JP2005079956A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent response telegraphic messages from respective devices in response to multi-address communication from colliding. <P>SOLUTION: In the case of a telegraphic message of multi-address communication showing that a received telegraphic message is sent to a plurality of devices, a transmission operation is performed after waiting a period determined by a transmission timing determining means 8 for determining timing for transmitting transmission data when there is a transmission request before a timer means 7 times out to thereby transmit the next response telegraphic message at timing different to each device, which can prevent response telegraphic messages from the respective devices from colliding in the case of receiving a multi-address signal for data collection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control apparatus that performs data communication using radio waves, and particularly relates to a communication apparatus that constitutes a home network at home.

  In recent years, white appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators, security devices such as intrusion sensors, and home controllers installed in the home are connected wirelessly and connected to a mobile phone via the home controller. In-home network systems have been developed that control devices such as air conditioners and notify security information in the home to a home away from home via a mobile phone. In Japan, the Echonet standard has been established as an industry standard for the above-mentioned home network system. In the wireless network system using the above-mentioned Echonet standard, there are the following two methods for confirming the operating state of all devices with the home controller.

  First method: The home controller sequentially accesses one device at a time using individual designation communication that designates and transmits a transmission destination, and reads out the operation state.

Second method: The home controller uses broadcast communication that does not specify a transmission destination, and requests all devices to read out the operation state at once.
The first method can reliably read out the operation state one by one, but it takes a long time for the home controller to finish checking the operation states of all devices. On the other hand, when the second method is used, some kind of control is required so that response messages from each device do not collide.

Conventionally, there exists what was described in patent document 1 as such control. Patent Document 1 states that “all slave stations from which data is collected by at least direct wireless communication together with command data indicating that data collection is performed in a system in which the master station collects data from a plurality of slave stations by wireless communication. The first station knows the order in which each slave station should transmit its own data, and broadcasts it to all the slave stations that are the targets of this direct wireless communication. Describes a broadcast method for a wireless data collection system, characterized in that the data of its own station is transmitted to the master station in accordance with the order of transmission in the data of the first data received together with the command data " Yes.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-106571

  However, in the conventional configuration, it is necessary to broadcast by adding the first data indicating the order of transmission to the command data indicating that data collection is to be performed. Therefore, when the number of slave stations to be collected is large, there is a problem that the data length of the first data becomes large and the broadcast time becomes long. Further, when it is unknown which slave station is in operation, that is, when the identification code of the slave station is not known, there is a problem that the identification code for identifying the slave station cannot be put on the first data.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and provides a communication device that can collect data from a plurality of slave stations all at once even when the broadcast code is shortened and the identification code of the slave station from which data is to be collected is unknown. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the communication apparatus of the present invention includes two types of a wireless system identification code for identifying a system to which the communication apparatus belongs and a receiving apparatus identification code for identifying a device belonging to the system and designating a communication partner. A communication device that transmits and receives a wireless message having one identification code, wherein the wireless system identification code included in the received message is a code of a system to which the device belongs, and the receiving device identification code included in the received message is If it is a code indicating that it is addressed to all devices, the data contained in the received message is transmitted to the communication processing unit of the next stage and the timer means is operated, and the communication before the timer means times out. When transmission data requesting transmission is received from the processing unit, a transmission timing decision is made to determine the timing for transmitting the transmission data. After waiting time determined by the means, in which to perform a transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data.

  As a result, when a broadcast signal is received, the next response message transmission is performed at different timings for each device, and collision of response messages from each device can be avoided.

  The communication apparatus of the present invention can collect data simultaneously by broadcasting from a master station to a plurality of slave stations.

  In the first invention, when the received message is a broadcast message indicating that the received message is addressed to a plurality of devices, the data included in the received message is transmitted to the communication processing unit of the next stage and the timer The time determined by the transmission timing determination means for determining the timing for transmitting the transmission data when the transmission means for requesting transmission is received from the communication processing unit before the timer means times out. After waiting, by performing a transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data, when receiving a broadcast signal for data collection, the next response message transmission will be performed at different time timing for each device, Collisions of response messages from devices can be avoided.

  2nd invention is communication which transmits / receives the radio telegram which has two identification codes of the radio | wireless system identification code for identifying the system which belongs, and the receiving apparatus identification code which identifies the apparatus which belongs to the said system, and designates a communicating party The wireless system identification code included in the received message is a code of the system to which the device belongs, and the receiving device identification code included in the received message is addressed to a plurality of devices including itself In the case of the code indicating the transmission, the data included in the received message is transmitted to the communication processing unit of the next stage and the timer unit is operated, and the transmission is requested from the communication processing unit before the timer unit times out When receiving data, wait for a time determined by the transmission timing determining means for determining the timing for transmitting the transmission data. Thereafter, when a broadcast signal for data collection is received by performing a transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data, it is possible to determine whether the signal belongs to the system to which the user belongs, and the next response message is transmitted to the device. Each time is performed at a different time timing, and it is possible to avoid collision of response messages from each device.

