COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, ACCOMMODATION DEVICE, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM

Abstract

This communication system includes an accommodation device that accommodates the communication connections of multiple smart meters, and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the multiple smart meters via the accommodation device, wherein the accommodation device includes multiple hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the multiple smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodating unit that selects, from the multiple hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, based at least on the base station, wherein the hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines reference information for each of the multiple hybrid accommodating units that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of the smart meter's measurement information.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication system , collection The present invention relates to a storage device, a communication method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a communication system that uses smart meters that form a multi-hop network to collect the amounts of electricity, gas, water, and other usage (measurement information) measured at each home, factory, etc. In such a communication system, the measurement information of each smart meter is transmitted from the smart meter that serves as the root of the multi-hop network to a higher-level system that collects the measurement information via a base station of a wide area network (WAN, Wide Area Network) such as a cellular communication network.

[0003] Furthermore, Patent Document 1 discloses a communication device and a communication method that are capable of changing a transmission period while determining a transmission time in accordance with a wireless resource determination rule for a communication device having a function of communicating with a base station or an access point of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2020 / 246158 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the communication device and communication method described in Patent Document 1 have the problem that while the transmission timing of a communication device equipped with the function of communicating with a base station or an access point, i.e., a smart meter that is the root of a multi-hop network, can be controlled, it is not possible to control the transmission timing of smart meters other than those that are on the root of the multi-hop network.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and provides a communication system capable of controlling the transmission timing of a smart meter belonging to a multi-hop network. , collection The present invention provides a storage device, a communication method, and a program. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] This disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system comprising an accommodating device accommodating the communication connections of a plurality of smart meters, and a higher-level device collecting measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, wherein the accommodating device comprises a plurality of hybrid accommodating units, each accommodating the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, from the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, based at least on the base station, wherein the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter belonging to a multi-hop network rooted at the first smart meter, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates.

[0008] Another aspect of the present disclosure is the communication system described above, wherein the communication connection of the first smart meter includes identification information of the base station or a cell of the base station.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure is the communication system described above, wherein the communication connection of the first smart meter includes identification information of the first smart meter.

[0010] Another aspect of the present disclosure is the above-mentioned communication system, wherein the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter is a first range of candidates for the transmission timing of the first smart meter, the higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from the first range, and the higher-level device or the second smart meter sets the transmission timing of the second smart meter to a value obtained by adding the transmission timing of the first smart meter to the product of a predetermined value and a value that identifies the second smart meter.

[0011] Another aspect of the present disclosure is the above-mentioned communication system, wherein the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter is a second range of candidates for the transmission timing of the first smart meter and the second smart meter, the higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from the second range, and the higher-level device or the second smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the second smart meter from the second range.

[0012] Another aspect of the present disclosure is the above-mentioned communication system, wherein the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter is the transmission timing of the first smart meter, the higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from within a predetermined range, and the higher-level device or the second smart meter sets the transmission timing of the second smart meter to a value obtained by adding the transmission timing of the first smart meter to the product of a predetermined value and a value that identifies the second smart meter.

[0013] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by a plurality of smart meters via an accommodation device that accommodates the communication connections of the plurality of smart meters, the accommodation device including a plurality of hybrid accommodation units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodation unit that determines, based at least on the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, a hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, the hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodation unit accommodates.

[0014] Another aspect of the present disclosure is an accommodating device in a communication system including an accommodating device that accommodates communication connections of multiple smart meters and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the multiple smart meters via the accommodating device, the accommodating device including multiple hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the multiple smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, from the multiple hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, based at least on the base station, wherein the hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the multiple hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates.

[0015] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a communication method of a communication system including an accommodation device having multiple hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of multiple smart meters, and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the multiple smart meters via the accommodation device, the communication method including a step in which the accommodation device determines, based at least on the base station, from among the multiple hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has communication-connected via a base station of a wide area network, and a step in which the higher-level device determines, for each of the multiple hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the transmission timing of the measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the Hybrid accommodating unit accommodates, and the Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root.

[0016] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to function as a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by a plurality of smart meters via an accommodation device that accommodates the communication connections of the plurality of smart meters, the accommodation device including a plurality of hybrid accommodation units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodation unit that determines, based at least on the base station, from the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, a hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, the hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodation unit accommodates.

[0017] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to function as an accommodating device in a communication system including an accommodating device that accommodates the communication connections of a plurality of smart meters and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, the program including a plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a Hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, from the plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, a Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, based at least on the base station, wherein the Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the Hybrid accommodating unit accommodates. Effect of the Invention

[0018] According to this disclosure, a communication system , collection The device, communication method, and program can control the transmission timing of a smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a hybrid communication smart meter 11 in the embodiment. [Diagram 3] 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an MH communication smart meter 12 in the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation example (part 1) of the communication system 100 according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a second example of an operation of the communication system 100 according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a third example of an operation of the communication system 100 according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the upper system 40 in the embodiment. [Figure 8] 13 is a table showing examples of candidates for the first range in the embodiment. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the upper system 40 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 13 is a table showing examples of candidates for the second range in the embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the communication system 100 according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the upper system 40 in the embodiment. [Figure 13]FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system 100a according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of each device according to each embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] <First embodiment> Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication system 100 collects usage (measurement information) of electricity, gas, water, etc. measured by a hybrid communication smart meter 11 and a multi-hop (MH) communication smart meter 12 constituting a field area network (FAN) 10. The communication system 100 includes the FAN 10, a wide area network (WAN) 20, a hybrid host system 30 (accommodating device), and a host system 40 (host device).

[0021] The hybrid communication smart meter 11 (first smart meter) has a communication function via a multi-hop network and a communication function via the WAN 20, measures the usage of electricity, gas, water, etc., and transmits measurement information indicating the usage to the upper system 40. The MH communication smart meter 12 (second smart meter) has a communication function via a multi-hop network, measures the usage in the same way as the hybrid communication smart meter 11, and transmits measurement information indicating the usage to the upper system 40.

[0022] One hybrid communication smart meter 11 and one or more MH communication smart meters 12 configure a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11 as a root. There may be, for example, several hundred MH communication smart meters 12 belonging to one multi-hop network.

