JP3250924B2 - Wireless calling system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a radio calling system for sending a message to a portable radio receiver by using a public network from a telephone or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been realized a radio call system for transmitting a message from a telephone or the like to a portable radio receiver widely used under the nickname of a so-called pager or the like using a public network.

[0003] Such a radio paging system can be realized, for example, by the configuration shown in FIG.

In FIG. 25, 1 is a central office, 2 and 3 are transmitting stations, 4 is a receiver, 5 is a public network, and 6 is a telephone (subscriber terminal).

[0005] A message transmitted from the telephone set 6 to one of the receivers 4 is sent to the central office 1 via the public network 5. The central office sends this message to all transmitting stations 2, 3
Send to Each of the transmissions 2 and 3 broadcasts this message wirelessly. Each receiver receives a message sent from the transmitting stations 2 and 3 which can receive radio waves, and receives the message.
If the message is addressed to the user, the contents of the message are displayed on a display or the like provided in the receiver 4.

[0006] As described above, according to the method of transmitting a call addressed to a certain receiver from all the transmitting stations 2 and 3, a network (public network, known station 1, transmitting stations 2 and 3) transmits each receiver 4. There is no need to perform location management. Further, it is not necessary for each receiver 4 to have a transmission function for notifying its own location to the network side. Accordingly, a wireless paging system can be realized with a simple configuration.

On the other hand, according to such a system, each receiver 4 receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of transmitting stations 2 and 3. That is, in each receiver 4, radio waves transmitted from the plurality of transmitting stations 2 and 3 cause interference. Therefore, even when there is such interference, all the transmitting stations 2 and 3 are set so that each receiver 4 can correctly receive.
Need to be synchronized so that the same content is transmitted almost simultaneously.

Here, as described above, all the transmitting stations 2 and 3
For example, the following method can be considered as a method of synchronizing.

That is, first, the transmitting station 2,
3 is set as a reference station. Here, it is assumed that the transmitting station 3 is a reference station. Also, in advance,
A time delay of transmission from the reference station 3 to each transmitting station 2 via radio is measured. Then, the time of the clock provided in the reference station 3 is transmitted by wireless transmission. Each transmitting station 2 adjusts its own clock to the clock of the reference station based on the time and the delay time obtained in advance.

On the other hand, the central office 1 adds a message designating the time at which the message should be transmitted to each message and sends the message to the transmitting stations 2 and 3. Each transmitting station 2, 3 follows its own clock,
Send a message at the specified time.

[0011]

According to the method of synchronizing all the transmitting stations 2 and 3 described above, the transmission delay time from the reference station 3 to each transmitting station 2 is measured in advance, and each transmitting station is measured. However, such a measurement is not easy because it requires high accuracy, and increases the work load when the transmitting station is installed.

Also, if one reference station is provided in the system due to geographical conditions and the like, and there is a transmitting station that cannot receive radio waves from the reference station, it is necessary to provide a plurality of reference stations. In such a case, it is necessary to further adjust the time between the reference stations, so that the work load at the time of starting the radio paging system further increases, and it is difficult to realize high accuracy.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a radio paging system that can easily synchronize all transmitting stations with good accuracy.

[0014]

To achieve the above object,
The present invention relates to a transmitter for transmitting a message via radio.
Connected to a plurality of transmitting stations and a communication network.
Distributes received messages to the plurality of transmitting stations.
A wireless calling system comprising: a central office;
The central office sends the message transmitted from the communication network
Add the specified time to be transmitted from the
From the time between excluding the transmitter of the transmitting station from the central station
Before the predicted maximum delay time TMAX that occurs or more,
Distribution means for distributing to each transmitting station, wherein the transmitting station
Clock the current time based on the time information sent from the stars
Satellite clock and the specified time to be transmitted from the transmitting station
Including a test frame based on the time of the satellite clock,
At this specified time, a test file sent to the transmitter and sent
Frame transmitting means, and a test frame transmitted from the transmitter.
And the time of reception
The time measured by the timer and the received test frame
To the transmitter based on the difference from the specified time included in the
Transmitter delay time obtaining means for obtaining the delay time ds by
Receiving a message distributed from the central office,
Included in received messages based on satellite clock time
Before the specified delay time and the delay time ds by the transmitter
To send the message to the transmitter
Wireless call comprising a message transmitting means.
Provide a delivery system.

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the radio calling system according to the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a wireless calling system according to the present embodiment.

In the figure, 1 is a central office, 2 is a transmitting station, 4 is a receiver, 5 is a public network, and 6 is a telephone.

The central office 1 and each transmitting station 2 are dedicated digital lines, public digital lines, analog lines (modem lines)
And so on. Each transmitter 2 and each receiver 4 are connected by a wireless transmission path. The wireless transmission path includes a plurality of frequency channels, and a plurality of wireless lines are realized on one frequency channel. One receiver 4 receives a message transmitted from each transmitting station 2 by a specific wireless line.

In such a configuration, the telephone 6
A message transmitted to one of the receivers 4 is sent to the central office 1 via the public network 5. The central station 1 sends this message to all transmitting stations 2. Each transmitting station 2 is synchronized, and broadcasts a message received from the central office 1 almost simultaneously using a radio line corresponding to the destination. Each receiver receives a message sent from the transmitting station 2 capable of receiving radio waves, and if the message is addressed to itself, the receiver 4 has the contents of the message. It is displayed on a display.

First, the details of the radio paging system according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the format of the air frame transmitted from the transmitting station 2 on each frequency channel will be described.

That is, each transmitting station 2 transmits an air frame shown in FIG. 2 to each receiver 4 on each frequency channel.

As shown in FIG. 2, each transmitting station 2 transmits 128 air frames in each cycle of 15 cycles in which one hour is divided into 15 every four minutes. Each air frame is composed of one synchronizing section and 11 blocks.

