JP2917514B2 - Matrix switcher device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a matrix switcher device, and in particular, includes a plurality of matrix switcher units that arbitrarily distribute input of a plurality of channels of video signals and audio signals to outputs of a plurality of channels. And a matrix switcher device comprising:

[Summary of the Invention]

The present invention relates to a matrix switcher device comprising a plurality of matrix switcher units and at least one remote operation unit connected by a control serial bus line, wherein each unit transmits at least a control circuit and communication data to a serial bus line. And a transmission / reception circuit for transmission via the
Is divided into one primary station and a plurality of remaining secondary stations. The primary station sequentially specifies all units, requests data transmission, and stores communication data transmitted from a unit having data to be transmitted. Then, the stored data is transmitted collectively, and each unit is configured to take in only the data corresponding to its own unit from the communication data transmitted from the primary station, thereby forming the primary station. Is simple, data communication between all units is always performed via the primary station, thereby improving data transmission efficiency and enabling switch control operation with good responsiveness.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art In a broadcasting station, a production studio, or the like that creates a television broadcast program or video software, a plurality of devices, for example, a VTR (video tape recorder), a video disk recording / reproducing device, an audio tape recorder or a disk recording / reproducing device. Further, it is necessary to arbitrarily switch and transmit video signals and audio signals input / output to / from a microphone, a television camera, or the like. For example, a matrix switcher device in which switches are arranged in a matrix is provided between a VTR room in which a large number of VTRs and various recording / reproducing devices are centrally installed, and some editing rooms. By arbitrarily switching each switch of the matrix switcher device,
A connection state has been realized for one editing room in which a desired or unused device is designated from a number of devices such as VTRs provided in the VTR room and is usable. .

By the way, such a matrix switcher device is
The required matrix size varies depending on the scale of the entire system including the number of devices used and the number of editing rooms, and in the case of a large-scale system in which the input and output exceed tens of channels each. Considering that it is difficult to cope with the matrix switcher device of, for example, using a plurality of small or medium-sized matrix switcher units from several channels to tens of channels, of any size, or It has been considered to construct a larger-scale matrix switcher device.

Here, FIG. 5 shows an example of a matrix switcher device in which the scale is increased and the number of input / output terminals is increased by using a plurality of (for example, four) matrix switcher units MSU as described above.

The fifth four matrix switcher units MSU ₁ ~MSU ₄ shown in the figures, both the 32 channels of the input terminals TI
_{1 to} TI ₃₂ and 32 channels of output terminals TO _{1 to} TO ₃₂ ,
Extension lines of these input terminals TI _{1 to} TI ₃₂ and output terminal TO ₁
It has a so-called 32 × 32 switch matrix in which switches are provided at each intersection (cross point) with an extension line of TO ₃₂ . Further, each of the matrix switcher units MSU _{1 to} MSU ₄ has 32 channels of expansion output terminals EO _{1 to} EO ₃₂ and 32 channels of expansion input terminals EI _{1 to} EI ₃₂ . Using the four of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₁ ~MSU _4, for example, each extension input terminals of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₁
EI ₁ ~EI ₃₂ to connect the matrix switcher unit the output terminals TO ₁ ~TO ₃₂ of MSU _2, respectively, each input of the matrix switcher unit each extension output terminals of the MSU ₁ EO ₁ ~EO ₃₂ to the matrix switcher unit MSU ₄ Terminals TI _{1 to} TI ₃₂
Are connected to each other, and the matrix switcher unit MSU ₂
Connect the input terminals TI _{1 to} TI ₃₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU _{3 to} the extension output terminals EO _{1 to} EO ₃₂ , respectively, and further connect to the extension input terminals EI _{1 to} EI ₃₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU _4. By connecting the respective output terminals TO _{1 to} TO ₃₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₃ respectively, a matrix switcher device of 64 channels input × 64 channels output is constituted as a whole.

