Host side radio equipment control apparatus, host side radio equipment control method and host side radio equipment control program

The present invention relates to a host-side radio control device that controls a radio based on a remote control command for a radio received from a terminal computer via a network, a host-side radio control method, and a host-side radio control program. ..

Connect an amateur radio as an external peripheral device to a host PC (PC: personal computer), send a remote control command for the radio from the terminal PC to the host PC via the network, and remote the amateur radio from the terminal PC. A controlling system is being considered.

Patent Document 1 discloses that a plurality of operators remotely control one operated device shared on a network such as a LAN via their own terminal PC. In the system of Patent Document 1, a common device to be operated receives remote control commands from a plurality of terminal PCs at the same time, and when a remote control command conflicting with each other is received from a plurality of terminal PCs, the device to be operated receives conflicting remote control commands. The actual operation of the device to be operated is determined by majority vote or first-come-first-served basis.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-27766</text></patcit>

<p> If an amateur radio that is externally connected to the host PC is in the radio wave emitting state and a network failure occurs, the amateur radio is switched to the radio wave emitting stopped state from the terminal PC via the host PC by remote control. Becomes impossible. If the network failure recovers quickly, it will not be a big problem, but if the network failure lasts for a long time and the radio wave emission state from the amateur radio must be stopped promptly, the operation on the terminal PC side The person must go to the location of the host PC and operate the amateur radio directly, or the host administrator must operate the amateur radio to stop the radio wave emission from the amateur radio. However, it takes time to stop the radio wave emission.</p><p> On the other hand, an amateur radio that is externally connected to a host PC can be remotely controlled from multiple terminal PCs via a network, but it is not possible to arbitrarily accept remote control commands from multiple terminal PCs. , Confuse the control of the host PC. Therefore, the host PC has only one terminal PC that accepts the remote control command for the radio, and the other terminal PCs must wait for the use of the amateur radio until the use of the amateur radio by the one terminal PC is completed. It is supposed to be. However, if the usage time of the amateur radio by one terminal PC is set arbitrarily by the operator of the terminal PC, the operator of the other terminal PC cannot use it for a long time, and the amateur radio can be shared. The significance of is lost.</p><p> In the system of Patent Document 1, the operated device is simply left as it is in the event of a network failure, and even if the operated device is an amateur radio, it is suggested how to deal with the amateur radio in the event of a network failure. There is no. Further, since the system of Patent Document 1 is a system that accepts remote control commands from a plurality of operators at the same time, it does not suggest a countermeasure against the exclusive use of the operated device by one terminal PC.</p><p> An object of the present invention is a host-side radio control device and a host capable of promptly stopping radio wave emission from the radio even when the radio on the host computer side becomes uncontrollable from the terminal computer due to a network failure. It is to provide a side radio control method and a host side radio control program.</p><p> Another object of the present invention is that when there is a radio shared by a plurality of terminal computers on a network and the radio is used by one terminal computer, the other terminal computer may be: Host-side radio control that can eliminate an arbitrary end time of use of a radio by a terminal computer when the use of the radio must be waited until the end of use of the radio by a terminal computer. It is to provide a device, a host-side radio control method, and a host-side radio control program.</p>

