JP4812583B2 - Integrated control device and integrated control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an integrated control device that controls equipment in a store by communication and monitors the state of the equipment, and particularly relates to control of a retry operation in communication.

  Conventionally, terminal devices that measure power and temperature and control facility equipment, and collect (receive) measurement data from these terminal devices and transmit control data (hereinafter, such reception and transmission are referred to as access). A communication system (integrated control system) including an integrated control device has been considered.

  Terminal devices are attached to equipment in the store (showcase), air conditioners, and other equipment (hereinafter simply referred to as equipment) to control equipment and monitor equipment status (data measurement, etc.) On the other hand, the integrated control device transmits a measurement data transmission request command to the terminal device, and the terminal device (hereinafter collectively referred to as a device without distinguishing between the terminal device and the device to which the terminal device is attached) In response to the command, the measurement data is transmitted to the integrated control device. The integrated control apparatus records the received measurement data in the database. Each device forms a communication system by a communication line, and is connected to each other in series, for example, in the form of a daisy chain in SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), that is, so-called daisy chain, to the integrated control device.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an integrated control device that performs communication control with devices such as a refrigerator and an air conditioner, collects measurement data, and transmits control data.

  Recently, it has been required to reduce power consumption as a whole device in the store from the aspect of promoting energy saving, and it is considered to use an integrated control system to achieve the purpose of energy saving. .

The total time for such an integrated control device to access each device via a communication network increases as the number of devices increases. For example, when it takes 30 seconds to access 100 devices, the period in which the integrated control apparatus can control the devices and monitor the state of the devices is 30 seconds. That is, it takes 30 seconds at the earliest time from transmission of control data to a certain device until collection of measurement data or transmission of the next control data.
JP 2001-133100 A

  In the integrated control system, when the integrated control apparatus cannot access the device due to an abnormal operation of the device, the access is performed again later. In the following, when the integrated control apparatus cannot access a device, access to the device again is referred to as a retry (Re-Try).

  In the conventional integrated control device, all devices that cannot be accessed (hereinafter referred to as communication abnormal devices) in a series of accesses (communication transactions) with each device performed by the integrated control device with one access cycle as one unit. Since the retry is performed equally, the time required for the retry may be so large that it cannot be ignored with respect to the time (access cycle) required for device status monitoring and control data transmission in the case of only normal devices. For example, if the timeout time (allowable waiting time for access) in a device with abnormal communication is 2 seconds, retrying to that device will result in a timeout, but it will take 2 seconds per device due to the access, resulting in a communication error If there are 20 devices and all have timed out, a 40 second time loss occurs. That is, in the example in which the above-described access cycle is 30 seconds, the access cycle increases to 70 seconds, requiring a time more than doubled, and the speed is lost. Due to this time loss, for example, periodic access to a device that has a large influence on the achievement of a predetermined purpose (for example, the purpose of energy saving as an entire in-store device, etc.) will require a period more than double the normal period. Therefore, a situation may occur in which appropriate control is not in time due to the delay of the access, and the achievement of the predetermined purpose may be impaired.

  There is also a control method in which the communication abnormal device is not retried thereafter, assuming that the timeout occurs again even if the integrated control device retries the communication abnormal device. However, this method has the advantage of not causing time loss due to timeout, but the device that has not been accessed once is not accessed from the integrated control device after that, and after the timeout, the communication system is not connected. It has a defect that cannot be restored. If it is a device having a large influence on the achievement of the predetermined purpose, appropriate control cannot be performed from the integrated control device, and a situation in which the predetermined purpose cannot be achieved occurs.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated control device that reduces the influence of time loss due to timeout for achieving a predetermined object while performing a retry operation for all communication abnormal devices.

