JP2000312215A - Communication system, communication initialization unit and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system where communication between terminals is attained even when a communication terminal of a communication opposite party is changed. SOLUTION: By using the communication system 1 provided with communication terminals such as an air-conditioner 100 and a dampener A200 that make mutual communication via a network 40 and with a communication initialization unit 300, the communication initialization unit 300 updates installed location information at a prescribed timing and checks a state of a communication terminal address on the basis of setting information consisting of a communication terminal address and unit model information. Thus, the communication initialization unit 300 updates the communication initialization.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system provided with a communication terminal for communicating with each other via a network and a management device for making initial settings for the communication, and a program recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Communication terminals connected to a network and communicating with each other can communicate with the communication partner by setting information on the communication terminal of the communication partner by communication initial setting. However, the information relating to the communication terminal of the communication partner described here includes an address used to identify the communication partner.

[0003] Next, a conventional communication system having a first communication terminal and a second communication terminal that are linked under certain conditions will be described.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional communication system according to the above-described example. As shown in the figure, the communication system 7 sets an air conditioner 10 as a first communication terminal including a humidity sensor 11, a humidifier 20 as a second communication terminal, and communication initial information of these communication terminals. The communication initialization device 30 and a network 40 connecting the communication initialization device 30 and the communication initialization device 30 and the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 as communication terminals communicate with each other via the network 40. , Self-information holding means 51 for holding communication initial information of its own, and communication partner information holding means 52 for holding communication initial information of a communication partner.

[0005] The air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 having such a configuration are linked to each other such that the operation of the humidifier 20 is started when the humidity sensor 11 of the air conditioner 10 falls below a predetermined value. It can be operated.

On the other hand, the communication initial setting device 30 includes communication initial setting means 53 and address holding means 54 for holding an address set by the communication initial setting means 53.
The air conditioner 10 includes a first control unit 12 that instructs the humidifier 20 to start operating using the communication unit 50 when the humidity sensor 11 becomes equal to or less than a certain value.
A second operation which starts operation in accordance with a command from the first control means 12
The control means 22 is provided.

The operation of the conventional communication system configured as described above will be described below.

First, as an initial state, in the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20, the self information holding means 51 holds its own device type information set at the time of shipment and a temporary initial address ADDX. The partner information holding means 52 is in a state of holding no information. Here, the own device type information is information on a device type such as an air conditioner and a humidifier.

On the other hand, in the communication initial setting device 30, the self information holding means 51 holds its own device type information set at the time of shipment and the formal address ADD0 of the communication initial setting device 30 itself. Holding means 54
Holds an unset address set for each communication terminal that performs communication, and information for confirming whether the unset address has been set for each communication terminal. However, it is assumed that two addresses ADD1 and ADD2 are held this time as unset addresses.

Next, a description will be given of an operation of communication initial setting for making each communication terminal communicable with each other. FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of communication initial setting of the communication system 7. As shown in FIG. 8, the operation of the communication initial setting includes the setting of a formal address to each communication terminal (step 100), the acquisition of device information of each communication terminal (step 20).
0) and communication partner information setting of each communication terminal (step 3)
00). Hereinafter, the operation will be described for each step.

First, the operation procedure of each communication terminal and communication initial setting device in step 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific communication procedure between the communication initial setting device 30, the air conditioner 10, and the humidifier 20 in step 100.

First, the communication means 50 of the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 as each communication terminal is provided with a self information holding means 51.
The communication is performed with the communication initial setting device 30 using the temporary address ADDX held in the communication initial setting device 30 and the address ADD0 of the self information holding means 51 of the communication initial setting device 30, respectively.
Request formal address.

Next, when the communication initial setting means 53 of the communication initial setting device 30 receives the request for the formal address,
The unset address held by the address holding unit 54 is notified to the requesting communication terminal as the official address. This time, as the official address, ADD1 to the air conditioner 10
And ADD2 to the humidifier 20. That is, the communication initial setting device 30 sets ADD1 for the air conditioner 10 and ADD2 for the humidifier 20 as formal addresses.

When the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 receive the notification of the formal address from the communication initial setting device 30,
This is held in each of the self information holding means 51, and is set as a self-official address. This completes the setting of the official addresses of the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20.

