KR20120008890U - Optical signal repeater capable of indicating status of communication with slaves - Google Patents

Abstract

The multidrop optical repeater is a first optical transceiver which transmits / receives an optical signal between a master device, a second optical transceiver which transmits / receives an optical signal between another optical repeater, and a slave capable of electrically communicating with at least one slave. A transmission / reception port, a control unit for controlling transmission and reception with a slave, a display lamp for distinguishing and displaying at least two relay operation states, and an indication for determining a relay operation state based on the presence of electrical signals of each transmission / reception unit May include logic.

Description

OPTICAL SIGNAL REPEATER CAPABLE OF INDICATING STATUS OF COMMUNICATION WITH SLAVES}

The present invention relates to an optical signal repeater.

EIA-422 or EIA-485, also known as RS-422 / 485, is a transmission standard that delivers digital signals in differential signaling. The EIA-422 uses a total of four wires (for example, two unshielded twisted pairs (UTPs)) connected to two transmitting and two receiving drivers that can operate simultaneously. Full-duplex operation, and EIA-485 can operate in half-duplex using two strands of wires shared by only one transmit driver and one receive driver at a time. To do this, the transmit and receive drivers must be tri-state (high, low, or hi-Z) output devices.

EIA-422 / 485 only defines electrical characteristics such as transmit / receive signal characteristics, termination resistance, and does not define cable or connector types, characteristics, pin assignments, or communication protocols. Therefore, Profibus ™, Mobus ™, Fieldbus ™, DMX512 Various communication protocols such as CAN and CAN have been proposed for commercial use.

Meanwhile, the EIA-422 / 485 may be connected in a 1: N or N: 1 multidrop topology, and in addition, the EIA-485 may also be connected in a N: M multi-point topology. The multidrop topology is a structure in which a plurality of slaves are connected in one line connected to one master (for example, two UTPs in EIA-422 and one UTP in EIA-485).

In an asynchronous communication topology of a multidrop topology, a master typically calls a slave with a specific address, acknowledges a response from the slave at that address, and then sends a command or data to the slave at that address, or the slave Receive data from At this time, only one slave can occupy the track at a time. Slaves that are not called or slaves whose transmissions are terminated must turn off their transmit drivers (high-Z state) so they do not interfere with other slaves.

On the other hand, the EIA-485 / 422 uses a differential signal, so it is able to support some high-speed data communication in a noise-resistant and relatively long distance, such as 1.5 km. According to the recommendation, up to 32 slave devices can be connected, but the number of slave devices that are connected can be increased by connecting more than 32 devices, or by connecting one device as a gateway to 32 more devices. In practice, more devices are being used in the field.

Until recently, automation networks based on EIA-485 / 422 or Ethernet have been used in various areas such as buildings, factories, homes, large complexes, and venues. However, in contrast to the beginning of the EIA-485 / 422-based network to control dozens of devices, now even hundreds of devices are connected by electrical wires up to several Km long. In this case, the transmission of data to or from each terminal slave device is very slow, and the probability of data loss is greatly increased. In particular, when data is lost, the device that sent the data cannot know whether or not the data is lost, and the receiver of the data does not know the fact that the data was sent.

An object of the present invention is to provide a multidrop optical repeater capable of using an optical cable as a signal transmission medium while maintaining compatibility with an EIA-485 / 422 network, and displaying a communication relay operation status.

Multi-drop optical repeater according to an aspect of the present invention,

A first optical transceiver configured to convert the first digital information transmitted from the master device into an optical signal and convert the converted digital signal into an optical signal when the second digital information directed to the master device is received as an electrical signal;

A second optical transceiver configured to convert the second digital information into an optical signal when received as an optical signal, or convert the first digital information into an optical signal when the first digital information is received as an electrical signal;

A slave transmit / receive port capable of electrically communicating with at least one slave;

A controller which transmits the first digital information to the slave transmission / reception port when the first digital information includes a preset address, and provides data received by the slave transmission / reception port to the first optical transmission / reception unit;

A display lamp for distinguishing and displaying at least two relay operation states; And

Detecting the presence of an electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver, an electrical signal converted by the second optical transceiver, an electrical signal received by the slave transmission / reception port, and an electrical signal transmitted to the slave transmission / reception port, and detecting the result And display logic for determining a relay operation state based on the reference.

According to an embodiment, the first and second optical transceivers and the controller,

The electrical signals converted by the first optical transceiver may be electrically connected to the controller and the second optical transceiver.

According to an embodiment, the first and second optical transceivers and the controller,

The electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver may be electrically connected to the controller so that the electrical signal received by the controller is transmitted to the controller.

According to embodiments, the display logic is determined to be a slave downlink relay state when the electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver is equal to the electrical signal transmitted from the controller to the slave transmission / reception port, and the slave transmission / reception from the slave. If the electrical signal received at the port is equivalent to the electrical signal received at the first optical transceiver, the operation may be determined to determine a slave upstream relay state.

The multidrop optical repeater of the present invention can use an optical cable as a signal transmission medium while maintaining compatibility with the EIA-485 / 422 network. Therefore, the data transmission speed is high and the probability of data loss is low, thereby achieving high reliability. Also, more slaves in the network can be connected farther.

