JP3496601B2 - Electronic device and operation state output method of electronic device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device which acquires status signal data indicating an operating status and outputs a status notification signal corresponding to the status signal data to the outside through an output means, and an operating status thereof. Regarding the output method.

[0002]

As an electronic device of this kind, it is connected to devices such as a vending machine, a copying machine, and a gas meter, and sales data, inventory data, meter reading data, etc. are acquired from these devices, and the acquired data is acquired. There is a communication terminal device that automatically transmits data to a host computer for data management via a wireless communication line. This communication terminal device is made small and lightweight so that it does not increase the installation area (or installation space) of the device or impair the operability of the device itself when attached to the device.

Such a communication terminal device is placed in an environment in which it can be touched by a general user while being attached to the above-mentioned equipment, and its operating state is set at an installation place except during installation, maintenance, failure, etc. The output means and input means to be added have been downsized for the reason that they are not directly confirmed in, and the necessary minimum number (for example, one LED as output means, push button as switch part) Only one switch is provided. Then, one of the operating states of the communication terminal device, which is determined in advance, such as the on / off state of the power source, is displayed on the LED.

On the other hand, at the time of installation, maintenance, failure, etc., an operator who goes to the installation site not only turns on / off the power supply but also various operating states of the communication terminal device such as electric field state of used radio waves and communication. If the state or the like can be confirmed, it becomes easy to accurately determine whether or not the communication terminal device is operating normally or what is the cause of the failure.

However, in the above-described communication terminal device having the conventional structure, even if an operation state is checked by using LEDs, for example, the maximum number of LEDs (1 in the above example is used).
It was possible to confirm only the predetermined operating states of only the individual). Therefore, at the time of installation, maintenance, or failure, it is necessary to provide as many LEDs as the number of operation states to be checked in advance, or to provide signal terminals as many as the number of operation states to be confirmed. Since the number of devices and the like also increase, the configuration of the communication terminal device may become redundant and the compactness and lightness may be impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to utilize a configuration used during normal operation without adding a configuration used only during installation, maintenance, or failure. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of confirming various operating states and an operating state output method thereof.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the means described in claim 1 can be adopted. According to this means, the output that outputs the operating state and its state notification signal
Output correspondence data indicating the relationship with the means is stored in the storage means, and the control means outputs a state notification signal to the output means in accordance with the output correspondence data stored in the storage means. Then, the control means sequentially rewrites the output correspondence data stored in the storage means in accordance with the rewriting command when AT commands for rewriting are sequentially input from the external computer. It is possible to sequentially select the status signal data and output the status notification signal to the outside.

That is, when it is desired to confirm various operating states such as at the time of installation, at the time of maintenance, at the time of failure, etc., by using only the limited number of output means used at the time of normal operation,
It becomes possible to confirm various operating states while sequentially rewriting the output correspondence data by transmitting the AT command . This improves workability such as maintenance work. Further, since it is not necessary to add an output means for maintenance which is not used during normal operation, it is possible to prevent the electronic device from becoming large or complicated.

According to the means described in claim 2, the control means, at the time of starting its operation and at the time of inputting the rewriting command,
Since the output operation of the status notification signal is started by referring to the output correspondence data stored in the storage means, not only at power-on or reset, but also immediately after the rewriting command is input, according to the rewritten new output correspondence data. A status notification signal is output. This makes it easier to confirm the operating state.

According to the means described in claim 3, since the storage means is a rewritable nonvolatile storage means, the output correspondence data once written in the storage means is held until the next writing. Therefore, even if the power is cut off before installation or due to a power failure, it is not necessary to rewrite the output correspondence data at the time of installation or power recovery.

According to the means described in claim 4, since the predetermined output correspondence data is previously stored as the initial data in the non-volatile storage means, the user of the electronic device stores the output correspondence data. If it does not need to be changed, it can be used immediately without any writing work.

According to the means described in claim 5, the control means temporarily transfers the output correspondence data stored in the non-volatile storage means to the volatile storage means, and thereafter stores it in the volatile storage means. Refer to the output correspondence data. Generally, rewritable non-volatile storage means (eg EEPR
Since the access time of the volatile storage means (eg RAM) is shorter than that of the OM), the processing execution speed of the control means can be increased.

According to the means described in claim 6, since the output means is the display means (for example, LED), it is easier to recognize the operating state than the output means for outputting the voice or the vibration.

According to the means described in claim 7, in addition to the output correspondence data, the status signal data (eg communication status data) and the status notification signal (eg LE) are stored in the storage means.
Since the signal correspondence relation data with the light emission pattern signal of D) is stored, the control means can output the state notification signal in a different pattern for each state signal data based on the signal correspondence relation data. .

