ELEVATOR SYSTEM WITH A MULTIPURPOSE EDGE-GATEWAY AND METHOD FOR DATA COMMUNICATION

Abstract

An elevator system includes at least one autonomous unit for controlling an elevator and a multichannel-edge-gateway that builds communication between the autonomous unit and data resources on an IoT network. The multichannel-edge-gateway has more than one communication channel), wherein these communication channels provide data communicating using the same protocol or different protocols either synchronously or asynchronously. The multichannel-edge-gateway includes a channel assignment that automatically matches one of the communication channels to one of the protocols according to data to be sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. An elevator system comprising: an autonomous unit for controlling an elevator of the elevator system; a multichannel-edge-gateway being adapted to build a communication between the autonomous unit and data resources on an IoT network; wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway includes at least two communication channels configured for data communication using a same protocol or different protocols and communicating either synchronously or asynchronously; and wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway includes a channel assignment that automatically matches one of the at least two communication channels to one of the protocols according to data to be sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway and assigns the matched communication channel to communicate the data to be sent.

16. The elevator system according to claim 15 wherein the channel assignment assigns the matched communication channel to communicate according to a priority of data being sent to the multichannel-edge-gateway.

17. The elevator system according to claim 15 wherein the at least two communication channels differ from each other in at least one of technical characters including data-transfer speed, bandwidth, safety and interference and signal attenuation.

18. The elevator system according to claim 15 wherein at least one of the matching and the assigning by the channel assignment is executable by at least one of self-learning by and manual configuring of the multichannel-edge-gateway according to at least one of a data content, a data format and a data source of the data to be sent.

19. The elevator system according to claim 15 wherein the autonomous unit is a component of the elevator system being an elevator control device, a safety chain or a sensor device, and wherein the safety chain is all electric safety devices of the elevator system connected in series.

20. The elevator system according to claim 15 further comprising: a fieldbus system having at least two access points; wherein the autonomous unit is connected to the fieldbus system through one of the at least two access points by at least one of a wired connection and a wireless connection; wherein another of the at least two access points is adapted to connect with at least one of a peripheral device and a mobile device; and wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway communicates with the autonomous unit through the fieldbus system.

21. The elevator system according to claim 15 wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway at least one of encrypts and formats the data to be sent before the data to be sent are sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway.

22. A method for data communication between an elevator system and cloud-based data resources on an IoT network, wherein the elevator system includes an autonomous unit for controlling an elevator and includes a multichannel-edge-gateway, the method comprising the steps of: building a data communication between the autonomous unit and the cloud-based data resources with the multichannel-edge-gateway; administering at least two communication channels with the multichannel-edge-gateway using a same protocol or different protocols and communicating either synchronously or asynchronously; and the multichannel-edge-gateway matching automatically one of the at least two communication channels to one of the protocols according to data to be sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway.

23. The method according to claim 22 wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway assigns one of the at least two communication channels according to a priority of data being sent to the multichannel-edge-gateway.

24. The method according to claim 22 wherein the at least two communication channels differ from each other in at least one of technical characters including data-transfer speed, bandwidth, safety and interference and signal attenuation.

25. The method according to claim 22 wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway uses self-learning or is manually configured to perform the matching automatically to one of the protocols.

26. The method according to claim 22 wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway uses self-learning or is manually configured to perform assigning the matched communication channel according to at least one of a data content, a data format and a data source of the data to be sent.

27. The method according to claim 22 wherein the autonomous unit is a component of the elevator system being an elevator control device, a safety chain or a sensor device, and wherein the safety chain is all electric safety devices of the elevator system connected in series.

28. The method according to claim 22 including connecting at least one of a peripheral device and a mobile device either by wire or wirelessly with the elevator system.

