JP4320598B2 - Communication adapter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication adapter that has a built-in storage battery and connects an electrical device or a sensor to a network.

  When a communication terminal device incorporating a storage battery such as a conventional battery needs to transmit data while accumulating the storage battery, the communication operation is interrupted and transmitted. Then, after the data transmission was completed, the power storage operation was resumed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-7-134721 (page 3, paragraph number 0012, FIGS. 1 and 3)

A conventional communication terminal device (communication adapter) with a built-in storage battery is configured as described above. When a large amount of data is transmitted during power storage or when data is transmitted over a long period of time, it is built-in. There was a possibility that the storage battery that was being used was exhausted.
In order to avoid this, it has been proposed to provide an auxiliary current supply unit, but a new auxiliary current supply unit is required, and if this auxiliary current supply unit is used up, communication becomes impossible. The problem of falling into a new state occurred.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problem, and in a communication adapter with a built-in storage battery, a large amount of data may be transmitted during power storage or data may be transmitted for a long time. It aims at providing the communication adapter which does not use up a storage battery.

  The communication adapter according to the present invention is a communication adapter that can be connected to an external electrical device having a connection terminal for exchanging data and supplying power, and connects the electrical device to a network. Control means for exchanging, communication medium means for exchanging data with other devices on the network, and storage means for storing operating power of the communication medium means by power feeding from the connection terminal, the control means, Until the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means reaches a predetermined level, data exchange with other devices on the network is suspended, and when the amount of electricity stored reaches the predetermined level, the communication medium means does not reduce the amount of electricity stored to zero. In the range, the communication state and the standby state are alternately repeated, the condition for communicating with other devices on the network is acquired, and the amount of power stored in the power storage means based on the acquisition of this condition A time relationship between the communication state and the standby state in the communication medium unit is set so as to exceed the amount of discharge consumed by the communication medium unit, and the communication medium unit determines the communication state and the standby state based on the set time relationship. It is configured to repeat alternately.

  Until the amount of electricity stored reaches a predetermined level, most of the power supplied from the electrical equipment is used for electricity storage of the electricity storage means, and the communication medium means does not reduce the amount of electricity stored until the predetermined amount of electricity is secured. , Repeat the communication state and standby state alternately to obtain the conditions for communicating with other devices on the network (hereinafter referred to as “setting conditions”, and the series of operations for obtaining the setting conditions is “ Based on the acquisition of this condition, it is configured to reset the time relationship between the communication state and the standby state so that the amount of stored electricity exceeds the amount of discharge lost by transmission. Power storage means will not be used up by data transmission during power storage, and it is possible to complete the setting operation and transition to normal operation in network communication in a short time. It is possible to provide a communication adapter.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a communication adapter according to the present embodiment and its peripheral portion. In the figure, a home appliance 1 is connected to a network 12 via a communication adapter 5 and exchanges data with other devices not shown on the network 12. The communication adapter 5 is supplied with power from the power supply means 4 via the connector 6 disposed in the home appliance 1, and also sets the control function possessed by the control means 3, the power supply capacity of the home appliance 1, and the state of the home appliance 1. The data regarding is exchanged by serial / parallel communication.

  The communication adapter 5 includes a connector 6 connected to the connector 2 of the home appliance 1 and a communication medium means 11 connected to the network 12. Between the connector 6 and the communication medium means 11, there are a storage current limiting means 8 and a storage means. 9. The power supply system composed of the power supply control means 10 and the control signal system composed of the control means 7 and the communication medium means 11 are connected. The control means 7 exchanges control signals with each constituent means of the power feeding system and relays data exchange between the home appliance 1 and other devices on the network 12. In the figure, the control signal line is indicated by a solid line and the power supply line is indicated by a dotted line.

Here, the storage means 9 is composed of a capacitor, an electric double layer capacitor, a secondary battery, etc., the storage current limiting means 8 has a function of limiting the current taken out from the home appliance 1, and the power control means 10 is connected to the communication medium means 11. Has a function to control power supply.
The communication medium means 11 communicates while alternately repeating a communication state with high power consumption and a standby state with low power consumption (hereinafter referred to as “sleep state”). The time of the communication state / Sleep state as a repetition unit is appropriately set according to the operation state of the communication adapter 5.

