JP2006165979A - Local area network line concentrator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a local area network line concentrator which facilitates construction of wiring of a local area network (LAN) in a building, and realizes simple LAN wiring by removing, from a room, complicate wiring especially due to the arrangement of hubs in the room. <P>SOLUTION: The local area network line concentrator is provided with a line concentrator main body 10 embedded in a wall W of a room R, and a communication connection terminal part 11 for a room where a plurality of outlet type LAN ports 12 to be connected to an LAN cable 30 from terminal equipment in the room R are opened so as to be faced to the wall W surface is configured on one face of the line concentrator main body 10, and the line concentrator main body 10 or network equipment such as router 1 set in the wall of another room and a pair of communication connection terminal 13 in the wall and a power source connection terminal 14 in the wall to be communicatively connected through the LAN cable 30 of the in-wall facility are configured at a site different from the face with the communication connection terminal part 11 for the room of the line concentrator main body 10, so that the in-wall embedded type line concentrator can be configured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a concentrator used in a local area network (LAN), a so-called hub.

Conventionally, home wiring or the like by LAN cable piping 3 as shown in FIG. 6 has been generally performed in a building as basic wiring for configuring a local area network in a building at home or at a company. That is, in FIG. 6, a relay means such as a router 1 is arranged at one place in the building B, relays to an external communication line such as a WAN or the Internet, and the LAN cable pipes 3, 3 from the router 1 etc. of the relay means. Are connected in a star connection to the LAN outlet 2 in each room R through the wall. By connecting a terminal device T such as a personal computer placed in each room R and the LAN outlet 2, a LAN wiring is constructed.
However, when the LAN wiring as described above is applied to the building B, the LAN cable pipe 3 must be individually piped from the relay means such as the router 1 to each room R, and the cost of the individual pipe is high. There was a problem.
Therefore, in order to alleviate the problems of the piping facility as described above, recently, as shown in FIG. 7, the hub H is connected in series between the rooms R using a local area network concentrator (hub). The LAN wiring is also constructed in the building B by the cascade connection. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a hub H that is generally used for indoor installation is used. That is, the hub H is configured for indoor installation, and the LAN port 4 is provided only on one side of the hub H.
JP-A-8-340345 JP 2001-119420 A

  However, when the LAN wiring as shown in FIG. 7 is constructed by using the conventional hub H as shown in FIG. 8, the cable terminal is connected to each room R from the LAN cable pipe 3 that runs in the wall surface. 3a is provided facing the inside of the room R, and the hub H arranged in the room R and the cable terminal 3a need to be routed by the connection wiring 5 to be connected. For this reason, there is a problem that the wiring relationship around the hub H and the hub H placed in the chamber R becomes miscellaneous. Further, it is necessary to extend the cable terminal 3a for the room R from the LAN cable pipe 3, and there is a problem that it takes time to construct the LAN wiring.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the conventional local area network concentrator, and it is easy to construct a local area network wiring in a house or other building, and the wiring relationship is not complicated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a local area network concentrator capable of constructing a clean local area network by eliminating the miscellaneous wiring relationship around the hub caused by the arrangement from the room.

In order to achieve the above object, a local area network concentrator of the present invention is a local area network concentrator that enables communication between terminal devices by connecting a plurality of terminal devices used in the local area network, A concentrator main body embedded in a wall of a room in which a terminal device is placed, and a plurality of outlet-type LANs for connecting to a LAN cable from the terminal device in the room on one surface of the concentrator main body Constructing a communication connection terminal for indoors that opens with the port facing the wall, and a concentrator installed in a wall of another room, etc., in a different location from the surface of the concentrator main body where the communication connection terminal for indoors is located A pair of intra-wall communication connections for connecting to network equipment such as the device main unit or router via LAN cable of the in-wall facility By configuring the walls in power connection terminal for receiving power from the power source in the child and the wall, and that it has a wall-buried type concentrator as the first feature.
In addition to the first feature described above, the local area network line concentrator of the present invention has an indoor communication connection terminal portion of the line concentrator main body alone or with respect to a cover plate for an outlet attached to a wall surface. The second feature is that it is configured so as to be fitted and faced indoors in a state where it is gathered together with other outlets.
In addition to the first or second feature, the local area network line concentrator of the present invention has a third feature that it is a repeater hub.
In addition to the first or second feature, the local area network line concentrator of the present invention has a fourth feature that it is a switching hub.
Further, the local area network line concentrator of the present invention has a fifth feature that, in addition to any of the first to fourth features described above, a wireless transmission / reception antenna is provided in the indoor communication connection terminal section.

