JP2003023679A - Communication method for wireless remote controller group and wireless remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication method for a wireless remote control group that utilizes each wireless remote controller for a relaying device so as to realize stable communication in the case of communication between the wireless remote controller group distributingly arranged. SOLUTION: The wireless remote controllers distributingly arranged try to make inter-communication at a prescribed time. On the basis of the communication result, a list of directly communicating wireless remote controller group is prepared for each of the wireless remote controllers. Each wireless remote controller requests wireless remote controllers included in the directly communicative wireless remote controller group list to transmit the directly communicative wireless remote controller group list, collects chains of the directly communicating wireless remote controller group lists and creates a communication route group list by using the chained list groups. Then each wireless remote controller makes communication with a target wireless remote controller through the relay along communication routes selected by the communication route group lists.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication method of distributed wireless remote control groups and a wireless remote control used in the communication method, and more particularly to a technology for performing communication while relaying with the wireless remote control.

[0002]

A remote control is used to remotely control a water heater. Conventional remote controls are generally wired, but in recent years, research on wireless remote controls that use radio waves or light rays has been made. If the remote control is wireless, wiring and wiring work can be eliminated, improving aesthetics and providing economic benefits. It is also convenient because it can be easily relocated. However, in this type of system, there is no choice but to use a specific low-power radio or a weak radio that does not require a license, and a communication failure due to an external factor is likely to occur. Therefore, a technique for ensuring communication quality and reliability is required.

An example of a technique therefor is Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-12.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9996. The transmitter described in this publication (a wireless remote controller in the embodiment)
Is equipped with a human body detection unit that detects the approach of the human body, and normally transmits to the master unit, but if the human body approaches and the radio wave communication condition deteriorates, switch to switch to the relay unit. To ensure stable communication. It should be noted that the identification numbers of the master unit and the relay unit are stored in advance in the address storage unit of the wireless remote control device.

[0004]

In the above system, the communication route is alternative, and it must be set in advance. For remote control of a water heater, it is common to disperse wireless remote control groups in a plurality of places such as a kitchen, a washroom, a bathroom, a toilet, and a living room. In recent years, wireless remote control groups have been distributed and arranged in multi-dwelling houses, schools, hospitals, etc., and the number of wireless remote controls has increased, and in many cases has spread to a wide range. When a large number of wireless remote controllers are distributed and arranged in a wide range, the conventional communication technology cannot cope with the problems, and the following problems may occur.・ Because we plan to communicate directly with the base unit, we cannot install a wireless remote control in a place that is too far away to communicate directly with the base unit. -If the radio wave environment near the location where the wireless remote controller is installed changes, communication may not be possible on the preset route. For example, communication may not be possible because furniture is newly installed or extension work is performed. -When installing or adding a wireless remote controller, you have to enter the identification number of the communicable repeater, which requires complicated work.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In the research of a remote control system, the present inventor thinks that a wireless remote control originally used for remote control is also used as a repeater to construct a relay network. I arrived. This eliminates the need for a dedicated repeater, expands the diversity of communication routes, and builds a system that is robust against communication failures.

