WO2012077820A1

WO2012077820A1 - A monitoring apparatus, a monitoring system and a monitoring method

Info

Publication number: WO2012077820A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/078833
Authority: WO
Inventors: Masahide Murakami; Raghawa Prasad; Gaddam Rama Chandra Reddy
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2010-12-07
Filing date: 2011-12-07
Publication date: 2012-06-14

Abstract

[Technical Problem] The generators that keep the mobile networks alive suffer from the pilferage of its power source.[Solution to Problem] A monitoring apparatus connected to a generator and an operator comprising: a collecting means for collecting information from the generator; a monitoring means for monitoring the collected information; and a transmitting means for sending the collected information to the operator.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Title of Invention

A monitoring apparatus, a monitoring system and a monitoring method

Technical Field

This invention relates to telecom sector.

Background Art

All the telecomm providers in India run base stations by providing the power from local grid. The quality of power and availability is very poor in rural India. To run these base stations operators have to spend huge money for fuels as backup energy sources. The major problem for diesel is the pilferage which is making operators lose millions of rupees. The same problem is applicable to South African countries.

[Citation List]

[Non Patent Literature]

[Non Patent Literature 1 ]

http://www.generatorparts4less.com/panels.html

[Non Patent Literature 2]

http://www.dieselgeneratorcn .com/Generator-Control-System.html

[Non Patent Literature 3]

http://www.dieselserviceandsupply.com/Generator_Control_Panel.aspx

[Non Patent Literature 4]

http://www.alarmspro.com/products/system2000_3000/System2000_3000 _Brochure.pdf

Summary of Invention

[Technical Problem]

In order to provide adequate power to the base stations of mobile networks in India, the use of diesel generators (DGs) as alternate power supplies are needed. However, the pilferage of diesel is causing unneeded loss of money for operators and the stolen diesel causes uncontrolled

Green House Gas (GHG) emission. To prevent such things from happening, means to monitor the diesel generators are needed.

The DGs that keep the mobile networks alive in India suffer from the pilferage of its diesel fuels. In order to prevent such from happening, this invention proposes remote monitoring techniques. Here, we define a Site

Monitoring Equipment (SME) that would enable the mobile operator to observe the status of the DG and the diesel fuel inside it.

The problem described above may be happening even if the generator does not work by diesel fuel . Therefore, it can be said that the generators that keep the mobile networks alive suffer from the pilferage of its power source.

[Solution to Problem]

A monitoring apparatus in the present invention, which is connected to a generator and an operator comprising: a collecting means for collecting information from the generator; a monitoring means for monitoring the collected information ; and a transmitting means for sending the collected information to the operator.

A monitoring system in the present invention comprising: a generator; an operator; and a monitoring apparatus connected to the generator and the operator; wherein the monitoring apparatus comprising: a collecting means for collecting information from the generator; a monitoring means for monitoring the collected information; and a transmitting means for sending the collected information to the operator.

A monitoring method in the present invention comprising: collecting information from a generator; monitoring the collected information; and sending the collected information to an operator.

[Advantageous Effects of Invention ]

This invention helps identify Diesel pilferage for BTS (Base

Transceiver station) using DG as backup power. Furthermore, even if the generator is physically far from the operator, it is possible to monitor a status of the generator.

Brief Description of Drawings

[ FIG .1 ] is a block diagram of the system described in the first exemplary embodiment.

[FIG.2] is a block diagram of the system described in the first exemplary embodiment.

[FIG.3] is a block diagram of the system described in the third exemplary embodiment.

[FIG.4] is a flow chart showing the operation described in the third exemplary embodiment.

[FIG. 5] is a flow chart showing the operation described in the fourth exemplary embodiment.

Description of Embodiments

[First exemplary embodiment]

In the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network, Base station subsystem (BSS) will play key role in connecting subscribers or Mobile Stations (MS) to mobile network. The BSS divided into two systems, BSC (Base Station Controller) and BTS. All the radio communication to Mobile subscribers is handled by BTS and BSC control the group of BTSs. To transmit and receive radio signals at any time (24 hours x 7 days), BTS will consistently need power. Normally the BTS is connected to supply grid to tap the power. In some of the countries like India, some of the major problems are availability of power, quality of power, and irregular power cuts. The solution to this problem is to run the BTS system using Diesel Generator (DG) as a backup power source. The problems with this method are diesel pilferage and maintenance. Also a major part of telecom providers' OPEX (Operating Expense) is coming from diesel purchase. It can be easily imagined that the following technologies such as 3G and LTE (Long Term Evolution) will suffer from the same problem . The below solutions will help to some extent in reducing the cost for telecom providers. Identifying diesel pilferage can be done by closely monitoring the DG. It can be done by the Site Monitoring Equipment (SME), which can be part of BTS system (as shown in FIG. 1 ) or SME as a separate Module (as shown in FIG. 2) . In case of SME as a separate module, it will be interfaced with Diesel generator and measured data can be sent or received to the remote monitoring equipment via BTS over Ethernet. The below usage scenarios apply for GSM systems, but the solution can similarly used for 3G/LTE systems and any system that would need DG as a backup power source.

