KR19990088245A - System for communicating between two units - Google Patents

Abstract

The system is used to transfer data between a first unit U1, such as a clock or a computer, and, for example, a computer, preferably a personal computer or a second unit U2 forming a clock. Each unit includes radio wave transceivers 12 and 19 that operate on one or more common high frequency carriers and transmit data sent to other units.

According to the invention, each unit additionally includes a time base 1, 20, which takes the carrier on this time base 1, 20. The time bases 1, 20 have at least about the same frequency drift. As a result, communication can take place between two units, regardless of the surrounding environment, in particular the temperature at which the units operate.

This is especially true for diary watches.

Description

System for communicating between two units {SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN TWO UNITS}

The invention relates, in particular, to a system for communicating between a first unit, such as a computer or a clock, such as a personal computer, and a second unit, such as another computer and another clock.

U. S. Patent No. 5,652, 602 discloses a case of a system communicating between a first unit constituting a computer and a second unit constituting a watch. In this case, the transmission of computer data to the watch is completed through a variety of lengths that determine the length for the line appearing on the screen of the personal computer monitor, i.e. the bit value that must be transmitted.

Due to the fact that data can be coded and selectively transported or delivered so that data can only be transmitted when certain very special conditions are met, the system has a noticeable drawback. For example, the light present in the surroundings must be low enough so that the light change in the monitor image cannot respond to the field of view. In addition, the watch's photosensitive device must be positioned close to the screen in order to receive data correctly. It should also be noted that the data is unidirectional in the computer-clockwise direction, which significantly limits the possibilities for the use of the system.

Infrared transmission systems are also known, in particular for remote control of all kinds of devices in the home, such as televisions, hi-fi systems. In this case, the directivity of the data carrier radiation is limited because the two units (remote control unit and device) have visual contact which includes serious drawbacks. In addition, a connection is made from the remote control unit to the problematic device, so that the system is unidirectional.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for communicating between a first unit such as a watch and a second unit such as a computer, in particular a personal computer, which eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art communication system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that is efficient and easy to make.

The present invention therefore relates to a communication system according to the first claim.

As a result of this feature, a bi-directional communication system is taken which does not include directivity in the transmission of data between the two units. In addition, because of the carrier frequency, that is, the work on two units at this carrier frequency is achieved in a time base with nearly the same drift in both of these units, where communication is dependent on the environment and especially temperature Depending on how it is communicated.

Complementary features of the invention are listed individually in the dependent claims.

The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are shown by way of illustration.

1 shows a block diagram of an example of a system for communicating between a portable apparatus and a computer, in accordance with the present invention; And

FIG. 2 shows a simple diagram of a control unit used in the communication system shown in FIG. 1.

* Reference Number Description

1, 20: time base

2: control microprocessor

9: internal communication bus

10: control unit

11: data memory

12, 19: radio wave transceiver

22: driver program

23: application program

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the communication system according to the invention comprises a first unit U1 which can be carried by a person. In particular, the first unit may be formed by a wristwatch or any other portable electronic device installed in accordance with aspects of the present invention. However, the first unit is not limited to the portable device.

The communication system also includes a second unit U2, which is formed in this example by some computer, preferably by an ordinary personal computer. However, this second device is also formed by a clock, thereby enabling communication between the two clocks.

In the example shown in the figures, the unit U1 is a clock, a time base driven by quartz used as a frequency standard, a control microprocessor, such as First, it includes a common component, such as a display device 4 and the like, with a motor 3 controlled by the processor 2, and a needle 4 driven by the motor, indicating the time. . Various data related to this time (date, month, etc.), data about the clock function, and also preferred personal data (calendar, meetings, birthdays, phone numbers, address records, etc.) related to the journal. And several display fields capable of displaying such lights. It is the last data that can form the subject of interchange between the two units U1, U2.

One or more control buttons of the continuous type, for example represented by symbols by the unit 6, can be used to activate the function of the clock U1 in the usual manner. To activate or deactivate the reading or editing mode associated with the clock or journal, and the communication mode of the clock U1, or for either. The button may be used.

An apparatus 7 is also provided in the clock U1 for entering data including letters and numbers, which is advantageously formed by a capacitive touch key installed on the cover of the clock. Such devices are hereinafter referred to as "keyboards" for the sake of brevity. Such a device is known to watch technicians, see for example European Patent Application No. 0 838 737 in the name of the applicant.

The unit U1 can be completed by an acoustic alarm device 8. Such devices are triggered by various situations, such as meetings, birthdays, or morning alarm calls.

It is to be noted that the unit U1 of the communication system according to the present invention includes all the components or only some components just described. For example, if the unit U1 is a watch, it is possible to omit the needle display, the motor associated with it, and the acoustic alarm device, or either. If the unit U1 is another portable device such as, for example, a pocket calculator, a reference unit such as a multilingual dictionary, an electronic diary, or the like, any clock component can be omitted. However, such portable devices require correction for heat.

