JP2006349445A - Radio-controlled watch and method of receiving standard wave - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the success rate of receiving the standard wave. <P>SOLUTION: The success time of receiving which is the number of success receiving so far is stored in a memory 6, and a ranking part 7 takes the statistics on memory number of cases (success reception times) of the stored success reception times at each reception time zone (for example, every hour between 0:00 to 23:00). Also the ranking part 7 ranks the order of precedence of larger success reception times of each reception time zone. A receiving part 2 receives the standard wave with the precedence from high rank precedence that is, the reception time zone of statistically larger success reception times. As a result, reception works in a time zone that is difficult to receive the standard wave can be avoided, and the success rate of receiving is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio timepiece and a standard radio wave receiving method.

  In Japan, a radio clock receives long wave standard radio waves (east station: 40 kHz, west station: 60 kHz) transmitted from two radio base stations in Japan, and corrects the time by taking out the time information contained therein. Due to its usefulness of being able to always display accurate time, it is becoming popular.

  In general radio timepieces that are widely used at present, the reception of long-wave standard radio waves (hereinafter, standard radio waves) is scheduled at a predetermined time, for example, the time zone during the night when standard radio wave reception is relatively good (for example, 2:00) once a day or multiple times automatically. The scheduled reception time of the standard radio wave is determined by hardware and cannot be changed on the clock user side, or can be arbitrarily set by the user depending on the clock. In any case, the reception of the standard radio wave is performed at a predetermined time in the day.

  However, although the reception of the standard radio wave is performed in a time zone in which the reception state is relatively good as described above, the radio wave reception state, that is, the radio wave intensity is weak depending on the environment in which the watch is used. May not be received normally. If the standard radio wave is not received normally, that is, if the reception fails, not only the power consumption required for the reception operation is wasted, but also the standard radio wave is not frequently received, If the situation in which the correction cannot be made continues, the usefulness of the radio timepiece that always displays the correct time is greatly impaired.

  In the case of a radio-controlled timepiece that employs the above-described timed reception method, the time is corrected if the reception starts successfully at a fixed time (for example, 2:00). If the reception is successful, Re-reception (retry) is continuously performed a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes), or re-reception is performed after a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour).

  However, when re-reception is performed as described above, reception is successful at the early stage of re-reception, that is, the second and third reception operations after the first reception operation fails at the scheduled reception time. However, the radio wave condition in the time zone around the scheduled reception time (for example, the time zone from 3 to 4 hours after the scheduled time) is poor due to the usage environment of the clock (the clock user's living environment), and reception is received in that time zone. If this is not possible, the re-reception operation will be repeated despite the fact that the reception will not be successful no matter how many times it is re-received. Become. Especially when the watch is used in a mountainous area or an area surrounded by large buildings, the watch will always be placed in an environment where the radio wave condition is bad, and the reception operation is repeated as described above. Happens frequently. Furthermore, generally at night when scheduled reception is performed, the clock is placed indoors due to the person's daily rhythm and the watch is placed indoors. Incur profits. In particular, in a portable electronic device such as a wristwatch whose power supply capacity is limited, waste of power becomes a serious problem.

In view of the above problems, there has been proposed a radio timepiece that performs the first reception operation of a standard radio wave at the time when the previous reception was successful (see Patent Document 1). In the radio-controlled timepiece, first, the first reception operation is started at the time when the previous reception was successful (for example, 8:00). If the reception is successful, the time is corrected. As with the radio clock of the reception method, re-reception is performed continuously for a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes), and if reception is still not successful, re-reception is performed after a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour). It has become. The radio clock is based on the idea that the time when the previous reception was successful, that is, the time when the radio wave condition is good for the clock user (the reception is easy), and the life rhythm unique to each clock user. The receiving operation can be performed according to
Japanese Patent No. 3000245

  However, although the reception success rate of the standard radio wave is improved by the radio timepiece described in Patent Document 1, there is no guarantee that the reception will be successful at the same time next time just because the previous reception was successful. For example, according to the clock user's normal life rhythm, even if the time zone is indoors and it is difficult to receive it, it is only accidentally placed in a place where the radio wave environment is good only when the previous reception was successful. And the reception is successful. In addition, when the first reception fails, the re-reception operation is performed immediately after the reception failure or after a certain period of time as in the case of the time-reception type radio timepiece. If the state is bad, a useless re-reception operation that cannot be successfully received is repeated. Therefore, it can be said that there is still room for improvement from the viewpoint of the reception success rate.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a radio timepiece and a standard radio wave receiving method with an improved standard radio wave reception success rate.

