JP5097633B2 - Wireless communication network system, ID management wireless terminal, program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication network system that includes a plurality of wireless terminals, and each wireless terminal can communicate with all other wireless terminals directly or via one or more other wireless terminals.

For example, wireless communication network systems described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been proposed.
FIG. 39 shows an example of the configuration of the entire wireless communication network system described in the conventional patent documents 1 and 2 and the like.

  In the figure, A to J indicate wireless terminals installed in a distributed manner. Since the distance in which direct radio communication is possible is generally limited, each of the radio terminals A to J cannot directly communicate with all the radio terminals constituting the system. However, each of the wireless terminals A to J can directly perform wireless communication with one or more other wireless terminals, and can communicate with all the wireless terminals constituting the system via the other wireless terminals. It is possible.

Note that a straight line (including arrows) connecting the wireless terminals A to J shown in FIG. 39 means each communication path, and means that direct wireless communication is possible between two wireless terminals connected by a straight line. Yes.
Each of the wireless terminals A to J generates configuration information as shown in FIG. 40 (a), for example, by diagnosing the reliability of the communication path by mutually transmitting / receiving presence notification packets, communication diagnosis packets, and the like. Remember.

  The configuration information shown in FIG. 40A is an example of configuration information generated and stored by the wireless terminal A, and the number of communications performed until the packet transmitted by the wireless terminal A reaches the destination wireless terminal; A relationship with a destination wireless terminal that reaches the communication frequency as the minimum communication frequency is shown. From the figure, it can be seen that, for example, wireless terminals to which the wireless terminal A can transfer packets in one communication (that is, wireless terminals to which the wireless terminal A can directly communicate) are wireless terminals B, C, and D. . Also, the wireless terminals E, F, G, H, I, and J are wireless terminals that the wireless terminal A cannot directly communicate with, and can transfer packets by relaying other wireless terminals (multiple communication). It can be seen that this is a wireless terminal. Then, in order to transfer a packet by relaying by another wireless terminal, the wireless terminals E and F need to communicate at least twice (one or more times of relaying), and the wireless terminals G, H, and I have at least 3 It can be seen that the wireless terminal J requires at least four communications.

  However, not all wireless terminals other than the wireless terminals B, C, and D can communicate directly with the wireless terminal A. For example, the wireless terminals E, F, etc. may be able to communicate directly with the wireless terminal A when the surrounding communication environment is good. However, since the reliability of the communication path is not sufficient as a result of the diagnosis, the packet transfer to the wireless terminals E and F is managed as requiring the relay of another wireless terminal. Yes.

  Furthermore, each wireless terminal is configured based on, for example, the configuration information of its own terminal as shown in FIG. 40 (a), at least another wireless terminal with which it can directly communicate (hereinafter also referred to as an adjacent wireless terminal). Information is obtained by requesting each adjacent wireless terminal and stored.

FIG. 40B shows an example of the configuration information acquired and stored in this way.
FIG. 40B shows an example of configuration information of each adjacent wireless terminal acquired and stored by the wireless terminal A as an example.

  The wireless terminal A stores and manages the configuration information of the adjacent wireless terminals B, C, and D shown in FIG. 40B in addition to the configuration information of its own terminal shown in FIG. Basically, these are collectively called configuration information. The wireless terminal A (of course, each of the other wireless terminals) refers to the configuration information and determines the packet transmission destination.

  As an example, consider a case where the wireless terminal A transmits a packet destined for the wireless terminal E. Referring to FIG. 40B, it can be seen that in order to transfer a packet to the wireless terminal E, the wireless terminal B can transfer the packet by one communication. Similarly, it can be understood that the data can be transferred from the wireless terminal C by one communication and from the wireless terminal D by two communication. As a result, the wireless terminal A sends a packet whose destination is the wireless terminal E to either the wireless terminal B or C. The wireless terminal B or C relays this packet, so that the packet reaches the wireless terminal E by one relay.

  FIG. 41 shows an example of configuration information stored in each wireless terminal. Here, the wireless terminals A, B, E, and G are taken as an example, but other wireless terminals generate and store configuration information in the same manner.

  As shown in FIG. 41, the configuration information stored in the wireless terminal A is a combination of the configuration information shown in FIGS. 40 (a) and 40 (b). Similarly, the other wireless terminals B, E, and G use the configuration information of their own terminals and the configuration information of their neighboring wireless terminals as configuration information that they hold and manage, and refer to this configuration information to transmit packets. The destination will be decided.

Further, the invention of Patent Document 3 provides a network system address assignment method suitable for address assignment accompanied by network merger.
In the invention of Patent Document 3, the allocation request address selection unit selects the first address value in the order as the allocation request address from among the ordered number of address candidates, while the allocation request address is the address of the existing node. For each overlap, the next allocation request address in the order is selected. The address allocation unit allocates an allocation request address that does not overlap with the address of the existing node to the own node. The merger presence / absence determining unit determines the presence / absence of network merger based on the network identifier returned from each existing node. The additional address value calculation unit calculates the additional address value based on the maximum address value of each network.
JP 2000-13376 A JP 2004-7714 A JP 2005-252557 A

  Here, in the conventional wireless communication network system, an ID (identified as A, B, C,..., Etc.) for identifying each wireless terminal is assigned with an arbitrary logical number. That is, each wireless terminal is originally assigned and registered with a manufacturing number at the time of manufacturing. This serial number is a general ID for uniquely identifying the wireless terminal. However, since the serial number is long, about 14 bytes are usually required. For this reason, if this manufacturing number is used as an ID as it is, IDs are basically always exchanged in communication between wireless terminals, increasing the amount of information during communication and increasing the communication load.

  In particular, in the conventional wireless communication network system described above, four IDs of a transmission source ID, a destination (destination) ID, a transfer source ID, and a transfer destination ID are stored in a header portion of a packet transmitted and received between wireless terminals. If each ID is about 14 bytes, the amount of information in the header portion will be very large.

  For this reason, for example, a logical number that suffices with an information amount of about 1 byte is arbitrarily assigned and used as an ID. Therefore, in the following description, “ID” means a logical number. The production number is not included in the ID, and the production number is referred to as the production number as it is.

  Conventionally, workers and the like have manually assigned and registered the IDs. For this reason, it takes time and setting errors such as registering the same number twice by mistake may occur.

  As described above, in the conventional wireless communication network system, each wireless terminal can communicate with all other wireless terminals directly or by relaying to one or more other wireless terminals. However, there are cases where it is not desired to communicate with all wireless terminals that can communicate. For example, when one wireless communication network system (arbitrary group) is constructed and another wireless communication network system (other group) is constructed in the vicinity thereof, some wireless terminals in one group If wireless communication is possible directly with some of the wireless terminals in the group, these two groups will operate as one wireless communication network system.

  That is, according to the operation of the conventional wireless communication network system, the ID of each wireless terminal in the other group is registered in the configuration information of each wireless terminal in one group, and the wireless terminal in the other group is also connected by the relaying or the like. Communication is possible. However, the system is originally constructed so that each group can communicate only within the group, and such a situation is not desirable.

Here, FIG. 42 shows an example in which a plurality of groups exist.
FIG. 43 is a configuration example of a packet for distinguishing groups.
In the example shown in FIG. 42, one group is configured by the illustrated wireless terminals A, B, C, and D, and another group is configured by the illustrated wireless terminals E, F, and G. This is constructed with the intention of enabling communication between wireless terminals in each group.

  However, if the illustrated wireless terminal D and wireless terminal E are capable of direct wireless communication, for example, the wireless terminals A to G of all two groups are registered in the configuration information of the wireless terminals A to G. It will operate | move as one group, without distinguishing into two groups.

  For this reason, the packet transmitted / received between the wireless terminals is, for example, a packet having the configuration shown in FIG. In FIG. 43, the transmission source ID, the destination ID, the transfer source ID, and the transfer destination ID are the data structure of the packet header part described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 and the like. This is a logical number for identifying each wireless terminal.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 43, a “network ID” is further added to the header of the packet. This “network ID” is an identification code (also referred to as a network identification code) for identifying each group. In each wireless terminal, not only the ID of the own terminal but also the network ID of the group to which the own terminal belongs are registered, and when transmitting a packet, the own terminal is assigned to the “network ID” in the header of the packet. It stores the network ID of the group to which it belongs.

  Each wireless terminal discards the packet when the “network ID” of the received packet does not match the network ID of the terminal itself. For example, when the network ID of one group shown in FIG. 42 is “1” and the network ID of the other group is “2”, the wireless terminal D and the wireless terminal E can directly perform wireless communication as described above. Even if the packet is transmitted / received, the network ID does not match and the packet is discarded. Thereby, the above-mentioned problem can be solved.

  Note that FIG. 43 shows a packet in data transmission / reception (relay, etc.) using configuration information, but “packet ID” is similarly added to other packets (existence notification packet described in Patent Document 1). Is.

  Here, conventionally, an installation worker has performed the work of setting the network ID of the group to which the terminal belongs to each wireless terminal at the installation site of the wireless terminal. In order to make it easy for workers to perform this setting work on site, each wireless terminal is provided with a rotary SW (switch) for setting a network ID. For example, the rotary SW can set a number from “1” to “16” (the network ID can be set from “1” to “16”. From this, the network ID can be expressed by 4 bits. Is).

  However, when the number of groups is 17 or more, the network IDs overlap and a plurality of groups have the same network ID. Alternatively, even if the number of groups does not become 17 or more, there is a possibility that a network ID that has already been assigned to an arbitrary group is set to another group due to a misunderstanding by an operator.

  In any case, when a plurality of groups exist with the same network ID as described above, there is no problem if the plurality of groups are separated to some extent and direct wireless communication cannot be performed between the wireless terminals. However, in a situation where direct wireless communication is possible, the network ID is the same and the group cannot be distinguished by the network ID, so the problem described with reference to FIG. 42 occurs.

Such a situation can sufficiently occur, for example, when a large number of groups are crowded / mixed in a relatively narrow area.
If it is possible to automatically determine that such a situation has occurred and notify the worker or the like, the worker or the like can take any measures such as changing the setting contents of the rotary SW, for example. However, in the conventional wireless communication network system, it is impossible to determine whether or not such a situation has occurred even if configuration information is used.

  In the above-described conventional wireless communication network system, the wireless terminal is basically driven by a battery. For this reason, it is desirable to suppress battery consumption and reduce the frequency of battery replacement. Further, even when the configuration is not driven by a battery, power saving is desirable. Further, as described above, for example, the wireless terminals E and F are not always unable to communicate directly. In the above example, if the wireless terminal A can communicate directly with the destination wireless terminal E, the number of communication can be reduced by directly communicating with the wireless terminal E (that is, the efficiency is improved). At the same time, the wireless terminal B or C does not need to perform the relay operation, so that power can be saved.

  An object of the present invention is configured by a plurality of wireless terminals performing wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal is relayed directly or to one or more other wireless terminals. In a wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all other wireless terminals, wireless communication that can automatically set the ID of the terminal to each wireless terminal and can determine and report a connection abnormality with another network It is to provide a network system and its wireless terminal.

  The wireless communication network system of the present invention is configured by a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal is directly or other one or more using configuration information A wireless communication network system that can communicate with all other wireless terminals by relaying to the wireless terminal, and a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used. The wireless identification network of the wireless communication network system to which the own terminal belongs is set, and each wireless terminal uses the network identification code to prevent communication with a wireless terminal belonging to another wireless communication network system. In a communication network system, one wireless communication network system One of the plurality of wireless terminals constituting the system is an ID management wireless terminal that issues and manages the ID, and the ID management wireless terminal is an unregistered wireless terminal whose own ID is not yet registered Whenever there is a request from an arbitrary unregistered wireless terminal to the wireless terminal, an issuance ID for the unregistered wireless terminal is arbitrarily determined, and the determined issuance ID is assigned to the unregistered wireless terminal of the request source. ID assigning means for registering as its own ID, issued ID managing means for managing the determined issued ID as issued ID, and wireless that can be directly communicated with the ID management wireless terminal registered in the configuration information When there is an ID that is not the issued ID among the IDs of wireless terminals that can communicate by relaying to the terminal or one or more other wireless terminals, it is determined that the network connection is abnormal. And a Ttowaku coupling abnormality determining means.

  In the wireless communication network system configured as described above, it is possible to prevent communication with wireless terminals belonging to other wireless communication network systems by using a network identification code, and normally there is no network connection abnormality. However, if, for example, the network identification code of another adjacent wireless communication network system is the same as the network identification code of the local network, a network connection abnormality may occur. In the above configuration, since the ID management wireless terminal assigns the ID of each wireless terminal in its own network, the ID of each wireless terminal can be automatically set and the issued ID can be managed. An abnormal network connection can be detected because there is an ID that is not an issued ID.

  Alternatively, the wireless communication network system of the present invention is configured by a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal is directly or otherwise used by using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all other wireless terminals by relaying to one or more wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used. Is set with the network identification code of the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs, so that each wireless terminal does not communicate with wireless terminals belonging to other wireless communication network systems by using the network identification code. One wireless communication network One of the plurality of wireless terminals constituting the work system is set as an ID management wireless terminal that issues and manages the ID, and the ID management wireless terminal issues an ID that can be issued for each type in advance. A possible ID storage means, a self-terminal issuable ID that determines an arbitrary type from among the types as a self type, and stores the issuable ID corresponding to the self type as an ID that the self terminal can issue Each time there is a request from an arbitrary unregistered wireless terminal to the unregistered wireless terminal that is a wireless terminal whose ID is not yet registered, the determination / storage means and an issued ID for the unregistered wireless terminal ID allocation means for arbitrarily determining from among IDs that can be issued by the own terminal, and registering the determined issued ID in the requesting unregistered wireless terminal as its own ID; The self-terminal can be issued in the ID of the wireless terminal that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated with the ID management wireless terminal or one or more other wireless terminals registered in the configuration information If there is an ID that is not a proper ID, network connection abnormality determining means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality is provided.

  By managing different IDs (ID groups) that can be issued by each wireless communication network system ID management wireless terminal, there is an ID that is not an ID that can be issued by the terminal itself in the configuration information. Network connection abnormality can be detected, and network connection abnormality can be detected more reliably.

When a network connection abnormality is detected, it is possible to cause an operator to take any action by notifying this and to prevent the abnormal state from continuing.
In the wireless communication network system described above, for example, all the wireless terminals have the type-specific issueable ID storage means, and the ID assigning means also assigns the self-type to the unregistered wireless terminal of the request source. Each wireless terminal that has been registered as its network type and has registered its own ID and its own network type is registered in its own configuration information, and can be directly communicated with itself or one or more other wireless terminals Network coupling that determines that there is a network coupling abnormality when there is an ID that is not an issuable ID corresponding to the registered local network type among IDs of wireless terminals that can communicate by relaying to the wireless terminal An abnormality determination unit is included.

With the above configuration, it is possible to detect a network connection abnormality not only in the ID management wireless terminal but also in other wireless terminals.
In the wireless communication network system, for example, the unregistered wireless terminal transmits an ID registration request means for transmitting an ID registration request including a predetermined temporary ID and a self-fixed identification code, and the ID registration Upon receipt of the issued ID notification for the request, each registered wireless terminal having an ID registration means for registering the notified issued ID as its own ID, wherein the own ID is a registered wireless terminal, When an ID registration request is received from an unregistered wireless terminal, an ID request packet including a fixed identification code of the ID registration request, in which the own terminal is the transmission source and the destination is the ID management wireless terminal, ID request packet generation / transmission means for transmitting an ID request packet, and the fixed identification which is a response from the ID management wireless terminal to the ID request packet An issuance ID notification transfer unit that transfers the issuance ID notification to the unregistered radio terminal when receiving the issuance ID notification including a password, and the ID allocation unit of the ID management radio terminal includes the ID request packet Or when receiving the ID registration request directly, an arbitrary ID is determined as the issued ID for the unregistered wireless terminal of the request source, and the issued ID notification including the issued ID and the fixed identification code is determined. Issued ID determination / notification means for transmitting to the registered wireless terminal as the transmission source in the received ID request packet or for sending back to the unregistered wireless terminal as the transmission source of the received ID registration request.

  Further, for example, when the fixed identification code included in the received ID notification is the fixed identification code of the own terminal, the ID registration unit registers the notified ID as its own ID. As a result, even if an ID notification for an ID registration request issued by another unregistered wireless terminal is received at the same time, another ID is erroneously registered as its own ID by checking with a fixed identification code. There is no such thing.

  According to the wireless communication network system, the wireless terminal, and the program of the present invention, the wireless communication network system includes a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal is directly or others. In a wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all other wireless terminals by relaying to one or more wireless terminals, the ID of the terminal can be automatically set for each wireless terminal, and other networks It is possible to determine and report a connection abnormality.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In addition, regarding the wireless communication network system of this example described below, for the configuration example of the entire wireless communication network system, refer to the configuration example of FIG. 39 used for the description of the prior art.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of each of the wireless terminals in the wireless communication network system.
Here, in order to show the basic functions of each wireless terminal, a configuration in which the wireless terminal on the data receiving side is the receiving terminal 11a and the wireless terminal on the data transmitting side is the transmitting terminal 11b is shown. May operate as a data transmission side or a data reception side, and in fact, as will be described later, each wireless terminal often has both a reception terminal 11a and a transmission terminal 11b. It will be. However, as shown in FIG. 1, a configuration in which there are radio terminals dedicated for reception and transmission only may be used.

  In FIG. 1, a receiving terminal 11a includes a wireless transmission circuit 13a that transmits data wirelessly, a wireless reception circuit 14a that receives data transmitted wirelessly, a control unit 12a that controls transmission / reception of data, and data transmission / reception. A switching unit 15a for switching between, an antenna 16a for sending and receiving data as a radio wave to space, a wireless transmission circuit 13a, a wireless reception circuit 14a, a battery 17a for supplying power to the control unit 12a, and a host device (not shown) And an interface 18a for exchanging data with each other, a switch 19a for turning on / off the power of the wireless transmission circuit 13a, and a switch 20a for turning on / off the power of the wireless reception circuit 14a.