(Remote Monitoring using SME embedded in BTS)

A communication system in the first exemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 . According to FIG. 1 , the communication system includes the following elements: a diesel generator 1 01 , a SME 1 02, a BTS 1 03, an operator network 1 04, a maintenance network 1 05, and a remote monitoring system 1 06.

In this proposed solution , the SME 1 02 is a part of the BTS 1 03. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) agent will be running in the SME module and it is connected to Remote Monitoring Equipment. In this system, the SME 1 02 is able to automatically start and stop the DG 1 01 via remote control signal. When the BTS 1 03 is running on the DG 1 01 , the parameters like engine speed, Diesel level , oil pressure (Low/High/Normal), engine speed (over/under), engine temperature, battery voltage, RPM parameters, power generated from the DG 1 01 , diesel purity, and GHG emissions will be measured and sent to Remote monitoring system 1 06. Also the SME 1 02 will be sending the DG level on frequent intervals. These values are monitored in the Remote station. Also, the monitored values may provide alerts for any necessary actions.

With this solution, operators will get maintenance information such as: DG running out of fuel,

DG with battery water needed to be filled,

DG emission is more than expected and check for diesel adulteration,

Any service required for DG for higher emissions. Maintenance may help in reducing GHG emission,

Regular Fuel level measurement gives accountability of fuel usage and avoids fuel pilferage,

Over temperature and any fault in the system, and

Grid power information and power outage information.

(Remote Monitoring using SME outside BTS)

In this proposed solution, the SME 202 is placed outside the BTS 203 as shown in FIG. 2. The procedure and functionality is the same as explained above. In this proposed solution, no changes required to be done to the Base station (BTS 1 03) and the SME 1 02. The BTS 203 and the SME 202 will work as independent module. Usually in India, third parties will be maintaining the towers and equipments. In this case the monitoring equipment does not depend on the BS manufacturer.

In FIG. 2, the SME 202 and the BTS 203 are both independent as described above.

(Example Usage)

The remote operation and monitoring of DGs can be easily done with the solutions given in figures 1 and 2.

1 . When the base station is run by the power from the power grid, the SME would give notice to the remote monitoring system that the DG is off , the amount of diesel fuel the DG has, and the purity of that diesel fuel.

2. While the DG is not running , if the amount of diesel fuel goes down or the purity is altered, the SME would send an alarm to the remote monitoring system.

3. If in any case the power from the grid becomes inadequate, the SME would send a starter message to the DG.

4. If the DG does not start running, the SME will resend the starter message for given tries at selected intervals. If the DG does not respond, it would send an alert message to the remote monitoring system.

5. After the DG starts up, the DG sends needed information while its running and sends alert messages in case fuel is running out, GHG emission is higher than expected, or diesel efficiency is lower than expected.

(Benefits)

1 . This invention helps identify Diesel pilferage for BTS using DG as backup power.

2. Single point maintenance, accountability, remote monitoring helps service providers save money and man power.

3. Preventive maintenance, effective planning and easy maintenance of DGs will cut operator costs.

In addition, although the generator in the above first exemplary embodiment is disclosed as the diesel generator (DG), the power source of the generator is not limited to diesel. The power source of the generator may be grid, battery, solar or wind.

[Second exemplary embodiment]

The system described in the first exemplary embodiment may further include the following features from ( 1 ) to (9) .

( 1 ) SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) agent running in SME should support the following private MIB (Management Information Base) :

(a) SNMP OID (Object Identifier) to start and stop the DG via remote control signal (operate relays) and can be configurable to three positions includes manual, auto and stop,

(b) SNMP OID to identify DG started successfully when grid power/battery backup (low battery) is not available. This will contain the information about BTS power type (Grid/Battery/DG/solar/wind), (c) SN P OID for the engine speed,

(d) SNMP OID for diesel level in DG,

(e) SNMP OID to know oil pressure (Low/High/Normal),

(f) SNMP OID to know engine speed (over/under) ,

(g) SNMP OID to know engine temperature,

(h) SNMP OID for battery voltage,

(i) SNMP OID for RPM (Revolutions per minute) parameters etc,

(j) SNMP OID for getting measured emission value when DG is running,

(k) SNMP OID for set/get the retries for starting the generator from SME, (I) SNMP OID for contaminated or adulterated diesel,

(m) SNMP OID for running hours of a given time, and

(n) SNMP OID for diesel consumed for a given time.

(2) When SME detects a power outage, it sends signal to DG starter and informs Remote Monitoring station via SNMP Trap message.

