Infrared ray two-way communication system

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to an infrared bidirectional communication system constructed from one master unit and a plurality of slave units, and is applied to, for example, a conference facility. More specifically, the power supply of the slave unit is temporarily turned on by battery replacement or the like. It relates to a technique for automatically returning the communication state of the slave unit to the state before battery replacement when the device is turned off.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, in conference halls of a certain size such as international conference halls, there is less risk of eavesdropping, and there is no need to route wiring for each seat, and changes in seat layout can be easily dealt with. It has been evaluated and an infrared bidirectional communication system has been adopted.

【0003】

According to this system, each of the chairperson's seat and the member's seat is provided with a communication unit having a microphone, a speaker, an infrared light receiving / emitting means, and various operation buttons, and a control desk (communication control means) on the chairperson's seat or the secretariat side. ) Can be used to adjust the volume of the speaker and microphone, and to proceed with the proceedings.

【0004】

For example, in the chair-priority mode, each member must press the request-to-speak button and obtain the permission of the chair before speaking. On the other hand, in the free talk mode, some people who are requested to speak without the intervention of the chairman can speak interactively on a first-come, first-served basis.

【0005】

In either case, it is possible to control the microphones of each seat from the above control console so that the microphone volume is turned up for a member with a low voice and the microphone volume is turned down for a member with a loud voice. it can. In addition, the speaking time per speech can be set arbitrarily.

【0006】

In addition, the communication unit is provided with five voting buttons, for example, No. 1 to No. 5, including approval, disapproval, and abstention. When the voting mode is selected on the above control console, the LED of each voting button blinks. If the vote is for, disagree, or abstain, select one from No. 1 to No. 3, and if the vote is a choice of five, select one from No. 1 to No. 5. It will be.

【0007】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, each communication unit requires a battery as a power source for a microphone, a speaker, an infrared receiving / emitting means, and the like in order to make it cordless. Batteries with high capacity that can be used continuously for a long time are used, but the batteries may still run out in the middle of the meeting.

【0008】

Therefore, the battery must be replaced, but conventionally, once the power is turned off, the communication unit is reset to the initial state. Therefore, for example, if the microphone volume has been changed from the control console side, it must be reset.

【0009】

Similarly, even in the speaking mode and voting mode, when the battery is replaced, only that communication unit is reset to the initial state and left behind from other communication units, so the proceedings are temporarily stopped on the control console side. Then, there was the trouble of having to reset to the current communication state. It should be noted that such a problem occurs not only when the battery is replaced, but also when the power switch of the communication unit is artificially turned off by a member of the Diet.

【0010】

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to perform a simple operation at the time of power restoration even if the power of the communication unit is turned off due to battery replacement or the like during a meeting. An object of the present invention is to provide an infrared bidirectional communication system that enables the communication unit to return to the communication state before the power is turned off.

【0011】

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention controls communication between one master unit and a plurality of slave units, both of which have infrared light receiving / emitting means, and communication between the master unit and the slave units and between the slave units. In an infrared bidirectional communication system including a control means, the communication control means has a memory for sequentially storing the current communication state of each slave unit, and each slave unit performs the communication by a specific key operation. A function for sending a power recovery code signal to the control means is provided, and when the power recovery code signal is emitted from the predetermined slave unit, the communication control means reads the communication state of the slave unit from the memory. It is characterized in that it is transmitted to the slave unit and is set to the communication state immediately before the slave unit is turned off.

【0012】

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a memory is allocated to each slave unit, and at least the microphone volume, the speaking state, and the voting state of the slave unit are overwritten in each memory. As a result, a small amount of memory can be used.

【0013】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of constructing an infrared bidirectional communication system according to the present invention assuming a conference hall.

【0014】

This infrared bidirectional communication system has one master unit 10 for the chairman used as a communication unit and a plurality of slave units 20a to 20m for the members of the Diet, and between the master unit 10-slave unit 20 and between the slave units 20. It is provided with a communication control means 30 for controlling communication.

【0015】

The communication medium used is infrared. Although not shown, both the master unit 10 and each slave unit 20 are powered by batteries. Each slave unit 20a to 20m has the same configuration, and in the following description, when it is not necessary to specify the slave unit, the reference code 20 is simply used without adding the suffix alphabet.

【0016】

The master unit 10 is provided with a microphone unit 11, a speaker unit 12, and a voting button 13 used for voting. In addition, each slave unit 20 is also provided with a microphone unit 21, a speaker unit 22, and a voting button 23, but each slave unit 20 also has a voice request (call request) button 24 and a power recovery code. A set request button 25 for sending a signal is provided.

【0017】

In addition, although only one voting button 13 and 23 is shown in Fig. 1 for convenience of drawing, in reality, at least agree (No. 1), disagree (No. 2), abstention (No. 3) There are 5 voting buttons from No.1 to No.5 that can be selected from 5 options including.

【0018】

Further, in this embodiment, the set request button 25 is provided as a dedicated button, but it may be a combination of any two existing buttons. For example, by pressing the speech request button 24 and the No. 4 button in the voting button 23 at the same time, the power recovery code signal can be transmitted. The master unit 10 may also be provided with a set request button 25.

