JPH1065628A - Optical space transmission equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an optical space transmission device capable of preventing a communication failure due to a disturbance in a communication environment and a communication failure due to an excessive change in received light intensity. SOLUTION: Encoding means 14 and light emitting means 15
Receiving means 17 arranged to receive an optical signal arriving from a predetermined direction in the external space and a part of the optical signal emitted from the light emitting means 15, and a receiving means having a decoding means 16 Means 33 and abnormality display means 2
2, in the use mode, the input transmission data is input to the encoding unit 14, the data output from the decoding unit 16 is output as the reception data 27, and in the test mode, the test data is input to the encoding unit 14, Control means 39 for judging whether or not the apparatus 3 is operating normally from the collation result between the data output from the decoding means 16 and the test data and operating the abnormality display means 22 when not operating normally. It is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical space transmission apparatus incorporated in an information processing apparatus for performing short-distance two-way communication such as a two-way remote controller and a portable information terminal, and in particular, can prevent a communication failure. It is about things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a set-top box (STB) type cable television, a two-way remote controller capable of two-way communication is used for delivering a game. In a portable information terminal such as a notebook personal computer, information stored in each of the two portable information terminals is mutually stored in the other party by two-way communication so that information can be exchanged. As a device for realizing bidirectional communication in such a bidirectional remote controller and a portable information terminal, an inexpensive optical space transmission device capable of realizing simple communication is used.

This spatial transmission device is used by being incorporated in an information processing device such as a two-way remote controller and a portable information terminal, and a transmission section encodes transmission data input from the information processing device and converts the encoded data into infrared light or the like. Then, the receiving unit receives the light signal emitted by the other space transmission device, decodes the signal, and outputs the received signal to the information processing device as received data.

[0004]

However, since the above-mentioned conventional optical space transmission apparatus performs spatial transmission using light as a communication medium, it is affected by disturbances in the communication environment such as sunlight and fluorescent lights. In particular, the optical space transmission device used for portable information processing devices such as a two-way remote controller and a portable information terminal is required to increase the light receiving sensitivity in order to reduce power consumption. Therefore, there is a problem that the communication disturbance is easily caused by the disturbance.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, in an optical space transmission device used in a conventional portable information terminal, noise caused by disturbance in a communication environment is cut by a filter, but it is costly and It is not preferable because a circuit for cutting noise becomes large.

[0006] Further, in an optical space transmission device used in a portable information processing device, the communication distance changes with the relative movement, and when the communication distance increases, the received light intensity decreases and the communication distance extremely increases. Becomes large, it becomes difficult to recognize the input signal, and communication becomes impossible. Conversely, when the communication distance is reduced, the received light intensity is increased, and when the distance is extremely reduced, the input signal exceeds the allowable value of the receiving unit,
Similarly, communication becomes impossible. A space transmission device used for such a portable information processing device generally has a size of 5 cm to 3 m.
It is used at a communication distance in a range of about a degree, and the rate of change of the communication distance with respect to the average value of the communication distance is large. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent a communication failure due to a disturbance in a communication environment and a communication failure due to an excessive change in received light intensity due to a change in a communication distance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a space optical transmission device that can perform the above operation.

[0008]

An optical space transmission apparatus according to the present invention is an optical space transmission apparatus incorporated in an information processing apparatus such as a two-way remote controller or a portable information terminal for performing short-distance two-way communication. Encoding means for converting input data into an electric signal; transmitting means having a light emitting means for converting the converted electric signal into an optical signal and emitting light in a predetermined direction in the external space; Light receiving means for receiving an optical signal arriving from the direction of the light and a part of the optical signal emitted from the light emitting means of the transmitting means, and converting the received optical signal into an electric signal;
Receiving means having decoding means for converting the converted electric signal into data and outputting the data; abnormal notification means for notifying that the optical space transmission apparatus is not operating normally; and input in the test mode. The test data is input to the encoding means of the transmitting means, the test data output from the transmitting means is detected, and the data output from the decoding means of the receiving means is compared with the test data, and Determine whether the transmission device is operating normally, and when not operating normally, operate the abnormality notification means, in the use mode, input the input transmission data to the encoding means of the transmission means, A control unit for outputting data output from the decoding unit of the reception unit as reception data; and a use mode and a test mode of the control unit. It is obtained by a obtaining mode switching means.