FIG. 2 shows that the setting operation starts after the communication adapter 5 according to the present embodiment is connected to the home appliance 1 and shifts to a state in which communication with other devices on the network is possible (hereinafter referred to as “normal operation”). It is a timing chart showing a process up to ”.
In the figure, (1) shows a temporal change in the connection state of the communication adapter that the home appliance is connected / not connected. Also, (2) and (3) show the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means and the temporal change in the electricity storage current, respectively, and (4) shows a control called standby mode / operation mode (hereinafter referred to as “ON mode”). (5) shows a temporal change in the operating state of the communication medium means, whether or not it operates, (6) shows a temporal change in the current flowing through the communication medium means. It shows changes, and all are represented on the same time axis.
In the following, the state in which the setting operation and the normal operation are performed as shown in the figure is referred to as “setting mode” and “normal mode”, respectively.

The operation of the communication adapter 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2 (1), when the connector 6 of the communication adapter 5 is connected to the connector 2 of the household electrical appliance 1, it is connected to the power feeding means 4 in the household electrical appliance 1 via this connector. A voltage is applied to the terminal. By applying this voltage, the control means 7 immediately acquires the power supply capacity data from the control means 3 of the home appliance 1.
The power supply capacity data may be obtained directly from the control means 3, but for example, based on information identifying the model of the home appliance 1 such as a model name, it may be obtained by referring to a table such as a model-specific function list. Anyway.

  The control means 7 determines the limit value of the storage current limiting means 8 from the power supply capacity data obtained in this way, and controls the storage current limit means 8 so as to be this limit value (hereinafter referred to as this limit value). The controlled current is called “limited current”). At the same time, the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means 9 is monitored from the limit current and the electricity storage time, and the power supply control means 10 is instructed to turn off the power supply to the communication medium means 11. At this time, since the communication medium means 11 is disconnected by the power supply control means 10, the current limit is not consumed, and only the control means 7 operating in the standby mode consumes the current limit. Therefore, the storage current for storing the storage means 9 is obtained by subtracting the current of the control means 7 in the standby mode from the limit current of the storage current limiting means 8.

  Since most of the current fed from the household electrical appliance 1 is used for power storage of the power storage means 9 as described above, the power storage amount is a threshold value (hereinafter referred to as the following) that enables rapid operation simultaneously with connection as shown in FIG. This threshold is referred to as the “operational threshold”. When the amount of power stored in the power storage means 9 reaches the operable threshold, the control means 7 switches its operation state from the standby mode to the ON mode as shown in FIG. 2 (4). When switched to the ON mode, the control means 7 immediately acquires an address via the network 12 and performs settings for network communication with other devices.

Next, this setting will be described.
When setting up network communication, the setting operation such as obtaining an address must be completed as soon as possible. For this, it is necessary to set a large time distribution for the communication state in the repetition of the communication state / Sleep state, and the discharge current during the setting operation increases rapidly.
For this reason, prior to the setting operation, the power supply control means 10 determines whether or not a storage amount sufficient to complete the setting operation is stored in the power storage means.

Here, the determination value Qs of the charged amount is based on the sleep state current Is of the communication medium means 11, the communication state current In, the ratio K of the sleep state to the total communication time, and the communication data amount required for startup. Calculated by the communication time Tt to be obtained,
Qs = {Is * K + In * (1-K)} * Tt Formula (1)
Given by.

  Therefore, the mode is switched to the ON mode, and at the same time a “setting information request” command is generated in the control means 7, this command is transmitted to the power supply control means 10. It is checked whether or not the judgment value Qs calculated based on 1) is exceeded. The check result is immediately transmitted to the control means 7 and the power supply control means 10 controls the power storage means 9 and supplies power to the communication medium means 11 only when the check result is exceeded.

