JP2013219715A - Load controller, load control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine a state for finally instructing a load by eliminating conflict, when a plurality of instructions conflict for the load, while shortening the time required for determining the state for instructing a load.SOLUTION: A control unit 10 acquires control information from a controller via a communication line L4, and stores the control information temporarily in a control buffer 16. The control information stored in the control buffer 16 is read by an analysis unit 17, and developed into a control content in one-and-one correspondence with each load before being stored in a control request buffer 18. A main processing unit 13 generates control data to a load by using the control content written in the control request buffer 18. The analysis unit 17 reads the control information stored in the control buffer 16 by LIFO system, and sets a corresponding flag every time when the control information is developed into a control content and written in the control request buffer 18. When a write flag has been installed already, writing of the control content in the control request buffer 18 is ended.

Description

  The present invention relates to a load control device that controls a load by transmitting control data to the load using a communication technique, and a load control system configured using the load control device.

  Conventionally, there has been proposed a load control system for controlling a load by transmitting control data to the load using a communication technique. For example, the illumination control system described in Patent Literature 1 includes a plurality of control units that transmit control data to a plurality of lighting fixtures by communication, and a configuration in which the plurality of control units communicate with a host controller is described. ing. The host controller has a function of controlling the entire system including a plurality of control units.

JP 2012-15076 A

  By the way, since this type of load control system controls a load using a communication technique, it is possible to collectively transmit control data to a plurality of loads. There are two methods for controlling a plurality of loads in a batch. When a range of loads to be controlled and control data are instructed, group control is performed, and control data is associated with each load to be controlled in a batch. This case is called pattern control. When performing group control or pattern control, a group name or pattern name in which a plurality of loads are combined is given, but control data is individually transmitted to each load. In other words, the control data for each load is expanded from the group name or pattern name, and the control data after the expansion is transmitted to each load.

  Since the number of loads controlled by individual control units is limited, when the number of loads to be controlled increases in office buildings, store buildings, etc., multiple control units are Sometimes it is necessary to give instructions in one go. Also, a monitoring device such as a switch or a sensor is connected to the lower side of the control unit, and the control unit must control the load not only from the instruction from the host controller but also from the monitoring device. Don't be.

  For this reason, if a plurality of instructions are given to the control unit within a short time, the contents of the instructions may conflict, and a long processing time may be required to resolve the contention of the instructions.

  According to the present invention, when a plurality of instructions conflict with a load, it is possible to resolve the conflict and finally determine the state instructing the load, and it is necessary to determine the state instructing the load. The purpose of this load control is to provide a load control device in which the contents of the instructions are immediately reflected in the operating state of the load even if the time is short and instructions are given to a large number of loads at once. It aims at providing the load control system comprised using an apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, a load control device according to the present invention is a load control device that instructs control content to the load by transmitting control data for determining individual operations of one or more loads through a communication line. A control buffer that temporarily stores control information that summarizes control data for one or more loads, and the control information stored in the control buffer is read, and the control information is associated with each load on a one-to-one basis. An analysis processing unit that develops the control content, a control request buffer in which the control content developed in the analysis processing unit is written, and a main processing unit that generates the control data using the control content written in the control request buffer The analysis processing unit reads control information stored in the control buffer in a first-in last-out manner.

  In this load control apparatus, the control request buffer includes a block corresponding to the load on a one-to-one basis, and the block includes a first slot in which a control content for each load is written, and the control for each block. A second flag in which a write flag is set when the content is written, and the analysis processing unit writes the control content in the second slot of the block when the control content is written in the block. It is preferable to determine whether or not a flag is set, and when the write flag is set, it is preferable not to write the control content to the block.

  In this load control apparatus, it is preferable that the analysis processing unit terminates the process of writing the control contents in the control request buffer when the write flag is set in all of the blocks.

  The load control apparatus further includes a relation table that collectively assigns a group name to the plurality of loads, and associates control contents of individual loads with the group name as a unit, and the relation table includes the group A region in which a reference flag is set for each name, and the analysis processing unit expands the group name into individual load control contents and simultaneously sets the reference flag in the group name, and the group name When expanding, it is determined whether or not the reference flag is set for the group name. If the reference flag is set, it is preferable not to expand the group name.

  In this load control apparatus, it is preferable that the analysis processing unit terminates the process of expanding the group name when the reference flag is set for all the group names set in the relationship table.

  The load control system according to the present invention includes any one of the load control devices described above, the load that transmits the control data through a first communication line and operates according to the control data, and the control information through a second communication line. And a controller for giving.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, when a plurality of instructions conflict with the load, it is possible to resolve the conflict and finally determine the state instructing the load, and further determine the state instructing the load. The time required to do so is shortened, and even when instructions are given to a large number of loads at once, there is an advantage that the contents of the instructions are immediately reflected in the operating state of the load.

