JP2017208617A - Communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device which reduced power consumption when preparing for communication connection with a communication terminal by advertising.SOLUTION: A gas stove 1 includes a communication circuit 27 performing transmission and reception of signals between a smart phone 50, and a communication control section 31 for transmitting an advertising packet Adv_pkt from the communication circuit 27 in a specific event generation cycle, in preparation for communication connection with the smart phone 50, and communicating with the smart phone 50 by executing communication connection processing therebetween, when a connection request Con_req transmitted from the smart phone 50, that has received the advertising packet, was received by the communication circuit 27, and an event generation period setting section 32 for setting the length of event generation period, according to the execution state of communication connection processing by the communication control section 31.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device that performs communication connection processing by advertising with a communication terminal.

  Conventionally, Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been widely used as a communication standard for performing short-distance wireless communication between a communication terminal and a communication device, and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is also used for further power saving. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In BLE, a wireless communication connection between a communication terminal and a communication device is performed by advertising. When the communication device is in a connection standby state, it transmits an advertising packet at a constant period. Then, the communication terminal that has received the advertising packet makes a connection request to the communication apparatus, whereby the communication connection between the communication terminal and the communication apparatus is completed.

  In addition, a configuration has been proposed in which communication between a communication terminal and a communication device is stopped according to a user's selection operation so as to save power of the communication device (for example, Patent Document 2). reference).

Special table 2012-533958 gazette JP 2002-101037 A

  The communication device described in Patent Document 2 is designed to reduce the power consumption of the communication device by stopping communication with the communication terminal. However, the communication device consumes the communication device while enabling communication with the communication device. There is also a demand for reducing power.

  The present invention has been made in view of the background, and an object thereof is to provide a communication device that reduces power consumption when preparing for communication connection with a communication terminal by advertising.

A communication device of the present invention includes a communication circuit that transmits and receives signals to and from a communication terminal;
In preparation for communication connection with a communication terminal, an advertising signal is transmitted from the communication circuit at a predetermined event occurrence period, and when the connection request signal transmitted from the communication terminal that has received the advertising signal is received by the communication circuit, In a communication apparatus including a communication control unit that performs communication connection processing with the communication terminal that has transmitted the connection request signal and performs communication with the communication terminal.
An event generation period setting unit that sets a length of the event generation period according to an execution state of the communication connection process by the communication control unit is provided.

  According to the present invention, the communication control unit transmits an advertising signal at an event generation period and waits for a response from a communication terminal existing in the vicinity. However, the shorter the event generation period, the higher the frequency of transmission of the advertising signal. As a result, the power consumption of the communication device increases. Therefore, the event generation cycle setting unit sets the length of the event generation cycle according to the execution status of the communication connection processing by the communication control unit, so that the power consumption of the transmitting device is higher than when the event generation cycle is set to be constant Can be reduced.

  The event generation period setting unit sets the event generation period to a second period when use of the communication device is started, and after the communication connection process is executed by the communication control unit, The event generation period is set to a first period shorter than the second period.

  According to this configuration, the event generation period is maintained in the second period longer than the first period until the user uses the communication function. Therefore, when the user does not use the communication function, the transmission frequency of the advertising signal by the communication control unit can be lowered to reduce the power consumption of the transmission device.

  The event occurrence period setting unit may set the event occurrence period in a predetermined time period of one day shorter than the event occurrence period in another time period.

  According to this configuration, for example, when a transmission device is mounted on a heating cooker and communication is used in a limited time zone (such as a meal time zone), the event occurrence period of this time zone is set to be different from other time zones. By setting the length shorter, the power consumption for communication connection in other time zones can be reduced while enabling the communication connection in this time zone quickly.

In addition, a communication status holding unit that holds communication connection status data indicating an execution status of the communication connection processing by the communication control unit in the past in a predetermined time period of a day,
The event occurrence cycle setting unit sets the length of the event occurrence cycle in the predetermined time zone in the future based on the past execution status of the communication connection process in the predetermined time zone indicated by the communication connection status data. It is characterized by doing.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to set an appropriate length for a future event generation period based on the actual actual use of communication in the past for a predetermined time period of the day.