According to the means recited in claim 8, the electronic device is an external connection device for exchanging commands and data with the external device in a state of being connected to the external device, and the command and data. It is a communication terminal device provided with a communication means for transmitting and receiving, and particularly used as a relay means for data and the like. In such a usage mode, the number of output means provided is further reduced, so that the above-described inventions are more effective in confirming the operating state.

According to the means described in claim 9, by referring to the output correspondence data stored in the rewritable storage means, the state notification signal is output to the output means according to the output correspondence data, and in the meantime. When an AT command for instructing rewriting is sequentially input from an external computer, the output correspondence data stored in the storage means is sequentially rewritten in accordance with the rewriting instruction. Therefore, the output correspondence data is sequentially rewritten by transmitting the AT command. You can check the operating status of. Also, immediately after rewriting, the state notification signal can be output according to the rewritten new output correspondence data.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a data communication terminal device will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the data communication terminal device. In FIG. 2, the data communication terminal device 1
Is composed of a main body 2 (corresponding to an electronic device and a communication terminal device in the present invention) and an adapter 3 which is detachable from the main body 2. The adapter 3 is used as necessary as described later, and is a connector 2 provided on the main body 2.
The connector 3a (see FIG. 1) provided on the adapter 3 is fitted to the connector a (see FIG. 1).

An antenna 4 is attached to the outer surface of the main body 2. Further, inside the housing of the main body 2, a small push-button type switch 5 is disposed on the side surface portion thereof, and on the upper surface portion thereof, there are two light emission colors different from each other, for example, orange and green. Light emitting diodes 6 and 7 (hereinafter referred to as LEDs 6 and 7) are arranged. The switch 5 is arranged such that its button portion is located slightly behind the surface of the main body 2 in order to prevent erroneous operation.
On the other hand, the adapter 3 is provided with a D sub-type connector 8 and a power supply terminal 9 which are connected to an external device such as a vending machine or a personal computer (none of which is shown).

FIG. 1 shows the electrical configuration of the data communication terminal device 1 by functional blocks. In FIG. 1, the main body 2 includes the connector 2a, the switch 5, and the L described above.
In addition to the EDs 6 and 7 (corresponding to output means and display means), a microcomputer 10 (corresponding to control means), a ROM 11,
RAM12 (corresponding to volatile storage means), EEPROM1
3 (corresponding to a rewritable non-volatile storage unit), an external interface unit 14 (corresponding to an external connecting unit), a wireless communication unit 15 (corresponding to a communication unit), and a power supply unit 16.

The microcomputer 10 (hereinafter, referred to as the microcomputer 10) is composed of a CPU, an input / output port, a timer, etc., and executes an operation state display process described later according to a control program written in the ROM 11 in advance. ing. Further, the microcomputer 10 inputs an operation signal from the switch 5 via an input port and outputs a light emission pattern signal (corresponding to a state notification signal) to the LEDs 6 and 7 via the output port.

The ROM 11 is composed of, for example, a flash ROM, and a control program is written at the time of shipment. Further, the microcomputer 10 controls the ROM 11 by writing the control program received by the wireless communication unit 15 via the antenna 4. The program can be rewritten.

The EEPROM 13 stores various parameters and also output correspondence data and signal correspondence data as will be described later. This EE
The contents stored in the PROM 13 are stored in the microcomputer 10 when the power is turned on.
Is transferred to the RAM 12 by the microcomputer 10
The output correspondence data and the signal correspondence data are read from the AM 12. In addition, EEPROM
Predetermined output correspondence data and signal correspondence data are written in 13 as initial data at the time of shipment.

The external interface section 14 is interposed between the microcomputer 10 and the connector 2a to send and receive commands and data to and from external equipment. In this case, the signal passing through the connector 2a has a voltage level of 5V as the H level and 0V as the L level. Therefore, if the interface specifications of an external device such as a vending machine are at the above voltage level,
The interface section of the external device is directly connected to the connector 2a without using the adapter 3.

On the other hand, when an external device such as a vending machine has an interface specification of RS-232C standard, or when a personal computer having an interface of RS232C standard is used at the time of installation, maintenance or failure. When connected, the main body 2 and the adapter 3
Is installed. The adapter 3 includes a driver IC 17 for converting a signal having a voltage level of 0-5V into a voltage level according to the RS-232C standard, and is connected to these external devices via the connector 8. ing.

When the adapter 3 is used, the power supply voltage Vcc (for example, 5 V) is externally supplied via the power supply terminal 9.
To supply. In this case, the power supply voltage is the connector 3a,
Power is supplied to the power supply unit 16 of the main body 2 via 2a. Further, when the adapter 3 is not used, the power supply voltage is directly supplied from a predetermined pin of the connector 2a.

The wireless communication unit 15 is, for example, a PHS (Person).
al Handyphone System) PIAFS (PHS Internet Access Forum Standard) which is a standard data communication protocol
Thus, commands and data are transmitted and received to and from another data communication terminal device (not shown) or to a host computer (not shown) installed in a fixed station via a PHS line. ing.