A radio timepiece that receives a standard radio wave that includes time information and corrects the time,
at least,
A receiver for receiving a standard radio wave including time information;
A time measuring unit for correcting the time based on the standard radio wave received by the receiving unit;
A storage unit for storing and storing the successful reception time of the standard radio wave;
A ranking that takes statistics of the number of records of the reception success time for each predetermined reception time zone with respect to the reception success time accumulated in the storage unit and determines the priority of the reception time zone based on the statistical result Means and
The receiving unit is a radio timepiece that preferentially receives the standard radio wave from a reception time zone having a higher priority determined by the ranking unit.

  The ranking means is a radio timepiece that determines the priority of the reception time period in descending order of the number of stored reception success times.

  The reception unit is a radio timepiece that does not perform a subsequent reception operation based on the priority order on the day if reception is not successful even when the priority order reaches a predetermined order.

  When the reception unit does not receive the standard radio wave based on the priority order for a certain period, the radio clock is configured to erase all the reception success times stored in the storage unit.

  The reception unit receives a predetermined number of times for one of the plurality of reception time zones, and if the reception is not successful even if the predetermined number of times is exceeded, the priority is the next highest A radio clock that shifts the reception operation during the reception time zone.

  The reception unit is included in another reception time zone in which the number of successful reception times included in one of the plurality of reception time zones is earlier than the reception time zone in one day. If the number of successful reception times is greater than the number of successful reception times and the difference in the number of successful reception times included is within a predetermined value, the earlier reception time zone is received first. A radio clock.

  The reception unit includes the number of successful reception times included in a predetermined reception time zone among a plurality of reception time zones, and the successful reception time included in another reception time zone among the plurality of reception time zones. When the difference from the number of cases is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the radio timepiece does not receive the standard radio wave in the reception time zone in which the number of successful reception times is smaller.

  The reception unit is scheduled at regular intervals until reception is successful every time reception of the standard radio wave fails until the number of successful reception times included in at least one of the reception time zones exceeds a predetermined value. The radio clock is configured to receive the standard radio wave according to the priority determined by the ranking unit only when reception is repeated and the number of successful reception times exceeds a predetermined value.

  The receiving unit is a radio clock that performs reception of the standard radio wave according to the priority order at the same time as the reception success time stored in the storage unit.

A standard radio wave reception method for receiving a standard radio wave including time information,
Receiving the standard radio wave including time information and storing and storing the reception success time when the standard radio wave was successfully received,
Taking statistics of the number of records of the reception success time for each predetermined reception time zone with respect to the accumulated reception success time, and determining the priority of the reception time zone based on the statistical result,
A standard radio wave receiving method for preferentially receiving the standard radio wave from the reception time zone with the highest priority.

  The standard radio wave receiving method is used in which the priority is determined in descending order of the number of stored reception success times.

  If reception is not successful even when the priority level reaches a predetermined level, a standard radio wave reception method that does not perform a subsequent reception operation based on the priority level on that day is adopted.

  When reception of the standard radio wave based on the priority order is not performed for a certain period, the standard radio wave reception method of erasing all the reception success times stored so far is adopted.

  If a predetermined number of times of reception is performed for one of the plurality of reception time periods and the reception is not successful even if the predetermined number of times is exceeded, the next reception is performed in the reception time period of the next highest priority. Standard radio wave reception method.

  The number of successful reception times included in one of the plurality of reception time zones is the number of successful reception times included in the other reception time zones that are earlier than the reception time zone in one day. A standard radio wave reception method of receiving the reception time zone in the earlier time zone first when the difference in the number of successful reception times included in each other is less than or equal to a predetermined value. To do.

  The difference between the number of successful reception times included in a predetermined reception time zone among the plurality of reception time zones and the number of successful reception times included in other reception time zones among the multiple reception time zones is When it is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the standard radio wave receiving method is adopted in which the standard radio wave is not received in the reception time zone with the smaller number of successful reception times.