When power supply is started, as shown in FIG. 2 (6), the communication medium means 11 sets the time relationship between the communication state and the sleep state so that the time distribution of the communication state becomes large. Originally, the communication state / Sleep state is repeated until setting conditions such as an address are acquired.
When the setting condition is acquired, as shown in FIG. 2 (2), the time between the communication state and the sleep state is such that the amount of stored electricity exceeds the amount of discharge consumed by communication and the amount of stored power of the storage means 9 increases. The relationship is reset. Then, the communication state / Sleep state is repeated under the reset time relationship.
In this way, the communication adapter 5 shifts to a stable normal operation, that is, the normal mode.
If the charged amount does not exceed the determination value Qs, the process waits until the charged amount exceeds, and the above operation is executed from the time when the charged amount is exceeded.

Here, in order to realize the above operation, the function and operation flow that the control means 7 must have will be supplemented. FIG. 3 shows an example of an operation flow when the control means 7 has functional units such as “power storage amount management”, “communication data amount management”, “communication medium means operation mode control”, for example. is there.
Hereinafter, the operation flow starting after the communication adapter 5 and the home appliance 1 are connected will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, with the connection between the communication adapter 5 and the home appliance 1, the communication adapter 5 acquires information on the power supply capacity from the home appliance 1 (Step 1). Next, a storage current value is determined from the acquired power supply capacity, and this is set as a limit value in the storage current limiting means 8 (Step 2). Based on this limit value, the amount of electricity stored per unit time for the electricity storage means 9 is determined. This value is input to the “power storage management” function unit of the control means 7 (Step 3).

The “storage management” function unit manages and holds the storage amount of the storage means 9 based on the storage amount per unit time and the storage time.
On the other hand, in the communication processing, the “communication data amount management” function unit integrates the amount of power required for communication from the communication data amount. This accumulated power storage amount corresponds to the power storage amount required to process the communication data amount in unit time, and this value is input to the “power storage management” function unit (Step 4).

The “storage power management” function unit subtracts the discharge amount per unit time from the storage amount per unit time, and the amount of data that can be communicated to the “communication data amount management” function unit based on the difference and the remaining storage amount Alternatively, a transition to the sleep state, a time in the sleep state, and the like are determined, and communication restriction is performed.
Then, the “communication data amount management” function unit transmits the communication restriction content instructed by the “power storage management” function unit to the “communication medium means operation mode control” function unit. The “means operation mode control” function unit controls the operation state of the communication medium means 11 (Step 5).

In this way, the control means 7 calculates the storage amount necessary for transmission from the communication data amount, and controls the operation of the communication medium means 11 while comparing and managing the storage amount of the storage means.
Here, the transition to the sleep state is performed when the storage amount managed is lower than the storage amount necessary for handling a predetermined communication data unit, for example, the data amount for one packet.

Further, the sleep state period is obtained by calculating a difference between the current power storage amount and a predetermined communication data unit, for example, a power value necessary to handle the data amount for one packet, and storing the time required for storing the difference. It is determined by calculating from the amount of electricity stored per unit time.
Further, when the amount of power storage becomes close to zero as a result of communication, the control means 7 controls the power supply control means 10 to be cut off, cuts off the power supply to the communication medium means 11 and collects current in the power storage means 9. Then, control is performed so that the amount of stored electricity can be recovered early.

  As described above, the communication adapter 5 according to the present embodiment starts the setting operation from the point in time when the storage amount sufficient to complete the setting operation is secured with respect to the communication adapter that operates within the range of the power supply capacity from the home appliance. After the setting operation is completed, the time distribution of the sleep state in the communication state / sleep state is increased so that the amount of stored electricity exceeds the amount of discharge lost in communication. The power storage means is not completely consumed by communication, and the transition to the setting mode and the normal mode in network communication can be completed in a short time. As a result, it is possible to provide a communication adapter with excellent usability.