The synchronizing unit comprises a synchronizing unit 1 (S1), frame information (FI), and a synchronizing unit 2 (S2). Each frame is 1600 bps, 3200 bps, 6400 bps, excluding the synchronization unit 1 (SI) and the frame information (FI).
Is transmitted at one of the transfer speeds. On the other hand, the synchronizing unit 1 and the frame information are always 1600b
transmitted in ps. The synchronizing section 1 includes information for specifying the transfer rate of the block, in addition to the synchronizing pattern for the air frame, as well as the synchronizing section 2 (2). In addition,
The frame information includes information such as the number of the cycle in which the air frame is transmitted (cycle number) and the number of the air frame in the cycle (air frame number). The synchronization section 2 includes a pattern for synchronization with the block.

Next, each block has 1
When transmitted at 600 bps, a 32-bit word is transmitted.
When the word is transmitted at 8 words and 3200 bps,
When a 32-bit word is transmitted at 16400 bps at 6400 bps, a 32-bit word includes 32 words.

When transmitted at 3200 bps,
The 16 words in each block consist of two fades of 8 words each.
Is divided into When transmitted at 3200 bps, 32 words in each block are divided into four phases of 8 words each. That is, each phase has 8 words per block and 88 words per air frame. In this embodiment, this 8
One communication frame is composed of eight words. The assignment of the phase of each word in the block is shown in FIGS. The word nx shown in the figure indicates that it is the nth word in the block of the phase x.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, one word corresponds to two words.
1 bit of information bits, 10 bits of BCH bits as an error correction code of 21 bits of information bits, and 1 parity bit representing 31 bits of parity of 21 bits of information bits and 10 bits In.

Now, each word is interleaved in a block and transmitted for the purpose of burst error countermeasures. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the data is sent from the upper right to the lower left in the column order in FIGS. 3 to 5, such as 1 bit of the first word, then 1 bit of the second word, and so on.

The 88 words of each communication frame are configured as shown in FIG. That is, as 88 words, block information (BI) and address information (A
F), vector information (VF), message information (M
F), idle information (IB) is stored.

The block information of each communication frame stores the position of address information and vector information. In the communication frame of the first air frame of each cycle, the time (real time) at which the information of the air frame is to be transmitted is transmitted as block information. That is, the real time is transmitted once every four minutes. In addition, when the system supports a time zone or a local channel,
These pieces of information can also be transmitted as block information.

Next, the address information includes the communication frame.
The address of the receiver that receives the system is stored. The vector information stores information for specifying the type of message information and the contents of the service. The idle information is invalid word information.

In such a configuration, a receivable frequency channel, a receivable frame number, a receivable phase, and an address of the receiver 4 are assigned and set to each receiver 4 in advance. I have. In addition, transfer speeds that can be received and processed differ depending on the receiver 4. That is, the receiver 4
There are two types: one that can process a 1600 bps communication frame, one that can process a 3200 bps communication frame, and one that can process a 6400 bps communication frame. Each receiver 4 receives the communication frame of the assigned phase of the air frame of the assigned frame number on the assigned frequency channel, and warps the transmission error of each word. Correction using the BCH bit added to each communication code, and when the address information coincides with its own address, performs processing in accordance with the vector information of the communication frame to provide a display device or the like provided with the communication frame. Displays the message sent with the message information. Further, when the message information is transmitted after being encrypted, processing for decoding the received message information using an encryption key registered in the receiver 4 in advance is also performed. . As will be described later, a communication frame transmitted to a certain receiver 4 is transmitted at a transfer rate that the receiver 4 can process.

In the above embodiment, 88 words of one phase of one air frame are used as one communication frame.
One communication frame may be further divided into a plurality of sub-communication frames and used for repeated transmission.

As described above, in this embodiment, the format of the air frame used between the transmitting station 2 and the receiver 4 has been described.

Hereinafter, details of each unit of the wireless calling system according to this embodiment will be described.

First, the details of the central office 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the central office 1 comprises a subscriber database 13, an exchange 11, and an encoding unit 12.

The subscriber database 13 includes a subscriber number, an address of a receiver used by the subscriber of the subscriber number, a frequency channel assigned to the receiver 4, and a frame.
The system number and phase, the encryption key used by the receiver, the transfer speed that the receiver can process, and the like are registered in advance.

When the exchange 11 receives a message from the public network 5, it sequentially searches the subscriber database 13 with the subscriber number added to the message, and finds a corresponding encryption key, The frequency channel, frame number, phase, and transfer rate at which the message should be transmitted are obtained. Then, the message is encrypted with the searched encryption key. In addition, based on the searched information, for each air frame,
The exchange frame shown in FIG. 7 is created.

As shown, one exchange frame corresponds to one air frame transmitted from the transmitting station 2.
Exchange frame length, corresponding air frame number, corresponding air frame transmission frequency channel, corresponding air frame transmission cycle number, corresponding air frame Frame number,
It contains message information transmitted in the corresponding air frame, CRC information for error correction of the exchange frame, and the like. The message information of the exchange frame has a structure in which the synchronous unit, the BCH bit of each word of each block, the parity bit, and the real time of the block information are removed from the corresponding air frame. I have. That is, the message shown in FIG.
An air frame can be constructed by adding the synchronization unit, the BCH bit of each word of each block, the parity bit, and the real time of the block information to the page information.

