JP6951014B2 - Communication control devices, communication systems, communication control methods, and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to communication control devices, communication systems, communication control methods, and programs.

In recent years, all things are connected to the network by Internet of Things (IoT), and services for data management are rapidly increasing. For example, a system that provides various services such as home security and housing environment management in a home gateway device using IoT has started. In the future, with the declining birthrate and aging society, the long-term care society, and the welfare society, various data management using home gateway devices will become more important from the viewpoint of realizing a safe and secure society.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for collectively managing information (sensor information) indicating a sensor attached to an object by a central gateway device. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for eliminating a communication failure of a sensor attached to an object in an Internet of Things gateway device.

With the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is not possible to give redundancy to the gateway device, and it is not possible to deal with a failure of the gateway device. As described above, the expansion of redundancy and convenience of communication control devices such as gateway devices, which are the aggregation points of IoT sensors, has been delayed.

Regarding the redundancy of the gateway device, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique of adopting the N + M pool method as a redundant configuration for fault detection of the gateway device. Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a technique for performing failure detection of a gateway device based on a ping response and CPU (Central Processing Unit) load information.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-520027 Special Table 2015-532563 Special Table 2013-544480 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-064121

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 3, the system configuration is too complicated because the N + M pool method is used as the redundant configuration for fault detection of the gateway device. In particular, if the N + M pool method is adopted as a redundant configuration in the area where the sensor network is constructed as in the technique described in Patent Document 3, the gateway devices are excessively duplicated, resulting in high cost.

In the technique described in Patent Document 4, when only the part of the interface connecting the sensor in the gateway device fails, it is not possible to detect the failure, so that it is not possible to provide redundancy in such a case. ..

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a communication control device, a communication system, a communication control method, and a program that solve the above-mentioned problems. The problem is that in a communication control device for connecting an electronic device such as a sensor used in IoT to a network, the communication control device cannot provide reliable redundancy.

The communication control device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is
A communication control device that can be connected to other communication control devices and server devices.
A storage unit that stores the first setting information indicating the communication settings for connecting the electronic device to the network,
A control unit that performs communication control based on the first setting information,
Have,
The other communication control device stores the second setting information indicating the communication setting for connecting the electronic device to the network, and performs the communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information for identifying the communication control device, and the second identification information for identifying the other communication control device in association with each other.
The control unit
When the other communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the second setting information is acquired from the server device and stored in the storage unit based on the first identification information and the second identification information, and the second setting information is stored in the storage unit. (1) Communication control based on the second setting information is performed together with communication control based on the setting information.

The communication system according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is
The first communication control device and
The second communication control device and
With the server device
With
The first communication control device stores first setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to a network, and performs communication control based on the first setting information.
The second communication control device stores second setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to the network, and performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information that identifies the first communication control device, and the second identification information that identifies the second communication control device in association with each other.
When the second communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the first communication control device acquires and stores the second setting information from the server device based on the first identification information and the second identification information. Then, the communication control based on the first setting information and the communication control based on the second setting information are performed.

The communication control method according to the third aspect of the present disclosure is
A communication control method in a communication system including a first communication control device, a second communication control device, and a server device.
The first communication control device stores first setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to a network, and performs communication control based on the first setting information.
The second communication control device stores second setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to the network, and performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information that identifies the first communication control device, and the second identification information that identifies the second communication control device in association with each other.
When the second communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the first communication control device acquires and stores the second setting information from the server device based on the first identification information and the second identification information. Then, the communication control based on the first setting information and the communication control based on the second setting information are performed.

