Subscriber for radio data transmission network, has transceiver component with provision of transmission channels

The invention relates to a network subscriber for a data network in which the network subscribers exchange data wirelessly, preferably by radio, including a transmitting / receiving component, a method for defining transmission paths in a data network, in which the network subscribers data wirelessly, preferably by radio exchange with each other along a large number of transmission routes, each network participant having at least a send or at least receive function and a method for data exchange in a data network of the type just discussed.

EP-A2-301 680 describes a point-to-point radio link between a transmitter and a receiver, these two components each having either only a transmission function or only a reception function. Such a point-to-point connection differs fundamentally from a radio network, to which the present invention relates.

Radio data networks of the type mentioned at the outset can be, for example: Electrical installations in buildings in which every consumer such as lamp, ventilation motor, blind motor or the like has a radio receiver and every control device such as switches, buttons, staircase automats or the like has a radio transmitter . When an operating device is operated, it sends a command to the consumer assigned to it, which changes its state according to this command, ie switches on or off, its speed, its luminosity or the like. Changed.

Furthermore, the sensors and actuators of a manufacturing plant in industry, an access control system or the gaming machines of a casino, the exercise equipment of a fitness studio or the like can be connected to one another in the form of a network based on data transmission by radio.

US Pat. No. 5,619,190 describes a combined transmitter / receiver for operating functions integrated in a motor vehicle (eg central locking) and for actuating devices located outside this motor vehicle (eg garage door). From this document it is therefore known to equip the subscriber of a radio network with a transmitting / receiving component.

In contrast to a computer network, where each computer is connected to each other, e.g. by means of a ring line, and therefore each computer can transmit data to each other, there are certain transmission paths in the wireless networks mentioned: For example, the lamp in the living room is only connected to the two in the The switch located in the living room is actuated, so said switches only have to transmit data to the living room lamp, but not to any other network subscriber.

The assignment of the individual components to one another, ie the definition of which receiver assembly is allowed to process the data from which transmitter and trigger a corresponding switching action, can be permanently programmed into the components. This results in a so-called plug and play system; no separate configuration or programming of the network participants is necessary when the network is put into operation. This system could be used, for example, in the building electrical installation discussed.

However, provision can also be made for the system operator or system manufacturer to keep said assignment programmable, for which purpose the receiving modules of the individual network subscribers can be set so that they only pass on certain of the received signals to downstream consumers, such as lamps.

If the two end points of such transmission links are arranged at small spatial distances from one another that can be bridged with the range of the radio signals used, no further network components are required apart from said end points (switch and lamp). In the case of larger spatial distances between the end points of the transmission link, according to the state of the art known up to now, either appropriately powerful transmission modules or repeater stations located between the end points must be used.

It is a first object of the present invention to specify a network subscriber of the type mentioned at the outset, the use of which in radio data networks renders such high-performance transmission assemblies or additional amplifier stations superfluous.

According to the invention, this is achieved in that this network subscriber has a memory for storing at least the identifications, preferably also the reception field strength2

AT 408 048 B ken, the other network subscribers with at least a transmission function that are within reception range and for storing the identifications of those other network subscribers whose signals are to be forwarded.

Such a network subscriber can, in addition to its actual function, for example a lamp or switch in an electrical installation, also be used as an amplifier station for relaying radio data that do not concern itself. For example, this means for an electrical installation based on radio data transmission mentioned at the beginning: If, for example, both the switch for the lighting and the switch for the blinds of a room are arranged on the first wall of this room, the lighting in the middle and the blinds on the opposite wall of this room, the transmitter and receiver modules of the lighting can be used for relaying the data of the blind switch are used for the blind motor, for which an amplifier would otherwise have to be used, for example, located near the lighting, because the range of the radio signals is only half of the room.

