JPH09307947A - Mca radio communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain multiple address communication even when there is any slave stations making individual speech by allowing each slave station to detect presence of a multiple address communication call based on multiple address communication information in a speech channel. SOLUTION: In radio equipments 1, 2 as slave stations, a multiple address communication information monitor section 24 detects it that a radio frequency is set to a 'transit channel' of a speech channel A, the section 24 recognizes it that a multiple address communication call is made from other radio equipments. When the multiple address communication information monitor section 24 recognizes a multiple address communication call, the multiple address communication information included in the speech channel A is stored in a multiple address communication information storage section 26 and informs a multiple address communication call notice section 28 of it. The multiple address communication call notice section 28 informs a speech party of it to raise attention upon the receipt of the notice from the multiple address communication information monitor section 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an MCA radio communication system, and more particularly to control at the start of a broadcast communication when a slave station is performing an individual call.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The MCA system is a mobile radio communication system which has a wide service area and can be constructed relatively inexpensively. In particular, the MCA system has a broadcast communication function that allows all users in the same group not to have a car telephone system or the like at the same time, and is therefore favorably used for various service operations such as a pickup and delivery service.

FIG. 6 shows an overall configuration of an MCA radio communication system, and shows a communication procedure for realizing a conventional broadcast communication function. This figure shows a control station 10 and n wireless devices 1, 2,..., N. Each radio 1 to n
They are connected by a wireless line via the control station 10, and one of the wireless devices calls another wireless device by using a control channel assigned to the line. Then, individual communication or broadcast communication is performed using a communication channel assigned to a line separately from the control channel. Especially for broadcasts,
A call is made using a broadcast communication channel assigned by the control station 10 among a plurality of prepared communication channels.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a procedure of a broadcast communication. Conventionally, for example, when the wireless device 3 makes a line connection request to the control station 10 by broadcast communication, the control station 10 that has received the line connection request broadcasts that effect to all the wireless devices in the same group. Make a communication call. Upon receiving the broadcast call, each wireless device can simultaneously perform the broadcast in response to the call.

[0005] The processing in each wireless device will be described in more detail.
C (Single Channel Per Carr)
In the (ier) system, each wireless device selects a radio frequency for receiving a control channel when in a reception standby state, and constantly monitors the content of the control channel. When detecting that a broadcast request is included in the received control channel, a radio frequency is assigned to a broadcast communication channel among a plurality of communication channels prepared for performing a call between wireless devices. Switch. Thereby, all the wireless devices 1
To n can perform broadcast communication within the same group. Upon completion of the broadcast communication, each radio switches from the radio frequency of the broadcast communication channel to the radio frequency of the control channel to return to the reception standby state.

By the way, when a certain radio is making a call individually with another radio, each radio in the individual call selects a radio frequency of a communication channel for the individual call. That is, the radio frequency of the control channel is not selected. To be precise, it cannot be selected in the SCPC system. Therefore, even if there is a broadcast call from any of the radios, each radio during the individual call cannot receive the above-mentioned broadcast request (call) included in the control channel. Therefore, conventionally, the following measures have been taken.

First, there is a method in which a broadcast communication is made to wait until an individual call is completed. For example, when the radio 1 and the radio 2 are making an individual call, the radio 3
Makes a broadcast call, the control station 10 can know the end of the individual communication by monitoring the communication channel used by the radios 1 and 2 for the individual communication. , 2 and wait for the end of the individual call to start broadcasting within the group. FIGS. 8 and 9 show the processing flow of the first method.

A second method is to forcibly end an individual call and immediately start broadcasting. For example,
If the wireless device 3 makes a broadcast call while the wireless device 1 and the wireless device 2 are making an individual call, the control station 10 forcibly terminates the individual call between the wireless devices 1 and 2. . When the individual call ends, the wireless devices 1 and 2 switch the radio frequency to be received to the radio frequency of the control channel, and thus can receive the broadcast request included in the control channel. In this way, by forcibly terminating the individual call, the broadcast within the group is immediately started. The processing flow of the second method is shown in FIGS.

Thirdly, there is a method of ignoring a wireless device making an individual call and starting broadcast communication by other wireless devices. For example, when the radio 1 and the radio 2 are making an individual call and the radio 3 makes a broadcast call, the control station 10 knows the existence of the radios 1 and 2 during the individual call. While ignoring it, the broadcast communication is started only between the wireless devices other than the wireless devices 1 and 2 that are not performing the individual call.
The processing flow of the third method is shown in FIG. 12 and FIG.

