JP2006060624A - Multichannel communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure speediness of the start of communication by a multichannel communication device, which communicates by finding out a free channel among a plurality of channels through retrieval, by shortening the time needed to find out the communication channel in a free state. <P>SOLUTION: A control means 9 performs control to find out the channel in the free state based upon digital data from an electric field strength detecting means 7 and a noise level detecting means 8, store the found channel in a memory 11, and further update the contents of the storage at fixed intervals of time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  In the present invention, a plurality of communication channels having different frequencies and a control channel having different frequencies are interposed between the sender side and the receiver side, and are used by other parties for communication. The present invention relates to a multi-channel communication device that automatically searches for and finds a free channel that is not found and performs communication using the found free channel, and in particular, secures a free channel when performing communication. Regarding improvement.

  As a multi-channel communication apparatus that searches for and finds a free channel from a plurality of channels and performs communication using the found free channel, those disclosed in the following documents can be cited.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-322227

Conventionally, in the multi-channel communication system having the configuration shown in Patent Document 1 and the like, all of the intervening communication between the sender and the receiver are started when the side of the sender who makes a call starts communication. The communication channel is automatically and sequentially searched to find a free communication channel that can be used, and the found free channel is used as a use channel.
In the conventional multi-channel communication device, when searching for an empty communication channel from such communication channels, the search is performed for all communication channels in a predetermined order. The method was taken.

  Therefore, in the above-described conventional multi-channel communication device, when finding an empty communication channel among all communication channels based on the search, the search order is constant, so that a plurality of groups When multi-channel communication is to be performed, a channel in an idle state is selected and used in accordance with the search order by the plurality of sets of communication parties, and the channel is in a communication state with high accuracy according to the search order.

  As a result, since the search order for finding a free communication channel is constant, the channel positioned earlier in the search order is more likely to be found as a free channel in the search. There is a high possibility of communication via a communication channel found as an empty channel in the search.

Therefore, in the conventional multi-channel communication apparatus having such a configuration, the first channel is often already used by another person in the search order of a series of idle channels, and therefore the first one is used. The possibility that the channel is found as an empty channel is low, and the possibility that it is not found is high.
On the other hand, in the search order of empty channels, there are many cases where the channel located at the end is more empty.

Therefore, with regard to finding a free channel that can be communicated, a free channel is often found among the channels that are located at the end in the search order. There was a problem that it took a lot of time to start and find a free channel.
This was a more serious problem for those who wanted to start communication quickly using an empty channel.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a plurality of communication channels are interposed between the sender side and the receiver side, and an empty channel is found by searching among the plurality of communication channels. An object of the present invention is to shorten the time required to find an empty communication channel in a multi-channel communication device that performs communication by sending out and to ensure the speed of communication start.

The present invention is a multi-channel communication device configured to be able to reserve a free communication channel in advance.
The detailed configuration is a multi-channel communication device that searches for and finds a free channel from a plurality of communication channels having different frequencies, and performs communication using the free channel. When a free channel is searched in advance from the plurality of communication channels, and when a free channel is found by the search, the free channel is stored, and communication is started. Is a multi-channel communication apparatus that is controlled to preferentially use the stored empty channel.

  The multi-channel communication apparatus having such a configuration preferentially uses an empty channel found by a search in a communication standby state during communication.

Further, when the communication standby state is established, the empty channel that is found and stored by the search is updated from the communication standby state to the start of communication.
Therefore, when communication is started, the latest free channel updated by that time is used.

Further, the stored empty channel is updated from the communication standby state to the start of communication, and the update is performed at regular time intervals.
Therefore, when communication is started, the latest free channel updated at certain time intervals until that time is used.

  In the present invention, when in a communication standby state, a free channel is searched in advance from among a plurality of communication channels having different frequencies, and the stored free channel is preferentially used. By configuring, it is a multi-channel communication apparatus that can find an empty channel in a shorter time than when searching for a plurality of communication channels from the beginning.

  Further, in the multi-channel communication device having such a configuration, the empty channel found and stored by the search in the communication standby state is updated from the communication standby state to the start of communication. Therefore, when communication is started, the latest free channel updated up to that time is preferentially used, and a channel that has changed from a free state to a used state during standby can be excluded.

  Further, the multi-channel communication apparatus having such a configuration is configured so that the empty channel that is stored and used preferentially at the start of communication is configured to be updated at regular time intervals. Even if the released empty channel is used by another person during communication standby, a new empty channel can be used.

