CN100390716C - One-way multi-channel communication system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for the computer with multiple wireless input devices to communicate with each input device in different frequency channels with variable under the framework of unidirectional communication, set up the receiver with multi-channel receiving ability on the side of computer host computer, each input device containing launcher uses the different frequency channel preserved in order to launch the input signal; the receiver is provided with a memory for recording the channels used by each input device, and can sequentially receive the input signals of each channel. When the user switches the input signal channel of the input device, the user can start the receiver to enter a learning mode, and start the input device to transmit the identification code and the switched channel data through the shared channel, and the receiver can receive the input signal according to the updated channel data.

Description

One-way multi-channel communication system and method

technical field

The invention relates to a wireless signal communication technology of a computer peripheral device, in particular to a one-way multi-channel communication system and method of a computer including a plurality of wireless input devices.

Background technique

The importance of the role that computers play in today's society cannot be overemphasized. With the rapid development of computer technology, input devices have become more diversified in order to meet various specific needs. In addition to the most basic keyboard and mouse, there are also digital tablets, joysticks, and gamepads. , remote control and 3D pointing device (3D pointingdevice) and so on. These various input devices have been connected to the computer mainframe through wires in the past, and each input device occupies an input/output port. But the input/output port is a limited resource of the computer and cannot be used by numerous input devices without limit. In addition, the disorder and entanglement of the wires will also cause inconvenience, and the user's operation will be hindered by the wires, which is inconvenient.

Although the wireless input device of the computer is very common at present, it still has some unsatisfactory places. Although the integrated wireless input devices seen on the market can share receivers for multiple input device transmitters (such as wireless mice and wireless keyboards), as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,854,621, the distance between the transmitter and the receiver is One-way communication (that is, fixedly transmitting signals from the transmitter to the receiver), supplemented by a simple identification code, can achieve communication and identification of multiple transmitters to a single receiver. However, the number of transmitters is still very limited. As stated in the 2nd column, lines 51 to 52 of the aforementioned '621 U.S. Patent, only two transmitters (input devices) can be provided to share one receiver, which is still insufficient in application. . In addition, when two input devices are used in the '621 U.S. Patent, the two input devices must use the same channel, and channel switching is not allowed (column 9, lines 26 to 29). Even without considering the interference problem that two input devices must have because they share a channel, the user cannot switch channels when the channel is unusable due to external noise interference.

In situations where more input devices need to be used, a more complex technology is required to solve the problem, such as US Patent No. 5,881,366, which discloses two-way communication or complex identification code encoding technology to solve the problem of multiple input devices sharing the receiver. But this solution will not only increase the manufacturing cost, but also because multiple wireless input devices in a single computer system use the same wireless channel for communication, so when the number of wireless input devices in the system is more, the wireless input devices sent by the same channel The degree of mutual interference between radio frequency waves is more serious. However, this problem has not been solved by the prior art including the aforementioned two patent applications.

In addition, in many computer applications (such as offices, Internet cafes and libraries), multiple computer systems are arranged adjacent to each other, and the distance between the computer systems is only about one meter. However, the communication range of a wireless input device using radio frequency is generally at least 1.5 meters, so a wireless receiver belonging to a certain computer system is likely to receive radio signals from wireless transmitters belonging to other nearby computers. Therefore, for the wireless input device used in the computer system, device identification and interference prevention within the system and outside the system must be considered. However, none of the currently seen wireless input devices for computers can solve the above problems comprehensively and economically.

Contents of the invention

The invention provides a wireless communication method and its device, so that a computer can be provided with multiple wireless input devices and share a single receiver correspondingly. The input device transmits input signals to the receiver through different channels, and the receiver can recognize and receive the input signals generated by each input device, and can update the channel data through the learning mode after the user switches channels. A computer may be any information processing system controlled by a microprocessor, but specifically refers to a personal computer, a workstation, a personal digital assistant, and a game console. The input device can also be in any form, such as mouse, keyboard, joystick, digital pad, touchpad and game keyboard. The computer can not only be provided with multiple different types of input devices, such as one of the aforementioned input devices, but also can be provided with multiple input devices of the same type, such as two mice and/or three keyboards.

