JP2009284290A - Power source device and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power source device that adds functions for power line communication and radio communication to equipment and avoids a failure in communication. <P>SOLUTION: The power source device 1 includes a communication means 16 of communicating with a printer 2 supplied with electric power, a power line communication means 17 of performing power line communication between external equipment and the communication means 16, and three radio communication means 18 to 20 of performing radio communication between the external equipment and communication means 16. The power source device adds the functions of power line communication and radio communication to the printer 2, so that the printer 2 reports status information etc. to the outside. Further, the radio communication means 18 to 20 include different communication standards, so that even if radio communication by one radio communication means ends in failure, there is the possibility that another radio communication is used for communication. Further, the power source device includes the power line communication means 17 to avoid or reduce a failure in communication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a power supply device capable of performing power line communication and wireless communication. The present invention also relates to a communication system constructed by using a plurality of such power supply apparatuses.

  Power line communication performs data communication using an existing power line as a communication medium, and a communication speed from a low speed of about 9600 bps to a high speed of about 200 Mbps has been put into practical use. In Patent Document 1, the function of power line communication is mounted on an AC adapter that supplies power to a device, and the device is connected to a power line communication network via the AC adapter.

  For power line communication, communication standards using the ISM band of 2.4 MHz band such as IEEE802.11b / g, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark) are widely used. The communication speed on the standards in each communication standard is 11 Mbps or 22 Mbps for IEEE802.11b, 54 Mbps for IEEE802.11g, 7 kbps for Bluetooth version 1.2, and 40 kbps to 250 kbps for ZigBee.

These power line communication and wireless communication are used when a communication network is constructed on the premises without laying a communication cable. Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose a communication system in which a communication network is constructed by using both wireless communication and power line communication. Patent Document 2 describes a technique for supplementing missing information by transmitting and receiving the same information in both power line communication and wireless communication, and selecting or combining them. Patent Document 3 describes a technique for increasing transmission efficiency by performing real-time information by high-speed wireless communication and performing information having a large amount of information by low-speed power line communication.
JP 2003-283389 A JP 2006-339882 A JP 2000-339551 A

  Here, the power supply apparatus, such as an AC adapter and an uninterruptible power supply, that can simultaneously add both power line communication and wireless communication functions to a device that supplies power has not been proposed.

  Also, power line communication may be disabled due to communication environment such as electrical appliances connected to the power line, and wireless communication may be disabled due to the structure of buildings, presence of obstacles, radio wave interference, etc. There is. For this reason, there is a problem in that even when functions of both power line communication and wireless communication are added to the device, the case where communication becomes impossible due to a change in the communication environment cannot be completely excluded.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to propose a power supply device that can add power line communication and wireless communication functions to a device that supplies power. Another object of the present invention is to propose a power supply device that can avoid or reduce the case where communication becomes impossible. Furthermore, it is in proposing the communication network using such a power supply device.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the power supply device of the present invention provides:
A power supply unit that directly or converts power from the power line and supplies it to connected devices;
Communication means for communicating with the connected device;
Power line communication means for communicating between the external device and the communication means via the power line;
The apparatus performs wireless communication between an external device and the communication unit, and has, for example, a plurality of wireless communication units having different communication standards.

  According to the present invention, a power supply device that supplies power to a connected device directly or after conversion between a communication device that performs communication between the power supply device and the device, and an external device and the communication device. Power line communication means and wireless communication means for performing communication are included. Therefore, even when a device to which power is supplied does not have power line communication and wireless communication functions, power line communication and wireless communication can be added to the device through the power supply device. Further, since the power supply device has the power line communication means and the wireless communication means, even when a device connected to the power supply device fails, the failure state can be notified from the power supply device to an external device. .

  In addition, since the present invention includes a plurality of wireless communication means, even when wireless communication by one wireless communication means deteriorates in communication state or becomes unable to communicate, communication can be performed by wireless communication by other wireless communication means. Furthermore, as an example, the communication standards of the respective wireless communication means are different from each other. Therefore, even when one wireless communication means becomes unable to communicate, there is a possibility that communication can be performed by other wireless communication means. In addition, since the power line communication means is provided, it is possible to avoid or reduce the case where all communication states deteriorate or communication becomes impossible.

  In the present invention, in order to perform highly reliable communication, the communication quality of each of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units is evaluated, and the highest of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units. It is desirable to have communication control means for causing the first communication means with high communication quality to perform communication. As communication quality, for example, if an error rate, SNR (Signal to Noise ratio), and communication speed are evaluated, highly reliable communication can be performed.

