JPH06324803A - Cordless input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constitute the device so that cordless mouses exceeding the number of channels by detecting a free channel by exchanging use channel information to other device, and setting automatically a data transmitting channel at an arbitrary time point. CONSTITUTION:At the time of setting a data transmitting channel, a channel setting part requests to return the data transmitting channel which is being used at present to other device. Other device which receives it returns channel information which the channel setting part is using at present in the same way. Subsequently, the channel is switched in order to each data transmitting channel (S18), and the use is awaited for a prescribed time until a channel using code is received by its channel (S19). If the channel using code is not received within the prescribed time, it is decided that its channel is not used by other device (S19.NO), and this channel is determined at the data transmitting channel which is used newly (S23).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cordless input device for transmitting an input signal by using a multi-channel system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of cordless mouse is one that inputs a coordinate to a computer by using radio waves as a data transmitting means. With the development and spread of computers, when using this cordless mouse in an environment where many computers are installed in one room, such as a computer room,
Since radio wave interference occurs, there is a problem that interference occurs when a plurality of cordless mice are used at the same time.

To solve this, each cordless mouse is assigned an individual data transmission channel by using a multi-channel method, and each cordless mouse exclusively uses the assigned data transmission channel to input the input signal. It was preventing interference.

[0004]

However, in the cordless mouse using the multi-channel method as described above, when a fixed channel is assigned to each cordless mouse, the number of required channels is proportional to the number of cordless mice. Increase. On the other hand, it is not always possible to secure the same number of channels as the number of cordless mice, and even if it is possible, if the cordless mouse is not used, the channel assigned to that cordless mouse will not be used. The reserved channel is not used effectively. It is also difficult to manage which channel is assigned to each cordless mouse.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when a cordless input device is used, or by dynamically allocating a data transmission channel to each device at an arbitrary time point, a constant data transmission channel is obtained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cordless input device that can be used with cordless input devices having more channels.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, the cordless input device of the present invention requests another device to return channel information currently used when setting a data transmission channel. When there is an inquiry about the used channel from the reply requesting means and the other device, the replying means for returning the channel information being used, and the empty channel is detected from the used channel information returned from the other device, and the data is transmitted. It is provided with setting means for setting a channel and transmitting means for transmitting an input signal to the host side using the data transmission channel set by the setting means.

[0007]

In the cordless input device of the present invention having the above-described structure, when setting the data transmission channel, the reply request means requests the other device to return the currently used data transmission channel. In addition, when the channel information used as the data transmission channel is returned by the response means of the other device that receives this request, the channel setting means detects an empty channel and sets the data transmission channel. Then, the transmitting means transmits the input signal to the host side using the set data transmission channel.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a multi-channel cordless mouse will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cordless mouse 10 as a cordless input device of the present invention seen from the side. As shown in FIG. 1, the cordless mouse 10 on the transmitting side includes a transmitting / receiving antenna 12, a click button 14, an electronic board 16 provided with a channel setting unit 48 (see FIG. 3), and the cordless mouse 10. The ball 18 that rotates with the movement, the power supply unit 20, the power supply switch 22, the channel reset switch 24 that resets the data transmission channel, and the display unit 2 that shows the channel setting result.
6 and 6.

The host computer 3 on the receiving side
As shown in the side view of FIG. 2, 0 sets a main electronic board 32 provided with a CPU and the like, a receiving unit 70 (see FIG. 4) for receiving data from the cordless mouse 10, and a data transmission channel. The sub electronic board 34 is provided with a channel setting unit 62 (see FIG. 4), a transmitting / receiving antenna 36, a keyboard 38 for inputting data, and a display screen 39 for displaying various data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the cordless mouse 10. This control unit includes a signal detection unit 40, a signal conversion unit 42, a transmission unit 44, a channel setting unit 46, and an oscillator. A frequency controller 48, an oscillator 50,
The device identification code setting unit 52 and the receiving unit 54 are included.

The signal detecting section 40 is used for the cordless mouse 10.
Based on the rotation of the ball 18 accompanying the movement of the
A movement amount in the coordinate direction and a signal of pressing the click button 14 are detected. Further, the signal conversion unit 42 synthesizes a plurality of tones having natural frequencies corresponding to the respective signals detected by the signal detection unit 40, and creates data to be transmitted to the host computer 30 side.

Further, the transmitter 44 sets the channel setting code and the device identification code peculiar to each cordless mouse 10 set by the device identification code setting unit 52 when the data transmission channel is set. Send to.

