JP2006339738A - Equipment control system, and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the security of equipment to be controlled through the radio communication between a terminal and the equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The terminal 1000 includes a first transmission/reception means 100 capable of controlling a control distance, and the equipment control system is characterized in that the terminal 1000 changes the communication distance in response to the control importance or a degree of danger or a degree of effect when the terminal 1000 transmits a signal to the equipment 2000 in order to control the equipment 2000. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device control system that communicates with a device wirelessly, and a program thereof.

There are increasing numbers of devices and terminals that provide convenience through wireless communication, such as unlocking and locking systems that perform automatic locking and unlocking in automobiles and front doors. In order to check the operation of the wireless communication devices, it is also tested whether the signal can be received even if the intensity of the transmitted radio wave is lowered in consideration of radio wave interference (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-135038 A

  However, Patent Document 1 is to test whether or not tolerant to jamming radio waves depending on whether or not radio waves are received. Entering into the function of the device, the importance, importance, or risk of the function, Alternatively, the communication distance has not been changed according to the degree of influence.

  Therefore, in order to solve the conventional problem, the device control system of the present invention and the program thereof include a transmission unit capable of controlling the communication distance in stages, and the terminal controls the device. When transmitting a signal, the communication distance is changed according to the importance, risk, or influence of the control.

  As a result, the communication distance varies depending on the level of importance, risk, or influence, so one operation (important, dangerous, or action with high influence) cannot be performed from a distance. It is prohibited to do it in advance, and it is expected that the operator will be aware of the content of the operation on the spot because it is controlled only immediately, and the reverse operation (less important, avoiding danger, or affecting The operation of reducing the degree) operates as far as possible even in a remote place, so that safe and reliable device control is possible.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, in the device control system, the terminal includes transmission means capable of controlling the communication distance step by step, and the importance of the control when the terminal transmits a signal to control the device. Alternatively, the communication distance is changed according to the degree of risk or the degree of influence.

  As a result, the communication distance varies depending on the level of importance, risk, or influence, so one operation (important, dangerous, or action with high influence) cannot be performed from a distance. It is prohibited to do it in advance, and it is expected that the operator will be aware of the content of the operation on the spot because it is controlled only immediately, and the reverse operation (less important, avoiding danger, or affecting The operation of reducing the degree) operates as far as possible even in a remote place, so that safe and reliable device control is possible.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in the device control system of the first aspect of the invention, the transmission means may be a short-range communication capable of communicating at a short distance (for example, within a few tens of centimeters) and a long distance (for example, within a few tens of meters). ) To switch the long distance communication that can be communicated to control the communication distance.

  As a result, the communication distance varies depending on the level of importance, risk, or influence that switches the communication distance between two levels of strength and weakness, so one operation (important, dangerous, or influence) It is forbidden to perform inadvertent operations from a distance, and since it is only controlled immediately, it can be expected that the operator will notice the content of the operation on the spot, and vice versa ( The operation of avoiding danger or reducing the degree of influence) operates as far as possible even in the distance, so that safe and reliable device control is possible.

  According to a third invention, particularly in the device control system of the second invention, there is a state in which the device is locked or unlocked like an electric key, or the device is ignited like a gas appliance. Or when a certain operation is performed (unlocking at the door, igniting at the gas appliance), the terminal communicates by short-range communication, and the reverse operation (at the door) When locking and extinguishing with the gas appliance), the terminal uses long-distance communication.

  As a result, the communication distance is changed step by step, and the communication distance varies depending on the importance, the degree of danger, or the magnitude of the influence, so one operation (important, dangerous, or influence) It is forbidden to perform inadvertent operations from a distance, and since it is only controlled immediately, it can be expected that the operator will notice the content of the operation on the spot, and vice versa ( The operation of avoiding danger or reducing the degree of influence) operates as far as possible even in the distance, so that safe and reliable device control is possible.

  A fourth invention is a program for causing a computer to execute at least one means or operation, particularly in the device control system of any one of the first to third inventions, and includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, storage device, and I / O. A part or all of the present invention can be easily realized as a program by cooperating hardware resources such as an electric information device, a computer, and the like. Also, by distributing the program on a recording medium or using a communication line, program distribution can be realized very easily compared to other means.

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

(Embodiment 1)
The terminal is assumed to be a wireless remote controller, each remote controller has a different ID, and only the terminal registered in the device can communicate with the device and control the device. Is basically controllable in two levels of strength (of course, the two-step is an example, and two or more steps may be used).