  Here, since the communication speed generally decreases before communication is disabled, the first communication unit is connected to the power line communication unit in order to avoid the communication environment being changed and communication disabled. And the communication speed of the first communication means is preset for the first communication means when, for example, the communication speed according to the communication standard is not the slowest among the plurality of wireless communication means. Communication state monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the communication speed falls below the speed, and the communication control means replaces the first communication means when the communication speed falls below the allowable speed or the power line communication. It is desirable that the second communication means having the communication speed next to the first communication means to perform communication, for example, among the means and the plurality of wireless communication means is preferable.

  In the present invention, in order to reliably transmit and receive information, it is desirable to have communication control means for causing at least two of the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means to perform the same communication.

  In this case, in order to eliminate communication in which the communication state has deteriorated due to a change in the communication environment, each communication speed of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units is determined by the power line communication unit and the plurality of the plurality of wireless communication units. Each of the wireless communication means has a communication state monitoring means for monitoring whether or not each of the preset permissible speeds is fallen, and the communication control means includes the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means. When the first communication means in which the communication speed falls below the allowable speed is detected, the first communication means is the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means. If the communication speed according to the communication standard is not the slowest, it is desirable to stop the communication by the first communication means.

  In the present invention, in order to prevent a plurality of wireless communication means from interfering with each other, channel setting means for assigning communication channels used by each of the plurality of wireless communication means so as not to overlap the same frequency band. It is desirable to have In this way, since each wireless communication means uses a different frequency band, even when radio wave interference occurs in a specific frequency band, it is possible to communicate using other wireless communication means.

  In the present invention, in order to control the driving state of the device connected to the power supply device from the external device, the signal is received from the external device via any one of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units. It is desirable to have drive control means for starting the connected device from the standby state or waiting from the drive state based on the control command.

Next, the communication system of the present invention includes:
At least three of the above power supply devices,
The power line communication means of each power supply unit has built a telephone line communication network through the power lines with each other,
At least one first wireless communication means of the plurality of wireless communication means of each power supply unit is configured as a star-type wireless communication network between them,
At least one second wireless communication unit of the plurality of wireless communication units of each power supply apparatus is configured to mutually form a mesh type wireless communication network.

  According to the communication system of the present invention, a power line communication network and a plurality of wireless communication networks are constructed by using at least three power supply devices. The plurality of wireless communication networks include wireless communication networks with different topologies, and at least one of them has a mesh topology. Therefore, even when the communication environment changes, it is possible to avoid or reduce the case where communication paths of all communication networks are blocked at the same time and communication becomes impossible.

  In this case, in order to reduce the decrease in communication speed due to the topology of the wireless communication network, the communication speed on the communication standard of the second wireless communication means is based on the communication standard of the first wireless communication means. It is desirable that it is slower than the communication speed.

  According to the power supply device of the present invention, the power supply device that supplies power to the connected device communicates between the communication device that performs communication between the power supply device and the device, and between the external device and the communication device. Power line communication means and wireless communication means for performing are provided. Therefore, even when a device to which power is supplied does not have power line communication and wireless communication functions, power line communication and wireless communication can be added to the device. Further, since the power supply device has the power line communication means and the wireless communication means, even when a device connected to the power supply device fails, the failure state can be notified from the power supply device to an external device. .

  In addition, since the power supply device of the present invention includes a plurality of wireless communication means, even if wireless communication by one wireless communication means deteriorates in communication state or becomes impossible to communicate, wireless communication by other wireless communication means Can communicate. Furthermore, since the communication standards of the respective wireless communication means are different from each other, there is a possibility that communication can be performed by other wireless communication means even when one wireless communication means becomes unable to communicate. In addition, since the power line communication means is provided, the case where communication becomes impossible can be avoided or reduced.

  According to the communication system of the present invention, a power line communication network and a plurality of wireless communication networks are constructed by using at least three power supply devices. The plurality of wireless communication networks include wireless communication networks with different topologies, and at least one of them has a mesh topology. Therefore, even when the communication environment changes, it is possible to avoid or reduce the case where communication paths of all communication networks are blocked at the same time and communication becomes impossible.

  Embodiments of a power supply apparatus and a communication system to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Power supply)
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a power supply device according to the present embodiment. The power supply device 1 of the present invention supplies DC power to a printer (equipment) 2 connected to the power supply device 1 and provides functions of power line communication and wireless communication.

  The power supply device 1 has a power cord 3 that is connected to a power line by being plugged into an outlet, a device body 4 that is a rectangular parallelepiped, and a connection cord 5 that connects the device body 4 and the device. The connection cord 5 is branched into two in the middle, and a communication connector 6 for performing communication between the power supply device 1 and the device is attached to the tip of one cord portion 5a. A power connector 7 for supplying power from the power supply 1 to the printer 2 is attached to the tip of the other cord portion 5b.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the power supply device 1. The power supply device 1 includes a power supply unit 10 and a communication unit 11 for connecting the printer 2 connected to the power supply device 1 to a communication network. In addition, a radio wave interference avoiding unit 13 is provided for avoiding communication failure due to microwaves radiated from the microwave oven 12 connected to the power line 8. Details of the radio wave interference avoiding unit 13 will be described later.