<p> According to the host-side radio control device of the present invention, the host computer can be connected to the radio as an external peripheral device to send and receive data between the radio and the radio and transmit commands to the radio. The host-side radio control device is mounted on the host computer. The host-side radio control device has the following. A reception means for receiving a remote control command for a radio from a terminal computer to which the host computer is connected via a network, a transmission means for converting the format of the remote control command for a radio received by the reception means and transmitting it to the radio, a terminal A determination means for determining the correctness of network communication with a computer, and a stop means for stopping the emission of radio waves from the radio when the determination means determines that the connection is correct.</p><p> A personal computer is included as a computer. Radios include at least amateur radios. The format conversion is, for example, a conversion from a data transmission format in a network to a serial transmission format. Networks include LAN and the Internet. Voice data is included as data for radio equipment. On the Internet, voice data is transmitted by, for example, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The connection between the host computer and the wireless device is not limited to the cable, and may be a wireless connection.</p><p> The following configurations can be further added to the host-side radio control device of the present invention in any combination. (a) The judgment means shall judge as positive when the predetermined time or more has passed since the reception means received the last remote control command for the radio from the terminal computer. (b) The stopping means is to stop the radio wave emission from the radio by sending a command to end the transmission to the radio. (c) The reception means shall disconnect the connection with the terminal computer when the judgment means determines to be positive, and authenticate the terminal computer the next time the connection with the terminal computer is started.</p><p> According to another host-side radio control device of the present invention, the host computer can be connected to the radio as an external peripheral device to send and receive data between the radio and the radio and transmit commands to the radio. The host-side radio control device is mounted on the host computer. The host-side radio control device has the following. A selection means for selecting one terminal computer among a plurality of terminal computers to which the host computer is connected via a network as a selection terminal computer, a reception means for receiving a remote control command for a radio from only the selection terminal computer, A transmission means that converts the format of the remote control command for the radio from the selection terminal computer accepted by the reception means and transmits it to the radio, and when the selection duration for the current selection terminal computer exceeds a predetermined value, the selection means is used. A forced termination means that forcibly terminates the maintenance of the current selected terminal computer as the selected terminal computer.</p><p> The forced termination means does not require the selecting means to immediately terminate maintaining the current selected terminal computer as the selected terminal computer when the selection duration for the current selected terminal computer exceeds a predetermined value. Good. If there is no request to use the radio from another terminal computer even if the selection duration for the currently selected terminal computer exceeds a predetermined value, the selected terminal computer remains as the current selected terminal computer as the selection means. Can be maintained. When the selection duration for the currently selected terminal computer exceeds a predetermined value and a request for using a radio is received from another terminal computer, the currently selected terminal computer is maintained as the selected terminal computer as the selection means. It is also possible to forcibly terminate the work.</p><p> According to the host-side radio control method of the present invention, the host computer can be connected to the radio as an external peripheral device to send and receive data between the radio and the radio and transmit commands to the radio. Therefore, the host-side radio control method is executed in the host computer. The host-side radio control method has the following steps. A step in which the host computer receives a remote control command for a radio from a terminal computer connected via a network, a step in converting the received remote control command for a radio into a format and transmitting it to the radio, a network communication with the terminal computer A step of determining whether or not there is no communication, and a step of stopping the emission of radio waves from the radio when the determination result is positive.</p><p> Further, the following configurations can be added to the host-side radio control method of the present invention in any combination. (a) Regarding the correctness of network communication with the terminal computer, if more than a predetermined time has passed since the last remote control command for the radio was received from the terminal computer, it shall be positive. thing. (b) To stop the emission of radio waves from the radio, send a command to end the transmission to the radio. (c) If the judgment is positive, disconnect the terminal computer and authenticate the terminal computer the next time the connection with the terminal computer is started.</p><p> According to another host-side radio control method of the present invention, the host computer can be connected to the radio as an external peripheral device to send and receive data between the radio and the radio and transmit commands to the radio. The host-side radio control method is executed in the host computer. The host-side radio control method has the following steps. The step of selecting one terminal computer among multiple terminal computers to which the host computer is connected via the network as the selected terminal computer, the step of accepting the remote control command for the radio from only the selected terminal computer, and accepting The step of converting the format of the remote control command for the radio from the selected terminal computer and transmitting it to the radio, and when the selection duration for the current selected terminal computer exceeds a predetermined value, the current selected terminal computer is selected. A step to forcibly terminate the maintenance as.</p><p> The host-side radio control program of the present invention causes a computer to function as each means of the host-side radio control device described above.</p>

