LTE network access parameter adaptive protection method for intelligent electric meter

Abstract

The invention provides an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network access parameter adaptive protection method for an intelligent electric meter, intelligent electric meter side parameter storage is divided into a backup area and a current area, the backup area is used for storing network access parameters when network access succeeds last time, and the current area is used for storing network access parameters set last time or network access parameters currently used; the intelligent electric meter is provided with an LTE communication module, and when the LTE communication module accesses the network again, the intelligent electric meter side sends the network access parameters of the backup area to the LTE communication module by adopting a rollback mechanism; when the method is applied, the network access success rate of the communication module is effectively improved on the premise that the LTE communication module of the intelligent electric meter end automatically accesses the network.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of smart meters, and more specifically, to an adaptive protection method for LTE network access parameters for smart meters. Background Art

[0002] At present, whether in China or other countries, electricity meter reading technology is still relatively backward, and manual meter reading is more commonly used. However, this method has obvious disadvantages. For example, in areas with a huge number of electricity meters, it is impossible to complete the collection and statistics of all electricity meters in a short period of time, and the efficiency is extremely low. In addition, since it is all manual operation, the accuracy of the collected data cannot be guaranteed, which will directly affect the power company's analysis of electricity usage.

[0003] As a relatively mature wireless communication technology, the use of LTE communication module in smart meters can greatly improve the efficiency of meter reading and the accuracy of meter reading data.

[0004] Smart meters are smart terminals of smart grids. In addition to traditional metering functions, in order to be more adaptable to the use of smart grids and new energy, smart meters also have multi-faceted fault tolerance and self-protection capabilities, thereby improving the intelligence of smart meters.

[0005] However, when the network access parameters of the LTE communication module are misconfigured during on-site use, personnel are required to go to the site to reconfigure them locally, which is extremely inconvenient; if there is no manual maintenance, the electric meter will be permanently unable to access the network and become an island. Summary of the invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem that when network access parameters are misconfigured during on-site use of the LTE communication module, personnel need to go to the site to perform local reconfiguration, which is extremely inconvenient and consumes manpower. An adaptive protection method for LTE network access parameters for smart meters is proposed to achieve self-rollback of network access-related parameters of the LTE communication module, which effectively avoids the problem of permanent inability to access the network and becoming an "island" due to misconfiguration to a certain extent, thereby improving the intelligence of the smart meter.

[0007] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0008] The present invention provides a method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters.

[0009] The parameter storage on the smart meter side is divided into a backup area and a current area. The backup area is used to store the network access parameters when the network access is successful the last time, and the current area is used to store the network access parameters that were set the most recently or the network access parameters that are currently being used;

[0010] The smart meter is provided with an LTE communication module. When the LTE communication module reconnects to the network, the smart meter side adopts a fallback mechanism to send the network access parameters of the backup area to the LTE communication module.

[0011] Furthermore, after the LTE network access parameters are modified, the smart meter notifies the LTE communication module through the internal interface to re-request the network access parameters. The communication module re-acquires the parameters after a fixed time, and then dials using the new parameters.

[0012] Further, the fixing time is 1-2 minutes.

[0013] Furthermore, when dialing is performed using the new parameters, the smart meter executes a parameter fallback mechanism when it detects that the LTE module fails to access the network for m consecutive minutes; the range of m is 10 to 60.

[0014] Furthermore, when the LTE communication module successfully accesses the network using the network access parameters of the backup area provided by the smart meter, the current area is refreshed to the parameters of the backup area.

[0015] Further, the following steps are included:

[0016] S1. LTE communication module requests network access parameters from the smart meter through the serial port;

[0017] S2, the smart meter receives the request, and based on the area mark of the current parameters, informs the LTE communication module of the complete set of parameters for the corresponding area through the serial port;

[0018] S3, the LTE communication module attempts to dial into the network using the parameters provided by the smart meter;

[0019] If the network access is successful within m minutes, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of parameters of the corresponding area to another area according to the area mark;

[0020] If network access fails within m minutes, the smart meter changes the area flag and notifies the LTE communication module to re-acquire parameters; the LTE communication module receives the notification and re-requests parameters after a fixed time, and returns to S1.