The possibility of storing in the network participants according to the invention the signals from which other network participants are to be sent on means that the network participant according to the invention does not have to re-send all received signals, but can limit itself to precisely those signals that necessarily have to be re-sent so that they are theirs Reach recipient. The entire radio traffic in the data network can thus be reduced to the extent absolutely necessary for the function. Separate repeater stations to be added to the network subscribers already present can be saved when using a network subscriber according to the invention.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a data network in which the network participants exchange data wirelessly, preferably via radio, along a plurality of transmission paths, each network participant having at least a send or at least receive function.

The specific object of the invention in this context is to provide a method for defining transmission paths in such a data network, by means of which special amplifier assemblies are saved and which enables the use of network components with low transmission power without impairing the quality of the data transmission on the individual transmission paths is inadmissibly lowered.

According to the invention, this is achieved in that a predetermined number of network participants both send and receive functions as well as a memory for storing at least the identifications, preferably also the reception field strengths, of the other network participants with at least a transmission function and for storing the identifications of those other network participants whose signals are to be forwarded, which network participants can be used as stations of transmission paths, that each network participant an identifier, such as a serial number is assigned that a test signal containing its identification is sent out by a predetermined number of network subscribers having a transmission function, that at least the identifications contained in the received test signals are stored by each network participant having a receiving function, preferably the reception field strength of each received test signal is measured and stored together with the identification contained in the respective test signal, that if necessary the identification or identification / reception field strength of network participants without test signal transmission function is detected and that on the basis of this stored and possibly captured information identification or Identification / reception field strength for each transmission path, a transmission path that is optimal, in particular with regard to the number of stations and the best possible connection of these stations with one another, is determined.

This means that each transmission path only takes up a small number of stations, which on the one hand ensures that there is no local overloading of the network, ie unreasonable delays in data exchange, and on the other hand that the data exchange is highly reliable.

In a further embodiment of the invention it can be provided that on the basis of the stored and possibly recorded information identification or identification / reception field strength for each transmission link at least one substitute path is further determined, in wel3

AT 408 048 Β chem a station of the optimal transmission path is replaced by another station not contained in the optimal transmission path.

Data transmission can then be continued undisturbed via these substitute paths even if stations on the optimal transmission path fail.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for data exchange in a data network in which the network participants exchange data wirelessly, preferably by radio, along a large number of transmission paths, each network participant having at least a send or at least receive function, by means of which method the quality of the transmission path section existing between two network participants can be continuously monitored in a simple manner.

According to a first solution according to the invention, this is achieved in that a predetermined number of network participants both send and receive functions as well as a memory for storing at least the identifications, preferably also the reception field strengths of the other network participants with at least the transmission function and for storing the Identifications of those other network participants whose signals are to be forwarded, has which network participants can be used as stations of transmission paths and that a network participant with send and receive function sends a confirmation signal to the sender of the data transmission after receiving a data transmission that was sent by another network participant with transmission and reception function.

The decision to send out an acknowledgment signal is particularly easy to make because it only has to be decided whether a message has been received or not. This method for monitoring the quality of the transmission path section existing between two network participants can therefore be carried out particularly quickly and does not lead to any noticeable impairment of the data transmission speed in the data network.

According to a second inventive solution to the above-mentioned object, it is provided that a predetermined number of network subscribers have both transmit and receive functions and a memory for storing at least the identifications, preferably also the receive field strengths, of the other network subscribers with at least a transmit function and for storage the identifications of those other network participants, whose signals are to be forwarded, which network participants can be used as stations of transmission paths and that the reception field strength of a received data transmission is measured by network participants having at least a receiving function.

This type of checking the quality of the transmission path section existing between two network participants is somewhat more material-intensive - it is necessary that those network participants with receiving function that are supposed to carry out said measurement are equipped with an appropriate measuring device - but not only one is on this way binary information (data transmission was received or not, i.e. the quality of the transmission path section is sufficient or is not sufficient) but precise information about the quality of a transmission path section is available.

