The present invention relates to a measurement system, a conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus, and a voltage measurement apparatus.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) communications are techniques for providing broadband services using frequency bands from 25.875 kHz to 1.104 MHZ. ADSL communications have been widely used because of the advantages of using existing metal telephone lines for broadband services.
It is known that a communication failure occurs due to electromagnetic noise of the same band as that of a signal used for ADSL communication. When it is suspected that the communication failure is caused by electromagnetic noise, the frequency and intensity of electromagnetic noise on a power cable connected to a communication cable and a communication apparatus are measured in order to search the source of electromagnetic noise and to select an appropriate noise filter. Since the electromagnetic noise often forms a loop having the ground or a metallic floor material connected to the ground as a return path, the ground voltage of the electromagnetic noise is often measured. Hereinafter, the ground and the metallic floor material connected to the ground are generally referred to as the ground.
The ground voltage of the electromagnetic noise is measured by grounding a measuring instrument such as an oscilloscope and bringing a passive probe connected to the oscilloscope into contact with a cable to be measured. Alternatively, the measurement is performed by clamping the cable over the coating with a capacitive voltage probe connected to the oscilloscope.
In an environment where grounding is difficult, the voltage is measured without grounding, and the measurement result is corrected by using the ground capacitance of the ground of the measuring instrument.
The inventors have proposed a wearable measuring instrument of NPL 1 as a measuring instrument which does not require grounding. An operator can measure the ground voltage of electromagnetic noise flowing in a cable by wearing a shoe-like wearable measuring instrument and contacting the cable to be measured. The shoe-like wearable measuring instrument has different roles on the left and right sides. A device mounted on one foot is a voltage measurement device for measuring a voltage generated inside the device due to electromagnetic noise. A device mounted on the other foot is a conversion coefficient acquisition device for acquiring a conversion coefficient for obtaining a ground voltage of the electromagnetic noise from the voltage measured by the voltage measurement device. The conversion coefficient has frequency characteristics.
In the voltage measurement device of NPL 1, an upper electrode and a lower electrode are arranged so as to face each other, and a voltage generated in a resistor connected between the upper electrode and the lower electrode due to electromagnetic noise is measured. In NPL 1, it is assumed that the upper electrode forms capacitance only between the sole and the lower electrode of the operator. However, in practice, electrostatic capacitance is also formed between the upper electrode and the ground serving as the reference potential. When the capacitance becomes large, the voltage measured by the voltage measurement device becomes small. That is, there is a problem that it is difficult to measure small electromagnetic noise and to measure the electromagnetic noise when the distance between the measurement environment and the ground is distant from each other.
In the conversion coefficient acquisition device of NPL 1, an upper electrode and two lower electrodes are arranged so as to face each other. An oscillation circuit is connected between the upper electrode and one of the lower electrodes. When the oscillation circuit outputs a signal, a voltage generated in a resistor connected between the upper electrode and the other lower electrode is measured to acquire a conversion coefficient for obtaining a ground voltage from the voltage measured by the voltage measurement device. It is apparent that the conversion coefficient acquisition device has a structure in which a capacitance is formed between the upper electrode and the ground, and connection between the upper electrode and the ground is assumed in NPL 1. When the capacitance becomes large, the voltage observed in the conversion coefficient acquisition device becomes small when a signal is output from the oscillation circuit. In other words, there is a problem that the measurement becomes difficult when the distance between the measurement environment and the ground is separated.
In view of the aforementioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to improve the measurement capability of an electromagnetic noise measuring instrument.
A measurement system according to one aspect of the present invention is a measurement system for measuring a ground voltage of electromagnetic noise generated in a cable, the measurement system comprising a conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus and a voltage measurement apparatus, wherein the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus includes a first lower electrode, a second lower electrode arranged side by side at the same height as the first lower electrode, a first upper electrode arranged opposite to the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode, a first voltage measurement circuit connected between the first lower electrode and the first upper electrode, and an oscillation circuit that is connected to the second lower electrode and the first upper electrode and outputs a signal of a predetermined frequency, the first voltage measurement circuit measuring a first voltage generated in the first voltage measurement circuit when the oscillation circuit outputs a signal while an operator stands on the first upper electrode and is not in contact with the cable, and obtaining a conversion coefficient based on the first voltage, and the voltage measurement apparatus includes a third lower electrode, a second upper electrode arranged opposite to the third lower electrode, and a second voltage measurement circuit connected between the third lower electrode and the second upper electrode, the second voltage measurement circuit measuring a second voltage generated in the second voltage measurement circuit while the operator stands on the second upper electrode and is in contact with the cable, and obtaining a ground voltage of the electromagnetic noise generated in the cable by multiplying the second voltage by the conversion coefficient, and at least one of the first lower electrode, the second lower electrode, or the third lower electrode being in a container shape with a bottom surface and side walls around the bottom surface.