Further, the optical space transmission apparatus according to the present invention stores in advance a plurality of test data determined by combining at least the data code and the data amount, and selects one of the plurality of test data by an external input. Test data input means for inputting the test data to the control means.

An optical space transmission apparatus according to the present invention is an optical space transmission apparatus incorporated and used in an information processing apparatus for performing short-range two-way communication such as a two-way remote controller and a portable information terminal. Transmitting means for converting data into an optical signal to emit light to an external space, receiving means for receiving an optical signal coming from the external space, converting the data into data, and outputting the data; Control means for increasing the light receiving intensity of the means when the light receiving intensity decreases and decreasing the light receiving intensity of the receiving means when the light receiving intensity increases.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. Embodiment 1 of the present invention shows an example in which the optical free space transmission device is incorporated in a two-way remote controller of a television and used.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an installation state of the optical space transmission apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a remote controller, 2 denotes a television, and a first The optical space transmission device 3 has a second
Are respectively installed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the remote controller 1 and the first optical space transmission device 3. In the figure, the remote controller 1 has key input means 6, received data processing means 7,
Data display means 8, test data selection instruction input means 9,
And the optical space transmission device 3. The key input means 6 outputs a key input by a user operation as transmission data. The data display means 8 includes a liquid crystal panel or the like, and displays data. The received data processing means 7 processes the received data 27 and displays it on the data display means 8. The test data selection instruction input means 9 outputs an instruction for selecting test data that matches the communication conditions of the remote controller 1.

The optical free space transmission apparatus 3 has a use mode and a test mode. The solid line arrows in the figure indicate the signal flow in the use mode, and the broken line arrows indicate the signal flows in the test mode. . Reference numeral 13 denotes a communication monitoring unit, and in the use mode, the key input unit 6 of the remote controller 1
The transmission data 11 input from the remote controller 1 is transmitted so as to be transmitted to the second spatial transmission apparatus of the other party, the reception data 27 from the second spatial transmission apparatus is received, and this is output to the reception data processing means 7 of the remote controller 1 In the test mode, a test data 28 to be described later is output to be transmitted, and in accordance with a collation result signal 35 of the transmitted and received test data 29 and the transmitted test data 28 by the transmission / reception code collation means 20, An abnormality display signal 30 is output. Reference numeral 24 denotes mode switching means for allowing the user to switch between the use mode of the communication monitoring means 13 and the test mode. Reference numeral 12 denotes test data input means which previously stores a plurality of test data determined by combining a data code and a data amount, and selects the test data of the remote controller 1 from among the plurality of stored test data. The test data 28 selected by the output of the instruction input means 9 is input to the communication monitoring means 13. 14 is a communication monitoring unit 13
The encoding means 15 for converting data (transmission data 11 or test data 28) input from the remote controller 1 into a transmission signal (electric signal) 18 is provided on the front surface of the remote controller 1, and converts the converted transmission signal 18 into an optical signal. A light emitting means 17 for converting the light into 25a and emitting light to the external space, 17 is provided on the front surface of the remote controller 1, and receiving the optical signal 25b coming from the external space and converting it into a received signal (electric signal) 19;
Is decoding means for converting the converted received signal into data (received data, test data after reception), and 20 compares the test data 28 input from the communication monitoring means 13 with the test data after reception. Transmission / reception code comparison means for outputting a comparison result signal 35 to the communication monitoring means 13;
Is an abnormality display means (an abnormality notification means) comprising a warning lamp which is turned on when the abnormality display signal 30 is output from the communication monitoring means 13. Here, a warning buzzer or the like may be used instead of the warning lamp. Further, the encoding means 14 and the light emitting means 15 constitute the transmitting means 32, and the decoding means 1
6, and the light receiving means 17 constitute a receiving means 33, and the communication monitoring means 13 and the transmitted / received code collating means 20 constitute a control means 39. Further, the test data input means 12, the communication monitoring means 13, the encoding means 14, the decoding means 1
6 and the transmitted / received code collation means 20 are realized by the arithmetic unit 10 such as a CPU.