  The third aspect of the invention is a wireless system identification code for identifying a system to which the system belongs, a reception apparatus identification code for identifying a device belonging to the system and designating a communication partner, and a transmission apparatus identification code indicating a transmission source. A communication device that transmits and receives a wireless message having a code, wherein the wireless system identification code included in the received message is a code of a system to which the device belongs, and the receiving device identification code included in the received message is If it is a code indicating that it is addressed to a plurality of devices, the transmission device identification code included in the received message is stored in the device identification code storage means, and the data included in the received message is stored in the next stage Transmitting to the communication processing unit and operating the timer means, and specified the receiving device identification code from the communication processing unit before the timer means timed out A transmission timing determination for determining a timing for transmitting the transmission data when the transmission device identification code is received and the device identification code matches the device identification code stored in the device identification code storage means; After waiting for a time determined by the means, when a broadcast signal for data collection is received by performing a transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data, the next response message transmission is performed at a different timing for each device. The response message from each device can be avoided. Further, when a device that is not subject to data collection transmits to a device other than the parent device, it can be transmitted immediately.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the transmission timing determining means can be configured with a simple configuration by determining the transmission waiting time based on a number unique to the communication device.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, an effective transmission timing determining means can be configured with a simple configuration by determining the transmission waiting time based on the value of the transmitting device identification code as a number unique to the communication device.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the transmission timing determining means includes a random number generating means and determines a transmission waiting time based on a random value generated by the random number generating means, thereby generating a different transmission timing each time. It is possible to prevent unfairness in transmission timing time between devices.

  In a seventh aspect of the invention, the transmission timing determining means is configured to determine the transmission waiting time based on the circuit operation time generated due to the circuit characteristics of the communication device, so that the transmission timing determining means can be configured with a simple configuration. Can be configured.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, an effective transmission timing determination unit can be configured with a simple configuration by using the lock time of the PLL circuit as the circuit operation time generated due to the circuit characteristics of the communication device.

  In a ninth aspect of the invention, in the transmission operation, a plurality of channels assigned to a system to which the terminal belongs is searched, and it is determined whether or not there is a signal having a radio system identification code to which the own station belongs in all the plurality of channels. When there is the signal, the transmission operation is interrupted, and when there is no signal, data is transmitted using one unused channel of the plurality of channels. The collision of response messages from the device can be reliably prevented.

  In a tenth aspect of the invention, as a transmission operation, a plurality of channels assigned to a system to which the terminal belongs is searched, and if there is a signal having a radio system identification code to which the own station belongs in any of the plurality of channels, It is determined whether the device identification code of the communication partner with which the station wishes to communicate is included in the reception device identification code or the transmission device identification code in the signal, and if it is included, the transmission operation is interrupted and included. If it is not, a configuration in which data is transmitted using one unused channel among the plurality of channels can reliably prevent response messages from colliding with each device. Useless waiting time can be prevented.

  In the eleventh aspect of the invention, when the transmission operation is interrupted, the signal having the radio system identification code to which the own station belongs is continuously received, and the transmission timing determining means for determining the transmission timing again when the signal disappears. By waiting for a predetermined time, the transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data is performed, so that it is possible to reliably prevent response messages from colliding with each device.

  In a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the transmission timing determining means is configured to determine a waiting time smaller than the previous waiting time, so that it is possible to reliably prevent response messages from colliding with each device, and to reduce the data collection time. Can be shortened.

  In a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a program for causing a computer to realize at least a part of the functions of the communication apparatus can realize the functions of the present invention with simple hardware. Also, program distribution and installation can be simplified by recording on a recording medium or distributing a program using a communication line.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the wireless communication unit 6 includes a transmission unit 2, a reception unit 3, a code generation unit 4, and a code decoding unit 5. The antenna 1 is connected to a transmission unit 2 and a reception unit 3 that constitute the wireless communication unit 6. The code generation unit 4 and the code decoding unit 5 are connected to the communication processing unit 9. The timer unit 7 and the transmission timing determination unit 8 are connected to the wireless communication unit 6.

