JP3561913B2 - Polling communication control device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a distributed polling communication control device including a plurality of communication units that perform polling communication between a master station and a plurality of slave stations subordinate to the master station.
[0002]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In buildings such as hotels and hospitals, in addition to general television broadcasting and cable cable television, there is a service that provides various types of image and audio information to each terminal, especially recently transmitted via telephone lines 2. Description of the Related Art An on-demand type Internet information providing apparatus which enables browsing of Internet homepage information (Internet information) at each terminal has begun to spread. However, installing an Internet terminal for each terminal requires enormous equipment costs and running costs. Therefore, a plurality of Internet information acquisition devices capable of accessing arbitrary Internet information and an Internet control device provided with a central management device for controlling the same are installed at the center, and the Internet control device is requested in response to a request from a terminal device. Selects a vacant Internet information acquisition device from a plurality of Internet information acquisition devices and sends the Internet information to the terminal requested by the selected Internet information acquisition device. The applicant of the present application has previously proposed an Internet information providing apparatus capable of acquiring Internet information.
[0003]
Not only the Internet information providing device, but also a polling communication control device that performs polling communication between one master station (central management device) at a center and a plurality of slave stations (terminals) subordinate to the master station, The master station sends a polling signal with a specific address added to the slave station, and if the master station receives any response signal from the slave station corresponding to this address, it is determined that the slave station at that address is operating normally. If it can be determined, and conversely, if there is a communication error in which no response signal is returned, it can be determined that the slave station at that address has some kind of abnormality, such as no power being supplied. That is, if the addresses of all subordinate slave stations are managed by the master station, the master station can always grasp the status of the slave station by the above-described polling function.
[0004]
However, in an Internet information providing device installed in a hospital, for example, the usage rate of Internet information is higher in each stage than in a hotel or the like, and the number of beds is generally larger than that in a hotel room. It is difficult for the master station to constantly grasp the state of the slave stations assigned to all beds. The reason is that as the number of slave stations increases, the response to the master station is delayed. In this case, if a plurality of communication units are provided by connecting one master station and a plurality of slave stations subordinate thereto by communication means, and the master stations are dispersed for each slave station, one master station can be obtained. The number of slave stations subordinate to the master station is naturally limited, and delay in communication response to the master station can be minimized. Further, by distributing the master stations, the cost can be reduced, and even if one of the master stations goes down, the influence on the slave stations can be minimized.
[0005]
In the case of a polling communication control device in which such communication units are distributed into a plurality of groups, for example, in hospitals, hospital beds are regularly moved, and each time a terminal, ie, a child station, is moved together. At that time, if the movement of the slave station is performed within the same group, the slave station will only have a temporary communication error when viewed from the managing master station. If the connection is restored, the master station can continue to manage the state of the slave station even at the destination. However, when the slave station moves to a communication unit of another group, the master station of the other group transmits only a polling signal to the slave station having an address subordinate to the same group, and eventually the slave station ends. After returning from the above, the master station of another group cannot recognize the existence of this slave station, and the slave station does not respond. Also, the master station in the communication unit of the source group does not receive a response from the slave station that has stopped moving every time polling is performed, and the communication abnormality continues forever.
[0006]
In order to solve this problem, the address must be changed between the source and the destination each time the slave station moves, but in reality, the slave station that frequently moves is relied on manually. There is no room for address change work. In addition, if the slave station's memory is destroyed due to some external factor and the address stored there is destroyed, regardless of the intentional movement of the slave station, the master station similarly recognizes the existence of the slave station. When it is no longer possible, the master station determines that the communication is abnormal for that address. Even if such a phenomenon occurs unexpectedly, it is practically impossible to manually change the address.
[0007]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a polling communication control device that can automatically monitor the status of a slave station moved from another communication unit.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the Internet information providing apparatus of the present invention, when the normal slave station receives the polling signal from the master station, the polling address included in the polling signal matches the current address stored in its own current address storage means. When the polling response signal is sent back. However, when the power supply is cut off due to the movement of the slave station, the polling response signal from the slave station is interrupted, and the abnormal address storage means of the master station stores the current address of the terminal to which the polling response signal is not sent. The matching abnormal address is stored, and an address confirmation request signal is transmitted from the master station.
[0009]
Thereafter, when the power of the slave station is turned on again, an address confirmation request signal from the master station is received, and an address confirmation response signal is sent from the restored slave station to the master station. Here, if the current address included in the address confirmation response signal is one of the pre-assigned addresses of the master station, it is determined that the movement is within the same communication unit, while the current address is previously assigned to the master station. If the address does not correspond to any of the received addresses, it is determined that the movement is from another communication unit, and the current address is automatically changed to the value of the abnormal address. As a result, after the change, the polling signal from the master station is received, and the polling response signal is transmitted from the terminal that has moved, so that the terminal has moved from another communication unit without manually changing the address as in the related art. It is possible to automatically monitor the status of the slave station.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a polling communication control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, an Internet information providing apparatus installed in a hospital having many beds will be described.
[0011]
In FIG. 1 showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, reference numerals 1 and 2 denote master stations as centralized control units installed in a hospital center 41, and reference numerals 11 and 12 denote a plurality of movable child stations installed for each bed. Terminal. Each of the master stations 1 and 2 is connected to the subordinate terminals 11 and 12 by connection lines 31 and 32 as communication means so as to enable two-way communication. In the initial state, one master station 1 and a plurality of terminals 11 subordinate to the master station 1 are connected to each other via a connection line 31 to perform polling communication. Communication units 22 are connected to connect a plurality of terminals 12 subordinate to the master station 2 via a connection line 32 and perform polling communication. Although the two communication units 21 and 22 are shown here, in actuality, taking into account the use of the sickbed and the like, the further master stations 1, 2,... And the terminals 11, 12,. A plurality of communication units 21, 22,... May be provided by connecting independent connection lines 31, 32,.
[0012]
Each of the terminals 11 and 12 has the same configuration, and includes a TV monitor 42 as an image and sound output unit for outputting images and sounds, and a remote controller 43 as an operation unit for remotely controlling the terminals 11 and 12. I have. Each of the terminals 11 and 12 is provided with a card insertion slot 44 for inserting a magnetic card (not shown) as a storage medium for recording balance information. This magnetic card is purchased by the user in advance by paying a predetermined amount. At first, data of a balance corresponding to the amount of payment is stored in the magnetic card as a frequency. When the user inserts a magnetic card into the card insertion slot 44 and operates the remote controller 43 to view pay channel information and various types of information on the Internet, which will be described later, on the TV monitor 42, the usage fee is charged. Is subtracted by the terminals 11 and 12 and rewritten. Further, on the surface of the remote controller 43, in addition to a television operation unit using a television broadcast or a cable cable television, an Internet operation unit is provided in common, and by operating this Internet operation unit, Paid / free sites can be selected on the Internet.
[0013]
On the other hand, the master stations 1 and 2 installed in the center 41 also have the same configuration. Here, the master station 1 will be described in detail. Reference numeral 51 denotes a centralized management device as a centralized management device for monitoring and controlling the entire communication unit 21. The centralized management device 51 communicates with each terminal 11 via the connection line 31. Connected to. A modem 52 having a modulation / demodulation function and a bidirectional amplifier 53 for amplifying signals from the master station 1 to each terminal 11 and from each terminal 11 to the master station 1 are provided in the middle of the connection line 31.
[0014]
The master station 1 can access arbitrary Internet information stored on a WWW server (not shown) through the telephone line 55, obtain specific Internet information from the information, and transfer the obtained information here. A plurality of Internet terminal devices 56 (in the present embodiment, six for 100 to 120 beds) are installed as Internet information acquisition devices for converting and outputting video signals and audio signals. Reference numeral 57 denotes a modulator for modulating a video signal and an audio signal output from the Internet terminal device 56 into an NTSC video signal. The Internet information modulated by these modulators 57 is passed through a mixer 58 to the connection line 31. Is superimposed. The mixer 58 not only mixes the signal exchanged between the central control device 51 and each terminal 11 with the Internet information from each modulator 57, but also mixes the signal from the TV listening line sent through the cable 59. And a function of mixing and superimposing a broadcast signal of a television broadcast or a cable cable television from an independent broadcast facility on the same connection line 31. Reference numeral 60 denotes an amplifier for amplifying the broadcast signal, and reference numeral 61 denotes a switching hub for controlling the flow of data from the telephone line 55 to each Internet terminal device 56.
[0015]
An internet control device 63 is provided between the central management device 51 and the modem 52 and controls each internet terminal device 56 individually in response to a command from each terminal 11 and the central management device 51. The Internet control device 63 is configured to control each Internet terminal device 56 by infrared rays, and to acquire information from each Internet terminal device 56 based on voice and whether or not the telephone line 55 is connected. The number of the Internet terminal devices 56 and the modulators 57 may be set to a number corresponding to the utilization rate of the terminal 11 so that at least the busy state does not frequently occur on the terminal 11 side.
[0016]
In the above configuration, when the user wants to use the terminal 11 (or the terminal 12) installed on the bed, the user turns on the power of the TV monitor 42 using the remote controller 43. When the user wants to watch a television broadcast or a cable cable television other than the Internet information, for example, by appropriately operating the television operation unit of the remote controller 43, the broadcast radio wave transmitted from the cable 59 through the mixer 58 and the bidirectional amplifier 53 is transmitted. Among them, specific image and audio information can be selected and viewed on the TV monitor 42. In particular, if the user wants to view pay channel information, a magnetic card is inserted into the card slot 44 and a specific pay channel is selected by the remote controller 43. Specific image and audio information is selected from broadcast radio waves to be transmitted, and can be viewed on the TV monitor 42, and a frequency corresponding to the usage fee is written from the terminal 11 to the magnetic card 8.
