JP2002354003A - Data conversion apparatus, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress transmission time delay in a system, which conducts protocol conversion between networks equipped with different transmission methods. SOLUTION: The system comprises: a reception unit 31, which receives address information attached at an illumination device and control data that stores in its data area a plurality of control content information of an illumination device specified by the address information; an address setup unit 33, which stores the address information of a connected illumination device; an extraction unit 32, which refers an address information included at received control data and a stored address information to extract control content information from the received control data; a conversion unit 35, which converts the address information to leading position number so that the extracted control content information takes the leading position in the data area; and a transmission unit 36, which stores the extracted control content information and the converted address information in the data area of control data and transmits control data to the illumination device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a data conversion device and method for converting received data into a data format suitable for a controlled device and outputting the converted data, and a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG.
01 is connected to the plurality of slave units 102A to 102C, address information is manually set in advance in each of the slave units 102A to 102C, and the master unit 101 controls the slave units 102A to 102C using the address information. Systems are known.

In such a system, the master unit 101
Generates and transmits control data to the plurality of slave units 102A to 102C, and transmits the control data to the slave units 102A to 102A through the signal converter 103, the hub 104, and the signal converters 105A to 105C.
Operate 02C. Also, in this system,
The connection between the parent device 101 and the signal converter 103 and the connection between the signal converter 105 and the child device 102 are made in accordance with a standard suitable for control.

In such a system, the master unit 101
In order to increase the transmission speed between the base unit 101 and the slave units 102A to 102C, perform two-way communication between the base unit 101 and the slave units 102A to 102C, and further increase the versatility, the master unit 1
Control data transmitted from TCP (Transmission C
It has been proposed to perform communication using a transmission method of an ontrol protocol (IP) / IP (Internet Protocol) or a general-purpose LAN (Local Area Network) standard. Thus, L
The wireless communication system of the AN standard is used to make the system wireless, the operation state of the slave unit 102 is managed by the master unit 101, and the multicast communication for simultaneously transmitting control data from the master unit 101 to the slave unit 102 is performed. Make it possible.

In such a system, a signal converter 103, a hub 104, and a signal converter 105 are disposed between a master unit 101 and a slave unit 102, and control data conforms to the LAN standard by the signal converter 103. The control data is transmitted to the signal converter 105 via the hub 104, the control data is converted by the signal converter 105 in accordance with the LAN standard, and
To send to. Here, as shown in FIG. 12, the signal converter 105 transmits control data according to the LAN standard to the receiving unit 11.
1 and temporarily stored in the storage unit 112, and then the transmission unit 113 converts the protocol into control data suitable for the slave unit 102 and transmits the control data.

When the signal converter 105 outputs a dimming control signal according to the DMX512 standard from the control data according to the LAN standard to the slave unit 102, as shown in FIG. Area, frame start signal area, destination MAC address area, destination IP address area, data area, CRC (Cyclic Redundancy)
It determines whether or not data including a code area has been received, and converts the data into a dimming control signal including a start code area, a data area, and a break area in the next step ST102.

For example, in a plurality of dimming systems as shown in FIG. 14, for example, switching of brightness, lighting, turning off, and lighting direction and lighting of a slave unit 102 installed in a large office, hotel, gym, theater or the like. Is controlled by control data from a base unit 101.

In the dimming system shown in FIG. 14, the display unit 131, the storage unit 132, the operation unit 133, and the control unit 134
When the user operates the control operation section 121 including the DMX5
It is generated according to the 12 standards and output to the dimmer 123. Here, the dimming device 123 includes a power supply main unit 141 that supplies external input power to each unit, a control unit 142 that inputs a dimming control signal from the control operation unit 121 and supplies the dimming control signal to the lighting device 122, and a dimming device. A vessel 143 is provided.

In such a dimming system, the power supply master 1
By supplying power to each of the dimmers 143 by using the control unit 41 and supplying power to each of the lighting devices 122, the control operation unit 12
By supplying the dimming control signal generated in step 1 to each control unit 142, the on / off state of the lighting device 122 is changed, the brightness is adjusted, and the lighting direction is controlled.

Here, the lighting device 122A is composed of, for example, a downlight or the like, whose power input from the dimmer 143A is changed in accordance with a dimming control signal to adjust on, off, brightness and the like.

The lighting device 122B is directly input with a dimming control signal from the control unit 142B, and drives an illumination direction, a color panel or a film in addition to ON / OFF and brightness, for example, a moving light or a color light. It consists of a changer. As shown in FIG. 15, the lighting device 122B includes a serial controller 151 for inputting a dimming control signal according to the DMX512 standard, a motor control unit 152, a memory 153, and a CPU 154 connected to a bus. When a dimming control signal is input by the controller 151, the CPU 154 controls the motor control unit 152 using the memory 153 to drive, for example, a motor that changes the illumination direction.