[0010]

However, when a radio device receives a broadcast call, the radio device waits for the broadcast and is prohibited from making a call.
The radios other than the radios 1 and 2 cannot do anything until the call between the radios 1 and 2 ends. Radios 1, 2
If the inter-call is long, there is a risk that other wireless devices will be affected accordingly. In the case of MCA, the talk time is determined to be several minutes, but other wireless devices are kept waiting for several minutes.

In the second method for forcibly terminating an individual call, if a very important conversation is being made during the individual call, the individual call will be terminated if the line is unconditionally disconnected. There is a possibility that the operating wireless device may be hindered, which is not preferable in terms of operation.

Further, in the third method of ignoring the radios in the individual call and starting the broadcast communication, each radio in the individual call has no means for knowing that there is a broadcast call. Therefore, when the individual call was terminated, it was not possible to enter later even if another wireless device was still broadcasting. Also, the wireless device 3 that called the broadcast communication is
It cannot be known that the radios 1 and 2 did not participate in the broadcast communication. Therefore, even if the content of the conversation of the broadcast communication is very important, the wireless devices 1 and 2 cannot know the content later.

As described above, the conventional communication system is considered to be appropriate for both a radio device performing individual communication and a radio device attempting to perform broadcast communication when a broadcast call is made during an individual call. Could not cope.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform broadcast communication without hindrance even if a slave station during an individual call exists. It is an object of the present invention to provide an MCA wireless communication system capable of performing the above.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, an MCA radio communication system according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises:
A plurality of slave stations connected and communicated by a wireless line including a control channel and a plurality of communication channels, and a control station for relaying and controlling wireless communication between the slave stations, and a control channel from any of the slave stations In an MCA radio communication system that performs broadcast using a broadcast communication channel in response to a broadcast request using the above, the slave station is included in a communication channel used for individual communication. It is characterized in that the presence or absence of a broadcast call is detected from the broadcast information.

In a second aspect of the present invention, the slave station includes a broadcast information monitoring means for monitoring broadcast information included in a communication channel used for an individual call, and a notification from the broadcast information monitoring means. Broadcast notification means for notifying a caller that a broadcast call has been made in response to the call.

An MCA radio communication system according to a third invention is:
A plurality of slave stations connected and communicated by a wireless line including a control channel and a plurality of communication channels, and a control station for relaying and controlling wireless communication between the slave stations, and a control channel from any of the slave stations In an MCA radio communication system that performs broadcast using a broadcast communication channel in response to a broadcast request using the above, the slave station includes a broadcast included in a communication channel used for an individual call. Information is temporarily stored, and the radio frequency of the communication channel used for the individual call is switched to the radio frequency assigned to the communication channel for broadcast communication based on the broadcast information temporarily stored after the individual call. And

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the slave station includes a broadcast information monitoring means for monitoring broadcast information included in a communication channel used for an individual call, and a broadcast for temporarily storing the broadcast information. Information storage means.

A fifth invention is characterized in that the slave station according to the fourth invention has channel switching means for automatically switching to a radio frequency assigned to a communication channel for broadcast communication based on broadcast information. I do.

[0020] The MCA radio communication system according to a sixth aspect of the present invention comprises:
A plurality of slave stations connected and communicated by a wireless line including a control channel and a plurality of communication channels, and a control station for relaying and controlling wireless communication between the slave stations, and a control channel from any of the slave stations In an MCA radio communication system that performs broadcast using a broadcast communication channel in response to a broadcast request using the above, the control station, when receiving a broadcast request from any of the slave stations, Broadcast information is added to a call channel used by a slave station during a call.