It is a block diagram which shows embodiment. It is the whole load control system lineblock diagram using the same. It is a figure which shows an example of the control request buffer used for the same as the above. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows an example of the superimposition process in the same as the above. It is a figure which shows the example of processing time at the time of performing the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the control request buffer used for the same as the above. It is a figure which shows another example of the control request buffer used for the same as the above. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the superimposition process in the same as the above. It is a figure which shows the example of processing time at the time of performing the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of processing time same as the above.

  In the following description, the load control system having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is assumed. This load control system is assumed to be used in an office building, but does not preclude use in a building such as a commercial facility, a hospital, a hotel, or an apartment house. That is, any load control system that centrally manages the operation of a large number of loads may be used, and the scope of application of the technology described below is not limited to the configuration and use of the embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the load control system includes a lower network constructed using the control unit 10 and an upper network including the controller 40, the management server 50, and the management terminal 60. The load control system constructs a hierarchical network including an upper network and a lower network.

  The control unit 10 and the controller 40 communicate with each other via a communication line L4. The upper network and the lower network transmit information to each other through the control unit 10 and the controller 40. There is a limit to the number of control units 10 with which one controller 40 can communicate, and one controller 40 can communicate with, for example, up to eight control units 10.

  First, an outline of the configuration of the lower network will be described. In the illustrated example, the case where the load is the lighting fixture 21 is shown, but if there are many loads to be managed, the main part of the technology described below can be applied. For example, the load may be an air conditioner or a ventilation fan.

  The lighting state of the luminaire 21 that is a load changes in response to a change in monitoring information in the monitoring device 30 that detects a predetermined event. The lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 may be only lighting and extinguishing, but if the lighting fixture 21 is dimmable, the lighting fixture 21 includes a dimming level, and if the lighting fixture 21 is color-tunable, the lighting fixture 21 includes a luminescent color.

  The monitoring device 30 includes a wall switch 31 that detects a human operation, a human sensor 32 that detects the presence or absence of a person in the space illuminated by the lighting fixture 21, and a brightness sensor that detects the brightness of the space illuminated by the lighting fixture 21. 33 is assumed. These monitoring devices 30 are connected to the control unit 10 via the communication line L <b> 1 and have a communication function for transmitting monitoring information detected by the monitoring device 30 to the control unit 10.

  That is, the wall switch 31, the human sensor 32, and the brightness sensor 33 have a switch or sensor for detecting a predetermined event and a communication function for notifying the control unit 10 of the content of the detected event. The wall switch 31 detects an event of presence / absence of an operation by a person, the human sensor 32 detects an event of the presence / absence of a person, and the brightness sensor 33 detects an event of whether the illuminance is within a set range. These events are events that serve as a trigger for changing the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 that is the control target.

  The monitoring device 30 may have a configuration other than the above-described example as long as the monitoring device 30 is configured to detect an event that is a trigger for changing the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21. For example, a sensor for disaster prevention such as a smoke sensor or a flame sensor, an authentication device for authenticating an individual, a sensor for measuring a person's presence position or the number of people using a camera, and the like can be used as the monitoring device 30.

  The lighting fixture 21 that is a load is connected to the transmission adapter 20 via the communication line L3, and the transmission adapter 20 is connected to the control unit 10 via the communication line L2. The transmission adapter 20 communicates with the lighting fixture 21 according to our original lighting control standard. However, when the load is not the lighting fixture 21, the transmission adapter 20 is omitted, or another standard is used for communication between the transmission adapter 20 and the load. A single transmission adapter 20 can be connected to a plurality of communication lines L3 (here, a maximum of four systems), and a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 that can individually control the lighting state for each communication line L3 system (here. Then, a maximum of 16 units) can be connected. Here, the number of individually controllable lighting fixtures 21 means the number of circuits of the lighting fixtures 21 that can be controlled individually. Therefore, even when a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 are included in one circuit, they are referred to as one lighting fixture 21.

  The maximum number of circuits of lighting fixtures 21 that can be individually controlled by one transmission adapter 20 is (the maximum number of communication lines L3 that can be connected to one transmission adapter 20) × (the number of lighting fixtures 21 per system). Maximum number of circuits). For example, assuming that a maximum of four communication lines L3 can be connected to one transmission adapter 20, and the lighting states of the lighting fixtures 21 with a maximum of 16 circuits per system can be individually controlled, one transmission The maximum number of circuits that can be controlled by the adapter 20 is 64 circuits. Note that one control unit 10 can individually control the lighting states of the lighting fixtures 21 having a maximum of 256 circuits.

  The lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 is controlled by receiving an instruction from the control unit 10 through the transmission adapter 20. The control unit 10 instructs the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 using the transmission adapter 20 for relaying.

