CN110557824B

CN110557824B - Timing device, timing system and timing method

Info

Publication number: CN110557824B
Application number: CN201910148999.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 今村美由纪; 细贝则充
Original assignee: Seiko Chuangshi Co ltd
Current assignee: Seiko Chuangshi Co ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-30
Filing date: 2019-02-28
Publication date: 2024-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-28
Also published as: JP2019207187A; CN110557824A; JP7178182B2

Abstract

The invention provides a timing device, a timing system and a timing method, which can reduce crosstalk of signals used for time correction. The timing device comprises: a transmitting unit that sequentially transmits a plurality of pieces of correction time information indicating correction values of the time data to the other time counting device in a predetermined transmission period; and a changing unit that changes a transmission interval of the correction time information that the transmitting unit sequentially transmits during the transmission period.

Description

Timing device, timing system and timing method

Technical Field

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

Background

The following timing systems are known: a plurality of timer devices are arranged, and time information is transmitted from the timer device as a master device to the timer device as a slave device, so that time correction of the timer device as the slave device is performed. In such a time counting system, network construction using wireless communication is performed.

In the case of constructing a network using wireless communication, a method of pairing by identifying IP addresses of each other as in Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or the like, and a method of pairing by two-way communication using short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or the like are used. In such a method, control becomes complicated, and the user takes time and labor.

The following timing systems are known: the plurality of time counting devices are layered, and time information is sequentially transmitted in a relayed manner from a time counting device of an upper hierarchy to a time counting device of a lower hierarchy, so that time correction of each time counting device of each hierarchy can be performed. In such a time counting system, time information is transferred from a parent device, which is a higher-level time counting device, to a child device, which is a lower-level time counting device, by unidirectional communication. The unidirectional communication employs, for example, short-range wireless communication. The child device refers to the transmission timing information included in the transmission data together with the time information, and determines an automatic reception timing for receiving the transmission data from the parent device later.

In such a timing system, it is easier to construct a network than two-way communication in which timing 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). In the timer system using the timer described in patent document 1, when both the parent device and the child device are powered on and the initial reception is successful, transmission is automatically started thereafter. Therefore, in this time counting system, the time counting device is easily provided.

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

In the timer system using the timer described in patent document 1, each timer intermittently performs an advertisement, for example, every 10 seconds, during a transmission operation for transmitting time information for time correction. In such a time counting system, a plurality of child devices are connected to a parent device through unidirectional communication, and each child device is connected to a plurality of child devices of a lower hierarchy. Therefore, in such a time counting system, since a plurality of advertisement signals are transmitted at the same time at the time of installation, there is a problem in that the transmitted advertisement signals are highly likely to cross each other.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a timer device, a timer system, and a timer method capable of reducing crosstalk of a signal for time correction.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one aspect of the present invention is a timepiece comprising: a transmitting unit that sequentially transmits a plurality of pieces of correction time information indicating correction values of the time data to the other time counting device in a predetermined transmission period; and a changing unit that changes a transmission interval of the correction time information that the transmitting unit sequentially transmits during the transmission period.

In the timer device according to one aspect of the present invention, the changing unit changes the transmission interval at random.

In the timer device according to one aspect of the present invention, the changing unit changes a transmission interval of the correction time information sequentially transmitted by the transmitting unit in a 1 st transmission period among the transmission periods and a transmission interval of the correction time information sequentially transmitted by the transmitting unit in a 2 nd transmission period having a timing different from that of the 1 st transmission period.

Further, one embodiment of the present invention is a timer system including: the timing device; and a sub-timer device that receives the correction time information from the timer device and corrects the timer data of the own device based on the received correction time information.

Also, one embodiment of the present invention is a time counting method having the following process: a transmission step of sequentially transmitting a plurality of pieces of correction time information indicating correction values of the time data to the other time counting device in a predetermined transmission period; and a changing step of changing a transmission interval of the correction time information sequentially transmitted during the transmission period in the transmitting step.

According to the present invention, crosstalk of signals used for time correction can be reduced.

Drawings

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

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

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of advertisements (advertisements) in 1 transmission operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission operation at each predetermined transmission interval according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of randomly set transmission intervals according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the timer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of display of a display panel of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of preprocessing for time information reception according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of long wave reception processing in the parent device mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of near field communication processing in the parent device mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the short-range reception processing in the child device mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the normal time counting process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of processing for time correction at the time of normal operation of the slave device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the transmission operation of the correction time signal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

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 main device; 5: a display device; 6: a voltage detector; 7: a regulator; 8: a switch group; 9: an RF circuit; 10: quartz vibrator; 11: a control unit; 20: a processor; 201: a correction unit; 202: a timer unit; 203: a master device slave device mode control unit; 204: a communication control unit; 205: an interval setting unit; 206: a display control unit; 30: a timing data acquisition unit; 40: an encoder; 50: a decoder; 60: a key input section; 70: a voltage data input unit; 80: a register set; 801: a parent device child device mode register; 802: a timing data register; 803: a receive channel register; 804: a transmission channel register; 805: a layer register; 806: a continuous reception failure number register; 807: a transmission interval register; p: a display panel.

