JPH09297724A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speedily and accurately execute debugging operation on a personal computer system installed at a remote place by a data communication through a telephone line. SOLUTION: The communication equipment 1 is composed of a two-way data transfer means 6 between a personal computer main body 2 and a keyboard 3, 1st and 2nd signal transfer mode converting means 7 and 9, a signal transfer speed converting means 8, a modem means 11, a line control means 12, and a switching means for data communication and telephone calling. The telephone line 5 is connected to the one communication equipment 1 to which the personal computer main body 2, a keyboard 3, and a telephone set 4 are connected, and the data communication and telephone calling are performed with the other personal computer system installed at a remote place. Consequently, a program designer can directly operate the personal computer system of a client through the telephone line and can easily and accurately find and correct a bug.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device, and transfer data between a plurality of computer devices installed apart from each other and a main body of each computer device and an input means by using an electric communication line. The present invention relates to a communication device that transmits and receives.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the widespread use of personal computer devices (hereinafter referred to as personal computers), it has become popular to construct systems using them. When developing software for operating a system, debugging work is usually performed after the program design is completed. As is well known, the debugging work is to find and fix bugs hidden in the designed program.
It must be completely shut down before the system can go live. However, rarely, a new bug may be discovered while the system is operating, and an accident that interferes with the operation of the system may occur.

In such a case, the program designer pulls it up in the case of a small-scale system, visits the customer who installed the system in the case of a large-scale system, and performs a bug in the program while simulating the system. Try to discover. Here, when it is necessary to respond urgently or when dealing with a distant customer or an unspecified number of users individually in debugging the large-scale system, the program designer contacts the customer by telephone. While carrying out a simulation, the debugging work may be carried out. At that time, the program designer requests the system operator of the customer to operate the keyboard of the PC one after another according to the flow of the program, and finds a bug while receiving the contents of the display screen or the report of the system operation status one after another. And make corrections.

[0004]

In the conventional method of performing the debugging work by telephone communication between the program designer and the customer's system operator, the oral instruction and the oral report by telephone are repeatedly performed. . Therefore, there is a problem that if the number of steps of the target program increases, inevitably a long time is required. further,
Keyboard operation mistakes occur because the program designer's intention is not correctly transmitted to the system operator,
Similarly, the contents displayed on the PC display, which is the simulation result, may not be correctly transmitted from the system operator to the program designer. Therefore, it is troublesome to find and fix bugs, and it is frustrating that it is not done accurately. However, the same accident may occur again.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is a communication for performing debugging work quickly and accurately when an unexpected bug occurs in a personal computer system installed in a remote place. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, transfer data between one personal computer main body and an input means is transmitted to another personal computer installed apart from each other via an electric communication line, or The transfer data is received from the other personal computer. Further, the transfer data between the personal computer body and the input means and the voice over the telephone are switched to be transmitted or received.

When a bug occurs during the operation of the personal computer system and it is necessary to urgently cope with it or when debugging a large-scale system installed in a remote place, a program design is performed using the communication device of the present invention. The personal computer of the customer and the personal computer constituting the customer's system are connected by a telephone line. As a result, the program designer can directly operate the customer's personal computer and can find or fix a bug. Also, it becomes possible to talk with the customer's system operator by telephone, and it becomes possible to grasp the system status as the debugging progresses.

Therefore, during the debugging work, it is possible to avoid the sequential verbal instruction and verbal report between the conventional program designer and the customer's system operator only by telephone, thus increasing the number of program steps. However, the processing can be performed in a short time, and the analysis and correction work as intended by the program designer can be performed quickly and accurately.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a bidirectional data transfer means between a personal computer body and a keyboard, a signal transfer mode conversion means, a signal transfer speed conversion means, a modulation / demodulation means, and a line control means. One of the personal computers is connected to this, and the transfer data between the main body of the personal computer and the keyboard is transmitted to the other personal computer installed apart from the other via an electric communication line, or the other personal computer. The transfer data is received.

In addition, the two-way data transfer means between the main body of the personal computer and the keyboard, the signal transfer form conversion means, the signal transfer speed conversion means, the modulation / demodulation means, the line control means, the data communication and the voice call. It is composed of a switching means, and one of the personal computers is connected to the switching means, and the other personal computer device and the telephone set apart from each other can transmit and receive the transfer data and a voice call through an electric communication line. The configuration is such that switching is performed at any time.

Further, a means for switching between transmission and reception of the transfer data is provided so that transmission and reception of the transfer data can be switched at any time.

Further, a data recognition means for detecting the transfer data is provided, and the transfer data communication and the voice call are automatically switched according to the detection result.