  In addition, the event generation period setting unit sets the event generation period in the predetermined time period to be shorter as the number of execution times of the communication connection process in the predetermined time period in the past indicated by the communication connection status data increases. It is characterized by doing.

  According to this configuration, by setting the future event generation period to be shorter as the number of times of past communication usage increases with respect to a predetermined time zone of the day, communication connection in a time zone where communication usage frequency is high is established. It is possible to make it possible quickly, and to reduce power consumption in a time zone in which the communication usage frequency is low.

The block diagram of a gas stove (the communication apparatus of this invention) and a smart phone (the communication terminal of this invention). The flowchart of the setting process of the event generation period in 1st Embodiment. The flowchart of the setting process of the event generation period in 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart of the setting process of the event generation period in 3rd Embodiment. The flowchart of the setting process of the event generation period in 4th Embodiment.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[1. Configuration of gas stove and smartphone]
With reference to FIG. 1, the gas stove 1 (corresponding to the communication device of the present invention) of the present embodiment is close to the smartphone 50 (corresponding to the communication terminal of the present invention) by BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). It has a function to perform distance wireless communication.

  The gas stove 1 includes a left stove 10a, a right stove 10b, a rear stove 10c, and a grill 20 as heating units for heating the food. Each stove 10a, 10b, 10c is provided with temperature sensors 15a, 15b, 15c for detecting the temperature of the bottom of the cooking container to be placed.

  On the front side of the gas stove 1, there is a left stove operation button 11a for changing the ignition / extinguishing and heating power of the left stove 10a, a right stove operation button 11b for changing the ignition / extinguishing and heating power of the right stove 10b, and the rear A rear stove operation button 11c for changing the ignition / extinguishing and heating power of the stove 10c and an operation button 21 for grilling for changing the ignition / extinguishing and heating power of the grill 20 are provided. Further, a stove operation panel 13 and a grill operation panel 23 are provided on the front surface of the gas stove 1.

  Further, the gas stove 1 is provided with a stove controller 30 that controls the overall operation of the gas stove 1, a speaker 26, and a communication circuit 27. The stove controller 30 is an electronic circuit unit configured by a CPU, a memory, various interface circuits, and the like, and a control program for the gas stove 1 held in the memory is executed by the CPU, so that the communication control unit 31 and event generation cycle setting are performed. It functions as the part 32, the communication status holding part 33, and the heating cooking control part 34.

  The stove controller 30 includes detection signals from the temperature sensors 15a, 15b, and 15c and operation buttons (left stove operation button 11a, right stove operation button 11b, rear stove operation button 11c, grill operation button 21). The signal, the operation signal of the operation panel (the stove operation panel 13 and the grill operation panel 23), and the signal received by the communication circuit 27 are input.

  Further, according to the control signal output from the stove controller 30, the left stove 10a, the right stove 10b, the rear stove 10c, the grill 20, the operation panel (the stove operation panel 13, the grill operation panel 23), and the sound output from the speaker 26 And transmission of signals by the communication circuit 27 is controlled.

  The smartphone 50 is provided with a smartphone controller 60 that controls the overall operation of the smartphone 50. The smartphone controller 60 is an electronic circuit unit composed of a CPU, a memory, various interface circuits, and the like, and the CPU 50 executes a control program for the smartphone 50 held in the memory. Functions as the unit 62 and the cooking condition data transmission unit 63.

  The smartphone 50 includes a touch panel 51 on which various screens are displayed while being touched by a user, a speaker 52 that outputs sound and the like, and a communication circuit 53 that transmits and receives signals between the gas stove 1 and the smartphone 50. Is provided.