  Transmission speed of a communication line L1 connecting the control unit 10 and the monitoring device 30, a communication line L2 connecting the control unit 10 and the transmission adapter 20, and a communication line L3 connecting the transmission adapter 20 and the lighting fixture 21. The communication line L2 is the fastest and the communication line L3 is the slowest.

  From the control unit 10 to the transmission adapter 20, it is necessary to transmit the lighting states of the plurality of lighting fixtures 21 together, and the code length transmitted through the communication line L2 becomes relatively long, so the transmission speed is increased. is necessary. On the other hand, from the transmission adapter 20 to the lighting fixture 21, the communication line L3 is separated into a plurality of systems, and the number of lighting fixtures 21 per circuit (the number of circuits) is also limited. Low speed is acceptable.

  Communication on the communication line L1 is based on a polling method based on time division multiplex transmission, and adopts a configuration in which an interrupt signal is transmitted from the monitoring device 30 to the control unit 10 when the monitoring device 30 detects a predetermined event. . That is, the control unit 10 normally accesses the individual monitoring devices 30 in a cyclic manner and processes the requests from the monitoring devices 30 in order, but when receiving an interrupt signal from any of the monitoring devices 30, A response to the event detected by the monitoring device 30 is preferentially performed by an interrupt process. Such a process is called an interrupt polling system, and has a higher response to event detection than a simple polling system.

  The communication line L1 between the control unit 10 and the monitoring device 30 is a two-wire system, and a signal transmitted through the communication line L1 uses a baseband signal with alternating polarity. The monitoring device 30 obtains power for operation by rectifying a signal transmitted through the communication line L1. One frame of a signal transmitted through the communication line L1 indicates a transmission band including address data and control data for specifying each monitoring device 30, a return band for returning a request from the monitoring device 30, and a frame start position. Includes start pulse. The address data, control data, and start pulse transmitted in the transmission band are voltage signals that change the line voltage of the communication line L1, and the signal transmitted in the return band is the impedance between the communication lines L1. A current signal that is changed and transmitted by a current change is used. The control data includes the on / off state of the lighting fixture 21 and the dimming level.

  The communication line L2 used for signal transmission between the control unit 10 and the transmission adapter 20 may be dedicated to communication, but here, the power line that supplies power to the lighting fixture 21 is also used for communication. The communication line L2 uses the distribution line as a communication line, and performs communication between the control unit 10 and the transmission adapter 20 using the power line carrier communication technique. As can be seen from the configuration described above, in the load control system shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 10 functions as a load control device that transmits control data for determining the operation of each lighting fixture 21.

  The controller 40, the management server 50, and the management terminal 60 that construct the host network transmit information via the communication line L5. General-purpose standards are used for the communication lines L4 and L5 connected to the controller 40. Here, Ethernet (registered trademark) is assumed as a communication standard using the communication line L4 and the communication line L5.

  The controller 40 has a function of acquiring the instruction content of the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 corresponding to the event detected by the monitoring device 30 by communicating with the control unit 10. The controller 40 also has a function of collecting and notifying the control unit 10 after collecting the instruction contents of the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21. Details regarding the function of the controller 40 will be described later.

  The management server 50 is a server computer, and has a schedule control function for changing the lighting state of the luminaire 21 according to the time schedule, a maintenance monitoring function such as a failure of the luminaire 21 and a broken lamp bulb. doing.

  When performing schedule control of the lighting fixture 21, a set of the lighting fixture 21 to be controlled, the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 to be controlled, and the start date and time and end date and time of the control are stored in the management server 50 as a time schedule. be registered. The management server 50 includes a built-in clock (real time clock) that measures the current date and time. The management server 50 starts the registered control when the start time registered as the time schedule matches the current date and time counted by the built-in clock, and controls when the end time registered as the time schedule matches the current date and time. finish.

  The management terminal 60 includes a monitor device 61 that displays information on maintenance monitoring such as the lighting state of each lighting fixture 21, a failure or a ball breakage, and an operation unit 62 for selecting contents to be displayed on the monitor device 61. I have. Here, it is assumed that the management terminal 60 is realized by a general-purpose computer that executes an appropriate program. However, the management terminal 60 may be realized by a so-called tablet terminal. The management terminal 60 acquires the content to be displayed on the monitor device 61 from the management server 50 and reflects the operation content of the operation unit 62 through the management server 50 in the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21. Therefore, the management terminal 60 has a browser function for browsing services provided from the management server 50.

  By the way, the control types of the lighting fixtures 21 include “individual control” for designating the lighting state for each lighting fixture 21, “group control” for designating the lighting status of the plurality of lighting fixtures 21, and “group control”. Pattern control ". The group control is control for designating the same lighting state for a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 controlled together, and the pattern control is control for individually designating the lighting status for a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 controlled simultaneously. It is. That is, when performing group control, one kind of lighting state and a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 to be in the lighting state are designated.