[0012]

By the way, in the dimming system shown in FIG. 14, the dimming control signal input to the lighting device 122B has a data structure of transmitting cyclically to 512 addresses. I have. That is,
The dimming control signal is obtained by storing and transmitting a signal indicating that no operation is performed in the other 511 control targets when one control target is controlled when 512 control targets exist. Driving one control target.

Further, in the system shown in FIG. 11, when the slave unit 102 of the lighting device is controlled by the master unit 101 of the control operation unit, the master unit 101 generates the data area of the LAN standard by the signal converter 103. The dimming control signal is stored and supplied to the signal converter 105. The dimming control signal is extracted by the signal converter 105 and supplied to the slave unit 102.

However, if only the dimming control signal is stored in the data area of the LAN standard and the transmission system is converted, the slave unit 1 cannot be used.
02 includes a dimming control signal unnecessary for
By converting the transmission method, the parent device 101
It is difficult to reduce the transmission delay for transmitting the data to the H.2. Specifically, when the 300th command among the 512 commands included in the dimming control signal includes its own command, the reception is performed until the slave device 102 receives the 300th command. It is necessary to wait and a transmission delay occurs.

Further, in the system shown in FIG.
01 and the slave unit 102, two signal converters 103, 1
05, and the signal converters 103 and 105 operate asynchronously, so that extra time is required for the dimming control signal to reach the slave unit 102 from the master unit 101.

Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and a data conversion apparatus and method capable of suppressing a transmission time delay in a system for performing protocol conversion between networks having different transmission methods. ,
And to provide the program.

[0017]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in a data conversion device connected to one controlled device and converting control data from the outside and transmitting the data to the controlled device, address information given to the controlled device, Receiving means for receiving control data in which a plurality of control content information of the controlled device specified by the address information are stored in the data area; address storage means for storing the address information of the connected controlled device; Information extracting means for extracting control content information from the control data received by the receiving means by referring to address information included in the control data received by the receiving means and the address information stored in the address storing means; Data for converting the address information into a head position number such that the control content information extracted by the information extraction means is the head position of the data area. And converting means, the converted address information in the control contents information extracted by said information extracting means and said data converting means and stored in the data area and transmitting means for transmitting to the controlled device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the controlled device is a lighting device and is connected to the transmitting means, and the control content information is information for dimming control of the lighting device and is operated by a user. Connected to the control operation device.

The invention according to claim 3 is connected to an address assignment server which implements an address assignment protocol for dynamically assigning addresses, and requests the address assignment according to the address assignment protocol when controlling the controlled device. Address acquisition means for transmitting an address allocation request to the address allocation server and controlling the receiving means to receive control data using the address transmitted in response to the address allocation request is further provided.

The invention according to claim 4 is connected to a device management server that implements a device management protocol for managing the state of the controlled device, and indicates the control content information extracted by the information extracting means to indicate the state of the controlled device. The information processing apparatus further includes a device management unit that stores the device status information and transmits the device status information according to a request from the device management server.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data conversion device connected to a plurality of controlled devices for converting control data from outside and transmitting the converted control data to the controlled device. Receiving means for receiving control data in which a plurality of pieces of address information assigned to the controlled device and control content information of the controlled device specified by the address information are stored in a data area; Address storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of address information, address information included in the control data received by the receiving means,
An information extraction unit for extracting a plurality of pieces of control content information from the control data received by the reception unit with reference to a plurality of pieces of address information stored in the address storage unit; and a plurality of control units extracted by the information extraction unit. Data conversion means for converting address information so that the content information is sequentially stored from the beginning of the data area; control content information extracted by the information extraction means and the address information converted by the data conversion means; Transmission means for storing the data in the area and transmitting the data to the controlled device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the address information of one connected controlled device is stored in advance, and the address information assigned to the controlled device and the controlled device specified by the address information are stored. When receiving control data in which a plurality of control content information of the control device are stored in the data area and transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, the address information included in the received control data and the control information stored in advance are stored. With reference to the address information, from the received control data, to extract the control content information, so that the extracted control content information is the top position of the data area, to convert the address information to the top position number, The above-mentioned problem is solved by storing the extracted control content information and the converted address information in the data area and transmitting them to the controlled device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a plurality of address information of a plurality of controlled devices are stored in advance, and the address information assigned to the controlled device and the controlled device specified by the address information are stored. When receiving control data in which a plurality of control content information are stored in the data area and transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, address information included in the received control data and a plurality of addresses stored in advance. With reference to the received control data, a plurality of pieces of control content information are extracted from the received control data, and the address information is converted so that the plurality of pieces of extracted control content information are sequentially stored from the top of the data area. The above-mentioned problem is solved by storing the content information and the converted address information in the data area and transmitting them to the controlled device.

