Data collection system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a system comprising: a data source that is connected to a first communication network and transmits a data generation notification indicating that data has been generated; and a server that is connected to a second communication network different from the first communication network and receives the data generation notification. When transmitting data from the data source to the server, the data source transmits a path establishment request to a first path management unit that establishes a communication path for the first communication network, the server transmits a path establishment request to a second path management unit that establishes a communication path for the second communication network, and transmits data from the data source to the server using a first communication path established by the first path management unit and a second communication path established by the second path management unit.

Description

Data Collection System

[0001] The present disclosure relates to communication control for data collection.

[0002] A data collection system has been proposed that collects data from data sources such as user terminals and sensors to a server (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, the data source determines whether to transmit data and makes a request to establish a communication path based on the determination result.

[0003] Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) is being considered as a method for transferring data at high speed (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1). RDMA transfers data from the memory of a local computer to the memory of a different remote computer by DMA (direct data transfer between peripheral devices, main memory (RAM), etc., without going through the CPU).

[0004] PCT / JP2021 / 028660

[0005] RFC5040 (https: / / www.rfc-editor.org / rfc / rfc5040.html)

[0006] When establishing a communication path from a data source to a server, it is necessary to manage the communication path from the data source to the server. However, if the data source and the server are managed as different networks, it is necessary to set up a communication path for each network.

[0007] The present disclosure aims to enable data transfer using a communication path even when a data source and a server are managed as different networks.

[0008] The system of the present disclosure comprises: a data source connected to a first communication network and transmitting a data occurrence notification indicating that data has occurred; and a server connected to a second communication network different from the first communication network and receiving the data occurrence notification, and performs the method of the present disclosure.

[0009] In the system of the present disclosure, when sending data from the data source to the server, the data source sends a path establishment request to a first path management unit that establishes a communication path of the first communication network, and the server sends a path establishment request to a second path management unit that establishes a communication path of the second communication network, and the data is sent from the data source to the server using the first communication path established by the first path management unit and the second communication path established by the second path management unit.

[0010] The server may determine the timing to obtain data from the data source, and based on the result of the determination, send a data request to the data source to cause the data source to send the path establishment request for a communication path.

[0011] The above disclosures can be combined as much as possible.

[0012] According to the present disclosure, even if a data source and a server are managed as different networks, data transfer using a communication path can be made possible.

[0013] 1 shows an example of a system configuration of the present disclosure. 2 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure. 3 shows an example of a configuration of a data source 10. 4 shows an example of a configuration of a server 30. 5 shows an example of a configuration of path management units 40A and 40B. 6 shows an example of a path setting location table. 7 shows an example of a system configuration of the present disclosure. 8 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure. 9 shows an example of a configuration of a server 30. 10 shows an example of a requirement table. 11 shows an example of a configuration of a transmission management unit 60. 12 shows an example of a transmission policy table. 13 shows an example of a data notification table. 14 is a flow diagram showing an example of the operation of a data transmission timing control function. 15 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure. 16 shows an example of a configuration of a data source 10. 17 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure.

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown below. These implementation examples are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Note that components with the same reference numerals in this specification and drawings indicate the same components.

[0015] In the system of the present disclosure, a path establishment request is made by both the server and the data source. In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which a communication path is immediately established when data is generated. When data is generated, the data source transmits a data generation notification, and a path establishment request is made by both the server and the data source.

[0016] If each data source transmits data at its own timing, there is a possibility that packet loss will occur due to traffic collisions. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the server determines the timing of data transmission. A data request is sent to the data source at the timing determined by the server, and path establishment requests are made by both the server and the data source. This allows data to be transmitted when the load on the server is low. Furthermore, the transmission load on the data source can be reduced because the number of data transmissions is reduced. Furthermore, data can be collected when the server needs it.

[0017] If each data source sends a data occurrence notification every time data is generated, the load on the data source and the server is heavy. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the number of times that each data source sends a data occurrence notification is reduced. By sending notifications collectively, the load and power consumption of the data source are reduced. Furthermore, for the server, the reception load can be reduced by processing the notifications collectively.

[0018] The present disclosure can be combined as described in detail below.

