JP2012199776A - Network communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience by enabling a user to control power feed while suppressing wasteful power consumption.SOLUTION: According to an embodiment of a network communication device, the user can start the power feed from a communication port 6 through an operation (insertion and extraction of a communication cable). This enables resumption of the power feed from the communication port 6 from the user side, when the user wants to use power-receiving equipment during suspension of the power feed from the communication port 6 by the control of an administrator or schedule control, or when power feed to the power-receiving equipment cannot be started due to a trouble in the schedule control. As a result, it is possible to improve convenience by enabling the user to control the power feed while suppressing wasteful power consumption.

Description

  The present invention relates to a network communication device such as a switching hub, and more particularly to a network communication device having a power feeding function via a communication cable.

  Conventionally, a network communication device having a function of supplying power to a power receiving side communication device (hereinafter referred to as a power receiving device) using a twisted pair cable (communication cable) used in a LAN such as 100BASE-TX or 1000BASE-T. Is provided (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). Examples of the power receiving device include a wireless LAN access point, a network camera, and an IP phone.

  The network communication device (switching hub) with a power feeding function described in Patent Document 1 generates a predetermined DC power from a commercial AC power supply, and the DC power via a communication cable (twisted pair cable) connected to a communication port. Is supplied (powered). However, such a power supply function (PoE <Power over Ethernet (registered trademark)>) is standardized as IEEE802.3af or IEEE802.3at.

JP 2007-281628 A

  By the way, in order to reduce power consumption in the entire system including the power receiving device and the network communication device, when the network administrator stops the power supply of the network communication device, the user who uses the power receiving device supplies the power. Could not resume. In order to restart the power supply of the network communication device, the user must take a procedure of requesting the administrator to restart the power supply of the network communication device.

  Further, even when the power supply of the network communication device is scheduled, the user cannot control the power supply of the network communication device, and the power receiving device is used outside the period in which the power is supplied by the schedule control. I couldn't. Furthermore, if the power receiving device fails, the network communication device continues to supply power unless the administrator stops it, and there is a possibility that useless power may be consumed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to improve convenience by enabling a user to control power supply while suppressing wasteful power consumption.

  The network communication apparatus of the present invention includes one or more communication ports, a power supply unit that supplies power to the power receiving device from the communication port, and a control unit that controls the power supply unit. The control unit is connected to the communication port. The power supply permission state is detected when the presence or absence of connection of the power receiving device is detected, and when no connection is detected from the state where the presence of connection is detected, and when the presence of connection is detected in the power supply permission state, power is supplied from the power supply means. Is started.

  In this network communication apparatus, it is preferable that the control unit is not in the power supply permission state after a predetermined time after the human body detection unit stops detecting the human body.

  In this network communication apparatus, it is preferable that the control unit causes the power supply unit to stop power supply when the human body detection unit stops detecting a human body.

  In this network communication apparatus, it is preferable that the control unit causes the power supply unit to stop power supply when detecting that the power receiving device is in a stopped state, or restarts power supply again after power supply is stopped.

  The network communication apparatus according to the present invention has an effect that it is possible to control power supply by a user while suppressing wasteful power consumption and to improve convenience.

It is a block diagram which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for operation | movement description same as the above.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the technical idea of the present invention is applied to a switching hub which is a network communication device for LAN described in the prior art will be described.

  The switching hub of this embodiment is connected to an IP network compatible with 100BASE-TX Ethernet (registered trademark) or 1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark). As shown in FIG. 1, the switching hub includes a control unit 1, a first storage unit 2, a second storage unit 3, an encoding / decoding unit 4, a waveform shaping unit 5, a communication port 6, a display unit 7, and an operation input. A receiving unit 8, a power feeding unit 9, a power feeding control unit 10, and the like are provided.

  The control unit 1 includes a CPU, and performs various processes by executing a program stored in a first storage unit 2 including a non-rewritable nonvolatile semiconductor memory (ROM). The second storage unit 3 is composed of a rewritable nonvolatile semiconductor memory (for example, EEPROM or flash memory), and stores data necessary for various processes performed by the control unit 1.