  In the time schedule managed by the management server 50, when the lighting fixtures 21 to be controlled are group control or pattern control, they are given to a set of a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 controlled at the same time. A name is used. Here, a name that designates a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 to be subjected to group control is referred to as a “group name”, and a name that designates a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 to be subject to pattern control is referred to as a “pattern name”. . The plurality of lighting fixtures 21 designated by the group name needs to separately register the time schedule by designating the lighting state. On the other hand, since the lighting state of the plurality of lighting fixtures 21 specified by the pattern names has already been specified, only the pattern names need be registered in the time schedule.

  Here, since the present embodiment includes an upper network and a lower network, a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 that are targets of group control and pattern control are designated within the range of one lower network, It may be specified in a range that spans multiple lower networks.

  In the former case, since the lighting fixture 21 associated with the group name or pattern name is under the control of one control unit 10, the association between the group name or pattern name and the group of lighting fixtures 21 is the control unit. 10 does. On the other hand, in the latter case, since the lighting fixtures 21 associated with the group names and pattern names are managed by the plurality of control units 10, the association between the group names and pattern names and the group of lighting fixtures 21 is performed by the controller 40. Do.

  When the management server 50 manages group names and pattern names, the group names and pattern names managed by the control unit 10 are collected instead of associating individual lighting fixtures 21 with the group names and pattern names. One name may be associated. When this name is referred to as a “global group name”, the control target associated with the global group name is expressed by using a plurality of group names and pattern names managed by the control unit 10. Is done.

  Now, the global group name is represented by GGk, the group name is represented by Gm, and the pattern name is represented by Pn. However, k, m, and n are natural numbers. When this code is used, for example, a combination of a plurality of lighting fixtures 21 represented by a group name or pattern name such as GG2 = (G1, G3, G4), GG3 = (P1, G2) It can be expressed by the global group name.

  The correspondence between the global group name and the group name or pattern name is registered in the controller 40. When notified of the global group name, the controller 40 expands the global group name into a combination represented by at least one of the group name and the pattern name. Here, a group name and a pattern name representing a control target are associated with the control unit 10.

  On the other hand, the lighting state of the luminaire 21 is changed not only by the time schedule managed by the management server 50 but also by the monitoring information detected by the monitoring device 30 as described above. Since the control unit 10 actually instructs the lighting device 21 in the range of the lower network, the control unit 10 must instruct the lighting device 21 to indicate the lighting state. On the other hand, when performing control over a plurality of control units 10, the lighting fixture 21 cannot be controlled in cooperation with other control units 10 only by the individual control units 10.

  The controller 40 has a function of simultaneously handling the lighting fixtures 21 managed by the plurality of control units 10 and giving instructions to the managed lighting fixtures 21 by the individual control units 10. Yes. The controller 40 has a function of acquiring control target information transmitted by the management server 50 according to a time schedule, and a function of acquiring control target information corresponding to the monitoring information detected by the monitoring device 30.

  As described above, the management server 50 registers the control target in the time schedule as a group name, a pattern name, or a global group name. Therefore, the controller 40 acquires the group name and pattern name to be notified to each control unit 10.

  As described above, the controller 40 uses the information acquired from the control unit 10 and the management server 50 to determine whether or not all the control units 10 include the lighting fixtures 21 to be controlled. I can know. Therefore, the controller 40 has a function of classifying the control target for each control unit 10 using the control target information acquired from the control unit 10 and the management server 50. The controller 40 transmits the control target sorted for each control unit 10 to each control unit 10. In this way, the process of sorting information acquired from a plurality of devices and sending them together for each control unit 10 as a destination is referred to as “collective feed process”.

  The information that is the target of the “collective sending process” is information that is acquired by the controller 40 within a reception time that is a relatively short time that is considered to be substantially simultaneous. For example, when the control information of the lighting fixture 21 by the time schedule and the control information of the lighting fixture 21 by the monitoring device 30 are input within the reception time and the control information is the same control unit 10 as the destination, A batch feed process is performed.

  If the control information received by the controller 40 includes a global group name, the controller 40 expands the global group name into a group name or pattern name associated with each control unit 10. After the global group name is expanded, the control information handled by the controller 40 is any one of individual control, group control, and pattern control. Therefore, the controller 40 collects the control information for each control unit 10 that is the destination, and controls the control unit. Control information is transmitted in batches every ten. Control information is transmitted from the controller 40 to the control unit 10 by serial transmission in the order in which the controller 40 received the control information.

  Since there is a limit on the capacity of the payload transmitted from the controller 40 to the control unit 10 in one packet, when the information amount of information transmitted by the batch sending process is large, the packet is divided into a plurality of packets and transmitted. The In this case, the control unit 10 needs to handle the information received by being divided into a plurality of times by the batch sending process as a series of pieces of information.