[0017]
On the other hand, when the user wants to obtain Internet information, the user inserts a magnetic card into the card insertion slot 44 and then pushes and operates the Internet operation unit 3 of the remote controller 43. Then, a demand signal indicating that it is desired to acquire Internet information is sent from the terminal 11 to the Internet control device 63 through the bidirectional amplifier 53, the mixer 58, and the modem 52. Here, the Internet control device 63 searches for a free Internet terminal device 56 to which the telephone line 55 is not connected, and sends a control signal for connecting to the telephone line 55 to this specific Internet terminal device 56. . Then, when the specific Internet terminal device 56 is connected to the telephone line 55, the Internet control device 64 sends an instruction signal indicating which Internet terminal device 56 is connected through the modem 52, the mixer 58, and the bidirectional amplifier 53. Is returned to the terminal 11 that has made the request.
[0018]
The homepage information (Internet information) on the Internet acquired by the specific Internet terminal device 56 is modulated into a specific frequency region (channel) by a modulator 57 as an NTSC video signal, and then transmitted to another Internet terminal through a mixer 58. It is mixed with Internet information from device 56. The mixed Internet information is mixed with the broadcast radio wave from the cable 59 and amplified by the bidirectional amplifier 53. Here, the terminal 11 that has received the instruction signal selects only the Internet information acquired by the specific Internet terminal device 56 from the channel information included in the instruction signal, and displays it on the TV monitor 42 and displays the audio information. Output. At the same time, the terminal 11 writes the frequency corresponding to the usage fee on the magnetic card.
[0019]
If the user wants to change the Internet information displayed on the TV monitor 3, the user pushes the Internet information while referring to the Internet operation unit on the remote controller 43. Then, the demand signal is sent from the terminal 11 to the Internet control device 63 through the bidirectional amplifier 53, the mixer 58, and the modem 52, and a control signal for prompting the specific Internet terminal device 56 to switch the display screen is output. Upon receiving this control signal, the specific Internet terminal device 56 immediately switches to the desired Internet information, and outputs the newly acquired Internet information to the modulator 57. Thus, the terminal 11 that has requested the switching of the Internet information can display the new Internet information on the TV monitor 42 and output the audio information.
[0020]
When the Internet control device 63 searches for a vacant Internet terminal device 56, if all the Internet terminal devices 56 are connected, the terminal 11 that has transmitted the demand signal indicating that it is desired to obtain Internet information is transmitted. A display or audio output to the effect that the TV monitor 42 is busy is performed. Even if the vacant Internet terminal device 56 is found, if the telephone line 55 cannot be connected due to congestion or the like, the connection error information is transmitted from the Internet terminal device 56 via the Internet control device 63. Is sent to the terminal 11. As described above, when the desired Internet information cannot be acquired, the terminal 11 notifies the terminal 11 of some kind of error, thereby avoiding confusion of the user. When such error information is received by the terminal 11, the rewriting to the magnetic card, that is, the billing is not performed, and the billing is performed only when the Internet information is acquired by connecting to the telephone line 55. .
[0021]
Next, based on FIG. 2, a functional configuration related to polling of the master stations 1 and 2 and the terminals 11 and 12 in the above configuration, in particular, will be described.
[0022]
In the figure, each of the terminals 11 and 12 is given two addresses, that is, an original address and a current address. These addresses are, for example, 4-digit hexadecimal numbers that do not overlap with any of the other terminals 11 and 12, and are stored and held in the current address storage unit 71 and the original address storage unit 72 of each of the terminals 11 and 12, respectively. The original address is an address unique to each of the terminals 11 and 12 (for example, 0000 to 0300 in hexadecimal), and retains its value unless the memory constituting the original address storage means 72 is destroyed. However, when the contents of the original address storage unit 72 are destroyed by the destruction of the memory, the original address setting unit 74 automatically sets a random value based on the random number generated by the random number generation unit 73. The master station 1 stores and holds all addresses (original addresses) of the terminal 11 (terminal 12 in the case of the master station 2) that first subordinates.
[0023]
On the other hand, the current address indicates the current address of each of the terminals 11 and 12, which is initially set to the same value as the original address when the terminals 11 and 12 are first installed. The contents are rewritten by the correction address sent to the terminals 11 and 12. The current address also retains its value as long as the memory constituting the current address storage means 71 is not destroyed. However, if the contents of the current address storage means 71 are destroyed, the current address setting means 75 allows any of the terminals 11 and 12 to be stored. An unassigned original address value (for example, FFFF in hexadecimal) is automatically set as a new current address value.
[0024]
Apart from the current address and the original address, the terminals 11 and 12 have a sequence number generating means 76 for generating a random sequence number based on the random number obtained by the random number generating means 73. Each time a polling response signal is transmitted from a polling response signal transmitting unit 84 described later, the sequence number is overwritten and stored in the sequence number storing unit 77.