A method of claim 1 relates to a communication method of wireless remote control groups arranged in a distributed manner. In this communication method, the following steps are executed. (1) Each wireless remote controller transmits a signal requesting a response without limiting the destination wireless remote controller when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and (2) the wireless remote controller receiving the signal requesting the response identifies itself. A response signal including the ID to be transmitted to the wireless remote controller of (1) above,
(3) The wireless remote controller of (1) above receives the received I
The group D is stored in the list of wireless remote control groups capable of direct communication. When the above steps are executed, each wireless remote controller has a list of wireless remote controllers capable of direct communication. In this communication method, the following steps are further executed. (4) The wireless remote controller described in (1) requests the wireless remote controllers included in the wireless remote controller group list capable of direct communication to transmit the wireless remote controller group list of the wireless remote controller capable of direct communication. The wireless remote controller that has transmitted the signal (5) and has received the request signal of (4) transmits the wireless remote controller group list with which direct communication is possible.
As a result, for example, the wireless remote controller A can directly communicate with the wireless remote controllers B, E, F, and the wireless remote controller B can communicate with the wireless remote controllers A, C, E,
A chain of wireless remote control group lists capable of direct communication, such as direct communication with F and G, is obtained. Therefore, in this communication method, the following steps are further executed.
(6) The wireless remote controller of (1) uses a chain of wireless remote controller groups that can directly communicate with each other to create a communication route group list that relays and communicates with the wireless remote controllers. In the above example, the wireless remote controller A cannot directly communicate with the wireless remote controllers C and G, but by relaying the wireless remote controller B, the wireless remote controller A can communicate with the wireless remote controllers C and G. To be Therefore, in this communication method, the following steps are further executed.
(7) The wireless remote controller of (1) selects a communication route to the target wireless remote controller from the communication route group list, and (8) the wireless remote controller of (1) includes a wireless route included in the selected communication route. Communicate with the target wireless remote control by relaying the remote control. If there are multiple communication routes to the target wireless remote controller, select one of those routes that seems to have the best communication status, and select multiple communication routes to multiplex the communication routes. There are methods for improving reliability. Both formulas are included in the selection of (7).

By utilizing the distributed wireless remote controllers also as repeaters, stable communication with remote wireless remote controllers becomes possible. No central communication management unit or dedicated repeater is required. The above communication method is
The wireless remote control group searches for a communication route to secure communication between the wireless remote controls, and the operator does not need to input the communication route in advance. For this reason, the troublesome setting work that is likely to occur in this type of system is eliminated. In addition, it is a system that is strong against changes in the radio wave environment after installation of the wireless remote control, and new communication is possible even if communication is impossible with the existing communication route as a result of furniture being newly installed or extension work being done. Communication is not lost because the route is searched.

The communication method is executed by the wireless remote controller according to claim 5. This wireless remote controller transmits a response request signal when a predetermined condition is satisfied, receives a response signal including an ID that identifies the responding wireless remote controller, and is capable of direct communication based on the ID included in the received response signal. A wireless remote control group list that creates a list and collects the wireless remote control group list that the wireless remote control has that is directly communicable from the wireless remote control groups that are included in the wireless remote control group list that can directly communicate It is programmed to organize a list of communication routes that can be relayed and communicated from the chain. This wireless remote control is installed in the communication network just by installing it,
Installation and expansion work is simplified.

When the number of relays is increased, the number of wireless remote controllers with which communication is possible is increased, and the communication routes are diversified. Therefore, the steps (4), (5), and (6) are repeatedly performed on the communicable wireless remote controller newly discovered in (6) to expand the communication route group list while increasing the number of relays. Is preferred. According to this method, it is possible to efficiently search for a new communication route while avoiding the search for a duplicate communication route. By repeating the search for the communication route until all the wireless remote controllers are incorporated into the communication route, communication between arbitrary wireless remote controllers becomes possible. For this purpose, the above (4) and (5)
It is preferable to repeatedly perform the step (6) while increasing the number of relays until no wireless remote controller that can newly communicate is found.

It is preferable to update the wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication appropriately. For this purpose, it is preferable that each wireless remote controller emits a signal requesting a response every predetermined time without limiting the destination wireless remote controller. In this case, the wireless remote controller group list is updated every predetermined time.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention will be illustrated with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of wireless remote controllers and a communication route, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of each wireless remote controller. The present embodiment is an example of remotely controlling a controlled machine such as a water heater or an air conditioner with a plurality of wireless remote controllers in a facility such as a school. In FIG. 1A, wireless remote controllers A to L are devices for remotely controlling a controlled device, are formed to be communicable by a specific low power radio or a weak radio, and have a function as a repeater. is doing. In the figure, wireless remote controllers connected by a straight line can directly communicate with each other, and they are combined to form one network as a whole. The wireless remote controller H can communicate with the air conditioner and controls the air conditioner.
The wireless remote controller L can communicate with the water heater and controls the water heater.