<p> According to the present invention, when the host computer determines that a network failure has occurred between the host computer and the terminal computer accepting the remote control command for the radio, the host computer automatically emits radio waves from the radio. Since it is stopped, it is possible to promptly stop the radio wave emission from the radio in response to a network failure.</p><p> According to the present invention, when the period of use of the radio by the current selected terminal computer becomes long, the host computer forcibly terminates the maintenance of the current selected terminal computer as the selected terminal computer. In this way, it is possible to prevent another terminal computer operator from being kept waiting for the use of the radio indefinitely due to the voluntary termination of the operator who is currently using the radio.</p>

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network including a host PC 10 and terminals PC 12a, 12b, 12c ... The host PC 10 as a host computer is equipped with an amateur radio 16 as a radio of an external peripheral device, and the host PC 10 and the amateur radio 16 are connected via a cable 17 and have analog audio to each other. , Data and commands can be sent and received. The terminal PCs 12a, 12b, 12c ... As a plurality of terminal computers are equipped with software (application) capable of remotely controlling the amateur radio 16, and the host PC 10 and the plurality of terminal PCs 12a, 12b, 12c ... Are connected to each other via a network 14 such as LAN or the Internet. When a plurality of terminal PCs 12a, 12b, 12c ... request remote control of the amateur radio 16 at the same time, the host PC 10 selects one terminal PC, for example, the terminal PC 12a from them. Then, a connection is established with the terminal PC12a, and during the connection, remote control commands for radios from other terminals PC12b, 12c ... Are rejected. Regarding the remote control of the amateur radio 16, the host PC 10 may be referred to as a transmission station, and the terminals PC 12a, 12b, 12c ... May be referred to as an operation station.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the hardware and software of the terminal PC 12. The terminal PC 12 is capable of voice communication by VoIP via the network 14, and also has a PC main body 20, a monitor 21, a keyboard 22, a mouse 23, a microphone 24, and a speaker 25 as peripheral devices. .. The PC main body 20 is connected to a network circuit 27 connected to the network 14, a display circuit 28 connected to the monitor 21, an input device control circuit 29 connected to the keyboard 22 and the mouse 23, a microphone 24, and a speaker 25. It has a sound generation circuit 31 to be generated. The terminal PC radio operation software 32 is mounted on the PC main body 20 and sends / receives data and commands to and from the network 14 and peripheral devices via the network circuit 27, the display circuit 28, the input device control circuit 29, and the voice generation circuit 31. While executing a predetermined process. In the operation related to VoIP, the voice of the user of the terminal PC 12 is converted into an analog electric signal by the microphone 24 and sent to the voice generation circuit 31, and A / D is converted by the voice generation circuit 31 to be a radio for the terminal PC. It is converted to VoIP format by the operation software 32 and sent from the network circuit 27 to the network 14. Further, the voice signal input from the network 14 to the network circuit 27 in the VoIP format is converted into a voice digital signal by the terminal PC radio operation software 32, D / A converted in the voice generation circuit 31, and the speaker 25. Will be sent to.

FIG. 3 is a relationship diagram of the hardware and software of the host PC 10 and the amateur radio 16. The host PC 10 is capable of voice communication by VoIP via the network 14, and also has a PC main body 35 and a monitor 36 as a peripheral device. The PC main body 35 has a network circuit 40 connected to the network 14, a display circuit 41 connected to the monitor 36, a serial control circuit 42 to which the cable 17 is connected, and a voice generation circuit 43. The radio control software 45 is mounted on the PC main body 35, and is predetermined while transmitting and receiving data and commands to and from the network 14 and peripheral devices via the network circuit 40, the display circuit 41, the serial control circuit 42, and the voice generation circuit 43. Perform processing. The processing performed by the radio control software 45 includes the processing of converting the format of the remote control command for the radio transmitted from the terminal PC 12 to the network circuit 40 via the network 14 from the network one to the serial one, and the network. Data conversion processing related to VoIP is included between the circuit 40 and the voice generation circuit 43. The amateur radio 16 has a serial control circuit 49 connected to the serial control circuit 42 via a cable 17, and a transmission control circuit 51 that receives an analog audio signal from the audio generation circuit 43 and is connected to the transmission circuit 50. And a reception control circuit 53 that is connected to the reception circuit 52 and sends an analog audio signal to the audio generation circuit 43. The radio main unit software 56 executes a predetermined process while transmitting and receiving data and commands to the host PC 10, the transmission circuit 50, and the transmission control circuit 51 via the serial control circuit 49, the transmission control circuit 51, and the reception control circuit 53. ..