According to the local area network concentrator according to claim 1, in order to construct the basic wiring that configures the local area network in the building at home, company, etc., the concentrator main body according to the present invention is installed in the wall of each room. In addition, each outlet type LAN port of the indoor communication connection terminal portion configured on one surface of the concentrator main body is opened so as to face the wall surface of the room. The LAN cable can be wired simply by plugging the LAN cable into a LAN port arranged in the wall. Therefore, it is possible to easily configure a LAN without routing miscellaneous lines with poor appearance in the room. In addition, the local area network concentrator itself is embedded in the wall, and other local network concentrators and other local network concentrators are installed without any wiring in the room by a RAN cable passing through the wall by a pair of in-wall communication connection terminals of the concentrator main body. A network device such as a router can be easily connected to each other by a LAN cable passing through the wall, and the basic wiring network of the LAN cable in the wall can be configured as a simple wiring network. In addition, since power can be supplied inside the wall, wiring for power supply in the room can be eliminated.
Therefore, according to the local area network concentrator described in claim 1, the basic wiring network for constructing the local area network in the home or company is used without using the concentrator of the present invention to wire the room. Because it can be constructed very simply in the wall surface, it is only necessary to insert the LAN cable from the terminal device such as an indoor personal computer into the LAN port of the concentrator of the present invention that opens facing the wall surface of the room. There is an advantage that a part of the room space is occupied by various wirings, and the necessity of performing such indoor wiring work each time is eliminated.
In other words, it is easy to construct local area network wiring in a house or other building, and the wiring relationship is not complicated. Especially, the wiring connection around the concentrating device by arranging the concentrating device in the room. Clean local area network wiring can be built without going out of the room.

According to the local area network concentrator of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the configuration of claim 1, the indoor communication connection terminal portion configured in the concentrator main body embedded in the wall includes: It fits in the cover plate for outlets attached to the wall surface of the wall and faces the room. Therefore, a terminal device such as a personal computer placed in a room can be connected to a local area network simply by fitting the LAN cable into the RAN port of the indoor communication connection terminal facing the room from the outlet cover plate attached to the wall surface. it can. At that time, it is only necessary to connect the LAN cable from the terminal device to the cover plate for the outlet built on the wall so as to connect the electric cord or the telephone line, so that the connection of the local area network is very simple and easy. it can.
Of course, by arranging other power outlets and telephone outlets together with the outlet cover plate, the terminals for the local area network are combined in one place in the room along with the power outlets, telephone connection ports, and other connection ports. Can be arranged.

  According to the local area network concentrator described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of the configuration described in claim 1 or 2, the local area network concentrator is a repeater hub. The network can be easily wired in a house or other building, and the wiring relationship is not complicated, and can be constructed in a clean state.

  According to the local area network concentrator described in claim 4, in addition to the effect of the configuration described in claim 1 or 2, the local area network concentrator is a switching hub. The network can be easily wired in a house or other building, and the wiring relationship is not complicated, and can be constructed in a clean state.

  Further, according to the local area network concentrator described in claim 5, in addition to the effects of the configuration described in claims 1 to 4, since the antenna for wireless transmission / reception is provided in the indoor communication connection terminal unit, Communication between the terminal device and the line concentrator can be performed wirelessly without using a LAN cable, and a local network can be constructed in a clean state in a house or other building.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of local area network wiring construction in a house or other building using the local area network concentrator of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of a local area network concentrator embedded in a room wall. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a local area network line concentrator and an outlet cover plate showing the embodiment, FIG. 4 is a rear view of the local area network line concentrator showing the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a local area network. It is a figure which shows the outline of an internal structure at the time of using a switching hub as a concentrator.