Further, means is provided for timing the interval of each transfer data communication unit, and when transmitting or receiving the transfer data, automatically switches to a voice call when the measured interval exceeds a predetermined time. ing.

According to the communication device of the present invention configured as described above, the transfer data of one personal computer and the transfer data of the other personal computer installed apart from each other are exchanged with each other via a telephone line. become able to. Moreover, by using the telephone call together, it is extremely useful for debugging a personal computer system installed in a remote place.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a block configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the communication device 1 is configured by connecting a telephone 4 to a desktop personal computer device including a main body 2 and a keyboard 3, and is connected to a telephone line 5 for use.

In the present device 1, 6 transfers data and control signals bidirectionally between the personal computer main body 2 and the keyboard 3 and connects a connecting line for data communication with the personal computer device at a remote place. A bidirectional data transfer circuit configured to be connected to a first signal transfer mode conversion circuit 7, which will be described later, through which a serial signal is converted into a parallel signal in accordance with transmission and reception of the transfer data. , Or a first signal transfer mode conversion circuit for converting a parallel signal into a serial signal, and 8 is a signal transfer speed including a RAM for matching the transfer data and a signal processing speed in a modem circuit (modem) 11 described later. A conversion circuit, 9 is a data recognition circuit for recognizing whether a received signal from a remote personal computer device is transfer data or voice, 10 is a front Transmission of data, a second signal transfer mode converting circuit that performs each parallel / serial conversion and serial / parallel conversion opposite to the first signal transfer mode converting circuit 7 described above in accordance with the reception. In addition, 11
Is a modulation / demodulation circuit for modulating the transfer data into an analog signal so as to match the voice band of the telephone line, or for demodulating an analog signal received from the telephone line into a digital signal, and 12 is used for communication using the device 1. A line control circuit for performing transmission / reception control and line connection when performing, and switching control between transfer data and voice call, 13 includes a microprocessor and operates according to a program stored in ROM, It is a control circuit for controlling. Further, 14 is a mode setting switch for setting the transfer mode of the transfer data, and 15 is a reception mode changeover switch for switching the reception mode of the transfer data, both of which are connected to the control circuit 13.

The bidirectional data transfer circuit 6 will be described in detail. Data is normally transferred between the personal computer body 2 and the keyboard 3 by the asynchronous serial method, and the signal line used is, for example, in a PC / AT compatible machine, two-way communication of data and clock. You can do it. Then, the key code (hereinafter, referred to as a keyboard signal) pressed by the keyboard 3 via the signal line is transmitted to the main body 2
The main body 2 sends various commands to the keyboard 3, and the keyboard 3 sends back the results to the main body 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the bidirectional data transfer circuit 6 includes an inverter 6-1 in which pull-up resistors are connected to the output side of each signal line, a NAND gate 6-2, and an OR gate 6-3, and a connection line. 6
It is configured to be connected to the first signal transfer form conversion circuit 7 described above via −4.

It is possible to use a mouse instead of the keyboard 3. In this case, the point coordinate data is sent from the mouse to the personal computer body 2 instead of the key code, and the bidirectional data transfer circuit 6 similar to the above constitutes the communication device 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the line control circuit 12 shown in FIG. 1. 12-1 is connected to the telephone line 5, and the device 1 is in the automatic reception mode by the reception mode changeover switch 15. At this time, an incoming call detection circuit for detecting a 16 Hz ringing signal from a communication partner having a remote personal computer device as described above, a call current detection circuit 12-2 for detecting that a telephone line is open by a call current,
Reference numeral 12-3 is an A relay having two sets of make-before-break type contacts for switching between the telephone call by the telephone 4 and the data communication of the above-mentioned keyboard signal, and 12-4 is a response by calling the above-mentioned communication partner and receiving a response. A diode bridge circuit for making the current in a fixed direction when the polarity of the telephone line is reversed by the device, 12-5 is an A relay 12
Hook switch for data communication by -3, 12
-6 is a first transformer for cutting off the direct current of the telephone line,
Reference numeral 12-7 is a hybrid circuit for separating a transmission signal and a reception signal in data communication, 12-8 is an attenuator for appropriately attenuating the signal level from the modulation / demodulation unit 11 at the time of data transmission, and 12-9 is data. It is a level adjustment circuit that adjusts the signal level to the modulation / demodulation unit 11 at the time of reception. Also, 12-10, 12-11 and 12-
Reference numeral 12 is for detecting a keyboard signal from a communication partner sent through a telephone line, and is a second transformer, an amplifier and a bandpass filter for separating the keyboard signal and the voice signal, respectively.