(3) When DG doesn't start then after 1 0 seconds, it will disengage the starter for 1 0 seconds before trying to start the generator again . SME will try for three times (retries can be selective) before informing to Remote station.

(4) When DG starts it senses the engine speed by measuring the frequency of generator output. SME informs the engine speed to Remote station by sending SNMP event.

(5) Once DG is in running condition , SME starts monitoring the Diesel level , oil pressure (Low/High/Normal) , engine speed (over/under) , engine temperature, battery voltage, RPM parameters etc. In a given specified interval (need to be defined) SME will be informing to remote station through SNMP events.

(6) When BTS equipment running on DG, in frequent intervals SME will be sending the fuel level and power generated from DG to the Remote Monitoring station. This information is used to calculate the DG efficiency.

(7) In case of any faults in DG functionality, SME will send alarms to Remote station and it helps to take corrective action by the maintenance team.

(8) Pollution measurement sensor measure the emission generated from DG and send this value to Remote Base station using SNMP OID.

(9) SME will be sending the DG fuel level and diesel purity information to Remote station on frequent intervals, even if the DG is not running.

In addition , although the generator in the above second exemplary embodiment is disclosed as the diesel generator (DG), the power source of the generator is not limited to diesel. The power source of the generator may be grid, battery, solar or wind.

[Third exemplary embodiment]

Hereinafter, a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described by referring to FIG. 3 and 4.

(Configuration of the third exemplary embodiment)

An exemplary configuration of a monitoring apparatus in the third exemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 3. According to FIG. 3, a monitoring apparatus 1 000 includes a collecting unit 1 001 , a monitoring unit 1 002, and a transmitting unit 1 003. Furthermore, the monitoring apparatus 1 000 is connected to a generator and an operator, which are not shown in the figures.

The collecting unit 1 001 collects information from the generator.

The monitoring unit 1 002 monitors the information collected by the collecting unit 1 001 .

The transmitting urjit 1 003 sends the collected information to the operator.

(Operation of the third exemplary embodiment)

By referring to FIG. 4, an operation of the third exemplary embodiment is described.

According to FIG. 4, the collecting unit 1 001 collects information from the generator at first (S1 001 ).

Next, the monitoring unit 1 002 monitors the collected information (S1 002) .

At last, the transmitting unit 1 003 sends the collected information to the operator (S1 003).

(Advantageous effect of the third exemplary embodiment)

According to the third exemplary embodiment, the transmitting unit 1 003 sends the information of the generator, which is collected by the colleting unit 1 001 , to the operator.

Therefore, even if the generator is physically far from the operator, it is possible to monitor a status of the generator via the monitoring apparatus 1 000 of the third exemplary embodiment.

[Fourth exemplary embodiment]

Hereinafter, a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described by referring to FIG. 5.

(Configuration of the fourth exemplary embodiment)

A configuration of a monitoring apparatus in the fourth exemplary embodiment may be the same as that of the third exemplary embodiment, which is shown in FIG. 3. Also, the monitoring apparatus 1 000 may be included in the communication system of the first exemplary embodiment or the second exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively. Hereinafter, the monitoring apparatus 1 000 in the fourth exemplary embodiment will be described by referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5.

(Operation of the fourth exemplary embodiment)

By referring to FIG. 5, an operation of the fourth exemplary embodiment is described.

According to FIG. 5, the collecting unit 1 001 collects information from the generator at first (S 1 1 01 ) .

Next, the monitoring unit 1 002 monitors the collected information (S1 1 02) . Then, the monitoring unit 1 002 determines if an alert is needed to be sent to the operator according to the collected information (S1 1 03) . If the monitoring unit 1 002 determines that an alert is not needed to be sent, then the monitoring unit 1 002 continues to monitor the collected information.

Examples of parameters monitored by the monitoring unit 1 002 are as follows: engine speed of the generator, diesel/grid/battery/solar/wind level in the generator, oil pressure (Low/High/Normal) in the generator, engine speed of the generator (e.g. whether it is over or under the predetermined amount), engine temperature, battery voltage, RPM parameters, emission value or pollution measurement.

At last, S1 1 04 is processed if the monitoring unit 1 002 determines that an alert is needed to be sent. If so, the transmitting unit 1 003 sends an alert to the operator (S1 1 04). The transmitting unit 1 003 may also send the collected information or the other information to the operator.

(Advantageous effect of the fourth exemplary embodiment)

According to the fourth exemplary embodiment, the transmitting unit 1 003 sends the information of the generator, which is collected by the collecting unit 1 001 , to the operator.

Therefore, even if the generator is physically far from the operator, it is possible to monitor a status of the generator via the monitoring apparatus 1 000 of the fourth exemplary embodiment.

Furthermore, according to the fourth exemplary embodiment, it is possible for the operator, to identify diesel (or the other power sources) pilferage for the generator.