Second, the operation procedure of each communication terminal and communication initialization device in step 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific communication procedure between the communication initial setting device 30, the air conditioner 10, and the humidifier 20 in step 200.

First, the communication means 5 of the communication initial setting device 30
0 communicates with each communication terminal using the formal address set in the previous step 100, and requests device information held by each communication terminal.

First, assuming that the communication initial setting device 30 makes a device information request to the communication terminal having ADD1, the communication terminal in which ADD1 is set as the official address is the air conditioner 10. The command is transmitted to the air conditioner 10.

Upon receiving the device information request, the air conditioner 10 initializes device information, which is one of the self information held in the self information holding means 51, including the fact that the self device type is the air conditioner. Notify the device 30.

Upon receiving the device information from the air conditioner 10, the communication initial setting device 30 holds the device information in the communication partner information holding means 52 as information of a pair with the ADD1.

Next, the same operation as described above is performed on the humidifier 20 which is a communication terminal having the ADD2, and the communication initializing device 30 transmits the device information of the humidifier 20 which is the communication terminal having the ADD2 to the ADD2. The information of the pair is held in the communication partner information holding means 52. This completes the operation of the communication initialization device for acquiring the device information of each communication terminal.

Finally, the operation procedure of each communication terminal and communication initial setting device in step 300 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a specific communication procedure between the communication initial setting device 30, the air conditioner 10, and the humidifier 20 in step 300.

First, consider a case where the first control means 12 of the air conditioner 10 performs an operation in conjunction with a humidifier. However, in the current state of the communication system 7 (at the time of completion of step 200), neither the air conditioner 10 nor the humidifier 20 can communicate with each other because the communication partner information holding means 52 does not hold any information. .

In this case, the air conditioner 10 communicates with the communication initial setting device 30 and requests the address of the communication terminal, which is the humidifier, in the device information.

Upon receiving the above address request, the communication initial setting device 30 searches for information held in the communication partner information holding means 52. At present, the address of the communication terminal having the information that the device information is a humidifier is ADD2. Therefore, when the communication initial setting device 30 discovers this, it replies to the air conditioner 10 and the communication Notify that the address of the communication terminal to be executed is ADD2.

When the air conditioner 10 receives the above reply,
A is stored in the communication partner information holding means 52 as the address of the humidifier.
Hold DD2.

On the other hand, in parallel with the above operation, the communication initial setting device 30 communicates with the humidifier 20, and the humidifier 20
AD as the address of the air conditioner in the communication partner holding means 52
Hold D1. With this, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 2
The setting of the communication partner information of the communication partner holding unit 52 of 0 is completed, and the communication initial setting of the entire communication setting system 7 is completed.

When the communication initial setting is completed, the air conditioner 10
And the humidifier 20 can communicate with each other, and the air conditioner 10
When the value of the humidity sensor 11 becomes equal to or less than a certain value, the first control means 12 can perform an interlocking operation between the communication terminals, such as instructing the humidifier 20 to start operation. .

[0028]

The conventional communication system is as described above. However, in such a conventional communication system, if the configuration of the system whose initialization has been completed is changed, the following will occur. Such a problem may occur.

For example, the humidifier 20 is connected to the network 4
A case where a second humidifier is newly installed separately from 0 will be considered. In this case, the second humidifier also has to perform the communication initial setting in the same procedure as described in the conventional example,
Formal address A previously assigned to humidifier 20
Even after the humidifier 20 is disconnected from the network, the DD2 is held in the communication partner information holding means 52 of the communication initial setting device 30 as a pair with the device information of the humidifier 20. Therefore, ADD2 cannot be assigned as the address of the second humidifier.

Therefore, as long as the address holding means 54 of the communication initial setting device 30 does not hold an extra unset address, the communication initial setting device 30 never assigns a formal address to the second humidifier. It becomes possible. That is, when the address holding unit 54 of the communication initial setting device 30 does not hold an unset address, a first problem occurs that a formal address cannot be assigned to a newly installed communication terminal.

