JPH09269859A - Keyboard corresponding to plural computers - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a keyboard corresponding to computer, which can correspond to the arbitrary number of computer main bodies, which the need of a special device on a computer body-side by depressing an identification key for selecting and identifying the computer main body. SOLUTION: When a keyboard part is depressed, key data is transmitted to a serial/parallel conversion circuit 11 corresponding to the selected identification key, the identification key 15, for example, and key data is stored in a memory 18. The serial/parallel conversion circuit 11 receiving key data converts key data into serial data and transmits it to the corresponding computer 2. When the plural selected identification keys exist, the operation is executed on all the selected identification keys. When the keyboard receives the control signal of a retransmission request from the computer main body, an interruption controller (incorporated in a micro processor 14) can identify from which serial/ parallel conversion circuit the received control signal passes.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard compatible with a plurality of computers, and more particularly to a keyboard compatible with a plurality of computers that is compatible with a plurality of computers with one keyboard.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general keyboard is one of computer input devices and is a device for transmitting a signal corresponding to a depressed key to a computer body by depressing a key arranged according to a certain rule. Then, serial transfer is performed by a start-stop communication with the keyboard interface control circuit of the computer main body, and normally, the computer main body and the keyboard are configured in a one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, when a plurality of computers are used in the work such as software evaluation using the computer devices, the operator has to go to and operate each computer device. Further, when it is desired to perform the same operation on a plurality of computer devices or at the same time, it is necessary to have the same number of operators as the computer devices.

On the other hand, a keyboard having a function in which a single keyboard corresponds to a plurality of computers, and a computer connected to the keyboard can be designated to perform a key input operation, is a practical application. It is disclosed in JP-A-4-86932 and JP-A-4-65708.

The keyboard disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-86932 is a keyboard having a transmitter for transmitting a data signal by frequency switching and key operation, and a receiver for receiving a data signal corresponding to a specific frequency. It is configured to include a plurality of computer main bodies having the above, and by selecting the transmission frequency from the function keys on the keyboard, it is possible to exchange data with the corresponding computer main body. In addition, not only the receiving frequency of each computer device can receive its own frequency, but also the shared frequency can be received, and the function key that can select the shared frequency is provided on the keyboard, so that the simultaneous data transmission to all computer main units is possible. Is possible.

The keyboard disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-65708 is a keyboard unit, an input buffer, a switching key registration device, a switching key storage device, a comparison device,
A computer main unit that is configured to include a switching device, records any key on the keyboard device as a “switching key” in the output destination switching key storage device, and outputs the data by pressing the output destination switching key. The specified data is output to the computer main unit.

[0006]

However, the keyboard disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-86932 is
Since it is composed of a plurality of computer main bodies each having a keyboard having a frequency-switchable data transmission unit and a data signal reception unit corresponding to a specific frequency, a special device is required for the computer main body. There is a problem that it cannot be used in the main body.

Further, since the function key for selecting the transmission frequency can select only a specific frequency or a common frequency, data can be transmitted only to one computer main body or all computer main bodies at the same time. However, there is a problem that it is not possible to select an arbitrary number of computer main bodies.

On the other hand, the keyboard disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-65708 allows key input operation only to one computer selected from a plurality of computers. There is a problem that it is not possible to select and key in at the same time.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to support a plurality of computers which can support not only one or all computer bodies but also an arbitrary number of computer bodies without requiring a special device on the computer body side. To provide a keyboard.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a keyboard for multiple computers according to the present invention comprises:
A key matrix, serial-parallel conversion circuits for the corresponding number of computer main bodies, and identification keys provided corresponding to the computer main bodies for designating and identifying to which computer main body the key data is transferred. When a control signal such as a resend request from the computer body is received via the serial-parallel conversion circuit, the memory has a memory for storing the valid / invalid state of the identification key and key data, and an interrupt controller. Is
And a microprocessor having a function of identifying the control signal and retransmitting the key data transmitted immediately before and stored in the memory in response to the control signal of the retransmission request.