  Until the number of the successful reception times included in at least one of the reception time zones exceeds a predetermined value, the reception of the standard radio wave is failed every time when the reception is successful, and the scheduled reception is repeated every time. Only when the number of successful reception times exceeds a predetermined value, the standard radio wave receiving method that receives the standard radio waves based on the priority order.

  A standard radio wave reception method is performed in which the reception of the standard radio wave according to the priority is performed at the same time as the stored reception success time.

  According to the present invention, statistics are obtained for each predetermined reception time period with respect to the reception success time so far, the reception time periods are prioritized in descending order of the number of successful receptions, and the standard radio wave reception operation is prioritized. It is possible to improve the reception success rate by giving priority to the upper time zone, that is, the time zone when the reception success rate is statistically high.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a radio timepiece of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the radio timepiece of the present invention includes an antenna 1 for receiving a standard radio wave, a receiving unit 2 for extracting time information (time code) from the standard radio wave received by the antenna 1, and a receiving unit 2 The time measuring unit 3 that corrects the current time based on the extracted time code, the display unit 4 that displays the current time corrected by the time measuring unit 3, the oscillation unit 5 that outputs a clock signal, and the receiving unit 2 are standard. A storage unit 6 that stores and stores the reception start time (reception success time) when radio wave reception is successful, and the number of records stored for each predetermined reception time zone with respect to past reception success times stored in the storage unit 6 In other words, taking the statistics of the number of successful receptions, and ranking unit 7 that prioritizes (ranks) each reception time zone in descending order of the number of successful receptions, and controls each of the above operation units to execute a predetermined operation And a control unit 8 There.

  The receiving unit 2 is composed of a known receiving circuit, detection circuit, and the like, extracts time information (time code) from a standard radio wave received via the antenna 1 and digitizes it, and outputs it as standard time data to the control unit 8 To do. The control unit 8 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and causes the time measuring unit 3 to correct the current time based on the standard time data output from the receiving unit 2 and also stores the reception success time in the storage unit 6. The storage unit 6 is configured by a storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and can successfully write, read, and erase reception success time data. Note that the maximum number of successful reception times stored in the storage unit 6 depends on the memory capacity of the storage unit 6, but when the number of successful reception times exceeds the maximum number of storages, the oldest successful reception time data is sequentially applied. It will be erased. The display unit 4 includes a liquid crystal panel, a pointer, a dial, and the like, and displays the current time corrected by the time measuring unit 3.

  Here, the radio timepiece of the present invention is most characterized in that the ranking unit 7 is provided. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the ranking unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining ranking processing by the ranking unit. FIG. 2A is a diagram showing statistics on the number of successful receptions. (A) is a figure which shows the priority (ranking) of each reception time slot | zone determined based on the statistics of the frequency | count of a successful reception shown to (a), (c) is a figure which shows the order in which reception is actually performed by a receiving part. . First, as shown in FIG. 2, the ranking unit 7 includes a time determination circuit 7a for determining “hour”, “minute”, “second” (particularly “hour” in this embodiment) of the reception success time, and the reception success time. A counter 7b for counting the number of cases, a statistical circuit 7c for generating statistical data of the number of successful receptions based on the output data of the time determination circuit 7a and the counter 7b, and a predetermined data based on the statistical data generated by the statistical circuit 7c. A comparison circuit 7d that compares the number of successful receptions for each reception time zone and a ranking circuit 7e that determines the priority (ranking) of the reception time zones in descending order of the number of successful reception times based on the comparison result of the comparison circuit 7d. Has been.

  The process until the ranking unit 7 determines the ranking of the reception time zone is as follows. First, when the receiving unit 2 succeeds in receiving the standard radio wave and the reception success time is stored in the storage unit 6, a ranking start signal is output from the control unit 8 to the ranking unit 7. The ranking unit 7 receives the ranking start signal from the control unit 8, reads the reception success time data from the storage unit 6, and takes it into the time determination circuit 7 a and the counter 7 b. The fetched successful reception time data is determined as “hour” by the time determination circuit 7a, and the number of successful reception times is counted by the counter 7b. For example, when reception success time data such as 7:00, 7:10, 7:30, etc. are included in the reception success time data captured by the time determination circuit 7a, they are regarded as the same 7:00 data. Determined.

