JPS6059835A - Transmission control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transmit quickly the change in an input signal at a terminal to the center with high efficiency by providing a bit informing the change in the input signal at a specific terminal device to a signal transmitted and received cyclicly between the center device and the plural terminal devices. CONSTITUTION:The center device 1 is connected to the plural terminal devices 30 through a line 2. Address designation data 200, 201- indicating a terminal device are transmitted from the center 1, terminal response data 210, 211 are returned from the terminal device, display output data 220, 221- to a display device 37 connected from the center 1 to the terminal device are transmitted, terminal input data 232 from a key contact 38 is transmitted from the terminal device to the center and a transmission cycle and a reception cycle are repeated. If there is a change to input data of a specific terminal device to be provided with priority, data 210, 232 or the like are provided with a priority correspondence request bit informed to the center and an own terminal correspondence request bit informing the change of the own input data of the terminal device designated by the center to the center to attain efficient data transmission.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field to which the invention pertains] The present invention is directed to receiving signals transmitted from a central control device (center device), which is a main body, at a remote location, and outputting the signals to an output target device such as a large display device. The present invention relates to a transmission control method in a system comprising a terminal that outputs an output to a center device, inputs an operation signal, and transmits the input signal to the center device. It is desirable that this type of system not only be able to configure the system at a low cost, but also that the displayed content as output data from the terminal can be updated more quickly, and that the operation contents of the operation switches input to the terminal can be transmitted to the center device more quickly. .

[Prior art and its problems]

There are various transmission control methods in this type of system for centrally monitoring and controlling terminals located far from a center device, and it is difficult to generalize about conventional methods. However, from the perspective of standardization, the transmission method itself is as follows: 1) Serial transmission R8 as a hardware standard;
2) There are various transmission procedures such as the H.232C method, the GP-iB method for parallel transmission, and the current loop method for serial transmission. However, since these systems must have high reliability for various general-purpose applications, the reality is that they are dealt with by increasing redundancy in principle.

For this reason, there is a problem in that the manufacturing cost of the system inevitably increases in terms of both hardware and software.

The transmission method of the present invention has been devised as a method suitable for a dedicated system, regardless of these standard methods.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention meets the following requirements: 1) It is possible to transmit signals given via terminals to a large number of distant display devices and other output target devices from a center device using simple equipment.

2) Able to quickly respond to input signals from operation switches, etc. on the far terminal side.

3) The system configuration is simple, inexpensive, and highly reliable.

4) To reduce the burden on the center device's functions as much as possible.

The purpose is to provide a transmission control method that can satisfy the following requirements.

[Key points of the invention]

The gist of the present invention is to connect a center device and a plurality of terminal devices through lines such as two-wire transmission lines, and to specify the addresses of the terminal devices so that the center device can connect to each of the terminal devices. A transmission cycle in which an output command including display data to control an output target device such as a displayed display device is sent, and the center device also specifies the address of the terminal device and key contacts connected to the terminal device are respectively connected. a receiving cycle in which input data from an input device such as the above is sent from the addressed terminal device to the center device; ),
The center device processes the input data received from the terminal device in the reception cycle, sequentially designates all the terminal devices in a predetermined order as a basic mode, and repeats the transmission cycle. In the control method, when there is a change in the input data of a specific terminal device to be prioritized during each of the transmission cycle and the reception cycle, the change is notified to the terminal device according to the address of the terminal device. A priority communication request signal is sent from the device to the center device, and when there is a change in the input data to the own terminal device specified by the center device in the transmission cycle, the device sends a priority communication request signal to the center device to notify the center device of the change. A self-terminal communication request signal sent from the device to the center device, when there is a change 1' in the input data in other terminal devices other than the specific terminal device and the own terminal device, the other terminal Provide bits of each signal of a common communication request signal that notifies the center device from the terminal device of the change regardless of the address of the device,
These signals are transmitted from the relevant terminal device, and when these signals are detected in the transmission cycle or the reception cycle, the center device transmits the priority signals following the detected cycle. When a communication request signal is detected, after executing the receiving cycle in a predetermined order with the specific terminal device that sent the signal,
Further, when the common communication request signal is detected, the other terminal devices are sent in a predetermined order following the reception cycle of each terminal device that sent the priority communication request signal and the own terminal communication request signal. After sequentially investigating the terminal device that sent the common communication request signal and executing the reception cycle, if the own terminal communication request signal is detected in the transmission cycle, the terminal device transmits the priority communication request signal. After executing the receive cycle with the own terminal device in the order following the receive cycle with the terminal device that sent it, that is, the receive cycle with the terminal device that needs to capture input data in the form of an interrupt process. After the above-mentioned basic mode is executed, the transmission cycle is returned to the next terminal device in the order in the above-mentioned basic mode.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be explained below based on FIGS. 1 to 5.