  FIG. 1 shows a main configuration of the control unit 10. The control unit 10 includes an upper communication interface unit 11 to which the communication line L4 is connected and a lower communication interface unit 12 to which two types of communication lines L1 and L2 are connected. Hereinafter, the “upper communication interface unit” is referred to as “upper I / F 11”, and the “lower communication interface unit” is referred to as “lower I / F 12”. The control unit 10 sends a signal to the communication line L1 through the lower I / F 12, waits for an interrupt signal from the monitoring device 30, and a signal for instructing the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 through the lower I / F 12. It has a function to send out. These functions are realized by the main processing unit 13 provided in the control unit 10.

  In addition, the control unit 10 includes a relation table 14 in which the identification information of the monitoring apparatus 30 is associated with the identification information of the lighting fixture 21 to be controlled. The identification information of the monitoring device 30 in the relationship table 14 differs depending on whether the control type is individual control, group control, or pattern control. A group name is used for group control, and a pattern name is used for pattern control. When a group name or a pattern name is used for identification information, there are a plurality of pieces of identification information for the lighting fixture 21 to be controlled. In the case of individual control, the identification information of the monitoring device 30 and the identification information of the lighting fixture 21 are associated one-to-one.

  When the monitoring device 30 detects an event that triggers a change in the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21, the main processing unit 13 refers to the relationship table 14 to extract the identification information of the lighting fixture 21 to be controlled. To do. In addition, when the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 is instructed by the time schedule, the identification information of the lighting fixture 21 is not used, but the information equivalent to the identification information of the monitoring device 30 is used. In the time schedule, not only individual identification information, group name and pattern name but also global group name may be used, but global group name is expanded and either individual identification information, group name or pattern name is used. Are treated as

  The control unit 10 includes an acquisition unit 15 that acquires control information from the controller 40 through the host I / F 11, a control buffer 16 that temporarily stores control information received by the acquisition unit 15, and a control stored in the control buffer 16. And an analysis processing unit 17 for analyzing information. The control buffer 16 stores the control information received from the controller 40 in the order received. Since the controller 40 distributes the control information received within the reception time to the control units 10 and transmits the control information in order, depending on the control information received by the controller 40, the lighting fixtures 21 to be controlled are duplicated in the control information within the reception time. May have. In this case, if the control information received from the controller 40 by the control unit 10 is executed as it is, there is a possibility that the final control information is reflected on the lighting fixture 21 when there is a lot of control information.

  Therefore, the control unit 10 has a function of organizing so as to instruct only one control content corresponding one-to-one with respect to one lighting fixture 21 using the control information received from the controller 40 by the collective feeding process. doing. This process is called “superimposition process”, and the analysis processing unit 17 reads the control information from the control buffer 16 and performs the superimposition process. Since the control unit 10 performs superimposition processing on the control information received from the controller 40 by batch sending processing, only the control content extracted from one piece of control information is reflected on one lighting fixture 21. The The control contents arranged by the analysis processing unit 17 are temporarily stored in the control request buffer 18 and delivered to the main processing unit 13.

  In the control request buffer 18, a writing area is associated with each lighting fixture 21 to be controlled, and a lighting state instructed to the lighting fixture 21 is written in each writing area. Hereinafter, in the control request buffer 18, a writing area allocated to each lighting fixture 21 is referred to as a “block”. The main processing unit 13 generates control data to be transmitted to each lighting fixture 21 using the control content written in the block.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the control request buffer 18 includes a plurality of blocks BKj (j = 1, 2,..., N) to which individual identification information of the lighting fixture 21 is assigned. Each block BKj includes three slots 181 to 183 for writing the identification information of the lighting fixture 21, the on / off information of the lighting fixture 21, and the light control level information of the lighting fixture 2. One of ON and OFF is set in the slot 181. In other words, the information stored in the block BKj is a triplet in which on / off information and dimming level information are associated with each piece of identification information of the lighting fixture 21. Moreover, the identification information of the lighting fixture 21 among the triplets is fixedly determined in advance for each block BKj.

  The control unit 10 has a main hardware configuration including a high-order I / F 11 and a low-order I / F 12, a device that operates according to a program such as a microcomputer, and a power supply circuit that supplies internal power. That is, the main processing unit 13, the relation table 14, the acquisition unit 15, the control buffer 16, the analysis processing unit 17, and the control request buffer 18 basically have a hardware configuration of a CPU and a memory, and a function is realized by a program. Is done.