Also, according to the fourth exemplary embodiment, since the operator monitors the status of the generator via the monitoring apparatus, it helps service providers save money and man power. As the same reason as above, preventive maintenance, effective planning and easy maintenance of the generator may cut operator costs.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.

Moreover, it is also possible that the system, which has been described in the exemplary embodiment mentioned above, has structure of a logical combination of plural apparatuses, and has a configuration in which functions of each apparatus are intermingled.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 201 0-272729, filed on December 7, 201 0, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

The whole or part of the exemplary embodiments disclosed above can be described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

(Supplementary note 1 )

A monitoring apparatus connected to a generator and an operator comprising:

a collecting means for collecting information from the generator; a monitoring means for monitoring the collected information; and a transmitting means for sending the collected information to the operator.

(Supplementary note 2)

The monitoring apparatus according to supplementary note 1 , wherein the monitoring means determines if an alert is needed to be sent to the operator according to the collected information ; and

wherein the transmitting means sends the alert to the operator, if the monitoring means determined to sent an alert.

(Supplementary note 3)

The monitoring apparatus according to supplementary note 1 or 2, wherein the monitoring means determines that the alert is needed to be sent, when the monitoring means detects a power outage of the generator according to the collected information.

(Supplementary note 4)

The monitoring apparatus according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to 3,

wherein the collected information includes at least one of the following:

diesel level, oil pressure, engine speed, engine temperature, battery voltage, and RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) parameter.

(Supplementary note 5)

A monitoring system comprising:

a generator;

an operator; and

a monitoring apparatus connected to the generator and the operator;

wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises:

(Supplementary note 6)

The monitoring system according to supplementary note 5, wherein the monitoring means determines if an alert is needed to be sent to the operator according to the collected information; and

(Supplementary note 7)

The monitoring apparatus according to supplementary notes 5 or 6, wherein the monitoring means determines that the alert is needed to be sent, when the monitoring means detects a power outage of the generator according to the collected information.

(Supplementary note 8)

The monitoring apparatus according to any one of supplementary note 5 to 7,

wherein the collected information includes at least one of the following:

(Supplementary note 9)

A monitoring method comprising:

collecting information from a generator;

monitoring the collected information ; and

sending the collected information to an operator.

(Supplementary note 1 0)

The monitoring method according to supplementary note 9 further comprising:

determining if an alert is needed to be sent to the operator according to the collected information ; and

sending the alert to the operator, if the alert is determined to be sent.

(Supplementary note 1 1 )

The monitoring method according to supplementary note 9 or 1 0, wherein the alert is determined to be sent, when a power outage of the generator is detected according to the collected information.

(Supplementary note 1 2)

The monitoring method according to any one of supplementary notes 9 to 1 1 ,

wherein the collected information includes at least one of the following: diesel level, oil pressure, engine speed, engine temperature, battery voltage, and RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) parameter.

Reference Signs List

101 Diesel Generator

102, 202 Site Monitoring Equipment

103, 203 BTS

104 Operator Network

105 Maintenance Network

106 Remote Monitoring System

1000 Monitoring apparatus

1001 Collecting unit

1002 Monitoring unit

1003 Transmitting unit

Claims

[Claim 1 ]

A monitoring apparatus connected to a generator and an operator comprising:

[Claim 2]

The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the monitoring means determines if an alert is needed to be sent to the operator according to the collected information; and

[Claim 3]

The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

wherein the monitoring means determines that the alert is needed to be sent, when the monitoring means detects a power outage of the generator according to the collected information .

[Claim 4]

The monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the collected information includes at least one of the following:

[Claim 5]

A monitoring system comprising:

a generator;

an operator; and

a monitoring apparatus connected to the generator and the operator;

wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises:

[Claim 6]

The monitoring system according to claim 5,

[Claim 7]

The monitoring apparatus according to claim 5 or 6,

wherein the monitoring means determines that the alert is needed to be sent, when the monitoring means detects a power outage of the generator according to the collected information.

[Claim 8]

The monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the collected information includes at least one of the following:

diesel level, oil pressure, engine speed, engine temperature, battery voltage, and RP (Revolutions Per Minute) parameter.

[Claim 9]

A monitoring method comprising:

collecting information from a generator;

monitoring the collected information ; and

sending the collected information to an operator.

[Claim 1 0]

The monitoring method according to claim 9 further comprising: determining if an alert is needed to be sent to the operator according to the collected information; and

sending the alert to the operator, if the alert is determined to be sent.

[Claim 1 1 ]

The monitoring method according to claim 9 or 1 0,

wherein the alert is determined to be sent, when a power outage of the generator is detected according to the collected information.

[Claim 1 2 ]

The monitoring method according to any one of claims 9 to 1 1 , wherein the collected information includes at least one of the following: