Abstract:
Disclosed is a sensing apparatus, a network system, and a controlling method on the basis of a satellite. A satellite-based sensing network system, comprising: a plurality of satellite transmitters that collect information on a peripheral environment and an operating state, and transmits it to peripheral satellites; a satellite wireless receiving/display device that directly receives and displays the information collected from the satellites; a ground control center that receives, stores, and analyzes the information collected from the satellites; and a management center that maintains and repairs the satellite transmitter based on the analyzed results.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0124984, filed on Dec. 15, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a sensing network, and more particularly, to a sensing apparatus, a network system, and a controlling method on the basis of a satellite that can transmit sensed information even in a shadow area of mobile telecommunication. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Recently, a sensing network technology has been actively developed which can provide necessary information to anyone at any time and anywhere by building a sensing network for sensing more information from objects or the environment. 
         [0006]    Further, the sensing network technology may be applied to various industries such as monitoring of weather, environment, buildings, aged facilities, fire, town, natural disaster, distribution state of products, quality measurement, water quality monitoring, and so on. 
         [0007]    However, since the sensing network is based on local area communication, it requires a plurality of nodes in order to sense information in a wider area and transmit data therein as well as interworking with other networks. 
         [0008]    For this reason, a recent sensing network interworks with various ubiquitous sensing network (USN) technology such as Zigbee, UWB, Bluetooth, etc., a wired network such as a modem, a mobile communication network such as code division multiple access (CDMA), and a radio Internet network such as Wibro. 
         [0009]    However, as shown in  FIG. 1 , in the wired sensing network according to the related art, a section from a sensor to a user terminal should be connected by wires in order to transmit the sensed information to the user, such that much cost is consumed in configuring the network and the installation position is also limited. 
         [0010]    Further, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the radio sensing network according to the related art has a limitation in performing the sensing function only in the service coverage of a radio mobile communication base station, such that it cannot collect the desired information in shadow areas such as mountain regions, remote areas, sea level, etc., that require the sensing network. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sensing apparatus, a sensing network system, and a controlling method on the basis of a satellite that can relay sensed information by using a satellite. 
         [0012]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a sensing apparatus, a sensing network system, and a controlling method on the basis of a satellite that can monitor areas, which are difficult to directly access, by using a sensing network. 
         [0013]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a satellite-based sensing network system including: a plurality of satellite transmitters that collect information on a peripheral environment and an operating state, and transmits it to peripheral satellites; a satellite wireless receiving/display device that directly receives and displays the information collected from the satellites; a ground control center that receives, stores, and analyzes the information collected from the satellites; and a management center that maintains and repairs the satellite transmitter based on the analyzed results. 
         [0014]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a satellite-based sensing apparatus including: a sensor that collects information on a peripheral environment and an operating state; and a satellite transmitter that transmits the collected information to a satellite network. 
         [0015]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a satellite-based sensing network, includes: collecting information on a peripheral environment sensed by a plurality of sensors and an operating state of the sensor; and transmitting the collected information to peripheral satellites according to a predetermined period. 
         [0016]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a satellite-based sensing network including: receiving information on a peripheral environment sensed by a plurality of sensors through satellites and information on an operating state of the sensor; analyzing whether there is abnormal generation in the sensor or the peripheral environment by using the received information; and commanding predetermined action against the abnormal sensor or the abnormal peripheral environment. 
         [0017]    According to the present invention, it can easily collect materials regarding areas, which are difficult to directly access, by using a sensing network and relay the sensed information through a stationary satellite, such that it can easily monitor areas which are difficult to use mobile communication and the wired network and if necessary, can immediately send out the observed materials to the whole country as a broadcast type in real time. 