Then, the channel setting unit 46 instructs the oscillation frequency control unit 48 to press the power switch 22 or the channel reset switch 24 when setting the data transmission channel to be used when transmitting data such as coordinate position signals. In addition to instructing the channel to switch to the channel setting dedicated channel, the receiving unit 54 switches the channel setting unit 46 to a newly used channel based on the channel setting information returned from the host computer 30 side received by the channel setting dedicated channel. Instruct.
Further, the transmitting unit 44 is instructed to transmit the channel setting code to the host computer 30 side. Also,
The oscillation frequency control unit 48 switches the channel by controlling the local oscillation frequency that the oscillation unit 50 supplies to the transmission unit 44 and the reception unit 54.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the receiving device on the host computer 30 side. The control unit of this receiving device includes a transmitting unit 60 and a channel setting unit 62.
An oscillation frequency control unit 64, an oscillation unit 66, a device identification code setting unit 68, a reception unit 70, and a signal conversion unit 72.
And an interface section 74.

The channel setting section 62 instructs the oscillation frequency control section 64 to switch channels, and at the same time, the receiving section 7
A free channel is detected based on the channel busy code supplied from 0, and a new data transmission channel is set. Further, it issues the following three instructions to the transmission unit 60. That is, the first is an instruction to transmit a channel busy code to another device on the currently used data transmission channel, and the second is a data transmission currently used by another device. To know the channel
It is instructed to send the used channel return code to other devices using the channel dedicated to channel setting.
The second is, after the data transmission channel to be used newly is set, for the cordless mouse 10 which is an auxiliary device,
It is an instruction to transmit the device identification code and the number of the newly set data transmission channel.

The receiving unit 70 receives a device identification code, a channel setting code and a used channel transmission code on a channel dedicated channel and uses a channel transmitted from another device on a data transmission channel such as a coordinate position signal. Receive medium code. Further, the coordinate position signal and the like are received and supplied to the signal conversion unit 72. Further, the signal conversion unit 72 separates the received signal by a filter corresponding to the natural frequency to obtain respective signals of the movement amount in the X-coordinate and Y-coordinate directions and the pressing of the click button 14, and through the interface unit 74. Input to the host computer.

Next, the operation of the cordless mouse 10 or the host computer 30 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

First, when the power switch 22 is depressed at the start of use or the channel reset switch 24 is depressed in the hope of changing the data transmission channel, the mode for setting the data transmission channel used for transmission of the coordinate position signal etc. is entered. , Control is started.

On the other hand, in the host computer 30, in order to respond to the channel setting request used by the cordless mouse 10, an interrupt is made at regular intervals to enter the channel setting mode. In addition, when the data from the cordless mouse 10 cannot be received (S11, NO),
The channel setting mode is terminated because there is no channel setting request.

Then, in the cordless mouse 10, the channel setting unit 46 instructs the oscillation frequency control unit 48 to switch the channel to the channel setting dedicated channel used for transmitting and receiving the channel setting information (S1).
Next, the transmitting unit 44 transmits the channel setting code and the identification code of the own device set in the device identification code setting unit 52 to the host computer 30 side using the channel dedicated for channel setting (S2).

Then, when the host computer 30 enters the channel setting mode and receives the device identification code and the channel setting code of its own device, the current empty channel is detected and the data transmission channel to be newly used is determined, The device identification code of the device itself and the number of the data transmission channel to be newly used are transmitted to the cordless mouse 10 side.

First, the channel setting unit 62 switches the channel to the channel setting dedicated channel through the oscillation frequency control unit 64 (S10). Next, it is determined whether the receiving unit 70 has received the data transmitted from the cordless mouse 10 on the channel dedicated for channel setting (S11). In this case, since the data from the cordless mouse 10 is received (S11, YES), it is subsequently determined whether or not the received signal is the use channel return code (S1).
2). At this time, assuming that the received signal is the used channel return code (S12, YES), the channel setting unit 62 requests the channel setting unit 62 to notify the channel being used by another device. Is switched from the channel dedicated channel setting to the data transmission channel currently used by the own device (S13). Then, after the channel busy code is transmitted to another device for a certain period of time (S14), the channel setting mode is ended.

On the other hand, when the received data is not the used channel return code (S12, NO), it means that the channel setting request is made and the identification code setting section 68 sets whether or not the channel setting request is for the own device. The determination is made using the device identification code (S15). And
When the received device identification code matches the device identification code of the own device (S15, YES), the channel setting code is received (S16) and the process proceeds to the next S17. If the received device identification code does not match the device identification code of the own device (S15, NO), the channel setting request is for another device, and the channel setting mode is terminated.

Then, in S17, in order to know the data transmission channel used by the other device, the channel setting unit 62 transmits the used channel reply code to the other device through the transmitting unit 60 by using the dedicated channel setting channel. .
Then, since the channel busy code is returned in the data transmission channels used by the other devices, the channels are sequentially switched to the respective data transmission channels (S1).
8).

