Internet of Things controller

Abstract

The invention discloses an Internet of Things controller, and relates to the technical field of control technologies and controllers. Comprising a PCBA module, and the PCBA module comprises a PCB, and a processing unit, a power supply module, a radio frequency antenna module, a digital communication module, a switch input module, an analog input module, a switch output module, an analog output module and a pulse width modulation (PWM) output module which are arranged on the PCB. The processing unit is electrically connected with the power supply module, the radio frequency antenna module, the digital communication module, the switch input module, the analog input module, the switch output module, the analog output module and the pulse width modulation PWM output module. According to the invention, the controller does not need intermediate devices such as a data transmission unit, an Internet of Things gateway, an industrial router and the like any more, has a wide area wireless communication capability, especially a mobile communication network or cellular network communication capability, and realizes direct establishment of communication between the controller and the Internet of Things server at the same time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of control technology and controller technology, and in particular to an Internet of Things controller. Background Art

[0002] The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to connecting objects to the network so that they can exchange information and communicate, in order to achieve intelligent identification, monitoring and control. Since the emergence of IoT technology, it has been accumulated and developed mainly through the perception layer, network transmission layer and application layer. In the network transmission layer, wired and wireless network communication technologies have been integrated and developed, and in the wireless network communication technology, near-field wireless communication and wide-area wireless communication represented by mobile communication networks have been integrated and developed; the perception layer mainly collects object information and tends to be the uplink connection from the object to the network; the application layer is mainly provided by the cloud platform (IoT server) and tends to be data calculation, analysis and processing. In the field of control technology, when it is necessary to create or strengthen downlink connection and intelligence for the perception layer, or when it is necessary to derive objects or devices from the cloud platform to achieve automatic and intelligent control at the application layer, and when it is necessary to further integrate and strengthen the collaboration and integration of the application layer and the perception layer in the face of complex control needs, especially to achieve cross-distance connection, monitoring and control of devices and device systems through the Internet of Things, an IoT controller is needed to achieve this.

[0003] In the face of the extensive needs of the Internet of Things, existing controllers often do not have the ability to meet wide-area wireless communication capabilities. In particular, for automatic control scenarios that can only rely on or are highly dependent on mobile communication networks or cellular networks, existing controllers seem powerless and need to use other communication devices such as data transfer units (DTUs), Internet of Things gateways, industrial routers, etc. to achieve remote data transmission and indirectly realize the Internet of Things. In the face of diverse needs for automation and digitalization, existing controllers often have insufficient hardware resources. For example, based on edge computing and data production combined with real-time automation and digitalization, existing controllers have insufficient, insufficient and missing hardware resources, and lack software computing capabilities. At the same time, controllers do not have OTA (Over The Air) capabilities and cannot remotely update device firmware or software through wireless communication technology. Data transfer units (DTUs), Internet of Things gateways, industrial routers, etc. produced by different manufacturers lack a unified architectural layout, and cannot standardize hardware and software connections with automatic controllers. More importantly, there are hardware and software links to connect automatic controllers, which makes it impossible for controllers to directly establish communication connections with Internet of Things servers. Hardware connections include port pairing and cable installation, and software connections include communication protocol settings and selections. In addition, independent data transfer units (DTUs), IoT gateways, and industrial routers all require independent housings and installation spaces to connect to the controllers. IoT gateways and industrial routers require too much hardware resources and are expensive to use in scenarios where they are used with only one or two controllers.