  The power supply unit 10 functions as an AC adapter, and converts AC power supplied from the power line 8 via the power cord 3 into predetermined DC power. Further, the converted DC power is supplied from the connection cord 5 to the printer 2 via the power connector 7. When the printer 2 has a power source, AC power may be directly supplied.

  The communication unit 11 is configured around a control unit 15 including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. A communication unit 16 that communicates between the printer 2 and the power supply device 1 is connected to the control unit 15 on the printer 2 side. On the communication network side, there are three power line communication means 17 that communicates between an external device and the communication means 16 via the power line 8, and three different communication standards for wireless communication between the external device and the communication means 16. Wireless communication means 18 to 20 are connected. The control unit 15 includes channel setting means 21, communication state monitoring means 22, communication control means 23, and drive control means 24. Here, the external device is an information device such as the server 14 connected to the communication network, and includes other power supply devices connected to the communication network and devices connected to other power supply devices. Yes.

  The communication means 16 performs wired communication with the printer 2 via the connection cord 5 and the communication connector 6. In this example, the communication connector 6 is connected to the LAN port for communication. The communication means 16 may be connected to a general-purpose communication interface such as a parallel bus, USB (Universal Serial Bus), or serial port for communication.

  The power line communication means 17 is a PLC (Power Line Communication) modem that performs data communication by superimposing a predetermined high frequency on the power line 8. Communication standards for power line communication include a plurality of communication standards provided by PLC modem vendors. In this example, power line communication of a communication standard with a communication speed of 30 Mbps is used.

  The three wireless communication units 18 to 20 are a high-speed wireless communication unit 18 having a communication standard of IEEE 802.11g, a medium-speed wireless communication unit 19 having a communication standard of IEEE 802.11b, and a low-speed wireless communication unit 20 having a communication standard of ZigBee. . Both are wireless communication modems that perform communication using the 2.4 MHz band ISM band. The high-speed wireless communication means 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication means 19 can function as access points of the wireless communication network by operating the setting switch 25. The communication speed according to the IEEE 802.11g communication standard is 54 Mbps, the communication speed according to the IEEE 802.11b communication standard is 11 Mbps, and the communication speed according to the ZigBee communication standard is 250 kbps.

  The channel setting means 21 assigns so that the frequency bands of the communication channels used by the three wireless communication means 18 to 20 do not overlap each other. FIG. 3 (a) is a list of IEEE 802.11b / g and ZigBee communication channels in the 2.4 MHz band. FIG. 3B shows an example in which the channel setting means 21 is set so that the communication channels of the three wireless communication means 18 to 20 do not overlap.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, IEEE802.11b / g has 14 communication channels whose frequency band is changed to 2.4 MHz band, and ZigBee has 16 communication channels whose frequency band is changed. Yes. Therefore, for example, the channel setting means 21 assigns channel 1 which is a communication channel in the 2412 MHz frequency band to the high-speed wireless communication means 18 that communicates by IEEE802.11g, and 2437 MHz to the medium-speed wireless communication means 19 that communicates by IEEE802.11b. Channel 6 which is a communication channel in the frequency band is assigned. Also, any one of channel 20 to channel 26 is assigned to ZigBee.

  Here, when each of the wireless communication units 18 to 20 has a function of dynamically changing a communication channel while detecting a communicable channel capable of communication, the channel setting unit 21 The communication channels changed by the wireless communication means 18 to 20 are acquired and assigned so that they do not overlap the same frequency band.

  When communication is performed by the power line communication unit 17 and any of the three wireless communication units 18 to 20, the communication state monitoring unit 22 is connected to the power line communication unit 17 and the wireless communication units 18 to 20. When the communication speed is not the slowest wireless communication means 20 among the communication standards, it is monitored whether or not the communication speed at which communication is performed falls below a preset allowable speed. The allowable speed of the high-speed wireless communication means 18 that performs communication by IEEE802.11g is 6 Mbps, the allowable speed of the power line communication means 17 is 3 Mbps, and the allowable speed of the medium-speed wireless communication means that performs communication by IEEE802.11b is 1 Mbps. Each permissible speed is set to about 1/3 of a communication speed that can be practically used in the power line communication means 17 and the high-speed and medium-speed wireless communication means 18 and 19.

  The communication control unit 23 causes the power line communication unit 17 and any one of the three wireless communication units 18 to 20 to perform communication. At the start of communication, the power line communication unit 17 and the three wireless communication units 18. The communication quality of ˜20 is evaluated, and communication is performed by one communication means having the highest communication quality. Communication quality can be evaluated based on error rate, SNR, communication speed, and the like. The error rate, SNR, and communication speed can be obtained by known methods. These evaluations can be performed using a preset threshold value.