Based on the results of each checking method according to the invention, measures to eliminate the transmission quality deficiency, such as setting a display (lamp, siren, ...) or automatic activation of a substitute path instead of an inadequate transmission path, can be taken if necessary.

The invention is discussed in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It shows:

1 shows a schematic representation of a wireless data network with several transmission links;

FIG. 2 shows the data network according to FIG. 1, with four transmission links already being assigned specific transmission paths; FIG.

3 shows the data network according to FIGS. 1 and 2, with four other transmission links being assigned specific transmission paths and

4 shows a schematic oblique view of a configuration device which can be used to carry out the method according to the invention.

AT 408 048 Β

In the context of the present description and the attached claims, the term transmission path is to be understood as a connection for data transmission from a first network participant to a second network participant.

The transmission path is to be understood as the sum of those network participants over which a transmission path is routed.

In Fig. 1, the participants of a data network are shown schematically in which the network participants 1-14 exchange data wirelessly with one another. The present invention is independent of a specific type of wireless data transmission; the data are preferably exchanged by radio, but it would also be conceivable to use other ranges of the frequency spectrum, such as ultrasound or infrared, for this purpose. The latter is of course only possible if there is always a line of sight between the individual network participants 1-14.

There are several transmission paths in this data network (see dashed lines): It is to be transmitted from subscriber 1 to subscriber 2; Subscriber 3 should be in connection with both subscriber 4 and subscriber 5, and subscribers 4 and 5 should also be able to exchange data with one another. Said five participants 1-5 do not need to be in contact with other participants.

In addition, there are (among others) participants 6 and 7 who can exchange data with participants 8 and 9. Participants 6, 7 and 8, 9 are so far away from each other (or are obstacles such as walls, furniture or the like between them) that a direct wireless connection between them is not possible.

If the data network shown is a building electrical installation already mentioned at the beginning (to which, however, the invention is in no way limited), subscriber 1 could be a switch and subscriber 2 could be the associated lamp; Participants 6 have a timer built into the switch cabinet and participants 8, 9 have a radiator and a blind motor.

According to the invention it is provided that each network subscriber 1-14 of the data network discussed has at least a transmitting or at least receiving function. In the already discussed embodiment of the data network as a building electrical installation, a consumer, such as a lamp, could only be equipped with a receiving function, because it does not have to send any data to other participants in normal operation of the network. Conversely, a switch could only have a transmission function; in normal operation it only has to send out a corresponding switching command when it is actuated, but cannot accept any switching commands.

In addition to those network subscribers 1-14 having only one of the functions of sending or receiving, a predetermined number of network subscribers 1-14 must have both sending and receiving functions in order to use the method according to the invention for establishing transmission paths in the data network.

For each of the network subscribers 1-14 having both send and receive functions, there is the possibility that they not only send the data generated by them or receive the data intended for them, but that they have received but not relevant data after having has reinforced this if necessary. Each network subscriber 1-14 having both transmitting and receiving functions can therefore form a station in a transmission path;

When the individual transmission links are established, ie as soon as it is known which network subscriber 1-14 is to exchange data with which other, it must be decided whether these transmission links can be direct, ie can only consist of the subscribers to be connected themselves or whether - because of the limited ones Range of the wirelessly transmitted signals - a transmission path comprising intermediate stations (router) must be set up.

The invention now relates to a method for defining these transmission paths in a data network under discussion. The network is first set up in the desired manner, ie the individual network participants 1-14 are installed at the intended locations.

According to the method according to the invention, each network subscriber 1-14 is assigned an identifier, such as a serial number, which can be done, for example, by storing this identifier in the electronics of the respective subscriber and / or by printing the identifier on the housing of the respective subscriber. This process step can

AT 408 048 B can expediently be carried out before the network is set up, for example already by the manufacturer of the network subscribers 1-14.

In a configuration mode, a test signal is then sent out by a predetermined number of network subscribers 1-14 having transmitting functions, which test signal contains the identification of the respective network subscriber 1-14.