In this case, the input IN ₁ of 32 channels of 64 channels input to IN ₃₂ the matrix switcher unit MSU
₁ to each of the input terminals TI _{1 to} TI ₃₂ , and the remaining 32 channels of inputs IN _{33 to} IN ₆₄ are assigned to the matrix switcher unit MSU ₂ to be supplied to the respective input terminals TI _{1 to} TI _32. , 32 of 64 channel outputs
Taking out respectively the outputs OUT ₁ to OUT ₃₂ of the channels from the matrix switcher unit MSU the output terminals TO ₁ ～TO ₃₂ of _1, each output OUT ₃₃ to OUT ₆₄ of the remaining 32 channels each input of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₄ Terminals TO _{1 to} T
Allocate them so that they can be extracted from O ₃₂ respectively. As a result, the 64 channel inputs IN _{1 to} IN ₆₄ can be arbitrarily allocated and taken out as _{one of} the 64 channel outputs OUT _{1 to} OUT ₆₄ .

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in a general matrix switcher device, a remote control unit (so-called remote control unit) is provided for arbitrarily turning on / off each cross point switch, and a button or a switching lever on an operation panel of the remote control unit is provided. By operating such operations, switching of a desired input / output signal path (so-called routing) is performed. Here, in a matrix switcher device having a plurality of matrix switcher units as described above, a plurality of remote control units may be provided, and control is performed between the plurality of matrix switcher units and the remote control units. It is necessary to optimize protocols and transmission formats for transmitting and receiving signals and the like.

When the number of devices used is from several to about several tens, there is no problem in transmitting and receiving control signals and the like using one serial bus line. When trying to transmit signals between serial devices via a serial bus line, problems arise in responsiveness, reliability, etc., and even after performing the switching operation, the waiting time until the signal route switching is actually performed It takes a long time, and the frequency of data errors increases, and a special cable is required.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a matrix switcher device that does not require high performance in a transmission line and does not complicate the circuit configuration even when the number of matrix switcher units increases, and that has good responsiveness in switch switching operation and the like.

[Means for solving the problem]

A matrix switcher device according to the present invention includes: a switch matrix that arbitrarily switches and connects input of a plurality of channels and output of a plurality of channels; a control circuit for controlling on / off of each switch of the switch matrix;
A plurality of matrix switcher units each including a transmission / reception circuit for transmitting / receiving communication data including data related to the control operation of the control circuit via an external serial bus line are provided. At least one remote control unit having a control circuit for operation and a transmission / reception circuit is provided, and the communication data is transmitted between the transmission / reception circuits of the matrix switcher unit and the remote control unit via the external serial bus line. Wherein each unit is divided into one primary station and a plurality of remaining secondary stations, wherein the primary station comprises:
Requesting data transmission by sequentially specifying all the units, storing communication data transmitted from a unit having data to be transmitted, transmitting the stored data collectively,
Each of the units solves the above-described problem by taking in only the data corresponding to its own unit from the communication data transmitted from the primary station.

(Operation)

