Method for registration of a new user in a radio alarm system

IS 2 270 271 T3

DESCRIPTION

Procedure for registering a new user in a radio system of an alarm installation.

The invention relates to a procedure for registering a new user in a radio system of an alarm installation with a central and multiple users in one or more radio cells, the central and each of the respective users being able to present equipment transmitter and receiver and each user being able to enter into radio contact with the central directly or indirectly through one or more users as intermediate stations.

Alarm installations in which warnings are transmitted by radio offer many advantages over physical line networks. In particular one then saves the cost of setting up such networks and individual users can flexibly locate and move anywhere. The alarm systems include here warning sensors as users or private switchboards, which in the event of a detected danger, for example fire or intrusion, transmit a warning of danger through a radio link to a central, in which To eliminate the danger, other measures are initiated, such as transmission of the alarm to the fire brigade or the police.

From WO 92/22883 an alarm system is known in which a battery-powered fire alarm and an intrusion alarm transmit their corresponding address, the measured data of the fire or intrusion alarm, as well as data on the residual energy of the batteries to a central. Such one-way systems are certainly inexpensive to build, but are of course only suitable for low-risk installations. In order to save energy, the annunciators are then equipped with only one transmitter and are announced in the control unit only at long intervals of time, for example every twenty-four hours. They are not in a position to specifically search for free radio channels to guarantee a transmission even when the radio channels are busy. Since the announcers cannot receive any call acknowledgments, an error-free transport of the information cannot be ensured.

Compared with such unidirectional systems, the security of transmission with bidirectional links in alarm notification radio installations can be considerably increased. Of course, a receiving part increases costs, the apparatus itself being much larger and consuming more current than a simple emitter. From EP 911 775 an alarm system is known, for example, which is bi-directionally constructed and the components of which are designed in such a way as to save energy. Disturbances in such a system can be detected in less than 100 sec. Safely; of course, such "fade holes" can give rise to unnecessary disturbance warnings. Additional mechanisms are necessary to solve the problem.

As long as each user must enter into a direct connection with the central, a relatively high transmission power is necessary for the different users. Therefore, from the energy point of view, the so-called router systems are more favorable in which users who are very far away use other users as intermediate stations, called routers, to contact the central via radio link. Thus, from EP 833 288 a method for radio transmission in an alarm system is known, in which the measurement data of a warning sensor can be transmitted to the central unit via other warning sensors such as intermediate stations. when there is no direct radio link with the control panel due to the radio range being too small or when it is faulty. For this, a hierarchical link structure is provided that varies with time between the warning sensors.

From WO 00/52658 an alarm system is known which has multiple fixedly installed units which are connected via a communication network with a communication center. Furthermore, multiple portable mobile units are disclosed which through the fixedly installed units can also make wireless contact with the communication center. Tables are stored in the permanently installed units in which the closest preferred neighbor to which a message can be transmitted is stored. In this regard, it is foreseen that these tables will be established and updated periodically with the routing information during the start of the network. Of course, it is not disclosed how this happens.

WO 01 / 15112A1 describes how a communication module can be included in a wireless communication system, the communication system including at least one control module and multiple communication modules. The system is designed in such a way that messages can be exchanged either directly or indirectly by modules and each module can both receive messages wirelessly and also relay messages wirelessly to other communication modules or to the central communication module. If a new communication module is included in the system, it transmits a first signal in a Setup mode (organization). In the event that this first signal is detected in at least one pair of other communication modules, the communication module used is installed by means of a signal from the central module, to then communicate directly with the modules, of which at least there are two.

A fire and danger warning system for the home is also known from WO 00/21053. There the different smoke detectors and other sensors are also equipped with emitting equipment and detectors. The various sensors can communicate with each other and thus form a network.

In order to be able to react flexibly in such bidirectional systems with flexible routing possibilities to disturbances in radio traffic and changes in the user structure and to always ensure secure links, it is necessary that in a system like the one indicated they can recognize all the others users the membership of a user in the system. This would be possible by using as identification the serial number of a pager, which is known to all other users, thereby only allowing known parsers to participate in the data traffic. However, it is a drawback then that a serial number such as the one indicated is relatively long and therefore requires a relatively large memory space in the individual users. Also, with each registration of a new

ES 2 270 271 T3 user must communicate his identification or serial number to everyone else, which takes a long time and considerably loads the radio channel. When, in addition, the registration of a pager must also be possible through several users, then the identification of the cell, that is, the serial number, has to be entered previously, since the radio cell cannot transmit user information that are not yet registered. The adjustment that is necessary for this can only be done manually and is therefore relatively sensitive to errors. These errors in the identification number cannot be barely detected during commissioning either.

The aim of the invention is therefore to indicate in a system of the type mentioned at the beginning a procedure with which new users can register in the system quickly and that then the corresponding radio interfaces are loaded relatively little, being specified in the different users only a minimum of memory space for this purpose.

Within the framework of the invention, therefore, the registration of a new user in a radio system of the type mentioned at the beginning is carried out with the following steps:

- The new user sends a paging signal to all reachable users and chooses a first intermediate station among the users who answer,

- the new user sends to the first intermediate station a registration request in the form of a message, containing a provisional own address and as destination indication the exchange assigned to the first intermediate station,

- as soon as the registration wish is relayed by the first intermediate station to the exchange, the exchange decides on the acceptance or rejection of the registration wish and

- when acceptance occurs, the control unit sends directly or through intermediate stations a response containing a user number and a system identifier, which are then captured and memorized by the new user.

