JPH02220522A - Multi-channel access method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the frequency of occurrence of communication between a couple of transmitter and receiver station by specifying a priority channel, and scanning the priority channel in the reception mode more than other channels. CONSTITUTION:The channels such as channels CH1-CH10 are used to connect a master equipment 1 and a slave equipment 2 in terms of communication in a cordless telephone set. Assuming that a channel CH3 is stored in a storage means 16 as a priority channel. The master equipment 1 and the slave equipment 2 are provided with transmission means TX11, TX21, reception means RX12, 22, synthesizers 14, 24, discrimination circuits 15, 25 and storage devices 16, 26. Moreover, the channel search in the reception mode in the standby state is implemented in a prescribed order and the priority channel CH3 is devised to be scanned much more than other channels CH1, CH2, CH4-CH10. Then the frequency of use of the channel CH3 is increased for the communication between a couple of the transmitter and the receiver station.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a multi-channel access (hereinafter referred to as MCA) method.

(B) Prior Art Currently, in devices such as cordless telephones that perform wireless communication between a pair of first and second transmitters and receivers, the MCA method is adopted for the communication.

Generally, when equipment that employs such an MCA system is on standby, both transmitters and receivers sequentially scan a plurality of predetermined channels CH, ~CH, as shown in Figure 3, while transmitting signals from the other transmitter and receiver. is waiting for a call. Furthermore, when the first transceiver enters the call mode, the transceiver first selects each channel CH as shown in FIG. 3 above.
,~CHI is sequentially scanned to search for an empty channel, and when an empty channel is found, the scanning is stopped at this empty channel month, and an identification code is sent to request communication to the second transceiver via this empty channel. and waits for the identification code to be returned from the second transceiver.

At this time, the second transceiver is in the standby state described above.

Therefore, when the first transceiver scans the channel on which the identification code of the communication request was sent, the identification code is detected. As a result, scanning is stopped on the channel where the code was sent, and the identification code is returned, and communication between the two transceivers becomes possible from then on via the channel.

However, when the MCA method is implemented in this manner, when the two transceivers are connected, the time required for the connection varies greatly depending on the channel that the two transceivers are scanning.

That is, it is assumed that the scanning time per channel of both transmitters and receivers is Nms. Now, when the first transceiver scans channel CHI, and the second transceiver starts transmitting an identification code on channel C)I, the first transceiver scans for one channel. When the next channel CH is scanned, the identification code is detected. Therefore, in this case, the time required for connection is Nms.

However, if the first transceiver scans channel CH, and the second transceiver starts transmitting an identification code on channel CH, then the first transceiver scans once and then scans channel CH. The above identification code cannot be detected until reaching CH. Therefore, in this case, the time required for connection is (nXN) ms.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 19926/1983 proposes a configuration in which the channel scans of the above-mentioned transceivers during standby are shifted by the scan time of one channel. .

However, in such a method, if, for example, the channel scan of the first transceiver is delayed by the scanning time of one channel than that of the second transceiver, the first transceiver can be scanned from the second transceiver side. When calling, the connection time always takes Nms. However, when calling from the first transceiver side, a time of (nxN) ms is always required.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its structural feature is that communication between a pair of transceivers is carried out using a plurality of predetermined channels. In the method, a specific channel among the plurality of channels is designated as a priority channel, and the priority channel is scanned more than other channels during a reception mode in a standby state.

(e) Effect: According to such a configuration, the priority channel is used more frequently for communication between a pair of transmitters and receivers.

(F) Embodiment FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) are block diagrams showing a base unit (1) and a slave unit (2) of a cordless telephone to which the method of the present invention is applied.

The base unit (1) shown in FIG. 1(a) sends and receives control signals such as identification codes and call signals to and from the slave unit (2).
A pair of transmitting means (11) and receiving means (12), and a hybrid circuit (13) connecting these to a subscriber line;
a synthesizer (14) that specifies the transmission and reception channels of the transmitting means (11) and the receiving means (12);
2), a vacant determination circuit (15) that determines whether or not a receiving channel is vacant based on the received output; and a storage means (15) consisting of, for example, a semiconductor ROM (read-only memory) in which an identification code and a priority channel are stored. 16), an incoming call means (17) for detecting an incoming call signal input from the subscriber line via the hybrid circuit (13), and a control section (18) comprising, for example, a microcomputer and controlling the above-mentioned means. and a dialer (19). Incidentally, since the specific circuit configuration of each of the above means is well known, detailed explanation will be omitted here. Further, in the cordless telephone of this embodiment, the channels for connecting the base unit (1) and the handset (2) are CH, -CH. Among them, channel CH is stored in the storage means (16) as a priority channel.