Here, the light emitting means 15 and the light receiving means 17
Will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the light emitting means 15 and the light receiving means 17, in which the light emitting means 15 is, for example, an LED,
The light receiving means 17 is made of, for example, a photodiode, and uses, for example, infrared light as a communication medium. LED15
Has a directivity characteristic indicated by a light emission intensity level curve 36 slightly spread around the directivity direction 61 of the LED, while the photodiode 17 has a slight spread around the directivity direction 62 of the photodiode. The LED has a directional characteristic indicated by an expanded light receiving sensitivity equi-level curve 37, the directional direction 61 of the LED and the directional direction 62 of the photodiode are set in parallel, and the LED 15 and the photodiode 17 The light emission intensity level curve 36 of the LED 15 and the light reception sensitivity level curve 37 of the photodiode 17 are arranged close to each other so as to have an overlapping area 38. Therefore, when the LED 15 emits an optical signal, the photodiode 17 receives a part of the optical signal. Further, such a spread directional characteristic can be easily obtained because the communication medium is light. Reference numeral 31 denotes an LED driver for driving the LED, and reference numeral 34 denotes an amplifier that amplifies a received signal received by the photodiode 17 and converted into an electric signal.

The encoding means 14 and the decoding means 16 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data format of the optical signal. In the figure, the optical signal data has a start bit and a stop bit added for each byte. When the value of each bit is "1", a light pulse is emitted, and when the value is "0", no light pulse is emitted. Start bit is 1
The stop pulse is represented by a light pulse having a bit length of “1”, and the stop bit is represented by non-light emission having a bit length of 1 bit or more. In the figure, 16
It represents a 1-byte optical signal sequence representing the base 12 number.
The encoding unit 14 converts the input digital signal data into an electric signal (transmission signal) in the optical signal data format shown in the figure, and the decoding unit 16 converts the input digital signal data format in the data format shown in FIG. (Received signal) into digital signal data.

The test data selection instruction input means 9,
The test data input means 12 will be described in further detail. The influence of disturbance in the communication environment such as sunlight or a fluorescent lamp on the optical signal 25 appears, for example, in a form in which the waveform of the square wave pulse representing the value of “1” is disrupted. The data code having more bits of "1" is more susceptible to disturbance (the worst data code is the one in which the value of all bits is "1"), and the data amount (the number of bytes) is smaller. The larger the number, the more likely it is to be affected by disturbance. Therefore, a plurality of combinations of data code types and the number of data bytes suitable for the communication conditions of the information processing device which is assumed to use the optical space transmission device are prepared in advance as test data, and these are prepared as test data. The test data 28 is stored in the input means 12, and the selected test data 28 is output when a selection instruction is input. Here, as the communication conditions of the information processing apparatus, for example, it is considered that the two-way remote controller 1 transmits a large amount of data at once and the portable information terminal transmits the same amount of data for a long time. ing.

In the first embodiment, the test data selection instruction input means 9 of the remote controller 1 tests an instruction to select test data that meets a communication condition that a large amount of data is transmitted at one time. The data is input to the data input means 12.

In the second optical space transmission device 4, the transmission data 11 is input to the communication monitoring device 13 from the data processing means (not shown) of the television 2, and the reception data 27 is processed by the communication monitoring device 13. Except for the point input to the means, it is exactly the same as the first optical space transmission device 3.

Next, the operation of the optical space transmission apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the remote controller 1 and the television 2 are placed in a room where the fluorescent lamp is turned on, the remote controller 1 and the television 2 are turned on, and the first optical space transmission device 3 of the remote controller 1
The test data input means 12 outputs the test data 28 specified by the input from the test data selection instruction input means 9 to the communication monitoring device 13. The description will be made in the order of the use mode and the test mode, and the operation of the second optical space transmission device 4 is the same as the operation of the first optical space transmission device 3, so that the description will be omitted.

When the user switches the mode switching means 24 to the use mode, the communication monitoring means 13 switches to the use mode. Next, the user sets the remote control 1 to the television 2
When a key of the remote controller 1 is operated toward the second optical space transmission device 4, the key input means 6 outputs the transmission data 11. Upon receiving this output, the communication monitoring means 13 outputs the transmission data 11 to the encoding means 14. Upon receiving this output, the encoding means 14 encodes the transmission data 11 and outputs a transmission signal 18. Upon receiving this output, the light emitting means 15 converts the transmission signal 18 to emit an optical signal 25a.

