JPH0683123B2 - Power line communication controller - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power line communication control device of a system for performing communication between devices arranged in a distributed manner by using a power line as a signal transmission communication path.

2. Description of the Related Art For the purpose of centrally controlling a plurality of devices and monitoring and monitoring the current state of the devices, there is a method of connecting the devices with a power line as a transmission communication path and transmitting signals to each other. This is a system that communicates between devices by superimposing a communication signal voltage with a frequency sufficiently higher than this on the AC voltage of the power line, and because special wiring for control is unnecessary,
It has the feature that the labor and cost involved in installation are small. In this system, each device has its own station address, and when a request to send to another device occurs, it consists of its own station address, the partner station address indicating the destination, and a command that gives an operation instruction. The transmitted signal is transmitted to the power line which is the transmission communication path. Then, the other device receiving this compares the address of the partner station included in the received signal with its own address, and if they are different, ignores the command in this signal, and if they match. For example, it operates according to the command in this signal. Here, the device is a function that detects the ON / OFF state of the load (electrical device, etc.) connected to itself and sends that information as a load state notification signal on the power line and turns on / off the load connected to itself. Whether the control terminal that has the function to control OFF, the communication device that transmits and receives signals on the power line and the control signal generation function that generates the ON / OFF control signal that is transmitted to the control terminal, and whether the load on each control terminal is in the ON state This refers to a power line communication control device, etc. that has a monitor function for displaying whether it is in the OFF state. The power line communication control device connects to each control terminal in order to know the ON / OFF status of the load on each control terminal when the power is turned on, such as when power is restored, and to operate the monitor function normally. A load state confirmation signal for asking the state of the applied load is transmitted. The internal operation of the power line communication control device at this time will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.
(However, regarding other functions not related to this, detailed description of the operation is omitted as well as the drawings.) FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of a conventional power line communication control device. 1 is a power line which is a signal transmission communication path. Reference numeral 2 is a communication means for transmitting a signal to the power line 1 and receiving a signal on the power line 1. Reference numeral 3 is a transmission requesting means for requesting the control terminal to transmit a load state confirmation signal for asking the state of the load connected to itself. Reference numeral 4 is an arithmetic control means for controlling the communication means 2 so as to transmit a load state confirmation signal to the control terminal by the output of the transmission request means 3.

The operation of the power line communication control device configured as described above will be described below. First, when the power is turned on such as when power is restored, a transmission request is made to the plurality of control terminals by the transmission request means 3. Then, the arithmetic control means 4 which receives this output
Sends a load status confirmation signal composed of its own station address, the partner station address that is the own station address of the control terminal that made the transmission request, and a load status confirmation command to the control terminal that made the transmission request. The communication means 2 is controlled so as to transmit sequentially. The above is the internal operation of the power line communication control device, but the control terminal which has received this load state confirmation signal via the power line 1 uses the ON / OFF state of the load connected to itself as the load state notification signal on the power line 1. By transmitting this to the power line communication control device, the power line communication control device can know the ON / OFF state of the load of each control terminal, and the load monitoring function operates normally.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the configuration as described above, when a plurality of power line communication control devices exist on the same power line, a load state confirmation signal should normally be sent only once to one control terminal after power failure recovery. Although it is sufficient to transmit the same signal, for example, when the system is expanded, a plurality of power line communication control devices will transmit the same signal to the same control terminal a plurality of times. The load state notification signal is transmitted once, resulting in a very inefficient system. Further, when the power line communication control device receives the load state notification signal from the control terminal that has not yet transmitted the load state confirmation signal, it is no longer necessary to send the load state confirmation signal to the control terminal. However, it will be sent. As described above, in the conventional example, as the system becomes larger, unnecessary signals are often duplicated and transmitted on the power line at the time of power failure recovery, which causes a large amount of time until the system operates normally. I needed time.

The present invention solves such a problem, and a power line communication control device that operates so that the system starts up quickly without an unnecessary signal being transmitted on the power line even when the power failure is restored as described above is provided. It is intended to be provided.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve this object, the power line communication control device of the present invention is a load state confirmation signal for inquiring the state of the load connected to the control terminal individually having its own station address. Transmission requesting means for requesting transmission of data, communication means for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the control terminal using a power line as a communication transmission path, and canceling the transmission request to the control terminal having the designated address in the transmission requesting means. When the transmission request canceling means and the load status notification signal for notifying the status of the load connected to itself from the control terminal are received by the communication means, and another station sends the load status confirmation signal to the control terminal. A calculation for instructing the transmission request canceling means to cancel the transmission request corresponding to the address of the control terminal when the communication means detects the transmission. And control means.