The same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a terminal that performs such control.

FIG. 2 shows a timing chart for communicating with a center device using this terminal. Figure 3 shows the communication format between the terminal and the center equipment, Figure (A) shows the transmission format from the center equipment to the terminal, Figure (B) shows the transmission format of the response from the terminal to the center equipment, FIG. 0 shows the data format of output data sent from the device to the terminal, and FIG. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the RAM within the center device.

In Fig. 4, 1 sends display data output to a display device outside the terminal (referred to as external) to the terminal, receives and stores input data input to the key matrix of the terminal, and performs necessary processing. This is a center device that has a function of sending out the display data. Reference numeral 2 denotes a signal transmission line connecting the center device 1 and the F rivers of a plurality of terminals, and here it is composed of two wires. 30 (300 to 30n) are terminals in this system, the configuration of which is shown in FIG. That is, each terminal 30 has a one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 32 as a central control device, and a communication circuit 31 for communicating with the center device 1 via a two-wire transmission path 2. other,
A display output section 33 for displaying 64 points on an external display device 37 (this output 1533 can be switched between static output (latch output) and dynamic output. example is for display), test output section 36 that performs static output such as display of 8-point test signals, and schema for reading ON10 F F operation input from 64-point external key contact 38) IJ socks 5, a test switch unit 39 including a test switch for testing the operation of the microcomputer 32 in the own terminal and an address switch for setting the address of the own terminal, and the microcomputer 32.
It has a decoder 34 and the like that decodes an address signal output from the terminal into its own terminal and supplies it to a display output section 33 and a key matrix 35. The test output section 36 displays status information based on the test switch and the address of the own terminal set by the address switch for confirmation.

Here, the terminal A configuration in Figure 1 shows one example, and there are various other methods that can be used for output such as external display and input methods for external key contacts. Even with the above method, it is sufficient as long as the microcomputer 32 can output to the outside and the external signal can be read into the microcomputer 32.

In addition, in Figure 1, there are 64 display output points and 64 key contact input points, but this means that there can be a considerable amount of output signals and input signals, and in particular, it is limited to 64 points. That doesn't mean it will happen. The number of these input/output points can be determined depending on the application. Furthermore, although the display output is shown in FIG. 1, the display output section 33 can be used for purposes other than display, such as driving a relay to sound a buzzer or drive a motor, depending on the purpose.

Each of these terminals 30 (300 to 30n in FIG. 4) outputs data to various external loads such as a display based on the data transmitted from the center device 1. At the same time, the contact input signal connected to the terminal is read, and when a change occurs in the contact input signal, the center device 1 is informed of the contact input status.