The multidrop optical repeater of the present invention can externally check the relay operation between the repeaters or the relay operation state between the repeater and the slave.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a multidrop optical repeater according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a multidrop optical repeater according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 illustrates the display of the LED lamp according to the relay operation performed by the multi-drop optical repeater according to embodiments of the present invention.

With respect to the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the text, specific structural to functional descriptions are merely illustrated for the purpose of describing the embodiments of the present invention, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in various forms and It should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described in.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals are used for the same constituent elements in the drawings and redundant explanations for the same constituent elements are omitted.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a multidrop optical repeater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the optical repeater 10 includes a first optical transceiver 11, a second optical transceiver 12, a receiver 13, a transmitter 14, a controller 15, and a slave transceiver port 16. ), Display logic 17, display lamp 18, and setting interface 19.

The first and second optical transceivers 11 and 12 may receive and transmit single mode or multimode optical signals, respectively.

The optical repeater 10 may relay data and signals between at least one master device and a plurality of slaves.

The first optical transceiver 11 receives an optical signal ORx1 transmitted from the master device side, converts the optical signal ORx1 into an electrical signal Rx1, and converts the electrical signal Tx1 directed to the master device side into an optical signal OTx1. Output

In other words, the first optical transceiver 11 converts the first digital information transmitted from the master device to the slaves through the optical repeaters 10 from the optical signal into an electrical signal, or a second digital signal directed to the master device. Converts information from electrical signals to optical signals.

The second optical transceiver 12 converts and outputs an electrical signal Tx2 directed to the optical repeater side of the next stage into an optical signal OTx2 and outputs the optical signal ORx2 transmitted from the optical repeater side of the next stage. Convert to (Rx2).

In other words, the second optical transceiver 12 converts the second digital information transmitted from the optical repeater of the next stage from the optical signal to the electrical signal, or converts the first digital information transmitted from the master device into the optical signal. Convert to and print it out.

The receiver 13 branches the electrical signal Rx1 obtained by converting the optical signal ORx1 related to the first digital information from the first optical transceiver 11 to the second optical transceiver 12 and the controller 15, respectively. do.

The transmitter 14 transmits the measurement data signal Txm output through the controller 15 to the first optical transceiver 11 in the form of an electrical signal.

In this case, the receiver 13 and the transmitter 15 may be configured to receive or transmit an electrical signal according to the EIA-485 or EIA-422 communication standards, respectively. In this case, the conventional commercial components manufactured according to the EIA-485 or EIA-422 communication standards can be used as they are.

The controller 15 decodes the address, the command, and the data included in the electrical signal Rx1 inputted through the first optical transceiver 11 and the receiver 13, so that the decoded address corresponds to the optical repeater 10. If it is determined that the corresponding address is, the corresponding electrical signal is outputted to the slave side through the slave transmission / reception port 16. Otherwise, if the decrypted address is irrelevant to the optical repeater 10 and slaves connected thereto, the controller 15 ignores and discards the received command and data.

Slaves can typically be various kinds of sensors, for example. For example, slaves can measure physical quantities such as temperature, humidity, smoke, infrared light, noise, vibration, gas volume, flow rate, power, and rotational speed of a rotating body, or detect digital phenomena of gas / liquid outflow. You can generate data. The generated measurement data is received from the slave through the slave transmission / reception port 16 and transferred to the control unit 15.

The optical repeater 10 and the slaves may be connected through wired communication standards such as RS-232C, EIA-485, EIA-422, Ethernet, or wireless communication standards such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, and ZigBee. Can be.

The controller 15 may directly or encapsulate data generated and transmitted by the slave as it is, and transmit the measured data signal Tx to the first optical transmitter / receiver 11 through the transmitter 14.

The control unit 15 is designed to comply with a full-duplex / half-duplex communication method, a synchronous / asynchronous communication method, a low voltage differential signal standard, or the like so as to be compatible with a conventional EIA-485 / 422 network, or make the most of a conventional control IC. Can be implemented.

Preferably, when the optical repeater 10 does not transmit, data that may be from another optical repeater is made by using the transmission control signal C _{TX to make} the driving circuit of the transmitter 11 high-Z. Do not interrupt the transmission of

The display logic 17 monitors the presence of electrical signals transmitted and received at the receiving unit 13, the transmitting unit 14, and the slave transmitting / receiving port 16, and based on the result, relay operation state of the optical repeater 10 to the outside. The display lamp 18 can be driven to display.

The display lamp 18 may be embodied as, for example, light emitting diode lamps of single color, two colors, or three colors, and may basically display light when the respective communication ports 11, 12, and 16 operate. In addition, the display logic 17 may emit light according to the driving of the display logic 17.

The display logic 17 receives the signal transmitted down from the master device side and relays the signal down to the other relay or its own slave, or the signal relay from the other relay upstream to the master device side. Whether the signal transmitted from its own slave or the relayed upstream to the master device.

