JP2000148290A - Information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method by which a means (network wiring) for interconnecting respective devices of a wearable computer is made lightweight and the movement of the body is not limited. SOLUTION: A superfine conductor is stitched in clothing as an interconnecting wire for the respective devices of the wearable computer in such a style that input/output(I/O) devices (102, 104, etc.), and a PC main body 107 are separated to form networks (903, 907, etc.), and thus a conventional troublesome cable is removed from the body to enable the natural movement of the body, thereby actualizing a high-reliability communication with the lightweight constitution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer network and, more particularly, to a network wiring formed by sewing a fine wire into clothes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In today's computer environment, the word "wearable" has attracted attention. This “wearable” means “wearable” or “wearable” as the original language indicates. In other words, the computer and the peripheral device are "worn" to the body.

Although the concept of "wearable" itself is not so new, recent technological innovations have made it possible to reduce the size and weight of a computer and peripheral I / O (input / output) devices. As a result, "wearable computers" are becoming a reality from a vision for the future, and there is a background of rapid attention.

[0004] In addition, when a prototype (prototype) or product of a “wearable computer” is actually produced, a new problem that has not been noticed conventionally has arisen. One such problem is cabling to connect each device of a "wearable computer",
That is, it is a network wiring. However, few have focused on improvement of cabling or network wiring in this wearable computer.

[0005] As the network wiring used for this "wearable computer", there are the following two typical ones at present. The first uses the body as a conductor,
This is a method of forming a network by passing a weak current through a human body, and the second is a method of connecting each device with a conventional cable.

As an example of the first method, a PAN (Personal Area Network) for which a prototype has been announced by International Business Machines, Inc.
k). This prototype is from International
It was developed by Thomas Zimmerman of the Business Machines Company's Almaden Research Center. In the case of this PAN, data communication is realized by passing a weak current (about 1 nanoamp) to a human body. The first method using weak electromagnetic waves allows free movement, but is susceptible to external noise due to weak radio waves. Conversely, if a strong radio wave is used, interference with a neighbor or malfunction may occur. Also, for military purposes and the like, this is a factor that causes the enemy to specify the person's location.

[0007] As an example of the second method, there is a prototype of a wearable PC announced by IBM Japan in September 1998. In the case of this prototype, a conventional cable having a diameter of about 2 to 3 mm is used as wiring between devices. In addition, most wearable computer-related products announced by various companies use conventional cables for connection between devices.

[0008] In the case of the second cable connection, a cable may be clipped on clothes to enable a specific connection in order not to hinder the movement of the body, but in a wearable computer, the PC main body (controller) and each device are connected. Since it is necessary to communicate with each other, connecting a cable from the PC body (controller) to each device in a star type or the like complicates wiring, and a conventional cable having a diameter of several millimeters is used. Since the total length of the cable is long, the total weight is heavy.

Japanese Patent Application Hei 1-54877 (Fujii Process Co., Ltd.) discloses a technique for forming a wiring pattern by fixing a conductive member to the surface of clothing such as shirts and pants. This technique is common to the present invention in that a wiring pattern is formed on the surface or inside of clothing. However, the technology such as the Fujii process does not disclose the technical idea of sewing an electric wire into clothes as in the present invention, and has the above-described problem as in other conventional examples. .

As another method, communication using light such as infrared (IR) light may be considered. However, when light is used, the transmitter and the receiver must be able to see through at the time of communication. The above is not suitable for use as a "wearable computer" network.

[0011] For example, a wearable P announced by the applicant IBM Japan, Ltd. in September of this year.
In the case of C, the weight of the main body (controller) including the functions of the notebook PC including the battery is 299 g, while the total weight of the cable used in the entire system is about 80 g, which is actually 1/1 of the weight of the main body. It weighs more than four. On the other hand, a notebook PC having the same function as the wearable PC weighs about 2 to 3 kg, and in this case, the weight of the 80 g cable does not matter.

When a conventional cable is used for a wearable PC as in the above-mentioned example, the weight of the cable becomes a problem because the controller and various devices including the CPU and the like are significantly reduced in weight. come. In addition, conventional cables with a diameter of several millimeters have some flexibility, but if you crawl many cables,
After all, the freedom of physical exercise is limited to some extent and it is hard to say that it is “wearable”.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a lightweight, unrestricted body movement method as a means of interconnecting the devices of a wearable computer (network wiring). .

