JPH06205010A - Wireless communication equipment and game machine using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transmit a control signal from plural controllers, and to make possible playing game by plural persons by transmitting the control signal to a master device in a timing in a delay time different by each controller in response to a reference timing signal received from the master device. CONSTITUTION:A master device 2 generates the reference timing signal being the time reference of transmission and reception, and transmits it to each controller 1. Each controller 1 transmits the control signal inputted by each inputting means 10 in the timing delayed in the prescribed delay time different by each controller 1 in response to the reference timing signal received from the master device 2. That is, the control signal is transmitted from each controller 1 in the different timing based on the prescribed delay time, so that the collision of the control signals transmitted from each controller 1 to the master device 2 can be escaped, and the controller 1 which transmits the control signal can be discriminated. Therefore, the playing game by the plural persons can be possible.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wireless communication device using infrared rays or the like, and in a system in which a controller transmits a data signal to a parent device, the parent device receives data signals from a plurality of controllers. The present invention relates to a wireless communication device and a game machine using this device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a conventional game machine, an operating device by wireless communication uses infrared rays as an operation signal of the controller as in the case of a remote controller such as a TV, and transfers this operation signal to a master device while performing communication. Was there. In this method, the master and controller were in an asynchronous relationship. In addition, generally, the parent machine fetches the operation signal into the game machine body at a constant cycle based on the game screen display cycle.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional game machine operating device by wireless communication, the transmission (or reception) of the signal from the controller to the master unit is performed asynchronously with the master unit. It is impossible to play a game by a plurality of people using a plurality of controllers because there is no means for recognizing which controller the received signal is transmitted from in the parent machine because of signal batting. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device capable of transmitting operation signals from a plurality of controllers with a simple structure and a game machine capable of playing a game by a plurality of people using the wireless communication device. To provide.

[0004]

A wireless communication device of the present invention comprises a master unit and a plurality of controllers for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the master unit via a wireless transmission path. The master unit includes a reference timing signal generation unit that generates a reference timing signal, a transmission unit that transmits the reference timing signal, a reception unit that receives an operation signal transmitted by each controller, and a reception unit that receives the reception signal. And a controller that determines from which of the controllers the signal is received based on the reception timing. Each of the above controllers receives a reference timing signal sent from the master unit, an operation signal input unit for inputting an operation signal sent to the master unit, and an operation signal input by this input unit from the master unit. And a transmission unit that transmits the reference timing signal at a timing delayed by a predetermined delay time that is different for each controller. A game machine of the present invention is configured by a combination of the wireless communication device having the above configuration and a game machine main body that executes a game program in accordance with an operation signal received from the wireless communication device.

[0005]

According to the wireless communication apparatus of the present invention, the master unit generates a reference timing signal which serves as a time reference for transmission and reception, and transmits it to each controller. Each controller transmits the operation signal input by each input means to the master unit at a timing delayed by a predetermined delay time which is different for each controller with respect to the reference timing signal received from the master unit. In this way, by transmitting the operation signal from each controller at different timings based on the predetermined delay time, it is possible to effectively avoid the collision between the operation signals transmitted by each controller to the master device, and It is possible to easily determine from which controller the operation signal is transmitted, based on the reception timing of. In a game machine using the wireless communication device having such a configuration, a game can be played by a plurality of people with a simple configuration.

[0006]

First, a game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Referring to FIG. 4, the game machine 1 of this embodiment
00 is composed of a game machine main body 3 connected to a monitor 30 such as a television receiver, and a wireless communication device including a master device 2 and a plurality of controllers 1. Transmission and reception between the base unit 2 and the controller 1 are performed by wireless communication 14 and 15 using infrared rays. The controller 1 includes a receiver 10 that receives a signal from the base unit 1, a transmitter 8 that transmits a signal to the base unit 1, and a setting switch 11 that sets a delay time.
And an operation key 7 for inputting data.

