Remote monitoring system

Abstract

To provide a remote monitoring system that calculates a degree of stability of a transmission path from information on a past reception history, evaluates a transmission state by comparing the degree of stability with the present reception situation, and appropriately supports transmission operation.SOLUTION: A remote monitoring system includes a remote control terminal station 31 that acquires positional information on a receiver 20 and transmitter 10 installed in the past and information on a reception state at the receiver 20 in the past before storing them as history information, retrieves whether or not positional information on the present installed transmitter 10 and receiver 20 exists in the history information, calculates a degree of stability of a transmission path on the basis of the information on the reception state of the receiver 20 in the past when the positional information exists in the history information, and evaluates a transmission state of the transmission path using information on the present reception state of the receiver 20 with respect to the degree of stability.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system for a fixed wireless system, and more particularly to a remote monitoring system capable of evaluating the current communication state from past communication situations. [Background technology]

[0002] [Prior Art] Conventional fixed wireless systems include, for example, broadcast transmission systems. [Conventional broadcast transmission system: Figure 9] A conventional broadcast transmission system will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a conventional broadcast transmission system. As shown in FIG. 10, a conventional broadcast transmission system is composed of a broadcast station 1, a relay station 2, and a transmitting station 3 on-site.

[0003] Broadcasting station 1 is installed at the head office, relay station 2 is installed in a location with good visibility from the surrounding area, such as the top of a mountain or the roof of a building, and transmitting station 3 is also installed in a location where it can see relay station 2. The line over which a broadcast signal is transmitted from broadcast station 1 to transmitting station 3 via relay station 2 is an STL (Studio to Transmitter Link) line, and the line over which a broadcast signal is transmitted from transmitting station 3 to broadcast station 1 via relay station 2 is a TSL (Transmitter to Studio Link) line. The following shows the processing of each part in a TSL line.

[0004] The transmitting station 3 transmits the photographed data photographed at the site to the relay station 2 from the antenna 3a. The relay station 2 is equipped with a receiving antenna 2a and a transmitting antenna 2b, and the receiving antenna 2a receives the photographed data from the transmitting antenna 3a of the transmitting station 3, amplifies the data, etc., and transmits the photographed data to the broadcasting station 1 from the transmitting antenna 2b. The broadcast station 1 is equipped with a receiving antenna 1a, and receives the photographed data from the relay station 2 via the receiving antenna 1a and performs the necessary signal processing.

[0005] The transmitting station 3, relay station 2, and broadcasting station 1 in the broadcast transmission system are provided with a broadcast remote control system (simply referred to as a "remote control system") that monitors and controls the transmission status. The remote control system may be provided in both the transmitting device (transmitting station 3 in FIG. 10) and the receiving device (relay station 2 or broadcast station 1 in FIG. 10), or may be provided on the receiving device side.

[0006] [Outline of the remote control system: Figure 11] An outline of the remote control system will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of the remote control system. As shown in FIG. 11(a), the remote control system includes a remote control terminal 31 and an operation unit 32 provided in a transmitting device 10, and a remote control terminal 31 and an operation unit 32 also provided in a receiving device 20. Also, as shown in Figure 11(b), there is a type in which an operation unit 32 is provided within the transmitting device 10 but a remote control terminal station 31 is not provided, and the remote control terminal station 31 within the receiving device 20 monitors and controls the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20.

[0007] The remote control terminal 31 monitors and controls each device in the transmitting device 10 or receiving device 20. Monitoring involves obtaining the status and settings from each device and determining whether it is normal or abnormal, and control involves giving instructions and settings to each device. The operation unit 32 is a device for operating the remote control terminal 31 and includes a display unit.

[0008] In a fixed wireless system, if the antennas between communication devices are adjusted so as to face each other accurately, the reception state will not change in a line-of-sight section. Furthermore, the reliability of each communication device is high and the failure rate is low. However, level fluctuations such as fading may occur depending on the terrain and characteristics of the transmission section (flat land, mountains, sea).

[0009] [Related Technology] Related prior art includes Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-187029 "Wireless Transmission System" (Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-188280 "Transmission System" (Patent Document 2), and International Publication No. 2010 / 109769 "Wireless Transmission System" (Patent Document 3).

[0010] Patent Document 1 discloses that in a wireless transmission system, a three-dimensional map is displayed from a viewpoint where a receiving device is viewed from behind a transmitting device. Patent Document 2 shows how to quickly adjust the direction of a rotating receiving antenna in a transmission system. Patent Document 3 discloses that in a wireless transmission system, a line connecting two points, a transmitting device and a receiving device, and information on any obstacles between the two points are displayed on a map. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-187029 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-188280 [Patent Document 3] International Publication No. 2010 / 109769 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0012] However, the remote control system that monitors the conventional fixed wireless system evaluates the transmission status (reception situation) by detecting the instantaneous peak value of the reception level in the transmission path, which means that it is not possible to know the degree of stability of the transmission path, making it impossible to make an appropriate evaluation and to properly support transmission operations.