[0024] In the invention according to claim 8, the address information of the controlled device is stored in advance, and the address information assigned to the controlled device and the control content of the controlled device specified by the address information are stored. When receiving control data in which a plurality of pieces of information are stored in the data area and transmitting control content information to the controlled device, address information included in the received control data and address information stored in advance are referred to. Then, the control content information is extracted from the received control data, the address information is converted into a head position number so that the extracted control content information is the head position of the data area, and the extracted control content information is converted. The above-mentioned problem is solved by causing a computer to execute a process of storing the converted address information in the data area and transmitting the address information to the controlled device.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of address information of a plurality of controlled devices are stored in advance, and the address information assigned to the controlled device and the information of the controlled device specified by the address information are stored. When receiving control data in which a plurality of control content information are stored in the data area and transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, address information included in the received control data and a plurality of addresses stored in advance. With reference to the received control data, a plurality of pieces of control content information are extracted from the received control data, and the address information is converted so that the plurality of pieces of extracted control content information are sequentially stored from the top of the data area. The above-described problem is solved by causing a computer to execute processing of storing content information and converted address information in the data area and transmitting the information to the controlled device.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention, as a first embodiment, is applied to a dimming system configured as shown in FIG. 1, for example.

[Dimming System According to First Embodiment] FIG. 1
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the control operation unit 1 operated by the user,
Transmitting-side protocol converter 2, terminal device 3, hub 4A,
4B, receiving-side protocol converters 5A to 5F (hereinafter, simply referred to as “receiving-side protocol converter 5”), and lighting devices 6A to 6F (hereinafter, simply referred to as “illuminating device 6”). ).

This dimming system comprises a network in accordance with the DMX512 standard between the control operation unit 1 and the transmission-side protocol conversion device 2 and between the reception-side protocol conversion device 5 and the lighting device 6, and includes a transmission-side protocol. Conversion device 2,
The network between the terminal device 3, the hub 4, and the receiving-side protocol converter 5 is configured as a network conforming to the LAN standard.

The control operation unit 1 includes a monitor 11 for displaying the control contents and status of each lighting device 6 and an operation unit operated by a user, and generates a dimming control signal according to the operation contents. It consists of a part 12.

The control operation unit 1 includes switches and faders as operation units. When these switches and faders are operated, the control operation unit 1 generates a dimming control signal in accordance with the DMX512 standard, and generates a dimming control signal. Output to

The dimming control signal has a data structure in accordance with the DMX512 standard. As shown in FIG. 2, the dimming control signal includes a start code area 21 indicating the start position of the signal from the head, and dimming of addresses 1 to 512. A data area 22 in which dimming control information indicating control contents is stored, and a break code area 23 indicating an end position of a signal. A signal including the start code area 21, the data area 22, and the break code area 23 is transmitted for a predetermined period. Is transmitted from the control operation unit 1 to the transmission-side protocol conversion device 2 every time. Here, the dimming control information is stored at the head position of the data area based on the address information having the address number “1” and the dimming control information, and is stored behind the data area as the address number increases.

Upon receiving the dimming control signal from the control operation unit 1, the transmitting-side protocol converter 2 adds the header information and the like according to the LAN standard, IP, TCP, and the like to the dimming control signal, so as to add the data area. Then, a protocol conversion for generating a dimming control packet including a dimming control signal is performed, and the resultant is transmitted to the hub 4.

The terminal device 3 implements a device management protocol for managing the state of each lighting device 6, and recognizes the state of each lighting device 6 by connecting to each receiving side protocol conversion device 5. The terminal device 3 and the receiving-side protocol conversion device 5 are, for example, SNMP (Simple Network Management Pr
By implementing otocol), the state management of the lighting device 6 by the terminal device 3 is realized. Note that the processing content when managing the lighting device 6 by the terminal device 3 and the receiving-side protocol conversion device 5 will be described later.

The hub 4 has a function of relaying a packet transmitted in a LAN standard network, and realizes packet communication between the receiving-side protocol converter 5 and the terminal device 3 and the transmitting-side protocol converter 2. I do.

The receiving-side protocol converter 5 is connected to a LAN standard network and to a single lighting device 6. The receiving-side protocol converter 5
The lighting device 6 receives a dimming control packet from the hub 4 and extracts a dimming control signal from the received dimming control packet.
When performing the output, the protocol conversion process and the signal conversion process for converting the dimming control signal are performed. The details of the signal conversion process of the receiving-side protocol converter 5 will be described later.

The illuminating device 6 is connected to the receiving-side protocol converter 5 and receives the DM from the receiving-side protocol converter 5.
It operates according to the dimming control signal according to the X512 standard.

[Configuration of Reception-side Protocol Conversion Device 5] FIG. 3 shows a functional configuration of the reception-side protocol conversion device 5. The receiving-side protocol converter 5 has a MAC (Medi
a Access Control) address is set and IP
(Internet Protocol) address is set. In this dimming system, when transmitting a dimming control signal generated by the control operation unit 1 to each lighting device 6, address information allocated to each lighting device 6 (reception-side protocol conversion device 5) by the control operation unit 1. And a dimming control signal including dimming control information corresponding to the address information. The dimming control signal including the MAC address and the IP address of the receiving-side protocol converter 5 connected to each lighting device 6 by the transmitting-side protocol converter 2 is generated. An optical control packet is generated and transmitted to the receiving-side protocol converter 5.