For example, data for instructing a moving direction or a motion of a character appearing in a game is input.
According to the operation keys 7 in FIG. 4, the function keys 71 and 74 for running / launching, the direction instruction key 72 for determining the direction, the START key 73 for starting the game, and the SELECT key 75 for selecting the type of the game Etc. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the game machine 100, and FIG. 1 shows the block diagram in detail. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, when there are four operators, the wireless communication 14a using infrared rays is used for transmitting and receiving signals between the controllers 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and the master device 2. , 14b, 14c, 14d, 15
It takes place at a, 15b, 15c and 15d.

Here, the setting switch 11 sets a different predetermined delay time for each controller so that the operation signals transmitted from the controllers 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d to the master unit 2 do not collide with each other. The setting switch 11 has a changeover switch 11a, and in this embodiment, by moving a key to each of the channels A, B, C and D, four predetermined delay times Δt _A , Δt _B , Δt _C and Δt _D. Is set to. For example, the predetermined delay time, the Delta] t _A by switching to channel A, the Delta] t _B by switching to channel B, and Delta] t _C by switching the channel C, respectively set to Delta] t _D by switching to channel D To be done.

Here, four different delay times are stored in a spare memory 21a provided in the discriminating section 21 described later so that the data transmitted from each controller do not collide. This setting switch is a setting device that sets a delay time for each controller, and as shown in FIG. 2, sets the delay time of each controller 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d collectively, Controller 1a, 1b, 1c, 1
It may be provided for each d and can be set individually. Depending on the game program, the character of the game can be changed by changing to another channel during operation. Also, depending on the settings, a plurality of players can operate the same character unless the data is batting.

As shown in FIG. 1, the master unit 2 comprises a reference signal generator 4, a reference signal transmitter 5, an operation signal receiver 6, a discriminator 21, a memory 22, and a controller 20. Game output signal 13 transmitted from the game machine body 3 to the reference signal generation unit 4 of the master machine 2 (depending on the application of each game)
Is converted into a reference signal. This reference signal is transmitted from the reference signal transmitter 5 to the controller 1. The operation signal sent from the controller 1 is received by the operation signal receiving section 6, judged by the judging section 21, temporarily stored in the memory 22, and sent to the game machine body 3. These motion controls are
It is performed by the control unit 20.

The controller 1 has a reference timing signal receiving section 10, a multiplexing timing generating circuit 9, a setting switch 11, operation keys 7, and a reference signal transmitting section 8. As shown in FIG. 5, the multiplexing timing generation circuit 9 delays the signal supplied from the reference signal receiving unit 10 by the time set by the setting switch 11 and sends it to the next stage.
And a flip-flop circuit 9b, a clock generation circuit 9d,
It consists of a counter 9c and an AND circuit 9e. The circuit operation of FIG. 5 will be described later.

Next, the operation when using this game machine (for example, when there are four operators) will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the game machine of the present invention discriminates each of the game machine main body 3 having a display unit 30 for displaying an image, a plurality of controllers 1, and data from each controller 1, and collects the data. And the master unit 2 for transmitting to the game machine body 3, and the controller 1 and the master unit 2 communicate with each other by wireless communication using infrared rays. In this game machine, data signals sent by the operators are time-divided in order to perform operations by a plurality of operators on a wireless communication path.
Send to. The main | base station 2 discriminate | determines which operator the operation signal (serial data) transmitted from the controller 1 is, and transmits to the game machine main body collectively. The procedure will be described below.

(0) The game machine body recognizes the operator,
Delay time in each controller of 4 operators is Δ
t _A , Δt _B , Δt _C , and Δt _D [ms] are set. (1) A transmission instruction (game machine output signal) 13 according to each application of the game machine body 3 is output from the game machine body 3 to the parent machine 2. The game machine output signal is a game operation enable signal. (2) A reference signal is generated in the reference signal generation unit 4 according to the transmission instruction (game machine output signal), and the reference signal transmission unit 5
And is sent to the discriminator 21 at the same time. The reference signal transmission unit 5 converts the reference signal into a signal for infrared interface, and the reference signal transmission line 15 is used to convert each controller 1
Send to. The reference signal transmission path 15 is a wireless communication path using infrared rays.

