JPH0444496A - Controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the utility and to realize the security of the installation efficiency by connecting an operation means and a controller via a home bus and interconnecting the controller and a display device with a video transmission line remotely so as to increase an operational location with a simple means. CONSTITUTION:A terminal equipment 2 is connected to a home bus 3 and a prescribed number of operation devices 14 and a central controller 15 are connected to the bus. Moreover, the central controller 15 and an antenna 6 are connected to a video signal line 17 via a mixer 16 and a prescribed number of TV sets 5 are connected to the video signal line 17 and the TV sets 5 are arranged closely to each operation device 14. The operation device 14 gives a command of operation control/monitor of a load 1 and the central controller 15 gives a control signal of the load 1 to the terminal equipment 2 in response to the command and receives a signal relating to the operating state of the load 1 from the terminal equipment 2. Moreover, the information relating to the operating state of the load 1 is displayed on a screen of the TV set 5 via the video signal line 17. That is, the load 1 is controlled from other location than the central controller 15 by the operation of the operation device 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a control device, and more particularly to a control device for controlling a load aI device via a transmission line.

[Prior Art] In recent years, various devices for home automation (HA) have been developed and sold.

In this field, load equipment (e.g. household electrical equipment such as air conditioners, lighting, etc.) is connected via a transmission line called a home bus.
operation is controlled/monitored.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional device. The device shown in this figure is similar to that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-60389 as a "home bus television device."

This conventional example has a configuration in which a plurality of (two in the figure) terminals (2) each connected to a load (1) is connected to a central control device (4) via a home bus (3). have. Further, a television receiver (hereinafter simply referred to as TV) (5) is connected to the central control device (4).

The TV (5) operates as a normal TV when the antenna (
6) Displays the TV images etc. received by the above. - Once the need for control or monitoring arises, the user can use the remote control (
7) to switch to the control/monitor screen.

The remote controller (7) is a device that is operated by a user and wirelessly issues commands for controlling/monitoring the operation of the load (1) to the central control device (4).

The centralized control unit ft (4) receives this command and controls the load (1).
This is a device for transmitting or receiving signals to and from the computer, and for this purpose, it includes a remote control receiving circuit (8), a controller (9), and a communication control device (10).

For example, when a control command for a certain load (1) is issued from a remote control (7), a remote control receiving circuit (8) receives the command and notifies the controller (9).

The controller (9) generates a control signal in response to this, specifies the transmission destination, and causes the communication control device (10) to send it onto the transmission line (3).

Each terminal (2) has communication control equipment [(
10) and receives the signal transmitted from the corresponding load (1
). Therefore, the terminal (2) is connected to the communication control device (
11) and a controller (12).

That is, the signal from the central control device (4) is received by the communication control device (11), and if this signal is a signal that designates itself, the controller (12)
) is controlled.

As a result of the control, the load (1) is set to the required state, and a signal indicating information regarding this is sent by the controller (12) from the communication control device (11) onto the transmission line (3). This transmission is performed by specifying the central control device (4).

A signal sent from the terminal (2) onto the transmission line (3) is received by the communication control device (10) of the central control device (4). The controller (9) causes the information regarding the operation of the load (1) obtained as a result of this reception to be displayed on the screen of the TV (5). For this reason, the centralized control device W (4) includes a video signal generation circuit (13) that generates a video signal related to the information.

In this way, in the past, remote control (
7), it was possible to control/monitor the operation of the desired load (1).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a configuration, it is necessary to operate the central control device with a remote control while looking at the TV screen, so the central control device cannot be operated unless the TV and the central control device are both installed. I can't.

That is, if it is desired to control/monitor the operation of a load in one room at one time and in another room at another time, the central control device must be installed or moved to each room involved in the operation.

In this way, if you want to ensure flexibility regarding the operating location, you have to accept a decline in equipment efficiency, and conversely, if you want to simplify the equipment, you have to accept restrictions on the operating location.

The present invention has been made with the aim of solving these problems, and makes it possible to increase the number of operable locations by means of parts, thereby improving usability and ensuring equipment efficiency. The purpose is to

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above objectives, a control device having the following configuration is proposed.