[0014]

According to the present invention, an input / output (I /
O) As a wiring for interconnecting each device in a wearable computer in which the device and the PC main body are separated from each other, a network is formed by sewing a super-fine conductor into clothes, and a conventional complicated cable from around the body. It is possible to achieve a lightweight and highly reliable communication by eliminating natural body movements.

Specifically, the configuration of the present invention sandwiches the rear collar of the shirt with a connecting clip at the end of a short cable extending from the camera attached to the head, for example. Glasses with a built-in display device on the front collar, motion-sensing gloves on the sleeves, P
The C body is attached to the waist of the pants with a clip. The sensor on the shoe clamps the hem of the pants with a clip. Clip your shirt and pants around your waist to create a wearable computer that can move freely.

[0016] As described above, by putting a very fine conductor into the cloth or sewing thread of clothes and using it as a network cable,
The device can be connected to devices mounted on various parts of the body (ankle, waist, head, shoulder, wrist) and the like without using radio waves or the like and without hindering free movement of the body, and is lightweight.

Since the ultrafine conductor is used, the clothes can be washed without changing the comfort of ordinary clothes, and since the end of the clothes always has a seam, the connection clip can be inserted anywhere.

Any garment sewn in accordance with this can easily form an apparel network with any shirt or trouser, regardless of what is worn when wearing a wearable computer.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a person wearing a wearable computer using a conventional cable as a conventional example. A device 107 is a controller device for controlling the wearable computer, and generally includes a processor and the like, and is a current notebook PC.
Function. Therefore, this controller 107
From the cable 11 to each of the other devices 101 to 106
0, the cable is rather complicated, and the movement of the human body is impeded, making it difficult to say that it is wearable.

The device 101 is a so-called HMD (Head Mounted Display).
For example, a necessary image is projected on a transmissive liquid crystal display, and at the same time, the object in front of the user can be seen through. Such an HMD has already been commercialized by a U.S. company and is actually used in the field of aircraft assembly and maintenance. The device 102 has an RF
It may be a (wireless) communication device, or it may be a GPS receiver.

The device 103 is, for example, a mobile phone or a PH.
S or other wireless communication device. The device 104 is a clock (display / watch) with a display function, and an input device for voice, characters, and the like. The device 105 is a storage device such as a hard disk device (HDD) or a flash memory, and the device 106 is various sensor devices. Various devices 101 to 106 are mutually exclusive cables 11
0 to 114 are connected.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional wearable computer, many cables are used, the total weight of which is considerable (about several kilograms), and the free movement of the body is restricted. Was to do.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the seams of clothes generally commercially available at present by broken lines. Shirt (Outerwear) 21
Although 0 and trousers 220 are illustrated, this is not limited to the men's clothing as shown in FIG. 2, but may be a shirt and skirt for women, or other combinations.

In order to make a three-dimensional garment by combining flat cloths, garments are usually made by sewing several pieces of cloth together with threads.

Looking closely at the seam of the shirt (outerwear) 210, the lower end 211 of the body passes through the front surface 212 and the side surface 213 of the body and goes around the collar 214 and the shoulder, respectively. The shoulder is connected to the sleeve 217 through the armpit 216.

Looking at the pants, the trousers are connected from the waist to the front and back 221 of the belly and to the hem 222 through both sides.

Therefore, in the case of both shirts and pants,
Almost all of the clothing has seams, indicating that it is suitable for network wiring used in a wearable computer attached to the body.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the seam (broken line) shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the side. When sewing with a normal sewing machine,
The fabric is sewn as shown in FIG. 3 while the upper thread and the lower thread are intertwined. That is, the upper thread 301 (hatched line) always passes above the center of the cloth 303, and the lower thread 302 (vertical line) always passes through the cloth 3
Pass below the center of 03. Therefore, the upper thread 301 is
If the lower thread 302 does not go to the lower surface of the
3 does not appear on the upper surface.

As a conductive thread that is thin and flexible enough to be sewn in this way, for example, Cypher of Kobe Steel Ltd. is sold. This cypher (F
e-C-Si-Mn-based conductive wire has a diameter of 15 μm to 1 μm.
It is an ultra-fine iron wire that is resistant to pulling and bending, and can be coated on the surface with an insulator or plated with a conductor such as gold or silver. Are suitable.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, if the sewing is successfully performed using a conductive thread (conductive wire) or the like coated with an insulating coat (coating),
It can be seen that it is possible to electrically connect the main part of the body with a pair (or one) of signal lines for each of the shirt and the pants. If shirts and trousers can be connected at the waist, a network that connects the main parts of the body to a large part of the body surface area will be created. Even when shirts and pants are not connected, separate networks can be formed at least for the upper body and lower body, and the current wearable and
In the use mode of a computer, a network in the upper body is particularly important (see FIG. 1).

