JP5659942B2 - Program update system, program update method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless program update technology for updating a program of a device related to an energy system such as a home energy management system remotely via wireless to improve functions and enhance safety. This is a technique that enables the program update to be performed in a shorter time without fail to prevent the transmission of the update program from being disturbed by wireless communication between the devices.

  In recent years, household energy management systems (hereinafter referred to as “HEMS”) have become widespread as environmentally conscious systems. In such HEMS, excessive heating operation is avoided depending on the outside temperature, and reservations for washing machines, dishwashers, etc. are made. A function of rescheduling the operation time so that the electricity charge is the lowest based on the electricity charge unit price for each time zone has become common.

  In addition, as a service for home appliances with communication functions such as HEMS, a visualization service that displays power consumption and usage status on a TV, a remote operation service that is controlled remotely from a TV screen, a new driving course, etc. It is becoming common to provide services such as a program update service that rewrites the microcomputer program of home appliances so that it can be added.

  In such HEMS and the like, since home appliances that communicate are arranged in the house, a configuration in which the home appliance and the controller communicate using wireless communication that does not require wiring work or the like has become common.

  On the other hand, as a technology for updating a program using wireless communication, in order to complete the update reliably and in a short time, a communication error caused by interference caused by wireless communication of other devices or noise generated by the operation of the own device may occur. It is most important to reduce the frequency of occurrence and retransmission as much as possible.

  In particular, in order to reduce product prices in home appliances, etc., there is no extra storage device to temporarily buffer the contents of received update programs. In many cases, a direct update method for overwriting is performed. In this direct update method, once the program update is started, the home electric appliance cannot be used until the program update is completed. Therefore, it is more important to complete the update reliably and in a short time.

  Therefore, a method for reserving a time zone and a radio frequency channel for updating and restricting communication of other devices (for example, refer to Patent Document 1), a method for not performing updating while the own device is in operation (for example, Patent Documents) 2)) and the like have been proposed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-236795 JP 2008-305047 A

However, recent HEMS has become widespread, and not only indoors but also in residential land, especially in the control of equipment that is assumed to be installed outdoors, such as hot water heaters and solar power generators, When a long wireless system is used, there is a possibility that a problem occurs in the conventional system.

  The method of reserving and restricting the use of the program update time zone and radio frequency channel (hereinafter referred to as Ch) can control the devices that can be managed in the home, but use the devices owned by nearby users. It cannot be restricted.

  Therefore, when the same radio frequency channel is used due to the use of a nearby user's equipment, communication waiting and retransmission frequently occur, and it may take a long time to complete the program update. In such a case, there is a possibility that the program update is not completed even on the next day and the user cannot use the device.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, in a program update system including a home appliance and a controller device that wirelessly transmits an update program to the home appliance, the home appliance has a rewritable storage unit that stores the update program. A control means for controlling the entire home appliance according to the update program stored in the storage means, a wireless communication means for wireless communication with the controller device, and an update program stored in the storage means when the wireless communication means receives the update program And a program update means for newly storing the update program received by the wireless communication means, and the controller device sets a predetermined period based on a predetermined radio frequency channel and a predetermined time zone according to electric charges. And count the presence / absence of radio wave usage for each time zone Provided with radio wave usage status collection means, the controller device determines a program update start time for performing program update from the time zone division with the lowest count for each time zone division, and updates the wireless communication means of the home appliance A telegram for notifying the start time is sent, and when the update start time has passed, transmission of the update program is started, and the home appliance starts processing of the program update means at the update start time.

  According to the present invention, the operation time of home appliances is widespread due to the widespread use of HEMS, such as being operated in the midnight hours when electricity charges are cheaper or during daytime hours when electricity charges are cheaper due to solar power generation. Even in such a case, by collecting and learning the radio wave usage state and determining the optimum time for program update, the introduction of the nearby HEMS and the operation time determination method can be grasped as the radio wave usage state that has been memorized and learned.

  For this reason, the program update can be executed in a time zone where the radio wave usage is expected to be less, the program update can be completed reliably and in a short time, and there is no inconvenience that the home appliance cannot be used by the user. It is possible to improve the functions and safety of home appliances.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a program update device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A time chart for explaining an example of a method for collecting radio wave use status of program update time according to the first embodiment of the present invention The chart which shows an example of the management table | surface of the radio wave usage condition which memorize | stores and learns of the program update apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the program update apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention

  The present invention relates to a program update system including a home appliance and a controller device that wirelessly transmits an update program to the home appliance, and the home appliance includes a rewritable storage unit that stores the update program, and a storage unit. Control means for controlling the entire home appliance according to the stored update program, wireless communication means for wireless communication with the controller device, and when the update program is received by the wireless communication means, the update program stored in the storage means is erased and wirelessly transmitted. Program update means for newly storing the update program received by the communication means, and the controller device divides the predetermined period into time zone classifications set based on a predetermined radio frequency channel and predetermined time zones according to electricity charges. A radio wave usage collection hand that divides and counts the radio wave usage status for each time zone The controller device determines the program update start time for updating the program from the time zone segment with the lowest count for each time zone segment, and notifies the radio communication means of the home appliance of the update process start time. When the update start time has passed, transmission of the update program is started and the home appliance starts processing of the program update means at the update start time.