  The encoding / decoding unit 4 encodes the transmission frame (MAC frame) generated by the control unit 1 and decodes the received MAC frame. The waveform shaping unit 5 converts the bit string of the encoded MAC frame into an electric signal (communication signal) and reshapes the received electric signal (communication signal) to reproduce the bit string. The communication port 6 is composed of an RJ45 modular jack, and an RJ45 modular plug attached to the tip of a communication cable composed of a twisted pair cable such as enhanced category 5 or category 6 is detachably connected.

  The display unit 7 includes a display element (not shown) such as a light emitting diode and a light emitting circuit (not shown) for causing the display element to emit light. The operation input accepting unit 8 has a plurality of push button switches, and accepts an operation input by a push operation of the push button switch and passes it to the control unit 1. However, instead of the operation input receiving unit 8, a serial communication interface (I / F) unit for performing general-purpose serial communication (for example, RS232C) and a communication port for serial communication may be provided.

  The power supply unit 9 corresponding to the power supply means is composed of, for example, a switching power supply circuit that generates DC power from a commercial AC power supply, and supplies the generated DC power from the communication port 6 via a communication cable. The power supply control unit 10 includes a plurality of relays that individually open and close power supply paths (not shown) from the power supply unit 9 to the plurality of communication ports 6, a relay drive circuit that drives the plurality of relays, and the like. .

  By the way, there may be a case where a communication device that does not have a power receiving function (hereinafter referred to as a non-power receiving device) is connected to the communication port 6, and when power is supplied to the non-power receiving device, power is merely wasted. In addition, there is a risk of hindering the operation of the non-power receiving device. Therefore, in this embodiment, whether or not power supply can be set for each communication port 6 can be set. That is, the control unit 1 sets the communication port 6 to which the power receiving device is connected to enable power supply and disables the power supply to the communication port 6 to which the non-power receiving device is connected according to the operation input received by the operation input receiving unit 8. Set. Further, the control unit 1 detects the presence / absence of connection of the power receiving device and the power class of the power receiving device for the communication port 6 set to be able to supply power. The power class is classified according to the level of power required by the power receiving device. The control unit 1 detects the presence / absence of connection of the power receiving device and the power class using a detection resistor (a fixed resistance of 25 kilohms) built in the power receiving device. However, since the connection detection and power class detection processes (processes) executed by the control unit 1 are defined in the IEEE802.3af and IEEE802.3at standards, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  By the way, as described above, the conventional power supply device has two types of control: a state in which power can be supplied from the communication port (power supply enable mode) and a state in which power supply from the communication port is disabled (power supply stop mode). Only had state (control mode). On the other hand, the control unit 1 in this embodiment has a power supply standby mode in addition to the power supply enable mode and the power supply stop mode.

  The control unit 1 always executes the connection detection process and the power class detection process for the communication port 6 set to the power supply standby mode, and sets the power supply enable flag to “0” and “1” according to each detection result. Switching. When the power supply enable flag of the communication port 6 is “0”, the control unit 1 prohibits power supply to the communication port 6 even if it is detected that the communication port 6 is connected. On the other hand, when the power supply possible flag of the communication port 6 is “1” (when power supply is permitted), the control unit 1 detects that the communication port 6 is connected and detects a power class, and then supplies the power supply control unit 10. The power supply to the communication port 6 is started.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in a situation where power is supplied from an arbitrary communication port 6, it is assumed that the communication port 6 is switched to the power supply standby mode by control or schedule control by an administrator (step S1 in FIG. 2). The control unit 1 sets a power supply enable flag corresponding to the communication port 6 switched to the power supply standby mode to “0” (step S2), and controls the power supply control unit 10 to stop power supply from the communication port 6. (Step S3).