The receiving-side protocol converter 5 has its own M
It comprises a receiving unit 31, an extracting unit 32, an address setting unit 33, a storage unit 34, a converting unit 35, and a transmitting unit 36 for receiving a dimming control packet in which an AC address and an IP address are designated.

The address setting unit 33 includes the address of the lighting device 6 as viewed from the control operation unit 1, which is referred to when receiving the dimming control information, and the address as viewed from the receiving side protocol converter 5. The address of the lighting device 6 and transmission address information to be added when transmitting the dimming control information are stored in association with each other.

The extracting unit 32 receives the dimming control packet received by the receiving unit 31 and refers to the receiving address information stored in the address setting unit 33 to adjust the dimming control packet corresponding to the address information matching the received address information. By extracting the light control information, a process of extracting light control information for the connected lighting device 6 is performed.

The storage unit 34 temporarily stores the dimming control information extracted by the extraction unit 32 and outputs it to the conversion unit 35.

The conversion unit 35 generates a dimming control signal by adding the transmission address information, which is set in advance by the address setting unit 33 to the dimming control information from the storage unit 34 and is viewed from the receiving-side protocol conversion device 5, to the dimming control signal. And outputs it to the transmission unit 36. This transmission address information is an address used when transmitting the dimming control signal from the receiving-side protocol converter 5 to the lighting device 6, and is located at a position close to the head position of the data area in the dimming control signal. Is set to store. For example, when only one lighting device 6 is connected to the receiving-side protocol conversion device 5, the address number of the transmission address information is set to “1”.

The transmitting section 36 outputs the dimming control signal generated by the converting section 35 to the lighting device 6 connected by a transmission method according to the DMX512 standard.

FIG. 4 shows a specific configuration of the receiving-side protocol converter 5. This receiving side protocol converter 5
Includes a LAN controller 41 corresponding to the receiving unit 31, a memory 42 corresponding to the address setting unit 33, a CPU 43 corresponding to the storage unit 34 and the converting unit 35, and a serial controller 44 corresponding to the transmitting unit 36. An address setting unit 45 for setting IP address information stored in the memory 42 is provided.

[Operation of Receiving-Side Protocol Converter 5] FIG. 5 shows a processing procedure of the receiving-side protocol converter 5.
When the receiving side protocol converter 5 outputs the dimming control signal generated by the control operation unit 1 to the lighting device 6,
First, address information stored in the address setting unit 33 is set in step ST1. Thus, the address setting unit 33 stores the reception address information of the lighting device 6 viewed from the control operation unit 1 and the transmission address information of the lighting device 6 viewed from the receiving side protocol conversion device 5 in association with each other.

In the next step ST2, the receiving unit 31
It is determined whether a dimming control packet (FIG. 6A) from the hub 4 has been received. The determination in step ST2 is repeated until the dimming control packet is received by the receiving unit 31, and when the dimming control packet is received, the next step S2 is performed.
The process proceeds to T3. Here, the dimming control signal included in the dimming control packet received by the receiving unit 31 is
It includes dimming control information for A to 6E.

In step ST3, the extraction unit 32 refers to the reception address information set in step ST1 to control the dimming control information for the reception address information of the lighting device 6 viewed from the control operation unit 1 (FIG. 6 ( b)) is extracted.

In the next step ST4, step S
Referring to the reception address information set in T1, the conversion unit 35 converts the reception address information viewed from the control operation unit 1 into transmission address information viewed from the reception side protocol conversion device 5 (FIG. 6C). ). At this time, the conversion unit 35
The received address information corresponding to the dimming control information with the address number “105” is converted into the transmission address information with the address number “1” as viewed from the receiving side protocol converter 5.

In the next step ST5, the transmitting unit 36
As a result, as shown in FIG.
The light receiving section 31 generates a light control signal to which a light control signal having a start code and a break code is added to a data area having light control information of "5" and transmission address information of an address number "1".
Transmission format different from the format received by the DMX51 in this example.
A dimming control signal is output to the lighting device 6 in two modes, and the process returns to step ST2.

According to the receiving-side protocol converter 5 that performs such processing, the receiving address information viewed from the control operation unit 1 is converted into the transmitting address information viewed from the receiving-side protocol converter 5. Protocol converter 5
By setting the transmission address information viewed from the user to “1”,
A dimming control signal including dimming control information can be generated immediately after the start code area.

Therefore, according to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, even when a large number of lighting devices 6 need to be controlled by the control operation unit 1, the dimming control information of the other lighting devices 6 is connected to itself. There is no need to store the dimming control signal to be output to the lighting device 6, and the data amount of the dimming control signal to be output to the lighting device 6 can be significantly reduced.