[0023] The WAN 20 is a wide area network such as a cellular communication network (e.g., LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 5G (5th Generation)), and includes a base station 21 (cell) and a WAN line 22. Since multiple hybrid communication smart meters 11 communicate with the hybrid upper system 30 and the upper system 40 via one base station 21 of the WAN 20, a group 13 of smart meters communicating via one base station 21 may be, for example, several meters to tens of thousands of meters. The base station 21 may be on a cell basis. In other words, when one base station 21 communicates through multiple cells, it may be considered that there is a different base station 21 for each cell.

[0024] The Hybrid upper system 30 accommodates communication connections of multiple smart meters (Hybrid communication smart meters 11, MH communication smart meters 12). The Hybrid upper system 30 may be realized by one or more computers reading and executing a program. The Hybrid upper system 30 includes a Hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 and one or more Hybrid managers 32. Each of the multiple Hybrid managers 32 includes one or more Hybrid accommodation units 33. Each of the multiple Hybrid managers 32 corresponds to one base station 21. Hereinafter, when each of the multiple Hybrid managers 32 is to be individually identified and described, it will be represented as Hybrid manager #1, #2, ... #n. Each of the Hybrid managers #1, #2, ... #n may correspond to one computer.

[0025] The Hybrid accommodating unit 33 accommodates the communication connection of any one of a plurality of smart meters. The Hybrid accommodating unit 33 accommodating the communication connection of a certain Hybrid communication smart meter 11 accommodates the communication connection of an MH communication smart meter 12 belonging to a multi-hop network with the Hybrid communication smart meter 11 as the root. Here, the Hybrid accommodating unit 33 accommodating the communication connection of a smart meter means that communication between the smart meter and the upper system 40 is performed via the Hybrid accommodating unit 33.

[0026] The hybrid parent accommodating unit 31 determines from among multiple hybrid accommodating units 33 which hybrid accommodating unit 33 to accommodate the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 that has established a communication connection via the base station 21, based at least on which base station 21 the communication connection is to be established.

[0027] The host system 40 determines, for each of the multiple hybrid accommodating units 33, reference information that is the basis for the transmission timing of the measurement information of the smart meter that the hybrid accommodating unit 33 accommodates in the communication connection. Furthermore, the host system 40 may use the reference information to determine the transmission timing of each of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12. Here, the transmission timing is a predetermined timing, which is an offset from the timing at which the smart meter periodically transmits the measurement information. For example, if it is predetermined that the smart meter transmits the measurement information every hour on the hour, the smart meter transmits the measurement information at a timing that is the transmission timing after every hour on the hour. The host system 40 may be realized by one or more computers reading and executing a program.

[0028] The reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33 accommodating the communication connection of a certain hybrid communication smart meter 11 may be a first range of candidates for the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11. The upper system 40 may randomly select the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 from the first range, and set the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12 to a value obtained by adding a predetermined value n1 and a value for identifying the MH communication smart meter 12 to the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11. The value for identifying the MH communication smart meter 12 may be, for example, a serial number assigned to the MH communication smart meter 12 in a multi-hop network, the number of hops from the MH communication smart meter 12 to the route, an identification number such as the network address of the MH communication smart meter 12, or a value generated from the identification number.

[0029] 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 in this embodiment. The hybrid communication smart meter 11 includes a metering unit 111 and a hybrid communication unit 112. The metering unit 111 measures the amount of electricity, gas, water, or the like used, and generates measurement information indicating the amount of use. The hybrid communication unit 112 has a 1N communication function for communicating via the WAN 20 and an MH communication function for communicating via a multi-hop network. The hybrid communication unit 112 transmits the measurement information generated by the metering unit 111 and the measurement information of the MH communication smart meter 12 received by the MH communication function to the upper system 40 by the 1N communication function.

[0030] 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the MH communication smart meter 12 in this embodiment. The MH communication smart meter 12 includes a metering unit 121 and an MH communication unit 122. The metering unit 121 measures the amount of electricity, gas, water, or the like used, and generates measurement information indicating the amount of use. The MH communication unit 122 has an MH communication function for communicating via a multi-hop network. The MH communication unit 122 transmits the measurement information generated by the metering unit 121 to the upper system 40 by the MH communication function.

[0031] Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation example (part 1) of the communication system 100 in this embodiment. According to the operation example shown in Fig. 4, the MH communication smart meters 12a and 12b, which are the MH communication smart meter 12, belong to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, which is the hybrid communication smart meter 11, as the root. Then, according to this operation example, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a and the MH communication smart meters 12a and 12b transmit measurement information according to the transmission timing notified to each of them. At this time, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a transmits the measurement information to the upper system 40 via the base station 21a, which is the base station 21 of the LTE cellular communication network, and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a.

[0032] First, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a transmits an LTE connection request to the base station 21a (sequence S100). Upon receiving the connection request, the base station 21a returns an LTE connection response to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a (sequence S101). The base station 21a includes the Cell-ID of the base station 21a (identification information of the base station 21a or identification information of the cell of the base station 21a) in the connection response.

[0033] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the connection response of sequence S101 transmits a connection request to the hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 via the base station 21a (sequences S102 and S103). The hybrid communication smart meter 11a includes in this connection request the Cell-ID of the base station 21a that was included in the connection response of sequence S101. The hybrid communication smart meter 11a may further include in this connection request identification information of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a (for example, a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the MH communication function of the hybrid communication unit 112, an Integrated Circuit Card ID (ICCID) of the 1N communication function, an International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI), etc.). In addition, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may include the identification information of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in subsequent communications. When the Hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 receives this connection request, it selects a Hybrid accommodation unit 33a that does not accommodate any communication connection from among the Hybrid accommodation units 33 of the Hybrid manager 32a corresponding to the Cell-ID of the base station 21a included in the connection request. The Hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 returns a connection response indicating the selected Hybrid accommodation unit 33a to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a via the base station 21a (sequences S104 and S105). The Hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 may return a connection response indicating the Hybrid manager 32a corresponding to the Cell-ID of the base station 21a. The Hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 may also notify the identification information of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a to the Hybrid manager 32a corresponding to the Cell-ID of the base station 21a or the selected Hybrid accommodation unit 33a.