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the host-side radio controller 59. The host PC 10 is connected to the amateur radio 16 as an external peripheral device, and can transmit and receive data for the amateur radio 16 and the radio and transmit commands to the amateur radio 16. The host-side radio control device 59 is mounted on the host PC 10 as radio control software 45 (FIG. 3). The host-side radio control device 59 includes a reception means 60, a transmission means 61, a determination means 62, and a stop means 63. The reception means 60 receives a remote control command for a radio from a terminal PC 12 to which the host PC 10 is connected via a network. The transmission means 61 converts the format of the remote control command for the radio received by the reception means 60 and transmits it to the amateur radio 16. The stopping means 63 determines whether or not the network communication with the terminal PC 12 is interrupted. When the determination means 62 determines that the determination means 62 is positive, the stop means 63 stops the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16. The amateur radio 16 and the antenna 64 are arranged indoors and outdoors, respectively, and are connected to each other via a cable 65.

It is assumed that the terminal PC 12a uses the amateur radio 16 among the plurality of terminal PCs 12a, 12b, 12c ... It is assumed that a network failure occurs when the terminal PC 12a sends a command to emit radio waves of the amateur radio 16 to the host PC 10 via the network 14 and the amateur radio 16 is in the radio wave emitting state. As a result, the terminal PC 12a cannot perform remote control to stop the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16 to the host PC 10, and the host side radio control device 59 cannot communicate with the terminal PC 12a via the network 14. The determination means 62 determines that the host side radio control device 59 is positive when the communication with the terminal PC 12a via the network 14 is not possible, whereby the stop means 63 is the amateur radio 16 from the terminal PC 12a. Even if the command to stop the radio wave emission is not received, the amateur radio 16 is put into the radio wave emission stop state. In this way, although the operator of the terminal PC 12a wants to stop the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16 promptly, it is difficult to stop the radio wave emission of the amateur radio 16 by remote control from the terminal PC 12a due to a network failure. Occasionally, the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16 can be stopped promptly.

The determination means 62 can detect whether or not the network 14 is out of service by detecting that a predetermined time or more has passed since the reception means 60 received the last remote control command for the radio from the terminal PC 12a. If it is more than the time, it is judged as positive. The stop means 63 can stop the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16 by sending a command to end the transmission to the amateur radio 16. It is preferable that the receiving means 60 disconnects from the terminal PC 12a when the determining means 62 determines to be positive, and authenticates the terminal PC 12a the next time the connection with the terminal PC 12a is started. In this way, the host-side radio control device 59 can receive remote control commands for radios from other terminals PC12b, 12c ... b, etc. that can communicate, and after the network 14 with the terminal PC12a is restored. Can accept remote control commands for radios from the terminal PC 12a without any trouble.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of another host-side radio controller 59. The host-side radio control device 59 has a selection means 66 and a forced termination means 67 for the host-side radio control device 59 of FIG. 4 instead of the determination means 62 and the stop means 63. The selection means 66 selects one terminal PC among the plurality of terminal PCs 12a, 12b, 12c ... To which the host PC 10 is connected via the network as the selection terminal computer. The reception means 60 receives a remote control command for a radio from only the selected terminal computer. The transmission means 61 converts the format of the remote control command for the radio from the selection terminal computer received by the reception means and transmits it to the amateur radio 16. When the selection duration for the current selected terminal computer exceeds a predetermined value, the forced termination means 67 forcibly terminates the selection means 66 to maintain the current selected terminal computer as the selected terminal computer.