[0025]
Each of the terminals 11 and 12 further includes a reception control unit 78 for controlling reception of various signals from the master stations 1 and 2 and a transmission control unit 79 for controlling transmission of various signals to the master stations 1 and 2. I have. The reception control means 78 includes a polling signal receiving means 81 for receiving a polling signal sent from the master stations 1 and 2, and an address confirmation request from the master stations 1 and 2 during standby (standby) for transmitting an address confirmation response signal described later. Address confirmation request signal receiving means 82 for receiving signals, and address confirmation response signals for receiving address confirmation result signals sent from master stations 1 and 2 to terminals 11 and 12 upon receipt of address confirmation response signals from terminals 11 and 12. And a result signal receiving means 83. When the polling signal receiving unit 81 receives a polling signal including a polling address that matches the current address stored in the current address storage unit 71, the transmission control unit 79 stores the polling signal in at least the current address storage unit 71. A polling response signal including the current address and the new sequence number randomly generated by the sequence number generating means 76 is transmitted to the master stations 1 and 2 of the same communication units 21 and 22, and the new sequence number is transmitted. Response signal transmitting means 84 for overwriting and storing in the sequence storing means 77, when the power outlets (not shown) of the terminals 11 and 12 are unplugged and reconnected, or when the power is re-energized, or the current address storing means 71 or the original address. The memory of the storage means 72 is destroyed, and the original address is set. When the stage 74 and the current address setting means 75 perform the automatic setting of the original address and the current address, when the address confirmation response signal transmission standby state is entered, the address confirmation request signal receiving means 82 confirms the address from the master station 1 or 2. It monitors whether or not a request signal has been received, and upon receiving the address confirmation request signal, confirms the address including the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 and the original address stored in the original address storage means 72. An address acknowledgment signal transmitting means 85 for transmitting a response signal to the master stations 1 and 2 of the same communication units 21 and 22 with a random time difference is provided. When receiving the address confirmation request signal, the address confirmation response signal transmitting means 85 not only transmits an address confirmation response signal having a random time difference with respect to the address confirmation request signal, but also transmits the next received address confirmation signal. An address acknowledgment signal having a random time difference may be transmitted based on the acknowledgment request signal. In this way, even if the address confirmation request signals are transmitted from the plurality of terminals 11 and 12, the possibility of interference between the two signals is further reduced.
[0026]
On the other hand, the master stations 1 and 2 also have a reception control means 87 and a transmission control means 88, respectively. The reception control unit 87 controls reception of various signals from the terminals 11 and 12 in the same communication units 21 and 22. Specifically, the reception control unit 87 receives a polling signal from a polling signal transmission unit 94 described later and specifies When a polling response signal is received from the terminal 11 or 12, the sequence number corresponding to the current address included in the polling response signal is overwritten and stored in the reception sequence number storage means 89, while the terminal corresponding to the polling signal is stored. When the polling response signals from the terminals 11 and 12 cannot be received, the polling response signal receiving unit 91 stores the polling address included in the polling signal as an abnormal address in the abnormal address storage unit 90; Receiving the address acknowledgment signal from the address acknowledgment signal transmitting means 85 And an address acknowledgment signal receiving unit 92. The entire address of the abnormal address stored in the abnormal address storage means 90 is overwritten and updated each time one polling is performed.
[0027]
The transmission control means 88 calls at least one of a plurality of addresses assigned in advance to each of the communication sections 21 and 22 and a sequence number stored in the reception sequence number storage means 89 corresponding to one of the addresses. Polling signal transmitting means 94 for sequentially transmitting to the terminals 11 and 12 as a polling address for use and a sequence confirmation number, and when an abnormal address exists in the abnormal address storage means 90, a polling signal corresponding to all the polling addresses is transmitted. After the transmission, an address confirmation request signal for requesting the presence or absence of the address confirmation is transmitted to all the terminals 11 and 12, and the abnormal address having the same value is continuously stored every time polling is performed. After a certain time (for example, 10 minutes), the terminal 11 or 12 having the current address is contacted. When the address confirmation request signal transmitting means 95 for transmitting an address confirmation request signal forcibly requesting the address confirmation and the address confirmation response signal receiving means 92 receive the address confirmation response signal, the current address contained therein is If the address is one of the pre-assigned addresses belonging to the communication units 21 and 22 of the same master stations 1 and 2, the terminal 11 or 12 having the current address indicates that the abnormal state has been resolved. If the current address included in the address acknowledgment signal is one of the addresses belonging to another communication unit 21 or 22, while transmitting the signal, that is, the OK signal, to stop the transmission standby state of the address acknowledgment signal, For example, one of the abnormal addresses stored in the abnormal address storage means 90 is corrected for the terminals 11 and 12 having the current address. And sends an address acknowledgment signal by transmitting an error elimination signal indicating that the abnormal state has been eliminated, that is, an OK signal, while overwriting the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 with the corrected address. An address confirmation result signal transmitting means 96 for suspending the standby state is provided. In particular, when a plurality of different abnormal addresses are stored in the abnormal address storage means 90, the address confirmation result signal transmitting means 96 determines the order of transmission as the corrected addresses in advance.
