WO1998033298A1

WO1998033298A1 - Data communication method and apparatus therefor

Info

Publication number: WO1998033298A1
Application number: PCT/JP1997/000178
Authority: WO
Inventors: Akihiro Yokota
Original assignee: Wacom Engineering Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 1997-01-27
Filing date: 1997-01-27
Publication date: 1998-07-30
Also published as: AU1597697A

Abstract

A data communication method for supplying data from a host to a plurality of users via a network, comprising the steps (a) the host supplies data in parallel from a data server to a plurality of first network interface devices connected to the network, (b) when a user requests the host to supply the data via a second network interface device connected to the network, a circuit is established between the second network interface device and one of the first network interface devices, and (c) the users receive the data through the circuit.

Description

Description Data communication method and device therefor

The present invention relates to a data communication method and a device thereof, and more particularly, to a data communication method of unidirectional communication for multimedia communication and a device thereof. Background art

In data communication over a general network, the host and the user

One-to-one handshake bidirectional communication is the mainstream. Vasocon communication is one example of this. Data can be transmitted and received between existing networks using modems that support these protocols. In particular, it is widely used in services where hosts supply data to arbitrary users.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining a conventional data communication method using two-way communication. Fig. 1 shows an example in which a host (server) provides a service for supplying data C to any user via an existing network. In this example, user A and user B access data C on the host (server) side by personal computer communication. The host is provided with two server devices that can supply data C. User A and user B establish two-way communication with server devices D and E, respectively, in a one-to-one handshake. You. In this case, only two users can access data C at the same time.

7

However, the conventional one-to-one handshake two-way communication method described above has the following problems.

In the conventional method, any host can transfer power over an existing telephone line. A major problem arises when providing distribution services that supply a large amount of information to a large number of users, such as child newspapers.

For example, in newspapers, countless readers try to obtain the same information every day, so in an electronic newspaper that digitizes this information, it is expected that many users will inevitably concentrate on one piece of software. Is done. Therefore, in one-to-one handshed two-way communication, the host side needs to prepare an enormous number of lines and modems to accommodate a large number of users.

In this case, the load on the host increases extremely as the number of lines increases. When responding to all accesses from hundreds or thousands of lines, the load on the host reaches hundreds or thousands of times that of a single line, introducing a supercomputer, or using multiple computers (or It is necessary to introduce distributed processing by multiple supercomputers. In this way, in the two-way communication method in which handshaking is performed on a one-to-one basis, the equipment cost on the host side becomes enormous as the number of lines increases.

Although a method of distributing data to a large number of users via a single line, such as broadcasting, is conceivable, it is practically difficult to change the structure of an existing network, especially an exchange.

If a distribution service that supplies a large amount of information, such as an electronic newspaper, to a large number of users is performed via an existing telephone line, a large number of lines and a large number of modems are required. It should be able to be configured with low personal computers and simple logic circuits only. If these can be achieved, the load on the host will be light, and the burden on the user can be reduced. Disclosure of the invention

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a data communication system capable of transferring data to a large number of users at the same time with simple equipment on a host side and a user side via a general network. Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple device for providing the data communication system of the present invention.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by taking the following means.

In the invention described in claim 1,

A data communication system that supplies data from a host to multiple users via a network,

(a) the host supplies data in parallel by a data server to a plurality of first network interface devices connected to the network,

(b) when the user accesses the host via the second network interface device connected to the network to supply the data, the second network interface; Establishing a circuit between the interface device and any one of the plurality of first network interface devices;

(c) a step in which the user receives the data through the line

It is characterized by including.

In the invention described in claim 2,

The step (a) may further include a step (a-1) in which the data server repeatedly sends the data.

In the invention described in claim 5,

The step (a) further includes a step (a-2) of adding a unity word indicating a predetermined position of data in the data, and the step (c) waits until the unique word is detected, The method further comprises the step (c-11) of receiving data up to the next unique code after detection.

In the invention described in claim 6,

The unique code is a header indicating a head position of the data. There is a feature.

In the invention described in claim 7,

The step (a) further includes the step of converting the data added with the header into a plurality of data outputs having different delay times in a stepwise manner, and the step (b) further comprises the step of: When accessing the host, the method further comprises a step of connecting a line from the user to a data output that has the shortest time until the header arrives.

In the invention according to claim 8,

The step (a) further includes a step of generating a plurality of data outputs in which the data to which the header is added is repeated stepwise at different timings, and the step (b) includes the step of: When accessing the host, the method further comprises the step of connecting a line from the user to a data output having the shortest time until the header arrives.