A timing diagram of such communication between the center device 1 and the terminal 30 is shown in FIG. In the same figure, 200,2
01 and 202 are 20-bit terminal address finger designation data sent from the center device 1 to the terminal 30, and 210 and 211 are data sent from the terminal specified by the terminal address prosthesis data 200 and 201 and other terminals 30 to the center. The 8-bit terminal response data 220 and 221 returned to the device 1 are the display outputs of the 73 bits 1 to 73 transmitted from the center device 1 to each designated terminal 30 as data for display. Data 232 is transmitted from the terminal 30 designated by the center device 1 by the terminal address designation data 202 to the center device 1 based on the terminal response data 211 including the communication request signal of the terminal whose contact input signal has changed as described later. This is terminal input data sent to the terminal 30i, which is 80-bit data including read data input to the terminal 30i. However, the terminal input data 232 includes a communication request signal from a terminal other than the terminal whose contact input signal has changed, and includes partial data (terminal response data section) that has the same purpose and structure as the terminal response data 210 and 211. 341), which will be discussed later.

Here, each terminal address specification data 200, 201゜20
TI determined by the beginning of T2. The period T3 is called a communication cycle, and is also called a communication cycle TI.

T2 (!:'r3) is used to distinguish between data transmission or reception (i.e., display output data 220, 221 or terminal input data 232), and the former is called a transmission cycle, and the latter is called a reception cycle.

In addition, FIG. 3 (A) is the terminal address designation data 20 shown in FIG. 2.
0.201,202. . . , 310 is a start bit, 311 is an address, 312 is a command, and 313, 314 are the addresses 311 . . . This is an inverted address and an inverted command obtained by inverting the numerical value of the command 312 (this is a so-called inverted two-sequence transmission, which is one of the methods for improving the reliability of address specification).

Figure 3 (Uniform is a format showing the 8-bit configuration of the terminal response data 210, 211° in Figure 2; this configuration is
Figure terminal input data 232. .

Here, 321 is a priority communication request bit, 322 is an own terminal communication request bit, 1323 is a common communication request bit, and 324
is the terminal transmission data abort signal. In this way, the terminal input data 232. The reason for having the terminal response data section 341 in . Center device 1
This is to make it possible to request the transmission of key reading data. If the center device 1 receives requests for this communication from multiple terminals, it will designate the terminals according to their priorities as described later and enter a reception cycle, but generally, within the same penetration level, Communication is often done in order of address.

Fig. 3 (q is the Fig. 2 display output data 2'20, 221.
... is a format that shows the 73-bit configuration of 33 bits.
0 is the start bit, 331 is the display data, 332°3
33 is parity.

The first 8 of the 80 bits of terminal input data in the third city
As for the bits as described above, in the remaining part 342 is key read data, and 343 and 344 are parity. The signal from the center device 1 is read simultaneously by a plurality of terminals 300 to 3On, but since an address is assigned to each terminal, the terminal address designation data 200, 201 . ．． 202 address (Figure 3 (A)
311), the center device 1 specifies the address of the terminal to communicate with, and also sends the command (Fig. 3 (A)
312) to specify the type of data to be subsequently communicated. This 20-bit terminal address designation data is created by the center equipment [Key 1], and according to the data format shown in Figure 3 (A), the terminal address 311 following the start bit 310 of "High" (hereinafter referred to as H) and the command 3.
12 are those addresses 311. All terminals 300 to 3 together with inverted data 313 and 314 of each command 312
Sent to 0n. Display output data 220 or 2 in FIG. 2 only on the terminal 30 that matches this address voice + ρ - evening.
21 is received, and terminal input data 232 is similarly transmitted only from the terminal 30 to the center device 1. The data format of this display output data 220 or 221 is the third
It has the format shown in Figure (q), and in addition to the display data of H start bits 330 and 64 bits, 8
Bit parity signal (parity 332, parity 33
3) is given. The data of parity 332 and 333 is created as horizontal and vertical parity in units of 4 bits, and this creation method was published in a patent application filed in 1983 by the applicant.
-1709441 Error Check Method in Takyo Transmission System'' has already been specified. If the start bit 330 is confirmed and the display data 331 and its parity 332, 333 are matched, this received data is correct, and the external display device (first The output can be displayed in Figure 37).