An MCA wireless communication system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention comprises:
In the case of a digital MCA radio communication system employing a multiplexing method based on time division, the slave station transmits a broadcast call using broadcast information included in one of the time slots included in the communication channel allocated to the individual communication. It is characterized by detecting the presence or absence.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same elements as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of each wireless device in the present embodiment. The overall configuration of the MCA radio communication system according to the present embodiment is the same as the conventional example shown in FIG. Wireless device 20 as a slave station
Has a wireless communication processing unit 22 that communicates with another wireless device via the control station 10 according to a predetermined method. Conventionally, the apparatus configuration shown in FIG. 1 has only the processing function of the wireless communication processing unit 22. The wireless communication processing unit 22 in the present embodiment employs the SCPC method as a multiple access method in a multiple access method by frequency division. The wireless device 20 further stores a broadcast information monitoring unit 24 as broadcast information monitoring means for monitoring broadcast information included in a call channel used for an individual call, and temporarily stores the broadcast information included in the call channel. Broadcast information storage unit 26 serving as broadcast information storage means and broadcast information monitoring unit 24
A broadcast call notifying unit 28 serving as a broadcast call notifying unit for notifying a caller that there has been a broadcast call from another wireless device in response to a notification from the user, and a broadcast communication unit based on the broadcast information. And a channel switching unit 30 as a channel switching means for automatically switching to a radio frequency assigned to a communication channel. For example, if the radio device 20 is used in a collection and delivery business system, it is mounted on a collection and delivery vehicle and used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic data format of a communication channel used in the present embodiment. The call channel is configured by control information and voice data in which the voice of the caller is stored. The control information includes a conventional synchronization bit for synchronizing, an ID number as broadcast information set in the present embodiment, a call status, and a transition channel. Of these, "I
"D number" is an identification number of each group when the wireless devices are grouped. "Call status" includes information indicating whether a call is currently in progress, information indicating whether the call has ended on the radio side, information indicating disconnection from the radio or forced disconnection by the control station, etc. This is a field for setting the status. “Transition channel” is a field in which the radio frequency of the broadcast communication channel is set. By receiving the call channel in which the radio frequency is set in the transition channel field, it is possible to detect in real time that a broadcast call is being made even during an individual call. Usually, the radio frequency of the communication channel for broadcasting is set in this field. Therefore, when a broadcasting call is made to the group to which the own radio device belongs, the broadcasting is immediately or later performed. The radio frequency shifts to the set radio frequency when entering the network.However, the radio device previously knows the radio frequency of the communication channel used in the broadcast for reasons such as using a fixed radio frequency for the broadcast. If so, this field may be set with flag information indicating the presence or absence of a broadcast call.

Although not shown, the control station 10 has a broadcasting function and a main function of performing a broadcast call to another radio when receiving a broadcast line connection request from one of the radios. In addition to a relay / control unit that relays / controls a certain wireless line, in the present embodiment, a broadcast apparatus that adds broadcast information to a communication channel assigned to an individual call to a wireless device that is performing an individual call. It has a report information adding unit.

Next, in the present embodiment, for example, an operation when a radio communication line connection request is issued from the radio 3 during an individual call between the radios 1 and 2 will be described with reference to the conceptual diagram shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition,
Here, description will be made assuming that all wireless devices belong to the same group.

When the wireless device 1 and the wireless device 2 are making an individual call using the communication channel 1 and the wireless device 3 makes a broadcast line connection request, the control station 10 And performs a broadcast call to the wireless device n that has not performed the communication, and notifies the wireless frequency of the communication channel used for the broadcast including the wireless device 3. When the control station 10 sets and transmits a radio frequency in a predetermined field of the control channel, each of the wireless devices 3 and n that are on standby can receive the notification. The wireless devices 3 and n that have received the notification start talking when the broadcast channel is allocated regardless of the presence or absence of the individual calling.

On the other hand, since the wireless devices 1 and 2 are performing individual communication using the radio frequency allocated to the communication channel 1, it is not possible to receive the control channel as described above. Therefore, the control station 10 according to the present embodiment knows which radio set uses which call channel to make an individual call, so that the call channel 1 used for the individual call is shown in FIG. The broadcast information shown in is added and transmitted.

In the wireless devices 1 and 2, the broadcast information monitoring unit 2
When detecting that the radio frequency is set to the “transition channel” of the communication channel 1, the communication device 4 can recognize that a broadcast call has been made from another wireless device. When recognizing the broadcast call, the broadcast information monitoring unit 24 stores the broadcast information included in the communication channel 1 in the broadcast information storage unit 26 and notifies the broadcast call notification unit 28. Upon receiving the notification from the broadcast information monitoring unit 24, the broadcast call notifying unit 28 notifies the caller of the notification and calls attention. Examples of the notification method include lighting display on an LED or the like mounted on the wireless device, sound output from a sound output unit such as a speaker, and display using characters on a display unit such as a liquid crystal screen. For example, if a sound output mechanism using a speaker or the like is mounted as the broadcast call notification unit 28, the caller is notified by sounding the speaker and outputting an alarm sound.