The integrated control device according to the present invention is an integrated control device that controls equipment in a store by communication and monitors the state of the equipment, and includes communication abnormality history information in a communication transaction from the integrated control device. Based on the information of the communication abnormality history part, the retry history part for saving the history information of the retry operation for the equipment that was communication abnormality in the communication transaction, the information of the communication abnormality history part and the retry history part, A retry determination unit that determines a facility device to be retried in a communication transaction, and the retry determination unit is a refrigerator having a large influence on energy saving, and the room temperature connected to the refrigerator by a refrigerant pipe. Master showcase which is a showcase having a sensor, refrigerant in the refrigerator By weighting the order of other connected showcase by means of a tube, wherein the retry so that high access frequency in the order of the weighting.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the integrated control apparatus which reduces the influence degree of the time loss by time-out with respect to achievement of a predetermined objective can be provided, performing retry operation with respect to all the communication abnormal apparatuses.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an integrated controller that reduces the influence of time loss due to timeout for achieving the purpose of energy saving while performing a retry operation for all communication abnormal devices. Since it takes more time than usual for periodic access to refrigerators that have a large impact on the achievement of the purpose, it is possible to avoid a situation in which more appropriate control is not in time and the achievement of the energy saving purpose may be impaired. .

  However, the following embodiment is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the meaning of the term of the present invention or each constituent element is not limited to that described in the following embodiment. Absent.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an integrated control system (hereinafter referred to as an integrated system) using an integrated control apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an integrated controller) according to an embodiment. In the figure, portions not used in the description of this embodiment are not shown.

  Equipment in a certain store refers to all electrical devices that are installed and set in the store and that receive power from the system used in the store. The integrated controller in this embodiment includes, for example, a refrigerator Although devices such as a showcase, an air conditioner, and lighting can be connected, in this embodiment, an example in which only a plurality of refrigerators and showcases are connected to the integrated controller will be described.

  The integrated controller 600 includes a plurality of refrigerators 101, 201... And showcases 102, 103... 202, 203 (shown as multi-function cases and cases in the same figure). The communication lines 605 are electrically connected in a daisy chain to form one integrated system. The integrated controller 600 controls the operation of each refrigerator and showcase based on the operation plan (operation program), collects measurement data, and the like.

  The integrated system of the present embodiment aims to achieve energy saving of the entire device. Therefore, in addition to the above, the integrated controller 600 also performs power consumption prediction and control of each device based on this in order to achieve the purpose of energy saving.

  The integrated controller 600 includes a CPU 601 that performs processing such as calculation, determination, and command, a timer 602 that is used for time-out time measurement, a memory 603 that stores results in the middle of calculation and each table described below, and the refrigerator And a communication I / F (interface) 604 to which a communication line 605 is connected for communication with a showcase. As a protocol used in the communication, for example, communication is performed by a polling method using the integrated controller as a master and the refrigerator or the showcase as a slave.

  In the figure, the integrated controller 600 is connected with five refrigerators (refrigerator 1 to refrigerator 5) and 20 showcases 102, 103... 202, 203.

  In the present embodiment, the showcase is distinguished from a multi-function case (master showcase) and a normal showcase (normal showcase; hereinafter referred to as a general case) due to differences in handling in energy saving control. The multi-function case is a display stand like the general case, but has a larger number of sensors for detecting information used for controlling the refrigerator than the general case. For example, the multifunction case has more sensors for measuring the internal temperature of the case and sensors for measuring the flow rate of the refrigerant than the normal case. The multi-function case has a sensor that detects information used for controlling the refrigerator, which the general case does not have. For example, it has a room temperature sensor for measuring the room temperature in a store or the like. As a result, the multifunctional case can detect more important information in terms of control of the refrigerator than the general case, and must be handled separately from the general case. In the following description, the multi-function case and the general case are collectively referred to as a showcase when not distinguished from each other. In the figure, five multi-function cases 102, 202,... Are connected (multi-function case 1 to multi-function case 5), and 15 general cases 103, 104, 203, 204,. Case 11 to case 13, and case 21 to case 23, case 31 to case 33, case 41 to case 43, case 51 to case 53).

  One refrigerator and each showcase are connected to each other by a refrigerant pipe to form one system (cooling system). The refrigerant compressed by the refrigerator through the refrigerant pipe is sent to each showcase, so that display items such as food are refrigerated and frozen in each showcase. In the figure, a refrigerator 1, a multi-function case 1, a general case (simply referred to as a case in the figure) 11 to a case 13 are connected by a refrigerant pipe 106 to form one cooling system (cooling system 100), A group is formed (Group 1). Similarly, the refrigerator 2 to the refrigerator 5 and the like constitute one cooling system 200 to the cooling system 500 by the refrigerant pipe 206 to the refrigerant pipe 506 to form groups 2 to 5.