  Both the time determination result and the count result output from the time determination circuit 7a and the counter 7b are output to the statistical circuit 7c, and statistical data of the number of successful receptions as shown in FIG. Here, the total number of successful reception times, that is, the total number of successful reception times is 100, and one day (24 hours) is defined as a reception time zone for every hour. However, the reception time zone may be defined as one reception time zone from 0:00 to 2:00, for example, and can be arbitrarily selected.

  In the statistical result shown in FIG. 3 (a), the reception time zone of 7:00 has the highest number of successful receptions when the number of successful receptions is 50 times, followed by the number of successful receptions of 20 times at 17:00 and 12:00, respectively. The number of successful receptions increases in turn. That is, from the statistical result, it can be determined that the standard radio wave can be received only in a substantially fixed time zone in the environment where the clock is currently used. In other words, it can be said that the receiving operation in other time zones is useless.

  The statistical data created by the statistical circuit 7c is output to the comparison circuit 7d and the number of successful receptions in each reception time zone is compared. The comparison results are output to the ranking circuit 7e, and the priority order is determined in descending order of the number of successful receptions as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3 (b), the number of successful receptions at 7:00 units is the largest at 50 times, ranking first, followed by 17:00 units and 12:00 units at 20 times and 15 times, respectively. The ranking is 2nd and 3rd. The 16:00, 18:00, and 19:00 units have the same number of successful receptions, 5 times each. However, if the number of receptions is the same in this way, for example, the ranking is determined in the order of the reception time zone. The

  In this embodiment, the superiority and inferiority of each reception time zone is compared with each other, but an arithmetic circuit (not shown) is provided to occupy each reception time in each reception time zone. Calculate the percentage (%) of the number of successes (for example, 7:00, which is ranked first in the ranking with respect to the total number of 100 times, is 100 × 50/100 = 50%). Alternatively, other configurations may be used as long as the operation of the ranking unit according to the present invention can be obtained.

  The control unit 8 causes the reception unit 2 to receive the standard radio wave preferentially from the reception time zone with the higher priority according to the priority of the reception time zone determined by the ranking unit as described above. For example, the first reception within the day is performed at a fixed time (for example, 2:00), and if the reception fails, the subsequent re-reception operation according to the priority order as shown in FIG. I will go. However, as shown in FIG. 3C, since there is a temporal contradiction between the priority order determined by the ranking unit 7 and the actual reception time period, the priority determined by the ranking unit 7 It is virtually impossible to receive the ranks (1st to 24th) from the beginning in the day (except for some exceptions). In other words, according to the priority order (ranking order), the second place 17:00 units are received after the first place 7:00 units, and then the third place 12:00 units are received. However, according to the actual flow of time, it is impossible to receive the second place 17:00 unit in the time zone later than the third place 12:00 unit first. Therefore, when the receiving unit actually performs reception, after receiving at the first ranking of 7:00 units, the reception of the third ranking of 12:00 units is canceled and the second ranking is at 17:00. The control unit 8 manages the actual reception order so that only the reception of the stations is performed or the ranking order is ignored and the 12:00 stations of the third ranking are received first. Note that the above-mentioned part of the exception is a case where the progression order of the reception time zones according to the ranking order completely matches the actual time zone flow.

  Here, if the method of canceling reception of the third ranking of the former is adopted, as a result, reception of 12:00 units of the third ranking will not be performed, so in that respect the latter ranking ranking is ignored. It can be said that it is more preferable to adopt the method. However, if the latter method is adopted, even if there is a large difference in the number of successful receptions between the second and third rankings, it is statistically far from the second ranking reception time zone. In this case, the third highest ranking reception with a lower reception success rate is received first, which is inefficient from the viewpoint of the reception success rate. Therefore, as a solution to this problem, for example, if there is no difference in the number of successful receptions between the second rank and the third rank, the reception time zone of the third rank is the second rank reception. Judgment that the reception success rate is equivalent to the time zone, giving priority to the 3rd ranking. If there is a difference of more than a certain value, the 3rd ranking reception time zone is higher than the 2nd ranking reception time zone. It is determined that the reception success rate is far lower, so that the third ranking is omitted and the second receiving time zone is given priority.