According to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, when one lighting device 6 is connected, the address number of the lighting device 6 viewed from itself is set to "1", so that immediately after the start code area. Since the dimming control signal including the dimming control information is generated, the length of the dimming control signal can be set to one address, and the lighting device 6 detects the dimming control information after receiving the start code. It is possible to shorten the time required to perform. Therefore, according to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, it is possible to suppress a delay in the transmission time from the generation of the dimming control signal from the control operation unit 1 to the operation of the lighting device 6.

More specifically, the dimming control signal in accordance with the DMX512 standard stores 512 dimming control information in the data area and transmits the same, but sets the address number of the transmission address information to “1”. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the transmission time by the amount of data transmission for 511 dimming control information. According to the DMX512 standard, 24 m is required to transmit a dimming control signal including 512 dimming control information.
Although a transmission time of sec is required, a dimming control signal including one dimming control information can be reduced to 0.22 msec, and the data length can be reduced to about 1/100.

Further, when the operation unit of the control operation unit 1 is operated by the user to generate a dimming control signal, the transmission-side protocol conversion device 2 and the reception-side protocol conversion device 5 perform protocol conversion asynchronously. Up to 48 msec (2 msec) for processing with two protocol converters.
It took 24 msec (24 msec + 0.22 ms) instead of 4 msec + 24 msec.
ec).

Further, according to the dimming system described above,
Since one illumination device 6 is connected to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, the control operation unit 1 is used to transmit a dimming control signal to the receiving-side protocol converter 5 via a network conforming to the LAN standard. The address information for distinguishing the lighting device 6 on the side can be an IP address,
The limitation on the number of addresses that can be controlled by the control operation unit 1 can be eliminated.

[Configuration and Operation of Another Signal Converter] FIG.
5 shows another configuration of the receiving-side protocol converter 5. This receiving-side protocol converter 5 is different from the receiving-side protocol converter 5 shown in FIG.
P transmission unit 51, SNMP client function unit 52, DH
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (CP) client function unit 53, MIB (Management Information B)
ase) The difference is that a storage unit 54 is further provided.

The SNMP / DHCP transmitting unit 51 transmits and receives information to and from the control operation unit 1 on the LAN standard network according to DHCP which is an automatic address allocation protocol, and transmits and receives information to and from the terminal device 3 according to SNMP. Sends and receives information on a LAN standard network.

The SNMP client function unit 52
The MP functions as a client device for the terminal device 3 and transmits information indicating the state of the connected lighting device 6 via the SNMP / DHCP transmission unit 51 in accordance with a request from the terminal device 3. At this time, the SNMP client function unit 52 reads the state of the lighting device 6 stored in the MIB storage unit 54.

The contents of the MIB storage unit 54 are updated based on the dimming control information extracted by the extraction unit 32. The MIB storage unit 54 stores the current state of the lighting device 6 by updating the dimming control signal indicating the control content of the lighting device 6. The information stored in the MIB storage unit 54 includes variables related to the lighting state for knowing the lighting state of the lighting device 6, and the like.

The DHCP client function unit 53
The CP functions as a client device for the control operation unit 1, and communication is enabled by giving its own IP address from the control operation unit 1 when dimming control of the lighting device 6 is started.

FIG. 8 shows a processing sequence of an IP address setting process performed between the receiving side protocol converter 5 and the control operation unit 1 shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows a processing procedure when dynamically assigning an IP address to the receiving-side protocol converter 5 by the receiving-side protocol converter 5 and the control operation unit 1.

According to FIG. 8, first, the DHCP client function unit 53 of the
A packet S1 for searching the control operation unit 1 functioning as a P server is transmitted. When the packet S1 is received by the control operation unit 1, a response packet S2 corresponding thereto is
Reply to client function unit 53.

When the DHCP client function unit 53 receives the response packet S2, it recognizes the IP address of the control operation unit 1 and generates a packet S3 requesting the control operation unit 1 to assign its own IP address. Send to 1. In response, the control operation unit 1 refers to the internal IP address database, selects an IP address to be assigned to the receiving-side protocol conversion device 5, and sends the packet S4 including the selected IP address to the DHCP client function unit 53. Send.

On the other hand, the DHCP client function unit 53 sets the IP address included in the received packet S4 as its own address, and in response to the completion of the setting, transmits the packet S5 including the setting completion information to the control operation unit. 1
To end the process. This makes it possible for the receiving unit 31 to receive the dimming control packet using the network conforming to the LAN standard.

According to the receiving-side protocol converter 5 that performs such processing, by mounting the DHCP, it is possible to automatically receive an IP address when starting the dimming control of the lighting device 6.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a process performed between the receiving-side protocol converter 5 and the terminal device 3 according to the SNMP.

