JPH0759163A - Multiplex transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a connector in common and to decrease the number of kinds of the connector by devising plural node sections connecting to a communication line such that they have the same number of connection terminals provided in a communication terminal section, an input terminal section and an output terminal section. CONSTITUTION:The number of connection terminals 31, 32, 34 provided to a communication terminal section, an input terminal section and an output terminal section of each node section is designed to be equal to each other with respect to at least two of plural node sections 15. Thus, as to at least the two node sections 15, the connection of the communication terminal section to the communication line 11, the connection of the input terminal section to an external signal generating section and the connection of the output terminal section to an external operation section are made via connectors 37, 41, 51 suitable for the number of connection terminals provided in each terminal section. Thus, the connectors 37, 41, 51 are used in common among the plural nodes and the number of kinds of the connectors 37, 41, 51 is decreased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plurality of communication lines for multiplex transmission of control information, each of which transmits control information to the communication line or takes in control information from the communication line. The present invention relates to a multiplex transmission device in which each node unit is connected, and various detecting units, control units, operating units, etc. are connected to each node unit for use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the increase in the number of electrical components or control systems installed in vehicles and the development of computerization in various electrical components or control systems, wiring, connectors, and The number of electronic control devices has increased remarkably, and as a result, the wire harness attached to the vehicle body tends to be increased in size and weight. As the wire harness becomes larger, the installation space of the wire harness to the vehicle body is limited and
This leads to a situation where the flexibility of the harness is reduced and the efficiency of the assembly work is reduced, and the increased weight of the wire harness directly leads to the increased weight of the vehicle.

Therefore, in order to reduce the number of wirings, connectors and electronic control units in a vehicle, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. -16845, a common communication line for multiplex-transmitting a plurality of types of control information for controlling the operation of various electric components and control systems mounted on a vehicle is provided. , The communication line is connected to a plurality of node units that send out control information or take in control information, and various electrical components and control systems installed in the vehicle are appropriately connected to the plurality of node units. It has been proposed to construct a multiplex communication mechanism in a vehicle. Further, for example, as described in JP-A-2-184210, regarding a multiplex communication mechanism built in a vehicle,
It has also been proposed to devise a branching mode of a communication line (network) formed by a wire harness so as to reduce costs and improve productivity.

In the multiplex communication mechanism constructed in the vehicle in this way, for example, in a communication line for transmitting multiplexed control information formed by a wire harness arranged on the vehicle body, Each of the plurality of node units connected in parallel includes an external signal generating unit such as various sensors and switches, and an external operating unit such as various actuators and motors provided in each unit of the vehicle. Be connected. Then, each node unit forms control information based on signals from various connected external signal generating units, performs an operation of sending the control information to the communication line, and outputs the control information selected from the communication line. It is assumed that an operation control signal is taken in and formed based on the received control information, and is supplied to various connected external actuation parts to perform an operation control of the external actuation parts. .
Then, the multiplex control information transmitted by the communication line is
For example, each is pulse code modulation (PC
M) signal, non-return to
It is assumed to be in the form of an NRZ modulated carrier signal obtained by zero (NRZ) modulation.

In the multiplex communication mechanism as described above, the external signal generating section or the external operating section connected to each node section has control information based on a signal from the external signal generating section at the node section to which it is connected. As it is formed,
Alternatively, when the operation control signal based on the control information fetched from the communication line is formed, according to the signal from the external signal generator or the control information fetched from the communication line, for example, an arithmetic operation including a microcomputer. In many cases, it is required to perform arithmetic processing by the control unit. Therefore, each node unit is connected to, for example, a communication line to transmit / receive information to / from the communication line, and is connected to various external signal generating units to connect the external signal generating unit. An input interface unit that receives signals, an output interface unit that is connected to various external operating units and supplies operation control signals to the external operating units, and a connection with these communication interface units, input interface units, and output interface units are made. And a communication interface unit, an input interface unit, which are connected to an arithmetic control unit and an external voltage supply source unit.
The output interface unit and the arithmetic and control unit are configured to include a power supply voltage forming unit that supplies a power supply voltage.