  The above-mentioned difference of a certain value or more is, for example, a difference of 50% or more of the number of successful receptions in the second reception time zone, that is, a difference of 20 × 0.5 = 10 times or more in the embodiment shown in FIG. However, it can be appropriately selected depending on the situation. In the above description, the case where the third reception time zone is ranked earlier than the second ranking reception time zone is taken as an example, but it is earlier than the second ranking reception time zone. Even when there are a plurality of reception time zones with lower ranking rankings (here, reception time zones with the third or lower ranking), the number of successful receptions with the second highest ranking reception time zone and the number of successful receptions with each. And the same processing is performed.

  Further, the same method can be applied even when there is no time contradiction between the ranking order and the actual reception time zone. For example, the first ranking reception time zone (here, 7:00) and the number of successful receptions of all other reception time zones are compared, and the reception operation is canceled in all the reception time zones having a difference of a certain value or more as described above. By doing so, it becomes possible to select only a reception time zone with a high reception success rate and receive.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), after the reception fails at the scheduled reception time 2:00, the reception is performed at 7:00 units by canceling 3:00 to 6:00. If it fails, cancel 8:00 to 11:00 and receive at 12:00 units, and if the reception fails, cancel 13:00 to 16:00 and receive at 17:00 units However, if the reception at 17:00, which is the third reception according to the ranking order, fails, the reception success frequency is much lower, that is, the reception success rate after that is much lower. Reception is performed at (18:00 to 23:00), which is inefficient from the viewpoint of the reception success rate. Therefore, if reception does not succeed even if the reception operation shifts to a reception time zone where the ranking order is somewhat lower (here, third), it is determined that the standard radio wave cannot be received at present. It is desirable to provide a restriction (ranking restriction) on the ranking order so as to cancel all subsequent reception operations.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the standard radio wave receiving operation of the radio timepiece of the present invention. Hereinafter, the standard radio wave receiving operation of the radio timepiece of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step (indicated by ST in the figure) 1, it is determined whether or not it is a predetermined fixed time for reception, and if it is fixed, the process proceeds to ST2 and the reception operation by the receiving unit 2 is started. If it is not scheduled, the reception operation is not performed and the standby state is reached until the scheduled time is reached. Here, the predetermined fixed time is a predetermined time determined in the same manner as in the prior art, and is set to 2:00 in the present embodiment. Note that the reception start time in ST1 does not necessarily have to be a predetermined time as in the present embodiment, but is the time when the previous reception was successful as in the radio timepiece described in the cited document 1 (strictly speaking, the previous successful reception). Reception start time).

  Normally, the time information (time code) included in the standard radio wave is composed of one piece of data in one continuous minute, so that the reception operation is continued for at least one minute and one time code can be completely acquired. The reception operation is completed. In order to prevent erroneous reception of standard radio waves, reception may be completed when the same time code can be acquired twice consecutively.

  In ST3, it is determined whether or not the reception of the standard radio wave is successful as a result of the reception operation of ST2. If the reception is successful, the process proceeds to ST4 and the time is corrected by the time measuring unit 3. Move on to ST6. After the current time is corrected by the time measuring unit 3 in ST4, the process proceeds to ST5, the reception start time is stored in the storage unit 6, and then the standby state is set until the next scheduled time (2:00). . That is, when the ST2 reception operation is successful, the next (next day) reception operation is performed at the same scheduled reception time as the previous (previous day), and thereafter, as long as the ST2 scheduled reception operation continues to be successful, The receiving operation is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that reception has failed in ST3 and the routine proceeds to ST6, the statistical results of the past successful reception times stored in the storage unit 6, that is, the statistics as shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not there is a reception time zone in which the number of successful receptions exceeds a certain value. As a result, if there is no reception time zone in which the number of successful receptions exceeds a certain value, the process proceeds to ST7 and the reception operation is repeated at regular time intervals (for example, every hour) until reception is successful. Move on to ST10. If reception is successful as a result of repeating reception at ST7 at regular intervals, the process proceeds to ST8 and ST9 sequentially, the time adjustment unit 3 performs time correction and the reception start time is stored in the storage unit 6, Then, it will be in a standby state until the next scheduled time (2:00). That is, as a result of statistical processing as shown in FIG. 3A, unless at least one of a plurality of reception time zones exceeds a certain number of successful receptions, a reception operation is performed at regular intervals until reception is successful. Repeat the routine. By this operation, theoretically, the reception operation is performed without fail in all the time zones of the day, and statistical data of the number of successful receptions with higher reliability is created. The certain number of successful receptions can be arbitrarily selected within the range of the maximum number of successful reception times stored in the storage unit 6. In this embodiment, the number of successful receptions is 10 for the maximum number of 100 stored items in the storage unit 6. Times. However, the conditions for shifting from ST6 to ST10 are not limited to this. For example, when there are a plurality of reception time zones in which the number of successful receptions exceeds a certain value, the process may shift to ST10. Good.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the routine constituted by the above ST1 to ST9 is defined as the normal reception mode, and the routine constituted after ST10 described later is defined as the ranking reception mode. The former normal reception mode is a mode for storing a certain amount of reception success time data in the storage unit 6 by repeating the same scheduled reception operation as before, and more reception success time data as much as this mode is continued. Are stored in the storage unit 6, and the number of samples when the ranking unit 7 creates the statistical data increases, so that more accurate statistical data can be created. In other words, the radio timepiece of the present invention can learn the current rhythm of the current clock user more accurately. As described above, ST6 determines whether or not the radio timepiece of the present invention has learned the life rhythm of the watch user to some extent, and when at least one of a plurality of reception time zones does not exceed a certain number of successful reception times. Therefore, it is determined that the life rhythm of the clock user has not been accurately grasped yet, the process proceeds to ST7, and the normal reception mode is continued in order to acquire more reception success time data.