The program according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure is
To the control computer of the communication control device that can be connected to other communication control devices and server devices,
The step of storing the first setting information indicating the communication setting for connecting the electronic device to the network, and
A control step for performing communication control based on the first setting information,
It is a program to execute
The other communication control device is a device that stores second setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to the network and performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device is a device that stores the second setting information, the first identification information that identifies the communication control device, and the second identification information that identifies the other communication control device in association with each other.
The control step is
When the other communication control device satisfies the predetermined condition, the second setting information is acquired from the server device and stored based on the first identification information and the second identification information.
Communication control based on the second setting information is performed together with communication control based on the first setting information.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a communication control device, a communication system, a communication control method, and a control program that solve the above problems. That is, according to the present disclosure, in a communication control device for connecting an electronic device such as a sensor used in IoT to a network, the communication control device can be provided with certain redundancy.

It is a block diagram which shows one configuration example of the communication control device which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows one configuration example of the communication system provided with the communication control device which concerns on Embodiment 2. It is a figure which shows an example of the information registered in the server apparatus of the communication system of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the failure detection sequence in the communication system of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the reconnection sequence in the communication system of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the communication system which concerns on a comparative example. It is a figure which shows the operation sequence at the time of failure in the communication system of FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows one configuration example of the communication control device which concerns on Embodiment 3. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware composition of a communication control device.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment, the same or equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description is omitted.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a communication control device according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the communication control device 1 according to the present embodiment is a communication control device that can be connected to other communication control devices and server devices, and has a control unit 1a and a storage unit 1b. The communication control device 1 is a device capable of relaying communication, and may have a communication port (communication interface) or the like for that purpose. The communication control device 1 can function as a gateway device such as a home gateway device. In the following, the communication control device 1 may be referred to as a first communication control device, and the other communication control device may be referred to as a second communication control device.

For example, the control unit 1a (or the control unit 1a and the storage unit 1b) can be realized by an integrated circuit, and the storage unit 1b can be realized by a semiconductor memory. Further, the control unit 1a can also be realized by, for example, a CPU, a working memory, a non-volatile storage device that stores a program, or the like.

Then, the storage unit 1b stores the first setting information indicating the communication setting for connecting one or a plurality of electronic devices to the network. The connection here is basically a wireless connection, but there may be an electronic device connected by wire. Further, the control unit 1a performs communication control based on the first setting information. Therefore, it can be said that the first setting information is the setting information for the electronic device to perform communication via the communication control device 1.

Here, the electronic device may be the sensor itself used in IoT, various devices to which the sensor is attached, or an electronic device to which the sensor is not attached. good. As a result, the communication control device 1 can connect the electronic devices connected thereto to an external network such as the Internet, and for example, the information obtained by those electronic devices can be stored in the external network. You will be able to use it.

Similar to the communication control device 1, the second communication control device stores the second setting information indicating the communication setting for connecting the electronic device to the network, and performs the communication control based on the second setting information. Therefore, the second communication control device can also have a control unit and a storage unit such as the control unit 1a and the storage unit 1b. The electronic device connected to the second communication control device is basically an individual different from the electronic device connected to the communication control device 1. As will be described later, when the communication control device 1 satisfies a predetermined condition such as a failure, the second communication control device is also connected to the electronic device connected to the communication control device 1.

The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information for identifying the communication control device 1, and the second identification information for identifying the second communication control device in association with each other. The server device can be a server computer, and can have a control unit that controls the entire server and a storage unit for such storage.

Then, when the second communication control device satisfies the predetermined condition, the control unit 1a of the communication control device 1 provides the second setting information (the second associated with both) based on the first identification information and the second identification information. The setting information) is acquired from the server device and stored in the storage unit 1b. Then, the control unit 1a performs communication control based on the first setting information and communication control based on the second setting information.

Here, the predetermined condition will be described in the embodiment described later, and includes a case where a failure of the second communication control device is detected, a case where only an electronic device using only the sensor function is connected, and the like. ..

According to the communication control device 1 according to the present embodiment, in the communication control device for connecting an electronic device such as a sensor used in IoT to a network, the communication control device can be provided with certain redundancy. ..

