JP2002214319A - Arrangement searching device for input and output equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To search the position of input and output equipment such as printer even in the change of the arrangement thereof to obtain physical arrangement information. SOLUTION: Receiver arrays consisting of a plurality of receivers are orthogonally arranged on a floor, the transmission signal from the input and output equipment mounting a transmitter is received while successively switching the receivers of the receiver arrays, and the array position information of the receiver receivable with the lowest receiving sensitivity is taken as the position coordinate of the input and output equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus for recognizing a physical floor arrangement of input / output devices in a network in which computers and printers and other input / output devices are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many types of input / output devices such as printers, digital copiers, scanners, and facsimile machines have been provided on a network together with a large number of computers. These input / output devices can be freely selected and used on the network, but conventionally, the recognition of the positions of these input / output devices has been based on the visual recognition of the user.

[0003]

The plurality of input / output devices connected to the network, for example, a plurality of printers, are mechanically extremely different from each other by changing a part of an identification code such as a name or an output port. Has been reliably identified. However, when a human being, rather than a machine, performs these identifications, only a part of the names and identification numbers are changed, so that they are not necessarily sufficiently different to reliably identify them. Therefore, when a human tries to select (designate) and output a printer only with a name, an identification code, or the like, the following errors often occur.

[0004] For example, when a host computer connected to a network attempts to print over a network, the following printer name or identification code desired to be output and the location of the printer on the floor must be recognized beforehand. There was such a problem. 1. Printing is not performed from the desired printer, but is performed from a completely different printer. 2. You do not know until the printer from which the printed matter is output. 3. In some cases, printed matter gets lost. 4. The location of the specified printer is not known, and it takes time to search for printed materials. In particular, when the printer is located at a position away from the host computer and cannot be seen, or when the arrangement of the printer is changed for some reason, the above-described problem occurs because the position of the desired printer on the floor cannot be determined. . Therefore, it takes unnecessarily long time to obtain a printed material, and there is also a problem that the high-speed printing function of the present invention does not substantially make sense.

When a similar name or identification code is displayed in the dialog of the driver even when setting with the printer driver, it is unclear which printer is located at which position, and the printer status is printed. There is also a problem that the user cannot find out the identification code such as the name and port number of the desired printer by going to the desired printer and operating the printer panel display.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and seeks a physical position where an input / output device such as a printer is located, and obtains physical location information of the input / output device such as a printer. To an input / output device utility such as a printer driver.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a transmitter attached to an input / output device, an orthogonal receiver array in which a plurality of receivers are arranged in a substantially straight line, and an orthogonal receiver array, A receiver array control unit for controlling reception, and a reception sensitivity control unit for controlling the sensitivity of the receiver, transmit with a constant output from a transmitter on the input / output device, and set the receiver of the receiver array to The signals are sequentially switched to receive the signal, and the array position information of the receiver that can receive the signal with the lowest reception sensitivity is used as the position coordinates of the input / output device.

Further, the receiver of the receiver array is sequentially switched to receive, and the receiving sensitivity of the receiver is gradually lowered so that the number of receivable receivers becomes one, and the number of receivable receivers becomes one. The array position information of the receiver at that time is used as the position coordinates of the input / output device.

Also, a transmitter attached to an input / output device, an orthogonal receiver array in which a plurality of receivers are arranged in a substantially straight line and arranged orthogonally, and reception of the receiver array is controlled. It consists of a receiver array control unit and a transmission output control unit that controls the output of the transmitter attached to the input / output device, transmits from the transmitter on the input / output device, and sequentially switches the receiver of the receiver array The array position information of the receiver that can receive the signal and receive the signal with the lowest transmitter output is used as the position coordinates of the input / output device.

In addition, the receiver of the receiver array is sequentially switched to receive, and the output of the transmitter is gradually reduced so that the number of receivable receivers becomes one, and the number of receivable receivers becomes one. Then, the array position information of the receiver is used as the position coordinates of the input / output device.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using a printer as an example of an input / output device with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. FIG. 1A is a schematic configuration diagram when controlling the reception sensitivity of the control system according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic configuration diagram when controlling the transmission output of the control system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a layout diagram of input / output devices such as a quadrature receiver array and a printer. FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b) and 3 (c) show the receivable range when the receiving sensitivity is gradually lowered or when the transmission output is gradually reduced. is there.