The power supply unit 16 includes the connector 2a (and 3).
The power supply voltage supplied via a) is input, and the microcomputer 1
0, the wireless communication unit 15 and the like generate a power supply voltage required for operating.

Next, the operation of displaying various operating states on the LEDs 6 and 7 will be described with reference to FIG. The microcomputer 10 has various operating states such as an electric field level at a place where the data communication terminal device 1 is installed, a power supply voltage supplied to the power supply unit 16, a state of wireless communication performed via the wireless communication unit 15, and a power on / off state. Is recognized as status signal data. This status signal data is
As mentioned above, for example, the electric field level, which is one of the operating states.
High, Medium, Weak, Communication in progress, Wait
It is a data value of an operating state such as receiving and making / receiving a call. E
The EPROM 13 has a correspondence relationship between the LED 6 and the operation state displayed on the LED 6, and the LED 7 and the LED 7
Correspondence with the operation state displayed in, that is, output correspondence data is stored.

More specifically, data numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, ... Are respectively attached to the electric field level, the power supply voltage, the communication state, the power supply ON / OFF state, ...
The data numbers are stored in a predetermined address (here, address A) corresponding to the LED 6 and a predetermined address (here, address B) corresponding to the LED 7 in the storage area of M13. Also, EEP
The data numbers stored in the addresses A and B of the ROM 13 are transferred to predetermined addresses of the RAM 12, for example, addresses A'and B '. The above data number
Is a number assigned to the operating state, for example
Data number 1 is the operating state related to the electric field level, data number
2 means an operating state related to the power supply voltage.

The LED 6 displays the operating state corresponding to the data number stored in the address A of the EEPROM 13, and the LED 7 displays the operating state corresponding to the data number stored in the address B of the EEPROM 13. It

In this case, the state signal data of each operating state is converted into a light emission pattern signal according to the data value, and the LEDs 6 and 7 emit light according to the light emission pattern signal. For example, at the electric field level,
There are three types of light emission patterns depending on strong, medium, and weak. Depending on the communication state, there are three patterns depending on whether communication is in progress, standby, or incoming / outgoing.
There are different types of light emission patterns. The relationship between the value of the state signal data and the light emission pattern, that is, the signal correspondence data is stored in the EEPROM 13 and transferred to the RAM 12 like the output correspondence data.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the contents of the operation state display processing executed by the microcomputer 10. Although only the operation state display process for the LED 6 is shown in FIG. 3, the operation state display process for the LED 7 is similar.

In FIG. 3, when the microcomputer 10 receives power supply from the power supply section 16 and starts operation, the EEPR
The output correspondence data and the signal correspondence data stored in the OM 13 are transferred to the RAM 12 (step S
1).

Subsequently, in step S2, the microcomputer 10 determines whether or not a command for rewriting the output correspondence data has been input. This rewrite command is issued by switch 5
To send an AT command from a personal computer connected via the adapter 3, or from a host computer installed in a fixed station via a PHS line.
Either by sending a T command.

In the case of rewriting by the AT command, a command such as "AT! EW address data number" is transmitted from the personal computer or the host computer. If, for example, A is specified as the address and 2 is specified as the data number, "display the power supply voltage on the LED 6"
It has been ordered to.

When the microcomputer 10 determines that the rewriting command is input to the LED 6 (YES), the data number instructed the stored contents of the address A of the EEPROM 13 and the stored contents of the address A'of the RAM 12 according to the rewriting command. Can be rewritten as (step S3, S
4). Then, it transfers to step S5.

On the other hand, the microcomputer 10 sets L in step S2.
No rewrite command has been input for ED6 (N
If it is determined to be O), the process proceeds to step S5, and the RAM
The data number is read from the 12th address A '. Then, the state signal data corresponding to the data number is stored in the RAM.
It is read from 12 predetermined addresses (step S6).

After that, the microcomputer 10 refers to the signal correspondence data stored in the RAM 12 for the status signal data (step S7), and determines the light emission pattern according to the value of the status signal data (step S8). The light emission pattern signal is output to the LED 6 (step S9). As a result, the LED 6 starts emitting light according to the light emission pattern corresponding to the value of the state signal data. Thereafter, the processing shifts to step S2.

As described above, according to the data communication terminal device 1 of this embodiment, the LEDs 6, 7 and the LEDs 6,
The output correspondence data showing the correspondence with the operating state displayed on the display 7 is stored in the EEPROM 13,
Displays the operating state based on the output correspondence data. The output correspondence data can be rewritten by operating the switch 5 or sending an AT command. Therefore, desired status signal data is selected from a plurality of status signal data and is sent to the LEDs 6 and 7. Can be displayed.