In this way, the unit U1 may be a microprocessor 2, a display 5 including letters and numbers, a control unit 10, and a data memory that prefers a non-volatile type such as, for example, EEPROM. Also included is an internal communication bus 9 which ensures data exchange between (11) and the like. These memories are less susceptible to shocks and have the advantage of retaining data in the absence of power (such as swapping batteries) compared to volatile memory. However, it is clear that the use of volatile memory is also possible.

A modulated unit capable of carrying data on one or more high frequency carriers modulated by the data and also transmitted to an antenna 13 incorporated in unit U1. A radio transceiver circuit 12 capable of detecting a carrier wave is provided. Of course, according to the known art, the transceiver can also demodulate the message to obtain useful data in the received message.

According to an important feature of the present invention, the transceiver 12 is designed to be capable of generating a number of high frequency carriers, the selection of the carrier being transmitted to the antenna 13 is assured by the control unit 10. These high frequency carriers are all driven by the time base 1, in which the stability of the time base 1 is also assured the accuracy of the time supplied by the clock. This provides a high level of frequency stability for each carrier generated in field of view U1.

The memory 11 preferably is established in a page containing a block of data carried by a high frequency link. For example, a page may have a size of 64 bits. The memory can first be read and written via the microprocessor 2, and then the data entering the memory is generated on the keyboard 7, and the read data is also transmitted to the display 5 via the microprocessor 2. do. However, the memory 11 can also be used by the control unit 10, which can write data generated from the transceiver 12 into the memory by the control unit 10, and write data to the transceiver 12. The data can be read by the control unit 10 for transmission.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 10 includes a frequency selection unit 14 to control the frequency of the carrier on which the transceiver 12 operates.

By the possibility of communicating in one of a plurality of carriers in the same power range, a plurality of communication systems according to the present invention are each not interfering with the data exchange of other systems existing within the same power range. It is clear that data exchange can be ensured for the system. For this purpose, each communication system is locked on one carrier selected from the carriers still available in the space in which the system is present, as soon as the system occupying the carrier completes the communication Available on the system.

By way of example only, carriers with frequencies such as 433,245 MHz, 433,845 MHz, and the like may be selected, and different frequencies and different numbers of frequencies may, of course, be observed.

The control unit 10 also has the function of forming an interface between the memory 11 and the transceiver 12. In the embodiment shown above, the first register 15 to communicate with the memory 11, the second register 16 to communicate with the transceiver 12, etc., two registers, Exchanges its contents by the operation of the sequencer 17 (sequencer). Sequencer 17 is also connected to a page counter 18, which points to a page of data in memory 11.

Therefore, when the transceiver 12 is transmitted to the unit U2, the control unit 10 reads data corresponding to the memory page in the memory 11, and then under the control of the sequencer 17. Transmits this data to the transceiver 12 via registers 15 and 16. The page counter 18 is incremented by one unit, and then the next page is read from memory and continued until the last seated page in memory 11 is read. Conversely, when the transceiver 12 is in a receiving mode, the data arriving at the transceiver 12 in a block of a memory page size under the control of the sequencer 17 is divided into two pieces. By transferring to the control unit 10 responsible for transferring data to the memory 11 via the registers 15 and 16, the data can be written in the memory, which is controlled after each block. It is natural to be updated on.

It should be noted that the transfer of data between unit U1 and unit U2, which has an advantage, is in accordance with the protocol; As a flow of data transmitted by a protocol, for example, corresponding to the size of one page of the memory 11, for example, a series of data each having 64 bits Define a succession of data blocks; Each block includes a synchronization and recognition preamble, an identification block that specifically includes a code identifying the units (U1 and U2) that transmits data, and a unit (U1 and U2) that should receive the data. can do.

In unit U2 of the communication system according to the invention, a time base or a quartz frequency standard 20, preferably a thermocompensated time base for heat It includes a transceiver unit 19, which is electrically matched to the transceiver 12 of the unit U1, capable of generating one or more carriers driven by it. The antenna 21 is supplied to the transceiver unit 19.

Advantageously, the communication system according to the invention can be operated according to the master / slave protocol. In this case, at the start of communication between the two units, it defines which is the master and which is the slave. However, in the case of a system comprising a computer and a clock, as seen above, the computer can be defined as a master and the clock can be defined as a slave. Therefore, it is possible to supply the control unit 10 in the watch, which is simpler and therefore it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the watch. The master computer U2 can control the synchronization of communication; A block of data containing instructions indicating whether the unit 10 should read or write data in the memory can be transmitted by the master computer U2 to the control unit 10 of the slave clock U1. Therefore, the control unit 10 must control the direction or data of transmission between the transceiver 12 and the memory. The control unit 10 is installed so that when the user of the watch operates the communication mode by executing according to the selection button, the selection unit 14 searches all the carrier frequencies in order. When the control unit 10 recognizes the identification code in a message carried by one of the carriers, the control unit 10 automatically locks the transceiver 12 to the carrier. After the determined interval, if no message is recognized, the watch's communication mode automatically deactivates to conserve energy.