In the invention according to claim 9,

The step (a) further includes the step of dividing the data into a plurality of sub-data and adding different unique codes, and the step (c) includes detecting one of the unique words and (C-2) receiving all the sub-data up to the same unit word, and reproducing (c-13) the data from the received sub-data based on the unity code. It is characterized by the following. In the invention according to claim 10,

The step (a) further includes a step (a-3) of adding an error correction code in the data, and the step (c) corrects the error using the error correction code. (C-14) is further included.

In the invention described in claim 12,

The data of the data server is the content of a newspaper article; The step (b) further includes a step of automatically accessing the supply of the data to the host at a fixed time every day, and the step (C) further includes a step of disconnecting the line after receiving the data. It is characterized by including.

In the invention described in claim 13,

A data communication device for supplying data to a plurality of users via a network,

A data server for sending data to be supplied to the user; a data server connected to the network; establishing a line with each of the plurality of users in response to access from the plurality of users; Network interface devices to supply each user

It is characterized by having.

In the invention described in claim 22,

A data communication device for receiving data from a host via a network,

A second network interface connected to the network, accessing the host, establishing a line with a first network interface device installed on the host, and receiving the data; Face device,

A terminal device for processing the data received by the second network interface device;

It is characterized by having.

The data communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and the data communication device according to any one of claims 13, 14, and 15, and claim 22, 22, 23, 24. In the data communication device according to any one of the items 24, the server on the host side does not need to contact the user on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, the host can handle one-to-many even if there are many lines. That is, many users access If this is anticipated, a single data server can be used if the number of lines that can be accessed simultaneously and the corresponding modem are prepared. Therefore, in the conventional two-way communication such as personal computer communication, the capacity of the host computer had to be increased (sometimes, a supercomputer was necessary) with the increase in the number of lines on the host side. With this data communication method, a supercomputer is not required, and a system that can distribute large amounts of data to many users at the same time with small-scale equipment can be constructed.

The data communication method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, the data communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 19, and the data communication method according to claim 25 or 26. The data communication device receives the data based on the unique word within the data. Therefore, data can be received in an orderly manner and the correct data can be reproduced. Further, in claims 7 to 9, the time until a unique key serving as a reference for data reception is detected can be reduced, and data reception can be started in a short time.

In the data communication system described in claim 10 and the data communication apparatus described in claims 20 and 27, an error correction code is added to data, and an error is corrected on the receiving side based on the error correction code. . Therefore, errors in the received data are reduced. In the data communication system according to claim 11, ISDN is used as a network. Therefore, large-capacity data can be transmitted, and the control channel and the data transmission channel can be handled independently, facilitating device design.

^ o

According to the data communication method described in claim 12 and the data communication device described in claim 28, the content of a newspaper article output from one data server is transmitted via a plurality of interface devices every day. Is transmitted to the user at a certain time. Therefore, a large amount of newspaper data can be easily accessed by the user with a simple device. In the data communication device according to claim 21, when there is no access from the user, the supply of data from the data server is stopped. Therefore, the data server does not needlessly supply the data, and the power consumption of the data server can be reduced. In the data communication apparatus according to claim 29, the portable terminal body can be easily attached to and detached from a stationary adapter. Therefore, if the stationary adapter is connected to the required line in advance, the portable terminal itself can be freely moved, can be easily connected to the line, and can receive a prompt prompt from the host. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

【Figure 1】

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram for explaining a conventional data communication method using two-way communication.

【Figure 2】

FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a data communication method according to the present invention.

[Figure 3]

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the modem of the ISDN.

[Fig. 4]

Fig. 4 shows an example of the configuration of a digital server using a mouthpiece circuit.

[Figure 5]

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data format supplied from a data server.

[Fig. 6]

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a protocol of the data communication system of the present invention including error correction.

[Figure Π

Block for explaining a second embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention FIG.

[Fig. 8]

9 is a modification example of the second embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention shown in FIG.

[Fig. 9]

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention.

[Fig. 10]

10 is a modification of the third embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention shown in FIG.

[Fig. 11]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a modem for a one-way data communication system.

[Fig. 1 2]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a device configuration of a data communication system of the present invention.

[Fig. 13]

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a modem chipset having a cache memory.

[Fig. 14]

2 is a configuration example of a mobile terminal with an electronic news function.

[Fig. 15]

It is a structural example of a portable terminal having a stationary adapter.