[0013] Incidentally, Patent Documents 1 to 3 do not describe a configuration for calculating the stability of a transmission path from information on past reception history and comparing the calculated stability with the current reception status to evaluate the transmission state.

[0014] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a remote monitoring system that calculates the stability of a transmission path from information on past reception history, compares that stability with the current reception status to evaluate the transmission status, and appropriately supports transmission operations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] The present invention, which solves the problems of the above-mentioned conventional examples, is a remote monitoring system having a monitoring device that monitors the transmission status of a fixed wireless system that has installed transmitting devices and receiving devices and whose installation locations of the transmitting devices or receiving devices are changed, and is characterized in that the monitoring device acquires location information of transmitting devices and receiving devices that have been installed in the past and information on the reception status of the receiving devices and stores this as history information, searches whether or not location information of the currently installed transmitting devices and receiving devices exists in the history information, and if so, calculates the stability of the transmission path based on the information on the past reception status of the receiving device, and evaluates the transmission status of the transmission path against this stability using information on the current reception status of the current receiving device.

[0016] The present invention is characterized in that in the remote monitoring system, the monitoring device calculates the fluctuation width or variance of the received signal based on past information on the receiving state of the receiving device, thereby calculating the stability of the transmission line.

[0017] The present invention is characterized in that in the remote monitoring system, the monitoring device includes a display unit and displays the past stability on a display screen of the display unit.

[0018] The present invention is characterized in that in the remote monitoring system, if the monitoring device has deviated from the stability level in the past, information on the deviation is displayed.

[0019] The present invention is characterized in that in the remote monitoring system, when the information on the current reception state of the current receiving device deviates from the stability, the monitoring device displays the deviating information.

[0020] The present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned remote monitoring system, the monitoring device displays the numerical value of the current reception status of the current receiving device, and also displays a width indicating past stability and the position of the numerical value of the current reception status on a bar-shaped graph showing the reception status. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] According to the present invention, a monitoring device that monitors the transmission status of a fixed wireless system that is equipped with installed transmitting devices and receiving devices and whose installation locations of the transmitting devices or receiving devices are changed acquires location information of transmitting devices and receiving devices that were installed in the past and information on the reception status of the receiving devices and stores them as history information, searches whether the location information of the currently installed transmitting devices and receiving devices is present in the history information, and if so, calculates the stability of the transmission path based on the information on the past reception status of the receiving device, and evaluates the transmission status of the transmission path using the information on the current reception status of the current receiving device in relation to that stability, thereby providing an effect of allowing the current reception status to be properly evaluated by referring to the stability of the reception status on the same transmission path in the past, thereby providing proper support for transmission operations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a remote monitoring screen. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of displaying stability. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a display example of a reception state. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (1). [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (2). [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (3). [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (4). [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a processing flow diagram of the present system. [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional broadcast transmission system. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a remote control system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. [Outline of the embodiment] A remote monitoring system (this system) relating to an implementation of the present invention has a monitoring device that monitors transmitting and receiving devices in a fixed wireless system used for broadcast transmission. When the installation location of the transmitting device or receiving device is changed, the monitoring device acquires location information of the transmitting device and receiving device that were installed in the past, and information on the reception status of the receiving device in the past, and stores these as history information. It searches to see if the location information of the currently installed transmitting device and receiving device exists in the history information. If the location information exists in the history information, it calculates the stability of the transmission path based on the information on the reception status of the receiving device in the past, and evaluates the transmission status of the transmission path using information on the current reception status of the current receiving device in relation to this stability. This allows the current reception status to be properly evaluated by referring to the stability of the reception status on the same transmission path in the past, and can properly support transmission operations.

[0024] [This system: Figure 1] This system will be described with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the system. As shown in FIG. 1, this system is a fixed wireless system for broadcast transmission, and includes a transmitting device 10 and a receiving device 20, which are incorporated into the fixed wireless system. This system remotely monitors fixed wireless systems and is called a "remote control system."

[0025] For redundancy, the transmitting device 10 is provided with two systems, active and standby, devices C1 and D1 and devices C2 and D2, and the receiving device 20 is also provided with devices G1 and G2, devices J1 and K1, and devices J2 and K2.

[0026] In this system, a remote control terminal 31 is provided in the receiving device 20, and both the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 are provided with an operation unit 32. The remote control terminal 31 monitors the status of each device (devices A to E) in the transmitting device 10 and each device (devices F to L) in the receiving device 20. The remote control terminal 31 and the operation unit 32 correspond to the monitoring device in the claims.

