JP7334584B2 - Server and aggregation method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a server that communicates with a backup power supply that supplies power to electrical loads during a power outage, and a tallying method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an electric load provided with a backup power supply in case a commercial power supply (hereinafter also referred to as a "system") fails (for example, see Patent Document 1). Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes a cable television node amplifier as an electrical load. A node amplifier is placed on a cable television communication network to amplify a signal, and operates with power supplied from a commercial power supply. The node amplifier is also connected to a power supply (equivalent to a backup power supply), and operates with power supplied from the power supply during a power failure.

Conventionally, when a power failure occurs and a backup power supply starts backup operation, information indicating that backup operation has started is sent to the server, and when backup operation is stopped, information indicating that backup operation has stopped is sent to the server. It is also possible to send to

Japanese Patent No. 6528917

Conventional servers have room for improvement in effectively utilizing the information indicating that the backup operation has been started and the information indicating that the backup operation has been stopped.
This specification discloses a technique for effectively utilizing operation information that can determine whether or not the backup power supply is in backup operation.

A server that communicates with a backup power supply that supplies power to an electrical load during a power failure, comprising: a first communication unit that communicates with the backup power supply; a reception process for receiving operation information from which it can be determined whether or not the power supply is in operation; an aggregation process for aggregating the number of the backup power supplies that are in backup operation based on the operation information received in the reception process; to run.

It is possible to effectively utilize operation information that can determine whether or not the backup power supply is in backup operation.

Schematic diagram showing a cable television communication network according to Embodiment 1 Schematic diagram of a communication network that communicably connects a relay device and a server Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the repeater Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the server Notification processing flowchart

(Outline of this embodiment)
(1) A server that communicates with a backup power supply that supplies power to an electrical load during a power outage, comprising: a first communication unit that communicates with the backup power supply; Receiving processing for receiving operation information from a power supply that enables determination of whether or not backup operation is in progress, and counting for counting the number of backup power sources that are in backup operation based on the operation information received in the reception processing. A server that performs processing.

The inventors of the present application have found that when a power failure occurs and the backup power supply starts a backup operation, the measures to be taken by the administrator of the backup power supply differ depending on the scale of the power failure.
According to the server described above, the number of backup power sources that are in backup operation is counted based on the operation information received from each backup power source, so the scale of the power outage can be determined from the counted number. Therefore, for example, if the server sends information indicating the scale of the power outage to the administrator of the backup power source by e-mail or the like, the manager can take appropriate measures according to the scale of the power outage. Therefore, according to the server described above, it is possible to effectively utilize operation information that can determine whether or not the backup power supply is in backup operation.

(2) A storage unit that stores the backup power supply and an information transmission destination in association with each other; and a second communication unit that transmits information to the transmission destination, wherein the control unit performs a backup operation. A transmission process may be executed for transmitting information corresponding to the number counted in the counting process to the transmission destination associated with the backup power supply in.

As described above, the measures to be taken by the administrator of the backup power supply during a power outage differ depending on the scale of the power outage. According to the above server, for example, the scale of the power outage is determined from the number counted in the count processing, and information representing the determined scale (an example of information according to the counted count) is sent to the backup power supply administrator's e-mail address (sent destination), the administrator can take appropriate measures according to the scale of the power outage.

(3) In the transmission process, the control unit may determine the scale of the power outage from the number counted in the tallying process, and transmit information representing the scale of the power outage as information according to the number.

According to the server described above, since information indicating the scale of the power outage is transmitted, the administrator can take appropriate measures according to the scale of the power outage.

(4) In the transmission process, the control unit may determine measures to be taken against the power outage based on the number counted in the tallying process, and transmit coping information representing the measures as information according to the number.

An inexperienced administrator of the backup power supply may not be able to understand appropriate countermeasures even if he/she receives information corresponding to the totaled number (for example, information indicating the scale of power failure). According to the above server, since the countermeasure information indicating the countermeasure according to the scale of the power outage is transmitted, even an inexperienced administrator can appropriately cope with the power outage.

(5) In the receiving process, the control unit receives from each of the backup power supplies the operation information and location information that can identify the location of the backup power supply, and in the sending process, a power outage occurs based on the location information. It is also possible to determine the range in which the power failure occurs, and further transmit information representing the range in which the power failure occurs.