  Note that the functions and operation flow possessed by the control means 7 are not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. If the amount of discharge required for transmission is calculated from the amount of communication data and the operation of the communication medium means is controlled while comparing and managing the amount of electricity stored in the power storage means, the operation flow configured by other functions is used. There may be.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the case where the communication adapter is set by receiving power from the home appliance 1 has been described, but in this embodiment, the case where the communication adapter is set using an external power source will be described.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the communication adapter 51 according to the present embodiment. The same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the figure, the power supply adapter 17 which is an external power supply is provided with a connection terminal (hereinafter referred to as “jack”) 18 for supplying power, and the connector 13 of the communication adapter 51 is not shown, but the jack 18 There is a mechanism that can be inserted and removed. Further, the communication adapter 51 is provided with a circuit contact 14 that mechanically opens and closes in conjunction with the insertion and removal of the jack 18 in parallel with the storage current limiting means 8, and the circuit contact 13 is closed when the jack 18 is inserted. The storage current limiting means 8 is configured to be bypassed.

  The control means 7 is connected to a nonvolatile memory means 16 such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and the power regulator circuit 15 uses the power supplied via the connector 13 as a control means 7 or the like. Is converted to the voltage required.

Next, the operation will be described.
First, in order to perform the setting operation, the jack 18 of the power adapter 17 is inserted into the connector 13 of the communication adapter 51. When the jack 18 is inserted, the circuit contact 14 is closed, the storage current limiting means 8 is bypassed, and power is supplied from the power adapter 17 to the power storage means 9 via the power regulator circuit 15. At the same time, power is supplied to the control means 7 and the communication medium means 11.

  The supplied control means 7 immediately controls the communication medium means 11 and receives various setting information such as the address of the communication adapter 51 and the ID code of the communication medium means 11 via the network 12. These pieces of information are all stored in the nonvolatile storage means 16, and the setting operation is completed. This result is displayed on, for example, a display unit provided in the communication adapter 51. After confirming this display, the setting operator removes the jack 18 from the connector 13 and the power supply from the power adapter 17 is cut off. .

  When the home appliance 1 is connected to the connector 6 of the communication adapter 51 in which the setting operation is completed in this way, the circuit contact 14 is opened, so that the power from the home appliance 1 is supplied from the power regulator circuit 15 and the storage current limit. The electricity is supplied to the electricity storage means 9 through the means 8. Here, since the power storage means 9 is stored in advance by the power adapter 17, the time required to reach the operable threshold at which the communication medium means 11 becomes operable is greatly reduced.

Further, the control means 7 monitors the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means 9. When it is confirmed that the communication medium means 11 has reached the operable amount, the setting information already written in the nonvolatile storage means 16 is read out. Write to the communication medium means 11. In this way, the communication medium means 11 can be operated within a short time after the home appliance 1 is connected.
The subsequent operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the control unit 7 controls the communication state / sleep state of the communication medium unit 11 while monitoring the amount of power stored in the power storage unit 9.
In the drawing, the connector 6 and the connector 13 are written separately, but they may be integrated.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, regarding the communication adapter that operates within the range of the power supply capacity that is fed from the home appliance, the setting operation is performed in advance using the external power adapter, and the power is stored in the power storage unit, and acquired by the setting operation. Since the information is stored in the non-volatile storage means 16, in addition to the effects described in the first embodiment, communication that is easy to use that enables network communication within a short time after the home appliance is connected. There is an effect that an adapter is obtained.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first embodiment, the case where the setting operation of the communication adapter is performed by receiving power supply from the home appliance 1, and the case where the setting operation of the communication adapter is performed using an external power source has been described in the second embodiment.
In the present embodiment, a case where the setting operation of the communication adapter 52 is performed using the setting device 19 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the communication adapter 52 according to the present embodiment and the setting device 19 that performs communication setting of the communication adapter. The same or corresponding parts as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In the figure, the communication adapter 52 is provided with a circuit contact 14 'whose opening / closing is controlled by the control means 7 in parallel with the storage current limiting means 8, and is configured to bypass the storage current limiting means 8 when closed. Has been.
The setting device 19 includes a connector 20 that can be connected to the connector 6 of the communication adapter 52, a setting unit 21 that performs communication setting of the communication adapter 52, and a power supply unit 22 that supplies power to the communication adapter 52.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a process from when the communication adapter 52 according to the present embodiment is connected to the setting device 19 and the setting operation is performed to when the communication adapter 52 is connected to the home appliance 1 and normal operation is started. It is.
In the figure, (1) shows a temporal change in the connection state of the communication adapter that the home appliance is connected / not connected, and (2) and (3) are the operation of the amount of electricity stored and the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means, respectively. FIGS. 4A and 4B show the temporal change of the storage state corresponding to whether or not the allowable threshold is exceeded, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show the operating state corresponding to whether or not the communication medium means in the communication medium means can operate. It shows the change in current consumption over time and all are represented on the same time axis.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, when the connector 20 of the setting device 19 is connected to the connector 6 of the communication adapter 52, the communication adapter 52 receives power from the power supply means 22 of the setting device 19. The supplied voltage is converted into a predetermined voltage via the power regulator circuit 15 and supplied to each component in the communication adapter 52. Next, the setting means 21 of the setting device 19 issues a control command for controlling the stored current limiting means 8 to the control means 7.