It can be said that the second setting information is information for imparting redundancy to the communication control device 1, and the server device can also be referred to as a data management device that manages such information. Further, the communication system according to the present embodiment can be referred to as a communication control system or a maintenance (remote maintenance) system, etc., where it has the communication control device 1, the second communication control device, and the server device in this way.

<Embodiment 2>
The second embodiment will be described mainly on the differences from the first embodiment with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 and FIGS. 6 to 7 according to the comparative example, but various examples described in the first embodiment will be described. Can be applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system including the communication control device according to the second embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the communication system according to the present embodiment includes the gateway A (10) which is an example of the second communication control device, the gateway B (11) which is an example of the communication control device 1, and the above. A server 3 which is an example of a server device can be provided. In addition, the communication system shown in FIG. 2 includes a third gateway C (12). Each gateway 10 to 12 can be, for example, a home gateway device. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described based on a network configuration example as shown in FIG. 2, but the present embodiment is not limited to such a network configuration.

For example, gateway A (10) can be installed on the first floor of an office building, in which case gateway B (11) and gateway C (12) are installed on the second and third floors of the office building, respectively. Can be done. Further, for example, the gateway A (10) can be installed in the user's home, and in that case, the gateway B (11) and the gateway C (12) are both installed in the vicinity of the user's home. Can be done. Hereinafter, the case where the gateways 10 to 12 are installed on the 1st to 3rd floors of the office building will be described as an example.

Further, the server 3 is connected to each of the gateways 10 to 12 via the Internet 2, for example, and can be installed in the data center.

In this configuration example, in addition to the gateway A (10), the home appliance 20, the sensor 30, the wearable terminal (wearable device) 40, the PC (Personal Computer) 101, 102, and the mobile phone (called a smartphone) are on the first floor. (Including) 103 is arranged.

The gateway A (10) has a storage unit 11a, a monitoring unit (condition monitoring unit) 12a, and a sensor I / F 13a. Further, the gateway A (10) can have a control unit (not shown) that controls the whole, and this control unit can include a state monitoring unit 12a. The gateway A (10) can have a WAN (Wide Area Network) interface 14, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface 15, and a WLAN (Wireless LAN) interfaces 16 and 17 for connecting to the Internet 2.

In this configuration example, the home appliance 20, the sensor 30, and the wearable terminal 40 are connected to the sensor I / F13a. Further, the PC 101 is connected to the LAN interface 15, the PC 102 is connected to the WLAN interface 16, and the mobile phone 103 is connected to the WLAN interface 17.

Further, in this configuration example, in addition to the gateway B (11), the sensor 31, the wearable terminal 41, and the PC 111 are arranged on the second floor. The gateway B (11) may have a storage unit 11b, a condition monitoring unit 12b, and a sensor I / F 13b, as well as a WLAN interface 18. Further, the gateway B (11) may have a control unit (not shown) that is a control unit corresponding to the control unit 1a and controls the whole, and this control unit may include a condition monitoring unit 12b. can. The sensor 31 and the wearable terminal 41 are connected to the sensor I / F13b, and the PC 111 is connected to the WLAN interface 18. Although not shown, the gateway B (11) has a WAN interface for connecting to the Internet 2.

Further, in this configuration example, in addition to the gateway C (12), a sensor 32, a wearable terminal 42, and a PC 112 are arranged on the third floor. The gateway C (12) may have a storage unit 11c, a condition monitoring unit 12c, a sensor I / F13c, and a WLAN interface 19. Further, the gateway C (12) can have a control unit (not shown) that controls the whole, and this control unit can include a condition monitoring unit 12c. The sensor 32 and the wearable terminal 42 are connected to the sensor I / F13c, and the PC 112 is connected to the WLAN interface 19. Although not shown, the gateway C (12) has a WAN interface for connecting to the Internet 2.

