JPH02202139A - Connection device for terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically, simply, and precisely perform the address attachment and registration of terminal equipment even when a user is not possessed with knowledge with respect to a system by performing the re-transmission of an equipment address after changing a transmitted equipment address by each terminal equipment that desires to perform the address registration when no response is obtained. CONSTITUTION:Each terminal equipment 1i that desires to perform the address registration performs transmission simultaneously to the terminal equipment 1a, 1b,... via a transmission line 5 setting an allocated fixed address as the equipment address of its own equipment. The terminal equipment 1a, 1b,... receiving the equipment address return a registration confirming response when the equipment address does not coincide with the address already registered on an address map, and return no response when it coincides with the address. Therefore, each terminal equipment 1j that desires to perform the address registration performs the re-transmission of the equipment address after changing the transmitted equipment address when no response is obtained. In such a way, it is possible to automatically perform the connection registration of the terminal equipment and the setting of the address, and to evade mis-setting, and to simplify an operation.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention J (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention provides a method for assigning addresses to and registering a plurality of terminal devices connected to transmission lines constituting a low power area network 1 to 1. The present invention relates to a device for connecting terminal equipment.

(Prior Art) Local area network (L) for computer communication
If the connection registration of a terminal device to an AN) is done by a person who understands the system, the connection registration is done by the L
This is done properly by inputting the specified information from the keyboard according to the AN procedure.

Furthermore, when disconnecting a terminal device from the LAN or turning off the power, the user inputs predetermined information from the keyboard in advance according to the LAN's off procedure.

However, if the target is a person who knows little about networks, including LAN, it is almost impossible to follow these steps.

By the way, house automation, home security systems, etc. have been realized as home communication systems using digital technology, and terminal devices such as the above-mentioned LAN are about to be introduced into the home. It is unreasonable to introduce the input procedure described above in order to register a connection to the system.

Such services can be provided. A home bus system (Has) has been standardized as a home communication network. In the home bus system, the registration of devices in the telephone-related system start-up sequence is specified as a centralized management type, and according to this, the system starts up automatically, so even people who do not know about the system can operate it. , setting the device number of the terminal device, etc. includes elements that require a certain degree of understanding of the system.

Furthermore, in the home bus system, there is no clear explanation of what to do when device numbers overlap, and there is a risk of malfunction. Furthermore, the home bus system is equipped with VT.
It is designed to connect devices such as R and TV.
Two device numbers are assigned to each of these models, but as described above, there is a possibility that the device numbers overlap, and there is no way to deal with this case. Furthermore, startup registration is not clearly defined in a distributed processing system that does not have a main device, and each terminal device has the function of a main device and the subversive ability of a terminal device.

Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional home bus system, Fig. 5 is the basic format of the υ control signal used in the home bus system, Fig. 6 is a device address assignment table used in the home bus system, and Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional home bus system. The figure is a diagram showing a device registration sequence for system startup in a home bus system.

In FIG. 4, a home bus controller (HBC) 10, which is a main device, is a device that manages the entire system.
Terminal devices 70.80 are connected to the S main bus 100 via information outlets 102.104. Home bus controller 10 and terminal equipment 70.80 have interface units (IFU) 30j5 and 74, respectively, and transmit and receive control signals shown in FIG. 5 via the interface units.

The interface units 30 and 74 are configured by a microcomputer 40, 76, a transmitter/receiver 50 device, and 78, respectively, and exchange control signals using a predetermined protocol. In a home bus system having such a configuration, each terminal device having an address according to the address assignment shown in FIG. The device has been registered in the bus controller 10.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the above-described system, registering a terminal device requires an understanding of the system, and a means for manually setting the device address, such as a DIR switch, is required. Because it is manual, there are setting errors and duplicate addresses, making it impossible to register terminal devices properly, which increases the burden on users.
There is also the problem that the number of parts required for setting increases, making it uneconomical.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and its purpose is to automatically register the connection of terminal devices and set addresses, eliminate setting errors, and simplify the operation of terminal devices. The goal is to provide equipment.

