JPS60182239A - Discriminating system of switch operating state - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discriminate the switch state of a terminal device in a short time by using the operating modulation frequency with a frequency used at a data collection center and frequencies for the number of shares of switches used on one terminal device to decrease the entire frequencies. CONSTITUTION:A control section CONT of a system discriminating the switch state of subscribers of optical communication collects data and transmits transmission information D0 to a transmitter Tx at each prescribed period. The information D0 is modulated at the transmitter Tx by the 1st modulation frequency f1 and transmitted from an infrared light emitting diode LED. Further, each terminal device (subscriber) is incorporated with transceivers TR1-TRn and switches S1a-Snc. The transceivers TR1-TRn receives the information of the modulation frequency f1 from the transmitter Tx, a counter is started, the signal is modulated in response to the state of the switches S1a-Snc, the frequency corresponding to a depressed switch in the switches S1a-Snc is transmitted to discriminate the switch state of the terminal device in a short time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (11) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for determining the state of a switch operation, and more particularly, to an improvement of a method for determining the state of a switch operation of a participant in optical communications in auctions, auctions, etc.

(1) (2) Background of the technology In recent years, in product auctions in various markets, many participants each have their own pushbutton switches, and data collection centers monitor the operation status of the pushbutton switches. ing.

The pushbutton switches owned by participants are connected to the data aggregation center by wires, and if participants with such pushbutton switches move around the market, the wires may get tangled or get caught by other people. , which was inconvenient after an accident.

In order to solve this inconvenience, it has been considered to use wireless communication between the pushbutton switch and the data collection center.

To determine the switch operation status using such radio, a different frequency is assigned to each pushbutton switch, and the data aggregation center that receives the frequency discriminates the frequency to identify the pushbutton switch that responded, that is, the responder. (Participants) were identified.

Generally, there are dozens of participants, so there is a limit to the frequency (2) allocation, and the receiving side also requires a highly accurate frequency discrimination function, which is expensive.

Regarding the installation location, they have often been introduced as is in the conventional market, and there have been problems with frequency allocation with wireless microphones, etc., and the influence of noise radio waves from existing electrical equipment.

In order to solve the above problem, the present applicant transmits a start bit pulse at a first frequency from a data aggregation center, and when the time allotted to the start bit pulse is reached in the terminal device, the first The data aggregation center uses optical communication to determine the switch operation status of each terminal device from the reception time of the response signal in response to the start bit pulse position. We developed a discrimination method.

The system configuration diagram for this purpose is shown in Fig. 1. In the figure, the part indicated by C0NT is the control unit of the data aggregation center, which aggregates data and transmits information to the transmitter Tx at fixed intervals, for example, every roomsec. (3) Send information Do (start bit pulse). The transmitter Tx modulates this Do at a first frequency f1, causes the infrared light emitting diode F'LED to emit light, and transmits the signal. In addition, in the figure, PD
indicates a photodiode.

The terminal devices handled by the participants are handheld type devices with integrated transmitters/receivers and switches.
n indicates the transmitter/receiver of each terminal device, Sl, .

Sn indicates a switch of each terminal device. The transceiver TR+ receives the start bit pulse, resets the internal counter, and then starts the counter. And count “
1'' and if Sl is pressed, infrared light with a second modulation frequency 12 different from the first modulation frequency f1 is emitted at that timing.

Thus, in each terminal device, when the switches Sl, , , Sn are pressed at the count position assigned to it, infrared radiation is emitted by the LED at the second modulation frequency f2.

Receiver R with photodiode at data aggregation center
At x, only the infrared light (4) of the second modulation frequency f2 is extracted, and when the frequency f2 is detected, a response signal Di is sent to the control unit C0NT.

The control unit C0NT outputs a response signal D based on the internal count number.
The terminal number whose switch is pressed can be determined from the count value obtained by i. In the auction system, who will use which terminal device is registered in advance, so
It is possible to determine who is responding.

FIG. 2 shows details of the data aggregation device, in which a start bit pulse generation circuit STG periodically generates a start bit pulse signal and sends it to the transmitter Tx. The response signal Di from the reception taR is sent to the central processing unit CPIJ, and the contents of the counter CNTl at that time are also sent to the CPU at the same time. C
The PU performs control by informing the response terminal number according to the number of the counter CNTl in which the response signal Di is obtained.

In FIG. 2, TIMI is a timing circuit for timing data aggregation and is connected to a counter CNTl. The counter CNTL is the number of terminal devices n plus the start bit pulse time m, that is, (5).It is a counter that repeats a value from "0" to (m+n), and the value of the counter is input to the CPU.

The value of the counter CNTl is also input to the start bit pulse generation circuit STG to generate a start bit.

This start bit pulse is then sent to the transmitter Tx, modulated at a first modulation frequency f1, and emitted and transmitted by an infrared light emitting diode.

FIG. 3 shows details of the terminal devices, and each terminal device has a similar circuit configuration. The receiving circuit RIIC demodulates the signal of the first frequency f1 and sends it to the start bit discrimination circuit STD.
and transfer to counter CNT.

The start bit discrimination circuit STD resets the counter CNT2 when detecting a predetermined start bit pulse width time m.

The counter CNT2 generates a signal from an internal timing circuit TIM2, and its output is the value obtained by subtracting the start focus pulse time m from the counter CNTl of the data collection center. The output of the counter CNT2 is input to the coincidence detection circuit DET.

The terminal number holding circuit NH stores the terminal number assigned to the terminal device (6). Therefore, the match detection circuit DET opens the gate G when the output of the counter CNT2 and the content held in the terminal number holding circuit NH match.

