Satellite synchronous time data acquisition instrument
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202522610469.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-08
- Publication Date
- 2026-11-03
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-12-08
AI Technical Summary
The timing synchronization between multiple data acquisition instruments fails due to reasons such as inconsistent clock references, hardware trigger defects, and environmental interference, resulting in insufficient synchronization accuracy and stability.
The satellite synchronous timing data acquisition instrument integrates a GNSS satellite timing unit, an RTC clock timing unit, and a SYNC synchronous timing unit. It receives satellite clock signals and synchronization signals from other data acquisition instruments through multiple timing units. Combined with a sensor power supply unit, a signal conditioning unit, and a communication unit, it is compatible with various sensors and communication protocols to achieve high-precision timing synchronization of multiple data acquisition instruments.
It improves the timing synchronization accuracy when multiple data acquisition instruments work together, ensuring the timing consistency of data acquisition in various environments and adapting to the synchronization needs in complex environments.
Smart Images
Figure CN224934309U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of data acquisition technology, specifically relating to a satellite synchronous timing data acquisition instrument. Background Technology
[0002] In fields such as industrial monitoring, autonomous driving environmental perception, and precision instrument measurement, the application scenarios of multiple data acquisition devices working collaboratively to achieve synchronous acquisition of multi-channel data are becoming increasingly widespread. For example, in intelligent connected vehicle roadside perception systems, multiple LiDAR and visual image acquisition devices are needed to simultaneously acquire environmental data from different areas to construct a complete 3D environmental model. In industrial equipment condition monitoring scenarios, multiple vibration and temperature acquisition devices are needed to synchronously acquire data from different components of large units, thereby accurately analyzing the correlation between equipment operating status and faults. The core requirement for such applications is to ensure the temporal consistency of data from each channel among multiple acquisition devices, that is, the data acquired by each channel can accurately correspond to the target state at the same physical moment, providing a reliable temporal basis for subsequent data fusion, feature analysis, and decision-making.
[0003] Data acquisition instruments often use independent crystal oscillators as local clock sources. Even if the crystal oscillators have the same nominal frequency, problems such as inconsistent clock references, hardware trigger defects, transmission and processing delay fluctuations, and weak system environment adaptability can cause multiple data acquisition instruments to lose a unified time reference and the timing synchronization of each channel to fail.
[0004] Even when using GNSS for timing synchronization, it is still affected by many factors such as signal transmission, environmental interference, hardware adaptation, and subsequent connection after signal interruption, which can lead to a decrease in synchronization accuracy, insufficient stability, or even synchronization failure among multiple data acquisition instruments. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument, which can improve the timing synchronization accuracy between multiple data acquisition instruments when they work together.
[0006] The technical solution is as follows:
[0007] The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument of this utility model includes:
[0008] The system includes a signal conditioning unit, a sensor power supply unit for providing the operating power required by the sensor, and an ADC analog-to-digital converter unit. The input terminal of the signal conditioning unit is connected to various sensors, and the output terminal is connected to the input terminal of the ADC analog-to-digital converter unit.
[0009] It also includes a microcontroller unit, a communication unit, and multiple signal communication interfaces. The output of the ADC analog-to-digital converter unit is connected to the microcontroller unit, and the input of the communication unit is connected to the microcontroller unit and the output is connected to the signal communication interfaces.
[0010] It also includes a power supply unit and multiple timing units. The power supply unit is connected to the microcontroller unit, signal conditioning unit, sensor power supply unit, ADC analog-to-digital converter unit, and communication unit. The timing units are connected to the microcontroller unit. The multiple timing units are used to receive satellite clock signals and synchronization signals from other data acquisition instruments.
[0011] In one embodiment, a reference voltage unit is further included, the input of which is connected to the microcontroller unit and the output of which is connected to the ADC analog-to-digital converter unit.
[0012] In one embodiment, the plurality of timing units include a GNSS satellite timing unit, an RTC clock timing unit, and a SYNC synchronization timing unit.
[0013] In one embodiment, the GNSS satellite timing unit and the SYNC synchronization timing unit constitute an external synchronization signal module for transmitting external synchronization signals to the microcontroller unit, and the RTC clock timing unit constitutes an internal synchronization signal module for transmitting internal synchronization signals to the microcontroller unit.
[0014] In one embodiment, the signal conditioning unit is provided with multiple input interfaces, which are respectively matched with one of a bridge sensor, a resistive sensor, a voltage signal sensor, an IEPE signal sensor, and a current signal sensor.
[0015] In one embodiment, the sensor power supply unit includes one or more of a 2V / 5V bridge voltage unit, a 24V / 2-4mA DC constant current source unit, and a 24V DC voltage unit.
[0016] In one embodiment, the communication unit is connected to the microcontroller unit via a serial port, and the signal communication interface is one of an RS-485 communication interface, an RS-232 communication interface, an Ethernet communication interface, and a TTL communication interface.