Simultaneously with the transmission of the test signal, the test signals of other subscribers within range are received by each network subscriber 1-14 having a receiving function. Each network subscriber 1-14 having a receiving function now at least stores from which other network subscribers 1-14 it has received a test signal, for which purpose it simply saves the identifications contained in the received test signals. Preferably, the received field strength of each received test signal is additionally measured and this measurement result is stored together with the identification contained in the respective test signal. Each network participant 1-14 having a receiving function therefore at least knows which other network participant 1-14 is in the area, if the relevant network participant 1-14 having the receiving function has also measured the received field strengths of the received test signals, he also knows how secure data is can be transferred to him or by him.

The integration of network participants 1-14, which only have a send or only receive function, does not cause any difficulties:

Network subscribers 1-14, which only have a transmit function, can send out a test signal and are therefore detected by the network subscribers 1-14 located in their vicinity, which have at least a receive function, ie It is determined both that a network subscriber 1-14 only has a transmission function, and also - via the reception field strength of the test signal, provided this is measured by the network subscribers 1-14 within its range - the quality of the data transmission from him. It could be provided that a network subscriber 1-14 (eg light switch) only having a transmission function sends a signal when it is assigned to the network subscriber 1-14 assigned to it (eg Lamp) has to communicate a switching command (e.g. if a switching status changes), during the rest of the time its transmitter component is switched off - mainly to save energy. So that such network participants 1-14 actually send out the required test signal in the configuration mode, they have to be actuated at least once.

Network subscribers 1-14, which only have a receiving function, cannot transmit a test signal and are therefore not detected by the network subscribers 1-14 in their vicinity that have at least a receiving function, but they can receive the test signals from other network subscribers 1-14 themselves, at least save the labels contained in these and, if necessary, also measure and save their reception field strength. Using this stored data, only network subscribers 1-14 having a receiving function can be taken into account in the method according to the invention.

A network participant 1-14, which actually has a transmission function, but does not emit a test signal, ie has no test signal transmission function, cannot be automatically recognized by the network participants 1-14 located in its vicinity and having a reception function. It can be provided that such network subscribers 1-14 are not taken into account in the method according to the invention and that they must therefore be integrated into the data network manually.

If such participants are to be taken into account in the method according to the invention, their existence and information about which other network participants 1-14 they can be received from - preferably together with the reception field strength with which they can be received by the other network participants 1-14 - the Device or the technician who carries out the method according to the invention, are communicated. So there must be labeling or in addition, the received field strength of such participants can be detected, for which latter information a manual measurement of the relevant received field strength must be made.

Using the network subscribers 1-14 stored in the receiving function and possibly recorded information identification or identification / reception field strength, an optimal transmission path can now be determined for each transmission path

AT 408 048 B. A transmission path is then classified as optimal if it comprises as few transmission stations, ie other participants necessary in addition to the network participants 1-14 to be connected, as possible, but at the same time the stations used have the best possible connection with one another.

The two criteria of few stations and the best possible connection are brought into an optimal relationship to one another. This means that, for example, only a slight increase in the number of stations, in which, however, there is a significantly higher reception field strength between the individual stations, is preferred to the lower number of stations. In the same way, in the opposite case, only a slight reduction in the received field strength between the individual stations is acceptable if this enables a significant reduction in the number of stations to be achieved.

The exact quality of such connections, of which it was only recorded in the configuration mode that they exist (ie only the identifications of the two participants involved in them were recorded), but not the reception field strength between the two network participants 1-14, is not known. However, since quality is a criterion for deciding whether or not to determine the optimal transmission paths. which existing connections are used, the reception field strength prevailing in such connections is assumed to have a certain value. If, for example, one can assume that a relevant, not precisely measured connection is of high quality, a relatively high reception field strength is assumed for it, conversely it can be expected that a connection is of rather poor quality, a relatively low reception field strength must be assumed.

