Internet of Things controller and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses an Internet of Things controller and a control method thereof, and relates to the technical field of equipment control. Comprising a PCB module, and an SIM card unit, a processing unit, a control unit, an antenna unit, an acquisition unit, a communication unit and a power supply unit which are arranged on the PCB module, the SIM card unit, the control unit, the antenna unit, the acquisition unit, the communication unit and the power supply unit are electrically connected with the processing unit through the PCB module; and the processing unit is used for setting and configuring each task in the Internet of Things controller and the priority thereof, realizing the Internet of Things function and generating data and instructions. The priority of the communication task and other tasks can be set according to actual requirements, and the response speed upper limit of the Internet of Things controller is improved; meanwhile, the problems caused by the fact that multiple sets of systems need to be operated in one controller and system compatibility are avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of device control, and in particular to an Internet of Things controller and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In order to make the control equipment have IoT functions, technicians often mount a dedicated module with an IoT communication module on an already installed controller that does not have IoT capabilities, or use a combination of a general SOC (System on Chip), MCU (Microcontroller Unit) and IoT communication module in a new design to create an IoT controller. In the prior art, dedicated modules with IoT communication modules, such as DTU (Data Transfer Unit), have system programs designed for the function of data transparent transmission and are not open enough. Controllers without IoT capabilities can only adapt to these dedicated modules to indirectly achieve IoT connection. The essence of this is that at least one general SOC or MCU and at least one IoT communication module work together, which can easily lead to excessive resource investment. At the same time, the uplink data must be transferred through a general SOC or MCU before reaching the processor of the IoT communication module or the downlink data must be transferred after reaching the processor of the IoT communication module. Therefore, controllers with IoT functions and that can directly achieve networking have become the key point of industry development and market demand. In addition, when the general SOC or MCU and the IoT communication module are combined, since the general SOC or MCU and the IoT communication module have their own operating systems, the efficient matching and compatibility of different systems has become a prominent problem. A new IoT controller with higher integration and more convenient and effective working methods is urgently needed.

[0003] Therefore, it is an urgent problem for those skilled in the art to propose an Internet of Things controller and a control method thereof to solve the problems existing in the prior art. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides an Internet of Things controller and a control method thereof, which can freely set the priority level of Internet of Things communication in the entire system, reduce signal transmission links, avoid signal delays, and improve the upper limit of the response speed of the Internet of Things controller.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: An Internet of Things controller comprises a PCB board module, and a SIM card unit, a processing unit, a control unit, an antenna unit, a collection unit, a communication unit and a power supply unit arranged on the PCB board module; The SIM card unit, the control unit, the antenna unit, the acquisition unit, the communication unit and the power supply unit are all electrically connected to the processing unit through the PCB board module; The processing unit is used to set and configure the tasks and their priorities within the IoT controller, implement IoT functions, and generate data and instructions.

[0006] The above-mentioned controller, optionally, the processing unit adopts a communication module or an Internet of Things SOC as a single general-purpose processor to achieve calculation, control and data processing.

[0007] The controller mentioned above, optionally, the SIM card unit includes: a card slot component or a SIM card component interface and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit; The antenna unit includes: antenna components for sending and receiving radio frequency electromagnetic waves, antenna base components or antenna component interfaces, and working circuits for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit; The acquisition unit includes: components for generating or transmitting analog signals and switch signals and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection of input to the pins of the processing unit; The communication unit includes: wired communication components or wired communication component interfaces for realizing digital communication and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit.

[0008] The controller mentioned above may optionally use a single communication module or an IoT SOC using a single system; A single system includes: an operating and application system installed on a communication module or IoT SOC.

[0009] The above-mentioned controller may optionally further include using a general SOC or MCU and a radio frequency unit combination to replace the communication module or the Internet of Things SOC, and the general SOC or MCU is equipped with an operating system and is electrically connected to the radio frequency unit through a PCB board.