The exchange 11 transmits such an exchange frame to the encoding unit 12 at a predetermined transfer rate using one of a dedicated digital line, a public digital line, and a plurality of analog lines.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the number of frequency channels used in this embodiment is eight. In this case, since the maximum transmission rate of the air frame of the transmitting station is 6400 bps and the number of air frames transmitted at the same time is 8, which is the same as the number of frequency channels, the exchange 11 is at least 5120 at the maximum.
It is necessary to transmit the exchange frame at a speed of 0 bps or more. Here, when the transmission rate of the digital transmission line realized on the public digital line and the dedicated digital line is 192 kbps, the line capacity of the public digital line and the dedicated digital line is 64 kbps, and the analog line modem is used. 9 guaranteed transmission speed and line capacity
It is assumed that it is 600 bps. In this case, in a public digital line or a dedicated digital line, the exchange frames transmitting simultaneously on different frequency channels using one line are time-division multiplexed and transmitted, so that each exchange frame can be transmitted without any problem. However, with an analog line, with one line,
Exchange frames cannot be sent. Therefore, when an analog line is used, the exchange 11 transmits data to the encoder using eight analog lines, one for each frequency channel. At this time, the transfer speed of the air frame does not match the transfer speed of each part of the air frame transmitted from the transmitting station 4.

Here, in this embodiment, the exchange 1
1 and two transmission lines of the exchange frame between the encoding unit 12 are provided and duplicated. That is, the exchange 11 transmits the same contents to the encoding unit 11 using an independent line. For example, two public digital lines or two dedicated digital lines are duplicated and used as one line, or 16 analog lines are divided into two lines of eight lines each, and these two lines are duplicated and used.

Next, the encoding unit 12 receives the exchange frame from the exchange 11, generates an air frame from the exchange frame, and distributes it to each transmitting station 3.

FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the encoding unit 12.

As shown in the figure, the encoding unit 12 includes two switch-side line termination units 1201 and 1202, two switch-side demultiplexing units 1203 and 1204, and two sets 1206 of encoders corresponding to the number of frequency channels. 1207, a selection unit 1208, a transmission-station-side demultiplexing unit 1209, two transmission-station-side line termination units 1210 and 1211, and a monitoring control unit 121.
3 is provided.

Each of the switch-side line termination units 1201 and 1202 is connected to one of the redundant lines connected to the switch 11. The exchange side line termination unit 1201, the exchange side demultiplexing unit 1204, and the encoder set 1206 constitute the exchange side N1 system, and include the exchange side line termination unit 1202, the exchange side demultiplexing unit 1205,
The encoder set 1207 constitutes the exchange side N2 system. The selection unit 1208 selects one of the outputs of the N1 system and the N2 system. That is, the switch-side line termination unit, the switch-side demultiplexing unit, and the encoder set are duplicated, and the selection unit 1208 determines which system is to be used as the effective system.

In order to duplicate the line between the encoding unit 13 and each transmitting station 2, two line terminating units 1210 and 1211 constituting the transmitting station side N1 system and N2 system are provided. Provided. Two transmission-station-side line termination units 1210 and 12
11 transmits the same contents to each transmitting station 2.

As described above, both the exchange side and the transmitting station side have N1.
Since the operation of the N2 system is the same as that of the N2 system, the operation of the encoding unit will be described below by taking the N1 system as a representative for both the exchange side and the transmitting station side.

First, the exchange-side line terminating unit 1201 receives the exchange frame from the exchange 11 via one of the two lines of the duplex system, and receives the exchange frame. The data is passed to the demultiplexer 1203. However, 8
When one system is constituted by analog lines, the exchange frames received from the respective analog lines are time-division multiplexed and passed to the exchange-side demultiplexing unit 1203. The line termination unit 1201 on the exchange side corrects a transmission error of the exchange frame based on the CRC of the exchange frame.

Next, the exchange-side demultiplexing unit 203 separates the received time-division multiplexed exchange frame, and selects the exchange frame among the encoders included in the encoder set 1206. Is allocated to the encoder that is in charge of the frequency channel to be transmitted based on the information of the frequency channel added to the exchange.

Next, each encoder in the encoder set 1206 creates an air frame from the allocated exchange frames. That is, the BCH of each word of each block
Bit, parity bit, the actual time at which the air frame is to be transmitted is determined, and the BCH bit and parity bit of each determined word are added to each word of the message information of the exchange frame. The real time is added to the information, and a synchronizing unit created based on the information on the transfer speed included in the exchange frame is added to the head to create an air frame.
Here, the real time is determined based on the current time managed by the monitoring control unit 1213. Monitoring control unit 1213
The management of the current time in will be described later in detail.

Here, the air frame bit length created by each encoder is not the same. That is,
This is because the number of bits included in the air frame differs depending on the transfer speed described above. The air frames created by the respective encoders need to be time-division multiplexed and transmitted to the transmitting station 2 as described later. Generally speaking, frames having different bit lengths are used. Time division multiplexing,
And it is not easy to ensure that the synchronization on the receiving side is compensated.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in each encoder, bits to be transmitted at 1600 bps in each air frame (synchronous part and each block) are converted into 4 bits, and bits to be transmitted at 3200 bps (Synchronization unit 2 and each block) are converted into 4 bits. The conversion is performed by inserting, after one bit to be converted, one bit (or three bits) having the same value as the one bit. The air frame having a constant length by the conversion is converted to a 6400b.
The signal is transmitted to the transmitting station side demultiplexer 1209 at a transfer rate of ps. By doing so, the transmitting station side demultiplexing section 1
After 209, each air frame having the same length can be processed by a circuit having a simple configuration without discrimination.

The transmitting station side demultiplexer 1209 outputs the eight air frames sent from the eight encoders of the encoder set 1206 and the monitor control signal of 1600 bps sent from the monitor controller 1213 in this manner. Divided and multiplexed to generate a multi-frame transferred at 64 kbps shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, DATAn indicates 8 bits of data of the n-th air frame. SV indicates a monitoring control signal. P is the parity for the multiframe. One multiframe corresponds to 64 bits of the air frame (8 bits per air frame) and 2 bits of the supervisory control signal. The transfer order of the multi-frame is
The data is transferred from the upper left to the lower left in the column direction. That is, MF1, MF2,. . , MF10.