The primary station sequentially designates all the units (stations) connected to the serial bus line and outputs data, and the primary station collectively outputs the data from each unit and sends the data to each unit. The communication data is organized by the primary station, so that even if the number of stations (the number of units) increases, the operation execution time is not adversely affected, data communication between all units can be performed efficiently, and responsiveness is improved. As well,
The structure of the primary station is simple because it only collects data.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a matrix switcher device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, m-channel input terminals TI _{1 to} T
Output terminals of the n-channel input from _{I m TO 1 ~TO n (m} ,
n Any integer of 2 or more, m in the example of FIG. 1, n matrix switcher unit MSU to distribute any are both 2 channel), m × n pieces switch X ₁₁ respectively provided for each cross point of ~ X _nm (4 in the example of FIG. 1)
A switch matrix SX composed of X ₁₁ to X ₂₂₎ in number, and a control circuit CNT for on / off control of the switches X ₁₁ to X _nm of the switch matrix SX, associated with the control operation of the control circuit CNT It includes at least a transmitting / receiving circuit TR for packetizing various information data including the state of the data and the state of the switch matrix SX into communication data and transmitting / receiving the communication data via the external serial bus line SB. Further, the matrix switcher unit MSU has input terminals TI _{1 to} TI _1
m and m switches X ₁₁ on the input side of switch matrix SX
M buffers BT ₁ provided between X and _{1 m} respectively.
To BT _m (two buffers BT ₁ , BT _{2 in} FIG. ₁ ) and extension output terminals EO _{1 to} EO _m ( _first pair) connected to the output terminals of these m buffers BT _{1 to} BT _m , respectively. In the figure, two terminals EO
₁ , EO ₂ ), n extension input terminals EI _{1 to} EI _n (two terminals EI ₁ , EI _{2 in} FIG. ₁ ), and these n extension input terminals
EI ₁ ~EI _n buffers respectively connected to BE ₁ ~BE _n (first
And BE _1, BE ₂₎ in the figure, these buffers BE ₁ ~BE _n and switches X ₁₀ to X _n0 (in FIG. 1 X ₁₀ respectively provided for each cross point between the output terminals TO ₁ ~TO _n, X ₂₀ ).

Using a plurality of matrix switcher units having such a configuration (first four matrix switcher units in FIG MSU ₁ ~MSU _4), an output terminal of another unit in the extension input terminals of one unit, also By connecting the input terminal of another unit to the output terminal for expansion of one unit, the number of input channels and / or the number of output channels can be increased, and the system scale can be expanded.

In the example of FIG. 1, the matrix switcher unit MSU ₁
Input terminals EI ₁ and EI ₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU _{2 to} the output terminals TO ₁ and TO ₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU _{1 and} the expansion output terminals EO ₁ and EO ₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU _{4 to} the input terminals TI _1, TI ₂ of the matrix switcher unit input terminal of the MSU expansion output terminals EO ₁ to _2, EO ₂ to the matrix switcher unit MSU ₃ TI ₁ ~TI ₂
And also by connecting extension input terminals EI ₁ of the matrix switcher unit MSU _4, EI ₂ in the matrix switcher unit MSU ₃ output terminals TO _1, TO _2, respectively, as a whole 4-channel input × 4 channel output matrix It is a switcher device. Further, of the four channel inputs, two channel inputs IN ₁ and IN ₂ are connected to the input terminals TI ₁ and TI ₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₁ , and the remaining two channel inputs IN ₃ and IN ₄ are connected to the matrix switcher unit MS.
Supply them to the input terminals TI ₁ and TI ₂ of U ₂ respectively, and output two channels OUT ₁ and OUT ₂ of the four channel outputs from the output terminals TO ₁ and TO ₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₁ to output the remaining two channels. OUT ₃ and OUT ₄ are taken out from the respective input terminals TO ₁ and TO ₂ of the matrix switcher unit MSU ₄ .

These multiple matrix switcher units MSU
At least one remote control unit (so-called remote control unit) RCU is provided to remotely control the
In the example of FIG. ₁ , _two remote control units RCU ₁ and RCU ₂ are shown. This remote control unit RCU has a control circuit CTRL
And a transmission / reception circuit TR. Transceiver circuit TR
Is for transmitting and receiving the communication data via the serial bus line SB, and the control circuit CTRL is provided on the front panel of the remote operation unit RCU in connection with various data input / output via the transmission / reception circuit TR. It controls the operation input from the operation buttons and the like provided on the display unit and the like, and the data display output to the display unit.

Next, a data transmission format or a communication protocol via the serial bus line SB will be described.

The type of network belongs to a LAN (local area network), and effective operation is possible even with the lowest performance such as a transmission distance of 500 m and a communication speed (data rate) of 307 Kbps. The transmission line is formed by a coaxial line in a bus shape, and the transmission / reception circuits of the matrix switcher unit and the remote operation unit are connected as terminals, and the transmission line is used by time division.