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the positional relationship between the cloth and the conductive wire on the cloth when a network is formed on the garment with a fine conductive wire. FIG. 4 shows a single line (eg,
In the case where a network is formed by an upper thread and a lower thread (single stitch) having two mutually insulated conductors inside, and FIG. 5 shows a parallel upper thread (or lower thread) on the fabric surface. This is a case where a network is formed by two lines (double stitch). 4. In FIG.
1 is indicated by a broken line, and the back conductor is not shown.

In either case of one wire (two inside) or two wires of the upper thread and the lower thread, the conductive wire is made of a cloth 40.
It is sewn at a fixed distance 411 from the end of 0. Although the connection method is complicated, a plurality of superfine conductors can be twisted into the sewing thread to send a plurality of signals. Furthermore, they can be twisted pairs to increase reliability. Not only the seam but also the weight increases, but the super-fine conductor can be woven into the fabric itself to make the fabric itself a transmission path. Here, the cloth (cloth) to which the present invention is applied may be a natural material or an artificial material.

In FIG. 5, two parallel wires 501,
502 is indicated by a dashed line. Two parallel wires 50
1, 502 are sewn to the cloth 500 at a certain distance from each other. The conductors 501 and 502 are sewn at fixed distances 511 and 512 from one end of the cloth 500 at a fixed distance 513.

As described above, by specifying the position of the conductor as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the connection of the device to the conductor using the connection clip can be easily and reliably performed as described later. If it is difficult to sew the clothes without cutting one thread in the middle, the upper and lower threads may be tied and connected. As shown in FIG. 5, a network using two stitches as a pair of signal lines using double stitches can be created. Further, in the case where the seam of another system is connected in the middle, the whole seam can be electrically connected by sewing together a conductive material for connection.

This fabric uses ultrafine conductors for warp and weft, and can be connected to a network by sewing together. By providing a plurality of seams, reliable connection can be made. If the insulating coating is applied, a small amount of a release agent is applied to this portion and the insulating coating is partially peeled off, so that electrical connection can be made at the intersection.
If the outer and inner seams at the end of the garment are aligned at all points, a secure connection can be made without worrying about the polarity simply by clipping the clip.

In order to easily attach the device anywhere on the network, it is convenient to make the cloth somewhat thicker with respect to the sewing thread, or to use a portion where the cloth is originally thick, such as a collar.

FIG. 6 shows a clip portion for connecting each device to a network by applying the present invention. The conductor 201 is the conductor 401, 501 described with reference to FIG.
And 502, but one line 2 is used for simplicity.
It is indicated by 01. In the following description, one conductor is 5
It also includes two parallel conductors, such as 01 and 502.

Each device is electrically (or optically) connected to the conductive wire 201 sewn on the cloth by the clip 701. The clip 701 is connected to each device by a cable 602 to form a network between the devices. It is preferable that the cable 602 is as thin and light as possible. It is preferable that the clip 701 include a display unit such as a connection confirmation LED for confirming whether or not the clip 701 is actually connected to the conductor 201. That is, when the device connected to the cable 602 by the clip 701 is securely connected to the conductor 201, the display means (indicator) 601 is turned on and blinks. On the other hand, if the display means 601 does not normally light up or the like, it means that there is a problem with the connection between the conductor 201 and the clip 701, and prompts the user to reconnect.

FIG. 7 shows the connection clip 7 shown in FIG.
The relationship between the reference numeral 01, the cloth 303, and the conductors 301 and 302 is shown using a sectional view. Inside the clip 701,
A conductive rubber 702 having a projection like a needle is connected to both sides. Such a conductive sheet is sold, for example, by Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd. under the trade name of GB-Matrix. Since the upper thread 301 always appears on the surface of the fabric and the lower thread 302 on the back surface, the device can be connected to the network by sandwiching the fabric of the part where the device is to be attached from above and below with the connection clip 701.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view showing the connection between the clip 701 and the conductor shown in FIG. One side of the connection clip 701 cuts into the conducting wires 801 and 802. The conductor has a double structure. The surface of the conductor is covered with an insulating coating 802, and the conductor (conductive portion) 801 is built therein. The conductive rubber attached to the clip 701 has a number of needles 702, which are used to form an insulating coating 80 on the surface of the conductor.
2 and reaches the conductor 801, the clip 701 is connected to the network. In the case of a conductor without an insulating coating, the needle is directly connected to the conductor. That is, the height of the needle portion 702 is larger than the thickness 802 of the insulating coating portion of the conductor, and the diameter 81 of the entire conductor is
Preferably, the distance between the needles is smaller than 3 and the distance between the needles is smaller than the diameter of the conducting wire 801.