Each of the wireless remote controllers A to L has a wireless communication unit 1 and a microcomputer 2 as shown in FIG.
And a storage device 3, and is controlled by a program stored in the memory of the microcomputer 2 and a signal including operation contents when an operation unit (not shown) of the wireless remote controller is operated is transmitted from the antenna. Outgoing,
Alternatively, it is formed so as to receive and relay a signal from another wireless remote controller. It should be noted that the storage device 3 has an ID (identification information) unique to the wireless remote controller in advance.
Is set, and data such as a communication route group list, which will be described later, is stored.

A communication method of the above wireless remote control group will be described. [A] Stage of Creating Directly Communicatable Wireless Remote Control Group List FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating a directly communicable wireless remote control group list. (1) First, each of the wireless remote controllers A to L requests a response without limiting the destination wireless remote controller when a predetermined condition is satisfied (for example, when a preset time of each wireless remote controller is reached). Signal (including the ID of the wireless remote controller transmitting the signal) is transmitted (step S1). (2) Receiving the response request signal, each wireless remote controller transmits a response signal including the received ID specifying the wireless remote controller to the wireless remote controller that has transmitted the response request signal (step S2). (3) The wireless remote controller that issued the response request signal
I included in the received response signal after receiving the response signal
The group D is organized and stored in the list of wireless remote control groups capable of direct communication (step S3). Since all of the wireless remote controllers A to L perform the above processing, the IDs of the wireless remote controllers that can directly communicate with each of the wireless remote controllers are stored in the directly communicable wireless remote controller group list. . An example of the list of wireless remote controllers capable of direct communication created in this way is collectively shown in the table of FIG. In the figure, for example, in the leftmost column, it can be seen that the wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication with the wireless remote control A stores the wireless remote controls B, E, F capable of direct communication with the wireless remote control A. . In addition, it is preferable that the wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication is sorted in descending order of reception level.

The timing of communication for updating the list of wireless remote control groups capable of direct communication is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is programmed to have the sequence shown in.
First, the wireless remote controller A transmits a response request signal at a predetermined time (3: 00: 1 am in this example), and the wireless remote controllers B, E, and F are delayed by several milliseconds.
Sends a response signal to the wireless remote controller A.
After a certain period of time (3:00:10 am in this example), the wireless remote controller B transmits a response request signal, and the wireless remote controllers A, C, E, are delayed by several milliseconds from that.
F and G send a response signal to the wireless remote controller B. The same applies to the other wireless remote controllers below.Communication may be complicated at the same time as the response request signal is transmitted and the response delay time for the response signal is set uniquely to the wireless remote controller. Absent. This ensures reliable communication. For the time of transmission of the response request signal, refer to the ID of the wireless remote controller
On the other hand, the delay time from the reception of the response request signal to the transmission of the response signal may be made to correspond to the random number obtained by the random number generating means included in the wireless remote controller. Even in this case, the response signals from two or more wireless remote controllers are hardly overlapped at the same time, and the signals are hardly confused. Further, the transmission time of the response request signal itself may correspond to the random number obtained by the random number generating means of the wireless remote controller. Using random numbers,
In the method of determining the transmission time of the response request signal and the delay time of the response signal, it is preferable to execute the method a plurality of times, just in case. For example, the response request signal is transmitted twice a day, and the transmission time is determined by a random number. Regarding the delay time of the response signal, it responds after a time determined by a random number,
Furthermore, another random number is sought again, and a response is made again after a time determined by the random number. By doing this, it is necessary to make complicated settings for the wireless remote controllers in order to prevent accidents in which communication is complicated at the same time and to realize communication for updating the list of wireless remote controllers that can communicate directly. Absent.

