Control method and device for low-power electronic price tag, equipment and storage medium

Abstract

This application provides a control method and apparatus for low-power electronic price tags. The control method includes: when waking up the display unit to perform a refresh task, acquiring the voltage of a supercapacitor, the voltage value recorded during the previous wake-up of the display unit, and the time difference between the two wake-ups; determining the real-time net input power based on the voltage of the supercapacitor, the voltage value recorded during the previous wake-up of the display unit, and the time difference between the two wake-ups; acquiring the smoothed power of the supercapacitor during the previous wake-up stage, and smoothing the real-time net input power based on the smoothed power of the previous wake-up stage to obtain a smoothed power; acquiring the task gate voltage, and determining the energy storage margin based on the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor; determining a safety factor based on the energy storage margin; acquiring the energy consumed by the display unit in a single refresh, and calculating the refresh interval of the display unit based on the safety factor, the smoothed power, and the energy consumed by the display unit in a single refresh.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of electronic shelf labels, and in particular relates to a control method, device, equipment and storage medium for low-power electronic shelf labels. Background Technology

[0002] Self-powered electronic tags are an important component of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. These tags utilize weak ambient radio frequency energy, combined with a high-efficiency energy management chip, to charge a large-capacity energy storage component. After collecting sufficient energy, the tag's main control chip wakes up from sleep mode and drives the high-power display module to update information.

[0003] The existing self-powered electronic tags have the following problems: (1) Most existing tags use fixed timed wake-up or coarse voltage threshold wake-up. When the ambient radio frequency signal weakens, the tag still wakes up at a fixed frequency, but due to insufficient energy collected between the two wake-up intervals, the refresh task fails, the voltage drops below the protection threshold, and the system is forced to restart frequently or cannot work for a long time. This control strategy fails to enable the electronic tag to adjust its refresh and sleep behavior autonomously and intelligently according to the collected electricity. (2) The energy storage advantage of large-capacity supercapacitors is not fully utilized: For large-capacity supercapacitors, their voltage changes can accurately reflect the rate of energy accumulation. However, traditional methods ignore this information and fail to set a surplus energy threshold, and cannot switch to the highest real-time working mode when a large amount of surplus electricity is collected. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, this application provides a control method, apparatus, device and storage medium for low-power electronic shelf labels, aiming to optimize the working mode of electronic shelf labels.

[0005] Firstly, this application provides a control method for low-power electronic shelf labels, including: When the display unit is woken up to perform a refresh task, the voltage of the supercapacitor is obtained. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit ; Based on the voltage of the supercapacitor The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit Determine the real-time net input power ; Obtain the smoothed power of the supercapacitor during the previous wake-up phase. Based on the smoothing power of the previous wake-up phase For real-time net input power Smoothing is performed to obtain the smoothed power. ; Obtain task gate voltage According to the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor Determine energy storage margin ; Based on energy storage margin Determine the safety factor ; Get the energy consumed per refresh of the display unit. Based on safety factor Smoothing power And the energy consumed by the display unit per refresh. The refresh interval of the display unit is calculated. .

[0006] Optionally, real-time net input power The calculation process is as follows:

[0007] In the formula: This represents the net increase in energy. Based on the voltage of the supercapacitor The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the capacitance value of supercapacitors. Calculated.

[0008] Optionally, net energy increase The calculation process is as follows:

[0009] In the formula: This indicates the capacitance value of the supercapacitor.

[0010] Optionally, smooth power The calculation process is as follows:

[0011] In the formula, Represents the smoothing coefficient. .

[0012] Optionally, energy storage margin The calculation process is as follows:

[0013] In the formula: This indicates the capacitance value of the supercapacitor.

[0014] Optionally, safety factor The calculation process is as follows:

[0015] In the formula: Indicates the minimum safety factor; Indicates the maximum safety factor; This represents the attenuation factor.

[0016] Optionally, refresh interval The calculation process is as follows:

[0017] In the formula: This represents the minimum time baseline.

