Battery-driven apparatus control device and method

Abstract

To provide a battery-equipped apparatus which is suitable for operating a battery-driven apparatus of a battery-driven mobile communication base station side network, etc., and implements power control in which user operation is also facilitated, a control method therefor, a computer program, a portable mobile communication base station side network device, a control method therefor and a program.SOLUTION: In a portable 5G system in which a battery-equipped portable 5G subsystem 110 and a management subsystem 120 are connected via an IP network, the management subsystem comprises: means for inputting an input parameter including a drive period based on operation of a user; and means for receiving the inputted input parameter including the drive period and controlling an operation mode of the portable 5G subsystem 110 on the basis of the input parameter without requiring user operation after the input parameter is received.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for controlling a battery-powered device, for example, a battery-powered mobile communication base station network. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, in addition to the public 5G services provided by telecommunications carriers, private communication systems such as local 5G systems that each user builds independently are becoming more widespread. Private communication systems are expected to build communication infrastructure by operating them using batteries in fields such as infrastructure monitoring and maintenance at construction sites and other places where commercial power cannot be secured, disaster prevention and disaster countermeasures, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, civil engineering and construction sites, events and tourism, etc. This network is often used for business purposes, and since it is necessary to maintain the network during operations for a predetermined expected duration, it is required to perform appropriate battery control. In addition, it is preferable that the control operation be performed easily without requiring any other user setting operations, by simply inputting the duration and other related parameters by the user.

[0003] In addition, a patent document related to this invention is JP 2022-014739 A. In this, power consumption control is performed on a building block basis in a small cell base station having a plurality of building blocks constituting a communication unit. In addition, the local 5G system or private 5G system complies with the standard of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project, registered trademark), and is described in JP 2019-004407 A and the like.

[0004] The above-mentioned prior art and its problems are described only to explain a part of the background of the present invention, and it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned prior art and problems. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-014739 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-004407 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] This invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to realize power control that is suitable for operation of a battery-powered device, for example a battery-powered mobile communication base station network, and that is also easy for the user to operate. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the configurations described in the claims. Before describing the invention in detail, a supplementary explanation will be given below regarding the claims.

[0008] That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, a battery-equipped device that holds a battery and can be powered by battery power is provided with: a means for inputting input parameters including an operating period based on a user's operation; and a means for receiving the input parameters including the input operating period, and for controlling the operating mode of the battery-equipped device based on the input parameters, without the need for user operation after receiving the input parameters.

[0009] In this configuration, the operation mode of the device can be controlled by a simple operation based on the input parameters such as the input drive period, thereby realizing power consumption corresponding to the drive period. The longest drive period may be predicted and the input of an applicable drive period may be prompted based on the prediction. When a drive period exceeding the predicted longest drive period is input, a warning may be issued. Input parameters other than the drive period may be related to the environment (weather, network status, etc.) and the mode and purpose of use (type of application, etc.). The input parameter may be only the drive period. The fact that no user operation is required after receiving the above input parameters means that the process can proceed without such additional operations, and operations that add redundancy, such as an understanding input or authentication operation after a prompt for understanding is displayed, do not fall under required user operations. Alternatively, operations that add redundancy, such as an understanding input, may also be considered to constitute part of the input of input parameters.

[0010] In this configuration, the battery-equipped device includes, but is not limited to, mobile communication equipment station-side networks such as local 5G systems and private 5G systems, mobile stations (mobile phones, smartphones) of mobile communication systems in general, portable information processing devices such as laptops, battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), battery-powered unmanned or manned aircraft (drones), etc., and includes all devices that are powered by a battery and perform specified processing.

[0011] In this configuration, the battery-equipped device may have the function of a mobile station for mobile communication. The battery-equipped device may also have the function of a personal computer. The power control mode may be turning on / off communication functions such as wireless LAN (WiFi) and Bluetooth (registered trademark), turning on / off GPS functions, turning on / off background processing, turning on / off the display, increasing / decreasing its brightness, switching between sleep modes, etc.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, a portable mobile communications base station side network device that is equipped with a battery and powered by battery power, and communicates with a mobile station, is provided with: a means for inputting input parameters including an operating period based on a user's operation; and a means for receiving the input parameters including the input operating period, and controlling the operating mode of the portable mobile communications base station side network device based on the input parameters, without the need for user operation after receiving the input parameters.

