CN110275431B - Time counting device, time counting system and time counting method - Google Patents

Abstract

A timing device, a timing system and a timing method. The timer device has: a reception unit that receives, as a reception signal, a reference time signal that includes reference time information for correcting timing data and is transmitted by a transmission device; a signal strength determination unit that determines the strength of the received signal received by the reception unit; a reference transmission device identification unit that identifies, as a reference transmission device, a transmission device that the signal strength determination unit has determined that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold; a signal determination unit that determines, after the reference transmission device determination unit has determined the reference transmission device, that a received signal from the reference transmission device is used for correction of the timing data, and determines that a received signal from a transmission device other than the reference transmission device is not used for correction of the timing data; a correction unit that corrects the timing data based on the reference time information included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination unit; and a timing unit for performing timing based on the timing data corrected by the correction unit.

Description

Time counting device, time counting system and time counting method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a timing device, a timing system and a timing method.

Background

The following timing systems are known: the time adjustment of the time measuring devices of each hierarchy can be performed by layering a plurality of time measuring devices and sequentially relaying time information from a time measuring device of an upper hierarchy to a time measuring device of a lower hierarchy that is one hierarchy lower. In such a timekeeping system, time information is transmitted from a timekeeping device in an upper hierarchy level to a timekeeping device in a lower hierarchy level by one-way communication. The one-way communication is, for example, short-range wireless communication. The time counting device of the lower hierarchy refers to the transmission timing information included in the transmission data together with the time information, and specifies the automatic reception timing for receiving the transmission data from the time counting device of the upper hierarchy thereafter.

In such a timekeeping system, it is easy to construct a network as compared with bidirectional communication in which timekeeping devices are paired with each other. For example, a timer device capable of automatically establishing an appropriate link relationship between timer devices is known (patent document 1).

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2005-257484

In the above-described timekeeping system, radio waves are used for communication between timekeeping devices. However, the electric field strength of the radio wave generally fluctuates due to interference or crosstalk. Therefore, in the above-described timekeeping system, there are cases where: when the timer device is provided, the reception of the time information from the timer device of the upper hierarchy level is occasionally successful at the lower limit of the reception sensitivity. When reception is accidentally successful at the lower limit of the reception sensitivity, there is a problem in that: in the subsequent periodic automatic reception, the reception time information cannot be stabilized any more due to the variation in the electric field intensity of the reception radio wave.

In particular, since it is difficult to move a time-keeping device, which takes time and labor, once installed, it is difficult to change a communication distance with a time-keeping device of an upper hierarchy. For example, for a wall clock or a table clock, unlike a wristwatch, once set, the communication distance to a higher level timepiece is determined. Therefore, when the automatic reception of the wall clock or the table clock is not possible, it takes time and labor for the user to reset the wall clock or the table clock to a place closer to the time counting device in the upper hierarchy level.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and provides a timekeeping device, a timekeeping system, and a timekeeping method that can stably receive time information.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and one aspect of the present invention is a timepiece device including: a reception unit that receives, as a reception signal, a reference time signal transmitted from a transmission device, the reference time signal including reference time information for correcting timing data; a signal strength determination unit configured to determine strength of the received signal received by the reception unit; a reference transmission device identification unit that identifies the transmission device determined by the signal strength determination unit that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value as a reference transmission device; a signal determination unit that determines that the received signal from the reference transmission device is used for correction of the timing data and that the received signal from the transmission device other than the reference transmission device is not used for correction of the timing data after the reference transmission device determination unit determines the reference transmission device; a correction unit that corrects the timing data based on the reference time information included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination unit; and a timing unit that performs timing based on the timing data corrected by the correction unit.

In the above-described timing device, the signal strength determination unit may determine the strength of the received signal received by the reception unit when the received signal is received for the first time after the reception unit starts operating.

In the above-described timing device, according to an aspect of the present invention, when the connection with the reference transmission device is interrupted, the reference transmission device specification unit may newly specify the transmission device, as the reference transmission device, the signal strength determination unit of which the strength is determined to be equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

In the above-described timing device, according to an aspect of the present invention, the signal strength determination unit determines the strength of the received signal received by the reception unit when the reception unit receives the received signal by manual reception.

In the above-described timer device, the signal intensity determination unit may determine that the intensity is smaller than a predetermined value, and the display unit may display that the intensity is smaller than the predetermined value.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a timing method including the steps of: a reception step of receiving a reference time signal transmitted by a transmission device as a reception signal, the reference time signal including reference time information for correcting timing data; a signal strength determination step of determining the strength of the received signal received in the reception step; a reference transmission device specifying step of specifying the transmission device determined in the signal strength determination step that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold as a reference transmission device; a signal determination step of determining that the received signal from the reference transmission device is used for correction of the timing data and that the received signal from the transmission device other than the reference transmission device is not used for correction of the timing data after the reference transmission device is determined in the reference transmission device determination step; a correction step of correcting the timing data based on the reference time information included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination step; and a timing step of performing timing based on the timing data corrected in the correcting step.

According to the present invention, the reception time information can be stabilized.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a timekeeping system according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of reference time information and a communication channel according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the timepiece device according to embodiment 1 of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display on the display panel P of the display device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control unit according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of preprocessing for time information reception according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of long-wave reception processing in the master mode according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of near field communication processing in the master mode according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the near-field reception processing in the slave mode according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the normal time clock processing according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of processing for time adjustment in a normal state of the slave device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of normal rerouting (rerouting) processing according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the display control processing according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Description of the reference symbols

S: a timing system; C. c1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6: a timing device; 1: a long wave receiving circuit; 2: a power supply circuit; 21: an AC (alternating current) adapter connection plug; 22: a battery; 3: a connector; 4: a master device; 5: a display device; 6: a voltage detector; 7: a regulator; 8: a switch group; 9: an RF circuit; 10: a quartz resonator; 11: a control unit; 20: a processor; 201: a signal strength determination unit; 202: a reference transmission device determination unit; 203: a signal determination unit; 204: a correction unit; 205: a timing section; 206: a master/slave mode control unit; 207: a communication control unit; 208: a display control unit; 30: a timing data acquisition unit; 40: an encoder; 50: a decoder; 60: a signal intensity acquisition unit; 70: a key input section; 80: a voltage data input section; 90: a register group; 901: a parent device child device mode register; 902: a timing data register; 903: a receive channel register; 904: a transmit channel register; 905: a layer register; 906: a continuous reception failure number register; p: a display panel.

Detailed Description

(embodiment 1)

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a timekeeping system S according to the present embodiment. The time counting system S includes a plurality of time counting devices C1 to C6, and these time counting devices C1 to C6 form a tree-shaped network.