The invention is a low-power wireless radio frequency communication method, which adopts a one-way communication mode, and sets a transmitter at each wireless input device, and sets a receiver at a computer host side. Each wireless input device is preset to use a different wireless communication channel, and the input signal transmitted by each input device is respectively tagged with a specific preset identification code. The receiver has a memory to record the channels and identification codes used by each input device, and the receiver can receive the input signals of each channel sequentially, and when the user switches the input signal channel of a certain input device, it can be used by the user The operator starts the receiver to enter the learning mode, starts the input device and transmits its identification code and switched channel data to the receiver through the shared channel, and the receiver can receive the input signal according to the updated channel data. In addition, by identifying the received wireless signal through the identification code, it is determined whether the signal comes from an input device in the system, and subsequent processing can be performed on the input signal.

A one-way multi-channel communication system for a computer including a plurality of input devices, the system comprising:

At least two input devices, each of the at least two input devices includes a transmitter, and each of the transmitters uses a different wireless channel to transmit an input signal generated by the input device, and when the user operates the input When one of the devices is operated, the input device being operated continuously and periodically transmits a plurality of identical input signals on the channel used by the input device within a time interval;

a receiver, which is operatively connected to the host computer, and the receiver takes a preset time as a cycle, and within the cycle, the channels used by each of the input devices are sequentially received one by one in a preset order , and repeat the sequence periodically, so that the input signal is received by the receiver, characterized in that the input device further includes a shared channel capable of transmitting the updated channel data of the input device after switching, the A shared channel is a communication channel other than that used to transmit the incoming signal.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a communication method and device between a wireless input device and a computer host, which can be provided with multiple wireless input devices and correspondingly share a receiver.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication method and device for simultaneously using multiple different frequency channels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a one-way communication method and device using radio frequency signals.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 shows the connection state between a host computer and multiple wireless input devices;

Fig. 2 is the channel definition table of the present invention;

Fig. 3 represents the channel switching sequence mode of each input device of the present invention;

Fig. 4 represents the combination relation of input signal and identification code of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of the communication method of the present invention;

Fig. 6 represents the circuit block diagram of input device of the present invention;

Fig. 7 shows a block circuit diagram of the receiver of the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings, the list of parts represented by each label is as follows:

1-Computer host 2-Receiver

21-Receiving antenna 22-Second radio frequency amplifier

23-Second Frequency Synthesizer 24-Second Microprocessor

25-Input/Output Interface 26-Second Memory

27-Learning mode switch 31-33-Input device

341-Sensor 342-Key switch

343-The first microprocessor 344-Channel switching switch

345-Pairing switch 346-First memory

347-First Frequency Synthesizer 348-First RF Amplifier

349-Transmitting antenna 4-Input signal

5- Identification code

Detailed ways

In order for those skilled in the art to further understand the features and technical content of the present invention, please refer to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings of the present invention. The accompanying drawings are provided for reference and illustration only, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

First referring to Fig. 1, it can be seen that a plurality of wireless input devices 31-33 are connected to the main computer 1 through wireless communication, each input device 31-33 is respectively provided with a wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitter, and the main computer 1 is connected with The receiver 2 corresponds to the transmitter of the input means 31-33. The input devices 31-33 can be combined in various types and numbers. In the embodiment shown in FIG.

The transmitters of the input devices 31-33 of the present invention unidirectionally transmit input signals to the receiver 2 with radio frequency signals, and the input signals are modulated in a frequency shift keying (FSK) manner. If the frequency band of 2.4GHz is used as the carrier frequency, the frequency width of 5MHz can be used as the channel interval to define dozens or even hundreds of communication channels. As shown in Figure 2 is the preferred channel allocation table, 32 channels are defined in the table, of course, can also be increased or decreased as required.