[0013] In this configuration, the operation mode of the device can be controlled with a simple operation based on input parameters such as the input drive period, thereby realizing power consumption corresponding to the drive time. Input parameters other than the drive period may be weather information such as the ambient temperature, air pressure, and humidity of the device, and the intended use. Weather information such as the ambient temperature, air pressure, and humidity of the device may be automatically supplied to the control means without being input by the user.

[0014] The portable mobile communication base station side network device (small cell network) may be, for example, a portable local 5G system or private 5G system. The local 5G system or private 5G system complies with the standard of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and is described in JP 2019-004407 A and the like. The small cell network is a system on the base station side of a mobile communication network, and in the case of a local 5G system, includes an RU (Radio Unit), a DU (Distributed Unit), a CU (Central Unit), and a 5GC (5G core network).

[0015] In this configuration, the means for controlling the operation mode may control the number of MIMO antennas and the transmission output of the antennas.

[0016] The means for controlling the operation mode may control the operation mode based on machine learning.

[0017] Furthermore, the battery may be a lithium battery, and the operation mode may be controlled based on the voltage across the battery.

[0018] The means for controlling the above-mentioned operation mode may be based on weather information such as the voltage across the battery, the ambient temperature of the device, the temperature near the battery, air pressure, and humidity, the application to which the battery is applied, and the like.

[0019] This invention can be realized not only as an apparatus or system, but also as a method. Of course, a part of such an invention can be configured as software. Furthermore, software products used to cause a computer to execute such software are naturally included in the technical scope of this invention.

[0020] These and other aspects of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims and are described in detail below with reference to the examples. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize power consumption that corresponds to the expected driving time. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a usage environment of the portable 5G system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a portable 5G system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a computer. [Diagram 3] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a management unit 121 of a management subsystem 120 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of operation of the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] A diagram explaining the computer resources constituting the 5G subsystem control unit 115 of embodiment 1 of this invention. [Figure 6]FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of operation of the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a portable computer according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of operation of the third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

[0024] [Example 1] FIG. 1 shows the overall usage environment of the portable 5G system 100 of the first embodiment of the present invention, and the portable 5G system 100 has a portable 5G subsystem 110 and a management subsystem 120. In this example, the portable 5G subsystem 110 and the management subsystem 120 are connected via an IP network 200, but the whole or a part of the management subsystem 120 may be connected to the portable 5G subsystem 110 by other connection means and may be integrated with the portable 5G subsystem 110. The management subsystem 120 itself may not be portable. The portable 5G subsystem 110 may be a local 5G system or a private 5G system. The local 5G system or the private 5G system complies with the standard of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and is described in JP 2019-004407 A and the like. The management subsystem 120 mainly inputs the expected operating time of the portable 5G subsystem 110 and controls the operation of the portable 5G subsystem 110 based on the expected operating time. Operation control will be described later. The portable 5G subsystem 110 is typically incorporated into a portable container, such as a portable frame, a box module, a trunk, etc., and is movable as a unit, and communicates with the mobile station 250 while moving or at the installation site. There may be multiple mobile stations 250. The mobile station 250 communicates with the portable 5G subsystem 110 based on mobile communication standards within the communication range of the portable 5G subsystem 110. This communication range can be changed to suit the application in which the portable 5G system is used.

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the portable 5G system 100, in which the portable 5G system 100 includes a portable 5G subsystem 110 and a management subsystem 120. As described above, the portable 5G subsystem 110 is portable. The portable 5G subsystem 110 includes a RU (radio unit) 111, a DU (distributed unit) 112, a CU (central unit) 113, a 5GC (5G core network) 114, a 5G subsystem control unit 115, and a battery 116. A part of the portable 5G subsystem 110, for example, the 5G subsystem control unit 115, may be provided externally.

[0026] The RU 111 is an antenna part that communicates with the antenna of the mobile station (user device) 250. The DU 112 is also called a child station, and mainly performs signal modulation / demodulation and congestion control. The CU 113 is also called a parent station or an aggregation station, and controls a plurality of DUs 112 and performs communication protocol control between the mobile station and the CU 113. The 5GC 114 controls network connection and transmits user packet data. The 5G subsystem control unit 115 controls the entire portable 5G subsystem 110 based on the battery consumption state of the battery 116. The battery consumption level of the battery 116 (for example, the voltage across the battery) may be detected by the battery consumption level detection unit 116A.