According to the above server, the administrator of the backup power supply can know not only the scale of the power outage but also the range (region) where the power outage occurs. This makes it possible to grasp the situation of the power outage more concretely.

The invention disclosed in this specification can be realized in various forms such as an apparatus, a method, a computer program for realizing the functions of these apparatuses or methods, a recording medium recording the computer program, and the like.

<Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. In the following description, the reference numerals in the drawings may be omitted except for some of the same components.

(1) Cable Television Communication Network A cable television communication network 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a cable television communication network 1 includes a plurality of repeaters 10 for amplifying signals. Each repeater 10 is connected in a star configuration with an optical fiber cable 11 or the like starting from the cable television station. The form in which each relay device 10 is connected is not limited to the star type, and may be, for example, a mesh type or a combination of a star type and a mesh type.

As shown in FIG. 2, each relay device 10 is communicably connected to a server 13 via a communication network 12 (a communication network different from the communication network 1) such as the Internet or a mobile communication network. The server 13 is a computer for managing the backup power supply 25 (see FIG. 3) provided in the relay device 10 . The relay device 10 may communicate with the server 13 via the communication network 1 of cable television.

(1-1) Configuration of Relay Device As shown in FIG. 3, the relay device 10 includes an amplifier 21 (an example of an electrical load), a power supply unit section 22, a power storage device 23, a monitoring function section 24, and the like. The power supply unit section 22 , the power storage device 23 and the monitoring function section 24 constitute a backup power supply 25 . The power supply unit section 22 serves as both a power supply section that supplies power to the amplifier 21 during normal times (when there is no power failure) and a backup power supply 25 .

The amplifier 21 is an amplifier for amplifying cable television signals. The amplifier 21 is connected to another repeater 10 via an optical fiber cable 11 . The amplifier 21 is connected to a commercial power supply and operates with power supplied from the commercial power supply. The amplifier 21 is also connected to a backup power supply 25 and operates by power supplied from the backup power supply 25 during a power failure.

The power unit section 22 includes an isolation transformer 22A, a bidirectional inverter 22B and a control circuit 22C. The isolation transformer 22A transforms the voltage supplied from the commercial power supply. The insulating transformer 22A has one end connected to a commercial power supply and the other end connected to the amplifier 21 .
The bidirectional inverter 22B has one end connected to the insulating transformer 22A and the other end connected to the power storage device 23 . The bi-directional inverter 22B is capable of bi-directional conversion of converting alternating current supplied from a commercial power source into direct current and converting direct current supplied from the power storage device 23 into alternating current.

The control circuit 22C includes a microcomputer in which a CPU, a RAM, etc. are integrated into one chip, a ROM, and the like. 22 C of control circuits control the power supply unit part 22, the electrical storage apparatus 23, and the monitoring function part 24 by running the program memorize|stored in ROM.

The power storage device 23 includes a plurality of power storage elements 23A and a voltage sensor 23B that measures the voltage (cell voltage) of each power storage element 23A and outputs it to the control circuit 22C. The power storage element 23A is a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, specifically a lithium ion secondary battery, for example. The storage element 31 may be a secondary battery other than the lithium ion secondary battery.

The monitoring function unit 23 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 24A, a NIC (Network Interface Card) 24B, and a communication device 24C (for example, a router). The GPS sensor 24A is a device that receives position information (latitude and longitude) from positioning satellites. The NIC 24B and the communication device 24C are devices for the control circuit 22C to communicate with the server 13. FIG.

A backup power supply 25 supplies power to the amplifier 21 when a power failure occurs. In the following description, a state in which the backup power supply 25 is supplying power is called a backup operation, and a state in which the backup operation is not being performed is called a non-backup operation.

When the backup power source 25 starts backup operation (changes from non-backup operation to backup operation), the control circuit 22C sends operation start information (an example of operation information) indicating that the backup operation has started to the server. Send to 13. When the backup operation stops (when the backup operation changes to the non-backup operation), the control circuit 22C transmits to the server 13 operation stop information (an example of operation information) indicating that the backup operation has stopped. . This allows the server 13 to determine whether the backup power supply 25 is in backup operation.

