JPH09250262A - Remote control device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the interference of an electric wave by previously storing a plurality of periods for intermittently sending out the electric wave in a remote control device, and changing over the term of the electric wave whenever it is sent out. SOLUTION: Intermittent periods of two or more kinds are previously set up in RAM 43 inside a microcomputer 4. When a user pushes the lockswitch 31 or unlockswitch 32 of a switch 3, the intermittent period data kept in RAM 43 at the time of last transmission are read out, and the intermittent period at this time different from the above intermittent period are selected and decided, and a timer is reset. At this time the intermittent period data at this time are kept in RAM 43 and an electric wave is transmitted. When the timer arrives at a fixed set time, the intermittent period data are read out from RAM 43 again, and the intermittent period at this time different from the above intermittent period is selected and decided, and after the timer is reset, the following intermittent period is kept in RAM 43. Thus, the mutual interference of electric wave can be reduced to secure the certain action of a remote control device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control device for remotely controlling the operation of an external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to the external device having a receiver, and particularly to the transmission timing of the radio wave. The present invention relates to a controllable remote control device and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A remote control device for realizing start / stop and operation control of an external device by remote control is used in a wide range of fields. In recent years, as an external device to be controlled, for example, a system (keyless entry system) for locking / unlocking a door of an automobile, which is a typical vehicle, is becoming popular. Generally, such a remote control device is provided with a plurality of key switches for operation. The input data from the key switches is processed by a built-in microcomputer to generate a digital signal, and a high-frequency signal is further generated. Modulated by circuit
The configuration is such that the signal is amplified and transmitted as a control signal for remote control from the antenna to an external device that is a control target.

In the system using the remote control device as a transmitter as described above, the transmission timing of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitter has a predetermined intermittent cycle (hereinafter, intermittent cycle). This is to consider conditions such as prevention of consumption of the battery, which is the drive source of the remote control device, and regulation of the radio wave transmission time under the Radio Law (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-8585).

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional system, when the transmitters (for example, the transmitter 1 and the transmitter 2) are actuated at almost the same time as shown in the conventional example of FIG. , Since the radio waves of all transmitters are simultaneously transmitted in the same intermittent cycle T, the radio waves of each other interfere with each other, and as a result, all the receivers cannot identify the radio wave of the transmitter corresponding to the own vehicle, The system may effectively become inoperable. For example, in the case of a commercial baggage carrier, it is considered that the same system is attached to all vehicles and the systems are arranged in close proximity. Then, at the start time, it is quite possible that the transmitter starts transmitting radio waves at about the same time and falls into the inoperable state described above.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in a remote control device for remotely controlling the operation of the external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to the external device equipped with a receiver, a remote control for reducing interference of transmitted radio waves. An object is to provide an apparatus and a control method thereof.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the remote control device is characterized by the following configuration.

That is, in a remote control device for remotely controlling the operation of an external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to the external device, the time interval for transmitting the radio wave is set at the time of the previous transmission and the current transmission. It is characterized in that it is provided with a control means for setting different values. This reduces the probability that the receiver of the external device will simultaneously receive radio waves from the plurality of remote control devices.

More preferably, it comprises a storage means for storing a plurality of times in advance, and a temporary storage means for temporarily storing the time when the radio wave was transmitted last time, and the control means when the radio wave is transmitted this time. In addition, a time different from the time of the previous transmission is selected from the storage means and stored in the temporary storage means. Each time a radio wave is transmitted, the values of a plurality of times stored in advance are alternately (or sequentially) used to change the transmission timing of the radio wave.

[0009] Specifically, the remote control device is a transmitter of a keyless entry system of an automobile. In order to achieve the above purpose,
The control method of the remote control device is characterized by the following configuration.

That is, in the control method of the remote control device for remotely controlling the operation of the external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to the external device, the time interval for transmitting the radio wave is set to be the same as the previous transmission time. It is characterized by setting different values at the time of transmission this time. This reduces the probability that the receiver of the external device will simultaneously receive radio waves from the plurality of remote control devices.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a transmitter of a keyless entry system of an automobile as an external device having a receiver will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of a remote control device which is a transmitter will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a remote control device as an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the remote control device uses a battery 1 as a driving power source and includes a switch 3 having a lock switch 31 and an unlock switch 32. The operation of the switch is controlled by a built-in microcomputer (hereinafter
A digital signal is generated by signal processing by a microcomputer 4 and is further modulated / amplified by a high frequency circuit 5 and transmitted as a control signal for remote control from an antenna 6 to a vehicle receiver (not shown). Thus, the door of the automobile (not shown) is locked or unlocked by operating the lock switch 31 or the unlock switch 32. Further, the remote control device has a rewritable read only memory (EEPRO) for storing an ID code and the like.
M) 2, and an LED 7 that emits light simultaneously with the transmission of radio waves. Further, the microcomputer 4 has therein a CPU 41 for controlling the overall operation of the remote control device, a read only memory (RO) for storing a program for realizing the above-described and later-described operations of the remote control device.
M) 42 and a random access memory (RAM) 43 used as a temporary storage or a working area. The remote control device of this embodiment is AM
Although the modulation method is adopted, it goes without saying that the modulation method is not limited to this.

The outline of the method for preventing the interference of the transmission radio waves of the remote control device having the above-mentioned configuration will be described. By switching the intermittent period of the transmitters, the transmission timings of the radio waves of the respective transmitters are shifted to each other. Try to prevent radio wave interference. Specifically, R inside the microcomputer 4
Two or more types of intermittent periods are preset in the AM 43. When the user presses the lock switch 31 or the unlock switch 32 of the switch 3, the data of the intermittent cycle at the previous transmission stored in the RAM 43 is read,
The intermittent cycle of this time different from the intermittent cycle is selected and determined, and the timer is reset and started. At this time, the data of the current intermittent cycle is stored in the RAM 43 and the radio wave is transmitted.
When the timer reaches a predetermined set time, RA again
Data of the intermittent cycle is read from M43, a current intermittent cycle different from the intermittent cycle is selected / determined, the timer is reset and started, and then the next intermittent cycle is stored in the RAM 43. The present invention is realized by repeating the above operation.