[0010] A control method of an Internet of Things controller, used for implementing an Internet of Things controller as described in any one of the above, comprises the following steps: S1. Create system internal tasks or data calculation tasks and define task priorities through a single system set in a communication module or IoT SOC or general SOC or MCU; S2, receiving signals through the acquisition unit to obtain acquisition data, receiving signals through the antenna unit to obtain wireless data, generating wireless data for conversion into signals sent by the antenna unit through the processing unit, receiving signals through the communication unit to obtain communication data, generating communication data for conversion into signals sent by the communication unit through the processing unit, obtaining control state data through the control unit, and saving the data to the processing unit; S3. The processing unit processes the data in sequence according to the task priority.

[0011] The above method optionally includes setting the internal communication function of the system to the same priority as the computing function and the control function to avoid delays caused by hierarchical transmission.

[0012] It can be seen from the above technical solutions that, compared with the prior art, the present invention provides an Internet of Things controller and a control method thereof, which have the following beneficial effects: 1) The present invention can freely set the priority level of Internet of Things communication in the entire system at the communication and program level to avoid signal delay; 2) The present invention reduces the controller's requirements for a general-purpose processor to a communication module or communication SOC, reducing excessive hardware investment; 3) The present invention removes the coordination of two or more general-purpose processors at the hardware level, eliminating the intermediate link in communication, and enables communication, computing, and main control to be at the same level in the program, thereby improving the efficiency and capability of the controller; 4) The present invention realizes data production based on each unit, and 5) The present invention can make the native operating systems of communication modules or SOCs of different manufacturers continue to be used and independently exert their respective advantages; 6) The present invention can also replace the communication module with a general SOC or MCU and a radio frequency unit combination, and remove the PCB board of the communication module, thereby removing the pin fixation and restriction of the communication module, so that the general SOC or MCU pin is more suitable for the flexible configuration of the controller function; 7) Realize direct connection between the controller and the cloud platform (IoT server); 8) Through the cloud platform (IoT server), the controller has the ability to remotely monitor and control devices and device systems; 9) It has OTA (Over The Air) capability and can remotely update device firmware or software through communication technology. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] 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.

[0014] 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 a communication module or a SOC Internet of Things module disclosed in the present invention; Figure 3 This is an architecture diagram of a general SOC or MCU and a radio frequency unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a flow chart of the control method of the Internet of Things controller disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] 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.

[0016] 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 "comprise one..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0017] Reference Figure 1 As shown, the present invention discloses an Internet of Things controller, including a PCB board module (Printed Circuit Board, printed circuit board), and a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module, user identity card) unit, a processing unit, a control unit, an antenna unit, a collection unit, a communication unit and a power supply unit arranged on the PCB board module; The SIM card unit, the control unit, the antenna unit, the acquisition unit, the communication unit and the power supply unit are all electrically connected to the processing unit through the PCB board module; The processing unit is used to set and configure the tasks and their priorities within the IoT controller, implement IoT functions, and generate data and instructions.

[0018] For further information, see Figure 2 As shown, the processing unit uses a communication module or an IoT SOC (System on Chip) as a single general-purpose processor to achieve computing, control, and data processing.

[0019] Furthermore, the communication module is a wireless Internet access module connected to a mobile communication network, and the Internet of Things SOC is a system-level chip connected to a short-range wireless communication network. In addition, the communication module or the Internet of Things SOC has pin interfaces such as VBAT, VDD, GPIO, SIM, ANT, USB, UART, ADC, I2C, SPI, PWM, GND, etc., which eliminates the coordination of two or more general controllers at the hardware level, thereby eliminating the intermediate links in communication and allowing communication, computing, and main control to be at the same level within the program, thereby improving the efficiency and capabilities of the controller.

[0020] Furthermore, the PCB board module is used to carry and arrange the electronic components of each unit and to provide the electronic components that need to be electrically connected with specific connection circuits, including the number of PCB layers, copper plating, external terminals or connectors, and waterproof coatings.

[0021] Furthermore, the SIM card unit includes: a Nano-SIM card holder and a patch interface for patch-mounting eSim and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit; the SIM card unit is used to install a SIM card to realize user identity information confirmation and mobile communication; The control unit includes: optocoupler and MOSFET field effect tube components and a working circuit that realizes electrical connection with the communication module or the Internet of Things SOC pin; realizes switch and pulse width modulation (PWM, Pulse Width Modulation) output control; The antenna unit includes: an antenna, an SMA (Sub Miniature version A) radio frequency connector, and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit; the antenna unit is used to realize the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequency electromagnetic wave signals; The acquisition unit includes: a sampling resistor and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection of the input to the pin of the processing unit, a photoelectric coupler and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection of the input to the pin of the processing unit; the acquisition unit is used to acquire analog signals and switch signals; The communication unit includes: a transceiver that meets the RS-485 serial protocol and a working circuit that is electrically connected to the pins of the processing unit, an Ethernet chip and a working circuit that is electrically connected to the pins of the processing unit; the communication unit is used to install wired communication components to realize the signal receiving and sending functions.

