Optical fiber power supply system, optical fiber power supply method, and node device

Abstract

To relax limiting of the number of nodes to which power can be supplied by one power supply light source by enabling intensive supply of optical power to a desired one node device.SOLUTION: An optical fiber power supply system includes: a power supply light source device which drives a plurality of loading devices; node devices which monitor and control each loading device; and a node remote control device which drives and controls the plurality of node devices. Each node device has an optical branch coupler which is connected to a control optical fiber and branches a control optical signal output from the node remote control device to both of an own device and the node device of a post stage, and an optical changeover switch which is connected to a power supply optical fiber and outputs a power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either the own device or the node device of the post stage in accordance with an instruction from the node remote control device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for optically supplying power to drive load devices installed in underground manholes or overhead closures where it is difficult to secure a power source. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of an optical fiber power supply control device proposed so far, a device for remote optical path switching has been proposed. This technology involves installing a power supply light source in a communications building, and using a selector also installed in the communications building to select and supply power to multiple nodes to be powered that are installed in remote locations. Costs can be reduced by using one power supply light source to sequentially supply power to multiple nodes installed in remote locations. (Non-Patent Document 1)

[0003] However, in the device proposed in Non-Patent Document 1, the number of nodes that can be powered at one time is limited to one, so if the power consumption of a node increases when power is not being supplied, the node will go down due to a power shortage. Therefore, in Non-Patent Document 1, in order to prevent the node from going down, a restriction is imposed on the charging time assigned to the node selected by the selector. As a result, there is a possibility that the number of nodes that can be powered by one power supply light source will be greatly restricted. In addition, it is not possible to supply optical power in a concentrated manner to a specific node among multiple nodes. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] Tatsuya Fujimoto, Tomohiro Kawano, Kazuhide Nakae, Hiroshi Watanabe, Kazunori Katayama, “Proposal of a remote optical path switching node for future optical access networks”, IEICE Technical Report, vol. 120, no. 369, OFT2020-67, pp. 54-57, 2021. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to enable intensive supply of optical power to one desired node device, thereby mitigating the limit on the number of nodes to which power can be supplied from one power supply light source. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In this disclosure, power is supplied and monitored / controlled by two optical fibers to multiple nodes that are installed remotely and connected in cascade. One of the optical fibers, the power supply optical fiber, is used to supply power to drive the load devices of the nodes. The other optical fiber, the control optical fiber, supplies the power required to drive all the cascaded nodes and is used for communication transmission to constantly monitor and control all the nodes. By constantly driving, monitoring, and controlling all the cascaded nodes, it becomes possible to centrally supply optical power from the power supply light source, which is required to drive the load devices, to specific nodes that require optical power supply.

[0007] Specifically, the optical fiber power supply system according to the present disclosure includes: A plurality of load devices installed at different positions; a power supply light source device that emits a power supply optical signal for driving the plurality of load devices; a plurality of node devices provided in the plurality of load devices, respectively, for monitoring and controlling the load devices; a remote device that transmits and receives optical control signals for driving and controlling the plurality of node devices; a power supply optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for transmitting the power supply optical signal to the plurality of node devices in sequence; a control optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for transmitting the control optical signal to the plurality of node devices in sequence; Equipped with Each node device an optical branching coupler connected to the control optical fiber, which branches the control optical signal output from the remote device to both the device itself and a subsequent node device; an optical changeover switch connected to the power supply optical fiber and configured to output the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either the device itself or a subsequent node device in accordance with an instruction from the remote device; Equipped with.

[0008] A node device according to the present disclosure includes: A node device connected to a power supply light source device that emits a power supply optical signal for driving a plurality of load devices installed at different positions, through a power supply optical fiber, an optical branching coupler connected to a remote device by a control optical fiber, the optical branching coupler transmitting and receiving control optical signals for driving and controlling a plurality of node devices connected to the power supply optical fiber, the optical branching coupler branching the control optical signals output from the remote device to the local device and other node devices; an optical changeover switch connected to the power supply optical fiber and configured to output the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either one of the device itself or another node device in accordance with an instruction from the remote device; Equipped with.