[0018] Secondly, this application provides a control device for low-power electronic shelf labels, comprising: The first acquisition module is used to acquire the voltage of the supercapacitor when the display unit is woken up to perform a refresh task. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit ; The first determining module is used to determine the voltage of the supercapacitor. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit Determine the real-time net input power ; The second determining module is used to obtain the smoothed power of the supercapacitor during the previous wake-up phase. Based on the smoothing power of the previous wake-up phase For real-time net input power Smoothing is performed to obtain the smoothed power. ; The second acquisition module is used to acquire the task gate voltage. According to the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor Determine energy storage margin ; The third determining module is used to determine the energy storage margin. Determine the safety factor ; The fourth determining module is used to obtain the energy consumed by the display unit in a single refresh. Based on safety factor Smoothing power And the energy consumed by the display unit per refresh. The refresh interval of the display unit is calculated. .

[0019] Thirdly, this application provides an electronic device, including the control device for low-power electronic price tags as described above.

[0020] Fourthly, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing at least one piece of program code, which is executed by a processor to implement the control method for low-power electronic shelf labels as described in any of the preceding claims.

[0021] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided in this application include: (1) Extremely high system robustness: Through power smoothing, the system has strong anti-interference ability against instantaneous fluctuations of radio frequency signals (such as people or objects passing by), ensuring the stability of refresh interval adjustment.

[0022] (2) Improve system stability: By introducing a dynamic safety factor, the system will automatically switch to the most conservative strategy when the energy is low, and extend the hibernation time, effectively avoiding the problem of repeated restarts, crashes or freezes caused by insufficient energy when the signal is weak in traditional systems.

[0023] (3) Optimal energy utilization efficiency and real-time performance: The refresh frequency truly achieves dynamic matching with the environmental energy input. Under the premise of ensuring safety, the system can always refresh at the highest frequency allowed by the current environment, making the maximum use of the collected energy and avoiding the waste of electricity due to the fixed safety factor in traditional designs.

[0024] (4) Precise large-capacity energy storage management: The innovative combination of multi-level voltage thresholds makes full use of the energy storage characteristics of supercapacitors. From emergency protection to task gating and high-frequency locking, it realizes refined and phased management of large-capacity energy storage components.

[0025] (5) High versatility and forward-looking: This method is an innovative software algorithm based on the principle of energy management. It does not rely on specific radio frequency collection hardware and can be widely applied to various IoT terminal devices powered by weak energy sources (radio frequency, photovoltaic, thermoelectric, etc.), and has strong technical universality. Attached Figure Description

[0026] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of this invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0027] Figure 1 A structural block diagram of an electronic price tag provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 A flowchart of a control method for low-power electronic shelf labels provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a control process for low-power electronic shelf labels provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 4 A structural block diagram of a control device for low-power electronic shelf labels provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 5 This is a structural block diagram of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0028] The attached figures are labeled as follows: 1: Energy harvesting unit; 2: Energy management circuit; 3: Supercapacitor; 4: Main control chip; 5: Display unit; 11: First acquisition module; 12: First determination module; 13: Second determination module; 14: Second acquisition module; 15: Third determination module; 16: Fourth determination module; 21: Processor; 22: Memory. Detailed Implementation

[0029] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the technical solutions of this invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0030] Figure 1 A structural block diagram of an electronic price tag provided in one embodiment of this application. See also... Figure 1 Electronic price tags include: Energy harvesting unit 1 is responsible for receiving and rectifying radio frequency energy in the environment.

[0031] Energy management circuit 2 is responsible for efficiently boosting and stabilizing the output voltage, and charging the energy storage element.

[0032] Supercapacitor 3, as the main energy storage element, has a voltage It is a direct and measurable indicator of the system's energy state.

[0033] The main control chip (MCU)4 must have an extremely low-power deep sleep mode, high-precision RTC timing function, and ADC sampling interface for monitoring. And run the core adaptive algorithm.

[0034] The display unit is used to display the price tag.