FIG. 9 shows a case where the present invention is applied to the prior art shown in FIG. Although the device worn is exactly the same in FIG. 1 and FIG. 9, FIG. 1 shows that the cable is complicated and restricts the free movement of the body, whereas FIG. Can be seen at a glance that only the part close to the device is invisible from the outside and does not impair the free movement of the body. Also, the disappearance of the conventional cable has reduced the weight considerably.

For example, assuming that the entire cable is used for 10 m, a conventional general cable is about 30 m.
In the case of the present invention, 1 g or less is required for 0 g. Also, the diameter of the conventional cable is about several millimeters, while the conductor used in the present invention is about 100 μm, so that the conventional cable is several tens times thicker than the conductor. In addition, the thicker the cable is, the less flexible it is and the more it restricts the free movement of the body. By sewing, the upper thread and the lower thread are entangled with each other across the fabric, so that the direct pulling force is reduced, and the thread is strong, so that it does not break. Since the surface is covered with an insulating film, it may be washed.

FIG. 10 shows wiring from the side as a network when the present invention is applied. Each of the devices 101 to 107 has a connection clip 902, 904, 911, 912, 914, 91 extending from each device.
5 is connected to the network wiring 1001. In the case of FIG. 10, a protocol that enables one-to-many or many-to-many communication such as USB, Ethernet, or IEEE1394 is suitable as the protocol. However, since the characteristics of the wiring may not conform to these protocols, the physical layer of each protocol may need to be changed.

When only two devices are used, a device-specific interface may be used instead of a general protocol. For example, when one of the two devices transmits an analog audio signal and the other receives the analog audio signal, the analog audio signal can be transmitted to the network wiring as it is.

When two conductors are used, one can be a signal line and the other can be a ground line, and two can be of a positive and negative differential type (differential type). Is also possible. The connection form of the network can correspond to any method such as a bus type, a star type, and a ring depending on the sewing method, the number of filaments mixed with the thread, and the like.

FIG. 11 schematically shows the hardware configuration of a typical controller device suitable for realizing the present invention for each subsystem.

The controller device is a CPU 210 which is the whole brain, and an FSB2 which is a bus directly connected to the processor.
Circuit that connects the PC 11 and the PCI bus 235 and is called a memory / PCI control chip 220 (host-PC
I-bridge), main memory 215, video subsystem 225, card bus controller 230, PC
Bridge circuit (PCI-I / O bridge) 240 for connecting I bus 235 and I / O bus 270, IDE hard disk drive (HDD) 246, USB port 23
8, ROM290, Super I / O controller 2
80. In addition, an audio subsystem 250 and a modem subsystem 260 may be optionally included.

The USB described above has a function of inserting and removing a new peripheral device (USB device) while the power is on (hot plugging function), and automatically recognizes a newly connected peripheral device and resets the system configuration. Supports functions (plug and play function). Up to 63 USs per USB port
B devices can be daisy chained. Examples of USB devices include keyboards, mice, joysticks, scanners, printers, modems, display monitors, tablets, and the like. Instead of USB port, Ethernet port or IEEE13
A port for network communication such as 94 ports may be included.

Incidentally, in order to constitute the controller device, there may be a case where many electric circuits and the like are required in addition to those shown in FIG. 11, and conversely, all the sub-circuits shown in FIG. Neither is the system required in the controller device. However, since these are well known to those skilled in the art and do not constitute the gist of the present invention, they are omitted in this specification. Also, it should be noted that only some of the connections between the hardware blocks in the drawings are shown in order to avoid complication of the drawings.

[0051]

According to the structure of the present invention as described above, a very thin conductor is put into the cloth or sewing thread of clothes and used as a network cable, so that the body can freely move without using radio waves or the like. The connection between devices mounted on each part of the body (ankle, waist, head, shoulder, wrist) and the like can be made without hindrance, and it is lightweight.