  Note that examples of the host device that exchanges data via the interface 18a include an information processing device such as a personal computer, a switch, a sensor, and a display. Further, the control unit 12a is provided with a timer, enters a sleep state in which the power consumption of the control unit 12a itself is kept to a minimum, and can shift to an operation state after a certain time.

  Here, the control unit 12a is provided with an operation state control unit 31a that intermittently shifts the wireless transmission circuit 13a or the wireless reception circuit 14a to the operation state. The operation state control unit 31a includes a first transmission state control unit 32a and a first reception state control unit 33a.

FIG. 2A is a process flowchart of the operation state control unit 31a. FIG. 3A is an operation timing chart of the receiving terminal 11a by the process of FIG.
The processing operation of the operation state control unit 31a includes the processing operation of the first transmission state control unit 32a and the processing operation of the first reception state control unit 33a.

  First, the process of FIG. 2A is repeatedly performed, and the sleep period TS shown in FIG. 3A is set at the time of the process of step S3 which is the last process of each illustrated process. A timer (not shown) that is activated (described in detail in the explanation of step S3 later) times up, so that the control unit 12a wakes up (activates) from the sleep state, and as a result, in FIG. Processing will be started.

  When the process of FIG. 2A is started, first, the first transmission state control unit 32a controls the switch 19a to turn on the wireless transmission circuit 13a, and also switches the switching unit 15a to the wireless transmission circuit 13a side. To a transmission state T11 shown in FIG. 3A, which is set in advance for a predetermined period (a fixed period TT shown in FIG. 3A). In this transmission state T11, for example, the control unit 12a or the like causes a wireless transmission circuit 13a to wirelessly transmit a predetermined signal including at least the ID of its own terminal from the antenna 16a (intermittent transmission signal P11 (ID notification signal described later). (Also referred to as “also called”) (step S1). Then, at the end of the transmission state T11, the switch 19a is turned off to turn off the wireless transmission circuit 13a.

  The ID is an identification number of each wireless terminal assigned to each wireless terminal (receiving terminal 11a, transmitting terminal 11b). This is an arbitrary logical number as described above, and is different from a manufacturing number or the like determined in advance for each wireless terminal. In this example, as will be described later, each wireless terminal initially does not have its own ID (such as immediately after installation), and the ID management wireless terminal automatically assigns the ID of each wireless terminal. .

  When the transmission state T11 ends, the first reception state control unit 33a subsequently controls the switch 20a to turn on the wireless reception circuit 14a and switches the switching unit 15a to the wireless reception circuit 14a side. And it will be in the reception state R11 shown to Fig.3 (a) for the predetermined period (constant period TR shown to Fig.3 (a)) set beforehand. That is, it enters a state of waiting for reception of an external radio signal (especially a transmission signal P12 described later) (step S2).

Then, at the end of the reception state R11, the first reception state control unit 33a (or may be the control unit 12a or the like) executes the process of shifting to the sleep state in step S3.
In the process of step S3, first, the switch 20a is turned off to turn off the radio reception circuit 14a. As a result, both the wireless transmission circuit 13a and the wireless reception circuit 14a are turned off. Further, the sleep period TS shown in FIG. 3A is set in the timer (not shown) to start the timer, and the control unit 12a itself is set to the sleep state. Thus, during the sleep period TS, both the wireless transmission circuit 13a and the wireless reception circuit 14a are turned off, and the control unit 12a itself is also in the sleep state, so that power consumption is very low. That's it.

  The transmission state T11 is a state in which a signal (intermittent transmission signal P11) for notifying the transmission terminal 11b that the reception terminal 11a is in an operation state in the operation state of the reception terminal 11a is wirelessly transmitted. I can say that.

  In addition, in the process of FIG. 2A described above, in other words, as shown in FIG. 3A, the operation state control unit 31a performs the transmission state T11 for a certain period TT and the reception state for the following certain period TR. It can also be said that R11 is a process of controlling to repeat intermittently while leaving an interval for the sleep period TS. The above description of the process of FIG. 2A is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first transmission state control unit 32a and the first reception state control unit 33a execute only the processes related to the transmission process and the reception process, respectively, and the period management related to the periods TS, TT, and TR is the operation state. It may be performed by the control unit 31a or the like. In any case, any operation state control unit 31a (or entire control unit 12a) may be used as long as the operation shown in FIG. 2A is performed. The same applies to the operation of the transmission terminal 11b described below.

It can also be said that the fixed periods TT and TR are operation periods (periods in which the sleep state is not set).
The operation period (TT + TR) can be sufficiently shortened with respect to the sleep period TS, and the power consumption of the receiving terminal 11a can satisfy the following expression (1).
(TT × PT + TR × PR) << PR × (TT + TR + TS) (1)
However, PT is the power consumed by the wireless transmission circuit 13a and the control unit 12a during transmission, and PR is the power consumed by the wireless reception circuit 14a and the control unit 12a during reception. According to this equation, it is possible to reduce the power consumed in the period (TT + TR + TS) as compared with the case where the radio reception circuit 14a is always in the reception state.

  On the other hand, the transmission terminal 11b includes a wireless transmission circuit 13b that wirelessly transmits data, a wireless reception circuit 14b that receives wirelessly transmitted data, a control unit 12b that controls transmission and reception of data, and switching between transmission and reception of data. The switching unit 15b for performing data transmission, the antenna 16b for transmitting and receiving data as a radio wave, the wireless transmission circuit 13b, the wireless reception circuit 14b, the battery 17b for supplying power to the control unit 12b, and data exchange with the host device An interface 18b to be performed, a switch 19b for turning on / off the power of the wireless transmission circuit 13b, and a switch 20b for turning on / off the power of the wireless reception circuit 14b are provided.

  Here, the control unit 12b is provided with an operation state control unit 31b that shifts the wireless transmission circuit 13b or the wireless reception circuit 14b to an operation state as necessary. The operation state control unit 31b includes a second transmission state control. A unit 32b and a second reception state control unit 33b are provided.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the second reception state control unit 33b waits for reception for the transmission terminal 11b to know that the reception terminal 11a is in the operating state when the transmission event J11 occurs. Transition to state R12. Examples of the transmission event J11 include a case where a transmission command from a host device, battery voltage information generated inside the transmission terminal 11b, and data relayed from another wireless device are received.

  The transmission event J11 (for example, the transmission command) includes data to be transmitted (data such as an ID of a destination wireless terminal) in addition to data to be transmitted. Therefore, the transmission terminal 11b can determine to which reception terminal 11a the data should be transmitted when the transmission event J11 occurs, and the notification source is the data transmission partner by the ID notification in step S1. It can be determined whether or not.

  Further, when the transmission terminal 11b receives the intermittent transmission signal P11 (a signal indicating that it is in an operating state) transmitted from any reception terminal 11a in the reception wait state R12, the second transmission state control unit 32b The receiving terminal 11a in the operation state is shifted to a transmission state T12 for transmitting the data to be transmitted. However, as described above, the intermittent transmission signal P11 includes the ID of the receiving terminal 11, and when this ID does not match the destination ID by the transmission event J11, the process does not shift to the transmission state T12, The reception waiting state R12 is continued as it is.

Hereinafter, the processing operation of the operation state control unit 31b will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 (b) and FIG. 3 (b).
FIG. 2B is a process flowchart of the operation state control unit 31b, and FIG. 3B is an operation timing chart of the transmission terminal 11b by this process.

The process in FIG. 2B is started when the transmission event J11 occurs in the transmission terminal 11b as described above.
That is, the control unit 12b of the transmission terminal 11b wakes up (wakes up) from the sleep state when the transmission event J11 occurs. First, the second reception state control unit 33b starts a timer (not shown) in which an arbitrary fixed time TW is set in advance. Further, the switch 15b is switched to the wireless reception circuit 14b side, and the switch 20b is turned on to turn on the wireless reception circuit 14b, thereby starting the reception waiting state R12 (step S4). By the timer, the reception waiting state R12 is set for a predetermined time TW at the longest.

  Then, before the timer expires (before the fixed time TW has elapsed; before the determination in step S6 becomes YES), when the intermittent transmission signal P11 transmitted by the receiving terminal 11a of the transmission destination is received (Of course, the ID match determination is performed) (step S5, YES), the data packet of the data to be transmitted is wirelessly transmitted to the receiving terminal 11a of the transmission destination (step S7). In order to perform the process of step S7, the second transmission state control unit 32b switches the switching unit 15b to the wireless transmission circuit 13b side and controls the switch 19b to turn on the wireless transmission circuit 13b (at that time, the switch 20b is controlled to be OFF) (this means that the state moves to the transmission state T12 shown in FIG. 3B).

When the process of step S7 is completed, the process shifts to the sleep state without returning to the reception waiting state R12 (step S8).
3 (a) and 3 (b) are shown independently of each other and do not show mutual relations (examples of mutual relations include FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b)). ).

  On the other hand, when the timer expires without receiving the intermittent transmission signal P11 transmitted by the receiving terminal 11a as the transmission partner (when a certain time TW has elapsed) (YES in step S6), the sleep state is entered. Transition is made (step S8). That is, the switch is controlled to turn off both the wireless transmission circuit 13b and the wireless reception circuit 14b, and the control unit 12b itself is put into a sleep state.

  Here, the above-mentioned fixed time TW is set to satisfy the following equation (2) so that the transmission state T11 of all the receiving terminals 11a existing in a place where radio waves can be received can be confirmed. Can do.

TW> TT + (TT + TR + TS) (2)
However, considering the case where the transmission state T11 of the receiving terminal 11a cannot be confirmed due to a communication error or the like, the following equation is used so that the transmission state T11 of the receiving terminal 11a can be confirmed N times (N is an integer of 2 or more) times The predetermined time TW can be set so as to satisfy.

TW> TT + N × (TT + TR + TS) (3)
FIG. 4 is a timing diagram showing an example of a wireless terminal intermittent communication method based on the above-described processing.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 4, the processing described above will be described together.
In the description here, the control units 12a and 12b are collectively described as being performed without distinction for each of the functional units included in the control units 12a and 12b as described above.

  In FIG. 4, on the receiving terminal 11a side, during the operation period (TT + TR) in which the control unit 12a is in the operating state, the control unit 12a first turns on the switch 19a and wirelessly supplies power during the transmission period TT. By supplying the transmission circuit 13a, the wireless transmission circuit 13a is shifted to the transmission state T11. In addition, the control unit 12a turns on the switch 20a in the reception period TR following the transmission period TT (at that time, turns off the switch 19a. Further, switching control of the switching unit is also performed; The same applies to the description of), and by supplying power to the wireless reception circuit 14a, the wireless reception circuit 14a is shifted to the reception state R11.

  Then, the control unit 12a turns off both the switches 19a and 20a after the transmission state T11 of the predetermined period TT and the reception state R11 of the subsequent fixed period TR, so that the wireless transmission circuit 13a and the wireless reception circuit 14a are turned off. And the control unit 12a itself enters the sleep state, thereby shifting to the sleep period TS.

  By repeating the above-described control, the control unit 12a can intermittently repeat the transmission state T11 of the fixed period TT and the subsequent reception state R11 of the fixed period TR with the interval of the sleep period TS.

  On the other hand, on the transmission terminal 11b side, the control unit 12b normally turns off the power of the wireless transmission circuit 13b and the wireless reception circuit 14b by turning off the switches 19b and 20b (unless the transmission event J11 occurs). In addition, the control unit 12b itself is in a sleep state. Then, the control unit 12b that is activated by the occurrence of the transmission event J11 as a trigger turns on the switch 20b and supplies power to the wireless reception circuit 14b so that the wireless reception circuit 14b is in a reception waiting state R12 for a certain time TW. To migrate.

  When the wireless transmission circuit 13a is shifted to the transmission state T11 on the receiving terminal 11a side, the wireless transmission circuit 13a transmits the intermittent transmission signal P11 via the antenna 16a as described above. As already described, the intermittent transmission signal P11 also includes information on a code (ID) unique to each receiving terminal 11a (in addition, for example, the signal is an intermittent transmission signal). May also be included; this also applies to other signals).

  When the intermittent transmission signal P11 is transmitted from the reception terminal 11a at any time during the period when the transmission terminal 11b is in the reception waiting state R12 as shown in FIG. 4, the transmission terminal 11b performs this intermittent transmission. A signal P11 is received. Here, even when the intermittent transmission signal P11 is transmitted from the receiving terminal 11a asynchronously with the reception waiting state R12 by setting the time TW of the reception waiting state R12 so as to satisfy the above-described expression (2), the radio wave Can transmit the intermittent transmission signal P11 to all the transmission terminals 11b existing in a place where the transmission terminal 11b can be received, and the reception terminal 11a can reliably notify the transmission terminal 11b that it is operating. .

  Then, when the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received by the transmission terminal 11b that is in the reception waiting state R12, the transmission terminal 11b, as already described, has a code unique to the reception terminal 11a included in the intermittent transmission signal P11 ( Based on the ID), it is determined whether or not the receiving terminal 11a is a transmission partner. If it is confirmed that the receiving terminal 11a is the transmission partner, the transmitting terminal 11b immediately shifts to the transmission state T12 and transmits the transmission signal P12 to the receiving terminal 11a.

  Here, also on the receiving terminal 11a side, if the intermittent transmission signal P11 is transmitted in the transmission state T11, the receiving terminal 11a shifts to the receiving state R11 immediately after that, so when the transmitting terminal 11b is in the transmitting state T12, the receiving terminal 11a Thus, the receiving terminal 11a can receive the transmission signal P12 transmitted from the transmitting terminal 11b without synchronization between the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b using a timer or the like.

  However, it is not always necessary to be “immediately after”. In short, with the transmission / reception timing of the intermittent transmission signal P11 as a reference, the reception terminal 11a and the transmission terminal 11b subsequently enter the reception state R11 and the transmission state T12 at the same timing ("immediately after" or after the same time has passed), respectively. What is necessary is just to set beforehand so that it may transfer.

  In the method of this example, the transmission terminal 11b waits in the reception waiting state R12 before transmitting data to the reception terminal 11a, and before the transmission terminal 11b transmits packet data related to the transmission event, It becomes possible to notify the transmission terminal 11b that 11a is in an operating state. Furthermore, based on this notification timing, the state shifts to the reception state R11 and the transmission state T12, respectively.

  For this reason, even when the receiving terminal 11a repeats the operation state asynchronously and intermittently, the data is received when the receiving terminal 11a is in the operating state without synchronizing the operation timing between the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b. Since the transmission terminal 11b does not need to continue the transmission state T12 for a long time in order for the transmission terminal 11b to capture the reception terminal 11a, it is possible to reduce power consumption during transmission and reception. On the other hand, the occupied time of the space channel during the transmission operation can be reduced.

  Note that, when it is confirmed on the transmission terminal 11b side that the reception terminal 11a is the transmission partner based on the code (ID) unique to the reception terminal 11a included in the intermittent transmission signal P11, as shown in FIG. The transmission terminal 11b may cancel the reception waiting state R12 immediately after that. As a result, it is possible to reliably confirm whether or not the receiving terminal 11a is the transmission partner of the current data on the transmitting terminal 11b side, and shorten the time during which the transmitting terminal 11b is in the reception waiting state R12. Thus, the power consumption of the transmission terminal 11b can be reduced.

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram showing another example of the intermittent communication method of the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 5, on the receiving terminal 11a side, the transmission state T11 for a certain period TT and the subsequent reception state R11 for a certain period TR are repeated intermittently with an interval of the sleep period TS. On the other hand, when the transmission event J11 occurs, the transmission terminal 11b side shifts to the reception waiting state R12 for a certain time TW.

  And when it transfers to transmission state T11 in the receiving terminal 11a side, the intermittent transmission signal P11 is transmitted and the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received in the transmission terminal 11b which is in the reception waiting state R12. When the transmission terminal 11b in the reception waiting state R12 receives the intermittent transmission signal P11, the transmission terminal 11b receives the reception based on the code unique to the reception terminal 11a included in the intermittent transmission signal P11. It is determined whether the terminal 11a is a transmission partner. When it is confirmed that the receiving terminal 11a is the transmission partner, the transmission terminal 11b immediately shifts to the transmission state T12 and transmits the transmission signal P12 to the transmission partner receiving terminal 11a.

Up to this point, the process is the same as in FIG.
And the transmission terminal 11b will transfer to reception state R13 immediately, if the transmission signal P12 is transmitted to the reception terminal 11a. The reception state R13 is realized by substantially the same processing as the reception state R12 (the difference is the type of data to be awaited (P11 or P15 described later)). The same applies to T11 to T13 and the like (only the data to be transmitted is different).

  On the other hand, when the reception terminal 11a transmits the intermittent transmission signal P11, the reception terminal 11a immediately shifts to the reception state R11 and can receive the transmission signal P12 transmitted from the transmission terminal 11b. This is the same as FIG. When receiving the transmission signal P12 transmitted from the transmission terminal 11b, the reception terminal 11a immediately shifts to the transmission state T13 and transmits a response signal P15 to the transmission signal P12 to the transmission terminal 11b.

Then, when the transmission terminal 11b receives the response signal P15 from the reception terminal 11a, the transmission terminal 11b can immediately stop the reception waiting state R12.
As a result, the transmission terminal 11b can reliably confirm whether or not the data has been successfully received on the reception terminal 11a side, and the time during which the transmission terminal 11b is in the reception waiting state can be shortened. Thus, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the transmission terminal 11b while ensuring the reliability of data communication.

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram showing still another example of the intermittent communication method of the wireless terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 6, it is assumed that the transmission terminal 11b communicates with a plurality of reception terminals 11a and 11c. The receiving terminal 11c can have the same configuration as the receiving terminal 11a in FIG.