[0035] The electronic price tag operates as follows: First, the energy harvesting unit collects radio frequency energy from the environment to generate electricity. Then, the energy management circuit charges the supercapacitor based on the energy collected by the energy harvesting unit, thus achieving energy storage. The supercapacitor then powers the main control chip and the display unit, with the main control chip controlling the display unit to perform the display.

[0036] In some examples, the supercapacitor is a 7.5V 1F supercapacitor, the main control chip is an ESP32 main control chip with a deep sleep mode, and the display unit is an e-ink screen.

[0037] Since the supercapacitor voltage can reach up to 7.5V, while the ESP32's ADC sampling voltage limit is 3.3V, a voltage divider must be used.

[0038] Voltage divider circuit design: Selected (connect )and (Connect GND), voltage divider ratio It is approximately 2.28.

[0039] ADC Sampling Configuration: Configure the ESP32's ADC sampling accuracy to 12 bits, and set an appropriate attenuator to ensure the linearity and accuracy of the measurement.

[0040] Voltage conversion: Voltage obtained by MCU sampling It needs to be done through formula Convert back to the actual voltage of the supercapacitor .

[0041] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating an adaptive power supply method for radio frequency energy harvesting in low-power electronic price tags, provided as an embodiment of this application. See also... Figure 2 ,include: S101. When waking up the display unit to perform a refresh task, obtain the voltage of the supercapacitor. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit .

[0042] In some examples, by using a three-level voltage threshold and process control to control the display status of the display unit, the electronic price tag can automatically control refresh and sleep modes based on the collected electricity. Emergency Protection Mode :like The system immediately enters a forced deep sleep mode, waiting for the battery to recover.

[0043] Energy Gating and Awakening Only when And the hibernation time exceeds the minimum time interval The system will only allow the task to be executed at that time.

[0044] High-frequency locking mode :like The system skips complex calculations and... Directly locked as It then enters the highest real-time operation phase.

[0045] Adaptive Decision Making and Sleep: In When the method of this application is executed, the optimized result is obtained. Write to the RTC timer and return to deep sleep mode, waiting for the next power-driven wake-up.

[0046] In some examples, the MCU samples the voltage of the supercapacitor via an ADC during each wake-up refresh task. At the same time, it acquires the voltage recorded during the last wake-up. and the time difference between the two wake-ups (i.e., hibernation time).

[0047] S102, Based on the voltage of the supercapacitor The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit Determine the real-time net input power .

[0048] In some examples, real-time net input power The calculation process is as follows:

[0049] In the formula: This represents the net increase in energy. Based on the voltage of the supercapacitor The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the capacitance value of supercapacitors. Calculated.

[0050] Calculate the average power during hibernation as This power has automatically deducted static losses such as the power consumption of the MCU in deep sleep mode.

[0051] In some examples, the net increase in energy The calculation process is as follows:

[0052] In the formula: This indicates the capacitance value of the supercapacitor.

[0053] S103. Obtain the smoothed power of the supercapacitor during the previous wake-up phase. Based on the smoothing power of the previous wake-up phase For real-time net input power Smoothing is performed to obtain the smoothed power. .

[0054] In some examples, smoothing power The calculation process is as follows:

[0055] In the formula, Represents the smoothing coefficient. The coefficient is used to adjust the system's response speed to the latest power data, ensuring the refresh interval. The adjustment will not be too drastic due to instantaneous fluctuations in the radio frequency signal.

[0056] S104, Obtain the task gate voltage According to the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor Determine energy storage margin .

[0057] In some examples, energy storage margin The calculation process is as follows:

[0058] In the formula: This indicates the capacitance value of the supercapacitor.

[0059] S105, Based on energy storage margin Determine the safety factor .

[0060] In some examples, the safety factor The calculation process is as follows:

[0061] In the formula: Indicates the minimum safety factor; Indicates the maximum safety factor; This represents the attenuation factor, which is determined through experimental calibration.

[0062] S106. Obtain the energy consumption of a single refresh of the display unit. Based on safety factor Smoothing power And the energy consumed by the display unit per refresh. The refresh interval of the display unit is calculated. .