  As a result, even when the nearby radio field strength is strong, or even in situations where energy-saving systems that change the operating time of devices according to the electricity billing time zone have become widespread, the daily time zone and wireless channel usage status can be reduced. By collecting and learning, it is possible to determine the timing at which the program update can be executed reliably and in a short time with the least influence of communication from other devices.

  In addition to the above-described invention, the present invention is configured such that when there are a plurality of time zone segments with the lowest count number, priority is given to a time zone segment with a lower electricity bill.

  Thereby, even in the program update process with low power consumption, it is possible to propose and execute an electricity charge.

  In addition to the above invention, the present invention is configured to set one week or one day as the predetermined period.

  As a result, even when the user's activity status changes on a single day, such as holidays and weekdays, the actual radio wave usage status can be collected, and the timing for executing the program update can be determined more reliably.

  In the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned invention, the time zone section is provided with one time zone section in which a plurality of time zones according to the electricity charges having different electricity charges are collected, and the radio wave usage status collecting means counts. It has a configuration.

  As a result, even when the electricity bill for each time zone fluctuates in a very fine unit, it is possible to realize processing with a reduced load on the controller device.

  In addition, the present invention provides a rewritable storage unit that stores an update program, a control unit that controls the entire household electrical appliance according to the program, a wireless communication unit that wirelessly communicates with other devices, and an update program received by the wireless communication unit. A program update method in a program update apparatus comprising a home appliance having a program update means for newly storing instead of a program, and a controller device for wirelessly transmitting an update program to the home appliance, wherein the controller device has a predetermined A radio wave usage status collection step that divides the period into time zone segments set based on a predetermined radio frequency channel and a predetermined time zone by electricity rate, and counts the presence or absence of radio wave usage status for each time zone segment, and time zone Wireless communication from the controller device to the home appliance within the time zone with the lowest count for each category It sends a message to start processing program updating means relative to stage, and performs the steps of initiating the transmission of the update.

  As a result, even when the nearby radio field strength is strong, or even in situations where energy-saving systems that change the operating time of devices according to the electricity billing time zone have become widespread, the daily time zone and wireless channel usage status can be reduced. By collecting and learning, it is possible to provide a method to determine the timing when program update can be executed in a short time with the least influence by communication from other devices, etc., and wide application range such as implementation to existing controller devices It is a program update method.

  Still another aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to implement the functions of the home appliance or the controller device. As described above, since it is a program, it is possible to easily change or distribute the program update device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the program update device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a washing machine 8 as an example of home appliances, and shows an electric water heater 14 and a dishwasher 18 that are also examples of home appliances. In this Embodiment 1, the example in the case of updating the program of the washing machine 8 is shown as an example.

  The controller device 1 communicates with home appliances such as the control means 2 for controlling the entire device, the washing machine 8, the electric water heater 14, and the dishwasher 18 by the wireless communication means 6, and the reserved operation time set in the washing machine 8 Receiving the contents, home appliance operation time rescheduling means (not shown) that reschedule the operation time based on the electricity charges by time zone, and carrier sense that there is a radio wave of the specified radio frequency The radio wave status collecting means 5 for collecting and storing the daily radio wave status and the update time for learning the information stored in the radio wave status collecting means 5 and determining the most suitable time for wireless communication for program update Determination means 3 is provided.

  Furthermore, the controller device 1 obtains the contents of a new program to be updated from the server 7 by downloading from the server 7 and obtaining the contents of the new program from the server 7 when the hourly electricity charges are updated daily. . In the first embodiment, the server 7 and the controller device 1 are configured to be connected through an Internet line with which the user has a contract.

  The control means of the controller device 1 is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits, and other means may be implemented as a program that operates on the same microcomputer as the control means 2.

  The washing machine 8 stores a wireless communication means 22 that communicates with the controller device 1 and other home appliances, a control means 12 that controls the entire washing machine 8, and a program for operating the microcomputer that constitutes the control means 12. The program storage means 13 and the program update means 11 are provided. The program update unit 11 stores an update-dedicated program that is not used when the washing machine 8 is in a normal operation but is activated only when the program is updated in a part of the area where the rewrite of the program storage unit 13 is prohibited, and wirelessly A new update program obtained through the communication means 6 and 22 is rewritten with a new update program stored in the program storage means 13.