[0027] The management subsystem 120 is configured to include a management unit 121 and an AI engine 130. The management unit 121 may have an independent console so that an operator can operate it, or may be implemented in a computer as an application. The AI ​​engine 130 may use various machine learning systems. The management unit 121 and the AI ​​engine 130 may be provided inside or outside the management subsystem 120 and connected via a network. The management unit 121 may include a time input unit 122, a control mode selection unit 123, an auxiliary parameter input unit 124, and a display unit 125. The time input unit 122 is for inputting an expected operating time, which may be input in hours or minutes. The operating time may be for inputting an end time. In this case, the operating time may be obtained by subtracting a default start time (the current time, or a time a predetermined time has elapsed from the current time) from the end time. The control mode selection unit 123 is for inputting communication speed priority, coverage range priority, etc. In the case of communication speed priority, power consumption is suppressed at the expense of coverage range while maintaining a high communication speed, and coverage range priority is suppressed at the expense of communication speed while maintaining a high coverage range. The communication speed can be adjusted, for example, by controlling the number of operating antennas of MIMO. The coverage range can be adjusted, for example, by increasing or decreasing the output of the antenna. The auxiliary parameter input unit 124 is for inputting the expected operating time and other parameters of the priority control mode, for example, the category of use (infrastructure monitoring and maintenance, disaster prevention and disaster countermeasures, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, events and tourism, etc.), and the display unit 125 is capable of displaying the remaining battery level, expected operating time, climatic data such as temperature and air pressure, the operating status of the portable 5G subsystem 110, etc. The auxiliary parameter input unit 124 may be capable of inputting climatic information such as environmental (ambient) temperature and air pressure, but these may be automatically input from the management unit 121, etc.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows an example of operation of the first embodiment. In this figure, an example of the coordinated operation between the management subsystem 120 and the portable 5G subsystem 110 is shown, but each operation timing may change according to various situations. In FIG. 4, the management subsystem 120 receives an expected operation time and a priority mode from a user via a time input unit 122, a mode selection unit 123, etc. (S10). In addition to the expected operation time and the priority mode, the management subsystem 120 may input data of categories such as infrastructure monitoring and maintenance, disaster prevention and disaster countermeasures, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, civil engineering and construction sites, events and environments, and tourist mountain climbing as other parameters from an auxiliary parameter input unit 124, etc. Next, the management subsystem 120 receives battery remaining amount data (which may be detected by the battery remaining amount detection unit 116A) from the 5G subsystem control unit 115 of the portable 5G subsystem 110, for example (S11). The battery remaining amount data may be derived from the voltage across the battery 116. The management subsystem 120 may receive the voltage data across the battery 116 instead of the remaining battery capacity data, derive the remaining battery capacity data from this, and use it instead of the remaining battery capacity data. Next, the management subsystem 120 supplies the expected operating time, mode, and remaining battery capacity data to the AI ​​engine 130, and the AI ​​engine 130 determines the control setting information based on a relational expression generated from machine learning of past training data (S12), and sends this setting information to the portable 5G subsystem 110 (S13). The AI ​​engine 130 may further refer to the application category to calculate the setting information. The setting information is, for example, the number of antennas used and the output power of the antennas, but is not limited thereto. On the other hand, the portable 5G subsystem 110 supplies the remaining capacity or the voltage across the battery 116 to the management subsystem 120 (S20). In addition to the remaining battery charge or the voltage across both ends, environmental data of the portable 5G subsystem 110, such as ambient temperature, temperature near the battery 116, air pressure, etc., may be sent to the management subsystem 120.The portable 5G subsystem 110 receives the setting information (S21), and the 5G subsystem control unit 115 controls a predetermined part of the portable 5G subsystem 110, for example, the RU 111, based on the setting information to control power consumption (S22). This enables the portable 5G subsystem 110 to operate for an expected time.

[0029] At each specified interval of the expected operating time (a positive number, for example, which may be a period of the same length divided by 3 or a variable-length interval), the remaining expected operating time and battery remaining capacity data, together with other parameters, may be sent from the management unit 121 to the AI ​​engine 130, and the setting information may be updated at each interval to change the control state.

[0030] The longest possible operating time may be displayed on the display unit 125 with the support of the AI ​​engine 130 of the management subsystem 120. When the user sets the expected operating time beyond this, a warning may be issued. In addition, the remaining capacity (voltage across both ends) of the battery 116 may be supplied to the management subsystem 120 at a predetermined interval, and the setting operation may be changed accordingly. When the expected operating time has elapsed, the power supply of the portable 5G subsystem 110 may be cut off, or the power supply may remain on.