[0063] In some examples, refresh interval The calculation process is as follows:

[0064] In the formula: Indicates the minimum time baseline, used to ensure It will not approach zero indefinitely, reserving necessary execution buffer time for the system.

[0065] See Figure 3 This application provides a specific embodiment, and the real-time process is as follows: Step 1: System initialization.

[0066] Step 1: Hardware initialization: Configure ESP32GPIO and E-ink screen SPI interface, and initialize RTC clock.

[0067] Step 2, RTC Memory Initialization: Initialize and store the following variables in the ESP32's RTC memory: The initial value of the supercapacitor voltage during the last hibernation period can be set to 3.60V.

[0068] The smoothed power calculated last time can be initially set to an average of 3.85mW.

[0069] The initial sleep time can be set to 10 seconds.

[0070] Step 3, Initial Hibernation: Configure the ESP32RTC wake-up timer to 10 seconds to enter deep sleep mode.

[0071] Step 2: RTC Wake-up and Security Check .

[0072] Wake-up: The ESP32 MCU is woken up by the RTC timer, and the system enters active mode.

[0073] Data Acquisition: Reading data from RTC memory And the last actual hibernation time .

[0074] ADC Sampling: Immediately via ADC sampling Converted to actual voltage .

[0075] Urgent protection: judgment If true, immediately skip all subsequent operations, set the RTC wake-up time to 10 seconds, and return to deep sleep mode.

[0076] Step 3: Task Gating and Time Check

[0077] Task gating: judgment If true, it indicates insufficient energy. Skip the refresh task, return to deep sleep mode, and maintain the original state. .

[0078] Minimum interval check: judgment If true, it means the previous sleep time was too short to perform a refresh, and the system will return to deep sleep mode, maintaining the original state. .

[0079] Entering Activity Mode: If none of the above conditions are met, the system will enter the task execution phase.

[0080] Step 4: Refresh task execution and high-frequency locking Data logging: Records the time of this wake-up. The value is used for calculation in the next cycle.

[0081] Refresh execution: The MCU drives the e-ink screen to complete a partial refresh of 9mJ and necessary communication tasks.

[0082] High-frequency lock check: judgment If true, set Skip step 5 and proceed directly to step 6.

[0083] Step 5: Innovative Adaptive Computation (I1 to K) This step is only applicable to... Execute at the specified time.

[0084] 1. Real-time estimation: ,

[0085] 2. Power smoothing:

[0086] 3. Calculate the margin:

[0087] 4. Dynamic safety factor:

[0088] 5. Finally calculate:

[0089] Step 6: Update and enter deep sleep mode Data update: This time Store as The wake-up time Store as , for use in the next cycle.

[0090] RTC timing: will calculate or lock Write to the RTC register of the ESP32.

[0091] Entering deep sleep mode: The MCU shuts down most circuits, enters an ultra-low power mode, and waits. Once the timer ends, the system returns to step 2 and begins the next adaptive work cycle.

[0092] Figure 4 This is a structural block diagram of a control device for low-power electronic shelf labels provided in one embodiment of this application. See also... Figure 4 ,include: The first acquisition module 11 is used to acquire the voltage of the supercapacitor when the display unit is woken up to perform a refresh task. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit ; The first determining module 12 is used to determine the voltage of the supercapacitor. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit Determine the real-time net input power ; The second determining module 13 is used to obtain the smoothed power of the supercapacitor in the previous wake-up stage. Based on the smoothing power of the previous wake-up phase For real-time net input power Smoothing is performed to obtain the smoothed power. ; The second acquisition module 14 is used to acquire the task gate voltage. According to the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor Determine energy storage margin ; The third determining module 15 is used to determine the energy storage margin. Determine the safety factor ; The fourth determining module 16 is used to obtain the energy consumed by the display unit in a single refresh. Based on safety factor Smoothing power And the energy consumed by the display unit per refresh. The refresh interval of the display unit is calculated. .

