JPH02249343A - Data communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To apply an equipment to any position in a communication system by allowing one of plural connection means interconnecting the equipment main body and more than 3 external communication ports to be selectively operated in a prescribed k-form at according to a prescribed condition. CONSTITUTION:External communication ports 1-3 are communication ports interconnecting other data communication equipments and a host device or the like and one of the external communication ports 3 is used for the analog communication channel connection and, for example, an analog communication channel 7 such as a public telephone circuit is connected via a MODEM 8 applying data modulation/demodulation. Moreover, internal communication ports 4-6 are ports to input/output data by a main control section 9 controlling the equipment totally. The plural connection circuits as connection means are provided to connect the external communication ports 1-3 and the internal communication ports 4-6 to a communication path setting circuit 10 and one of plural formats of connection circuits is selectively operated. Thus, the equipment is applicable to any position in the communication system and the system is built up without using the equipment with plural kinds of constitution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a data communication device applicable to various types of data communication systems.

(Prior Art) Data communication devices applied to relatively large-scale communication systems such as corporate communication systems have different configurations depending on the application position within the system. This means that, for example, the configurations of a data communication device applied to a master station and a data communication device applied to a slave station are different, but also data communication devices applied to both master stations or both can be connected to a slave station. The configurations of applicable data communication devices differ depending on the system.

Therefore, there is a problem in that a plurality of types of data communication devices are required to construct a communication system.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventional data communication devices need to have a dedicated configuration depending on the position of application in the communication system, and when constructing a communication system, multiple types of data communication devices are required. There was a problem that it required .

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to be applicable to any position in a communication system and to provide a communication system without using multiple types of configurations. The object of the present invention is to provide a data communication device that enables the construction of data communication devices.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides, in addition to a device main body for performing data communication, three or more external communication ports for connecting external communication devices, each of which has a predetermined form. The device comprises a plurality of connection means for connecting the device main body and the three or more external communication ports, and one of the plurality of connection means is selectively operated according to predetermined conditions.

(Function) By taking such measures, one of the plurality of connection means for connecting three or more external communication ports for connecting external communication devices and the main body of the device, each in a predetermined form, operates selectively depending on the conditions.

Therefore, for example, if the condition for selecting one of a plurality of connection means is an instruction operation by the operator, and the operator gives an operation instruction according to the application position in the system, data corresponding to the application position in the system can be obtained. It can be a communication device.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a data communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the data communication device. In the figure, 1 to 3 are external communication ports, and 4 to 6 are internal communication ports. Here, external communication ports 1 to 3
is a communication port for connecting other data communication devices, host devices, etc.

One of the external communication ports 3 is for connection to an analog communication line, and an analog communication line 7 such as a public telephone line is connected via a modem 8 for modulating and demodulating data.

Further, the internal communication ports 4 to 6 are ports through which the main control unit 9, which generally controls the data communication device, inputs and outputs data.

Each external communication port 2 to 3 and each internal communication port 5 to 7 are connected via a communication path setting circuit 10.

The communication path setting circuit 10 is provided with a plurality of types of connection circuits as connection means for connecting each external communication port 1 to 3 and each internal communication port 4 to 6, and one of the plurality of types of connection circuit is It operates selectively.

By the way, the main control unit 9 has, for example, a microcomputer as a main control circuit, and in addition to the well-known general control means for data communication, it also controls a communication path setting circuit according to the state of switches, etc. (not shown). It has a communication path switching means 9a as a selection means for selectively operating one of the connection circuits provided in the communication path 10.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a connection circuit configured in the communication path setting circuit 10, and in this embodiment, FIG. 2(a)
As shown in FIGS. 2(d), four types of connection circuits are provided in the communication path setting circuit 10.

FIG. 2(a) is a diagram showing the configuration of the first connection circuit.

In the figure, 10a is a first connection circuit, which provides data input to external communication port 1 to external communication port 2 and internal communication port 4, and also provides data input to external communication port 2 and internal communication port 4. selector 20a
to external communication port 1 via. In addition, selector 2
0a selects internal communication port 4 preferentially.

FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of the second connection circuit.

In the figure, 10b is a second connection circuit, which provides data input to external communication port 3 to external communication port 1 and internal communication port 6, and also provides data input to external communication port 1 and internal communication port 6. selector 20b
to the external communication port 3 via the external communication port 3. In addition, selector 2
0b selects the internal communication port 6 preferentially.

FIG. 2(c) is a diagram showing the configuration of the third connection circuit.

In the figure, 10c is a third connection circuit, which provides data input to external communication port 1 to external communication ports 2, 3 and internal communication port 4, and also provides data input to external communication port 2, 3 and internal communication port 4.
3 and the data input to internal communication port 4 are provided to external communication port 1 via selector 20c. Note that the selector 20b is [internal communication port 4>external communication port 3]
〉External communication port 2] Each port is selected according to the priority order.

FIG. 2(d) is a diagram showing the configuration of the fourth connection circuit.

In the figure, 10d is a fourth connection circuit, which connects external communication port 1 and internal communication port 4, external communication port 2 and internal communication port 5, and external communication port 3 and internal communication port 6, respectively. This fourth connection circuit is used when converting the speed of data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a data communication system configured using the data communication device configured as described above.