In such a configuration example, a situation in which the gateway B (11) and the gateway A (10) function as the communication control device 1 and the second communication control device in the first embodiment will be described. This scene corresponds to a scene in which the control unit of the gateway B (11) detects whether or not the gateway A (10) satisfies a predetermined condition. That is, in the following, an example will be described in which the gateway A (10), the server 3, and the gateway B (11) have realized a configuration in which the gateway is remotely maintained to have redundancy. Here, as the predetermined condition, the fact that the gateway B (11) detects the failure of the gateway A (10) will be taken as an example, and the description will be made with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of information (database registration information) registered in the server device of the communication system of FIG. Further, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a failure detection sequence in the communication system of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a reconnection sequence in the communication system of FIG.

First, as a premise for dealing with a failure of the gateway A (10), it is necessary to store the second setting information of the gateway A (10) in the server 3. Therefore, the gateway A (10) has the following configuration. First, the storage unit 11a stores the second setting information of the gateway A (10). Hereinafter, the second setting information may be exemplified by the pairing setting information.

The pairing setting information is information stored for each electronic device such as the home appliance 20, the sensor 30, and the wearable terminal 40. The pairing setting information can include device identification information (device ID, etc.), a communication method used for communication with the sensor I / F13a, a password, and the like for the corresponding electronic device. As a communication method, various wireless communication methods can be mentioned, and since the required communication area is often narrow, short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), Z-wave (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), etc. It is preferable to adopt a communication method.

The pairing information is registered in the server 3 every time an electronic device such as a sensor is connected at the gateway A. As described above, the information registered in the server 3 is information necessary for pairing, such as including the communication method (wireless communication method) used and the device identification information of the connected electronic device. .. As illustrated in FIG. 3, these pieces of information are stored in association with the device serial number and MAC address as part of the second identification information of the gateway A (10).

For such registration, the control unit of the gateway A (10) has a function of associating the pairing setting information with the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the gateway A (10) and uploading it to the server 3. Can be done.

Further, the control unit of the gateway A (10) can have a function of inputting information on a gateway that can be used as a substitute at the time of failure, that is, information on the gateway that detects its own failure state. In this example, the control unit of gateway A (10) can input the device serial and MAC address of gateway B (11).

This function includes, for example, a function that automatically searches for a neighboring gateway and automatically selects at least one, and allows the user to input information on the neighboring gateway from an operation unit (not shown), a connected PC, or the like. Functions etc. can be mentioned. The control unit of gateway A (10) uploads the pairing setting information to the server 3 by associating it with not only the MAC address of gateway A (10) but also the MAC address of a neighboring gateway (gateway B (11) in this example). Can have the function of The MAC address of the gateway B (11) can be configured to be uploaded to the server 3 separately. The state monitoring unit 12a monitors the failure state inside the gateway A (10), such as the sensor I / F13a. This monitoring method does not matter.

The server 3 receives the uploaded information, that is, the second setting information and the gateway A (the second identification information (MAC address, etc.) that identifies 10 and the first identification information (MAC address, etc.) that identifies the gateway B (11). ) Is stored and managed. As a result, the gateway A (10) and the gateway B (11) are registered in the server 3 as devices belonging to a specific group of a monitored side and a monitored side. At this time, the server 3 can manage the information as an associated database.

Further, an example in which the control unit of the gateway A (10) inputs the device serial and the MAC address of the gateway B (11) and registers them in the server 3 has been described. On the other hand, the control unit of the gateway B (10) may be configured to input the device serial and MAC address of the gateway A (10), which is the state detection destination, and register the device in the server 3. It can be said that it is preferable to adopt this configuration in the sense that the user of the gateway B (11) has allowed the substitution. Even in this configuration, the state detection destination can be determined by user input or automatic search.

Further, the server 3 can have a function of responding to the download request from the gateway B (11) and a function of collating the registered data in response to the collation request from the gateway B (11). The control unit of the gateway B (11) has a function of downloading the pairing setting information associated with its own MAC address from the server 3 and storing it in the storage unit 11b by making a download request. The storage unit 11b temporarily (more specifically, until the gateway A (10) is restored) temporarily stores the pairing setting information of the gateway A (10) downloaded from the server 3.