[0006]

As described above, the multiplex communication mechanism built in the vehicle is configured to include the communication interface section, the input interface section, the output interface section, the arithmetic control unit, and the power supply voltage forming section. In the assumed node unit, connection with the communication line of the communication interface unit, connection with various external signal generating units of the input interface unit, connection with various external operating units of the output interface unit, and A connector whose connection to the external voltage supply unit of the power supply voltage forming unit is adapted to the connection terminals provided in the communication interface unit, the input interface unit, the output interface unit, and the power supply voltage forming unit, respectively, is used. Done through. In a multiplex communication mechanism built in a vehicle, a large number of node units are normally connected to the communication line. Therefore, for each node, connection with the communication line of the communication interface unit, input interface unit The connector used for the connection with various external signal generators, the connection with various external operating parts of the output interface part, and the connection with the external voltage supply source part of the power supply voltage forming part,
When viewed as a whole of the multiplex communication mechanism, the number is extremely large.

The number of connection terminals provided in the communication interface section, the input interface section, the output interface section, the power supply voltage forming section, etc. in each node section is individually set for each node section as needed. Therefore, the number of connectors that are adapted to the connection terminals provided in the communication interface unit, the input interface unit, the output interface unit, the power supply voltage forming unit, etc. in each node unit is not only extremely large, The types will be extremely diverse. Thus, various types of connectors increase the types of parts used in the multiplex communication mechanism, which is a factor of increasing the cost of the multiplex communication mechanism.

In view of the above point, the present invention is to carry out transmission of control information to the communication line or take-in of control information from the communication line, to the communication line which multiplex-transmits plural kinds of control information. A plurality of node units are connected to each other, and each node unit is connected to various detecting units, control units, operating units, etc., and each node unit is connected to a communication line, and The present invention provides a multiplex transmission device in which the number of types of connectors used for connecting each node unit to various detection units, control units, actuation units, etc. is reduced, thereby reducing costs. The purpose is to do.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a multiplex transmission apparatus according to the present invention has a communication line for multiplex transmission of a plurality of types of control information, and a communication terminal section for each communication line. Control information formed based on the input signal supplied through the input terminal unit from the external signal generation unit connected through the input terminal unit, the operation of sending out to the communication line through the communication terminal unit, Alternatively, the control signal formed based on the control information fetched from the communication line through the communication terminal section is supplied to the external actuating section connected through the output terminal section through the output terminal section. A plurality of node units, and at least two of the plurality of node units have the same number of connection terminals in the communication terminal unit, the input terminal unit, and the output terminal unit, It is made.

[0010]

In the multiplex transmission apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above, at least two of the plurality of node units are provided.
The number of connection terminals provided in each of the communication terminal portion, the input terminal portion, and the output terminal portion is made equal to each other. Thereby, at least these two
Regarding the individual node units, the connection of the communication terminal unit with the communication line, the connection of the input terminal unit with the external signal generating unit, and
The connection between the output terminal section and the external actuating section is made via the connectors which are adapted to the number of connection terminals provided in the communication terminal section, the input terminal section and the output terminal section, respectively. Since the connectors can be commonly used, the number of types of connectors can be reduced.

Therefore, according to the multiplex transmission apparatus of the present invention, the connection of the communication terminal section in each node section included therein with the communication line, the connection of the input terminal section with the external signal generating section, and the output terminal. The plurality of connectors used respectively for connecting the parts to the external actuating parts will reduce the number of their types, thereby reducing the overall cost of the device.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 shows an example of a multiplex transmission apparatus according to the present invention when it is applied to a vehicle.

The example shown in FIG. 3 is a communication line 1 as shown by the dashed line, which is formed with a wire harness mounted inside the vehicle body shown by the dash-dotted line.
1 and a node portion connected in parallel to the communication line 11 and arranged in each portion of the vehicle body. The communication line 11 is, for example, represented by a PCM signal, and is used for multiplex transmission of control information in the form of an NRZ-modulated carrier signal obtained by NRZ modulation.

