JP2729414B2 - Communication expansion device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a serial communication system in which an interface for communicating with a preceding device and an interface for communicating with a following device are different from each other and are sequentially extended by connecting them in a chain. Communication device capable of
A communication expansion device used to add a port expansion that can operate as if it were a branch connection to a communication bus line by expanding the terminal network control device and communication port used for telemetering and security systems in a serial manner. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an extended connection of a device in which an interface for communication with a preceding device and an interface for communication with a following device are different from each other in terms of hardware is not connected as a bus line. For example, as shown in FIG. That is, a plurality of post-installation devices 3,
In the system in which 3, 3,... Are connected, the communication expansion device 1 includes one or more front device communication interfaces 5 and a plurality of rear device communication interfaces 6, 6, 6,. It is necessary to provide the control unit 4 that intervenes. The front device 2 is provided with a rear device communication interface 6, and the rear device 3 is provided with a front device communication interface 5. In the communication of the system expanded in this way, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the communication expansion device receives an instruction to select a subsequent device from the preceding device, sends back an acknowledgment (ACK) signal, and then transmits the preceding device. In this case, data is sent from the front device to the rear device specified by the device. Also, data from the downstream device is transmitted to the upstream device via the communication expansion device. When the data transmission is completed, an end signal is sent from the front device to the communication expansion device, and a series of communication ends.

[0003] On the other hand, an example of a bus-line connection used for a communication network of a plurality of devices is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 7, all communication devices 7, 7,... Connected to the network have the same hardware bus line interfaces 8, 8,. Each communication device 7 has device address setting means 9. Each communication device 7 responds to a command or data that matches the assigned device-specific address information. In this case, all connected devices receive and decode all commands and data.

[0004]

In the system as shown in FIG. 5, the communication expansion device has a large number of front-end device communication interfaces and rear-end devices according to the number of front devices or rear devices connected thereto. It is necessary to provide a communication interface for equipment.

[0005] In the system shown in FIG.
, Which are connected to a specific communication device 7 (indicated by solid lines), do not want to receive commands and data. The conventional apparatus cannot realize such a case when it is desired that the front device does not receive data from the downstream device, or when it wants to transmit its own transmission data only to the front device.

[0006]

A communication expansion device according to the present invention includes a communication interface for a front device for connecting a front device for transmitting information to the outside via a telephone line, an alarm device, and a message. A post-device communication interface for connecting a post-device including a meter and the like, and a control unit for controlling these communication interfaces, the control unit includes device address setting means, communication control setting means, The control unit is configured to be connected to a terminal device including an alarm device for extension via the security notification control unit, and the communication control setting unit transmits communication data from the front device and the rear device. Whether to pass through, to receive and decrypt,
The communication control method is set such as in which direction the own transmission data is transmitted or in both directions.

[0007]

According to the present invention, since the communication expansion device has address information unique to each device, the communication expansion device has one or more front device communication interfaces and a plurality of rear device communication interfaces as in the prior art. It is no longer necessary to provide the interface for the front device and the interface for the rear device, and the front device does not need to issue an instruction for selecting the rear device to the communication extension device. Also, it becomes possible to select a post-apparatus only by the address information in the communication data.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A description will now be given of an embodiment in which an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a security notification device in an extension device connected to a terminal network control device used for telemetering.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. The communication expansion device 11 includes a control unit 1 for communication control.
2. Communication interface 5 for front equipment connected to this
And a communication interface 6 for the downstream device. The control unit 12 includes a device address setting unit 9 and a communication control setting unit 1.
3 are provided.

The device address setting means 9 sets a unique address of a device to which the communication expansion device 11 is added. The communication control setting unit 13 determines whether communication data from a front device or a rear device is to be passed through, received / decoded,
In addition, a communication control method is set such as in which direction the own transmission data is transmitted or in both directions.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system in which the communication extension device 11 of the present invention is applied to a security notification device 19.
Is added. Terminal network controller 14 (hereinafter referred to as NCU)
) Is connected to the telephone line 17 by a telephone line communication interface 16 incorporated therein, and is activated from the security notification device 19 via the NCU 14 post-device communication interface 6.
Is a system which is controlled by the NCU control unit 15 therein and notifies a preset security company via a telephone line 17 via a telephone line interface 16. This system is also connected to, for example, an electronic city gas meter 20 and an electronic water meter 21, so that a gas leak alarm and gas and water meter reading can be performed. Information related to gas and water meter reading is transmitted to each company by the NCU control unit 15.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a water meter interface for connecting a telegram type water meter 21.