An example of failure detection processing in such a configuration example will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, it means that the gateway A (10) is in operation (step S101) and is operating normally (step S102), or that a failure is detected (detected) (step S105). , It can be judged by the presence or absence of a response to the periodic polling. More specifically, the failure of the gateway A (10) can be detected (determined) by the presence or absence of a response (Ack) to the periodic polling (AckReq) from the gateway B (11) and the server 3. Here, the failure of the sensor I / F13a of the gateway A (10) is detected by the sensor I / F13b of the gateway B (11), and the communication interruption of the WAN interface 14 of the gateway A (11) is detected by the server 3. Can be configured.

However, in the case of the intentional power off by the user operation (step S103), the gateway A (10) notifies the connection disconnection before the power is turned off so that the gateway B (11) and the server 3 do not erroneously determine that the failure is detected. Notify (Deauthementation). The gateway B (11) and the server 3 stop the periodic polling after receiving the connection disconnection notification (Deception). The gateway B (11) and the server 3 receive the connection notification (authentication) after the power of the gateway A (10) is turned on (step S104), and restart the periodic polling (AckReq). Then, when an Ac wait timeout occurs during regular polling, it is determined that a failure has been detected.

In this way, the server 3 periodically monitors whether or not it can be connected to the gateway A (10), and the control unit of the gateway B (11) is able to connect to the gateway A (10). It is preferable to monitor the server regularly. In particular, the control unit of the gateway B (11) detects that the gateway A (10) has failed when it indicates that the connection is not possible and the monitoring result of the server 3 also indicates that the connection is not possible. It is preferable to do so. The monitoring result on the server 3 may be acquired by the gateway B (11) from the server 3, or may be spontaneously transmitted to the gateway B (11) by the server 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the gateway A (10) fails (step S201), the reconnection process is performed. In the processing example shown in FIG. 5, the gateway B (11) detects the failure (step S202).

After that, the gateway B (11) requests the server 3 to download the pairing setting information (setting value) of the gateway A (10), downloads the downloaded pairing setting information, and stores the downloaded pairing setting information in the Temporary of the storage unit 11b. Reflect in the area.

The gateway B (11) scans (connects) peripheral devices based on the pairing setting information (step S203), authenticates each other with an electronic device such as a sensor using an authentication packet, and performs device information (Node information) of the electronic device. ). Then, the gateway B (11) collates the received information with the information registered in the server 3, and completes the registration in the network only when they match (step S204).

As described above, when the above-mentioned predetermined condition is satisfied, the control unit of the gateway B (11) receives device information indicating the electronic device connected to the gateway A (10) from both the gateway A (10) and the server 3. It is preferable to obtain it. Therefore, the server 3 may store the device information indicating the electronic device connected to the gateway A (10) as a part of the second setting information. Then, it is preferable that the control unit of the gateway B (11) stores the second setting information for the electronic device whose device information matches, and performs communication control based on the second setting information.

Further, when the gateway A (10) is restored (step S206) and the connection notification (Authentication) is received, the security is ensured by deleting the pairing setting information in the maintenance area. By this deletion (or by a separate disconnection operation or the like), the reconnection is interrupted (step S205). As described above, the control unit (not shown) of the gateway B (11) sends the second setting information to the gateway B (11) when the gateway A (10) satisfies the above-mentioned predetermined conditions and then returns to the unsatisfied state. ) Is preferable.

Further, for example, a configuration can be adopted in which the gateway A (10) serves as a substitute device when the gateway C (12) fails, and the gateway C (12) serves as a substitute device when the gateway B (11) fails. For example, the device serial and MAC address of the gateway C (12), which is the state detection destination, are set in the gateway A (10), and the device of the gateway B (11), which is the state detection destination, is set in the gateway C (12). All you have to do is set the serial and MAC addresses. Such a configuration can be realized by adding the information stored in the server 3 in the same way and configuring the control units of the gateways A (10) and C (12) in the same manner as the control unit 1a. can.

