JPH0660285A - Transmitting receiving method for radio type alarm system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To find a fault of a transmitter-receiver in an early stage, and to decrease the power consumption by confirming periodically whether transmission and reception between a management device and an abnormality detector are performed surely or not. CONSTITUTION:In the case of the radio type alarm system for letting a receiving circuit be a receivable state at a certain period T1 by a synchronizing timer, receiving operations of both of an abnormality detector and a management device are synchronized periodically by utilizing a periodical confirming operation by an identification code. That is, from one side of the abnormality detector or the management device, the identification code and a check code are transmitted periodically, subsequently to a reception waiting signal, the reception waiting signal is received on the other side and set to a reception waiting state, and thereafter, the identification code and the check code are received and its confirmation is executed, and when it coincides with a prescribed code, the own synchronizing timer is cleared, and also, the identification code is sent back to one side, and one side receives its identification code, and when it coincides with the own identification code, the own synchronizing timer is cleared.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided with a transmission circuit and a reception circuit both in a management device such as a gas meter and an abnormality detector such as a gas leak alarm, and performs signal transmission between them by wireless signal line. The present invention relates to a method for transmitting and receiving signals in a wireless alarm system that does not require the work involved in laying.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of wireless alarm system,
In order to reduce power consumption, an intermittent reception method is adopted in which power is supplied intermittently to the receiving circuit at a fixed cycle, and a reception standby signal with a pulse width equal to or longer than the length of the reception cycle precedes the warning signal. It is publicly known that reliable reception can be performed by transmitting.

However, in this case, since the transmission / reception operation is performed only when the output of the alarm device changes or the alarm signal of the gas meter is transmitted, if the transmitter / receiver malfunctions for some reason and the transmission / reception function is lost, There are problems that the alarm is not issued even when the alarm is issued, or that the process corresponding to the alarm is not performed.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-154999, a management apparatus and an abnormality detector transmit and receive a dedicated synchronization signal to establish synchronization, and a reception standby signal shorter than the reception cycle is transmitted prior to an alarm signal. , A method of continuing power supply to a receiving circuit for a predetermined time when the reception standby signal is received. However, according to this, since the timer values of both the management device and the abnormality detector are deviated with time, it is necessary to resynchronize, so that it is suitable only for a system that transmits and receives several tens of times a day. It was

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to periodically check whether transmission and reception are reliably performed between a management device and an abnormality detector in a wireless alarm system, and It is intended to detect a failure at an early stage, improve the reliability of the alarm system, and shorten the transmission / reception time for confirmation to reduce power consumption.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, one of an abnormality detector and a management device is provided to periodically check transmission / reception between a management device such as a gas meter and an abnormality detector such as a gas leak alarm. From the side, the identification code and the check code are periodically transmitted following the reception standby signal, and the other side receives the reception standby signal and enters the reception standby state, then receives the identification code and the check code and confirms the confirmation. When the specified code is matched, the identification code without the reception standby signal is returned to one side.

Further, according to the present invention, in the case of a wireless alarm system in which the receiving circuit is made ready for reception at a constant period T ₁ by the synchronizing timer, the periodic confirmation operation using the identification code as described above is utilized. The receiving operation of both the abnormality detector and the management device can be periodically synchronized. That is, from one side of the abnormality detector or the management device, the identification code and the check code are periodically transmitted following the reception standby signal, and the other side receives the reception standby signal to enter the reception standby state and then the identification code. When the check code is received and checked, and it matches the specified code, the self-synchronization timer is cleared and the identification code is returned to one side. When it matches the identification code of, the self synchronization timer is cleared.