29. The method according to claim 22 including: connecting the autonomous unit by wire or wirelessly with a fieldbus system of the elevator system through an access point of the fieldbus system; connecting at least one of a peripheral device and a mobile device for communication with the fieldbus system through another access point of the fieldbus system; and operating the multichannel-edge-gateway to communicate with at least one of the autonomous unit, the peripheral device and the mobile device by the fieldbus system.

30. The method according to claim 22 wherein the multichannel-edge-gateway at least one of encrypts and formats the data to be sent before the data to be sent are sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Below embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description help to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an elevator system according to the aforementioned invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an elevator system 1 in a smart building ecosystem (not displayed). This elevator system 1 is capable of communicating with an external cloud-based data resource 8 like online servers or devices of an IoT-network. The communication between the elevator system 1 and the cloud-based data resource 8 is possible using different wired or wireless communication protocols, e.g. Ethernet, telephone landline network such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or cellular networks such as 2G like GSM/GPRS, 3G like UMTS, 4G like LTE/WiMax or 5G. The elevator system 1 e.g. serves for controlling an elevator car (not displayed) that vertically moves between floors, levels or decks. This elevator system 1 comprises a fieldbus system 2 (e.g. RS485 or RS232 bus) with more access points 3. These access points 3 are different I/O-interfaces such as wired or Bluetooth etc.

[0021] The elevator system 1 comprises more autonomous units for controlling the elevator (not displayed). These autonomous units are e.g. an elevator control device 4, a safety chain 5 and sensor devices 6 which can communicate with each other e.g. through the fieldbus 2, when they are connected at the access points 3 respectively via wire and wirelessly. In practice, the safety chain 5 itself sometimes can be realized by a fieldbus system 2 too. In this case, the safety chain 5 is to integrate into the fieldbus system 2. Moreover, one or more peripheral devices and mobile devices 11 which are not the components of the elevator system 1, but could be control units of the building ecosystem, are connected to the fieldbus system 2 too, e.g. through the access points 3. By this way, the low-level control devices like switches, contacts and sensors may also communicate directly with cloud-based data resources 8, if it is necessary. Furthermore, it is also possible to connect other devices 12 (e.g. smart phones or delivery robots) with the fieldbus system 2 e.g. based on a LAN-network (e.g. bus network).

[0022] A multichannel-edge-gateway 7 of the elevator system 1 is used to act a bridge or translator for communication between the external data resources 8 in the cloud and the fieldbus system 2. The multichannel-edge-gateway 7 comprises a multiple of channels 10 which are capable of data communicating using the same protocol or different protocols. These channels 10 are different from each other in their technical characters like data-transfer speed, bandwidth, safety and interference etc. The communications through these channels 10 are mutually independent so that they can be executed synchronously or asynchronously. The multichannel-edge-gateway 7 comprises a channel assignment 9 to match a channel 10 with a possible communication protocol automatically and/or optimally according to the data to be sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway 7. For selecting the channel 10 it is to consider the technical characters of the channels 10, e.g. data-transfer speed, bandwidth, safety and interference and signal attenuation, etc.

[0023] Additionally, one of the channels 10 and the protocols can be assigned or selected according to the priority of the data being sent from the multichannel-edge-gateway 7. The optimal assigning and matching the channels and the protocols can be executed e.g. according to the data content, data format and/or the data source. For instance, even though all channels 10 are currently busy, but now an alarm signal for an emergency case is sent from the safety chain 5. The gateway 7 should interrupt at least one of the channels 10 and set this channel immediately available for sending this alarm signal. After then, the interrupted prior communication will be continued.

[0024] All features discussed in the description or shown in the figures with respect to particular embodiments of the invention can be provided in various combinations in order to simultaneously realize the beneficial technical effects.

[0025] All method steps can be implemented by means that are adapted for carrying out the corresponding method step. All functions carried out by a specific structural feature can be a method step of a method.

[0026] It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that with the advancement of technology, the basic idea of the invention may be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are thus not limited to the examples described above; instead they may vary within the legal scope of protection of the present invention defined by the claims.

[0027] In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.