1 (a) and 1 (b), reference numeral 1 denotes a transmitter attached to an input / output device such as a printer, 3 denotes a receiver array in which a plurality of receivers are arranged as shown in FIG. Is a receiver array control unit for controlling which of the plurality of receivers constituting the receiver array receives signals, 5 is a reception sensitivity control unit for controlling the sensitivity of the receiver, and 6 is a transmitter. Reception determination section for determining whether or not a signal from the receiver can be received by the receiver selected by the receiver array control section. 7 is an array coordinate storage for storing coordinate information of the receiver selected by the receiver array control section. Department. Reference numeral 8 denotes a receivable range determination unit that determines the range or the number of receivable receivers from the result of the reception availability determination unit 6 and the array coordinate information in the array coordinate storage unit 7. If there are a plurality of receivable receivers, they are transmitted to the reception sensitivity control unit 5 or the transmission output control unit 12, and the reception sensitivity is reduced or the transmission output is reduced, and the transmission is output again. I do. Reference numeral 9 denotes a printer coordinate storage unit that stores the extracted printer coordinates.

In FIG. 2, 2-x1 to 2-xm and 2-y
1 to 2-yn are receivers for receiving radio signals having a rectilinear property such as radio waves or infrared rays. The receivers are arranged side by side on a substantially straight line to form receiver arrays 3-x and 3-y. I have. At least two receiver arrays are prepared and arranged on a floor on which input / output devices such as a printer are placed so as to be orthogonal to each other. The receivers constituting the receiver array are calibrated in advance for receiving sensitivity, and all receivers have the same sensitivity. FIG.
The suffixes in the reference numerals indicating the receiver 2 and the receiver array 3 therein indicate the orthogonal orthogonal receiver array and the coordinate attributes of the receivers 2 constituting the orthogonal receiver array. The intervals of the receivers constituting the receiver array 3 may or may not be equal. However, if the intervals are not regular, the interval information, that is, the position information is arrayed for each receiver. Coordinate storage unit 7
To memorize. When the intervals have regularity, only the coordinates of at least one receiver and the regularity are stored, and the positions of the other receivers may be converted according to the regularity. Information may be stored respectively.

The operation in such a configuration will be described. At least two receiver arrays arranged substantially linearly are prepared and arranged orthogonal to each other. For example,
In the case of a floor lacking one corner of the rectangle, the receiver array may be arranged as shown in FIG.

First, the reception sensitivity control section 5 maximizes the sensitivity of the receiver, or sets the sensitivity so that at least one of the receivers in the receiver array can receive the signal. Next, the receiver array control unit 4 receives a signal from the transmitter 1 attached to an input / output device such as a printer while sequentially switching the receivers of the receiver array 3, and determines whether the receiver can receive the signal. A determination is made by the reception availability determination unit 6 and the position information of the receiving receiver is stored in the array coordinate storage unit 7.
To store. Next, based on the result of the reception possibility determination unit 6 and the coordinates of the array coordinate storage unit 7, the range of receivable receivers on the receiver array 3 is determined by the receivable range determination unit 8
Determined by. As a result of the determination, if there are a plurality of receivable receivers, the reception sensitivity control unit 5 slightly reduces the sensitivity of the receiver and performs this operation (control of the receiver array, determination of reception enable / disable, detection of the receivable range). Judgment) is repeated.

As described above, the number of the receivers of the receiver array 3 that can receive the data gradually decreases as the receiving sensitivity decreases.
Eventually, only one receiver will be able to receive. The coordinates of the receiver are stored in the printer coordinate storage unit. By performing this in each of the orthogonal receiver arrays, each coordinate element of the orthogonal coordinates can be obtained. This is stored in the printer coordinate storage unit as arrangement information of input / output devices such as a printer.