As described above, the communication system according to the present embodiment is a remote maintenance / redundant configuration system for gateways. More specifically, this communication system shares a gateway function such as a home gateway function within a specific group and detects a gateway failure. Then, this communication system has a redundant function that a sensor (IoT) under the failed gateway automatically pairs and connects to another gateway in the same group. That is, in the gateway according to the present embodiment, even if the gateway being used fails, the service of the sensor connected to the failed gateway can be continuously used according to the pairing setting information registered in the server 3. It will be possible.

As a result, the user can continuously use services using sensors (home security, residential environment management, etc.). Further, since the service provider that operates the server 3 can remotely detect the failure of the electronic device, the maintainability can be improved. For this maintenance, it is advisable to register user information such as a user ID for each of the electronic devices in the server 3.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the pairing setting information used for the adjacent gateway is downloaded, the service using the sensor (IoT) can be continued even if the gateway fails.

Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to detect a gateway failure by periodically polling from a nearby gateway or data center. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the server 3 has the pairing setting information and can be downloaded, the time for reconnecting the sensor can be shortened. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the server 3 has the pairing setting information and can be downloaded, the redundant configuration can be made expandable as in the third and fourth embodiments to be described later.

Here, for comparison with the present embodiment, the communication system according to the comparative example will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a communication system according to a comparative example, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation sequence at the time of failure in the communication system of FIG.

In the communication system shown in FIG. 6, a gateway E (10a) connected to the Internet 2, a home appliance 20, a sensor 30, a wearable terminal 40, a PC101, a PC102, and a mobile phone 103 is installed on the first floor of an office building. .. Further, in this communication system, a gateway F (11a) connected to a sensor 31, a wearable terminal 41, and a PC 111 is installed on the second floor of an office building. The gateway E (10a) has a storage unit 11aa in which the pairing setting information D and the like are stored, and the gateway F (11a) has a storage unit 11ba in which the pairing setting information E and the like are stored.

A procedure for continuing the service when the gateway E (10a) fails in the communication system according to such a comparative example will be described with reference to FIG. 7. First, while the gateway E (10a) is operating (step S301), the user detects that the sensor service does not operate (step S302) or detects that the Internet connection cannot be established (step S303).

After step S302 or step S303, the user performs any user operation of steps S304 to S306. In step S304, the manual and the shooting trouble are confirmed, and the user operation is performed according to the confirmation. In step S305, a user operation for restarting the device is performed. In step S306, a user operation for contacting the customer support center is performed. After any of steps S304 to S306, the gateway E (10a) is restored and service is continued (step S309), or the gateway E (10a) is determined to be faulty (step S308), during the replacement period. The service is interrupted (step S310).

As described above, in the communication system according to the comparative example, failure detection (power failure, startup failure, etc.) and remote maintenance cannot be performed, and Internet access cannot be performed during failure replacement. Further, in the communication system according to the comparative example, it becomes impossible to manage data during failure exchange and deal with an unexpected accident.

<Embodiment 3>
The third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8 and mainly the differences from the second embodiment including its effects. However, various examples described in the first and second embodiments can be applied to the third embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the communication control device according to the third embodiment.

In the communication system illustrated in FIG. 2, the gateway D (13) is arranged on the fourth floor of the office building in the communication system illustrated in FIG. The gateway D (13) has a storage unit 11d, a condition monitoring unit 12d, a sensor I / F13d, and a WLAN interface 19d. The sensor 33 and the wearable terminal 43 are connected to the sensor I / F13d, and the PC 113 is connected to the WLAN interface 19d. The components of each device and the gateway D (13) on the 4th floor are as described for the other gateways.