Even if the plurality of terminals PC 12a, 12b, 12c ... can remotely control the amateur radio 16 of the external peripheral device in the host PC 10 via the network 14, the receiving means 60 is the plurality of terminals PC 12a, 12b, If the remote control command for the radio from 12c ... is received at the same time, the control of the amateur radio 16 will be confused. Therefore, the selection means 66 selects one terminal PC (hereinafter, this selected terminal PC is assumed to be the terminal PC 12a), and the reception means 60 is for the radio from the terminal PC 12a. Only remote control commands are accepted, and remote control commands for radios from other terminals such as PC12b are rejected. Therefore, after the terminal PC 12a is determined as the selected terminal computer, the terminal PC 12a will exclusively use the amateur radio 16, and the terminal PC 12a will be the amateur radio for other terminals PC 12b and the like that are not selected. You will have to wait for the amateur radio 16 to be used until you voluntarily end the use of the 16. If the exclusive use time of the amateur radio 16 by the terminal PC 12a exceeds an appropriate predetermined value, the significance of sharing the amateur radio 16 is reduced. When the exclusive use time of the terminal PC 12a exceeds a predetermined value, the forced termination means 67 immediately informs the selection means 66 to maintain the current terminal PC 12a as the selection terminal computer, or from another terminal PC 12b to the amateur radio 16 It is forcibly terminated only when there is a request to use. In addition, prioritize and rank each terminal PC12a, 12b, 12c ..., and set the exclusive use time for each terminal PC12a, 12b, 12c ... according to the priority and rank. You can also.

6 to 9 are flowcharts relating to a method of dealing with a network failure in a system in which the amateur radio 16 is remotely controlled from a terminal PC. The methods related to these flowcharts correspond to the processing performed by the host-side radio control device 59 in FIG.

In the routine of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not to accept the remote control command for the radio to the terminal computer that has sent the control request of the amateur radio 16 to the host PC 10 via the network 14. The routine is executed as an interrupt routine when the host PC 10 receives a connection request for remote control of the amateur radio 16 from any terminal computer via the network 14. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the terminal computer that has sent the control request for the amateur radio 16 to the host PC 10 via the network 14 will be referred to as the terminal PC 12a. In S73, the host PC 10 determines whether or not the terminal PC 12a that has received the connection command with the host PC 10 for remote control of the amateur radio 16 is already connected to another terminal PC. If the determination result is positive, the routine is terminated, and if the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S74. In S74, it is determined whether or not to authenticate the terminal PC12a for which the connection request has been made this time. Specifically, the authentication is performed by having the operator of the terminal PC 12a input a user name and password, and collating the input value with the registered value in the storage device of the host PC 10. If the judgment result of S74 is positive, the process proceeds to S75, and if the result is negative, the routine is terminated. This time, the S75 establishes a connection with the terminal PC 12a for which a connection request has been made, and starts accepting a remote control command for a radio from the terminal PC 12a. In S76, the elapsed time measurement counter Cn for network failure determination is started to operate.

The routine of FIG. 7 is used as an interrupt routine when the receiving means 60 receives a remote control command for a radio from the terminal PC 12a that has established a connection with the host PC 10 for remote control of the amateur radio 16 in the routine of FIG. Will be executed. In S79, the host PC 10 receives a remote control command for a radio from the terminal PC 12a connected via a network. In the S80, the received remote control command for the radio is converted into a format and transmitted to the amateur radio 16.

The routine shown in FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a routine for resetting the elapsed time measurement counter Cn for determining a network failure. Similar to the routine of FIG. 7, the routine receives a remote control command for a radio from the terminal PC 12a that has established a connection with the host PC 10 for remote control of the amateur radio 16 in the routine of FIG. When accepted, it is executed as an interrupt routine. In S83, the elapsed time measurement counter Cn for network failure determination is reset, that is, set to 0.