Next, the operation of the communication device 1 according to the present invention will be described. There are three modes for transferring keyboard signals. (1) Transmission mode: A keyboard signal is transmitted to the other party of data communication. At this time, the other party enters the reception mode described below, but the keyboard signal does not reach me even if the other party operates the keyboard. (2) Reception mode: Receives a keyboard signal from the other party of data communication, sends it to the personal computer, and displays it on the display. If the keyboard is operated by me at this time, it will take precedence. (3) Transmission / reception mode: The transmission mode and the reception mode can be simultaneously performed. That is, when the keyboard is operated on one side of the communication, the keyboard signal is sent to the main body of the personal computer and displayed on the display, and is automatically sent to the other side.

Before using the device 1, the above 3
After setting one of the two modes by the mode setting switch 14 in FIG. 1, the telephone 4 calls the other party in the same manner as in a normal telephone. Then, after the other party responds, the keyboard 3 is operated to transmit or receive the keyboard signal. The reception mode includes a manual response and an automatic response for automatically controlling the incoming of a keyboard signal, which are set by the reception mode changeover switch 15 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure in the transmission mode after the communication state with the other party is established. First,
From the standby state in step S21, when an arbitrary key of the keyboard 3 is pressed to generate a keyboard signal (step S22), it is detected in step S23 whether the mode setting switch 14 shown in FIG. 1 is set to the transmitting side. To do. Then, in step S24, as shown in FIG.
The call current detection circuit 12-2 shown in (1) detects whether the call current is on, that is, whether the telephone line 5 is in communication with the other party of communication. When it is confirmed that the call current is turned on and the call state is set, the bidirectional data transfer circuit 6 shown in FIG.
The keyboard signal from the first signal transfer form conversion circuit 7
The serial / parallel conversion is performed and the RAM is temporarily stored in the signal transfer speed conversion circuit 8. If the call current is not turned on in step S24, the process returns to step S21 to enter the standby state.

Next, in step S26, the two sets of contacts of the A relay 12-3 shown in FIG. 3 are simultaneously switched to the make side, and in step S27 the hook switch 12-5.
Is turned off to form a data communication circuit. Next, in step S28, a reception request signal is sent to the other party, and in step S29, it is detected whether or not the reception request signal has been sent N1 times, for example, three times, until there is a transmission permission response from the other party. Then, in step S30, it is detected whether or not the transmission permission signal has been received from the other party before the reception request signal is sent three times, and the reception request signal is set to 3
If the other party does not respond even after forwarding, step S37
It is determined that the transmission is impossible and the LED lamp (not shown) indicating the transmission failure of the communication device 1 is turned on, and the contact of the A relay 12-3 is returned to the break side in step S38, and the connection with the other party remains. After switching the existing telephone line 5 to the telephone 4 side, the hook switch 12-5 shown in FIG. 3 is closed in step S39, and the process returns to the standby state of step 21.

On the other hand, when it is detected in step S30 that the transmission permission signal from the other party is received, in step S31 the keyboard signal temporarily stored in the RAM in the signal transfer rate conversion circuit 8 in FIG. After converting to a signal speed suitable for the signal processing of 11, the signal is modulated to the modulation / demodulation circuit 11 via the second signal transfer mode conversion circuit 10 and sent to the telephone line 5. Next, in step S32, it is detected whether or not the keyboard signal has been transmitted N2 times, for example, three times. If it is detected that the keyboard signal has been transmitted three times, the process jumps to step S37 and it is determined that transmission is impossible. In step S33, the control unit 13 measures the time for each transmission of the unit keyboard signal, and the predetermined time t1,
For example, it is detected whether or not 1 second has elapsed after the transmission of the keyboard signal, and when the transmission interval is 1 second or more, the process jumps to step S37 as before and it is determined that the transmission is impossible.

When the keyboard signal transmitted in step S31 is received by the communication partner and recognized by the data recognition circuit 9 of the communication device 1 shown in FIG. 1, the ACK signal can be recognized as a keyboard signal to the transmission side. If there is not, a NACK signal is returned. Step S
At 34, this is monitored, and if the NACK signal is received, the process returns to step S31 and the same keyboard signal is transmitted again. No NACK signal is received and step S35
When the ACK signal is received in step S36
At t, a keyboard signal is monitored for a predetermined time t2, for example, 3 seconds. If there is a keyboard signal within 3 seconds, the next keyboard signal is serial / parallel converted by the first signal transfer mode conversion circuit 7 in step S40 and is temporarily stored in the RAM of the signal transfer rate conversion circuit 8. After that, the process returns to step S31, and keyboard signals are transmitted to the other party one after another in the procedure described above.