Returning to FIG. 2 again, the center device 1 sends terminal address designation data 200 to call one terminal 30, and sends terminal response data 210 (described later) to that terminal and other terminals 3.
0, it can be determined whether those terminals 30 do not have new data (key read data) to be sent to the center device 1, and then the display output data 220 is sent to the terminal 30 in question and the terminal is connected. After the communication cycle Tl (transmission cycle) of
0 in the terminal address designation data 201, obtain the terminal response data 211 in the same manner as above, and display the display output data 22.
1 and ends the communication cycle T2 (transmission cycle).

Here, if it is found from the terminal response data 211 that there is new key reading data in the terminal in question or other terminals 30, the center device 1 uses the terminal address designation data 211.
02 specifies the terminal 30 having new key read data as described later, receives the terminal input data 232 from this terminal 30, and ends the communication cycle T3 (reception cycle). The format of the terminal input data 232 at this time is shown in FIG. 30 as described above, and in FIG. 3q, the format of the terminal input data 232 is shown in FIG.
Parity 343 and 344 are added to the key read data 342 of the four-point key matrix 35, and the center device 1
It is sent back from the terminal to the center device 1 in accordance with the synchronization pulse sent from the terminal.

If it is determined from the terminal response data section 341 in the terminal input data 232 that there remains a terminal that requests new key reading data and transmission, the center device 1 sends the terminal to the Either directly specify the key in the same way as in the receive cycle T3, or after finding it through scan communication described later, communicate with the terminal that requested transmission in the same receive cycle as the receive cycle T3, and in this way, create a new key. When all communications with the terminals that have read data are completed, the terminal 30 in the predetermined order after the terminal address designation data 201 is designated again, and a transmission cycle is executed in the same manner as the transmission cycle T2. Terminal 3
0 to display output data, and in this way perform a reception cycle with the next terminal in sequence.

In other words, basically, the center device 1 receives terminal address designation data 200, 201 . . . , the terminals 300 to 30n are designated one by one in a predetermined order and the display output data 220, 221 . If in the middle of this transmission cycle, the terminal response data 211
．． -1. Or, if it is found from the terminal input data 232 (terminal response data section 341), . After performing the receive cycle like interrupt processing, the process returns to the basic transmit cycle and continues it.

Next, this communication method will be explained in detail.

In the general method, each time the output data such as a display is transmitted, the contact input signal of the relevant terminal is sucked up to the center device side, and this is repeated to all terminals to check the signal input of the terminal. The center device often knows this. However, in cases where the signal input on the terminal is done manually, it is not often operated so often.
Normally, it is not necessary to notify the center device of the signal input status of each terminal every time it communicates with that terminal. The disadvantage of adopting a method in which the center device receives signal input from the terminal in question for each communication is that even if the terminal has little change in signal input,
Since communication will be performed at the same frequency with terminals whose signal input changes rapidly, there is a risk of failing to capture the changes in terminals whose signal input changes rapidly.To prevent this without changing the communication method, it is necessary to increase the communication speed. This results in increased equipment costs for the system.

Another method for improving the above-mentioned problem is a method in which the center device takes in the signal input from each terminal in advance, and then notifies the center device only of changes in the signal input.

The method of the present invention is a new method for solving the above-mentioned problems, and as described above, the terminal response data 210, 2
11. . . . and terminal input data 232 .
The format of the terminal response data 210, 211 (FIG. 3) and the format of the terminal input data 232 (FIG. 3)
This will be explained with reference to FIG. The second to fifth bits (priority communication request bin) 321 following the start bits 320 and 340 of FIG. These are control signal bits assigned to each terminal at addresses O to 3 (also called priority terminals).
generates a clock pulse of a "Low" (hereinafter referred to as) signal at this bit. This control signal bit (priority communication request bit 321) is assigned only to the priority terminal in order to notify the center device 1 when there is a change in the key signal input of the terminal. It is possible to send an H signal back to the input bit.

Here, four terminals considered to be used frequently are specially selected from the viewpoint of effective use of signal bits, and are assigned to the second to fifth priority communication request bits 321 as the priority terminals. Note that this priority terminal may be used, or a part of the total number of addresses may be used.