[0021] Furthermore, the smart meter in S2 receives the request and, based on the area flag of the current parameters, informs the LTE communication module of the entire set of parameters for the corresponding area through the serial port, specifically:

[0022] If the area mark is the current area, the smart meter will inform the LTE communication module of the entire set of parameters of the current area through the serial port; if the area mark is the backup area, the smart meter will inform the LTE communication module of the entire set of parameters of the backup area through the serial port.

[0023] Furthermore, if the network access is successful within m minutes in S3, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of parameters of the corresponding area to another area according to the area mark:

[0024] If the network access is successful within m minutes, the smart meter will make a judgment based on the area mark; if the area mark is the current area, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of network access related parameters in the current area to the backup area; if the area mark is the backup area, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of network access related parameters in the backup area to the current area.

[0025] Furthermore, if network access fails within m minutes in S3, the smart meter changes the area flag and notifies the LTE communication module to re-acquire the parameters:

[0026] If the network access fails within m minutes, the smart meter terminal makes a judgment based on the regional mark;

[0027] If the area mark is the current area, the smart meter will set the mark to the backup area and notify the LTE communication module to re-acquire parameters; if the area mark is the backup area, the smart meter will set the mark to the current area and notify the LTE communication module to re-acquire parameters.

[0028] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0029] The LTE network access parameter adaptive protection and method for the smart meter of the present invention can realize self-rollback of the network access related parameters of the LTE communication module without the need for personnel to go to the site for local reconfiguration when the network access parameters are misconfigured during on-site use. This effectively avoids the problem of permanent inability to access the network and becoming an "island" due to misconfiguration to a certain extent, thereby improving the success rate of the communication module's network access and ensuring the intelligence of the meter.

[0030] In the present invention, the network access parameters required by the LTE communication module are stored and managed by the smart meter. When retrying to access the network, the LTE module will request a complete set of network access parameters from the meter end before dialing into the network; first, the parameters of the last successful network access, including the network standard, working frequency band, etc., are used for dialing, thereby improving the rate of re-accessing the network.

[0031] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent through a more detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals generally represent like components throughout the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 1A flow chart of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

[0035] Figure 1 A flow chart of the present invention is shown.

[0036] like Figure 1 As shown, a method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters, wherein the parameter storage on the smart meter side is divided into a backup area and a current area, the backup area is used to store the network access parameters when the last network access is successful, and the current area is used to store the network access parameters that were set last time or the network access parameters that are currently being used;

[0037] The smart meter is provided with an LTE communication module, and the LTE communication module and the smart meter body are electrically connected via a serial port; when the LTE communication module reconnects to the network, the smart meter side adopts a fallback mechanism to send the network access parameters of the backup area to the LTE communication module.

[0038] In one example, the LTE communication module refers to a cellular communication module that is compatible with three network standards: 4G / 3G / 2G. When the network is adjusted, the LTE communication module automatically switches the network standard and the working frequency band through a selection mechanism to achieve an adaptive effect. When retrying to access the network, the network standard and the working frequency band that were successfully used last time will be used for dialing, thereby increasing the rate of re-accessing the network.

[0039] In one example, the adaptive method of the present invention specifically includes the following steps:

[0040] S1. LTE communication module requests network access parameters from the smart meter through the serial port;

[0041] S2, based on S1, the smart meter determines the current parameter area mark;

[0042] S3. Based on S2, if the area mark is "current area", the electric meter informs the LTE communication module of the whole set of parameters of the "current area" through the serial port;

[0043] S4. Based on S2, if the area mark is "backup area", the electric meter informs the LTE communication module of the whole set of parameters of the "backup area" through the serial port;

[0044] S5. The LTE communication module attempts to dial into the network using the parameters provided by the smart meter.

