JPH0576503A - Electromagnetic induction communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the electromagnetic induction communication system which can receive the electromagnetic induction signals of the same frequency transmitted from plural transmitters by one receiver. CONSTITUTION:When the output of step signals is detected (step A1), it is judged whether the electromagnetic induction signals are received from a pulse signal transmitter or not (step A2), and when those signals are received, transmission is waited for 5msec so as to preferentially transmit signals from the pulse signal transmitter (step A3). When the electromagnetic induction signals are received from the pulse signal transmitter (step A5) just after the step signals are received (step A4), the transmission of step signals is waited for 5msec (step A6) because the step signals transmitted just now are made invalid, and the step signals are transmitted again (step A7).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electromagnetic induction communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When exercising such as running or jogging, a pedometer is attached to count the number of steps. Also,
Simultaneously measuring the pulse rate during exercise is effective in measuring the physical condition and exercise capacity of the body.

[0003]

In this case, since the pedometer is attached to the waist belt or shoes, it is impossible to know how many steps are taken during exercise. Further, in the heart rate monitor, an electrode for detecting an electrocardiographic waveform is attached to the body of the subject, so that the heart rate monitor main body and the electrode must be connected with a cord, and the cord is an obstacle during exercise. Therefore, there is a demand for a system that can receive signals from a pedometer and a heart rate monitor by one receiver without using a code and check the pedometer data and the pulse data.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electromagnetic induction communication system in which one receiver can receive electromagnetic induction signals of the same frequency transmitted from a plurality of transmitters. And

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a plurality of transmitters for transmitting signals by electromagnetic induction and a receiver for receiving the signals transmitted from the plurality of transmitters. In this electromagnetic induction communication system, the receiver preferentially receives a signal from one transmitter, and the other transmitter is provided with receiving means, and receives a signal from one transmitter at the time of transmission. Then, it is characterized in that it is transmitted again.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, an outline of an electromagnetic induction communication system to which the present invention is applied will be described. This electromagnetic induction communication system includes a heartbeat signal transmitter that measures a pulse of a subject and transmits it by an electromagnetic induction signal (magnetic induction signal), and a step number signal transmitter that measures the number of steps by exercise and transmits the electromagnetic induction signal. And a wristwatch incorporating a receiving means for receiving the electromagnetic induction signals transmitted from the heartbeat signal transmitter and the step number signal transmitter.

FIG. 1 shows a shirt 1 worn by a subject.
It is a figure which shows the structure of. The shirt body 2 is formed in a shape such as a running shirt, and includes a pair of electrodes 3
The a and 3b are provided at positions where they come into contact with the left and right armpits of the human body. The electrodes 3a and 3b detect a heartbeat signal (electrocardiographic waveform) emitted from the heart of the subject, and the heartbeat signal transmitter 4
To send to. The heartbeat signal transmitter 4 is provided on the waist of the shirt body 2, and transmits the detected heartbeat signal from a coil 7 described later by electromagnetic induction.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 provided on the shirt 1. Electrode 3a,
3b is connected to the detection circuit 5 and outputs the detected heartbeat signal. The detection circuit 5 amplifies the heartbeat signal output from the electrodes 3a and 3b and outputs it to the transmission circuit 6. The transmission circuit 6 converts the heartbeat signal into an electromagnetic induction signal and transmits it from the coil 7. In this case, the heartbeat signal transmitted from the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 is composed of seven pulse signals as shown in FIG. 6 (A), for example. The heartbeat signal transmitted from the coil 7 can be sufficiently detected at a distance of up to about 2 m.
The power supply circuit 8 supplies a drive voltage to the detection circuit 5 and the transmission circuit 6 via the switch 9.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a step number signal transmitter attached to the shoe of the subject. Control unit 10
Starts the step count measurement by operating the switch 11. The control unit 10 controls the reception circuit 12, the vibration sensor 14, the detection circuit 15, and the transmission circuit 16 based on a microprogram stored in advance in a ROM (not shown). Receiver circuit 1
2 receives the electromagnetic induction signal transmitted from the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 by the coil 13 and outputs it to the controller 10. The vibration sensor 14 outputs a sensor voltage corresponding to the strength of vibration due to exercise to the detection circuit 15 as a step number signal. Detection circuit 1
5 detects the sensor voltage output from the vibration sensor 14 and outputs it to the transmission circuit 16. The transmission circuit 16 transmits a step number signal based on the electromagnetic induction signal from the coil 17 based on the sensor voltage output from the detection circuit 15. Coil 17
The step count signal output from the device is 4 as shown in FIG.
This signal is composed of individual pulses. The electromagnetic induction signal can be sufficiently detected at a distance of up to about 2 m. The power supply circuit 18 supplies a drive voltage to each unit via the switch 19.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the wristwatch. The coil 20 receives the electromagnetic induction signals transmitted from the heartbeat signal transmitter and the step number signal transmitter,
The receiving circuit 21 is connected. The receiving circuit 21 detects the electromagnetic induction signal received by the coil 20 and outputs it to the waveform shaping circuit 22. The waveform shaping circuit 22 is the receiving circuit 2
The electromagnetic induction signal output from 1 is waveform-shaped, and the control unit 2
Output to 3. The receiving circuit 21 and the waveform shaping circuit 22
Means to start operation in response to an operation signal supplied from the control unit 23. The control unit 23 is a central processing unit that controls each unit based on a microprogram stored in advance in the ROM 24 to perform various processes. The RAM 25 is a memory that stores various data, and details will be described later with reference to FIG.