[0093] Figure 5 This is a structural block diagram of an electronic device provided according to an embodiment of this application. See also... Figure 5 Electronic devices may include Figure 4 The control device for low-power electronic shelf labels described above. Typically, the electronic device includes a processor 21 and a memory 22. The processor 21 may include one or more processing cores, such as a 4-core processor, an 8-core processor, etc. The processor 21 may be implemented using at least one hardware form of DSP (Digital Signal Processing), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or PLA (Programmable Logic Array). The processor 21 may also include a main processor and a coprocessor. The main processor is used to process data in the wake-up state, also known as a CPU (Central Processing Unit); the coprocessor is a low-power processor used to process data in the standby state. The memory 22 may include one or more computer-readable storage media, which may be non-transitory. The memory 22 may also include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as one or more disk storage devices or flash memory devices. In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in memory 22 is used to store at least one instruction, which is executed by processor 21 to implement the control method for low-power electronic price tags performed by an electronic device provided in the method embodiments of this application.

[0094] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for low-power electronic shelf labels, characterized in that, include: When the display unit is woken up to perform a refresh task, the voltage of the supercapacitor is obtained. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit ; Based on the voltage of the supercapacitor The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit Determine the real-time net input power ; Obtain the smoothed power of the supercapacitor during the previous wake-up phase. Based on the smoothing power of the previous wake-up phase For real-time net input power Smoothing is performed to obtain the smoothed power. ; Obtain task gate voltage According to the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor Determine energy storage margin ; Based on energy storage margin Determine the safety factor ; Get the energy consumed per refresh of the display unit. Based on safety factor Smoothing power And the energy consumed by the display unit per refresh. The refresh interval of the display unit is calculated. .

2. The control method for low-power electronic price tags according to claim 1, characterized in that, Real-time net input power The calculation process is as follows: In the formula: This represents the net increase in energy. Based on the voltage of the supercapacitor The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the capacitance value of supercapacitors. Calculated.

3. The control method for low-power electronic price tags according to claim 2, characterized in that, Net energy increase The calculation process is as follows: In the formula: This indicates the capacitance value of the supercapacitor.

4. The control method for low-power electronic price tags according to claim 1, characterized in that, Smooth power The calculation process is as follows: In the formula, Represents the smoothing coefficient. .

5. The control method for low-power electronic price tags according to claim 1, characterized in that, Energy storage margin The calculation process is as follows: In the formula: This indicates the capacitance value of the supercapacitor.

6. The control method for low-power electronic price tags according to claim 1, characterized in that, Safety factor The calculation process is as follows: In the formula: Indicates the minimum safety factor; Indicates the maximum safety factor; This represents the attenuation factor.

7. The control method for low-power electronic price tags according to claim 1, characterized in that, Refresh Interval The calculation process is as follows: In the formula: This represents the minimum time baseline.

8. A control device for low-power electronic price tags, characterized in that, include: The first acquisition module is used to acquire the voltage of the supercapacitor when the display unit is woken up to perform a refresh task. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit ; The first determining module is used to determine the voltage of the supercapacitor. The voltage value recorded when the display unit was last woken up. and the time difference between the two wake-up of the display unit Determine the real-time net input power ; The second determining module is used to obtain the smoothed power of the supercapacitor during the previous wake-up phase. Based on the smoothing power of the previous wake-up phase For real-time net input power Smoothing is performed to obtain the smoothed power. ; The second acquisition module is used to acquire the task gate voltage. According to the task gate voltage and the voltage of the supercapacitor Determine energy storage margin ; The third determining module is used to determine the energy storage margin. Determine the safety factor ; The fourth determining module is used to obtain the energy consumed by the display unit in a single refresh. Based on safety factor Smoothing power And the energy consumed by the display unit per refresh. The refresh interval of the display unit is calculated. .

9. An electronic device, characterized in that, Includes the control device for low-power electronic price tags as described in claim 8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores at least one piece of program code, which is executed by a processor to implement the control method for low-power electronic shelf labels as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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