The control circuit 22C also transmits the identification information of the backup power supply 25 and the position information of the backup power supply 25 to the server 13 in addition to the operation information described above. The identification information is information for uniquely identifying the backup power supply. The positional information is information that can specify the position of the backup power supply 25, and specifically is information representing the latitude and longitude acquired by the GPS sensor 24A. The location information may be information representing the address of the place where the backup power supply 25 is installed. Alternatively, if the identification information of the backup power supply 25 and the address of the place where the backup power supply 25 is installed are associated and stored in the server 13, the identification information of the backup power supply 25 may be transmitted as the position information. good.

(1-2) Server Configuration As shown in FIG. 4, the server 13 includes a CPU 41 (an example of a control unit), a RAM 42, a storage unit 43, and a communication unit 44 (an example of a first communication unit and a second communication unit). etc. The CPU 41 controls each part of the server 13 by executing various programs stored in the storage part 43 . The RAM 42 is used as a main storage device for the CPU 41 to execute various programs.

The storage unit 43 is a storage device that retains data even when power is not supplied. Various programs and data are stored in the storage unit 43 . The various data include information shown in Table 1, which will be described later, and a table in which the identification information of the backup power source 25 and the e-mail address (an example of the destination) of the administrator of the backup power source 25 are associated with each other. .
The communication unit 44 is a device for the server 13 to communicate with the backup power source 25 and other devices via the communication network 12 such as the Internet.

(2) Server Operation When the server 13 receives the operation start information from the backup power supply 25, the backup power supply 25 is in backup operation until it receives the operation stop information from the backup power supply 25. judge there is. The process in which the server 13 receives the operation start information and the operation stop information from the backup power supply 25 is an example of the reception process.

The server 13 tallies the number of backup power supplies 25 that are in backup operation at a given time interval, such as every five minutes. The server 13 determines the scale of the power outage from the counted number, and provides information representing the scale of the power outage (an example of information according to the counted number) and coping information representing measures to be taken according to the scale of the power outage (corresponding to the counted number). (an example of the information received) is sent to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 by e-mail. Hereinafter, with reference to Table 1, the scale of power outages and coping information will be described.

As shown in Table 1, in the first embodiment, the scale of power outages is classified into four categories: "individual", "small", "medium", and "large".

"Individual" means that only one backup power supply 25 is in backup operation. If the scale of the power outage is "individual", the cause of the power outage is not an abnormality in the equipment of the electric power company, but an abnormality in the service line that connects the power receiving point that receives the power supplied from the commercial power supply and the relay device 10. likely to be. Specifically, there is a high possibility that the service line is disconnected, the fuse provided in the service line is blown, or the breaker is tripped.

Normally, when the scale of the power outage is "individual", the administrator who manages the backup power supply 25 inspects the lead-in line at the site and performs restoration work. If the scale is "individual", it is expected to recover relatively quickly, but even so, there is a possibility that it will not recover within the time that the backup power supply 25 can supply power, so connect a backup power supply such as a diesel generator. is desirable. Therefore, when the scale of the power outage is "individual", the server 13 transmits "individual" as the scale of the power outage, and as the countermeasure information, "inspection of the lead-in line at the site and connection of the standby power supply at the site. ”.

"Small" indicates that the number of backup power sources 25 in backup operation is equivalent to the number of relay devices 10 installed in one district of one city (for example, 2 to 100 units), and the number is in backup operation. is concentrated in a relatively narrow range (a range corresponding to one district in one city). If the scale of the power outage is "small", the cause of the power outage may be equipment failure of the electric power company (collapsed utility pole, broken electric wire, faulty pole transformer, etc.).
If the scale is "small", it is expected to recover relatively quickly, but even so, there is a possibility that the recovery will not occur within the time that the backup power supply 25 can supply power. Therefore, when the scale of the power outage is "small", the server 13 transmits "small" as the scale of the power outage and "connection of standby power supply at the site" as countermeasure information.

"Medium" indicates that the number of backup power sources 25 in backup operation corresponds to the number of relay devices 10 installed in one city (for example, 101 to 500 units), and the number of backup power sources in backup operation. 25 are concentrated in a medium range (a range corresponding to one city). If the scale of the power outage is "medium", the cause of the power outage may be equipment failure of the electric power company (collapsed utility pole, broken electric wire, abnormality of the pole transformer, etc.), natural disaster, or the like.
If the scale is "medium", there is a high possibility that cable television cannot be viewed, and therefore the need to operate the relay device 10 is low. Therefore, when the scale of the power outage is "medium", the server 13 transmits "medium" as the scale of the power outage, but does not transmit countermeasure information.