Hereinafter, 1 of the time counting devices C1 to C6 may be referred to as a time counting device C.

In this network, there are hierarchical levels shown by layers, and the time device C at the uppermost layer acquires time information and sequentially transmits the time information from the time device C at the upper layer to the time device C at the lower layer. Here, the time information acquired by the timer device C on the uppermost layer is, for example, information indicating a reference time included in the standard radio wave. The time counting device C of each layer corrects the time of its own device when receiving the time information from the time counting device C of the upper layer. Thus, the timekeeping devices C1 to C6 constituting the timekeeping system S maintain accurate time.

The timekeeping devices C1 to C6 included in the timekeeping system S are radio-controlled timepieces installed in, for example, office buildings or factories. In a radio-controlled timepiece, a standard radio wave may not be received depending on the installation location.

Therefore, in the timekeeping system S, the timekeeping devices C1 to C6 are divided into a parent device that receives the standard radio wave and a child device that receives the reference time signal from the parent device. Here, the reference time signal is a signal including time information for time correction (that is, reference time information B). The timer C1 as a parent device is installed in a window or the like that easily receives a standard radio wave. On the other hand, the timer C2 and the timer C3 as child devices are set on the back side of the building, and receive a reference time signal from the timer C1 as a parent device.

In the time counting system S, when the time counting device C receives the reference time signal from the time counting device C of the upper layer, the time counting device C receives the reference time signal from the time counting device C of the upper layer at a predetermined reception timing thereafter. A transmission device of an upper layer that transmits a reference time signal to the timer device C is referred to as a reference transmission device.

In the timekeeping system S, when the intensity of the received reference time signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the timekeeping device C can stabilize the reception time information by setting the transmission device that has transmitted the reference time signal as the reference transmission device.

In the timer system S, one-way communication in the short-range wireless communication is used for transmission. For example, the short-range wireless communication is BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark)) Low Energy. The transmission data includes layer information indicating a hierarchy of the network. The timer devices C2 to C6 add 1 to the layer value received at the initial reception to set the layer of the own device. Thereafter, the time counting devices C2 to C6 acquire only transmission data having a layer value 1 smaller than the layer value of their own device, thereby constructing a tree-shaped network.

In the timepiece system S, by using the one-way communication, time and labor for pairing in the near field communication, IP address setting in a general network, and the like are saved, and compared with these, the parent-child timepiece system can be easily realized.

The timer C1 as a parent device receives standard radio waves such as JJY (registered trademark) or satellite radio waves (UTC) by long-wave reception, and acquires time information. Alternatively, the timer device C1 as the parent device acquires time information from the smartphone by short-range wireless communication. The information source from which the timer C1 acquires the time information is set by the user. In the timer system S, the user also sets which of the parent device and the child device the timer device C functions as.

The timer C1 corrects the timer data of its own device based on the acquired time information. The timer C1 generates reference time information B based on the corrected time data. The clock C1 transmits a reference time signal including the generated reference time information B to the clock C2 and the clock C3 in the lower layer through the transmission channel 0.

Here, reference time information B and a communication channel are explained with reference to fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the reference time information B and the communication channel according to the present embodiment. The reference time information B includes layer information B1, transmission channel information B2, time information B3, and station information B4.

The layer information B1 is information for specifying the layer where the timer C that transmitted the reference time information B is located. The layer information B1 is, for example, in the range of 0 to 99.

The transmission channel information B2 is information for specifying a communication channel for transmitting the reference time information B. For example, when 60 channels of communication channels are prepared, the transmission channel information B2 has a value corresponding to a communication channel among values of 0 to 59, for example.

The time information B3 is information indicating the time of year, month, day, hour, minute, second, week, etc.

The station information B4 is information indicating which information source the time information B3 has corrected. The station information B4 is information indicating, for example, UTC, JJY (40 kHz; east/foro island transmitting station), JJY (60kHz, west/kyushu transmitting station), smartphone, and manual adjustment in a distinguished manner.

Returning to fig. 1, the description of the timer system S is continued.

In the time counting system S, in order to prevent crosstalk, a time slot TS is set every 10 seconds, and the transmission timing of the reference time information B is determined from the layer and the transmission CH (transmission channel), thereby preventing the transmission timing from overlapping among a plurality of transmission devices. Here, the transmission CH is not a time-division slot but a frequency-division slot, and is randomly set from the numbers 0 to 59. An example of the transmission timing is represented by equation (1).

Transmission timing hh: 00: 00+ (layer × 10) [ min ] + (transmission CH × 10) [ sec ] +5[ sec ] (hh ═ 0, 3, 6 …) … (formula 1)

Unlike bi-directional communication of BLE in which crosstalk is prevented by frequency hopping, in the uni-directional communication of BLE, when a broadcasting device as a transmitting device transmits an advertisement packet as transmission data, 3 frequencies are sequentially switched and transmitted, and therefore, when timings overlap, the possibility of occurrence of crosstalk increases. In the timer system S, the transmission timings are prevented from overlapping by equation (1).

The timer C2 having the layer value of 1 receives the reference time information B from the timer C1 having the layer value of 0. The time measurement device C2 corrects the time measurement data of its own device based on the time information B3 included in the reference time information B. The timer C2 generates reference time information B based on the corrected time data. The timer C2 transmits the generated reference time information B to the timer C4 having a layer value of 2. Here, the timer C2 uses a transmission channel 3 different from the transmission channel 0 used by the timer C1 of the higher layer for transmission.

Similarly, the timer C of each layer receives the reference time information B from the timer C of the layer having the smaller value of 1, and corrects the timer data of the own device based on the time information B3 included in the received reference time information B. The timer C generates reference time information B based on the corrected time data. The timer device C transmits the generated reference time information B to the timer device C of the lower layer having the layer value larger than 1, using a transmission channel different from the transmission channel used by the timer device C of the upper layer having the layer value smaller than 1.

In the timekeeping system S, a timekeeping device that does not have a function of transmitting the reference time information B may be disposed as necessary in addition to the timekeeping device C.

Next, the structure of the timer device C will be described with reference to fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the timer device C of the present embodiment. The timer device C has a long-wave receiving circuit 1, a power supply circuit 2, a connector 3, a main device 4, and a display device 5.

The long-wavelength receiving circuit 1 receives and demodulates a standard radio wave jy or a satellite radio wave (UTC) including time information, and outputs digital reception information to the host apparatus 4 via the connector 3.

The power supply circuit 2 has an AC (alternating current) adapter connection plug 21 and a battery 22, and supplies direct current power from the AC adapter or the battery 22 to the host device 4 via the connector 3.