As a result, when it is desired to confirm many operating states such as installation, maintenance, and failure, the limited number used in normal operation (two in this embodiment).
It is possible to confirm various operating states while sequentially rewriting the output correspondence data by operating the switch 5 or transmitting an AT command from the personal computer using only the LEDs 6 and 7. This improves workability such as installation work, maintenance work, and investigation of the cause of failure. Further, since it is not necessary to add maintenance LEDs or other output means that are not used during normal operation, the data communication terminal device 1 does not become large or complicated.

The LEDs 6 and 7 do not display the status signal data itself, but generate a light emission pattern according to the data value based on the signal correspondence data, and emit light according to the light emission pattern. Therefore, the operator can easily understand the status signal data, and the working efficiency is further improved.

When the output correspondence data is rewritten, immediately after that, the operating states are displayed on the LEDs 6 and 7 according to the rewritten new correspondence, so that it is necessary to turn off or reset the power once after the rewriting. This makes it easier to check the operating state.

Further, the output correspondence data is EEPRO.
Since it is stored in M13, it is held even if the power supply voltage is cut off. Therefore, even if a temporary power failure or power failure occurs during maintenance, there is no need to rewrite after that. Further, since the initial data of the output correspondence data is written at the time of factory shipment, if the user does not need to change the output correspondence data, the user can immediately use the output correspondence data without performing the writing work.

The output correspondence data and the signal correspondence data written in the EEPROM 13 are R when the power is turned on.
After being transferred to the AM 12, the microcomputer 10 accesses the RAM 12 thereafter. Memory access time is generally EE
Since the RAM 12 is faster than the PROM 13, the processing execution speed of the microcomputer 10 can be increased accordingly.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as follows. The output unit is not limited to the LED, and may be another display unit such as a lamp, a liquid crystal display device, an EL display device, or the like. The output means is not limited to the display means, and may be a voice output means such as a speaker, a vibration means such as a vibrator, a temperature varying means, or the like. The signal correspondence data stored in the EEPROM 13 may be rewritable in the same manner as the output correspondence data.

The data communication terminal device 1 is configured to wirelessly send and receive commands and data to and from external devices to and from the host computer, but may also be configured to send and receive by wire. Further, the present invention is not limited to the communication terminal device, and can be applied to general electronic equipment as long as it outputs the operating state to the outside through the output means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a data communication terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a data communication terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation state display process executed by a microcomputer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a data communication terminal device, 2 is a main body (electronic device, communication terminal device), 6 and 7 are light emitting diodes (output means, display means), 10 is a microcomputer (control means), 12
Is a RAM (volatile storage means), 13 is an EEPROM (rewritable non-volatile storage means), 14 is an external interface section (external connection means), and 15 is a wireless communication section (communication means).

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Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. Control means for acquiring status signal data representing an operating status and outputting a status notification signal according to the status signal data, and a status notification signal output from this control means to the outside. In an electronic device including an output unit, a rewritable storage unit that stores output correspondence data that is a correspondence between the operation state and the output unit that outputs the state notification signal is provided, and the control unit is While outputting the status notification signal to the output means according to the output correspondence data stored in the storage means, when an AT command for instructing rewriting is sequentially input from an external computer,
An electronic device configured to sequentially rewrite the output correspondence data stored in the storage means in accordance with the rewriting command. 2. The control means starts the output operation of the status notification signal with reference to the output correspondence data stored in the storage means when the operation is started and a rewrite command is input. The electronic device according to claim 1. 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is a non-volatile storage unit. 4. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the non-volatile storage means stores predetermined output correspondence data as initial data in advance. 5. A volatile storage means is provided, and the control means temporarily transfers the output correspondence data stored in the non-volatile storage means to the volatile storage means, and then stores the data in the volatile storage means. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the state notification signal is output with reference to the output correspondence data that has been generated. 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit is a display unit. 7. The storage means stores signal correspondence data between the status signal data and the status notification signal, and the control means stores the status signal data based on the signal correspondence data. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a corresponding state notification signal is output. 8. A communication terminal device comprising: an external connection means for exchanging commands and data with the external device while being connected to the external device; and a communication means for transmitting and receiving the command and data. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: 9. A method for outputting an operation state of an electronic device, comprising acquiring state signal data indicating an operation state of the electronic device and outputting a state notification signal corresponding to the state signal data to the outside through an output means. By referring to the output correspondence data stored in the rewritable storage means showing the correspondence between the operating state and the output means for outputting the status notification signal, the status notification signal is sent to the output means in accordance with the output correspondence data. a processing step of outputting, when the aT command for instructing the rewriting from an external computer are sequentially input, a sequential <br/> rewriting process the output correspondence data stored in the storage means in accordance with the rewrite command And a method for outputting an operating state of an electronic device.