  Here, when the user wants to operate the power receiving device connected to the communication port 6 whose power supply has been stopped, the user may connect again after disconnecting the communication cable from the communication port of the power receiving device. The control unit 1 is constantly executing a connection detection process (step S4). When the communication cable is disconnected by the user, the control unit 1 detects no connection and sets the power class of the communication port 6 to “7” (step S4). S5). Here, the standard defines power classes from 0 to 4, and the power class of 7 does not exist in the standard. However, the control unit 1 holds the power class value (any one of 0 to 4) set before detecting no connection in the memory.

  Subsequently, the control unit 1 executes a power class detection process for the communication port 6, and determines the detected power class and the power class (the power class before detecting no connection) held in the memory. Compare (step S6). At this time, if no power receiving device is connected to the communication port 6, the power class “7” set previously does not match the power class (any one of 0 to 4) stored in the memory. The unit 1 sets a power supply enable flag corresponding to the communication port 6 to “1” (step S7).

  When the power receiving device is reconnected to the communication port 6 by the user, the control unit 1 detects the presence of the connection of the power receiving device by the connection detection process (step S8), and further the power receiving device by the power class detection process. Is detected (step S9). At this time, when the user inserts / removes the communication cable, the power supply enable flag corresponding to the communication port 6 is set to “1”, and the power supply permission state is set. Therefore, if a power class is detected in the power class detection process (step S9), the control unit 1 controls the power supply control unit 10 to start power supply from the communication port 6 (step S10).

  As described above, in the network communication device (switching hub) of the present embodiment, power supply from the communication port 6 can be started by a user's operation (plugging and unplugging the communication cable). Therefore, even when the user wants to use the power receiving device when the power supply from the communication port 6 is stopped by the control by the administrator or the schedule control, or when the power supply to the power receiving device is not started due to the trouble of the schedule control, the user The power supply from the communication port 6 can be resumed on the side. As a result, it is possible to control the power supply by the user while suppressing wasteful power consumption, thereby improving convenience.

  Here, when the human body detection sensor is mounted on the switching hub of the present embodiment and the human body detection sensor detects a human body in the power supply standby mode, the control unit 1 sets the power supply enable flag of the communication port 6 to “1”. It doesn't matter if you do. In this case, after the human body is detected by the human body detection sensor, the control unit 1 can automatically restart the power supply to the power receiving device by executing the connection detection process and the power class detection process. Note that after a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) after the human body is no longer detected by the human body detection sensor, the control unit 1 returns the power supply possible flag to “0”.

  By the way, when the power receiving device stops functioning for some reason, there is a risk that power is wasted if the power is continuously supplied to the power receiving device. Therefore, the control unit 1 periodically monitors whether or not the power receiving device is operating normally through the communication port 6, and determines that the power receiving device is not operating normally (the function is stopped). It is preferable to stop the power supply to. However, if the cause of the malfunction of the power receiving device is a program runaway, etc., there is a possibility that the power receiving device will operate normally (function) by restarting after power reset. Therefore, when it is determined that the power receiving device has stopped functioning, the control unit 1 may stop the power supply from the communication port 6 and then restart the power receiving device to restart the power receiving device. Note that whether the control unit 1 executes power supply stop or restart is determined based on an operation input received by the operation input receiving unit 8.

1 Control unit (control means)
6 Communication port 9 Power feeding part (power feeding means)
10 Power supply control unit (power supply means)

Claims (4)

  One or a plurality of communication ports, a power supply unit that supplies power to the power receiving device from the communication port, and a control unit that controls the power supply unit, the control unit including whether or not the power reception device is connected to the communication port When the absence of connection is detected from the state where the presence of connection is detected, the power supply is permitted. When the presence of connection is detected in the power supply permission state, the power supply means starts the power supply. Network communication device.   2. The human body detection means for detecting a human body, wherein the control means is in the power supply permission state even when the human body detection means detects a human body when not in the power supply permission state. Network communication device.   3. The network communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is not in the power supply permission state after a predetermined time after the human body detection unit no longer detects a human body.   The control unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the power receiving device detects that the power receiving device is in a stopped state, the control unit causes the power feeding unit to stop power feeding or to resume power feeding after power feeding is stopped. The network communication device according to Item.

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