[0031] 5 shows a schematic configuration example of a computer constituting the 5G subsystem control unit 115, but is not limited thereto. In FIG. 5, the computer 1000 includes a CPU (processor) 1001, a main memory 1002, an external interface 1003, and an external storage device 1004, and the operation of the 5G subsystem control unit 115 can be realized by installing an application 1005 in the computer 1000. In addition, other parts of the portable 5G subsystem 110, the management subsystem 120, and the AI ​​engine 130 may be realized by a similar computer and application.

[0032] [Example 2] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described, in which the present invention is applied to a mobile terminal 300 such as a mobile phone (smartphone). FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of the mobile terminal 300 of the second embodiment, in which the mobile terminal 300 includes a processing system 310, a memory 320, an input / output subsystem 330, a high-frequency circuit section 340, and an audio circuit section 350. The mobile terminal 300 is equipped with a battery 400, for example a lithium battery, and receives power from the battery 400. The remaining charge (or the voltage across both ends) of the battery 400 is detected by a battery charge detection section 401. Each of the components can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination of these, including a signal processing integrated circuit and an application specific integrated circuit, as appropriate. The high-frequency circuit section 340 is used to transmit and receive information to and from other devices over a wireless link or network, and includes, but is not limited to, an antenna system, an RF transceiver, an amplifier, a tuner, an oscillator, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a memory, and other well-known circuit configurations to perform this function. The radio frequency circuitry 340 can use, but is not limited to, a communication protocol for mobile communication such as time division multiple access (TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA), wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g and / or IEEE 802.11N), Bluetooth (registered trademark, IEEE 802.15.1), Wi-MAX (IEEE 802.16), etc. The audio circuitry 350 is coupled to an audio speaker 351 and a microphone 352. The processing system 310 includes a processor 311, a memory controller 312, and a peripheral device interface 313. The memory 320 stores code and data executed by the processor 311. The memory 320 may include any storage device such as RAM, ROM, FLASH, a disk drive, a magnetic tape, etc. The processor 311 executes various software components stored in the memory 320. For example, the software components include an operating system 321 , a communications module 322 , a contact / action module 323 , a graphics module 324 , an application 325 , a timer module 326 , and a web browser module 327 .The applications 325 include a browser, an address book, e-mail, encryption, a positioning function such as a global positioning system (GPS), and a two-dimensional barcode decoder. A power consumption control application 325A (FIG. 6) of this second embodiment is typically realized as one of the applications 325. An input / output subsystem 330 controls a touch panel 331 and the like. In this mobile terminal 300, the power consumption control function is implemented as application 325A. By installing a corresponding application in memory 320, the mobile terminal 300 is realized as a mobile terminal 300 with a power consumption control function.

[0033] FIG. 7 shows an example of the operation of the second embodiment. In this figure, when the power consumption control application 325A is started, an expected operation time input screen is displayed (S30). When the user inputs the expected operation time (S31), the expected operation time and the remaining capacity of the battery 400 (voltage at both ends) are transmitted to an external or internal AI engine (S32), setting information according to the expected operation time and the remaining capacity of the battery 400 is received from the AI ​​engine (S33), and the mobile terminal 300 is set based on this setting information (S34). The mode of power control may be turning on / off communication functions such as wireless LAN (WiFi) and Bluetooth (registered trademark), turning on / off GPS function, turning on / off background processing, turning on / off the display, increasing / decreasing its brightness, sleep mode processing, etc. In addition to the expected operation time, the input parameters may be things related to the environment (climate, network status, etc.), and usage modes and purposes (main uses, for example, calling use, application use, type of application, etc.). The input parameter may be only the expected operation time. When the user inputs the expected operating time, etc., control can be easily performed without requiring any other operations.

[0034] [Example 3] Next, a third embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a portable computer 500 such as a notebook computer will be described. Fig. 8 shows a configuration example of a portable computer 400 of the third embodiment, and in Fig. 8, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 5 are given the same reference numerals. The application 1005A controls the power consumption of the portable computer 500 based on the input expected operating time. The portable computer 500 is equipped with a battery 400, for example a lithium battery, and receives power from this battery.