The display device 5 has a display panel P (e.g., a liquid crystal display panel) having a segment structure, and displays information such as time information and radio wave transmission/reception status.

Here, the display of the display panel P of the display device 5 is explained with reference to fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display on the display panel P of the display device 5 according to the present embodiment. The display panel P has a morning display section P1, a afternoon display section P2, a TL marker section P3, an hour display section P4, a separation section P5, a minute display section P6, a second display section P7, a parent-child device mode marker section P8, an information source marker section P9, a BLE marker section P10, an antenna marker section P11, a reception level section P12, a battery marker section P13, a month display section P14, a day display section P15, and a day display section P16.

In the case of the 12-hour display at the time of day, the morning display segment P1 and the afternoon display segment P2 display the morning and the afternoon separately.

The TL mark segment P3 is a display segment for displaying a case where the reference time signal can be received from the timekeeping device C in the upper layer. Further, by switching the display form of the TL mark segment P3, the display is in reception, transmission, or the like.

Hour display segment P4, separator segment P5, sub display segment P6, second display segment P7, and "hour: the minute "form shows the current time.

The parent-child apparatus mode flag segment P8 shows whether the timer C is set to the parent apparatus mode or the child apparatus mode. When the timer C is set to the parent device mode, the character "P" of the parent device child device mode flag segment P8 lights up. On the other hand, when the timer device C is set to the child device mode, the character "C" of the parent device child device mode flag segment P8 lights up.

The source flag segment P9 indicates whether or not the standard radio wave signal has been received within a predetermined time, and if so, which of the west station, the east station, and the UTC the source is. For example, when the timer C receives JJY60kHz within 24 hours and corrects the time, the W mark segment lights up. When the timer C receives JJY40kHz within 24 hours and is used for time correction, the E mark segment is lightened. When the timekeeping device C receives UTC within 24 hours and corrects the time, the U flag segment lights up.

BLE flag segment P10 indicates whether or not time information is received from the smartphone through short-range wireless communication such as BLE.

The antenna flag section P11 and the reception level section P12 are sections for displaying the intensity of the received electric wave.

The battery flag segment P13 is a segment for displaying the voltage status of the battery 22.

The month display segment P14, day display segment P15, and day display segment P16 are segments for displaying the month day and the day.

Returning to fig. 3, the configuration of the timer device C will be described.

The main device 4 includes a voltage detector 6, a regulator 7, a switch group 8, an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit 9, a quartz resonator 10, and a control unit 11.

The voltage detector 6 detects the output voltage of the power supply circuit 2 and supplies the detected value to the control unit 11.

The regulator 7 stabilizes the voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 2 and supplies the stabilized voltage to the host device 4.

The switch group 8 includes a plurality of switches such as a RESET switch, an RECV switch, and a MODE switch. The switch group 8 supplies various information and instructions to the control unit 11 according to the on/off of the switch, the length of the on time, and the like, which are based on the user operation.

When the RESET switch is operated, the control unit 11 is in an initial state.

When the RECV switch is operated, a manual reception process of receiving a reception signal for a prescribed time is performed.

When the MODE switch is operated, the MODE is switched among 3 MODEs, namely a long-wave reception master MODE for receiving long waves, a BLE master MODE for acquiring time information from a smartphone through reception based on BLE, and a slave MODE. Further, the parent device mode and the child device mode may be switched, and the time information may be acquired by automatically selecting which of the long-wave reception and the BLE reception is used in the parent device mode.

The RF circuit 9 receives the reference time signal transmitted from the timer C of the upper layer as a reception signal under the control of the control unit 11. The RF circuit 9 demodulates the received reference time signal and outputs the demodulated reference time signal to the control unit 11. The RF circuit 9 transmits the reference time information B to the timer C in the lower layer using a transmission channel different from the reception channel.

The quartz resonator 10 oscillates at a predetermined oscillation frequency and supplies an oscillation signal to the control unit 11.

The control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the timer device C. The control unit 11 performs a timing operation based on an oscillation signal of the quartz resonator 10, an intensity determination of a reference reception signal (a standard radio wave signal or a reference time signal) of the long-wave reception circuit 1 or the RF circuit 9, a determination of a reference transmission device that receives the reference reception signal, a determination of whether or not the received reference reception signal is used for timing data correction, a correction operation based on time data of the reference reception signal received from the reference transmission device, a transmission of reference time information based on the corrected time data via the RF circuit 9, a display control of various information on the display device 5, a process in response to an operation input of the switch group 8, and the like.

Here, the configuration of the control unit 11 will be described with reference to fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control unit 11 according to the present embodiment. The control unit 11 includes a processor 20, a time data acquisition unit 30, an encoder 40, a decoder 50, a signal strength acquisition unit 60, a key input unit 70, a voltage data input unit 80, and a register group 90.

The processor 20 includes a signal strength determination unit 201, a reference transmission device determination unit 202, a signal determination unit 203, a correction unit 204, a timing unit 205, a parent-child device mode control unit 206, a communication control unit 207, and a display control unit 208. The processor 20 causes the signal strength determination unit 201, the reference transmission device determination unit 202, the signal determination unit 203, the correction unit 204, the timing unit 205, the parent-child apparatus mode control unit 206, the communication control unit 207, and the display control unit 208 to perform processing, respectively.

The processor 20 is realized by a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like.

The signal strength determination unit 201 determines the strength of the received signal received by the RF circuit 9.

The reference transmission device specifying unit 202 specifies the timer device C, which the signal strength determination unit 201 determines that the strength of the received signal received by the RF circuit 9 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, as the reference transmission device.

The signal determination unit 203 determines whether or not the received signal received by the RF circuit 9 is used for correction of the timing data.

The correction unit 204 corrects the time count data based on the reference time information B included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination unit 203.

The timer 205 performs timing based on the timing data corrected by the correction unit 204.

The communication control unit 207 controls reception of a reception signal by the RF circuit 9 and transmission of a reference time signal by the RF circuit 9. Here, the communication control unit 207 receives the reference time signal transmitted from the timer device C of the upper layer as a reception signal via the RF circuit 9.

The display control unit 208 controls display of various information on the display device 5.

The timing data acquisition unit 30 counts oscillation signals from the quartz resonator 10, acquires timing data at regular intervals, and outputs a timing interrupt signal to the processor 20. Here, the certain time is, for example, 100 ms.

The encoder 40 encodes the data to be transmitted supplied from the processor 20, for example, the reference time information B, generates a baseband signal, and supplies the baseband signal to the RF circuit 9.

The decoder 50 decodes the reception signals received by the long-wave reception circuit 1 and the RF circuit 9, demodulates baseband signals of standard time information and reference time information B, and supplies the demodulated signals to the processor 20.