In the routine of FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not the network communication with the terminal PC 12a is interrupted (S88), and when the determination result is positive, the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16 is stopped (S89). The routine is an interrupt routine that is executed at regular intervals. In S87, the value of the elapsed time measurement counter Cn for network failure determination is incremented by 1. In S88, it is determined whether or not the value of the elapsed time measurement counter Cn for network failure determination is larger than the predetermined value Rn. If the determination result is positive, the process proceeds to S89, and if not, the routine is executed. finish. In S89, the radio wave emission from the amateur radio 16 is stopped. In S90, the connection with the terminal PC 12a on the host PC 10 is disconnected.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart relating to a method of limiting the connection time with each terminal computer in a system for remotely controlling the amateur radio 16 from the terminal computer within a predetermined value (hereinafter, referred to as connection time limiting method). The connection time limiting method corresponds to the processing in the host-side radio control device 59 of FIG. In the connection time limiting method, the routine shown in FIG. 7 is used. That is, in S73 to S75, one terminal computer among a plurality of terminal computers connected via the network 14 is selected as the selected terminal computer, and in S79 (FIG. 7), the selected terminal computer is selected. The remote control command for the radio is received only from the computer, and in S80 (Fig. 7), the remote control command for the radio from the received selected terminal computer is format-converted and transmitted to the amateur radio 16. Similar to the routine of FIG. 6, the routine of FIG. 10 is executed as an interrupt routine when the host PC 10 receives a connection command for remote control of the amateur radio 16 from any terminal PC via the network 14. S73, S74, S75 are the same as those in FIG. Only the differences will be described. In S73, if the determination result is positive, the process proceeds to S94, and if the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S74. In S94, it is determined whether or not the value of the connection time measurement counter Cc is larger than the predetermined value Rc. If the determination result is positive, the process proceeds to S74, and if the determination result is negative, the routine is terminated. The connection time measurement counter Cc is a counter that measures the connection time after the selection terminal computer is started to be selected. In S95, the connection time measurement counter Cc is started to operate. The value of the connection time measurement counter Cc is incremented at regular intervals in the same manner as the increment process of the network failure determination elapsed time measurement counter Cn in S87 of FIG. Measure the connection time.

Instead of the user switching routine according to the flowchart of FIG. 10, a forced disconnection routine that is executed at regular intervals may be prepared. In the forced disconnection routine, it is determined whether or not the value of the connection time measurement counter Cc is larger than the predetermined value Rc, and if the determination result is positive, the host PC 10 is immediately forced to connect to the currently selected terminal computer. I decide to disconnect. Then, S74 to S75 in FIG. 10 are executed in another interrupt routine that is executed as an interrupt routine when the host PC 10 receives a connection command for remote control of the amateur radio 16 from any terminal PC via the network 14. To do.

<figref num="1">It is a block diagram of a network including a host PC and a terminal PC.</figref><figref num="2">It is a relationship diagram of the hardware and software of the terminal PC.</figref><figref num="3">It is a relationship diagram of hardware and software of a host PC and an amateur radio.</figref><figref num="4">It is a functional block diagram of the host side radio control device.</figref><figref num="5">It is a functional block diagram of another host side radio control device.</figref><figref num="6">This is the first flowchart part related to how to deal with network failures in a system that remotely controls an amateur radio from a terminal PC.</figref><figref num="7">This is the second flowchart part related to how to deal with network failures in a system that remotely controls an amateur radio from a terminal PC.</figref><figref num="8">This is the third flowchart part related to how to deal with network failures in a system that remotely controls an amateur radio from a terminal PC.</figref><figref num="9">This is the fourth flowchart part related to how to deal with network failures in a system that remotely controls an amateur radio from a terminal PC.</figref><figref num="10">It is a flowchart which concerns on the method which limits the connection time with each terminal computer in the system which remotely controls an amateur radio from a terminal computer within a predetermined value.</figref>

Code description

10: Host PC (host computer), 12a, 12b, 12c: Terminal PC (terminal computer), 14: Network, 16: Amateur radio (radio), 59: Host side radio control device, 60: Reception means, 61: Communication means, 62: Judgment means, 63: Stop means, 66: Selection means, 67: Forced termination means.