  The integrated controller 600 according to the present embodiment uses a retry table including history information regarding retry operations, a communication error table including history information regarding communication failures, and a retry parameter table which is a parameter used during retry operations. This makes it possible to reduce the time loss due to timeout for achieving the purpose of energy saving while performing retry operation for all equipment such as refrigerators and showcases that cannot be accessed (communication abnormality). It is possible to perform the control necessary for achieving the above without delay. More specifically, by using the above table, it is possible to increase the frequency of retries to devices that have a large impact on the achievement of energy saving objectives and to reduce the frequency of retries to devices that have a low impact (selective retry). ), Devices to be retried during one access cycle (retry target devices) can be reduced. As a result, the access cycle is reduced, and access to devices with a large influence can be performed without delay, so that the influence of time loss due to timeout on the achievement of the energy saving purpose can be minimized. . On the other hand, retrying all devices is possible because devices with low impact are retried with a lower retry frequency.

  In this embodiment, the degree of influence on the achievement of the purpose of energy saving that the equipment has has, when the equipment is operating normally, the influence of the equipment on the achievement of the purpose of other equipment. For example, the ratio of the power consumption of the device to the power consumption of the entire device in the store. The high / low influence on the achievement of the purpose of energy saving in the present embodiment corresponds to the large / small power consumption of the device.

  The retry in this embodiment is performed depending on the access frequency to the communication abnormal device. Therefore, preferentially retrying another device means setting the access frequency higher for the other device. The access frequency refers to the number of accesses per unit cycle of a device (per communication transaction).

  First, a retry table, a communication error table, and a retry parameter table used in this embodiment will be described, and then an operation flow in the integrated controller 600 of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the memory 603 and an example of a retry table and a communication abnormality table. FIG. 4A is a retry table, and FIG. 4B is a communication abnormality table. Reference numeral 603A denotes a retry history part which stores a retry table, and reference numeral 603B denotes a communication abnormality history part which stores a communication abnormality table. A retry parameter table is stored in 603C. Reference numeral 603D denotes a work space in which results during calculation are stored. A storage unit 603E stores other information. The retry determination unit includes a CPU 601 and a work space 603D, and performs calculations related to retry. This will be described in detail later.

  The retry table will be described.

  The retry table identifies which device is accessed during the next access (including retry). The column direction data in the retry table is data for all devices included in the integrated system, and the row direction data is information for each device. The address of each device is recorded in the leftmost column of the table. From the next column, the type of device such as a refrigerator or multi-function case, the time of the previous communication (previous communication try time), and the next communication are performed. Each communication flag is recorded. For example, to explain the first line of the retry table in FIG. 5A, a device whose address is 1 and whose type is a refrigerator is trying the previous communication at 9:30:10 on August 22, 2006, It records that the communication flag is YES. When the communication flag is YES, the operation measurement data acquisition is accessed for the target device, and when the communication flag is NO, the operation measurement data acquisition is not accessed for the target device. In the present embodiment, the addresses of the devices are assigned in the order of connection in the daisy chain of FIG. 1, and addresses 1 to 25 are assigned from the refrigerator 1 to the case 53.

  The communication abnormality table will be described.

  The target device for selective retry is determined from the communication abnormality table. The column direction data in the communication abnormality table is data for all devices included in the integrated system, and the row direction data is information for each device. The address of each device is recorded in the leftmost column of the table, and from the next column, the type of device such as a refrigerator or a multifunctional case, the time when the latest communication was successful, and a determination flag indicating that the retry device is determined ( A selective retry determination flag) is recorded. For example, the first line of the communication abnormality table (B) in the same figure will be explained. A device whose address is 1 and type is a refrigerator succeeded in the latest communication on August 22, 2006 at 9:30:10. It is recorded that the determination flag is YES. When the determination flag is YES, whether or not to retry the target device is determined by the selective retry determination described later. When the determination flag is NO, the target device is retried without determination. Show.