Then, a certain period of time is waited until a channel busy code is received on the channel set in S18 (S1).
9). If a channel busy code is received within this fixed time (S19, YES), the channel is being used by another device, so the process proceeds to S20 to check the next channel. If there is an unexamined channel in S20 (S20, YES), the above S18
Return to and switch the channel to the unsurveyed channel and perform the same process. If there is no unexamined channel (S20, NO), it is determined that there is no free channel,
In order to inform the cordless mouse of my device about this,
Switch the channel to the dedicated channel setting channel (S
21). Then, an error code indicating that the own device identification code and the data transmission channel could not be set is transmitted to the cordless mouse 10 (S22), and the channel setting mode ends.

Then, in S19, when the channel busy code is not received within a fixed time, it is determined that the channel is not used by another device, that is, an empty channel (S19, NO), This channel is determined as the data transmission channel to be newly used (S
23). Then, in order to inform the cordless mouse 10 that the data transmission channel has been determined, the channel setting unit 62 switches the channel to the channel dedicated channel setting (S24). Next, the cordless mouse 1 is provided with the device identification code of the own device and the determined data transmission channel number.
To 0 (S25). Then, the channel is switched to the data transmission channel in preparation for receiving the coordinate position data transmitted from the cordless mouse 10 thereafter (S
26) and terminate the channel setting mode.

As a result, the cordless mouse 10 receives the device identification code returned from the host computer 30 side and the number of the data transmission channel to be newly used (S3). Then, it is determined whether or not the received device identification code matches the device identification code of the own device (S4). Then, when the received device identification code matches the device identification code of the own device (S4, YES),
It is determined whether or not the received new data transmission channel number is an error number (S5), and if it is an error number (S5, YES), the data transmission channel to be newly used is determined by the reason that there is no free channel. Assuming that the channel could not be set, the user is informed by the display unit 26 that the channel could not be set, and then the channel setting mode is ended (S6).

On the other hand, if the received device identification code and the device identification code of the own device do not match (S4.N)
O), the process returns to S3.

If the received data transmission channel number is not an error number (S5, NO), the channel setting unit 4 sets the channel to the received channel number.
6 instructs the oscillation controller 48 (S7). This allows
Since the setting of the data transmission channel on the cordless mouse 10 side is completed, the display unit 2 indicates that the channel setting is completed.
After notifying the user by 6, the channel setting mode is ended (S8). After this, it becomes possible to transmit data such as coordinate position signals using this newly set data transmission channel.

As is apparent from the above description, when setting the data transmission channel in the cordless input device of this embodiment, it is necessary to inquire other devices of the channel information used. It is possible to detect a free channel and dynamically determine a data transmission channel at any time. As a result, more cordless input devices can be used with a certain number of channels, and it becomes unnecessary to manage which channel is assigned to each device.

In the above embodiment, when an inquiry about the channel being used is made from another device, the data transmission channel currently used when returning the channel information being used is used. A dedicated channel for setting may be used.

On the contrary, the dedicated channel setting channel was used when requesting a reply of the used channel information indicating which channel is currently used to another device, but the currently used data transmission channel is used. May be. Similarly, although the channel dedicated for channel setting is used in the data exchange between the transmitting side and the receiving side of the cordless input device, the currently used data transmitting channel may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the exchange of the used channel information, the detection of the vacant channel, and the determination of the data transmission channel to be newly used are performed on the host computer side, but they may be performed on the cordless mouse side.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description,
In the cordless input device of the present invention, when setting the data transmission channel in the multi-channel method, when a request for returning the used channel information is made to another device and an inquiry about the used channel is made from another device, the channel information in use is used. By detecting a vacant channel from the used channel information returned from another device and providing a setting means for setting the data transmission channel, the data transmission channel can be dynamically determined at any time, With a certain number of channels, more cordless input devices can be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cordless input device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cordless input device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cordless mouse side in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a host side in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation state on the cordless mouse side in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operating state on the host side in the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operating state on the host side in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 cordless mouse 44 transmission unit 46 channel setting unit 48 oscillation frequency control unit 50 oscillation unit 52 device identification code setting unit 54 reception unit 30 host computer 60 transmission unit 62 channel setting unit 64 oscillation frequency setting unit 66 oscillation unit 68 device identification code setting Part 70 Receiver

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When setting a data transmission channel, a reply request means for requesting a reply of channel information currently in use to another device, and when an inquiry about a used channel is made from another device,
The reply means for sending back the channel information being used, the setting means for detecting an empty channel from the used channel information sent back from another device and setting the data transmission channel, and the data transmission channel set by the setting means A cordless input device, comprising: a transmitting unit that is used and transmits an input signal to a host side.