Further, according to the present invention, in order to reduce the time required for the transmission / reception confirmation operation as much as possible, one side of the abnormality detector or the management apparatus transmits the fixed period T ₁ at the time of the first transmission.
The identification code and check code are sent following the longer reception standby signal, and the other side receives the reception standby signal and enters the reception standby state, then receives the identification code and check code and confirms them, and the specified code When it coincides with the above, intermittent reception is possible at a constant period T ₁ thereafter, and thereafter, an identification code and a check code are added to the constant period T ₁ following a reception standby signal shorter than the first transmission. Synchronously and periodically transmit from one side, the other side receives the identification code and check code and confirms it, and when it matches the specified code, the one side sends an identification code without a reception standby signal. It can also be configured to reply to.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the identification code and the check code are periodically transmitted and received following the reception standby signal, and it is assumed that the signal for the check is transmitted instead of the transmission of the alarm content, and the self-identification is performed. In order to confirm whether the code has been sent or received, check whether the transmission and reception are reliable.
It can be performed periodically and reliably without being confused with the alarm system of another adjacent house.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a wireless gas leak alarm system will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the gas leak alarm device, which is an abnormality detector. The gas leak alarm 10 includes a transmitter / receiver 1
1 is connected. The transmitter / receiver 11 judges a change in the output of the gas leak alarm 10 and codes the microcomputer 12, and a transmission circuit 14 for modulating a signal from the microcomputer 12 and radiating the signal as a radio wave signal from an antenna 13. A receiving circuit 1 for demodulating a signal received by an antenna 13 and outputting it to the microcomputer 12.
5 and a power supply control circuit 16 which supplies a DC power supply voltage to the transmission circuit 14 and the reception circuit 15 in response to a control signal from the microcomputer 12.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration on the gas meter side, which is a management device. A transceiver 18 is also connected to the gas meter 17. The transmitter / receiver 18 does not have a microcomputer because the microcomputer 19 is built in the gas meter 17, but otherwise the same configuration as the transmitter / receiver 11 on the gas leak alarm 10 side, that is, the microcomputer built in the gas meter 17 is provided. Transmitting circuit 21 for modulating the signal from 19 and radiating it as a radio signal from antenna 20
A receiving circuit 22 that demodulates a signal received by the antenna 20 and outputs the demodulated signal to the microcomputer 19, and a transmitting circuit 21 according to a control signal from the microcomputer 19.
And a power supply control circuit 23 for supplying a DC power supply voltage to the receiving circuit 22.

When the gas leak alarm 10 is of a microcomputer built-in type, the gas leak alarm 1
The transmitter / receiver 18 on the 0 side does not require the microcomputer 12.

In both transceivers 11 and 18, the power supply voltage is not normally supplied to the transmission circuits 14 and 21, but the power supply control circuit 16.23 supplies the power supply voltage only during transmission. . Further, in the receiving circuits 15 and 22, a synchronization timer in the microcomputers 12 and 19 causes a fixed period T ₁ and a short time width (for example, 5 times).
Power supply control circuit 16/23 intermittently every 5 ms)
The power supply voltage is supplied from. That is,
The receiving circuits 15 and 22 are intermittently brought into a receivable state by a synchronization timer at a constant cycle T ₁ .

Next, the operation will be described. When the gas leak alarm 10 is installed and the power is turned on after the gas leak meter 17 is set to be compatible with the wireless alarm, the gas leak alert device 10 and the gas leak meter 17 operate normally after a lapse of a certain time. An initial check operation is performed to confirm that FIG. 3 shows a timing chart of the initial check operation.

After the gas leak alarm 10 is powered on for a certain period of time, the microcomputer 12 outputs a signal for supplying the power supply voltage to the transmission circuit 14 to the power supply control circuit 16. As a result, the transmission circuit 1
The power supply voltage is supplied to 4.

After that, the microcomputer 12 sends a reception standby signal having a pulse width t ₁ which is equal to or longer than the length T ₁ of the reception cycle to the transmission circuit 14 as shown in (1) of FIG.
Then, a check signal is sent after a short time. The check signal is composed of an identification code stored in the ROM of the microcomputer 12 and a content code for checking the first operation of transmission / reception, that is, a check code, and these codes are continuously transmitted. When the transmission is completed, the supply of the power supply voltage to the transmission circuit 14 is stopped, while the power supply voltage is supplied to the reception circuit 15. The reception standby signal and the check signal transmitted to the transmission circuit 14 are, for example, FM modulated and radiated from the antenna 13 as a radio signal.

The same identification code is stored in the microcomputer 12 on the side of the gas leak alarm 10 and the microcomputer 19 on the side of the gas meter 17, and since the code is different for each house, it is paired with itself. Determine whether or not it is a check signal from the device
It does not respond to the check signals of other adjacent houses.

On the other hand, in the transmitter / receiver 18 on the gas meter 17 side, the receiving circuit 22 is intermittently supplied with the power supply voltage at a constant cycle T ₁ by the operation of the synchronous timer in the microcomputer 19 and is in a receivable state. If a signal is input from the antenna 20 within a short time, the demodulated signal is sent to the microcomputer 19 in the gas meter 17.
When the demodulated signal is determined to be the reception standby signal, the microcomputer 19 sends a signal to the power supply control circuit 23 to extend the power supply voltage supply to the reception circuit 22 until the reception of the check signal is completed.

When the receiving circuit 22 receives a check signal following the reception standby signal as shown in FIG. 3B, the microcomputer 19 causes the sent identification code to match its own identification code. If there is a match, it is confirmed whether the code sent subsequently is a check code. And the microcomputer 1
When it is determined that the identification code and the check code are other than the regular codes defined in advance, 9 ignores them and returns the receiving circuit 22 to the original intermittent receiving state via the power supply control circuit 23. Let On the other hand, if the code is legitimate, the power supply voltage supply to the transmission circuit 21 is started, the identification code is transmitted as a reception confirmation signal as shown in (3) of FIG. Is stopped and the original intermittent power supply state is restored. At this time, the synchronization timer in the microcomputer 19 is cleared and the synchronization operation is started again.