Now, the multi-frame created in this way will be described.
Are sequentially transmitted to the transmission-station-side line controller 1210.

The transmission-station-side line controller 1210 is connected to each of the transmission stations 2 via one of eight analog lines, one dedicated digital line, or one public digital line. The transmission-station-side line controller 1210 receives the 64 kbps multi-frame received from the transmission-station-side demultiplexer 1209.
The system is transmitted to each transmitting station via 8 analog lines, 1 dedicated digital line, or 1 public digital line.

For this purpose, the transmission line control section 1210
Can convert 64kbps multi-frame to 192kbps
A process of transmitting a digital signal to a transmitting station 2 connected to a dedicated digital line or a public digital line on a dedicated digital line or a public digital line having a line capacity of 64 kbps on a digital transmission line having a transmission speed of A process is performed in which the data is divided and placed on the analog line and transmitted to the transmitting station 2 connected by the analog line.

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the line termination unit on the transmitting station side.

In such a configuration, in order to carry a multi-frame on a dedicated digital line or a public digital line for transmission, the frame conversion unit 12101 converts the speed of the multi-frame to 192 kbps, and FIG. 11 or FIG. And distributed by the distribution unit 12103 to the line control unit 12104 connected to each transmission station 2 (128 stations in the figure) via one dedicated digital line or public digital line, respectively. I just need.

On the other hand, in the case of dividing and transmitting over eight analog lines, the demultiplexing unit 12102 re-separates the bits of the multi-frame into the bits of each air frame and the bit of the supervisory control signal. The multiplexing unit 12105 multiplexes the 6400 bps bit of the air frame of the first frequency channel and the 1600 bps bit of the supervisory control signal as shown in FIG. The bits are added to create a 9600 bps frame which is sent to the first modem 12108 in charge of the first analog line in each set of eight analog lines (each set connects to a different transmitting station). Distributor 12
At 110, it is distributed and transmitted. Also, for the 6400 bps bits of the air frames of the second to eighth frequency channels, frame conversion units 2 to 8 respectively add appropriate bits to create 9600 bps frames.
This is done by the second to eighth of each set of eight analog lines.
Distribution unit 1 to the modem 12109 that handles the analog line
At 2107, distribution and transmission are performed.

Here, the line terminating unit 12 on the transmitting station side of the N2 system
11 also operates in the same way as the N1 transmission line termination unit. That is, two transmission lines are provided between the central station 1 and each transmitting station 2 so as to be duplicated. Two public digital lines or two dedicated digital lines are duplicated and used as one line, or 16 analog lines are divided into two lines of eight lines each, and these two lines are duplicated and used.

Here, the switching unit N1 system and the switching system N2 system of the encoding unit 12 are periodically switched by the selection unit 1208 in order to confirm normality. Further, when the currently used system becomes defective, the selection unit 1208 switches to the other system. Such switching is controlled by the monitoring control unit 1213.

The central office 1 has been described above. However, details of the monitoring control unit 1213 will be described later.

Hereinafter, the transmitting station 2 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, each transmitting station includes a synchronization section 2
1 and a plurality of transmitters 21 each for one frequency channel.

FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the synchronization section 2.

As shown in the figure, the synchronization unit 2 includes two line termination units 2101 and 2102, a central office selection unit 2103,
A set 2104 of synchronous processors for frequency channels, a spare synchronous processor 2105, and transmitter-side selectors 2106 and 21
09, a monitoring control unit 2107 is provided.

The two line termination units 2101 and 2102 are
One of the two lines connected to the central office is connected to one of the two lines. Restore the signal. The central office side selection unit 2103 validates only the output of one of the two line termination units 2101 and 2102.

The supervisory control signal restored by the line terminating unit 2101 or 2102 activated by the central office side selecting unit 2103 is sent to the supervisory controlling unit 2107, and each air frame is included in the set of synchronous processors. 2104 is sent to the synchronization processor in charge of the frequency channel to which the air frame is to be transmitted.

Each of the synchronous processors included in the synchronous processor set 2104 temporarily stores the transmitted air frame in a memory, checks the BCH of each word of each block of the air frame, and checks for a transmission error. It is checked whether or not the error has occurred. If the error has occurred, the fact is reported to the monitoring control unit 2107. When the frequency of the transmission error reported from each synchronization processor becomes equal to or more than a certain value, the monitoring control unit 2107
03 is controlled, and the output of one of the two line termination units 2101 and 2102 that is not currently validated is validated. That is, the line termination unit is switched.

The monitoring control unit 2107 cooperates with each of the synchronous processors included in the synchronous processor set 2104,
The cycle time of each air frame stored in the memory, the frame number, the real time included in the block information of the frame number 1, and the current time 2 managed by the monitoring control unit 2107
107, cycle number, frame number, frame number
The air frame is transmitted from the memory so as to be transmitted to the receiver 4 at the time specified by the real time included in the block information of the system number 1.
The corresponding frequency channel is read out and sent to the transmitter 22 in charge of the corresponding frequency channel. Further, each synchronization processor checks the synchronization section of each air frame, detects the transfer rate at which the synchronization section 2 and each block are to be transmitted, and transmits this to the monitoring control section 2107.
The monitoring control unit 2107 transmits the transmitted transfer rate to the transmitter 22 that transmits the corresponding air frame.

Each transmitter 22 converts the bit rate of the air frame sent from the corresponding synchronization processor in the encoding unit 12 of the central office 1 based on the transfer rate transmitted from the monitoring control unit 2107. Based on the performed part, the air frame synchronizing unit 1 transmits the frame information at 1600 bps and the other parts at the transfer rate transmitted from the monitoring control unit 2107.