  Further, when it is detected that the communication speed of the communication means that is performing communication falls below the allowable speed, the communication control means 23 determines the communication standard from the power line communication means 17 and the three wireless communication means 18-20. The communication speed is switched to the communication means having the next highest communication speed after the communication means with which communication is performed, and communication is performed.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an operation in which the communication control unit 23 performs communication while switching between the power line communication and the three wireless communication units 18 to 20. As shown in FIG. 4, when the communication speed falls below the allowable speed during communication with the high-speed wireless communication means 18, the power line communication means 17 performs communication instead of the high-speed wireless communication means 18. When the communication speed of the power line communication means 17 falls below the allowable speed, the medium speed wireless communication means 19 is made to communicate instead of the power line communication means 17. When the communication speed of the medium-speed wireless communication means 19 falls below the allowable speed, the low-speed wireless communication means 20 is made to communicate instead of the medium-speed wireless communication means 19. In other words, when the communication environment changes during communication and the communication speed becomes lower than the allowable speed, the communication means having a communication speed according to the communication standard is switched from the fast communication means to the slow communication means. When communication is performed by the low-speed wireless communication unit 20, the communication by the low-speed wireless communication unit 20 is maintained.

  When one of the power line communication unit 17 and the three wireless communication units 18 to 20 receives the control command for controlling the printer 2 via the communication network, the drive control unit 24 receives the control command based on the received control command. 2 is started from the standby state, or from the driving state.

  When the power cord 3 of the power supply device 1 is plugged into an outlet and the power connector 7 of the connection cord 5 is connected to the printer 2, the power supply unit 10 converts AC power into predetermined DC power and supplies it to the printer 2. If the communication connector 6 of the connection cord 5 is connected to the communication interface of the printer 2, the power supply device 1 adds a power line communication function and a wireless communication function to the printer 2. That is, the printer 2 is connected to the power line communication network via the communication unit 16 and the power line communication unit 17 and can communicate with an external device. Further, the printer 2 is connected to three wireless communication networks via the communication means 16 and three wireless communication means 18 to 20 using communication channels that do not overlap in frequency bands, or is connected to another power supply device in an ad hoc mode. It becomes possible to communicate with external devices.

(Radio interference avoidance unit)
Here, the radio wave interference avoiding unit 13 will be described. The radio wave interference avoiding unit 13 is connected to the power line 8 when the power supply 1 and the printer 2 connected to the power supply 1 constitute a part of an order entry system in a restaurant. This is to prevent the wireless communication of each of the wireless communication means 18 to 20 from being disabled due to the microwaves radiated by the.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the radio wave interference avoiding unit 13 includes a microwave operation detecting unit 26, a channel specifying unit 27, and a channel setting unit 21. The channel specifying unit 27 is configured in the control unit 15. The channel setting means 21 operates in both the communication unit 11 and the radio wave interference avoiding unit 13.

  The microwave oven operation detecting means 26 detects the operating state of the microwave oven 12, and a voltage fluctuation detecting means 28 for detecting a change in the power supply voltage of the power line 8, and an operation start of the microwave oven 12 based on the change in the power supply voltage. An operation detecting means 29 for detecting the time point and the operation stop time is provided. The operation detection means is configured in the control unit 15. When the voltage fluctuation detection unit 28 detects that the power supply voltage of the power line 8 has dropped instantaneously, the operation detection unit 29 detects this as the operation start time of the microwave oven 12. When the voltage fluctuation detection unit 28 detects that the power supply voltage of the power line 8 has instantaneously increased by a predetermined value within a predetermined time range, the operation detection unit 29 detects this as the operation stop time of the microwave oven 12. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the microwave operation detecting means 26 is applied to the power supply device 1 by using the induction coil 30 attached to the power cord of the microwave oven 12 and the electrical change generated in the induction coil 30 as a predetermined signal. The transmission means 31 for transmission and the operation detection means for detecting the operation start time and the operation stop time of the microwave oven 12 by receiving a predetermined signal may be used.

  The channel specifying unit 27 detects a communicable channel that can communicate without receiving radio wave interference and a non-communication channel that cannot communicate due to radio wave interference while the microwave oven 12 is operating, and stores these in the RAM of the control unit 15. Hold. Here, the frequency of the 2.4 MHz band microwave generated by the magnetron of the microwave oven 12 fluctuates with a period having both long and short periodicities. As a result, the communication channel of each communication standard that becomes incapable of communication due to the interference of the microwave periodically varies with the elapsed time from the operation start time of the microwave oven. The communication disabled channel and the communication enabled channel are detected at predetermined intervals from the operation start time to the operation stop time, and the detected communication disabled channel and communication enabled channel are associated with the elapsed time from the operation start time of the microwave oven 12. It is stored as a channel variation table.