The present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
As shown in FIG. 1, the multichannel communication apparatus 1 includes an antenna 2, an antenna switching means 3, a receiving means 4, a demodulating means 5, a control data analyzing means 6, an electric field strength detecting means 7, a noise level. Detection means 8, control means 9, voice output means 10, memory 11, operation input / display means 12, voice input means 13, frequency synthesizer 14, control data generation means 15, modulation means 16 and Transmission means 17 is provided.

The antenna 2 is for receiving a signal when the multi-channel communication apparatus 1 performs reception and for outputting a signal when performing transmission.
The antenna switching means 3 is for switching the function of the antenna 2 corresponding to the function when the multi-channel communication device 1 switches the reception function and the transmission function.

The receiving means 4 receives only the channel selected based on the frequency by the frequency synthesizer 14 from the received signals received by the antenna 2 and coming via the antenna switching means 3, and receives the received signal of the received channel as desired. And is sent to the demodulating means 5.
The demodulating means 5 is connected to the subsequent stage of the receiving means 4 and converts the received signal amplified to a desired size into an audio signal and control data.

  The control data analyzing means 6 determines whether or not the control data from the demodulating means 5 is valid as control data, determines whether or not it is a data signal addressed to the multichannel communication apparatus 1, and a communication line Is converted from the data format for use to the data format handled by the control means 9 at the subsequent stage.

The electric field strength detecting means 7 receives the received signal amplified to a desired magnitude from the receiving means 4, A / D converts the received signal intensity as its voltage value, and determines the empty state as digital data. This is output to the control means 9.
The noise level detection means 8 receives the noise component in the reception signal amplified to a desired magnitude from the reception means 4, and performs A / D conversion on the received signal intensity as the voltage value of the noise component to digitally. This is output as data to the control means 9 for determining the free state.

The audio output means 10 outputs the received signal as audio, and specifically includes a headset, an earphone, a speaker, and the like.
The memory 11 stores data for supporting the function of the control means 9.
The contents of the data will be described later.

The operation input / display unit 12 is used to input an operation when the operator uses the multi-channel communication device 1 as desired, and to display the function status of the multi-channel communication device 1.
Specifically, it is composed of a switch, an encoder that encodes a signal from the switch, liquid crystal display means, and the like (not shown).

The voice input means 13 converts voice during communication into an electrical signal, and is specifically a microphone.
The frequency synthesizer 14 sets the frequency of the channel used by the receiving means 4 and the transmitting means 17 connected in the subsequent stage.

The control data generator 15 converts the data from the controller 9 into a data format handled by the modulator 16.
The modulation unit 16 converts the data converted by the control data generation unit 15 into a radio signal and converts the communication signal from the voice input unit 13 into a radio signal.
The transmission means 17 amplifies the signal to be transmitted from the modulation means 16 to a predetermined level, and transmits it at a frequency based on the frequency set from the frequency synthesizer 14.

  In the multi-channel communication device 1, the control means 9 further searches for a free channel in advance from the maximum 20 usable communication channels when the multi-channel communication device 1 is in a communication standby state. When an empty channel is found by the search, the empty channel is stored in the memory 11, and when the multi-channel communication device 1 starts communication, the stored empty channel is preferentially used. It is comprised so that it may control.

  That is, the control means 9 receives the digital data from the electric field strength detection means 7 and the noise level detection means 8, respectively, compares the two digital data with a preset judgment value, and the received channel is It is determined whether or not it is in an empty state, and when an empty channel is found as a result of the determination, it functions to send the found empty channel to the memory 11 for storage.

  Further, the control means 9 keeps the free channels obtained based on the respective digital data from the electric field strength detection means 7 and the noise level detection means 8 constant when the multi-channel communication device 1 is in a communication standby state. For example, each communication channel and control channel are monitored every 50 milliseconds every time, and the number of channels is set to 20 so that the update functions until a communication is started in a cycle of 2 seconds in total. Has been.

On the other hand, the memory 11 stores data ordered from the channels with the highest quality for the channels used by the multi-channel communication device 1.
The control means 9 cooperates with such a function of the memory 11 to order the channels of good quality stored in the memory 11 and use them while updating them until communication is started. It is configured to function to hold data about high quality channels.