The spare synchronization processor 2105 is connected to the central office-side selector 2103 when any of the synchronization processors included in the set of synchronization processors 2104 fails.
It is enabled by the transmitter-side selector 2106 and is used as a substitute for a failed synchronous processor.

Also, between each of the line terminating units 2101 and 2102 of the synchronizing unit 21 of each transmitting station 2 and the transmitting station side line terminating units 1210 and 1211 of the encoding unit 12 of the central office 1, each transmitting station 2 A line in the direction (upward direction) from the synchronization unit 21 to the encoding unit 12 of the central station is connected, and using this line, the monitoring control unit 2107 of the synchronization unit 21 of each transmitting station 2
An upstream monitoring control signal can be transmitted to the monitoring control unit 1213 of the encoding unit 12 of the central office 1.

Here, as described above, each of the transmitters 2 has a function of eliminating an operation failure due to interference in the receiver 4.
The same air frame must be transmitted almost simultaneously. That is, the transmission of the same air frame at each transmitting station 2 must be synchronized.

Hereinafter, how the synchronization of the transmission of the air frame is realized in this embodiment will be described.

First, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15 or 16, one of the transmitting stations 2 arranged in each area is set as a reference station for each area. In addition, one of the transmitting stations 2 arranged in the area is set as a spare reference station. (Hereinafter, the reference station, the spare reference station, and other transmitting stations will be collectively referred to as a transmitting station unless otherwise required.) In this embodiment, the reference station and the spare reference station are dedicated digital lines or public Connect to the central office 1 by digital line.

The monitoring control unit 2107 of the synchronization unit 21 of each transmitting station 2 and the monitoring control unit 12 of the encoding unit 12 of the central office 1
13 is provided with a configuration for controlling the synchronization of air frame transmission.

That is, as shown in FIG. 17, a GPS receiver 180 is provided in the monitoring controller of the encoder 12 of the central office.
1, GPS clock 1802, self-propelled clock 1702, control unit 1
701. The control output of the control unit 1701 is connected to each unit of the encoding unit 12. Also, the control unit 1701
The transmission / reception line of the monitoring control signal with each transmitting station 2 is connected to the transmitting station side demultiplexing section 1209.

Next, as shown in FIG. 18, the monitoring control unit 2107 of the transmitting station connected to the central office 1 by a dedicated digital line or a public digital line other than the reference station and the spare reference station has a GPS receiver 1801, a GPS Clock 1802, monitoring receiver 1804, line clock 1803, control unit 180
6. It includes a reference station receiver 1805 and the like. Control unit 180
The control output 6 is connected to each section of the synchronization section 21. Further, a transmission / reception line of the control unit 1806 for transmitting a monitoring control signal to / from the central office 1 is connected to the line termination units 2101 and 2102.

Further, as shown in FIG. 19, the spare reference station includes a transmitter 1901 for the transmitting station for performing transmission on a frequency channel intended for the transmitting station, in addition to the configuration of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 20, the reference station
It includes a GPS receiver 1801, a GPS clock 1802, a monitoring receiver 1804, a line clock 1803, a control unit 1806, and a transmitter 1901 for a transmitting station for performing transmission on a frequency channel for the transmitting station.

The monitoring and control unit 210 of the transmitting station connected to the central office 1 via an analog line other than the reference station and the spare reference station.
7 is a GPS receiver 1801, G as shown in FIG.
A PS clock 1802, a monitoring receiver 1804, a reference station receiver 1805, a reference station clock 2204, a control unit 1806, and the like are provided.

The operation of synchronizing the transmission of air frames will be described below, focusing on the operation of each of the monitoring control units 1213 and 2107.

First, in the initial state, the GPS receiver 1801 of each of the monitoring control units 2107 and 1213 of the central station 1 and the transmitting station 2 receives the current time transmitted from the GPS satellite, and stores the current time in the GPS clock 1802. Is set. G
The time is transmitted with high accuracy every second from the PS satellite, and the time delay of transmission from the GPS satellite to each station on the ground is almost equal, and the difference can be ignored. Accordingly, almost the same time can be set to the GPS clock 1802 of each station.

Now, each GPS clock 1802 is
P that incorporates the current time from the PS satellite into the reception timing
Using a clock signal of a predetermined frequency phase-locked by the LL, a time is counted for one second from the set current time,
The current time is sequentially output, and the clock signal having the predetermined frequency is output as a reference clock.

The control units 1701 and 1806 of the monitoring control units 2107 and 1213 of the central station 1 and the transmitting stations 2
The maximum value TB of the delay time by the line between the central station 1 and each transmitting station 2 and the maximum value TI of the delay time by the line terminating units 2101 and 2102 of the encoding unit 21 of the transmitting station 2 are shown in FIG.
In the synchronous processor, the maximum value T of the delay time required when the air frame is read immediately after being stored in the memory.
The sum TMAX with D is set in advance. In addition, a delay time dm of the monitoring receiver obtained by the design value or the like is set in the control unit 1806 of the monitoring control unit 2107 of each transmitting station in advance.

In such an initial state, the present radio paging system first performs training.

In the training, the control unit 1701 of the supervisory control unit 1213 of the central office 1 sets the encoder set 1
The appropriate encoder in 206 (or 1207) creates a test airframe. In this air frame, an appropriate time is designated as the real time of the block information described above. Then, based on the time of the GPS clock 1802 of the own station, the line termination unit 1210 (or 1211) transmits the signal TMAX before the designated real time,
The encoder sends the air frame to the demultiplexing unit 1209 on the transmitting station side. At this time, each unit on the transmitting station side of the encoder operates on a clock synchronized with the reference clock output from the GPS clock 1802 of the own station.