  The retry parameter table will be described.

  The retry parameter table stores a cycle of retrying the device of that type and the number of retry targets of the device of that type in one cycle described later. This will be described in detail later.

  Next, an operation flow in the integrated controller 600 of this embodiment will be described.

  Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, after the integrated controller is powered on, the process proceeds to step S100.

  An operation flow of the integrated controller 600 of this embodiment will be described. Note that processes having the same step numbers as those in the conventional operation flow are the same as those in the conventional operation flow, or some processes are added or changed.

  After the integrated controller is powered on, the process proceeds to step S100.

  In step S100, initial processing after power-on is performed. In the initial process, the communication flag of the above-described retry table in all devices is initialized (all are set to YES), and the determination flag of the above-described communication abnormality table in all devices is also initialized (all is set to NO). To do).

  Note that when the communication flag of the retry table is YES as described above, the operation measurement data acquisition described below is accessed for the target device whose communication flag is YES, and the operation measurement is performed for the target device whose communication flag is NO. Do not access data acquisition. Further, as described above, when the determination flag of the communication abnormality table is YES, it is determined whether or not to retry the target device whose determination flag is YES by the determination of the selective retry described later, and the determination flag is NO. In some cases, the target device is retried without determination.

  In step S500, unlike the prior art, all devices are not accessed, and an access destination is set so that only devices with a retry table communication flag of YES are accessed to obtain operation measurement data.

  In step S600, the communication time of the accessed device is written and updated in the retry time of the retry table.

  In step S200, all devices connected to the communication system of the integrated controller are accessed to obtain operation measurement data of each device.

  In step S700, the presence / absence of communication abnormality is determined for the devices that have communicated according to the communication flag of the retry table as described above. For example, when there is no response for a predetermined time after starting access to a certain device (timeout), or when data is garbled for some reason such as noise, the response becomes invalid (data error). It is done.

  In step S800, the success time of the communication abnormality table is updated for the device determined to have no communication abnormality in step S700. As the success time, for example, a try time in the above-described retry table or a time when communication with the device is actually finished is used.

  In step S900, the difference (time difference) between the current time and the success time of the communication abnormality table is calculated for each device whose communication flag in the retry table is YES.

  In step S1000, the time difference of each device obtained in step S900 is compared with a threshold value (for example, 5 minutes), the determination flag of the communication abnormality table of the device that is equal to or greater than the threshold value is set to YES, and The determination flag of the communication abnormality table is set to NO.

  In step S1100, if there is at least one device whose determination flag in the communication abnormality table is YES, a branch process is performed to shift to step S1200. If there is no device whose determination flag of the communication abnormality table is YES, the process proceeds to step S300.

  In step S1200, a retry device (selective retry determination) to be described in detail later is performed.

  In this embodiment, if there is at least one device whose determination flag in the communication abnormality table is YES, all devices are not retried as in the prior art, but a device to be accessed in each access cycle is specified and a plurality of devices are identified. If it sees in a period, it accesses with all the apparatuses which retry, but the said specification is performed according to the influence degree with respect to achievement of the objective of energy saving, ie, power consumption, and the access frequency of the said apparatus is changed. In step S1200, the device to be retried and the access frequency of the device are determined. Specifically, one access can be achieved by increasing the frequency of access to a device that has a greater impact on the achievement of the goal of energy conservation and increasing the frequency of access to that device and lowering the frequency of access to a device that has a lower impact. By reducing the number of devices to be retried during the cycle, the influence of time loss due to timeout on the achievement of the purpose of energy saving is stopped.

  In step S300, setting control data for each device calculated from the acquired data is created.

  In step S400, setting control data is written (transmitted) to all devices. In this embodiment, as described in step S500, access is made to acquire operation measurement data only with a device whose communication flag in the retry table is YES, but writing in step S400 is connected to the communication line 605. For all devices. This is because in the write operation, the integrated controller 600 outputs the write data to the communication system so that each device identifies and captures the data for itself, so that even if there is a busy device, the device does not receive the data. This is because it is not necessary to check the state of the device at the stage of the write operation and set “write / not write”. As described in step S500, writing may be performed only for devices whose communication flag in the retry table is YES.