Further, even if the address holding means 54 holds a sufficient unset address and a new formal address can be set in the second humidifier, the air conditioner 10 which should communicate with the second humidifier can be set. Of the humidifier 20 is held by the communication partner information holding means of
In any case, because of D2, the second problem arises that the air conditioner 10 is left without being able to communicate with the newly installed second humidifier.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to more efficiently assign an address to a terminal, or to change the connection status of a terminal or the terminal itself. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system, a communication initial setting device, and a program recording medium that can secure communication between terminals.

[0033]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bus for transmitting data, a plurality of terminals having first information including at least an ID connected to the bus,
A communication initial setting unit connected to the bus, the communication initial setting unit configured to set at least an address of the plurality of terminals, wherein the communication initial setting unit determines a correspondence between the set address and the terminal; A setting information holding unit that holds setting information indicating, and by checking the first information that each terminal has for each terminal at a predetermined timing, a legitimate terminal based on the setting information is assigned to the address. A communication system comprising: a setting / confirmation unit that determines whether or not the setting information exists at each timing, and updates the setting information based on the determination result.

Further, the second invention is characterized in that at least the ID
Is the communication system according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the information including the information includes the unique information of the terminal.

A third aspect of the present invention is the communication system according to the first or second aspect, wherein all or a part of the terminals can communicate with other terminals via the bus. System.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, the communication initial setting means transmits the installation location of each terminal to each terminal as installation location information at each predetermined timing prior to the updating operation. When each of the terminals receives the installation location information, the terminal determines whether or not the location information matches the previously received installation location information, and if not, sets the currently received installation location information as new installation location information. The communication system according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, characterized in that:

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, at least the terminal whose setting information is to be updated requests the communication initial setting means to transfer address information of a terminal to be a communication partner, and The communication system according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the communication system according to the third aspect of the present invention further includes a device supplementary information holding unit that holds the address transferred in response to the address as new communication partner information.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, when the setting information is updated, the communication initial setting means sends a terminal associated with the updating of the setting information to the terminal related to the updating of the setting information based on the updated setting information. The third communication system according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that an address of a terminal to be a communication partner is transferred.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication initial setting device for setting at least addresses of a plurality of terminals having first information including at least an ID connected to a bus for transmitting data. A setting information holding unit that holds setting information indicating a correspondence between the set address and the terminal, and by examining the first information of each terminal at a predetermined timing for each terminal. ,
At the address, it is determined whether or not a legitimate terminal based on the setting information is present at each timing, and based on the result of the determination, a setting / update for updating the setting information is performed.
And a confirmation unit.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program and / or data for causing a computer to execute all or a part of the functions of all or a part of the invention according to any one of the first to seventh aspects. A recorded program recording medium,
A program recording medium readable by a computer.

[0041]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a communication system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, in the communication system 1, the same names or the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 7 denote the same parts, and the air conditioner 100, the humidifier A200 and the humidifier B250 are means to be one of the communication terminals. Initial setting device 3
Reference numeral 00 denotes a unit for performing an initial setting operation, updating setting information described later, and the like.

Further, in the communication initial setting device 300,
The timer 700 is a means for operating the setting / confirming means 800 every certain period (Ta).
Is a unit that operates in accordance with the control from the timer 700. The setting information holding means 900 is provided with the setting / confirmation means 8.
00 is an unset address used for communication initial setting, device type information indicating the device type of the communication terminal, and setting information as information as a set of the unset address (or set address); Network 4
This is a means for holding installation location information, which is information on locations where 0 or all or some of the communication terminals are installed.

In the air conditioner 100, the humidifier A200 and the humidifier B250, the personal information holding means 501
Means for holding inherent information inherent to the device including device type information of each communication terminal;
Reference numeral 01 denotes a unit for holding information provided from the communication initialization device at the time of communication initialization, such as a formal address, communication partner information, and installation location information.

Here, the ID of the present invention is a concept corresponding to the device-specific information and the like. Further, the first information of the present invention corresponds to information including at least device-specific information.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the communication initial setting apparatus 300 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. Do, air conditioner 100,
It is a flowchart which showed the general processing procedure relevant to reception of the installation location notification periodically transmitted from the communication initialization device 300 in a communication terminal, such as humidifier A200 and humidifier B250.