On the other hand, when an optical signal 25b from the second free-space optical transmission device 4 arrives, the light receiving means 17 transmits this optical signal 25b.
b is received, converted, and the received signal 19 is output.
Upon receiving this output, the decoding means 16 decodes the received signal 19 and outputs received data 27. Here, the communication monitoring unit 13 performs only one of the output of the transmission data 11 and the output of the reception data 27. Therefore,
A part of the optical signal 25a from the light emitting unit 15 received by the light receiving unit 17 at the time of transmission is not output to the reception data processing unit 7. Upon receiving the output of the decoding means, the communication monitoring means 1
3 outputs the reception data 27 to the reception data processing means 7 of the remote controller 1. Upon receiving this output, the received data processing means 7
Displays the received data 27 on the data display means 8. Thereby, two-way communication is performed.

Next, when the user switches the mode switching means 24 to the test mode, the communication monitoring means 13 switches to the test mode, and outputs the test data 28 to the encoding means 14 and the transmitted / received code collating means 20. I do.
Upon receiving this output, the encoding means 14 transmits the transmission data 1
1 to output a transmission signal 18, and upon receiving this output, the light emitting means 15 converts the transmission signal 18 to generate an optical signal 2
5a emits light.

Upon receiving this light emission, the light receiving means 17 outputs the light signal 2
5a is received, converted, and outputs a received signal 19. Upon receiving this output, the decoding means 16 outputs the received signal 1
9 and outputs the received test data 29.

Receiving this output, the communication monitoring means 13 outputs the received test data 29 to the transmitted / received code collation means 20. Upon receiving this output, the transmitted / received code collating means 20
Checks whether or not the previously input test data 28 and the received test data 29 match, and outputs a comparison result signal 35. Upon receiving this output, the communication monitoring means 13
Outputs the abnormality display signal 30 and turns on the abnormality display means 22 when the collation results do not match, and does not output the abnormality display signal 30 when the collation results match.

Here, assuming that the light of the fluorescent lamp is incident on the light receiving means 17, this incident light is converted into an electric signal, superimposed as noise on the test data 29 after reception, and the transmission / reception code is transmitted. The collation results from the collation means 20 do not match, and the abnormality display means 22 is turned on. Therefore, when the user changes the posture of the remote controller 1 while watching the display on the abnormality display means 22 and the light of the fluorescent lamp stops entering the light receiving means 17, the noise due to the incident light disappears and the transmission / reception code collating means 20 And the abnormality display means 22 is turned off. Thereby, before using the remote controller 1, the user can place the remote controller 1 in a state where there is no communication failure due to disturbance of the fluorescent lamp.

If the abnormality display means 22 is not turned off even after the user changes the attitude of the remote controller 1, this means that the transmission means 32 and the reception means 33 have an abnormality. Before using the remote controller 1, it is possible to detect that the transmission means 32 and the reception means 33 are abnormal.

As described above, in the first embodiment,
The light receiving means 17 is arranged so as to be able to receive the optical signal 25b arriving from a predetermined direction in the external space and a part of the optical signal 25a emitted from the light emitting means 17 of the own. Is input to the encoding unit 14, and the received test data 29 output from the decoding unit 16 is compared with the input test data 28 to determine whether the optical space transmission device 3 is operating normally, When the operation is not normal, the abnormality display means 22 is operated. Thus, in the test mode, the test data 28 input as the transmission data is transmitted through the encoding means 14, the light emitting means 15, and the light receiving means 17. The transmitted and received test data 29 and the input test data 28 are output from the decoding means 16 as data 29 after transmission and reception. Since case, it is possible to detect whether the light receiving means 17 is influenced by the disturbance in the communication environment by determining whether the collation results match, receiving means 1
When the optical space transmission apparatus 3 does not operate normally due to the influence of the disturbance, the apparatus 3 can communicate before use by changing the attitude of the remote control 1 so that the abnormality display means 22 does not operate. The communication state can be easily set, and the communication failure due to the disturbance of the communication environment can be easily prevented. Further, even if the direction of the remote controller 1 is changed, the abnormality display means 22
Operates, the transmitting means 32 and the receiving means 3
3 can be detected as having an abnormality.