  Thereafter, the process returns to step S500, and each step process is performed in a loop for each communication transaction until the power is turned off. The loop may be performed, for example, according to a specific cycle or by determining the number of loops per time.

  Next, the contents of step S1200 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The contents of step S1200 are roughly divided into four parts: (a) refrigerator phase (step S1201, step S1202), (b) multi-function case phase (step S1203, step S1204), (c) group case phase (step S1205). (D) The general case phase (step S1206, step S1207) consists of four phases.

  In the integrated system of the present embodiment, a refrigerator and a showcase (multifunctional case, general case) are connected to the communication system of the integrated controller 600. From the viewpoint of achieving the purpose of energy saving, these devices are connected. The degree of impact on energy conservation varies. Therefore, the frequency of retries is changed according to the degree of influence on energy saving.

Since the refrigerator compresses the refrigerant with a compressor, etc., it consumes a large amount of power, and when each showcase performs a defrosting operation, rapid cooling must be performed in the showcase, so its power consumption is It will be even bigger. Note that the defrosting operation of the showcase means that the water vapor in the air freezes on the cooling pipe through which the refrigerant flows in the display part of the showcase, forming frost masses and reducing the cooling efficiency. It is the operation to remove. At that time, since the inside temperature of the display part rises because the frost is melted with a heater or the like, it is necessary to perform rapid cooling after the defrosting operation because the display object may be melted due to the temperature rise. .

  As described above, it can be said that the influence of the refrigerator on the achievement of the energy saving purpose is larger than that in the showcase, and the control of the refrigerator is the most important from the viewpoint of achievement of the energy saving purpose. That is, retry is performed with the highest access frequency of the refrigerator as compared with all other devices in the store.

  Next, the multi-function case and the general case will be described.

  As described above, the multi-function case detects more information used to control the refrigerator, which has more sensors to detect information used to control the refrigerator than the general case. Since the control of the refrigerator is the most important as described above, the multifunctional case is considered to be more important than the general case from the viewpoint of achieving the purpose of energy saving. In addition, since the sensor which detects the various data for refrigerators is attached to a multifunction case, the importance is lower than control of a refrigerator. That is, the multifunction case is retried with a lower access frequency than the refrigerator.

  From the above, it can be said that the multi-function case has a greater influence on the achievement of the energy saving purpose than the general case, and the control of the multi-function case is more important than the control of the general case from the viewpoint of achieving the energy saving purpose. That is, the general case is retried with a lower access frequency than the multi-function case.

  When all devices (refrigerators, showcases) belonging to a certain group are in communication abnormality, it is necessary to be able to communicate with at least one of the general cases belonging to the group. Otherwise, the general showcase of the group cannot be accessed at all, and it is necessary to obtain a minimum control from the viewpoint of achieving the purpose of energy saving. Therefore, even when all devices belonging to this group are in communication abnormality, a retry is performed with one of the general cases belonging to the group ((c) group case phase). In addition, since the general case retried in the group case phase is a kind of general case, it is retried with a lower access frequency than the multi-function case.

  In step S1200, as described above, for each refrigerator, multi-function case, and general case having different influences on energy saving, weighting is changed in this order to change the correspondence of retry, that is, weighting in this order. Change the access frequency.

  In FIG. 1, a hatched device represents a device in which a communication abnormality has occurred. All devices in group 2 are hatched, and (c) group case phase is applied to case 21 to case 23. Note that the refrigerator 2 and the multi-function case 2 belonging to the group are subject to retry in the above-described refrigerator phase and the multi-function case phase.

  Next, the content of step S1200 will be described.