The general operation of the communication system 1 of the present invention configured as described above will be described below. However, for simplicity, it is assumed that each communication terminal and the initial setting device are in a communicable state in advance.

First, the operation of the communication initial setting device 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

In step 700, when the timer 700 determines that the predetermined period Ta has elapsed as an operation cycle, the setting / confirmation means 800 is set to perform an initial setting operation.

Next, at step 701, the setting / confirmation unit 800 notifies the communication terminal on the network of the installation location information.

In step 702, the setting / confirmation means 80
0 performs communication for confirming the existence of the formal address stored in the setting information storage unit 900 based on the device-specific information of each communication terminal based on the setting information that has already been set. As a result, if the existence of the communication terminal holding the device type information based on the setting information is not confirmed even though the formal address is assigned, the process proceeds to step 703 to continue the operation. If the presence of a legitimate communication terminal corresponding to all formal addresses is confirmed as described in the setting information, the communication initial setting device 300
Deems that no change has occurred in the configuration of the communication system 1, and returns to the operation of step 700.

In step 703, the setting / confirmation means 80
“0” is stored in the setting information storage unit 900, but changes the formal address assigned to a communication terminal that does not actually exist on the network 40 to an unset address.

In step 710, it is determined whether there is a request for setting a formal address from the communication terminal. If there is no request, the process returns to step 700, and if there is, the process proceeds to step 704.

The operation of step 704, which is an operation after step 704, has the same contents as the address setting in step 100 and the device information collection operation in step 200 described in the section of the related art. Since the operation of step 706 is the same as the operation of the conventional communication partner information setting in step 300, the description thereof is omitted here.

Next, the general operation of the communication terminal will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 800, the control means of each communication terminal determines that the communication initialization device 300
The installation location information included in the notification performed for each a is received. If not received, it returns to the state of waiting for the installation location information again.

Next, in step 801, the communication terminal
The installation location information held by the own device accompanying information holding means is compared with the new installation location information received in step 800. As a result of the comparison, when the two installation location information match, the communication terminal ends the operation. If they do not match (including the case where the installation location information was originally undecided), the process proceeds to step 802 to perform the operation.

In step 802, the communication terminal rewrites the installation location information of the device accompanying information holding means to the received installation location information, and matches it with the installation location information held by communication initial setting device 300.

Further, in step 803, the communication terminal requests a formal address from the communication initial setting device 300, and thereafter, communicates with the communication initial setting device 300,
Complete the initial setup. Although specific details will be described later, when the communication initial setting apparatus 300 receives the formal address request, the processing shifts to immediately before step 710 in FIG. 2 and performs the processing in steps 704 and 706. It is.

Next, based on the general operation described above, a more specific operation of the communication initial setting when the air conditioner 100, the humidifier A200, and the humidifier B250 shown in FIG. I do.

First, as an initial condition for starting the operation, the air conditioner 100 and the humidifier A200, which are communication terminals, and the communication initial setting device 300 are connected via the network 40, but cannot communicate with each other. , The humidifier B250 is not connected to the network.

The state of each communication terminal and communication initial setting device under the above conditions will be described. The unique information holding unit 501 of the air conditioner 100 holds device type information “air conditioner” as one of the unique information. The device supplementary information holding unit 601 holds the temporary address ADDX as its own address, but holds the communication partner information and the installation location information in an “undecided” state.

Next, the unique information holding means 502 of the humidifier A 200 stores the device type information “humidifier” as one of the unique information.
Holding. The device supplementary information holding unit 602 holds the temporary address ADDX as its own address, but holds the communication partner information and the installation location information in an “undecided” state.

Further, the unique information holding means 503 of the humidifier B 250 not connected to the network 40 holds device type information “humidifier” as one of the unique information.
The device supplementary information holding unit 603 holds the temporary address ADDX as its own address, but holds the communication partner information and the installation location information in an “undecided” state.

On the other hand, the setting information holding means 900 of the communication initial setting device 300 holds the self address ADD0 and also holds two addresses ADD1 and ADD2 as unset addresses.

Further, setting information holding means 900 holds, as setting information, a combination of ADD1 which is an unset address and device type information "air conditioner", and ADD2 which is an unset address and device type information "humidifier". At the same time, it holds the installation location information “Mr. A's house”.