[0034] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the connection response of sequences S104 and S105 transmits an entry confirmation notification to the hybrid accommodating unit 33a indicated by the connection response via the base station 21a (sequences S106 and S107). The hybrid communication smart meter 11a includes a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the entry confirmation notification. The value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may be, for example, a serial number assigned to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the multi-hop network, an identification number such as the network address of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, or a value generated from the identification number. Upon receiving the entry confirmation notification, the hybrid accommodating unit 33a transmits the entry confirmation notification to the upper system 40 (sequence S108).

[0035] In addition, when the connection response in sequences S104 and S105 indicates the hybrid manager 32a, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may transmit an entry confirmation notification to the hybrid manager 32a, and the hybrid manager 32a that receives the entry confirmation notification may transmit the entry confirmation notification to the hybrid accommodation unit 33a that is subordinate to the hybrid manager 32a and does not accommodate any communication connection.

[0036] The higher-level system 40 that has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S108 determines the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a. For example, the higher-level system 40 may determine a first range (reference information) based on a value that identifies the hybrid accommodating unit 33a that has sent the entry confirmation notification, and may determine the transmission timing based on a value that identifies the hybrid communication smart meter 11a from the first range. Alternatively, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may include a value that identifies the hybrid accommodating unit 33a in the entry confirmation notification, and the higher-level system 40 may determine the first range (reference information) based on the value that identifies the hybrid accommodating unit 33a that was included in the entry confirmation notification.

[0037] Here, the first range may be selected from among a plurality of predefined first range candidates using a pseudo-random number with a value identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a as a seed. That is, the upper system 40 may select, as the first range, a candidate among a plurality of first range candidates (blocks in FIG. 8 described later) whose serial number previously assigned to each of these candidates matches the integer part of random (value identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a) × the number of candidates. Here, random() is a pseudo-random number that is equal to or greater than 0 and less than 1 with the value in parentheses as a seed. In this case, a value identifying the Hybrid communication smart meter 11a may be used instead of a value identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a. Also, the value identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a may be a value that combines a value identifying the Hybrid manager 32a and a value identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a in the Hybrid manager 32a.

[0038] In addition, the transmission timing may be selected from the first range using a pseudo-random number with a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a as a seed. That is, if the first range is equal to or larger than a and smaller than b, the upper system 40 may set the transmission timing to a+random (value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a)×(ba).

[0039] After determining the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, the upper system 40 transmits an entry completion notification including the transmission timing to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a via the hybrid accommodating unit 33a and the base station 21a (sequences S109, S110, S111).

[0040] As a result, the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, and the hybrid communication smart meter 11a transmits measurement information to the higher-level system 40 via the base station 21 and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a in accordance with the transmission timing notified in sequence S111.

[0041] Furthermore, when the MH communication smart meter 12a transmits (broadcasts) an enhanced beacon request (sequence S112), the hybrid communication smart meter 11a that receives the enhanced beacon request transmits an enhanced beacon (sequence S113). When the MH communication smart meter 12a receives the extended beacon in sequence S113, it transmits an entry confirmation notification to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a that is the sender of the extended beacon (sequence S114). The MH communication smart meter 12a includes a value that identifies the MH communication smart meter 12a in the entry confirmation notification. Note that this entry confirmation notification may be a entry confirmation notification to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11a as the root.

[0042] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that receives the entry confirmation notification in sequence S114 further includes a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the entry confirmation notification, and then transmits the entry confirmation notification to the upper system 40 via the base station 21a and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a (sequences S115, S116, S117).

[0043] The upper system 40, which has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S117, determines the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12a identified by the value included in the entry confirmation notification. For example, the upper system 40 may determine the transmission timing based on the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a and the value identifying the MH communication smart meter 12a. The upper system 40 may set the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12a to a value obtained by adding the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a to the product of the value identifying the MH communication smart meter 12a and a predetermined value n1. The upper system 40 may store the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in association with the value identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, or may obtain the transmission timing by performing the same calculation again as when the entry confirmation notification in sequence S108 was received.

[0044] The upper system 40 transmits the determined transmission timing to the MH communication smart meter 12a via the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, the base station 21a, and the hybrid communication smart meter 11a (sequences S118, S119, S120, S121).

[0045] As a result, the communication connection of the MH communication smart meter 12a is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating section 33a, and the MH communication smart meter 12a transmits the measurement information in accordance with the transmission timing notified in sequence S121.

[0046] Furthermore, when the MH communication smart meter 12b transmits (broadcasts) an extended beacon request (sequence S122), the MH communication smart meter 12a that receives the extended beacon request transmits an extended beacon (sequence S123). When the MH communication smart meter 12b receives the extended beacon in sequence S123, it transmits an entry confirmation notification to the MH communication smart meter 12a that is the sender of the extended beacon (sequence S124). The MH communication smart meter 12b includes a value that identifies the MH communication smart meter 12b in the entry confirmation notification. Note that this entry confirmation notification may be a confirmation notification of entry into the multi-hop network to which the MH communication smart meter 12a belongs.

[0047] The MH communication smart meter 12a that receives the entry confirmation notification in sequence S124 further includes a value for identifying the MH communication smart meter 12a in the entry confirmation notification, and then transmits the entry confirmation notification to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a that is the root of the multi-hop network to which the MH communication smart meter 12a belongs (sequence S125). The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that receives the entry confirmation notification in sequence S125 further includes a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the entry confirmation notification, and then transmits the entry confirmation notification to the upper system 40 via the base station 21a and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a (sequences S126, S127, S128).

[0048] The upper system 40, which has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S128, determines the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12b identified by the value included in the entry confirmation notification. For example, the upper system 40 may determine the transmission timing based on the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a and the value identifying the MH communication smart meter 12b, in the same manner as in the case of the MH communication smart meter 12a. That is, the upper system 40 may set the value obtained by adding the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a to the product of the value identifying the MH communication smart meter 12b and a predetermined value n1 as the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12b. As a result, the interval between the transmission timings of the smart meters (the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, the MH communication smart meters 12a, 12b) belonging to the multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11a as the root falls within a predetermined range. This makes it possible to prevent the communication connection (LTE communication connection) with the base station 21a from being cut off due to a timeout while the hybrid communication smart meter 11a is transmitting the measurement information of these smart meters.