[Fig. 16]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an IC for a data communication system according to the present invention.

[Fig. 17]

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which the data communication system of the present invention is applied to video-on-demand. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a data communication system according to the present invention. This section describes the case where the INS-NET64 network (circuit switching, bearer service) of ISDN, for which NTT provides services, is used as a general network. In addition, the present invention It can be realized not only in ISDN but also in various networks such as the current analog public network and packet network.

FIG. 2 shows that a host that supplies data, such as an electronic newspaper, is connected to a large number of users via ISDN. The host equipment consists of a data server 1 having a digital data repeater that can repeatedly send data, and n modems 2-1 to 2-n (hereafter, each modem is called "modem 2"). ). The data repeatedly transmitted from the data server 1 is unilaterally supplied to n modems 2-1 to 2-n. Each modem is connected to the ISDN via an ISDN line termination unit (DSU). In this case, the modem supports the interface from layer 1 to layer 3 of the DNS net 64. The equipment on the user side consists of a modem 3-1 to 3-i for establishing a line with the host (hereinafter, each modem is referred to as "modem 3") and a terminal for receiving data from the host. 4-1 1 to 4-1 i (hereinafter, individual terminals are referred to as “terminal 4”). Modem 3 can be the same as modem 2 on the host side. Also, the modems 3 can be incorporated in the terminals 4 respectively. Each user is connected to ISDN via DSU.

DSUs are typically installed in homes by telecommunications carriers.

Before describing the operation of the data communication method of FIG. 2, the operation of the modem 2 and modem 3 of the ISDN will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ISDN modem. In ISDN, the B channel (data channel) that carries data and the D channel (control channel) that performs the calling sequence of the line itself (call control) are independent. In each modem, the B channel and the D channel are separated, the B channel of modem 2 is connected to the server 1 and the B channel of modem 3 is connected to the data receiving unit (not shown) of terminal 4. You.

The D channel of the modem 2 is connected to the local microcomputer 5 in the modem. The D channel of the modem 3 is connected to the oral computer 6 in the modem, and a calling sequence for establishing a circuit between them is performed. The handshake processing of the calling sequence by the D channel (LAPD) can be almost self-contained by an ISDN modem (configurable with a processor). Therefore, the B channel can handle only data transmission in practical terms. .

In the data communication system of the present invention, data on the host side is transmitted to each user only in one direction, so that substantially only one-way (host → user) B channel is used. That is, only the B channel for line connection is used, and the L A P B of the B channel package is not used. Therefore, the B channel on the host side is dedicated to transmission and the B channel on the user side is dedicated to reception.

Next, a detailed operation of the data communication system of the present invention will be described. On the host side, as shown in FIG. 2, the data output from the data server 1 having the digital data repeat mechanism is connected in parallel to the B channel data input of a plurality of modems 3 (ISDN processors). Each of these ISDN processors is connected to an access line and waits for an access from a user. As shown in Fig. 2, the configuration of the entire host is a layout that allows one data server to support ISDN via multiple modems and distribute data one-to-many.

On the other hand, when the user accesses the host to supply the data overnight, the first line establishing operation (calling sequence) is performed between the modem 3 and the modem 2 via the D channel. This is done on a one-to-one basis. After the line is established, the data that is constantly transmitted from the data server 1 to the user from the host side is transferred via the modem to the one-way B channel. In this case, there is basically no flow of data from the user to the host. The B channel for data is not one-way communication but one-way communication from the host to the user, and does not use B-channel packets. In the above operation, the host side Since the ring sequence is self-processed in the modem, the host computer itself does not receive direct access from the user. Also, as many as the number of prepared modems, multiple users can access at one time.

With the above operation, the host server does not need to contact the user one-to-one, and can respond one-to-many even if there are many lines. The server does not need to interact with many users simultaneously (handshake). In other words, if a large number of users are expected to be accessed, a single data server can be used if the number of lines expected to be accessed simultaneously and the corresponding modem are prepared. In addition, modems can be easily converted to single-chip ICs, and large equipment is not required even if the number of lines increases. Therefore, in conventional two-way communication such as personal computer communication, with the increase in the number of lines on the host side, the capacity of the host computer had to be increased (sometimes, there was a need for a super computer). However, the data communication method of the present invention does not require a supercomputer or the like, and it is possible to construct a system for distributing a large amount of data to many users at the same time with a small facility.