[0019] (First embodiment) Fig. 1 shows an example of a system configuration of the present disclosure. The system of the present disclosure includes a plurality of data sources 10, path management units 40A and 40B, and a server 30. The plurality of data sources 10, path management units 40A and 40B, and server 30 are connected via communication networks 20A and 20B. The data sources 10 are terminals that have user-side sensing data. The server 30 is a terminal that collects data from the data sources 10.

[0020] A plurality of data sources 10 and a server 30 may be connected by different communication networks 20A and 20B. For example, the communication network 20A may be a LAN and the communication network 20B may be an access network. Alternatively, the communication network 20A may be an access network and the communication network 20B may be a core network. In such a network configuration, a communication path must be set for each of the communication networks 20A and 20B. Therefore, this embodiment includes a path management unit 40A capable of managing the communication paths of the communication network 20A, and a path management unit 40B capable of managing the communication paths of the communication network 20B.

[0021] In the present disclosure, the path management unit 40A may be referred to as a first path management unit, and the path management unit 40B may be referred to as a second path management unit. Furthermore, in the present disclosure, the communication network 20A may be referred to as a first communication network, and the communication network 20B may be referred to as a second communication network. Furthermore, in the present disclosure, when transmitting data from the data source 10 to the server 30, the communication path established in the communication network 20A may be referred to as a first communication path, and the communication path established in the communication network 20B may be referred to as a second communication path.

[0022] 2 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure. When multiple data sources 10 acquire sensing data from sensors 50, they transmit a data generation notification to the server 30 (S11) and also transmit a path establishment request with the server 30 to the path management unit 40A (S12). Meanwhile, when the server 30 receives the data generation notification, it transmits a path establishment request with the data source 10 that sent the data generation notification to the path management unit 40B (S12). When the path management unit 40A receives the path establishment request from the data source 10, it establishes a path in accordance with the path establishment request (S13). When the path management unit 40B receives the path establishment request from the server 30, it also establishes a path in accordance with the path establishment request (S13). This establishes a communication path between the data source 10 and the server 30. The server 30 acquires sensing data from the data source 10 using the established communication path (S14). When the data source 10 has completed sending the sensing data, it transmits a path release request to the path management unit 40A (S15). When the server 30 has completed acquiring the sensing data, it sends a path release request to the path management unit 40B (S15), which causes the communication path between the data source 10 and the server 30 to be released.

[0023] In step S14, the data source 10 may transmit the sensing data to the server 30 using any method, such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or RDMA. For example, in step S11, the data source 10 may transmit the amount of sensing data and the memory address where the sensing data is stored, in addition to the data generation notification. In this case, after receiving the path establishment response in step S12, an RDMA connection establishment request / response is sent to both parties to confirm that the path has been established. Then, in step S14, the server 30 can read the sensing data from the memory in the data source 10 based on the memory address and data amount included in the data generation notification.

[0024] In this way, in the system of this embodiment, when data is sent from the data source 10 to the server 30, the data source 10 sends a path establishment request to the path management unit 40A, and the server 30 sends a path establishment request to the path management unit 40B, and the data is sent from the data source 10 to the server 30 using the first communication path established by the path management unit 40A and the second communication path established by the path management unit 40B.

[0025] 3 shows an example of the configuration of the data source 10. The data source 10 includes a data storage function 11, a data occurrence notification function 12, a data transmission / reception function 13, and a communication path request function 17. The data storage function 11 stores sensing data from the sensor 50. When the sensing data is stored in the data storage function 11, the data occurrence notification function 12 sends a "data occurrence notification" to the server 30. The data transmission / reception function 13 sends the sensing data stored in the data storage function 11 to the server 30. The communication path request function 17 sends a path establishment request and a path release request to the path management unit 40A.

[0026] 4 shows an example configuration of the server 30. The server 30 includes a data occurrence notification receiving function 31, a data receiving function 32, a communication path request function 33, and an application 30A. The application 30A is an arbitrary application that executes arbitrary processing using sensing data collected from the data sources 10. The data occurrence notification receiving function 31 receives data occurrence notifications from each data source 10. The data receiving function 32 receives sensing data from each data source 10. The communication path request function 33 sends a path establishment request or a path release request to the path management unit 40B.