[B] Creation of Communication Route Group List FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure for creating the communication route group list. In the following description, the wireless remote control A
An example in which is the transmitting station will be described. (4) First, a wireless remote controller that can communicate without relay is extracted, and a communication route to the wireless remote controller is determined (step S11). When the wireless remote controller A is used as the transmitting station, the wireless remote controller A has already stored the wireless remote controllers B, E, and F as the partner stations capable of direct communication without relay, as described above. That is, from the wireless remote controller A to the wireless remote controller B,
The communication routes addressed to E and F are determined as shown in the table of FIG.

(5) Next, the initial value of the counter I is set to 1 (step S12 in FIG. 9). (6) Then, a wireless remote controller group list that can be communicated without relay (that is, directly communicable) is collected from the wireless remote controller that can communicate with I-1 times of relay (step S13). The wireless remote controllers that can communicate through the relay are B, E, and F, and the contents of the wireless remote controller group list that can be directly communicated obtained from each wireless remote controller B, E, and F correspond to those in the table of FIG. Shown in the column.

(7) Next, a communication route that enables communication by repeating I times is created (step S14). The table of the communication routes that can be communicated from the wireless remote controller A with one relay is shown in FIG.
It is like the table shown in (a). (8) Next, a communication route that enables communication for the first time is created by relaying I times (step S15). Wireless remote control A
From the table of FIG. 3 (a), the communication routes that can be communicated for the first time from 1 to 3 are the routes returning to the wireless remote controller A itself and the routes returning to the wireless remote controllers B, E and F capable of communicating with 0 relays. Is removed (the object to be removed is marked with * in FIG. 3 (a)). (9) Confirm the relay route I times (step S1)
6). By organizing FIG. 3A, a route that can be communicated from the wireless remote controller A by one relay is obtained, and this is shown in the table of FIG.

(10) Next, it is judged whether or not there is a wireless remote controller that can communicate for the first time after I times of relaying.
(Step S17). If No is determined here, that is, if the number of communicable wireless remote controllers does not increase, the process ends. In the case of one relay, compared with the case of zero relay, the wireless remote controller C shown in the table of FIG.
Since G, I, J, and K are increasing, it is determined to be Yes. (11) If Yes is determined in step S17,
In step S18, 1 is added to the counter I, and the process is returned to step S6. Thereafter, the subsequent processing steps are repeated.

A table of communication routes which can be communicated from the wireless remote controller A by two relays, which is obtained by the above-mentioned repeated processing, is shown in FIG. 4A, and the communication routes obtained by organizing the table are shown in FIG. It is shown in the table of 4 (b). Communication with the wireless remote controls D, H, and L becomes possible only after relaying twice from the wireless remote controller A. Communication routes that can be communicated from the wireless remote controller A by repeating three times are shown in the table of FIG. In this case, the destination is the wireless remote control C, D, G, H, J, K, L,
These are already listed as being able to communicate with relays less than twice. There is no wireless remote controller that can communicate from the wireless remote controller A for three times. Figure 1
Wireless remote control group A
Therefore, there is no wireless remote controller that can communicate with all wireless remote controllers by relaying twice from the above, and can communicate only after relaying three times. When there is no wireless remote controller that can communicate by increasing the number of relays, it is assumed that the communication routes for all wireless remote controllers are secured. According to this logic, wireless remote controllers are added, and even if each remote controller does not know the total number of wireless remote controllers belonging to the network, it continues searching until the communication route for all wireless remote controllers belonging to the network is found, and all The search ends when the communication route for the wireless remote control is discovered.

FIG. 2B and FIG. 3 thus obtained
By rearranging the tables of (B) and (B) of FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 6, a list of communication routes from the wireless remote controller A that is the transmission source to all wireless remote controllers belonging to the network can be obtained. The communication route group list is stored in the storage device of the wireless remote controller A and used until the wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication is updated.