In step S1201, the number of refrigeration units to be retried (NumComp) is calculated for refrigeration units for which the determination flag of the communication abnormality table is YES. ErrComp is the number of refrigerators for which the communication abnormality table determination flag is YES, and CycComp is the number of refrigerating cycles for the refrigerator (the number of cycles for retrying all refrigerators for which the communication abnormality table determination flag is YES). To express. Thus, the value of NumComp per communication transaction is a value corresponding to 1 / CycComp of the number of ErrComps, and is equal to or less than the number of ErrComps.
If the calculation result of ErrComp / CycComp does not become an integer, it is converted to an integer by, for example, rounding up after the decimal point. Such integerization is also performed in the following division.

  In step S1202, from the retry table, since the refrigeration machine with the determination flag YES and the previous communication try time is the oldest, the number of NumComp is the target of the next retry, so the communication flag of the retry table of the corresponding refrigerator is YES. To. Further, communication flags other than those which are retried at this time with the refrigerator having the determination flag set to YES are set to NO.

  Since the retry time of the retry table of the refrigerating machine to be retried is updated in step S600, the refrigerating machine to be retried in step S1202 is switched each time the loop of each step from step S500 to step S400 is repeated. go. The following showcases to be retried will change in the same way.

  In step S1203, the number (NumMCase) of multi-function cases to be retried this time is calculated for multi-function cases whose determination flag of the communication abnormality table is YES. ErrMCase is the number of multi-function cases for which the communication error table judgment flag is YES. CycMCase is the number of multi-function case retry cycles (the cycle for retrying all multi-function cases for which the communication error table judgment flag is YES. Number). Thus, the value of NumMCase per communication transaction is a value corresponding to 1 / CycMCase of the number of ErrMCases, and is equal to or less than the number of ErrMCases.

  In step S1204, since the number of NumMCases from the retry table is the multi-function case with the determination flag YES and the previous communication try time is the next retry target, the communication flag of the retry table of the corresponding multi-function case Set to YES. In addition, communication flags other than those to be retried this time in the multi-function case where the determination flag is YES are set to NO.

  Since the retry time of the retry table of the multifunction case to be retried is updated in step S600, the multifunction case to be retried in step S1204 is updated each time the loop of steps from step S500 to step S400 is repeated. It will switch.

  In step S1205, a group in which all the devices belonging to the group are in communication abnormality is extracted, and the one with the oldest communication try time in the retry table is targeted for a general case where the determination flag of the communication abnormality table is YES. Set the communication flag of the retry table to YES. Note that the communication flag in the general case other than the one to be retried this time is set to NO.

  In step S1206, the number (NumCase) of general cases to be retried at this time is calculated for general cases in which the determination flag of the communication abnormality table is YES. ErrCase is the number of general cases for which the communication abnormality table determination flag is YES, and CycCase represents the number of general retry cycles (the number of cycles for retrying all general cases for which the communication abnormality table determination flag is YES). . As described above, the value of NumCase per communication transaction is a value corresponding to 1 / CycCase of the number of ErrCase and is equal to or less than the number of ErrComp.

  In step S1207, from the retry table, the communication flag of the retry table of the corresponding general case is determined to be the target of the next retry for the number of NumCase from the previous case where the determination flag is YES and the previous communication try time is old. To. In addition, communication flags other than those that are retried this time in the general case where the determination flag is YES are set to NO.

  Since the retry time of the retry table of the general case to be retried is updated in step S600, the general case to be retried in step S1207 is switched each time the loop of steps from step S500 to step S400 is repeated. go.

  In the control of the integrated controller 600, the general case determined in the refrigerator phase, the multi-function case phase, the group case phase, and the general case are accessed in order from the viewpoint of achieving the purpose of energy saving (the degree of influence of the device on energy saving). Set the frequency low. This is achieved by appropriately determining the values of CycComp, CycMCase, and CycCase. That is, CycComp is determined to be equal to or less than CycMCase so that the access per unit cycle of the refrigerator is equal to or higher than the access per unit cycle of the multi-function case, and the access per unit cycle of the multi-function case is the unit of the general case. CycMCase is determined to be equal to or lower than CycCase so that the number of accesses per cycle is higher. For example, CycComp = 2, CycMCase = 4, and CycCase = 8.