The node section includes an engine node 13, a main fuse node 14, a front left node 15, a front right node 16, a cowl left side node 17, a cowl right side node 18, and an instrument panel node 1.
9, center console node 20, meter node 2
1, a column node 22, a front left door node 23, a front right door node 24, a rear left door node 25, a rear right door node 26, a rear left node 27 and a rear right node 28 are included. Although not shown in FIG. 3, each of the plurality of nodes is provided with an external signal generating unit such as various sensors and switches arranged in each unit of the vehicle body, and an external signal generating unit in each unit of the vehicle body. External actuators such as various actuators and motors are grouped and connected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front left node 15 of the above-mentioned plurality of nodes includes a communication interface unit 31, an input interface unit 32, a control unit 33, an output interface unit 34, and a power supply voltage forming unit 35. It is said to have built-in. Further, the front left node 15 is provided with a grounding terminal portion including a pair of connection terminals 36A and 36B.

The input interface section 32 is provided with an input terminal section including five connection terminals 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D and 32E. The grounding terminal portion and the input terminal portion are the pair of connection terminals 3
6A and 36B and the connector 37 adapted to the five connection terminals 32A to 32E are used to connect to the ground potential point and the external signal generating section arranged in each part of the vehicle body. There is. When connecting the grounding terminal and input terminal to the ground potential point and external signal generator,
The connection terminals 36A and 36B in the grounding terminal portion are connected to, for example, a ground potential point formed by the vehicle body, and the connection terminals 32A and 32B in the input terminal portion are
Each of them is connected to the washer level detection switch 38 and the brake oil level detection switch 39, and further, the connection terminals 32C, 32D and 32E in the input terminal section.
Is connected to a potentiometer-type reflector angle sensor 40 for detecting the angle of the reflector of the left fog lamp that causes an angle change in conjunction with the steering operation. Each of the washer level detection switch 38, the brake oil level detection switch 39, and the reflector angle sensor 40 forms an external signal generation unit that generates a detection output signal in accordance with each detection state.

Then, the input interface section 32 is
A washer level detection switch 3 which is connected to the control unit 33 via a data bus and forms an external signal generation unit in accordance with command data from the control unit 33.
8. The detection output signal generated by each of the brake oil level detection switch 39 and the reflector angle sensor 40 according to the detection state is received and received through the connection terminals 32A and 32B or 32C, 32D and 32E in the input terminal section. The control data based on the detected output signal is supplied to the control unit 33.

The output interface section 34 includes twelve connection terminals 34A, 34B, 34C, 34D, 34E,
An output terminal portion including 34F, 34G, 34H, 34I, 34J, 34K, and 34L is provided. Then, the output terminal portion includes 12 connection terminals 34A to
Through the connector 41 that is adapted to 34L,
It is supposed to be connected to an external actuation unit arranged in each part of the vehicle body. In the connection between the output terminal section and the external operation section, the connection terminal 34A is the left phone 42, and the connection terminals 34B, 34C and 34D are the left fan motors 4.
3, the connection terminal 34E is the left high beam headlamp 44
The connection terminal 34F has a left low beam headlamp 45.
The connection terminal 34G to the left front side lamp 46,
The connection terminal 34H extends to the left front turn lamp 47, the connection terminal 34I extends to the left side lamp 48, and the connection terminal 3
4J is connected to the left side turn lamp 49, and the connection terminals 34K and 34L are connected to the left reflector motor 50 that changes the angle of the left fog lamp reflector in conjunction with the steering operation.

The output interface unit 34 is
It is connected to the control unit 33 via a data bus, and according to the operation control data from the control unit 33,
The left phone 42, the left fan motor 43, the left high beam headlamp 44, the left low beam headlamp 45, the left front side lamp 46, the left front turn lamp 47, the left side lamp 48, and the left side turn lamp 49 which form the external operation portion. An operation control signal is supplied to a selected one of the left reflector motor 50 and the left reflector motor 50 through a selected one of the connection terminals 34A to 34L in the output terminal section to control the operation state. .

The communication interface section 31 is provided with a communication terminal section formed by including two connection terminals 31A and 31B, and the communication terminal section is adapted to the connection terminals 31A and 31B. Connector 51
Is connected to the communication line 11 via. The communication interface unit 31 is connected to the control unit 33 via a data bus, and according to command data from the control unit 33, selects the selected control information from the control information multiplexed on the communication line 11. Is formed based on the operation of fetching through the connection terminals 31A and 31B in the communication terminal unit and supplying the control data based on the fetched control information to the control unit 33, and the sending control data supplied from the control unit 33. Also, for example, an operation of sending control information represented by a PCM signal and in the form of an NRZ-modulated carrier signal obtained by NRZ modulation to the communication line 11 through the connection terminals 31A and 31B in the communication terminal section Selective.