  The smartphone controller 60 receives a touch operation signal on the touch panel 51 and a signal received by the communication circuit 53. Further, the screen display of the touch panel 51, the output of the speaker 52, and the transmission of the signal by the communication circuit 53 are controlled by the control signal transmitted from the smartphone controller 60.

  The gas stove 1 has a function of receiving cooking condition data corresponding to the recipe selected by the smartphone 50 from the smartphone 50 and performing automatic heating cooking based on the cooking condition data. In order to use this function, the user accesses the recipe selection site and installs a recipe selection application (hereinafter referred to as a recipe selection application) on the smartphone 50.

  When the user installs the recipe selection application, the user performs an operation of registering the model name of the gas stove 1 as an initial setting. This registration makes it possible to obtain cooking condition data corresponding to the specifications of the gas stove 1 (the stoves 10a, 10b, 10c, the heating capacity of the grill 20, etc.) from the recipe selection site. Moreover, a user performs the wireless communication between the smart phone 50 and the gas stove 1 by performing pairing of the smart phone 50 and the gas stove 1 by a recipe selection application.

  In the smartphone 50, the recipe selection unit 62 selects a recipe according to the recipe selection operation by the user, and the cooking condition data for the recipe selected by the recipe selection unit 62 is communicated by the cooking condition data transmission unit 63. It is transmitted from the circuit 53.

  And in the gas stove 1, the heating cooking control part 34 of the stove controller 30 which received cooking condition data via the communication circuit 27 performs automatic cooking according to cooking condition data.

[2. First Embodiment of Event Generation Period Setting Process]
Next, the first embodiment of the event generation period setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the communication control unit 31 of the gas stove 1 prepares for the wireless communication connection with the smartphone 50 that has already completed the pairing, and, as shown in FIG. 1, the advertising packet Adv_pkt (the advertising signal of the present invention) Is repeatedly transmitted.

  And the smart phone 50 which exists in the circumference | surroundings of the gas stove 1 transmits connect request Con_req (equivalent to the connection request signal of this invention), when receiving advertising packet Adv_pkt. The connection request Con_req includes the address of the gas stove 1 included in the advertising packet Adv_pkt and the address of the smartphone 50. The communication control unit 31 of the gas stove 1 recognizes these addresses, identifies the communication partner smartphone 50, and executes a wireless communication connection process with the smartphone 50.

  The flowchart of FIG. 2 is executed by the event generation period setting unit 32, and when the gas stove 1 is installed in the kitchen and the use of the gas stove 1 is started, in STEP1, the event generation period setting unit 32 sets the event generation period. Set to the second period (the initial value of the event generation period).

  In subsequent STEP 2, the event generation period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the communication control unit 31 has performed communication connection processing between the gas stove 1 and the smartphone 50. And when the communication connection process between the gas stove 1 and the smart phone 50 is performed, it progresses to STEP3 and the event generation period setting part 32 sets (changes) an event generation period to the 1st period shorter than a 2nd period. To do.

  As a result, when the user does not perform an automatic cooking operation using the smartphone 50, the event occurrence period is maintained at the second period. Therefore, the transmission frequency of the advertising packet Adv_pkt by the communication control unit 31 is decreased to reduce the gas stove. 1 power consumption can be reduced. In addition, when the user performs an operation of automatic cooking using the smartphone 50, the event occurrence cycle is changed to the first cycle shorter than the second cycle, so the communication connection between the gas stove 1 and the smartphone 50 Processing can be performed more quickly.

[3. Second Embodiment of Event Generation Period Setting Process]
Next, a second embodiment of the event generation period setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The event generation period setting unit 32 sets the event generation period to the second period in STEP 10 of FIG. In subsequent STEP 11, the event generation cycle setting unit 32 determines that the current time (recognized by the timekeeping function of the stove controller 30) is a preset gas stove usage time zone (morning, noon, evening cooking time zone, etc.) It is determined whether or not a start time (corresponding to a predetermined time zone of the invention) has come.