[0022] Furthermore, the communication module or IoT SOC adopts a single system; The single system includes: the operation and application system installed on the communication module or the IoT SOC; the single system module is used to operate and apply the IoT controller system.

[0023] Specifically, since the controller is only equipped with one communication module or IoT SOC and will not be equipped with two or more of the above-mentioned devices at the same time, a controller equipped with only one of the above-mentioned devices (communication module or IoT SOC) is only equipped with one operation and application system, and this system is the system of the respective communication module or IoT SOC. There are no mandatory requirements for the system of the communication module or IoT SOC, which enables the native operating systems of communication modules or SOCs from different manufacturers to be used and independently exert their respective advantages.

[0024] Furthermore, it also includes using a general SOC or MCU and a radio frequency unit combination to replace the communication module or the Internet of Things SOC. The general SOC or MCU is equipped with an operating system, which is electrically connected to the radio frequency unit through a PCB board, and the general SOC or MCU is used as a central computing and main control unit, so that the controller's requirements for a general processor are reduced to a general SOC or MCU or a communication module or communication SOC, thereby reducing excessive hardware investment.

[0025] The radio frequency unit includes a baseband processor, modulation and demodulation components, radio frequency components, etc., and a working circuit that realizes electrical connection with a general SOC or MCU and SMA radio frequency connector pins.

[0026] Furthermore, in the process of sending signals, the baseband processor or general SOC or MCU converts digital signals into baseband signals, which are then modulated into wireless signals by modulation and demodulation components and sent by RF components; in the process of receiving signals, the RF components transmit the received wireless signals back to the modulation and demodulation components to demodulate them into baseband signals, which are then converted into digital signals by the baseband processor or general SOC or MCU.

[0027] Specifically, since the controller is equipped with a general SOC or MCU and a radio frequency unit combination to replace the communication module, a PCB board of the communication module is eliminated so that the general SOC or MCU can be directly arranged on the PCB board of the controller, making the general SOC or MCU pin configuration diversified and rich to match the controller function design.

[0028] Furthermore, the communication module or IoT SOC or general SOC or MCU has internal storage, i.e., memory.

[0029] Furthermore, the radio frequency electromagnetic wave signals sent and received in the antenna unit include wide area wireless communication and near field wireless communication.

[0030] Specifically, the present application is mainly applied to wide-area wireless communications of mobile communication networks or cellular networks and near-field wireless communications of Wi-Fi, ZigBee, LoRa, StarFlash and other networks.

[0031] Furthermore, the power supply unit is a power supply circuit that provides operating power to each electronic circuit and is used to provide power for the Internet of Things controller.

[0032] and Figure 1 Corresponding to the Internet of Things controller, the present invention also discloses an Internet of Things controller control method for realizing the functions of the Internet of Things controller. For specific steps, see Figure 4 As shown, S1. Create system internal tasks or data calculation tasks and define task priorities through a single system set in a communication module or IoT SOC or general SOC or MCU; S2, receiving signals through the acquisition unit to obtain acquisition data, receiving signals through the antenna unit to obtain wireless data, generating wireless data for conversion into signals sent by the antenna unit through the processing unit, receiving signals through the communication unit to obtain communication data, generating communication data for conversion into signals sent by the communication unit through the processing unit, obtaining control state data through the control unit, and saving the data to the processing unit; S3. The processing unit processes the data in sequence according to the task priority.

[0033] Furthermore, S1 includes making the internal communication function of the system have the same priority as the computing function and the control function. At the communication and program level, this method can freely set the priority level of the Internet of Things communication in the entire system to avoid signal delays.