In the table of FIG. 6, there may be a plurality of communication routes that are the same as the destination wireless remote controller. For example, there are four communication routes from the wireless remote controllers A to L. In such a case, it is advisable to compare the respective communication routes with an appropriate evaluation method and select the optimum communication route. The following example can be considered for the selection. (1) In the list of wireless remote controllers that can communicate directly,
The wireless remote control group is stored by sorting in descending order of reception level, and the communication route is searched in that order. In this case, since the reception level of the route searched first is high, it is selected. Alternatively, (2) actual communication is performed using the plurality of searched communication routes, and the route having the highest reception level is selected.

It is not always necessary to select a single communication route. For example, when four communication routes from the wireless remote controllers A to L are available as options (see FIG. 6), it is possible to improve reliability by using two or more routes and multiplexing the communication routes. it can. As illustrated in FIG. 6, for example, when communicating from the wireless remote controller A to the wireless remote controller G, the signal relaying B and the signal relaying F may be congested. As a method of avoiding communication congestion, a method of sequentially delaying transmission timings so that they do not coincide can be used. In the example of FIG. 6, the wireless remote controllers A make a call to B, and after a certain period of time, the wireless remote controllers A make a call to F. On the other hand, the wireless remote control G at the signal destination receives the same signal twice. In this case, it is impossible to know whether or not the signal was actually sent twice. Therefore,
Transmission is performed by adding identification information indicating that the transmission source is the same control signal. In this way, whether the same signal is actually transmitted twice at the reception destination or the communication route is duplicated. It is possible to determine whether the same signal has been sent twice because of the change.

[C] Communication between wireless remote controllers When the user who operates the water heater operates the wireless remote controller A, the microcomputer of the wireless remote controller A causes the microcomputer of the wireless remote controller A to access the corresponding communication route (from the storage device). For example, A-B-G-L: L is connected to the water heater). Then, in the data to be transmitted (a signal including the operation content of the user), the serial number of the data, the ID of the relay wireless remote controller (here, the wireless remote controller B), the ID of the target wireless remote controller L, the ID of the outgoing wireless remote controller A, etc. The information is added and then transmitted from the antenna to the relay wireless remote control B.

The relay wireless remote controller B, to which this signal is sent, selects a communication route (B-G-L) whose final destination is the target wireless remote controller L included in the received data from the stored communication route group list. ) Is searched, the additional information such as the ID of the next relay wireless remote control G and the ID of the transmission wireless remote control B is replaced, and then the data is transmitted to the relay wireless remote control G. The relay wireless remote controller G that has received the signal similarly processes a part of the data and then transmits the data to the destination wireless remote controller L. The wireless remote controller L controls the water heater based on the received data. As described above, stable communication with a remote wireless remote controller becomes possible via the relay of each wireless remote controller.

Next, another example of creating a communication route list will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure for creating the communication route group list. (31) First, a communication route group list that does not return to the same wireless remote controller within three relays is created (step S31). By referring to the list of directly operable wireless remote controllers (see FIG. 2) and expanding the communication routes of sequentially operable wireless remote controllers starting from the wireless remote controller A, the communication route group shown in the table of FIG. 10 is obtained. Of these, the columns marked with * are deleted because they are meaningless communication routes that return to the wireless remote controller in the route.

(32) Next, the communication routes are aggregated for each reaching wireless remote controller (step S32). Figure 1
When the meaningless route returning to the relay station is deleted from the list shown in the table of No. 0 and arranged by the arrival wireless remote controller, the table of FIG. 11 is obtained. (33) Eliminate meaningless overlapping routes (step S33)
To do. Here, of a plurality of communication routes that have the same final destination, a rule is set that a communication route that uses a wireless remote controller that uses a route with a smaller number of relays and that has a larger number of relays is regarded as a duplicate route. When the above communication route list (FIG. 11) is arranged according to this rule, the table of FIG. 12 is obtained. This is a list of communication routes that have been relayed within 3 times from the wireless remote controller A as a starting point. In this case, compared to the list of FIG. 6, the advantage that the alternative route is easily searched for is obtained.