In order to detect the state of the lighting device 6 on the terminal device 3 side while the dimming control of the lighting device 6 is being performed, first, a packet S11 requesting a notification of the lighting state of the lighting device 6 is transmitted. The data is transmitted from the terminal device 3 to the receiving-side protocol converter 5.

In response, the receiving-side protocol converter 5
The SNMP client function unit 52 searches the MIB storage unit 54 for information indicating the lighting state of the lighting device 6, and the packet S including the information indicating the current lighting state of the lighting device 6.
12 is returned to the terminal device 3. Thereby, the terminal device 3
Thus, the lighting state of the lighting device 6 can be recognized, and the state management of the lighting device 6 can be realized.

Therefore, according to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, even if the lighting device 6 having no function of transmitting information is connected, the lighting state or the like is determined based on the information from the lighting device 6. Lighting equipment 6
State management.

Further, according to this dimming system, the lighting state acquired by the terminal device 3 is transmitted to the control operation unit 1 to notify the user operating the control operation unit 1 of the state of each lighting device 6. be able to.

Furthermore, according to this dimming system, by connecting one illumination device 6 to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, the receiving-side protocol converter 5 can recognize the lighting state of the illuminating device 6. Then, the lighting state of the lighting device 6 recognized by the receiving-side protocol converter 5 can be returned.

[Dimming System According to Second Embodiment] FIG. 1
0 shows the configuration of the light control system according to the second embodiment.
This dimming system differs from the dimming system shown in FIG. 1 in that the receiving-side protocol converter 5 includes a plurality of lighting devices 6. In the description of the receiving-side protocol converter 5 according to the second embodiment, the description of the same parts as those in the first embodiment will be omitted.

The receiving side protocol converters 5A and 5B in this dimming system have the address numbers 1, 2 and 3 of the reception address information of the illumination devices 6A, 6B and 6C viewed from the control operation unit 1, and the illumination devices The address numbers of the received address information of 6D, 6E, 6F are 104, 105, 106
It is.

In this case, the receiving-side protocol converter 5A connected to the lighting devices 6A to 6C uses the address setting units 1, 2, and 3 as the address numbers of the transmission address information of the lighting devices 6A to 6C recognized by itself. 33 is set.

The receiving-side protocol converter 5B connected to the lighting devices 6D to 6E uses the address setting units 1, 2, and 3 as the address numbers of the transmission address information of the lighting devices 6D, 6E, and 6F recognized by itself. 33 is set.

In such a dimming system, for example, even when dimming control is performed on the lighting device 6E, the dimming control including dimming control information for the lighting devices 6A to 6F is performed in the receiving-side protocol converter 5B. A packet is sent.

Next, the receiving-side protocol converter 5B
The dimming control signals of the lighting devices 6D to 6F to which they are connected are extracted by the extracting unit 32, and then the address setting unit 33
The address number of the lighting device 6D is converted from “104” to “1” with reference to the reception address information and the transmission address information set in “1”, and the address number of the lighting device 6E is changed to “1”.
"05" to "2" and the address number of the lighting device 6F from "106" to "3".

Thus, the receiving-side protocol converter 5
B is the lighting device 6 from the head of the data area of the dimming control signal.
A dimming control signal is stored in the order of dimming control information for D, dimming control information for lighting device 6E, and dimming control information for lighting device 6F, and is output to lighting device 6D.

According to such a dimming system, even when a plurality of illuminating devices 6 are connected to the receiving-side protocol converter 5, the dimming for the illuminating devices 6 connected by the extraction unit 32 is performed. Only the control information is extracted, and the conversion unit 35
Can convert the address information of the lighting device 6 connected thereto, and can sequentially store the dimming control information from the head of the data area. Therefore, according to this dimming system, similarly to the above, the data length of the dimming control signal supplied to the lighting device 6 is shortened, and the time until the dimming control information is supplied to the lighting device 6 is shortened. be able to.

The above embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and other than the present embodiment, various modifications may be made according to the design and the like within a range not departing from the technical idea according to the present invention. Can be changed.

As described above, only the dimming control information and the address information corresponding to the received address information are extracted from the dimming control signal included in the received dimming control packet, and the extracted address information is transmitted to the transmission address. A process of converting the information into information and transmitting it to the lighting device 6, a process of managing the state of the lighting device 6 using SNMP, and an IP using DHCP.
The process of automatically obtaining an address may be stored in a recording medium as a computer-readable program. At this time, the receiving-side protocol conversion device 5, the control operation unit 1, and the terminal device 3 read and start the program stored in the recording medium, and perform the same processing as described above.
Similar effects can be exerted.