[0009] A method according to the present disclosure is a method performed by an optical fiber power supply system according to the present disclosure, comprising the steps of: In each node device, an optical branching coupler connected to the control optical fiber branches the control optical signal output from the remote device to both the control device itself and a subsequent node device; An optical changeover switch connected to the power supply optical fiber outputs the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either its own device or a subsequent node device in accordance with instructions from the remote device. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to supply optical power in a concentrated manner to one desired node device, thereby alleviating the restriction on the number of nodes to which power can be supplied from one power supply light source. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 shows the overall configuration of an optical fiber power supply system and the internal configuration of a node device. [Diagram 2] 2 shows the internal configuration of an optical fiber power feeding node control device. [Diagram 3] 3 shows the internal configuration of a load device driving power storage device. [Figure 4] 2 shows the internal configuration of a remote device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown below. These implementation examples are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Note that components with the same reference numerals in this specification and drawings are assumed to indicate the same components.

[0013] The optical fiber power supply system of the present disclosure includes: a power supply light source device that emits a power supply optical signal for driving a load device; A plurality of cascaded node devices for monitoring and controlling load devices; A remote device that transmits and receives control optical signals for driving, monitoring, and controlling the node device; a power supply optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for sequentially transmitting a power supply optical signal to the plurality of node devices; a control optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and sequentially transmitting a control optical signal to the plurality of node devices for driving, monitoring, and controlling the node devices; an optical branching coupler for branching a control optical signal from the control optical fiber to drive, monitor, and control a plurality of node devices; and an optical changeover switch that is connected to the power supply optical fiber and outputs the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either its own device or a subsequent node device in accordance with an instruction from the remote device.

[0014] By providing a power supply optical fiber for driving the load devices and a control optical fiber for driving, monitoring, and controlling the node devices, it is possible to concentrate the optical power supply from the power supply light source device required to drive the load devices on a specific node device that requires optical power supply, and to cause the load devices to perform the required operations.

[0015] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system according to this embodiment includes a plurality of node devices 203, a power supply light source device 100 that supplies power to the plurality of node devices 203, and a remote device 200 that controls the plurality of node devices 203. Each node device 203 includes an optical fiber power supply node control device 3, an optical changeover switch 4, and a power storage device 5 for driving a load device.

[0016] The power supply optical signal emitted from the power supply light source device 100 is transmitted through the power supply optical fiber 101 and sequentially reaches the cascade-connected multiple node devices 203. The power supply optical signal that reaches the node device 203 is guided by the optical changeover switch 4 to the load device driving power storage device 5, or transmitted through the power supply optical fiber 101 to the next cascade-connected node device 203.

[0017] When the power supply optical signal emitted from the power supply light source device 100 reaches the load device driving storage device 5, the power supply optical signal is converted into an electric signal in the load device driving storage device 5 and stored inside the load device driving storage device 5. The power stored inside the load device driving storage device 5 is supplied by the auxiliary power supply line 13 as auxiliary power for driving the optical fiber power supply node control device 3. The power stored inside the load device driving storage device 5 is supplied to the load device 1000 through the load device driving power supply line 6.

[0018] On the other hand, the control optical signal emitted from the remote device 200 is transmitted through the control optical fiber 201, distributed by the optical branching coupler 202, and reaches all the node devices 203. The distributed control optical signal is converted into an electric signal in the optical fiber power feeding node control device 3 for driving itself and the optical changeover switch 4.

[0019] When the optical fiber power supply node control device 3 receives an instruction to operate the load device 1000 from the remote device 200, it starts supplying power to the optical changeover switch 4 using the optical changeover switch control power supply line 12, controls the optical changeover switch 4 through the optical changeover switch control signal line 7, and supplies the power supply optical signal from the power supply 100 to the load device driving power storage device 5.