Each input device 31-33 initially uses a preset channel, for example, the mouse 31 uses the first channel, the keyboard 32 uses the second channel, and the remote controller 33 uses the third channel. Of course, the above-mentioned usage channels can also be changed at will. The receiver 2 is provided with a memory (described in detail later), which stores the preset channel data initially used by each input device 31-33, so that the receiver 2 can set its receiving channel according to the data.

When an input device 31-33 is operated by the user, it generates an input signal correspondingly through the transmitter within a preset time interval, and continuously transmits a set of multiple periodic signals. The receiver 2 sequentially receives these signals with periodic frequency hopping. Taking the aforementioned channel sequence as an example, the memory of the receiver 2 has stored the preset channel data, that is, the sequence of the first channel, the second channel and the third channel can be received sequentially, and it goes round and round. The time interval of the aforementioned input signal transmission is preferably approximately equal to the period of a receiving cycle (that is, completing a receiving cycle of three channels), so as to ensure that the input signals sent by each input device 31-33 can be real-time in a receiving cycle Received by receiver 2 within the cycle. According to the experimental results obtained by the inventor, if the reception of the signal of a single input device 31-33 can be received more than seventeen times in one second, the user will not feel hysteresis or intermittent, that is, for the reception of the same channel The period (that is, the period of a receiving cycle) must be less than 59ms. With the embodiment of three input devices 31-33 shown in Fig. 1, if the receiving period of each channel is below 19.67ms (59÷3=19.67), a receiving cycle period can be lower than the aforementioned 59ms upper limit. However, in a system with four input devices, it is sufficient to set the receiving period of each channel below 14.75ms (59÷4=14.75).

In addition, in order to solve the interference problem that other wireless devices outside the system use the same channel as the input devices 31-33 in the system, the present invention also provides a channel switching function. The method of channel switching can preferably use a preset sequence, that is, each input device 31-33 respectively selects a plurality of available channels from the channel table in FIG. 2 and arranges them in a certain order. As shown in FIG. 3 is a preferred channel preset list. The channel sequences selected by each type of input device 31-33 are completely different, and there is no shared channel among them. Such as the mouse 31 used the first channel originally, after pressing the channel switching switch (will be described later), use the fourth channel instead, and then press the seventh channel instead; and the keyboard 32 used the second channel originally, after pressing Press the channel switching switch once to switch to the fifth channel, and press it again to switch to the eighth channel, and switch in sequence according to the predetermined order. Of course, the channel preset table shown in FIG. 3 is not static, but can be changed arbitrarily, as long as the same channel is not repeatedly used in each channel sequence. Another less preferred way of switching, but still feasible, is to switch channels randomly with random numbers instead of switching in a specific order. However, this method still has the possibility (although this possibility is not high) that two input devices use the same channel. In the case of channel overlap, it only needs to switch channels once or twice to avoid it, so it is still a feasible way.

Since the transmitter-receiver pair of the present invention adopts a one-way communication architecture, that is, only the input devices 31-33 can transmit signals to the receiver 2 in one direction, and reverse communication is not possible. Therefore, after the channel switching of the input devices 31-33, a mechanism must be provided so that the receiving channel of the receiver 2 is also switched accordingly, so that the receiver 2 can correctly receive the input signal transmitted by each input device 31-33. . This mechanism is to set a learning mode switch (will be described in detail later) at the receiver 2 place to start the receiver 2 into the learning mode, in addition, set a pairing switch (pairing switch) at each input device 31-33 place (will be described in detail later). Described in detail later), to activate the input device 31-33 to enter the pairing mode to transmit its channel data. When the channel used by the input device 31-33 to transmit the input signal is switched, the receiver 2 can no longer receive the input signal transmitted by the input device 31-33. At this time, the user can operate the learning mode switch to make the receiver 2 enter In the learning mode, the status of the mode can preferably be indicated by a light signal. In the learning mode, the receiver 2 uses the preset shared channel to receive signals. At this time, the pairing switch of the input device 31-33 that has switched channels is operated to make it transmit the channel data after switching via the shared channel. The receiver 2 After the updated channel data is received, it is stored in the memory, and after the learning mode ends, the updated channel can be automatically switched to sequentially receive input signals. As in the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the receiver 2 receives the input signals transmitted by the three input devices 31-33 respectively with the first, second and third channels, if the mouse 31 is switched to use the fourth channel, then After the receiver 2 obtains the updated channel data through the learning mode, it correspondingly switches to the fourth, second and third channels for receiving.