  On the receiving terminals 11a and 11c side, the transmission state T11 for a certain period TT and the subsequent reception state R11 for a certain period TR are intermittently repeated with an interval of the sleep period TS. On the other hand, on the transmission terminal 11b side, when a transmission event J11 for the reception terminal 11a occurs, the transmission terminal 11b shifts to the reception waiting state R12 for a predetermined time TW.

  And when it transfers to transmission state T11 in the receiving terminal 11a side, the intermittent transmission signal P11 is transmitted and the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received in the transmission terminal 11b which is in the reception waiting state R12. When the transmission terminal 11b in the reception waiting state R12 receives the intermittent transmission signal P11, the transmission terminal 11b is based on a code (ID) unique to the reception terminal 11a included in the intermittent transmission signal P11. Then, it is determined whether or not the receiving terminal 11a is a transmission partner. If it is confirmed that the receiving terminal 11a is the transmission partner, the transmitting terminal 11b immediately shifts to the transmission state T12 and transmits the transmission signal P12 to the receiving terminal 11a.

On the other hand, when the reception terminal 11a transmits the intermittent transmission signal P11, the reception terminal 11a immediately shifts to the reception state R11 and can receive the transmission signal P12 transmitted from the transmission terminal 11b.
The steps so far are the same as in FIG.

Here, in this example, in the transmission terminal 11b, the transmission event J12 for the reception terminal 11c is further generated during the reception waiting state R12 in response to the generation of the transmission event J11.
In this case, the transmission terminal 11b continues the reception waiting state R12 even after transmitting the transmission signal P12 to the reception terminal 11a. Then, when the receiving terminal 11c shifts to the transmission state T11, the illustrated intermittent transmission signal P13 is transmitted, and the intermittent transmission signal P13 is received by the transmission terminal 11b in the reception waiting state R12. In this example, the fixed time TW may be based on the time when the transmission event J12 occurs.

  When the intermittent transmission signal P13 is received by the transmission terminal 11b in the reception waiting state R12, the transmission terminal 11b receives the reception terminal based on the code unique to the reception terminal 11c included in the intermittent transmission signal P13. It is determined whether 11c is a transmission partner. When it is confirmed that the receiving terminal 11c is the transmission partner, the transmitting terminal 11b immediately shifts to the transmission state T13 and transmits the transmission signal P14 to the receiving terminal 11c.

The transmission state T13 is substantially the same as the transmission state T12 (only the data to be transmitted and the transmission partner are different).
On the other hand, when receiving the intermittent transmission signal P13, the reception terminal 11c immediately shifts to the reception state R11 and can receive the transmission signal P14 transmitted from the transmission terminal 11b.

  As a result, even when transmission events J11 and J12 targeting a plurality of receiving terminals 11a and 11c occur in succession, transmission processing for the plurality of receiving terminals 11a and 11c can be continuously performed. Even when the receiving terminals 11a and 11c are intermittently repeating the operation state, data communication for the plurality of receiving terminals 11a and 11c can be efficiently performed.

  The first transmission state control unit 32a, the first reception state control unit 33a, the second transmission state control unit 32b, and the second reception state control unit 33b are described with instructions for performing the processing performed by these control units. This can be realized by causing a computer to execute the programmed program.

  Then, if this program is stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, the storage medium is mounted on a computer mounted on the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b, and the program is installed in the computer, whereby the first The processing performed by the transmission state control unit 32a, the first reception state control unit 33a, the second transmission state control unit 32b, and the second reception state control unit 33b can be realized. Further, the program may be installed in the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b by downloading the program to a computer mounted on the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b via a communication network.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a radio terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
As already described, since a radio can generally be either a transmission side or a reception side, it has both functions of the reception terminal 11a and the transmission terminal 11b shown in FIG. Accordingly, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b illustrated in FIG. 7 have both functions of the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b. Of course, the configurations of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b are the same (although the codes are changed, they are substantially the same).

  Therefore, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b may be called the wireless terminals 111 without being distinguished from each other. The same applies to each component in the wireless terminal 111, and for example, the control unit 112 may be called without distinction as the control units 112a and 112b. The same applies to other components. However, for convenience of explanation, there are cases where they are distinguished.

  In the following description, when the wireless terminals 111a and 111b operate as the receiving side, they are referred to as receiving-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b, and when operating as the transmitting side, the transmitting-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b. And so on. In addition, when either one of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b is a reception side, the other is assumed to be a transmission side.

Similarly, a wireless terminal 111c described later has the same configuration as the wireless terminal 111a and the like.
Although FIG. 7 will be described below, since it has been described above, this description simply summarizes the functions of both the receiving terminal 11a and the transmitting terminal 11b already described.

  In FIG. 7, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b include wireless transmission circuits 113a and 113b that transmit data wirelessly, wireless reception circuits 114a and 114b that receive wirelessly transmitted data, and control that controls transmission and reception of data. Units 112a and 112b, switching units 115a and 115b for switching transmission / reception of data, antennas 116a and 116b for transmitting and receiving data as a radio wave to space, wireless transmission circuits 113a and 113b, wireless reception circuits 114a and 114b, and Batteries 117a and 117b for supplying power to the control units 112a and 112b, interfaces 118a and 118b for exchanging data with the host device, switches 119a and 119b for turning on / off the power of the wireless transmission circuits 113a and 113b, and wireless reception, respectively. Circuit 11 a, 114b of the power source to on / off switch 120a, 120b, respectively. In addition, the control units 112a and 112b are provided with a timer (not shown) to enter a sleep state in which the power consumption of the control units 112a and 112b itself is kept to a minimum, and can shift to an operation state after a certain time.

  Here, the control units 112a and 112b are provided with operation state control units 131a and 131b for intermittently shifting the wireless transmission circuits 113a and 113b or the wireless reception circuits 114a and 114b to the operation state, respectively. 131a and 131b are provided with first transmission state control units 132a and 132b, first reception state control units 133a and 133b, second transmission state control units 134a and 134b, and second reception state control units 135a and 135b, respectively. Yes.

  Then, the first transmission state control units 132a and 132b inform the transmission-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b that the reception-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b are in the operation state in the operation state of the reception-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b. Each can be shifted to a transmission state T11 for notification. In addition, the first reception state control units 133a and 133b transmit the transmission side T11 to notify the transmission side wireless terminals 111a and 111b, respectively, that the reception side wireless terminals 111a and 111b are in an operating state. To the reception state R11 for receiving data transmitted from the wireless terminals 111a and 111b.

  Further, the second reception state control units 135a and 135b are used for the transmission-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b to know that the reception-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b are in an operating state when the transmission event J11 occurs. The state is shifted to the reception waiting state R12. In addition, the second transmission state control units 134a and 134b receive data (such as the above ID) indicating that the reception-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b are transmission partners in the reception waiting state R12. When each is received, the state is shifted to the transmission state T12 for transmitting data to the receiving side wireless terminals 111a and 111b in the operating state.

  The operation state control units 131a and 131b can intermittently repeat the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 in the reception-side wireless terminals 111a and 111b, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing an intermittent communication method of the wireless terminal of FIG.
In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the wireless terminal 111b communicates with a plurality of wireless terminals 111a and 111c. The wireless terminal 111c can have the same configuration as the wireless terminals 111a and 111b in FIG.

  In each of the wireless terminals 111a to 111c, the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 are intermittently repeated with the sleep state (the sleep period TS or the like) interposed therebetween. Further, in the wireless terminals 111a to 111c, when an arbitrary transmission event to any other wireless terminal occurs, the wireless terminals 111a to 111c shift to the reception waiting state R12 for a certain time (such as TW). As described above, when the intermittent transmission signal P11 in the transmission state T11 is transmitted from the data transmission partner related to the transmission event during the reception waiting state R12, the state shifts to the transmission state T12 and data transmission ( A transmission signal P12) is performed. Further, in this example, as shown in the figure, when the sleep period TS ends during the reception waiting state R12, the reception waiting state R12 is interrupted, the state is shifted to the transmission state T11 and the reception state R11, and then the reception waiting is again performed. Return to state R12. At that time, the control may be performed such that the period of the reception waiting state R12 before and after the interruption is equal to the predetermined time TW, or the present invention is not limited to this example.

In the illustrated example, first, it is assumed that the transmission event J11 for the wireless terminal 111b occurs in the wireless terminal 111a, and the state shifts to the reception waiting state R12 for a predetermined time.
When the wireless terminal 111b shifts to the transmission state T11, the intermittent transmission signal P11 is transmitted, and the wireless terminal 111a in the reception waiting state R12 receives the intermittent transmission signal P11. When the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received by the wireless terminal 111a in the reception waiting state R12, the wireless terminal 111a transmits the wireless signal based on the code unique to the wireless terminal 111b included in the intermittent transmission signal P11. It is determined whether the terminal 111b is a transmission partner. When it is confirmed that the wireless terminal 111b is a transmission partner, the wireless terminal 111a can immediately shift to the transmission state T12 and transmit the transmission signal P12 to the wireless terminal 111b.

On the other hand, when the wireless terminal 111b transmits the intermittent transmission signal P11, the wireless terminal 111b immediately shifts to the reception state R11 and can receive the transmission signal P12 transmitted from the wireless terminal 111a.
Also, in the wireless terminal 111b, a transmission event J11 for the wireless terminal 111c occurs at the timing shown in the figure. As described above, the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 are interrupted between the transmission terminals T11 for a certain period of time. It shifts to the reception waiting state R12 only.

  When the wireless terminal 111c shifts to the transmission state T11, the intermittent transmission signal P13 is transmitted, and the wireless terminal 111b in the reception waiting state R12 receives the intermittent transmission signal P13. When the wireless terminal 111b in the reception waiting state R12 receives the intermittent transmission signal P13, the wireless terminal 111b transmits the wireless signal based on the code unique to the wireless terminal 111c included in the intermittent transmission signal P13. It is determined whether the terminal 111c is a transmission partner. When it is confirmed that the wireless terminal 111c is a transmission partner, the wireless terminal 111b can immediately shift to the transmission state T12 and transmit the transmission signal P14 to the wireless terminal 111c.

On the other hand, when the wireless terminal 111c transmits the intermittent transmission signal P13, the wireless terminal 111c immediately shifts to the reception state R11 and can receive the transmission signal P14 transmitted from the wireless terminal 111b.
This allows the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 to be intermittently repeated in the same wireless terminals 111a to 111c during the reception waiting state R12, while reducing the space channel occupation time in bidirectional communication, It is possible to reduce power consumption during transmission and reception and to shift to a communication state asynchronously.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram showing still another example of the intermittent communication method of the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 9, in the wireless terminals 111a and 111b, the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 are intermittently repeated with the sleep state interposed therebetween. Further, when the transmission event J11 for the wireless terminal 111a occurs, the wireless terminal 111b shifts to the reception waiting state R12 for a predetermined time while interrupting the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11.

  When the wireless terminals 111a and 111b shift to the transmission state T11, intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13 are transmitted, respectively. Here, when the wireless terminals 111a and 111b shift to the transmission state T11 at the same time, the transmission timings of the intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13 match, and the wireless terminal 111b in the reception waiting state R12 can receive the intermittent transmission signal P13. Disappear. And when the timing which transfers to transmission state T11 in radio | wireless terminal 111a, 111b is constant, once the transmission timing of intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13 will correspond once, the transmission timing of intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13 after the next will also correspond. The possibility increases.

  For this reason, in the radio | wireless terminals 111a and 111b, the period which becomes transmission state T11 and subsequent reception state R11 can be changed every time. For example, in the wireless terminal 111a, the cycle of the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 can be TW + αR + TT, and in the wireless terminal 111b, the cycle of the transmission state T11 and the subsequent reception state R11 can be TW + αB + TT. However, αR and αB are values specific to the transmission timings of the intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13 calculated by the wireless terminals 111a and 111b each time. For example, αR and αB can be set to random values calculated on the basis of the identification codes of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b and information about the passage of time.

  Then, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b change the transmission state T11 and the subsequent period of the reception state R11 each time so that the transmission timings of the intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13 coincide with each other, and then the wireless terminal 111b enters the transmission state T11. Before shifting again, the wireless terminal 111a can shift again to the transmission state T11. Then, when the wireless terminal 111a shifts again to the transmission state T11, the intermittent transmission signal P13 is transmitted, and the intermittent transmission signal P13 is received by the wireless terminal 111b in the reception waiting state R12. When the intermittent transmission signal P13 is received by the wireless terminal 111b that is in the reception waiting state R12, the wireless terminal 111b transmits the wireless signal based on the code unique to the wireless terminal 111a included in the intermittent transmission signal P13. It is determined whether the terminal 111a is a transmission partner. When it is confirmed that the wireless terminal 111a is a transmission partner, the wireless terminal 111b can immediately shift to the transmission state T12 and transmit the transmission signal P14 to the wireless terminal 111a.

  On the other hand, when transmitting the intermittent transmission signal P13, the wireless terminal 111a immediately shifts to the reception state R11 and can receive the transmission signal P14 transmitted from the wireless terminal 111b. As a result, even when bidirectional communication is periodically performed between the wireless terminals 111a and 111b, it is possible to avoid collision of operation timings of the periodic transmission, and to reduce the space channel occupation time in the bidirectional communication. However, it is possible to reduce power consumption during transmission and reception and to shift to a communication state asynchronously.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the hardware of the receiving terminal 11a and transmitting terminal 11b shown in FIG. 1 and the wireless terminals 111a and 111b shown in FIG.
10 includes an antenna 201, a transmission / reception switching unit 202, a wireless transmission circuit 203, a wireless reception circuit 204, a transmission state control unit 205, a reception state control unit 206, a data transmission control unit 207, and an intermittent operation control unit 208. , ID notification signal determination unit 209, power source (battery) 210, power source line 211, switch 212, and switch 213.

  The transmission state control unit 205, the reception state control unit 206, the data transmission control unit 207, the intermittent operation control unit 208, and the ID notification signal determination unit 209 are stored in a built-in or unillustrated external memory, etc. These are various functional units realized by reading and executing a predetermined application program stored in advance in the apparatus.

  Note that the transmission state control unit 205, the reception state control unit 206, the data transmission control unit 207, the intermittent operation control unit 208, and the ID notification signal determination unit 209 as a whole are the control unit 12a shown in FIGS. , 12b, 111a, and 111b. Therefore, the functions of the control units 12a, 12b, 111a, and 111b are also performed by the CPU 220 and the like shown in the drawing by reading and executing a predetermined application program stored in advance in a storage device such as an internal memory or an external memory (not shown). It can be said that it is realized.

  Therefore, of course, the operation state control units 31a, 31b, 131a, 131b, the transmission state control units 32a, 32b, 132a, 132b, 133a, 133b, the reception state control units 33a, 33b, 134a, 134b, It can be said that the functions of 135a and 135b are also realized by the CPU 220 or the like shown in the figure reading out and executing a predetermined application program stored in advance in a storage device such as an internal memory or an external memory (not shown). .

  Further, in the processing of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 15, 19, 21 to 24, 33, 36, etc., which will be described later, the CPU 220 shown in the drawing is a storage device such as an internal memory (not shown). It can be said that this is realized by reading and executing a predetermined application program stored in advance. In addition, the storage device is necessary for the processing described above, such as the configuration information shown in FIGS. 31A, 31B, and 17A, and the processing shown in FIGS. 15, 19, and 21-24. Various data (for example, the tables in FIGS. 25 and 32) are also stored.

  The antenna 201 corresponds to the antenna 16a and the like, the transmission / reception switching unit 202 corresponds to the switching unit 15a and the like, the wireless transmission circuit 203 corresponds to the wireless transmission circuit 13a and the like, and the wireless reception circuit 204 corresponds to the wireless reception circuit 14a. These are not specifically described.

  The switch 212 and the switch 213 correspond to the switches 19a and 20a, and the configuration thereof is shown more clearly here. That is, the switch 212 and the switch 213 are provided on the power supply line 211 as shown in the figure, and the power (battery) for the wireless transmission circuit 203 and the wireless reception circuit 204 is controlled by ON / OFF control of the switches 212 and 213. The power supply from 210 is turned ON / OFF.

ON / OFF control of the switches 212 and 213 is performed by the transmission state control unit 205 and the reception state control unit 206 based on intermittent operation control by the intermittent operation control unit 208, respectively.
The intermittent operation control unit 208 manages each of the above periods (TT, TR, TS, TW), and issues a switch ON / OFF instruction to the transmission state control unit 205 and the reception state control unit 206. That is, the intermittent operation control unit 208, the transmission state control unit 205, and the reception state control unit 206 perform ON / OFF control of power supply to the wireless transmission circuit 203 and the wireless reception circuit 204. In other words, the intermittent operation control unit 208, the transmission state control unit 205, and the reception state control unit 206 include the transmission state control units 32a, 32b, 132a, 132b, 133a, and 133b described above, the reception state control units 33a, It is a functional unit corresponding to 33b, 134a, 134b, 135a, 135b.

  When the wireless reception circuit 204 is activated by the intermittent operation control unit 208 or the like, wireless transmission signals from other wireless terminals can be received by the wireless reception circuit 204, and received data received by the wireless reception circuit 204 is ID It is input to the notification signal determination unit 209 or transmitted to a host device (not shown).

  The ID notification signal determination unit 209 extracts the ID included in the signal received by the wireless reception circuit 14a, determines whether or not the transmission source of the signal is a packet data transmission partner, and determines the determination result as data. The data is passed to the transmission control unit 207.

  When the wireless transmission circuit 203 is activated by the intermittent operation control unit 208 or the like and wireless data transmission is possible, the data transmission control unit 207 transmits the intermittent transmission signals P11 and P13, the response signal P15, and the transmission signal P12. , P14 and the like are transmitted wirelessly. The transmission signals P12, P14 and the like are determined based on the determination result passed from the ID notification signal determination unit 209.