  On the other hand, the latter ranking reception mode is a mode in which the receiving unit 2 performs a receiving operation in accordance with the ranking order of the reception time zone determined by the ranking unit 7, and each time a reception fails, the subsequent re-receiving operation is ranked higher. Reception is performed in order from the reception time zone, that is, the time zone when the reception success rate is statistically high. For details, first, it is determined whether or not the routine that has been determined to be YES in ST6 and proceeds to ST10 is the first receiving time zone (7:00) in the ranking shown in FIG. If there is, the process proceeds to ST11 and a reception operation is performed at a predetermined reception start time. If not, a standby state is entered until the reception time zone (7:00) is reached.

  The reception operation in ST11 is the earliest time among the successful reception times in the past in the ranking first reception time zone (7:00), for example, 7:10 at the reception success time of 7:00 units, If there is 7:30, 7:50, it will start at the earliest time of 7:10, or it will start at a predetermined time (7:00, 7:30, etc.) The In this embodiment, reception is performed only once for one reception time zone. However, the reception may be performed a plurality of times within the reception time zone. You may make it receive a success time in an early order.

  In ST12, the reception result in ST11 is determined. If the reception is successful, the process proceeds to ST13 and ST14 in sequence, the time adjustment unit 3 corrects the time, and the storage unit 6 stores the reception start time. When ST14 is completed, the routine returns to ST10 and is in a standby state until the next (next day) first ranking reception time zone (7:00). In other words, after the ST6 branch, once the ST10 or later ranking reception mode is reached, the normal reception mode configured by ST1 to ST9 is not returned except for special cases, and the ranking first receiving time zone (7 : 00), the first reception operation after the next time (next day) is started. However, in carrying out the present invention, after ST14, the normal reception mode may be shifted to ST1. In this case, the first reception operation of the day is performed at the same scheduled reception time (2:00). ), Only when the reception fails, the mobile terminal shifts to the ranking reception mode and performs the re-reception operation. The conditions for returning from the ranking reception mode to the normal reception mode will be described later.

  If it is determined in ST12 that the reception operation in ST11 has failed, the process proceeds to ST15 and the second reception time zone (as described above, between the second and third rankings). Since the number of successful receptions in the past does not have a difference of a certain value or more (difference of 10 times or more), the standby state is maintained until 12:00, which is ranked third in the ranking, is prioritized. When it is determined in ST15 that the reception time zone (12:00) of the second ranking (actually third) is reached, the process proceeds to ST16 and is determined in advance (for example, 12:00). Alternatively, the reception operation of the reception unit is started at a past successful reception time (for example, 12:20). In the subsequent ST17, it is determined whether or not the reception is successful in ST16. If the reception is successful, the process proceeds to ST18 and ST19 in order to correct the time by the time measuring unit 3, and the reception start time is stored in the storage unit 6. Is memorized. After completion of ST19, as in the routine after completion of ST14, the process returns to ST10 and is in a standby state until the next ranking first reception time zone (7:00).