[0049] The upper system 40 transmits the determined transmission timing to the MH communication smart meter 12b via the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, the base station 21a, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, and the MH communication smart meter 12a (sequences S129, S130, S131, S132, S133).

[0050] As a result, the communication connection of the MH communication smart meter 12b is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating section 33a, and the MH communication smart meter 12b transmits the measurement information in accordance with the transmission timing notified in sequence S133.

[0051] Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation example (part 2) of the communication system 100 in this embodiment. Fig. 5 shows a sequence relating to the hybrid communication smart meter 11b installed in the cell (communication range) of the same base station 21a as the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in Fig. 4, and the MH communication smart meters 12c and 12d that will belong to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11b as the root.

[0052] 5 are similar to the sequences S100 to S133 in FIG 4, but differ in that the communication connections of the hybrid communication smart meter 11b and the MH communication smart meters 12c and 12d are accommodated in the hybrid accommodation unit 33b belonging to the same hybrid manager 32a as the hybrid accommodation unit 33a, rather than in the hybrid accommodation unit 33a. In this way, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the hybrid accommodation unit 33 and the hybrid communication smart meter 11, and the communication connections of the hybrid communication smart meters 11 belonging to the communication range (cell) of the same base station 21 are accommodated in the hybrid accommodation unit 33 belonging to the same hybrid manager 32.

[0053] Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation example (part 3) of the communication system 100 in this embodiment. Fig. 6 shows a sequence relating to the hybrid communication smart meter 11c installed in a cell (communication range) of a base station 21b different from the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in Fig. 4, and the MH communication smart meters 12e and 12f that will belong to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11c as the root.

[0054] 6 are similar to the sequences S100 to S133 in Fig. 4, but differ in that the communication connections of the hybrid communication smart meter 11c and the MH communication smart meters 12e and 12f are accommodated in the hybrid accommodation unit 33c belonging to the hybrid manager 32b different from the hybrid manager 32a, rather than in the hybrid accommodation unit 33a. In this way, the hybrid manager 32 and the base station 21 correspond one-to-one, and the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 belonging to the communication range (cell) of the different base station 21 is accommodated in the hybrid accommodation unit 33 belonging to the different hybrid manager 32.

[0055] Fig. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the upper system 40 in this embodiment. The flowchart shown in Fig. 7 shows an example of the operation when the upper system 40 receives a joining confirmation notification (sequences S108, S117, and S128 in Fig. 4, sequences S208, S217, and S228 in Fig. 5, and sequences S308, S317, and S328 in Fig. 6).

[0056] First, the upper system 40 checks which Hybrid accommodating unit 33 the received entry confirmation notification is from (step Sa1). Next, the upper system 40 determines a block number using a value (ID) for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33 checked in step Sa1 (step Sa2). Here, the block number is a serial number assigned to candidates (blocks) in the first range, and the first range is determined by determining the block number. This is the same as the process when receiving sequence S108 in FIG. 4. That is, the integer part of random (ID of the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a) x the number of blocks may be determined as the block number.

[0057] Next, the upper system 40 determines the transmission timings of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12 using values ​​(IDs) for identifying them. This is the same as the processing when sequences S108, S117, and S128 in Fig. 4 are received. That is, if the range of the block of the block number determined in step Sa2 is from a to b (for example, a or more and less than b, or a or more and b or less), a+random (ID of the hybrid communication smart meter 11) x (ba) may be determined as the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11. Also, a value obtained by adding the product of the ID of the MH communication smart meter 12 and a predetermined value n1 to the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 may be determined as the MH communication smart meter 12.

[0058] In this way, by determining the transmission timings of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12, the transmission timings of the smart meters whose communication connections are accommodated in the same Hybrid accommodating unit 33 are within a predetermined range, whereas the transmission timings of the smart meters whose communication connections are accommodated in different Hybrid accommodating units 33 are based on different blocks (first ranges, reference information). This makes it possible to prevent the communication connection between the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the base station 21 from timing out, while preventing the communication between the hybrid host system 30 and the host system 40 from concentrating at a specific timing.

[0059] Fig. 8 is a table showing examples of candidates for the first range in this embodiment. Fig. 8 shows examples of the range of values ​​for each of blocks 0 to 9, which are candidates for the first range. For example, block 0 is in the range of 100 ms to 27500 ms, block 1 is in the range of 27600 ms to 55000 ms, ... block 9 is in the range of 247600 ms to 275000 ms.

[0060] <Second embodiment> The communication system 100 in the second embodiment is similar to the communication system 100 in the first embodiment, but differs in the method in which the upper system 40 determines the transmission timing of each smart meter.

[0061] In this embodiment, the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33 that accommodates the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 is a second range of candidates for the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12. The upper system 40 randomly selects the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 from within the second range. The upper system 40 also randomly selects the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12 from within the second range.

[0062] Fig. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the upper system 40 according to the second embodiment of this disclosure. The flowchart shown in Fig. 9 shows an example of the operation when the upper system 40 receives a joining confirmation notification (sequences S108, S117, and S128 in Fig. 4, sequences S208, S217, and S228 in Fig. 5, and sequences S308, S317, and S328 in Fig. 6).

[0063] First, the upper system 40 checks which Hybrid accommodating unit 33 the received entry confirmation notification is from (step Sa1). Next, the upper system 40 determines a block number using a value (ID) for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33 checked in step Sa1 (step Sb2). Here, the block number is a serial number assigned to the candidates (blocks) of the second range, and the second range is determined by determining the block number. This is the same as the process when receiving sequence S108 in FIG. 4. That is, the integer part of random (ID of the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a) x the number of blocks may be determined as the block number.

[0064] Next, the upper system 40 determines the transmission timings of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 or the MH communication smart meter 12 using a value (ID) that identifies the hybrid communication smart meter 11 or the MH communication smart meter 12. If the range of the block of the block number determined in step Sb2 is from a to b (for example, a or more and less than b, or a or more and b or less), a+random (ID of the hybrid communication smart meter 11)×(ba) may be determined as the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11, and a+random (ID of the MH communication smart meter 12)×(ba) may be determined as the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12.