The identification code, which is the received confirmation signal, is received by the receiving circuit 15 via the antenna 13 in the transmitter / receiver 11 on the gas leak alarm 10 side as shown in FIG. Become a microcomputer 12
Sent to. If the received identification code matches with its own unique identification code, the microcomputer 12 determines that the check signal transmitted by itself is normally received by the gas meter 17 side, and sends it to the receiving circuit 15. The gas meter 17 is reset by resetting the power supply voltage to the intermittent state and clearing the synchronization timer in the microcomputer 12.
Synchronize with the side synchronization timer.

If the identification code, which is a reception confirmation signal, is not returned within the set time, the microcomputer 12 judges that the transmission is not correct, and the receiving circuit 1
While the power supply voltage to 5 is stopped, the power supply voltage is supplied to the transmission circuit 14, and again, similarly, the reception standby signal is followed by the check signal including the identification code and the check code. Here, if the reception confirmation identification code is not returned again, the same transmission is repeated up to the set number of repeated transmissions, and if there is no response, the transceiver 1
It is judged that 1 or 18 is abnormal, and an alarm is issued by a warning sound or blinking of an LED.

After the initial check is completed and the normal operation is confirmed as described above, the gas leak alarm device 10 enters the gas leak detection mode. When this detects a gas leak, the gas leak alarm 10 sends an identification code and a warning content code to the gas meter 17 for a warning, followed by a reception standby signal, and, for example, 24 without gas leak detection.
After a lapse of time, a check signal is transmitted after the reception standby signal, as shown in (2) of FIG.

At the time of this periodical check (same for alarm)
The pulse width t ₂ of the reception standby signal of is shorter than the pulse width t _{1 at} the time of the initial check, and is set to, for example, 1 second, and the timer value of the synchronization timer is t ₂ / t from the integral multiple of the receivable period T _1. When the value becomes 2, which is smaller by 0.5 seconds, the identification code and the check code for the period check are transmitted following the reception standby signal. Considering that the values of both the gas leak alarm device 10 and the synchronization timers of the microcomputers 12 and 19 of the gas meter 17 shift with the passage of time, the receiving circuit 22 on the gas meter 17 side must receive them during the receivable time. This is so that the reception standby signal can be received.

The reception standby signal and the check signal, which are periodically transmitted from the gas leak alarm device 10, are received by the reception circuit 22 on the gas meter 17 side by the above-described operation as shown in (2) of FIG. The microcomputer 19 on the gas meter 17 side compares the sent identification code with its own identification code, and if they match, checks whether the code sent subsequently is a check code. Then, if the identification code and the check code are regular codes defined in advance, the microcomputer 19 starts the supply of the power supply voltage to the transmission circuit 21, and as a reception confirmation signal as shown in (3) of FIG. After transmitting the identification code, the supply of the power supply voltage to the transmission circuit 21 is stopped to return to the original intermittent power supply state, and at the same time, the synchronization timer in the microcomputer 19 is cleared and the synchronization action is restarted.

The identification code, which is the received confirmation signal, is received by the receiving circuit 1 via the antenna 13 in the transmitter / receiver 11 on the gas leak alarm 10 side, as in the initial check.
5 is received as shown in (4) of FIG. 4 and is sent to the microcomputer 12 as a demodulated signal. If the received identification code matches with its own unique identification code, the microcomputer 12 determines that the check signal transmitted by itself is normally received by the gas meter 17 side, and sends it to the receiving circuit 15. The power supply voltage is returned to the intermittent state, and the synchronization timer in the microcomputer 12 is cleared to synchronize with the synchronization timer on the gas meter 17 side.

If the identification code, which is the reception confirmation signal, is not returned within the set time, it is determined that the transmission was not correctly performed, the power supply voltage to the receiving circuit 15 is stopped, and the power supply voltage is supplied to the transmitting circuit 14. In the same manner, the check signal including the identification code and the check code is sent again after the reception standby signal. Here, if the reception confirmation identification code is not returned again, the same transmission is repeated up to the set number of repeated transmissions, and if there is no response, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the transceiver 11 or 18, and a warning is issued. An alarm is issued by sound or blinking LED.

Also, on the gas meter 17 side, if the transceivers 11 and 18 do not operate normally for a check period of 24 hours or more, the abnormality is displayed, and if the telemeter function is set, C -Via NCU,
The alarm is transmitted to the central monitoring center through the telephone line.

Thereafter, the check is similarly performed at a constant cycle, and each time the synchronization timer of the microcomputers 12 and 19 is cleared in both the gas leak alarm device 10 and the gas meter 17, the synchronization is updated. Done.