[0028]
Next, the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As described above, the apparatus is constituted by the communication units 21 and 22 in which a plurality of master stations 1 and 2 and a plurality of terminals 11 and 12 subordinate thereto are connected by connection lines 31 and 32. As one example, if each of the master stations 1 and 2 can control 60 terminals 11 and 12, respectively, addresses 1 to 60 are assigned to the first master station 1 and 61 to the second master station 2. Addresses up to 120 are assigned and stored in each of the master stations 1 and 2. In the initial state, the original addresses of the terminals 11 subordinate to the first master station 1 are sequentially assigned 1 to 60, and the original addresses of the terminals 12 subordinate to the second master station 2 are sequentially assigned to 61 to 120. The terminals 11 and 12 are assigned a current address having the same value as the original address and the current address is stored in the current address storage means 71.
[0029]
When the apparatus operates, each of the master stations 1 and 2 performs polling communication with each of the terminals 11 and 12 to monitor the communication state of the subordinate terminals 11 and 12. Here, focusing on the master station 1 in particular, the polling transmitting means 94 transmits a polling signal including a polling address and a sequence number corresponding to the polling address in order from the first address assigned in advance (step S1). ). Then, the terminal 11 having the current address of the same value as the polling address contained therein contains a polling response including the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 and a random sequence number generated from the sequence number generation means 76. The signal is sent back to the master station 1 and the sequence number is overwritten and stored in the sequence storage means 77. When the polling response signal receiving means 91 of the master station 1 receives the polling response signal from the terminal 11, the polling response signal receiving means 91 overwrites and stores the sequence number corresponding to the current address contained therein in the reception sequence number storage means 89.
[0030]
If all of the subordinate terminals 11 are operating normally, the above-described operation is performed in each terminal 11 every time a polling signal is sent out. There is no abnormal address, and the master station 1 determines in step S2 that no communication error has occurred in all addresses, and returns to step S1 again to re-transmit the polling signal.
[0031]
On the other hand, when a polling signal including a certain polling address is transmitted from the master station 1 and the polling response signal receiving means 91 of the master station 1 cannot receive a polling response signal from any of the terminals 11, The polling address is stored as an abnormal address in the abnormal address storage means 90, and the master station 1 determines in step S2 that a communication error has occurred at a certain address. Thereafter, the address confirmation request signal transmitting means 95 of the master station 1 transmits all the polling signals corresponding to all the polling addresses, and then requests all the terminals 11 (or the terminals 12) whether or not there is an address confirmation. An address confirmation request signal is transmitted (step S3). Then, in the next step S4, the address confirmation response signal receiving means 92 of the master station 1 monitors whether or not an address confirmation request signal is returned from the terminals 11 and 12, but if no signal is returned. Then, it is determined that the communication abnormality has not been improved at all, and the procedure returns to step S1.
[0032]
There are various reasons for the above-mentioned communication abnormality. For example, it is conceivable that the power outlet of the terminal 11 is unplugged due to bed movement or the like. In this case, when the terminal 11 is re-attached to the power outlet, the terminal 11 enters a standby state for transmitting an address confirmation response signal, and upon receiving the address confirmation request signal from the master station 1 in step S3, the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 And an original address stored in the original address storage means 72. When the master station 1 receives this address confirmation response signal in step S4, the master station 1 determines whether or not the current address contained therein is an address of its own group assigned to the master unit 1 in advance (step S4). S5). If the current address included in the address acknowledgment signal is one of the addresses previously assigned to the base unit 1, it is determined that the terminal 11 having the current address has moved within the same communication unit 21. The address confirmation result signal having the OK signal is transmitted from the address confirmation result signal transmitting means 96 to the terminal 11 (step S6). In response to this, the terminal 11 stops the transmission standby state of the address acknowledgment signal and returns to the normal operation, and does not transmit the address acknowledgment signal even after receiving the address acknowledgment request signal from the master station 1. .
[0033]
On the other hand, in step S5, when the terminal 12 that has been subordinate to another master unit 2 moves to the communication unit 21, the current address (61 to 120) included in the address confirmation response signal from this terminal 12 is transmitted. ) Is not included in one of the addresses (1 to 60) assigned to the base unit 1 in advance. Then, in step S7, the address confirmation result signal transmitting means 96 of the master station 1 uses one of the abnormal addresses stored in the abnormal address storage means 90 as the corrected address in addition to the above-mentioned OK signal as the address confirmation result signal. Send. Upon receiving this, the terminal 12 overwrites the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 with the corrected address value, suspends the transmission standby state of the address acknowledgment signal, and returns to the normal operation. Even if an address confirmation request signal is received from No. 1, the address confirmation response signal is not transmitted. Thereafter, when the master station 1 transmits a polling signal including a polling address having the same value as the corrected current address in step S1, a polling response signal is returned from the terminal 12 having the current address every time. The communication state of the terminal 12 after moving on the station 1 side can be monitored.