[0065] In this way, by determining the transmission timings of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12, the transmission timings of the smart meters whose communication connections are accommodated in the same Hybrid accommodating unit 33 are within a predetermined range, whereas the transmission timings of the smart meters whose communication connections are accommodated in different Hybrid accommodating units 33 are based on different blocks (second ranges, reference information). This makes it possible to prevent the communication connection between the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the base station 21 from timing out, while preventing the communication between the hybrid host system 30 and the host system 40 from concentrating at a specific timing.

[0066] Fig. 10 is a table showing examples of candidates for the second range in this embodiment. Fig. 10 shows examples of the range of values ​​of each of blocks 0 to 275, which are candidates for the second range. For example, block 0 is in the range of 100 ms to 1000 ms, block 1 is in the range of 1100 ms to 2000 ms, ... block 275 is in the range of 247600 ms to 275000 ms.

[0067] <Third embodiment> The communication system 100 in the third embodiment is similar to the communication system 100 in the second embodiment, except that the upper system 40 determines a second range, which is the reference information, for each hybrid accommodation unit 33, and the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12 are determined by the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12, respectively.

[0068] In this embodiment, the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33 that accommodates the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 is a second range of candidates for the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12. The hybrid communication smart meter 11 randomly selects the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 from the second range. Also, the MH communication smart meter 12 randomly selects the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12 from the second range.

[0069] Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation example of the communication system 100 according to the third embodiment of this disclosure. According to the operation example shown in Fig. 11, the MH communication smart meters 12a and 12b, which are the MH communication smart meters 12, belong to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, which is the hybrid communication smart meter 11, as the root. Then, according to this operation example, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a and the MH communication smart meters 12a and 12b transmit measurement information according to the transmission timing notified to each of them. At this time, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a transmits the measurement information to the upper system 40 via the base station 21a, which is the base station 21 of the LTE cellular communication network, and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a.

[0070] First, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a transmits an LTE connection request to the base station 21a (sequence S400). Upon receiving the connection request, the base station 21a returns an LTE connection response to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a (sequence S401). The base station 21a includes the Cell-ID of the base station 21a (identification information of the base station 21a or identification information of the cell of the base station 21a) in the connection response.

[0071] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the connection response of sequence S401 transmits a connection request to the hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 via the base station 21a (sequences S402 and S403). The hybrid communication smart meter 11a includes the Cell-ID of the base station 21a included in the connection response of sequence S401 in this connection request. When the hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 receives this connection request, it selects a hybrid accommodation unit 33a that does not accommodate any communication connection among the hybrid accommodation units 33 of the hybrid manager 32a that correspond to the Cell-ID of the base station 21a included in the connection request. The hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 returns a connection response indicating the selected hybrid accommodation unit 33a to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a via the base station 21a (sequences S404 and S405). The hybrid parent accommodation unit 31 may return a connection response indicating the hybrid manager 32a that corresponds to the Cell-ID of the base station 21a.

[0072] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the connection response of sequences S404 and S405 transmits an entry confirmation notification to the hybrid accommodating unit 33a indicated by the connection response via the base station 21a (sequences S406 and S407). The hybrid communication smart meter 11a includes a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the entry confirmation notification. The value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may be, for example, a serial number assigned to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the multi-hop network, an identification number such as the network address of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, or a value generated from the identification number. Upon receiving the entry confirmation notification, the hybrid accommodating unit 33a transmits the entry confirmation notification to the upper system 40 (sequence S408).

[0073] In addition, when the connection response in sequences S404 and S405 indicates the hybrid manager 32a, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may transmit an entry confirmation notification to the hybrid manager 32a, and the hybrid manager 32a that receives the entry confirmation notification may transmit the entry confirmation notification to the hybrid accommodation unit 33a that is subordinate to the hybrid manager 32a and does not accommodate any communication connection.

[0074] The host system 40 that has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S408 determines a second range, which is the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33a. Here, the second range is the range of transmission timing of the smart meter whose communication connection is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, as in the second embodiment. For example, the host system 40 determines the second range (reference information) based on a value that identifies the hybrid accommodating unit 33a that has sent the entry confirmation notification.

[0075] Here, the second range may be selected from a plurality of predetermined second range candidates using a pseudorandom number with a value for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a as a seed. That is, the upper system 40 may select, as the second range, a candidate among a plurality of second range candidates (blocks in FIG. 10) whose serial number previously assigned to each of these candidates matches the integer part of "random (value for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a) x the number of candidates. In this case, a value for identifying the Hybrid communication smart meter 11a may be used instead of a value for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a. The value for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a may be a value obtained by combining a value for identifying the Hybrid manager 32a and a value for identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a in the Hybrid manager 32a.

[0076] After determining the second range, the upper system 40 transmits an entry completion notification including information indicating the second range to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a via the hybrid accommodating unit 33a and the base station 21a (sequences S409, S410, S411).

[0077] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the entry completion notification in sequence S411 randomly determines the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a from the second range indicated by the information included in the entry completion notification (sequence S412). The method of determining the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may be the same as that in the second embodiment. As a result, the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, and the hybrid communication smart meter 11a transmits measurement information to the upper system 40 via the base station 21 and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a in accordance with the transmission timing determined in sequence S412.

[0078] Furthermore, when the MH communication smart meter 12a transmits (broadcasts) an enhanced beacon request (sequence S413), the hybrid communication smart meter 11a that receives the enhanced beacon request transmits an enhanced beacon (sequence S414). When the MH communication smart meter 12a receives the extended beacon in sequence S414, it transmits an entry confirmation notification to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a that is the sender of the extended beacon (sequence S415). The MH communication smart meter 12a may include a value that identifies the MH communication smart meter 12a in the entry confirmation notification. Note that this entry confirmation notification may be a entry confirmation notification to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meter 11a as the root.

