a threshold value.