Here, the point that the communication terminal has already set the setting information in the setting information holding means 900 as described above at the stage where the formal address has not been specifically assigned yet is simply described. explain.

That is, the communication initialization device 3 of the present embodiment
00 corresponds to an air conditioning control device of the air conditioning system. Therefore, such an air conditioning control device is provided with a function of interlocking control of the air conditioner and the humidifier in advance. Therefore, even before the air conditioner or the humidifier is actually connected as the terminal device, it is possible to store in advance the setting information of the address assuming the connection of the terminal device.

Under the above conditions, the communication initial setting updating operation of the communication system 1 of the present invention is performed in the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in the figure, the initial setting operation is mainly performed in four strokes, that is, communication initial setting between the air conditioner and the first humidifier is performed (first stroke), and the humidifier A200 is disconnected from the network (second stroke). The humidifier B250 is connected to a network to change settings (third step), and the communication between the air conditioner and the humidifier B250 is initialized again (fourth step). Hereinafter, each step will be described.

In the first step, the communication initialization device 300
When the elapsed time of the timer 700 becomes equal to Ta as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
0), the installation site information held by the communication initial setting device 300 is notified on the network 40 of “Mr. A's home” (step 701). The communication initial setting device 300 does not know whether or not there is a response from the terminal to the notification in step 701.

On the other hand, in response to the notification, the air conditioner 100
Receives the installation location information of "Mr. A's house" (step 800).

[0092] Equipment auxiliary information holding means 6 of air conditioner 100
At this stage, the location information held by 01 is “undecided” and is different from the location information “Mr. A's home” received from the communication initial setting device 300, so the location information is updated. (Steps 801 and 802).

Next, the air conditioner 100 requests the communication initial setting device 300 for a formal address (step 803).

The communication initial setting device 300 that has received the request for the formal address is controlled so that the process shifts immediately before step 710 shown in FIG.

Thus, the setting of the formal address (step 704) and the setting of the communication partner information (step 70)
Step 6) is performed in the same manner as described above. However, device-specific information such as device type information is held in the unique information holding unit 501, and information of the device type is attached at the time of formal address request communication. FIG. 5A shows a format of a communication packet transmitted by the communication terminal at this time. The humidifier A200 is also initialized by the same processing as that for the air conditioner 100.

With the above operation, the self-address held by the first device accompanying information holding means 601 of the air conditioner 100 is the official address ADD1, and the communication partner information is ADD.
2 and the installation location information is "Mr. A's house", and the humidifier A
The self-address held by the second device supplementary information holding means 602 included in the device 200 is the official address ADD2, the communication partner information is ADD1, and the installation location information is "Mr. A's house". Further, the setting information holding unit 90 of the communication initialization device 300
0 holds that the official address ADD1 is set to the air conditioner and the official address ADD2 is set to the humidifier.
Since the communication initialization between the air conditioner 100 and the humidifier A200 has been completed, the air conditioner 100 and the humidifier
0 enables communication.

After the processing of step 706 is completed, the process returns to the step immediately before step 700, and the processing returns to step 70 again.
1 through steps 800 and 801. In step 801, since no change has occurred in the installation status of the communication terminal, a request for an official address (step 80) is made here.
Do not go through the process of 3).

On the other hand, in communication initial setting apparatus 300, since the result of determination in step 702 is YES, the process returns to immediately before step 700 and repeats this series of operations.

Next, in the second step, the humidifier A 200 is disconnected from the network 40. In this state, the air conditioner 1
Although the communication partner information held by the first device supplementary information holding unit 601 included in 00 is still ADD2, since the humidifier A200 of the address ADD2 is not on the network 40, the air conditioner 100 cannot communicate with the humidifier. Can not.

The communication initial setting device 300 includes a timer 70
0, after the elapse of the next time Ta, the installation location information is notified again on the network 40 (step 70).
0, 701).

Next, the communication initial setting device 300 confirms the presence of a device whose address is ADD2 and whose device type information is “humidifier” obtained from the unique information (step 70).
2). FIG. 5B shows a format of a communication packet used for confirmation by the communication initial setting device 300 at this time.