In other words, there is an operation means that specifies a load device to be controlled and issues a control request via a transmission line, and a control device that sends a control request via a transmission line to a terminal connected to the load device, which is specified by the control request. A controller that controls the operation by transmitting a control signal corresponding to a control request, receives the result of this operation control from the terminal as a monitor signal via a transmission line, and creates a screen of the operating status of the load equipment based on the monitor signal. and a display device that displays the screen, and a video transmission path that remotely connects the controller and the display device.

[Operation] In the control device of the present invention, when a load control request is issued from the operating means, this control request is received by the controller via the transmission line.

The controller issues a control signal in response.

This control signal is a signal to the load specified by the control request, and is transmitted via the transmission line to the terminal corresponding to this load.

The corresponding terminal transmits the result of controlling the load based on the control signal as a monitor signal, which is received by the controller. The controller causes the display device to display the operating state of the load equipment via the video transmission path.

At this time, since the display device is remotely connected via the video transmission path, the display device can be placed as necessary, that is, in accordance with the installation location of the operating means. As a result, the operating location can be set more flexibly while maintaining equipment efficiency.

[Examples] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Note that the same components as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, in addition to the terminal (2) connected to the home bus (3) as in the conventional example, a predetermined number (two in this figure) of operating devices (14) and a central control device (
15) is connected. In addition, the central control device (15)
and an antenna (16) are connected to a video signal line (17) via a mixer (16). This video signal line (17
), a predetermined number of TVs (5) are connected to it.
This TV (5) is placed close to each operating device (14).

In this embodiment, the operating device (14) is a device that issues commands to control/monitor the operation of the load (1). In addition, the central control device (15) supplies a control signal for the load (1) to the terminal (2) in response to this command, and from the terminal (2) to the load (
A device that receives signals related to the operating state of the load (1), and further transmits information related to the operating state of the load (1) to the video signal line (17).
) is a device that displays images on the screen of a TV (5).

Specifically, the operating device (14) is a communication control device (18),
It consists of a controller (19) and operation keys (20). This operation key (20) is a key that the user operates as necessary, and is a key that the controller (19)
generates control/monitoring commands according to information input by the operation keys (20) and sends them from the communication control device (18) to the home bus (
3) It is a device that sends it upward. The LED (27) is
This is a display member that indicates whether or not operation from the operating device (14) is possible.

On the other hand, the central control device (15) supplies signals to be transmitted to the communication control device (10), which sends and receives signals to and from the home bus (3), and also controls the communication. A control unit (21) that generates a signal indicating the operating state of the load (1) according to the received content of the device (10), and a pictogram representing the operating state based on the signal indicating the operating state of the load (1). ) is displayed in characters. A video signal generation circuit (13) that generates a video signal and a T
It consists of a modulation circuit (22) that modulates the RF frequency of the V broadcast band.

The output of the modulation circuit (22) is connected to the aforementioned mixer (16). The mixer (16) mixes the output of the modulation circuit (22) and the received output of the antenna (6) to produce a TV (
5) via the video signal line (17).

The control unit (21) of the central control device (15) supplies a signal to be transmitted to the communication control device (10), and a controller (21) that generates a signal indicating the operating state of the load (1) based on the received contents. 9). This controller (9) is connected to a screen generation circuit (23). The screen generation circuit (23) is a circuit that generates a screen to be displayed on the TV (5) based on the output of the controller (9), and its output is supplied to the video signal generation circuit (13). Further, a setting circuit (24) is connected to the screen generation circuit (23), and screen generation in the screen generation circuit (23) is performed based on fixed screen information supplied from the setting circuit (24).

In other words, the setting circuit (24) sets the standard part of the video to be displayed on the TV (5), and the screen generation circuit (24)
23).

Furthermore, the control unit (21) includes a screen generation circuit (23)
The screen includes a scroll circuit (25) that scrolls the screen generated by the screen. In other words, the scroll circuit (
The screen generated by the screen generation circuit (23) according to the command from the screen generation circuit (25) is scrolled, for example, in the vertical direction of the screen. Furthermore, a controller (9) and a scroll circuit (
25) is connected to a timer (26), and if the reception by the communication control device (10) is interrupted for a predetermined time period measured by the timer (26), scrolling by the scroll circuit (25) is automatically started. be done.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 2 shows the terminal (2) and the operating device (2) in this embodiment.
14) and the central controller (15).