  Then, when the current time becomes the start time of the usage time zone, the process proceeds to STEP 12, and the event generation period setting unit 32 sets (changes) the event generation period to the first period shorter than the second period, and then proceeds to STEP 13. move on.

  In STEP 13, the event occurrence period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the current time is the end time of the usage time zone. Then, when the current time becomes the end time of the usage time zone, the process proceeds to STEP10.

  By the process according to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the event generation period setting unit 32 sets the event generation period to a first period that is relatively short in the use time period in which the automatic cooking operation using the smartphone 50 is highly likely to be performed. . And thereby, it becomes possible to perform the communication connection process between the gas stove 1 and the smart phone 50 rapidly, and can improve a user's usability.

  On the other hand, in a time zone other than the usage time zone where there is a low possibility of an automatic cooking operation using the smartphone 50, the communication control unit 31 sets the event occurrence cycle to a relatively long second cycle. It is possible to reduce the power consumption of the gas stove 1 by reducing the transmission frequency of the advertising packet Adv_pkt.

[4. Third Embodiment of Event Generation Period Setting Process]
Next, a third embodiment of the event generation period setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the third embodiment, the length of the event generation cycle is set according to the time level. The time level is such that level 1 is the shortest and the time increases as the level increases.

  The event generation period setting unit 32 sets the event generation period to time level 1 (shortest setting) and resets a non-use counter (described later) (set to 0) in STEP 30 of FIG. Then, the next loop of STEP31 to STEP34 is repeatedly executed.

  In STEP 31, the event generation period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the current time is the start time of the usage time zone. Then, when the current time becomes the disclosure time of the usage time zone, the process proceeds to STEP 32, and at STEP 40, while monitoring whether the communication control unit 31 performs the communication connection process between the gas stove 1 and the smartphone 50, the current time It is determined whether or not the end time of the usage time zone has been reached.

  The communication status holding unit 33 holds, in a memory provided in the stove controller 30, communication connection status data indicating whether or not the communication connection processing is executed in the usage time period (corresponding to the execution status of the communication connection processing of the present invention). To do.

  When the current time reaches the end time of the usage time zone, the process proceeds to STEP 33, and the event generation period setting unit 32 refers to the communication connection status data to determine whether or not the communication connection processing has been executed within the usage time zone. Judging. When the communication connection process is executed within the usage time zone, the process proceeds to STEP34. On the other hand, when the communication connection process is not executed within the usage time period, the process branches to STEP 50, and the event generation period setting unit 32 counts up (+1) the non-use counter and proceeds to STEP 34.

  In STEP 34, the event generation period setting unit 32 sets the time level of the event generation period according to the count value of the non-use counter. In other words, the larger the count value (the greater the number of past days when communication connection processing has not been executed during the usage time period), the longer the event generation period is set by increasing the time level of the event generation period in the future usage time period. To do.

  Thereby, the event generation period in a use time slot | zone can be set appropriately according to the usage condition of the gas stove 1 using the actual smart phone 50. FIG.

[5. Fourth Embodiment of Event Generation Period Setting Process]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the event generation period setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the fourth embodiment, similarly to the third embodiment described above, the length of the event generation cycle is set according to the time level.

  The event generation period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the current time is the start time of the usage time zone in STEP 60 of FIG. Then, when the current time becomes the start time of the use time zone, the process proceeds to STEP 61. At STEP 70, the communication control unit 31 monitors whether or not the communication connection process between the gas stove 1 and the smartphone 50 is being performed. It is determined whether or not the end time of the usage time zone has been reached.

  When the current time reaches the end time of the usage time zone, the process proceeds to STEP 62, and the event generation period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the communication connection process has been executed within the usage time zone. When the communication connection process is executed within the use time zone, the process proceeds to STEP 63, and the event generation period setting unit 32 counts up (+1) the weight variable and proceeds to STEP 64. On the other hand, when the communication connection process is not executed within the usage time period, the process branches to STEP80, and the event generation period setting unit 32 counts down (-1) the weight variable and proceeds to STEP64.