If the method discussed is applied to the network shown in FIG. 1, the first result is that the transmission links between subscribers 1 and 2 or between subscribers 3, 4 and 5 can be direct (see FIG. 2 ). These transmission links thus represent small, self-contained subnetworks that no longer have to be taken into account when defining the other transmission paths.

In contrast, routers are required for the transmission links between participants 6, 7 and 8, 9. An optimal relationship between the number of routers used and the reception field strengths existing between these routers is obtained in the example shown when subscribers located close together are combined into small subnetworks and these subnetworks are then connected by routers formed by subscribers 10, 11 and 12 (see Fig. 3).

If one of the routers in the optimal transmission path fails during operation of the network (in the network of the drawing figures, for example, subscriber 11), the transmission path between subscribers 6, 7 and 8, 9 would be interrupted.

In order to prevent such a disruption, at least one substitute path can be established for each transmission link, in which one station of the optimal transmission path is replaced by another station not included in the optimal transmission path. As shown in FIG. 3 with dash-dotted lines, a substitute path could be routed via subscriber 13, which path could be used if subscriber 11 actually fails. A plurality of such substitute paths can be defined per transmission link, so subscriber 8 could be used in the event of a failure of subscriber 12 or subscriber 7 if subscriber 10 fails.

So that this previously only theoretical definition of the transmission paths can actually be used by the network participants 1-14, this must of course be communicated to them, ie the individual network participants 1-14 must be programmed so that each network participant 1-14 suitable as a router only those which sends out signals from neighboring participants it has received and which it actually has to send out according to the transmission paths.

Applied to the example of the drawing figures, this means that, for example, subscriber 10 must be programmed so that it sends out the signals received from subscribers 6, 7, 14 in order to forward them to subscriber 11 (if the latter fails, to subscriber 13), as well as that it sends out the signals of the subscriber 11 (if the subscriber 13 fails) in order to forward them to the subscribers 6, 7, 14. The signals of the participants 3, 4, 5 - if he still receives them at all - he does not need to send out again.

AT 408 048 B

A combination of event driven mode (data transmission only when the status of a participant changes, e.g. a switch has been activated) and polling mode (regular querying of all sensor data and actuator states) enables the reliable detection of failures of individual participants and the activation of the substitute paths.

The method according to the invention can be carried out manually: For this purpose, the information identified by the individual network subscribers 1-14, identification or identification / reception field strength of each other network subscriber 1-14 within range, must be read out and the transmission paths through the optimization explained above must be read out by a technician alone or with the help of a computer - can be specified.

However, the optimal transmission path and / or the at least one substitute path is preferably determined by a configuration device 15 (cf. FIG. 4). All information identified by the network subscribers 1-14 identification or identification / reception field strength is transmitted to this, and all transmission paths of the network are entered. The transmission could be via interfaces known per se, such as RS-232 or the like. take place, but then each network participant 1-14 would have to be equipped with such an interface, in addition, the configuration device 15 would have to be connected to each network participant 1-14 one after the other.

In order to avoid this expenditure of time and material, provision is preferably made for the transmission of the identification or identification / reception field strength information to the configuration device 15 by means of radio, for which the configuration device 15 has appropriate transmitting and receiving assemblies and the antenna 16. To transmit the data, the commissioning technician only needs to wander through the network and thereby approach each network participant 1-14 that has both transmitting and receiving functions up to within radio range. The configuration device 15 then automatically reads said information from the network participants 1-14.

The information identification or identification / reception field strength, on the other hand, must continue to be transmitted to the configuration device 15 by means of wired interfaces or by manual input from those network participants 1-14 who only have a reception function, but at least store the identification or additionally also the reception field strength of received test signals will. The latter option must also be used to enter the manually measured reception field strength with only the reception function, but no reception field strength measuring device having network subscribers 1-14 as well as for entering identification or identification / reception field strength of network participants 1-14 without test signal transmission function, by means of which input also such network participants 1-14 can be detected.

