JPH1093508A - Data communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain data communication without connection of a special equipment even when the environment is changed by providing a plurality of communication means using different kinds of communication methods and a selection means that selects any communication means for data communication depending on a state of a communication channel. SOLUTION: This equipment is made up of an infrared communication means 1, a radio wave communication means 2, a selection means 3 and a CPU device 4. A signal denoting starting data communication is received by the selection means 3. The selection means 3 decides a communication equipment to be selected at first based on the information in a memory circuit 32 that stores a final communication means in a preceding communication. In the case that the infrared communication means 1 is selected, an infrared ray emission diode 13 emits a modulated infrared ray. The CPU device 4 awaits a communication start acknowledgement signal but when the signal is not received within a prescribed time, the device 4 does not execute the data communication using the infrared ray but informs the selection of the radio wave communication 2 to the selection means 3, which switches a switch circuit 31 to select the radio wave communication 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data communication device used for data communication between terminal devices in, for example, a computer network, and more particularly to a data communication device between a portable terminal device and another terminal device on the network. The present invention relates to a data communication device used for transmitting and receiving data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when data is transmitted and received between a portable terminal device and another terminal device on a network, a user of the portable terminal device needs to communicate with a specific communication partner, for example, a user. The infrared transmitter / receiver arranged on the desk in the work room of the user is only performed by a specific communication means (in the above-mentioned example, the infrared communication means), and the user uses the portable terminal equipment. When the user leaves the room, a modem or the like is connected to transmit and receive data through a public telephone line or the like.

[0003]

However, when the portable terminal device as described above is used away from a position where it can communicate with the specific communication partner (in the above example, the user goes out of his / her work room). In the case where the communication is performed, it is impossible to perform data communication with a terminal device having communication means using a communication method different from the specific communication method used for data communication with the specific communication partner.

[0004] In addition, the attached equipment such as the modem in the above-described example must be connected to the portable terminal equipment each time, which is very inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has been developed in consideration of a change in communication environment caused by movement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a data communication device capable of performing data communication without connecting a special accessory device.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a data communication apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention uses different types of communication methods in a data communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving data. It is characterized by comprising a plurality of communication means to be used, and a selection means for selecting which communication means performs data communication according to a state of a communication line in the plurality of communication means.

[0007] In the data communication device having the above configuration, when traffic occurs, the selection device first selects the first communication means from among a plurality of communication means and attempts data communication. If the communication cannot be performed, the selection device subsequently selects the second communication means and attempts communication.

[0008] A data communication apparatus according to a second aspect is characterized in that the plurality of communication means include infrared wireless communication means and wireless communication means using radio waves.

In the data communication apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the selection means selects the first communication means from a plurality of communication means including infrared wireless communication means and radio communication means using radio waves. Attempt data communication. If the communication cannot be performed, the selection device subsequently selects the second communication means and attempts communication.

[0010] Further, when the user is at a very short distance from the data communication partner, the user is using other electronic devices that may be affected by radio waves around the user, or the user is required to transmit highly confidential information. When transmitting and receiving, it is possible to operate the selection means by itself and select the infrared wireless communication means,
When the data communication partner is separated from the building wall material,
In the case of data transmission and reception over long distances, the user can select a radio communication means using radio waves.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the data communication apparatus, the selecting means has a storing means for storing a communication means selected immediately before, and when performing data communication,
The first communication means is selected with reference to the contents stored in the storage means. That is, the storage means stores the type of communication means used last in the previous data communication, and when newly performing data communication, the selection means first stores the type in the storage means. Select the stored type of communication means.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a circuit configuration of a data communication device according to the present embodiment.

The present data communication apparatus uses infrared communication means 1
, Radio wave communication means 2, selection means 3, and CPU device 4.