  As described above, the processing of any of the functional units shown in FIG. 10 has already been described. Here, it is clear that the switch ON / OFF control and the above-described various processing are executed by the CPU. For this purpose, the illustrated configuration diagram is shown and described.

FIG. 11 is a state transition diagram illustrating the operation method of the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 11, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b in FIG. 7 periodically enter a sleep state (K11). Note that the sleep state indicates a state in which the power of the wireless transmission circuits 113a and 113b and the wireless reception circuits 114a and 114b is turned off, and the control units 112a and 112b themselves are operating only with an activation timer.

  When the wireless terminal 111a, 111b is in the sleep state and the timer expires, the state transits to the transmission state T11 (K12). When the transmission process is completed in the transmission state T11, the state transits to the reception state R11 following the transmission state T11 and waits for reception (K13). When the reception wait time is up in the reception state R11, the sleep state is restored. On the other hand, when reception is performed in the reception state R11, reception processing is performed (K14), and if the received data is invalid, the process returns to the sleep state. On the other hand, when the data received in the reception state R11 is information addressed to itself, the data is processed (K15), and then returns to the sleep state.

  On the other hand, when a transmission event occurs when the wireless terminals 111a and 111b are in the sleep state (K16), after selecting a transmission destination candidate, the wireless terminal 111a and 111b transition to the reception wait state R12 (K17). In the reception waiting state R12, a transmission destination candidate is selected every time a transmission event occurs.

In the reception waiting state R12, when the timer expires, the state transits to the transmission state T11 (K18), and when the transmission process is completed, the process returns to the reception waiting state R12.
If reception is performed in the reception wait state R12, reception processing is performed (K19), and if the received data is invalid, the process returns to the reception wait state R12. On the other hand, if the data received in the reception process is information addressed to itself, the data is processed (K20), and then the process returns to the reception wait state R12.

  In addition, when the data received in the reception process is for notifying the operation state of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b are based on codes unique to the wireless terminals 111a and 111b included in the data. It is determined whether it is a transmission partner (K21). Then, when it is confirmed that the wireless terminals 111a and 111b are not transmission partners, the process returns to the reception waiting state R12. On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the wireless terminals 111a and 111b are not transmission partners, the wireless terminals 111a and 111b immediately shift to the transmission state T12 and perform data transmission (K22). When the transmission information remains, the process returns to the reception wait state R12, and when all transmission processes are completed, the process returns to the sleep state.

  Here, in the wireless communication network system disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like, when each wireless terminal has the configuration and operation of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b, first, each wireless terminal is in normal time (a transmission event J11 occurs). When not), the operation state on the receiving side is repeated intermittently. Then, the wireless terminals in which an arbitrary transmission event J11 has occurred (not only the wireless terminal that is the packet transmission source, but all the wireless terminals (relay wireless terminals) that have been requested to relay this packet) are in a reception waiting state R12 for a certain time TW. However, as described above, if the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received and the packet is data-transmitted (transmission signal P12 is transmitted), the reception waiting state R12 may be terminated even before the predetermined time TW has elapsed. . In the wireless communication network system disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like, there are many cases where there are many wireless terminals around each wireless terminal, so there is a high possibility that packet data can be transmitted at an early stage. If the state R12 can be completed, battery consumption can be reduced accordingly.

  That is, in the wireless communication network system disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like, when each wireless terminal has the configuration and operation of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b, a specific data destination is associated with the occurrence of an arbitrary transmission event J11. It cannot be decided. In the wireless communication network system disclosed in Patent Document 1 or the like, the destination of a packet (final destination; final destination) is specified with the occurrence of an arbitrary transmission event J11. The communication partner is determined by referring to the configuration information shown in FIG. In other words, a wireless terminal that satisfies a predetermined condition (as described in Patent Document 1 or the like, basically a “forward-facing adjacent wireless terminal” described in Patent Document 1, but not limited thereto (details will be described later)). ) Is a packet data transmission partner.

  When this is applied to the operations of the wireless terminals 111a and 111b, the wireless terminal that first transmitted the intermittent transmission signal P11 among the wireless terminals that satisfy the predetermined condition is used as a packet data transmission partner to perform packet transmission (the transmission signal P12). Or the like). As a result, as described above, there is a high possibility that the reception waiting state R12 can be terminated early.

For example, FIGS. 12A and 12B show an example of a communication operation between the wireless terminals of this example.
In FIG. 12A, when only one other wireless terminal can communicate with an arbitrary wireless terminal, FIG. 12B shows many other wireless terminals that can communicate with any wireless terminal. An example of operation in a certain case is shown. As shown in FIG. 12, the transmission signal P12 is transmitted in FIG. 12B much earlier than in FIG. 12A, and the reception waiting state R12 is completed.

  Even if the examples of FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) are extreme, it is clear that it is more likely that communication with many wireless terminals can end the reception waiting state R12 earlier. is there. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 12B, the case where the transmission source of the intermittent transmission signal P11 received first satisfies the above-mentioned predetermined condition is taken as an example, but even if this does not satisfy the condition, the next intermittent transmission is performed. If the transmission source of the signal P11 and the transmission source of the next intermittent transmission signal P11 satisfy the predetermined condition, the packet data (P12) is transmitted at that time, and the reception waiting state R12 can be terminated.

  Further, in the technology described in Patent Document 1 and the like, the packet data transmission partner is determined from among wireless terminals (the number of communication times in the configuration information is one) that the own terminal can directly communicate with, Since the “wireless terminal that can be directly communicated with itself” is basically selected to be able to communicate stably, it does not mean that it cannot communicate with other wireless terminals at all.

  That is, as described in the prior art, in the wireless communication network system disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like, based on the reliability diagnosis result of the communication path, the communication partner with high reliability (in the example of the wireless terminal A, Although communication was performed only with the wireless terminals B, C, D), even if other wireless terminals could receive the intermittent transmission signal P11 from the wireless terminal, at least at this time with the wireless terminal Communication is possible.

Thereby, for example, packet transmission through a packet transfer path as shown in FIG. 13 may be possible.
FIG. 13 shows an example in which the packet transmission source is wireless terminal A and the destination is wireless terminal J. In this case, according to the technique described in Patent Document 1 or the like, for example, the packet reaches the wireless terminal J by being relayed in the order of the wireless terminals A → C → E → G → J. That is, the number of communications is 4 times (the number of relays is 3). (Note that “communication count” in the configuration information shown in FIG. 40, FIG. 17 described later, and the like can be replaced by “relay count”. In this case, relay count = communication count−1. (2 times will be 1 relay)
On the other hand, it is assumed that the wireless terminals A and E and the wireless terminals E and J can communicate with each other because the surrounding communication environment is good. In this case, the wireless terminal A on the transmission side can receive the intermittent transmission signal P11 from the wireless terminal E on the reception side in the state of the reception waiting state R12, and thus can communicate with the wireless terminal E at present. The data packet is transmitted to the wireless terminal E as shown by the dotted line in FIG.

  Similarly, the wireless terminal E that has received this data packet enters the reception waiting state R12 as a transmitting wireless terminal, and receives the intermittent transmission signal P11 from the receiving wireless terminal J. It transmits to the wireless terminal J (relays the packet). In this case, the number of times of communication is two times (the number of times of relaying is one), the packet transmission efficiency is improved, and the wireless terminals C and G do not have to perform the packet relay operation, thereby suppressing battery consumption of both terminals. be able to.

  However, when a packet is simply transmitted to the wireless terminal that is the transmission source of the intermittent transmission signal P11 received first after entering the reception waiting state R12, for example, wireless in the direction opposite to the destination (final destination) When relaying to a terminal, the packet relay efficiency is rather deteriorated (the transfer route becomes a detour), and the power consumption as a whole increases (the power saving effect is reduced even if it is not so far).

  For example, in FIG. 13, when the packet transmission source is the wireless terminal C and the destination is the wireless terminal J, the transmission source of the intermittent transmission signal P11 received first after the wireless terminal C enters the reception waiting state R12. However, in the case of the wireless terminal A, if the packet is transmitted to the wireless terminal A and relayed, the packet transfer path becomes a detour. That is, the packet relay efficiency is deteriorated. Moreover, since the number of wireless terminals that perform packet relay increases because the packet transfer route becomes a detour, the power consumption as a whole can increase.

  As described above, each wireless terminal not only performs the basic operation described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7 and the like, but also uses the configuration information in Patent Document 1 described above, for example, as described below. The process shown in 15 is executed.

  The basic operation described in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 and the like can be modified as shown in FIG. 14. Therefore, the process shown in FIG. 15 is based on the modified example shown in FIG. It is not restricted to this example.

  In the modification shown in FIG. 14, when an arbitrary transmission-side wireless terminal in the reception waiting state R12 receives an intermittent transmission signal P11 from an arbitrary reception-side wireless terminal, the wireless of the transmission source of the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received. First, a reception time extension request is transmitted to the terminal, and then a packet of data to be transmitted (corresponding to the transmission signal P12) is transmitted. In the basic operation described above, the period TR in the reception state R11 is constant, but in this example, when the reception time extension request is received, the period TR is extended. The extent of extension is arbitrarily determined and set in advance.

  In the basic operation described above, the transmission signal P12 is transmitted as soon as the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received. However, it may take time to prepare the data of the transmission signal P12. For this reason, in this example, as described above, first, a reception time extension request is transmitted to extend the period of the reception state R11.

  The operation of the wireless terminal of the wireless communication network system of this example will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As described above, an example of a wireless communication network system is assumed to refer to FIG.

  First, a wireless terminal (hereinafter referred to as a packet data transmitting side wireless terminal) in which an arbitrary transmission event J11 (here, a request for transmission or relay of packet data addressed to the wireless terminal X; X is any one of A to J) occurs. First, the process shifts to the reception wait state R12 and waits for reception of the intermittent transmission signal P11 from another wireless terminal (step S11). The intermittent transmission signal P11 includes the ID (identification code) of the wireless terminal that is the transmission source of the signal P11, and it can be said that step S11 is in a state of waiting for the identification code reception.

  The wireless terminal X corresponds to a “final destination wireless terminal” described in Patent Document 1 or the like. Therefore, except for the case where direct communication with the wireless terminal X is possible, the communication partner (packet transmission destination) is a wireless terminal other than the wireless terminal X, and this wireless terminal becomes a new packet data transmission side wireless terminal and packet data. Will be relayed and transmitted. Note that the final destination may be simply referred to as a destination.

  When a transmission signal P11 transmitted by an arbitrary wireless terminal (hereinafter referred to as a packet data receiving side wireless terminal or wireless terminal Y; Y is any one of A to J) is received, a transmission source wireless is transmitted according to the ID. It recognizes which terminal Y is A to J. Then, with reference to the configuration information, a forward neighbor station to the wireless terminal X and a forward neighbor station to the wireless terminal Y are obtained, and it is determined whether or not there is a common neighbor station (step S12). Note that the “front-facing adjacent station” is disclosed in Patent Document 1 and is described briefly later, and thus the description thereof is omitted here. Further, “adjacent station” and “adjacent wireless terminal” are synonymous.

  Further, as already described, the wireless terminal Y is not limited to the adjacent wireless terminal of the packet data transmitting wireless terminal. This is because the intermittent transmission signal P11 transmitted by a wireless terminal (non-adjacent wireless terminal) other than the adjacent wireless terminal may be received as described above.

  For example, taking the configuration information shown in FIGS. 40A and 40B as an example, the packet data transmission side wireless terminal is the wireless terminal A, the wireless terminal X is the wireless terminal J, and the wireless terminal Y is the wireless terminal E. , For wireless terminal A, the forward adjacent stations for wireless terminal J are wireless terminals B, C, and D, and the forward adjacent stations for wireless terminal E are wireless terminals B and C. Therefore, in this case, there is an adjacent station common to both (the wireless terminals B and C are common), so the determination in step S12 is YES.

  If the wireless terminal Y is an adjacent station, the wireless terminal Y itself is regarded as a forward-facing adjacent station to the wireless terminal Y, and the determination in step S12 is performed. Therefore, when the wireless terminal Y is the wireless terminal B, C, or D in the above example, the determination in step S12 is YES.

  Note that the processing in step S12 and the processing in step S25 described later are similar in that they are processing for the purpose of “not to make the packet data transfer path at least detour”. Therefore, if the determination in step S12 is YES, there is a high possibility that the determination in step S25 described later will be NO (ACK (acknowledgment) transmission), but it is not 100%. That is, even if the determination in step S12 is YES, the determination in step S12 may be YES (NACK (negative response) transmission). However, if the determination in step S12 is not performed, the reception extension request transmission process in step S13 is performed every time the transmission signal P11 is received, and the number of communications may increase. It is carried out.

  However, only one of the process in step S12 and the process in step S25 described later may be performed. Note that the processing related to step S25, which will be described later, can be performed on the transmission side, as will be described later.

  If there is no common adjacent station (step S12, NO), the process returns to step S11, and again enters a state of waiting for intermittent transmission signal P11 from another wireless terminal. On the other hand, when there is a common adjacent station (step S12, YES), the reception time extension request is transmitted to the wireless terminal Y that is the transmission source of the transmission signal P11 (step S13). In addition to the ID of the own terminal and the ID of the wireless terminal X, the number of hops from the own terminal to the wireless terminal X is added to the reception time extension request. In the above example, it can be seen that the number of hops from the wireless terminal A to the wireless terminal J (“communication count” shown in the configuration information) is “4”.

  On the other hand, the packet data receiving side wireless terminal (wireless terminal Y) intermittently (from the TS interval) changes from the sleep state of step S21 to the operating state, and then the above-described intermittent transmission signal P11 (the self ID is also set). (Including) is transmitted (step S22), and then the process proceeds to the reception state R11 (step S23). When the reception time extension request transmitted in step S13 is received in the reception waiting state in step S23 (step S24, YES), the configuration information held by the own terminal is referred to from the own terminal to the radio terminal X. Find the number of hops.

  In the configuration information example of the wireless terminal E shown in FIG. 17A later (of course, the wireless terminal E holds at least its own configuration information), the number of hops from the wireless terminal E to the wireless terminal X is “2”. It turns out that it is.

  If the hop count is larger than the hop count added to the reception time extension request (step S25, YES), the packet data transmitting side wireless terminal is NACKed. (Negative response) is transmitted (step S27), and when its own hop count is smaller or the same (step S25, NO), an ACK (acknowledgment) is transmitted to the packet data transmitting side wireless terminal. (Step S26). Then, the reception wait state is continued by extending the time of the reception state R11 (step S28). In the above example, since “2” <“4”, ACK is returned.

  When the packet data transmitting side wireless terminal receives either of the responses in steps S26 and S27 (step S14), the packet data transmitting side wireless terminal determines whether or not the response content is ACK (step S15). In the case of NACK) (step S15, NO), the process returns to step S11 and waits until the next intermittent transmission signal P11 (from another wireless terminal) is received.

  On the other hand, when ACK is received (step S15, YES), packet data is transmitted (step S16). The wireless terminal Y performs reception processing of this packet data (step S29).

Note that the transmitting wireless terminal may perform the same operation as when receiving a NACK if there is no response within a predetermined time.
In addition, the form which does not perform the reception extension request transmission of step S13 may be sufficient. In this embodiment, the packet data transmission process of step S16 (however, the number of hops etc. is added) may be performed instead of the process of step S13. In this case, if the determination at step S25 is YES, the receiving wireless terminal returns a NACK and discards the received packet data (no relaying or the like). Naturally, the transmission side returns to step S11 when NACK is returned. However, in this mode, particularly when the amount of packet data is large (when the probability that NACK is returned is not low), the communication processing load increases. desirable.

  FIGS. 16A and 16B show a communication sequence between the transmission side and the reception side by the processing of FIG. FIG. 16A shows a case where the response is ACK, and FIG. 16B shows a case where the response is NACK.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, when the response is ACK, packet data transmission processing is performed, and the data transmission processing related to the transmission event J11 that has occurred is completed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 16B, when the response is NACK, the data transmission processing related to the transmission event J11 that has occurred is not terminated, and the next transmission opportunity is awaited.

  16 (a) and 16 (b) do not show the detailed transmission state and reception state of each wireless terminal as shown in FIG. 5 and the like. It has become. The same applies to FIG. 12 and FIG. For example, in FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b), the wireless terminal on the receiving side shows only the reception state R11 in the figure, but this only shows an image in which the reception time is extended. When the signal P11 is transmitted in the transmission state T11 in the same manner as in FIG. 5, a reception time extension request is received in the reception state R11. Subsequently, an ACK / NACK response is transmitted in the transmission state T13. Further (not shown in FIG. 5), the data transmitted again in the reception state R11 is received.

  Similarly, in the wireless terminal on the transmission side, when the signal P11 is received in the reception state R12, the transmission state T12 is transmitted to transmit a reception time extension request, and then the reception state R13 is received to receive the ACK / NACK response. When an ACK response is received, the data is transmitted again in a transmission state again (not shown in FIG. 5).

  In the process of FIG. 15 described above, since the receiving side (wireless terminal Y) needs to perform the hop count comparison determination process, the transmitting side wireless terminal receives the reception time even if the determination in step S25 is YES. An extension request must be sent, which wastes energy.

  Therefore, as a modification of the process of FIG. 15, although not particularly shown, the receiving side (wireless terminal Y) does not execute the processes of steps S25, S26, and S27 of FIG. 13, and the transmitting side wireless terminal performs the process of step S13. It is assumed that the process of step S25 is executed before. In this case, if the number of hops related to the transmitting side wireless terminal is larger than the number of hops related to the receiving side (wireless terminal Y) (step S25, YES), data can be passed to the wireless terminal Y. The process shifts to a reception time extension request (of course, the number of hops is not added). Thereafter, the process of steps S14 and S15 is not performed, and the process immediately proceeds to step S16.