If there is no next keyboard signal after 3 seconds has elapsed in step S36, step S37.
In step 3, the contact point of the A relay 12-3 is returned to the break side, and the telephone line 5 which is still connected to the other party is switched to the telephone 4 side so that a call is possible.

FIG. 5 shows an operation procedure in the reception mode. As described above, there are an automatic response and a manual response in the reception mode, which are set by the reception mode changeover switch 15 in FIG.

First, the case where the automatic reception mode is set by the reception mode changeover switch 15 will be described in detail.
First, the control circuit 13 shown in FIG.
The two sets of contacts of the relay 12-3 are simultaneously switched to the make side to form a data communication circuit (step S41), and an incoming signal from the other party of communication is sent N3 times, for example, 5 through the telephone line 5 in step S42. It is detected whether or not it has been received twice, and if it cannot be received, the process returns to step S41. When the incoming signal is received five times, the hook switch is turned off in step S43, and then it is checked in step S44 whether or not a predetermined time t3, for example, 5 seconds has elapsed, and the reception from the other party is received within 5 seconds in step S45. Detect if the request signal arrives. If there is no reception request signal, the process returns to S44 and waits until the signal arrives.

On the other hand, when the reception request signal is detected, the transmission permission signal is transmitted to the other party in step S51, and it is detected in step S52 whether or not the transmission permission signal is transmitted N4 times, for example, three times. When it is detected that the transmission of the transmission permission signal has reached three times, the process jumps to step S59 and the LED lamp (not shown) indicating that the communication device 1 cannot receive is turned on and
In step S63, the contact of the A relay 12-3 is returned to the break side, and the telephone line 5 that is still connected to the other party is switched to the telephone 4 side. The arrival of the reception data is detected in step S53 by the time the transmission of the transmission permission signal reaches three times, and if it is not detected, the process returns to step S51 to repeatedly transmit the transmission permission signal.

If it is detected in step S53 that there is received data, then in step S54 the data recognition circuit 9 shown in FIG. 1 recognizes whether the received data is a keyboard signal. If it is determined that it is the keyboard signal, the ACK signal is sent to the other party in step S55, and the second signal transfer mode conversion circuit 10, the signal transfer speed conversion circuit 8, and the first signal in FIG. Through the transfer form conversion circuit 7 and the bidirectional data transfer circuit 6, the keyboard signal of the other party is input to the personal computer 2 and displayed on the display (step S56). Then, in step S60, the received data is monitored for a predetermined time t4, for example, 5 seconds, and when the arrival of the data is detected within 5 seconds, the process returns to step S54 and the received data is recognized as described above. If no data arrives within 5 seconds, it is checked in step S61 whether the reception mode is the manual mode. If it is not in the manual mode, step S62.
At time t5, for example, for 10 seconds, the presence or absence of a received signal is detected, and if data arrives, the process returns to step S51,
The received data is recognized as described above. If the next keyboard signal is not received within 10 seconds, step S
At 63, the contact point of the A relay 12-3 is returned to the break side, and the telephone line 5 that is still connected to the other party is switched to the telephone 4 side to make it possible to talk, and at step S64, the hook switch is turned on. It is turned on to enter the standby state of step S46.

On the other hand, when it is recognized in step S54 that the received signal is not the keyboard signal, step S54
In step 57, the NACK signal is sent to the other party, and then it is detected in step S58 whether or not it has been sent N5 times, for example, three times, and if it is less than three times, the received data is received in step S60 for a predetermined time t.
4, monitoring for 5 seconds, for example, and the same procedure as described above. On the other hand, when the NACK signal has been transmitted three times, the communication device 1 is used as described above in step S59.
The LED lamp indicating that reception is impossible is turned on, and the same procedure as described above is performed to enter the standby state of step S46.

Next, the case where the manual reception mode is set by the reception mode changeover switch 15 in FIG. 1 will be described.

From the standby state of step S46 to step S
At 47, the call current is turned on under the control of the control circuit 13 shown in FIG. 1 (step S47), and when the telephone line 5 is in communication with the communication partner, at step S48, the arrival of the data reception request signal from the partner is received. Detect the presence or absence.
If there is no reception request, the call current ON state of step S47 is continued, but if it is detected that there is a reception request, the two sets of contacts of the A relay 12-3 are simultaneously switched to the make side in step S49. Form a data communication circuit. After that, the hook switch is turned off in step S50 and then the procedure from step S51 is started, and the keyboard signal is received in the steps as described above.

Next, a mode of debugging a program in a personal computer system using the communication device 1 of the present invention will be described.