As described above, the transmission / reception of the reception confirmation signal of the periodic check is used to synchronize the synchronization timers of the transmission side and the reception side, and the reception timings are transmitted / received to shorten the transmission / reception time of the reception standby signal. However, it is possible to reduce power consumption.

Note that the synchronization timer can be cleared at another time such as when an alarm signal or a check signal is transmitted and received when the reception confirmation signal is not transmitted.

The case where a signal is sent from the gas leak alarm device 10 side to the gas meter 17 side has been described above as an example, but conversely, when a signal is sent from the gas meter 17 side to the gas leak alarm device 10 side, transmission / reception can be similarly performed. . Also, the transmitter / receiver 11.1
Although the example in which 8 is connected to the outside of each of the gas leak alarm 10 and the gas meter 17 is shown, it may be built-in type. Furthermore, the present invention can be similarly applied to wireless transmission by infrared rays or the like, and to wireless security systems other than the gas leak alarm system.

[0033]

The present invention has the following effects. The check signal and its confirmation signal are sent and received at a constant cycle even when the alarm signal is not required to be sent and received, so that a transmitter / receiver failure can be detected at an early stage, and the necessary processing is performed when the alarm is not issued. It is possible to improve the reliability of the alarm system by eliminating the inconvenience.

The identification code and the check code are periodically transmitted and received following the reception standby signal, and it is assumed that the signal for checking is transmitted instead of transmitting the alarm content.
Since it is confirmed whether or not the own identification code is transmitted / received, whether or not the transmission / reception is surely performed can be surely performed periodically and without being confused with the alarm system of another adjacent house.

According to the second aspect, the transmission and reception of the reception confirmation signal of the periodic check are used to synchronize the synchronization timers of the transmission side and the reception side, so that it is possible to transmit and receive at the same reception timing. The standby signal transmission / reception time can be shortened to reduce power consumption.

According to the third aspect, after the management device and the abnormality detector device are installed, it is possible to perform an initial check as to whether or not normal transmission and reception are performed between them, and then a periodic check can be performed, and a periodic check can be performed. In this case, the transmission / reception time of the reception standby signal is shortened as compared with the time of the initial check, so that the cycle check can be performed with less power consumption.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration on a gas leak alarm side of a wireless gas leak alarm system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration on a gas meter side.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing an initial check operation.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing a periodic check operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Gas Leak Alarm 11 Transmitter / Receiver 12 Microcomputer 13 Antenna 14 Transmission Circuit 15 Reception Circuit 16 Power Supply Voltage Control Circuit 17 Gas Meter 18 Transceiver 19 Microcomputer 20 Antenna 21 Transmission Circuit 22 Reception Circuit 23 Power Supply Voltage Control Circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A wireless alarm system having a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit both in a management device such as a gas meter and an abnormality detector such as a gas leak alarm, and receiving from one side of the abnormality detector or the management device. The identification code and the check code are periodically transmitted following the standby signal, and the other side receives the reception standby signal and puts it in the reception standby state, then receives the identification code and the check code and confirms them. A transmission / reception method for a wireless alarm system, characterized in that an identification code without a reception standby signal is returned to one side when the code matches. 2. A transmission circuit, a reception circuit, and a synchronization timer are provided in both a management device such as a gas meter and an abnormality detector such as a gas leak alarm, and the reception circuit is provided with a constant period T ₁ by the synchronization timer. In the wireless alarm system that enables reception by the one side of the abnormality detector or the management device, an identification code and a check code are periodically transmitted following the reception standby signal, and the other side transmits the reception standby signal. After receiving the ID code and check code after receiving and checking it, when it matches the specified code, clear the self-synchronization timer and return the ID code to one side, A transmitting / receiving method of a wireless alarm system, characterized in that, when one side receives the identification code and matches the identification code of itself, the synchronization timer of the own side is cleared. 3. A wireless system in which both a management device such as a gas meter and an abnormality detector such as a gas leak alarm are provided with a transmission circuit and a reception circuit, and the reception circuit is intermittently receivable at a constant cycle T _1. In the alarm system, from one side of the abnormality detector or the management device, at the time of the first transmission, an identification code and a check code are transmitted following the reception standby signal longer than the fixed period T ₁ , and the other side transmits the reception standby signal. After the reception and the reception standby state, the identification code and the check code are received and confirmed, and when they match the specified code, intermittent reception is possible at a constant period T ₁ thereafter, and thereafter. , an identification code and check code following the short reception wait signal from the time the initial transmission, the constant period T ₁ in synchronization with the transmitted periodically from the one side, the identification code and checks on the other side Perform the confirmation by receiving over de, when consistent with the provisions of the code, characterized in that it returns the identification code with no reception waiting signal to the one side, method of transmitting and receiving wireless alarm system.