The conditions for organizing the communication route group list can be set appropriately. The number of relays may be increased, or the number of alternative routes to be finally listed may be determined. For example, the communication routes that can be communicated by relaying up to four times may be organized and the duplication may be removed. Alternatively, the number of alternative routes may be up to two and more alternative routes may be removed. At this time, it is preferable to evaluate the relay route based on the reception level of the relay station and to give priority to the alternative routes.

The actual communication procedure is the same as the above case,
For example, when data is transmitted from the wireless remote controller A to the target wireless remote controller L, the optimum communication route is selected from the table of FIG. 12 and communication is performed along the communication route.

[0029]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, stable communication can be realized by utilizing each wireless remote controller as a repeater when communicating with the distributed wireless remote controller group. it can. Moreover, since each wireless remote controller searches for a communication route, stable communication can be maintained even if the communication environment changes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an arrangement of a wireless remote controller group according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a wireless remote controller.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a list of wireless remote control groups capable of direct communication, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a list of results obtained by organizing FIG.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a list of wireless remote controllers that the wireless remote controller A can communicate with at one relay.
(B) is a figure which shows the list of the result which arranged (A).

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a list of wireless remote controllers with which the wireless remote controller A can communicate in two relays;
(B) is a figure which shows the list of the result which arranged (A).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a list of wireless remote controllers that can communicate from wireless remote controller A three times.

6 is a diagram showing a communication route group list starting from the wireless remote controller A. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating a wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a timing of transmitting a response request signal.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart diagram for searching a communication route group.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a communication route group list from the wireless remote controller A to the wireless remote controller that can be reached within 3 relay times.

11 is a diagram showing a communication route group list in which the lists of FIG. 10 are aggregated for each destination.

12 is a diagram showing a communication route group list obtained by organizing the list of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart diagram for searching a communication route group.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a communication route connecting a wireless remote controller A and a wireless remote controller L;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 wireless communication unit 2 storage devices 3 Microcomputer AL wireless remote control

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A communication method for distributed wireless remote control groups comprising: (1) Each wireless remote control sends a signal requesting a response without limiting a destination wireless remote control when a predetermined condition is satisfied. , (2) The wireless remote controller that has received the signal requesting the response sends a response signal including the ID for identifying itself to the wireless remote controller of (1), and (3) the wireless remote controller of (1) , The received ID group is stored in a wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication, and (4) the wireless remote control described in (1) is a wireless remote control that is included in the wireless remote control group list capable of direct communication. Sends a signal requesting to send the list of wireless remote control groups that can be directly communicated by (5) above ( The wireless remote controller receiving the request signal of 4) transmits a wireless remote controller group list capable of direct communication, and (6) the wireless remote controller of (1) uses a chain of wireless remote controller group list capable of direct communication, A list of communication routes to a wireless remote controller that can relay and communicate is created. (7) The wireless remote controller of (1) selects a communication route to a target wireless remote controller from the list of communication routes, and (8)
The communication method according to (1), wherein the wireless remote controller relays the wireless remote controller included in the selected communication route to communicate with the target wireless remote controller. 2. With respect to the communicable wireless remote controller newly discovered in (6), the (4), (5) and (6) are described.
The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the step of (1) is repeatedly executed to expand the communication route group list while increasing the number of relays. 3. The steps (4), (5) and (6) are repeatedly executed while increasing the number of relays until no wireless remote controller that can newly communicate is found. The communication method described in. 4. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein each wireless remote controller transmits the response request signal of (1) at predetermined time intervals. 5. A wireless remote controller constituting a distributed group of wireless remote controllers, which transmits a response request signal when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and receives and receives a response signal including an ID specifying a wireless remote controller to respond. Wireless remote control group list that can be directly communicated based on the ID included in the response signal, and the wireless remote control that the wireless remote controller has can be directly communicated from the wireless remote control group that can be directly communicated A wireless remote controller that is programmed to collect a group list and to relay and organize a list of communication route groups that can communicate with each other from a chain of the directly communicated wireless remote control group lists.