The control means 7 that has received the control command controls the circuit contact 14 ′ to close and controls the power supply control means 10 to cut off the power supply to the communication medium means 11.
In this state, the power from the setting device 19 is supplied only to the control means 7, the nonvolatile storage means 16, and the power storage means 9, and the current limiting function by the power storage current limiting means 8 does not work on the power storage means 9. Therefore, the battery is rapidly charged in a range that can be supplied from the setting device 19.

  The setting means 21 of the setting device 19 transmits a trigger signal for starting network communication to the control means 7 by serial / parallel communication simultaneously with the connection. Upon receiving this trigger signal, the control means 7 immediately starts the setting operation, and transmits a “setting information request” command for requesting setting information for address and network communication to other devices on the network 12. . The device on the network 12 that has received this “setting information request” command creates and returns a “setting information” notification including the setting information. Upon receiving this “setting information” notification, the control means 7 writes the setting information in the nonvolatile storage means 16 and writes a set flag in a predetermined flag area.

  Then, the fact that the reception of the “setting information” notification is completed is returned to the setting means 21 of the setting device 19 by serial / parallel communication. The setting means 21 receives the report that the reception of the “setting information” notification has been completed, and notifies the setting operator that the setting operation has been completed using, for example, a lighting display such as an LED. After confirming the completion notification, the setting operator removes the connection between the connector 20 and the connector 6 and removes the setting device 19 from the communication adapter 52, so that power supply and data transmission from the setting device 19 are blocked.

  Also, such address and setting information for network communication may be stored in advance in the setting means 21 of the setting device 19. In this case, at the same time as the connection, the data is transmitted to the control means 7 by serial / parallel communication, and the control means 7 that has received this immediately writes it in the nonvolatile storage means 16 and sets a flag already set in a predetermined flag area. Write. Then, after the reception of the setting information is completed, the setting operator who sends it back to the setting means 21 and confirms the notification of the completion of the setting operation may remove the setting device 19 from the communication adapter 52 as described above. If the setting information is not stored in advance in the setting means 21 of the setting device 19, the communication state / Sleep state is set repeatedly within the range of the power supply capacity by the power supply means 22 of the setting device 19 as described above. Information may be acquired, and the acquired setting information may be stored in the nonvolatile storage means.

In this way, when the household electrical appliance 1 is connected to the connector 6 of the communication adapter 52 for which the setting operation has been completed as shown in FIG. 6 (1), the control means 7 operates by receiving power from the household electrical appliance 1. Start.
The control means 7 that has started operation detects the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means 9 by a voltage value or the like, and immediately writes it in a predetermined flag area of the nonvolatile storage means 16 if there is an electricity storage amount in which the communication medium means 11 can operate. The network setting information is read and the information is written to the communication medium means 11. In this way, the communication adapter starts operation in the normal mode.