To this end, the display logic 17 may receive the first signal S11 received from the master device side in the first optical transceiver 11 and the second signal S12 received from another repeater in the second optical transceiver 12. ) And the third and fourth signals S13 and S14 transmitted between the controller 15 and the slave transmission / reception ports 16, respectively, and compare the detected signals S11 to S14 with each other.

For example, when the optical repeater 10 relays the signal received from the master device side downward to another repeater, only the first signal S11 is detected. The second signal S12 is detected when the optical repeater 10 relays the signal upward to the master device side.

When the optical repeater 10 forwards the signal received from the master device to the slave, the first signal S11 and the third signal S13 are detected, and the two signals S11 and S13 should be equal. When the data of the slave is transferred upward to the master device, the fourth signal S14 and the second signal S12 are detected, and these two signals S12 and S14 must be equivalent.

In these four cases, the display logic 17 may determine that the optical repeater 10 is performing the relay operation between the repeaters or the relay operation between the repeater and the slave, and drive the display lamp 18 accordingly.

According to an embodiment, the display logic 17 may be implemented integrally with the controller 15 or as part of the controller 15.

The setting interface 19 may set, for example, an address to be referred to by the controller 15 by the user through a dual in-line package (DIP) switch.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a multidrop optical repeater according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the components of optical repeater 20 are generally similar to the corresponding respective components of optical repeater 10 of FIG. 1.

However, in the optical repeater 10 of FIG. 1, the first optical transceiver 11 and the second optical transceiver 12 are directly connected, whereas in the optical repeater 20 of FIG. 2, the first optical transceiver 20 is connected. The unit 21 and the second optical transceiver 22 are connected via the controller 25, respectively.

In other words, the signal received by the first optical transceiver 21 is first applied to the controller 25, and when the controller 25 determines that the signal is to be relayed to another repeater, the signal is transmitted to the second optical transceiver 22. do. Similarly, the signal received by the second optical transceiver 22 is first applied to the controller 25 and then output from the controller 25 to the first optical transceiver 21.

Accordingly, when only the first signal S21 and the second signal S22 are detected, and the two signals S21 and S22 are equal to each other, the display logic 27 performs a good forward relay operation from the master device side to the other repeater. Determine that it was done. Similarly, the display logic 27 detects only the third signal S23 and the fourth signal S24, and if the two signals S23 and S24 are equal to each other, the uplink relay operation transmitted from the other repeater to the master device performs well. Can be determined.

Further, the display logic 27 determines that only the first signal S21 and the fifth signal S25 are detected, and if the two signals S21 and S25 are equal, it is a downlink relay operation transmitted from the master device side to the slave. When only the six signals S26 and the third signal S23 are detected and the two signals S23 and S26 are equivalent, it may be determined as an uplink relay operation transmitted from the slave to the master device.

The display logic 27 can drive the display lamp 28 according to the determination result.

Figure 3 illustrates the display of the LED lamp according to the relay operation performed by the multi-drop optical repeater according to embodiments of the present invention.

The optical repeater 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention may relay the signal originating from the master device downward to another relay or slave and may also relay upward from the other relay or slave to the master device.

Accordingly, the display lamp 38 may display the above four relay operation modes as well as the transmission / reception operation occurring in each transmission / reception unit.

Although the present invention as described above has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, which is a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications and Modifications are possible. Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should be understood only by the utility model registration claims described below, and all equivalent or equivalent modifications will belong to the scope of the present invention.

10 Multidrop Optical Repeater 11 First Optical Transceiver
12 Second Optical Transceiver 13 Receiver
14 Transmitter 15 Control part
16 Slave transmit and receive port 17 display logic
18 indicator lamp 19 setting interface

Claims (4)

A first optical transceiver configured to convert the first digital information transmitted from the master device into an optical signal and convert the converted digital signal into an optical signal when the second digital information directed to the master device is received as an electrical signal;
A second optical transceiver configured to convert the second digital information into an optical signal when received as an optical signal, or convert the first digital information into an optical signal when the first digital information is received as an electrical signal;
A slave transmit / receive port capable of electrically communicating with at least one slave;
A controller which transmits the first digital information to the slave transmission / reception port when the first digital information includes a preset address, and provides data received by the slave transmission / reception port to the first optical transmission / reception unit;
A display lamp for distinguishing and displaying at least two relay operation states; And
Detecting the presence of an electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver, an electrical signal converted by the second optical transceiver, an electrical signal received by the slave transmission / reception port, and an electrical signal transmitted to the slave transmission / reception port, and detecting the result And a display logic to determine a relay operation state based on the multidrop optical repeater. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second optical transceiver and the control unit,
And the electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver is electrically connected to the controller and the second optical transceiver, respectively. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second optical transceiver and the control unit,
And the electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver is applied to the controller and is electrically connected such that the electrical signal received by the second optical transceiver is transmitted from the controller. The display logic of claim 2 or 3, wherein the display logic determines that the slave signal is in a relay downlink relay state if the electrical signal converted by the first optical transceiver is equal to the electrical signal transmitted from the controller to the slave transceiver port. And if the electrical signal received at the slave transmission / reception port is equal to the electrical signal received at the first optical transmission / reception unit, determining to be a slave uplink relay state.

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