Further, the control unit 33 forms, in accordance with the information data supplied from the input interface section 32, sending control data based on the information data, and sends the obtained sending control data to the communication interface section 31. Based on the supply operation and the control data supplied from the communication interface unit 31 based on the control information fetched from the communication line 11 or the information data supplied from the input interface unit 32, based on the information data. An operation of forming operation control data and supplying the obtained operation control data to the output interface unit 34 is selectively performed.

Further, the power supply voltage forming portion 35 is provided with a power supply terminal portion formed by including three connection terminals 35A, 35B and 35C, and the power supply terminal portion is
It is connected to the external voltage supply source through a connector 52 adapted to the connection terminals 35A, 35B and 35C. In the connection between the power supply terminal portion and the external voltage supply source portion, the connection terminals 35A, 35B and 35C are connected to the vehicle battery 54 via the fuses 53A, 53B and 53C, respectively. Fuses 53A, 53B and 53
For example, C has different fusing current values.

Then, the power supply voltage forming unit 35, based on the voltage from the vehicle battery 54 supplied through the connection terminals 35A, 35B and 35C in the power supply terminal unit,
The left phone 42 and the left fan motor, which form the stabilized power supply voltages BVa, BVb, and BVc, form the power supply voltages BVa and BVb in the output interface unit 34, and further form an external operating unit through the output interface unit 34. 43, left high beam headlamp 44, left low beam headlamp 45, left front side lamp 4
6, left front turn lamp 47, left side lamp 4
8, the left side turn lamp 49 and the left reflector motor 50 are supplied to selected ones, and the power supply voltage BVc is supplied to the communication interface unit 31, the input interface unit 32, and the control unit 33, respectively.

The front right node 16 among the plurality of nodes in the example shown in FIG. 3 includes a communication interface section 61, an input interface section 62, a control unit 63, an output interface section 64, as shown in FIG. In addition, the power supply voltage forming unit 65 is incorporated. Further, the front right node 16 is provided with a grounding terminal portion including a pair of connection terminals 66A and 66B.

The input interface section 62 is provided with an input terminal section including five connection terminals 62A, 62B, 62C, 62D and 62E. The grounding terminal portion and the input terminal portion are the pair of connection terminals 6
6A and 66B and a connector 67 adapted to the five connection terminals 62A to 62E are used to connect to a ground potential point and an external signal generating section arranged in each part of the vehicle body. There is. When connecting the grounding terminal and input terminal to the ground potential point and external signal generator,
The connection terminals 66A and 66B in the grounding terminal portion are connected to, for example, a ground potential point formed by the vehicle body, and the connection terminals 62A and 62B in the input terminal portion are
Connected to the bonnet open state detection switch 68 and the air conditioner operation detection switch 69, respectively, and further connected to the connection terminals 62C, 62D and 6 in the input terminal section.
2E is connected to a potentiometer-type reflector angle sensor 70 that detects the angle of the right fog lamp reflector that causes an angle change in conjunction with steering operation. Each of the bonnet open state detection switch 68, the air conditioner operation detection switch 69, and the reflector angle sensor 70 forms an external signal generation unit that generates a detection output signal in accordance with each detection state.

Then, the input interface section 62 is
The bonnet open state detection switch 6 which is connected to the control unit 63 via a data bus and forms an external signal generator in accordance with command data from the control unit 63.
8. A detection output signal generated by each of the air conditioner operation detection switch 69 and the reflector angle sensor 70 according to the detection state is used as a connection terminal 62 in the input terminal portion.
Control data based on the detected output signal received through A and 62B or 62C, 62D and 62E is supplied to the control unit 63.