[0004] Therefore, it is an urgent problem for those skilled in the art to propose an Internet of Things controller to solve the problems existing in the prior art. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides an Internet of Things controller, so that the controller no longer needs intermediate devices such as a data transfer unit (DTU), an Internet of Things gateway, and an industrial router, and has wide-area wireless communication capabilities, especially the ability to communicate with a mobile communication network or a cellular network, and at the same time, the controller directly establishes communication with an Internet of Things server. The controller is provided with more processor hardware resources, and further more effective allocation and collaboration are performed. When encountering delays or resource occupation caused by long-cycle operation requirements of functional chips, a general MCU (Microcontroller Unit) or a general SOC (System on Chip) is added as a communication module or communication SOC to enhance the function. The general MCU or general SOC focuses on the acquisition input and control output of the machine equipment layer, and the communication module or communication SOC focuses on the Internet of Things communication, the digital communication and digital calculation of the machine equipment layer. At the same time, the Internet of Things controller with redundant capabilities is obtained to enhance reliability.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: An Internet of Things controller includes a PCBA module, wherein: The PCBA module includes: a PCB board, a processing unit arranged on the PCB, a power module, a radio frequency antenna module, a digital communication module, a switch input module, an analog input module, a switch output module, an analog output module, and a pulse width modulation (PWM) output module; The processing unit is electrically connected to the power supply module, the radio frequency antenna module, the digital communication module, the switch input module, the analog input module, the switch output module, the analog output module, and the pulse width modulation (PWM) output module respectively.

[0007] The above-mentioned controller, optionally, has a processing unit which is a combination of at least one general-purpose MCU / general-purpose SOC and at least one communication module / communication SOC.

[0008] The above controller, optionally, the communication module / communication SOC is a system-on-chip chip or module; the general SOC is a system-on-chip chip.

[0009] The above-mentioned controller may optionally use serial communication or parallel communication between the general MCU / general SOC and the communication module / communication SOC. When two or more pieces are combined, direct or indirect communication is arranged between each two pieces.

[0010] The above-mentioned controller can optionally set computing, wireless radio frequency communication, and digital communication with a general MCU / general SOC as basic tasks on the system-on-chip of the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication between the communication module / communication SOC and the general MCU / general SOC, and further configure different priorities and delays for computing, wireless radio frequency communication, and digital communication with the general MCU / general SOC to obtain different response time effects for the Internet of Things communication.

[0011] The above-mentioned controller, optionally, the communication module / communication SOC also configures its hardware pin resources and starts storage tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, switch output tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation PWM output tasks, and configures different priorities and delays for storage tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, switch output tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation PWM output tasks to realize input acquisition and output control.

[0012] The above controller may optionally set the basic task of the general MCU / general SOC to automatic control.

[0013] The controller described above may optionally use general MCU hardware pin resources to start switch output tasks, analog output tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation (PWM) output tasks, combined with the digital computing tasks of the general MCU, to form a loop connected head to tail in different sequences and combinations; The general SOC hardware pin resources enable switch output tasks, analog output tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation (PWM) output tasks. Combined with the digital computing tasks of the general SOC, different priorities and delays are configured in different combinations within the on-chip system.

[0014] The above controller may optionally set IoT communication data and communication channels: IoT downlink communication data is received by the RF antenna and the communication module / communication SOC, and the downlink data is divided into two parts, one part belongs to the general MCU / general SOC and is transmitted to the general MCU / general SOC for data processing to achieve remote control; the other part belongs to the communication module / communication SOC and is directly processed to achieve remote control and program upgrade; The uplink communication data of the Internet of Things is sent uplink by the RF antenna and the communication module / communication SOC. The uplink data is divided into two parts. One part is generated by the general MCU / general SOC and transmitted to the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication; the other part is generated by the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication.

[0015] It can be seen from the above technical solutions that, compared with the prior art, the present invention provides an Internet of Things controller, which has the following beneficial effects: 1) The controller is equipped with independent wide-area wireless communication capabilities, especially the ability to communicate with mobile communication networks or cellular networks, giving full play to the two-way delivery characteristics of IoT communication and realizing direct connection between the controller and the cloud platform (IoT server); 2) Reducing IoT intermediate devices, eliminating the hardware and software connections between the controller and the data transfer unit (DTU), IoT gateway, industrial router, etc., saving installation space and reducing installation operations; 3) When the communication module / communication SOC performs IoT communication tasks, it can simultaneously obtain at least another task such as the general MCU / general SOC performing digital communication, acquisition (input) and control (output); 4) The computing power is enhanced, and the combination of general MCU / general SOC and communication module / communication SOC can at least process two computing tasks at the same time to meet the requirements of simultaneous computing and production of different data; 5) Integrate and optimize the hardware pin resources of the general MCU / general SOC and communication module / communication SOC combination to enrich the controller functions, such as allocating the abundant hardware pin resources of the communication module / communication SOC to the switch input , analog input, and RS485 communication, the hardware pin resources of the general MCU / general SOC can be configured to switch output, analog output, CAN communication, and Ethernet communication to obtain more switch outputs, analog output ports, and realize different digital communication combinations. The rich input, output, and communication modules not only meet the existing local automation needs, but also enhance the ability to remotely monitor and control equipment and equipment systems through the cloud platform (IoT server); 6) Obtain an IoT controller with high reliability and redundant capabilities; 7) Enable the IoT controller to realize the IoT capabilities through wireless communications (such as Wi-Fi, etc.) and mobile communication networks or cellular networks at the same time, with data uploaded to the cloud instantly and in a timely manner, program updates, and remote control; 8) Have OTA (Over The Air) capabilities to remotely update device firmware or software through communication technology. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without paying creative work.