The multi-channel communication device 1 is configured as described above.
Hereinafter, functions of the multi-channel communication device 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
The user operates the operation input / display unit 12 to turn on the main power supply, confirms that it is in a usable state, and further performs necessary operations for use.

Here, the multi-channel communication device 1 is in a usable state but is in a communication standby state (S1 in FIG. 2).
When the multi-channel communication device 1 is in a communication standby state, the control means 9 monitors the maximum usable 20 communication channels and searches for a free channel in advance, monitors the control channel, and so on. The operation of waiting for a control signal transmitted from the multi-channel communication apparatus is alternately switched at regular intervals.

That is, specifically, the control means 9 first monitors the control channel (S3 in FIG. 2), and then arranges first for the 20 communication channels that can be used at maximum for the multi-channel communication device 1. The communication channel to be monitored is monitored (S4 in FIG. 2).
Subsequently, the control means 9 similarly monitors the control channel (S3 in FIG. 2), and then monitors the communication channel located second in the 20 communication channels. The control channel and the communication channel are monitored alternately.

Similarly, for the channels arranged from the 3rd to the 20th among the 20 communication channels, the monitoring is alternately performed with the control channel.
After monitoring the 20th channel, the operation returns to the operation of monitoring the first communication channel again. In the communication standby state, this series of operations is repeated, so that all communication channels are repeated at regular intervals. The empty state is confirmed (S5 in FIG. 2), and the result can always be updated to the latest state.

  The electric field strength detecting means 7 performs digital data obtained by A / D converting the received signal intensity as the voltage value of the received signal, and the noise level detecting means 8 is the voltage value of the noise component of the noise component in the received signal. The digital data obtained by A / D converting the received signal strength is output to the control means 9.

When the control means 9 receives the digital data from the electric field strength detection means 7 and the noise level detection means 8 respectively, the control means 9 compares the two digital data with a predetermined determination value, and the communication channel received at that time is determined. It is determined whether or not it is free.
When an empty channel is found as a result of the determination, the control means 9 functions to send the found empty channel to the memory 11 for storage (S6 in FIG. 2).
On the other hand, the control means 9 determines that the communication channel that has been determined not to be free in the above monitoring is the channel in use.

Further, the control means 9 is based on the digital data received from the electric field strength detection means 7 and the noise level detection means 8, respectively, and the channel received at that time has a strong signal strength and a low noise level. It is determined whether or not.
When the control means 9 finds a channel with good communication quality based on the determination result, the control means 9 functions to send the found channel with good communication quality to the memory 11 for storage.

  Further, the control means 9 is obtained based on the respective digital data from the electric field strength detection means 7 and the noise level detection means 8 by controlling the frequency synthesizer 14 and switching the frequency to be received at regular intervals. The channel information in the idle state and the channel information with good communication quality are updated until communication is started.

  In addition, the control unit 9 uses the channel ordering data stored in the memory 11 for the free channel used by the multi-channel communication device 1 based on the ordering data of the channels having the same communication quality stored in the memory. The channels in the free state stored in 11 are ordered in order of quality, and the data about the usable and quality channels are held while being updated until communication is started.

At this time, when the user tries to start communication (call), the multi-channel communication device 1 shifts from a standby state to an operation start state (S2 in FIG. 2).
Here, in the multi-channel communication apparatus 1 on the call side, the control means 9 preferentially selects and uses a channel that is idle and has the best communication quality from among a plurality of channels. Take control.

At the start of the operation of making a communication call, the control function works so that the control means 9 preferentially selects a channel that is idle and has the best communication quality from a plurality of channels.
In other words, the control means 9 can use the above priority from the time when the channels having good communication quality that can be used in the memory 11 are stored in order, to the time when the communication operation is to be started. If the channel to be selected and used is empty, the channel that is free and has the best communication quality is temporarily determined as the channel to be used preferentially (S7 in FIG. 3).
Here, tentatively determined means that a case where it cannot be actually used even if it is determined will be described later.

Further, in the multichannel communication apparatus 1, the control means 9 uses the temporarily determined channel information as a channel designation signal, and the multichannel communication apparatus 1 sends a control signal including this channel designation signal via the control channel to the communication partner. It functions to transmit to the other multi-channel communication apparatus (S8 in FIG. 3).
Thereafter, on the basis of the channel designation signal output by the control of the control means 9, each means of the multi-channel communication device 1 performs an operation of switching to the determined communication channel corresponding to the signal content (S9 in FIG. 3). .
Here, the multi-channel communication device 1 performs an operation of waiting for a response signal from the communication partner. Further, when a response signal from the communication partner is received, the communication is controlled to start (S10 in FIG. 3).