In the first embodiment, a plurality of test data determined by combining a data code and a data amount are stored in advance, and among the plurality of test data, the test data 28 selected by an external input is stored. Is input to the communication monitoring means 13, so that the larger the number of bits whose value is “1” and the larger the data amount, the greater the influence of disturbances such as sunlight and fluorescent lights. The information processing device 1 in which the optical space transmission device 3 is incorporated is provided with a test data selection instruction input means 9 for selecting, from among the test data, data that matches the communication conditions of the information processing device 1 because the communication device is easily received. Accordingly, it is possible to more appropriately place the optical space transmission device 3 in a communicable state.

Embodiment 2 FIG. Embodiment 2 of the present invention
1 shows an example of a case where an optical space transmission device is used by being incorporated into a portable information terminal. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an installation state of the free-space optical transmission device according to the second embodiment. In the figure, A and B denote a first portable information terminal and a second portable information terminal, respectively. , And each has an optical space transmission device 41. The light emitting means 42 and the light receiving means 43 of the optical space transmission device 41 of each of the portable information terminals A and B
Are arranged on a side surface of each of the portable information terminals A and B, and light signals 40 emitted by the light emitting means 42 of the other party.
Is received by its own light receiving means 43.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the portable information terminals A and B and the optical free space transmission device 41 of FIG. 1. In the figure, the portable information terminals A and B include a storage unit 45 and a data processing unit 46. , Display means 47 and optical space transmission device 41
have. The storage unit 45 stores various data (hereinafter, referred to as information) used by the user. Display means 47
Is composed of a display-integrated tablet, for example, for displaying data and inputting data. The data processing means 46 reads out the information stored in the storage means 45 and displays it on the display means 47,
Is stored in the storage means 45 as the above information.

The space optical transmission device 41 is a portable information terminal A,
B, the above information is read out from the storage means 45 and output as transmission data 49, the reception data 52 is stored in the storage means 45, and the communication monitoring means 44 for controlling the light emission intensity, the transmission data output from the communication monitoring means 44 Encoding means 56 for encoding 49 and converting it into a transmission signal 50;
A transmission signal amplifying means 57 for amplifying the transmission signal 50 based on the amplification degree instruction signal 53 from the communication monitoring means 44; the light emitting means 42 for converting the amplified transmission signal 50 to emit an optical signal 40a; The light receiving means 43 which receives the signal 40b and converts it into a reception signal 51, detects the voltage level of the reception signal 51, outputs a voltage level notification signal 54 to the communication monitoring means 44, and amplifies the reception signal 51. Signal amplifying means 58 and amplified received signal 5
There is provided decoding means 59 for decoding 1 and converting it into received data 52. Here, the encoding means 56, the transmission signal amplifying means 57, and the light emitting means 42 correspond to the transmitting means 63.
And decoding means 59, received signal amplifying means 58,
The light receiving means 43 constitutes the light receiving means 64, and the communication monitoring means 44 constitutes the control means. The communication monitoring means 4
4, the encoding means 56 and the decoding means 59
This is realized by the arithmetic unit 55 composed of a PU or the like.

Next, the operation of the optical free space transmission apparatus according to the second embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

At a certain distance, the first portable information terminal A and the second portable information terminal B store the information stored in their own storage means 45 in the storage means 45 of the other party. To exchange information, and then both portable information terminals A and B
It is assumed that the information exchange is performed with the distance between the portable information terminals A and B reduced, and then the information exchange is performed with the distance between the portable information terminals A and B increased.

When an information exchange switch (not shown) of each of the portable information terminals A and B is turned on, in each of the portable information terminals A and B, the communication monitoring means 44 reads out the information from the storage means 45 and outputs it as transmission data 49. At the same time, based on the voltage level notification signal 54, an amplification degree instruction signal 53 for instructing the amplification degree at which the light emission intensity of the light emitting means 42 has a certain light emission intensity is output. Upon receiving the output of the transmission data 49, the encoding means 56 encodes the transmission data 49 and outputs a transmission signal 50. Receiving the output of the transmission signal 50 and the output of the amplification degree instruction signal 53, the transmission signal amplifying means 57 amplifies the transmission signal 50 so that the light emission intensity of the light emitting means 42 becomes the above-mentioned certain light emission intensity and outputs it. . Upon receiving this output, the light emitting means 42 outputs the amplified transmission signal 5
0 is converted to emit an optical signal 40a.