On the other hand, the synchronizing section 21 of each transmitting station 2 temporarily stores the test air frame in the memory of the corresponding synchronous processor. Control unit 18 of monitoring control unit 2107
06, when the time of the GPS clock 1802 of the own station becomes the real time of the block information in the air frame, the air frame is read out from the memory, and the selection unit 2
The synchronization unit 2107 is controlled so as to send the signal to the transmitter 22 via the.

Next, the air frame transmitted from the transmitter 2 is received by the monitoring receiver 1804 of the monitoring controller 2107 as shown in FIG. And
The control unit 1806 obtains a difference between the reception time of the air frame monitoring receiver 1804 measured based on the GPS clock 1802 and the real time in the block information in the air frame. The obtained time difference is regarded as a delay time in the transmitter 22 and a delay time in the monitoring receiver 1804, and a value obtained by subtracting a preset delay time dm from the monitoring receiver 1804 from the obtained time difference is transmitted. Delay time ds in the device 22. Hereinafter, similarly, the process of calculating the delay time ds in the transmitter 22 is repeated a predetermined number of times, and the average value of the obtained dm is set as the final delay time ds in the transmitter 22.

Thus, the training is completed.

When the training is completed, the normal operation starts.

During normal operation, the monitoring control unit 1 of the central office 1
213 is based on the time of the GPS clock 1802 of the own station, and the time T
Line termination unit 1210 (or 1211) before MAX or more
The encoder is caused to transmit each air frame to the transmitting station side demultiplexing section 1209 so as to be transmitted to each transmitting station.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 23, in the synchronization section 21 of each transmitting station 2, the control section 1806 of the monitoring control section 2107
, From real-time block information in air frames over beam stored in the memory of the once synchronization processor as described above, the ds before time obtained in preparative <br/> les over training, the local station GPS When the time of the clock 1802 comes, the air frame is read from the memory, and the synchronizer 2107 is controlled to send the air frame to the transmitter 22 via the selector 2. Thus, as shown in FIG. 23, in each transmission station, air frame over arm of the same real time is set to the block information, so that the substantially simultaneously transmitted.

Incidentally, the GPS satellite is a satellite under the control of the US Department of Defense, and it is not always guaranteed that the current time is transmitted accurately. Therefore, in the present embodiment, failure detection as described below is performed, and if it is determined that a GPS satellite has a failure, time management based on the time of the central station 1 instead of the GPS satellite is performed. Do. In addition, a failure may occur in each part or line of the transmitting station. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the following failure detection and failure countermeasures are performed. For this purpose, in the present embodiment, the monitoring control unit 1213 of the central station 1 and the monitoring control unit 2107 of each transmitting station 2 are duplicated, and one is for normal operation (N) and the other is for failure. It will be used as time (E).

First, a failure detection and a failure countermeasure performed in this embodiment will be described.

First, the control unit 1701 of the monitoring control unit 1213 of the central office 1 intermittently causes the encoder 1206 to create an air frame describing time as message information, and causes the GPS clock 1802 of the own office to generate the air frame. On the basis of the
From 10 (or 1211), the air frame is transmitted to each transmitting station 2 at the time described in the message information. On the other hand, each transmitting station (including a reference station and a spare reference station) 2 connected to the central office 1 by a dedicated digital line or a public digital line cooperates with a set of synchronization processors 2103 to transmit the frame to the synchronization initializer. The input timing is detected, and the GPS clock 180 of the own station at this timing is detected.
2 and the time described in the message information of the air frame are obtained, and the difference is determined by the delay time in the line between the central office 1 and the own station, the line termination unit 2101,
This is stored as the sum db of the delay times in 2102. However, db may be an appropriately determined fixed value.

The control unit 1701 of the monitoring control unit 1213 of each reference station and each backup reference station transmits a test air frame including block information including real time based on the GPS clock 1802 of the own station. At the time of time, transmission is performed from the transmitting station transmitter 901. Here, in the present embodiment, the frequency bands used by the transmitting station transmitter 1901 of the reference station and the spare reference station arranged in the same area are slightly shifted, and the center frequency is selected at each transmitting station, so that the signal from the reference station is transmitted. And one of the signals from the spare reference station can be selectively received. However, in order that the transmission timings of the test air frame of the reference station and the backup reference station do not coincide with each other, transmission is performed at a predetermined timing, and each transmitting station transmits the air frame from the reference station based on this timing. Alternatively, one of the air frames from the spare reference station may be selectively received.

On the other hand, in the monitoring control unit 1213 of each transmitting station, the air frame is received by the reference station receiver 1805. Then, the control unit 1806 controls the received air frame.
The real time included in the block information in the system is compared with the time of the GPS clock 1802 of the own station. If the time difference is larger than a predetermined value, it is determined that the event a has occurred. Also,
This time difference is stored as the sum d0n of the delay time t0 of the wireless transmission from the reference station and the delay time dn in the receiver 1805 for the reference station.

In the monitoring controller 1213 of each transmitting station, the monitoring receiver 1804 receives the air frame transmitted from its own transmitting station. Then, the control unit 1806
The real time included in the received block information in the air frame is compared with the time of the GPS clock 1802 of the own station. If the time difference is larger than a predetermined value, it is determined that event b has occurred.

When only event a occurs in event ab, it is determined that the reference station has failed, and the air frame received by reference station receiver 1804 is switched to the one transmitted by the spare reference station. . This switching is performed by changing the orientation of the reference station antenna of the reference station receiver 1804 which normally faces the reference station by driving an actuator built in the reference station receiving station so as to face the spare reference station (or changing the directivity). Alternatively, an antenna for the spare reference station provided separately is used instead of the antenna for the reference station),
As described above, the signal to be selectively received using the reference station antenna may be switched from that of the reference station to that of the spare reference station. If only event a of event ab occurs even after switching, it is determined that the reference station receiver 1805 has failed, and the supervisory control unit 2107 that is currently operating is switched to the supervisory control unit for the time of failure. .