Here, the method by which the terminal sends back the H signal is a two-way transmission method using Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 56-34256 "Data Transmission Method" by the present applicant, and it is easy to notify.

When an H signal is returned to the priority communication request bit 321, the center device 1 immediately returns to the terminal that returned the H signal (any one of addresses 0 to 3) after completing the communication cycle with the terminal currently communicating. At this time, or if the H signal is returned from multiple terminals, the terminal usually uses addresses 0 and 1.
, 2, 3, 0.1... in order of priority, specify the terminal that returned the H signal, and after receiving the signal input from the specified terminal and completing the reception cycle, perform the normal transmission cycle. Return to

Next, the 6th bit in the figure is the own terminal communication request bit 3.
22, the terminal address designation fLJi200 in FIG.

When the terminal specified in 201 and 202 has a new signal input, this bit 322 is set to an H signal in the terminal response data 210 and 211 or terminal input data 232 following the specified data 200 and 201 and 202. and send it back.

In this way, terminal response data (210, 211 in Figure 2)
If this bit 322 is returned as an H signal, a reception cycle is executed with any terminal that has set the terminal communication request bit 322 of the priority communication request bit 321 to H (!).

Next, the 7th bit in the 2 ports in FIG. 3(B) is a common communication request bit 323, and when any of the terminals other than the priority terminal and its own terminal has a new signal input, this bit is set to H. Send it back. In this case, after executing the reception cycle for the priority terminal and the own terminal (however, if there is no corresponding terminal, the reception cycle is omitted), the new Other terminals having signal inputs are scanned and investigated by the center device 1 using the means of scan communication described in Japanese Patent Application No. 11789/1989 filed by the present applicant (therefore, the communication for this scan investigation is After the reception cycle with the other investigated terminal (referred to as communication requesting terminal confirmation communication) is provided during the communication cycle, the process returns to the basic transmission cycle.

Furthermore, the terminal transmission data abort signal 324 of the 8th bit in FIG. If there is no signal input, this bit is returned as H. Therefore, even if a terminal that has executed a receive cycle is addressed again in a transmit cycle,
If there is no change in the signal input to the terminal, this bit is low.
This indicates that there is no need to enter a receive cycle in the communication cycle immediately following the transmit cycle.

Note that this terminal transmission data abort signal 324 is sent to the center device 1.
It can also be used for the above-mentioned scan communication.

Furthermore, in FIG. 3, all the input conditions of the 64 key contacts are sent back to the center device, but as already mentioned, only the changes may be sent. The terminal notifies the center device of the change in key force for each key operation, and the center device can know the key operation of the terminal by comparing it with the previous notification results.

Next, the functions of the center device 1 will be explained as follows. FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of the RAM inside the center device 1. Reference numeral 12 denotes an output RAM which, for example, if the output data such as the display of the terminal 30 is 64 bits, it has bits as many as the number of connected terminals, with 64 bits as one unit. Here, the number of terminals is assumed to be 16, so 16
It has a built-in unit and sequentially repeats the transmission cycle to all 16 terminals and outputs them cyclically.

On the other hand, 13 are keys LA and M for setting key input signals on the terminal 30 side, which are arranged in the order of their addresses. This portion of the RAM 13 is set by transmitting the state of the key contact signal of the terminal 30 to the center device 1 through the process described above. Therefore, this FLAM1
By determining the change in the data of No. 3 within the center device 1, the center device 1 can know the progress of key contact operations on the terminal 30 or simply compare the previous data. By using the center device 1 and terminal 30 with such functions, it is possible to easily process the data in the RAM inside the center device 1 and then output it to the terminal 30 at a distant point. The output target device of the terminal 30 can be a display device 37 (FIG. 1) having a display panel, and more advanced control is also possible by using a buzzer, relay output, etc. as part of the display device 37 (FIG. 1). In addition, it is possible to efficiently transmit and notify the state of the signal input through the terminal-side contacts (semiconductor switches may be used) to the center device, and when the center device 1 detects this remote switch operation, , the center unit w1 executes the operation programmed by the switch, and the processing result is input to the output RAM 12 (Fig. 5) for the data to be displayed, so the terminal side executes this operation. By receiving the data in the RAM 12, the operation results can be known, for example, in the form of a central display control panel.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In this invention, dozens of signals are constantly and cyclically sent from the center device to the terminal as display output, and the terminal receives these signals and reads the operation signal input from the outside, and detects any change in this input signal. For example, it has the function of notifying the center device of the occurrence of the above-mentioned signal input change, and notifying the center device of the signal input state (key read data) upon receiving a designation from the center device;
It has a function to output display data received from the center to the outside. Furthermore, all communications between the center and terminals have multiple communication request notification bits, among which a priority communication request bit is assigned to a specific address and a common communication request bit is assigned to terminals at other addresses. Has a bit.