There are two known methods for program update, and the first method is that the program storage means 13 has a storage capacity for two programs, the program before update and the new program to be updated. This is a two-sided buffer method in which the target program is test-executed to confirm that no problem occurs, and then the program before update is overwritten.

  In the other method, a program for performing an operation of a normal home appliance is stored in a part of the program storage means 13 with only an update program having a function of performing a program update not used in the operation of a normal home appliance. It is a direct update method that overwrites directly.

  The direct update method has the advantage that the design can be simplified and the product cost can be reduced because the buffer for two sides is not required compared to the two-side buffer method. There is a demerit that normal home appliance operation is not possible until completion.

  In the first embodiment, the case of using the latter direct update method will be described, but the present invention is effective even when the two-side buffer method is used.

  The electric water heater 14 and the dishwasher 18 shown in FIG. 1 include control means 16 and 20, wireless communication means 15 and 19 and program storage means 17 and 21 for controlling the entire device. The control means 16 and 20 are comprised with a microcomputer and its peripheral circuit like other household appliances, and operate | move when a microcomputer runs the program memorize | stored in the program memory | storage means 17 and 21. FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows a time chart for briefly explaining the electricity charge for each day of the day. FIG. 3 shows an example of the case where the unit price of the electricity price per day is divided into three categories, and the numbers on the lower side of the time chart of FIG. 2 indicate the time in the 24-hour format, For the convenience of explanation, the unit price and time are described in virtual content, and are not related to the actual fee or time zone time.

  In FIG. 2, 8:00 to 9:00 shows the time zone A32 where the electricity rate per 1 kW is 25 yen, and 9:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 22:00 are the standard rates. A time zone B33 is shown, which is a time zone and the electricity bill per 1 kW is 24 yen.

  In addition, from 12:00 to 14:00, from 22:00 to 8:00 the next day is electricity because power demand from outside is low, such as power supplement by solar power generation and low user power consumption due to no user activity at bedtime. The time zone C is set at 20 yen per kW because the fee is low.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a table diagram of the results of collecting the radio wave conditions by the controller device 1 based on the time zone according to the electricity rate in FIG. Actually, it is stored in a format suitable for the processing of the control means 2 and the update time determination means 3 of the controller device 1.

  The table diagram as shown in FIG. 3 shows the threshold value set by measuring the field strength level of the radio frequency channel measured by the radio wave condition collecting unit 5 at a predetermined interval such as 1 second or 1 minute. When the value exceeds the value, it is determined that other devices in the house or nearby are performing wireless communication, and the corresponding electricity rate time zone and the count value of the wireless channel are increased.

  In the example of FIG. 3, it can be determined that other devices are concentrated in the time zone C where the electricity rate is cheap, and that the HEMS and the user himself tend to select the operation time where the electricity rate is cheap even in the vicinity. In particular, radio waves from other devices are hardly detected in the time zones A and B of the wireless ch 2 to the wireless ch 4, for example, if program update is executed in the wireless ch 2 in the time zone A, other radio waves are hardly detected. Thus, it can be determined that the program update can be executed in a shorter time without any communication error or retransmission.

By making such a determination method into a program, the update time determining means 3 determines the program update time.

  In addition, although the example which divides | segments the time zone of an electricity bill into three time zones was demonstrated in FIG. 2, when a time zone is classified further in detail, you may classify | categorize for every different charge unit price, On the other hand, when the fee categories are too finely divided, it is also effective to combine the time zones where the unit prices are close to one. If the same time zone is too long, it is also effective to divide the same time zone into a plurality of small time zones and measure the radio wave usage status for each small time zone.

  In FIG. 2, an example of one day is shown, but it is also effective to count radio wave usage separately on weekdays and holidays, considering holidays and weekends where lifestyle patterns change.

  As a result, the update time determining means 3 tends to update the program at a time when the unit price of electricity is higher. However, since the amount of power required for updating the program is very small, Compared to execution in a high time zone, the increase in power consumption during program update is considered to be negligible.

  If the time period when there is no radio wave usage can be allocated sufficiently longer than the expected time period required for program update, such as the predetermined wireless communication speed, communication is performed with a method known to have a smaller communication error. It is also effective to change the protocol and perform reliable program update.

  As a method having a smaller communication error, a method of transmitting and comparing the same information for the same number of times of multiplexing, a method of reducing the communication speed, a method of adding an error correction code, and the like are known, and such a method can be used.

  Finally, an example of an operation flow in the control unit 2, the update time determination unit 3, and the radio wave condition collection unit 5 of the controller device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the process is started in FIG. 4 (step S40), the program acquisition unit 4 checks whether there is an update program to be acquired from the server 7 (step S41).

  When there is no update program (in the case of NO), the process proceeds to step S42, where the radio wave status collection unit 5 checks the presence / absence of radio waves for each radio frequency Ch, and updates the radio status collection table shown in FIG.