On the other hand, if only b of the event ab has occurred, it is determined that the monitoring receiver 1804 has failed, and the monitoring control unit 2107 operating as a working unit is replaced with the monitoring control unit for failure. Switch to Event a
If only b of b has occurred, it is determined that the transmitter 22 has failed, and the following processing is performed. That is,
The monitoring control unit 1213 of each transmitting station checks each transmitter 2 of its own station.
2, the air frame transmitted from each of them is monitored by the monitoring receiver 1804. Then, based on the transmission time of the air frame obtained from the cycle number and frame number of the air frame received from the transmitting station by the synchronization processor and the real time included in the block information, the air frame within a predetermined time is obtained. Is not received, it is determined that the transmitter 22 that was supposed to transmit the air frame is out of order, and that the transmission device is out of order, and that the monitoring control unit 1 of the central office has failed.
213 is notified.

On the other hand, when the event a and the event b occur simultaneously, it is determined that the monitoring receiver 1804 is out of order, and the monitoring control unit 2107 operating as a working is controlled by the monitoring control unit 2107 for the failure. Switch to department. If the event and the event b occur at the same time even after switching, it is determined that the GPS satellite has failed.
Notify 3.

In the monitoring control unit 1213 of each transmitting station, the frame number obtained from the cycle number and frame number of the air frame received by the synchronization processor from the transmitting station and the real time included in the block information are obtained. And the time obtained by subtracting the above-mentioned TMAX from the transmission time, and the GPS clock 180 of the own station.
Compare the times of 2 If the time of the GPS clock 1802 is larger (later), it is determined that the event c has occurred.

When the event c occurs, it is determined that the line to the central office 1 or the line terminating units 2101 and 2102 or the synchronous processor set 2103 has failed. To the monitoring control unit 1213.

On the other hand, the control unit 1701 of the monitoring control unit 1213 of the central office 1 sends a notification that the transmitter is out of order or that the line or the line terminating units 2101 and 2102 or the set 1 of the synchronization processor is out of order. When received from the transmitting station 2, predetermined failure countermeasure processing is performed according to a predetermined procedure.

On the other hand, when the control station 1701 of the monitoring control section 1213 of the central station 1 is notified from the transmitting station 2 that the GPS satellite has failed, it performs the following processing.

That is, first, the supervisory control unit 1 of the central office 1
The control unit 1701 of the 213 sends the GP of its own station to each transmitting station 2.
An instruction to use the line clock 1803 or the reference station clock 2204 instead of the S clock 1802 is issued.

Thereafter, the monitoring control unit 1 of the central office 1
213 is based on the time of the self-propelled clock 1702 instead of the GPS clock,
The encoder transmits each air frame to the transmitting station side demultiplexing section 1209 so that the signal is transmitted from the line terminating section 1210 (or 1211) to each transmitting station before the TMAX. Here, the self-propelled clock 1702 is a clock that measures time from an initially set time in synchronization with a clock of a predetermined frequency extracted from a line with the exchange. Self-running clock 1702 outputs a reference clock synchronized with a clock of a predetermined frequency extracted from the line to exchange 11. Also, at this time, each unit on the transmitting station side of the encoder is operated with a clock synchronized with the reference clock output from the self-running clock. Also, intermittently, the encoder 1206
Then, an air frame in which time is described as message information is created, and the air frame is described by the line termination unit 1210 (or 1211) at the time described as message information with reference to the time of the self-propelled clock 1702. Have each transmitting station transmit.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 24, the transmitting station (reference station, standby reference station) connected to the central office 1 by the dedicated digital line or the public digital line instructs the central office 1 to use the line clock 1803. Then, as described above, in the message information of the air frame intermittently sent from the central office 1, the delay time in the line between the central office 1 and its own station, which has been previously obtained, and the line termination section are included. 2101, 2102
Is set as the current time by adding the sum db of the delay times in. When the current time is set, the line clock 1803 measures time in synchronization with a clock of a predetermined frequency extracted from the line with the central office. Thereafter, the monitoring control unit 2107 of the transmitting station (reference station, standby reference station) connected to the central office 1 by the dedicated digital line or the public digital line uses the line clock 1803 instead of the GPS clock to perform the above-described airflow. Control the transmission time of the system.

Further, the reference station and the spare reference station further transmit a test air frame including block information including real time based on the line clock from the transmitting station transmitter at the real time. Send.

On the other hand, the monitoring control unit 2107 of each transmitting station 2 connected to the central office 1 by an analog line
When the use of the reference station 04 is instructed, as shown in FIG. 24, in the control unit 1806, at the real time of the test air frame block information received from the reference station by the reference station receiver, the control unit 1806 calculates Sum d0 of the delay time t0 of the wireless transmission and the delay time dn in the reception for the reference station
The time obtained by adding n is set in the reference station clock 2204 as the current time. When the current time is set, the reference station clock 2204 measures time in synchronization with a clock component included in the air frame received by the reference station receiver. Thereafter, the monitoring control unit 2107 of the transmitting station (reference station, standby reference station) connected to the central station 1 by an analog line uses the reference station clock 2204 instead of the GPS clock to determine the transmission time of the air frame described above. Perform control.

According to the above operation, even if the GPS satellite fails, an accurate setting using the delay time of each unit obtained when the GPS satellite is normal can be performed without performing any special setting work at each transmitting station. Synchronization of air frame transmission can be realized.

By the way, it is general that more than one hundred transmitting stations 2 are connected to one central office 1. Accordingly, it is not easy for one central office 1 to manage and control the state of each transmitting station 2, causing an increase in the load on the central office 1.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the supervisory control unit 1213 of the central office 1 manages and controls each transmitting station 2 by a polling method.