[0079] The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S415 transmits the entry confirmation notification to the upper system 40 via the base station 21a and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a (the hybrid accommodating unit 33 that accommodates the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11a) (sequences S416, S417, S418). At this time, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a may further include a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the entry confirmation notification before transmitting it.

[0080] The higher-level system 40, which has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S418, transmits an entry completion notification including information indicating the second range, which is the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33a that sent the entry confirmation notification, to the MH communication smart meter 12a via the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, the base station 21a, and the hybrid communication smart meter 11a (sequences S419, S420, S421, S422). The MH communication smart meter 12a, which has received the entry completion notification, randomly determines the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12a from the second range indicated by the information included in the entry completion notification (sequence S423). The method of determining the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12a may be the same as that of the second embodiment.

[0081] As a result, the communication connection of the MH communication smart meter 12a is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, and the MH communication smart meter 12a transmits measurement information to the upper system 40 via the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, the base station 21, and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a in accordance with the transmission timing determined by sequence S423.

[0082] Furthermore, when the MH communication smart meter 12b transmits (broadcasts) an extended beacon request (sequence S424), the MH communication smart meter 12a that receives the extended beacon request transmits an extended beacon (sequence S425). When the MH communication smart meter 12b receives the extended beacon in sequence S425, it transmits an entry confirmation notification to the MH communication smart meter 12a that is the sender of the extended beacon (sequence S426). The MH communication smart meter 12b may include a value that identifies the MH communication smart meter 12b in the entry confirmation notification. Note that this entry confirmation notification may be a confirmation notification of entry into the multi-hop network to which the MH communication smart meter 12a belongs.

[0083] The MH communication smart meter 12a that has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S426 transmits the entry confirmation notification to the hybrid communication smart meter 11a that is the root of the multi-hop network to which the MH communication smart meter 12a belongs (sequence S427). The MH communication smart meter 12a may further include a value for identifying the MH communication smart meter 12a in the entry confirmation notification before transmitting it. The hybrid communication smart meter 11a that has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S427 transmits the entry confirmation notification to the upper system 40 via the base station 21a and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a (sequences S428, S429, S430). The hybrid communication smart meter 11a may further include a value for identifying the hybrid communication smart meter 11a in the entry confirmation notification before transmitting it.

[0084] The upper system 40, which has received the entry confirmation notification in sequence S430, transmits an entry completion notification including information indicating the second range, which is the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33a that sent the entry confirmation notification, to the MH communication smart meter 12b via the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, the base station 21a, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, and the MH communication smart meter 12a (sequences S431, S432, S433, S434, S435). The MH communication smart meter 12b, which has received the entry completion notification, randomly determines the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12b from the second range indicated by the information included in the entry completion notification (sequence S436). The method of determining the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12b may be the same as that of the second embodiment.

[0085] As a result, the communication connection of the MH communication smart meter 12b is accommodated in the hybrid accommodating unit 33a, and the MH communication smart meter 12b transmits measurement information to the upper system 40 via the MH communication smart meter 12a, the hybrid communication smart meter 11a, the base station 21, and the hybrid accommodating unit 33a in accordance with the transmission timing determined by sequence S436.

[0086] As in the first and second embodiments, the hybrid communication smart meter 11b and the MH communication smart meters 12c and 12d are accommodated in the hybrid accommodating section 33b, and the hybrid communication smart meter 11c and the MH communication smart meters 12e and 12f are accommodated in the hybrid accommodating section 33c.

[0087] Fig. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation of the upper system 40 in this embodiment. The flowchart shown in Fig. 12 shows an example of the operation when the upper system 40 receives a participation confirmation notification (sequences S408, S418, and S430 in Fig. 10).

[0088] First, the upper system 40 checks which Hybrid accommodating unit 33 the received entry confirmation notification is from (step Sc1). Next, the upper system 40 determines a block number using a value (ID) identifying the Hybrid accommodating unit 33 checked in step Sc1 (step Sb2). Here, the block number is a serial number assigned to the candidates (blocks) of the second range, and the second range is determined by determining the block number. This is the same as the process when receiving sequence S408 in FIG. 11. That is, the integer part of random (ID of the Hybrid accommodating unit 33a) x the number of blocks may be determined as the block number.

[0089] In the first embodiment, as in the present embodiment, the upper system 40 may include information indicating the first range, which is the reference information, in the entry completion notification, and the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12 may each determine their own transmission timing.

[0090] <Fourth embodiment> The communication system 100 in the fourth embodiment is similar to the communication system 100 in the first to third embodiments, but differs in the method in which the host system 40 determines the transmission timing of each smart meter.

[0091] In this embodiment, the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit 33 that accommodates the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 is the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11. The upper system 40 randomly selects the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 from a predetermined range, and sets the transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12 to a value obtained by adding the product of a predetermined value n2 and a value for identifying the MH communication smart meter 12 to the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11.

[0092] For example, the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 may be a pseudo-random number x between 100 ms and 275000 ms, with a seed value that identifies the hybrid accommodating unit 33 that accommodates the communication connection of the hybrid communication smart meter 11. The transmission timing of the MH communication smart meter 12 may be a value obtained by adding the product of the serial number assigned to the MH communication smart meter 12 in the multi-hop network and a predetermined value n2 (e.g., 2 ms) to the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 on the route of the multi-hop network to which the MH communication smart meter 12 belongs.

[0093] In the fourth embodiment, as in the third embodiment, the upper system 40 may include information indicating the transmission timing of the hybrid communication smart meter 11, which is reference information, in the entry completion notification, so that the MH communication smart meter 12 determines its own transmission timing.

[0094] <Fifth embodiment> In the fifth embodiment, at least some of the hybrid communication smart meters 11 can send measurement information to the upper system 40 not only via the WAN 20 and the hybrid upper system 30, but also via other routes (e.g., the aggregation device 23, the dedicated line 24, the MH upper system 50).

[0095] Fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a communication system 100a in the fifth embodiment. In addition to the communication system 100 in Fig. 1, the communication system 100a includes an aggregation device 23, a dedicated line 24, and an MH upper system 50, and at least some of the hybrid communication smart meters 11 and the MH communication smart meters 12 belonging to a multi-hop network with the hybrid communication smart meters 11 as the root are communicatively connected to the upper system 40 also via the aggregation device 23, the dedicated line 24, and the MH upper system 50.

