JP3723357B2 - Data communication system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a data communication system implemented in, for example, a system that comprehensively manages a pachinko machine provided in a pachinko hall.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In pachinko halls, etc., acquire pachinko machine information (for example, the number of times the ball passed the start chucker of the pachinko machine, the number of jackpots, etc.) from the communication terminals provided in each pachinko machine, and control the communication terminal and pachinko machine Therefore, a data communication system is provided in which each communication terminal and a router are connected by a communication path, the router communicates with a communication interface provided in the computer, and the computer acquires information from the communication interface. . In data communication, a communication error may occur due to noise or the like generated in the hall, and conventionally, communication control that copes with the occurrence of such a communication error has been performed. As a communication error, for example, when a communication request from the communication interface side and a reply from the router collide, a communication request from the computer side does not have a reply from the router for a certain period of time, or a return of the router There are cases where the data does not meet the prescribed format requirements.
[0003]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing conventional communication control. The communication interface (I / F) determines which router among the plurality of existing routers to communicate with (step S11). Data is transmitted / received to / from the determined router (steps S12 and S13). Next, it is determined whether or not an error has occurred in the data transmission / reception (step S14). If there is no error, the communication interface takes the received data into the memory and performs a predetermined process (step S15). The process of selecting the router is performed (step S11). On the other hand, if an error occurs, communication with the router is stopped and error information is generated (step S16).
[0004]
On the computer (PC) side, error information is periodically viewed. When an error occurs, an error is displayed on the computer screen or a warning sound is emitted to notify the administrator of the occurrence of the error. When predetermined processing for the error is performed, the computer issues a communication restart command to the communication interface. The communication interface determines whether or not a communication restart command has been issued (step S17), and when receiving the restart command, restarts communication with the router again (step S18, step S12). The communication processing described above is an example of conventional communication error processing. Basically, the conventional processing temporarily stops communication with the router every time an error occurs, or after error processing. It resumed communication with the same router again.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In this way, in the conventional communication error processing method, communication with the router is stopped each time a communication error occurs, and communication with the same router is resumed. Substantial transmission speed becomes slow, and one communication error processing has a drawback that real-time communication of the entire system is hindered.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to provide a data communication system capable of preventing communication stagnation as much as possible.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the data communication system of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a communication interface performs data communication with a plurality of peripheral devices, and a computer obtains information from the communication interface and manages the peripheral devices. In the communication system, the communication interface includes control means for performing various processing operations, a communication unit connected to the peripheral device, a memory unit corresponding to the peripheral device, and between the communication interface and the peripheral device. A counter for counting the number of errors in data communication; means for incrementing the counter and communicating with the next peripheral device when an error occurs in data communication with the peripheral device; and a value of the counter Means for determining whether or not a continuous error has occurred, and when the occurrence of the continuous error is detected, the memo Means for storing continuous error bits in a unit, wherein the computer reads the memory unit and, when the continuous error bit is stored in the memory unit, an error prohibiting communication to the corresponding peripheral device It is characterized by performing processing .
[0008]
With the above configuration, if an error occurs, the counter is incremented and processing is performed to continue communication with the next peripheral device. Therefore, communication with the peripheral device is performed every time an error occurs. It is possible to prevent the adverse effect that the communication with the same peripheral device is resumed again after the error processing or the communication is delayed.
[0010]
Also, an error can be set when there is no reply from the peripheral device for a certain time in response to a communication request from the computer.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention applied to a pachinko hall management system will be described below with reference to FIGS.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, in the pachinko hall, the communication terminal 2 provided in each pachinko machine 1 (for example, a data display device arranged in parallel above the pachinko machine 1 and displaying pachinko machine information by the display unit. In order to obtain pachinko machine information (for example, the number of times the ball has passed the start chucker of the pachinko machine, the number of jackpots) from the pachinko machine and control the communication terminal 2 and the pachinko machine 1 2 and the first router 3 are connected by a communication path, and the first router 3 and the second router 4 are connected by a communication path, and a communication interface (communication interface board) provided in the second router 4 and the computer (PC) 5 is connected. ) 6, and the computer 5 acquires pachinko machine information from the communication interface 6, and each device via the communication interface 6. Data communication system adapted to control is provided.
[0014]