The output interface section 64 has twelve connection terminals 64A, 64B, 64C, 64D, 64E,
An output terminal portion including 64F, 64G, 64H, 64I, 64J, 64K and 64L is provided. Then, the output terminal portion includes 12 connection terminals 64A to
Via the connector 71 which is adapted to 64L,
It is supposed to be connected to an external actuation unit arranged in each part of the vehicle body. In the connection between the output terminal section and the external operating section, the connection terminal 64A is the right phone 72, and the connection terminals 64B, 64C and 64D are the right fan motors 7.
3, the connection terminal 64E is the right high beam headlamp 74
In addition, the connection terminal 64F has a right low beam headlamp 75.
The connection terminal 64G to the right front side lamp 76,
The connection terminal 64H extends to the right front turn lamp 77, the connection terminal 64I extends to the right side lamp 78, and the connection terminal 6
4J are respectively connected to the right side turn lamp 79, and further, the connection terminals 64K and 64L are connected to the right reflector motor 80 which changes the angle of the reflector of the right fog lamp in conjunction with the steering operation.

The output interface unit 64 is
It is connected to the control unit 63 via a data bus, and according to the operation control data from the control unit 63,
The right phone 72, the right fan motor 73, the right high beam headlamp 74, the right low beam headlamp 75, the right front side lamp 76, the right front turn lamp 77, the right side lamp 78, and the right side turn lamp 79 which form the external operation part. An operation control signal is supplied to a selected one of the right reflector motor 80 and the selected one of the connection terminals 64A to 64L in the output terminal section to control the operation state thereof. .

The communication interface section 61 is provided with a communication terminal section including two connection terminals 61A and 61B, and the communication terminal section is adapted to the connection terminals 61A and 61B. Connector 81
Is connected to the communication line 11 via. The communication interface unit 61 is connected to the control unit 63 via a data bus, and according to command data from the control unit 63, selects selected one of the control information multiplexed on the communication line 11. Is formed based on the operation of feeding control data based on the fetched control information to the control unit 63 through the connection terminals 61A and 61B in the communication terminal section, and the sending control data fed from the control unit 63. Also, for example, an operation of sending control information represented by a PCM signal and in the form of an NRZ-modulated carrier signal obtained by NRZ modulation to the communication line 11 through the connection terminals 61A and 61B in the communication terminal section is performed. Selective.

Further, the control unit 63 forms transmission control data based on the information data supplied from the input interface section 62, and sends the obtained transmission control data to the communication interface section 61. Based on the supply operation and control data supplied from the communication interface section 61 based on the control information fetched from the communication line 11 or information data supplied from the input interface section 62, based on the information data. An operation of forming operation control data and supplying the obtained operation control data to the output interface unit 64 is selectively performed.

Further, the power supply voltage forming portion 65 is provided with a power supply terminal portion formed by including three connection terminals 65A, 65B and 65C, and the power supply terminal portion is
It is connected to an external voltage supply source section via a connector 82 adapted to the connection terminals 65A, 65B and 65C. In the connection between the power supply terminal portion and the external voltage supply source portion, the connection terminals 65A, 65B and 65C are connected to the vehicle battery 84 via the fuses 83A, 83B and 83C, respectively. Fuses 83A, 83B and 83
For example, C has different fusing current values.

Then, the power supply voltage forming unit 65, based on the voltage from the vehicle-mounted battery 84 supplied through the connection terminals 65A, 65B and 65C in the power supply terminal unit,
A stabilized power supply voltage B, which is the same as that formed by the power supply voltage forming unit 35 in the front left node 15.
Va, BVb, and BVc are formed, and the power supply voltages BVa and BVb are supplied to the output interface unit 64, and further, through the output interface unit 64, a right phone 72, a right fan motor 73, and a right high-beam headlamp that form an external operating unit. 74, right low beam headlamp 7
5, supplies to the selected one of the right front side lamp 76, the right front turn lamp 77, the right side lamp 78, the right side turn lamp 79, and the right reflector motor 80, and also supplies the power supply voltage BVc to the communication interface. It is supplied to each of the unit 61, the input interface unit 62, and the control unit 63.