  A well-known technique for detecting these channels while performing frequency hopping is used to detect the communication disabled channel and the communication enabled channel. In this example, the low-speed wireless communication means 20 that communicates with ZigBee, which has a small transmission output and is susceptible to radio wave interference, is used as a sensor to detect a communication disabled channel and a communication enabled channel. Further, the communication impossible channel and the communication possible channel are detected every 100 ms after the operation start time of the microwave oven 12 is detected.

  Note that the channel variation table stored and held in the control unit 15 is accessible from other power supply devices in order to be shared with other power supply devices that can communicate with the power supply device 1. Further, when another power supply device accesses, the channel variation table can be stored and held in the controller of the other power supply device that has accessed.

  Next, when the channel variation table is stored and held in the control unit 15, the channel setting unit 21 allocates the communication channels of the wireless communication units 18 to 20 based on the channel variation table when the microwave oven 12 operates. . That is, when the microwave oven 12 operates, the channel setting means 21 refers to the communication disabled channel and the communication enabled channel in the channel fluctuation table at predetermined intervals from the operation start time. Then, the channel setting unit 21 sets any one of the communicable channels as a low-speed wireless while preventing the frequency bands of the communication channels of the wireless communication units 18 to 20 from overlapping as in the case of operating as a part of the communication unit 11. The communication channel of the communication unit 20 is allocated, and any one of a plurality of communication channels not including the frequency band of the communication disabled channel is allocated to the high-speed wireless communication unit 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication unit 19, respectively.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of assigning communication channels so as not to interfere with microwaves. FIG. 6A shows an operation of storing and holding the communication enable channel and the communication disable channel as a channel variation table, and FIG. 6B shows an operation of switching the communication channel. FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram schematically showing microwaves generated while the microwave oven 12 is operating. FIG. 7B is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an example of an operation in which the communication disable channel and the communication enable channel are detected by the low-speed wireless communication means 20 while the microwave oven 12 is operating. FIG. 7C is a channel fluctuation table in which the detected communication disabled channel and the communication enabled channel are associated with the elapsed time from the operation start time of the microwave oven 12. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which communication channels are assigned to avoid radio wave interference.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the microwave operation detecting means 26 detects the operation start time of the microwave oven 12 (step ST1), after 100 ms have passed (step ST2), the channel specifying means 27 determines the communication disabled channel and the communication. A possible channel is detected (step ST3). Further, the detected communication disabled channel and the communication enabled channel are stored and held in the channel fluctuation table in association with the elapsed time from the operation start time (step ST4). Thereafter, until the operation stop time of the microwave oven 12 is detected in step ST5, the communication impossible channel and the communication possible channel are detected and stored at intervals of 100 ms (steps ST2 to ST4).

  Here, when the microwave operation detecting means 26 detects the operation start time of the microwave oven 12, as shown in FIG. 7A, microwaves that change periodically are emitted from the microwave oven 12. Further, the channel specifying means 27 detects a communication disabled channel and a communication enabled channel that change due to this periodicity. In the example shown in FIG. 7B, the channel 13 and the channel 20 are detected as non-communication channels when 100 ms elapses from the operation start time of the microwave oven 12 (indicated by x in the figure), and the channel 14, the channel 15, Channel 18 is detected as a communicable channel (marked with a circle in the figure). When 200 ms has elapsed from the start of the operation, channel 20 and channel 21 are detected as non-communication channels, and channel 12, channel 16, and channel 19 are detected as communication possible channels. At the time when 300 ms elapses from the operation start time, channel 19 and channel 21 are detected as non-communication channels, and channel 11, channel 13, and channel 26 are detected as communication possible channels. As a result, the channel variation table shown in FIG. 7C is stored and held in the control unit 15.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the microwave operation detecting means 26 detects the start of operation of the microwave oven 12 after the channel fluctuation table is stored and held (step ST11), when 100 ms elapses (step ST11). (ST12), the channel setting means 21 assigns the communication channels of the wireless communication means 18 to 20 based on the channel fluctuation table (step ST13). That is, the channel setting means 21 assigns one of the communicable channels to the communication channel of the low-speed wireless communication means 20 so that the frequency bands of the communication channels of the wireless communication means 18 to 20 do not overlap, and the frequency of the communication impossible channel Any of a plurality of communication channels not including a band is allocated to the high-speed wireless communication means 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication means 19, respectively. Thereafter, communication channels are assigned at intervals of 100 ms until the operation stop time of the microwave oven 12 is detected in step ST14 (steps ST12 and ST13).