Detailed Description

(embodiment)

The following describes embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a timer system S according to the present embodiment. The timer system S includes a plurality of timer devices C1 to C6, and the timer devices C1 to C6 form a tree-like network.

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

In the network, time information is acquired by the time counting device C of the uppermost layer in the hierarchy shown by the layer, and the time information is sequentially transmitted from the time counting device C of the upper layer to the time counting device C of the lower layer. Here, the time information acquired by the uppermost-layer timer C is, for example, information indicating the reference time included in the standard radio wave. The timer C of each layer corrects the time of the own device when receiving the time information from the timer C of the higher layer. Thus, the timer devices C1 to C6 constituting the timer system S maintain accurate time.

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

In the timer system S, the timer devices C1 to C6 are divided into a master device that receives standard radio waves and a slave device that receives a corrected time signal from the master device. Here, the corrected time signal means a signal including corrected time information M as time information for time correction. The timer C1 as the master device is provided at a window or the like that easily receives standard radio waves. On the other hand, the timer device C2 and the timer device C3 as the slave devices are set on the back side of the building, and the correction time signal is received from the timer device C1 as the master device.

In the timer system S, the timer device C receives the correction time signal from the timer device C of the higher layer at a predetermined reception timing as well after receiving the correction time signal from the timer device C of the higher layer.

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

In the time counting system S, by using one-way communication, time and labor for pairing in short-range communication, setting an IP address in a normal network, and the like are saved, and compared with these, a master-slave timepiece system can be easily realized.

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

The timer C1 corrects the timer data of its own device based on the acquired time information. The timer device C1 generates the corrected time information M based on the corrected time data. The timer device C1 transmits the correction time signal including the generated correction time information M to the timer device C2 and the timer device C3 of the lower layer via the transmission channel 0.

Here, the correction time information M and the communication channel are described with reference to fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the correction time information M and the communication channel according to the present embodiment. The corrected time information M includes layer information M1, transmission channel information M2, time information M3, station information M4, and calendar information M5.

The layer information M1 is information for specifying the layer in which the timer C that transmitted the corrected time information M is located. The layer information M1 is, for example, in the range of 0 to 99.

The transmission channel information M2 is information for specifying a communication channel for transmitting the corrected time information M. For example, when 60 channels of communication channels are prepared, the transmission channel information M2 is set to a value corresponding to the communication channel among values of 0 to 59.

The time information M3 is information indicating the time of year/month/day/time/minute/second/week, etc.

The station information M4 is information indicating the information source from which the time information M3 has been corrected. The station information M4 is information showing, for example, UTC, jjjy (40 kHz; east/west/fukuda transmitter station), jjjy (60 kHz, west/ninety transmitter station), smart phone, and manual adjustment.

The calendar information M5 is information indicating a calendar.

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

In the timer system S, in order to prevent crosstalk, a time slot TS per 10 seconds is set, and the transmission timing of the correction time information M is determined from the layer and the transmission CH (transmission channel), thereby preventing the transmission timing from overlapping among the plurality of transmission apparatuses. Here, the transmission CH is not a frequency division but a time slot of a time division, and is set randomly from the numbers 0 to 59. An example of the transmission timing is represented by formula (1).

Transmission timing=hh: 00:00+ (layer×10) [ min ] + (ch×10) [ sec+5 sec sent ] (hh=0, 3, 6 …) … (formula 1)

Unlike the bidirectional communication of BLE in which crosstalk is prevented by frequency hopping, in the unidirectional communication of BLE, when a broadcasting device as a transmitting device transmits advertisement packets as transmission data, 3 frequencies are sequentially switched to transmit, and thus the probability of occurrence of crosstalk increases when timings overlap. In the timer system S, the transmission timings are prevented from overlapping by the expression (1).

Here, the transmission operation of the timer C will be described with reference to fig. 3 to 5.

In the timer system S, when the timer C as a master device and the timer C as a slave device are both initially successfully received, transmission is automatically started. The timer C advertises as a BLE broadcaster at the time of transmission. In the advertisement, as shown in fig. 3, the timer C sequentially switches 3 advertisement channels of the channel CH37, the channel CH38, and the channel CH39 to perform frequency hopping. That is, in 1 advertisement, the advertisement packet is transmitted using 3 frequencies.

The timer C transmits the corrected time information M as an advertisement packet. The advertisement is to transmit a correction time signal including correction time information M.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the advertisement for a plurality of times in 1 transmission operation. In order to transmit time data in 1 transmission operation, the advertisement may be 1 time. However, in the timer system S, in order to increase the reception success rate, advertisement is performed 3 times, for example, in 1 transmission operation. Here, the transmission interval AI at which the advertisement packet is transmitted is referred to as an advertisement interval.

Fig. 3 shows an example in which a transmission interval AI1 between the 1 st advertisement and the 2 nd advertisement and a transmission interval AI2 between the 2 nd advertisement and the 3 rd advertisement are shown.

In the automatic transmission after the reset, the timer C performs transmission operations (transmission operations TX1 to TX 3) 3 times every 10 seconds as shown in fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission operation at predetermined transmission intervals AI. Before each transmission operation, the timer C randomly sets the transmission interval AI by the expression (2).