In the figure, 30 is a master station, which includes a host device 31 and data communication devices 32a and 32 that govern this data communication system.
It has b. Among these, the data communication device 32a has a host device 31 connected to external communication port 1, a data communication device 32b connected to external communication port 2, and a telephone line 3 connected to external communication port 3.
3 are connected to each other. In addition, the data communication device 3
2b connects the data communication 15 device 32a1 to the external communication port 1.
A telephone line 34 is connected to each external communication port 3. Note that the external communication port 2 of the data communication device 32b
When three or more data communication devices are provided in the master station 30, additional data communication devices are connected.

A relay station 40 includes a data communication device 41 and data communication devices 42a and 42b.

Of these, the data communication device 41 has a telephone line 33 connected to the external communication port 3, and a data communication device 42 connected to the external communication port 1.
a are connected to each other. In addition, the data communication device 4
2a, a data communication device 41 is connected to external communication port 1, a data communication device 42b is connected to external communication port 2, and a telephone line 43 is connected to external communication port 3. The data communication device 42b connects the data communication device 42 to the external communication port 1.
a, a telephone line 44 is connected to each external communication port 3; Note that when the relay station 40 includes three or more data communication devices, an additional data communication device is connected to the external communication port 2 of the data communication device 42b.

50 to 55 are data communication devices serving as terminals, respectively. Among these, the data communication device 50 has its external communication port 3 connected to the telephone line 43. Further, the data communication devices 51 and 52 connect the data communication device 5 to the telephone line 44.
3 to 55, the external communication ports 3 of each device are connected to the telephone line 34 by multi-drop. Although not shown, the external communication ports 1 of the data communication devices 50 to 55 are used to connect the data communication devices to be connected when connecting other data communication devices to each of the data communication devices 50 to 55. .

In the case of a data communication system having such a configuration, it is desirable that the data communication devices 32a and 32b be connected to the host device using a multipoint method. Therefore, the data communication devices 32a, 32b connect the communication path setting circuit 10 to the first
It is assumed that the connection circuit 1,0a has the form of . Therefore, the data output from the host device 31 is transferred to the data communication device 32.
Data is input to the main control unit 9 from the internal communication port 4 of the data communication device 3 without going through the main control unit 9.
given to 2b. and data communication devices 32a, 3
After processing the data taken into each main control unit 9, the data processing units 2b send the data to the telephone lines 33 and 34 from the external communication port 3, respectively.

Further, the data communication device 41 connects the communication path setting circuit 10 to the second
The connection circuit 10b has the form: Therefore, the data transmitted via the telephone line 33 is taken into the main control section 9 from the internal communication port 4 of the data communication device 41, and the data is transferred to the data communication device 42a without going through the main control section 9.
given to. That is, the data communication devices 41 and 42a are connected to the data communication device 32a in a multi-point manner.

Data communication devices 42a and 42b are communication path setting circuit 1
0 is the third form of connection circuit 10c.

Therefore, in the data communication device 42a, the data output from the external communication port 1 of the data communication device 41 is taken into the main control unit 9 from the internal communication port 5 of the data communication device 42a, and the data is not transmitted through the main control unit 9. The data is sent to the data communication device 42b and the telephone line 43.

In the data communication device 42b, the data output from the data communication device 42a is transferred to the data communication device 42b.
The signal a is taken into the main control unit 9 from the internal communication port 5 of b, and is sent to the telephone line 44 without going through the main control unit 9. That is, this data communication device 42b is also connected to the data communication device 32 along with the data communication devices 41 and 42a.
It is now connected to point a using a multi-point method.

In the data communication devices 50 to 55, the communication path setting circuit 10 is a second type of connection circuit 10b. Therefore, data transmitted via the telephone lines 34, 43, 44 is taken into the main control unit 9 from the internal communication port 4 of each data communication device 50 to 55.

On the other hand, data communication devices 41, 42a, 42b and 50
The data outputted by each of the terminals 55 to 55 to the master station 30 is transmitted to the master station 30 without going through the main control unit 9 of the data communication device interposed between the base station 30 and the master station 30.

In this way, according to this embodiment, it is possible to apply it to various positions in the data communication system even though it has the same configuration.
Therefore, it becomes possible to construct a data communication system using only a single type.

Furthermore, with this data communication device, the connection form can be changed simply by switching a switch or the like, so it is possible to easily change the system configuration.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, there are four types of connection circuits provided in the communication path setting circuit 10, but the types of connection circuits are not limited to the 4fJi type, and the configurations of the connection circuits are also listed in the example. It is not limited to a specific object, and may have any configuration.

Further, the data communication system to which this data communication device is applied is not limited to the system shown in the above embodiment. In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, in addition to a device main body that performs data communication, there are three or more external communication ports for connecting external communication devices, and the device main body and the three external communication ports each have a predetermined form. It is equipped with a plurality of connection means for connecting three or more external communication ports, and one of the plurality of connection means is selectively operated according to predetermined conditions, so that it can be positioned anywhere in the communication system. The present invention is also applicable to the data communication device, which makes it possible to construct a communication system without using multiple types of configurations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data communication device, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a data communication system configured using the same data communication device. ],,,2.3...External communication port,4,5.6...
・Internal communication port, 7...Analog communication line, 8...
- Modem, 9... Main control unit, 9a... Communication path switching means, 10... Communication path setting circuit. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 10a [Figure (a) Figure (b)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A device main body for performing data communication, three or more external communication ports for connecting external communication devices, and a device main body and three or more external communication ports each having a predetermined form. What is claimed is: 1. A data communication device comprising: a plurality of connection means for connecting; and a selection means for selectively operating one of the plurality of connection means according to predetermined conditions.