  When the channel fluctuation table of FIG. 7C is stored and held, as shown in FIG. 8, the channel setting unit 21 causes the low-speed wireless communication unit 20 to wait for 100 ms after the start of the operation of the microwave oven 12. Channel 14 is assigned, channel 6 is assigned to high-speed wireless communication means 18, and channel 14 is assigned to medium-speed wireless communication means 19. When 200 ms elapses from the operation start time, channel 12 is assigned to low-speed wireless communication means 20, channel 4 is assigned to high-speed wireless communication means 18, and channel 13 is assigned to medium-speed wireless communication means 19. When 300 ms elapses from the operation start time, channel 11 is assigned to low-speed wireless communication means 20, channel 3 is assigned to high-speed wireless communication means 18, and channel 13 is assigned to medium-speed wireless communication means 19. Since there are a plurality of combinations of communication channels that can be assigned to each of the wireless communication means 18 to 20, an arbitrary combination is assigned.

  Here, the operations from step ST1 to step ST5 are performed by operating the microwave oven 12 on the premises before communicating with the power supply device 1, that is, before connecting the power supply device 1 to the wireless communication network. If the channel variation table is created in this way, the recordable and communicable channels can be used in accordance with the frequency variation of the microwave emitted by the magnetron when the installed microwave oven 12 is operated. It will be. Therefore, it is possible to reliably avoid the wireless communication by the wireless communication units 18 to 20 from being disabled due to the radio wave interference caused by the microwave.

  If the combination of communication channels to be assigned to each of the wireless communication means 18 to 20 is created in advance as a combination table based on the channel variation table, the channel setting means 21 can assign the communication channel based on the combination table. . Further, since there are a plurality of combinations of communication channels, a plurality of combination tables may be created, and one combination table may be selected with a random number or the like when the operation start time point of the microwave oven 12 is detected.

  Note that the low-speed wireless communication means 20 that communicates with ZigBee can also be used as the microwave operation detection means 26. In this case, frequency hopping is performed by the low-speed wireless communication means 20, the time when radio wave interference occurs in any of the communication channels is detected as the operation start time of the microwave oven 12, and the time point when the radio wave interference disappears is detected. Detected as the operation stop time.

  In addition, when a wireless communication unit that communicates with Bluetooth is provided, it is possible to detect a communication disabled channel and a communication enabled channel by using the wireless communication unit.

(Communications system)
Next, a communication system using the power supply device 1 will be described. The communication system 40 according to the present embodiment constructs a communication network using at least three power supply devices 1. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the topology of each communication network constructed by the power line communication means 17 and the three wireless communication means 18-20.

  As shown in FIG. 9 (a), when the power cords 3 of the power supply devices 1 (1) to 1 (5) are plugged into the outlets, the power line communication means 17 of the power supply devices 1 (1) to 1 (5) A bus-type power line communication network 41 is constructed between them. Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, the high-speed wireless communication means 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication means 19 communicating with IEEE802.11b / g construct star-type wireless communication networks 42 and 43, respectively. As shown in FIG. 9C, the low-speed wireless communication means 20 communicating with ZigBee constructs a mesh-type wireless communication network 44 between them. A server 14 is connected to each of the communication networks 41 to 44.

  FIG. 10 is a perspective view for explaining an initial setting method for constructing the star-type wireless communication network 42 by the high-speed wireless communication means 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication means 19. As shown in FIG. 10, the power cord 3 is inserted into the power tap 45 and the power devices 1 (1) to 1 (5) are arranged at a close distance. Further, the setting switch 25 of one power supply device 1 (1) is operated to cause the high speed wireless communication means 18 and the medium speed wireless communication means 19 of this power supply device 1 to function as access points. Then, the high-speed wireless communication unit 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication unit 19 of the power supply device 1 (1) acquire the MAC addresses and the like of the other power supply devices 1 (2) to (5), and perform star-type wireless communication. Build a network. Then, each power supply device 1 (1) -1 (5) is arrange | positioned to the desired location in a campus.

  Note that the access point of the star-type wireless communication network 42 can be the high-speed wireless communication means 18 of the power supply device 1 (1), and the access point of the star-type wireless communication network 43 can be the power supply device 1 (2). That is, each access point of each of the star-type wireless communication networks 42 and 43 can be a different power supply device.

  In addition, since the communication standards IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11g are compatible, the high-speed wireless communication unit 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication unit 19 can construct one wireless communication network. In this case, between the power supply device 1 (1) and each of the other power supply devices 1 (2) to (5) depending on the response speed when broadcast from the power supply device 1 (1) functioning as an access point. Select the communication standard used in. Further, the communication standard selected between the power supply device 1 (1) and each of the other power supply devices 1 (2) to (5) is stored and held in the power supply device 1 (1) functioning as an access point. This makes it easy to restore even if this wireless communication network goes down.