[0027] It is also possible to provide a remote control terminal station 31 in the transmitting device 10 to monitor each device (devices A to E) in the transmitting device 10. Also, the remote control terminal station 31 in the receiving device 20 may not monitor and control the transmitting device 10, but may monitor and control only each device in the receiving device 20.

[0028] [Remote monitoring screen: Figure 2] Next, a remote monitoring screen in this system (remote control system) will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a remote monitoring screen. The screen in Figure 2 shows the head office and the transmitting station, with STL (Studio to Transmitter Link)-TX (transmission) displayed at the head office and STL-RX (reception) and TX (transmission) displayed at the transmitting station.

[0029] TX displays the status of the headquarters' TX1 (transmitter No. 1) and TX2 (transmitter No. 2), with STL-TX corresponding to transmitter 10 of the fixed wireless system and STL-RX corresponding to receiver 20 of the fixed wireless system.

[0030] STL-TX displays the status of TX1, TX2, and the optical line, as well as the transmission levels of TX1 and TX2. In addition, STL-RX displays the status of RX1, RX2, and the optical fiber line, as well as the reception levels of RX1 and RX2.

[0031] In the remote control terminal 31 of this system, the position information of the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20, the reception level information, the date and time information, and other information are stored as history information. Other information includes frequency channel number, transmission mode information, season and time information, etc.

[0032] In addition, the evaluation index of the reception level can be the reception field level (BL or RL [dBm]), BER (Bit Error Rate), MG (Margin), MER (Modulation Error Ratio [dB]), etc., and any numerical value expressed by a telemeter (numerical value) will do. If the transmission direction and distance from the transmission point are known in advance at the reception point, the signal delay can be derived. Furthermore, if multiple evaluation indices are stored together, multifaceted evaluation becomes possible. For example, if RL remains the same and only MG changes, it can be determined that the cause is the influence of unwanted waves.

[0033] [Example of stability display: Figure 3] Next, an example of displaying the stability will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of displaying the stability. Here, "stability" is a numerical value that represents the distribution state of the evaluation index (received electric field level, etc.) based on past performance, and is, for example, the range (width) of the difference between the upper and lower limits of a stable received electric field level, etc. over a certain period of time. 3, the reception level is displayed for a specific period, so that the stability can be easily recognized from the fluctuation range. The specific period can be set by the operation unit 32.

[0034] In FIG. 3, the fluctuation state of the received electric field level (BL or RL), BER, and MG is displayed in a graph, and the area between the upper and lower dotted lines is the fluctuation range indicating the stability of the received electric field level. In the example of Figure 3, the reception level is displayed, but the stability can also be calculated (obtained) by displaying the distribution of numerical values ​​(dispersion, degree of convergence) using the difference between the average value and the actual value, variance, etc. for the range of change within a certain period of time.

[0035] [GUI display example: Figure 4] Next, a display example (GUI [Graphical User Interface] display example) of the reception status of the receiving device 20 on the monitoring screen displayed by the remote control terminal station 31 of this system will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a display example of the reception status. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, for RX1, the operation unit 32 displays the numerical value of the reception level, a fluctuation range indicating the past stability in a band-shaped graph, a marker indicating the position of the current numerical value of the reception level, and further a marker indicating the minimum numerical value in the current measurement and a marker indicating the maximum numerical value in the current measurement.

[0036] The display in Figure 4 has the effect of comparing the current measurement value of the reception level against the range of fluctuations in past stability, that is, the current reception state with the range of past stability, and if the current reception state is within the range of the range of past stability, it can be evaluated as valid. In addition, if the operation unit 32 connected to the remote control terminal station 31 has previously experienced a deviation from the stability, it displays information indicating the deviation to inform the operator's user of the past reception conditions.

[0037] Furthermore, if the information on the current reception state of the current receiving device 20 deviates from the past stability, the operation unit 32 displays an alert of the deviating information. The user of the operator can easily recognize that the reception state of the receiving device 20 has deviated from the past stability.

[0038] [Examples of past performance (1) to (4): Figures 5 to 8] Next, examples of displaying past performance will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 8. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (1), Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (2), Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (3), and Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a past performance display example (4).

[0039] As shown in Figure 5, the past performance display example (1) displays the transmission section and shows the values ​​of the received signal level (RL), BER, MER, and Margin fluctuations. As shown in FIG. 6, the past performance display example (2) displays the frequency channel (CH) number in addition to the display in FIG. This is because stability may vary depending on the channel, and the 7 GHz band (CD band) and 10 GHz band (EF band) are particularly susceptible to fading, rain attenuation, etc., so the channel numbers are displayed for reference.