  First, the system configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a device control system configuration according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, a terminal 1000 is a wireless remote controller for device control, and is assumed to communicate with the device 2000 by low power wireless.

  The terminal 1000 includes a first transmission / reception unit 100, a first control unit 110 that controls the whole including the first transmission / reception unit 100, an A function 1 button 120, and a B function 1 button 130.

  The device 2000 is controlled by the second transmission / reception unit 200 that communicates with the first transmission / reception unit 100, the second control unit 210 that controls the whole including the second transmission / reception unit 210, and various notifications. An informing unit 220 for performing the operation and a device specific operation unit 230 for performing an operation specific to the device are provided.

  The device-specific operation mentioned here is, for example, lighting operation for a lighting device, video / audio output operation for a television, audio / sound output operation for a radio, and desk lighting for a desk lamp. Operation, locking operation for electric key, unlocking operation, heating for gas appliances, etc., shows the operation of the original function of the device and performs these operations This means is called device-specific operation means 230.

  The terminal 1000 and the device 2000 perform wireless communication. When the A function button 120 or the B function button 130 is operated, the first control unit 110 detects it and the first transmission / reception unit The control signal is transmitted after changing from 100 to an appropriate communication distance (short distance or long distance) toward the device 2000.

  At this time, if the device 2000 is an electric key and the A function button 120 is for unlocking the electric key, a control signal for unlocking is transmitted by short-range communication, and the B function button If 130 is to lock the electric key, a control signal for locking is transmitted by long-distance communication.

  At this time, if the device 2000 is a gas appliance and the A function button 120 ignites the gas appliance, a control signal for ignition is transmitted by short-range communication, and the B function button 130 is If the gas appliance is to be extinguished, a control signal for extinguishing the fire is transmitted by long-distance communication.

  Thus, the communication distance is changed for each function, and these are collectively described in FIG. 3 as to how the communication distance is controlled when the functions of the electric key and the gas appliance are controlled. Keep it.

  In the above description, the electric key and the gas appliance have been described as examples. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same method as described above can be applied to another device to create another new one. Expected to produce effects. In other words, as shown in FIG. 3, it may be a door control of an automobile, or even a lighting fixture that does not involve any danger, and there is no harmful effect. In the lighting fixture, usage that gives priority to reducing power consumption is used. There is also a possibility.

  Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3, check the status of the device (check if it is locked or unlocked if it is an electric key or a car door, if it is fired or extinguished if it is a gas appliance) In the case of a lighting fixture, it is preferable to communicate by long-distance communication when checking whether it is turned on or off.

  Since it is not preferable for safety that the device 2000 can be controlled by any terminal, only a specific registered terminal 1000 can control the device 2000.

  This mechanism will be described below. The first transmission / reception means 110 transmits a control signal, and this signal includes ID code information unique to each terminal stored in the first control means 110. When the second transmission / reception unit 200 of the device 2000 receives this signal, the second control unit 210 performs processing, and the ID code stored in the second control unit 210 matches the ID code. In other words, only the terminal 1000 having the ID code registered in the device 2000 is permitted to communicate and can control the device 2000.

  In this way, the second control unit 210 controls and notifies from the notification unit 220 as necessary, or the device-specific operation unit 230 starts (stops) the original operation of the device.

  Next, a communication distance control method will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed internal configuration of the first transmission / reception unit 100 and the second transmission / reception unit 200.

  In FIG. 2, the first transmission / reception unit 100 includes a first attenuation unit 10 (attenuating a transmission signal), a first transmission unit 11, a first reception unit 12, and a first transmission / reception control unit 13. The second transmission / reception unit 200 includes a second transmission unit 21, a second reception unit 22, and a second transmission / reception control unit 23.

The first attenuation means 10 can change the attenuation intensity by the control from the first transmission / reception control means 13. By changing the attenuation intensity stepwise in the attenuation means, for example, As described above, the communication (method) can be changed depending on the strength of radio waves.
1) Long-distance communication (no attenuation) that enables communication within several tens of meters
2) Medium distance communication (medium attenuation) that can be communicated within a few meters
3) Short-distance communication (attenuation is slightly strong) that can be communicated within 1 meter and several tens of centimeters
4) Proximity communication (strong attenuation) that can be communicated within tens of centimeters
5) Contact distance communication (the strongest attenuation) that can only be communicated within a few centimeters.