         [0018]    Further, according to the present invention, it can reduce the economic loss and protect the health of the people due to yellow dust, ozone, red tide, forest fire, etc., which is lethal when exposed daily, by widening the monitoring. And it can improve the leisure activity according to provide information such as the measurement of the pollution level of a public restroom, the weather information of tourist spots, etc., in real time. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a wired sensing network according to the related art; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a diagram showing a wireless sensing network according to the related art; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a configuration diagram showing a satellite-based sensing network system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a configuration diagram showing the satellite-based sensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing a method for controlling a satellite-based sensing network system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    Hereinafter, a satellite-based sensing network system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . FIG. is a configuration diagram showing a satellite-based sensing network system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , a satellite-based sensing network system  30  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of satellite transmitters  100 , a stationary satellite  200 , a ground control center  300 , and a management center  400 . 
         [0026]    The plurality of satellite transmitters  100  are each disposed in the environment to collect information on the peripheral environment and the operating state by using a sensor and transmit the information collected to the stationary satellite  200 . Each of the satellite transmitters  100  may transmit image information having predetermined resolution as well as data information. 
         [0027]    Each of the satellite transmitters  100  can collect information: weather information such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, snowfall, wind speed, etc., of mountain regions such as a national park, etc.; atmospheric information such as CO 2  (carbon dioxide), CO (carbon monoxide), sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, O 3 , PM-10, direction of wind, wind speed, temperature, humidity, etc. in town; information on bridge management such as post crack, vibration, or overload of a bridge, etc.; information on environmental monitoring and facility management such as toxic gas, fine dust, aging of industrial facilities, etc.; information on water quality pollution management such as water temperature, pH concentration of a river, lake, sea, etc.; information on ground pollution of farmland, etc.; information on various fields such national defense, public health, prevention of disasters, security, etc. 
         [0028]    In addition, each of the satellite transmitters  100  includes a solar cell and a small-sized storage battery to generate power, such that it can be easily installed at any location or any geographical landmark, thereby making it possible to transmit the collected information to the stationary satellite  200  at, for example, the small output of 0.2 W while securing line of sight with the stationary satellite  200 . 
         [0029]    Further, each of the satellite transmitters  100  may decode the collected information and transmit it. Herein, each of the satellite transmitters may periodically transmit the collected information according to a predetermined time interval in order to save power consumption. 
         [0030]    The stationary satellite  200  is, for example, a satellite on a stationary orbit of an S or L band, receives small-output information transmitted from each of the satellite transmitters  100  by using a large-sized satellite antenna equipped in the stationary satellite  200 , and amplifies the received information to retransmits to the ground control center  300  and a wireless terminal  500 . 
         [0031]    The wireless terminal  500  may be a portable mobile terminal, rooftop large-sized electric signs, and roadside electric signs and receive the retransmitted information by the stationary satellite  200  at a place where the line of sight with the stationary satellite  200  can be secured. 
         [0032]    The ground control center  300  receives the retransmitted information from the stationary satellite  200  and stores and analyzes it. 
         [0033]    Specifically, the ground control center  300  databases the peripheral information of each of the satellite transmitters  100  and stores it, or analyzes and monitors whether any problems occur in the peripheral environment. Further, if the ground control center  300  is determined that at least one of the satellite transmitters  100  should be repaired while monitoring, it informs the management center  400  of an abnormal occurrence of the satellite transmitters  100  and requests the repairs therefor. 
         [0034]    In addition, the ground control center  300  may provide the received information to a user terminal  600  via an Internet network. 
         [0035]    The ground control center  300  may display materials for the analysis results, or information through a display unit (not shown). 
         [0036]    The management center  400  sends an employee to a spot where the state of the satellite transmitters  100  are abnormal according to the repair request of the ground control center  300  to repairs the abnormal satellite transmitter  100 . 
         [0037]    Meanwhile, the satellite-based sensing network system may include a receiver (not shown) that receives information collected by each sensor from the plurality of sensors included in the sensing network formed of a mobile communication network or a wired network. And the system  30  may provide the information received through the receiver (not shown) to the ground control center  300  or the wireless terminal  500  through each of the satellite transmitters  100  and the stationary satellite  200 . 