  When the wireless terminal Y receives the reception time extension request (step S24, YES), the wireless terminal Y immediately extends the reception time and continues the reception waiting state without performing the processing of steps S25 to S27 as described above (step S28). . When the transmitting side transmits packet data by the process of step S16, the receiving process is performed (step S29).

  In the process of the above-described modification, the “radio time comparison determination process” in step S25 is performed in the transmitting-side wireless terminal (wireless terminal A in this example). Therefore, power consumption can be suppressed. However, in order to perform the process of step S25 on the transmission side, configuration information on the reception side (wireless terminal Y) is required. Since the configuration information of the adjacent wireless terminal is also acquired and stored in Patent Document 1 or the like, for example, if Y = B, C, D, etc., the configuration information shown in FIG. For example, the number of hops from the wireless terminal B to the wireless terminal J is “3”.

  However, as described above, in this example, the reception side (wireless terminal Y) is not limited to the adjacent wireless terminal, and may receive the intermittent transmission signal P11 from the wireless terminal E, for example. Thus, in the above modification, the configuration information stored in each wireless terminal is not limited to the configuration information of itself and the configuration information of the adjacent radio terminal, but also configuration information of other radio terminals other than the adjacent radio terminal. included. However, the configuration information of all other wireless terminals is not stored, and this wireless terminal holds when it can communicate with any other wireless terminal (excluding neighboring wireless terminals) in the past. The configuration information is acquired and stored.

  In the invention of Patent Document 1 and the like, when configuration information from an adjacent wireless terminal is received, the configuration information is updated as necessary in comparison with the configuration information of the own. In addition, when configuration information is received from a wireless terminal other than the adjacent wireless terminal, only the history indicating that the configuration information has been received is stored and used for communication path determination. On the other hand, in this modified example, as described above, configuration information of wireless terminals other than the adjacent wireless terminals is also stored. The adjacent wireless terminal is a wireless terminal whose “communication count” in the configuration information is one. In the case of the wireless terminal A, the wireless terminals B, C, and D are adjacent wireless terminals.

As described above, an example of the configuration information used in this modification is shown in FIG.
In the example illustrated in FIG. 17A, regarding the wireless terminal A, it is assumed that there is a case where communication with the wireless terminals E and F is possible in addition to the adjacent wireless terminals B, C, and D. F configuration information is acquired and stored.

In order to facilitate understanding of the configuration information shown in FIG. 17A, a network configuration example is shown in FIG.
Next, other embodiments of this example will be described below.

  Here, in the invention of Patent Document 1, the adjacent wireless terminals are classified into three types: forward adjacent wireless terminals, backward adjacent wireless terminals, and laterally adjacent wireless terminals. These are described in detail in Patent Document 1 and will be briefly described below.

  Among adjacent wireless terminals for any transmitting wireless terminal, an adjacent wireless terminal that requires more communication times than the transmitting wireless terminal to transmit a communication packet to the final destination wireless terminal This is referred to as a backward-facing adjacent wireless terminal for the wireless terminal that is the final destination of the wireless terminal.

  On the other hand, among the adjacent wireless terminals for the arbitrary transmitting wireless terminal, the adjacent communication terminal requires fewer communication times than the transmitting wireless terminal when transferring the communication packet to the final destination wireless terminal. The wireless terminal is referred to as a forward-facing adjacent wireless terminal for the final destination wireless terminal in the transmitting wireless terminal.

  In addition, among the adjacent wireless terminals for the arbitrary transmission-side wireless terminal, the number of communication required when the communication packet is transferred to the final destination wireless terminal is the same as the number of communication required by the transmission-side wireless terminal. The adjacent wireless terminal is referred to as a laterally adjacent wireless terminal.

  For example, when the arbitrary transmitting wireless terminal is the wireless terminal C, the configuration information in FIG. 17A includes the configuration information held by the wireless terminal C (configuration information of the own terminal and the adjacent wireless terminal). This can be considered as an example. Further, it is assumed that the final destination wireless terminal is the wireless terminal J.

  In the case of this example, first, there are five wireless terminals A, B, D, E, and F as shown in FIG. And it turns out that the frequency | count of communication required for the packet transfer from the radio | wireless terminal C to the radio | wireless terminal J is 3 times. Similarly, the number of communications required for packet transfer from the wireless terminals A, B, D, E, and F to the wireless terminal J can be found by referring to the configuration information in FIG.

  Thus, among the adjacent wireless terminals A, B, D, E, and F, the forward adjacent wireless terminals are the wireless terminals E and F (number of communication times: 2 times), and the horizontally adjacent wireless terminals are the wireless terminals B and D. It can be determined that the rearward adjacent wireless terminal is the wireless terminal A (communication count: 4 times).

  In this example, as described above, the communication partner is not limited to the adjacent wireless terminal. Therefore, if a wireless terminal that can communicate with other than the adjacent wireless terminal is referred to as a “non-adjacent wireless terminal”, any transmitting wireless terminal Can be classified into four types: non-adjacent wireless terminals, forward adjacent wireless terminals, backward adjacent wireless terminals, and laterally adjacent wireless terminals.

  In the process of the flowchart in FIG. 15, as described above, in order to prevent an increase in the number of communications (number of relays) until the packet reaches the final destination wireless terminal, at least from the backward adjacent wireless terminal Even when the intermittent transmission signal P11 is received, packet data is not transmitted. However, in this case, if for some reason (temporary communication path interruption or the like), the intermittent transmission signal P11 from the non-adjacent wireless terminal or the forward adjacent wireless terminal is not received, the packet data is Transmission is impossible (when packet data cannot be transmitted before a certain time TW elapses, the data is discarded due to timeout).

  Therefore, with regard to packet data transmission, priority is given to non-adjacent wireless terminals and forward-facing adjacent wireless terminals, but packet data may be transmitted even if it is a backward-facing adjacent wireless terminal (of course, the priority is lowered). Controlling is a feature of other embodiments.

  For this purpose, first, the maximum time zone TW that is in the reception waiting state R12 is divided into a time zone A, a time zone B, a time zone C, and a time zone D as shown in FIG. Among the divided time zones, the time zone A is the first time zone, the next is the time zone B, the next is the time zone C, and the last time zone is the time zone D.

And a process is performed so that the following rules may be followed (process of FIG. 19 is performed).
Time zone: Wireless terminal allowed to transmit packet data Time zone A; Non-adjacent radio terminal only Time zone B: Non-adjacent radio terminal + forward neighbor radio terminal Time zone C; Non-adjacent radio terminal + forward neighbor radio terminal + lateral neighbor radio Terminal time zone D; non-adjacent wireless terminal + forward adjacent wireless terminal + sideways adjacent wireless terminal + backward adjacent wireless terminal In the above rule, for example, a wireless terminal that is allowed to transmit packet data in time zone B is a non-adjacent wireless terminal, forward adjacent That means only wireless terminals. Therefore, if the transmission source of the intermittent transmission signal P11 received in the time zone B is a horizontally adjacent wireless terminal or a backward adjacent wireless terminal, packet data transmission is not performed.

  Hereinafter, the process of FIG. 19 will be described. FIG. 19 shows only the processing of the transmitting side wireless terminal, and the processing of the receiving side (wireless terminal Y) may be substantially the same as the processing shown in FIG. Shall be explained.

  In FIG. 19, the wireless terminal (transmission-side wireless terminal) in which an arbitrary transmission event J11 (here, a request for transmission or relay of packet data addressed to the wireless terminal X) has occurred is in a reception waiting state as in step S11. The process shifts to R12 to enter a state of waiting for intermittent transmission signal P11 from another wireless terminal (step S31). When an intermittent transmission signal P11 including the ID of the wireless terminal is transmitted from any other wireless terminal, as described above, the wireless terminal with this ID corresponds to any of the above four types of classifications. Since it can be determined whether or not to perform, the processing after step S32 is executed based on the determination result.

  First, if it is a non-adjacent wireless terminal (step S32, YES), packet data transmission is permitted in all the time zones A to D as described above, so the processing of steps S39, S40, and S41 is executed. To do. Note that the processing of steps S39, S40, and S41 is substantially the same as the processing of steps S13 to S16 shown in FIG. 13 (although omitted in the figure, processing corresponding to step S15 is also performed). Accordingly, although not shown in the figure, the receiving side performs the determination process in step S25, and if NACK is returned, the process returns to step S31 without performing packet data transmission in step S41. Become.

  Further, although not shown, the process of step S12 may be further performed when the determination in step S32 is YES, and the process may return to the process of step S31 if the determination in step S12 is NO.

  In any case, even in the case of “packet data transmission is permitted”, packet data transmission is not performed unless the conditions described in FIG. 15 are satisfied. However, the present invention is not limited to this example.

  If it is a forward-facing adjacent wireless terminal (step S33, YES), packet data transmission is permitted in the time zones B to D as described above, so that the current time is in the time zones B to D. (Step S36, YES), the process proceeds to the process after Step S39. If the current time is the time zone A, the process returns to Step S31 to wait for the next intermittent transmission signal P11.

  If it is a sideways adjacent wireless terminal (step S34, YES), packet data transmission is permitted in the time zones C to D as described above, so that the current time is in the time zones C to D. (Step S37, YES) The process proceeds to step S39 and subsequent steps, and if the current time zone is A or B, the process returns to step S31 and waits for reception of the next intermittent transmission signal P11.

  If it is a backward adjacent wireless terminal (YES in step S35), packet data transmission is permitted only in the time zone D as described above, so if the current time is in the time zone D ( (Step S38, YES) The process proceeds to step S39 and subsequent steps, and if the current time is within the time zone A to C, the process returns to step S31 and waits for the next intermittent transmission signal P11.

  If the wireless terminal is a backward-facing adjacent wireless terminal, the determination in step S25 is naturally YES and a NACK is returned. Therefore, here, a method using the “checkpoint (routed wireless terminal)” described in Patent Document 1 is used. Apply. In other words, the check point is a dummy destination terminal, and the determination in step S25 is NO (ACK reply) by transmitting a reception extension request in which the destination is changed from the wireless terminal X to the check point. To do.

In addition, instead of the above rules, the following modified rules may be applied.
Receiving wireless terminal: Probability of sending time extension request Non-adjacent wireless terminal: 100%
Prospective neighboring wireless terminal: 90%
Side-by-side wireless terminal: 50%
Backward adjacent wireless terminal: 10%
In the above example, for example, with respect to the backward adjacent wireless terminal, the time extension request is transmitted only once in 10 times, and the possibility that packet data is transmitted to the backward adjacent wireless terminal is low. On the other hand, for example, in the case of a non-adjacent wireless terminal or a forward-facing adjacent wireless terminal, a time extension request is transmitted 10 times or 9 times out of 10, and a packet is transmitted to the non-adjacent wireless terminal or the forward-facing adjacent wireless terminal. The possibility that data will be transmitted is high. Of course, even if the probability is low, packet data may be transmitted to the backward adjacent wireless terminal.

  The memory or the like of each wireless terminal stores in advance the probability of transmitting a time extension request associated with each of the above four types of wireless terminals (probability to be a packet data transmission destination candidate described later). Then, in the wireless terminal operating as the transmitting side, for example, when receiving an ID or the like transmitted from an arbitrary receiving-side wireless terminal in step S11, it is first determined whether the ID transmission source is the above four types, Probability of transmitting the time extension request according to the determined type (probability of packet data transmission destination candidate described later) is acquired (acquired by referring to the stored contents).

  Then, based on the acquired “probability”, it is determined whether or not the receiving wireless terminal of the transmission source such as the ID is a packet data transmission destination candidate (whether or not a time extension request is transmitted). Since this determination method can be performed by existing technology, it will not be described in particular. For example, if the probability is 10%, one of 10 is selected as a “hit” and one of 10 is randomly selected. May be used. If it is determined to be a packet data transmission destination candidate (time extension request is transmitted), in the example of FIG. 15 and the like, the time extension request transmission process of step S13 is performed, and in the example where the time extension request transmission is not performed. Packet data is transmitted.

  The numerical values of 100%, 90%, 50%, and 10% are merely examples, and are not limited to this example. The probability of transmitting the time extension request, that is, the probability of packet data transmission destination candidate in other words, should satisfy the condition of non-adjacent wireless terminal> forward adjacent wireless terminal> horizontal adjacent wireless terminal> backward adjacent wireless terminal. As long as the condition is satisfied, the numerical value of the probability may be arbitrarily determined.

  Alternatively, although not limited to the above conditions, it is necessary to set at least the non-adjacent wireless terminal and the forward adjacent wireless terminal to have a higher probability of transmitting the time extension request than the backward adjacent wireless terminal. It is.

  Note that the “packet data transmission destination“ candidate ”” means that even if a time extension request is transmitted, if a NACK response is returned in the process of step S25, the packet data transmission destination is This means that it will be a “candidate”. This is the same in the case where the time extension request is not transmitted. In this example, the packet data is transmitted without transmitting the time extension request. However, if the determination at step S25 is YES on the receiving side, for example, the reception process is performed. Is not performed, it is semantically assumed as a packet data transmission destination candidate.

  By the way, as described in the above problem, the ID for identifying each wireless terminal is not a manufacturing number but a logical number arbitrarily determined and set for each wireless terminal. Any method can be used for determining the logical number, but it is necessary that the information amount is very small (for example, about 1 byte) as compared with the manufacturing number. As described above, conventionally, such assignment and registration of IDs have been performed manually by workers and the like. For this reason, it takes time and setting errors such as registering the same number twice by mistake may occur.

  Therefore, it is desirable to be able to automatically assign an ID number. In this case, one of the wireless terminals is provided with a function for assigning an ID number (referred to as an ID management wireless terminal), and this ID management wireless terminal determines the IDs of all other wireless terminals. The method of setting can be considered. This is because ID management is performed when a new wireless terminal is installed in the area of the wireless communication network including the ID management wireless terminal (at least at a position where it can communicate with one of the wireless terminals constituting the wireless communication network). It is conceivable that the wireless terminal determines and sets the ID of this new wireless terminal.

  However, in the case of the wireless communication network of this example, unlike a communication network such as a LAN, the ID management wireless terminal cannot always directly communicate with a new wireless terminal (if the network becomes larger, direct wireless communication may not be possible). It ’s more likely to be relayed. Here, in the case of the wireless communication network of the present example, there is a problem that an ID is necessary for communication between wireless terminals capable of direct wireless communication or for relaying.

A process for realizing automatic ID assignment in the wireless communication network of the present example while solving such problems will be described below.
In the following description, the “manufacturing number” is used as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this example. Any information can be used as long as it can be used as an identification code that can be used to uniquely identify each wireless terminal. Such an identification code is referred to as a “fixed identification code”. That is, “manufacturing number” is an example of “fixed identification code”.

  In this example, each wireless terminal in the wireless communication network includes the ID management wireless terminal and other wireless terminals, and the other wireless terminals are wireless terminals with their own IDs set (referred to as registered wireless terminals). Are classified into wireless terminals that have not yet been set with their own IDs (referred to as unregistered wireless terminals), and the processing contents are different.

Hereinafter, automatic ID assignment / registration processing in the wireless communication network of this example will be described.
Note that each wireless terminal in this example needs to have both functions of the transmission terminal 11b and the reception terminal 11a from the point of performing relay processing, etc., and thus has the configuration shown in FIG. The operation shown in FIG. As already described with reference to FIG. 7, each wireless terminal in this example is a transmitting wireless terminal when operating as the transmitting terminal 11b, and a receiving wireless terminal when operating as the receiving terminal 11a. . Further, the following description (particularly, the description of the processing of the flowchart) does not describe the operation of each function unit of the control unit 112 illustrated in FIG. 7 but describes the operation of the control unit 112.

  As shown in FIG. 8, R12 is not necessarily interrupted and the operations of T11 and R11 are not performed. During the operation as the transmission terminal side, the operation does not operate as the reception terminal side, and the data transmission process is completed. The terminal may be operated as a receiving terminal side.

First, a schematic description will be given with reference to FIG.
FIG. 20 is a schematic sequence diagram of the automatic ID assignment / registration process of this example.
First, in the wireless communication network of this example, an ID is required for communication between each wireless terminal. However, since an unregistered wireless terminal does not have its own ID, a predetermined temporary ID is determined in advance. Used as self ID. As this temporary ID, a number that is not used as a normal ID is used. For example, the temporary ID = '00 'is used here as an example. Since this temporary ID is determined in advance and registered in all the wireless terminals, each wireless terminal has a communication partner ID of '00', so that the communication partner is an unregistered wireless terminal. Can be judged.

  When the unregistered wireless terminal is installed at a position where wireless communication can be performed directly with the ID management wireless terminal, if there is a registration request from the unregistered wireless terminal, the ID management wireless terminal performs an arbitrary ID determination process. The ID of the unregistered wireless terminal is determined (issued), and this is directly notified to the unregistered wireless terminal (issued ID = 'XX' is notified in the illustrated example). The unregistered wireless terminal that has received this issue ID notification registers the notified ID = ‘XX’ as the ID of its own terminal. Therefore, thereafter, communication with other wireless terminals is performed with the self ID = “XX”. That is, an unregistered wireless terminal becomes a registered wireless terminal by registering its own ID.

In addition, the configuration information is created by the processing described in Patent Document 1 and the like, and relay / transfer processing is performed based on the configuration information (becomes a member of a multistage relay network).
On the other hand, if the unregistered wireless terminal cannot directly wirelessly communicate with the ID management wireless terminal, the registration request (ID issue request) is made to the ID management wireless terminal via the registered wireless terminal. Of course, in this case, the issued ID notification from the ID management wireless terminal to the unregistered wireless terminal is also relayed / transferred by one or more registered wireless terminals and passed to the unregistered wireless terminal. Become.