  If there is an update program in step S41 (YES), the update time determination means 3 determines the time required for updating by the update means of a predetermined update program such as a default wireless communication speed from the update program size. (Step S43), the process proceeds to Step S44.

  In step S44, from the radio wave status table shown in FIG. 2, the control means 2 determines the time zone and radio channel with the lowest radio wave usage status and schedules them as the program update start time (scheduled start time). The program update start time (scheduled start time) is notified to the washing machine 8 via 22.

  In step S45, the control means 12 determines whether or not the program update start time has arrived. When the update time is reached (in the case of YES), the program update means 11 starts the program update process (step S49). When the update is completed, the process is terminated (step S50).

  In step S45, if the update time has not yet arrived (in the case of NO), the process proceeds to step S46 to perform processing for updating the radio wave usage status table. Further, it is determined whether or not to review the program update start time when the radio wave usage status update table is updated (step S47).

  When reviewing the update start time, the process returns to step S44 to determine a new program update start time. If the update start time is not reviewed, the process returns to step S45 to continue the process of updating the radio wave usage status table until the program update start time.

  Whether or not to update the update start time in step S47 is determined based on the frequency in the radio wave usage status table, even if the minimum time zone or wireless channel changes, the frequency difference is 5 counts or more. It is also effective to review when a predetermined difference is exceeded.

  In addition, in the description of FIG. 4, the configuration in which the scheduled update start time of the program is notified is shown in advance. However, immediately after the update start time is reached, the controller device “starts program update from now” to the home appliance. If the home appliance does not operate at that time and the program can be updated, a response message stating “Updatable” is returned to the controller device and the update process is continued. It doesn't matter.

  Furthermore, the configuration in the first embodiment described above can be used in appropriate combination as necessary, and is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment itself.

  Finally, in the first embodiment, the method of communicating only the update program for update between the server 7 and the controller device 1 by the program acquisition unit 4 has been described. In the case of registration management, it is also effective to communicate information such as shifting the program update execution dates with information that introduces similar systems in the vicinity, and updating the program more reliably. .

  As described above, the program update device according to the present invention can be used for other devices even in the case where an energy saving system that dynamically changes the operation time of home appliances is widely spread based on the electricity charge for each time zone. It is possible to execute a program update by determining a time zone suitable for wirelessly transmitting the update program in a short time without being obstructed by the communication, and without causing inconvenience to the user, Home appliances and program update devices that can benefit from the program update function can be realized.

1 Controller device 3 Renewal time determination means 5 Radio wave condition collection means 8 Washing machine (home appliance)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Program update means 12 Control means 13 Program storage means 14 Electric water heater (home appliance)
18 Dishwasher (home appliance)
22 Wireless communication means

Claims (6)

A program update system comprising a home appliance and a controller device that wirelessly transmits an update program to the home appliance,
The home appliance is
Rewritable storage means storing the update program;
Control means for controlling the entire home appliance according to the update program stored in the storage means;
Wireless communication means for wireless communication with the controller device;
When receiving the update program by the wireless communication means, the update program stored in the storage means is erased, and the program update means for newly storing the update program received by the wireless communication means,
The controller device is
Radio wave usage status collecting means for dividing a predetermined period into time zone segments set based on a predetermined radio frequency channel and a predetermined time zone according to electricity charges, and counting presence / absence of radio wave usage status for each time zone segment Prepared,
The controller device determines a program update start time for performing a program update from a time zone segment with the lowest count for each time zone segment, and notifies the wireless communication means of the home appliance of the update process start time And when the update start time has passed, it will start sending update programs.
The household electrical appliance starts processing of the program update unit at an update start time.
Program update system. 2. The program update system according to claim 1, wherein when there are a plurality of time zone divisions with the lowest count number, the time zone division with the lower electricity bill is preferentially selected. 3. The program update system according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined period is one week or one day. 3. The program update system according to claim 1, wherein the time zone section is provided with one time zone section in which a plurality of time zones according to electricity charges having different electricity charges are collected, and the radio wave usage status collecting unit is counted. . The rewritable storage means storing the update program, the control means for controlling the entire home electric appliance according to the program, the wireless communication means for wireless communication with other devices, and the update program received by the wireless communication means are replaced with the program A program update method in a program update device comprising a home appliance having a program update means for newly storing and a controller device that wirelessly transmits the update program to the home appliance,
The controller device divides a predetermined period into a time zone set based on a predetermined radio frequency channel and a predetermined time zone according to electricity charges, and counts the presence / absence of radio wave usage status for each time zone Usage collection steps;
In the time zone segment with the lowest count for each time zone segment, a message for starting the processing of the program update unit is transmitted from the controller device to the wireless communication unit of the home appliance, and the update program is transmitted. Steps to start,
A program update method comprising: A program for causing a computer to implement the function of the program update device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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