The modulation method is a so-called bi-phase space modulation, in which inversion (or transition) always occurs at the boundary of each bit of data, as shown in FIG. 2, and further inversion occurs at the center of the bit of data value "0". ing. The electric signal is 2V ± 0.5V (75Ω termination) and the connector is 75Ω T type
BNC is used and the input impedance is 57kΩ / 27kΩ.

The matrix switcher unit MSU and the remote control unit RCU as shown in FIG. 1 described above, especially the transmission / reception circuit TR of each unit, are classified into a primary station and a secondary station from the viewpoint of data communication. The primary station is a station that controls the data link and has full responsibility for error control and recovery at the link level, and the secondary station performs data link control according to an instruction from the primary station. Is a station that executes the control contents of Only one primary station is provided among all the units connected to the bus line SB, and the rest are all secondary stations. The primary station has a transceiver (T
R) is sequentially designated, data transmission is requested, communication data transmitted from a unit having data to be transmitted is stored, and the stored data is transmitted collectively. Only the data corresponding to its own unit in the communication data sent from the primary station is taken in. As a result, all data communication on the bus line SB is controlled by the primary station, and it is possible to easily increase the utilization efficiency of the bus line SB. Note that the primary station is responsible for collecting communication data including information data such as a switching request from the remote control unit and a switching result from the matrix switcher unit, and does not directly control all units.

Here, in the embodiment of the present invention, the matrix switcher unit MSU and the remote control unit RCU include a primary station,
A changeover switch for switching the secondary station is provided. When the changeover switch is switched to the primary station, the unit MS
U or RCU (actually, the transmission / reception circuit TR of the unit) becomes the primary station, and when it is switched to the secondary station, it becomes the secondary station. In addition, for all the units connected to the common bus line SB, only one unit is switched to the primary station, and all the rest are switched to the secondary station.

FIG. 3 shows, as a specific example of a signal transmitted on the serial bus line, a so-called polling operation in which all the units are sequentially designated from the primary station unit to make an inquiry and prompt data transmission, and the designated data is designated. This is indicated by a signal when there is data to be transmitted to the unit.

Here, a series of addresses (station addresses, station addresses) are assigned to all units such as the matrix switcher unit and the remote control unit (remote control unit). As a specific example of this address,
The primary station is fixed at the first address, and the second and subsequent addresses are allocated to the secondary stations so that there is no station having the same address in one data link. Only the station having the address corresponding to the destination address added to the communication data captures the communication data. As a special address, address 0 is a no-station address, and the maximum address (for example, address 255 in the case of an 8-bit address) is a global address. The no-station address does not respond to any station, is used at the time of a line test of the bus line, and the like, and the global address is for enabling all stations connected to the bus line to receive.

FIG. 3 shows a communication data packet DPP during a series of polling operations under the control of the primary station and a communication data packet DPS transmitted from the secondary station in response to the polling. Here, a packet is a unit block for data transmission. The polling operation is to designate a station address of one unit connected to the bus line to prompt the unit to transmit data, and to give the right to use the bus line to the unit. If there is no response within the time T _wt , the station address is updated and the process shifts to polling of the next station, thereby sequentially specifying all units connected to the bus line. In this case, polling for itself (primary station) is performed inside the unit, and 1
No communication data packet DPP for polling the next station is carried.

The communication data packet DPP (k) in FIG. 3 indicates a packet (block) when polling is performed by designating the station at address k, and data to be transmitted to the unit at address k (secondary station). The communication data packet DPS is transmitted from the unit to the bus line within the waiting time T _wt . Communication data packet DPP during polling
(K) shows a bit string SY for synchronization and 8
Bit start flag SF, 8-bit destination address TAD, 8-bit control data CD, 16-bit error detection code FDC, 8-bit end (end) flag EF, Bit string SY for synchronization
And consists of The preceding and succeeding synchronization bit strings SY are, for example, 10 to 16 bits each. On the other hand, a communication data packet DPS from the secondary station and a packet generally including information data have a configuration in which N-bit information data IFD is arranged between the control data CD of the packet DPP and the error detection code FDC. It has become. Where N-bit information data
IFN can be any number of bytes (8 bits),
The maximum value of all data between the front and rear flags SF and EF in one packet (block) is limited to, for example, 256 bytes. A series of information data exceeding this condition is divided into a plurality of blocks (multiple packets). To transmit.