The data server 1 having the digital data repeat mechanism shown in FIG. 3 can be easily configured by mounting an expansion board on a personal computer. Also, it can be configured by a logic circuit. Figure 4 shows a configuration example of a digital server using a logic circuit. In this configuration example, data is recorded in the semiconductor memory, and the address is repeated by a repeat counter. By rewriting the contents of the semiconductor memory or preparing multiple banks and recording different data, one server can supply various data. Since these can be configured only with logic circuits, puff con- trols are not required and the equipment is extremely simple. In addition, the digital repeater can be configured using a tape streamer or the like.

However, in the data server described above, access from users Regardless of the start time, the data is constantly played back repeatedly, and the data at the moment of access becomes disorderly for the user.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the format of the data supplied from the data server. The data supplied from the data server 1 is added with a specific bit pattern indicating a header (the head position of the data), and is then played back repeatedly. Since the host continues to unilaterally repeat the data, the data reproduction position cannot be specified at the moment of access start. However, repeat playback is performed overnight, so if you wait for a while, the header will always appear. Therefore, if the user waits until the header is detected, the user can recognize the beginning of the data, and if the data after that is taken in, the user can receive the ordered data. At this time, if automatic recording is performed, the header is detected and data is recorded, and the line is disconnected when the next header or footer (data end code) is detected. This can prevent the same data from being recorded again.

The header may be in any form as long as it is a bit pattern that does not exist in the data body. It should be noted that the power consumption of the data server can be reduced by stopping data repeat playback when there is no access at all, and playing back only when access occurs.

Also, an error correction code can be added to the data supplied by the data server. In the one-way data communication method according to the present invention, a frame retransmission request cannot be made even if an error can be detected as in the two-way communication method. If an error is detected, there is a way to read the same data again, but since the data is being played back repeatedly, it has to wait for the header, which increases the communication time. By adding the error correction code, the generated error can be reduced.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a protocol of the data communication system of the present invention including error correction. The error correction method is shown in this figure. It is not limited to things. In Fig. 6, 2B of INS network 64 is used for overnight distribution, and a bus width of 16 bits is secured in parallel.

On the host side, the code data input is first converted to byte data in units of 8 bits, and a Hamming error correction code of 6 bits (BCH 7.4) is added. One bit of the header identification signal and one bit of the byte Z-code conversion signal (equivalent to BHEZA0) are added to this, resulting in a 16-bit parallel signal. The header identification signal is an identification signal for indicating whether the data is electronic newspaper data or the like or the header described in FIG. This parallel signal is converted to a serial signal. The above signal assembly can be performed outside or inside the data server 1. The serial signal is transmitted to the user via the ISDN 2B channel in a modem called the ISDN interface.

The terminal on the user side converts the 2DN of the ISDN into parallel, creates an error syndrome from the nominating code, and performs error correction processing. Then, the 8-bit byte data is converted into 16-bit word data using the byte Z-code conversion signal. The above processing can be performed by the modem on the user side. Since the above-mentioned code data is valid from the header identification signal to the next header identification signal, this interval is detected and processing, recording, and reproduction are performed.

In the data communication method described above, a header is added to the data supplied from the data server, and the user waits for the header and receives the data. However, when the amount of software information is large, such as video-on and demand, the waiting time until the header becomes too long, which is inconvenient. The data communication method for dealing with such a case is described below.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention. In the data communication system shown in Fig. 7, a delay circuit using FIF0 memory is connected to the output of the server The output is converted to multiple output with the same delay time. These are connected to multiple transmission-only modems via a matrix switch. Then, when an access from the user occurs, the line from the user is connected to the output which is shortest in time until the header arrives.

FIG. 8 is a modification of the data communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the matrix switch is placed between a plurality of data outputs and a plurality of transmission-only modems. However, when distributing a line to a transmission-only modem via a PBX, it is possible to install a matrix switch between multiple transmission-only modems and the PBX, as shown in the example in Fig. 8. . Also in this case, the line from the user is connected to the output that is the shortest in time until the header arrives.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention. In the data communication method shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of data servers (or a data reproducing apparatus such as a tape streamer) are prepared, and data is transmitted with a time lag. In this case, as in the previous example, when a user accesses, the line from the user is connected to the output that is the shortest in time until the header arrives.

FIG. 10 is a modification of the third embodiment of the data communication system of the present invention shown in FIG. In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9 as well, as in FIG. 8, when distributing a line to a transmission-only modem via a PBX, a matrix switch is installed between the PBX and a plurality of transmission-only modems. be able to. The operation is the same as in Fig. 8.