Here, the interrupt controller is separated from the microprocessor, and the memory is separated into a memory for storing valid / invalid of the identification key and a memory for storing key data. Further, as the identification key, a plurality of computer main bodies for transmitting key data are selected,
Send key data to all selected computers.

In the present invention, the identification key for selecting and identifying the computer main body to which the key data is to be transmitted is pressed. At this time, when it is desired to transmit the key data to a plurality of computer main bodies, all identification keys corresponding to the computer main bodies to be transmitted are selected. When the keyboard is pressed, the key data is transmitted to the serial-parallel conversion circuit corresponding to the selected identification key, and at the same time the key data is stored in the memory. The serial-parallel conversion circuit that receives the key data converts the key data into serial data, and then transmits the serial data to the corresponding computer body. When there are a plurality of selected identification keys, the above operation is performed for all the selected identification keys. When the keyboard receives a control signal such as a resend request from the computer main body, the interrupt controller can identify which serial-parallel conversion circuit has received the control signal. When the control signal is a request for retransmission, the key data transmitted immediately before and stored in the memory is retransmitted.

Since the keyboard and the computer main body perform the start-stop communication, not only the key data is transmitted from the keyboard to the computer main body, but also the control signal such as a resend request is transmitted from the computer main body to the keyboard. . When using the serial-parallel conversion circuits for the number of computers, when transmitting key data from the keyboard to the computer main body, it is possible to identify which serial-parallel conversion circuit should be transmitted by the identification key. However, the control signal sent from the computer main body cannot be identified through which serial-parallel conversion circuit the control signal is received. Therefore, for which computer body
The problem is whether the process corresponding to the control signal should be performed.
To solve this problem, the present invention uses a microprocessor with an interrupt controller. The interrupt controller can identify which serial-parallel conversion circuit the control signal has been sent to, and the microprocessor can correctly process the control signal such as a retransmission request. The interrupt controller can be configured separately from the microprocessor. As for the memory, it is also possible to separately configure a memory for storing valid / invalid of the identification key and a memory for storing key data.

Reducing the number of parts also leads to a reduction in manufacturing cost. For this reason, it is desirable to realize the microprocessor equipped with the interrupt controller and the storage of the valid / invalid state of the identification key and the storage of the key data by one memory.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a keyboard for multiple computers according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example in which a microprocessor having an interrupt controller is used, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration example in which the interrupt controller and the microprocessor are separated.

First, the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The keyboard 1 includes a keyboard section and serial-parallel conversion circuits 1 for the number of computers (three in this example) desired to correspond.
Identification keys 15, 16, 17 for identifying to which computer main body the key data is transferred, which correspond one-to-one with the microprocessor 14, equipped with the interrupt controller 1, the microprocessor 14, and the serial-parallel conversion circuit. , A memory 18 that stores the valid / invalid state of the identification key and also stores key data, and a key matrix 19. The computer main bodies 2, 3, 4 have computer circuits 21, 31, 41 and keyboard interface control circuits 22, 32, 42, respectively.

The operation of transferring key data from the keyboard 1 to the computer body will be described. When the key is input, the microprocessor 14 refers to the memory 18 to search for an identification key in a valid state. At this time, if the identification key 15 is in the valid state, the microprocessor 14 sends the key data to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 corresponding to the identification key 15, and stores the sent key data in the memory 18. Serial-parallel conversion circuit 1
1 converts the key data into serial data and sends it to the computer body 2.

When a plurality of identification keys in the valid state are retrieved, the microprocessor 14 sends the key data to all the serial-parallel conversion circuits corresponding to the identification keys in the valid state. For example, when the identification keys 15 and 17 are in the valid state, the serial-parallel conversion circuit 1
After transmitting the key data to 1, the key data is transmitted to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 13. If all the identification keys are valid, the key data is sequentially transmitted to the serial-parallel conversion circuits 11, 12, 13.

The timing of storing the valid / invalid of the identification key in the memory 18 is performed by using an interrupt generated when the identification key is pressed. A key data storage area is secured for each identification key in the memory 18, and key data is stored in an area corresponding to the identification key.

Next, the operation when the keyboard 1 receives the control signal sent from the keyboard interface control circuit of the computer body will be described.