  FIG. 2 shows a system example using the communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, a home controller (hereinafter abbreviated as HC) 10 is connected to an air conditioner 1, a microwave oven 12, a human sensor 13, and an intrusion sensor 14 via a wireless connection. The HC 10 has a touch panel, and each device can be controlled by pressing a button on the touch panel. Each device in FIG. 2 incorporates the communication device of the present invention.

  The operation and action of the communication apparatus configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the communication apparatus of the present invention incorporated in each device of FIG.

  First, the “Acquire operation mode of all devices” button on the touch panel of the HC 10 is pressed. Then, the broadcast signal for the operation mode acquisition request (signal A in FIG. 3) is transmitted from the HC 10 to all devices.

  When the communication device incorporated in each device receives the broadcast signal, the decoding means 5 shown in FIG. 1 determines that the broadcast signal is the broadcast signal, sends the received data to the communication processing unit 9, and starts the timer means 7 at the same time. . The timer means starts counting.

  The timeout time of the timer means 7 is set longer than that time in consideration of the time until response data is sent from the communication processing unit 9. Then, response data including the operation mode is sent from the communication processing unit 9 to the code generation means 4. Then, the code generation means 4 notifies the timer means 7 that a transmission request has occurred.

  When the timer means 7 receives a signal notifying the generation of the transmission request before the timer times out, the timer means 7 stops the timer operation and activates the transmission timing determining means 8. If a signal notifying the generation of the transmission request is received after the timeout, the transmission operation is immediately started. Hereinafter, a case where a signal notifying the occurrence of the transmission request is received before timeout will be described.

  The transmission timing determining means sets a waiting time until the transmission operation is started. As a waiting time setting method, a value obtained by multiplying the value of the device identification code indicating the own device number held by the wireless communication unit 6 by the number n is set as a waiting time (m seconds). For example, if n = 20, the device identification code of the air conditioner 11 = 02, the device identification code of the microwave oven 12 = 03, the device identification code of the human sensor 13 = 04, and the device identification code of the intrusion sensor 14 = 05, the air conditioner 11 waiting time = 40 msec, microwave oven 12 waiting time = 60 msec, human sensor 13 waiting time = 80 msec, intrusion sensor 14 waiting time = 100 msec. Then, after the waiting time has elapsed, the wireless communication means 6 is shifted to a transmission operation.

  In the transmission operation, a plurality of channels assigned to the system to which the receiver belongs 3 is first carrier sensed by the receiving means 3, and it is confirmed that there is no radio wave of the system to which the receiver belongs. 2 is wirelessly transmitted using an unused channel. If there is a radio wave of the own system in any of a plurality of channels to which the system to which the user belongs is assigned, the transmission operation is interrupted to wait for the radio wave to disappear.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioner 11 performs a carrier sense 1 after a waiting time of 40 milliseconds and transmits a response message B. On the other hand, the microwave oven 12 performs carrier sense (carrier sense 2 to 4) after 60 milliseconds, the human sensor 13 after 80 milliseconds, and the intrusion sensor 14 after 100 milliseconds. In the carrier senses 2 to 4, there is already a radio wave from the air conditioner 11 that is a radio wave of the system to which the carrier sense belongs. Therefore, the microwave oven 12, the human sensor 13, and the intrusion sensor 14 interrupt the transmission operation.

  When the radio wave from the air conditioner 11 disappears, the transmission timing determining means 8 is activated again in the microwave oven 12, the human sensor 13, and the intrusion sensor 14. In the transmission timing determining means, for example, a value obtained by subtracting 20 milliseconds from the previously determined value is set as a new waiting time. Therefore, the microwave oven 12 enters a transmission operation after 40 milliseconds and performs carrier sense 5. Then, a response message C is transmitted. On the other hand, the human sensor 13 performs carrier sense (carrier sense 6 to 7) after 60 milliseconds and the intrusion sensor 14 after 80 milliseconds. In the carrier senses 6 to 7, there are already radio waves from the microwave oven 12, which are radio waves of the system to which the carrier sense 6 belongs. Therefore, the human sensor 13 and the intrusion sensor 14 interrupt the transmission operation again.

  When the radio wave from the microwave oven 12 disappears, the transmission timing determination unit 8 is activated again in the human sensor 13 and the intrusion sensor 14. In the transmission timing determining means, for example, a value obtained by subtracting 20 milliseconds from the previously determined value is set as a new waiting time. Therefore, the human sensor 13 enters a transmission operation after 40 milliseconds and performs carrier sense 8. And the response message D is transmitted. On the other hand, the intrusion sensor 14 performs carrier sense 9 after 60 milliseconds. In the carrier sense 9, there is already a radio wave from the microwave oven 12, which is a radio wave of a system to which the carrier sense 9 belongs. Therefore, the intrusion sensor 14 interrupts the transmission operation again.