The identifications of the network subscribers 1-14 already recorded are shown on a display device 17 of the configuration device 15, such as an LCD display or touch screen. During this process, the identifications of the network subscribers 1-14 detected by the configuration device 15 or entered manually into it can be replaced by descriptive names, such as light switch-living room door.

At the end of this phase, all network participants 1-14 are known to the configuration device 15; in order to calculate the optimal transmission paths, the configuration device 15 only has to enter the transmission links to be set up. For this and for the aforementioned input of speaking subscriber names, the configuration device 15 has appropriate input devices, such as keyboard, touch screen, mouse, trackball, joystick, graphics tablet with pen, voice input device, or the like. on.

The input of the transmission links, ie the assignment of individual network subscribers 1-14 to one another, can be done using the drag and drop system that has recently become known in particular from the MS-WINDOWS PC operating system, which can be used using one of the input devices listed above.

As an alternative to this, the network subscribers 1-14 can also be assigned to one another by means of other systems, such as numeric keyboard inputs (eg in the form TN12-TN14), voice input (TN12 with TN14) or the like.

From the information on labeling or labeling / reception field strength and the

AT 408 048 B

Transmission paths, the configuration device 15 calculates the optimal transmission paths and the substitute paths. This end result of the method according to the invention is then preferably transmitted again to the network subscribers 1-14 by radio. The configuration device 15 is formed in a manner known per se by a computer, this being a computer specially designed for carrying out the method according to the invention, such as, for example Microcontroller with appropriate circuitry or a commercially available, preferably portable computer, such as laptop, palmtop or the like, which is programmed accordingly to perform the functions discussed and has the necessary interfaces, in particular a transmitter / receiver component.

The configuration device 15 can also be used to determine the network structure of an already running network, ie the actual course of the individual transmission paths implemented in the network. This network structure can be shown graphically and therefore particularly clearly on the display of the configuration device 15. The particular advantage of using a configuration device 15 to determine the optimal transmission paths or The substitute paths are based on the fact that this determination takes place automatically, which has the consequence that the operator of the configuration device 15 does not require any knowledge of the method of determining the transmission path.

After said definition of the transmission paths and, if necessary, the substitute paths, and these transmission and substitute paths have been programmed into the network subscribers 1-14, the data network can go into its normal operation.

According to the invention, in connection with the method for data exchange in normal operation, each network participant 1-14, which has both send and receive functions, every proper reception of a data transmission that was sent by another network participant 1-14 with send and receive functions , confirms what is done by sending a confirmation signal to the transmitter.

Sending a confirmation signal to a network subscriber 1-14 that only has a transmission function is superfluous and can therefore be omitted, whereby the data traffic and thus the load on the network can be kept low.

In normal operation of a data network it can also be provided that the received field strength of a received data transmission is measured by at least a receiving function having network subscribers 1-14, whereby the quality of the transmission between two network subscribers 1-14 is constantly monitored.

The measures just mentioned, sending the confirmation signal and measuring the received field strength, can each be implemented individually or together. Both methods allow the network to react to changes in the transmission quality between individual network participants 1-14 that arise after the transmission paths have been determined, which may be due, for example, to discharging the battery of battery-operated network participants 1-14, changed atmospheric conditions, etc.

This reaction can only be the re-transmission of the not received or poorly received program or the notification of the defect.

If replacement paths have been defined in the manner described above, a corresponding replacement path is preferably automatically activated when a defective transmission path is identified. This activation takes place, for example, in that the network participant 114 who has detected the defect - be it by not receiving a confirmation signal or by measuring an impermissibly low reception field strength - sends a request to use the substitute path, which request is forwarded by all recipients and thus all network participants 1-14 reached. The network participants 1-14 affected by this request, on the one hand those in the defective transmission path and on the other hand the network participants 1-14 integrated in the substitute path, change their transmission behavior accordingly.