The signal strength acquisition unit 60 acquires the strength of the received signal received by the RF circuit 9. Here, the Strength of the Received Signal refers to the Received Signal Strength (RSSI).

The key input unit 70 decodes the on/off signal input in accordance with the operation of the switch group 8, and supplies the decoded signal to the processor 20.

The voltage data input unit 80 outputs the voltage value detected by the voltage detector 6 to the processor 20.

The register group 90 has a parent-child device mode register 901, a timing data register 902, a reception channel register 903, a transmission channel register 904, a layer register 905, and a consecutive reception failure number register 906.

The parent-child device mode register 901 stores parent-child device mode setting information. The parent-child apparatus mode setting information indicates which one of the long-wave reception parent apparatus mode, BLE parent apparatus mode, and child apparatus mode the timer device C is set to.

The time data register 902 stores information indicating the current time measured by the time measuring device C as time data. Here, the information indicating the current time is information indicating month/day/hour/minute/second/week.

The reception channel register 903 stores reception channel designation data (for example, any one of the above-described values 0 to 59) that designates a communication channel that receives reference time information from the timer device C of the upper layer, received data, and the like. In the case where there is no time counter C1 having a value of 0 at the layer of the time counter C at the upper layer, the type of time such as the standard time and information indicating the information source from which the time information has been acquired are stored. Here, the information indicating the information source from which the time information is obtained is information indicating the type of standard radio wave (UTC, jjyoto transmission station, etc.) or the smartphone.

The transmission channel register 904 stores transmission channel designation data (for example, any one of the above-described values 0 to 59) that designates a transmission channel for transmitting the reference time information B to the timer device C of the lower layer. The channel designation data stored in the transmission channel register 904 is transmitted as transmission channel information B2 in the reference time information B.

The layer register 905 stores layer data (for example, any one of the aforementioned values 0 to 99) indicating which layer among the plurality of layers the timer C is located.

The consecutive reception failure count register 906 stores the number of times that the reference time information B from the timer device C of the upper layer cannot be received consecutively (i.e., the number of consecutive reception failures). In addition, in the case where there is no timer C1 in which the layer value of the timer C in the upper layer is 0, the number of times that the standard radio signal cannot be continuously received is stored.

(configuration)

The user arranges a plurality of timepieces C constituting the timekeeping system S within a distance range in which communication by the RF circuit 9 is possible, and turns on the power.

(initial action)

When the timer C is powered on, it starts preprocessing for receiving the time information together with other initialization operations. This preprocessing is also started when the RESET switch of the switch group 8 is operated and the control unit 11 is in the initial state.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of preprocessing for time information reception according to the present embodiment.

Step S100: the parent-child apparatus mode control unit 206 determines whether or not the timer C is set to the parent apparatus mode. Here, the parent device mode is any one of a long-wave reception parent device mode and a BLE parent device mode.

The parent-child device mode control unit 206 acquires parent-child device mode setting information from the parent-child device mode register 901. If the parent-device/child-device mode control unit 206 determines that the acquired parent-device/child-device mode setting information indicates either the long-wave reception parent device mode or the BLE parent device mode (step S100; yes), the processor 20 executes the process of step S101.

On the other hand, if the parent device/child device mode control unit 206 determines that the acquired parent device/child device mode setting information does not indicate any one of the long-wave reception parent device mode and the BLE parent device mode (step S100; no), the processor 20 executes the child device mode short-distance reception process of step S104. The sub-device mode close range reception processing is described later with reference to fig. 9.

In step S100, the parent-child device mode control unit 206 supplies the parent-child device mode setting information to the display control unit 208. The display control unit 208 causes the display device 5 to display whether the timer C is set to the parent device mode or the child device mode by using the parent-child device mode flag segment P8, based on the parent-child device mode setting information supplied from the parent-child device mode control unit 206.

Step S101: the parent-child apparatus mode control unit 206 determines whether or not the timer C is set to the long-wave reception parent apparatus mode. When the parent device/child device mode control unit 206 determines that the parent device/child device mode setting information indicates the long-wave reception parent device mode (yes in step S101), the processor 20 executes the long-wave reception process in step S102. The long wave reception process is described later with reference to fig. 7.

On the other hand, when the parent-device child-device mode control unit 206 determines that the parent-device child-device mode setting information does not indicate the long-wave reception parent device mode (step S101; no), the processor 20 executes the parent-device mode short-range communication process of step S103. The mother device mode near field communication process will be described later with reference to fig. 8.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of long-wave reception processing in the parent device mode according to the present embodiment. The process shown in fig. 7 is a long-wave reception process of step S102 shown in fig. 6.

Step S200: the communication control unit 207 controls the long wave receiving circuit 1 to receive the standard radio wave broadcast at 60kHz from the kyushu transmitting station of JJY. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 30 seconds. The communication control unit 207 causes the decoder 50 to decode the reception signal received by the long-wave reception circuit 1, thereby acquiring the standard time information.

Step S201: the communication control unit 207 controls the long wave receiving circuit 1 to receive the standard radio wave broadcast at 40kHz from the fukushima transmitting station of jy. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 30 seconds. The communication control unit 207 causes the decoder 50 to decode the reception signal received by the long-wave reception circuit 1, thereby acquiring the standard time information.

Step S202: when the communication control unit 207 determines that the long-wave receiving circuit 1 has received both the standard radio waves of 60kHz and 40kH and has acquired the decoded signal (step S202; yes), it executes the process of step S208. On the other hand, when the long-wavelength receiving circuit 1 is judged not to receive the standard radio waves of both 60kHz and 40kH (step S202; NO), the communication control unit 207 executes the processing of step S203.

Step S203: when the communication control unit 207 determines that the long-wave receiving circuit 1 has received the standard radio wave of 60kHz (step S203; YES), it executes the process of step S209. On the other hand, when the long-wavelength receiving circuit 1 is determined not to receive the standard radio wave of 60kHz (step S203; NO), the communication control unit 207 executes the processing of step S204.

Step S204: when the communication control unit 207 determines that the long-wave receiving circuit 1 has received the standard radio wave of 40kHz (step S204; yes), it executes the process of step S210. On the other hand, when the long-wavelength receiving circuit 1 is determined not to receive the standard radio wave of 40kHz (step S204; NO), the communication control unit 207 executes the processing of step S205.

Step S205: the communication control unit 207 causes the long wave receiving circuit 1 to receive UTC from a GPS satellite or the like when the long wave receiving circuit 1 fails to receive the standard radio wave.