  In the following, the overlay process performed mainly by the analysis processing unit 17 will be described. In the following description, the maximum number of schedules managed by the management server 50 is 300, the total number of group names and pattern names handled by one control unit 10 is 256, and connection to one control unit 10 is possible. Assume that the number of lighting fixtures 21 is 256.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the superimposing process is basically a combination of three types of processes including a reading process P1, a developing process P2, and a writing process P3. The read process P1 is a process for reading the control information received from the controller 40 from the control buffer 16. The expansion process P2 is a process for expanding the group name or pattern name into the identification information of the individual lighting fixtures 21. The writing process P3 is a process of storing the control contents in the control request buffer 18 for each lighting fixture 21 to be controlled.

  The operation shown in FIG. 4 will be described in more detail. In the superimposition process, the control content is written in the control request buffer 18, so the analysis processing unit 17 first initializes the control request buffer 18 (S11). Control information received from the controller 40 is stored in the control buffer 16. Here, it is assumed that the control information stored in the control buffer 16 is taken out by a FIFO (First In First Out) method. In this case, the analysis processing unit 17 obtains the head pointer of the control information in order to sequentially read the control information received first in the control buffer 16 (S12).

  Next, the analysis processing unit 17 determines whether or not the processing has been completed for all the pieces of control information received from the controller 40 (S13), and if there is unprocessed control information (S13: No), The process proceeds to a control request writing process for expanding control information. The control request writing process is made into a subroutine, and the number of group names included in the control information is expanded (S14), and the group name is expanded into identification information of individual lighting fixtures 21 to be controlled (S15). . The analysis processing unit 17 extracts the block BKj corresponding to each lighting fixture 21 in which the group name is expanded from the control request buffer 18, and writes the control contents in the extracted block BKj until the number of expanded blocks is reached (S16) ( S17).

  Steps S11 to S13 correspond to the reading process P1, steps S14 to S15 correspond to the expansion process P2, and steps S16 to S17 correspond to the writing process P3. The processing in step S17 is repeated for the number of individual lighting fixtures 21 in which the group names are expanded, and the processing in steps S15 to S17 is repeated for the number of group names.

  As described above, the writing process P3 is executed as many times as the number of individual lighting fixtures 21 developed in the developing process P2, and the developing process P2 is performed for the number of control information read in the reading process P1. It is executed for the number of times. Further, the expansion process P2 and the writing process P3 are executed as many times as the number of control information read in the reading process P1. Therefore, if the number of executions of the read process P1, the expansion process P2, and the write process P3 is p, q, and r, respectively, the number of writes to the control request buffer 18 is p × q × r. In the case of the above-described specification, the maximum value of the number of writes in the control request buffer 18 is 300 × 256 × 256 = 19,660,800 times.

  FIG. 5 shows a result obtained by simulating the time from the start of control until the lighting state of the lighting fixture 1 is reflected when the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 is controlled according to the time schedule.

  The processing time shown in FIG. 5 is an example when the superimposition processing is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 4. In this example, the processing time of the superposition processing reaches a maximum of about 3.9 s. Hereinafter, a technique for shortening the time required for the overlay process will be described.

  As described above, the overlay process includes the reading process P1, the unfolding process P2, and the writing process P3. Therefore, there are techniques for reducing the processing time for each of the reading process P1, the unfolding process P2, and the writing process P3. By adopting these techniques, it is possible to reduce the processing time of the overlay process. is there.

  The read process P1 is a process for extracting the control information stored in the control buffer 16, and the FIFO method is adopted for the order of reading the control information from the control buffer 16. Further, the control request buffer 18 is updated (overwritten) by the control information sequentially read from the control buffer 16 with the contents of the block BKj allocated for each lighting fixture 21. Therefore, the control content stored in the control request buffer 18 is determined after all control information is read from the control buffer 16.

  In short, the control information read from the control buffer 16 is finally left in the control request buffer 18 in the order of reading from the control buffer 16 among the control information stored in the same block BKj. Control information. In other words, it can be said that the order read out from the control buffer 16 is preferentially left in the control request buffer 18.

  Considering the above-described points, the control information stored in the control request buffer 18 is not the FIFO method but the LIFO (Last In First Out) method, which is a first-in last-out method, is used as the order of reading the control information from the control buffer 16. The time to access the content will be shortened.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the control information stored in the control buffer 16 is CNj (j = 1, 2,..., N) and is stored in the order indicated by the arrow Sd1. . That is, the control information CNj is stored in the control buffer 16 in ascending order. Note that the control information CNj includes at least information on the on / off state of the lighting fixture 21, and may also include information on the dimming level of the lighting fixture. In the FIFO method, since the control information CNj is read in the stored order, the pointer at the time of reading moves in the direction of the arrow Sd1. On the other hand, in the LIFO method, the direction in which the pointer moves during reading is the reverse direction, which is the direction of the arrow Sd2.

  As described above, when the LIFO method is adopted as an operation for putting control information CNj into and out of control buffer 16, the direction Sd2 in which the pointer moves during reading is opposite to the direction Sd1 in which the pointer moves during writing. become. The analysis processing unit 17 performs processing for reading the control information CNj from the control buffer 16. That is, the analysis processing unit 17 controls the pointer at the time of reading.