Now, it is assumed that the number of transmitting stations 2 is 128. Then, the transmitting station 2 is divided into four groups of 32 stations in advance, and an address within the group is given to each transmitting station 2 belonging to each group. Also, all transmitting stations 2
A global address is defined as a common address in the above. An address unique to each transmitting station is also given to each transmitting station 2.

At the time of actual management control, the control unit 1701 of the monitoring control unit 1213 of the central station sets a global address, an address in a group, or an address unique to the transmitting station at the beginning of the command as a monitoring control signal. The assigned frame is periodically transmitted to all transmitting stations.
On the other hand, the control unit of the monitoring control unit 2107 of each transmitting station 2 checks that the address of the frame in the received monitoring control signal is
If the address is a global address, an address within a group assigned to the own station, or an address unique to the own station,
The process specified by the command is executed, and the result is reported to the central office 1 together with the address representing the own station as a monitoring control signal. As the command, an instruction to report the state of the transmitting station 2, an instruction to switch the system, an instruction to switch the clock, and the like are provided.

Here, the report of the command execution result to each transmitting station 2 may be realized as follows. That is, as described above, according to the present embodiment, the central office 1
And the clocks of each transmitting station are highly accurate. Therefore, a time zone for reporting the command execution result is assigned to each transmitting station in advance. The monitoring control unit 2107 of each transmitting station 2 reports the execution result of the previously received command to the central station 1 in the allocated time zone according to the time of the clock (GPS clock, line clock, or reference station clock) that is valid at that time. I do. The monitoring control unit 1213 of the central office 1
An execution result is received from each transmitting station 2 according to the time of a clock (GPS clock or self-propelled clock) valid at that time.

By doing so, the handshake operation between the central station 1 and each transmitting station 2 becomes unnecessary, and the load is reduced. In addition, even when the transmitting station 2 is not in a state where the command can be executed, the central station 1 can transmit the command in advance before the state becomes executable. Further, since the transmitting station 2 knows in advance the time at which a response to the command is to be returned, it can schedule a command execution in accordance with the time, and the other transmitting stations 2 send the command to the central station 1. The command can be executed while the response is made. These help to shorten the polling period.

The wireless paging apparatus according to the present embodiment has been described.

In the above embodiment, a line clock is used for the transmitting station connected to the central office by a dedicated digital line or a public digital line. However, transmitting stations other than the reference station and the spare reference station use analog clocks instead of the line clock. A reference station clock may be used in the same manner as the transmitting station connected to the central office via a line.

In the above embodiment, the time is received from the GPS satellite. However, if there is a satellite transmitting the time other than the GPS satellite, the time transmitted by this satellite is replaced with the GPS satellite. It may be received and used.

[0127]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a radio paging system that can easily synchronize all transmitting stations with good accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless paging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a format of an air frame which is a frame received by a receiver in a wireless calling system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a correspondence between a word configuration included in a block constituting an air frame and a phase.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a correspondence between a word configuration and a phase included in blocks constituting an air frame.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence between a word configuration and a phase included in blocks constituting the air frame.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a part 1 included in a block constituting the air frame.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication frame composed of words for a phase.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of an exchange frame used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an encoding unit of a central office according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a multi-frame used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a line termination unit on a transmitting station side of a central office according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a transmission format of a dedicated digital transmission line.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a transmission format of a public digital transmission path.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a multiplexing rule of an air frame and a supervisory control signal performed when an analog line is used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a synchronization unit of the transmitting station according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of a reference station and a spare reference station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of a reference station and a spare reference station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a supervisory control unit of a central office according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring control unit of a transmitting station connected to a central office via a digital line in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a supervisory control unit of a spare reference station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring control unit of the reference station according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring control unit of a transmitting station connected to a central office via an analog line in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a method of calculating a delay time of a transmitter performed in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing how an air frame is transmitted in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a method of obtaining a delay time of a line and a line termination unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional wireless calling system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Central station 2 Transmitting station 4 Receiver 5 Public network 6 Telephone 11 Exchanger 12 Encoding unit 13 Subscriber database 21 Synchronization unit 22 Transmitter 1201 1202 Switch side line termination unit 1203 1204 Exchange side demultiplexing unit 1206 1207 Encoder set 1208, selection unit 1209 Transmission station side demultiplexing unit 1210, 1211 Transmission station side line termination unit 1213 Monitoring control unit 2101, 2102 Line termination unit 2103 Central office side selection unit 2104 Synchronization processor set 2105 Reserved Synchronization processor 2106 Transmitter side selection unit 2107 Monitoring control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kimifumi Kojima 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Within the Information and Communications Division, Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. Information and Communications Division (56) References JP-A-6-311088 (JP, A) JP-A-4-306924 (JP, A) JP-A-4-127722 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04B ^7/ 24-7/26 102 H04Q ^7/ 00-7/38

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transmitter for transmitting a message via radio.
A plurality of transmitting stations comprising:
Distribute the received message to the plurality of transmitting stations.
A wireless paging system comprising a central station , wherein the central station transmits a message received from the communication network from the transmitting station.
Add the specified time to be sent, and
Occurs between removing the transmitter of the transmitting station from the central office
Each transmission station before the predicted maximum delay time TMAX or more.
The transmitting station measures the current time based on the time information transmitted from the satellite.
A test frame that contains a clock that will be transmitted and a specified time to be transmitted from the transmitting station.
Time based on the time of the satellite clock.
Test frame transmitting means for sending to and transmitting from the transmitter
And when receiving the test frame transmitted from the transmitter,
In both cases, the reception time is measured by the satellite clock,
Time specified and specifications included in received test frames
The delay time ds by the transmitter is determined based on the time difference.
The desired transmitter delay time obtaining means, and receiving the message distributed from the central office,
Included in received messages based on satellite clock time
Before the specified delay time and the delay time ds by the transmitter
To send the message to the transmitter
Wireless call comprising a message transmitting means.
Out system.