  As shown in FIG. 20, when any registered wireless terminal capable of performing direct wireless communication with any unregistered wireless terminal receives a registration request from the unregistered wireless terminal (ID = '00 '), the request source A standby instruction is sent to the unregistered wireless terminal to make it in a standby state, and an ID issuance request (registration request packet) is transmitted to the ID management wireless terminal. This ID issuance request reaches the ID management wireless terminal via the multistage relay network (relayed / transferred by another registered wireless terminal). Alternatively, it may be passed directly to the ID management wireless terminal (when direct wireless communication is possible).

  The ID management wireless terminal that has received this ID issuance request arbitrarily determines the ID of the unregistered wireless terminal that is the request source, and determines the determined ID (issue ID; ID = 'YY in the illustrated example). The issue ID notification packet for notifying ') is notified to the registered wireless terminal that is the transmission source of the ID issue request via the multistage relay network as described above. Upon receiving the issued ID notification packet, the registered wireless terminal that is the transmission source of the ID issue request forwards it to the unregistered wireless terminal that is the registration request source.

  As a result, the ID determined by the ID management wireless terminal arrives at the unregistered wireless terminal of the registration request source, and the notified ID (ID = 'YY' here) is registered as the ID of the own terminal. To do. After that, it is the same as the unregistered wireless terminal to which the ID = 'XX' is notified, and will not be described in particular.

Hereinafter, the ID automatic assignment / registration process of this example will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
22 is a process flowchart of an unregistered radio terminal, FIG. 23 is a process flowchart of a registered radio terminal, and FIG. 24 is a process flowchart of an ID management radio terminal. The wireless terminal executes the mode determination process of FIG. 21 at the time of activation, for example, determines which of the above three types of wireless terminals it corresponds to, and enters an operation mode according to the determination result. For example, if it is determined that the self is an unregistered wireless terminal, the processing in FIG. 22 is executed.

In addition, when an unregistered wireless terminal registers its own ID, it shifts to the operation mode of the registered wireless terminal.
The automatic ID assigning process of this example is realized by the processes of FIGS. 22, 23, and 24.

  First, for example, it is assumed that each wireless terminal is provided with a predetermined slide SW (switch) or the like, and an operator or the like can perform this slide only on one of the wireless terminals constituting an arbitrary wireless communication network. It is assumed that SW is turned on. Further, the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is determined in advance, and the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is stored in advance in each memory and the like. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is determined to be “01” in advance. However, not limited to this example, the ID management wireless terminal may arbitrarily determine its own ID. However, in this case, since the other wireless terminals do not know the ID of the ID management wireless terminal, for example, it is necessary to notify the ID of the ID management wireless terminal together with the issued ID by the issue ID notification.

  When each wireless terminal starts the process of FIG. 21 at the time of startup, for example, it first determines whether or not its own terminal is an ID management wireless terminal (step S51). In the above example, this is determined by whether or not the slide SW is ON. If the terminal is an ID management wireless terminal, the process proceeds to step S52. If the terminal is not an ID management wireless terminal, the process proceeds to step S55.

  When the own terminal is an ID management wireless terminal (step S51, YES), and when the own terminal ID is not yet registered (step S52, NO), the ID of the own terminal is determined and registered (step S53). . Here, the determination is made and registered in the above “01”, but the present invention is not limited to this example. Then, the processing shown in FIG. 24 is started with the operation mode as the ID management wireless terminal (step S54). If the self ID has already been registered (step S52, YES), the process of step S54 is executed as it is.

  On the other hand, when the own terminal is not an ID management wireless terminal (step S51, NO), it is determined whether the own terminal is a registered wireless terminal (step S55). This is determined, for example, based on whether or not the ID of the own terminal has already been registered. If the own terminal is a registered wireless terminal (step S55, YES), the processing of FIG. 23 is started (step S56). If the own terminal is an unregistered wireless terminal (step S55, NO), the processing of FIG. 22 is started (step S57).

Hereinafter, the automatic ID assignment process will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, an unregistered wireless terminal operates as the transmitting wireless terminal on the assumption that registration request transmission has occurred as the transmission event J11. That is, first, it enters the reception waiting state R12 for a certain time TW (step S62). Until the self ID is registered, for example, a predetermined sleep period is set (step S61), and the processes after step S62 are repeated.

  On the other hand, when the transmission event J11 does not occur in the registered wireless terminal, the wireless terminal operates as the receiving wireless terminal, and as described with reference to FIG. 2A, the transmission state T11 (intermittent transmission signal P11 for a certain period TT). (Transmission) and the subsequent reception state R11 for a certain period TR are intermittently repeated with an interval for the sleep period TS. The operations in steps S71 and S72 in FIG. 23 correspond to this. As described above, since the intermittent transmission signal P11 includes the ID of its own terminal, it can be said that this is “periodic self-ID transmission processing” as described in step S71. As described with reference to FIG. 2A, the intermittent transmission signal P11 is also referred to as an ID notification signal, and is referred to as an ID notification signal in the following description.

  Thus, it can be said that the process of step S62 is in a state of waiting for reception of an ID notification signal from an arbitrary reception-side wireless terminal. When an ID notification signal is received from an arbitrary receiving-side wireless terminal, it is determined whether or not this is an ID notification signal from an ID management wireless terminal or a registered wireless terminal (step S63). This is because another unregistered wireless terminal may transmit an ID notification signal in step S67 described later. In other words, it can be said that the process of step S63 is to determine whether or not the ID notification signal is from a wireless terminal other than other unregistered wireless terminals.

  As will be described later, the temporary ID of the unregistered wireless terminal is determined, and is assumed to be “00” here. Therefore, if the ID of the ID notification signal is “00”, the determination in step S63 is NO. (Step S61), and then the reception waiting state R12 is entered again (step S62). Alternatively, the reception waiting state R12 may be continued as it is.

  On the other hand, if the ID of the received ID notification signal is other than “00”, it is determined that an ID notification signal from a wireless terminal other than the unregistered wireless terminal has been received (step S63, YES), and the transmission state T12 Then, the registration request is transmitted as the transmission signal P12 (step S64). This registration request includes its own ID and serial number. Here, an unregistered wireless terminal uses a specific number that is not used as a normal ID as its own ID, and is assumed to be '00' as an example here. For this reason, when a plurality of unregistered wireless terminals transmit registration request packets at the same time, their self IDs are all “00”, so that the serial number is also added as described above so that they can be distinguished. .

In FIG. 26, the operation example which concerns on the process of step S62, S63 mentioned above, S71-S73, and S75 is shown.
In the example shown in FIG. 26, there are three registered wireless terminals (registered wireless terminals shown in the figure) around any unregistered wireless terminals newly installed or the like that can directly communicate with the unregistered wireless terminals. '04', '05', '06') are present. As shown in the figure, when each of the registered wireless terminals '04', '05', and '06' operates as a receiving-side wireless terminal, the ID notification is periodically and intermittently performed by the process of FIG. Signal transmission processing (and subsequent reception state R11) is performed.

  The packet structure of the ID notification signal is composed of, for example, a command (ID notification command) indicating that this packet is an ID notification signal, a transmission source ID, and a transmission destination ID. The transmission source ID is the ID of the own terminal. The transmission destination ID is always “all”. This “all” is a special address meaning the entire network. That is, the ID notification signal is transmitted to an unspecified number of other parties, and is a signal transmitted by so-called “broadcast”.

  Therefore, in the example of FIG. 26, for example, when the registered wireless terminal '05' is operating as a wireless terminal on the transmission side, this registered wireless terminal '05' becomes the registered wireless terminal '04' or '06'. There is a possibility of receiving the ID notification signal to be transmitted and transmitting its own data.

  On the other hand, the unregistered wireless terminal operates as a wireless terminal on the transmission side, and is in a reception waiting state R12 by the process of FIG. 2B, but this is other than other unregistered wireless terminals as described above. This means a waiting state for receiving an ID notification signal from the wireless terminal. That is, the “target terminal” in step S5 in this case may be any wireless terminal other than an unregistered wireless terminal.

  In the example shown in FIG. 26, since the ID notification signal is received from the registered wireless terminal '04' in this reception waiting state, the registration request is sent to the registered wireless terminal '04' in the transmission state T12. Send. Furthermore, it becomes the reception state R13 and waits for a standby instruction (or issue ID notification) described later, which will be described later.

  Note that the header part of the registration request packet is composed of a registration request command, a transmission source ID, and a transmission destination ID, and the data number stores the manufacturing number of itself (unregistered wireless terminal). The transmission source ID is the specific temporary ID (here, “00”), and the transmission destination ID is the ID of the received ID notification signal.

  As described above, even if an unregistered wireless terminal can directly communicate with a plurality of registered wireless terminals, after issuing a registration request to only one of them, it basically receives an issuance ID notification. It will be in a standby state until it is done.

  When the registered wireless terminal receives a reply signal (transmission signal P12) to the ID notification signal transmitted by itself (step S72, YES), it determines whether or not this is the registration request from the unregistered wireless terminal ( Step S73). For example, when the received transmission signal P12 is data from another registered wireless terminal or another registered wireless terminal relays a registration request packet described later, the determination in step S73 is NO. In this case, normal reception / relay processing or the like is executed (step S74).

  On the other hand, when the registration request from the unregistered wireless terminal is received (step S73, YES), for example, the transmission state T13 is entered, and a standby instruction is transmitted to the transmission source unregistered wireless terminal ( Step S75). This standby instruction is transmitted, for example, as the response signal P15.

  Then, a registration request packet having the ID management wireless terminal as the destination and the own terminal as the transmission source is created, and the registration request packet is transmitted. First, the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is known (ID = '01) ', and if the configuration information is referred to, the transfer destination wireless terminal when the destination (final destination) is the ID management wireless terminal is determined. It can be determined (step S76). Then, the destination (incoming destination) in the header portion of the packet (the configuration is the same as in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1) is ID = '01, the source is the ID of the own terminal, and the forwarding destination wireless terminal is determined as the forwarding destination. A registration request packet with ID is created and transmitted.

The serial number of the unregistered wireless terminal is stored in the data part of the registration request packet, and the registration request command is stored in the command part.
Of course, when transmitting, when operating as a wireless terminal on the transmission side and receiving an ID notification signal from the transfer destination in the reception waiting state R12, a registration request packet is transmitted.

  When an issuance ID notification packet (described later) of a response from the ID management wireless terminal with respect to the transmitted registration request packet is received (that is, when an issuance ID notification packet whose destination is the own terminal is received) (step S78, (YES), this issue ID notification packet is transferred to the unregistered wireless terminal of the registration request source (step S79).

  In FIG. 23, the process of step S78 is in a waiting state for receiving the issued ID notification packet. In this case, other processes cannot be performed during this period, so that other processes can be performed. Also good. For example, returning to step S71, when the issued ID notification packet addressed to the terminal itself is received, the process of step S79 may be executed as the process of step S74. As other processing described above, for example, when some transmission event J11 (including relay operation) occurs in the own terminal, it may operate as a wireless terminal on the transmission side.

  This issued ID notification packet includes the serial number of the unregistered wireless terminal that is the ID request source. Therefore, if this registered wireless terminal can communicate directly with a plurality of unregistered wireless terminals at substantially the same time, and has transmitted a plurality of registration request packets originating from itself to the ID management wireless terminal. Also, the issued ID notification packet can be passed to the corresponding unregistered wireless terminal (or can be determined on the unregistered wireless terminal side, which will be described in detail later).

  Of course, the registered wireless terminal is operating as a wireless terminal on the transmission side in the process of step S79. On the other hand, when the unregistered wireless terminal receives the standby instruction in step S75 (YES in step S65 in FIG. 22), it is in a state of waiting to receive the issued ID notification packet (step S67). Of course, at this time, the unregistered wireless terminal operates as a receiving wireless terminal. When the issued ID notification packet in step S79 is received (step S68, YES), the ID notified by the issued ID notification packet is set as its own ID (step S69). Thereafter, the wireless terminal operates as a registered wireless terminal.

  However, if the issued ID notification packet is not received even after a predetermined time has elapsed after receiving the standby instruction (timeout), it is assumed that this request has failed for some reason (step S68, NO), Returning to step S61, after going into the sleep state for a predetermined time, the processing after step S62 is started again.

  In addition, the communication partner may be an ID management wireless terminal. In this case, since the ID notification packet is directly received (step S66, YES) instead of the standby instruction (step S65, NO), the process of step S69 is executed.

  Note that almost all of the packets (signals) transmitted and received between the registered wireless terminal and the unregistered wireless terminal (excluding the ID notification signal) include the manufacturing number. In addition, as described above, not only between registered wireless terminals and unregistered wireless terminals, but in communication between all wireless terminals, at least in the issued ID notification packet and the registration request packet, the ID issue request source unregistered The serial number of the wireless terminal is included.

  Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 27, for a registered wireless terminal whose own ID is “06” (hereinafter referred to as registered wireless terminal “06”; the same applies to other wireless terminals), 2 at the same time. There may be cases where one unregistered wireless terminal issues a registration request. In this case, since both IDs are “00”, there may be a case where the issued ID notification packet to be transferred to one unregistered wireless terminal is transferred to the other unregistered wireless terminal. For this reason, as described above, it is necessary to confirm by the production number.

  In FIG. 27, it is assumed that the circle is a wireless terminal and the number in the circle is the ID of the wireless terminal. In addition, an unregistered wireless terminal means that the inside of the circle is not “numeric” but “unregistered”. In other words, a numeral in the circle means a registered wireless terminal other than “01”. The same applies to FIG.

  For example, when the registered wireless terminal receives the ID notification signal transmitted by the unregistered wireless terminal in the process of step S79, the ID of the ID notification signal is “00”. The issue ID notification packet is transferred to the unregistered wireless terminal. On the other hand, the unregistered wireless terminal determines that the determination in step S68 is YES only when the manufacturing number included in the received issue ID notification packet is its own manufacturing number in the determination in step S68. As a result, the ID issued to the user can be registered as the user's own ID without making a mistake.

  In the case of using the method of the above example, the unregistered wireless terminal transmits to the registered wireless terminal (“06” in the above example) that is the transfer source of the issued ID notification packet after the process of step S69 is completed. The ID registration completion may be notified. In response to this, the registered wireless terminal that is the forwarding source of the issued ID notification packet also waits for the ID registration completion notification for a certain time after the packet transfer in step S79, and does not receive the ID registration completion notification within the certain time. If YES, the process of step S79 is continued.

  However, the confirmation process by the manufacturing number is not limited to the example performed on the unregistered wireless terminal side, and may be performed on the registered wireless terminal side. That is, in this case, the unregistered wireless terminal is a signal including its own temporary ID (= '00 ') and its own manufacturing number as the ID notification signal intermittently at a fixed period when waiting for reception in step S67. Is sending. On the other hand, the registered wireless terminal that is the transmission source of the registration request packet, such as the registered wireless terminal with ID “06”, includes not only the ID but also the manufacturing number in the received ID notification signal in the process of step S79. If this ID number is the same as the ID number included in the issued ID notification packet received in step S78 (assuming that the ID of the ID notification signal is “00”, of course), this ID notification The issued ID notification packet is transferred as a reply to the signal.

  The registered wireless terminal basically means a wireless terminal in which its own ID has been registered. In the above description, in particular, after registering the self ID, another registered wireless terminal or It is assumed that the wireless terminal has created and stored configuration information by performing predetermined communication processing with the ID management wireless terminal (because it is necessary to perform packet relay processing). This configuration information creation process is the same as the conventional method described in Patent Document 1 and the like, and is not particularly described here.

  As described in the above prior art, the configuration information (system configuration information) is the relationship between the value related to the minimum number of relays required for the data transmitted by the terminal to arrive at the destination wireless terminal and the destination wireless terminal. Information and the related information in an adjacent wireless terminal that is a wireless terminal that can be directly communicated with the terminal itself. By using the configuration information, the information can be directly or one or more other registered wireless terminals. By relaying, communication with all other registered wireless terminals becomes possible. In this sense, the ID management wireless terminal can also be considered as a type of registered wireless terminal.

The ID management wireless terminal executes the process of FIG. At this time, an ID issue management table 300 shown as an example in FIG. 25 is used.
In FIG. 24, the processes in steps S81 and S82 are the same as the processes in steps S71 and S72, and are not particularly described here.

  When the reply signal P12 is received (step S82, YES), it is determined whether or not this is a registration request from an unregistered wireless terminal (step S83). The determination process itself in step S83 is the same as that in step S73 and will not be particularly described. Then, when the determination in step S83 is YES, for example, as shown on the left side of FIG. 27, an arbitrary unregistered wireless terminal is installed in a place where direct wireless communication with the ID management wireless terminal is possible. It is. Therefore, in this case, there is no need for a process in which another registered wireless terminal as described above performs packet relay / transfer between the unregistered wireless terminal and the ID-managed wireless terminal, and the ID-managed wireless terminal is not registered wirelessly. The issue ID notification packet may be passed directly to the terminal.

  Accordingly, if the determination in step S83 is YES, one unissued ID is selected with reference to the ID issue management table 300, and the selected ID is notified to the unregistered wireless terminal by an issued ID notification packet (for example, (Transmission at T13) (step S85).

  Here, the ID issuance management table 300 in the example shown in FIG. 25 includes data items of ID 301, use / non-use 302, and production number 303. In ID 301, all IDs that can be issued by the ID management wireless terminal are registered in advance.

  In the illustrated example, ID = '01 'to' 50 'are IDs that can be issued by this ID management wireless terminal. Use / non-use 302 is a flag or the like indicating whether or not the ID of the corresponding ID 301 has been issued. Here, for example, flag ON (1) means issued and flag OFF (0) means not issued. To do. The selection from the unissued ID is to select one of the IDs whose flag is OFF. Then, the use / non-use 302 flag corresponding to the selected ID is turned ON, and the serial number of the unregistered wireless terminal as the registration request source is stored in the serial number 303.