According to the present invention, the measurement capability of an electromagnetic noise measuring instrument can be improved.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description provided with reference to the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted accordingly.
A wearable measurement system 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to
As described in NPL 1, when the ground voltage is measured without grounding a measuring instrument, the level of the measured voltage changes according to the ground capacitance of the measuring instrument. When the same ground voltage is measured by the measuring instrument, the measured voltage becomes low when the ground capacitance is small, and becomes high when the ground capacitance is large. If a conversion coefficient X, which is the ratio of a measured voltage Vm to a ground voltage Vn of electromagnetic noise, can be obtained for each measurement environment, the ground voltage of the electromagnetic noise can be measured by a non-grounded measuring instrument. The conversion coefficient X is expressed by the following equation (1) using the measured voltage Vm and the ground voltage Vn of the electromagnetic noise.
In the wearable measurement system 1 of the present embodiment, first, the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 obtains the conversion coefficient X in a state where the operator U does not touch a cable W. Then, the voltage measurement apparatus 10 measures the voltage Vm generated in a voltage measurement circuit provided in itself in a state where the operator U touches the cable W. The arithmetic unit 30 receives the conversion coefficient X from the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20, receives the measured voltage Vm from the voltage measurement apparatus 10, and multiplies the measured voltage Vm by the conversion coefficient X to obtain the ground voltage Vn of the electromagnetic noise.
Next, an example of a configuration of the voltage measurement apparatus 10 will be described with reference to
The voltage measurement apparatus 10 shown in
The lower electrode 12 has a water tank shape (a container with an opened upper surface) having a bottom surface 12A and a side wall 12B positioned on the outer periphery of the bottom surface 12A. The bottom surface 12A of the lower electrode 12 is arranged facing the ground.
The upper electrode 11 is arranged so as to face the bottom surface 12A of the lower electrode 12. As shown in
The voltage measurement circuit 13 is connected between the upper electrode 11 and the lower electrode 12, and measures the voltage Vm generated in the voltage measurement circuit 13. The ground voltage Vn of the electromagnetic noise can be obtained from the measured voltage Vm and the conversion coefficient X acquired by the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20.
The upper electrode 11, the lower electrode 12, and the spacers 14A, 14B, 14C are arranged in a sole of the operator U. The voltage measurement circuit 13 may be disposed on the sole of the operator U or on another part constituting the shoe such as an upper.
Next, an example of a configuration of the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 will be described with reference to
The conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 shown in
Each of the lower electrodes 22, 23 has a water tank shape having bottom surfaces 22A, 23A and side walls 22B, 23B positioned on the outer periphery of the bottom surfaces 22A, 23A, similarly to the lower electrode 12 of the voltage measurement apparatus 10. The bottom surfaces 22A, 23A of the lower electrodes 22, 23 are arranged at the same height so as to face the ground.
The upper electrode 21 is arranged so as to face each of bottom surfaces 22A, 23A of the lower electrodes 22, 23. As shown in
When the upper electrode 21 is disposed at a position lower than the height t of the side walls 22B, 23B, as shown in
The voltage measurement circuit 24 is connected to the upper electrode 21 and one of the lower electrodes 22, and measures a voltage Vr generated when the oscillation circuit 25 outputs a signal. The conversion coefficient X can be obtained from the measured voltage Vr.
The oscillation circuit 25 is connected to the upper electrode 21 and the other lower electrode 23, and outputs a signal of a predetermined frequency.
The upper electrode 21, the lower electrodes 22, 23, and the spacers 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D are arranged on a sole of the operator U. The voltage measurement circuit 24 and the oscillation circuit 25 may be disposed on the sole of the operator U, or may be disposed on another part constituting the shoe such as the upper.