Next, the control (control) Specific examples of the contents of the data CD, data or data or to determine the primary station / secondary station determines from the secondary station from the primary station to the most significant bit B ₇ bit M / S, are arranged next bit B ₆ in the series of data in the case where the block division last block or otherwise or data continuous discriminating bit P / F to determine, respectively. When the communication data is from the primary station, the primary / secondary station discrimination bit M / S is "1", and when the communication data is from the secondary station, it is "0".
Becomes The data continuity determination bit P / F is “1” for a block in the middle of the block-divided data, and is “0” for the last block. In addition, the next bit B ₅
Discriminating bit whether the applied protection request discriminating bit PR, a matrix switcher apparatus to bits B ₄ to
Disposed to RU, and the remaining 4 bits B ₃ .about.B ₀ is made to correspond to the command CMD as shown in Table 1 below.

In this Table 1, the polling command corresponds to the lower 4 bits of the control data CD of the communication data packet DPP at the time of the polling, and can be output only by the primary station. The secondary station designated by (1) acquires the right to use the serial bus line SB. The designated secondary station has the above waiting time
It is necessary to respond within T _wt, and after the waiting time T _wt , the primary station shifts to the next polling. The crosspoint number and name commands indicate that the following data is the crosspoint number and name, respectively. Data that can be exchanged between a primary station and a secondary station, or a data request or data transfer to a secondary station by relaying the primary station is, for example, 81
When transmitting data exceeding the upper limit of one packet (for example, 256 bytes), the data is transmitted in several times. Data requests and data transfer between the secondary stations are performed via the primary station. In addition, connection information search request command (name and number), switching execution result command (name and number), time data setting request command, terminal command, AKC (acknowledge) command, N
An AK (negative acknowledgment) command and a reset command are specified.

Returning to FIG. 3, the primary station sends the polling communication data packet DPP to the serial bus line SB data link. The primary / secondary station discrimination bit M / S of the control data CD of this packet DPP is "1", and only the station at the address specified by the destination address TAD fetches the data and shifts to execution. When a communication data packet DPP (k) having a destination address TAD of k is transmitted and the corresponding secondary station at address k has information data to be communicated, such as the switching request and the switching result, the packet is transmitted.
During the period from the end of the transmission of DPP (k) to the elapse of the waiting time _Twt , the secondary station at the address k transmits the communication data packet DPS (k) including the information data onto the bus line SB. . Generally, the primary / secondary station discrimination bit M / S of the control data CD of the communication data packet DPS from the secondary station is "0", and only the primary station takes in the data.
Direct capture by secondary stations is prohibited. The primary station stores the fetched data in a storage means such as a RAM, and holds the data until polling for all the secondary stations is completed. When a series of polling is completed, the primary station packetizes and transmits the stored data for each station. Primary / secondary station discrimination bit M / S of the communication data packet at this time
Is "1", so that the station specified by the destination address TAD can capture data. When the transmission of the stored data is completed, polling for all the next units is started again.

As described above, data transmission between all units is always performed with the primary station as the partner, and transmission or reception to one station is performed only one packet at a time. The waiting time for transmission and reception can be reduced for any of the stations. That is, if the length of the communication data packet DPP at the time of polling is 300 μs to 400 μs and the waiting time T _wt is 100 μs to 200 μs, the time required to poll one station is about 500 μs. In this case, if there is no communication data transmission from the secondary station, the time is 100 ms. Therefore, for example, to realize a response of 500 ms, the communication time of information data between the secondary station and the primary station is 400 ms (transmission and reception, 200 m in only one direction).
s), and even if the average required time for transmission of communication packets of information data is, for example, 5 ms, it is possible to cope with a case where information data transmission requests for about 40 stations occur simultaneously. In reality, when an inquiry about the presence or absence of information data is made at a period of 500 ms, 40 stations (40 units)
Very few stations generate transmission data at the same time. If the response time is further increased from 500 ms, the number of stations can of course be further increased.