[0017] In one embodiment, the power supply unit is a 9-36V wide voltage input power supply unit, and / or the ADC analog-to-digital conversion unit is a 24-bit ADC analog-to-digital conversion unit.
[0018] In one embodiment, the output of the ADC analog-to-digital converter is connected to the microcontroller unit via an SPI bus.
[0019] In one embodiment, the timing unit is connected to the microcontroller unit via a UART serial port.
[0020] The technical solution provided by this utility model has the following advantages and effects: By employing multiple timing units to receive satellite clock signals and synchronization signals from other data acquisition instruments, the timing synchronization accuracy when multiple data acquisition instruments work together can be improved. Through the sensor power supply unit and signal conditioning unit, it can adapt to different combinations of various external sensors; through the communication unit and multiple signal communication interfaces, it can adapt to different communication protocols, enabling the data acquisition instrument to operate in various scenarios. Attached Figure Description
[0021] Figure 1 This is a unit structure diagram of an embodiment of the satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument of this utility model;
[0022] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Circuit diagram of the sensor power supply unit in the embodiment;
[0023] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Circuit diagram of the signal conditioning unit for the current signal sensor in the embodiment;
[0024] Figure 4 for Figure 1 Circuit diagram of the signal conditioning unit for voltage signal, IEPE signal, resistive, and bridge sensors in the embodiment;
[0025] Figure 5 for Figure 1 The SYNC synchronization timing unit circuit of the embodiment Figure 1 ;
[0026] Figure 6 for Figure 1 The SYNC synchronization timing unit circuit of the embodiment Figure 2 . Detailed Implementation
[0027] To facilitate understanding of this utility model, the specific embodiments of this utility model will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0028] Unless otherwise specified or defined, the terms "first," "second," etc., used in this document are for distinguishing names only and do not represent a specific number or order.
[0029] Unless otherwise stated or defined, the term “and / or” as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0030] It should be noted that in this article, "fixed to" or "connected to" can mean directly fixed to or connected to a component, or indirectly fixed to or connected to a component.
[0031] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, this utility model embodiment provides a satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument, which mainly includes a signal processing module, a communication module, a timing module and a power supply module.
[0032] The signal processing module includes a signal conditioning unit, a sensor power supply unit for providing power to external sensors, and an ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) unit. The input of the signal conditioning unit is connected to the external sensor, and its output is connected to the input of the ADC unit. The ADC unit is a 24-bit ADC, and its output is connected to a microcontroller unit (MCU) to condition the analog signal output from the external sensor, converting it into a high-precision digital signal for transmission to the MCU. To accommodate various sensors, the signal conditioning unit is multi-channel, capable of connecting one or more of bridge sensors, resistive sensors, voltage signal sensors, IEPE signal sensors, and current signal sensors. Specifically, the signal conditioning unit has multiple input interfaces that can connect to bridge sensors, resistive sensors, voltage signal sensors, IEPE signal sensors, or current signal sensors, while the output interface connects to the input of the 24-bit ADC unit. In this embodiment, the 24-bit ADC analog-to-digital converter unit is an existing chip, model ADS131E08. The digital output of the 24-bit ADC is connected to the microcontroller unit via an SPI bus. Through the modular signal conditioning unit, this invention can directly adapt to various types of commonly used industrial sensors, such as bridge, resistive, voltage, IEPE, and current sensors, greatly expanding the application scenarios of the equipment.
[0033] The sensor power supply unit provides the necessary operating power to external sensors via an interface terminal. The sensor power supply unit includes one or more of the following: a 2V / 5V bridge voltage unit, a 24V / 2-4mA DC constant current source unit, and a 24V DC voltage unit, used to provide matched excitation power for different types of sensors. Specifically, the 2V / 5V bridge voltage unit is configured to switchably output a 2V or 5V bridge voltage; the 24V / 2-4mA DC constant current source unit is configured to provide a 24V voltage and a 2-4mA DC constant current. In this embodiment, the circuit diagram of the sensor power supply unit is as follows: Figure 2The diagram shown is a schematic of a power management and control circuit, which includes three main functional modules: an overcurrent protection module, a DC-DC conversion module, and a linear regulator module. It is a multi-stage power conversion and protection system: first, the overcurrent protection module ensures circuit safety; then, the DC-DC converter achieves efficient voltage reduction; and finally, the linear regulator outputs a precise and stable voltage. At the same time, temperature monitoring ensures system reliability.
[0034] This embodiment also includes a reference voltage unit, whose input is connected to the microcontroller unit and whose output is connected to the 24-bit ADC analog-to-digital converter unit. This provides an accurate reference voltage to the 24-bit ADC unit.