【0019】

Although not shown, the master unit 10 and each slave unit 20 have an infrared transmitter and an infrared receiver built-in, and a transmission / reception line 40 including an infrared receiver 41 is provided on the ceiling of a conference facility, for example. It is laid.

【0020】

In this embodiment, the communication control means 30 includes a personal computer main body (control console) 31 having a display 32 and a communication monitoring control unit 50 as an auxiliary machine of the personal computer main body 31, and the personal computer main body 31 is a communication monitoring control unit. It is connected to the transmit / receive line 40 via 50.

【0021】

Communication control software for operating this system is installed in the personal computer body 31. The personal computer body 31 may be a general-purpose machine, but the file includes a startup history file to be referred to at startup.

【0022】

According to this embodiment, the communication monitoring control unit 50 is a kind of repeater having a sequential control function, and only processes a speech request signal from each slave unit 20 in chronological order and gives it to the personal computer main body 31. Instead, it has a memory that stores the communication status of each slave unit 20.

【0023】

FIG. 2 shows a map of the memory 51 included in the communication monitoring control unit 50. According to this, the memory 51 is provided with a common memory area 52 common to each slave unit 20 and individual memory areas 53a to 53m allocated to each of the slave units 20a to 20m.

【0024】

Speaker volume data and the like given to each slave unit 20 from the personal computer main body 31 are written in the common memory area 52. In the individual memory areas 53a to 53m, each data of the microphone volume, the speaking state, and the voting state of each slave unit 20a to 20m adjusted from the personal computer main body 31 is written.

【0025】

The data of the speaking state includes "no speaking", "requesting speaking", "speaking", etc., and in the case of "speaking", the remaining time for the preset time is also retained as data. To. In the voting status data, "voting preparation", "voting data" selected in the approval / disapproval / abstention selection mode or the five-choice mode, etc. are written. All writes are overwritten, and the latest data is always retained.

【0026】

Next, battery replacement will be described using the slave unit 20a as an example. When the remaining capacity of the battery of the slave unit 20a is low, a battery warning lamp (not shown) lights up. This warning signal is also transmitted to the PC main unit 31 side.

【0027】

Normally, the battery replacement is performed by the secretariat staff, but if a specific key operation is performed after the battery replacement is completed, that is, when the power switch (not shown) is turned on while pressing the set request button 25 of the slave unit 20a, the slave unit 20a to the slave unit 20a A power recovery code signal is transmitted with the identification code of.

【0028】

When the communication monitoring control unit 50 receives the power recovery code signal, it accesses the individual memory area 53a of the slave unit 20a, and transfers the microphone volume, speaking status, and voting status data written therein to the slave unit 20a. Send. Each of these data is before battery replacement.

【0029】

As a result, the slave unit 20a returns to the communication state before the battery replacement. That is, the microphone volume is set to the state before the battery replacement. Further, if a speech request is being made before the battery is replaced, a speech request signal is subsequently transmitted. Further, if the speaker is speaking before the battery is replaced, he / she can continue to speak within the remaining time. Also in the voting mode, it is set to the state before battery replacement.

【0030】

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the batteries of the communication unit (master unit, slave unit) are replaced, the communication unit automatically returns to the state before the battery replacement, so that the conference can be smoothly operated. be able to.

【0031】

Not only when the battery is replaced, but also when the power switch is inadvertently turned off, the communication unit can be returned to the state before the power switch was turned off by performing the same operation as described above.

【0032】

In this embodiment, the communication monitoring control unit 50 also has a communication control function for executing the inter-slave communication mode instead of the personal computer main body 31 when the personal computer main body 31 is in the function stop state. This will be described next.

【0033】

Although not shown, the personal computer main body 31 as a control console is provided with a speech permission button, a communication mode changeover switch, and the like. The personal computer main body 31 may be operated by the chairperson or by a staff member of the secretariat.

【0034】

This infrared bidirectional communication system has a master unit-led communication mode (chairman selection mode) in which the master unit (chairperson) 10 has a communication selection right to allow communication to a specific slave unit among the slave units (members) 20. , The master unit 10 has at least two communication modes of inter-slave communication mode (free talk mode) that enables communication between a plurality of slave units 20 without intervention.

【0035】

First, the master unit-led communication mode (chairman selection mode) will be described. For example, when the speech request button 24 of the slave unit 20a is pressed, the speech request signal is transmitted from the infrared transmitter of the slave unit 20a, and is received by, for example, the infrared transmitter / receiver 41 on the ceiling. Then, the speech request signal is input to the personal computer main body 31 via the transmission / reception line 40 and the communication monitoring control unit 50.

【0036】

Although not shown, in this embodiment, each member's seat is displayed on the display 32, and the personal computer main body 31 blinks, for example, the display of the member's seat in response to the speech request signal from the slave unit 20a. Display it. In addition to this remark request display, the order of arrival of remark requests can be displayed as, for example, "1", "2", and so on.