[0027] 5 shows an example configuration of the path management units 40A and 40B. The path management unit 40 includes a request receiving unit 41, a device control unit 42, and a path setting location table. The path setting location table manages setting information (establishment / release) of communication paths. The path management unit 40A manages setting information (establishment / release) of communication paths from the data source 10 to the boundary between the communication networks 20A and 20B. The path management unit 40B manages setting information (establishment / release) of communication paths from the server 30 to the boundary between the communication networks 20A and 20B. The request receiving unit 41 receives path establishment requests and path release requests. The device control unit 42 references the path setting location table and sends control signals to network devices in accordance with the path establishment requests and path release requests received by the request receiving unit 41 to establish and release communication paths.

[0028] 6 shows an example of a path setting location table. The path setting location table stores information about network devices used when connecting from the data source 10 to the server 30. For example, in the case of the data source 10A, the path management unit 40A can establish and release a communication path from the data source 10A to the boundary between the communication networks 20A and 20B by controlling the settings of network devices A and B included in the communication network 20A. Similarly, the path management unit 40B can establish and release a communication path from the boundary between the communication networks 20A and 20B to the server 30 by controlling the settings of the network devices included in the communication network 20B.

[0029] As described above, in this embodiment, when sensing data is generated in the data source 10, the data source 10 and the server 30 each perform processing to establish a communication path. As a result, according to this embodiment, even if the data source 10 and the server 30 are connected via different communication networks 20A and 20B, a communication path between the data source 10 and the server 30 can be established and sensing data can be collected. In other words, even if the data source 10 and the server 30 are connected via different communication networks 20A and 20B, sensing data can be collected using RDMA.

[0030] Second Embodiment Fig. 7 shows an example of a system configuration according to the present disclosure. In this embodiment, a transmission management unit 60 is further provided. The transmission management unit 60 determines a transmission policy for each data source 10. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the transmission management unit 60 and path management units 40A and 40B are separately arranged, but these management units may be provided in a common device, or may be configured from multiple devices that are distributed.

[0031] The transmission policy includes a transmission start timing and a transmission end timing, and can be exemplified as follows: First transmission policy: Data is transmitted immediately after it is generated, and transmission ends immediately. Second transmission policy: Data is transmitted after a certain amount of data has accumulated, and transmission ends immediately. Third transmission policy: Data is transmitted immediately after it is generated, and transmission ends after a certain amount of time has passed. Fourth transmission policy: Data is transmitted after a certain amount of data has accumulated, and transmission ends after a certain amount of time has passed.

[0032] 8 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the server 30 executes steps S31 and S32 before step S12. In step S31, when the server 30 receives a data generation notification from the sensor 50, the server 30 determines whether or not to acquire sensing data. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the server 30 determines in step S31-1 that sensing data acquisition is "pending," and then determines in step S31-2 to acquire the sensing data.

[0033] When it is decided to acquire sensing data in step S31, the server 30 transmits a data request to the data source 10 (S32). At this time, the server 30 also executes step S12. When the data source 10 receives the data request, it transmits a path establishment request to the path management unit 40A (S12). As a result, a communication path is established between the data source 10 and the server 30. The subsequent steps S14 and S15 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0034] The reception of the data request in step S32 can be performed by, for example, the data sending and receiving function 13. In this case, when the data sending and receiving function 13 receives the data request, it causes the communication path request function 17 to send a path establishment request (S12).

[0035] 9 shows an example configuration of the server 30. In addition to the functions of the first embodiment, the server 30 includes a requirement notification function 34, a transmission policy receiving function 35, and a data transmission timing control function 36. The requirement notification function 34 reads data transfer requirements from the requirement table and transmits the read data transfer requirements to the transmission management unit 60. The transmission policy receiving function 35 receives a transmission policy from the transmission management unit 60 and stores it in the transmission policy table 19. The data transmission timing control function 36 controls the transmission timing of the sensing data. In this embodiment, an example of control by the data transmission timing control function 36 is shown, in which the transmission timing of a path establishment request transmitted by the communication path request function 33 is controlled.