Here, if the amount of stored power at which the communication medium means 11 becomes operable is called a medium operable threshold, if the stored amount is insufficient, the storage amount waits until the stored amount reaches the medium operable threshold. The above operation is started.
In the case of FIG. 6 (2), it takes T time to reach the medium operable threshold after the home appliance 1 is connected. Further, in this case, since the power storage means 9 has already been stored by the power supply means 21 of the setting device during the setting period, the waiting time until it becomes operable is when the power is stored using only the home appliance 1 from the beginning. Compared to, it is greatly shortened.
Note that since the setting operation has already been completed, the medium operation enable threshold is sufficient for the amount of stored electricity to start a normal operation with a long sleep state, which is consistent with the operation enable threshold described in the first embodiment. To do.

  As described above, the communication adapter 52 according to the present embodiment is configured to perform the setting operation of the network communication at the same time while storing the power in the power storage unit 9 by the setting device 19, and therefore, together with the effect described in the first embodiment. Thus, there is an effect that network communication can be performed promptly after connection to the home appliance.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the first to third embodiments, the communication adapter shifts to the normal mode after completing the setting operation, but cannot cope with a request for high-speed mode (high throughput) communication.
The present embodiment is an improvement on this point, and aims to provide a communication adapter that can respond to a request for high-throughput communication after shifting to the normal mode.

The internal configuration of the communication adapter in the present embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
A series of operations from connecting the connector 6 of the communication adapter 5 to the connector 2 of the home appliance 1 until the power storage means 9 is stored is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. Further, the amount of stored electricity that enables the communication medium means 11 to operate in the high-speed mode is called a high-speed mode threshold.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating a process in which the setting operation is performed after the communication adapter according to the present embodiment is connected to the household electrical appliance 1, the mode is changed to the normal mode, and the operation corresponding to the high-speed mode is started. .
In the figure, (1) shows a temporal change in the connection state of the communication adapter that the home appliance is connected / not connected, and (2) and (3) are the high storage amount and storage amount in the storage means, respectively. The time change of the storage state corresponding to whether or not the mode threshold is exceeded is shown. (4) and (5) are the operating state and current consumption time corresponding to whether or not the communication medium means can be operated. Are all shown on the same time axis.

Differences will be described with reference to FIG.
During a setting operation in which most of the power supplied from the home appliance is stored, or during a normal operation in which the stored amount of electricity is set to exceed the amount of discharge lost through communication, As shown in FIG. 7 (3), the threshold reaches a threshold at which high-speed mode communication is possible. In this state, when a “high throughput communication” request is transmitted to the communication adapter 5 via the network 12, the control means 7 sends the communication medium means 11 the time width Tg of the communication state and the time width of the sleep state. Ts is set to a time relationship corresponding to the high-speed mode, and the operation is performed in the high-speed mode as shown in FIG.
When the high-throughput communication is completed, the control unit 7 again sets the time width Ts of the sleep state and the time width Tg of the communication state to a time relationship corresponding to the normal mode. As a result, the operation mode of the communication adapter returns to the normal mode.

Here, the relationship between the time width Ts and the time width Tg in the normal mode is set so that the amount of stored power shown in the equation (2) always increases.
That is, in the communication medium means 10, assuming that the stored power in the sleep state is Qs and the discharged power in the communication state is Qg, Ts × Qs> Tg × Qg (2)
Is set so that the following relational expression holds.
In this way, when the high-speed mode is enabled and the “high throughput communication” request is not made, the communication adapter continues the normal mode operation and maintains the high-speed mode ready wait state. As soon as a “high-throughput communication” request is generated from another device or application, the operation mode is immediately switched from the normal mode to the high-speed mode for communication.

  As described above, the communication adapter according to the present embodiment continues the operation in the normal mode and maintains the waiting state for enabling the high-speed mode when there is no “high-throughput communication” request in the high-speed mode enabled state. Thus, in addition to the effect described in the first embodiment, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a highly convenient communication adapter that can cope with an application in response to a “high throughput communication” request.