[0017] Figure 1 This is an architecture diagram of the Internet of Things controller disclosed in the present invention; Figure 2 This is an architecture diagram of an Internet of Things controller disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0019] In this application, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of more restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "including one..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0020] Reference Figure 1 As shown, the present invention discloses an Internet of Things controller, including a PCBA module, wherein: The PCBA module includes: a PCB board, a processing unit arranged on the PCB, a power module, a radio frequency antenna module, a digital communication module, a switch input module, an analog input module, a switch output module, an analog output module, and a pulse width modulation PWM output module; The processing unit is electrically connected to the power supply module, the radio frequency antenna module, the digital communication module, the switch input module, the analog input module, the switch output module, the analog output module, and the pulse width modulation (PWM) output module respectively.

[0021] The PCBA module is PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly), and the PCB board is PCB (Printed Circuit Board).

[0022] Furthermore, the processing unit is a combination of at least one general MCU / general SOC and at least one communication module / communication SOC.

[0023] Furthermore, the communication module / communication SOC is a system-on-chip chip or module; the general SOC is a system-on-chip chip.

[0024] Furthermore, the general MCU / general SOC and the communication module / communication SOC adopt serial communication or parallel communication. When two or more pieces are combined, direct or indirect communication is set between every two pieces.

[0025] Specifically, serial communication refers to a communication method that transmits data bit by bit in sequence, and the data format is customized. In the present invention, customization is configured according to specific needs. The baud rate is selected according to the capabilities of the general MCU / general SOC and the communication module / communication SOC itself, generally such as 1800, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200bpsd, etc.; the serial communication protocol is selected according to the capabilities of the general MCU / general SOC and the communication module / communication SOC itself, generally such as UART, USART, I2C, RS485, RS422, RS232, SPI, CAN bus, MODBUS, Ethernet, etc.

[0026] Parallel communication refers to a communication method in which each bit of data is transmitted simultaneously. The data format is customized. Parallel communication does not have the concept of baud rate but is expressed in bytes per second (B / S). Common protocols: PCI, AGP, SATA, etc. Furthermore, computing, wireless radio frequency communication, and digital communication with a general MCU / general SOC are set as basic tasks on the system-on-chip of the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication between the communication module / communication SOC and the general MCU / general SOC, and different priorities and delays are further configured for computing, wireless radio frequency communication, and digital communication with the general MCU / general SOC to obtain different response time effects for Internet of Things communication.

[0027] Furthermore, the communication module / communication SOC also configures its hardware pin resources and starts storage tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, switch output tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation PWM output tasks, and configures different priorities and delays for storage tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, switch output tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation PWM output tasks to realize input acquisition and output control.

[0028] Furthermore, the basic task of the general MCU / general SOC is set to automatic control.

[0029] Furthermore, the general MCU hardware pin resources start the switch output task, analog output task, switch input task, analog input task, digital communication task and pulse width modulation PWM output task, combined with the digital calculation task of the general MCU, and are connected in series in different sequences and combinations to finally form a loop connected head to tail; the automatic control is composed of the above tasks; The general SOC hardware pin resources enable switch output tasks, analog output tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, digital communication tasks, storage tasks and pulse width modulation (PWM) output tasks. Combined with the digital computing tasks of the general SOC, different priorities and delays are configured in different combinations within the on-chip system; the automatic control is composed of the above tasks.