[0035] The circuit for the signal conditioning unit of the current signal sensor is as follows: Figure 3 The diagram shows a schematic of an analog signal conditioning and acquisition circuit. This circuit filters, amplifies, and protects externally input analog signals (such as voltage signals) before outputting them to the input channel of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The core of this circuit is to perform a complete conditioning process of "protection → filtering → buffering → re-filtering" on the externally input analog signal. This ensures that the signal has sufficient purity, a suitable voltage range, and driving capability before entering the ADC, thereby improving the ADC's sampling accuracy and stability. It is suitable for scenarios with high requirements for analog signal quality, such as industrial monitoring and data acquisition.
[0036] Circuits for signal conditioning units of voltage signals, IEPE signals, resistive sensors, and bridge sensors, such as... Figure 4 The diagram shows a high-precision differential analog signal conditioning and isolation circuit. It filters, amplifies, and isolates the differential input signal before outputting it to the differential input channel of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The core of this circuit is the complete conditioning process of "filtering → high-precision amplification → gain fine-tuning → isolation power supply → secondary filtering" for the differential analog input signal. Through instrumentation amplifiers and isolation design, it ensures that the signal maintains high precision and stability even in high-noise environments. It is suitable for scenarios with extremely high signal quality requirements, such as industrial measurement, medical equipment, and high-precision data acquisition.
[0037] It should be noted that, Figure 3 and Figure 4 The circuit in the circuit does not impose limitations on the signal conditioning circuit and can be any other circuit that performs the same function.
[0038] The communication module includes a communication unit and multiple signal communication interfaces. The input of the communication unit connects to the microcontroller unit, and the output connects to the signal communication interfaces, used for protocol conversion and transmission of acquired digital data. The signal communication interfaces are one of the following: RS-485, RS-232, Ethernet, and TTL. Specifically, the communication unit connects to the microcontroller unit via a serial port, and its output connects to physical interfaces such as RS-485, RS-232, and Ethernet. By integrating multiple industrial standard communication interfaces such as RS-485, RS-232, Ethernet, and TTL into the device, it facilitates access to existing industrial control networks, enabling convenient data transmission and system integration.
[0039] The timing module comprises multiple timing units, which are connected to the microcontroller unit (MCU). These units receive satellite clock signals and synchronization signals from other data acquisition devices. The timing units communicate with the MCU via a UART serial port. These units include a GNSS satellite timing unit, an RTC clock timing unit, and a SYNC synchronization timing unit. The MCU controls and switches the signal reception between these units. Specifically, the GNSS satellite timing unit acts as the primary synchronization source when effectively receiving GNSS satellite signals, ensuring timing synchronization across channels of multiple data acquisition devices. The SYNC synchronization timing unit receives synchronization signals from other data acquisition devices via synchronization cables, also ensuring timing synchronization across channels. The RTC clock timing unit maintains internal timing synchronization across channels of the data acquisition device when no external synchronization signal is available. In other words, the GNSS satellite timing unit and the SYNC synchronization timing unit constitute an external synchronization signal module, transmitting external synchronization signals to the MCU, while the RTC clock timing unit constitutes an internal synchronization signal module, transmitting internal synchronization signals to the MCU. In this embodiment, the GNSS satellite timing unit is an existing chip, model ATGM336H; the RTC clock timing unit is an existing chip, model DS3231. The main function of the SYNC synchronization timing unit is to buffer, distribute, and enable the input clock, providing a synchronization clock for the digital data acquired by multiple channels in the microcontroller unit. The specific circuit diagram is shown below. Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, Figure 5 One input clock CLK_in is enabled and distributed via enable control (ADclk_EN) to ultimately output four synchronous clocks CLK_o1 to 4, providing stable and synchronized clock signals for channels in the microcontroller unit that require synchronous clocks. At the same time, the quality of the clock signals is ensured through buffering, filtering, and termination matching. Figure 6This circuit primarily implements bidirectional buffering and enable control of trigger signals between the microcontroller and external devices, ensuring stable signal transmission. The core of this circuit is to achieve bidirectional buffering and flexible enable control of trigger signals between the microcontroller and external devices. Through a bus buffer chip and a terminal matching circuit, it ensures the stability and integrity of the trigger signals during transmission, enabling reliable trigger interaction between the microcontroller and external devices (such as synchronization and event triggering scenarios).
[0040] By integrating two external timing methods, GNSS satellite timing and SYNC external synchronization, the device can achieve high-precision synchronization not only in environments with good satellite signals, but also build a multi-machine synchronous acquisition network through the SYNC interface when satellite signals fail. This effectively solves the problem of signal synchronization failure in complex environments (such as indoors, tunnels, and underground).