[0034]
Another cause of the communication abnormality is that, as a rare phenomenon, the memory constituting the current address storage means 71 and the original address storage means 72 is destroyed, and the current address and the original address are destroyed. At this time, the terminal 11 whose memory has been destroyed automatically sets the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 to another nonexistent value (FFFF in hexadecimal) by the current address setting means 75. The original address stored in the original address storage means 72 is automatically set to a random value by the original address setting means 74 based on the random number generated by the random number generation means 73, and the terminal 11 transmits the address confirmation response signal. Enters standby mode. In this case, the terminal 11 whose memory has been destroyed can transmit a polling response signal to any polling signal from the master station 1 because the current address has been rewritten to an address value that does not exist in any master station 1. The master station 1 recognizes that the communication is abnormal in step S2. At this time, the same value as the original current address of the terminal 11 whose memory has been destroyed is stored in the abnormal address storage means 90 of the master station 1 as an abnormal address. Therefore, when the master station 1 receives the address confirmation request signal from the terminal 11 in the subsequent step S4, the process shifts from step S5 to step S7, and the abnormal address stored in the abnormal address storage means 90 is used as the corrected address. It is sent to the terminal 11. As a result, the current address of the terminal 11 whose memory has been destroyed returns to the original value, and the operation returns to the normal operation. The original address stored in the original address storage means 72 is automatically set to a random value as described above. However, since this value is set by extracting from about 30,000 kinds, The probability that the address overlaps with other terminals 11 and 12 is extremely small, and there is almost no practical problem.
[0035]
Next, consider a case where a plurality of abnormal addresses exist at the stage of one round of polling. As an example, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminals 11 corresponding to the current addresses “7” and “8” both have a communication error (see the broken line), and the two abnormal addresses “7” are stored in the abnormal address storage unit 90 of the master station 1. And "8" are stored. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, when the terminal 12 whose initial address and the current address which do not belong to the master station 1 by default are both “101” moves to the communication unit 21 in place of the terminal 11 having the current address “8”. Then, when the terminal 11 of the current address “7”, for which the power outlet has been temporarily unplugged for some reason, returns and is turned on again, the terminals 11 and 12 of the current address “7” are stored in the same communication unit 21. The phenomenon that there exists a plurality of occurs.
[0036]
In this case, if the communication method between the master station 1 and the terminals 11 and 12 is, for example, AM modulation, both polling response signals are received by the polling response signal receiving device 91 of the master station 1 in a state of interference. If the communication modulation method between the master station 1 and the terminals 11 and 12 is, for example, coaxial bidirectional FM modulation, only the polling response signal of the terminal 12 having a strong signal wave is received by the polling response signal receiving means of the master station 1. The polling response signal of the terminal 11 that can be received at 91 and has a weak signal radio wave cannot be received at all.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 6, when the polling response signals of both the terminals 11 and 12 are received by the master station 1 in a state of interference, the polling response signal receiving means 91 of the master station 1 outputs not only the current address "8" but also the current address "8". Also, the polling response signals from the terminals 11 and 12 having the current address “7” cannot be correctly recognized, and are stored as abnormal addresses. When the abnormal addresses "7" and "8" are successively stored every time polling is performed, the address confirmation request signal transmitting means 95 of the master station 1 responds to the abnormal address after a predetermined time. An address confirmation request signal is transmitted to the terminals 11 and 12 having the current addresses "7" and "8". Then, the terminals 11 and 12 of the current address “7”, which have already released the transmission standby state of the address acknowledgment signal, send the address acknowledgment signals including the current address and the original address with a random time difference. Transmit to master station 1. As a result, the master station 1 can recognize for the first time that the same current address “7” has been assigned to the two terminals 11 and 12, and the address confirmation result including the original address and the corrected address is given to one of the terminals 11. A signal is transmitted to assign another current address “8” to the terminal having the original address “7”. Thus, the duplication of the current address is resolved, and the master station 1 can correctly monitor the communication state of all the terminals 11 and 12.