The communication initial setting device 300 confirms whether or not an authorized device exists for ADD1, which is the official address to which the air conditioner 100 is connected, in the same manner as described above. That is, the communication initialization device 30
0 indicates that the above confirmation is made for all communication terminals to which the official addresses are assigned.

Here, since the humidifier A200 whose formal address is ADD2 has already been disconnected from the network 40 and has no response, the setting information holding means 90
The information indicating that “ADD2 is an official address paired with“ humidifier ”” held at 0 is changed to information indicating “ADD2 is an unset address paired with“ humidifier ”” ( Step 703). Such change of the setting information is an example of updating the setting information of the present invention.

By the above operation, the formal address having no communication terminal is changed to the unset address, so that the situation where the unset address held by the setting information holding means 900 runs short is avoided.

In this example, there is no communication terminal corresponding to the formal address ADD2. However, as described above, the communication initial setting holding means of the communication initial device 300
Based on the setting information, the device type obtained from the unique information is also checked.
Above, even if the address of the communication terminal other than the humidifier A200 is recognized as the official address ADD2, the proper communication terminal (that is, the humidifier A200) does not exist in the light of the setting information. Official address A
DD2 will be changed to an unset address.

Next, the process proceeds to step 710, where
It is determined that there is no formal address request from the communication terminal, and the process returns to immediately before step 700.

Further, in the third step, the humidifier B250
It is connected to the place where the humidifier A200 on the network 40 was connected. At this stage, the self-address held by the third device supplementary information holding means 603 provided in the humidifier B250 is the temporary address ADDX, and the communication partner information and the installation location information are undecided.
Cannot communicate with the humidifier whose address is ADD2.

Finally, in the fourth step, the communication initialization device 3
00, the timer 700 notifies the network 40 of the information of "Mr. A's home" as the installation location information after the elapse of the time Ta again (steps 700 and 70).
1).

On the other hand, in response to the above notification, the humidifier B250
As in the case where the humidifier A200 is connected, after receiving the installation location information and performing the processing of steps 801 and 802, the communication initial setting device 300 Make a formal address request.
However, here, the address request packet includes FIG.
As shown in the format shown in (b), the information indicating that the device type information is “humidifier” is included as one of the unique information in advance.

Further, upon receiving the address request packet from the humidifier B250, the communication initial setting device 300 shifts the processing immediately before step 710 and starts the processing therefrom, as described above. That is, the communication initial setting device 300 reads, from the information held in the setting information holding unit 900, “the address to be assigned to the humidifier is A
DD2, and ADD2 is currently an unset address ", and sets the unset address ADD2 as a formal address in the humidifier B250.

As a result, the self-address held by the third device supplementary information holding means 603 of the humidifier B250 is ADD2, the communication partner information is ADD1, and the installation location information is "Mr. A's house". Further, the setting information holding unit 900 of the communication initial setting device 300 includes ADD1 as an air conditioner,
Setting information in which ADD2 is set in the humidifier is held. The communication initialization between the air conditioner 100 and the humidifier B250 has been completed.
Can communicate.

In the above description, at least the humidifier B250 of the terminal whose setting information is to be updated is mainly involved, and in step 706, the transfer of the address information of the terminal to be the communication partner is performed by the communication initial setting. A case has been described in which the device 300 requests the device 300 and the address transferred in response to the request is held as new communication partner information in the device accompanying information holding unit 603. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If there is, the communication initial setting device is configured to independently transfer the address of a terminal to be a communication partner to the terminal related to the update of the setting information based on the updated setting information. Is also good.

When the setting information holding means 900 also holds ADD3 as the third address in addition to the self address, for example, a ventilation fan is connected to ADD2, and the humidifier B250 is connected to ADD3. Air conditioner 1 for which it has been confirmed that the installation location information has not changed
The following configuration may be adopted in consideration of a case where the communication partner information of 00 is changed. That is, at the stage after the process of changing the installation location information has been completed for all the terminals as necessary, the communication initial setting apparatus 300 returns to step 706 for the terminal for which it has been confirmed that the installation location information has not been changed. A configuration may be used in which the communication partner information is updated in the same manner as described above using the processing operation of (1). Alternatively, in this case, each terminal that has been confirmed that there is no change in the installation location information is transmitted to the communication initialization device 300.
Issue a communication partner information update request to
Of course, a configuration in which the update operation of the communication partner information is independently performed based on the processing operation of 06 may be used.