Operation According to the present invention, with the above-described configuration, the arithmetic control unit communicates the load state notification signal for notifying the state of the load connected to itself from the control terminal even when the system including a plurality of power line communication control devices recovers from a power failure. When it is received by the means and when it is detected that another station has transmitted a load state confirmation signal to the control terminal, the transmission request cancellation means is instructed to cancel the transmission request corresponding to the address of this control terminal. By doing so, the system can be started up quickly without unnecessary signals being transmitted on the power line.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, in the conventional example, since the function of the general power line communication control device has been described, only the operation at the time of power failure recovery, which is a problem in the conventional example, will be described here. Therefore, also in the drawings, other functions not necessary for the description are omitted.

FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of a power line communication control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A power line 5 is a signal transmission communication path. Reference numeral 6 is a communication means for transmitting a signal to the power line 5 and receiving a signal on the power line 5. Reference numeral 7 is a transmission requesting means for requesting the control terminal to transmit a load state confirmation signal for inquiring the state of the load connected to the control terminal. Reference numeral 8 is a transmission request canceling means for canceling the transmission request to the control terminal having the designated address in the transmission requesting means.
The communication means 6 indicates when the communication means 6 receives a load status notification signal for notifying the status of the load connected to itself from the control terminal, and that another station has transmitted a load status confirmation signal to the control terminal. When it is detected by the above, it is a calculation control means for instructing the transmission request canceling means 8 to cancel the transmission request corresponding to the address of this control terminal.

Regarding the power line communication control device configured as described above,
The operation will be described below. First, when the power is turned on such as when power is restored, a request for transmission of load state confirmation signals to the plurality of control terminals is issued to the transmission request means 7. Then, the arithmetic control means 9 receiving this output sends a load state confirmation signal composed of the own station address, the partner station address which is the own station address of the control terminal which made the transmission request, and the load state confirmation command, The communication means 6 is controlled so as to sequentially transmit to the control terminal that has made the transmission request. The arithmetic control means 9
The communication means 6 indicates that the communication means 6 has received a load status notification signal for notifying the status of the load connected to itself from the control terminal, and that another station has transmitted a load status confirmation signal to the control terminal. When it is detected by, the transmission request canceling means 8 is instructed to cancel the transmission request corresponding to the address of this control terminal. Upon receiving this, the transmission request canceling means 8 cancels the transmission request to the address of the transmission requesting means 7. Therefore, the load state confirmation signal is not transmitted to the control terminal that uses this address as its own address.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the load status notification signal is received from the control terminal and when it is detected that another station has sent the load status confirmation signal to the control terminal, the control terminal By stopping the transmission of the load status confirmation signal, even if multiple power line communication control devices exist in the same system, even if the power is restored, unnecessary signals will not be sent on the power line, and the system can be operated quickly. You will get up.

In the present embodiment, the description is given only when the power is restored, but the same operation is performed when a load condition confirmation signal transmission request is issued to the control terminal.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, the power line communication control device of the present invention requests the transmission of the load state confirmation signal for inquiring the state of the load connected to the control terminal individually having the own station address. Communication means for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the control terminal and the like using a power line as a communication transmission path, transmission request canceling means for canceling a transmission request to a control terminal having a designated address in the transmission requesting means, and the control When the load state notification signal for notifying the state of the load connected to itself from the terminal is received by the communication means, and by the communication means that another station has transmitted the load state confirmation signal to the control terminal. When the detection is made, the transmission request canceling means is instructed to cancel the transmission request corresponding to the address of this control terminal. When the line communication control device transmits the load status confirmation signal to the control terminal even once, not only the load status confirmation signal of another station is not transmitted to the control terminal, but also the load status notification signal of the control terminal is preceded. When the power is transmitted, the load status confirmation signal to the control terminal will not be transmitted even once, and unnecessary signals will be transmitted on the power line even when a power failure is restored when multiple power line communication control devices exist in the same system. The system starts up quickly without being sent to, and the effect is great.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of a power line communication control device in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of a conventional power line communication control device. 5 ... power line, 6 ... communication means, 7 ... transmission request means,
8 ... Transmission request releasing means, 9 ... Arithmetic control means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transmission request means for requesting the transmission of a load state confirmation signal for inquiring the state of a load connected to itself to a control terminal having its own address, and the control terminal using a power line as a communication transmission line. Communication means for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the transmission request canceling means for canceling the transmission request to the control terminal having the designated address in the transmission requesting means, and the state of the load connected to itself from the control terminal. When the load status notification signal for notification is received by the communication means, and when the communication means detects that another station has transmitted the load status confirmation signal to the control terminal, the transmission request canceling means On the other hand, a power line communication control device having an arithmetic control means for instructing to cancel the transmission request corresponding to the address of the control terminal.