[0036] 10 shows an example of a requirements table. In the requirements table, the allowable delay time, data generation frequency, and data generation amount of each data source 10 are stored as data transfer requirements, linked to the application 30A. The allowable delay time is the allowable delay time from when data is generated until it reaches the server. The data generation amount is the amount of data generated at one time in the sensor 50. The data transfer requirements may also include application requirements.

[0037] 11 shows an example of the configuration of the transmission management unit 60. The transmission management unit 60 includes a requirement receiving function 61, a transmission policy determination function 62, a transmission policy sending function 63, and a transmission policy determination rule. The requirement receiving function 61 receives data transfer requirements from the server 30. The transmission policy determination function 62 determines a transmission policy for each data source 10 in accordance with the data transfer requirements in accordance with the transmission policy determination rule. The transmission policy sending function 63 sends the determined transmission policy to each server 30.

[0038] The transmission policy determination rule determines a transmission policy for each data source 10 and each application 30A according to the data transfer requirements. For example, the following can be exemplified: (i) If the allowable delay time is equal to or less than a set time and the data generation frequency is equal to or less than a set value, the first transmission policy described above is determined; (ii) If the allowable delay time is greater than a set time and the data generation frequency is equal to or less than a set value, the second transmission policy described above is determined; (iii) If the allowable delay time is equal to or less than a set time and the data generation frequency is greater than a set value, the third transmission policy described above is determined.

[0039] When the server 30 receives the transmission policy from the transmission management unit 60, it stores it in the transmission policy table. As a result, a transmission policy suitable for each data source 10 is stored in the transmission policy table of the server 30, as shown in FIG.

[0040] The data transmission timing control function 36 uses a "data notification table" as shown in FIG. 13 to manage the time of reception of a data generation notification from the data source 10 as the data generation time. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the data notification table manages the generation time and amount of sensing data together with the memory address in each data source 10. Then, the data transmission timing control function 36 refers to the data notification table to determine whether or not to acquire sensing data from the data source 10. This determination can be made using any information obtained by the server 30.

[0041] The information of the server 30 is, for example, information about the application 30A. When the application 30A uses the sensing data of the data source 10, the data transmission timing control function 36 determines to acquire the sensing data from the data source 10. The application 30A may be a wide variety of applications depending on the sensor 50.

[0042] 14 shows an example of the operation of the data transmission timing control function 36 based on the data generation notification. The data transmission timing control function 36 waits until it receives the data generation notification (S321), and when the amount of data generation included in the data generation notification is equal to or greater than a set value (S323), it starts acquiring sensing data from the data source 10 (S324). This allows the server 30 to acquire all of the sensing data from the data source 10 at once.

[0043] 14, when the application 30A requires sensing data (S235), the data transmission timing control function 36 may execute step S324 to start acquiring the sensing data required by the application 30A. As an example, a case will be described in which the sensor 50 is a camera and the application 30A performs person tracking. In steps S321 and S322, the data transmission timing control function 36 determines to acquire sensing data from the data source 10 when the amount of sensing data accumulated in the data source 10 becomes equal to or greater than a threshold.

[0044] When the application 30A detects a person or a person behaving suspiciously, the application 30A transmits a request for sensing data to the data transmission timing control function 36 (S325). Then, the data transmission timing control function 36 executes step S31 and determines to acquire sensing data from the data source 10. As a result, the server 30 starts acquiring sensing data from the data source 10 that has transmitted video / images of the detected person, and continuously receives the sensing data and provides it to the application 30A. At this time, when the server 30 receives a data occurrence notification from the corresponding data source 10, the server 30 sets the data transmission timing control function 36 so that it determines to acquire sensing data in step S31.

[0045] In the above-described step S31, step S31 is executed when a data generation notification is received, but as in the present embodiment, the data transmission timing control function 36 may execute step S31 by an interrupt process triggered by a request for sensing data from the application 30A. In this way, the data transmission timing control function 36 can determine to acquire sensing data from the data source 10 at both the timing of threshold determination and application interrupt.

[0046] When the interrupt process of step S325 occurs, the data transmission timing control function 36 may transition to a waiting state for the interrupt process. In this case, the data transmission timing control function 36 does not need to determine to acquire sensing data from the data source 10 until it receives a request for sensing data from the next application 30A.