The communication system according to the present embodiment is a system that can be used in the communication system according to the second embodiment when the gateway B (11) at the reconnection destination is also out of order. In this communication system, when the gateway A (10) and the gateway B (11) fail, the gateway C (12) downloads the pairing setting information A and B from the server 3 and reconnects in the same sequence. conduct. This makes it possible to add extensibility to the redundant configuration. At this time, in the event of a failure of the gateway C (12), the gateway D (13) may be configured to function as an alternative device.

<Embodiment 4>
The fourth embodiment will be described focusing on the differences from the second embodiment including its effects. However, various examples described in the first to third embodiments can be applied to the fourth embodiment.

In the second embodiment, failure detection is taken as an example as the predetermined condition, but in the present embodiment, other conditions are adopted. In the present embodiment, for example, a gateway that uses only the sensor function is turned off, and by consolidating the gateways in adjacent gateways, the total power consumption in a specific area or a specific office can be reduced.

That is, in the present embodiment, as the above-mentioned predetermined condition, all the electronic devices connected to the gateway A (10) have a sensor and have a function of transmitting the detection information detected by the sensor. Is adopted. Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit of the gateway B (11) controls to turn off the power of the gateway A (10) when the above-mentioned predetermined conditions are satisfied.

Further, the control to turn off the power is not indispensable, and when a failure is detected, or all the electronic devices connected to the gateway A (10) have a sensor and transmit the detection information detected by the sensor. When the device has a function to perform the function, an alternative device may be used. The alternative device in this case is, for example, gateway B (11) as described above.

Further, instead of all the electronic devices connected to the gateway A (10) becoming devices having a sensor and having a function of transmitting the detection information detected by the sensor, the following conditions are adopted. You can also do it. That is, the above-mentioned predetermined condition can be regarded as a device in which all the above-mentioned electronic devices have sensors and do not have a function of receiving information from the outside, and if it can be determined by the device information or the like, it is simply classified as IoT. It can also be a device.

<Other embodiments>
[A]
In the first embodiment, the functions of the control unit 1a and the storage unit 1b of the communication control device 1 shown in FIG. 1 have been described, but it is sufficient that these functions can be realized as the communication control device 1. Similarly, in the second and third embodiments, the functions of each component of each gateway have been described, but it suffices if these functions can be realized as a communication control device.

[B]
The communication control device according to the first to fourth embodiments may have the following hardware configuration. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the communication control device according to the first to fourth embodiments. The same applies to the other embodiment [a].

The communication control device 90 shown in FIG. 9 includes a processor 91 and a memory 92. The function of the control unit (control unit 1a, etc.) in the communication control device described in the first to fourth embodiments is realized by the processor 91 reading and executing the control program stored in the memory 92. This control program can be a program for causing the processor 91 to function as its control unit.

In the above example, the control program can be stored and supplied to the computer using various types of non-transitory computer readable medium. Non-transient computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-temporary computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (eg, flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (eg, magneto-optical disks). Further, this example includes a CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), a CD-R, and a CD-R / W. Further, this example includes semiconductor memories (eg, mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (Random Access Memory)). The program may also be supplied to the computer by various types of transient computer readable medium. Examples of temporary computer-readable media include electrical, optical, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

[C]
Further, as illustrated in the various embodiments described above, the procedure of a communication control method in a communication system including a first communication control device, a second communication control device, and a server device, the present disclosure discloses communication. It can also take a form as a control method. In this communication control method, when the second communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the first communication control device acquires and stores the second setting information from the server device based on the first identification information and the second identification information. Then, the communication control based on the first setting information and the communication control based on the second setting information are performed. Other examples are as described in the various embodiments described above. Further, it can be said that the control program is a program for causing the communication control device or its control computer to execute the above-mentioned communication control method.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit. Further, the present disclosure may be carried out by appropriately combining the respective embodiments.