The aforementioned shared channel is only used to transmit channel data in the learning mode, which is different from the channel used to transmit input signals (the channel in FIG. 2 ), and all input devices 31-33 use the same shared channel, so receiving The device 2 can receive updated channel data transmitted by any of the input devices 31-33 in the learning mode.

Referring to Fig. 4 below, the input signal and the channel data transmitted by each input device 31-33 of the present invention will be marked with an identification code 5 unique to each device, so that the receiver 2 can judge whether the received signal comes from the system In the learning mode, the receiver 2 can know which input device 31-33 the updated channel data it receives comes from, so that the correct corresponding update can be completed.

What Fig. 5 shows is the flowchart of the method of the present invention. First, the receiver 2 sequentially receives the input signals transmitted by each input device 31-33 in the preset channel order (S1), if the input signals transmitted by all the input devices 31-33 can be normally received by the receiver 2, the receiving Device 2 continues to receive sequentially according to the existing channel sequence. When any input device 31-33 can't receive the input signal transmitted by the receiver 2 due to channel switching (S2), the user operates the learning mode switch of the receiver 2 to enter the learning mode (S3) , and then the user operates the pairing switch of the input device 31-33 that cannot be received, so that the input device 31-33 enters the pairing mode, so as to transmit updated channel data through the shared channel (S4). After the receiver 2 receives the updated channel data, it correspondingly updates the channel data in its internal memory (S5), and finally ends the learning state. At this time, the receiver 2 sequentially receives the input signals of the respective input devices 31-33 in order of the updated channels.

The above-mentioned communication method can be implemented through the circuit block diagrams of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 . 6 shows a typical circuit of the input device 31-33, which uses the first microprocessor 343 as the control center to control the operation of other peripheral circuits. The input device 31-33 is typically provided with a key switch (key switch) 342 for the user to input commands, and can also be provided with a sensor 341 capable of sensing user actions, such as a mouse 31 and a digital pad. The first microprocessor 343 converts the instruction signal transmitted by the key switch 342 and/or the sensor 341 into an input signal in a format acceptable to the host computer 1; the non-volatile first memory 346 is used to store the input The channels used by the devices 31-33 and the identification code 5 and other data, the first microprocessor 343 encodes the input signal 4 according to these data, and controls the first frequency synthesizer 347 to modulate the input signal 4 with the corresponding channel, It is then transmitted through the first radio frequency amplifier 348 and the transmitting antenna 349 . The channel switching switch 344 and the pairing switch 345 are electrically connected to the first microprocessor 343, and are operated by the user respectively to switch the communication channel and the switching of the pairing mode (the latter is used to transmit update channel data in the learning mode) The channel data changed by the channel switching switch 344 is immediately stored in the first memory 346 .

What Fig. 7 shows is the typical circuit of receiver 2, and it takes the second microprocessor 24 as the control center, stores each input device 31- 33 used channel and identification code 5 and other data. In the normal receiving state (that is, the non-learning mode), the second microprocessor 24 controls the second frequency synthesizer 23 to perform frequency hopping sequence reception and demodulation according to these data, so that the signal received by the receiving antenna 21 and the second radio frequency amplifier 22 The input signal of each channel can be correctly received, and then sent to the second microprocessor for necessary source discrimination (by identification code) and signal processing, and then, through the input/output compatible with the interface of the computer host 1 The interface 25 transmits the received input signal to the computer host 1 . The learning mode switch 27 electrically connected to the second microprocessor 24 can be switched to the learning state of the receiver 2, and when entering the learning state, the second microprocessor 24 controls the second frequency synthesizer 23 to receive update channel data with the shared channel .