[0038]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, when only the polling response signal of the terminal 12 having a strong signal wave can be received by the polling response signal receiving means 91 of the master station 1, the polling response signal receiving means 91 of the master station 1 Although the polling response signal from the terminal 12 at the current address "7" can be normally recognized, the polling response signal from the terminal corresponding to the current address "8" cannot be received, and therefore, is stored as an abnormal address. In this case, upon receiving the polling response signal from the terminal 12 having the current address “7”, the master station 1 stores the sequence number contained therein in the reception sequence number storage means 89, and then polls the polling address “7”. When transmitting a signal, the sequence number stored in the reception sequence number storage means 89 is transmitted together as a sequence confirmation number. The polling signal of the polling address "7" can be received by both the terminals 11 and 12 having the current address of "7", but either terminal 11 cannot correctly receive its own polling response signal on the master station 1 side. This can be recognized from the difference between the sequence number stored in the sequence number storage unit 77 of each of the terminals 11 and 12 and the transmitted sequence confirmation number. Then, the terminal 12 uses the current address setting means 75 to temporarily replace the current address with a random value, and shifts to an address acknowledgment signal transmission standby state. Then, when an address confirmation request signal is transmitted from the master station 1 due to the presence of the abnormal address “8”, the terminal 12 transmits an address confirmation request signal to which the current address and the original address are attached to the master station 1, whereby the master station 1 receives the address confirmation request signal. The station 1 transmits an address confirmation result signal including the original address and the modified address “8” to the terminal 11 and allocates another current address “8” to the terminal having the original address “7”. In this way, the duplication of the current address is eliminated, and the master station 1 can correctly monitor the communication state of all the terminals 11 and 12.
[0039]
FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram showing signal exchange between master station 1 and terminals 11 and 12. Here, solid lines indicate various signals transmitted from the master station 1 and broken lines indicate various signals transmitted from the terminals 11 and 12. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the polling response signal P2 corresponding to the polling signal P1 of the master station 1 is returned from each of the terminals 11 and 12 for all the addresses monitored by the master station 1, the master station 1 The station 1 does not transmit the address confirmation request signal, but continuously transmits the next polling signal P1 for all addresses. The total time of the polling signal P1 here is, for example, 20 seconds.
[0040]
On the other hand, if the polling response signal P2 corresponding to the polling signal P1 of the master station 1 does not return for one or more addresses monitored by the master station 1 as shown in FIG. After the transmission, the interval of, for example, 20 msec is set, during which the address confirmation request signal P3 from the address confirmation request signal transmitting means 95 is transmitted. In response to this, the terminal 11 (or the terminal 12) in the address acknowledgment signal transmission standby state transmits the address acknowledgment signal P4 with a random time difference. As a result, even when the address acknowledgment signals P4 are transmitted from the plurality of terminals 11 and 12, both signals do not interfere with each other, and the master station 1 can correctly recognize each address acknowledgment signal P4. If the address acknowledgment signal P4 happens to be transmitted at the same time, the address confirmation request signal P3 may be transmitted again after the polling signal is transmitted once. This makes it possible to reliably identify each address acknowledgment signal P4.
[0041]
Further, when the present apparatus is applied to a hotel or the like in which the terminals 11 and 12 move relatively little, if a communication error is found in only one place when the polling signal is cycled, the terminal 11 that has caused the communication error is detected. A command signal for rewriting the current address to a nonexistent address (for example, FFFF in hexadecimal) may be sent from the master station 1 at the time of transmitting the next polling signal.
[0042]
As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the communication units 21 and 22 that perform polling communication between the master stations 1 and 2 and the plurality of slave stations subordinate to the master stations 1 and 2, ie, the terminals 11 and 12, are provided. Among the plurality of terminals, the terminals 11 and 12 are provided with a current address storage means 71 for storing a current address which is a current address, an original address storage means 72 for storing an original address unique to each slave station, When the polling address included in the polling signals from the stations 1 and 2 matches the current address stored in the current address storage unit 71, the polling response signal transmitting unit 84 that transmits the polling response signal and the power supply are turned on again. When an address confirmation request signal is received from the master station later, an address confirmation response signal including the current address and the original address is transmitted. And an address acknowledgment signal transmitting means 85. The master stations 1 and 2 are provided with a polling signal transmitting means 94 for sequentially transmitting a polling signal including a polling address corresponding to one of addresses pre-assigned to each of the communication sections 21 and 22; An abnormal address storage means 90 for storing a polling address included in the polling signal as an abnormal address when a polling response signal from the terminal 11 or 12 is not received, and an abnormal address stored in the abnormal address storage means 90. Is present, an address confirmation request signal transmitting means 95 for transmitting an address confirmation request signal requesting the presence / absence of address confirmation to the terminals 11 and 12; If the current address contained therein is one of the pre-assigned addresses While stopping transmission of the address acknowledgment signal to the terminals 11 and 12 having the current address, if the current address included in the address acknowledgment signal does not correspond to any of the pre-assigned addresses, One of the abnormal addresses stored in the abnormal address storage means 90 is transmitted as a correction address to the terminals 11 and 12 having the current address, and the current address stored in the current address storage means 71 is overwritten with the corrected address. And an address confirmation result signal transmitting means 96 for stopping transmission of the address confirmation response signal.