Further, among the plurality of node parts in the example shown in FIG. 3, the node parts 13, 14 and 17 other than the above-mentioned front left node 15 and front right node 16 are mentioned.
In each of the 28, most of them are similar to the front left node 15 or the front right node 16 described above.
For example, the communication interface unit 31, the input interface unit 32, the control unit 33, the output interface unit 34, and the power supply voltage forming unit 35 included in the front left node 15 respectively correspond to the communication interface unit, the input interface unit, the control unit, and the output interface. Section and the power supply voltage forming section are built-in, and the input interface section is provided to the input signal terminal section provided to each section of the vehicle body through the connector, and the output interface section is provided to the external signal generating section. The output terminal portion is connected to the external operation portion arranged in each part of the vehicle body through the connector, the communication terminal portion provided with the communication interface portion is connected to the communication line 11 via the connector, and the power supply voltage forming portion is connected to the output terminal portion. The provided power supply terminal is not connected via the connector. A voltage supply unit, respectively, is made and shall be connected.

Between each of the above-mentioned front left node 15 and front right node 16 configured as described above, a grounding terminal portion formed to include a pair of connection terminals 36A and 36B and a pair of connection terminals. The grounding terminal portion formed by including 66A and 66B has the same number of connection terminals in each, and the five connection terminals 32A to
The input terminal portion formed including 32E and the input terminal portion formed including five connection terminals 62A to 62E are equal in the number of connection terminals in each, and 12 connection terminals 34A to The output terminal portion formed including 34L and the output terminal portion formed including 12 connection terminals 64A to 64L have the same number of connection terminals in each, and two connection terminals 31A and 31B for communication and two connection terminals 61A and 61
The communication terminal portion formed by including B has the same number of connection terminals in each, and further the power supply terminal portion formed by including three connection terminals 35A to 35C and three The power supply terminal portion formed including the connection terminals 65A to 65C has the same number of connection terminals in each.

Therefore, the grounding terminal portion and the input terminal portion in the front left node 15 are connected to the washer level detecting switch 38, the brake oil level detecting switch 39 and the reflector angle sensor 40 which form the ground potential point and the external signal generating portion. Connector 37, and the bonnet open state detection switch 68, the air conditioner operation detection switch 69, and the reflector angle sensor 70 which form the grounding terminal portion and the input terminal portion of the front right node 16 as a ground potential point and an external signal generating portion. The connector 67 for connecting to the front left node 15, the left fan 42, the left fan motor 43, and the left high beam that form the external operating portion of the output terminal portion of the front left node 15 can be the same type of connector. Headlamp 44, left low beam head Amplifier 45, the left front side lamp 46, the left front turn lamp 47, the left side lamp 4
8, a connector 41 for connecting to the left side turn lamp 49 and the left reflector motor 50, and a right phone 72, a right fan motor 73, and a right high beam head that form an external operating portion of the output terminal portion of the front right node 16. Lamp 74, right low beam headlamp 75, right front side lamp 76, right front turn lamp 7
7, the right side lamp 78, the right side turn lamp 79, and the connector 71 for connecting to the right reflector / motor 80 can be the same type of connector, and for communication in the front left node 15. A connector 51 for connecting the terminal portion to the communication line 11,
The connector 81 for connecting the communication terminal portion in the front right node 16 to the communication line 11 can be the same kind of connector, and further, the power supply terminal portion in the front left node 15 is supplied with an external voltage. Fuses 53A-53C and on-vehicle battery 54 forming a source
Connector 52 for connecting to the front right node 1
The connector 82 for connecting the power supply terminal portion in 6 to the fuses 83A to 83C forming the external voltage supply source and the in-vehicle battery 84 can be the same type of connector.

That is, in the front left node 15 and the front right node 16, the connector 37 and the connector 67 are provided.
, Connector 41 and connector 71,
Since the connector 51 and the connector 81 can be made common and the connector 52 and the connector 82 can be made common, the number of types of connectors can be reduced. The decrease in the number of such connector types is
This will effectively contribute to cost reduction for the entire example shown in FIG.