[0034] In a specific embodiment, when the Internet of Things controller is used for emergency parking in production safety, once the remote control realized by the Internet of Things communication saves more time than the operator arriving at the site to trigger the physical emergency stop button, the communication module receives the emergency stop signal, and a special module with an Internet of Things communication module is mounted on the existing controller without Internet of Things capabilities, or in the Internet of Things controller composed of a combination of a general SOC or MCU and an Internet of Things communication module, the signal is transmitted to the general SOC or MCU of the controller through the Internet of Things communication module, and then transmitted to the emergency parking device, which may be delayed by 0.01 seconds. The present application prevents the occurrence of this 1% second lag, so it will maximize the safety protection of on-site workers during leakage, and will also further protect the closed and high internal pressure fluid delivery system from timely pressure relief to avoid system damage.

[0035] In a specific embodiment, the Internet of Things controller of the present application precipitates collected data through a collection unit, records wireless communication data through interaction of antenna units, records wired communication data through interaction of communication units, and precipitates control status data through a control unit, thereby realizing data production of the controller. At the same time, digitalization is integrated into the Internet of Things and automatic control based on a processing unit. Through the setting of various tasks and their priorities, efficient operation and multi-functional integration of the controller are realized. By setting computing tasks, analysis and calculation of data of each unit are realized, thereby enabling the controller to have edge computing capabilities.

[0036] In a specific embodiment, when the Internet of Things controller of the present application adopts a communication module as a processing unit, the on-chip operating system of the communication module manufacturer is used, and an application program that matches the hardware of each unit of the controller is developed on the on-chip operating system by configuring application tasks and their priorities, thereby giving full play to the advantages of the communication module's connection to mobile communication networks or cellular networks for wide-area wireless Internet access and connection to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and the Internet of Things SOC's connection to mobile communication networks or cellular networks, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, LoRa, Star Flash and other wireless communications.

[0037] 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.

[0038] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables one skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to one 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: It includes a PCB board module, and a SIM card unit, a processing unit, a control unit, an antenna unit, a collection unit, a communication unit and a power supply unit arranged on the PCB board module; The SIM card unit, the control unit, the antenna unit, the acquisition unit, the communication unit and the power supply unit are all electrically connected to the processing unit through the PCB board module; The processing unit is used to set and configure the tasks and their priorities within the IoT controller, implement IoT functions, and generate data and instructions.

2. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processing unit uses a communication module or IoT SOC as a single general-purpose processor to achieve computing, control and data processing.

3. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 1, characterized in that: The SIM card unit includes: a card slot component or a SIM card component interface and a working circuit that is electrically connected to the pins of the processing unit; The antenna unit includes: antenna components for sending and receiving radio frequency electromagnetic waves, antenna base components or antenna component interfaces, and working circuits for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit; The acquisition unit includes: components for generating or transmitting analog signals and switch signals and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection of input to the pins of the processing unit; The communication unit includes: wired communication components or wired communication component interfaces for realizing digital communication and a working circuit for realizing electrical connection with the pins of the processing unit.

4. An Internet of Things controller according to claim 3, characterized in that: The communication module or IoT SOC adopts a single system; A single system includes: operating and application systems installed on a single communication module or IoT SOC.

5. The Internet of Things controller according to claim 4, characterized in that: It also includes using a general SOC or MCU and a radio frequency unit combination to replace a communication module or an Internet of Things SOC. The general SOC or MCU is equipped with an operating system and is electrically connected to the radio frequency unit through a PCB board.

6. A control method for an Internet of Things controller, used for implementing an Internet of Things controller according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1. Create system internal tasks or data calculation tasks and define task priorities through a single system set in a communication module or IoT SOC or general SOC or MCU; S2, receiving signals through the acquisition unit to obtain acquisition data, receiving signals through the antenna unit to obtain wireless data, generating wireless data for conversion into signals sent by the antenna unit through the processing unit, receiving signals through the communication unit to obtain communication data, generating communication data for conversion into signals sent by the communication unit through the processing unit, obtaining control state data through the control unit, and saving the data to the processing unit; S3. The processing unit processes the data in sequence according to the task priority.

7. The method for controlling an Internet of Things controller according to claim 6, characterized in that: S1 includes giving the same priority to the communication function, computing function and control function within the system to avoid delays caused by hierarchical transmission.

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