【0037】

When the chairman (or the secretariat staff) permits the request for speech of the handset 20a, a call channel is assigned to the handset 20a from the personal computer main body 31 via the infrared transmitter / receiver 41. This makes it possible for a member of the handset 20a to speak, and the content of the communication between the member and the chairman is transmitted to the other handset 20 via the infrared transmitter / receiver 41. In this master unit-led communication mode, the chairman can give permission to speak to a plurality of members, but cannot speak between slave units (members).

【0038】

Next, the inter-slave communication mode (free talk mode) will be described. In this inter-slave communication mode, a registration frame R and a waiting frame W are set in a predetermined file area of the personal computer main body 31 as shown in FIG. 3, and a child who can participate in the inter-slave communication mode. The number of aircraft is arbitrarily limited.

【0039】

With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4, for example, assuming that there are four registration frames R, the personal computer main body 31 registers up to the first four slave units 20 for which a request for speech has been made in the registration frame R, and also registers the slave units 20 in the registration frame R. A predetermined call channel is assigned to each registered slave unit 20, and free talk between the slave units 20 is enabled. If the registration frame R is full, it is registered in the waiting frame W in the order of request for remarks.

【0040】

When the remarks of the handset 20 participating in the free talk are completed while the registration frame R is full, the handset 20 is deleted from the registration frame R and the first-come-first-served handset 20 in the waiting frame W is registered. Register in the free area of frame R, assign a predetermined call channel, and participate in free talk.

【0041】

In this way, by limiting the number of slave units (number of members) who can participate in the free talk, it is possible to suppress irregular remarks and proceed with the proceedings in an orderly manner even in the free talk. The contents of the exchanges between the slave units in this free talk are also transmitted to the other slave units 20 via the infrared transmitter / receiver 41.

【0042】

Next, a case where the personal computer main body 31 is stopped for some reason, that is, when it goes down, will be described. In this case, the personal computer main body 31 cannot select the permission to speak, that is, the master unit-led communication mode (chairman selection mode) cannot be selected. Therefore, instead of the personal computer main body 31, the sequential control function of the communication monitoring control unit 50 is used. , The above-mentioned inter-slave communication mode (free talk mode) is executed.

【0043】

In this way, even if the personal computer main body 31 goes down during the operation of this system, at least the inter-slave communication mode is maintained by the communication monitoring control unit 50, so that a blank period does not occur.

【0044】

Next, the operation at the time of starting the personal computer main body 31 (including the time of restarting after the down recovery) will be described. The personal computer main body 31 recognizes the previous termination state at the time of its startup, and determines whether to initialize the system or to continue the operation.

【0045】

Therefore, the personal computer main body 31 first accesses the above-mentioned startup history file at the time of startup. Then, if, for example, a predetermined flag is not written in the startup history file, it is determined that the system was completed normally last time, and the system is initialized before starting up.

【0046】

On the other hand, if a predetermined flag is written in the startup history file, it is determined that the operation was terminated in an abnormal state last time, and the communication data held by the communication monitoring control unit 50 (communicate in free talk mode). Start up after importing the existing slave unit data, etc.) into the PC main unit 31. For example, the personal computer main body 31 starts up in the master unit-led communication mode with the slave unit participating in the free talk mode as it is.

【0047】

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the memory 51 of FIG. 2 is provided in the communication monitoring control unit 50, but the memory 51 may be set on the personal computer main body 31 side. Further, since the communication monitoring and control unit is a fail-safe type, in some cases, two basso-con main bodies may be used, and if one of them goes down, the other basso-con main body may be switched to.

【0048】

Further, the present invention is suitable for conference facilities such as international conference halls, but is not limited to this, and is also applicable to an infrared bidirectional communication system in which a slave unit is a mobile terminal.

【0049】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, one master unit and a plurality of slave units, both of which have infrared light receiving / emitting means, and communication control for controlling communication between the master unit and the slave units and between the slave units. In an infrared bidirectional communication system including means, the communication control means is provided with a memory for sequentially storing the current communication state of each slave unit, and each slave unit side is provided with a specific key operation to the communication control means. A function to send a power recovery code signal is provided, and when a power recovery code signal is emitted from a predetermined slave unit, the communication status of the slave unit is read from the memory of the communication control means and transmitted to the slave unit, and the slave unit is transmitted. By setting the communication state to the state immediately before the power is turned off, even if the power of the communication unit is turned off due to battery replacement during the meeting, the communication unit is automatically set to the communication state before the power is turned off. Can be restored.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

The conceptual diagram which showed the embodiment which constructed the infrared bidirectional communication system by this invention assuming the conference hall.

[Figure 2]

The schematic diagram which showed the map of the memory provided in the communication control means in the said embodiment.

[Fig. 3]

In the above embodiment, a schematic diagram illustrating a registration frame and a waiting frame used in the inter-slave communication mode.

[Fig. 4]

The flowchart for explaining the operation in the above-mentioned inter-slave communication mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Master unit (for chair) 11 Microphone unit 12 speaker unit 13 Voting button 20 Handset (for members of the Diet) 21 Microphone unit 22 Speaker unit 23 Voting button 24 Speak request button 25 set request button 30 Communication control means (personal computer) 31 PC body 32 display 40 transmit / receive line 41 Infrared transmitter / receiver 50 Communication monitoring and control unit