The infrared communication means 1 includes a modulation circuit 11 for modulating data to be communicated by a pulse width modulation method.
And an LED for driving an infrared LED (light emitting diode) 13 based on a signal modulated by the modulation circuit 11.
A driving circuit 12, an infrared LED 13 that is driven by the LED driving circuit 12 to emit infrared light modulated by communication data toward a communication partner, and a modulated infrared light emitted from the communication partner. A photodiode 14 for receiving light and converting it into an electric signal, a data amplifier circuit 15 for amplifying the converted electric signal, and a demodulation circuit 16 for demodulating the signal amplified by the data amplifier circuit 15 and extracting data. Consists of

The radio wave communication means 2 modulates data to be communicated by the MSK modulation method, a driver circuit 22 for performing amplification and frequency conversion, radiates radio waves, and scatters radio waves. Antenna 23 for detecting radio waves
And an amplification detection circuit 24 for amplifying and detecting the detected radio wave as an electric signal, and a demodulation circuit 25 for demodulating the detected signal and extracting data.

The selection means 3 connects the CPU device 4 to either the infrared communication means 1 or the radio wave communication means 2,
A switch circuit 31 for selectively transmitting and receiving data, and a memory circuit 3 as storage means for storing communication means used last in data communication performed last time.
And 2.

Next, the operation of the data communication apparatus will be described.

A signal for starting data communication is input to the selecting means 3 from the CPU device 4. The selecting means 3 determines the communication device to be selected first based on the information of the memory circuit 32 storing the communication means used last at the time of the previous data communication. Connect to either infrared communication means 1 or radio communication means 2.

Here, the reason why the communication means used last in the last data communication is selected is that the same communication means as used immediately before has a higher probability of communication. In fact, if there is not much difference in time or position between the previous communication and the current communication, it is expected that the communication environment has not changed significantly.

In the following operation example, description will be made assuming that the infrared communication means 1 is selected first.

A data communication start signal is input to the selected infrared communication means 1 from the CPU device 4 via the selection means 3, and the signal is sent to the pulse width as shown in FIG. Modulation is performed, and based on the modulated signal, the LED driving circuit 12 causes the infrared LED 1
3 is driven. The modulated infrared light emitted by the driven infrared LED 13 is received by an infrared communication means of a communication partner (not shown).

The infrared data communication device of the communication partner is:
When the data communication start is acknowledged, a communication start acknowledge signal is transmitted to the data communication apparatus as modulated infrared light.
The transmitted signal is the photodiode 1 of the data communication device.
4, amplified by the data amplifier circuit 15, demodulated by the demodulation circuit 16, and transmitted to the CPU device 4. Thereby, data communication actually starts.

The data to be transmitted from the data communication apparatus is subjected to pulse width modulation by the modulation circuit 11 in the same manner as described above, and based on the modulated signal,
Modulated infrared light is emitted from the ED 13 toward an infrared communication means of a communication partner (not shown). The modulated infrared light received from the communication partner by the photodiode 14 is amplified by the data amplifier circuit 15 and then demodulated by the demodulation circuit 16, and the demodulated data is transmitted to the CPU 4.
Sent to.

The CPU device 4 notifies the selection means 3 that the data communication has started, and the memory circuit 32
The previous storage contents are deleted, and the fact that the infrared communication means 1 is newly selected is stored.

The CPU 4 waits for a predetermined time to receive the communication start acknowledge signal. If there is no communication partner provided with infrared communication means nearby, the CPU 4 acknowledges the communication start acknowledge signal within the certain time. Since no signal is received, data communication using infrared light is not started, and the CPU device 4 notifies the selection means 3 to select the radio wave communication means 2.

In this case, the selection means 3 switches the switch circuit 31 and selects the radio wave communication means 2. CPU
The radio wave communication means 2 to which the data communication start signal has been input from the device 4 via the selection means 3, applies the MSK (Mini) signal as shown in FIG.
Mum Shift Keying modulation is performed, and the modulated signal is radiated as radio waves by the antenna 23 driven by the driver circuit 22. The radio wave is received by a radio wave communication means of a communication partner (not shown), and data communication is started together with the reception of a communication start acknowledge signal from the communication partner, as in the case of the infrared communication.