Step S206: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not the long-wave receiving circuit 1 has received UTC. When the communication control unit 207 determines that the UTC has been received by the long-wave receiving circuit 1 (step S206; yes), the processor 20 executes the process of step S211.

On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the long-wave receiving circuit 1 has failed to receive UTC (step S206; no), the processor 20 executes the process of step S207.

Step S207: the communication control unit 207 performs a long-wave reception failure process. The communication control unit 207 supplies a signal indicating that the long-wave reception has failed to the display control unit 208.

The display controller 208 causes the display device 5 to display the long-wave reception failure using the antenna marker band P11 and the reception level band P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication controller 207. Here, the display device 5 blinks the antenna marker segment P11 and extinguishes the reception level segment P12, for example.

Step S208: the communication control unit 207 selects one transmission station that can be received more stably. Then, the communication control unit 207 executes the processing of step S211.

Step S209: the communication control unit 207 selects a west transmission station (kyushu). Then, the communication control unit 207 executes the processing of step S211.

Step S210: the communication control section 207 selects an east transmitting station (fukushima). Then, the communication control unit 207 executes the processing of step S211.

Step S211: the processor 20 performs a long wave reception initial setting process.

The timer 205 sets the timer data based on the received standard radio wave in the timer data register 902.

The communication control unit 207 sets information indicating a standard radio wave and a physical transmission station for each time type in the reception channel register 903. Further, the communication control section 207 sets 0 as a layer value in the layer register 905. The communication control unit 207 resets the number of consecutive reception failures stored in the number-of-consecutive reception failures register 906.

The display control unit 208 causes the display device 5 to display the time counting data stored in the time counting data register 902 and information indicating the reception state and the battery state. Here, the display contents of the display panel P of the display device 5 include, for example, the display of the morning/afternoon based on the morning display segment P1 and the afternoon display segment P2, the display of the year, month, hour, minute, second and week based on the hour display segment P4, the partition segment P5, the partition segment P6, the second display segment P7, the month display segment P14, the day display segment P15 and the week display segment P16, the display of the information source based on the standard radio wave of the information source flag segment P9, the display of the reception state based on the standard radio wave of the reception level segment P12, and the display of the power supply state based on the detection value of the voltage detector 6 input via the voltage data input unit 80.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of near field communication processing in the parent device mode according to the present embodiment. The process shown in fig. 8 is the parent-device-mode near-field communication process of step S103 shown in fig. 6.

Step S300: the communication control section 207 activates the RF circuit 9.

Step S301: the communication control unit 207 causes the RF circuit 9 to intermittently transmit an advertisement signal for connection to the smartphone for a predetermined time. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 30 seconds.

Step S302: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not the RF circuit 9 is connected to the smartphone and receives the short-range time signal. When the communication control unit 207 determines that the RF circuit 9 has received the short-range time signal (yes in step S302), the processor 20 executes the process of step S304. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the RF circuit 9 has not received the short-range time signal (no in step S302), the processor 20 executes the process of step S303.

Step S303: the communication control unit 207 executes the short-range communication failure processing. The communication control unit 207 supplies a signal indicating that the short-range communication has failed to the display control unit 208.

The display controller 208 causes the display device 5 to display the failure of the short-range communication using the BLE marker segment P10, the antenna marker segment P11, and the reception level segment P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication controller 207. Here, the display device 5 lights up the BLE marker segment P10, blinks the antenna marker segment P11, and turns off the reception level segment P12, for example.

Step S304: the processor 20 executes the near field communication initial setting process.

The timer 205 sets the timer data based on the received short-distance time signal in the timer data register 902.

The communication control unit 207 sets information indicating the time received from the smartphone or the like for the time type in the reception channel register 903. Further, the communication control section 207 sets 0 as a layer value in the layer register 905. The communication control unit 207 resets the number of consecutive reception failures stored in the number-of-consecutive reception failures register 906.

The display control unit 208 causes the display device 5 to display the time counting data stored in the time counting data register 902 and information indicating the reception state and the battery state. Here, the display contents of the display panel P of the display device 5 include, for example, the display of the morning/afternoon based on the morning display segment P1 and the afternoon display segment P2, the display of the year, month, minute, second, and day based on the hour display segment P4, the division segment P5, the division segment P6, the second display segment P7, the month display segment P14, the date display segment P15, and the day display segment P16, the display of the time information acquired from the smartphone based on the BLE marker segment P10, the display of the reception status of the short-range communication radio wave based on the reception level segment P12, and the display of the power state based on the detection value of the voltage detector 6 input via the voltage data input unit 80.

Further, when the two modes of the master mode and the slave mode are switched and the time information is acquired by automatically selecting which of the long wave reception and the BLE reception is used in the master mode, for example, when the long wave reception process in step S102 in fig. 6 fails, the master mode near field communication process in step S103 may be executed. In another example, the long-wave reception process of step S102 may be executed when the parent-device mode near field communication process of step S103 of fig. 6 fails.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the short-range reception processing in the slave mode according to the present embodiment. The process shown in fig. 9 is the child device mode close range reception process of step S104 shown in fig. 6.

Step S400: the communication control section 207 activates the RF circuit 9.

Step S401: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not the RF circuit 9 has received the short-range time signal. When determining that the RF circuit 9 has received the short-range time signal (step S401; yes), the communication control unit 207 acquires the reference time information B from the decoder 50. Then, the processor 20 executes the process of step S402.

On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the RF circuit 9 has not received the short-range time signal (no in step S401), the processor 20 executes the process of step S405.

Step S402: the signal strength determination unit 201 determines whether or not the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Here, when the received signal is received for the first time after the RF circuit 9 starts operating, the signal strength determination section 201 determines the strength of the received signal received by the RF circuit 9.

The signal strength determination unit 201 causes the signal strength acquisition unit 60 to acquire the strength of the received signal received by the RF circuit 9. The signal strength determination unit 201 determines whether or not the strength of the received signal acquired by the signal strength acquisition unit 60 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Here, the predetermined threshold is, for example, -90 dBm.

For example, the relationship between the distance between the reference transmitter and the timer C as the slave and the reception success rate of the reference time signal is experimentally examined, and a predetermined threshold value for determining the strength of the received signal is determined in advance.

When the signal strength determination unit 201 determines that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (step S402; yes), the processor 20 executes the process of step S403. On the other hand, when the signal strength determination unit 201 determines that the strength of the received signal is not equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold (step S402; no), the processor 20 executes the process of step S407.

Step S403: the reference transmission device determination section 202 determines a reference transmission device. Here, the reference transmission device determination section 202 determines the reference transmission device by setting the reception channel designation data of the reception channel register 903, for example.