In the above example, the front left node 1
5 and the front right node 16 are each provided with the same number of connection terminals as the grounding terminal portion, the input terminal portion, the output terminal portion, the communication terminal portion, and the power source terminal portion. Therefore, in the multiplex transmission apparatus according to the present invention, the nodes other than the front left node 15 and the front right node 16 are replaced by the front left node 15 and the front right node. 1
6, each of the grounding terminal portion, the input terminal portion, the output terminal portion,
Assuming that the number of connection terminals in each of the communication terminal portion and the power supply terminal portion is the same, it is assumed that the front left node 15 and the front right node 16 are made to have common connectors, and further, the front Left node 15
A plurality of nodes that form a set of two or more nodes other than the set of the front right node 16 and the front right node 16 are provided with the same number of connection terminals as the various terminal portions in each node. In this way, it is conceivable that the connectors will be standardized, and in such a case, the number of types of connectors and the associated cost reduction will be more effectively performed.

In the above-mentioned example, the front left node 15 and the front right node 16 are the external signal generating section connected to the input interface section 32 of the front left node 15 through the input terminal section, and the front right node 16. The external signal generating section connected to the input interface section 62 through the input terminal section is similar to each other, and the external operating section connected to the output interface section 34 in the front left node 15 through the output terminal section. , And the external operation unit connected to the output interface unit 64 in the front right node 16 through the output terminal unit are similar to each other, the input interface unit 32 in the front left node 15 and the external operation unit in the front right node 16 are Input interface unit 62 Common, common and output interface section 64 in the output interface section 34 and the front right node 16 in the front left node 15,
And the control unit 33 in the front left node 15
It is also possible to share the same with the control unit 63 in the front right node 16, and further to supply the power supply voltage to them, the power supply voltage forming unit 35 in the front left node 15 and the power supply voltage supply in the front right node 16. It can be shared with the unit 65.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, in the multiplex transmission device according to the present invention, at least two of the plurality of node units connected to the communication line for multiplex transmission of control information are The number of connection terminals provided in each of the communication terminal portion, the input terminal portion, and the output terminal portion is made equal to each other, so that the communication of the communication terminal portion is performed for at least these two node portions. The connection with the line, the connection with the external signal generator of the input terminal section, and the connection with the external operation section of the output terminal section are provided in the communication terminal section, the input terminal section, and the output terminal section, respectively. In the case of using a connector that is adapted to the fraction, it is considered that the connectors can be shared between the two, and the number of types of connectors is reduced.

Therefore, according to the multiplex transmission apparatus of the present invention, the connection of the communication terminal section in each node section included therein with the communication line, the connection of the input terminal section with the external signal generating section, and the output terminal. It is possible to reduce the number of types of the plurality of connectors respectively used for connecting to the external operation part of the unit, and as a result, it is possible to effectively reduce the cost of the entire device. You can do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing one specific configuration of a node unit in an example of a multiplex transmission device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing one specific configuration of a node unit in an example of the multiplex transmission device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a multiplex transmission device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 communication line 13 engine node 14 main fuse node 15 front left node 16 front right node 19 instrument panel node 21 meter node 22 column node 27 rear left node 28 rear right node 31,61 communication interface section 32,62 input interface section 33, 63 control unit 34, 64 output interface section 35, 65 power supply voltage forming section 31A, 31B, 32A to 32E, 34A to 34L, 3
5A to 35C, 61A, 61B, 62A to 62E, 64
A to 64L, 65A to 65C Connection terminals 37, 41, 51, 52, 67, 71, 81, 82
connector

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Seiji Hirano 3-1, Shinchi Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Matsu-saki Toshiyuki 3-3 Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Shintoki 3-1, Shinchi Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A communication line in which a plurality of types of control information are multiplexed and transmitted, and a communication terminal section is connected to each of the communication lines, and an external signal generating section connected via an input terminal section to the input terminal. Based on an operation of sending control information formed based on an input signal supplied through the communication section to the communication line through the communication terminal section, or control information fetched from the communication line through the communication terminal section. And a plurality of node units configured to perform an operation of supplying the control signal formed by the external operation unit connected through the output terminal unit through the output terminal unit, among the plurality of node units. 2. The multiplex transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the number of connection terminals in the communication terminal portion, the input terminal portion and the output terminal portion is equal to each other. 2. A communication terminal section is connected to a communication line via a first connector, an input terminal section is connected to an external signal generating section via a second connector, and an output terminal section is a third connector. The multiplex transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the multiplex transmission device is connected to an external operating unit via the.