When the switch hand is pressed, the timing circuit TIM3 is activated via the gate G, and this timing circuit TIM is composed of a monostable multi-vibration circuit, and has a time equal to the pulse width of the counter CNTl in the data collection center. It is set to output only the width. While the timing circuit TIH is outputting, the transmitting circuit TR transmits infrared light at the second modulation frequency f2.

When the switch hand is not pressed, the timing circuit T
IM is not activated and the transmitter circuit TR does not work.

Such a circuit configuration can be obtained at low cost by simply adding a relatively simple logic circuit to the transmitter/receiver circuit.

(3) Prior art and problems In the conventional method for determining switch operation status using optical communication, each pushbutton (7) held by the responder (participant) has only one switch; It only determined the operation status of the switch.

When the auction begins, the current price is displayed, and participants look at it and inform their buying prices. Conventionally, the displayed value starts at 100 yen, for example, and increases in 10 yen increments. Even if a specific participant saw an item and wanted to buy it for 600 yen, conventionally the price was 100 yen, 200 yen04.
I had to wait for the value to go down.

Recently, the responder's pushbutton switch has been changed to 1 (instead of 2 or 3 instead of flit) to speed up the bidding time.
Some places are starting to use them. In other words, the first switch raises the price range in 10 yen increments, the second one raises it in 50 yen increments, and the third one raises it in 100 yen increments.

However, in the conventional discrimination method using optical communication, only one pushbutton switch of the responder could be discriminated per terminal device.

(4) Purpose of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system that can determine (8) the operating states of n switches in a terminal device using optical communication.

(5) Structure and object of the invention According to the present invention, a start bit pulse is transmitted from a data aggregation center at a first frequency, and a terminal device starts counting with the start bit pulse and is assigned to the terminal device. The data collection center counts the start bit pulse sending time and the reception of the response signal. This is achieved by providing a method for determining the switch operation state using optical communication, which is characterized in that the switch operation state of each terminal device is determined from the time difference and the response frequency m.

(6) Examples of the invention Embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 shows signal waveforms of the main parts thereof.

In these figures, as in the parts already illustrated, C0
NT is a control unit of the data aggregation center, which (9) aggregates data and sends transmission information Do (start bit pulse) to the transmitter Tx at regular intervals, for example, every 100 m5ec.

The transmitter Tx receives the transmission information D sent at regular intervals.
o is modulated with a first variable 811i1 frequency f1, and the infrared light emitting diode LED emits and transmits light.

On the other hand, the terminal device handled by the responder (participant) is a handheld type with an integrated transmitter/receiver and switch.
TR1+ TR2,..., TRn indicates the transmitter/receiver of each terminal device, Sia+ S1b, S1c,..., Sna+
Snb.

Snc indicates a switch of each terminal. FIG. 4 shows a case where three switches are attached to each terminal. Then, the transceiver Tlh receives the start bit pulse, resets the internal counter, and then starts the counter.

When the count reaches "1", if Sla is pressed, fa, and if S1b is pressed, fb.

When S10 is pressed, modulation is performed at the fc frequency and the signal is transmitted (TRI (Stb), TR3 in Fig. 5).
(53C) ).

(10) In this way, each terminal device changes the modulation frequency and transmits a signal when the switch is pressed at its assigned count position.

On the other hand, the receiver Rx equipped with a photodiode at the data aggregation center extracts infrared light (fa, fb, fc) other than the modulation frequency of fl, and when that frequency is detected, it controls the response signal Di. Send to section C0NT.

Therefore, in the control unit C0NT, the count position and frequency (f
a, fb, fc), it is possible to know the terminal number whose switch is pressed and which switch in that terminal was pressed.

Therefore, in the auction system, which terminal device δIL is selected in advance?
If the switch is used or registered, you can know who is responding with which switch after all.

(7) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention as explained in detail above, the modulation frequencies used are the frequency f used on the data aggregation center side and the frequency f used in one terminal device side. The total number of frequencies can be kept relatively small, and frequency discrimination is easy.Even if the number of switches in a terminal increases, the time required to know the status of all switches is reduced. It is constant and does not slow down, and is very effective in shortening auction time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional optical communication system, Figure 2 is a detailed diagram of the control unit of the system in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a detailed diagram of the terminal device of the system in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a detailed diagram of the system shown in Figure 1. FIG. 5, which is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, is a diagram showing signal waveforms of main parts of the system of FIG. 4. CLK - Clock with the same frequency in each terminal device and part of the data aggregation center CNT - Counter C0NT - Control unit, CPU - Central processing unit Di - Response signal Do - Transmission information (12) DET - - Match Detection circuit fl--first frequency fa, fb+ fc--one infrared light frequency G---gate LI! D - Infrared light emitting diode NH - - Terminal number holding circuit pn - - Photodiode Rr - Receiver REC - Receiving circuit SLa + Stb, Sac -5na + Snb,
Snc --Switch 5T of each terminal--Start bit pulse 5TD-m transmitted from transmitter T--Start bit discrimination circuit 5TG--Start bit pulse generation circuit S off-Switch TrM--Timing circuit TI? - Transmission circuit TR+, TR2 to TRn - = Transmitter/receiver TR+ (S1b) of one terminal device (S1b) Switch (1
3) Output TR3 modulated to frequency fb by S1b (S3c) -- Output modulated to frequency fc by switch state C in one terminal device 3 (14)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A start bit pulse is transmitted from the data aggregation center at a first frequency, and the terminal device starts counting with the start bit pulse and counts the time allocated to the terminal device. A response signal with an m-th frequency different from the first frequency is transmitted, and the data aggregation center determines the switch operation state of each terminal device from the difference between the start bit pulse sending time and the response signal reception time and the response frequency m. A method for determining switch operation status using optical communication.