In this example, the installation location information is undecided. However, even if there is a device whose installation location is different for some reason, the communication initial setting is performed again by the same procedure.

As described above, according to the communication system of the present invention, when each of the air conditioner, the first humidifier, and the second humidifier is assigned a formal address, a total of three addresses are required. The unset address held by the device is 2
Even if there is only one, the communication initial setting device periodically checks for the presence of a communication terminal that has already been set, and resets the address of a nonexistent communication terminal to unset, so that the address shortage can be resolved.

Further, even if the communication terminal for which communication initialization has been set is discarded and the model is changed, the communication initialization device periodically notifies the installation location information, and the communication terminal compares with the installation location information held by itself. If different (including “undecided”), the communication initialization can be performed again to provide a communication system that enables communication as before.

FIG. 6 shows a specific configuration example of one embodiment of the communication initial setting device of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the communication initial setting apparatus 300 includes a microcomputer 13040, a digital modulation / demodulation circuit 13002, and an AC ring analog circuit 130.
01.

In FIG. 6, a power line 2000 is used as a transmission medium as an example of the above-described network 40 (see FIG. 1). The communication means 50 (see FIG. 1) includes a digital modulation / demodulation circuit 13002 for modulating transmission data into a transmission digital signal and demodulating a reception digital signal, and an AC link analog for converting the digital signal into a transmission / reception signal on a power line. And a circuit 13001.

The microcomputer 13040 includes:
A clock function 13010 for realizing the timer 700 (see FIG. 1) of the communication initial setting device 300 and a RAM for realizing the setting information holding means 900 (see FIG. 1)
A ROM 13005 that includes a program 1306 and a nonvolatile memory 1308 and stores a program for realizing the operation flow of the communication initialization device 300, an MPU (micro processing unit) 13009 that executes the program, and is transmitted and received by the operation of the program. Also provided is an I / O port 13004 and the like for transferring data to and from the digital modem.

With the above configuration, I / O port 1300
4, the transmission data passed to the digital modulation / demodulation circuit 13002 is spread-spectrum (Spread Spectrum) by the spreading block 13020, and then subjected to the band limitation in the transmission frequency range of 100 kHz to 450 kHz by the filter block 13021. Thereafter, the signal is amplified by the transmission amplifier 13022 in the AC link analog circuit 13001, superimposed on the power line signal by the transformer 13023, and transmitted on the power line 2000.

On the other hand, the side receiving the signal on the power line 2000 receives the signal via the transformer 13023 in the AC link analog circuit 13001, and
After being subjected to a reception band limitation of 100 kHz to 450 kHz by 25, the signal is amplified by a reception amplifier 13026 and passed to a digital modulation / demodulation circuit 13002. The received spread signal is divided into a bandpass filter 1 (BPF1) 13027 of 100 kHz to 200 kHz and a bandpass filter of
0 kHz bandpass filter 2 (BPF2) 1302
8 and processed in each band of the bandpass filter 3 (BPF3) 13029 from 300 kHz to 400 kHz, and are respectively correlator 1 (13030) and correlator 2 (1303).
1) The spread is resolved by the correlation process by the correlator 3 (13032), synthesized by the synthesis block 13033 into the received data, and taken into the microcomputer 13040. With such a configuration, the above-described communication initialization device 3
00 can be executed.

In the above embodiment, the case where the network 40 of the present invention is realized by a wire such as a power line is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be realized by wireless, for example.

A program recording medium that records a program and / or data for causing a computer to execute all or a part of the functions of all or a part of the configuration example described in any of the above embodiments is provided. As a computer-readable program recording medium,
A configuration may be adopted in which a recording medium such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk is created, and the program and / or data read by a computer is used to execute the function in cooperation with the computer. Thereby, the same effect as described above is exerted.

The present invention is not limited to the program recording medium. For example, a program and a program for causing a computer to execute all or a part of the functions of all or part of the configuration examples described in any of the above embodiments are provided. A medium carrying data and / or a medium characterized by being processable by a computer also exhibits the same effects as described above.