Advertisement space = 20 milliseconds + n x 0.625 milliseconds … (equation 2)

Here, as an example, the integer n is randomly selected from integers of 0 to 31 at a time. Fig. 5 shows timings when the values of the integers n are 0, 1, and 31, respectively, when the plurality of timer devices C transmit after initial reception. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the transmission interval AI set at random.

As shown in fig. 5, in the timer system S, since the transmission timing is different in the advertisement after the 2 nd time, crosstalk can be avoided.

The timer C2 with the layer value of 1 receives the correction time information M from the timer C1 with the layer value of 0. The timer device C2 corrects the timer data of its own device based on the time information M3 included in the corrected time information M. The timer device C2 generates the corrected time information M based on the corrected time data. The timer C2 transmits the generated correction time information M to the timer C4 having the layer value of 2. Here, the timer C2 uses a transmission channel 3 different from the transmission channel 0 used by the higher-layer timer C1 for transmission.

In the same manner as described below, the timer device C of each layer receives the correction time information M from the timer device C of the layer having the layer value smaller than 1, and corrects the timer data of the own device based on the time information M3 included in the received correction time information M. The timer C generates the corrected time information M based on the corrected time data. The timer C transmits the generated correction time information M to the timer C of the lower layer having a layer value of 1 using a transmission channel different from the transmission channel used by the timer C of the upper layer having a layer value of 1.

Therefore, the timer system S includes: a timing device C of the upper layer; and a sub-timer device that receives the correction time information M from the timer device C of the upper layer, and corrects the timer data of the own device based on the received correction time information M.

In addition, in the timer system S, a timer device having no function of transmitting the correction time information M may be provided, if necessary, in addition to the timer device C.

Next, the structure of the timer C will be described with reference to fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the timer C according to 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 wave receiving circuit 1 receives and demodulates a standard radio wave jjjy or a satellite radio wave (UTC) including time information, and outputs digital reception information to the host device 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 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, display of the display panel P of the display device 5 will be described with reference to fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of display of the display panel P of the display device 5 according to the present embodiment. The display panel P has an morning display section P1, a afternoon display section P2, a TL-marking section P3, an hour display section P4, a partition section P5, a partition display section P6, a second display section P7, a parent-child device mode marking section P8, an information source marking section P9, a BLE marking section P10, an antenna marking section P11, a reception level section P12, a battery marking section P13, a month display section P14, a day display section P15, and a week display section P16.

In the case of the 12-hour display, the morning display period P1 and the afternoon display period P2 are displayed separately.

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

Hours display section P4, partition section P5, divided display section P6, and second display section P7 at "time: the current time is displayed in the form of minutes and seconds.

The master slave mode flag segment P8 shows whether the timer C is set to the master mode or to the slave mode. When the timer C is set to the parent device mode, the character of "P" of the parent device child device mode flag segment P8 is lit. On the other hand, when the timer C is set to the child device mode, the character of "C" of the parent device child device mode flag segment P8 is turned on.

The information source flag segment P9 shows whether or not a standard electric wave signal is received within a prescribed time, and if so, which of the west station, the east station, and the UTC the information source is. For example, in the case where the timer C receives jjjy 60kHz within 24 hours and is used for time correction, W flag Duan Dianliang. In the case where the timer C receives jjjy 40kHz within 24 hours and is used for time correction, E flag Duan Dianliang. In the case where the timer C receives UTC within 24 hours and is used for time correction, U is marked Duan Dianliang.

The BLE flag segment P10 shows whether or not time information has been received from the smart phone by short-range wireless communication such as BLE.

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

The battery mark section P13 is a section for displaying the voltage state of the battery 22.

The month display section P14, the day display section P15, and the day display section P16 are sections for displaying month, day, and week.

Returning to fig. 6, the structure of the timer 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 section 11.

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

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

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 the received signal for a prescribed time is performed.

When the MODE switch is operated, the MODE is switched among 3 MODEs, that is, a long-wave reception master MODE for receiving a long wave, a BLE master MODE for acquiring time information from the smartphone by reception based on BLE, and a slave MODE. Further, the master mode and the slave mode may be switched, and it is possible to automatically select which of the long wave reception and BLE reception is used in the master mode to acquire the time information.

The RF circuit 9 receives, as a reception signal, a correction time signal transmitted from the higher layer timer C under the control of the control unit 11. The RF circuit 9 demodulates the received corrected time signal and outputs the demodulated time signal to the control unit 11. The RF circuit 9 transmits the correction time information M to the timer C of 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 entire operation of the timer C. The control unit 11 performs a time counting operation based on the oscillation signal of the quartz resonator 10, a change in the transmission interval AI (advertisement interval), a correction operation based on the time data of the corrected time signal received from the higher-level time counting device C, transmission of the corrected time information M based on the corrected time data via the RF circuit 9, display control of various information on the display device 5, processing in response to an operation input of the switch group 8, and the like.

Here, the structure of the control unit 11 will be described with reference to fig. 8.

Fig. 8 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 key input unit 60, a voltage data input unit 70, and a register set 80.

The processor 20 includes a correction unit 201, a timer unit 202, a parent device child device mode control unit 203, a communication control unit 204, an interval setting unit 205, and a display control unit 206. The processor 20 causes the correction unit 201, the timer unit 202, the parent device child device mode control unit 203, the communication control unit 204, the interval setting unit 205, and the display control unit 206 to perform processing, respectively.