The program designer uses the telephone set 4 connected to the communication device 1 and calls the system operator of the customer who has the bug via the telephone line 5. Then, the personal computer that constitutes the system is requested to connect the communication device 1,
Tilt the mode setting switch 14 to the transmitting side. The program designer sets the mode setting switch 14 of the communication device 1 to the receiving side, and the reception mode changeover switch 1
Set 5 to automatic mode. Next, install the same software as the customer's personal computer system on his or her own personal computer, and have the customer's system operator operate the keyboard 3 while executing it. As a result, the program designer can check the system malfunction at the same time as the customer on his or her personal computer 2. The program designer who confirms the status of the failure in this way then starts debugging work.

Prior to starting the debugging work, the program designer calls the customer system operator again to set the mode setting switch 14 of the communication device 1 to the receiving side and set the receiving mode changeover switch 15 to the automatic mode. Ask. Subsequently, the program designer sets the mode setting switch 14 to the transmitting side, and then the keyboard 3
Start debugging step by step of the program while operating. You can check the result of debugging on the display of your personal computer body 2.
Since the situation at this time is also transmitted to the customer side via the telephone line 5, the customer can simultaneously grasp the debug situation. When a bug is found in this way, the program designer similarly applies a correction program to the communication device 1
Then, it is sent to the customer's personal computer through the telephone line 5 and installed. Finally, test the system with the corrected program, confirm that the bug has been resolved, and complete the debugging work.

The example in which the present invention is applied to debugging a program in a personal computer system has been described above, but the present invention can also be applied to teaching in a personal computer classroom. In other words, after the teachers and students' personal computers are connected by telephone lines in the same manner as the above procedure,
Guidance is given through the display screen and voice while operating the keyboard. Further, the present invention can be applied to a hobby aspect such as games, go, and shogi as well as the conventional personal computer communication. In this case, both personal computers to be played are connected by a telephone line in the same manner as described above, and the same software is run at the same time to play the game.

[0038]

The program designer can directly operate the customer's personal computer system by connecting the program designer's personal computer and the customer's personal computer system by a telephone line using the communication device of the present invention. At the same time, it becomes possible to have a telephone conversation with the system operator at the same time. Therefore, when a bug occurs during the operation of the system, it becomes easier for the program designer to find and fix the bug and to carry out the test operation after that. Even if the target program has many steps, it can be done in a short time. In addition to processing being possible, the analysis and correction work exactly as intended by the program designer can be performed accurately.

Further, in the example in which the present invention is applied to the instruction in the personal computer classroom, there is the convenience that the student can receive the instruction according to the group education in the classroom while staying at home, and at the same time as the individual teaching. Improvement of educational effect can be expected. Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to games, Go, Shogi, etc., unlike the case where conventional PC communication is used, the addition of voice communication enables the progress of the game with a great sense of presence, which is extremely interesting. There are advantages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bidirectional data transfer circuit in the communication device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a line control circuit in the communication device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in a transmission mode of the communication device showing the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in a reception mode of the communication device showing the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Communication Device 2 Personal Computer Device Body 3 Keyboard 4 Telephone 5 Telephone Line 6 Bidirectional Data Transfer Circuit 11 Modulation / Demodulation Circuit 12 Line Control Circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical indication H04M 11/00 302

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A bidirectional data transfer means between a main body of a computer device and an input means, a signal transfer mode conversion means, a signal transfer speed conversion means, a modulation / demodulation means, and a line control means. Connecting one computer device to this, and transmitting the transfer data between the computer device main body and the input means to the other computer device which is installed apart from the other computer device via an electric communication line, or A communication device configured to receive the transfer data of the other computer device. 2. A bidirectional data transfer means, a signal transfer mode conversion means, a signal transfer speed conversion means, a modulation / demodulation means, a line control means, data communication and voice between the main body of the computer device and the input means. The transfer data is provided with a means for switching to and from a telephone call, and one of the computer device and the telephone is connected to this, and the transfer data is transmitted to and from the other computer device and the telephone installed apart from each other via an electric communication line. A communication device characterized in that it is configured to perform switching between the sender and the receiver and the voice call at any time. 3. The communication according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching between transmission and reception of transfer data between the main body of one computer device and the input means to the other computer device. apparatus. 4. The communication device according to claim 2, further comprising a data recognition means for detecting the transfer data, and automatically switching between the transfer data communication and the voice call according to the detection result. 5. A clocking means for clocking an interval for each unit of communication of transfer data is provided, and means for automatically switching from data communication to voice call when the clocking time exceeds a predetermined time. The communication device according to claim 2 or 3. 6. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the input means of the computer device is a keyboard. 7. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the input means of the computer device is a mouse.