  If it is determined in ST17 that the reception operation of ST16 has failed, the process proceeds to ST20 and is in a standby state until the reception time zone (17:00) of the third highest ranking (actually second highest) is reached. . When it is determined in ST20 that the reception time zone is ranked third (17:00), the process proceeds to ST21 and a predetermined time (for example, 17:00) or a past successful reception time (for example, 17:00). For example, the reception operation of the reception unit 2 is started at 17:40). In ST22, it is determined whether or not the reception is successful in ST21. If the reception is successful, the process proceeds to ST23 and ST24 in order, the time is adjusted by the time measuring unit 3, and the reception start time is stored in the storage unit 6. Remembered. After completion of ST24, the routine returns to ST10 in the same manner as the routine after completion of ST14 and ST19, and is in a standby state until the next reception time zone (7:00) of the first ranking.

  If it is determined in ST22 that the reception operation of ST23 has failed, in this embodiment, since it is the ranking limit (ranking 3) here, the process is forcibly shifted to ST10 and the next ranking first. It will be in a standby state until the reception time zone (7:00). Thus, in this embodiment, every time the receiving unit 2 fails to receive the standard radio wave, the scheduled reception time (2:00) → the first ranking reception time zone (7:00) → the second ranking ranking ( The reception success rate is statistically viewed from the flow of the reception time zone (12:00) in the third place (actually third) → the reception time zone (17:00) in the third place (actually second place) in the ranking. The reception operation is repeated in the order in which it is estimated that the value is high.

  In the embodiment described above, when the usage environment of the clock changes suddenly, the ranking ranking based on the statistical data so far becomes inappropriate and the reception success rate may decrease. obtain. However, if the reception is not successful for a certain period (for example, one week) in the ranking reception mode, it is determined that the use environment of the clock has changed, and all past reception success time data stored in the storage unit 6 are deleted. At the same time, the above problem can be solved by forcibly shifting from the ranking reception mode to the normal reception mode and reconstructing the statistical data in the new usage environment from scratch. That is, as a routine work after it is determined that the reception has failed in ST22, a step is provided for determining whether or not the number of reception failures in ST21 exceeds a predetermined cumulative value (here, seven times for one week), Only when the predetermined value is exceeded, a routine for returning to ST1 is configured.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the reception operation is performed in the normal reception mode similar to the conventional one until the reception success time data to some extent can be acquired. However, this is not necessarily required for implementing the present invention. Alternatively, the normal reception mode may be omitted and the reception operation may be performed only in the ranking reception mode starting from ST10. However, in that case, in order to create more accurate statistical data, it is desirable that the reception operation is not interrupted due to the ranking restriction so that all time periods in a day can be received without any interruption.

  The radio timepiece of the present invention can also collect statistics on the number of successful receptions in units of days of the week, weeks, and months, and different rankings may be applied for each day of the week, week, and month. By doing so, it becomes possible to receive standard radio waves more suitable for the life rhythm of the watch user, and the reception success rate is improved.

  The gist of the present invention is to analyze a time zone in which standard radio waves are likely to be successfully received by taking statistics of times when reception was successful in the past, and to perform a receiving operation in a time zone in which reception is more likely to succeed. Therefore, the statistical data creation method, reception start time management method, and the like are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately selected without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the radio timepiece of this invention Block diagram showing the internal structure of the ranking unit It is a figure for demonstrating the ranking process by a ranking part, (a) is a figure which shows the statistics of reception success frequency, (b) is each reception time zone determined based on the statistics of reception success frequency shown to (a) The figure which shows the priority (ranking) of FIG., (C) is a figure which shows the order in which reception is actually performed by the receiving part. Flowchart for explaining the standard radio wave receiving operation of the radio timepiece of the invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 Receiving part 3 Time measuring part 4 Display part 5 Oscillating part 6 Memory | storage part 7 Ranking part 7a Time determination circuit 7b Counter 7c Statistical circuit 7d Comparison circuit 7e Ranking circuit 8 Control part

Claims (18)