[Structure J of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the terminal 8w device connection device δ of the present invention connects a plurality of terminal devices connected to a transmission path constituting a local area network. In the connection of terminal R devices that perform registration by assigning addresses, each terminal device that attempts to register an address has an address map that stores the addresses registered in each terminal device and an address map that is assigned to each terminal device. a storage means for storing the fixed address stored in the storage means; and a transmission means for transmitting the device address to each terminal device at once via a transmission path in order to register the fixed address stored in the storage means as its own device address. Each terminal device other than the terminal device for which the address registration is to be performed includes a receiving means for receiving the device address transmitted from the transmitting means to the transmission path, and a receiving means for receiving the device address received by the receiving means. determining means for comparing the address stored in the address map to determine whether or not there is the same address; and storing the device address in the address map if the same address does not exist as a result of the determination by the determining means; and a response control means that sends a registration confirmation response signal to the transmission line along with the registration, and does not send any response signal to the transmission line if the same address exists, and When the terminal device detects a registration confirmation response from the response control means, the terminal device registers the device address transmitted from the transmission means as its own device address, stores it in the address map, and registers the device address sent from the response control means. address changing means for changing the device address transmitted by the transmitting means if an acknowledgment is not detected within a predetermined time;
Transmission 1 for controlling the device addresses changed by the address changing means to be sent from the transmitting means to the transmission path all at once;
1611 means.

(Operation) In the terminal device connection device of the present invention, each m terminal device that attempts to register an address simultaneously transmits the assigned fixed address as its own 1115 address to each terminal device via the transmission path. Each terminal device that has received a device address will return a registration confirmation response if the device address is not the same as an address already registered in the address map, and will not return a response if it is the same, so it is necessary to register the address. Each terminal device that attempts to do so is controlled to change the transmitted device address and retransmit if there is no response.

(Practical example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a terminal equipment connection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device connection device shown in the figure is applied to a distributed processing system, and each terminal device 1a, lb.

...11... is the function J3 and terminal I as the main device
It has the function of a J device. Each terminal device 11 is connected to, for example, a main bus 5 of a Baumbus system via an information outlet 3. Each terminal device 11 has an interface unit (I) connected to the information outlet 3.
FU) 11 and a host/computer 21 connected to the interface unit 11, the interface unit 11 has a transmitter/receiver device, a microcomputer 15, a non-volatile RAM 17, and a host/computer 21 connected to the interface unit 11.
7 backup batteries 19.

In b configured as above, the terminal titer 1
Assuming that 1 is a newly added terminal IM device, the address registration operation of the terminal device 11 in this case will be explained with reference to the flow 1t-h J5 in FIG. 2 and the sequence diagram in FIG. 3. do.

Now, as shown in Figure 2, connect the terminal 1iW11 to the system and turn on the power (step 11 in Figure 2).
0), the address registration sequence shown from step 120 onwards is started at a certain time 19.

The terminal device 11 attempting to register an address first stores the device address fixedly stored in the ROM (not shown) in the interface unit 11, that is, the youngest address [AA] of the same model, in the non-volatile RAM 17, and then steps 120), generates a sending packet with this device address as its own device address, and sends it as an address registration request packet to each terminal II via the main bus 5 (step device 0).

When the terminal device 11 sends its own device address to each terminal device, it immediately activates the timer in the microcomputer 15 (step 180), and also receives messages from each terminal device, especially the terminal device 1a, which operates as the main device. If there is a registration confirmation response packet from the terminal device 1a, the terminal device 1a enters a state of receiving a registration confirmation response packet from the terminal device 1a (step 140).

In this receiving state, since various packets are being exchanged on the main bus 5, the registration confirmation response packet is not necessarily returned immediately after sending it, so the destination address of the received packet The registration confirmation response packet is detected by accurately determining whether or not the packet is addressed to itself (step 150). FIG. 3(a) shows the sequence when the device address [AA] is requested to be registered all at once and a registration confirmation response is returned from each terminal device.

If no registration confirmation response packets are returned, the number of packets is counted (step 160), and monitoring is performed to see if the number of registration confirmation response packets exceeds the expected number of packets returned (step 170), step 14).
Repeat the loop from 0 to 170.