When the callers of the wireless devices 1 and 2 know that the broadcast call has been made by the alarm sound, the individual call is terminated by the caller's operation. When the individual call ends, the channel switching unit 30 automatically switches from the call channel 1 in which the radio frequency is allocated to the individual call to the communication channel 2 for the broadcast based on the broadcast information stored in the broadcast information storage unit 26. Switch By this automatic switching of radio frequency,
The wireless devices 1 and 2 can participate in the broadcast performed by the other wireless devices 3 and n.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the broadcast information including the radio frequency used for the broadcast communication is added to the communication channel used by the radio device during the individual call. The radio device can know in real time that a broadcast call has been made even during an individual call.
Then, the radio device during the individual call temporarily stores the radio frequency assigned to the communication channel used for the broadcast communication, and switches to the stored radio frequency after the individual call to enter the broadcast communication later. be able to. If the contents of the individual call are important, the individual call may be prioritized for a while, and if not, the individual call may be immediately terminated and switched to the broadcast communication. The entry timing can also be determined by a caller's operation. In addition,
In the above description, the switching of the radio frequency to the broadcast is automatically switched by the channel switching unit 30. However, a switching operation unit is provided as a channel switching unit so that the switching can be manually performed by a caller. Is also good.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the line of the individual call is not forcibly disconnected, and the presence or absence of the broadcast call during the individual call can be reliably detected. On the other hand, a wireless device that has not made an individual call can start broadcasting without waiting for the end of the individual call, even if there is a wireless device that is performing the individual call.

By the way, although omitted in the above description of the operation, the system in the present embodiment can cope with the case where the radios constituting the system are grouped. Since the communication channel used in the present embodiment includes an ID number for identifying a group in the broadcast information as shown in FIG. 2, a radio frequency is set as a transition channel by the broadcast information monitoring unit 24. The ID number is also checked in the process of detecting that there is a broadcast, and it is easy to respond to the broadcast call of the group unit in the same system by judging whether it is the broadcast to the group to which the own radio belongs. can do.

In many cases, the wireless device has a moving mechanism itself, or is used by being mounted on a moving body such as a pickup and delivery vehicle.
It can be used even if it is installed in a fixed station.

Embodiment 2 As described above, the present invention is particularly effective in a system that employs the SCPC scheme that cannot simultaneously receive a control channel and a communication channel. TD that can be used in digital MCA
This is because, in the MA method, the control channel and the communication channel can be received by the wireless device, so that the above-described problem does not occur. However, the present invention can be applied to a digital MCA.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, in the case of TDMA communication multiplexed by time division of one control channel and five communication channels, any of the channels included in the communication channels allocated for individual communication is used. By using such a time slot for broadcast information, a wireless device during an individual call can recognize that a broadcast call is made without monitoring the contents of the control channel.

In addition, as described above, a part of the control information of the communication channel may be used even if it is not a usage form such as a high-speed associated control channel (FACCH) in which control data for broadcast information is incorporated between voice data. It can also be implemented in a usage form such as an embedded, low-speed associated control channel (SACCH).

As described above, even in a system using the digital MCA, by setting the broadcast information in the audio data storage portion or the control information storage portion of the time slot,
It is possible to notify the radio device during the individual call that a broadcast call is being made.

[0039]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the slave station can monitor and detect the broadcast information added to the communication channel used for the individual communication. However, it is possible to know in real time that a broadcast call has been made. This allows the caller to be immediately notified that the broadcast call is being made.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the invention, the slave station during the individual call temporarily stores the radio frequency assigned to the communication channel used for the broadcast communication, so that the slave station can perform the broadcast after the individual call. By switching to the radio frequency to be used, it becomes possible to participate in broadcast communication even later. Therefore, if the contents of the individual call are important, the individual call may be prioritized for a while, and the broadcast may be entered later. In this case, the line is not forcibly disconnected. If the content is not so important, the user may switch to the broadcast radio frequency immediately and enter. The timing of entry can be determined by a caller's operation.