When operating a load using the operating device (14), first turn on the TV (5) installed nearby and match its channel to the output frequency (channel) of the modulation circuit (22). In this way, the connection status and operating status of the load (1) created by the central control device (15) will be displayed on the TV (5) (Fig. 4).

Those who wish to operate the device do so while looking at the information displayed on this TV <5).

First, one of the predetermined number of operating devices (14)
Assume that the start key is pressed in step 4).

This start key is one of the aforementioned operation keys (20). Then, a frame in a predetermined format is sent from the controller (14) onto the home bus (3).

The structure of this frame is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the frame includes self address SA1, partner address DA, control code Cc1, message length BC, and data D.
It consists of ATD and frame check code FCC. The self-address SA is an address indicating the source of the frame, in this case the controller (14), and the destination address DA is the address indicating the destination, in this case the central control device (14).
5). Predetermined control information is stored in the control code CC, and data DA is stored in the message length BC.
The length of TA is stored. Further, the frame check code FCC is a code for detecting frame errors.

The data DATA is composed of key manual power information representing the key manual power on the operating device (14), and terminal device control commands representing the details of the control to be commanded to the terminal.

In this case, information indicating that the start key among the operation keys (20) has been pressed is set in the key human power information, and this is notified to the central control device (15). In the central control device (15), a frame indicating that this frame has been received is sent from the communication control device (10) onto the home bus (3). The operating device (14) receives this and displays an LED (27) indicating that the operation has been accepted.
lights up.

Next, the operation key (20) provided on the operation device (14) is
) is pressed. Then, a frame in which key manual information indicating that the down key has been pressed is sent from the controller (14) onto the home bus (3). The central control device (15) receives this and displays the TV (5
) move the cursor down on the screen.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen display on the TV (5). In this figure, the TV (5) screen (
100) is a display (110) indicating the type of load (1).
, a display (120) indicating the installation location of this load (1), and a display (130) indicating the state of this load (1). Furthermore, these displays (110) and (12
A cursor (140) indicating one of the pairs 0) and (130) is shown.

Immediately before the central control device (15) receives a packet indicating that the down key of the operating device (14) has been pressed, the cursor (140) moves to the If “Air conditioner °” is set to “ON”, the cursor (
140) moves down. Alternatively, the entire display is scrolled one step. As a result, the cursor (140) is set to "Living Room""Lights" ON.

This operation is performed by the scroll small circuit (21) of the control unit (21).
25). That is, in response to the down key, the scroll circuit (25) scrolls the screen generated by the screen generation circuit (23) one step.

Further, when the operation key (20) is pressed on the operation device (14), the operation device (14)
A frame is sent out onto the home bus (3). For example, if the content is to turn off the lights in the room where the operation key is input, in this operation example, the frame has the content to turn off the lights in the living room. The central control device (15) that receives this frame sends a signal to the terminal (2) in the living room to which this lighting is connected as a load (1) to turn off the lighting. For example, in the signal frame format shown in FIG. 3, this command is issued by setting an off command to the terminal key control command. A terminal (2) to which this lighting is connected as a load (1) receives a frame including a lighting off command and controls the lighting load (1).

As a result, when the load (1), which is the lighting, is turned off, the terminal (2) sends a response indicating that the lighting has been turned off to the transmission path (3) using a frame in the frame format shown in FIG.
The central control device (15) is notified via the. The central control device (15) receives this information and inverts the display (130) on the screen of the TV (5) to "OFF" to indicate that the lighting is off.

Similarly, control of other loads (1) is also possible.

Then, when the end key of the operation keys (20) is pressed on the operation device (14), this will cause the home bus (3) to
The central control device (15) is notified via the central control device (15), and the central control device (15) makes a predetermined reply. Upon receiving this response, the operating device (14) turns off the LED (27) and ends the operation.