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

The correction unit 201 corrects the time data based on standard time information included in the reception signal received by the long-wave reception circuit 1 or the RF circuit 9. The correction unit 201 corrects the time data based on the correction time information M included in the correction time signal, which is the reception signal received by the RF circuit 9.

The timer unit 202 counts time based on the time data corrected by the correction unit 201.

The parent-child-device mode control unit 203 changes the parent-child-device mode setting information stored in the parent-child-device mode register 801 in accordance with a signal for switching the parent-device mode and the child-device mode supplied from the key input unit 60.

The communication control unit 204 controls reception of the reception signal by the RF circuit 9 and transmission of the correction time signal by the RF circuit 9. Here, the communication control unit 204 receives the correction time signal transmitted from the higher-layer timer C as a reception signal via the RF circuit 9.

The interval setting unit 205 changes the transmission interval AI (advertisement interval).

The display control unit 206 performs display control of various information on the display device 5.

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

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

The decoder 50 decodes the received signals received by the long wave reception circuit 1 and the RF circuit 9, demodulates, for example, the baseband signal of the standard time information and the corrected time information M, and supplies the demodulated signal to the processor 20.

The key input unit 60 decodes an on/off signal input in accordance with the operation of the switch group 8, and supplies the signal to the processor 20.

The voltage data input unit 70 outputs the voltage value detected by the voltage detector 6 to the processor 20.

The register set 80 has a parent device child device mode register 801, a timing data register 802, a reception channel register 803, a transmission channel register 804, a layer register 805, a successive reception failure number register 806, and a transmission interval register 807.

The parent-child mode register 801 stores parent-child mode setting information. The master slave mode setting information indicates which of the long wave reception master mode, BLE master mode, and slave mode the timer C is set to.

The timer data register 802 stores information indicating the current time measured by the timer device C as timer data. Here, the information indicating the current time is information indicating month/day/time/minute/second/week.

The reception channel register 803 stores reception channel specification data (for example, any one of the values 0 to 59 described above) for specifying a communication channel for receiving the correction time information M from the higher-layer timer C, and received data. In the case where the higher-level timer C1 having a layer value of 0 does not exist, the type of time such as the standard time and information indicating the information source from which the time information was acquired are stored. Here, the information indicating the information source from which the time information is acquired is information indicating the type of standard radio wave (UTC, jjjy east transmitter station, jjjy west transmitter station, etc.) or smart phone.

The transmission channel register 804 stores transmission channel specification data (for example, any one of the values 0 to 59 described above) for specifying a transmission channel for transmitting the correction time information M to the timer device C of the lower layer. The channel specification data stored in the transmission channel register 804 is transmitted as transmission channel information M2 in the corrected time information M.

Layer register 805 stores layer data (e.g., any of the values 0 to 99 described above) indicating which of the plurality of layers timing device C is located.

The continuous reception failure number register 806 stores the number of times of failure to continuously receive the correction time information M from the higher-level timer C, that is, the number of continuous reception failures. In addition, when there is no timing device C1 whose layer value of the higher-layer timing device C is 0, the number of times that the standard radio wave signal cannot be continuously received is stored.

The transmission interval register 807 stores a transmission interval AI at which the timer device C transmits the advertisement packet in 1 transmission operation.

(configuration)

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

(initial action)

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

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of preprocessing for time information reception according to the present embodiment.

Step S100: the parent-child device mode control unit 203 determines whether or not the timer C is set to the parent device mode. Here, the mother device mode is any one of a long wave reception mother device mode and a BLE mother device mode.

The parent-child mode control unit 203 acquires parent-child mode setting information from the parent-child mode register 801. When the master slave mode control unit 203 determines that the acquired master slave mode setting information indicates either one of the long-wave reception master mode and BLE master mode (step S100; yes), the processor 20 executes the processing of step S110.

On the other hand, when the master slave mode control unit 203 determines that the acquired master slave mode setting information does not indicate any one of the long-wave reception master mode and BLE master mode (step S100; no), the processor 20 executes the slave mode short-range reception processing of step S140. The sub device mode close range reception process is described later with reference to fig. 12.

In step S100, the parent device child device mode control section 203 supplies parent device child device mode setting information to the display control section 206. The display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to use the parent device child device mode flag segment P8 to display whether the timer device C is set to the parent device mode or the child device mode, based on the parent device child device mode setting information supplied from the parent device child device mode control unit 203.

Step S110: the master slave mode control unit 203 determines whether or not the timer C is set to the long wave reception master mode. When the master slave mode control unit 203 determines that the master slave mode setting information indicates the long-wave reception master mode (step S110; yes), the processor 20 executes the long-wave reception process of step S120. The long wave reception process is described later with reference to fig. 10.

On the other hand, when the master slave mode control unit 203 determines that the master slave mode setting information does not indicate the long wave reception master mode (step S110; no), the processor 20 executes the master mode near field communication processing of step S130. The master device mode near field communication process is described later with reference to fig. 11.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the long wave reception process in the parent device mode of the present embodiment. The process shown in fig. 10 is the long wave reception process of step S120 shown in fig. 9.