(Effect of this embodiment)
According to this example, the power supply device 1 that supplies power to the connected printer 2 includes a communication unit 16 that performs communication between the power supply device 1 and the printer 2, and an external printer 2 and the communication unit 16. Power line communication means 17 and wireless communication means 18 to 20 that communicate with each other, even if the printer 2 does not have the functions of power line communication and wireless communication, the printer 2 can perform power line communication and wireless communication. Can be added. Accordingly, it is possible to notify the external device of status information such as an error state or busy state of the printer 2. Further, since the power supply device 1 includes the power line communication means 17 and the wireless communication means 18 to 20, even when the printer 2 connected to the power supply device 1 fails, the failure state is communicated from the power supply device 1. Notification can be made to the external server 14 or the like via the network and the communication network.

  Further, since the power supply device 1 has the drive control means 24, the printer 2 can be activated from a standby state from an external device via a communication network. Or it can be made to stand by from a drive state.

  In this example, three wireless communication means 18 to 20 having different communication standards are provided. Therefore, even when wireless communication by one wireless communication unit becomes impossible, communication can be performed using other wireless communication. Furthermore, since the communication standards of the wireless communication units 18 to 20 are different from each other, even when one wireless communication unit becomes unable to communicate, there is a possibility that communication can be performed by another wireless communication unit. In addition, since the power line communication means 17 is provided, the case where communication becomes impossible can be avoided or reduced.

  Further, in this example, the communication control unit 23 evaluates the communication quality of each of the power line communication unit 17 and the three wireless communication units 18 to 20 and causes the communication unit having the highest communication quality to perform communication. Therefore, highly reliable communication can be performed.

  In addition, in this example, when the communication speed of one communication means performing communication is lower than the allowable speed, the communication speed is switched to another communication means having a communication speed slower than that one communication means. To communicate. In general, the communication speed is reduced before communication is disabled. Therefore, by switching the communication units 17 to 20 in this way, it is possible to avoid the communication environment from being changed and communication disabled.

  Further, in this example, since the communication channel used by each of the three wireless communication units 18 to 20 has the channel setting unit 21 for setting so as not to overlap the same frequency band, the three wireless communication units 18 to Communication by 20 does not interfere with each other. Furthermore, since each wireless communication means 18-20 uses a different frequency band, even when radio wave interference occurs in a specific frequency band, it is possible to communicate using other wireless communication means.

  Next, according to the communication system 40 of this example, the power line communication network 41 and the three wireless communication networks 42 to 44 are constructed. The three wireless communication networks 42 to 44 include star-type wireless communication networks 42 and 43 having different topologies and a mesh-type wireless communication network 44. Therefore, even when the communication environment changes, it is possible to avoid or reduce the case where the communication paths of all the communication networks 41 to 44 are blocked all at once and communication becomes impossible.

  Further, since the mesh-type wireless communication network 44 is constructed by the low-speed wireless communication means 20, and the star-type communication networks 42, 43 are constructed by the high-speed wireless communication means 18 and the medium-speed wireless communication means 19, the communication network A reduction in communication speed due to the topology can be reduced.

(Other embodiments)
In the above example, the communication state monitoring unit 22 monitors whether or not the communication speed of the communication unit that is performing communication falls below the allowable speed. However, the communication quality of the communication unit that is performing communication is monitored. May be monitored. For example, the error rate is detected, and it is monitored whether or not the error rate falls below a predetermined allowable rate. In this case, when the error rate exceeds a preset allowable error rate, the communication control unit 23 changes one communication unit performing communication to the communication unit having the next highest communication speed according to the communication standard. Switch. In this way, highly reliable communication can be performed. Note that the SNR may be detected as the communication quality.

  In the above example, the communication control means 23 causes the power line communication means 17 and any one of the three wireless communication means 18 to 20 to perform communication, but the communication control means 23 is the power line communication means 17. In addition, at least two of the three wireless communication units 18 to 20 may perform the same communication. If the same data is transmitted / received by two or more communication means, even if a part of the data is lost due to deterioration of the communication environment, the transmitted / received data can be selected or synthesized by a well-known technique to complement the missing part. .

  In this case, the communication state monitoring unit 22 monitors whether or not the communication speeds of the power line communication and the three wireless communication units 18 to 20 are below the permissible speeds, and the communication control unit 23 is connected to the communication speed. If a communication means that has fallen below the allowable speed is detected, if the detected communication means is not the low-speed wireless communication means 20 by ZigBee that has the slowest communication speed in accordance with the communication standard, communication of the detected communication means is performed. You may make it stop.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory view schematically showing an operation in which the communication control means 23 stops communication when the communication speed falls below the allowable speed. As shown in FIG. 11, when the communication speed of the high-speed wireless communication means 18 falls below the allowable speed, the communication by the high-speed wireless communication means 18 is stopped, and the power line communication means 17, the medium-speed wireless communication means 19, the low-speed wireless communication The unit 20 performs communication. When the communication speed of the power line communication means 17 falls below the allowable speed, communication by the power line communication means 17 is stopped and the medium speed wireless communication means 19 and the low speed wireless communication means 20 are made to communicate. When the communication speed of the medium-speed wireless communication unit 19 falls below the allowable speed, the communication by the medium-speed wireless communication unit 19 is stopped and the low-speed wireless communication unit 20 performs communication. When communication is performed by the low-speed wireless communication unit 20, the communication by the low-speed wireless communication unit 20 is maintained. In this way, it is possible to eliminate communication whose communication state has deteriorated due to changes in the communication environment.