The telegram-type city gas meter 20 is provided with a communication interface 5 for a front device, and in a system without a security reporting device, it is directly connected to the NCU 14 when the security reporting device is not connected. The NCU 14 can be connected to the post-device communication interface 6 to perform communication. However, if it is desired to extend a plurality of communication devices such as the telegram-type city gas meter 20 having only the communication interface 5 for the front device, if these are directly connected to the NCU 14, the number of devices to be expanded to the NCU 14 is the same. It is necessary to provide the communication interface 6 for the rear device.

Therefore, if a communication expansion apparatus 11 having both the front-end equipment communication interface 5 and the rear-end equipment communication interface 6 as shown in FIG. 1 is used, as shown in FIG. It is sufficient to provide only one post-device communication interface 6.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. The flow of a communication signal from left to right in the drawing is called "down", and the reverse is called "up". First, the communication control setting means 13 of the communication expansion device 11 provided in the security notification device 19 sends both uplink and downlink signals to the uplink and downlink, performs data reception decoding only in the downlink, and transmits in the uplink. It is assumed that the setting has been made to be performed only by the user. That is, in the system of FIG. 2, the security reporting device 19 need only pass through the NCU 14 without receiving and decoding the uplink data from the telegram-type city gas meter 20, and transmit the downlink data from the NCU 14 with the telegram-type city gas meter. The data is passed to the gas meter 20 and received / decoded by itself. If the address information in the data matches the information set by the device address setting means 9 of the own device, some processing is performed according to the instruction of the data. After that, the data is transmitted only to the NCU 14.

For example, when the various alarm sensors 23 connected to the security notification device control unit 22 of the security notification device 19 operate, the security notification device 19 operates regardless of the downlink data from the NCU 14.
The activation signal is transmitted only to the NCU 14 via the security notification device control unit 22 and the control unit 12, and is not transmitted to the unnecessary city gas meter 20 side.

However, in a system or the like in which an external alarm device (not shown) for notifying an alarm outside is connected instead of the telegram-type city gas meter 20, the communication of the communication extension device 11 provided in the security notification device 19 is performed. What is necessary is just to set in the control setting means 13 so that the transmission is performed in both directions of going up to the NCU 14 side and going down to the external alarm device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram in which a plurality of communication extension devices 11 are connected. This corresponds to FIG. 7 of the conventional example, and can operate as if it were branch-connected to the communication bus line. For example, a terminal device for telemetering is connected to each communication expansion device 11. FIG. 4 shows an example of a communication message to which address information sent to the communication extension device 11 is added. Communication control setting means 13 of each communication expansion device 11 in FIG.
Is set to pass through data in both directions, up and down, to receive and decode data in both directions, and to perform transmission in both directions. The device address setting means 9 is set with unique address information. In this case, it is possible to communicate with any desired communication expansion device 11 only by changing the address information in the communication message shown in FIG.

The present invention is not limited to the present embodiment. A serial communication system in which an interface for communication with a front device and an interface for communication with a rear device are connected in a chain. It can be easily applied to communication devices and the like that are sequentially expanded.

The control section, the device address setting means, the communication control setting means, etc. may be of a hardware type or a software type.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the communication extension device does not need to include one or more front-end communication interfaces and a plurality of rear-end communication interfaces. Only the communication interface for the front device and the communication interface for the rear device need to be provided, which is effective in terms of space and economy.

The front device can select the rear device only by the address information in the communication data without issuing an instruction for selecting the rear device to the communication extension device. Since there is no need to exchange data for device selection, communication time is saved.

The control unit determines whether communication data from a front device or a rear device is to be passed through or received / decoded.
In addition, since control setting means for determining in which direction to transmit own transmission data or transmitting in both directions is provided, data from unnecessary directions can be ignored,
The communication direction can be freely controlled such that data is not sent in unnecessary directions, and a system with high security can be constructed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram when a plurality of communication expansion apparatuses of the present invention are connected.

FIG. 4 is an example of a communication message to which address information is added.

FIG. 5 is a system block diagram of a conventional communication extension device.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional communication sequence between a front device and a rear device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a general bus line network.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 5 Communication interface for front device 6 Communication interface for rear device 7 Communication device 9 Device address setting means 11 Communication expansion device 12 Control unit 13 Communication control setting means 14 Terminal network control unit (NCU) 15 NCU control unit 16 Telephone line Communication interface 19 Security reporting device 22 Security reporting device controller 23 Various sensors for alarm

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication interface for a front device for connecting a front device for transmitting information to the outside via a telephone line, and a rear interface for connecting a rear device including an alarm device, a telegram meter, and the like. Device communication interface, and a control unit for controlling these communication interfaces,
The control unit includes a device address setting unit and a communication control setting unit, and the control unit is connected to a terminal device including an alarm device for extension via a security notification control unit. Specifies the communication control method, such as whether to pass through the communication data from the front device and the rear device, receive / decode, and in which direction to transmit its own transmission data, or to transmit in both directions. Communication expansion device that is to be configured.