It is obvious that in the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 10, the matrix switch can be installed between a plurality of data outputs and a plurality of transmission-only modems.

The following methods can be used to shorten the waiting time until the header. On the host side, the data of the data server is subdivided into buckets, and a serial number is given to each bucket, for example, as a header. You When the user accesses the data, it takes in the data from the packet data of serial number N immediately after the access. Then, the data recording ends with the serial number (N-1).

The data is reordered by the user's terminal in the order of serial number, and the header is removed to recover. With this method, the average time required to wait for the header can be significantly reduced. The serial number may be any number (for example, a random number or some code) as long as the order of restoration is determined between the host and the user.

Also, the data generation protocol shown in FIG. Software can be easily emulated on a computer such as a computer. Alternatively, it can be composed of an IC in a hardware manner. In this case, it is possible to implement IC including the modem shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 11 shows a block diagram of a one-way data communication modem. The host-side transmission-only modem has an ISDN processor and a LOCAL-MPU, as well as a header and a header addition circuit and an error correction parity addition circuit. The header / foot adding circuit can be composed of, for example, a multiplexer, and can be added by switching between data and header code. In addition, the receiving-only modem on the user side is equipped with an ISDN processor and a LOCAL-MPU, as well as a header / hook detection circuit and an error correction circuit. The header detection circuit is a trigger for starting recording by DMA transfer. The above-mentioned parity adding circuit and error correcting circuit can be configured by wire logic. In addition, the header / hook addition detection circuit, parity addition circuit, and error correction circuit can be emulated by software. In addition, headers can be embedded into the data from scratch. However, since real-time processing is performed during communication, it is more effective to use hardware if high-speed processing is required. Note that I The data line in the SDN processor is dedicated to transmission on the host side and dedicated to reception on the user side, and constitutes a one-way communication data line.

Also, the handshake for the calling sequence is self-processed inside the modem. After entering the data transmission / reception process, the unidirectional data line is enabled. Therefore, the ISDN processor is provided with a state buffer or a switch circuit (not shown) for enabling a data line in one direction. The calling sequence is processed in L0CAL-MPU as a local microcomputer.

Next, the overall configuration of the data communication system of the present invention will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a device configuration of the data communication system of the present invention. The host and user modems combine an optical or magnetic disk or a data recording medium such as a memory card. Also, the host-side data recording medium has a function of reproducing the transmitted data of the data recording medium in a repeat manner, and the user-side data recording medium uses the header detection signal as a trigger. It has a function to record data. Furthermore, if the amount of data to be transmitted and received is not very large, a cache memory should be configured on the data line with the modem, and repeat playback of data and temporary recording of data should be performed on this cache memory. Can also.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a modem chipset having a cache memory. In this chipset, the functions of both the host and user are integrated to form a one-way communication processor. This processor has a cache memory for repeating the data on the host side and a cache memory for temporarily recording the data on the user side. Fig. 13 shows a set of ISDN processor chip including LOCAL-MPU and two chip of one-way communication processor. These can be composed of one chip or several chips. Can be achieved. By converting these chipsets into a computer expansion board / expansion card, the present invention can be realized on a general computer.

As for the data recording medium with the device configuration shown in Fig. 12, the data repeat function and the automatic recording function (header is used as a trigger to start recording) by using the hard disk or silicon disk of the main unit of the computer. It can be provided in the form of a program.

Next, the portable terminal used by the user will be described. When users access host data, they need to be able to access from anywhere, anytime, not just from fixed locations. In addition, the present invention is most suitable for electronic newspapers and the like, and newspapers can be read anywhere. Therefore, it is necessary to configure the above-mentioned device on the user side so as to be portable.

Figure 14 shows a configuration example of a mobile terminal with an electronic newspaper function. This mobile terminal integrates the user device shown in Fig. 12 or Fig. 13 with the computer system main unit (CPU, DSP, memory, system chipset, etc.) and the panel display. In addition, when configured as a mobile terminal with an electronic newspaper function (details will be described later), an auto-pilot program that automatically accesses and downloads the host using a timer is also added.

This communication device not only accesses the host from a fixed line, but also goes out with a terminal, for example, accesses the host from a wireless line and reads an electronic newspaper on a train . In other words, in order to obtain the functions of an electronic newspaper, it is necessary to achieve both portability and the ease of connection to a telephone line. In addition, when connecting to a mobile terminal in the daytime and connecting to a real AV system at night, it is necessary to connect a cable to the AV system every time.