It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the communication adapter which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and its peripheral part. It is the timing chart which showed the process until setting operation is performed after the communication adapter which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is connected to household appliances, and operation | movement of a normal mode starts. Operation in the case where the control means 7 of the communication adapter according to the first embodiment of the present invention has functional units such as “power storage amount management”, “communication data amount management”, “communication medium means operation mode control”, etc. An example of a flow is shown. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the communication adapter which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention, and its peripheral part. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the communication adapter which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention, and its peripheral part. It is the timing chart which showed the process until the communication adapter which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention is connected to a household appliance, after the setting operation | movement is performed and a setting operation is performed, and the operation | movement of a normal mode starts. It is the timing chart which showed the process in which setting operation is performed after the communication adapter which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention is connected to household appliances, it transfers to normal mode, and the operation | movement corresponding to high-speed mode starts.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Home appliance 2 Connector 3 Control means 4 Power supply means 5 Communication adapter 51 (according to Embodiment 1) Communication adapter 52 (according to Embodiment 2) Communication adapter 6 (According to Embodiment 3) Connector 7 Control means 8 Storage current limiting means 9 Power storage means 10 Power supply control means 11 Communication medium means 12 Network 13 Connector 14 Circuit contact 14 'Circuit contact 15 Power supply regulator circuit 16 Non-volatile recording medium 17 Power adapter 18 Jack 19 Setter 20 Connector 21 Setting means 22 Power supply means

Claims (7)

A connection terminal for exchanging data and supplying power can be connected to an external electrical device, and is provided in the communication unit main body that connects this electrical device to a network.
A communication medium means for exchanging data with the electrical device and performing data communication with other devices on the network;
Power storage means for storing operating power of the communication medium means by feeding from the connection terminal;
While managing the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage means,
Based on the amount of electricity stored and the amount of discharge required for communication by the communication medium means, the communication medium means determines a communication state in which data communication is performed and a standby state time in which data communication is suspended. Originally, a control means for controlling to repeat the communication state and the standby state,
The control means includes
Until the communication conditions for network communication with other devices such as addresses are acquired via the network, the time distribution of the communication state of the communication medium means is increased within a range in which the amount of stored power is not zero. A setting mode in which the time relationship between the communication state and the standby state is set,
Based on the communication conditions acquired after the setting mode, the time relationship between the communication state and the standby state is set so that the amount of stored electricity exceeds the amount of discharge consumed by communication, and the amount of stored electricity in the power storage means increases. communication adapter, characterized in that to have a normal mode of repair. The control means includes
2. The communication according to claim 1, wherein data communication with another device on the network is suspended until the amount of power stored in the power storage unit reaches a predetermined level before the communication condition is acquired. adapter. Provided in the communication unit body,
Communication adapter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a power supply terminal for receiving power from an external power supply instead of being powered from the electrical device via the connection terminals. Outside the communication unit body,
A connection terminal for exchanging and feeding the data provided, can be connected via the connection terminals, comprising: a setter that stores the communication condition for communicating with other devices on the network in advance, the ,
The control means includes
Based on the connection with the setting device,
Communication adapter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that for obtaining the communication condition from the setting device instead of acquiring the communication condition through the network. Outside the communication unit body,
A connection terminal for supplying power, and a setting device for supplying power to the communication unit body through the connection terminal ,
The control means includes
Based on the connection with the setting device, within the range of the power supply capacity from the setting device,
Communication adapter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that up to acquire the communication condition in the setting mode. The control means includes
The communication adapter according to claim 3, further comprising a non-volatile storage unit that stores the acquired communication condition. The control means includes
When there is a request for high-speed mode communication, which is faster than the normal mode ,
Change the setting of the time relationship between the communication state and the standby state of the communication medium means to a time relationship based on the data amount and discharge amount of the high-speed mode, and under the changed time relationship,
Communication adapter according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said communication medium means controls so as to repeat alternately the standby state and the communication state.

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