Method and system for managing power meter reading concentrator based on edge Internet of Things platform

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of electric power communication and the technical field of Internet of Things, in particular to a method and system for managing an electric power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform, and the method comprises the following physical deployment steps: deploying the managed meter reading concentrator at the bottommost layer, collecting electric energy meter data by the meter reading concentrator downlink through RS485 and modbus protocols, and transmitting the electric energy meter data to a server; the uplink communicates with the edge node gateway through an Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS through a TCP protocol; the method has the beneficial effects that the meter reading concentrator is accessed to the EdgeX edge Internet of Things platform framework, the flexible management of the meter reading concentrator is realized, the meter reading concentrator is decoupled from the master station by deploying the meter reading concentrator management system on the edge node gateway, and the master station can be directly and remotely replaced when the IP of the master station needs to be replaced, so that the management efficiency is improved. The concentrator does not need to be manually arranged for field operation, so that the manpower and time cost is greatly reduced, and the concentrator is mostly arranged on a building such as a telegraph pole, so that the potential safety hazard of operation is greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the fields of power communication and Internet of Things technology, and specifically to a method and system for managing a power meter concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform. Background Art

[0002] In the process of collecting data from household or commercial electricity meters in a power system, a meter concentrator is mostly required. The meter concentrator is the core component of a remote meter reading system, with functions such as data acquisition, storage, processing, and forwarding. It is responsible for collecting the electricity meter data in each building and uniformly sending the data to the connected master station, and then the master station further processes and applies the aggregated data. Currently, when installing the meter concentrator, the staff needs to set the IP address of the master station by pressing the button on the surface of the concentrator, and then restart the concentrator. The concentrator initiates a TCP connection request to the master station according to the set IP address. After the request is established, the master station can send a meter reading command message to the concentrator. After receiving the meter reading command, the concentrator completes the meter reading action and returns the meter reading data to the master station.

[0003] During the installation process of the meter concentrator connected to the master station, the staff needs to set the IP address of the master station. The number of meter concentrators is relatively large, and the deployment location environment is complex. Therefore, once connected to the master station, if the master station changes its IP address, or if the meter concentrator needs to change to connect to other master stations, the staff needs to go to the site of the meter concentrator again for setting. The concentrators are often distributed in different communities and are generally installed on utility poles. Therefore, the replacement setting not only wastes manpower but also has more potential safety hazards. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and system for managing a power meter concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform to solve the problems raised in the above background art.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following technical solution: A method for managing a power meter concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform includes the following physical deployment steps: At the bottom layer, the managed meter concentrator is deployed. The meter concentrator collects electricity meter data through RS485 and Modbus protocols in the downlink and communicates with the edge node gateway through Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS and TCP protocol in the uplink; at the middle layer, the edge node gateway is deployed. The edge node gateway communicates with the meter concentrator through Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS and TCP protocol in the downlink and communicates with the master station through Ethernet port and TCP protocol in the uplink; at the upper layer, the master station is deployed as a data server.

[0006] Preferably, the open source framework of the edge IoT platform EdgeX is started on the edge node gateway, specifically including: completing the EdgeX framework deployment through the docker-compose component, pre-setting the docker container environment and docker-compose components on the edge node, and using the configuration command "docker-compose -f<docker-compose-no-secty.yml> "up-d" starts the EdgeX framework, where docker-compose-no-secty.yml is the edgex framework startup script.

[0007] Preferably, after starting the EdgeX framework, it also includes: starting a custom device service, listening to the port and waiting for the device to connect, the custom device service is a microservice for EdgeX to communicate with the concentrator via TCP, and multiple concentrators can be connected to the custom device service at the same time.

[0008] Preferably, it also includes:

[0009] Start the backend management service, which provides the add / delete / modify / query service of meter reading concentrator and the configuration change service of master station;

[0010] The backend management service provides an HTTP protocol interface. Users perform corresponding operations through the web page. After receiving the settings, the backend management application service sends the concentrator device number name and the corresponding master station IP address and port number configuration to the master station application service. The master station application service starts a thread, which establishes a TCP connection to the master station according to the received configuration request.

[0011] The master station application service is a custom application service developed based on the EdgeX framework. Each concentrator thread corresponds to an actual meter reading concentrator. The thread initiates a TCP connection request to the master station according to the configured IP address and port number and establishes a connection. Through the Redis Pub / Sub message bus of the EdgeX framework, it reads the concentrator data collected by the custom device service and uploads the corresponding concentrator data to the master station.

[0012] The master station application service connects to the master station through the TCP protocol, and as a proxy, transparently transmits the data message of the meter reading concentrator to the master station, and also receives the meter reading instructions from the master station. The master station application service and the custom device service exchange information through the message bus.