FIG. 15 shows a configuration example of a mobile terminal having a stationary adapter. This example consists of a stationary adapter (table) and a mobile terminal. Stationary The adapter has a connector (contact) for electrically coupling the mobile terminal with an external network, and the mobile terminal interfaces with the external network via the stationary adapter. Can be taken.

The electrical connection is made by placing the mobile terminal body on the stationary adapter, similar to the relationship between the cordless phone handset and the table. The electronic newspaper's timer automatic reception function (auto pilot) is activated when the main body of the mobile terminal is set in the stationary adapter. Specifically, it detects the connection between the two,

Input from the IZO port, or the state of this port, determines whether to start the program for the automatic reception function (auto pilot). At this time, the terminal itself can be charged.

Next, an application example of the above data communication system will be described.

First, the data communication system of the present invention is applicable to an electronic newspaper service. For example, the host inputs newspaper data to the data server. On the user side, every morning in the early morning, a terminal (or PC) is automatically activated by a timer and automatically accesses the host. The terminal detects the data header and automatically records up to the next header on a built-in hard disk. Users can read electronic newspapers without having to wait by hitting the key on their terminal when they wake up.

Newspapers are available in the morning and evening, but in the case of electronic newspapers, the time required for printing is unnecessary, so the latest data can always be input to the data server. For news items such as TV news, if data is updated every hour, for example, unlike general newspapers, users can always know the latest information.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of an IC for a data communication system according to the present invention. This IC is useful as an IC used in the above-described electronic newspaper service device. The following describes each function.

[Local bus] Completely independent from the bus managed by the CPU Built-in Calvas and logic to control it. The local bus is

There is also a terminal outside the IC, and a local bus device can be connected externally. The IC generates an address and a command strobe for the local bus, and controls the local data bus. On an oral bus, the main purpose is to transfer the communication data of the present invention to a data recording medium.

[Portal bus device] The local bus contains the communication method architecture of the present invention and a cache memory, and externally connects a silicon disk (data storage medium using flash memory). I do. In the first place, this IC is premised on efficient data transfer between the communication method architecture of the present invention on the oral bus and the cache memory.

C D M A) Access to the local bus device is basically performed by D M A. DMA can be used in combination with control logic to perform burst transfer (same as normal DMA use) and repeat playback of a specific address space (Z-movie that can be used for host-side digital overnight repeat playback) Provides special functions such as window repeat play) and external start & stop pulse control (user can use header to start recording and footer to stop recording) .

[Control logic, register group, comparator] Operation is performed according to the instruction from the upper CPU (command operation to the register). Registers include start, stop, and hold. Basically, the transfer from the address value stored in the start register to the address value stored in the stop register is performed. At the beginning of the data transfer, the value of the start register is loaded in the count.

For burst transfer, write or read from the local bus device to the silicon disk at this address. In the case of repeat playback, this address section is repeatedly played back until a command from the host CPU is issued. Also, the Top Regis evening The value and the address value indicated by the counter (for example, binary up-count) are compared instantaneously, and if the count address value is equal to or greater than the stop-registration value, the address count is stopped. Either, or perform repeat playback (restart from loading the start register value to the count value). When downloading data in a one-way data communication method, connect the header and foot detection signals of the present invention to the count start trigger and count stop trigger of the control logic (PLA). To start and end DMA transfer. If access is successful with this communication method, B-channel data appears on the local data bus, so the header is detected and data is written to the cache memory. Writing is performed by DMA based on the address value indicated by the start register, and the operation is stopped as soon as a footage is detected in the B channel. Therefore, the stop register is not used in this case.

[Circuit for one-way data communication method] As one architecture of the one-way data communication method of the present invention, a header addition circuit and an error correction code addition circuit are provided on the transmission-only modem side, and a header detection circuit is provided on the reception-only modem.

(Record start trigger), Flip detection circuit (Record end trigger), and error correction circuit. The user controls the start / stop of the DMA transfer with this header / footage detection signal.

This IC does not incorporate the processing of the ISDN layers 1 to 3, and inputs / outputs the B-channel serial data from an external ISDN processor. For this reason, a serial Z-parallel conversion circuit is built in.

[Direct access buffer] A buffer for direct access is provided so that the higher-level CPU can directly operate the speech buffer. When the buffer is active, the counter address output is disabled, allowing the CPU to directly access devices on the local bus.

When receiving data such as electronic newspapers using the above ICs, Process is automatically started every morning by a timer.