Step S200: the communication control unit 204 controls the long wave receiving circuit 1 to receive the standard radio wave broadcast at 60kHz from the kyu transmitting station of JJY. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 30 seconds. The communication control unit 204 causes the decoder 50 to decode the received signal received by the long-wave reception circuit 1, thereby acquiring standard time information.

Step S201: the communication control unit 204 controls the long wave receiving circuit 1 to receive the standard radio wave broadcast at 40kHz from the fobs transmitting station of JJY. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 30 seconds. The communication control unit 204 causes the decoder 50 to decode the received signal received by the long-wave reception circuit 1, thereby acquiring standard time information.

Step S202: when it is determined that the long wave reception circuit 1 has received the standard radio waves of both 60kHz and 40kH and has acquired the decoded signal (step S202; yes), the communication control unit 204 executes the processing of step S208. On the other hand, when it is determined that the long wave reception circuit 1 fails to receive the standard radio waves of both 60kHz and 40kH (step S202; no), the communication control unit 204 executes the processing of step S203.

Step S203: when it is determined that the long wave reception circuit 1 has received the standard radio wave of 60kHz (yes in step S203), the communication control unit 204 executes the processing in step S209. On the other hand, when it is determined that the standard radio wave of 60kHz cannot be received by the long wave receiving circuit 1 (step S203; no), the communication control unit 204 executes the processing of step S204.

Step S204: when it is determined that the long wave receiving circuit 1 has received the standard radio wave of 40kHz (yes in step S204), the communication control unit 204 executes the processing in step S210. On the other hand, when it is determined that the 40kHz standard radio wave cannot be received by the long wave receiving circuit 1 (step S204; no), the communication control unit 204 executes the processing of step S205.

Step S205: when the long wave receiving circuit 1 fails to receive the standard radio wave, the communication control unit 204 causes the long wave receiving circuit 1 to receive UTC from a GPS satellite or the like.

Step S206: the communication control section 204 determines whether or not the long wave reception circuit 1 has received UTC. When the communication control unit 204 determines that UTC has been received by the long wave reception circuit 1 (step S206; yes), the processor 20 executes the processing of step S211.

On the other hand, when the communication control unit 204 determines that the long wave reception circuit 1 has failed to receive UTC (step S206; no), the processor 20 executes the processing of step S207.

Step S207: the communication control section 204 executes long-wave reception failure processing. The communication control unit 204 supplies a signal indicating that the long-wave reception has failed to the display control unit 206.

The display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to display a long-wave reception failure using the antenna mark segment P11 and the reception level segment P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication control unit 204. Here, the display device 5 blinks the antenna mark segment P11 and turns off the reception level segment P12, for example.

Step S208: the communication control unit 204 selects one transmitting station capable of more stable reception. Then, the communication control section 204 executes the processing of step S211.

Step S209: the communication control section 204 selects a west sending station (ninety). Then, the communication control section 204 executes the processing of step S211.

Step S210: the communication control unit 204 selects an east transmission station (foodland). Then, the communication control section 204 executes the processing of step S211.

Step S211: the processor 20 executes the long wave reception initial setting processing.

The timer unit 202 sets the timer data based on the received standard radio wave in the timer data register 802.

The communication control unit 204 sets information indicating the standard radio wave and the different transmission station in the reception channel register 803. The communication control unit 204 sets 0 as a value of a layer in the layer register 805. The communication control section 204 resets the continuous reception failure number stored in the continuous reception failure number register 806.

When the timer data is set, the processor 20 starts a transmission operation of the correction time signal. The transmission operation of the correction time signal will be described with reference to fig. 15.

The display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to display information indicating the time data, the reception state, and the battery state stored in the time data register 802. Here, the display contents of the display panel P of the display device 5 include, for example, a display of morning/afternoon based on the display segment P1 of morning and the display segment P2 of afternoon, a display of minute based on the display segment P4 of hour, the display segment P5 of division, the display segment P6 of minute, the display segment P7 of second, the display of month, the display segment P14 of day, the display of time, month, time, second, week of day, the display of the information source based on the standard electric wave of the information source marker segment P9, a display of the receiving condition based on the standard electric wave of the receiving level segment P12, a display of the power state based on the detection value of the voltage detector 6 input via the voltage data input unit 70, and the like.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of near field communication processing in the parent device mode of the present embodiment. The process shown in fig. 11 is the parent device mode near field communication process of step S130 shown in fig. 9.

Step S300: the communication control section 204 activates the RF circuit 9.

Step S310: the communication control unit 204 causes the RF circuit 9 to intermittently transmit an advertisement signal for connection with the smart phone for a predetermined time. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 30 seconds.

Step S320: the communication control unit 204 determines whether or not the RF circuit 9 is connected to the smart phone and receives the short-range time signal. When the communication control unit 204 determines that the RF circuit 9 has received the close-range time signal (step S320; yes), the processor 20 executes the process of step S340. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 204 determines that the RF circuit 9 has not received the close-range time signal (step S320; no), the processor 20 executes the processing of step S330.

Step S330: the communication control section 204 executes near field communication failure processing. The communication control unit 204 supplies a signal indicating that the near field communication has failed to the display control unit 206.