  In STEP 64, the event occurrence period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the weight variable has become larger than the weight upper limit value. When the weight variable becomes larger than the weight upper limit value, the process proceeds to STEP 65, and the event generation period setting unit 32 lowers the time level of the event generation period by one level (-1). On the other hand, when the weight variable is equal to or less than the weight upper limit value, the process branches to STEP 90, and the event generation period setting unit 32 determines whether or not the weight variable is smaller than the weight lower limit value.

  When the weight variable becomes smaller than the weight lower limit value, the process proceeds to STEP 91, and the event generation period setting unit 32 increases the time level of the event generation period by one step (+1), and proceeds to STEP 66. On the other hand, if the weight variable is equal to or greater than the weight lower limit value, the process branches to STEP 66.

  As described above, the weight variable is increased / decreased depending on whether or not the communication connection process is executed, and the time level of the event occurrence cycle is increased / decreased according to the value of the weight variable, thereby allowing the user to perform automatic cooking using the smartphone 50. The length of the event generation cycle can be set according to the operation implementation status.

  In STEP 66, the event generation period setting unit 32 reads out the parameters (start time, end time, time level of event occurrence time, value of weight variable) of the next time zone from the memory, and proceeds to STEP 60. As a result, the value of the weight variable is updated in the same manner for the next time zone, and the length of the event occurrence cycle is updated.

[6. Other Embodiments]
In the present embodiment, the gas stove 1 is shown as the communication apparatus of the present invention, but the present invention can be applied to any communication apparatus that performs communication connection processing by advertising with a communication terminal.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the smart phone 50 was shown as a communication terminal of this invention, what is necessary is just a communication terminal which has a function which communicates between communication apparatuses, and a mobile phone, a tablet, a personal computer etc. can be used. it can.

  In the present embodiment, the gas stove 1 (communication device) that performs wireless communication by BLE with the smartphone 50 (communication terminal) is shown. However, even when a communication specification other than BLE is adopted, advertising is performed. The present invention can be applied to any communication device that performs communication connection according to the above.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Gas stove (communication apparatus), 27 ... Communication circuit, 30 ... Stove controller, 31 ... Communication control part, 32 ... Event generation period setting part, 33 ... Communication status holding part, 34 ... Heating cooking control part, 50 ... Smartphone ( Communication terminal), 60... Smartphone controller, 61.

Claims (5)

A communication circuit that transmits and receives signals to and from a communication terminal;
In preparation for communication connection with a communication terminal, an advertising signal is transmitted from the communication circuit at a predetermined event occurrence period, and when the connection request signal transmitted from the communication terminal that has received the advertising signal is received by the communication circuit, In a communication apparatus including a communication control unit that performs communication connection processing with the communication terminal that has transmitted the connection request signal and performs communication with the communication terminal.
A communication apparatus comprising: an event generation period setting unit that sets a length of the event generation period according to an execution status of the communication connection process by the communication control unit. The communication device according to claim 1,
The event generation period setting unit sets the event generation period to a second period when the use of the communication device is started, and the event generation is performed after the communication connection process is executed by the communication control unit. The communication apparatus is characterized in that the period is set to a first period shorter than the second period. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2,
The event occurrence period setting unit sets the event occurrence period in a predetermined time period of one day shorter than the event occurrence period in another time period. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2,
A communication status holding unit for holding communication connection status data indicating an execution status of the communication connection processing by the communication control unit in the past in a predetermined time period of one day;
The event occurrence cycle setting unit sets the length of the event occurrence cycle in the predetermined time zone in the future based on the past execution status of the communication connection process in the predetermined time zone indicated by the communication connection status data. A communication device characterized by: The communication device according to claim 4, wherein
The event generation period setting unit sets the event generation period in the predetermined time period to be shorter as the number of execution times of the communication connection process in the predetermined time period in the past indicated by the communication connection status data increases. A communication device characterized by the above.