  When the radio wave from the human sensor 13 disappears, the transmission timing determination means 8 is activated again in the intrusion sensor 14. In the transmission timing determining means, for example, a value obtained by subtracting 20 milliseconds from the previously determined value is set as a new waiting time. Accordingly, the intrusion sensor 14 enters a transmission operation after 20 milliseconds and performs the carrier sense 10. Then, a response message E is transmitted.

  As described above, in response to data collection of each device by broadcast from the HC 10, each device can efficiently transmit a message without colliding a message. When another device starts transmission and waits for the first time, the next transmission waiting time is set to a value shorter than the previous transmission waiting time, so that unnecessary waiting time can be prevented. In the above description, a value obtained by subtracting 20 milliseconds from the previously determined value is set as the new waiting time, but other settings may be used.

  Here, the message structure for identifying the system to which the user belongs and the broadcast is described.

  In the Echonet standard, the data format of the transmission radio wave is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, (1) shows the entire data format configuration. In (1) of FIG. 4, section (a) is called a header part and corresponds to intermittent reception (bit synchronization signal 1 + frame synchronization signal 1 + data signal 1) as one block and has a length longer than the intermittent reception cycle. The block is repeatedly transmitted N times. The section (b) is called an information part. The section (c) is a signal indicating the end of transmission, but may not be present.

  The detailed configuration of data 1 is shown in (2) of FIG. The detailed configuration of data 2 is shown in (3) of FIG. Data 1 includes a receiving device identification code indicating a destination and a partial wireless system identification code which is a part of a wireless system identification code for identifying whether or not the system belongs to itself. The partial radio system identification code is a radio system identification code divided into three parts. Data 2 includes a wireless system identification code and a transmission device identification code indicating a transmission source. Whether it is a telegram of the system to which it belongs is determined by a wireless system identification code, and whether it is a broadcast is determined by a 1-bit flag with a control code 1 and a pattern of a receiving device identification code.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a communication apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a configuration different from FIG. 1, which is a block diagram of the communication device in the first embodiment, is that a device identification code storage unit 15 is provided. When receiving the broadcast message A (FIG. 3) transmitted from the HC 10, the communication device stores the transmission device identification code (that is, the device identification code of the HC 10) indicating the transmission source shown in FIG. .

  Next, when response data is sent from the communication processing unit 9 to the code generation unit 4 before the timer of the timer unit 7 times out, the device identification code of the transmission destination of the response data is stored in the device identification code storage unit 15. If it is the same as the device identification code, the transmission timing determining means 8 is activated, and the same operation as in the first embodiment is performed thereafter.

  However, when the response data is sent from the communication processing unit 9 to the code generation unit 4 before the timer of the timer unit 7 times out, the device identification code of the transmission destination of the response data is stored in the device identification code storage unit 15. If it is not the same as the device identification code, the transmission timing determining means 8 is not activated and the transmission operation is immediately started.

  As described above, if the device identification code of the transmission destination of the response data is not the same as the device identification code stored in the device identification code storage unit 15, the transmission timing determination unit 8 is not activated and is transmitted immediately. In order to enter the operation, in the case of transmission to another device instead of a response to the broadcast from the HC 10, it can be transmitted immediately, and useless waiting time can be eliminated.

(Embodiment 3)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment and the second embodiment in the part related to the transmission operation. The operations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment and the second embodiment except for the portion related to the transmission operation. Therefore, the transmission operation will be described here.

  In the transmission operation, a plurality of channels assigned to the system to which the user belongs is first sensed by the receiving means 3, and after confirming that there is no radio wave of the system to which the user belongs, the transmission message is transmitted from the code generating means 4 to the transmitting means. 2 is wirelessly transmitted using an unused channel.

  If one of the channels to which the system to which the user belongs is assigned a radio wave of the own system, the device identification code of the communication partner with whom the user wants to communicate is the receiving device identification code or the transmitting device in the signal It is determined whether or not it is included in the identification code, and if it is included, the transmission operation is interrupted and it waits for the radio wave to disappear. If not included, data is transmitted using one unused channel among the plurality of channels.

  By configuring as described above, even if it is a radio wave of the own system, if the radio wave is not addressed to the HC 10, the radio wave can be immediately transmitted to the HC 10, and there is no need to provide a wasteful waiting time.

  In the transmission timing determination means described in the first embodiment, the second embodiment, or the third embodiment, a number unique to the communication device is used as a seed for determining the transmission waiting time. Although a certain transmitting device identification code is used, other numbers unique to the communication device may be used.