[0045] S6. Based on S5, the communication module successfully accesses the network within the specified time (which can be set at the meter end and determined by the meter), and the meter will make a determination based on the regional mark;

[0046] S7. Based on S6, if the area mark is "current area", the meter end synchronizes the entire set of network access related parameters of the current area to the backup area;

[0047] S8. Based on S6, if the area mark is "backup area", the meter end synchronizes the entire set of network access related parameters in the backup area to the current area;

[0048] S9, based on S5, if the module fails to access the network within the specified time (which can be set by the meter end and judged by the meter end), the meter end will judge according to the regional mark;

[0049] S10, based on S9, if the area mark is "current area", the meter end sets the mark to "backup area", and the meter end notifies the communication module to request parameters again after a specified time;

[0050] S11, based on S9, if the area mark is "backup area", the meter end sets the mark to "current area", and the meter end notifies the communication module to request parameters again after the time is up;

[0051] S12, based on S10 or S11, after a fixed period of 1 minute, the LTE communication module requests parameters again, the steps are the same as S1;

[0052] S13. Based on S12, loop S1 to S12.

[0053] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, and the above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters, characterized in that ； The parameter storage on the smart meter side is divided into a backup area and a current area. The backup area is used to store the network access parameters when the network access is successful the last time, and the current area is used to store the network access parameters that were set the most recently or the network access parameters that are currently being used; The smart meter is provided with an LTE communication module. When the LTE communication module reconnects to the network, the smart meter side adopts a fallback mechanism to send the network access parameters of the backup area to the LTE communication module.

2. According to claim 1, a method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters is characterized in that: After the LTE network access parameters are modified, the smart meter notifies the LTE communication module through the internal interface to re-request the network access parameters. The communication module re-obtains the parameters after a fixed time and then dials using the new parameters.

3. A method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fixation time is 1-2 minutes.

4. The method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 2, characterized in that: Use the new parameters for dialing. When the smart meter detects that the LTE module fails to access the network for m consecutive minutes, the smart meter executes the parameter fallback mechanism; the range of m is 10 to 60.

5. The method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the LTE communication module successfully accesses the network using the network access parameters of the backup area provided by the smart meter, the current area is refreshed to the parameters of the backup area.

6. The method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 1, characterized in that The following steps are involved: S1. LTE communication module requests network access parameters from the smart meter through the serial port; S2, the smart meter receives the request, and based on the area mark of the current parameters, informs the LTE communication module of the complete set of parameters for the corresponding area through the serial port; S3, the LTE communication module attempts to dial into the network using the parameters provided by the smart meter; If the network access is successful within m minutes, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of parameters of the corresponding area to another area according to the area mark; If network access fails within m minutes, the smart meter changes the area flag and notifies the LTE communication module to re-acquire parameters; The LTE communication module receives the notification and re-requests the parameters after a fixed time, and returns to S1.

7. A method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 6, characterized in that In S2, the smart meter receives the request and, based on the area flag of the current parameters, informs the LTE communication module of the complete set of parameters for the corresponding area through the serial port: If the area mark is the current area, the smart meter will inform the LTE communication module of the entire set of parameters of the current area through the serial port; if the area mark is the backup area, the smart meter will inform the LTE communication module of the entire set of parameters of the backup area through the serial port.

8. A method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 6, characterized in that In S3, if the network access is successful within m minutes, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of parameters of the corresponding area to another area according to the area mark: If the network access is successful within m minutes, the smart meter terminal makes a judgment based on the area mark; if the area mark is the current area, the smart meter terminal synchronizes the entire set of network access related parameters of the current area to the backup area; If the area is marked as a backup area, the smart meter will synchronize the entire set of network access related parameters in the backup area to the current area.

9. A method for adaptively protecting LTE network access parameters for smart meters according to claim 6, characterized in that In S3, if the network access fails within m minutes, the smart meter changes the area flag and notifies the LTE communication module to re-acquire the parameters: If the network access fails within m minutes, the smart meter terminal makes a judgment based on the regional mark; If the area mark is the current area, the smart meter sets the mark as the backup area and notifies the LTE communication module to re-acquire parameters; If the area mark is a backup area, the smart meter sets the mark to the current area and notifies the LTE communication module to re-acquire parameters.

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