  These values may be determined, for example, according to how often each device is to be retried or how much the number of retries to be reduced is reduced. For example, in the case of a highly important refrigerator, CycComp is determined to be a relatively small number of 1 or more because it is desired to retry at a frequency of once every several times. CycMCase is determined based on the CycComp value, and CycCase is determined to be a relatively large value based on the CycMCase value.

  In addition, when N general cases determined in the group case phase are to be accessed in each cycle, if the CycCase is such that ErrCase / CycCase <N, the general cases determined in the group case phase The number of accesses per unit period can be larger than the number of accesses per unit period in the general case. In addition, since the general case determined in the group case phase is the same as the general case, it is not always necessary to provide a difference in priority. These CycComp, ErrComp, Numcomp, etc. are stored in the retry parameter table 603C.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for comparing the communication operation including the retry operation according to the present embodiment and the communication operation in the prior art. The figure shows an example of the abnormal communication device shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, the abnormal communication device includes refrigerators 1, 2, multifunctional cases 2, 3, general cases 11, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32 and 41 are examples.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram comparing the communication time per cycle in the present embodiment (lower diagram) with the communication time per cycle in the conventional technology (upper diagram). In this figure, for this embodiment, the access part to the retry device is described behind the access part to the normal device, and for the conventional technology, the access part to the device with abnormal communication is located behind the access part to the normal device. It is described for easy comparison. In the prior art, access is performed without any difference between the abnormal communication device and the normal device. However, since the access time is a timeout time, the access can be regarded as a retry, and is described as retry in the figure. . Note that CycComp = 2, CycMCase = 2, and CycCase = 4.

  (A) The lower diagram shows that (a) the refrigerator 1 is selected in the refrigerator phase as the retry device in the above-described step S1200, (b) the multifunction case 2 is selected in the multifunction case phase, and (c) It is assumed that case 21 is selected in the group case phase and (d) case 11 is selected in the general case phase.

  According to the figure, in the conventional example, access is made to all communication abnormal devices of the refrigerators 1 and 2, the multi-function cases 2 and 3, and the general cases 11, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32 and 41, If the timeout time is 2 seconds, a time loss of 22 seconds will occur with 11 units. On the other hand, in this embodiment, only the refrigerator 1 is the refrigerator, only the multifunction case 2 is the multi-function case, the general case 11 is the general case 11 in the general case phase, and the general case 21 is the target in the group case phase. If the time-out period is 2 seconds, 4 units will lose 8 seconds. Therefore, in this embodiment, the time can be shortened by the difference of 14 seconds (for 7 vehicles), and the access cycle can be reduced to about 1/3.

  As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to shorten the cycle for communicating with normal devices. As another aspect, for example, conventional defects as described below can be improved.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram for comparing the elapsed time from when the refrigerator 1 returns from the busy state to the next access. The return time in the present embodiment (below) is compared with the conventional selective retry determination. This is the return time (upper figure) when retrying only the same number of devices as in the present embodiment for all devices without being performed. That is, FIG. 5B shows the case of the conventional case and the case of the present embodiment, only the access to the device having the communication abnormality in the access cycle of 1 cycle is performed (the access cycle is the same). . In the figure, access to a retry device and access to a device with abnormal communication are performed after access to a normal device. Further, as in FIG. 5A, CycComp = 2, CycMCase = 2, and CycCase = 4.

  In the leftmost communication transaction in FIG. 6B, in step S1200 described above, (a) the refrigerator 1 is selected in the refrigerator phase as the retry device, and (b) the multifunction case 2 is selected in the multifunction case phase. (C) Case 21 is selected in the group case phase, (d) Case 11 is selected in the general case phase, and in the communication transaction of the next time period (right side in the figure), as a retry device (a) The refrigerator 2 is selected in the refrigerator phase, (b) the multifunction case 3 is selected in the multifunction case phase, (c) the case 22 is selected in the group case phase, and (d) the case 31 is selected in the general case phase. It is assumed that it is selected.