The reference transmission device identification unit 202 causes the communication control unit 207 to acquire transmission channel information from the reference time information B. The reference transmission device specification unit 202 causes the communication control unit 207 to set the transmission channel indicated by the acquired transmission channel information as the reception channel designation data of the reception channel register 903.

The reference transmission device identification unit 202 causes the communication control unit 207 to acquire layer information from the reference time information B. The reference transmission device specification unit 202 causes the communication control unit 207 to set, as the layer value, a value obtained by adding 1 to the layer value indicated by the acquired layer information in the layer register 905.

The communication control unit 207 resets the number of consecutive reception failures stored in the number-of-consecutive reception failures register 906.

Step S404: the correction unit 204 corrects the timing data. The correction unit 204 acquires the reference time information B from the communication control unit 207. The correction unit 204 corrects the time data stored in the time data register 902 based on the time information included in the acquired reference time information B. Thus, the reference time information B is used to correct the time data.

In step S404, the display control unit 208 causes the display device 5 to display the corrected time counting data stored in the time counting data register 902 and information indicating the reception state and the battery state. Here, the display contents of the display panel P of the display device 5 include, for example, the display of the morning/afternoon based on the morning display segment P1 and the afternoon display segment P2, the display of the year, month, hour, minute, second and week based on the hour display segment P4, the partition segment P5, the partition segment P6, the second display segment P7, the month display segment P14, the day display segment P15 and the week display segment P16, the display of the reception status of the short-range communication radio wave based on the reception level segment P12, the display of the power supply state based on the detection value of the voltage detector 6 input via the voltage data input unit 80, and the like.

Step S405: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the RF circuit 9 was activated. Here, the prescribed time is, for example, 24 hours. However, the predetermined time may be changed according to the number of layers of the timer system S.

When determining that the predetermined time has elapsed since the RF circuit 9 was activated (step S405; yes), the communication control unit 207 executes the process of step S406. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the RF circuit 9 was activated (step S405; no), the process of step S401 is repeated.

Step S406: the communication control unit 207 executes timeout processing. The communication control unit 207 supplies a signal indicating that the reception of the reference time signal has failed to the display control unit 208.

The display controller 208 causes the display device 5 to display the reception failure of the reference time signal using the antenna marker segment P11 and the reception level segment P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication controller 207. Here, the display device 5 blinks the antenna marker segment P11 and extinguishes the reception level segment P12, for example. The user can also change and reset the position of the time keeper C in response to the case where the time keeper C fails to receive the reference time signal.

Step S407: the signal strength determination unit 201 causes the communication control unit 207 to discard the reference time information B acquired from the decoder 50.

Step S408: the communication control unit 207 causes the display control unit 208 to display that the intensity of the received signal is less than a predetermined threshold. The communication control unit 207 supplies a signal indicating that the intensity of the received signal is less than a predetermined threshold to the display control unit 208.

The display controller 208 causes the display device 5 to display that the intensity of the received signal is less than the predetermined threshold value by using the antenna marker segment P11 and the reception level segment P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication controller 207. Here, the display device 5 lights up the antenna marker segment P11, for example, and 1 antenna marker of the reception level segment P12. Here, the display device 5 may blink only 1 of the antenna marks of the reception level segment P12.

In this way, when the signal strength determination unit 201 determines that the strength of the received signal is smaller than the predetermined value, the display device 5 displays that the strength of the received signal is smaller than the predetermined value.

(action at normal time)

In a normal operation, the time data acquisition unit 30 of the control unit 11 supplies a time interrupt signal for updating the measurement time to the processor 20 every time a certain time (for example, 50ms) is measured using the oscillation signal of the quartz resonator 10. In response to the timing signal, the processor 20 starts the process shown in fig. 10.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the timer processing in the normal time according to the present embodiment.

Step S500: the timer 205 updates the timer data stored in the timer data register 902.

Step S501: the timer unit 205 causes the display control unit 208 to execute processing such as updating of display information of the display device 5.

The timer 205 transmits a timer interrupt signal for receiving the reference time signal to the processor 20 every time a predetermined time (for example, 500ms) elapses.

In response to the timer interrupt signal, the processor 20 starts the processing shown in fig. 11.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of processing for time adjustment in a normal state of the slave device according to the present embodiment.

Step S600: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not a rerouting condition is satisfied. Here, the rerouting condition means that the reference time signal cannot be received from the reference transmission device for a predetermined time or longer, for example. Here, the prescribed time is, for example, 24 hours. The case where the reception from the reference transmission device is not possible for a predetermined time or longer is, for example, a case where the reference transmission device has a trouble such as a failure or a battery depletion.

The rerouting condition may be that the reference time signal received from the reference transmitter fails a predetermined number of times or more. Here, the predetermined number of times is, for example, 8 times.

Step S601: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not the current time is the reception timing of the reference time signal.

Here, the communication control unit 207 calculates the reception timing from the above equation (1) based on the layer value of the own device stored in the layer register 905 and the reception channel stored in the reception channel register 903. The reception timing refers to the transmission timing of the reference transmission device.

The communication control unit 207 acquires the time data stored in the time data register 902. The communication control unit 207 compares the calculated reception timing with the current time indicated by the acquired time measurement data, and determines whether or not the current time is a time before a predetermined time of the reception timing. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 2 seconds.

When determining that the current time is the reception timing of the reference time signal (step S601; yes), the communication control unit 207 executes the process of step S602. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the current time is not the reception timing of the reference time signal (step S601; no), it executes the process of step S605.

Step S602: the communication control unit 207 causes the RF circuit 9 to receive the reference time signal. Here, the communication control unit 207 causes the RF circuit 9 to receive the reference time signal for a maximum of 4 seconds.

The communication control unit 207 acquires the reference time information B from the decoder 50.

Step S603: the signal determination unit 203 determines whether or not the received signal received by the RF circuit 9 as a reference time signal is used for correction of the timing data. The signal determination unit 203 determines, for example, whether or not the reference time signal received by the RF circuit 9 is a received signal received from the reference transmission device specified by the reference transmission device specification unit 202.

The signal determination unit 203 acquires reference time information B from the communication control unit 207. The signal determination unit 203 compares the transmission channel indicated by the transmission channel information included in the acquired reference time information B with the reception channel indicated by the reception channel designation data stored in the reception channel register 903.

When the transmission channel indicated by the transmission channel information included in the reference time information B matches the reception channel indicated by the reception channel designation data, the signal determination unit 203 determines that the reference time signal received by the RF circuit 9 is a reception signal received from the reference transmission device specified by the reference transmission device specification unit 202. In this case, the signal determination unit 203 determines that the received signal is used for correction of the timing data.