With reference to FIG. 1, a relay means such as a router 1 is arranged at one place of a building B to relay to an external communication line such as a WAN or the Internet. A LAN cable is installed from the router 1 or the like of the relay means through the LAN cable pipes 3, 3... To the vicinity of each room R, and the LAN wall wiring is constructed.
A concentrator main body 10 of a local area network is embedded in a wall W at an appropriate place in each room R.
The concentrator main body 10 is provided so as to face the inside of the room R through the outlet cover plate 20 attached to the wall W surface of the room R.

  From the relay means such as the router 1, the LAN cable pipe 3 passing through the wall W is provided with the simplest and shortest pipe structure. Are connected in series (cascade connection) with a plurality of concentrator main bodies 10 to the LAN cables passing through the LAN cable piping 3 of each system. . In the present embodiment, in FIG. 1, three line concentrator main bodies 10, 10, and 10 are arranged in series with respect to the LAN cable of the LAN cable pipe 3 that passes through the left wall W of the building B. Three concentrator main bodies 10, 10, 10 are also arranged in series on the LAN cable of the LAN cable pipe 3 that passes through the right wall W.

In each room R, a personal computer, a printer, and other terminal devices T that are objects of a local area network are arranged.
The LAN cable 30 from each terminal device T is detachably connected to the concentrator main body 10 that is embedded in the wall W of each room R and faces the room R.

2 to 4, the concentrator main body 10 is embedded in the wall W of the chamber R. An indoor communication connection terminal unit 11 is provided on the front surface of the line concentrator main body 10. The indoor communication connection terminal portion 11 faces the inside of the room R by being fitted into the opening 21 of the outlet cover plate 20 attached to the wall W surface of the room R.
The indoor communication connection terminal section 11 is provided with one or more outlet-type LAN ports 12 that are open and face the wall W surface of the room R.

A pair of in-wall communication connection terminals 13 and 13 are formed on the back surface of the concentrator main body 10 which is a part different from the front surface where the indoor communication connection terminal portion 11 is located. In addition, an in-wall power connection terminal 14 is formed on the same back surface.
The pair of in-wall communication connection terminals 13 and 13 are terminals for connecting to other network devices such as the line concentrator 10 or the router 1 via the LAN cable 30 of the LAN cable pipe 3 passing through the wall W. is there.
The in-wall power connection terminal 14 is a terminal for receiving power from the power source in the wall W and is connected to a terminal of the electric wire 40 such as an alternating current.
The concentrator main body 10 constitutes a local area network concentrator together with other attachments (not shown) for attachment. As described above, the outlet of the indoor communication connection terminal unit 11 facing the wall W surface of the room R. The type LAN port 12 is connected to the LAN cable 30 from the terminal device T in the room R. On the other hand, it is installed in the wall W by the pair of in-wall communication connection terminals 13 and 13 configured in another part. A local area network is constructed by being connected to the LAN cable 30 of the LAN cable pipe 3.

  With reference to FIG. 5, an internal configuration when a switching hub is used as a local area network line concentrator will be described. In the switching hub, a switching circuit 15 that switches a line so that a sent frame (including IP address, data, MAC address, etc.) goes to a predetermined terminal device T according to the MAC address, and a sent frame Is provided with an address management unit 16 for registering or searching for the MAC address, and an address storage unit 17 for storing the MAC address of the terminal device T. A reception buffer 12a and a transmission buffer 12b are provided for the outlet type LAN port 12, and similarly, a reception buffer 13a and a transmission buffer 13b are provided for the pair of intra-wall communication connection terminals 13.