         [0038]    Hereinafter, the satellite-based sensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a configuration diagram showing the satellite-based sensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , the satellite-based sensing apparatus  100  according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a sensor  110 , a decoder  120 , a transmitter  130 , a controller  140 , and a power supply unit  150 . 
         [0040]    The sensor  110  collects the information on the peripheral environment to be sensed and the information on the operating state of the satellite-based sensing apparatus  100 . The sensor  110  may be an image sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a wind direction sensor, a rainfall sensor, a heat sensor, a load sensor, a vibration sensor, an atmospheric sensor, a level sensor, etc. 
         [0041]    The decoder  120  decodes each of the collected information according to the protocol of the satellite network, which are converted into the easy transmission and reception types. 
         [0042]    The transmitter  130  amplifies each of the decoded information with a predetermined small output and then, transmits it at the predetermined time period. 
         [0043]    The controller  140  controls the entire operations such as the transmission power, the decoding protocol, the transmission period, the power supply, the information collection, the operating state, etc. 
         [0044]    The power supply unit  150  generates power using a solar cell and a small-sized storage battery, etc., and supplies the generated power to the sensor  110 , the decoder  120 , the transmitter  130 , and the controller  140 . 
         [0045]    Meanwhile, the satellite-based sensing apparatus  100  further includes a receiver  160  that receives information collected by each sensor from the plurality of sensors included in the sensing network formed of a mobile communication network or a wired network, and may transmit the information received by the receiver  160  through the transmitter  130 . 
         [0046]    Hereinafter, a method for controlling a satellite-based sensing network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing a method for controlling a satellite-based sensing network system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The satellite-based sensing apparatus  100  of  FIG. 5  is assumed to be the satellite transmitter  100  of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0047]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , the satellite-based sensing apparatus  100  collects the information on the sensed peripheral environment and the information on the operating state of each of the sensors collecting the information (S 510 ). 
         [0048]    Then, the satellite-based sensing apparatus  100  transmits each of the collected information to satellites according to the predetermined period (S 520 ). At this time, satellite-based sensing apparatus  100  may decode the collected information and transmit it according to the predetermined period and may generate power from the solar power generation or the battery. 
         [0049]    Next, the ground control center  300  or the wireless terminal  500  receives the information on the sensed peripheral environment transmitted and the operating state of each of the sensors through the satellite (S 530 ). 
         [0050]    The ground control center  300  analyzes whether there is abnormalities in each of the sensors or the peripheral environment by using the received information (S 540 ). 
         [0051]    And the ground control center  300  commands a predetermined action against each abnormal sensor or the abnormal peripheral environment (S 550 ). 
         [0052]    Thereafter, the management center  400  performs the predetermined action against the abnormal peripheral environment according to the command of the ground control center  300  (S 560 ). 
         [0053]    Meanwhile, the ground control center  300  may store each of the received information and each of the analyzing results, and provide them to the user terminal according to the user request. 
         [0054]    Meanwhile, the wireless terminal  500  may provide various predetermined services using each of the received information through the satellites. 
         [0055]    According to the present invention, it can easily collect materials regarding areas, which are difficult to directly access, by using a sensing network and relay the sensed information through a stationary satellite, such that it can easily monitor areas which are difficult to use mobile communication and the wired network and if necessary, can immediately send out the observed materials to the whole country as a broadcast type in real time. 
         [0056]    Further, according to the present invention, it can reduce economic loss and protect the health of the people due to yellow dust, ozone, red tide, forest fire, etc., which may be lethal when exposed daily, by widening the monitoring. And it can improve the leisure activity according to provide information such as the measurement of the pollution level of the public restroom, the weather information of tourist spots, etc., in real time. 
         [0057]    While configurations of certain embodiments have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is by way of example only. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes within the technical spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the actual technical protection scope of the present invention must be determined by the spirit of the appended claims.