The display drive unit 26 outputs a display drive signal based on the display data output from the control unit 23 to the display unit 27 to drive the display unit 27 for display. The display unit 27 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display element, and displays the current time, various received data, and the like. The key input unit 28 includes various keys, and outputs a key input signal corresponding to a key operation to the control unit 23.

The alarm unit 29 generates an alarm sound based on the alarm signal output from the control unit 23. Oscillator circuit 30
Oscillates a clock signal of a predetermined frequency and inputs it to the frequency dividing / timing circuit 31. The frequency divider / timing circuit 31 divides the clock signal input from the oscillator circuit 30, generates various timing signals such as a clock signal, and supplies the timing signals to the control unit 23.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a memory configuration of the RAM 25 shown in FIG. In the figure, the display register is a register for storing the display data displayed on the display unit 27, and the mode register M is a register for storing the mode data. In this case, when “M = 0” is the time display mode, when “M = 1” is the distance measurement mode,
When "M = 2", it is the pulse measurement mode, and when "M = 3", it is the distance + pulse measurement mode. The clock register is a register that stores current time data that is sequentially updated by the clock processing. The step length register is a register that stores the step length data of the subject. The step count register is a register for counting step count data during exercise. The distance register is “step ×
This is a register that stores the distance data obtained by the calculation of the "step count". The register T is a register for measuring the cycle of the pulse signal. The register P is a register for counting the number of pulses of the electromagnetic induction signal. The pulse register is a register that stores the calculated pulse data.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the step number signal transmitter.

At step A1, it is judged whether or not there is a step number signal, that is, whether or not the vibration sensor 14 outputs a step number signal. If it is determined in step A1 that there is a step number signal, the process proceeds to step A2, and if there is no step number signal, the process of FIG. 7 ends.

If there is a step count signal, the process proceeds from step A1 to step A2. In step A2, it is determined whether or not there is reception, that is, whether or not the electromagnetic induction signal from the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 is received. If YES is determined in step A2, the process proceeds to step A3, and if NO is determined, the process proceeds to step A4.

If it is determined in step A2 that there is reception, it indicates that the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 is transmitting an electromagnetic induction signal. Therefore, in order to prevent the electromagnetic induction signals from being simultaneously transmitted from the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 and the step number signal transmitter,
The process proceeds to step A3, and the transmission is waited for a predetermined time, for example, 5 msec (millisecond). Then, after 5 msec has elapsed, the process returns to step A2. Hereinafter, steps A2 and A3 are executed until NO is determined in step A2. Then, when the transmission of the heartbeat signal transmitter 4 is completed and it is determined NO in step A2, the process proceeds to step A4.

At step A4, a step count signal is transmitted. That is, the control unit 10 drives the transmission circuit 16 and transmits the step number signal based on the electromagnetic induction signal from the coil 17.

In the following step A5, the heartbeat signal transmitter 4
It is determined whether or not a heartbeat signal from is received. If YES in step A5, the process proceeds to step A6, and if NO in step A5, the process in FIG. 7 ends.