When a frame signal formed by a terminal device T in a room R is received by any outlet-type LAN port 12 via the LAN cable 30 from the terminal device T, the frame signal is switched. It is sent to the circuit 15 and to the address management unit 16. In the address management unit 16, the MAC address of the terminal device T connected to the LAN is stored in the address storage unit 17 in advance. When the frame signal is received by the address management unit 16, the address management unit 16 retrieves the destination MAC address of the frame signal from the address storage unit 17 and communicates with the switching destination terminal device T corresponding to the switching circuit 15. A switching signal is issued so that the connection is established. In the switching circuit 15, the circuit is switched based on the received switching signal, and the received frame signal is supplied to the LAN cable 30 connected to the destination terminal device T.
When the destination of the frame signal is a terminal device in another room R, it is provided from the switching circuit 15 to the in-wall communication connection terminal 13, the LAN cable pipe 3 in the wall, and the wall of the other room R. Then, the data is sent to the destination terminal device T via the line concentrator main body 10.

  The local area network concentrator is not necessarily the switching hub described above. It may be a repeater hub that allows signals to flow to all ports without determining the MAC address, or may be another type of hub.

  In the above description, the terminal device T and the concentrator main body 10 are connected by wire. However, the terminal device T and the concentrator main body 10 may be connected by wireless communication. In this case, a radio transmission / reception antenna 18 is provided as shown by a broken line in FIGS. The radio transmission / reception antenna 18 can be provided in the indoor communication connection terminal unit 11 so as to face the room R. The wireless transmission / reception antenna 18 is provided with a transmission / reception buffer 18a, and the received signal processing can be performed in the same manner as in the case of wired communication described above.

  Moreover, in said embodiment, it becomes the structure which only the communication connection terminal part 11 for indoors of the local area network concentrator which concerns on this invention fits in opening of the cover plate 20 for outlets attached to the wall W surface of the room R. However, it is not limited to this. Along with the communication connection terminal unit 11 for indoor use of the local area network line concentrator, the outlet for connecting the telephone line of the indoor telephone, the power outlet for connecting the electric cord, and other connection outlets are integrated into one cover plate for the outlet By providing in 20, it can be configured such that various types of outlets face the room R.

It is a figure which shows the wiring construction example of the local area network in the house and other building which used the local area network concentrator of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows embodiment of the local area network concentrator embed | buried in the wall of the room. 1 is a perspective view of a local area network line concentrator and an outlet cover plate showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a rear view of the local area network concentrator which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline of an internal structure at the time of using a switching hub as a local area network concentrator. It is a figure which shows the wiring construction example of the local area network of a star connection type in the conventional house and other buildings. It is a figure which shows the wiring construction example of the local area network in the house and other building which have arrange | positioned the conventional local area network concentrator in a room | chamber interior. It is a figure which shows the example of the conventional indoor installation type local area network concentrator.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Router 3 LAN cable piping 10 Concentrator main body 11 Indoor communication connection terminal part 12 Outlet type | mold LAN port 12a Reception buffer 12b Transmission buffer 13 Communication connection terminal for walls 13a Reception buffer 13b Transmission buffer 14 Power connection terminal for walls 15 Switching Circuit 16 Address management unit 17 Address storage unit 18 Radio transmission / reception antenna 20 Cover plate for outlet 21 Opening 30 LAN cable 40 Power line B Building H Hub R Room T Terminal device W Wall

Claims (5)

  A local area network concentrator that enables communication between terminal devices by connecting a plurality of terminal devices used in a local area network, and a concentrator main body embedded in a wall of a room in which the terminal devices are placed And an indoor communication connection terminal portion having a plurality of outlet-type LAN ports for connecting to a LAN cable from a terminal device in the room facing the wall surface. , In a part different from the surface of the concentrator main body where the communication connection terminal portion for the room is located, through a concentrator main body installed in a wall of another room or a network device such as a router and a LAN cable of a facility in the wall A pair of intra-wall communication connection terminals for communication connection and an intra-wall power connection terminal for receiving power from the power source in the wall. It is a local area network concentrator being characterized in that the wall buried type concentrator.   Fit the indoor communication connection terminal part of the concentrator main body alone or together with other outlets such as a power supply and a telephone so that the cover plate for the outlet attached to the wall surface can be fitted into the room. The local area network concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the local area network concentrator is configured.   3. The local area network concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the local area network concentrator is a repeater hub.   The local area network concentrator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the local area network concentrator is a switching hub.   The local area network line concentrator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an antenna for wireless transmission / reception is provided in the indoor communication connection terminal section.

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