  According to the figure, in an example in which selective retry is not performed, all communication abnormality devices of refrigerators 1 and 2, multi-function cases 2 and 3, general cases 11, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, and 41 are If the time to access all normal devices (14 units) is 1 second and the timeout time is 2 seconds, the refrigerator 1 can be accessed for 27 seconds (= (1 second + 4 units x 2 seconds). X3) Every time. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the refrigerator is accessed as a retry target once every two cycles, the time for accessing all normal devices (14 units) is 1 second and the timeout time is 2 seconds. The refrigerator 1 can be accessed every 18 seconds (= (1 second + 4 units × 2 seconds) × 2). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the access cycle of the refrigerator having the greatest influence on the achievement of the energy saving purpose can be shortened by the difference of 9 seconds, and the access cycle can be reduced to 2/3. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which appropriate control cannot be made in time due to the delay of access, and the achievement of the purpose of energy saving may be impaired.

  Also, assuming that the refrigerator 1 returns from the busy state at the timing shown in the figure, the elapsed time until the next access is about 19 seconds in the conventional example, and is about 12 seconds in the present embodiment. Thus, for the refrigerator having the greatest influence on the achievement of the purpose of energy saving, the time can be shortened by the difference of 7 seconds, and can be reduced to about 2/3. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which appropriate control is not in time due to the delay and the achievement of the purpose of energy saving may be impaired.

  As described above, the present embodiment provides an unprecedented effect even when the access cycle is the same. Specifically, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide an integrated controller that reduces the influence of time loss due to timeout for achieving the purpose of energy saving while performing retry operation for all communication abnormal devices, Avoid situations where periodic access to refrigerators that have a large impact on the achievement of the energy saving purpose requires more time than usual, and more appropriate control is not in time, which may impair the achievement of the energy saving purpose. Can do.

  The integrated control system of the present embodiment is formed with a minimum of equipment including a refrigerator and a showcase, but may include equipment such as an air conditioner, a warmer, and lighting. Even in this case, the same control as that of the present embodiment can be performed, and the same effect as that of the present embodiment can be obtained. In addition, since the description about this can correspond similarly, it omits. In the present embodiment, the communication system is formed by the communication line. However, for example, the integrated control apparatus may exist outside the store and the communication system may be formed by an electric communication line such as the Internet. Even in this case, the same control as that of the present embodiment can be performed, and the same effect as that of the present embodiment can be obtained. In addition, since the description about this can correspond similarly, it omits.

  The integrated control apparatus according to the present embodiment can be realized by a hardware of an arbitrary computer CPU, memory, and other LSIs. In terms of software, it is realized by a program having an integrated control function loaded in a memory. FIG. 1 shows functional blocks of integrated control realized by hardware and software. However, it goes without saying that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms such as hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof.

  The embodiments of the present invention can be appropriately modified in various ways within the scope of the technical idea shown in the claims.

It is a block diagram of the integrated control system which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure explaining the table which concerns on embodiment. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the integrated control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the integrated control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure explaining comparatively the operation | movement which concerns on a prior art and embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100, 200, 300, 400, 500 Cooling system 101, 201, 301, 401, 501 Refrigerator 102, 202, 302, 402, 502 Multi-function case 103, 104, 105, 203, 204, 205, 303, 304, 305, 403, 404, 405, 503, 504, 505 General case 106, 206, 306, 406, 506 Refrigerant piping 600 Integrated controller 601 CPU
602 timer 603 memory 603A retry history part 603B communication error history part 603C retry parameter table 603D work space 604 communication I / F
605 communication line

Claims (1)

  An integrated control device that controls equipment in the store by communication and monitors the state of the equipment,
  A communication abnormality history part for storing communication abnormality history information in a communication transaction from the integrated control device;
  A retry history unit for storing history information of retry operations for equipment that was in communication abnormality in the communication transaction;
  Based on information of the communication abnormality history unit and the retry history unit, a retry determination unit that determines equipment to be retried in the communication transaction,
  The retry determination unit includes a refrigerating machine having a large influence on energy saving for the equipment to be retried, a master showcase that is a showcase having a room temperature sensor connected to the refrigerating machine by a refrigerant pipe, and a refrigerant pipe to the refrigerating machine. An integrated control apparatus characterized by weighting the order of other connected showcases and retrying the access frequency in the order of the weighting.

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