In this embodiment, even if the operation on the controller (14) is interrupted midway and a predetermined period of time has elapsed, or even if no operation is performed on the controller (14), the display on the TV (5) remains unchanged. It will be done. The operation when no operation is performed is performed by counting up the timer (26), and the screen is scrolled at this time. That is, the timer (2) connected to the controller (9)
6), the scroll circuit (
25) is executed. This allows the user to simply set the TV (5) to a displayable state, for example by setting it to a predetermined channel.
It is possible to sequentially monitor the operating status of all loads (1). Additionally, when one operator (14) is operating the start key while another operator (14) operates, the central controller (15) becomes unresponsive to that operator and becomes prohibited from operating. . That is, it is also possible to prevent user confusion by prohibiting simultaneous operations from multiple locations.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the load (1) can be controlled from the central control device (15) and from another location by operating the operating device (14).
It is possible to control the That is, by configuring the device operated to control the load (1) as the operating device (14) separately from the central control device (15), the flexibility of the system is further improved.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of operating devices (14) can be provided. Therefore, one operator (14) may be placed in one room and another operator (14) may be placed in another room.
If you place a load (
1) can be controlled. This controller (1
4) is mainly composed of small and inexpensive components such as operation keys (20), so for example, the conventional central control device (
Compared to 4), it can be constructed in a smaller size and at a lower cost, and can be easily arranged in multiple locations.

Also, when operating the controller (14), actually use the TV
It is necessary to do this while looking at the screen (100) in (5), but in this embodiment, the video signal! I (17) makes it possible to remotely locate the TV (5) with the central control device (15). Therefore, problems such as inoperability due to separate configuration of the operating device (14) and the central control device (15) do not occur.

Furthermore, it is possible to connect to the operating device (14) and the home bus (, 3) through a so-called information outlet. This information outlet is an outlet that can be easily plugged and unplugged, so the operating device (14) can be made portable. Therefore, the operating device (14) can be placed at an appropriate location according to the user's needs or preferences.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the operating device (14) includes a remote control (28). That is, a portion corresponding to the operation key (20) in the first embodiment is wirelessly connected to the main body of the operating device (14), and a remote control receiving circuit (29) is provided on the main body side.

In this embodiment, the central control device (15) also has the same functions as the operating device (14). That is, a remote control receiving circuit (30) is connected to the controller (9) of the control unit (21), and a remote control (31) is wirelessly connected to this remote control receiving circuit (30).

That is, the remote control (31) is connected to the central control device (15).
), it is possible to issue a command related to the operation control of the load (1).

Furthermore, in this embodiment, one of the video signal generation circuits (13) and the TV (5) is directly connected.

That is, the remote control (31) is connected to the central control device (15).
), it is necessary to place one of the TVs (5) close to the central control device (15). In this case, there is no need to supply the screen generated by the screen generation circuit (23) via the modulation circuit (22), mixer (16) and video signal line (17), and it is not necessary to supply the screen generated by the screen generation circuit (23). This arrangement is made because it is possible to directly supply the video signal output from the TV (5) and display it.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained by the first embodiment described above, usability related to the operation of the controller (14) is improved, and furthermore, the load is reduced near the central control device (15). It is possible to issue commands related to the control in (1).

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, since the operating means and the controller are connected via the home bus, and the controller and the display device are remotely connected via the video transmission path, constant It becomes possible to operate the operating means while viewing the screen of the display device even at a distant location. Therefore, there is no need to arrange multiple controllers, and the operation means can be installed at a desired location and the operation of the load can be controlled/monitored from this location, allowing flexibility in usage while maintaining system equipment efficiency. can improve sex.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a transmission chart showing a frame transmission operation in this embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display in this embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a plotter diagram showing the configuration of a control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional device. In the figure, (1) is the load, (2) is the terminal, (3) is the home bus, (5) is the television receiver, (9) is the controller, (14) is the operating device, and (15) is the centralized control. device, (17) is a video signal line, (19) is a controller, (
20), the operation key (21) is a control unit. Note that the same reference numerals in each figure indicate the same or corresponding parts. Agent Patent Attorney Yoshi 1) Kenji (2 others) Frame f Yunl Figure L! ! J side display chart

Claims (1)

[Claims] An operating means for specifying a load device to be controlled and issuing a control request via a transmission line; Operation is controlled by transmitting a control signal corresponding to a control request via a transmission line, and the result of this operation control is received from the terminal as a monitor signal via the transmission line, and a screen showing the operating status of the load equipment is displayed based on the monitor signal. A control device comprising: a controller that creates a screen; a display device that displays the screen; and a video transmission path that remotely connects the controller and the display device.