[0040] As shown in Figure 7, the past performance display example (3) displays the transmission mode in addition to the display in Figure 6. Here, "B71" indicates the transmission mode. Fixed wireless systems have multiple digital transmission modes. For example, QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing) have different characteristics, so they are added to the performance display. OFDM also has multiple modes, "STD B33" and "STD B71." In the example of FIG. 7, "B71" indicates the transmission mode of "STD B71" of OFDM.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 8, the past performance display example (4) displays information about the season and time of year in addition to the display in FIG. Stability is calculated by adding information about seasons and times, since the effects of correlated fading appear depending on the season and time of year. As shown in Figures 6 to 8, by adding display items, it is possible to narrow down the state of the transmission line based on these items and refer to the past stability.

[0042] [Processing flow: Figure 9] Next, the processing in this system will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a processing flow diagram of this system. As shown in FIG. 9, the remote control terminal 31 in this system acquires the location information of the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 of the fixed wireless system (S1).

[0043] The remote control terminal 31 searches the stored history information for the locations of transmitting devices and receiving devices that are in similar positions to the transmitting device 10 and receiving device 20 (S2). Similar locations do not have to be an exact match, but can be within a specific range.

[0044] Next, it is determined whether or not there are transmitting devices and receiving devices in similar positions as a result of the search (S3). If there are no transmitting devices and receiving devices in similar positions (No), communication is started and history information of the reception level is stored (S4). If communication is started here, the stability is not displayed in the display portion shown in Figure 4 on the remote monitoring display screen.

[0045] If there is a transmitting device and a receiving device in a similar location (Yes), the stability is calculated from the history information of the reception level of the receiving device in the similar location (S5), communication is started, and the history information of the reception level is stored (S6). Then, the remote control terminal 31 displays the stability and the numerical mark of the current reception level at the time of starting measurement on the display screen for remote monitoring, as shown in FIG. 4 (S7).

[0046] Next, it is determined whether the current reception level has deviated from the stability range (S8), and if it has deviated (Yes), an alert is displayed (S9), and if it has not deviated (No), the process returns to S6.

[0047] [Effects of the embodiment] According to this system, in a fixed wireless system, when the installation location of the transmitting device 10 or the receiving device 20 is changed, the remote control terminal 31 acquires the location information of the transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 that were installed in the past, and the information on the reception status of the receiving device 20 in the past, and stores them as history information. It then searches to see if the location information of the currently installed transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 exists in the history information. If the location information exists in the history information, it calculates the stability of the transmission path based on the information on the reception status of the receiving device 20 in the past, and evaluates the transmission status of the transmission path based on the information on the current reception status of the current receiving device 20 in relation to that stability. This has the effect of allowing the current reception status to be properly evaluated by referring to the stability of the reception status on the same transmission path in the past, and properly supporting transmission operations. [Industrial Applicability]

[0048] The present invention is suitable for a remote monitoring system that calculates the stability of a transmission path from information on past reception history, compares the stability with the current reception status to evaluate the transmission state, and appropriately supports transmission operations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1...broadcast station, 1a...receiving antenna, 2...relay station, 2a...receiving antenna, 2b...transmitting antenna, 3...transmitting station, 3a...transmitting antenna, 10...transmitting device, 20...receiving device, 31...remote control terminal station, 32...operating section

Claims

1. A remote monitoring system having a monitoring device that monitors a transmission state of a fixed wireless system that includes a transmitter and a receiver and whose installation location is changed, the monitoring device comprising: The monitoring device acquiring location information of the transmitting device and the receiving device that were installed in the past and information on the reception state of the receiving device, and storing the information as history information; A remote monitoring system characterized by searching whether the location information of the currently installed transmitting device and receiving device exists in the history information, and if the location information exists in the history information, calculating the stability of the transmission path based on past information on the reception status of the receiving device, and evaluating the transmission status of the transmission path based on the stability using information on the current reception status of the current receiving device.

2. 2. The remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device calculates the stability of the transmission path by calculating a fluctuation width or variance of the received signal based on past information on the receiving state of the receiving device.

3. 3. The remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device includes a display unit, and the past stability is displayed on a display screen of the display unit.

4. 4. The remote monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein said monitoring device displays information about a deviation from said stability when the deviation has occurred in the past.

5. 4. The remote monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein, when information on the current reception state of the current receiving device deviates from the stability, the monitoring device displays the deviating information.

6. The remote monitoring system according to claim 3, characterized in that the monitoring device displays a numerical value of the current reception status of the current receiving device, and also displays a width indicating past stability and the position of the numerical value of the current reception status on a band-shaped graph showing the reception status.

Images