  In step S85, while referring to and updating the ID issuance management table 300, a process for transmitting the issuance ID notification to an unregistered wireless terminal is performed. This issue ID notification is performed, for example, as the response signal P15.

  Alternatively, the issue ID notification may be performed by ending the operation as the reception-side wireless terminal when step S82 becomes YES and operating as the transmission-side wireless terminal this time. However, in this case, when the registration request is transmitted in step S64, the unregistered wireless terminal side needs to end the operation as the transmitting wireless terminal and operate as the receiving wireless terminal. Furthermore, in this case, the registered wireless terminal also needs to operate as a wireless terminal on the transmission side when the standby instruction is transmitted.

  On the other hand, when the reply signal is the registration request packet from any registered wireless terminal (step S84, YES), the process of step S86 is executed. Here, when the determination in step S84 is YES, the registration request packet created by any registered wireless terminal that has received a registration request from an unregistered wireless terminal that cannot directly wirelessly communicate with the ID management wireless terminal. This is a case where it is relayed or transferred directly or by one or more other registered wireless terminals. For example, in the example of FIG. 27, the registered wireless terminal '06' receives a registration request from an arbitrary unregistered wireless terminal, and sets the transmission source as its own terminal (ID = '06 ') and the destination (final destination). A registration request packet for ID management wireless terminal (ID = '01 ') is created, and this is relayed / transferred by registered wireless terminals' 02' and '03'. Therefore, in this example, when the ID management wireless terminal receives the registration request packet relayed / transferred by the registered wireless terminal ‘03’ (step S84, YES), the ID management wireless terminal executes the process of step S86.

  In step S86, as in step S85 described above, one ID to be assigned to the unregistered wireless terminal that is the request source is determined while referring to and updating the ID issue management table 300. Then, an issuance ID notification packet having the transmission source of the received registration request packet as the destination (ID = “06” in the above example) and the transmission source as its own terminal (ID = “01”) is created and transmitted. Of course, a process for determining a transfer destination for the destination is also performed by referring to its own configuration information. Further, the determined ID and the manufacturing number included in the registration request packet (manufacturing number of the unregistered wireless terminal of the ID issuing request source) are stored in the data portion of the issued ID notification packet.

  Thus, in the above example, as shown in FIG. 28, the issued ID notification packet is relayed and transferred by the registered wireless terminals '02' and '03', and is sent to the registered wireless terminal '06' as the destination. Will arrive. As described above, the destination registered wireless terminal '06' transfers the ID notification packet to the requesting unregistered wireless terminal by the process of step S79. At that time, as described above, it may be determined whether or not to perform transfer based on the serial number included in the issued ID notification packet.

  If the determinations in steps S83 and S84 are both NO, normal transfer / reception processing and the like are executed (step S87). “Normal” means a relay / transfer process or the like using configuration information or the like described in Patent Document 1 or the like.

  Note that the ID management wireless terminal may transmit the ID notification packet transmitted in steps S85 and S86 including the ID of the terminal itself. This is particularly necessary when the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is arbitrarily determined without using a predetermined ID (otherwise, each registered wireless terminal Because the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is unknown, the relay / transfer cannot be performed). When the ID of the ID management wireless terminal is determined in advance as a specific ID, it may be stored in advance in each wireless terminal.

  As the specific ID, one of the issuable IDs may be used as in the above example “01”, but an ID other than the issuable ID may be used. In particular, in the example shown in FIG. 32 described later, since “201” or more is not used when any type 311 is selected, for example, “201” or the like may be set as a specific ID.

  By the way, in the configuration using the network ID (network identification code) described in the conventional problem, when there are a plurality of wireless communication networks (each group), the ID management wireless terminal is assigned to each group. One ID management wireless terminal for each group performs the above-described ID assignment to each wireless terminal in its own group (arbitrary ID issuance / notification to unregistered wireless terminals is performed). What you do).

  When a worker or the like adds a new wireless terminal (unregistered wireless terminal) to an arbitrary group, the network ID of the unregistered wireless terminal is the same as the network ID of the group to which this is to be added. Set as follows. As described above, this is set by operating the rotary SW (switch).

  Each wireless terminal detects the setting number of the rotary SW of its own terminal, for example, in the initial processing at the time of startup, and stores this as the network ID of its own terminal (stored as the network ID of the wireless communication network to which the own terminal belongs) To do). The network ID may be abbreviated as NID.

  All signals (packets) transmitted / received between the wireless terminals include the network ID of the wireless terminal that transmits the packet (for example, as described above with reference to FIG. 43). The wireless terminal receiving this packet first determines whether or not the network ID included in this packet matches its own network ID (referred to as network ID match determination processing). Is discarded.

  From this, it can be considered that the description of the processing of FIGS. 22 to 24 is based on the assumption that the network IDs always match. 22 to 24, if an arbitrary packet is received, the network ID match determination process is performed first. If the network ID does not match, the packet is discarded. Therefore, at least the process related to the received packet is performed. Will not do.

  That is, for example, in the processing of FIG. 23 described above, the ID notification signal in step S71 is transmitted including the NID of its own terminal, and the reply signal P12 received in step S72 is also the wireless signal of the transmission source of the reply signal. The NID of the terminal is included. If step S72 is YES, it is first determined whether or not the NID of the reply signal P12 matches the NID of the own terminal, and if there is a match, the process proceeds to step S73. Returning to step S71, for example, by discarding the packet.

  Similarly, the standby instruction in step S75 and the registration request packet in step S77 are transmitted including the NID of the own terminal. Further, when the issue ID notification packet is received, it is determined whether or not the NID of the issue ID notification packet matches the NID of the own terminal before the determination of step S78. In the case of a mismatch, this packet is discarded or the like to wait for the next issue ID notification packet.

Also at the time of packet transfer in step S79, it is transmitted including the NID of its own terminal.
Further, for example, in the processing of FIG. 22, when the ID notification signal is received, it is determined whether or not the NID of the ID notification signal matches the NID of the own terminal before the determination in step S63. Only when the process does not match, the process returns to step S61, for example, by discarding the ID notification signal packet.

The registration request in step S64 is transmitted including the NID of its own terminal.
As for steps S65, S66, and S68, when a standby instruction or issue ID notification is received, it is determined whether or not the NID of the standby instruction or issue ID notification matches the NID of the own terminal. For example, the standby instruction or issue ID notification reception waiting state is continued as it is, for example, by discarding the standby instruction or issue ID notification packet. If the NIDs match, the processing as described for steps S65, S66, and S68 is performed.

  Also, in the process shown in FIG. 24, the process of step S81 is also transmitted including the NID of the own terminal in the same manner as in step S71. When the reply signal P12 is received (YES in step S82), Prior to performing the determination processing in steps S83 and S84, it is determined whether or not the NID of the reply signal P12 matches the NID of the own terminal. Then, the process proceeds to the processing after step S83 only when they match, and when they do not match, the packet of the reply signal P12 is discarded, and the process returns to step S81.

Naturally, the issuance ID notification packet transmitted in steps S85 and 86 and the packet transmitted (relayed / transferred) in step S87 are also transmitted including the NID of the own terminal.
As described above, even when each wireless terminal receives a transmission signal (packet) from a wireless terminal in another group (a group other than the group to which the wireless terminal belongs), no processing is performed.

  However, as described in the above-described conventional problem, if the network ID of the other group coincides with the network ID of the own group, the problem described above occurs.

For example, as a result of performing the processes of FIGS. 22 to 24, the state shown in FIG. 29 may occur as an example.
In the example of FIG. 29, there is one ID management wireless terminal (wireless terminal with ID = '1' in the figure) for each network (group A, group B) shown in the figure, and each ID management wireless terminal Assume that IDs are assigned to the wireless terminals in the group according to the ID management table 300 shown in FIG. 25, such as ID = “2”, “3”, etc., as shown. The network IDs of these two networks (hereinafter referred to as NID) are the same (NID = '3' in the illustrated example).

  Further, an unregistered wireless terminal is additionally installed (naturally, its NID is set to “3”), and this unregistered wireless terminal is a registered wireless terminal with IDs of both networks = “2” and “3”. If the wireless communication is directly possible, the ID management is performed by the ID management wireless terminal of either group because it cannot be distinguished by the NID. ”). As a result, the unregistered wireless terminal is assumed to be a registered wireless terminal with ID = “4” in the figure.

  As a result, as shown in the figure, the two networks are joined by the registered wireless terminal having ID = “4” to become one network. In this case, as shown in the figure, there are a plurality of wireless terminals having the same ID in one network.

  In such an abnormal state, normal packet relay cannot be performed. For example, when the wireless terminal “2” in the group A transmits a packet addressed to the wireless terminal “3”, when the packet is relayed to the wireless terminal “4”, the original destination is the wireless terminal “3” in the group A. Even so, there is a case where it is relayed / transferred to the wireless terminal '3' in the group B.

The abnormal state as described above is called a network connection abnormality.
Other examples of specific examples of the above-described network coupling abnormality are shown in FIGS.
In the example of FIG. 30, it is assumed that the two networks of groups C and D are adjacent to each other, and both have a network ID “7”.

  In FIG. 29, FIG. 29, and FIGS. 31, 34, and 35 to be described later, a circle is a wireless terminal (assumed to be all registered wireless terminals here), and a number in the circle is an ID of the wireless terminal. Shall. For example, a wireless terminal with ID = 6 is referred to as a wireless terminal “6”. Further, the ID of each wireless terminal shown in the figure is assigned by the processing described with reference to FIGS. However, ID = '01 'is not necessarily an ID management wireless terminal, and for example, ID = '05' may be an ID management wireless terminal as described later.

  The wireless terminal '6' in the group C and the wireless terminal '8' in the group D are supposed to be able to directly wirelessly communicate with each other, but in FIG. 30, the wireless terminal '6'-wireless terminal' 8 ' It is assumed that there is an obstacle between them and communication is not possible.

  In this state, the two networks are not connected (no network connection abnormality has occurred), so the configuration information of each wireless terminal is in a normal state reflecting the state in the group to which the wireless terminal belongs. . For example, FIG. 4 shows configuration information of the wireless terminal ‘5’ of each of the groups C and D, and this is configuration information in a normal state.

  On the other hand, when the obstacle is removed, direct wireless communication between the wireless terminal '6' and the wireless terminal '8' becomes possible. When this situation is reflected in the configuration information (when the configuration information is updated) ), The configuration information of the wireless terminals '5' of the groups C and D is as shown in FIG.

  In such a state, as in the case of FIG. 29, there is a possibility that normal relay / transfer processing cannot be performed. In the first place, it is not desired that two networks become one (the meaning of grouping is lost).

  As described above, if it is possible to automatically determine such an abnormal state and notify the worker or the like, the worker or the like can take some measures. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the operation from being continued in an abnormal state.

A method for determining the abnormal state as described above (network connection abnormality) will be described below.
First, in the example illustrated in FIG. 31, if the wireless terminal 8 is the wireless terminal 6 in the group D, the wireless terminal 6 in the group C and the wireless terminal 6 in the group D can directly perform wireless communication. In this case, since each wireless terminal 6 knows that the communication partner has the same ID and the same NID as its own terminal, this is usually not possible and an abnormal state (network connection abnormality) ).

  However, this is because it is possible to detect an abnormality only when the situation as described above happens, and it is desirable to detect the abnormality more reliably. A technique for this will be described below.

  Note that it may be possible to create and register the table 300 in which the IDs that can be issued differ for each ID management wireless terminal in advance, but this is time consuming and is also necessary for installation work on site. There is a possibility of mistakes. In addition, when the ID management wireless terminal is not predetermined as described above, for all the wireless terminals, the group to which the wireless terminal belongs is determined in advance and the IDs that can be issued in this group are registered. This is very time-consuming and error-prone.

  Here, as described above, the ID management wireless terminal determines an ID to be issued by using an ID registration management table 300 as shown in FIG. 25, for example, but can also manage the ID issuance status. That is, with reference to the presence / absence 302, it can be determined whether each ID 301 has already been issued (allocated) or not issued. Therefore, the ID management wireless terminal can determine that it is in a network connection abnormal state when there is an unissued ID in its configuration information.

  Here, in the example shown in FIG. 31, it is assumed that the ID management wireless terminal sets its own ID to ID = '5' in both groups C and D (in the above description, it is '1'. Not limited to examples). Note that IDs that can be issued by both ID management wireless terminals are assumed to be '1' to '50' as shown in FIG.

  In the illustrated example, the ID management wireless terminal of group C has already issued IDs “1” to “6” including its own ID “5”, and the ID management wireless terminal of group D IDs “3” to “8” including ID “5” are already issued.

  As a result, when the ID management wireless terminal “5” of group C refers to the configuration information shown in the figure, since there are IDs “7” and “8” that are not issued, the network management abnormality state Can be determined. Similarly, the ID management wireless terminal “5” of group D also determines that it is in a network abnormal state because there are IDs “1” and “2” that have not been issued by referring to its own configuration information. can do.

  However, in this method, if the IDs already issued by both ID management wireless terminals coincide, it cannot be determined that the network connection is abnormal. A method for making it possible to more reliably determine an abnormal state will be described below.

  In this method, each wireless terminal stores a type-specific issueable ID table 310 shown in FIG. 32 in advance. Then, the wireless terminal that has become the ID management wireless terminal determines and sets an ID that can be issued by executing the processing of FIG. 33 at the time of initial processing at the time of activation, for example. FIG. 33 is a flowchart of issueable ID determination processing.

  First, the type-specific issueable ID table 310 shown in FIG. 32 includes a type 311 and contents 312. The type 311 is simply numbers “1” to “12” as shown. In the content 312, an issueable ID corresponding to each type 311 is registered. For example, when the type 311 is “1”, the issueable IDs are “1” to “50”, and when the type 311 is “2”, the issueable IDs are “51” to “100”.

  Then, in FIG. 33, the ID management wireless terminal first recognizes and stores its own network ID by the rotary SW (step S91), and determines the type (step S92). Any type determination method may be used, for example, it may be determined at random. Then, an issueable ID (content 312) corresponding to the determined type is acquired from the type-specific issueable ID table 310, and set in the ID 301 of the ID registration management table 300 (step S93). When the type 311 is “1”, it is set as shown in FIG. In the above description, all IDs that can be issued by the ID management wireless terminal are registered in advance in the ID 301. However, in this example, nothing is registered in the ID 301 in the initial state.

  Here, it is assumed that the ID management wireless terminal of the group C is determined as the type “1” and the ID management wireless terminal of the group D is determined as the type “2”. Accordingly, ‘1’ to ‘50’ are set in the ID 301 of the ID registration management table 300 of the ID management wireless terminal of group C, as in the example shown in FIG. 25. The ID 301 of the ID registration management table 300 of the group D ID management wireless terminal is set to '51' to '100'.

Therefore, in the same situation as in FIG. 30, the ID assignment status to each wireless terminal and the configuration information of the ID management wireless terminal are as shown in FIG. 34, for example.
The configuration information of the ID management wireless terminal after the configuration information update process reflecting this situation is performed after the two networks are combined into one network in the same manner as in FIG. As shown.

  Here, it is assumed that the ID management wireless terminal sets the fifth ID from the top in the ID 301 of the ID registration management table 300 as its own ID. Therefore, the ID of the ID management wireless terminal of group C is “5”, and the ID of the ID management wireless terminal of group D is “55”.

  As shown in FIG. 35, since the ID management wireless terminal '5' of group C has an ID ('55', '58', etc.) other than the ID that can be issued by itself in its configuration information, It can be determined that the connection is abnormal. The same applies to the ID management wireless terminal '55' of group D.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart of the abnormality determination process.
In FIG. 36, first, as is conventionally done, the configuration information is updated periodically, for example, and after this configuration information update process is executed (step S101), the updated (latest) information is updated. With reference to the configuration information and the like, the processes after step S102 are executed. It is assumed that the determined self type is stored in the process of FIG.

  In the processing after step S102, each time one ID in the configuration information is acquired, the type of this ID is determined by referring to the type-specific issueable ID table 310 (step S102). If this ID type is not its own type (step S103, NO), it is determined that the network connection is abnormal, and an alarm call or the like is notified to the worker (step S104). On the other hand, if the ID type acquired from the configuration information is its own type (step S103, YES), the next ID is acquired from the configuration information (step S102), and the above processing is repeated.

Only when all the IDs in the configuration information are their types (step S105, YES), the present process is terminated without notifying the abnormal state.
Note that the determination processing in steps S102 and S103 may be performed with reference to the ID 301 of the ID registration management table 300. That is, in this case, every time one ID in the configuration information is acquired, it is checked whether or not this ID exists in the ID 301 of the ID registration management table 300. Do processing.

  As described above, in the network connection abnormal state, each ID management wireless terminal can more reliably detect the network connection abnormality and perform notification or the like.

  If the above method is the first method, in the first method, the determination of the network connection abnormality can be performed only by the ID management wireless terminal, but it is also possible to determine the network connection abnormality by other wireless terminals. . Hereinafter, this will be described as a second technique.

  In the second method, the ID management wireless terminal includes the self type in the issued ID notification packet. Also, the type-by-type issueable ID table 310 shown in FIG. 32 is stored in advance in all the wireless terminals (this may be the same in the first method, because in the above description of the example) This is because which wireless terminal is to be the ID management wireless terminal is arbitrarily determined at the site and is not determined in advance (however, this is not the case if it is determined in advance).

FIG. 37 shows a packet configuration example of the issue ID notification packet in the second method.
The illustrated issue ID notification packet 320 includes a frame header 321, a serial number / issue ID 322, and a type 323. In the frame header 321 (the header portion of the packet), similar to the conventional wireless communication network system, transmission / reception / relay / transfer of the packet such as destination (destination) ID, transmission source ID, transfer destination ID, transfer source ID, etc. And the network ID (NID) of the group to which the terminal belongs. In the data portion of the packet, the manufacturing number of the requesting unregistered wireless terminal and the manufacturing number / issued ID 322 that is an ID (issued ID) assigned to the unregistered wireless terminal are stored. Up to this point, the same applies to the first method.