On the other hand, the multi-channel communication device which is the communication partner (called party) of the multi-channel communication device 1 is in a communication standby state at this time and monitors the control channel and the communication channel alternately. A control signal including the determined channel designation signal can be received via the channel.
Thereafter, the multi-channel communication device on the called side performs an operation of switching to the communication channel based on the received channel designation signal, and transmits a response signal to the multi-channel communication device 1 on the calling side to It functions to start operation.

  Thus, when the channel to be used in the multi-channel communication device 1 is determined, the multi-channel communication device on the called side is controlled to select the same channel in response to the determination. In other words, the communication means is configured to perform communication using the channel having the best available communication quality selected by the control means 9, and the caller can communicate in a timely manner from the standby state. It is possible to start, and it has been obtained that good communication continues on the channel with the best communication quality.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned preferential selection and use is performed from the point in time when channels having good communication quality that can be used in a free state in the memory 11 are stored in order to the point in time when communication operation is to be started. When the channel to be used is not available because of being used by another person, the control means 9 performs control so that the channel with the second best quality of communication is selected and used.
In addition, when the channel with the second highest communication quality is selected and used by another person at that time, the control means 9 switches to the channel with the third highest communication quality and uses it in the memory 11. Control is performed so that a channel with the highest possible communication quality is selected and used preferentially.

  Therefore, when the user uses the multi-channel communication device 1, even if the channel that is considered to be vacant as determined above is used by another person and cannot be used at the time of starting communication, Since the control means 9 controls to select and use the channel with the highest communication quality from the available channels that can be used, the multi-channel communication device 1 is the channel with the highest communication quality at that time. It is possible to communicate using.

  When the multi-channel communication device 1 starts communication, the empty channel is preferentially used, so that the channel with poor communication quality caused by the allocation of the empty channel in the prior art The problem of having to select is avoided.

  Further, since the multi-channel communication device 1 is configured to control the control means 9 to update the information on the empty channel, there is a state in which the empty channel can be used in a timely manner at each time point. Is retained.

When the multi-channel communication device 1 is in a communication standby state, it receives a control signal from another multi-channel communication device (S11 in FIG. 4).
Here, the multi-channel communication device 1 selects and moves the designated communication channel according to the channel designation signal from the calling-side multi-channel communication device (S12 in FIG. 4).

Further, the multi-channel communication device 1 transmits a response signal to the calling-side multi-channel communication device (S13 in FIG. 4).
Here, the multi-channel communication device 1 and the calling-side multi-channel communication device are in a state of starting the communication operation (S14 in FIG. 4).

  The multi-channel communication device 1 searches for an empty channel in advance in the communication standby state and stores it in the memory 11, and calls a channel with good communication quality for the empty channel. However, it may be configured not to have a function of selectively using a channel with good communication quality.

The multi-channel communication device 1 is configured to perform wireless communication, but may be configured to perform wired communication.
A multi-channel communication apparatus that performs wired communication includes a configuration in which a control unit that finds an empty channel and controls use is arranged at the center of each communication apparatus.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure explaining the operation | movement of the state of communication standby of the multichannel communication apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. It is a flowchart figure explaining from the call operation | movement of the multi-channel communication apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to a communication operation. It is a flowchart figure explaining the transfer to communication operation from the time of the multi-channel communication apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 being called.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multichannel communication apparatus 4 Reception means 7 Electric field strength detection means 8 Noise level detection means 9 Control means 11 Memory 14 Frequency synthesizer 17 Transmission means

Claims (3)

A multi-channel communication device that searches for and finds a free channel from a plurality of communication channels having different frequencies, and performs communication using the free channel.
When in communication standby state, search for a free channel from the plurality of communication channels in advance, and if a free channel is found by the search, store the free channel and start communication. A multi-channel communication device that is controlled to preferentially use the stored empty channel. 2. The idle channel that is found and stored by searching when in a communication standby state is configured to be updated from the communication standby state to the start of communication. A multi-channel communication device according to 1. The multi-channel communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an update that is performed during a period from a communication standby state to a start of communication of a stored empty channel is performed at regular time intervals.

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