1, 90 Communication control device 1a Control unit 1b, 11a, 11aa, 11b, 11ba, 11c, 11d Storage unit 2 Internet 3 Server 10 Gateway A
11 Gateway B
12 Gateway C
12a, 12b, 12c, 12d Condition monitoring unit 13 Gateway D
13a, 13b, 13c, 13d Sensor I / F
14 WAN interface 15 LAN interface 16, 17, 18, 19, 19d WLAN interface 30, 31, 32, 33 Sensor 40, 41, 42, 43 Wearable terminal 91 Processor 92 Memory 101, 102, 111, 112, 113 PC
103 mobile phone

Claims (7)

A communication control device that can be connected to other communication control devices and server devices.
A storage unit that stores the first setting information indicating the communication settings for connecting the electronic device to the network,
A control unit that performs communication control based on the first setting information,
Have,
The other communication control device stores the second setting information indicating the communication setting for connecting the electronic device to the network, and performs the communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information for identifying the communication control device, and the second identification information for identifying the other communication control device in association with each other.
The control unit
When the other communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the second setting information is acquired from the server device and stored in the storage unit based on the first identification information and the second identification information, and the second setting information is stored in the storage unit. 1 Perform communication control based on the second setting information together with communication control based on the setting information.
The predetermined condition is that only an electronic device having a sensor and a function of transmitting detection information detected by the sensor is connected to the other communication control device.
Communication control device. The control unit controls to turn off the power of the other communication control device when the predetermined condition is satisfied.
The communication control device according to claim 1. When the other communication control device satisfies the predetermined condition and then returns to a state where the control unit does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the control unit deletes the second setting information from the communication control device.
The communication control device according to claim 1 or 2. The server device stores device information indicating an electronic device connected to the other communication control device as a part of the second setting information.
When the predetermined condition is satisfied, the control unit acquires the device information from both the electronic device and the server device, and stores the second setting information for the electronic device whose device information matches. Performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The communication control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The first communication control device and
The second communication control device and
With the server device
With
The first communication control device stores first setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to a network, and performs communication control based on the first setting information.
The second communication control device stores second setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to the network, and performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information that identifies the first communication control device, and the second identification information that identifies the second communication control device in association with each other.
When the second communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the first communication control device acquires and stores the second setting information from the server device based on the first identification information and the second identification information. Then, the communication control based on the first setting information and the communication control based on the second setting information are performed.
The predetermined condition is that only an electronic device having a sensor and a function of transmitting detection information detected by the sensor is connected to the second communication control device.
Communications system. A communication control method in a communication system including a first communication control device, a second communication control device, and a server device.
The first communication control device stores first setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to a network, and performs communication control based on the first setting information.
The second communication control device stores second setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to the network, and performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device stores the second setting information, the first identification information that identifies the first communication control device, and the second identification information that identifies the second communication control device in association with each other.
When the second communication control device satisfies a predetermined condition, the first communication control device acquires and stores the second setting information from the server device based on the first identification information and the second identification information. Then, the communication control based on the first setting information and the communication control based on the second setting information are performed.
The predetermined condition is that only an electronic device having a sensor and a function of transmitting detection information detected by the sensor is connected to the second communication control device.
Communication control method. To the control computer of the communication control device that can be connected to other communication control devices and server devices,
The step of storing the first setting information indicating the communication setting for connecting the electronic device to the network, and
A control step for performing communication control based on the first setting information,
It is a program to execute
The other communication control device is a device that stores second setting information indicating communication settings for connecting an electronic device to the network and performs communication control based on the second setting information.
The server device is a device that stores the second setting information, the first identification information that identifies the communication control device, and the second identification information that identifies the other communication control device in association with each other.
The control step is
When the other communication control device satisfies the predetermined condition, the second setting information is acquired from the server device and stored based on the first identification information and the second identification information.
Communication control based on the first setting information and communication control based on the second setting information are performed.
The predetermined condition is that only an electronic device having a sensor and a function of transmitting detection information detected by the sensor is connected to the other communication control device.
program.

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