  Further, when the control content has already been written in the block BKj of the control request buffer 18, the analysis processing unit 17 operates according to the rule that the control content of the corresponding block BKj is not updated. In other words, the analysis processing unit 17 initializes the contents of all the blocks BKj in the control request buffer 18 and then writes the control contents only once for each block BKj.

  With the above operation, the necessary control contents are written in the control request buffer 18 by reading out only a part of the control information CNj instead of reading out all the control information CNj stored in the control buffer 16. As a result, as compared with the case where all the control information CNj stored in the control buffer 16 is read, there is a high possibility that the time until the control content written in the control request buffer 18 is determined will be shortened. Even with this technique, the time required for writing to the control request buffer 18 may be the same as that of the FIFO method, but the average time required for writing to the control request buffer is shorter when the LIFO method is adopted. Is done.

  In the above-described operation, it is necessary to limit the writing of the control contents to one block BKj. Therefore, a write flag that is set when control content is written to the block BKj is used. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a slot 184 for storing a write flag is provided for each block BKj. When the write flag is used, the number of times of the write process P3 is reduced by the operation described below.

  When the control processing buffer 18 is written in the slots 182 and 183 of the block BKj after the initialization of the control request buffer 18, the analysis processing unit 17 sets a write flag in the slot 184 of the corresponding block BKj. Further, when writing the control content to the block BKj, the analysis processing unit 17 prohibits overwriting of the control content to the block BKj if the write flag is set in the slot 184 of the block BKj. .

  For example, the control request buffer 18 is initialized by setting the value stored in the slot 184 to “0”, and setting the write flag in the block BKj sets the value stored in the slot 184 to “ It may be set to “1”.

  As a result of the above-described operation, the number of times of writing to all the blocks BKj in the control request buffer 18 is limited to one, and after the control contents are once stored in the block BKj, the contents change of the block BKj is prohibited. That is, all the blocks BKj are permitted to write the control contents only once.

  FIG. 8 shows a main part of the above-described operation. Steps S21 to S26 shown in FIG. 8 are the same as steps S11 to S16 shown in FIG. That is, the process in which the analysis processing unit 17 develops the control information received from the controller 40 into the control content of each lighting fixture 21 is the same as the operation shown in FIG.

  In the process shown in FIG. 8, after expanding the group name into the identification information of the individual lighting fixtures 21 and extracting the block BKj in which the expanded control content is written from the control request buffer 18 (S27), the slot 184 for the block BKj is extracted. Is confirmed (S28). That is, it is determined whether or not the write flag is set in the slot 184. If the write flag is not set (S28: No), the analysis processing unit 17 sets the write flag at the same time as writing the control contents in the extracted block BKj (S29). In step S28, if the write flag is set in the slot 184 (S28: Yes), nothing is performed on the control request buffer 18 and the process returns to step S26.

  In the process shown in FIG. 8, the control content is written once in each block BKj of the control request buffer 18, and the number of times of writing the control content in the control request buffer 18 is smaller than that shown in FIG. It is greatly reduced. That is, in the operation shown in FIG. 4, the maximum number of times of writing control contents in the control request buffer 18 is 19,660,800, whereas in the operation shown in FIG. The maximum number of times control content is written is 256 times.

  FIG. 9 shows a result obtained by simulating the time from the start of control until the lighting state of the lighting fixture 1 is reflected in the case of controlling the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 by adopting the process shown in FIG.

  The processing time shown in FIG. 9 is an example when the overlaying process is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 8. In this example, the processing time of the overlaying process is shortened to about 3.5 s at the maximum.

  As described above, when the write flag is used, the number of executions of the write process P3 for writing the control contents in the control request buffer 18 is greatly reduced. However, since all the control information received from the controller 40 is expanded, the number of processings of the expansion processing P2 has not decreased. The operation described below is an operation for reducing the number of times of the expansion process P2, and uses the write flag similarly to the reduction of the write process P3. In order to reduce the number of times of the writing process P3, it is determined whether or not to write the control contents in the block BKj depending on whether or not the writing flag is set. On the other hand, a technique for reducing the number of times of the expansion process P2 using the write flag to determine whether or not to expand the group name or pattern name will be described below.

  That is, the analysis processing unit 17 determines whether or not the write flag is set in the block BKj of the control request buffer 18, and when the write flag is set in all the blocks BKj, the expansion process P2 is terminated. . In this operation, since the expansion process P2 ends when the control contents of all the lighting fixtures 21 are determined, the number of processes of the expansion process P2 matches the number of processes of the writing process P3. In short, when the control information of the control buffer 16 is read out by the LIFO method and the control contents of all the luminaires 21 are set in the control request buffer 18, the unfolding process P2 ends, so the processing time of the overlay process is greatly increased. Will be shortened.