On the other hand, when the transmission channel indicated by the transmission channel information included in the reference time information B does not match the reception channel indicated by the reception channel specifying data, the signal determination unit 203 determines that the reference time signal received by the RF circuit 9 is not the reception signal received from the reference transmission device specified by the reference transmission device specification unit 202. In this case, the signal determination unit 203 determines that the received signal is not used for correction of the timing data.

When the signal determination unit 203 determines that the received signal as the reference time signal received by the RF circuit 9 is used for correction of the time measurement data (step S603; yes), the reference time information B is supplied to the correction unit 204. Then, the processor 20 executes the process of step S604.

On the other hand, when the signal determination unit 203 determines that the received signal received as the reference time signal by the RF circuit 9 is not used for correction of the time count data (step S603; no), the processor 20 executes the process of step S609.

In this way, after the reference transmitter specifying unit 202 specifies the reference transmitter, the signal determining unit 203 determines the received signal from the reference transmitter specified by the reference transmitter specifying unit 202 as being used for correction of the timing data. On the other hand, after the reference transmitter specifying unit 202 specifies the reference transmitter, the signal determining unit 203 determines that the received signal from the timer C, which is a transmitter other than the reference transmitter specified by the reference transmitter specifying unit 202, is not used for correcting the timing data.

Step S604: the correction unit 204 updates the time data stored in the time data register 902 based on the reference time information B supplied from the signal determination unit 203.

Step S605: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not the current time is the transmission timing of the reference time signal.

Here, the communication control unit 207 calculates the transmission timing based on the value of the layer of the own device stored in the layer register 905 and the transmission channel stored in the transmission channel register 904, according to the above expression (1). The communication control unit 207 acquires the time data stored in the time data register 902. The communication control unit 207 compares the calculated transmission timing with the current time indicated by the acquired time measurement data, and determines whether or not the current time is the transmission timing of the reference time signal.

When the communication control unit 207 determines that the current time is the transmission timing of the reference time signal (step S605; yes), the process of step S606 is executed. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the current time is not the transmission timing of the reference time signal (step S605; no), the processor 20 ends the process.

Step S606: the timer 205 generates reference time information B. The timer 205 generates the reference time information B based on the layer value indicated by the layer information stored in the layer register 905, the transmission channel indicated by the transmission channel designation data stored in the transmission channel register 904, the time information indicated by the timer data stored in the timer data register 902, the information indicating the information source of the time information stored in the reception channel register 903, and the like.

The timer 205 supplies the generated reference time information B to the communication controller 207.

Step S607: the communication control unit 207 causes the RF circuit 9 to transmit the reference time signal. Here, the communication control unit 207 causes the encoder 40 to encode the reference time information B supplied from the timer unit 205 and supply the encoded reference time information B to the RF circuit 9.

Step S608: processor 20 performs the rerouting process. The rerouting process refers to the following process: when the connection with the reference transmission device is interrupted, the reception signal is received again, and the transmission device that has transmitted the reception signal is determined as the reference transmission device again. A specific example of the rerouting process is explained with reference to fig. 12.

The processor 20 executes the processing of step S601 when executing the rerouting processing.

Step S609: the signal determination unit 203 causes the communication control unit 207 to discard the reference time information B acquired from the decoder 50.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the rerouting process according to the present embodiment. When it is determined in step S600 in fig. 11 that the rerouting condition is satisfied, the rerouting process shown in fig. 12 is executed.

The processes of step S701, step S702, step S703, step S704, step S705, step S706, step S707, and step S708 are the same as those of step S401, step S402, step S403, step S404, step S405, step S406, step S407, and step S408 in fig. 9, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted except for the different portions.

Step S700: the communication control unit 207 executes a reset process. Here, the reset processing means deleting the reception channel designation data stored in the reception channel register 903 and the layer data stored in the layer register 905. When the point value of the time count data is, for example, 10 points, the communication control unit 207 executes the reset process.

Then, the processor 20 receives the reception signal from the other reference transmission device and corrects the timing data by the processing of steps S701 to S708.

However, in step S705, the predetermined time until the timeout process of step S706 is executed is different from the predetermined time in step S405 of fig. 9. In step S705, the predetermined time period until the timeout process of step S706 is executed is, for example, 10 minutes. That is, the rerouting process of fig. 12 is executed from when the point value of the timer data is 10 points to 20 points.

In the case where the rerouting condition is satisfied in step S600 of fig. 11, the rerouting process of fig. 12 is executed. Therefore, according to step S703, when the connection with the reference transmission device is interrupted, the reference transmission device identification unit 202 newly identifies the transmission device determined by the signal strength determination unit 201 that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value as the reference transmission device.

In addition, in the case where the RECV switch provided in the switch group 8 is operated, the processor 20 executes manual reception processing. The manual reception process is the same as the rerouting process shown in fig. 12. Therefore, in the manual reception process, as in step S702 of fig. 12, when the RF circuit 9 receives a reception signal by manual reception, the signal strength determination section 201 determines the strength of the reception signal received by the RF circuit 9.

(display control action)

The processor 20 executes the display control processing shown in fig. 13 by, for example, interrupting processing periodically every 500 ms.

Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display control processing according to the present embodiment.

Step S800: the timer 205 causes the display device 5 to display the current time via the display controller 208. Here, the timer unit 205 supplies the timer data stored in the timer data register 902 to the display control unit 208.

Step S801: the communication control unit 207 determines whether or not the reference time information has been received within the past 24 hours. Here, the communication control unit 207 determines the number of times the reference time information B from the timer device C of the upper layer cannot be received continuously, which is stored in the continuous reception failure number register 906.

When determining that the reference time information has been received within the past 24 hours (step S801; yes), the communication control unit 207 executes the process of step S802. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 207 determines that the reference time information has not been received within the past 24 hours (step S801; no), the processor 20 ends the display control process.

Step S802: the communication control unit 207 causes the display device 5 to light up the TL mark segment P3 via the display control unit 208.

As described above, the timer device C according to the present embodiment includes the receiving unit (communication control unit 207), the signal strength determination unit 201, the reference transmission device specification unit 202, the signal determination unit 203, the correction unit 204, and the timer unit 205.

The receiving unit (communication control unit 207) receives, as a received signal, a reference time signal that includes reference time information B for correcting the time measurement data and is transmitted by the transmitting device (time measurement device C in the upper layer).

The signal strength determination unit 201 determines the strength of the received signal received by the reception unit (communication control unit 207).

The reference transmission device identification unit 202 identifies a transmission device (the timing device C of the upper layer) determined by the signal strength determination unit 201 that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value as a reference transmission device.