Of course, the fact that it is possible to operate the units U1 and U2 as masters and slaves, respectively, by simply applying either an electrical component, such as programming of the protocol and a control unit, or a slave, is thus possible. It is known to those skilled in the art.

According to an important feature of the invention, the time bases 1, 20 have a frequency drift, which drift is at least about the same. In this way, the operating frequencies of the transceivers 12, 19 always have carrier frequency values as similar as possible relative to each other, whereby unit U1 is always in any ambient environment, in particular in any environment with respect to temperature. Unit U2 can be found.

For this purpose, since the drifts of the carrier frequencies can be canceled with each other, the time bases can be the same so that the carrier frequencies generated in each time base have a relatively zero drift. However, although it is also possible to have different time bases, the relative compensated time for the different columns applied to the drift, such that relatively zero drift is retaken between the two carrier frequencies. )

If the unit U2 is a personal computer, the units 19, 20 and the antenna 21, etc., may be the same as a normal peripheral unit of a computer such as a printer or a data carrier reading device (for example, a diskette or CD ROM). It is preferred to be formed by a component that can be connected to one of the ports. The component is preferred to be applied to the computer standard used (e.g., USB, Universal Standard Bus, Plug and Play, or RS232, etc.). In such an environment, the driver program 22 and the application program 23 capable of controlling the generation of the data flow in accordance with the transmission protocol selected from both the data transmission and the data reception, etc. With this, the component can be implemented in the PC U2 in the same way as any other plug-in component.

According to another important feature of the invention, it is then placed within the same power range so that it can first detect a carrier already occupied by another communication system lying within the power range. It is preferred that the transceiver unit 19 of the unit U2 be installed so that it can be locked to a carrier which is not fixed among the carriers which are likely to be used by all other systems.

Therefore, by using the communication system according to the present invention, even if several similar systems are used at the same time in the same environment, data can be exchanged between two units U1 and U2 with a high level of reliability. Attention must be paid to the facts.

Therefore, it is possible to transfer data between a clock and a computer, between two clocks and between two computers. Therefore, in the actual case, for example, it is possible to transmit a journal of this week, an address of a person stored in the first unit, or the like to the second unit.

Note that the communication system according to the present invention is particularly suited for the exchange of data between an old watch on a wrist and a personal computer, while the acquisition, modification and editing of the data can be made using the watch, The user can be far from his personal computer. Thus, for example, a user may be interested in meetings, may store other important data, or may store such data on a user's personal computer once he returns to his work room. Conversely, data obtained from a computer or journal, even in another application, for example data obtained from an Internet navigator, can be transmitted to a clock and the user is remote from his work room. At any time, you can seek advice.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described so far obtained by way of illustration only. Therefore, some modifications and improvements, or either, are carried out in a communication system according to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

Communicating between the first unit U1 and the second unit U2; In a system, each unit includes radio wave transceivers 12 and 19 that operate on one or more common high frequency carriers and transmit data sent to other units. Each unit additionally includes a time base (1, 20) from which the carrier can be obtained; The time base (1, 20) is characterized in that it has at least about the same frequency drift, communication system between the first unit (U1) and the second unit (U2). 2. The radio wave receiver according to claim 1, further comprising radio transceivers (12, 19) installed to operate on a plurality of high frequency carriers; First unit U1, characterized in that when communication is established between two units U1, U2, each unit comprises means 14, 22 for assigning the same carrier frequency to the transceiver. And communicate between the second unit (U2). The method of claim 1, wherein the first unit U1 is a watch; The first unit U1 and the second unit U2, characterized in that the time base of the clock is used to supply a frequency standard that maintains time, and to obtain on one high frequency carrier, a plurality of high frequency carriers, or the like. System). 4. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second unit (U2) is a personal computer. The first unit U1 and the second unit according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the time bases 1, 19 are thermocompensated for heat. U2) system to communicate between. The data according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the data exchanged between two units (U1, U2) is coded on the carrier by a block of data; The unit U1 comprises means (2, 10, 11) for writing or reading the data as a function of the type and size of the block, the first unit (U1) and the second unit (U2). System to communicate between them. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the recording means comprises a memory made by a page (11) in which writing of the data block at a rate of one block per page in the page is made. Characterized in that the communication between the first unit (U1) and the second unit (U2). 8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the page memory (11) is a non-volatile type of memory. 5. The personal computer (U2) according to claim 4, wherein the personal computer (U2) is dedicated to processing the data for transmission or reception of data by the transceiver and for use of the data after reception and transmission by the transceiver. An application program 23 to be used; The application program is in communication with the transceiver (19) via a driver program (22), characterized in that the communication between the first unit (U1) and the second unit (U2). 10. The component of claim 9, wherein the transceiver 19, the time base 20, and the like in the second unit U2 are plugged into a peripheral port of the second unit. A system for communicating between a first unit (U1) and a second unit (U2), characterized in that it is installed.