[0020] The optical fiber power supply node control device 3 monitors the stored voltage of the load device driving power storage device 5 through a load device driving power storage device voltage monitoring signal line 9. When the optical fiber power supply node control device 3 obtains the power required to drive the load device 1000, it controls the load device driving power storage device 5 through a load device driving power storage device control signal line 11 and starts supplying power to the load device 1000 through the load device driving power supply line 6. The optical fiber power supply node control device 3 checks the current state of the load device 1000 through a load device monitoring signal line 10, and then performs the necessary control through a load device control signal line 8. After performing the necessary control on the load device 1000, power is supplied to the optical fiber power supply node control device 3 through an auxiliary power supply line 13 to ensure power to drive the optical changeover switch 4.

[0021] In addition, when the optical fiber power supply node control device 3 receives an instruction from the remote device 200 to report the current status, such as the power storage status of the load device driving power storage device 5 and the operation status of the load device 1000, the optical fiber power supply node control device 3 transmits the status to the remote device 200 by reflecting or not reflecting the control optical signal depending on whether the data to be transmitted to the remote device 200 is 1 or 0.

[0022] 2 shows an embodiment of the optical fiber power feeding node control device 3. The optical fiber power feeding node control device 3 includes an opto-electrical converter 310, a control device capacitor 320, a voltage boost device 321, and a control device 300.

[0023] The control optical signal emitted from the remote device 200 reaches the photoelectric converter 310 via the optical branching coupler 312 inside the optical fiber power supply node control device 3, where it is converted into electricity and stored in the control device capacitor 320.

[0024] The stored power is supplied to the control device 300, which controls all devices in the optical fiber power supply node control device 3, via a power supply line 323 for the control device, and is also supplied to a voltage boost device 321, which ensures the voltage required to drive the optical changeover switch 4, via a power supply line 322 for the voltage boost device.

[0025] The voltage boost device 321 is controlled through a voltage boost device control signal line 340. The power boosted by the voltage boost device 321 is output to the optical changeover switch control power supply line 12 through the output control switch 330. At this time, the output control switch 330 controls the output to the optical changeover switch control power supply line 12 according to the control from the output control switch control signal line 341.

[0026] The control device 300 monitors the output voltage of the photoelectric converter 310, the stored voltage of the control device capacitor 320, the stored voltage of the load device driving power storage device 5, and the state of the load device 1000, respectively, through a photoelectric converter output voltage monitoring signal line 350, a control device capacitor voltage monitoring signal line 351, a load device driving power storage device voltage monitoring signal line 9, and a load device monitoring signal line 10. When sufficient power to drive the optical changeover switch 4 from reception to transmission is not stored in the control device capacitor 320, the auxiliary power control switch 331 is controlled through an auxiliary power control switch control signal line 343, and power is supplied from an auxiliary power supply line 13. The drive of the load device 1000 is controlled by the control device 300 through a load device control signal line 8 after starting the supply of power from the load device driving power storage device 5 to the load device 1000 through a load device driving power storage device control signal line 11.

[0027] The control device 300 reflects the control optical signal transmitted from the remote device 200 through the control optical fiber 201 to the optical reflective modulator 311 via the optical reflective modulator control signal line 342. The optical reflective modulator 311 transmits a communication signal by reflecting or not reflecting the control optical signal according to 1 or 0 of the data to be transmitted to the remote device 200.

[0028] 3 shows an embodiment of the load device driving power storage device 5. The load device driving power storage device 5 includes a photoelectric converter 310, a load device capacitor 504, a load device driving voltage booster device 500, and a load device driving power supply control switch 503.

[0029] The power converted by the photoelectric converter 310 is stored in a load device capacitor 504. The stored power is monitored by the optical fiber power feed node control device 3 through a load device driving power storage device voltage monitoring signal line 9. The power stored in the load device capacitor 504 is supplied to a load device driving voltage boost device 500 through a load device driving voltage boost device power supply line 501, and boosted to a voltage required to drive the load device 1000. The boosted power is supplied to a load device driving power supply control switch 503 through a load device driving boost power supply line 502, and is supplied from the load device driving power supply control switch 503 to a load device driving power supply line 6. The load device driving voltage boost device 500 and the load device driving power supply switch 503 are controlled by the optical fiber power feed node control device 3 through a load device driving power storage device control signal line 11.