[0096] In this embodiment, the transmission timings of all the hybrid communication smart meters 11 and the MH communication smart meters 12 are determined in the same manner as in any of the first to fourth embodiments. This allows the communication system to control the transmission timings of the smart meters belonging to the multi-hop network using the reference information. In addition, it is possible to prevent the communication connection between the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the base station 21 from being cut off due to a timeout while the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12 are transmitting their measurement information.

[0097] The hybrid communication smart meter 11, which can communicate with the host system 40 via the aggregation device 23, the dedicated line 24, and the MH host system 50, selects a route for transmitting the measurement information of the hybrid communication smart meter 11 and the MH communication smart meter 12 according to the situation at the time, but the same transmission timing may be used in either case. For example, the hybrid communication smart meter 11 may preferentially use the route via the WAN 20 and the hybrid host system 30, and when the route is unavailable, transmit the measurement information via the aggregation device 23, the dedicated line 24, and the MH host system 50. Alternatively, the route via the aggregation device 23, the dedicated line 24, and the MH host system 50 may be preferentially used.

[0098] FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of each device according to each embodiment. The devices are the hybrid host system 30, the host system 40, and the MH host system 50. Each device is configured to include an input / output module I, a storage module M, and a control module P. The input / output module I is realized to include a part or all of the communication module H11, the connection module H12, the pointing device H21, the keyboard H22, the display H23, the button H3, the microphone H41, the speaker H42, the camera H51, or the sensor H52. The storage module M is realized to include a drive H7. The storage module M may further be configured to include a part or all of the memory H8. The control module P is realized to include a memory H8 and a processor H9. These hardware components are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a bus, and are supplied with power from a power source H6.

[0099] The connection module H12 is a digital input / output port such as a USB (Universal Seriul Bus). In the case of a portable device, the pointing device H21, the keyboard H22, and the display H23 are touch panels. The sensor H52 is an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a GPS receiving module, a proximity sensor, or the like. The power source H6 is a power supply unit that supplies electricity required to operate each device. In the case of a portable device, the power source H6 is a battery. The drive H7 is an auxiliary storage medium such as a hard disk drive or a solid state drive. The drive H7 may be a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM or a flash memory, or a magneto-optical disk drive or a flexible disk drive. In addition, the drive H7 is not limited to being built into each device, but may be an external storage device connected to a connector of the connection module H12. The memory H8 is a main storage medium such as a random access memory. The memory H8 may be a cache memory. The memory H8 stores instructions when the instructions are executed by one or more processors H9. The processor H9 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor H9 may be a microprocessing unit (MPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU). The processor H9 reads out programs and various data from the drive H7 via the memory H8 and performs calculations to execute instructions stored in one or more memories H8.

[0100] The input / output module I is used in the hybrid host system 30, the host system 40, the MH host system 50, etc. The control module P is used to implement each part of the hybrid host system 30, the host system 40, and the MH host system 50. In this specification and the like, the descriptions of the hybrid host system 30, the host system 40, and the MH host system 50 may be replaced with the description of the control module P.

[0101] The present disclosure may be embodied as follows. (1) One embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication system comprising an accommodating device accommodating communication connections of a plurality of smart meters, and a higher-level device collecting measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, the accommodating device comprising a plurality of hybrid accommodating units each accommodating the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodating unit determining, based at least on the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter belonging to a multi-hop network rooted at the first smart meter, and the higher-level device determining, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates.

[0102] This enables the communication system to use the reference information to control the transmission timing of smart meters that belong to the multi-hop network.

[0103] (2) Furthermore, another embodiment of the present disclosure is the communication system according to (1), wherein the communication connection of the first smart meter includes identification information of the base station or a cell of the base station.

[0104] This allows the hybrid parent accommodating unit to associate one hybrid accommodating unit with identification information of one base station or a cell of a base station.

[0105] (3) Furthermore, another embodiment of the present disclosure is the communication system according to (1) or (2), wherein the communication connection of the first smart meter includes identification information of the first smart meter.

[0106] This enables the hybrid accommodating unit to identify which first smart meter the subsequent communication is from.

[0107] (4) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication system described in any one of (1) to (3), wherein the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter is a first range of candidates for the transmission timing of the first smart meter, the higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from the first range, and the higher-level device or the second smart meter sets the transmission timing of the second smart meter to a value obtained by adding the transmission timing of the first smart meter to the product of a predetermined value and a value that identifies the second smart meter.

[0108] This makes it possible to prevent the communication connection between the first smart meter and the base station from being cut off due to a timeout while the measurement information of the first and second smart meters is being transmitted.

[0109] (5) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication system described in any one of (1) to (3), wherein the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter is a second range of candidates for the transmission timing of the first smart meter and the second smart meter, the higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from the second range, and the higher-level device or the second smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the second smart meter from the second range.

[0110] This makes it possible to prevent the communication connection between the first smart meter and the base station from being cut off due to a timeout while the measurement information of the first and second smart meters is being transmitted.

[0111] (6) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication system described in any one of (1) to (3), wherein the reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter is the transmission timing of the first smart meter, the higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from within a predetermined range, and the higher-level device or the second smart meter sets the transmission timing of the second smart meter to a value obtained by adding the transmission timing of the first smart meter to the product of a predetermined value and a value that identifies the second smart meter.

[0112] This makes it possible to prevent the communication connection between the first smart meter and the base station from being cut off due to a timeout while the measurement information of the first and second smart meters is being transmitted.

[0113] (7) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by a plurality of smart meters via an accommodation device that accommodates the communication connections of the plurality of smart meters, the accommodation device including a plurality of hybrid accommodation units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodation unit that determines, based at least on the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, a hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, the hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodation unit accommodates.

[0114] This allows the higher-level device to use the reference information to control the transmission timing of the smart meters that belong to the multi-hop network.

[0115] (8) Furthermore, another embodiment of the present disclosure is an accommodating device in a communication system including an accommodating device that accommodates communication connections of a plurality of smart meters and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, the accommodating device including a plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a Hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, from the plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, a Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, based at least on the base station, wherein the Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the Hybrid accommodating unit accommodates.