By configuring as described above, the following effects can be obtained in the present invention.

(1) Dozens of output points and dozens of input points can be combined into one unit (
(terminal) and can be configured at low cost.

(2) A communication request bit is included in every communication cycle with the terminal, and changes in input signals on the terminal side can be efficiently and quickly transmitted to the center device.

(3) Since this communication request bit can be specially assigned to a specific terminal whose signal does not change, it is possible to efficiently transmit signals using these bits.

(4) Furthermore, in the case of a small-scale system with a small number of terminals, the system can be configured flexibly by assigning a large number of terminals to a small number of communication request bits.

The present invention can be used for various purposes such as transmitting and displaying data, outputting data to a distant place, and collecting data from a distant place without specifying a target object.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of a terminal according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the timing of communication between the terminal and the center equipment, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the format of transmission data communicated between the terminal and the center equipment, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the RAM in the center device according to the present invention. Code explanation 1...Center device, 2...Transmission path, 30,300-30
n...terminal, 37...display device, 38...key contact, 200°201, 202...terminal address designation data, 210,211...terminal response data, 341...
...Terminal response data section, 220.221...Display output data, 232...Terminal input data, 331...Display data, 342...Key read data, 321...Priority communication request bit, 322... ... Own terminal communication request bit, 323... Common communication request bit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A center device and a plurality of terminal devices are each coupled via a line, and the center device specifies the terminal device and sends an output command to control the output target devices connected to each of the terminal devices. a transmission cycle, and a reception cycle in which the center device designates the terminal device and sends input data from input devices connected to the terminal device from the designated terminal device to the center device; and the center device processes the input data received from the terminal device in the reception cycle, sequentially designates all the terminal devices in a predetermined order, and repeats the transmission cycle. In the above, when there is a change in the input data in a specific terminal device to be prioritized during each cycle of the transmission cycle and the reception cycle, the change is notified from the terminal device according to the address of the terminal device. , a priority communication request signal to notify the center device, and when there is a change in the input data to the own terminal device designated by the center device in the transmission cycle, the own terminal device notifies the center device of the change. A self-terminal communication request signal to be notified to the center device, when there is a change in the input data in other terminal devices other than the specific terminal device and the terminal device of the parties, regardless of the address of the other terminal device. A common communication request signal is sent from the terminal device to notify the center device of the change, and in the transmission→noise cycle or the reception cycle. , when these signals are detected, the center device, following the detected cycle, and when the priority communication request signal is detected, communicates with the specific terminal device that sent the signal in a predetermined order. After executing the reception cycle, and when the common communication request signal is detected, the other terminals are transmitted in the order following the reception cycle with each terminal device that sent the priority communication request signal and the own terminal communication request signal. after sequentially investigating the terminal devices in a predetermined order, finding the terminal device that sent the common communication request signal, and executing the receiving cycle, when the own terminal communication request signal is detected in the sending cycle. is characterized in that after executing the receiving cycle with the own terminal device in the order following the receiving cycle with the terminal device that sent the priority communication request signal, the device returns to the transmitting cycle in the next order. Transmission control method.