For example, when the serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 of the keyboard 1 receives a retransmission request control signal from the keyboard interface control circuit 22 of the computer main body 2, the serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 requests the microprocessor 14 to make an interrupt request. I do. The microprocessor 14, which has received the interrupt request, identifies which serial-parallel conversion circuit the interrupt request is received by the interrupt controller function. Therefore, the microprocessor 14 can ask the serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 what the interrupt request is. At this time, the serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 requests the microprocessor 14 to perform retransmission processing. The microprocessor 14, which has received the resend request,
The key data transmitted immediately before to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 is retrieved from the memory 18 and retransmitted. Serial-parallel conversion circuit 11 that received key data
Converts the key data into serial data, and then transmits the serial data to the keyboard interface control circuit 22.

Next, the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The keyboard 5 has a configuration in which the interrupt controller built in the microprocessor 14 of the keyboard 1 described in FIG. 1 is separated from the microprocessor.
Similar to FIG. 1, the identification key 56 and the serial-parallel conversion circuit 51, the identification key 57 and the serial-parallel conversion circuit 52, and the identification key 58 and the serial-parallel conversion circuit 53.
Is supported by 3 computer main bodies 7,
A keyboard corresponding to 8 and 9 will be described. The computer main bodies 7, 8 and 9 are respectively computer circuits 7
1, 81, 91 and keyboard interface control circuit 7
2, 82, 92.

Since the processing for transferring the key data from the keyboard 5 to the computer main body is the same as the operation described with reference to FIG. 1, the operation when the control signal sent from the keyboard interface control circuit of the computer main body is received. Only explained.

For example, the serial-parallel conversion circuit 51
When the control signal of the resend request is received from the keyboard interface control circuit 72, the serial-parallel conversion circuit 51 requests the interrupt controller 54 to interrupt the microprocessor 55. The interrupt controller 54 issues an interrupt request from the serial-parallel conversion circuit 51 to the microprocessor 55. Since the microprocessor 55 that has received the interrupt request from the interrupt controller 54 can identify which serial-parallel conversion circuit the interrupt request is from, the microprocessor 55 tells the serial-parallel conversion circuit 51 what to do. Ask if it is an interrupt request. At this time, serial-
The parallel conversion circuit 51 requests retransmission processing. Upon receipt of the resend processing, the microprocessor 55 searches the memory 59 for the key data transmitted immediately before to the serial-parallel conversion circuit 51, and resends it. The serial-parallel conversion circuit 51 that receives the key data converts the key data into serial data, and then transmits the serial data to the keyboard interface control circuit 72.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to obtain a keyboard compatible with a plurality of computers that does not require a special device on the computer main body side and can support not only one or all computer main bodies but also an arbitrary number of computer main bodies.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a keyboard for multiple computers according to the present invention, which is an example in which a microprocessor having an interrupt controller is used.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of a keyboard for multiple computers according to the present invention, which is an example in which an interrupt controller and a microprocessor are separated.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 5 keyboard 2 computer main body 11, 12, 13, 51, 52, 53 serial-parallel conversion circuit 14 55 microprocessor 15, 16, 17, 56, 57, 58 identification key 18, 59 memory 19 key matrix 22, 72 keyboard interface control circuit 54 interrupt controller

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A key matrix, serial-parallel conversion circuits corresponding to the number of computer main bodies to be associated, and corresponding computer main bodies that specify and identify to which computer main body the key data is transferred. An identification key, a memory for storing the valid / invalid state of the identification key and key data, and an interrupt controller, and sends a control signal such as a resend request from the computer main body through the serial-parallel conversion circuit. And a microprocessor having a function of identifying the control signal and retransmitting the key data stored in the memory and transmitted immediately before in response to the control signal of the retransmission request. Keyboard for multiple computers. 2. The keyboard for multiple computers according to claim 1, wherein the interrupt controller and the microprocessor are separated. 3. The keyboard for a plurality of computers according to claim 1, wherein the memory has a memory for storing valid / invalid of an identification key and a memory for storing key data separated. 4. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the identification key selects a plurality of computer main bodies for transmitting key data and transmits the key data to all the selected computer main bodies.