[0041] For example, in a multi-device synchronous data acquisition scenario, each data acquisition unit can receive satellite signals and uses a GNSS satellite timing unit as its clock. High-precision synchronous data acquisition across multiple channels is achieved through satellite signals. When satellite signals fail, the RTC clock timing unit of one data acquisition unit can be used as the master clock, and its SYNC output port can be connected to the SYNC input port of other slave devices via a cable. The master device periodically broadcasts synchronization pulses, and the slave devices adjust their sampling clocks accordingly, achieving high-precision synchronous data acquisition across multiple channels.
[0042] The power supply module includes a power supply unit, which is connected to the microcontroller unit, signal conditioning unit, sensor power supply unit, ADC analog-to-digital converter unit, and communication unit to provide operating power for the entire data acquisition instrument. In this embodiment, the power supply unit is a 9-36V wide voltage input power supply unit. The input terminal of the power supply unit is connected to an external DC power supply, and the output terminal is connected to the power input points of the control unit (MCU), signal conditioning unit, sensor power supply unit, 24-bit ADC analog-to-digital converter unit, and communication unit, respectively. By adopting a 9-36V wide voltage input design, power can be directly drawn from industrial batteries or solar systems, meeting the application needs of outdoor and mobile platforms where there is no stable mains power.
[0043] By combining different external sensors with the sensor power supply unit and signal conditioning unit, and combining different communication protocols with the signal transmission and communication interface unit, a freely combinable hardware structure can be formed, which can improve the practicality of the data acquisition instrument.
[0044] Taking bridge health monitoring as an example, a resistive strain sensor and an IEPE accelerometer are connected. The sensor power supply unit provides a 5V bridge excitation to the resistive strain sensor and a 24V, 4mA constant current excitation to the IEPE accelerometer. The signal conditioning unit amplifies the signal from the resistive strain sensor and AC-couples the signal from the IEPE accelerometer. The sampling rate per channel is configured via a microcontroller unit (MCU), and the time-stamped data is transmitted to the monitoring center in real time via an Ethernet network.
[0045] In summary, this embodiment, by employing multiple timing units to receive satellite clock signals and synchronization signals from other data acquisition devices, can improve the timing synchronization accuracy when multiple data acquisition devices work collaboratively. Furthermore, by using a sensor power supply unit and a signal conditioning unit to adapt to different combinations of external sensors, and by using a communication unit and multiple signal communication interfaces to adapt to different communication protocols, the data acquisition device can operate in various scenarios.
[0046] The above embodiments are not an exhaustive list based on the present invention, and there may be other embodiments not listed. Any substitutions and improvements made without departing from the concept of the present invention are within the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument, characterized in that, include: The system includes a signal conditioning unit, a sensor power supply unit for providing the operating power required by the sensor, and an ADC analog-to-digital converter unit. The input terminal of the signal conditioning unit is connected to various sensors, and the output terminal is connected to the input terminal of the ADC analog-to-digital converter unit. It also includes a microcontroller unit, a communication unit, and multiple signal communication interfaces. The output of the ADC analog-to-digital converter unit is connected to the microcontroller unit, and the input of the communication unit is connected to the microcontroller unit and the output is connected to the signal communication interfaces. It also includes a power supply unit and multiple timing units. The power supply unit is connected to the microcontroller unit, signal conditioning unit, sensor power supply unit, ADC analog-to-digital converter unit, and communication unit. The timing units are connected to the microcontroller unit. The multiple timing units are used to receive satellite clock signals and synchronization signals from other data acquisition instruments.
2. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a reference voltage unit, the input of which is connected to the microcontroller unit and the output of which is connected to the ADC analog-to-digital converter unit.
3. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The multiple timing units include a GNSS satellite timing unit, an RTC clock timing unit, and a SYNC synchronization timing unit.
4. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The GNSS satellite timing unit and the SYNC synchronization timing unit constitute an external synchronization signal module, used to transmit external synchronization signals to the microcontroller unit. The RTC clock timing unit constitutes an internal synchronization signal module, used to transmit internal synchronization signals to the microcontroller unit.
5. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The signal conditioning unit is provided with multiple input interfaces, which are respectively matched with one of the following: bridge sensor, resistive sensor, voltage signal sensor, IEPE signal sensor and current signal sensor.
6. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The sensor power supply unit includes one or more of the following: a 2V / 5V bridge voltage unit, a 24V / 2-4mA DC constant current source unit, and a 24V DC voltage unit.
7. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The communication unit is connected to the microcontroller unit via a serial port, and the signal communication interface is one of RS-485, RS-232, Ethernet, and TTL communication interfaces.
8. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The power supply unit is a 9-36V wide voltage input power supply unit, and / or the ADC analog-to-digital conversion unit is a 24-bit ADC analog-to-digital conversion unit.
9. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The output of the ADC analog-to-digital converter is connected to the microcontroller unit via an SPI bus.
10. The satellite synchronization and timing data acquisition instrument as described in any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The timing unit is connected to the microcontroller unit via a UART serial port.