[0043]
In this way, when the normal terminals 11 and 12 receive the polling signals from the master stations 1 and 2, the polling addresses included in the polling signals match the current addresses stored in the current address storage means 71 of the terminals. When the polling response signal is sent back. However, when the power supply to the terminals 11 and 12 is cut off due to the movement of the terminals 11 and 12, the polling response signals from the terminals 11 and 12 are interrupted. An abnormal address that matches the current address of the terminals 11 and 12 to which no response signal has been sent is stored, and the master station 1 sends an address confirmation request signal.
[0044]
Thereafter, when the power of the terminals 11 and 12 is re-energized, an address confirmation request signal is received from the master station 1 or 2 and an address confirmation response signal is transmitted from the restored terminal 11 or 12 to the master station 1 or 2. . Here, if the current address included in the address acknowledgment signal is one of the addresses pre-assigned to the master stations 1 and 2, it is determined that the movement is within the same communication units 21 and 22. If the current address does not correspond to any of the addresses previously assigned to the master stations 1 and 2, it is determined that the movement is from another communication unit 21 or 22, and the current address is automatically set to the value of the abnormal address. Change to As a result, after the change, the polling signals from the master stations 1 and 2 are received, and the polling response signals are sent from the moved terminals 11 and 12, so that the address is not changed manually as in the related art. It is possible to automatically monitor the status of the terminals 11 and 12 moved from the communication units 21 and 22.
[0045]
Further, a signal for stopping the transmission of the address confirmation response signal is also transmitted from the address confirmation result signal transmitting means 96 regardless of the value of the current address. When the request signals are transmitted from the master stations 1 and 2, it is possible to prevent the terminals 11 and 12 returning to the normal state from transmitting the address acknowledgment signal forever.
[0046]
In addition, in this embodiment, when the contents stored in the current address storage means 71 and the original address storage means 72 of the terminals 11 and 12 are destroyed, the current address is set to the address of the communication unit 21 or 22 by the current address setting means 75. The original address is automatically set to a random value by the original address setting means 74. Then, when the terminals 11 and 12 next receive the address confirmation request signal, an address confirmation response signal including the automatically set current address and the original address is transmitted from the address confirmation response signal transmitting means 85. .
[0047]
As a result, the master stations 1 and 2 transmit a signal for changing the current address to the corrected address to the terminals 11 and 12. Thereby, even if the terminals 11 and 12 have the contents of the memory destroyed, the management can be performed on the master stations 1 and 2 thereafter. In addition, since the original addresses necessary for identifying the terminals 11 and 12 when transmitting the corrected addresses have also been changed to random values, there is almost no possibility that the same original addresses will be duplicated, which is a practical problem. Does not.
[0048]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the polling signal and the polling response signal may include various data of the master station and slave stations. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a facility that requires a large number of terminals independently, such as a hotel, a school, and an apartment, in addition to the hospital in the embodiment.
[0049]
【The invention's effect】
According to the polling communication control device of the present invention, it is possible to automatically monitor the status of the slave station moved from another communication unit.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of an Internet information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration related to polling, in particular;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the master station.
FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view of a main part showing a state in which a plurality of abnormal addresses exist at the stage when polling has been completed.
FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a main part showing a state when a terminal of another group has moved in the embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view of a main part showing a state in which polling response signals of both terminals are received by a master station in a state of interference.
FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of a main part showing a state where only a polling response signal of a terminal having a strong signal radio wave is received by a master station;
FIG. 8 is a waveform chart showing signal exchange between the master station and the terminal.
[Explanation of symbols]
1,2 master station
11,12 terminal (slave station)
21,22 Communication unit
71 Current address storage means
72 Original address storage means
84 Polling response signal transmitting means
85 Address confirmation response signal transmission means
90 Abnormal address storage means
94 Polling signal transmission means
95 Address confirmation request signal transmission means
96 Address confirmation result signal transmission means

Claims (1)

In a polling communication control device including a plurality of communication units for performing polling communication between a master station and a plurality of slave stations subordinate to the master station,
The slave station is included in a current address storage unit that stores a current address that is a current address, an original address storage unit that stores a unique original address for each slave station, and included in a polling signal from the master station. A polling response signal transmitting means for transmitting a polling response signal when the polling address matches the current address; and when receiving an address confirmation request signal from the master station after re-energizing the power supply, the current address and the original address. Address acknowledgment signal transmitting means for transmitting an address acknowledgment signal including
The master station is a polling signal transmitting unit that sequentially transmits a polling signal including a polling address that matches one of addresses pre-assigned to each of the communication units, and a polling signal from the slave station corresponding to the polling signal. An abnormal address storing means for storing a polling address included in the polling signal as an abnormal address when a polling response signal cannot be received; and Address confirmation request signal transmitting means for transmitting an address confirmation request signal to the slave station, and when an address confirmation response signal is received from the slave station, the current address contained therein corresponds to any of the pre-assigned addresses. If not, store the abnormal address in the slave station having the current address. Address confirmation result signal transmission means for transmitting one of the abnormal addresses stored in the stage as a correction address and changing the current address stored in the current address storage means to the correction address. Polling communication control device.

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