“Large” is a number corresponding to the number of relay devices 10 (for example, 501 or more) installed in one prefecture or a plurality of cities, and the number of backup power sources 25 in backup operation This is the case where the power sources 25 are concentrated over a wide area (a range corresponding to one prefecture or multiple cities). If the scale of the power outage is "large", the cause of the power outage may be equipment failure of the power company (collapsed electric pole, broken electric wire, abnormality of the pole transformer, etc.), large-scale natural disaster, or the like.
If the scale is "large", there is a high possibility that cable television cannot be viewed, and therefore the need to operate the relay device 10 is low. Therefore, when the scale of the power outage is "large", the server 13 transmits "large" as the scale of the power outage, but does not transmit countermeasure information.

A notification process executed by the CPU 41 (an example of the control unit) of the server 13 will be described with reference to FIG. The notification process determines the scale of the power outage based on the operation information (operation start information and operation stop information) received from each backup power supply 25, and outputs information representing the scale of the power outage and coping information representing measures to be taken according to the scale of the power outage. etc. to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 by e-mail. The notification process is executed at predetermined time intervals such as every 5 minutes.

In S101, the server 13 counts the number N of backup power sources 25 in backup operation (an example of counting processing).
In S102, the server 13 determines whether or not the number N is 0. If it is 0, the process ends, and if it is not 0, the process proceeds to S103.
In S103, the server 13 determines whether or not N=1, and if N=1, proceeds to S106, and if greater than 1, proceeds to S104.

In S104, the server 13 determines whether or not 2≦N≦100. If 2≦N≦100, the process proceeds to S107, and if greater than 100, the process proceeds to S105.
In S105, the server 13 determines whether or not 101≦N≦500. If 101≦N≦500, the process proceeds to S108, and if greater than 500, the process proceeds to S109.

In S106, the server 13 sends the following information to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 in backup operation by e-mail.
・Scale of power outage: Individual ・Countermeasure information: Inspection of lead-in line at site and connection of backup power supply at site

In S107, the server 13 determines the extent of the power failure from the location information received from the backup power supply 25, and sends the following information to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 in backup operation by e-mail.
・Scale of power outage: small ・Countermeasure information: connection of backup power supply on site ・Scope of power outage: name of district where power outage occurs

In S108, the range where the power failure occurs is determined from the position information received from the backup power supply 25, and the following information is sent by e-mail to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 in backup operation.
・Scale of power outage: Medium ・Countermeasure information: None ・Scope of power outage: Name of city where power outage occurs

In S109, the range in which the power failure occurs is determined from the position information received from the backup power supply 25, and the following information is sent by e-mail to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 in backup operation.
・Scale of power outage: Large ・Countermeasure information: None ・Scope of power outage: Prefecture name of power outage or city name of city

As described above, the server 13 executes notification processing at predetermined time intervals such as five minutes. However, if the same e-mail is sent to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 every five minutes, it is troublesome for the administrator. Therefore, the e-mail may be sent only once per backup operation. Even if the e-mail is sent only once for each backup operation, it is desirable to send the e-mail again to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 when the scale of the power failure changes.

(3) Effect of Embodiment Based on the operation information (operation start information and operation stop information) received from each backup power supply 25, the server 13 aggregates the number of backup power supplies 25 that are in backup operation, and the aggregated number to determine the scale of the blackout. Then, the server 13 sends an e-mail to the administrator of the backup power supply 25 indicating the extent of the power failure. Therefore, the administrator of the backup power supply 25 can take appropriate measures according to the scale of the power failure. Therefore, according to the server 13, it is possible to effectively utilize operation information that can determine whether or not the backup power source 25 is in the backup operation.

According to the server 13, since the countermeasure information representing the countermeasure according to the scale of the power failure (the number of the backup power sources 25 in backup operation) is transmitted to the manager of the backup power source 25, even an inexperienced manager can appropriately handle the power failure. can.