If a registration confirmation response packet is not detected even after counting the number of predicted packets, and the timer exceeds the count, the terminal device 11 attempting to register an address will be unable to detect a registration confirmation response packet.
The device address [AA] set in M17 is incremented to [AB] (step 190), and the process returns to step device 0 to send out the incremented device address [AB] again (step 210). Figure 3 (C)
is the sequence when the address [AA] is incremented in this way and the registration request is made again, and a registration confirmation response is returned from each terminal device.

- Even if you resend the device address incremented by degrees,
As described above, if a registration confirmation response is not returned from each terminal device, the same process is repeated until the number of increments is exceeded (step 200). If the number of increments is exceeded, all registered messages or displays are performed and the process is stopped (step 220).

Further, in step 140, when each terminal device other than the terminal device 11 for which address registration is to be performed receives the i-device address for registration sent from the terminal device 11, the i-device address is stored in the non-volatile RAM 17. The address map of each terminal device is searched, and it is checked whether the device address for registration from the terminal device 11 has already been registered in the address map. As a result, if the device is not registered, the necessary part of the received packet is stored, registered in the device address map, and a registration confirmation response packet is sent back. In this case, if it has already been registered, no response is output and the registration sequence exits. Since this process is the same for all terminal devices, the main bus 5 is quiet.

J3, in the above case, the device address [AA]
However, if each terminal device does not respond to this, the same device address [A
A] registration request transmission may be repeated a predetermined number of times N.

In the above embodiment, in step 220 of FIG. 2, the display indicating that registration is not possible is repeated several times in the increasing direction of the address, but once the device address is written into the non-volatile RΔM 17, the address is returned to the initial state. Therefore, when it is removed from one system and connected to another system, it becomes impossible to carry out the procedure described in the above embodiment. Therefore,
The process in step 220 is carried out by cyclically changing the address in the address range of the terminal equipment of the stud, and
If all dresses are @duplicated, a message indicating that registration is not possible may be displayed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, each terminal device that attempts to register an address uses the assigned fixed address as its own device address to all terminal devices at the same time via a transmission path. Each terminal device that transmits and receives this device address will return a registration confirmation response if the device address is not the same as an address already registered in the address map, and will not return a response if it is the same. Each terminal that attempts to register is controlled to change the transmitted device address and retransmit if there is no response, so even if the user of the system has no knowledge of the system, By simply connecting a terminal device, you can easily and accurately assign and register an address to the terminal device automatically, eliminating address setting errors and duplicate recordings.
It can be operated properly. Furthermore, since this method does not return a response when there is a registration request for the same device address, it is also simple in terms of software.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram to which a terminal device connection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the terminal device connection device shown in FIG. 1. The figure is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the FA device connected to the terminal equipment shown in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional home bus system, and Figure 5 is the basic format of control signals used in the home bus system. , FIG. 6 is a device address assignment table used in the home bus system, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a device registration sequence for system startup in the home bus system. Ia, lb...11...Terminal equipment 3...Information outlet 5...Main bus 11...Interface unit equipment...Transmission/reception section 15 Microcomputer 17...Nonvolatile RAM

Claims (1)

[Claims] A terminal device connection device that assigns and registers addresses to multiple terminal devices connected to a transmission path that constitutes a local area network, in which each terminal device for which an address is to be registered is registered with each terminal device. an address map for storing fixed addresses assigned to each terminal device, a storage means for storing fixed addresses assigned to each terminal device, and a transmission path for registering the fixed addresses stored in the storage means as own device addresses. , and each terminal device other than the terminal device for which the address registration is to be performed transmits the device address transmitted from the transmitting means to the transmission path. a receiving means for receiving data; a determining means for comparing the device address received by the receiving means with an address stored in the address map to determine whether there is an identical address; If there is no address, the device address is stored and registered in the address map and a registration confirmation response signal is sent to the transmission path, and if the same address exists, response control does not send any response signal to the transmission path. means, each terminal device attempting to register the address registers the device address transmitted from the transmitting means as its own device address when it detects a registration confirmation response from the response control means. address changing means for storing in the address map and changing the device address transmitted by the transmitting means if a registration confirmation response from the response control means is not detected within a predetermined time; and a device changed by the address changing means. 1. A connection device for terminal equipment, comprising: transmission control means for controlling the addresses to be transmitted all at once from the transmission means to a transmission path.