(1) Make initial settings for the ISDN layer 1 to 3 processes, just before calling.

(2) Write the recording start address of the DMA at the start register evening. Set the DMA clock selector (DMA channel) and the local bus' mass device (read device) as the communication processor, and set the local bus slave device (write device) as the cache memory device.

(3) Set the DMA mode for the data communication method of the present invention (connect the header detection signal to the trigger of the DMA and control the activation of the DMA) to receive data. Waiting.

(4) Call the host.

(5) The line is connected.

(6) Input data from the B channel. When the first header is detected, use the DMA to start recording in the cache memory. Stop recording in the evening and reset the system (default state).

(7) Perform data transfer from the cache memory to the silicon disk overnight. Also in this case, DMA is used.

Next, the data communication system of the present invention is applicable to video-on-demand. FIG. 17 shows the data communication method of the present invention in which video-on is performed.

■ It is a diagram showing an example applied to demand. Video-on-demand is a service in which the host has multiple video software and the user can selectively receive any video software. In Fig. 17, the lines are classified by software, and the correspondence table between line numbers and software names is received once a month by the autopilot program. When a user specifies a software name, the terminal automatically accesses the line corresponding to that software. According to the data communication method of the present invention, since the host has a plurality of lines in one foot, the host circulates through each line until access to a line not in communication is successful. Industrial applicability

As described above, the present invention has the following effects.

The data communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and the data communication device according to any one of claims 13, 14, 15, and claim 22, and claims 2, 2, 3, 24. In the data communication device according to any one of the items 24, the server on the host side does not need to contact the user on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, the host can handle one-to-many even if there are many lines. In other words, if a large number of users are expected to be accessed, a single data server can be used if a number of lines that are expected to be accessed simultaneously and a corresponding modem are prepared. Therefore, in the conventional two-way communication such as personal computer communication, the capacity of the host computer must be increased (sometimes, a supercomputer is necessary) with the increase in the number of lines on the host side. In the data communication system, a supercomputer is not required, and a system that can distribute large amounts of data to many users at the same time can be built with small-scale equipment.

The data communication method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, and the data communication device according to any one of claims 16 to 19, and the data communication according to claim 25 or 26. The device receives data based on the unique word in the data. Therefore, the data can be received in an orderly manner and the correct data can be reproduced. Further, in claims 7 to 9, the time until a unique key serving as a reference for data reception is detected can be reduced, and data reception can be started in a short time.

According to the data communication method described in claim 10 and the data communication apparatus described in claims 20 and 27, an error correction code is added to the data at a time, and an error is generated on the receiving side based on the error correction code. One is corrected. Accordingly, errors in the received data are reduced. Claim 11 In the evening communication system, ISDN is used as the network. Therefore, a large amount of data can be transmitted, and the control channel and the data transmission channel can be handled independently, so that the device design can be simplified.

In the data communication method according to claim 12 and the data communication device according to claim 28, the content of a newspaper article output from one data server is constant every day via a plurality of interface devices. Transmitted to the user at the time. Therefore, a large amount of newspaper data can be easily accessed by the user with a simple device.

In the data communication device according to claim 21, when there is no access from the user, the supply of data from the data server is stopped. Therefore, the data server does not supply data needlessly, and the power consumption of the data server can be reduced. In the data communication apparatus according to claim 29, the portable terminal body can be easily attached to and detached from a stationary adapter. Therefore, if the stationary adapter is connected to the required line in advance, the mobile terminal itself can be freely moved, can be easily connected to the line, and can receive data from the host immediately.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A data communication method for supplying data from a host to multiple users via a network,

(b) when the user accesses the host via the second network interface device connected to the network to supply the data, the second network interface; Establishing a line between the access device and one of the plurality of first network interface devices;

(c) a step in which the user receives the data through the line

A data communication method comprising:

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step (a) further includes a step (a-1) of repeatedly sending the data by the data server.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step (c) does not include a step of transmitting the user data from the user to the host.

4. The establishment of the line in the step (b) is performed by a handshake between the second network interface device and any one of the plurality of first network interface devices. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing is performed independently of the data server of the host.

5. The step (a) further includes a step (a-2) of adding a unique code indicating a predetermined position of the data in the data, and the step (c) waits until the unique code is detected. 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising a step (c-1) of receiving data up to the next unique code after the detection.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the unique word is a header indicating a head position of the data.