A radio timepiece that receives a standard radio wave that includes time information and corrects the time,
at least,
A receiver for receiving a standard radio wave including time information;
A timing unit that corrects the time based on the standard radio wave received by the receiving unit;
A storage unit for storing and storing the successful reception time of the standard radio wave;
A ranking for obtaining the statistics of the number of stored successful reception times for each predetermined reception time zone with respect to the successful reception times accumulated by the storage unit and determining the priority order of the reception time zones based on the statistical results Means and
The radio timepiece wherein the receiving unit receives the standard radio wave preferentially from a reception time zone having a higher priority determined by the ranking means.   2. The radio timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the ranking unit determines the priority order of the reception time periods in descending order of the number of stored reception success times.   3. The receiving unit according to claim 1, wherein if the reception is not successful even when the priority reaches a predetermined level, the receiving unit does not perform a subsequent receiving operation based on the priority on the day. The radio clock described in 1.   The reception success time stored in the storage unit is all deleted when the reception unit does not receive the standard radio wave based on the priority order for a predetermined period. The radio timepiece according to any one of 3 above.   The reception unit receives a predetermined number of times for one of the plurality of reception time zones, and if the reception is not successful even if the predetermined number of times is exceeded, the priority is the next highest The radio wave timepiece according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the reception operation is shifted to a reception time zone.   The reception unit is included in another reception time zone in which the number of successful reception times included in one of the plurality of reception time zones is earlier than the reception time zone in one day. If the number of successful reception times is greater than the number of successful reception times and the difference in the number of successful reception times included is within a predetermined value, the earlier reception time zone is received first. The radio timepiece according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein   The reception unit includes the number of successful reception times included in a predetermined reception time zone among a plurality of reception time zones, and the successful reception time included in another reception time zone among the plurality of reception time zones. 7. The standard radio wave is not received in the reception time zone in which the number of successful reception times is smaller when the difference from the number of cases is a predetermined value or more. Radio wave clock as described in one.   The reception unit is scheduled at regular intervals until reception is successful every time reception of the standard radio wave fails until the number of successful reception times included in at least one of the reception time zones exceeds a predetermined value. 2. The standard radio wave according to the priority order determined by the ranking unit is received only when reception is repeated and the number of successful reception times exceeds a predetermined value. The radio timepiece according to any one of? 7.   The reception unit performs reception of the standard radio wave according to the priority order at the same time as the reception success time stored in the storage unit. The radio wave clock described. A standard radio wave reception method for receiving a standard radio wave including time information,
Receiving the standard radio wave including time information and storing and storing the reception success time when the standard radio wave was successfully received,
Taking statistics of the number of records of the reception success time for each predetermined reception time zone with respect to the accumulated reception success time, and determining the priority of the reception time zone based on the statistical result,
A standard radio wave receiving method, wherein the standard radio wave is preferentially received from the reception time zone having a higher priority.   The standard radio wave reception method according to claim 10, wherein the priority is determined in descending order of the number of records of the reception success time.   12. The standard radio wave according to claim 10, wherein if reception is not successful even when the priority reaches a predetermined priority, a subsequent reception operation based on the priority on the day is not performed. Reception method.   13. If the reception of the standard radio wave based on the priority order is not performed for a certain period, all the reception success times stored so far are erased. Standard radio wave reception method.   If a predetermined number of times of reception is performed for one of the plurality of reception time periods and the reception is not successful even if the predetermined number of times is exceeded, the next reception is performed in the reception time period of the next highest priority. The standard radio wave receiving method according to claim 10, wherein:   The number of successful reception times included in one of the plurality of reception time zones is the number of successful reception times included in the other reception time zones that are earlier than the reception time zone in one day. When the difference in the number of successful reception times that is greater than the number of cases and included in each other is within a predetermined value, the reception time zone that is in the earlier time zone is received first. The standard radio wave receiving method according to any one of claims 10 to 14.   The difference between the number of successful reception times included in a predetermined reception time zone among the plurality of reception time zones and the number of successful reception times included in other reception time zones among the multiple reception time zones is 16. The standard radio wave is not received in the reception time zone with a smaller number of successful reception times when the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, according to any one of claims 10 to 15. Standard radio wave reception method.   Until the number of the successful reception times included in at least one of the reception time zones exceeds a predetermined value, the reception of the standard radio wave is failed every time when the reception is successful, and the scheduled reception is repeated every time. The standard radio wave according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein the standard radio wave is received based on the priority order only when the number of successful reception times exceeds a predetermined value. Reception method. 18. The standard radio wave receiving method according to claim 10, wherein the reception of the standard radio wave according to the priority order is performed at the same time as the stored reception success time.

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