[0116] This enables the accommodation device to have the upper device control the transmission timing of the smart meters belonging to the multi-hop network using the reference information.

[0117] (9) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication method for a communication system including an accommodating device having a plurality of hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates a communication connection of one of a plurality of smart meters, and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, the communication method including a step in which the accommodating device determines, based at least on the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has established a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, and a step in which the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the transmission timing of the measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the Hybrid accommodating unit accommodates, and the Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root.

[0118] This makes it possible for the communication method to use the reference information to control the transmission timing of smart meters that belong to a multi-hop network.

[0119] (10) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to function as a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by a plurality of smart meters via an accommodation device that accommodates the communication connections of the plurality of smart meters, the accommodation device including a plurality of hybrid accommodation units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a hybrid parent accommodation unit that determines, based at least on the base station, from the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, a hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, the hybrid accommodation unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as the root, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodation units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the hybrid accommodation unit accommodates.

[0120] This enables the program to cause the higher-level device to use the reference information to control the transmission timing of the smart meters that belong to the multi-hop network.

[0121] (11) Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to function as an accommodating device in a communication system including an accommodating device that accommodates communication connections of a plurality of smart meters and a higher-level device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, the program including a plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, each of which accommodates the communication connection of one of the plurality of smart meters, and a Hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, from the plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, a Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of a first smart meter that has made a communication connection via a base station of a wide area network, based at least on the base station, wherein the Hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter accommodates the communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network rooted at the first smart meter, and the higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of Hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a basis for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter whose communication connection the Hybrid accommodating unit accommodates.

[0122] This enables the program to cause the higher-level device to use the reference information to control the transmission timing of the smart meters that belong to the multi-hop network.

[0123] 1 and 13 may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the programs recorded on the recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed to realize the hybrid host system 30, the host system 40, and the MH host system 50. Note that the term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices.

[0124] In addition, "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into computer systems. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording medium" also includes those that dynamically hold a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and those that hold a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory inside a computer system that serves as a server or client in such cases. Furthermore, the above program may be one that realizes part of the above-mentioned functions, or may be one that can realize the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

[0125] Although the embodiment of this disclosure has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes and the like are also included within the scope that does not depart from the gist of this disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0126] 10 FAN 11 Hybrid communication smart meter 12 MH communication smart meter 20 WAN 21 Base station 22 WAN lines 23 Aggregation Device 24 Private Line 30 Hybrid host system 31 Hybrid Parent Housing Unit 32 Hybrid Manager 33 Hybrid storage unit 40 Upper System 50 MH upper system 100, 100a Communication Systems

Claims

1. An accommodation device that accommodates communication connections of a plurality of smart meters; a host device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodation device; Equipped with The storage device includes: a plurality of hybrid accommodating units each accommodating a communication connection of any one of the plurality of smart meters; a hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, based on at least the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates a communication connection of a first smart meter that has been communicatively connected via a base station of a wide area network; Equipped with a hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of the first smart meter, the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as a root; The higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that is a reference for the transmission timing of measurement information of the smart meter that the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates in the communication connection; Communication systems.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the communication connection of the first smart meter includes an identification of the base station or a cell of the base station.

3. The communication system of claim 2 , wherein the communication connection of the first smart meter includes an identification of the first smart meter.

4. Reference information of a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates a communication connection of the first smart meter is a first range of candidates for the transmission timing of the first smart meter; The host device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from within the first range, and the host device or the second smart meter sets the transmission timing of the second smart meter to a value obtained by adding the product of a predetermined value and a value for identifying the second smart meter to the transmission timing of the first smart meter. A communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating the communication connection of the first smart meter is a second range of candidates for the transmission timing of the first smart meter and the second smart meter; The upper device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from within the second range, The higher-level device or the second smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the second smart meter from within the second range. A communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. The reference information of the hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates the communication connection of the first smart meter is the transmission timing of the first smart meter, The higher-level device or the first smart meter randomly selects the transmission timing of the first smart meter from within a predetermined range, The higher-level device or the second smart meter sets the transmission timing of the second smart meter to a value obtained by adding a product of a predetermined value and a value for identifying the second smart meter to the transmission timing of the first smart meter. A communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

7. A accommodating device in a communication system including: an accommodating device that accommodates communication connections of a plurality of smart meters; and a host device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the accommodating device, a plurality of hybrid accommodating units each accommodating a communication connection of any one of the plurality of smart meters; a hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, based on at least the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates a communication connection of a first smart meter that has been communicatively connected via a base station of a wide area network; Equipped with a hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of the first smart meter, the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as a root; The higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that is a reference for the transmission timing of measurement information of the smart meter that the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates in the communication connection; Containment device.

8. A communication method for a communication system including a storage device having a plurality of hybrid storage units each of which stores a communication connection of one of a plurality of smart meters, and a host device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the storage device, comprising: a step of the accommodating device determining, based at least on the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates a communication connection of a first smart meter that has been communicatively connected via a base station of a wide area network; The upper device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that serves as a reference for the timing of transmission of measurement information of the smart meter to which the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates a communication connection; having a hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of the first smart meter, the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as a root; Communication methods.

9. Computer, A program for causing a storage device to function as an accommodation device in a communication system including a storage device that accommodates communication connections of a plurality of smart meters and a host device that collects measurement information transmitted by the plurality of smart meters via the storage device, a plurality of hybrid accommodating units each accommodating a communication connection of any one of the plurality of smart meters; a hybrid parent accommodating unit that determines, based on at least the base station, from among the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, a hybrid accommodating unit that accommodates a communication connection of a first smart meter that has been communicatively connected via a base station of a wide area network; Equipped with a hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of the first smart meter, the hybrid accommodating unit accommodating a communication connection of a second smart meter that belongs to a multi-hop network with the first smart meter as a root; The higher-level device determines, for each of the plurality of hybrid accommodating units, reference information that is a reference for the transmission timing of measurement information of the smart meter that the hybrid accommodating unit accommodates in the communication connection; program.