The handset (2) shown in FIG. 1(b) includes transmitting/receiving means (21) (22), a synthesizer (24),
Input means (23) equipped with a vacancy determination circuit (25) and a storage means (26), keys for starting a call and inputting a dial number, etc.; microphones (29) connected to the transmitting and receiving means, respectively; It is equipped with a speaker (30).

Next, the operation of this embodiment is as follows. (i) Channel search (ii) Standby state (iii) Incoming call from subscriber line (iv) Call from handset (2) Each state will be explained.

(1) Channel Search In this embodiment, the channel scan of the base unit (1) and slave unit (2) during channel search is performed in the order shown in FIG. That is, in the conventional example, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of channels CH, ~CH, were scanned in that order, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
, ~CH, and then scan channel CH again.
, and then channels CH, ~CH+. is sequentially scanned, then channel CH is scanned three times, and then channel CH is scanned again in the above order. Generally speaking, such a configuration is divided into a plurality of channels for connecting a base unit (1) and a slave unit (2) into a first set and a second set, and the channels of the first set are sequentially connected. The first step of scanning, the second step of sequentially scanning the second set of channels, and the third step of scanning the priority channels stored in the storage means as follows: first step → third step → second step →
This means that scanning is repeated in the order of 3rd step, 1st step, 3rd step, and so on.

To explain such a channel search based on FIGS. 1(a) and (b), the control units (
18) and (28) both operate a synthesizer (14) to scan channels/l in the order shown in FIG. 2 based on the priority channels stored in the storage means (16) and (26).
(24) and receiving means (12) (22).
) to give reception instructions. This allows the synthesizer (1
4) (24) transmits and receives signals of frequencies corresponding to each channel every Nms according to the order shown in FIG.
1) Send to (12) (21) (22). Further, the receiving means (12) (22) selectively receives a signal having the same frequency as the signal sent out from the synthesizer (14) (24), and controls the control section (18) (28) and the vacancy determination circuit (
15) Send to (25).

(ii) Standby state In such a state, both the parent* (1) and the slave unit (2) perform the above (i)
) It waits for a call from the other party while performing the channel search described in section 3.

Specifically, as mentioned above, when searching for a channel, the base unit (
The receiving means (12) (22) of the handset (1) and the handset (2) selectively receive a signal having the same frequency as the signal sent out from the synthesizer (14) (24), and
18) (28) and the empty space determination circuit (16) (26). Therefore, the determination circuit (15) (25) determines the presence or absence of the signal based on the magnitude of the carrier level of this signal, and sends the result to the control section (18) (28').

Further, the control section (18) (28) is connected to the above-mentioned determination circuit (15).
When the results sent from (25) respectively indicate that the channel is not an empty channel, the respective storage means (16) (26) are included in the received signals sent from the receiving means (12) (22).
It is determined whether or not the same code as the identification code stored therein is included.

As a result, if it is determined that the same identification code is included, the control unit (18) (28) stops scanning at this point and controls the synthesizer (14) to fix the channel.
(21) and sends back the identification code via this fixed channel to the transmitting means (11) (
21). Furthermore, if it is determined that the same identification code is not included, channel scanning is continued.

(iii) Incoming call from subscriber line When base unit (1) and slave unit (2) are both in the standby state as explained in (11) above, if a call arrives from subscriber line, base unit (1) ) detects this, and the control unit (1
8) to inform them of this. In response to this, the control unit (18) cancels the standby state of the base unit (1) itself and puts it into a new vacant channel search state.

Specifically, the control unit (18) causes the synthesizer (14) to continue scanning channels as in the standby state, and waits for input of a signal indicating that the channel is an empty channel from the empty channel determination circuit (15).

When such a signal is input, the control section (18
) stops the scan and fixes the channel, and
In order to establish a connection with the handset (2), an instruction is given to the transmitting means (11) to transmit the identification code stored in the storage means (16) via the fixed channel.

On the other hand, since the handset (2) is in the standby state as described in section (ii) above at this time, when the identification code is sent from the base unit (1), it is received and the control unit (28) At , it is determined that the received identification code is the same as the identification code stored in the storage means (26).