Here, the data includes a data structure, a data format, a type of data, and the like. The medium includes a recording medium such as a ROM, a transmission medium such as the Internet, and a transmission medium such as light, radio waves, and sound waves. Further, the carried medium includes, for example, a recording medium on which a program and / or data is recorded, a transmission medium for transmitting the program and / or data, and the like. In addition, to be able to be processed by a computer means that, for example, in the case of a recording medium such as a ROM, it can be read by a computer, and in the case of a transmission medium, a program and / or data to be transmitted is Including that it can be handled by a computer as a result of the transmission.

The present invention is not limited to the above program recording medium. For example, a program and a program for causing a computer to execute all or a part of the functions of all or part of the configuration examples described in any of the above embodiments are provided. An effect similar to the above can also be exerted by configuring and / or using an information aggregate characterized by being data.

Here, the information aggregate includes, for example, software such as programs and / or data.

As described above, the configuration of the present invention is as follows.
It may be implemented by software or hardware.

As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, even when the type and number of communication terminals connected to the network are changed, the communication initial settings are updated so that communication between the terminals is always performed. Can be secured.

[0111]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that addresses can be allocated to terminals more efficiently.

Further, the present invention has an advantage that communication between terminals can be ensured even if the connection status of the terminals or the terminal itself changes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a communication initialization device of the communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a communication terminal of the communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an overall flow in communication initial setting of the communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 5A shows a format of a communication packet of an address request of a communication terminal of the communication system of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a communication packet for confirming the presence of a device in the communication initialization device of the communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of a communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a communication procedure of a communication system according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a communication procedure for setting a formal address of a communication system according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a communication procedure for collecting device information of a communication system according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a communication procedure for setting communication partner information of a communication system according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 7 communication system 10, 100 air conditioner 20 humidifier 30, 300 communication initial setting device 40 network 11 humidity sensor 12, 22 control means 50 communication means 51 self information holding means 52 communication partner information holding means 53 communication initial setting means 200 humidification Apparatus A 250 Humidifier B 501, 502, 503 Unique information holding means 601, 602, 603 Equipment auxiliary information holding means 800 Setting / confirmation means 700 Timer 900 Setting information holding means

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A bus for transmitting data, a plurality of terminals connected to the bus and having first information including at least an ID, and at least one of the plurality of terminals connected to the bus A communication initial setting means for setting an address, wherein the communication initial setting means holds a setting information indicating a correspondence between the set address and the terminal, a setting information holding unit, By examining the first information of each of the terminals at a predetermined timing,
A setting / confirmation unit that determines whether there is a legitimate terminal based on the setting information at each timing, based on the determination result, updates the setting information, Communication system. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the information including at least the ID includes unique information of the terminal. 3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein all or some of the terminals can communicate with other terminals via the bus. 4. The communication initial setting means transmits an installation location of each terminal to each terminal as installation location information at each predetermined timing prior to the update operation. Receiving the installation location information, determining whether the location information matches the previously received installation location information, and if not, setting the currently received installation location information as new installation location information. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A terminal for which at least the setting information is to be updated requests the communication initial setting means to transfer address information of a terminal to be a communication partner, and the address transferred in response to the request. The communication system according to claim 3, further comprising a device supplementary information holding unit that holds the information as new communication partner information. 6. When the setting information is updated, the communication initial setting means should be a communication partner for a terminal related to the updating of the setting information based on the updated setting information. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein an address of the terminal is transferred. 7. A communication initial setting device for setting at least addresses of a plurality of terminals having first information including at least an ID, the communication initial setting device being connected to a bus for transmitting data. A setting information holding unit that holds setting information indicating a correspondence relationship between the address and the terminal, by examining the first information of each terminal at a predetermined timing,
A setting / confirmation unit that determines whether there is a legitimate terminal based on the setting information at each timing, based on the determination result, updates the setting information, Communication initialization device. 8. A program recording medium for recording a program and / or data for causing a computer to execute all or a part of the functions of all or a part of the present invention according to claim 1. A program recording medium readable by a computer.