  The transmission timing determining means may include random number generating means, and the transmission waiting time may be determined using a random value generated by the random number generating means.

  Further, the transmission timing determining means may determine the transmission waiting time based on a circuit operation time generated due to circuit characteristics of the communication device. For example, the lock time of the PLL circuit can be used as the circuit operation time generated due to the circuit characteristics of the communication device.

  As described above, the communication device according to the present invention can efficiently control the sequence so that response messages from each device for the broadcast communication do not collide. It can also be applied to commercial and public uses such as collecting data on the inventory status of each product at the same time in a supermarket.

Block diagram of a communication apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention System diagram using communication device in embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure explaining operation | movement of the communication apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. Data format diagram transmitted by communication device in embodiment 1 of the present invention The block diagram of the communication apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 Transmitting means 3 Receiving means 4 Code generating means 5 Decoding means 6 Wireless communication section 7 Timer means 8 Transmission timing determining means 9 Communication processing section 15 Device identification code storage means

Claims (13)

When the received message is a broadcast message indicating that it is addressed to a plurality of devices, the data included in the received message is transmitted to the communication processing unit of the next stage and the timer means is operated, When transmission data requesting transmission is received from the communication processing unit before the timer means times out, after waiting for the time determined by the transmission timing determining means for determining the timing for transmitting the transmission data, the transmission data Communication apparatus which performs transmission operation for transmitting. A communication device that transmits and receives a wireless telegram having two identification codes: a wireless system identification code for identifying a system to which the system belongs and a receiving apparatus identification code for identifying a device belonging to the system and designating a communication partner. The wireless system identification code included in the received message is a code of the system to which the user belongs, and the receiving device identification code included in the received message is a code indicating that it is addressed to a plurality of devices including itself. When transmitting the data included in the received message to the next communication processing unit and operating the timer means, and receiving the transmission data requesting transmission from the communication processing unit before the timer means time out After waiting for the time determined by the transmission timing determining means for determining the timing for transmitting the transmission data, Communication apparatus for transmitting operation to transmit the data. A wireless telegram having three identification codes: a wireless system identification code for identifying a system to which the apparatus belongs, a receiving apparatus identification code for identifying a device belonging to the system and designating a communication partner, and a transmitting apparatus identification code indicating a transmission source A communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving, wherein the wireless system identification code included in the received message is a code of a system to which the device belongs, and the receiving device identification code included in the received message is addressed to a plurality of devices including itself If it is a code indicating that it is present, the transmission device identification code included in the received message is stored in the device identification code storage means, and the data included in the received message is transmitted to the communication processing unit at the next stage. At the same time, the timer unit is operated, and before the timer unit times out, the communication processing unit requests transmission specifying the receiving device identification code. When transmission data is received and the received device identification code matches the device identification code stored in the device identification code storage unit, the transmission data is determined by a transmission timing determination unit that determines the timing for transmitting the transmission data. A communication apparatus that performs a transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data after waiting for a predetermined time. 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission timing determining means is configured to determine a transmission waiting time based on a number unique to the communication apparatus. The communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transmission waiting time is determined based on a value of a transmission device identification code as a number unique to the communication apparatus. 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission timing determining means includes random number generating means and determines a transmission waiting time based on a random value generated by the random number generating means. 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission timing determining means is configured to determine a transmission waiting time based on a circuit operation time generated due to circuit characteristics of the communication apparatus. 8. The communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a lock time of the PLL circuit is used as a circuit operation time generated due to circuit characteristics of the communication apparatus. When the transmission operation searches for a plurality of channels assigned to the system to which it belongs, determines whether there is a signal having a radio system identification code to which the own station belongs in all of the plurality of channels, and if there is the signal The transmission operation is interrupted, and when there is no signal, data transmission is performed using one unused channel among the plurality of channels. Item 4. The communication device according to Item 3. The transmission operation searches for a plurality of channels assigned to a system to which the system belongs, and when there is a signal having a wireless system identification code to which the user belongs in any of the plurality of channels, It is determined whether the device identification code is included in the reception device identification code or the transmission device identification code in the signal, if it is included, the transmission operation is interrupted, and if not included, 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein data is transmitted using one unused channel among a plurality of channels. When the transmission operation is interrupted, after receiving the signal having the radio system identification code to which it belongs, and waiting for the time determined by the transmission timing determining means for determining the transmission timing again when the signal disappears, The communication device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein a transmission operation for transmitting the transmission data is performed. The communication apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the transmission timing determining means is configured to determine a waiting time smaller than the previous waiting time. The program for making a computer implement | achieve at least one part of the function of the communication apparatus of any one of Claims 1-12.

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