[0084]

According to the data conversion apparatus of the first aspect, the receiving unit refers to the address information included in the control data received by the receiving unit and the address information stored in the address storing unit. The control information is extracted from the control data, and the address information is converted into the head position number so that the extracted control content information is located at the head position of the data area. Therefore, only the control content information for the connected controlled device is obtained. In the data area, the signal length including the control content information can be shortened, the time required for the controlled device to detect the control content information can be reduced, and protocol conversion between networks with different transmission methods can be performed. In this system, a delay in transmission time can be suppressed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the controlled device is a lighting device and is connected to the transmitting means, and the control content information is information for dimming control of the lighting device and is operated by the user. Since it is connected to the control operation device, the time for transmitting the control content information to the lighting equipment can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an address assignment request for requesting address assignment according to an address assignment protocol is transmitted to the address assignment server when controlling a controlled device, and is transmitted in response to the address assignment request. Since the control data is received using the address, the address can be automatically assigned to the controlled device,
It is possible to eliminate the limitation on the number of controlled devices.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the extracted control content information is stored as device status information indicating the status of the controlled device, and the device status information is transmitted according to a request from the device management server. Even a controlled device that does not have a transmission function can manage the state.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by referring to the address information included in the control data received by the receiving means and the address information stored in the address storing means, the control data received by the receiving means is determined. Since the address information is converted so that a plurality of pieces of control content information are extracted and the extracted control content information is stored from the beginning of the data area, only the control content information for a plurality of connected controlled devices is stored in the data area. It is possible to shorten the length of the signal containing the stored control information and the time required for the controlled device to detect the control content information, and to transmit in a system that performs protocol conversion between networks with different transmission methods. Time delay can be suppressed.

According to the invention of claim 6, when the control content information is transmitted to the controlled device, the control content information is received by referring to the address information included in the received control data and the address information stored in advance. From the control data, the control content information is extracted, and the address information is converted into the start position number so that the extracted control content information is at the start position of the data area. It can be stored in the data area and shorten the signal length including the control content information, shorten the time until the controlled device detects the control content information, and perform protocol conversion between networks with different transmission methods. In the system, a delay in transmission time can be suppressed.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when control data is received and control content information is transmitted to a controlled device, address information included in the received control data and a plurality of addresses stored in advance are stored. With reference to the received control data, a plurality of pieces of control content information are extracted from the received control data, and the address information is converted so that the plurality of pieces of extracted control content information are sequentially stored from the beginning of the data area. Since the information and the converted address information are stored in the data area and transmitted to the controlled device, only the control content information for the plurality of connected controlled devices is stored in the data area, and the signal length including the control content information is stored in the data area. A system that can shorten the time it takes to detect control content information in the controlled device and convert protocols between networks with different transmission methods. It can suppress the delay of Oite transmission time.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, by causing the computer to read the control data,
When transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, the control content information is extracted and extracted from the received control data with reference to the address information included in the received control data and the address information stored in advance. Since the address information is converted to the head position number so that the control content information is at the head position of the data area, only the control content information for the connected controlled device is stored in the data area, and the signal length including the control content information is stored. As well as the time required for the controlled device to detect the control content information, the delay in transmission time can be suppressed in a system that performs protocol conversion between networks using different transmission methods.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the control data is received by transmitting it to the computer and the control content information is transmitted to the controlled device, the address information included in the received control data is stored in advance. With reference to the stored plural pieces of address information, plural pieces of control content information are extracted from the received control data, and the address information is converted so that the extracted plural pieces of control content information are sequentially stored from the head of the data area. Therefore, only the control content information for a plurality of connected controlled devices is stored in the data area, shortening the signal length including the control content information and shortening the time until the controlled device detects the control content information. And a delay in transmission time can be suppressed in a system that performs protocol conversion between networks using different transmission schemes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a dimming system according to a first embodiment to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a dimming control signal according to the DMX512 standard.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a receiving-side protocol converter to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a receiving-side protocol converter to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a dimming control packet received by a receiving-side protocol converter is converted and transmitted to a lighting device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a change in a data structure when a dimming control packet received by a receiving-side protocol converter is converted and transmitted to a lighting device.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing another configuration of the receiving-side protocol converter to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure when dynamically assigning an IP address between a receiving-side protocol conversion device and a control operation unit using DHCP.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure when the lighting state of the lighting device is managed between the receiving-side protocol conversion device and the terminal device using SNMP.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a dimming system according to a second embodiment to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a conventional system for connecting a parent device and a child device.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a conventional signal converter.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a procedure of a protocol conversion process by a conventional signal converter and a change in a data structure at this time.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional light control system.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional lighting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 control operation unit 2 transmission-side protocol conversion device 3 terminal device 4 hub 5 reception-side protocol conversion device 6 lighting device 11 monitor 12 dimming control unit 21 start code area 22 data area 23 break code area 31 reception unit 32 extraction unit 33 address Setting unit 34 Storage unit 35 Conversion unit 36 Transmission unit 41 LAN controller 42 Memory 43 CPU 44 Serial controller 45 Address setting means 51 SNMP / DHCP transmission unit 52 Reception-side protocol conversion device 53 DHCP client function unit 54 MIB storage unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04Q 9/00 H04Q 9/00 321E 9/14 K 9/14 H05B 37/02 B H05B 37/02 G H04L 13/00 305B (72) Inventor Osamu Iijima 1048 Kadoma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. 3K073 AA14 AB01 CA01 CC03 CD04 CE06 CE09 CG06 CG07 CG42 CH21 CJ00 CJ01 CJ02 CJ11 CJ19 5K028 CC05 DD01 DD02 EE09 MM06 5K033 AA01 CB02 DA03 DA15 EC03 5K034 AA03 CC06 DD02 HH04 HA07 DA02 A0703