[0030] General-purpose MCU / general-purpose SOC will be replaced by communication module / communication SOC. Two communication modules or two communication SOCs will be combined to achieve redundancy. A communication module and communication SOC combination will have the capabilities of both near-field wireless communication (such as Wi-Fi, etc.) and cellular (mobile communication) network communication tasks.

[0031] Among them, redundancy is 2 sets of identical communication modules / communication SOC and storage configurations. According to the number of cores and computing speed of the communication module / communication SOC, the switching cycle is customized through the SDK (Software Development Kit), that is, the switching cycle is adjustable, so as to synchronize data.

[0032] Furthermore, set the IoT communication data and communication channel: The IoT controller has two sources for IoT uplink communication data: one part is formed by the general MCU / general SOC converting its own switch input, analog input, and digital input, and recording the switch output and digital output, and then combining, encrypting, and compressing them, or directly transmitting them to the communication module / communication SOC, which is combined, encrypted, and compressed by the communication module / communication SOC, and finally transmitted to the communication module / communication SOC and the RF antenna to complete the uplink transmission; the other part is formed by the communication module / communication SOC converting its own switch input, analog input, and digital input, and recording the switch output and digital output, and then combining, encrypting, and compressing them, and then directly completing the uplink transmission.

[0033] The IoT downlink communication data is received by the RF antenna and the communication module / communication SOC. The downlink data is divided into two parts. One part belongs to the general MCU / general SOC and is transmitted to the general MCU / general SOC for decompression, decryption, compilation, and decomposition to achieve remote control, or is directly decompressed, decrypted, compiled, and decomposed by the communication module / communication SOC and then transmitted to the MCU / general SOC to achieve remote control; the other part belongs to the communication module / communication SOC and is directly decompressed, decrypted, compiled, and decomposed to achieve remote control and program upgrades.

[0034] The uplink communication data of the Internet of Things is sent uplink by the RF antenna and the communication module / communication SOC. The uplink data is divided into two parts. One part is generated by the general MCU / general SOC and transmitted to the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication; the other part is generated by the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication.

[0035] In a specific embodiment, see Figure 2 As shown, the IoT controller completes IoT communication through the communication module. The IoT uplink communication data of this IoT controller comes from two parts: one part is formed by the general MCU converting its own switch input, analog input, digital input conversion and switch output, digital output records and combining, encrypting and compressing them, and finally transmitting them to the communication module and RF antenna module through the serial port UART to complete the uplink transmission; the other part is formed by the communication module converting its own switch input, analog input, digital input conversion and switch output, digital output records and combining, encrypting and compressing them, and directly completing the uplink transmission. The IoT downlink communication data of the IoT controller is received by the RF antenna module and the communication module. The downlink data is divided into two parts. One part belongs to the general MCU and is transmitted to the general MCU through the serial port UART for decompression, decryption and decomposition to realize remote control; the other part belongs to the communication module and is directly decompressed, decrypted, compiled and decomposed to realize remote control and program upgrade.

[0036] When the IoT controller of the present application faces the requirements of diversified automatic control scenarios, the switch input module, analog input module and digital communication module can respectively connect to sensors that generate switch signals, analog signals and digital signals and receive signals, and can also respectively connect to buttons that generate switch signals, knobs that generate analog signals and touch screens and collaborative controllers that generate digital signals and receive signals; that is, the IoT controller of the present application, while responsible for collecting object information of the perception layer, also takes into account the feedback signal collection of sensors in the field of control technology, as well as the operation signal collection of buttons, knobs and touch screens and controller collaboration; the switch output module, analog output module, PWM output module and digital communication module respectively execute switch control, analog control, PWM control of the devices connected to the controller and send instructions to the collaborative controller; the processing unit and the RF antenna module are responsible for the digitization of the collected object information of the perception layer and IoT communication, and are also responsible for receiving instructions and data issued through the cloud platform (IoT server) to achieve remote control, firmware program upgrades and application program upgrades.