In addition, MCA with a finite call time of several minutes
In a wireless communication system, a control channel can be received at least several minutes later, so that it is possible to know that a broadcast call has been made at that time. In such a case, the present invention is particularly effective in such a case, because the wireless device cannot know that the broadcast call has been made unless the call is terminated.

According to the fifth aspect, the switching operation of the radio frequency after the individual call can be automatically performed.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the broadcast information is added to the communication channel used by the slave station performing the individual call, so that the broadcast call is performed even when the slave station is performing the individual call. It is possible to notify in real time that the operation has been performed.

Further, as in the seventh invention, the digital M
By setting the broadcast information in the time slot also in the CA radio communication system, it is possible to notify the slave station during the individual call that the broadcast call is being made without constantly monitoring the control channel.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless device constituting an MCA wireless communication system using one embodiment of an MCA wireless communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data format of a communication channel used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an MCA radio communication system used to describe a communication state when a broadcast call is made during an individual call in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of an operation procedure when a broadcast call is made during an individual call in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a channel when an embodiment of the MCA wireless communication system according to the present invention is used for digital MCA.

FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of an MCA wireless communication system.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a conventional broadcast communication procedure.

FIG. 8 shows a conventional M used to describe a first method of coping when a broadcast call is made during an individual call.
1 is an overall configuration diagram of a CA wireless communication system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of a first coping procedure when a broadcast call is made during an individual call in the related art.

FIG. 10 is an overall configuration diagram of an MCA radio communication system conventionally used to explain a second coping method when a broadcast call is made during an individual call.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of a second coping method procedure when a broadcast call is made during an individual call in the related art.

FIG. 12 is an overall configuration diagram of an MCA radio communication system conventionally used to explain a third countermeasure when a broadcast call is made during an individual call.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow of a third coping method procedure when a broadcast call is made during an individual call in the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, n, 20 radios, 101 control stations, 22
Radio communication processing unit, 24 broadcast information monitoring unit, 26 broadcast information storage unit, 28 broadcast call notification unit, 30 channel switching unit.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of slave stations connected by a wireless line including a control channel and a plurality of communication channels for communication, and a control station for relaying and controlling wireless communication between the slave stations. An MCA wireless communication system for performing broadcast communication using a broadcast communication channel in response to a broadcast request using a control channel from the slave station, wherein the slave station uses a call used for an individual call. An MCA radio communication system characterized by detecting presence or absence of a broadcast call based on broadcast information included in a channel. 2. The broadcast station according to claim 2, wherein said slave station monitors broadcast information included in a communication channel used for an individual call, and broadcast communication in response to a notification from said broadcast information monitoring means. 2. The MCA wireless communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: a broadcast call notifying unit that notifies a caller that a call has been made. 3. A plurality of slave stations connected to and communicate with each other via a wireless line including a control channel and a plurality of communication channels; and a control station for relaying and controlling wireless communication between the slave stations. In an MCA radio communication system that performs broadcast using a communication channel for broadcast in response to a broadcast request using a control channel from the slave station, The broadcast information included is temporarily stored, and the radio frequency of the communication channel used for the individual call is assigned to the communication channel for the broadcast based on the broadcast information temporarily stored after the individual call. An MCA wireless communication system characterized by switching to a frequency. 4. The broadcast station further comprises: broadcast information monitoring means for monitoring broadcast information included in a communication channel used for an individual call; and broadcast information storage means for temporarily storing broadcast information. 4. The MCA wireless communication system according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The MCA radio according to claim 4, wherein said slave station has channel switching means for automatically switching to a radio frequency assigned to a communication channel for broadcast based on broadcast information. Communication method. 6. A plurality of slave stations which are connected and communicate with each other via a wireless line including a control channel and a plurality of communication channels, and a control station which relays and controls wireless communication between the slave stations. An MCA wireless communication system that performs broadcast using a broadcast communication channel in response to a broadcast request using a control channel from any of the slave stations, wherein the control station transmits a broadcast request from any of the slave stations. , The broadcast information is added to a communication channel used by a slave station performing an individual call. 7. In a digital MCA wireless communication system employing a multiplexing method based on time division, the slave station uses broadcast information included in any one of time slots included in a communication channel allocated to individual communication. 2. The MCA wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the presence or absence of a broadcast call is detected.