(3) Reference signal receiving section 1 of controller 1
The reference signal received at 0 is the multiplexing timing generator 9
Sent to. As shown in FIG. 5, the multiplexing timing generating circuit 9 delays the signal supplied from the reference signal receiving unit 10 by the time set by the setting switch 11 and sends it to the next stage by delay circuit 9a and flip-flop circuit 9b. , A clock generation circuit 9d, a counter 9c, and an AND circuit 9e. The setting switch 11 sets a delay time according to each controller 1. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the delay time and the transmission timing. Here, since the delay time for transmitting the signal in time division is set in advance (the delay time of each of the operators (four people of A, B, C, D) is Δt _A , Δt _B , Δt _C , Δt _D [m
s]), the delay time after the reference signal is received by the setting switch 11 of the multiplexing timing generator 9 is Δt _A [ms], and the delay circuit 10 receives it. From Δt _A [ms]. After these delay times have elapsed, the individual controllers transmit data.

The reference signal delayed in timing by the delay circuit 9a in FIG. 5 is input to the set terminal of the flip-flop circuit 9b, and the output of the flip-flop circuit 9b becomes high at this timing. At the same time, the reference signal from the delay circuit 9a is supplied to the clock generation circuit 9d, and the clock generation circuit 9d outputs a clock signal synchronized with the rising edge of the reference signal. The output of the AND circuit 9e is the counter 9c
The counter 9c inputs the reset signal to the set terminal of the flip-flop circuit 9b when the preset count value is reached, and the output of the flip-flop circuit 9b becomes Lo. That is, the output of the flip-flop circuit 9b becomes high for a predetermined time in the counter 9c, and becomes a so-called mask signal. Only when the mask signal is high, the controller 1 is allowed to transmit to the master device 2 for a period of time.

The operation signal transmitter 8 comprises a decode 8a for decoding the data of the operation key 7, a shift register 8b and a transmitter 8c. The button pressed by the operation key 7 is decoded into a transmission signal pattern by the decode 8a, and the decoded signal is set in the shift register 8b. The signal set in the shift register 8b is sequentially sent to the transmitter 8c according to the clock signal supplied from the AND circuit 9e, and is transmitted from the transmitter 8c to the master unit 2. The AND circuit 9e outputs the clock signal only while the mask signal is high, and the signal is transmitted from the transmitter 8c only during this period. Therefore, if the timing when the mask signal is high is changed for each of the plurality of controllers 1, transmission data will not collide with each other.

The mask signal decodes the data from each operation key 7 and is input to the shift register 8b so that the transmitter 8
c, and as an operation signal, as shown in FIG.
Sent to. For example, when the data length is 8 bits, the multiplexing timing generation unit 9 generates a mask signal for 8 bits. Each bit has data of each operation key 7. (By pressing the operation key 7, the signal is turned on and the signal is set to "1".) 0 bit: It is turned on when "X" is selected (operated). 1 bit: Turns ON when "Y" is selected (operated). 2-bit: Turns on when "A" is selected (operated). 3-bit: Turns ON when "B" is selected (operated). 4-bit: Turns on when "→" is selected (operated). Bit 5: Turns on when "←" is selected (operated). 6 bit: Turned on when "↑" is selected (operated). Bit 7: Turns on when "↓" is selected (operated).