  In the second method, a type 323 is further added. The type 323 stores its own (own group) type determined by the ID management wireless terminal that has generated and transmitted the issued ID notification packet 320 in the process of FIG. In the above example, type ‘1’ is stored in the type 323 for the ID management wireless terminal 5 of the group C and type ‘2’ is stored for the ID management wireless terminal 55 of the group D.

  Then, each wireless terminal that has received the issue ID notification packet 320 (unregistered wireless terminal at the time of reception) matches the serial number in the serial number / issue ID 322 with its own serial number through the processing in steps S68 and S69 described above. If this is the case (of course, it is assumed that the NIDs match), the issue ID in the production number / issue ID 322 is registered as the ID of the own terminal. In the second method, the type 323 is further stored as the ID issue type of the group to which the terminal belongs.

  As described above, the type-specific issueable ID table 310 is stored in advance for all wireless terminals. Therefore, if the ID issue type of the group to which the terminal belongs is known, the content 312 (issueable ID) corresponding to this type is obtained. As can be seen, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a network connection abnormality by executing the processing of FIG. 36 as in the case of the ID management wireless terminal, and to perform notification or the like if there is an abnormality.

  In the above example, the wireless terminals 1 to 4 and 6 in the group C are notified of the type “1” from the ID management wireless terminal 5 and the wireless terminals 53, 54, 57 and 58 in the group D are ID-managed. The type “2” is notified from the wireless terminal 55. As a result, each of the wireless terminals other than these ID management wireless terminals can also determine the network connection abnormality.

  Further, according to the second method, there is a possibility that the occurrence of network connection abnormality itself can be prevented. For example, this is possible at least in the case of the example shown in FIGS. In other words, in this case, each time when each wireless terminal receives an arbitrary signal (packet), not only when the configuration information is updated, the ID of the wireless terminal that is the transmission source of the packet included in this packet is illustrated. The process of step S103 of 36 is executed. If the types do not match, the packet is discarded. Thus, even if direct wireless communication is possible between the wireless terminal 6 and the wireless terminal 58 as shown in FIG. 35 from the state of FIG. 34, the packet in the communication between the wireless terminal 6 and the wireless terminal 58 is 6. Since the wireless terminal 58 is discarded by performing the above process, the configuration information does not become abnormal.

  As described above, according to this method, the wireless terminal is configured by a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal is directly or one or more other wireless terminals. In a wireless communication network system that can communicate with all other wireless terminals by relaying to a terminal, the ID of the terminal can be automatically set for each wireless terminal and a connection abnormality with another network can be detected. Judgment and notification can be made.

  Therefore, it is possible to set the ID of the terminal to each wireless terminal without taking time and without making a mistake, and relaying or the like cannot be performed normally, and other wireless terminals are connected between the wireless terminals. A situation where communication or the like may not be performed normally can be resolved early.

FIG. 38 shows a schematic configuration example of a wireless terminal.
A wireless terminal 400 illustrated in FIG. 38 includes an antenna 401, a wireless transmission / reception circuit 402, a communication control unit 403, a power supply circuit 404, and the like, and is connected to the data processing device 401, which is a higher-level device, to exchange data with the data processing device 401. Can send and receive. The wireless transmission / reception circuit 402 corresponds to the wireless transmission circuit 13a and the wireless reception circuit 14a. The communication control unit 403 corresponds to the control units 12a and 12b. The power supply circuit 404 corresponds to the batteries 17a, 17b, etc., but is not limited to this example, and may be an AC / DC converter that inputs commercial AC power and converts it to DC power.

  The communication control unit 403 is, for example, a CPU / MPU or the like. In this configuration example, the processing of FIGS. 21 to 24, FIG. 33, and FIG. This is realized by executing the application program. The memory also stores the tables shown in FIGS. 25 and 32.

It is a block diagram of a wireless terminal (receiving terminal, transmitting terminal). (A), (b) is a process flowchart figure of each operation state control part. (A) is an operation timing chart of the receiving terminal by the process of FIG. 2 (a), and (b) is an operation timing chart of the transmitting terminal 11b by the process of FIG. 2 (b). It is a timing diagram which shows an example of the intermittent communication method of a radio | wireless terminal. It is a timing diagram which shows the other example of the intermittent communication method of the radio | wireless terminal of this example. It is a timing diagram which shows the further another example of the intermittent communication method of the radio | wireless terminal of this example. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the radio | wireless terminal which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 8 is a timing diagram illustrating an intermittent communication method of the wireless terminal in FIG. 7. It is a timing diagram which shows the further another example of the intermittent communication method of the radio | wireless terminal of this example. It is a block diagram which shows the radio | wireless terminal shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 in hardware. It is a state transition diagram which shows the operation | movement method of the radio | wireless terminal of this example. (B) is an operation example when the wireless terminal of this example is applied to a wireless communication network system, and (a) is an operation example for comparison. It is a figure which shows an example of the packet transfer path | route by the radio | wireless terminal of this example. It is a figure which shows the modification of the data transmission / reception operation | movement of the radio | wireless terminal of this example. It is an operation | movement flowchart figure of the radio | wireless terminal of this example. (A), (b) is a communication sequence diagram between the transmission side and the reception side by the process of FIG. (A) is an example of the configuration information of this example, and (b) is an example of the network configuration. It is a time division example of the reception waiting state concerning a modification. It is an operation | movement flowchart figure of the radio | wireless terminal of a modification. It is a schematic sequence diagram of ID automatic assignment / registration processing of this example. It is a mode discrimination | determination process flowchart figure. It is a process flowchart figure of an unregistered radio | wireless terminal. It is a process flowchart figure of the registered radio | wireless terminal. It is a process flowchart figure of ID management radio | wireless terminal. It is an example of an ID registration management table. It is an operation example relating to registration request transmission by an unregistered wireless terminal. It is a figure which shows a mode that a registration request packet is relayed and transferred to ID management radio | wireless terminal. It is a figure which shows a mode that ID notification packet is relayed and transferred to an unregistered radio | wireless terminal. This is a specific example (part 1) in which a plurality of networks are combined into one network. This is a specific example (part 2 (1/2)) in which a plurality of networks are combined into one network. This is a specific example (part 2 (2/2)) in which a plurality of networks are combined into one network. It is an example of an issueable ID table. It is an issueable ID determination process flowchart. It is a figure which shows an example of the ID allocation condition by this method, and structure information. FIG. 35 is an example of configuration information when there is network connection in FIG. It is an abnormality determination process flowchart figure. It is a packet structural example of the ID notification in a 2nd method. 2 is a schematic configuration example of a wireless terminal. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the whole conventional radio | wireless communication network system. (A), (b) is a figure which shows an example of the structure information which the radio | wireless terminal A hold | maintains. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure information which each wireless terminal hold | maintains. It is a figure which shows the example in which a some group exists. It is a structural example of the packet for distinguishing a group.

Explanation of symbols

11a receiving terminal 12a control unit 13a wireless transmission circuit 14a wireless reception circuit 15a switching unit 16a antenna 17a battery 18a interface 19a switch 20a switch 31a operation state control unit 32a first transmission state control unit 33a first reception state control unit 11b transmission terminal 12b Control unit 13b Wireless transmission circuit 14b Wireless reception circuit 15b Switching unit 16b Antenna 17b Battery 18b Interface 19b Switch 20b Switch 31b Operation state control unit 32b Second transmission state control unit 33a Second reception state control unit 111a, 111b Wireless terminals 112a, 112b Control units 113a and 113b Radio transmission circuits 114a and 114b Radio reception circuits 115a and 115b Switching units 116a and 116b Antennas 117a and 117b Battery 1 18a, 118b Interface 119a, 119b Switch 120a, 120b Switch 131a, 131b Operation state controller 132a, 132b First transmission state controller 133a, 133b Second transmission state controller 134a, 134b First reception state controller 135a, 135b 2 reception state control unit 200 wireless terminal 201 antenna 202 transmission / reception switching unit 203 wireless transmission circuit 204 wireless reception circuit 205 transmission state control unit 206 reception state control unit 207 data transmission control unit 208 intermittent operation control unit 209 ID notification signal determination unit 210 power supply (battery)
211 power line 212 switch 213 switch 300 ID registration management table 301 ID
302 Use / non-use 303 Production number 310 Issueable ID table by type 311 Type 312 Content 320 Issue ID notification packet 321 Frame header 322 Production number, issue ID
323 type TT, TR fixed period TS sleep period TW fixed time T11 transmission state T12 transmission state R11 reception state R12 reception waiting state R13 reception state J11, J12 transmission event P11, P13 intermittent transmission signal P12, P14 transmission signal (reply signal)

Claims (10)

Consists of a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal can be relayed directly or using one or more other wireless terminals using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used, and the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs belongs to each wireless terminal. In the wireless communication network system in which the network identification code is set and each wireless terminal does not communicate with wireless terminals belonging to other wireless communication network systems by using the network identification code,
One of the plurality of wireless terminals constituting one wireless communication network system is an ID management wireless terminal that issues and manages the ID,
The ID management wireless terminal
Each time there is a request from any unregistered wireless terminal for an unregistered wireless terminal that is a wireless terminal whose own ID has not yet been registered, an issuance ID for the unregistered wireless terminal is arbitrarily determined, ID assigning means for registering the determined issued ID in the requesting unregistered wireless terminal as its own ID;
Issued ID management means for managing the determined issued ID as an issued ID;
Among the IDs of wireless terminals that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated by the ID management wireless terminal or other one or more wireless terminals that are registered in the configuration information, If there is no ID, network connection abnormality determination means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality;
A wireless communication network system comprising: Consists of a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal can be relayed directly or using one or more other wireless terminals using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used, and the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs belongs to each wireless terminal. In the wireless communication network system in which the network identification code is set and each wireless terminal does not communicate with wireless terminals belonging to other wireless communication network systems by using the network identification code,
One of the plurality of wireless terminals constituting one wireless communication network system is an ID management wireless terminal that issues and manages the ID,
The ID management wireless terminal
A type-by-type issueable ID storage means for storing an issueable ID for each type in advance;
A self-terminal issuable ID determining / storing means for determining an arbitrary type from among the types as a self type, and storing the issuable ID corresponding to the self type as an ID that can be issued by the self terminal;
Whenever there is a request from any unregistered wireless terminal to the unregistered wireless terminal whose wireless ID is not yet registered, the own terminal can issue an issued ID for the unregistered wireless terminal ID assigning means that arbitrarily decides from among the IDs, and causes the unissued wireless terminal that is the request source to register the determined issuance ID as its own ID;
The self-terminal is registered in the ID of the wireless terminal that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated by the ID management wireless terminal or one or more other wireless terminals that is registered in its configuration information If there is an ID that is not an ID that can be issued, a network connection abnormality determination means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality;
A wireless communication network system comprising: All the wireless terminals have the type-specific issueable ID storage means,
The ID assigning means causes the unregistered wireless terminal of the request source to register the self type as a self network type,
Each wireless terminal that has registered its own ID and its own network type,
The registered own network is registered in the ID of the wireless terminal that is registered in the configuration information of itself and can be communicated by relaying the terminal directly to one or more other wireless terminals. 3. The wireless communication network system according to claim 2, further comprising a network connection abnormality determination unit that determines that a network connection abnormality occurs when there is an ID that is not an issueable ID corresponding to the type. The unregistered wireless terminal is
ID registration request means for transmitting an ID registration request including a predetermined provisional ID and a self-fixed identification code;
Receiving an issuance ID notification for the ID registration request, ID registration means for registering the notified issuance ID as its own ID;
Each registered wireless terminal whose own ID is a registered wireless terminal is:
When receiving an ID registration request from the unregistered wireless terminal, generate an ID request packet including a fixed identification code of the ID registration request, with the own terminal as the transmission source and the destination as the ID management wireless terminal, ID request packet generation / transmission means for transmitting the ID request packet;
An issuance ID notification transfer means for transferring the issuance ID notification to the unregistered radio terminal when receiving the issuance ID notification including the fixed identification code, which is a response from the ID management radio terminal to the ID request packet; Have
When receiving the ID request packet or directly receiving the ID registration request, the ID assigning means of the ID management wireless terminal determines an arbitrary ID as the issued ID for the unregistered wireless terminal of the request source, and The issuance ID notification including the issuance ID and the fixed identification code is transmitted to the registered wireless terminal of the transmission source in the received ID request packet or to the unregistered wireless terminal of the transmission source of the received ID registration request 3. The wireless communication network system according to claim 2, further comprising issue ID determination / notification means for replying.   5. The ID registering means, when the fixed identification code included in the received issued ID notification is the fixed identification code of the own terminal, registers the notified issued ID as its own ID. The wireless communication network system described. Each wireless terminal is
Reception in which a first signal including at least its own ID is intermittently transmitted at a fixed period, and thereafter, in a predetermined first period, a response reception wait state for the first signal from another wireless terminal is set. An operation control means;
When there is arbitrary transmission data, the reception state of the first signal from another wireless terminal is set in a predetermined second period, and when the first signal is received, the transmission source of the first signal is A transmission operation state control means for transmitting the transmission data as a reply to the first signal when the transmission data is a transmission destination;
When the unregistered wireless terminal receives the first signal whose ID is other than the specific temporary ID by the transmission operation state control means, the specific temporary ID is fixed to the unregistered wireless terminal as the transmission data. 5. The radio according to claim 4, wherein said ID registration request including an identification code is transmitted, and thereafter, said reception operation control means enters a state of waiting for reception of said ID notification as a reply to said first signal. Communication network system. Consists of a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal can be relayed directly or using one or more other wireless terminals using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used, and the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs belongs to each wireless terminal. An ID management wireless terminal in a wireless communication network system in which the network identification code is set and each wireless terminal does not communicate with a wireless terminal belonging to another wireless communication network system by using the network identification code There,
Each time there is a request from any unregistered wireless terminal for an unregistered wireless terminal that is a wireless terminal whose own ID has not yet been registered, an issuance ID for the unregistered wireless terminal is arbitrarily determined, ID assigning means for registering the determined issued ID in the requesting unregistered wireless terminal as its own ID;
Issued ID management means for managing the determined issued ID as an issued ID;
Among the IDs of wireless terminals that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated by the ID management wireless terminal or other one or more wireless terminals that are registered in the configuration information, If there is no ID, network connection abnormality determination means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality;
An ID management wireless terminal for a wireless communication network system, comprising: Consists of a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal can be relayed directly or using one or more other wireless terminals using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used, and the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs belongs to each wireless terminal. An ID management wireless terminal in a wireless communication network system in which the network identification code is set and each wireless terminal does not communicate with a wireless terminal belonging to another wireless communication network system by using the network identification code There,
A type-by-type issueable ID storage means for storing an issueable ID for each type in advance;
A self-terminal issuable ID determining / storing means for determining an arbitrary type from among the types as a self type, and storing the issuable ID corresponding to the self type as an ID that can be issued by the self terminal;
Whenever there is a request from any unregistered wireless terminal to the unregistered wireless terminal whose wireless ID is not yet registered, the own terminal can issue an issued ID for the unregistered wireless terminal ID assigning means that arbitrarily decides from among the IDs, and causes the unissued wireless terminal that is the request source to register the determined issuance ID as its own ID;
The self-terminal is registered in the ID of the wireless terminal that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated by the ID management wireless terminal or one or more other wireless terminals that is registered in its configuration information If there is an ID that is not an ID that can be issued, a network connection abnormality determination means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality;
An ID management wireless terminal for a wireless communication network system, comprising: Consists of a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal can be relayed directly or using one or more other wireless terminals using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used, and the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs belongs to each wireless terminal. An ID management wireless terminal in a wireless communication network system in which the network identification code is set and each wireless terminal does not communicate with a wireless terminal belonging to another wireless communication network system by using the network identification code Computer
Each time there is a request from any unregistered wireless terminal for an unregistered wireless terminal that is a wireless terminal whose own ID has not yet been registered, an issuance ID for the unregistered wireless terminal is arbitrarily determined, ID assigning means for registering the determined issued ID in the requesting unregistered wireless terminal as its own ID;
Issued ID management means for managing the determined issued ID as an issued ID;
Among the IDs of wireless terminals that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated by the ID management wireless terminal or other one or more wireless terminals that are registered in the configuration information, If there is no ID, network connection abnormality determination means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality;
Program to function as. Consists of a plurality of wireless terminals that perform wireless data communication, each wireless terminal is identified by an arbitrarily assigned ID, and each wireless terminal can be relayed directly or using one or more other wireless terminals using configuration information A wireless communication network system capable of communicating with all wireless terminals, wherein a network identification code for identifying each wireless communication network system is used, and the wireless communication network system to which the terminal belongs belongs to each wireless terminal. An ID management wireless terminal in a wireless communication network system in which the network identification code is set and each wireless terminal does not communicate with a wireless terminal belonging to another wireless communication network system by using the network identification code Computer
A type-by-type issueable ID storage means for storing an issueable ID for each type in advance;
A self-terminal issuable ID determining / storing means for determining an arbitrary type from among the types as a self type, and storing the issuable ID corresponding to the self type as an ID that can be issued by the self terminal;
Whenever there is a request from any unregistered wireless terminal to the unregistered wireless terminal whose wireless ID is not yet registered, the own terminal can issue an issued ID for the unregistered wireless terminal ID assigning means that arbitrarily decides from among the IDs, and causes the unissued wireless terminal that is the request source to register the determined issuance ID as its own ID;
The self-terminal is registered in the ID of the wireless terminal that can be communicated by relaying to the wireless terminal that can be directly communicated by the ID management wireless terminal or one or more other wireless terminals that is registered in its configuration information If there is an ID that is not an ID that can be issued, network connection abnormality determination means for determining that there is a network connection abnormality,
Program to function as.