JP2005159684A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a human body transmission system which reports the consumption of the batterly of a first data communication unit worn on a human body, without increasing the power consumption or the size of this unit. <P>SOLUTION: The communication system has a first data communication unit 10 having electrodes contacted to a human body, and a second data communication unit 30 having contact electrodes contactable with the human body for performing a data communication with the first data communication unit 10. The first data communication unit 10 has a means 70 for detecting the remaining capacity of a batterly 14 for operating itself, and a means for transmitting batterly remaining capacity information D1 obtained therefrom. The second data communication unit 30 has a means for receiving the batterly remaining capacity information D1, and a means 60 for indicating the remaining capacity condition of the batterly, based on the received batterly remaining capacity information D1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system using a human body as a signal transmission path.

  As one type of communication system, there is a communication system that uses a human body as a signal transmission path as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3319462 (hereinafter referred to as a human body transmission system). Since the basic configuration is common to the configuration of the present invention, it will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the embodiment of the present invention.

  This is configured to have two data communication devices provided with electrodes for communication, and one data communication device (first data communication device 10) is connected to electrodes 11 and 12 provided thereon. Is attached so as to be in contact with a part of the human body H, the other data communication device (second data communication device 30) is incorporated in the device 50, and the human body is connected to the electrode (referred to as a touch electrode) 31 of the second data communication device 30. By contacting H, the system communicates between the first data communication device 10 and the second data communication device 30 using the electrode 11, the human body H, and the electrode 31 as a signal transmission path. Here, the electrode 11 acts as a signal electrode electrically connected to the touch electrode (contact electrode) 31 via the human body H, and the other electrode 12 is connected to the second body via the human body H, the ground G, and the ground line 54. It acts as a ground electrode (reference electrode) electrically connected to the circuit ground of the data communication device 30 (see FIG. 1).

  The second data communicator 30 also transmits a touch sensor 32 that detects the contact of the human body H to the touch electrode 31 and a signal transmission that generates a start signal that instructs the start of communication according to the detection signal of the touch sensor 32. The first data communicator 10 has a signal detector 20 for detecting a start signal. The second data communicator 30 generates a start signal when the touch sensor 32 detects the contact of the human body H, and the first data communicator 10 detects the start signal and starts communication. I am doing so. Further, the first data communicator 10 and the second data communicator 30 have a configuration in which transmission and reception can be switched so that bidirectional communication can be performed with each other (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

  These controls are performed by the controllers 16 and 36 in the first data communication device 10 and the second data communication device 30, respectively. In the first data communication device 10, the controller 16 controls the modulator 17 and the demodulator 18, performs data read / write control with the data memory 15, controls the switches 21 and 22 that perform these switching operations, and displays data. The display 24 is controlled. In the other second data communicator 30, the controller 36 controls the modulator 37 and demodulator 35, controls the switches 41 and 42 for performing switching operations, and exchanges data with the data memory 52 of the device 50. For controlling the interface 44 and the like. Here, the interface 44 also has a role of supplying power from the power source 51 of the device 50 to the circuit in the second data communication device 30. Reference numerals 19 and 39 are circuit grounds.

Here, the first data communication device 10 worn and carried by the human body H includes a battery 14 serving as a power source for causing each of the above-described configurations (circuits) to perform the above-described operation. When the battery 14 is exhausted, the above operation may not be performed and a malfunction may be caused. Therefore, a display function for notifying the user of battery consumption is required. However, providing the display function increases power consumption and leads to battery consumption. In addition, the size of the first data communication device 10 is increased.
Japanese Patent No. 3319462

  The present invention has been invented in view of the above-mentioned background art. In a human body transmission system, the power consumption of the first data communication device to be worn on the human body is increased and the size of the first data communication device is increased. It is an object of the present invention to provide a human body transmission system that can notify battery consumption of a first data communication device without inviting it.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a first data communication device having an electrode in contact with a human body, and a contact electrode that can contact the human body, and performing data communication with the first data communication device. In the communication system having two data communicators, the first data communicator is a battery remaining amount detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of a battery for operating the first data communicator, and a battery remaining amount obtained from the battery remaining amount detecting means. Battery remaining information transmitting means for transmitting information, and the second data communicator receives battery remaining information receiving means for receiving the remaining battery information and a battery based on the received remaining battery information. And display means for displaying the remaining amount state.

  In the communication system of the present invention, the remaining battery level detecting means and the detection result are transmitted to the first data communication device to the second data communication device, and the battery of the first data communication device is transmitted to the second data communication device. Since the state of the remaining amount is displayed, the remaining amount of the battery of the first data communication device can be reduced without increasing the power consumption of the first data communication device or increasing the size of the first data communication device. The situation can be notified to the operator.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  1 is an overall view of a communication system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of a first data communication device 10, and FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of a second data communication device 30. The flow of data communication is as described above. Here, the first data communicator 10 is provided with a battery remaining amount detection unit (battery remaining amount detection means) 70 that detects the remaining amount of the battery 14 based on the voltage of the battery 14. The battery information obtained from the remaining battery level detection unit 70 is input to the controller 36. In a battery remaining amount information transmitting means (not shown) in the controller 36, the data D transmitted from the first data communicator 10 to the second data communicator 30 includes the remaining battery amount information D1. 2 to the data communicator 30. The second data communicator 30 receives the remaining battery level information D1 and displays the remaining battery level status on the display unit (remaining battery level display means) 60 based on the remaining battery level information D1.