The display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to display a failure of the near field communication by using the BLE tag segment P10, the antenna tag segment P11, and the reception level segment P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication control unit 204. Here, the display device 5, for example, lights up the BLE flag segment P10, blinks the antenna flag segment P11, and turns off the reception level segment P12.

Step S340: the processor 20 performs near field communication initial setting processing.

The timer unit 202 sets the timer data based on the received short-distance time signal in the timer data register 802.

The communication control unit 204 sets information indicating the time received from the smart phone or the like in the reception channel register 803. The communication control unit 204 sets 0 as a value of a layer in the layer register 805. The communication control section 204 resets the continuous reception failure number stored in the continuous reception failure number register 806.

The display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to display information indicating the time data, the reception state, and the battery state stored in the time data register 802. Here, the display contents of the display panel P of the display device 5 include, for example, a display of morning/afternoon based on the display segment P1 of morning and the display segment P2 of afternoon, a display of time based on the display segment P4 of hour, the partition segment P5, the partition display segment P6, the second display segment P7, the month display segment P14, the day display segment P15, and the day display segment P16, a display of time based on the year, month, day, time, second, and week, a display of time information acquired from the smart phone based on the BLE tag segment P10, a display of a receiving condition of the short-range communication wave based on the receiving level segment P12, a display of a power state based on the detection value of the voltage detector 6 input via the voltage data input unit 70, and the like.

In addition, when the two modes of the parent device mode and the child device mode are switched, and when it is automatically selected which of the long-wave reception and BLE reception is used to acquire the time information in the parent device mode, for example, when the long-wave reception process in step S120 in fig. 9 fails, the parent device mode near field communication process in step S130 may be executed. In another example, in the case where the parent device mode short-range communication processing in step S130 in fig. 9 fails, the long-wave reception processing in step S120 may be executed.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the short-range reception processing in the child device mode of the present embodiment. The process shown in fig. 12 is the sub device mode close-range reception process of step S140 shown in fig. 9.

Step S400: the communication control section 204 activates the RF circuit 9.

Step S410: the communication control unit 204 determines whether the RF circuit 9 has received the short-range time signal. When the communication control unit 204 determines that the RF circuit 9 has received the short-range time signal (step S410; yes), it acquires the corrected time information M from the decoder 50. Then, the processor 20 performs the process of step S420.

On the other hand, when the communication control unit 204 determines that the RF circuit 9 has not received the close-range time signal (step S410; no), the processor 20 executes the processing of step S430.

Step S420: the correction unit 201 corrects the time data. The correction unit 201 obtains correction time information M from the communication control unit 204. The correction unit 201 corrects the time data stored in the time data register 802 based on the time information included in the obtained correction time information M. Thus, the correction time information M is used to correct the time data.

When the time data is corrected, the processor 20 starts the transmission operation of the corrected time signal. The transmission operation of the correction time signal will be described with reference to fig. 15.

In step S420, the display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to display information indicating the corrected time data, the reception state, and the battery state stored in the time data register 802. Here, the display contents of the display panel P of the display device 5 include, for example, a display of morning/afternoon based on the display segment P1 of morning and the display segment P2 of afternoon, a display of time based on the display segment P4 of hour, the partition segment P5, the partition display segment P6, the second display segment P7, the month display segment P14, the day display segment P15, and the day display segment P16, a display of time, month, day, time, second, and week based on the reception status of the short-range communication wave based on the reception level segment P12, a display of the power state based on the detection value of the voltage detector 6 input via the voltage data input unit 70, and the like.

Step S430: the communication control unit 204 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the RF circuit 9 was started. Here, the predetermined 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 it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed since the RF circuit 9 was started (step S430; yes), the communication control unit 204 executes the process of step S440. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 204 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the RF circuit 9 was started (step S430; no), the process of step S410 is repeated.

Step S440: the communication control section 204 performs timeout processing. The communication control unit 204 supplies a signal indicating failure in reception of the correction time signal to the display control unit 206.

The display control unit 206 causes the display device 5 to display failure of reception of the correction time signal by the antenna mark segment P11 and the reception level segment P12, based on the signal supplied from the communication control unit 204. Here, the display device 5 blinks the antenna mark segment P11 and turns off the reception level segment P12, for example. The user can also change and reset the position of the timer C in response to the failure of the timer C to receive the corrected time signal.

(action at Normal time)

In a normal operation, the timer data acquisition unit 30 of the control unit 11 supplies a timer interrupt signal for updating the measurement time to the processor 20 every time a predetermined time (for example, 50 ms) 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. 13.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the normal time counting process according to the present embodiment.

Step S500: the timer unit 202 updates the timer data stored in the timer data register 802.

Step S510: the timer unit 202 causes the display control unit 206 to execute processing such as updating of display information of the display device 5.

The timer unit 202 transmits a timer interrupt signal for receiving the corrected time signal to the processor 20 every time a predetermined time (for example, 500 ms) has elapsed.

In response to the timer interrupt signal, the processor 20 starts the process shown in fig. 14.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of processing for correcting the time at normal time for the child device according to the present embodiment.

Step S600: the communication control unit 204 determines whether or not the current time is the reception timing of the corrected time signal.