According to the server 13, the information representing the range of the power outage is further transmitted to the administrator of the backup power supply 25, so that the administrator of the backup power supply 25 can not only know the scale of the power outage but also the range of the power outage. can know. This makes it possible to grasp the situation of the power outage more concretely.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the configuration of one embodiment can be added to the configuration of another embodiment. Also, part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment or a known technique. Also, part of the configuration of an embodiment can be deleted. Also, well-known techniques can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the backup power supply 25 transmits operation start information to the server 13 at the timing when the non-backup operation is changed to the backup operation, and operation stop information to the server 13 at the timing when the backup operation is stopped. Send. However, the motion information is not limited to this. For example, operation information indicating that the backup operation is in progress may be transmitted to the server 13 at regular time intervals during the backup operation, and the operation information may not be transmitted to the server 13 during the non-backup operation. Even in this way, the server 13 can determine whether or not the backup power supply 25 is in the backup operation.
Conversely, during the non-backup operation, the operation information indicating the non-backup operation may be transmitted to the server 13 at regular time intervals, and the operation information may not be transmitted to the server 13 during the backup operation.

(2) The scale of power outages shown in Table 1 of the above embodiment and the countermeasures according to the scale are examples, and the classification of the scale of blackouts and the countermeasures according to the scale are not limited to these. For example, in Table 1, the scale is classified into four levels, "individual", "small", "medium", and "high", but there are only two "individual" and "other than individual (2 or more)" It may be classified, or may be classified into five or more stages.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the information indicating the scale of power outages is used as the information corresponding to the totaled number, but the information corresponding to the totaled number is not limited to this. For example, the information according to the counted number may be information representing the counted number itself. Then, the administrator of the backup power supply 25 may judge the scale of the power outage from the number.

(4) In the above embodiment, the communication unit 44 is used as an example of the first communication unit and the second communication unit. may be configured as separate communication units.

(5) In the above embodiment, the case where the information corresponding to the number of backup power sources 25 in backup operation is sent to the administrator of the backup power sources 25 by e-mail has been described as an example. does not have to be sent to For example, the aggregated numbers may be used only by the server 13 (or the operator of the server 13) to determine the scale and extent of the blackout.

(6) In the above embodiment, the amplifier 21 included in the relay device 12 of the cable television was described as an example of the electric load, but the electric load is not limited to this. The electrical load may be the base station of a mobile communication network, for example a mobile phone, since the base station of the mobile communication network may have a backup power supply.

(7) In the above embodiment, a lithium ion secondary battery was described as an example of the storage element 31, but the storage element 31 may be a capacitor that involves an electrochemical reaction.

13 Server 21 Amplifier (an example of electrical load)
25 Backup power supply 41 CPU (an example of a control unit)
43 storage unit 44 communication unit (an example of a first communication unit and a second communication unit)

Claims (6)

A server in communication with a backup power source that powers an electrical load during a power outage, comprising:
a first communication unit that communicates with the backup power supply;
a control unit;
with
The control unit
a receiving process for receiving operation information from each of the backup power supplies that enables determination of whether or not the backup operation is being performed;
a tallying process of tallying the number of the backup power supplies that are in backup operation based on the operation information received in the reception process;
A server that runs A server according to claim 1,
a storage unit that stores the backup power supply and an information transmission destination in association with each other;
a second communication unit that transmits information to the destination;
with
The server, wherein the control unit executes transmission processing for transmitting information corresponding to the number counted in the counting processing to the transmission destination associated with the backup power supply that is in backup operation. A server according to claim 2,
The server, wherein in the transmission process, the control unit determines the scale of the power outage from the number totaled in the totalization process, and transmits information representing the scale of the power outage as information according to the number. A server according to claim 2 or claim 3,
The server, wherein in the transmission process, the control unit determines a countermeasure against power failure based on the number counted in the totalization process, and transmits countermeasure information indicating the countermeasure as information according to the number. The server according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The control unit
In the receiving process, receiving the operation information and location information that can identify the location of the backup power source from each of the backup power sources;
The server, in the transmission process, determining a power outage range from the location information, and further transmitting information representing the power outage range. A method of aggregation performed by a server in communication with a backup power source that powers an electrical load in the event of a power failure, comprising:
a receiving step of receiving operation information from each of the backup power supplies that enables determination of whether or not the backup operation is being performed;
a tallying step of tallying the number of the backup power supplies that are in backup operation based on the operation information received in the receiving step;
Aggregation method, including

Images