Next, the operation of the remote control device will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, a case where two types of intermittent periods (T1, T2) are set will be described.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the remote control device according to one embodiment of the present invention. By applying a voltage to the remote control device (inserting the battery 1 into a battery socket (not shown)), FIG. The processing shown in the flowchart of 2 is started.

In step S1, a reset circuit (not shown) incorporated in the microcomputer 4 is activated and the microcomputer 4 is initialized (reset). When the reset is released after a lapse of a predetermined time, a program stored in advance in the ROM 42 is loaded into the CPU 41, and first, the operating conditions of the microcomputer 4, internal settings such as an internal timer, and initialization processing of the RAM 43 are performed.

Next, in step S2, the microcomputer 4 shifts to a stop mode (so-called sleep mode) and stands by until the depression of the lock switch 31 or the unlock switch 32 is detected. Thereby, the consumption of the battery 1 is minimized.

When it is detected that the lock switch 31 or the unlock switch 32 is pressed, the microcomputer 4 shifts from the stop mode to the operation mode in step S3, and communicates with the EEPROM 2, whereby the EEPROM
The ID code previously stored in the ROM 2 is read out. Here, the ID is unique to each set of the remote control device and the above-mentioned control device for associating the present remote control device, which is the transmitter, with the receiver (not shown) mounted on the automobile to be controlled ( A unique number.

Next, in step S4, the data group to be transmitted is output to the high frequency circuit 5 according to the pressed switch detected in step S3, and is transmitted from the antenna 6 as a radio wave. At the same time, the LED 7 is turned on.
Incidentally, in the case of the present embodiment, the structure of the data group is composed of a header, an ID code, a function code, a vehicle type identification code and the like.

In step S5, the intermittent cycle used this time is determined. T1 is set for the first transmission after the power is turned on, but after that, T1 or T is set for the previous transmission.
2 To determine which intermittent cycle was used, R
Data is read from AM43.

In step S6, the other intermittent cycle which is not the intermittent cycle read in step S5 is selected. For example, if it was T1 (T2) last time, this time T2
Select (T1).

In step S7, the intermittent cycle selected in step S6 is stored in the RAM 43 as the current intermittent cycle.

Steps S8 to S10 are a routine for measuring the interval of radio wave transmission, and the microcomputer 4 sets the intermittent cycle selected in step S6 as a predetermined time.
Resets and starts the built-in timer (step S
8). When it is detected that the switch, which has been pressed in step S3, is turned off while the timer is counting (step S9), the microcomputer 4 returns to step S2 and shifts to the stop mode while keeping the contents of the RAM 43 at that time.
On the other hand, when a predetermined time is measured by the timer (step S10), the process returns to step S3 to start the radio wave transmission process using the other intermittent cycle that is not the intermittent cycle selected in step S6.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the radio wave transmission timing when there are a plurality of remote control devices as an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, if the number of times the remote control devices (transmitters 1 and 2) are used is different after the first radio wave transmission after the battery is inserted, the radio waves of each remote control device are simultaneously transmitted. Even in such a case, the probability of radio wave interference can be reduced by alternately using two types of intermittent cycles.

In the present embodiment, for the sake of convenience of explanation, there are two types of intermittent periods, but there may be three or more types, and if the intermittent periods are set to different times for each remote control device, further. The probability of radio wave interference can be reduced. In addition, a random function process may be added to the program processed by the microcomputer 4 to calculate the intermittent cycle.

Further, although the present embodiment has been described by taking the transmitter of the keyless entry system of an automobile as an example, the application of the present invention is not limited to this, and various vehicles including
It goes without saying that it can be applied to remote control devices in all fields.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a remote control device that remotely controls the operation of an external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to an external device equipped with a receiver, it is possible to provide a remote control device and a control method thereof that reduce interference of transmitted radio waves. To be realized. That is, by shifting the transmission timing of the radio waves of each transmitter, mutual radio wave interference can be reduced and reliable operation can be ensured.

[0030]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the remote control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a radio wave transmission timing when there are a plurality of remote control devices as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a transmission timing of a radio wave of a transmitter as a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Battery 2 EEPROM 3 Switch 4 Microcomputer 5 High Frequency Circuit 6 Antenna 7 LED 31 Lock Switch 32 Unlock Switch 41 CPU 42 ROM 43 RAM

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location H04Q 9/00 311 H04Q 9/00 311L (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Hishida Nihonbashi Kodenmacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 10 No. 11 Mazda Trading Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kohei Okui 3-12-9 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Express Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A remote control device for remotely controlling the operation of an external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to the external device. A remote control device, characterized in that it is provided with control means for setting different values for each. 2. A storage means for storing a plurality of the times in advance, and a temporary storage means for temporarily storing a time when the radio wave was previously transmitted, wherein the control means is for transmitting the radio wave this time. 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein a time different from the time of the previous transmission is selected from the storage means and stored in the temporary storage means. 3. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the remote control device is a transmitter of a keyless entry system of an automobile. 4. A method for controlling a remote control device for remotely controlling the operation of an external device by transmitting a predetermined radio wave to the external device, wherein the time interval for transmitting the radio wave is the same as the previous transmission time. A control method characterized by setting different values at the time of transmission this time. 5. The method of controlling a remote control device according to claim 4, wherein the remote control device is a transmitter of a keyless entry system of an automobile.