Here, the communication control unit 204 calculates the reception timing according to the above equation (1) based on the layer value of the own device stored in the layer register 805 and the reception channel stored in the reception channel register 803. The reception timing is the transmission timing of the higher layer timer C.

The communication control unit 204 obtains the timer data stored in the timer data register 802. The communication control unit 204 compares the calculated reception timing with the current time indicated by the acquired time data, and determines whether or not the current time is a time before the predetermined time of the reception timing. Here, the predetermined time is, for example, 2 seconds.

When determining that the current time is the reception time of the corrected time signal (yes in step S600), the communication control unit 204 executes the process of step S610. On the other hand, when the communication control unit 204 determines that the current time is not the reception timing of the corrected time signal (step S600; no), the process ends.

Step S610: the communication control unit 204 causes the RF circuit 9 to receive the correction time signal. Here, the communication control unit 204 causes the RF circuit 9 to receive the correction time signal within a maximum period of 4 seconds.

The communication control unit 204 acquires the corrected time information M from the decoder 50.

Step S620: the correction unit 201 updates the time data stored in the time data register 802 based on the correction time information M supplied from the communication control unit 204.

Next, the transmission operation of the correction time signal by the timer C will be described with reference to fig. 15. When the initial reception of the reception signal by the timer C is successful in any one of the long-wave reception process (step S120), the parent device mode short-range communication process (step S130), and the child device mode short-range reception process (step S140) in fig. 9, and the timer C corrects the time data based on the reception signal, the transmission operation of the correction time signal shown in fig. 15 is started. That is, in the timer system S, when both the master device and the slave device are powered on and the initial reception is successful, the timer device C automatically starts transmission thereafter.

Further, the timer unit 202 transmits a timer interrupt signal for transmitting the corrected time signal to the processor 20 every time a predetermined time (for example, 500 ms) has elapsed. In response to the timer interrupt signal, the processor 20 starts the process shown in fig. 15.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the transmission operation of the correction time signal according to the present embodiment.

Step S700: the timer unit 202 generates correction time information M. The timer unit 202 generates corrected time information M based on the layer value indicated by the layer information stored in the layer register 805, the transmission channel indicated by the transmission channel designation data stored in the transmission channel register 804, time information indicated by the time data stored in the time data register 802, information indicating the information source of the time information stored in the reception channel register 803, and the like.

The timer unit 202 supplies the generated correction time information M to the communication control unit 204.

Step S710: the communication control unit 204 starts processing for repeating the transmission operation for each transmission operation number.

Step S720: the interval setting unit 205 sets the transmission interval AI of the correction time signal included in the 1-time transmission operation. Here, the interval setting unit 205 randomly sets the transmission interval AI by the above equation (2).

The transmission interval AI stored in the transmission interval register 807 is set to an initial value after resetting the timer C. Here, the initial value is, for example, 20ms. The interval setting unit 205 sets the transmission interval AI by changing the transmission interval AI stored in the transmission interval register 807.

Therefore, the interval setting unit 205 changes the transmission interval AI of the correction time information M sequentially transmitted by the communication control unit 204 during the transmission period. Here, the interval setting unit 205 randomly changes the transmission interval AI.

The interval setting unit 205 changes the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in the transmission period TP1, the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in the transmission period TP2, and the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in the transmission period TP3, respectively.

Therefore, the interval setting unit 205 changes the transmission interval of the correction time information M sequentially transmitted by the communication control unit 204 in the 1 st transmission period among the transmission periods (transmission period TP1, transmission period TP2, and transmission period TP 3) and the transmission interval of the correction time information M sequentially transmitted by the communication control unit 204 in the 2 nd transmission period having a timing different from that of the 1 st transmission period.

In the present embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the interval setting unit 205 changes the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet for each of the transmission period TP1, the transmission period TP2, and the transmission period TP3, but the present invention is not limited to this. The interval setting unit 205 may change the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in at least 1 period among the transmission period TP1, the transmission period TP2, and the transmission period TP 3.

Step S730: the communication control unit 204 performs advertisement. Here, the communication control unit 204 transmits the correction time signal 3 times in accordance with the transmission interval AI set by the interval setting unit 205. The communication control unit 204 includes the correction time information M generated by the correction unit 201 in these correction time signals and transmits the correction time information M. In the 3-time transmission of the correction time signal, the correction time information M included in each correction time signal is the same.

Accordingly, the communication control unit 204 sequentially transmits the plurality of correction time information M indicating the correction value of the time data to the other time counting device C within the predetermined transmission period.

Step S740: the communication control section 204 waits for 10 seconds.

Step S750: the communication control unit 204 ends the process of repeating the transmission operation for each transmission operation number.

In the present embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the interval setting unit 205 randomly changes the transmission interval AI according to the expression (2), but the present invention is not limited thereto. The transmission interval AI may be changed according to the layer of the timer C and the transmission channel. For example, the interval setting unit 205 may determine the integer n of the value of 0 to 31 of the expression (2) by making the integer of 0 to 59 correspond to the integer of 0 to 31, based on the transmission channel of the value of 0 to 59.

As described above, the timer device C of the present embodiment includes the transmitting unit (communication control unit 204) and the changing unit (interval setting unit 205).