Radio waves radiated from the radio wave communication means of the communication partner are received by the antenna 23 and are amplified by the amplification detection circuit 2.
4, the data is amplified and detected, and the demodulation circuit 25 demodulates the data. The demodulated data is transmitted to the CPU device 4.

The CPU device 4 notifies the selection means 3 that data communication has started, and the memory circuit 32
The fact that the radio wave communication means 2 is selected is stored.

In the above description, the case where the last used communication means was the infrared communication means 1 at the time of the previous data communication has been described. The same applies when the memory circuit 32 stores that the last used communication means was the radio wave communication means 2 in the data communication. That is, the communication by the radio wave communication means 2 is attempted first, and if the communication cannot be started, the communication means is selected by the selection means 3 and the communication by the infrared communication means 1 is tried.

The user may be located at a very short distance from the communication partner, may be using other electronic devices that may be affected by radio waves around the user, or may transmit or transmit highly confidential information. In the case of reception, the user can operate the manual switch (not shown) provided in the selection means 3 to select the infrared communication means 1. For sending and receiving data between
The user can also select the radio communication means 2. As described above, the data communication device can select the CPU device 4 and the selection from the plurality of communication means according to the reach distance, directivity, communication speed, data capacity, interference with noise, data confidentiality, and the like. An appropriate one can be selected by means 3 or by manual operation of the user.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the infrared wireless communication means performs pulse width modulation, and the radio communication means uses MSK.
Modulation was performed, but other modulation methods, for example,
Pulse position modulation, FSK (Frequency Sh
(if Keying) modulation or the like may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, a total of two communication means, ie, an infrared wireless communication means and a wireless communication means, are used, but those having different carrier wave wavelengths and different modulation schemes are used. A total of three or more may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, two types of communication means, ie, an infrared wireless communication means and a wireless communication means using radio waves, are used. In addition, a visible light laser, a microwave, or the like is used. Wireless communication means, wired communication means using an optical fiber, a coaxial cable, or the like can be used.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, the data communication apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a plurality of communication means using different types of communication methods, and the communication means comprises: Selection means for selecting which communication means to use from among a plurality of communication means according to the state of the communication line to be connected. There is an effect that a device suitable for the communication means possessed by is automatically selected and the communication can be performed well.

Since the data communication apparatus according to the second aspect has at least two types of communication means of radio waves and infrared rays, which are electromagnetic waves having different directivities and reachable distances,
When the user is at a very close distance to the communication partner, uses other electronic devices that may be affected by radio waves around, or transmits and receives highly confidential information, By operating the selection means by itself, it is possible to select the infrared wireless communication means, when the data communication partner is separated from the building wall material, or in the case of long-distance data transmission and reception, the user, Radio communication means by radio waves can be selected.

In the data communication apparatus according to the third aspect, the communication means used last in the data communication performed last time is stored in the storage means, and when the data communication is newly performed,
Since the stored communication means is selected first, the probability of communication is high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a circuit configuration of a data communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining pulse width modulation in infrared communication means.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining MSK modulation in radio wave communication means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 infrared communication means 2 radio communication means 3 selection means 4 CPU device 13 infrared light emitting diode 14 photodiode 23 antenna 31 switch circuit 32 memory circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A data communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving data, comprising: a plurality of communication means using different types of communication methods; and a state of a communication line in the plurality of communication means. A data communication device comprising: a communication unit configured to select whether to perform data communication. 2. The data communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of communication means include infrared wireless communication means and radio communication means using radio waves. 3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit includes a storage unit configured to store a communication unit selected immediately before, and when performing data communication, refers to a content stored in the storage unit.
3. The data communication device according to claim 1, wherein the first communication means is selected.