The arithmetic unit 30 multiplies the measured voltage Vm measured by the voltage measurement apparatus 10 by the conversion coefficient X acquired by the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20, to obtain the ground voltage Vn of the electromagnetic noise. Although the arithmetic unit 30 is shown as another unit in
In
Next, a method of measuring the ground voltage of electromagnetic noise using the wearable measurement system 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of
Before going to the site where a communication failure occurs, the operator U performs preliminary calibration work. Specifically, in some environments where the ground voltage Vn of a signal simulating electromagnetic noise and the measured voltage Vm measured by the voltage measurement apparatus 10 are known, a signal is output from the oscillation circuit 25 to measure the voltage Vr generated in the voltage measurement circuit 24, and the correspondence between the voltage Vr and the conversion coefficient X is obtained. The correspondence may be stored in a storage unit held by the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20, or the correspondence may be stored in the arithmetic unit 30. Note that NPL 1 describes an example of a calibration operation in which the correspondence between the voltage Vr and the conversion coefficient X is obtained on acrylic plates having different thicknesses.
The operator U wears the wearable measurement system 1 and stands at a place for measuring the ground voltage of the electromagnetic noise, and executes the following processing.
In step S1, the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 outputs a signal of a predetermined frequency from the oscillation circuit 25 in a state where the operator U does not touch the cable W, and measures the voltage Vr generated in the voltage measurement circuit 24. The conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 obtains the conversion coefficient X from the measured voltage Vr on the basis of the correspondence obtained by the prior calibration work. Once the conversion coefficient X is obtained, the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 stops the output from the oscillation circuit 25. The operator U grabs the cable W.
In step S2, the voltage measurement apparatus 10 measures the voltage Vm generated in the voltage measurement circuit 13 in a state where the operator U touches the cable W.
In step S3, the arithmetic unit 30 multiplies the measured voltage Vm measured by the voltage measurement apparatus 10 by the conversion coefficient X obtained by the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20, to obtain the ground voltage Vn of the electromagnetic noise.
By this processing described above, the ground voltage Vn of the electromagnetic noise can be measured.
Next, the influence of a capacitance Ca between the upper electrode 11 of the voltage measurement apparatus 10 and the ground will be described.
Note the voltage Vm that is generated in the voltage measurement circuit 13 when the operator U grabs the cable W.
In the present embodiment, the lower electrode 12 is formed into a water tank type having the side wall 12B, wherein the capacitance Ca is reduced.
Next, the influence of a capacitance Cb between the upper electrode 21 of the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 and the ground will be described.
Note the voltage Vr that is generated in the voltage measurement circuit 24 when the oscillation circuit 25 outputs a signal.
Similarly to the lower electrode 12 of the voltage measurement apparatus 10, the lower electrodes 22, 23 are formed into a water tank type having the side walls 22B, 23B, wherein the capacitance Cb is reduced.
As described above, the wearable measurement system 1 according to the present embodiment includes the voltage measurement apparatus 10 and the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20. The voltage measurement apparatus 10 includes the lower electrode 12, the upper electrode 11 arranged opposite to the lower electrode 12, and the voltage measurement circuit 13 connected between the lower electrode 12 and the upper electrode 11. The conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 includes the lower electrode 22, the lower electrode 23 arranged side by side at the same height as the lower electrode 22, the upper electrode 21 arranged opposite to the lower electrodes 22, 23, the voltage measurement circuit 24 connected between the lower electrode 22 and the upper electrode 21, and the oscillation circuit 25 connected to the lower electrode 23 and the upper electrode 21 and outputting a signal of a predetermined frequency. The lower electrodes 12, 22, 23 of the voltage measurement apparatus 10 and the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 have a container shape having a bottom surface and side walls around the bottom surface. Thus, capacitances Ca, Cb that are generated between the upper electrodes 11, 21 of the voltage measurement apparatus 10 and the conversion coefficient acquisition apparatus 20 and the ground can be reduced. As a result, not only is it possible to measure the ground voltage of small electromagnetic noise, but also the ground voltage can be measured at a place where the distance between the measurement environment and the ground is separated.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2021/018037 | 5/12/2021 | WO |