In addition, communication data transmitted from each unit at the time of polling of all units described above includes switching request data and
The data of the execution result, the inquiry data, the response data, etc. are mixed.For example, even the related data such as the request, the response, and the execution result of one control operation are in units of data packets for each polling. Since the transmission is performed, the operation of other devices is not waited until this one control operation is completed, and any device is always accessed at the polling cycle for all the units, and the utilization efficiency of the bus line as a whole is Responsiveness is improved.

Further, since the data output from the primary station can be known to all the secondary stations, the operation of the other secondary stations can be known.

The primary station simply stores the communication data collectively and transmits it collectively, so that the primary station has a simple structure and can be realized at low cost.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a specific example of connection between one primary station MS and a plurality of secondary stations SS. The primary station MS shown in FIG.
The, for example, four serial bus lines SB ₁ to SB 4 _four-that a connector connectable terminals CT ₁ to CT ₄ but is provided,
These four serial bus lines SB ₁ priority to SB ₄ connected to the connector terminals CT ₁ to CT ₄ is not none a comparable level, constitutes one of serial bus line loop by all of the connector terminal . When the unit can switch between the primary station and the secondary station, only one of the plurality of connector terminals of the unit switched to the secondary station can be used, which is connected to the primary station. , Other terminals are not available.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, a matrix switcher device using a matrix switcher unit and a remote control (remote operation) unit has been described. The present invention can also be applied to a system in which various units such as a data display unit are connected. Further, the signal format is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 3 and, of course, is not limited to the above-described embodiment such as control data and commands.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the matrix switcher device of the present invention, the transmission / reception circuit provided in the matrix switcher unit or the remote operation unit transmits communication data via the serial bus line. As for the transmitting / receiving circuit, all units
The primary station is divided into a next station and a plurality of remaining secondary stations, and the primary station sequentially designates all the units (stations) connected to the serial bus line and prompts data transmission. Is output together and sent to each unit, so that the communication data is organized by the primary station, and even if the number of stations (the number of units) increases, the operation execution time is not adversely affected, and the data between all the units is not affected. Not only can communication be performed efficiently and responsiveness is improved, but also the primary station simply compiles data, thus simplifying the structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a matrix switcher device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram for explaining a communication data modulation method of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a format of communication data. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a connection relationship between a primary station and a secondary station, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a system in which a plurality of matrix switcher units are connected. MUS: Matrix switcher unit TI: Input terminal TO: Output terminal CNT, CTRL: Control circuit RCU: Remote control (remote operation) unit TR: Transmission / reception circuit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A switch matrix for arbitrarily switching and connecting inputs of a plurality of channels and outputs of a plurality of channels, a control circuit for on / off control of each switch of the switch matrix, and a control operation of the control circuit. A plurality of matrix switcher units each having a transmission / reception circuit for transmitting / receiving communication data including related data via an external serial bus line are provided, a control circuit for remotely controlling these matrix switcher units, and At least one remote control unit having a transmission / reception circuit is provided. A matrix switcher device for transmitting / receiving the communication data between the transmission / reception circuits of the matrix switcher unit and the remote control unit via the external serial bus line. And each of the above units is one The primary station is divided into a primary station and a plurality of secondary stations. The primary station sequentially specifies all the units, requests transmission of data, and transmits communication data transmitted from a unit having data to be transmitted. A matrix switcher device comprising: storing and transmitting the stored data collectively; each of the units taking in only the data corresponding to its own unit from among the communication data transmitted from the primary station.