7. The step (a) further comprises the step of converting the data added with the header into a plurality of data outputs having different delay times in a stepwise manner. 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of connecting a line from the user to a data output that has the shortest time until the header arrives when the host accesses the host.

8. The step (a) further includes the step of generating a plurality of data outputs in which the data with the header added is repeated stepwise at different times, and the step (b) includes the step of: 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising a step of connecting a line from the user to a data output that has the shortest time until the header arrives when the host accesses the host. .

9. The step (a) further includes a step of dividing the data into a plurality of sub-data and adding different unique codes, and the step (c) includes a step of detecting one of the unique codes. Receiving all the sub-data up to the next same unique code (c-1

2) Based on the unique word from the received subde 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of reproducing the data (C13).

10. The step (a) further includes a step (a-3) of adding an error correction code to the data, and the step (c) corrects an error using the error correction code. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step (c-4).

1 1. The network is an ISDN; the first network interface device and the second network interface device are ISDN interface modems; 4. The method of claim 1, wherein b) includes the step of establishing the circuit via the D channel of the ISDN, and (c) includes receiving the data on the B channel of the ISDN. The method described in any one of 10 above.

1 2. The data of the data server is the content of a newspaper article, and the step (b) further includes a step of automatically accessing the host to supply the data at a certain time every day; Stage

The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein (c) further comprises a step of disconnecting the line after receiving the data.

1 3. A data communication device for supplying data to a plurality of users via a network,

A data server for sending data to be supplied to the user; a data server connected to the network; establishing a line with each of the plurality of users in response to access from the plurality of users; Multiple network queuing devices to supply each user A data communication device comprising:

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said data server includes means for repeatedly transmitting said data.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the means for repeatedly transmitting the data is a data recording medium.

16. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said data server further comprises means for adding a header to a head of said data to be repeated.

17. Means for converting the data to which the header is added into a plurality of data outputs having different delay times stepwise, and when the user accesses the data until the header arrives. 17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: connecting a line from the user to a data output having the shortest interval.

18. A means for generating a plurality of data outputs in which the data to which the header is added are repeated stepwise at different evenings, and when the user accesses the data until the header arrives 17. The system according to claim 16, further comprising: means for connecting a line from the user to a data output having the shortest time.

19. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said data server further comprises means for dividing said data into a plurality of sub-data and adding different unique codes to each of said plurality of sub-data.

20. The apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising means for adding an error correction code to said data.

21. An access detecting means for detecting presence / absence of access from the user by a control signal from the plurality of network interface devices; and, when there is no access by the control signal, access from the data server. 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising: data supply stopping means for stopping data supply.

22. A data communication device for receiving data from a host via a network,

A second network connected to the network, accessing the host, establishing a line with a first network interface device installed on the host, and receiving the data. In evening face device,

A data communication device comprising:

23. The device according to claim 22, wherein said terminal device further comprises a recording means for recording the received data.

24. The device according to claim 22, wherein the terminal device further includes a display for displaying the display.

25. The data includes a header indicating the head of the data, and the second network interface device detects the header after establishing the line, and detects the header after the detection. 23. The apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising a header detecting means for transmitting data to said terminal apparatus.

26. The data is composed of a plurality of sub-data each having a different unique code, and the second network interface device establishes the unique word after establishing the line. 23.The method according to claim 22, further comprising: a data reproducing means for receiving all the sub data up to the next same unit word after detecting one of the sub data and reproducing the data in order. Equipment.

27. The apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising: means for receiving the data including an error correction code, and correcting the error using the error correction code.

28. Automatic access means for automatically accessing the host, including the contents of newspaper articles, at a certain time every day, and automatic line disconnection means for disconnecting the line after receiving the data The device according to claim 22, further comprising:

29. A portable terminal main body having a connector for accommodating the second network interface device and the terminal device and capable of electrically coupling to an external device, and connecting the connector of the portable terminal main body to a communication line and a power supply. 33. The apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising a stationary adapter that performs the electrical connection by placing the portable terminal body on the stationary adapter. Claims of amendment

[August 1, 1980 (01.08.98) Accepted by the International Bureau: 30 new claims have been added; other claims remain unchanged. (1 page)]

30. In an integrated circuit device that performs control to receive data supplied from a data server via a network,

Interface with the outside world,

In addition to controlling one-way communication to the data server, it also detects headers added to the data supplied from the data server and performs control to store the data supplied from the server in a predetermined storage device. Control unit and

An integrated circuit device characterized by having:

Amended paper (Article 19 of the Convention)