Next, when the emitted light signal 40b arrives at the portable information terminal of the other party as described above, the light receiving means 43 receives the light signal, converts it, and outputs the received signal 51. Upon receiving this output, the reception signal amplifying means 58 detects the voltage level of the reception signal 51 and outputs the voltage level notification signal 5.
4 is output to the communication monitoring means 44, and the received signal 51 is amplified and output. This amplified received signal 51
The decoding means 59 decodes the amplified received signal 51 and converts it into received data 52. Upon receiving the output of the received data 52, the communication monitoring unit 44
The received data is stored in the storage means 45. This allows
Information is exchanged between the two portable information terminals A and B. Further, the communication monitoring unit 44 receives the voltage level notification signal 54, compares the voltage level notified by the voltage level notification signal 54 with a predetermined voltage level stored in the internal memory, and determines whether the notified voltage level is If the voltage level is lower than the predetermined voltage level, the amplification instruction signal 53 indicating the amplification level larger than the current amplification level is output. An amplification instruction signal for instructing the amplification is output. Thus, every time the transmission data 49 is transmitted between the two portable information terminals A and B, if the voltage level of the own reception signal 51 is lower than the predetermined voltage level, the light emission intensity of the own light emitting means 42 is used. Rises to increase the voltage level of the receiving signal 51 of the other party. Conversely, when the voltage level of the own receiving signal 51 is higher than a predetermined voltage level, the light emission intensity of the own light emitting means 42 decreases. Then, the voltage level of the reception signal 51 of the other party is lowered, and finally, the voltage level of both reception signals 51 becomes a predetermined level. It depends on the distance between A and B.

Next, when the distance between the portable information terminals A and B is reduced, the voltage level of both received signals 51 is increased, the light emission intensity of each is decreased, and the received signal 51 of each other is reduced.
, And finally the voltage levels of both received signals become predetermined. Next, when the distance between the portable information terminals A and B increases, the voltage level of both reception signals 51 decreases, the light emission intensity of each increases, and the voltage level of the reception signal 51 of the other party increases. Finally, the voltage levels of both reception signals become predetermined. Thereby, even if the distance between the portable information terminals A and B changes, the light receiving intensity of the portable information terminals A and B is always kept constant.

As described above, in the second embodiment,
When the voltage level of the reception signal 51, that is, the light receiving intensity of the light receiving means 43 decreases, the light emitting intensity of the light emitting means 42 increases, and when the light receiving intensity of the light receiving means 43 increases, the light emitting means 42 increases.
When communication is performed between the two portable information terminals A and B, even if the light receiving intensity of the two varies due to a change in the distance between the two due to the relative movement of the two. Since both light emission intensities are changed so as to compensate for the light reception intensities of the other party, and both light reception intensities are kept constant, it is possible to prevent a communication failure caused by an excessive change in the reception intensity. Further, when the optical space transmission devices 41, 41 of the two portable information terminals A, B are used close to each other, the light emission intensity is reduced, so that power consumption can be suppressed.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the light receiving means can receive an optical signal arriving from a predetermined direction in the external space and a part of the optical signal emitted from the light emitting means of the transmitting section. In the test mode, test data is input to the encoding means, and data output from the decoding means is compared with the test data to determine whether or not the optical space transmission apparatus is operating normally and operate normally. Since the abnormality notification means is activated when it is not done,
In the test mode, test data input as transmission data is output as data after transmission / reception from the decoding means via the encoding means, light emitting means, and light receiving means, and the test data after transmission / reception is compared with the test data before transmission. Therefore, it is possible to detect whether or not the light receiving means is affected by the disturbance of the communication environment based on whether or not the collation results match, and the light receiving means operates normally under the influence of the disturbance of the communication environment. Otherwise, by changing the attitude of the space optical transmission device so that the abnormality notification means does not operate, the space optical transmission device can be placed in a communicable state before use, and communication due to disturbance in the communication environment can be easily performed. Obstacles can be prevented. Also, even if the attitude of the optical space transmission device is changed, the abnormality notification means still operates,
It is possible to detect that the transmitting means and the receiving means are abnormal.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of test data determined by combining at least the data code and the data amount are stored in advance, and among the plurality of test data, the test data selected by an external input is stored. Since the data is input to the control means, the data code having a larger number of bits whose value is "1" and the larger the data amount are more susceptible to disturbances such as sunlight and fluorescent lights. Therefore, by providing a test data selection instruction input means for selecting the test data that matches the communication conditions of the information processing device in the information processing device in which the optical space transmission apparatus is incorporated, more accurate optical It is possible to place the spatial transmission device in a communicable state.