  In the above example, the power supply device 1 and the device are configured as separate bodies, but the power supply device 1 may be configured to be separated from the device inside the device.

  In addition, the power supply device 1 can include an auxiliary battery and a memory. In this way, communication is possible even during a power failure. In addition, the device received via the communication network can be temporarily stored in the memory and transmitted to the device after the power is restored. The power supply device 1 can also be an uninterruptible power supply device.

  In the communication system 40 described above, a communication network is constructed using at least three power supply apparatuses 1, but communication may be performed between the two power supply apparatuses 1.

It is an external appearance perspective view of the power supply device which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram of a power supply device. It is explanatory drawing of the communication channel used by a wireless communication means. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the operation | movement which a communication control means switches a communication means. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of a microwave oven operation | movement detection part. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement for avoiding radio wave interference. It is explanatory drawing of the communication possible channel detected and a communication impossible channel. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example to which the communication channel was allocated. It is explanatory drawing which shows the topology of the communication network which each communication means construct | assembles. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the method of initial setting. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of the operation | movement which a communication control means switches a communication means.

Explanation of symbols

1. Power supply device 2. Printer 3. Power cord 4. Device body 5. Connection cord 6. Communication connector 7. Power connector 8. Power line 10. Power supply unit 11. Communication unit 12. · Microwave oven, 13 · Radio interference avoidance unit, 14 · Server, 15 · Control unit, 16 · Communication means, 17 · Power line communication means, 18 · High-speed wireless communication means, 19 · Medium-speed wireless communication means, 20 · Low-speed wireless Communication means 21 · Channel setting means 22 · Communication state monitoring means 23 · Communication control means 24 · Drive control means 25 · Setting switch 26 · Microwave operation detection means 27 · Channel specifying means 28 · Voltage Fluctuation detection means, 29. Motion detection means, 30. Induction coil, 31. Transmission means, 41. Power line communication network, 42, 43. Star type wireless communication network, 44. Mesh type Communication network, 45-power tap

Claims (9)

A power supply unit that directly or converts power from the power line and supplies it to connected devices;
Communication means for communicating with the connected device;
Power line communication means for communicating between the external device and the communication means via the power line;
A power supply apparatus that performs wireless communication between the external device and the communication unit, and includes a plurality of different wireless communication units. The power supply device according to claim 1,
Communication that evaluates communication quality by each of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units and causes the first communication unit having the highest communication quality among the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units to perform communication. A power supply device comprising control means. The power supply device according to claim 2,
When the first communication means is not the slowest communication speed among the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means, the communication speed of the first communication means is set in advance for the first communication means. Communication state monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the speed falls below the allowable speed,
When the communication speed falls below the permissible speed, the communication control means replaces the first communication means with a communication speed of the first communication among the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means. A power supply apparatus characterized in that the second communication means that is the next fastest to the means performs communication. The power supply device according to claim 1,
A power supply apparatus comprising: a communication control unit that causes at least two of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units to perform the same communication. In the power supply device described in Claim 4,
A communication state for monitoring whether or not the communication speeds of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units fall below the permissible speeds set in advance for the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units, respectively. Having monitoring means;
The communication control means, when the first communication means in which the communication speed falls below the allowable speed is detected among the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means, the first communication means If the communication speed is not the slowest among the power line communication means and the plurality of wireless communication means, the power supply apparatus stops communication by the first communication means. In the power supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A power supply apparatus comprising: channel setting means for assigning communication channels used by each of the plurality of wireless communication means so as not to overlap the same frequency band. In the power supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Based on a control command received from an external device via any one of the power line communication unit and the plurality of wireless communication units, the connected device is activated from a standby state, or waited from a driving state. A power supply device comprising drive control means. Comprising at least three power supply units according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The power line communication means of each power supply unit has built a telephone line communication network through the power lines with each other,
At least one first wireless communication means of the plurality of wireless communication means of each power supply unit is configured as a star-type wireless communication network between them,
A communication system characterized in that at least one second wireless communication means of the plurality of wireless communication means of each power supply unit is constructed with a mesh-type wireless communication network. The communication system according to claim 8,
A communication system characterized in that a communication speed according to a communication standard of the second wireless communication means is slower than a communication speed according to a communication standard of the first wireless communication means.

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