Therefore, the control unit (28) of the handset (2) performs the above (ii)
As explained in section 1, the above code is sent back via the same channel to which the identification code was sent from the base unit (1). Also, at this time, the control unit (28
) sounds a buzzer or the like (not shown) to notify the user that there has been an incoming call. Thereafter, when the user inputs the call start key on the handset (2), a normal telephone call becomes possible. In addition, the base unit (1) and slave unit (2) during such a call
Communication with the user is performed via the channel used when returning the identification code.

(iv) Call from handset (2) When the base unit (1) and handset (2) are both in the above-mentioned standby state, when the call start key of handset (2) is input, the handset (2)
The control unit (28) in step 2) detects this. Further, based on such detection, the control unit (28) determines which channel is available based on the determination result of the vacant channel determination circuit (25), similar to the base unit (1) when detecting an incoming call described in the above (iii). A channel is fixed to the channel, and an identification code is output to the base unit (1) via this channel.

On the other hand, since the base unit (1) is in a standby state at this time, it receives the identification code sent from the slave unit (2), and the received identification code is stored in the storage unit (18) in the control unit (18). It is determined that the identification code is the same as that stored in 16).

Upon prompting, the control unit (18) of the base unit (1) sends the code back to the slave unit (2) via the same channel to which the identification code was sent from the slave unit (2). Thereafter, when the handset (2) receives the return code, it waits for a dialed number to be input from the input means (23), and upon receiving such input, transmits this number to the base (1). As a result, the base unit (1) dials the dialer (19) based on the above dial number.
By outputting a dial signal to the subscriber's line and connecting to the other party's line, normal telephone calls can be made. In addition, during such a call, the voice input from the microphone (29) of the slave unit (2) and the voice of the other party sent from the subscriber line and output from the speaker (30), etc. ) communication takes place via the channel on which the identification code is transmitted.

Above, we have explained the operation in four states, but (ii) above
The channel search in each state of ~(1v) is (
The scanning order described in section i) is used.

Therefore, channel CH, which is a priority channel, is scanned more than other channels. As a result, when searching for an empty channel in the operations in (iii) and (iv) above, the channel CH3 is selected,
When the identification code is output through such a channel, the base unit (1) or slave unit (2) in standby mode scans the channel CH1 more than other channels, so the base unit (1) The connection time between the terminal and the slave unit (2) is shortened.

Specifically, in the conventional method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-19926, the maximum time required for connection is (
NXIO) ms, whereas in this example it is (NX6
) ms and becomes extremely short.

Furthermore, the average time required for connection in this embodiment is about half that of the conventional example.

Furthermore, in order to further enhance the above effect, it is preferable to select priority channels more preferentially in the vacant channel search. To do this, when scanning channels in the standby state, each time a channel is scanned, it is stored separately whether or not that channel is an empty channel.
When an empty channel is required, an empty channel is selected based on the above-mentioned memory contents, and if a priority channel exists among the selected empty channels, this is used preferentially to send an identification code, etc. You can configure it to do so.

Although this embodiment is configured to perform channel scanning as shown in FIG. 2, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, CH, -CH3→CH, →CH,
→CH, →CH, →CH, →CH, -CH, →CH, -
CH, -CH, -CH, -CH.

→CH, . . . , the priority channel may be scanned alternately with other channels.

Further, in this embodiment, a cordless telephone that transmits a control code such as an identification code and an audio signal on the same channel has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to a cordless telephone that transmits a control code and an audio signal on separate channels. It is clear that it can be applied. In this case, by handling the control code as a priority channel, the time required for connection can be shortened.

Furthermore, if there are a number of adjacent cordless telephones and each has the same priority channel, the probability that the priority channel will be an empty channel will be low, and as a result, communication via the priority channel will be impossible. , it takes a long time to connect the parent and child devices. Therefore, it is desirable to have different priority channels for each cordless telephone.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the method of the present invention, a connection between a pair of transmitters and receivers communicating by the MCA method can be established in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1(a) and (b) are block diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining channel scanning in this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining conventional channel scanning. FIG. (1) (2)... Master unit, slave unit, (11) (21)...
- Transmitting means, (12) (22)...Receiving means, (16
)(26)...Storage means, (18)(28)...Control means Applicant Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (1 other person) Patent attorney Takuji Nishino (2 others) Figure 1 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a method in which communication between a pair of transceivers is performed using one of a plurality of predetermined channels, a specific channel among the plurality of channels is set as a priority channel, and when in reception mode in a standby state , a multi-channel access method characterized by scanning the priority channels more often than other channels.