The transmitting unit (communication control unit 204) sequentially transmits a plurality of correction time information M indicating the correction value of the time data to the other time counting device C in a predetermined transmission period.

The changing unit (interval setting unit 205) changes the transmission interval AI of the correction time information M sequentially transmitted by the transmitting unit (communication control unit 204) during the transmission period.

According to this configuration, in the timer device C of the present embodiment, since the plurality of pieces of correction time information M can be sequentially transmitted at the changed transmission interval AI, crosstalk of signals for time correction can be reduced. Here, in the timer device C of the present embodiment, even when a plurality of timer devices C simultaneously start transmission of the correction time information M at the time of installation, the correction time information M is transmitted at the transmission interval AI after the change, so that crosstalk can be avoided.

In the timer device C of the present embodiment, the changing unit (interval setting unit 205) randomly changes the transmission interval AI.

According to this configuration, in the timer device C of the present embodiment, since the transmission interval AI at which the plurality of pieces of time information M for correction are sequentially transmitted can be randomly changed, crosstalk of signals for time correction can be reduced as compared with a case where the transmission interval AI is not randomly changed.

In the timer device C of the present embodiment, the changing unit (interval setting unit 205) changes the transmission interval AI of the correction time information M sequentially transmitted by the transmitting unit (communication control unit 204) in the 1 st transmission period among the transmission periods (transmission period TP1, transmission period TP2, and transmission period TP 3) and the transmission interval AI of the correction time information M sequentially transmitted by the transmitting unit (communication control unit 204) in the 2 nd transmission period having a timing different from that of the 1 st transmission period.

According to this configuration, in the timer device C of the present embodiment, since the interval setting unit 205 randomly changes the transmission interval AI, even when the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in the transmission period TP1 overlaps with each other in the plurality of timer devices C, the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in the transmission period TP2 and the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet in the transmission period TP2 are randomly changed, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the transmission interval AI of the advertisement packet from overlapping with each other in the plurality of timer devices C in all of the transmission period TP1, the transmission period TP2 and the transmission period TP 3.

The timer system S of the present embodiment includes: a timer C; and a sub-timer (timer C of the lower layer of the timer C) that receives the correction time information M from the timer C and corrects the timer data of the own device based on the received correction time information M.

According to this configuration, in the time counting system S of the present embodiment, crosstalk of the signal for time adjustment can be reduced, and an accurate time can be maintained as compared with a case where crosstalk of the signal for time adjustment is not reduced.

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 on a computer-readable recording medium, and reading the program recorded on the recording medium into a computer system and executing the program. The term "computer system" as used herein refers to a computer system built in the timer device C, and includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a removable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, or a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Further, the "computer-readable recording medium" may also include the following recording medium: a recording medium that dynamically holds a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when the program is transmitted via a network such as the internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and a recording medium that holds the program for a fixed period of time, such as a volatile memory within a computer system that becomes a server or a client at this time. Further, the above-described program may be used to realize a part of the functions described above, and the functions described above can also be realized by a combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

In the above embodiment, part or all of the timer C may be implemented as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration: large scale integrated circuit). The functional blocks of the timing device C may be separately formed into a processor, or may be partially or entirely integrated into a processor. The method of integrating the circuit is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. In addition, when a technique of integrating circuits instead of LSI has been developed due to progress of semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on the technique may be used.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described 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

1. A timing device that is 1 timing device of a plurality of timing devices included in a timing system, the timing system having: the plurality of timing devices; and a sub-timer device that receives correction time information indicating a correction value of time data from any 1 of the plurality of timer devices, corrects the time data of the own device based on the received correction time information, and determines a transmission timing of the correction time information including layer information and transmission channel information, wherein the timer device includes:

A transmission unit that repeatedly transmits the plurality of pieces of correction time information to 1 or more of the sub-timer devices at transmission intervals of a predetermined period in a predetermined transmission period; and

and a changing unit configured to change the transmission interval of the plurality of pieces of corrected time information, which the transmitting unit repeatedly transmits at the transmission interval during the transmission period, so that crosstalk of signals for time correction can be reduced.

2. The timing device of claim 1, wherein,

the changing unit changes the transmission interval at random.

3. The timing device of claim 2, wherein,

the changing unit changes a transmission interval of the correction time information that the transmitting unit sequentially transmits in a 1 st transmission period among the transmission periods and a transmission interval of the correction time information that the transmitting unit sequentially transmits in a 2 nd transmission period having a different timing from the 1 st transmission period.

4. A timing system, having:

a timing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3; and

the sub-timing device.

5. A timing method performed by 1 timing device of a plurality of timing devices included in a timing system having: the plurality of timing devices; and a sub-timer device that receives correction time information indicating a correction value of the timer data from any 1 timer device among the plurality of timer devices, corrects the timer data of the own device based on the received correction time information, and determines a transmission timing of the correction time information including layer information and transmission channel information, wherein the timer method includes:

A transmission step of repeatedly transmitting the plurality of pieces of correction time information to at least 1 of the sub-timer devices at transmission intervals of a predetermined period in a predetermined transmission period; and

and a changing step of changing the transmission interval of the plurality of pieces of corrected time information repeatedly transmitted at the transmission interval during the transmission period in the transmission step so that crosstalk of a signal for time correction can be reduced.