(4) The operation signal is transmitted from the operation signal transmitting section 8 to the base unit 2 through the operation signal transmission path 14, received by the operation signal receiving section 6, and sent to the discriminating section 21. Here, the operation signal transmission path 14 is a wireless communication path using infrared rays. On the basis of the reference signal sent to the discriminating unit 21 in step S1, the discriminating unit 21 discriminates the operation signal sent to the discriminating unit 21 after Δt _A (ms) from each controller 1 as the data of the operator A, and Δt _B The operation signal sent to the determination unit 21 after (ms) is determined to be the data of the operator B, and Δt _C (ms)
The operation signal sent to the determination unit 21 later is determined to be the data of the operator C, and the operation signal sent to the determination unit 21 after Δt _D (ms) is determined to be the data of the operator D. (6) Since each operation signal described above is serial data, each data (data A, B, C, D) is stored in the memory 22. (7) The collected data A, B, C, D are converted into electric signals and transferred to the game machine body 3 by the operation data output 12. The above operations (1) to (7) are performed for each frame, and the game progresses. Also, generally, several tens of frames are set per second.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, a data length, the number of operators, and operation keys different from those illustrated can be used. Although infrared rays are exemplified as a carrier wave for wireless transmission, visible light, electromagnetic waves such as microwaves, and the like can be used. Further, although the reference signal is fixed periodically in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the operation mode can be changed by changing the type of the reference signal. For example, the data of each operation key can be changed, or the delay time can be changed.

[0020]

As described above in detail, according to the wireless communication device of the present invention, each controller operates at the timing delayed by the delay time specific to each controller with respect to the reference timing signal received from the master unit. A game machine capable of playing a game by a plurality of people based on a relatively simple structure because it is configured to transmit a signal and determine the operation signal received from each controller by the parent machine for each controller based on the reception timing. And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a part of a configuration of a game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the wireless communication device that constitutes the game machine of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an external view of the game machine of the above embodiment.

5 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a controller 1 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Controller 2 Main Unit 3 Game Console Main Body 4 Reference Timing Signal Generator 5 Reference Timing Signal Transmitter 6 Operation Signal Receiver 7 Operation Key 8 Operation Signal Transmitter 10 Reference Timing Signal Receiver

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical indication location G06F 3/00 E 7165-5B (72) Inventor Yu Sasaki 2-6 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 3 Inside Nippon Steel Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akio Sakai 1-4-12 Ote-dori, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Capcom Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A wireless communication device comprising a master unit and a plurality of controllers for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the master unit via a wireless transmission path, wherein the master unit generates a reference timing signal. A reference timing signal generation unit, a transmission unit for transmitting the reference timing signal, a reception unit for receiving the operation signal transmitted by each controller, and a reception signal received by this reception unit based on its reception timing. Each controller is provided with a determination unit that determines from which one of the controllers it is received, and each controller receives a reference timing signal transmitted by the master unit and an operation signal transmitted to the master unit. And an operation signal input section for performing the operation signal input by the input section for each controller with respect to the reference timing signal received from the master unit. Wireless communication apparatus characterized by comprising a transmitter which transmits at a timing delayed by different predetermined delay time. 2. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein each of the controllers includes a delay time setting unit that sets the predetermined delay time, for each of the controllers. 3. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein transmission / reception of a signal between the master unit and each controller is performed using infrared rays. 4. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the master unit includes a storage unit that stores the determination result of the determination unit in association with each of the controllers. 5. A wireless communication device comprising a master unit and a plurality of controllers for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the master unit, and a game program according to an operation signal received from the wireless communication device. A game machine including a game machine main body to be executed, wherein the master machine constituting the wireless communication device includes a reference timing signal generating section for generating a reference timing signal, and a transmitting section for transmitting the reference timing signal. And a receiver that receives the operation signal sent by each controller, and a determination that determines which of the controllers received the received signal received by this receiver based on the reception timing. Each of the controllers constituting the wireless communication device including a unit A receiving unit for receiving a signal, an operation signal input unit for inputting an operation signal to be sent to the master unit, an operation signal input by the input unit, each controller with respect to the reference timing signal received from the master unit A wireless communication device, comprising: a transmission unit that transmits at a timing delayed by a predetermined delay time that is different for each. 6. The game machine according to claim 5, wherein each of the controllers forming the wireless communication device is provided with a delay time setting means for setting the predetermined delay time for each of the controllers. 7. The game machine according to claim 5, wherein transmission and reception of a signal between a master unit that constitutes the wireless communication device and each of the controllers are performed using infrared rays. 8. The game machine according to claim 5, wherein the master unit that constitutes the wireless communication device includes a storage unit that stores the determination result of the determination unit in association with the controller.