In the method corresponding to the invention, therefore, a radio component that wishes to become a new user first contacts another user and instructs him to transmit his wish to register to the central. It then waits for the assignment of the system address (or cell address) and a pager address destined for it by the control panel. In this process it has no influence whether the data traffic takes place directly with the exchange or through other users of the system. Only a minimum memory space is required for users, since the system works with a system identifier or cell identifier, which is the same for all users. During the commissioning phase, the data traffic remains very low, since apart from the central equipment and the user to be registered, all the other users remain in their normal operating mode.

In the registration process, the provisional address of the new user, in relation to the routing mechanism, is treated in the same way as the final address. On the path of the announcement to the exchange, which can lead through several intermediate stations, the various stations are marked in such a way that the announcement of return from the exchange to the user that has been announced can run back on the same path. This takes place either by collecting the advertisers that have been traversed in the telegram or by means of a badge of the traversed users, to allow routing with distributed lists.

In another refinement of the method corresponding to the invention, it is provided that when the wish to register is rejected by the exchange, the new user chooses another first intermediate station and sends a wish to register through it to his exchange. For example, a user is rejected when he does not belong to the radio system in which he tries to register, or when the control panel does not accept the additional user for other reasons, because for example in the corresponding radio system he does not have to be hosted by capacity reasons no other user.

As can be deduced from claim 1, the contacting of the user to be registered takes place in two stages. It first sends a page telegram to all reachable radio partners, which in certain circumstances could belong to different radio systems or radio cells. Among the users who answer, he chooses one and sends through it his wish to register to the central. In order to avoid collisions, each possible user of a radio system is assigned a fixed, non-overlapping time slot in the time span of the response to an undirected search query (broadcast query, radio broadcast). with those of others.

In an advantageous refinement of the method according to the invention, it is further provided that after the search signal of the new user, all users within radio range send a reply telegram with their address and an identification of their radio system. the new user, that he memorizes the addresses and the corresponding system identification in a list of potential intermediate stations, the sequence of which he determines himself according to a predetermined evaluation algorithm and that the new user chooses his first intermediate station from the list in his respective sequence and, when the radio system of the first intermediate station rejects his wish to register, based on From the predetermined sequence of the list, choose in each case a new intermediate station for a new dispatch of the registration wish. In determining the sequence of potential intermediate stations in the list, the strength of the corresponding response signal is advantageously decisive. Other evaluation criteria may consist of first checking whether the control panel itself answers; in this case the control unit can be placed at the top of the list. The number of hierarchical steps between an exchange and the corresponding answering users can be equally important for the sequence and, finally, the cell number or the system number of the answering users can also be taken into account.

IS 2 270 271 T3

Once the registration of a new user has been successfully carried out in the central, it is envisaged in another improvement of the invention that the new user sends a second search signal to all the users who are within radio range and then the central reports via all users within radio range of the corresponding radio system. It can also indicate with what field strength it can receive each of the individual users. From this the control panel can generate a system configuration for optimal transmission of messages via intermediate stations and send it to the users of the radio system.

The invention will be described in more detail below with an exemplary embodiment based on the drawing. The same shows

Figure 1 a schematic configuration of two contiguous radio systems between which a new user tries to register, Figures 2 to 6 a schematic representation of the other stages during the registration of the new user in one of the radio systems and Figure 7 the desire to registration of the new user in the second radio system after a rejection in the first radio system.

Figure 1 schematically shows two contiguous radio systems, namely a radio system FS1 with a system identifier X and a radio system FS2 with a system identifier Y. The radio system FS1 includes for example a central ZX1 and the user TX2, as well as TX3, while the radio system FS2 includes a central ZY1 as well as other users TY2, TY3, TY4 and TY5. A T0 radio component tries to register as a new user on one of the two radio systems.

For this purpose, the new user T0 first sends an unaddressed search telegram (the so-called broadcast telegram) to all reachable users of both radio systems. In figure 1 the users who have received the search telegram and have replied to it are linked to the user T0 by means of arrows. The user to register T0 now knows all the potential intermediate stations that can be reached and memorizes their addresses as well as their corresponding system identifier X or Y. According to an evaluation algorithm described above, he draws up a list of potential intermediate stations and selects for their capture. contact the user at the top of the list. In the example shown, user TY5 is this first interlocutor that serves as an intermediate station, since it is the one that is closest to the user T0 and therefore its response signal would be the one that received the most intensity. The new user T0 therefore sends his registration wish to user TY5, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 3 shows how the new user T0 registration wish is relayed through user TY5 and through TY3 as another intermediate station to exchange ZY1. The radio links that are then established are represented by respective double arrows. When the ZY1 control panel accepts the new user, it sends the control panel via the same via a reply telegram, in which the new user number TY6 and the system identification Y are communicated to the new user. As shown in figure 4, this new user TY6 is directly integrated into the radio system FS2.

The new user TY6 now again sends a search telegram to all reachable users, of course only to users belonging to the radio system FS2 itself, and awaits their reply. In this regard, according to FIG. 5, users TY4 and TY5 in the same radio system FS2. The new user TY6 now communicates through the same channel, as in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, to the central ZY1 which user he can receive and with what field strength he receives his signals.

If, however, already in the stage represented in figure 3 of the registration process, the new user T0 is notified through the central ZY1 of its rejection, then it chooses the new user T0 according to figure 7 from its list of potential intermediate stations the next one, namely user TX3 on radio system FS1. Then carry out the registration process in the FS1 radio system in the same way that has already been described for the FS2 radio system based on figures 4