[0013] Preferably, it also includes:

[0014] When the main station IP address changes or the main station needs to be replaced, the background management service is configured through the HTTP interface provided by the background management service of the background management web page to change to the new IP address. The background management service updates the new main station IP address and port number to the redis configuration library, and notifies the main station application service to restart the corresponding thread, so that the thread connects to the new main station according to the new configuration.

[0015] When the concentrator powers off and goes offline, the custom device service reports the event to the message bus of EdgeX. The application service captures the corresponding event message. When it learns that the concentrator has gone offline, it notifies the main station application service to disconnect the TCP connection between the concentrator thread and the main station.

[0016] A system for a method of managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform includes: a physical deployment layer, which includes the meter reading concentrator to be managed at the bottom layer, the edge node gateway in the middle layer, and the main station data server at the upper layer; among them, the meter reading concentrator collects electric energy meter data downward through the RS485 and modbus protocols, and communicates with the edge node gateway upward through the Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS using the TCP protocol; the edge node gateway communicates with the meter reading concentrator downward through the Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS and the TCP protocol, and communicates with the main station upward through the Ethernet port and the TCP protocol.

[0017] Preferably, the open-source framework EdgeX of the edge Internet of Things platform runs on the edge node gateway. The EdgeX framework is deployed through the docker-compose component, and the edge node is preconfigured with a docker container environment and the docker-compose component.

[0018] Preferably, it further includes: a custom device service module for listening on a port and waiting for a device, that is, a meter reading concentrator, to connect; the custom device service is a microservice for TCP communication between EdgeX and the concentrator, and multiple concentrators can connect to the custom device service simultaneously.

[0019] Preferably, it further includes:

[0020] A background management service module for providing services for adding / deleting / modifying / querying the meter reading concentrator and main station configuration change services; the background management service provides an HTTP protocol interface, and users perform corresponding operations through the web page.

[0021] After receiving the setting, the background management application service sends the configuration of the concentrator device number name and the corresponding main station IP address and port number to the main station application service. The main station application service starts a thread, and this thread establishes a TCP connection to the main station according to the received configuration request.

[0022] The main station application service module is a custom application service developed based on the EdgeX framework. Each concentrator thread corresponds to an actual meter reading concentrator. The thread initiates a TCP connection request to the main station according to the configured IP address and port number and establishes a connection. Through the Redis Pub / Sub message bus of the EdgeX framework, it reads the concentrator data collected by the custom device service and uploads the corresponding concentrator data to the main station.

[0023] The main station application service connects to the main station through the TCP protocol, acts as an agent to transparently transmit the data packets of the meter reading concentrator to the main station, and also receives the meter reading instructions from the main station. The main station application service exchanges information with the custom device service through the message bus.

[0024] Preferably, it further includes:

[0025] The main station change management module, when the main station IP address changes or the main station needs to be replaced, configures the background management service through the HTTP interface provided by the background management service of the background management web page to change to the new IP address. The background management service updates the new main station IP address and port number to the redis configuration library, and notifies the main station application service to restart the corresponding thread, so that the thread connects to the new main station according to the new configuration.

[0026] The concentrator status monitoring module, when the concentrator powers off and goes offline, the custom device service reports the event to the message bus of EdgeX, and the application service captures the corresponding event message. When it learns that the concentrator has gone offline, it notifies the main station application service to disconnect the TCP connection between the concentrator thread and the main station.

[0027] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0028] The method and system for managing power meter reading concentrators based on the edge Internet of Things platform proposed by the present invention connect the meter reading concentrators to the EdgeX edge Internet of Things platform framework, realizing flexible management of the meter reading concentrators. By deploying the meter reading concentrator management system on the edge node gateway, the meter reading concentrators are decoupled from the main station. When the main station IP needs to be replaced, it can be directly remotely replaced without the need for manual on-site operation to set the concentrator, greatly reducing the labor and time costs. Moreover, the concentrators are mostly installed on buildings such as utility poles, greatly reducing the operation safety hazards.

[0029] Connecting the meter reading concentrators to the Internet of Things platform for management, using the device access ability and message bus ability of the EdgeX framework, not only can the access and data collection of the meter reading concentrators be conveniently realized, but also it is fully compatible with the working mode of the meter reading concentrators themselves, and a large number of meter reading concentrators can be uniformly managed, with high flexibility. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0030] Figure 1 This is the framework diagram of the power meter reading concentrator managed by the edge Internet of Things platform of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 This is the flow chart of starting the background management service of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 3 This is the flow chart of the main station initiating a meter reading request of the present invention. Specific embodiments

[0033] In order to clearly and completely describe the purpose, technical solution of the present invention, and make the advantages more clearly understood, the following further details the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments, and are only used to explain the embodiments of the present invention, not to limit the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] Embodiment 1, please refer to Figures 1 to 3 , the present invention provides a technical solution: a method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform, including the following steps:

[0035] 1. Physical deployment method. The bottom layer is the meter reading concentrator to be managed (as shown in the label ○2 in the figure). The meter reading concentrator refers to a device that collects data from each electric energy meter or acquisition terminal, processes and stores it, and can exchange data with the main station. Downward, it collects electric energy meter data through the RS485 and modbus protocols, and upward, it communicates with the edge node gateway through the Ethernet port, WiFi, or GPRS via the TCP protocol; the edge node gateway is deployed in the middle layer (as shown in the label ○8 in the figure). The edge node gateway runs software services. Downward, it communicates with the meter reading concentrator through the Ethernet port, WiFi, or GPRS and the TCP protocol, and upward, it communicates with the main station through the Ethernet port and the TCP protocol; the upper layer is the main station as the data server.

[0036] 2. Start the open-source framework EdgeX of the edge Internet of Things platform on the edge node gateway. The edge Internet of Things platform EdgeX can be deployed through the docker-compose component. Therefore, the edge node needs to pre-set the docker container environment and the docker-compose component. The configuration example is as follows:

[0037] #docker-compose -f <docker-compose-no-secty.yml> up -d (where docker-compose-no-secty.yml is the edgex framework startup script)

[0038] 3. Start the custom device service, listen on a port, and wait for the device (meter reading concentrator) to connect. As shown by the label ○1 in the figure. The device service is one of the microservices for EdgeX to interact with devices. The custom device service is the microservice for EdgeX to perform TCP communication with the concentrator, and multiple concentrators can connect to the custom device service simultaneously. The configuration example is as follows:

[0039] EdgeX device configuration:

[0040] [[DeviceList]]

[0041] Name = 'TCP Meter Reading Concentrator devcie'

[0042] Porfile = 'Concentrator.Device.TCP.Profile'

[0043] Description = 'This is a meter reading concentrator device'

[0044] Labels = ['Concentrator', 'TCP']

[0045] [DeviceList.Protocols]

[0046] [DeviceList.Protocols.tcp]

[0047] Address = '0.0.0.0'

[0048] Port = '1031'

[0049] UnitID = '1'

[0050] Start the custom device service:

[0051] # / edgexfoundry / device-tcp<ip address> <port>(where <ip address> <port>IP address and port number for custom device service, example: localhost, 1031)

[0052] 4. Set the master station IP and port on the meter reading concentrator to the IP address and port in step 3 above, and start the concentrator. The concentrator will initiate a connection request to the custom device service and complete the establishment of the TCP connection. (As shown by label ○9 in the figure). The configuration method of the meter reading concentrator is configured according to the instruction manual. Based on the method provided by the present invention, the meter reading concentrator only needs to be configured once to be deployed. In the later stage, when the master station changes, it is no longer necessary to configure the meter reading concentrator, thus reducing the operation and maintenance difficulty of configuring a large number of meter reading concentrators during the change.

[0053] 5. Start the background management service (as shown by label ○4 in the figure). The background management service provides services such as adding / deleting / modifying / querying the meter reading concentrator; providing master station configuration change services, etc. The background management service provides an HTTP protocol interface, and users can perform corresponding operations through the web page. After receiving the settings, the background management application service sends the configuration of the corresponding concentrator device number name and the IP address and port number of the corresponding master station to the master station application service. The master station application service starts a thread (as shown by label ○5 in the figure), and this thread establishes a TCP connection to the master station according to the received configuration request.

[0054] 6. The master station application service is a custom application service developed based on the EdgeX framework, as shown by label ○3 in the figure. Each concentrator thread corresponds to an actual meter reading concentrator. The thread initiates a TCP connection request to the master station according to the configured IP address and port number and establishes a connection. Through the Redis Pub / Sub message bus of the EdgeX framework, it reads the concentrator data collected by the custom device service and uploads the corresponding concentrator data to the master station.

[0055] The defined topic path of the meter reading concentrator message is as follows:

[0056] edgex / events / device / concentrator / concentrator-name

[0057] 7. The master station application service connects to the master station through the TCP protocol, acts as an agent to transparently transmit the data packets of the meter reading concentrator to the master station, and also receives the meter reading instructions from the master station. From the perspective of the master station, the master station application service is the meter reading concentrator. The master station application service exchanges information with the custom device service through the message bus.

[0058] The process of the master station initiating a meter reading request is as follows:

[0059] 8. When the main station IP address changes or the main station needs to be replaced, the background management service can be configured through the HTTP interface provided by the background management service on the background management web page to change to the new IP address. The background management service updates the new main station IP address and port number to the redis configuration library, and notifies the main station application service to restart the corresponding thread, so that the thread connects to the new main station according to the new configuration. There is no need for staff to set each concentrator on site.

[0060] 9. If the concentrator powers off and goes offline, the custom device service will report the event to the message bus of EdgeX. Therefore, the application service will capture the corresponding event message. When it knows that the concentrator has gone offline, it will notify the main station application service to disconnect the TCP connection between the concentrator thread and the main station, that is, notify the main station that the concentrator has gone offline.

[0061] Embodiment 2, based on Embodiment 1, proposes a system for a method of managing a power meter concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform, including: a physical deployment layer, which includes the meter concentrators to be managed at the bottom layer, the edge node gateways in the middle layer, and the main station data servers at the upper layer; among them, the concentrator collects power meter data through RS485 and the modbus protocol in the downstream, and communicates with the edge node gateway through Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS in the upstream using the TCP protocol; the edge node gateway communicates with the concentrator through Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS and the TCP protocol in the downstream, and communicates with the main station through the Ethernet port and the TCP protocol in the upstream.

[0062] The edge Internet of Things platform open source framework EdgeX runs on the edge node gateway. This EdgeX framework is deployed through the docker-compose component, and the edge node is preconfigured with a docker container environment and the docker-compose component.

[0063] It also includes: a custom device service module for listening on a port and waiting for a device, that is, a meter concentrator, to connect; the custom device service is a microservice for TCP communication between EdgeX and the concentrator, and multiple concentrators can connect to this custom device service at the same time.

[0064] It also includes: a background management service module, which is used to provide meter reading concentrator add / delete / modify / query services and master station configuration change services; the background management service provides an HTTP protocol interface, and users perform corresponding operations through the web page; after receiving the settings, the background management application service sends the configuration of the concentrator device number name and the corresponding master station IP address and port number to the master station application service, and the master station application service starts a thread, and the thread establishes a TCP connection to the master station according to the received configuration request; the master station application service module is a custom application service developed based on the EdgeX framework, each concentrator thread corresponds to an actual meter reading concentrator, and the thread initiates a TCP connection request to the master station according to the configured IP address and port number and establishes a connection, reads the concentrator data collected by the custom device service through the Redis Pub / Sub message bus of the EdgeX framework, and uploads the corresponding concentrator data to the master station; the master station application service connects to the master station through the TCP protocol, and as an agent, transparently transmits the data message of the meter reading concentrator to the master station, and also receives the meter reading instruction of the master station, and the master station application service exchanges information with the custom device service through the message bus.

[0065] It also includes: a master station change management module. When the master station IP address changes or the master station needs to be replaced, the background management service is configured through the HTTP interface provided by the background management service of the background management webpage, and changed to a new IP address. The background management service updates the new master station IP address and port number to the redis configuration library, notifies the master station application service to restart the corresponding thread, so that the thread connects to the new master station according to the new configuration; a concentrator status monitoring module. When the concentrator is powered off and offline, the custom device service reports the event to the EdgeX message bus, and the application service captures the corresponding event message. When it is learned that the concentrator has been offline, it notifies the master station application service to disconnect the TCP connection between the concentrator thread and the master station.

[0066] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.< / port> < / port>

Claims

1. A method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform, characterized in that: The physical deployment steps are as follows: the managed meter reading concentrator is deployed at the bottom layer. The meter reading concentrator collects the electric energy meter data through RS485 and modbus protocol in the downstream, and communicates with the edge node gateway through the Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS through the TCP protocol in the upstream; The edge node gateway is deployed in the middle layer. The edge node gateway communicates with the meter reading concentrator through Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS and TCP protocol in the downstream, and communicates with the master station through Ethernet port and TCP protocol in the upstream. The master station deployed in the upper layer is a data server.

2. According to claim 1, a method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform is characterized in that: Start the edge IoT platform open source framework EdgeX on the edge node gateway, including: completing the EdgeX framework deployment through the docker-compose component, pre-setting the docker container environment and docker-compose components on the edge node, and using the configuration command "docker-compose -f<docker-compose-no-secty.yml> "up-d" starts the EdgeX framework, where docker-compose-no-secty.yml is the edgex framework startup script.

3. According to a method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform according to claim 2, it is characterized in that: After starting the EdgeX framework, it also includes: starting a custom device service, listening to the port and waiting for the device to connect. The custom device service is a microservice for EdgeX to communicate with the concentrator via TCP. Multiple concentrators can connect to the custom device service at the same time.

4. A method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform according to claim 3, characterized in that: Also includes: Start the backend management service, which provides the add / delete / modify / query service of meter reading concentrator and the configuration change service of master station; The backend management service provides an HTTP protocol interface. Users perform corresponding operations through the web page. After receiving the settings, the backend management application service sends the concentrator device number name and the corresponding master station IP address and port number configuration to the master station application service. The master station application service starts a thread, which establishes a TCP connection to the master station according to the received configuration request. The master station application service is a custom application service developed based on the EdgeX framework. Each concentrator thread corresponds to an actual meter reading concentrator. The thread initiates a TCP connection request to the master station according to the configured IP address and port number and establishes a connection. Through the Redis Pub / Sub message bus of the EdgeX framework, it reads the concentrator data collected by the custom device service and uploads the corresponding concentrator data to the master station. The master station application service connects to the master station through the TCP protocol, and as a proxy, transparently transmits the data message of the meter reading concentrator to the master station, and also receives the meter reading instructions from the master station. The master station application service and the custom device service exchange information through the message bus.

5. A method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform according to claim 4, characterized in that: Also includes: When the IP address of the master station changes or the master station needs to be replaced, the background management service is configured through the HTTP interface provided by the background management service of the background management webpage, and the new IP address is changed. The background management service updates the new main station IP address and port number to the redis configuration library, notifies the main station application service to restart the corresponding thread, so that the thread connects to the new main station according to the new configuration; When the concentrator loses power and goes offline, the custom device service reports the event to the EdgeX message bus, and the application service captures the corresponding event message. When it is learned that the concentrator has gone offline, it notifies the master application service to disconnect the TCP connection between the concentrator thread and the master.

6. A system for the method for managing a power meter reading concentrator based on an edge Internet of Things platform according to claim 5, characterized in that: include: Physical deployment layer, which includes the managed meter reading concentrator at the bottom layer, the edge node gateway at the middle layer, and the master station data server at the upper layer; the meter reading concentrator collects the electric energy meter data through RS485 and modbus protocol in the downstream, and communicates with the edge node gateway through Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS in the upstream with TCP protocol; The edge node gateway communicates with the meter reading concentrator via Ethernet port, WiFi or GPRS and TCP protocol in the downstream, and communicates with the master station via Ethernet port and TCP protocol in the upstream.

7. A system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The edge node gateway runs the edge IoT platform open source framework EdgeX, which is deployed through the docker-compose component. The edge node is pre-installed with the docker container environment and docker-compose components.

8. A system according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: The custom device service module is used to listen to the port and wait for the device, i.e., the meter reading concentrator, to connect; the custom device service is a microservice for EdgeX to perform TCP communication with the concentrator, and multiple concentrators can connect to the custom device service at the same time.

9. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that: Also includes: Backend management service module, used to provide meter reading concentrator add / delete / modify / query services and master station configuration change services; The backend management service provides an HTTP protocol interface, and users can perform corresponding operations through the web page; After receiving the settings, the background management application service sends the configuration of the concentrator device number name and the corresponding master station IP address and port number to the master station application service. The master station application service starts a thread, which establishes a TCP connection to the master station according to the received configuration request; The master station application service module is a custom application service developed based on the EdgeX framework. Each concentrator thread corresponds to an actual meter reading concentrator. The thread initiates a TCP connection request to the master station according to the configured IP address and port number and establishes a connection. Through the Redis Pub / Sub message bus of the EdgeX framework, it reads the concentrator data collected by the custom device service and uploads the corresponding concentrator data to the master station. The master station application service connects to the master station through the TCP protocol, and as a proxy, transparently transmits the data message of the meter reading concentrator to the master station, and also receives the meter reading instructions from the master station. The master station application service and the custom device service exchange information through the message bus.

10. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that: Also includes: The master station change management module configures the background management service through the HTTP interface provided by the background management service of the background management webpage when the main station IP address changes or the main station needs to be replaced, and changes to the new IP address. The background management service updates the new main station IP address and port number to the redis configuration library, notifies the main station application service to restart the corresponding thread, so that the thread connects to the new main station according to the new configuration; Concentrator status monitoring module, when the concentrator is powered off and offline, the custom device service reports the event to the EdgeX message bus, and the application service captures the corresponding event message. When it is learned that the concentrator has gone offline, it notifies the master application service to disconnect the TCP connection between the concentrator thread and the master.

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