[0037] The Internet of Things controller of the present application enables the perception layer, network transmission layer and application layer of the Internet of Things to be integrated and integrated, and also enables automation, digitization and the Internet of Things to be integrated and integrated. Furthermore, in the application of the Internet of Things perception layer, the Internet of Things controller of the present application, compared with the widely used single sensor through the Internet of Things communication module integrated thereon or the mounted data transmission unit DTU of the Internet of Things, while reducing the Internet of Things communication module integrated on a single sensor or the mounted data transmission unit DTU, broadens the perception layer from the sensor to the controller and the system it controls. The control program optimizes the feedback collection task according to the operation window period. During the operation window period, the collection frequency is increased to ensure the reliability and real-time response capability of the automatic control. Outside the operation window period, the collection frequency is reduced to the lowest possible level to reduce the amount of data generated in the perception layer, realizing the intelligence of the perception layer. Furthermore, through remote control and OTA upgrades, the parameter settings and program updates of the operation window period and collection tasks are optimized to achieve the coordination of the application layer and the perception layer.

[0038] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can refer to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the system or system embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can refer to the partial description of the method embodiment. The system and system embodiments described above are merely schematic, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the scheme of this embodiment. Ordinary technicians in this field can understand and implement it without creative work.

[0039] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An Internet of Things controller, characterized in that: Including PCBA module, among which, The PCBA module includes: a PCB board, a processing unit arranged on the PCB, a power module, a radio frequency antenna module, a digital communication module, a switch input module, an analog input module, a switch output module, an analog output module, and a pulse width modulation PWM output module; The processing unit is electrically connected to the power supply module, the radio frequency antenna module, the digital communication module, the switch input module, the analog input module, the switch output module, the analog output module, and the pulse width modulation (PWM) output module respectively.

2. An Internet of Things controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processing unit is a combination of at least one general MCU / general SOC and at least one communication module / communication SOC.

3. An Internet of Things controller according to claim 2, characterized in that: Communication module / communication SOC is a system-on-chip chip or module; general SOC is a system-on-chip chip.

4. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 2, characterized in that: The general MCU / general SOC and the communication module / communication SOC adopt serial communication or parallel communication. When two or more pieces are combined, direct or indirect communication is set between each two pieces.

5. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 4, characterized in that: Computing, wireless radio frequency communication, and digital communication with a general MCU / general SOC are set as basic tasks on the system-on-chip of the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication between the communication module / communication SOC and the general MCU / general SOC. Different priorities and delays are further configured for the computing, wireless radio frequency communication, and digital communication with the general MCU / general SOC to obtain different response time effectiveness for the Internet of Things communication.

6. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 5, characterized in that: The communication module / communication SOC also configures its hardware pin resources and starts storage tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, switch output tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation PWM output tasks, and configures different priorities and delays for storage tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, switch output tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation PWM output tasks to realize input acquisition and output control.

7. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 6, characterized in that: Set the basic task of the general MCU / general SOC to automatic control.

8. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 7, characterized in that: The general MCU hardware pin resources start the switch output task, analog output task, switch input task, analog input task, digital communication task and pulse width modulation PWM output task, combined with the digital calculation task of the general MCU, and are connected in series in different sequences and combinations to finally form a loop connected head to tail; The general SOC hardware pin resources enable switch output tasks, analog output tasks, switch input tasks, analog input tasks, digital communication tasks and pulse width modulation (PWM) output tasks. Combined with the digital computing tasks of the general SOC, different priorities and delays are configured in different combinations within the on-chip system.

9. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 8, characterized in that: Set up IoT communication data and communication channels: IoT downlink communication data is received by the RF antenna and the communication module / communication SOC. The downlink data is divided into two parts. One part belongs to the general MCU / general SOC and is transmitted to the general MCU / general SOC for data processing to achieve remote control; the other part belongs to the communication module / communication SOC and is directly processed to achieve remote control and program upgrades. The uplink communication data of the Internet of Things is sent uplink by the RF antenna and the communication module / communication SOC. The uplink data is divided into two parts. One part is generated by the general MCU / general SOC and transmitted to the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication; the other part is generated by the communication module / communication SOC to realize the Internet of Things communication.

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