Since the ultrafine conductor is used, the comfort is the same as that of ordinary clothing, and the clothes can be washed. In addition, since the end of the clothing always has a seam, the connection clip can be inserted anywhere.

Any garment sewn in accordance with this can easily form an apparel network with any shirt or trouser, regardless of what is worn when wearing a wearable computer.

Other embodiments will be described below in summary.

(1) Clothes having a clothing portion worn by an operator and a conductor sewn into the clothing portion.

(2) a clothing portion worn by the operator, a conductor sewn into the clothing portion, a connection portion for connecting the device operated by the operator to the conductor portion, Clothes with.

(3) The clothing according to (1) or (2), wherein the conductor portion includes an iron-based conductor.

(4) The clothing according to (1) or (2), wherein the conductive wire portion includes an insulating film.

(5) The clothing according to (1) or (2), wherein the conductor portion includes two mutually insulated conductors inside.

(6) The clothing according to (1) or (2), wherein the conductive wire portion includes an optical fiber.

(7) The conductor portion includes two conductors,
The clothes according to (1) or (2), wherein the two conductors are sewn on the front and back of the cloth in parallel with a position at a predetermined distance from an end of the cloth constituting the clothing portion.

(8) The conductor portion includes two conductors,
The garment according to (1) or (2), wherein each of the two conductors is sewn in parallel to first and second distances from an end of a cloth constituting the garment.

(9) A clothing section worn by the operator, a conductor sewn into the clothing section, an input / output operating section operated by the operator and connected to the conductor, An information processing system comprising: a signal processing unit connected to the operation unit via the conductor unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view when a conventional wearable computer is worn.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing seams of clothes (shirts and pants) which are generally commercially available.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the seam 201 shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a cloth and a conductive wire when a network is formed on clothes by using a very fine conductive wire according to the present invention (first embodiment).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a cloth and a conductive wire when a network is formed on clothes using a fine conductive wire according to the present invention (second embodiment).

FIG. 6 shows a clip portion for connecting each device to a network by applying the present invention.

7 is a sectional view showing the relationship between the clip 701 shown in FIG. 6, the cloth 303, and the conductors 301 and 302. FIG.

8 is an enlarged view showing a connection state between the clip 701 and the conductor shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an overall view when a wearable computer to which the present invention is applied is worn.

FIG. 10 is an overall view of a network to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a controller device to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 HMD 107 Controller Device 110 Cable 201 Seam 210 CPU 215 Main Memory 220 Memory / PCI Control Chip 225 Video Subsystem 230 Card Bus Controller 231 Card Bus Slot 235 PCI Bus 238 USB Connector 240 Bridge Circuit 246 HDD 250 Audio Subsystem 260 Modem subsystem 270 I / O bus 280 Super I / O chip 281 I / O port 290 BIOS ROM 301 Upper thread 302 Lower thread 303 Fabric (cloth) 601 Indicator 701 Clip 1001 Network

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Noboru Kamijo 1623-14 Shimotsuruma, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term (reference) 3B011 AA02 AB01 in Tokyo Research Laboratory, IBM Japan, Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A garment comprising: a clothing portion worn by an operator; and a conductive wire portion sewn into the clothing portion. 2. A clothing section worn by an operator, a conductor section sewn into the clothing section, and a connection section for connecting a device operated by the operator to the conductor section. Having clothes. 3. The conductive wire portion includes an iron-based conductive wire.
Or the clothes according to 2. 4. The garment according to claim 1, wherein said conductive wire portion includes an insulating film. 5. A garment as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the conductor portion comprises two mutually insulated conductors therein. 6. The garment according to claim 1, wherein the conductor portion includes an optical fiber. 7. The conductive wire portion includes two conductive wires, and the two conductive wires are sewn on the front and back of the cloth in parallel with a position at a predetermined distance from an end of the cloth constituting the clothes section. The clothes according to claim 1. 8. The conductor portion includes two conductors, and each of the two conductors is sewn in parallel at first and second distances from an end of a cloth constituting the clothing portion. The clothes according to claim 1. 9. A clothing section worn by an operator, a wire section sewn into the clothing section, an input / output operation section operated by the operator and connected to the wire section, and the input / output operation And a signal processing unit connected to the unit via the conducting wire unit.