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present invention. All equivalent transformations made by using the description of the present invention and the contents of the accompanying drawings, or directly or indirectly used in other related technical fields, are all The same reasoning is included in the patent scope of the present invention.

Claims (15)

1. one way multiple channel communication means, described method is used to comprise the computing machine of a plurality of input medias, described a plurality of input media respectively includes transmitter, and described computing machine includes receiver in order to receive the electric wave signal from each described input media, and described method comprises the following steps:

Set each described input media and use different default communication channels;

When the user operated one of them of described input media, operated described input media was launched a plurality of identical input signals with its employed channel consecutive periods ground in a time interval;

Described receiver is the cycle with the default time, in the described cycle the employed channel of each described input media is carried out once order reception by preset order seriatim, and periodically repeats described order; It is characterized in that,

The employed described default communication channel of described input media is switchable;

Described receiver receives the renewal channel data of described input media after switching with default shared channel and matches.

2. the method for claim 1, wherein the Preset Time of described receiver equals to launch the time interval of described input signal.

3. the method for claim 1, wherein described receiver is not more than 59ms for the receiving cycle of same channel.

4. the input signal of the method for claim 1, wherein being launched by each described input media is preced with respectively and is belonged to the proprietary identification code of each described input media, discerns the source of described input signal for described receiver.

5. method as claimed in claim 4, wherein, described identification code is changeless.

6. method as claimed in claim 5, wherein, described pairing specifically comprises the following steps:

Provide mode of learning on described receiver, described mode of learning is to make described receiver with default shared channel received signal;

Provide pairing mode on described input media, described pairing mode is to make described input media transmit the renewal channel data of described input media after switching with described shared channel;

Described receiver carries out order with the channel order of upgrading and receives after receiving described renewal channel data.

7. method as claimed in claim 6, wherein, the described renewal channel data hat that is transmitted by described input media has identification code.

8. method as claimed in claim 6, wherein, described shared channel is to be different to transmit the used communication channel of described input signal.

9. one way multiple channel communication system, described system is used to comprise the computing machine of a plurality of input medias, described system comprises:

At least two input medias, in described at least two input medias each includes transmitter, the input signal that each described transmitter uses different wireless channel emissions to be produced by described input media, when the user operates one of them of described input media, a plurality of identical input signals of channel consecutive periods ground emission that operated described input media uses with described input media in a time interval;

Receiver, it functionally is connected in described main frame, described receiver is the cycle with the Preset Time, being undertaken once by preset order seriatim to the employed channel of each described input media in the described cycle, order receives, and periodically repeat described order, described input signal is received by described receiver, it is characterized in that, this input media further comprises the shared channel that can transmit the renewal channel data of described input media after switching, and described shared channel is to be different to transmit the used communication channel of described input signal.

10. system as claimed in claim 9, wherein, described transmitter and described receiver use rf channel.

11. system as claimed in claim 9, wherein, the Preset Time of described receiver equals to launch the time interval of described input signal.

12. system as claimed in claim 9, wherein, described receiver is not more than 59ms for the receiving cycle of same channel.

13. system as claimed in claim 9, wherein, the input signal of being launched by each described input media/transmitter is preced with respectively and is belonged to the proprietary identification code of each described input media, discerns the source of described input signal for described receiver.

14. system as claimed in claim 13, wherein, described identification code is changeless.

15. system as claimed in claim 9, wherein, described input media further includes:

The channel change-over switch, it can switch described input media in order to transmit the channel of described input signal;

The pairing switch, it makes described input media enter pairing mode, with the default channel data of shared channel transmission after switching,

And described receiver further includes:

The mode of learning switch, it makes described receiver enter mode of learning, with the renewal channel data of described shared channel reception from described input media.

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