[0047] Third Embodiment This embodiment further includes a transmission management unit 60, similar to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the server 30 controls the timing of transmitting the sensing data. Instead, in this embodiment, the data source 10 controls the timing of transmitting the data generation notification.

[0048] 15 shows an example of a sequence executed by the system of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the data source 10 executes step S21 before step S11. In step S21, when the data source 10 acquires sensing data from the sensor 50, it determines whether or not to transmit a data occurrence notification based on the transmission policy. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which it is determined in step S21-1 that the data occurrence notification is "pending" and not to be transmitted, and then in step S21-2 it is decided to transmit the data occurrence notification.

[0049] 16 shows an example of the configuration of the data source 10. In addition to the functions of the first embodiment, the data source 10 of this embodiment further includes a requirement notification function 14, a transmission policy receiving function 15, and a data transmission timing control function 16. The requirement notification function 14 reads data transfer requirements from the requirement table and transmits the read data transfer requirements to the transmission management unit 60. The transmission policy receiving function 15 receives a transmission policy from the transmission management unit 60. The data transmission timing control function 16 controls the data generation notification function 12 and the data transmission / reception function 13 in accordance with the transmission policy table.

[0050] The requirements table and the transmission policy table are as described in the first embodiment. When the data source 10 receives a transmission policy from the transmission management unit 60, it stores it in the transmission policy table 19. As a result, a transmission policy suitable for each data source 10 is stored in the transmission policy table of each data source 10, as shown in Fig. 12. The data occurrence notification function 12 makes the determination in step S21 in accordance with the transmission policy table.

[0051] 17 , the data source 10 executes step S21 to transmit a data generation notification (S11), and the server 30 determines whether to acquire sensing data from the data source 10 (S31). This operation is repeated, and when the server 30 determines in step S31 to acquire sensing data from the data source 10, the server 30 transmits a data request to the data source 10 (S32) and executes steps S12 to S15, as described in FIG. 8 .

[0052] Other Embodiments The device of the present invention can also be realized by a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium or provided via a network.

[0053] Furthermore, in this embodiment, an example has been shown in which the data collected by the server 30 is sensing data, but the present disclosure can be applied to any data that is required to be collected, such as user terminals, sensors, and in-vehicle systems.

[0054] 10: Data source 11: Data storage function 12: Data occurrence notification sending function 13: Data transmission / reception function 14: Requirement notification function 15: Transmission policy receiving function 16: Data transmission timing control function 17: Communication path request function 20A, 20B: Communication network 30: Server 30A: Application 31: Data occurrence notification receiving function 32: Data receiving function 33: Communication path request function 34: Requirement notification function 35: Transmission policy receiving function 36: Data transmission timing control function 40, 40A, 40B: Path management unit 41: Request receiving unit 42: Device control unit 50: Sensor 60: Transmission management unit 61: Requirement receiving function 62: Transmission policy determining function 63: Transmission policy transmitting function

Claims

1. A system comprising: a data source connected to a first communications network and transmitting a data generation notification indicating that data has been generated; and a server connected to a second communications network different from the first communications network and receiving the data generation notification, wherein when transmitting data from the data source to the server, the data source transmits a path establishment request to a first path management unit that establishes a communications path in the first communications network, and the server transmits a path establishment request to a second path management unit that establishes a communications path in the second communications network, and the data source transmits data to the server using the first communications path established by the first path management unit and the second communications path established by the second path management unit.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server determines the timing to obtain data from the data source, and sends a data request to the data source to cause the data source to send the path establishment request to the data source for a communication path based on the result of the determination.

3. A method executed by a system comprising: a data source connected to a first communications network and transmitting a data generation notification indicating that data has been generated; and a server connected to a second communications network different from the first communications network and receiving the data generation notification, wherein, when transmitting data from the data source to the server, the data source transmits a path establishment request to a first path management unit that establishes a communications path for the first communications network; the server transmits a path establishment request to a second path management unit that establishes a communications path for the second communications network; and the data source transmits data to the server using the first communications path established by the first path management unit and the second communications path established by the second path management unit.

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