  Since the first transmission / reception device 100 can always communicate with the first transmission / reception device 100 by the long-distance communication from the transmission signal of the second transmission / reception unit 200, the first transmission / reception device 100 is in accordance with an instruction from the second transmission / reception unit 200. In this case, the intensity of the radio wave of the transmission signal of the first transmission / reception device 100 can be changed according to the request from the device 200 by controlling the first attenuation means 10.

As described above, the communication distance control can be changed to at least five stages. However, for example, when the device 2000 is a household electrical appliance such as in a home, it is not always necessary to use the five stages separately. However, it can be realized in the following two stages.
1) Long-distance communication (no attenuation) that enables communication within several tens of meters
3) Short-range communication (attenuation is slightly strong) that can be communicated within 1 meter and several tens of centimeters.

  In other words, the communication distance is controlled to be different according to the degree of importance, the degree of danger, or the degree of influence, and one operation (an operation that is important, dangerous, or has a large influence). In order not to perform carelessly from a distance, communication is performed only in the short distance mode. Thereby, for example, since communication is performed only within a range of tens of centimeters or less from the device 2000, the device 2000 can be controlled only immediately.

  Also, when performing the reverse operation (the operation that is not important or avoids danger or reduces the degree of influence), if communication is performed in the long-distance mode, even if it is far away (the radio wave is As long as it can be controlled), safe and reliable device control is possible.

  Note that the means described in this embodiment causes hardware resources such as a CPU (or microcomputer), a RAM, a ROM, a storage / recording device, an electric / information device including an I / O, a computer, a server, and the like to cooperate. You may implement with the form of a program. In the form of a program, new functions can be easily distributed / updated and installed by recording them on a recording medium such as magnetic media or optical media, or distributing them using a communication line such as the Internet.

  In this embodiment, the low power wireless communication is described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  As described above, it has been described that various services (functions) are provided only by having the terminal 1000 depending on the distance from the device 2000. However, the terminal according to the present embodiment can be moved by a car or a bicycle. You may prepare for a means. The terminal 1000 may be built in the mobile phone, and the device 2000 may be an office or a school, or may be equipped in a car, and the communication distance may be gradually increased. The circuit configuration for performing the control is not limited to FIG.

  As described above, the device control system of the present invention and the program thereof have different communication distances depending on the degree of importance, degree of danger, or degree of influence, so one operation (important or dangerous) Do not inadvertently perform operations that have a large influence), and control only the most recently, so that the operator can expect to be aware of the operation content on the spot and vice versa ( The operation that is not important or avoids danger or lowers the degree of influence) operates as far as possible even at a distance, so that safe and reliable device control is possible.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a device control system configuration according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an example of a detailed internal configuration of the first transmission / reception unit and the second transmission / reception unit in the first embodiment of the present invention. An example figure which shows the relationship between the function and communication distance in Embodiment 1 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 1st attenuation | damping means 11 1st transmission means 12 1st reception means 13 1st transmission / reception control means 21 2nd transmission means 22 2nd reception means 23 2nd transmission / reception control means 100 1st transmission / reception means 110 First control means (holds unique ID code)
120 A function button (unlocked or lit)
130 B function button (unlocked or extinguished)
200 Second transmission / reception means 210 Second control means (only a specific ID code is registered and only the ID is authenticated)
220 Notification unit 230 Device-specific operation unit 1000 Terminal 2000 Device

Claims (4)

The terminal has a transmission means capable of controlling the communication distance in stages,
When the terminal transmits a signal to control a device, the device control system changes the communication distance according to the importance, risk, or influence of the control. The transmission means includes
Near field communication capable of communication at a short distance (for example, within a few tens of centimeters of 1 meter),
2. The device control system according to claim 1, wherein the communication distance is controlled by switching between long-distance communication capable of communication at a long distance (for example, within several tens of meters). There is a state in which the device is locked like an electric key, or is like a lock,
Or
There are two states that the device is ignited or extinguished like a gas appliance,
When performing certain operations (key unlocking at the door, ignition at the gas appliance)
The terminal communicates via near field communication;
At the opposite operation (locking at the door, fire extinguishing with the gas appliance)
The apparatus control system according to claim 2, wherein the terminal uses long-distance communication. The apparatus control system in any one of Claims 1-3 WHEREIN: The program for making a computer perform at least 1 means.

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