[0035] FIG. 9 shows an example of the operation of the third embodiment. In this figure, when the power consumption control application 1005A is started, an expected operation time input screen is displayed (S40). When the user inputs the expected operation time (S41), the expected operation time and the remaining capacity (voltage at both ends) of the battery 400 are transmitted to an external or internal AI engine (S42), setting information according to the expected operation time and the remaining capacity of the battery 400 is received from the AI ​​engine (S43), and the power control setting of the portable computer 500 is performed based on this setting information (S44). The mode of power control may be turning on / off communication functions such as wireless LAN (WiFi) and Bluetooth (registered trademark), turning on / off GPS function, turning on / off background processing, turning on / off the display, increasing / decreasing its brightness, sleep mode processing, etc. In addition to the expected operation time, the input parameters may be things related to the environment (climate, network status, etc.), and usage mode / purpose (main use, for example, call use, application use, type of application, etc.). The input parameter may be only the expected operation time. When the user inputs the expected operation time or the like, control can be easily performed without requiring any other operations.

[0036] This concludes the description of the embodiment of the present invention. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. The present invention is widely applicable to battery-equipped devices. This includes, but is not limited to, small cell network systems such as local 5G systems and private 5G systems, mobile stations (mobile phones, smartphones) in general mobile communication systems, portable information processing devices such as notebook computers, battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), battery-powered unmanned or manned aircraft (drones), and the like, and is applicable to all devices that are powered by a battery and perform predetermined processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 100 Portable 5G System 110 Portable 5G Subsystem 115 5G Subsystem Control Unit 116 Battery 116A Battery remaining capacity detection unit 120 Management Subsystem 121 Management Department 122 Time input section 123 Control mode selection section 124 Auxiliary parameter input section 125 Display section 130 AI Engine 200 IP Network 250 Mobile Stations 300 Mobile Devices 325A Power Consumption Control Application 400 Battery 401 Battery remaining capacity detection unit 500 Portable Computer 600 Battery

Claims

1. In a battery-equipped device capable of holding a battery and being powered by the battery, A means for inputting input parameters including a driving period based on a user's operation; and means for receiving the input parameters including the input operating period, and controlling the operating mode of the battery-powered device based on the input parameters without requiring user operation after receiving the input parameters.

2. 2. The battery-powered device according to claim 1, further comprising a function of a mobile station for mobile communications.

3. 2. The battery-powered device of claim 1, further comprising a function of a personal computer.

4. 1. A method for controlling a battery-powered device capable of being powered by a battery, comprising: inputting input parameters including a driving period based on a user's operation; receiving the input parameters including the input operating period, and controlling the operating mode of the battery-powered device based on the input parameters without requiring any user operation after receiving the input parameters.

5. 1. A computer program for controlling a battery-equipped device capable of being powered by a battery, comprising: The processor, A means for inputting input parameters including a driving period based on a user's operation; and receiving the input parameters including the input driving period, and controlling an operation mode of the battery-powered device based on the input parameters without requiring a user operation after receiving the input parameters; A computer program for controlling a battery-equipped device, comprising:

6. A portable mobile communication base station side network device that is equipped with a battery and driven by battery power and communicates with a mobile station, A means for inputting input parameters including a driving period based on a user's operation; and a means for receiving the input parameters including the input driving period, and controlling the operating mode of the portable mobile communication base station side network device based on the input parameters, without requiring any user operation after receiving the input parameters.

7. 7. The portable mobile communication base station side network device according to claim 6, wherein said means for controlling said operation mode controls the number of MIMO antennas and the transmission output of said antennas.

8. 7. The portable mobile communication base station side network device according to claim 6, wherein the means for controlling the operation mode controls the operation mode based on machine learning.

9. 7. The portable mobile communications base station side network device according to claim 6, wherein said battery is a lithium battery, and said operation mode is controlled based on the voltage across said battery.

10. A method for controlling a portable mobile communication base station side network device, the portable mobile communication base station side network device being equipped with a battery and driven by battery power, and communicating with a mobile station, comprising: inputting input parameters including a driving period based on a user's operation; receiving the input parameters including the input driving period, and controlling the operation mode of the portable mobile communications base station side network device based on the input parameters, without requiring any user operation after receiving the input parameters.

11. A computer program for controlling a portable mobile communication base station side network device that is equipped with a battery and driven by battery power and that communicates with a mobile station, comprising: The processor, A means for inputting input parameters including a driving period based on a user's operation; and A means for receiving the input parameters including the input driving period, and controlling an operation mode of the portable mobile communication base station side network device based on the input parameters without requiring a user operation after receiving the input parameters.

4. A computer program for controlling a network device on a portable mobile communication base station side, comprising:

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