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A data conversion device connected to one controlled device for converting control data from the outside and transmitting the control data to the controlled device, comprising: an address information assigned to the controlled device; Receiving means for receiving control data in which a plurality of control content information of the controlled device to be specified are stored in the data area; address storage means for storing address information of the connected controlled device; Information extracting means for extracting control content information from control data received by the receiving means by referring to address information included in the received control data and address information stored in the address storing means; Data conversion means for converting the address information into a head position number such that the control content information extracted by the extraction means is the head position of the data area; A data conversion device, comprising: transmission means for storing the control content information extracted by the information extraction means and the address information converted by the data conversion means in the data area and transmitting the control information to the controlled device. . 2. The control target device is a lighting device and is connected to the transmitting means. The control content information is information for dimming control of the lighting device and is connected to a control operation device operated by a user. The data conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the data conversion is performed. 3. An address assignment server which is connected to an address assignment server which implements an address assignment protocol for dynamically assigning an address, and issues an address assignment request for requesting address assignment according to the address assignment protocol when controlling the controlled device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an address acquisition unit configured to control the reception unit to transmit the control data using the address transmitted to the allocation server and using the address transmitted in response to the address allocation request. Item 3. The data conversion device according to Item 2. 4. A control device connected to a device management server implementing a device management protocol for managing the state of the controlled device, and storing the control content information extracted by the information extracting means as device state information indicating the state of the controlled device. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a device management unit configured to transmit device status information according to a request from the device management server.
3. The data conversion device according to claim 1. 5. A data conversion device connected to a plurality of controlled devices, for converting control data from outside and transmitting the converted control data to the controlled device, comprising: an address information assigned to the controlled device; Receiving means for receiving control data in which a plurality of pieces of control content information of the specified controlled device are stored in a data area; address storing means for storing a plurality of address information of the connected controlled devices; Information extracting means for extracting a plurality of pieces of control content information from the control data received by the receiving means by referring to the address information included in the control data received by the control section and the plurality of pieces of address information stored in the address storing means; And data for converting address information so as to sequentially store the plurality of pieces of control content information extracted by the information extracting means from the top of the data area. Conversion means, and transmission means for storing the control content information extracted by the information extraction means and the address information converted by the data conversion means in the data area and transmitting the information to the controlled device. Data conversion device. 6. Address information of one connected controlled device is stored in advance, and address information assigned to the controlled device and control content information of the controlled device specified by the address information are stored. Receives the control data stored in the data area,
When transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, with reference to the address information included in the received control data and the previously stored address information, extract the control content information from the received control data, The address information is converted into a head position number so that the extracted control content information is located at the head position of the data area. The extracted control content information and the converted address information are stored in the data area, and A data conversion method, wherein the data is transmitted to a computer. 7. A plurality of pieces of address information of a plurality of controlled devices are stored in advance, and the address information assigned to the controlled device and the control content information of the controlled device specified by the address information are data. When receiving the control data stored in the plurality of areas and transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, referring to the address information included in the received control data and the plurality of address information stored in advance. From the received control data, a plurality of pieces of control content information are extracted, the address information is converted so that the plurality of pieces of extracted control content information are sequentially stored from the top of the data area, and the extracted control content information and the converted address are converted. A data conversion method, wherein information is stored in the data area and transmitted to the controlled device. 8. Address information of the controlled device is stored in advance, and address information assigned to the controlled device and control content information of the controlled device specified by the address information are stored in a data area. Receiving a plurality of stored control data,
When transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, with reference to the address information included in the received control data and the previously stored address information, extract the control content information from the received control data, The address information is converted into a head position number so that the extracted control content information is located at the head position of the data area, and the extracted control content information and the converted address information are stored in the data area, and the controlled equipment is stored in the data area. A data conversion program for causing a computer to execute a process of transmitting data to a computer. 9. A plurality of address information of a plurality of controlled devices are stored in advance, and the address information assigned to the controlled device and the control content information of the controlled device specified by the address information are data. When receiving the control data stored in the plurality of areas and transmitting the control content information to the controlled device, referring to the address information included in the received control data and the plurality of address information stored in advance. From the received control data, a plurality of pieces of control content information are extracted, the address information is converted so that the plurality of pieces of extracted control content information are sequentially stored from the top of the data area, and the extracted control content information and the converted address are converted. A data conversion program for causing a computer to execute a process of storing information in the data area and transmitting the information to the controlled device.