[0030] 4 shows an embodiment of the remote device 200. The remote device 200 includes a control light source 210, an optical intensity modulator 211, an optical-to-electrical converter 212, and an optical circulator 204.

[0031] An optical signal from a control light source 210 that supplies power to drive, monitor, and control the node device 203 is modulated by an optical intensity modulator 211, passes through an optical circulator 204, and then is transmitted to the optical fiber power supply node control device 3 via a control optical fiber 201.

[0032] A communication signal from the optical fiber power feeding node control device 3 is converted into an electric signal by an optical circulator 204 and an optical-electrical converter 212. Operation instructions to the optical fiber power feeding node control device 3 and reception of a communication signal from the optical fiber power feeding node control device 3 are performed by a remote device controller 220 via an optical intensity modulator control signal line 221 and an optical-electrical converter receiving signal line 222, respectively.

[0033] Needless to say, the load device 1000 shown in this embodiment may be a wide variety of general devices such as an N×M optical changeover switch, a tilt sensor, a water level sensor, or the like.

[0034] (Effects of the present disclosure) As described above, according to the present disclosure, a power supply optical fiber for driving a load device and a control optical fiber for driving, monitoring, and controlling a node device are provided for a plurality of nodes that are installed remotely and connected in cascade. This makes it possible to constantly maintain communication with the node devices, and to intensively supply optical power from a power supply light source required to drive a load device to a specific node device that requires optical power supply, thereby causing the load device to perform a required operation. Therefore, the present disclosure relaxes the limit on the number of nodes that can be supplied with power by one power supply light source, and makes it possible to intensively supply optical power to a desired node device. [Industrial Applicability]

[0035] The present disclosure can be applied to the information and communications industry. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 3. Optical fiber power supply node control device 4. Optical switch 5. Power storage device for driving load devices 6. Power supply line for driving load device 7. Optical switch control signal line 8. Load device control signal line 9. Voltage monitoring signal line for power storage device for driving load device 10.Load device monitoring signal line 11. Load device driving power storage device control signal line 12. Optical switch control power supply line 13.Auxiliary power supply line 100. Power supply light source device 101. Optical fiber for power supply 200. Remote Device 201. Optical fiber for control 202. Optical branching coupler 203. Node device 204. Optical Circulator 210. Control light source 211. Optical Intensity Modulator 212. Photoelectric converter 220. Remote Device Controller 221. Optical intensity modulator control signal line 222. Photoelectric converter receiving signal line 300. Control device 310. Photoelectric converter 311. Optical Reflection Modulator 312. Optical branching coupler in optical fiber power supply node control device 320. Capacitor for control devices 321. Voltage booster 322. Power supply line for voltage booster device 323. Power supply line for control device 340. Voltage booster control signal line 341. Output control switch control signal line 342. Optical reflection modulator control signal line 343. Auxiliary power control switch control signal line 350. Photoelectric converter output voltage monitoring signal line 351. Capacitor voltage monitoring signal line for control device 500. Voltage booster for driving load devices 501. Power supply line for voltage booster device for driving load device 502. Boosted power supply line for driving load devices 503. Power supply control switch for driving load device 504. Load device capacitor 1000.Load device

Claims

1. A plurality of load devices installed at different positions; a power supply light source device that emits a power supply optical signal for driving the plurality of load devices; a plurality of node devices provided in the plurality of load devices, respectively, for monitoring and controlling the load devices; a remote device that transmits and receives optical control signals for driving and controlling the plurality of node devices; a power supply optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for sequentially transmitting the power supply optical signal to the plurality of node devices; a control optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for transmitting the control optical signal to the plurality of node devices in sequence; Equipped with Each node device an optical branching coupler connected to the control optical fiber, which branches the control optical signal output from the remote device to both the device itself and a subsequent node device; an optical changeover switch connected to the power supply optical fiber and configured to output the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either the device itself or a subsequent node device in accordance with an instruction from the remote device; An optical fiber power supply system comprising:

2. The node device, a load device driving power storage device that converts the power supply optical signal transmitted through the power supply optical fiber into electricity and stores the electricity; an optical fiber power supply node control device that monitors and controls the optical changeover switch, the load device driving power storage device, and the load device; an auxiliary power supply line for supplying the electric power stored in the load device driving power storage device to the optical fiber power supply node control device; 2. The optical fiber power supply system according to claim 1, comprising:

3. The optical fiber power supply node control device, an optical branching coupler that branches the control optical signal transmitted through the control optical fiber in two directions; an opto-electrical converter for converting one of the control optical signals branched by the optical branching coupler into an electric signal; an optical reflective modulator that reflects or does not reflect the other of the control optical signals branched by the optical branching coupler; a control device capacitor for storing the electricity converted by the photoelectric converter; a voltage boosting device for boosting the voltage of the electricity stored in the control device capacitor to a voltage required to operate the optical changeover switch; an output control switch that controls the supply of the power boosted by the voltage boosting device to the optical changeover switch; an auxiliary power control switch for controlling reception of auxiliary power from the load device driving power storage device to the optical fiber power feeding node control device; a control device that monitors and controls the control device capacitor, the voltage boost device, the output control switch, the optical reflection modulator, the auxiliary power control switch, the load device driving power storage device, and the load device; The optical fiber power supply system according to claim 2 , comprising:

4. The load device driving power storage device is an opto-electrical converter that converts the power supply optical signal transmitted through the power supply optical fiber into electricity; a load device capacitor for storing the electricity converted by the photoelectric converter; a load device driving voltage boosting device that boosts the voltage stored in the load device capacitor to a voltage required to drive the load device; a load device driving power supply control switch for controlling power supply to the load device, The optical fiber power supply node control device monitors the voltage of the load device capacitor, and controls the load device driving voltage boost device and the load device driving power supply control switch in response to the voltage of the load device capacitor.

4. The optical fiber power supply system according to claim 2 or 3,

5. The remote device: A control light source for supplying power to the node device; an optical intensity modulator for performing signal modulation for controlling the node device; an optical / electrical converter for receiving a communication signal from the node device; a circulator for guiding a communication signal from the control optical fiber to the photoelectric converter; a remote equipment controller for controlling the transmission of the control optical signal and the reception of the communication signal for monitoring and controlling the node equipment; The optical fiber power supply system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

6. A plurality of load devices installed at different positions; a power supply light source device that emits a power supply optical signal for driving the plurality of load devices; a plurality of node devices provided in the plurality of load devices, respectively, for monitoring and controlling the load devices; a remote device that transmits and receives optical control signals for driving and controlling the plurality of node devices; a power supply optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for sequentially transmitting the power supply optical signal to the plurality of node devices; a control optical fiber for connecting the plurality of node devices in a cascade configuration and for transmitting the control optical signal to the plurality of node devices in sequence; An optical fiber power supply method performed by an optical fiber power supply system comprising: In each node device, an optical branching coupler connected to the control optical fiber branches the control optical signal output from the remote device to both the control device itself and a subsequent node device; an optical changeover switch connected to the power supply optical fiber outputs the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either the device itself or a subsequent node device in accordance with an instruction from the remote device; Optical fiber power supply method.

7. A node device connected to a power supply light source device that emits a power supply optical signal for driving a plurality of load devices installed at different positions, through a power supply optical fiber, an optical branching coupler connected to a remote device by a control optical fiber, the optical branching coupler transmitting and receiving control optical signals for driving and controlling a plurality of node devices connected to the power supply optical fiber, the optical branching coupler branching the control optical signals output from the remote device to the local device and other node devices; an optical changeover switch connected to the power supply optical fiber and configured to output the power supply optical signal output from the power supply light source device to either one of the device itself or another node device in accordance with an instruction from the remote device; A node device comprising:

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