When the heartbeat signal is received after the transmission of the step count signal, the transmitted step count signal overlaps with the heartbeat signal and is not recognized by the wristwatch and becomes invalid as described later. Therefore, the process proceeds from step A5 to step A6, waits for transmission of the step number signal for 5 msec, and again transmits the step number signal in step A7. As a result, the wristwatch discriminates the step count signal after the heartbeat signal. After the execution of step A7, the processing of FIG. 7 ends.

As described above, the step number signal transmitter detects the transmission of the heart rate signal transmitter 4, waits for the step number signal to be transmitted during the transmission of the heart rate signal, and prioritizes the heart rate signal over the step number signal.

Next, the operation of the wristwatch will be described with reference to FIG. A wristwatch discriminates between a heartbeat signal and a step count signal based on the number of pulses of an electromagnetic induction signal.

At step B1, it is judged whether or not there is reception, that is, whether or not the reception circuit 21 has received an electromagnetic induction signal. If YES is determined in step B1, the process proceeds to step B2. If NO in step B1, the process proceeds to step B7, the content of the register T is incremented by 1, and the period of the heartbeat signal is measured.

If there is reception, the process proceeds from step B1 to step B2. In step B2, the number of pulses of the received electromagnetic induction signal is counted and stored in the register P. In the next step B3, it is determined whether or not “P ≧ 7”, that is, whether or not the number of pulses of the electromagnetic induction signal stored in the register P is “7” or more.

When the number of pulses is "7" or more, the received electromagnetic induction signal is the heartbeat signal or the heartbeat signal and the step count signal are continuously received or partially overlapped. In such a case, Is a heartbeat signal, that is, the step count signal is ignored and the process proceeds to step B4. In step B4, pulse calculation processing is performed. That is, in the pulse calculation processing, since the time from the previous heartbeat signal to the current heartbeat signal, that is, the cycle of the heartbeat signal is measured by the register T, the pulse data is calculated based on this measurement time. After the calculation, the register T is cleared. The calculated pulse data is stored in the pulse register of the RAM 25 and displayed on the display unit 27. Further, in step B4, the contents of the register T are cleared and a new cycle is measured. After the execution of step B4, the processing of FIG. 8 ends.

If NO in step B3, that is, if the number of pulses is "6" or less, the process proceeds to step B5. In step B5, it is determined whether or not “3 ≦ P ≦ 5”, that is, whether or not the number of pulses of the electromagnetic induction signal stored in the register P is “3” or more and “5” or less. In this case, the reason why P = 4 is not set is that detection can be performed even if the waveform is increased or decreased by about 1 due to noise or the like. If YES is determined in step B5, the received electromagnetic induction signal is determined to be the step number signal, and the process proceeds to step B6. If NO in step B5, the received signal is regarded as a signal such as noise and is invalidated, and the process of FIG. 8 is terminated.

In step B6, the content of the step count register is incremented by 1 to count the step count data, and the counted step count data is displayed on the display unit 27. After the execution of step B6, the processing of FIG. 8 ends.

In the above embodiments, the receiver is applied to a wristwatch, but the invention is not limited to this, and other electronic equipment may be used as the receiver. Further, the data to be transmitted is not limited to the heartbeat signal and the step count signal. Further, the number of transmitters may be three or more, and in that case, each transmitter may be prioritized.

[0029]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electromagnetic induction communication system in which one receiver can receive electromagnetic induction signals of the same frequency transmitted from a plurality of transmitters.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a shirt 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a heartbeat signal transmitter.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a step number signal transmitter.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a wristwatch.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a memory configuration.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an output state of each signal.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... shirt 2 ... shirt body 3a, 3b ... electrode 4 ... heartbeat signal transmitter 5 ... detection circuit 6 ... transmission circuit 7 ... coil 10 ... control section 12 ... reception circuit 13 ... coil 14 ... vibration sensor 15 ... detection circuit 16 ... Transmitting circuit 17 ... Coil 20 ... Coil 21 ... Receiving circuit 22 ... Waveform shaping circuit 23 ... Control unit 27 ... Display unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electromagnetic induction communication system comprising a plurality of transmitters for transmitting signals by electromagnetic induction and a receiver for receiving the signals transmitted from the plurality of transmitters, wherein the receiver is one of the transmitters. Induction transmission, characterized in that the other transmitter is provided with receiving means with priority, and the other transmitter is provided with receiving means, and when the signal from one transmitter is received during transmission, it is transmitted again. system.