In the above example, the sensitivity of the receiver is gradually lowered so that only one receiver output can be received. Instead of lowering the sensitivity of the receiver, the output of the transmitter is gradually lowered. The same applies to the configuration as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1 (b), the output of the transmitter is controlled by the transmission control unit 12 so as to gradually reduce the number of receivable receivers in the receiver array. Can be received, and each coordinate element of rectangular coordinates can be obtained in the same manner as described above. This is stored in the printer coordinate storage unit as arrangement information of input / output devices such as a printer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining how a receivable range changes with a change in reception sensitivity or a change in transmission output. Black circles in the figure indicate transmitters that can be received by the receiver. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the receiving sensitivity of the receiver is high or the output of the transmitter is high, and how the outputs from many transmitters can be received. FIG. 3B shows a state where the receiving sensitivity is reduced or the transmission output is reduced, and the receivable range is reduced. FIG. 3C shows a state in which only the output from only one transmitter can be received as a result of further lowering the receiving sensitivity or further lowering the transmission output. The coordinates of the receivable receiver when the state shown in FIG. 3C is reached become arrangement information of input / output devices such as a printer.

In FIG. 2, one receiver array is arranged in a certain direction, and one receiver array is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the receiver array. They may be arranged orthogonally. In addition, in order to cope with a case where input / output devices are stacked on a plurality of shelves or the like, three or more receiver arrays are prepared and at least three of them are orthogonal to each other, that is, three-dimensional. And input / output device positions may be extracted three-dimensionally.

Although there are a plurality of receiver arrays, the switching control of the receiver by the receiver array control unit may be performed simultaneously in each array, or may be performed by switching one array at a time.

In the above example, the case where the sensitivity of the receiver is gradually lowered and the case where the output of the transmitter is gradually lowered have been described. The coordinates of the receiver which received the signal with the highest sensitivity and received the highest received signal may be used as the position information.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain physical position information of an input / output device such as a printer on a floor. By simply displaying the physical position of the input / output device on the screen with an icon or the like and specifying the desired input / output device such as a printer on the screen, the user does not have to leave his / her seat, Even in the case of a printer, an output command can be transmitted without making a mistake in the printer and after recognizing in advance where the printed matter is to be output from, thereby eliminating the above-described problem.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that no special calculation and calculation device are required to recognize the physical position of the input / output device. Also, the transmitter or receiver only needs to be able to perform sensitivity modulation, and it is not necessary to provide directivity.Since sensitivity modulation can be simplified by changing the resistance value, it is easy to design and control and to configure it at low cost. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement example of a receiver array and input / output devices.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a receivable range when the receiving sensitivity is gradually reduced or when the transmission output is gradually reduced.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 transmitter 2 receiver 3 receiver array 4 receiver array control unit 5 reception sensitivity control unit 6 reception enable / disable determination unit 7 array coordinate storage unit 8 receivable range determination unit 12 transmission output control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An orthogonal receiver array in which a transmitter attached to an input / output device, a receiver array in which a plurality of receivers are arranged in a substantially straight line, and an orthogonal receiver array, and reception of the receiver array are controlled. A receiver array controller and a receiver sensitivity controller for controlling the sensitivity of the receiver, transmit a signal with a constant output from a transmitter on the input / output device, and sequentially switch the receivers of the receiver array. An arrangement search device for input / output devices, wherein array position information of a receiver capable of receiving signals and receiving signals with the lowest reception sensitivity is used as position coordinates of the input / output devices. 2. The receiver according to claim 1, wherein the receiver of the receiver array is sequentially switched to receive, and the reception sensitivity of the receiver is gradually reduced so that the number of receivable receivers becomes one. An arrangement search device for input / output devices, wherein array position information of the receivers when the number of receivable receivers becomes one is set as position coordinates of the input / output devices. 3. An orthogonal receiver array in which a transmitter attached to an input / output device, a receiver array in which a plurality of receivers are arranged in a substantially straight line, and an orthogonal receiver array, and reception of the receiver array are controlled. It consists of a receiver array control unit and a transmission output control unit that controls the output of the transmitter attached to the input / output device, transmits from the transmitter on the input / output device, and sequentially switches the receiver of the receiver array Receiving the signal
An arrangement search device for an input / output device, wherein array position information of a receiver that can be received with the lowest transmitter output is used as position coordinates of the input / output device. 4. A receiver according to claim 3, wherein the receiver of the receiver array is sequentially switched to receive, and the output of the transmitter is gradually reduced so that the number of receivable receivers becomes one. An arrangement search device for input / output devices, wherein when the number of possible receivers becomes one, array position information of the receiver is used as position coordinates of the input / output devices.