  The maximum number of processes including the expansion process P2 and the writing process P3 is 256, and the maximum number of processes of the reading process P1 from the control buffer 16 is 300. The maximum value is 300 × 256 = 76,800 times.

  Up to this point, the technology for reducing the number of processes for the unfolding process P2 and the writing process P3 has been described, but the number of processes for the reading process P1 can also be reduced. The control information received from the controller 40 by the control unit 10 often includes group control. Therefore, information temporarily stored in the control buffer 16 includes information in units of group names.

  In order to reduce the number of times of the reading process P1, similarly to the information stored in the control request buffer 18, a reference flag associated with the group name is set, and it is evaluated whether or not the reference flag is set. Since the contents of the group control are stored in the relation table 14, a reference flag writing area is provided in the relation table 14 and is associated with the group name. The relationship between the group name and the reference flag in the relationship table 14 is the same as the relationship between the lighting fixture 21 and the writing flag in the control request buffer 18.

  The analysis processing unit 17 initializes the reference flag of the relation table 14 before receiving control information from the controller 40. Thereafter, each time the analysis processing unit 17 reads a set of control information from the control buffer 16, the analysis processing unit 17 sets a reference flag corresponding to the corresponding group name in the relationship table 14. The analysis processing unit 17 does not perform processing for setting a reference flag for a group name for which a reference flag has already been set in the relationship table 14. In addition, when the reference flag is set for all the group names in the relation table 14, the analysis processing unit 17 ends the reading of the control information from the control buffer 16.

  By the process described above, the number of processes for reading the control information from the control buffer 16 is greatly reduced as in the case of writing the control contents of the individual lighting fixtures 21 in the control request buffer 18. That is, since the processing for the same group name does not overlap in one control unit 10, the maximum number of processings including the reading processing P1 and the expansion processing P2 is 256 times. Therefore, by combining all the processes described above, the maximum number of processes including the reading process P1, the unfolding process P2, and the writing process P3 is 256.

  FIG. 10 shows a result obtained by simulating the time from the start of control until the lighting state of the lighting fixture 1 is reflected when the lighting state of the lighting fixture 21 is controlled according to the time schedule.

  The processing time shown in FIG. 10 is an example in the case where the number of processes is reduced in all of the reading process P1, the developing process P2, and the writing process P3 in the superimposing process. The maximum time was about 85 ms.

  Note that the reference flag of the relation table 14 is affected only when the control information read from the control buffer 16 corresponds to group control. In the case of individual control or pattern control, the reference of the relation table 14 is referred to. The flag is not affected.

10 Control unit (load control device)
13 Main Processing Unit 14 Relationship Table 16 Control Buffer 17 Analysis Processing Unit 18 Control Request Buffer 21 Lighting Equipment (Load)
181 slot (first slot)
182 slots (first slot)
183 slot (first slot)
184 slot (second slot)
40 Controller BK1, BK2, ... Block L1 Communication line L2 Communication line L3 Communication line L4 Communication line

Claims (6)

A load control device for instructing the load of control content by transmitting control data for determining individual operations of one or more loads through a communication line;
A control buffer that temporarily stores control information that summarizes control data for one or more loads;
An analysis processing unit that reads out the control information stored in the control buffer and expands the control information into control contents corresponding to each load on a one-to-one basis;
A control request buffer in which the control contents developed by the analysis processing unit are written;
A main processing unit that generates the control data using the control content written in the control request buffer;
The load control device, wherein the analysis processing unit reads the control information stored in the control buffer in a first-in last-out manner. The control request buffer has a one-to-one block corresponding to the load,
The block includes a first slot in which control content for each load is written, and a second slot in which a write flag is set when the control content is written for each block,
When the analysis processing unit writes control content in the block, it determines whether the write flag is set in the second slot of the block, and the write flag is set The load control device according to claim 1, wherein the control content is not written to the block. The load control device according to claim 2, wherein the analysis processing unit ends the process of writing the control content in the control request buffer when the write flag is set in all of the blocks. A plurality of the loads are collectively assigned a group name, and further includes a relation table in which individual load control contents are associated with the group name as a unit.
The relationship table includes an area in which a reference flag is set for each group name,
The analysis processing unit expands the group name into individual load control contents and simultaneously sets the reference flag in the group name, and when expanding the group name, the reference flag is included in the group name. The load control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein it is determined whether or not the group name is set, and the group name is not expanded when the reference flag is set. The load according to claim 4, wherein the analysis processing unit ends the process of expanding the group name when the reference flag is set for all the group names set in the relation table. Control device. The load control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The load transmitted through the first communication line and operating according to the control data;
A load control system comprising: a controller that provides the control information through a second communication line.

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