According to the present invention, the light emission intensity of the transmission means is increased when the light reception intensity of the reception means is reduced, and is decreased when the light reception intensity of the reception means is increased. When communication is performed between the devices, even if the light reception intensity of both devices changes due to a change in the distance between the two due to the relative movement of both devices, the light emission intensity of both devices changes to compensate for the light reception intensity of the other party. In addition, since the light receiving intensities of both are kept constant, it is possible to prevent a communication failure caused by an excessive change in the light receiving intensity. In addition, by using two optical space transmission devices close to each other, the light emission intensity is reduced, and power consumption can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an installation state of an optical free space transmission apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote controller and an optical space transmission device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a detailed configuration of a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data format of the optical signal of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an installation state of an optical space transmission apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the portable information terminal and the optical space transmission device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote control 2 Television 3 First space optical transmission device 4 Second space optical transmission device 6 Key input means 7 Received data processing means 8 Data display means 9 Test data selection instruction input means 10 Arithmetic device 11 Transmission data 12 Test data input Means 13 Communication monitoring means 14 Encoding means 15 Light emitting means 16 Decoding means 17 Light receiving means 18 Transmitted signal 19 Received signal 20 Transmitted / received code collation means 22 Abnormality display means 24 Mode switching means 25 Optical signal 27 Received data 28 Test data 29 Test after reception Data 30 Abnormality display signal 31 LED driver 32 Transmitting means 33 Receiving means 34 Amplifier 35 Matching result signal 36 Emission intensity equal level curve 37 Light receiving sensitivity equal level curve 38 Overlap area 39 Control means 40 Optical signal 41 Optical space transmission device 42 Light emitting means 43Optical means 44 Communication monitoring means 45 Storage means 46 Data processing means 47 Display means 49 Transmission data 50 Transmission signal 51 Reception signal 52 Reception data 53 Amplification degree indication signal 54 Voltage change level notification signal 55 Arithmetic unit 56 Encoding means 57 Transmission signal amplification means 58 Received signal amplifying means 59 Decoding means 61 Directional direction of LED 62 Directional direction of photodiode 63 Transmitting means 64 Receiving means A First portable information terminal B Second portable information terminal

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Agency reference number FI Technical indication H04B 10/24 10/00 (72) Inventor Kuniaki Sugimoto 1-12-20 Hikari-cho, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima Matsushita Electric Information System Hiroshima Laboratory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An optical space transmission device incorporated in an information processing device for performing short-distance two-way communication such as a two-way remote controller and a portable information terminal, wherein the encoding means converts input data into an electric signal. A transmitting means having a light emitting means for converting the converted electric signal into an optical signal and emitting light in a predetermined direction in the external space; an optical signal arriving from a predetermined direction in the external space; A light receiving unit that is arranged to receive a part of an optical signal emitted from the unit and converts the received optical signal into an electric signal; and converts the converted electric signal into data and outputs the data. Receiving means having decoding means; abnormality notifying means for notifying that the free-space optical transmission apparatus is not operating normally; and, in a test mode, input test data is encoded by the transmitting means. Input to the transmitting means, the test data output from the transmitting means is detected, the data output from the decoding means of the receiving means is checked against the test data, and the optical space transmission apparatus operates normally. It is determined whether or not it is not operating, and when it is not operating normally, the abnormality notifying means is operated. In the use mode, the input transmission data is input to the encoding means of the transmitting means, and from the decoding means of the receiving means. An optical space transmission apparatus comprising: control means for outputting output data as received data; and mode switching means for switching between a test mode and a use mode of the control means. 2. The optical space transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a plurality of test data determined by combining at least a data code and a data amount are stored in advance, and among the plurality of test data, an external input is used. An optical space transmission apparatus comprising: test data input means for inputting selected test data to the control means. 3. An optical space transmission device used by being incorporated in an information processing device for performing short-distance two-way communication such as a two-way remote controller and a portable information terminal. A transmitting unit that emits light in space, a receiving unit that receives an optical signal arriving from an external space, converts the data into data, and outputs the data, and increases a light emitting intensity of the transmitting unit when a light receiving intensity of the receiving unit decreases. Control means for changing the light receiving intensity of the receiving means so as to decrease as the light receiving intensity increases.