After the reference transmitter specifying unit 202 specifies the reference transmitter, the signal determining unit 203 determines that the received signal from the reference transmitter specified by the reference transmitter specifying unit 202 is used for correction of the time measurement data, and determines that the received signal from a transmitter (the time measurement device C on the upper layer) other than the reference transmitter specified by the reference transmitter specifying unit 202 is not used for correction of the time measurement data.

The correction unit 204 corrects the time count data based on the reference time information B included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination unit 203.

The timer 205 performs timing based on the timing data corrected by the correction unit 204.

With this configuration, in the timer device C according to the present embodiment, after the reference transmitter device having the received signal strength equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value is determined, the received signal used for correcting the timer data can be received from the reference transmitter device, and therefore the reception time information can be stabilized.

Further, when the reception signal is received for the first time after the reception unit (communication control unit 207) starts operating, the signal strength determination unit 201 determines the strength of the reception signal received by the reception unit (communication control unit 207).

With this configuration, in the timer device C according to the present embodiment, since the strength of the received signal can be determined when the received signal is received for the first time, the processing load can be reduced compared to the case where the strength of the received signal is determined every time the received signal is received.

When the connection with the reference transmission device is interrupted, the reference transmission device identification unit 202 identifies the transmission device (the timing device C of the upper layer) determined by the signal strength determination unit 201 to have the received signal strength equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold as the reference transmission device again.

With this configuration, in the timer device C according to the present embodiment, even when the connection with the reference transmitter device is interrupted, the received signal used for correcting the time data can be received from the transmitter device (the timer device C in the higher layer) whose received signal strength is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value.

Further, when the reception unit (communication control unit 207) receives the reception signal by manual reception, the signal strength determination unit 201 determines the strength of the reception signal received by the reception unit (communication control unit 207).

With this configuration, in the timer device C of the present embodiment, even when a reception signal is received from a new transmission device (timer device C of an upper layer) by manual reception, the reception signal used for correcting the timing data can be received from the transmission device (timer device C of an upper layer) whose reception signal strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value.

The timepiece C of the present embodiment further includes a display device 5.

When the signal strength determination unit 201 determines that the strength of the received signal is smaller than the predetermined value, the display device 5 displays that the strength of the received signal is smaller than the predetermined value.

With this configuration, in the timer device C according to the present embodiment, since it is possible to display that the intensity of the received signal is less than the predetermined value, the user can know that the intensity of the received signal is less than the predetermined value.

The timekeeping system S of the present embodiment includes a plurality of timekeeping devices C.

With this configuration, in the timekeeping system S of the present embodiment, each timekeeping device C can stably receive time information, and therefore can maintain accurate time.

In the above-described embodiments, the case where BLE is used for the short-range Wireless communication has been described, but other Wireless communication methods such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), ZigBee (registered trademark), EnOcean (registered trademark), and specific low-power Wireless may be used for the short-range Wireless communication.

In the above-described embodiment, the time measurement system S is described as a "timepiece" system, but the present invention is not limited to a so-called "timepiece" having a time display function, and can be widely applied to devices, elements (including an Integrated Circuit (IC) or a tag) and systems having a time measurement function.

In addition, a part of the timer device C in the above embodiment, for example, the control unit 11 may be realized by a computer. In this case, the control function may be realized by recording a program for realizing the control function in a computer-readable recording medium, and reading and executing the program recorded in the recording medium into a computer system. The term "computer system" as used herein refers to a computer system built in the timer device C, and is assumed to include hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. The "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a removable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. The "computer-readable recording medium" may include the following recording media: a recording medium that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line for transmitting the program via a network such as the internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, or a recording medium that holds a program for a certain time, such as a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client at that time. Also, the above-described program may be used to realize a part of the aforementioned functions, and also the aforementioned functions can be realized by combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

In addition, a part or all of the timer device C in the above-described embodiment may be implemented as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration). Each functional block of the timer device C may be individually formed into a processor, or may be partially or entirely integrated into a processor. The method of integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Further, when a technique for realizing an integrated circuit that replaces an LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on the technique may be used.

While one embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the above configuration, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (7)

1. A timing device, having:

a reception unit that receives, as a reception signal, a reference time signal transmitted from a transmission device, the reference time signal including reference time information for correcting timing data;

a signal strength determination unit configured to determine strength of the received signal received by the reception unit;

a reference transmission device identification unit that identifies the transmission device determined by the signal strength determination unit that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value as a reference transmission device;

a signal determination unit that determines that the received signal from the reference transmission device is used for correction of the timing data and that the received signal from the transmission device other than the reference transmission device is not used for correction of the timing data after the reference transmission device determination unit determines the reference transmission device;

a correction unit that corrects the timing data based on the reference time information included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination unit; and

a timing unit for performing timing based on the timing data corrected by the correction unit,

the predetermined threshold value for determining the strength of the received signal is determined in advance by experimentally investigating a relationship between a distance between the reference transmitter and a timer device as a slave device and a reception success rate of the reference time signal.

2. A time keeping device according to claim 1,

the signal strength determination unit determines the strength of the received signal received by the reception unit when the received signal is received for the first time after the reception unit starts operating.

3. A time device according to claim 1 or 2,

the reference transmission device specifying unit may newly specify the transmission device, which has been determined by the signal strength determination unit to have the strength of the received signal equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, as the reference transmission device when the connection with the reference transmission device is interrupted.

4. A time device according to claim 1 or 2,

the signal strength determination unit determines the strength of the received signal received by the reception unit when the reception unit receives the received signal by manual reception.

5. A time device according to claim 1 or 2,

the timer device further includes a display unit that displays that the intensity is less than a predetermined value when the signal intensity determination unit determines that the intensity is less than the predetermined value.

6. A timekeeping system having a plurality of timekeeping devices according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A timing method having the steps of:

a reception step of receiving a reference time signal transmitted by a transmission device as a reception signal, the reference time signal including reference time information for correcting timing data;

a signal strength determination step of determining the strength of the received signal received in the reception step;

a reference transmission device specifying step of specifying the transmission device determined in the signal strength determination step that the strength of the received signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold as a reference transmission device;

a signal determination step of determining that the received signal from the reference transmission device is used for correction of the timing data and that the received signal from the transmission device other than the reference transmission device is not used for correction of the timing data after the reference transmission device is determined in the reference transmission device determination step;

a correction step of correcting the timing data based on the reference time information included in the received signal indicated by the determination result of the signal determination step; and

a timing step of timing based on the timing data corrected in the correcting step,

the predetermined threshold value for determining the strength of the received signal is determined in advance by experimentally investigating a relationship between a distance between the reference transmitter and a timer device as a slave device and a reception success rate of the reference time signal.

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