Communication method and communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11323857-B2
Application number	US-201816753830-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2018
Priority date	Oct 10, 2017
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

A communication method includes: switching an operation mode of a first station from a first operation mode to a second operation mode; transmitting a first signal from the first station to a second station; transmitting data from the second station to the first station in response to the first signal; storing the data received by the first station from the second station into a storage of the first station; switching the operation mode of the first station from the second operation mode to the first operation mode; transmitting a second signal from an access point to the first station; and transmitting the data stored into the storage from the first station operating in the first operation mode to the access point in response to the second signal.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A communication method for use in a communication system including an access point, a first station, and a second station each of which is connected to a wireless network,
the first station being disposed on a first terminal block located at a joint between power supply lines and obtaining temperature data that is data indicating an internal temperature of the first terminal block, the power supply lines being installed along a rail to supply electricity to a transport vehicle traveling on the rail,
the second station being disposed on a second terminal block located at a joint between the power supply lines and obtaining temperature data that is data indicating an internal temperature of the second terminal block,
the method comprising:
(a) switching an operation mode of the first station from a first operation mode in which the first station operates as a slave station to a second operation mode in which the first station operates as a proxy master station;
(b) transmitting, from the first station operating in the second operation mode to the second station, a first signal that requests transmission of the temperature data held by the second station;
(c) transmitting the temperature data from the second station to the first station in response to the first signal;
(d) storing the temperature data received by the first station from the second station into a storage of the first station;
(e) switching the operation mode of the first station from the second operation mode to the first operation mode after the first station receives the temperature data from the second station;
(f) transmitting, from the access point to the first station, a second signal that requests transmission of the temperature data, after the temperature data is stored into the storage of the first station; and
(g) transmitting, from the first station operating in the first operation mode to the access point, the temperature data stored into the storage, in response to the second signal.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
(h) transmitting, from the access point to the first station, a third signal that instructs the first station to switch from the first operation mode to the second operation mode, depending on a state of communication between the access point and the second station,
wherein in (a), the operation mode of the first station is switched from the first operation mode to the second operation mode in response to the third signal.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
(i) determining whether a radio field strength in the communication between the access point and the second station is less than or equal to a threshold value,
wherein in (i), when the radio field strength is determined to be less than or equal to the threshold value, the access point transmits the third signal to the first station.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second station includes a sensor, and the data includes data detected by the sensor in the second station.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the sensor includes at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, an infrared sensor, a mechanical sensor, an electric current sensor and a flow sensor.

6. A communication system comprising:
an access point connected to a wireless network;
a first station connected to the wireless network; and
a second station connected to the wireless network,
wherein the first station is disposed on a first terminal block located at a joint between power supply lines and obtains temperature data that is data indicating an internal temperature of the first terminal block, the power supply lines being installed along a rail to supply electricity to a transport vehicle traveling on the rail,
the second station is disposed on a second terminal block located at a joint between the power supply lines and obtains temperature data that is data indicating an internal temperature of the second terminal block,
the first station includes:
a controller that switches an operation mode of the first station between a first operation mode in which the first station operates as a slave station and a second operation mode in which the first station operates as a proxy master station;
a first communicator that, when the operation mode of the first station is switched from the first operation mode to the second operation mode, transmits a first signal that requests transmission of the temperature data held by the second station to the second station; and
a storage that stores the temperature data transmitted from the second station,

the second station includes:
a second communicator that transmits the temperature data to the first station in response to the first signal transmitted from the first station,

the access point includes:
a third communicator that transmits a second signal that requests transmission of the temperature data to the first station after the temperature data is stored into the storage of the first station, and
after the operation mode of the first station is switched from the second operation mode to the first operation mode, the first communicator of the first station transmits the temperature data stored into the storage to the access point in response to the second signal transmitted from the access point.

Assignees

• Murata Machinery Ltd

Inventors

• Hosobuchi Eiji
• Kuwahara Tetsuya

Classifications

• H04W84/20

  Leader-follower arrangements · CPC title

• H04W4/40 Primary

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W4/38 Primary

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title