The first router 3 includes, for example, a register, a management table, and a timer, and takes in and stores pachinko machine information that changes depending on the usage status of the pachinko machine. The register includes a transmission buffer and a reception buffer, and temporarily stores communication data in a predetermined format. The management table stores pachinko machine information transmitted from each communication terminal 2. The timer measures the data communication time. Each communication terminal 2 includes a register that stores communication data in a predetermined format. Each register includes a transmission buffer and a reception buffer. Each communication terminal 2 and the first router 3 are connected by a half-duplex communication path, and the communication terminal 2 indicated in the address area of the communication data stored in the transmission buffer of the register of the first router 3 Communication with the first router 3 is executed, and the communication is sequentially shifted to communication with other communication terminals 2 at a constant cycle. In addition, data communication is sequentially performed between the plurality of first routers 3 and second routers 4 at a constant cycle.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship among the computer 5, the communication interface 6, and the second router 4. The communication interface 6 includes a CPU 6 a that performs various processes, a plurality of communication units 6 b connected to the individual second routers 4, and a plurality of memory units 6 c corresponding to the individual second routers 4. The second router 4 includes a CPU 4a that performs various processes, a communication unit 4b, and a memory unit 4c. The communication interface 6 transmits / receives data to / from the CPU 5a of the computer 5 through the memory unit 6c, and communicates with the communication units 4b of the individual second routers 4 at regular intervals through the communication unit 6b. Perform data communication.
[0016]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of communication processing performed in the communication interface 6. The communication interface 6 determines which of the plurality of second routers 4 to communicate with which second router 4 (step S1). Data is transmitted / received to / from the determined second router 4 (steps S2 and S3). Next, it is determined whether or not an error has occurred in this data transmission / reception (step S4). If there is no error, the communication interface 6 sets “0” in the continuous error bit in the memory unit 6c and continues. The error bit is cleared to 0 (step S5), and then the received data is taken into the memory and a predetermined process is performed (step S6). And the process which selects the following 2nd router 4 is performed (step S1).
[0017]
On the other hand, when an error has occurred, the counter is not counted, and it is determined whether there is a continuous error (step S7). In this embodiment, whether or not there is a continuous error is determined as a continuous error when the error continues 10 times. In addition, the error includes, for example, (1) when a communication request from the communication interface side and a reply from the router collide, and (2) when there is no reply from the router for a communication request from the computer side for a certain time or more. Alternatively, (3) there are cases where the return data of the router does not satisfy a predetermined format requirement. In this embodiment, the case where the error (2) continues is regarded as a continuous error.
[0018]
If it is determined in step 7 that there is no continuous error, a process of selecting the next second router 4 is performed (step S1). On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a continuous error, “1” is set to the continuous error bit in the memory unit 6c (step S8), and the next second router 4 is selected (step S1).
[0019]
On the computer 5 side, the continuous error bit is periodically observed. When “1” is set in the continuous error bit, an error is displayed on the screen of the computer 5 or a warning sound is generated to generate an error. Is notified to the administrator. At this time, the count value of the counter (not shown) may be read and displayed, or the communication interface 6 is communicated with the second router 4 in which the continuous error has occurred. You may make it perform control of instruct | indicating that there is no.
[0020]
According to the configuration described above, when an error occurs in data communication between the communication interface 6 and the second router 4, the communication interface 6 increments the counter and continues communication with the next second router 4. Process as follows. Further, when a continuous error occurs in data communication between the communication interface 6 and the second router 4, the communication interface 6 stores information on the error in the memory 6c included therein (sets the continuous error bit to “1”). Set) and the next second router 4 is selected and communicated with it. On the other hand, the computer 5 reads out the memory 6c and performs error processing when information on the error is stored. Therefore, it is possible to prevent such problems that communication with the second router 4 is stopped each time an error occurs, or communication with the same second router 4 is resumed after error processing and communication is delayed.
[0021]
In this embodiment, (1) an error when a communication request from the communication interface side and a reply from the router collide, and (3) the return data of the router satisfy a predetermined format requirement. In the case where there is no error, the error of the computer 5 is reduced by excluding the error, so that the real-time property of the data transmission / reception is more emphasized. May be adopted. Moreover, although the continuous error was illustrated as a specific error, it is not restricted to this. The computer 5 may arbitrarily access the memory of the communication interface 5 in order to see the error occurrence statuses (1) to (3).
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, every time an error occurs, communication with a peripheral device is stopped, or communication with the same peripheral device is resumed after error processing, and communication is delayed. There is an effect that it can be prevented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a pachinko hall communication system in which communication processing according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of the communication system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing communication processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a conventional communication process.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Pachinko machine 2 Communication terminal 3 First router 4 Second router 5 Computer (PC)
6 Communication interface (communication interface)

Claims (2)

In a data communication system in which a communication interface performs data communication with a plurality of peripheral devices, and a computer obtains information from the communication interface and manages the peripheral devices, the communication interface includes control means for performing various processing operations. A communication unit connected to the peripheral device, a memory unit corresponding to the peripheral device, a counter for counting the number of errors in data communication between the communication interface and the peripheral device, and the peripheral device Means for incrementing the counter and communicating with the next peripheral device, means for determining whether a continuous error has occurred based on the value of the counter, and Means for storing continuous error bits in the memory unit when occurrence is detected, and Data reads the memory portion, when said successive error bits in the memory portion is stored, data communication system and performs an error process for prohibiting the communication to the appropriate peripheral device. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the error is a case where there is no reply from a peripheral device for a predetermined time in response to a communication request from the computer side .

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