  By doing in this way, since the status of the remaining battery level of the battery 14 of the first data communication device 10 can be displayed by the second data communication device 30, the power consumption of the first data communication device 10 can be displayed. It is possible to notify the operator of the status of the remaining battery level of the first data communication device without increasing the size of the first data communication device and increasing the size of the first data communication device.

  Here, the display unit 60 may be an LED or a liquid crystal. For example, for the remaining battery status to be displayed, a predetermined reference voltage is set, and if it is lower than the reference voltage, the LED may be turned on, the voltage value may be displayed on a liquid crystal, or expressed by a code. It may be.

  FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the battery voltage V and the time T of the battery 14. This shows that the battery voltage V decreases as time T elapses. Here, the operation guarantee voltage of the first data communication device 10 is set to V3, the first reference voltage V1 is set at a voltage higher than that, and the first reference voltage V1 and the operation guarantee voltage V3 are set between them. A second reference voltage V2 is set.

  The battery voltage V decreases with the passage of time T. When the battery voltage V reaches the first reference voltage V1 (t1), the battery remaining amount detection unit 70 detects it and the data D transmitted by the first data communicator 10 is detected. In the battery information D1, a code indicating that the battery is exhausted is input. The second data communicator 30 reads the battery exhaustion code with reference to the remaining battery level information D1 of the received data and displays it on the display unit 60. Then, the user is notified that the battery is to be replaced. Here, D0 means transmission data itself.

  Further, when the battery is not replaced here and reaches the second reference voltage V2, the operation circuit of the first data communication device 10 is reset. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the operation guarantee voltage V3 from being reached in advance. For example, even if the first data communication device 10 becomes unusable, the data is erroneously rewritten or destroyed. Can be prevented from malfunctioning.

  FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the battery voltage V and consumption current I of the battery 14 and the time T, as in FIG. 3, and particularly shows short-term voltage fluctuations and current fluctuations.

  Here, when communication is not performed, the first data communicator 10 is in a standby state and the current consumption I is minimum (I0). When the human body H comes into contact with the electrode of the second data communication device 30 and receives a start signal from the second data communication device 30, the first data communication device 10 is activated and enters a data reception state. At this time, since the demodulator 25 is activated, the current consumption I increases (I1), and the battery voltage V fluctuates. Next, data communication from the first data communication device 10 to the second data communication device 30 is performed. When this occurs, since the modulator 17 operates, the consumption current I changes again and the battery voltage V fluctuates.

  Thus, the battery voltage V fluctuates depending on the state of the first data communication device 10. Here, the lowest voltage point of fluctuation is detected as the battery voltage V. The lowest voltage value is compared with the reference voltage values V1 and V2, and the remaining battery level is transmitted. By doing in this way, the battery remaining amount information D1 can be transmitted to the first data communication device 10 on the safer side, and malfunction can be prevented more accurately.

  In addition to actually detecting the lowest voltage value, the remaining battery voltage information D1 may be transmitted by predicting the voltage at the lowest voltage point from the battery voltage V at a certain point or its change. Further, when the fluctuation is most reduced during data transmission, the timing for transmitting the remaining battery level information D1 may be set for the next communication. Further, the battery remaining amount detection unit 70 of the battery 14 may be configured inside the controller 16.

1 is an overall view of an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the 1st data communication apparatus of this invention. The block diagram of the 2nd data communication apparatus of this invention. The structure diagram of the transmission data of this invention. The figure which shows the change of a battery voltage. The figure which shows the fluctuation | variation of a battery voltage.

Explanation of symbols

10 First Data Communication Device 11 First Data Communication Device Electrode (Signal Electrode)
12 First data communication device electrode (ground electrode)
14 battery 30 second data communicator 31 contact electrode (touch electrode) of second data communicator
60 Display (Battery level display means)
70 Battery level detection unit (Battery level detection means)
D Transmission data D1 Battery level information H Human body

Claims (3)

  In a communication system comprising: a first data communication device including an electrode in contact with a human body; and a second data communication device including a contact electrode that can contact the human body and performing data communication with the first data communication device. The first data communicator comprises: a remaining battery level detecting unit for detecting a remaining battery level for operating the first data communication device; and a remaining battery level information transmitting unit for transmitting remaining battery level information obtained from the remaining battery level detecting unit. And the second data communicator has battery remaining information receiving means for receiving the remaining battery information, and display means for displaying a remaining battery state based on the received battery remaining information. A communication system characterized by the above.   The battery remaining amount detecting means has a first reference voltage higher than the operation guarantee voltage of the first data communication device, and a second reference voltage set between the first reference voltage and the guarantee voltage, Sending remaining battery information when the remaining battery level reaches the first reference voltage, and resetting the first data communicator when the remaining battery level reaches the second reference voltage The communication system according to claim 1.   3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the remaining battery level detecting unit detects the remaining battery level based on a lowest voltage of battery voltage fluctuation.

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