JPH1174802A - Automatic output adjustment system for transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To reduce the time required for adjusting the transmission output level of a transmitter so that the electric field intensity at an arbitrary position of a radio wave transmitted by the transmitter does not exceed a specified value. A transmitter to be adjusted is configured to transmit a radio wave based on a transmission output level stored in a storage block. The reception electric field strength of this radio wave is measured by the reception electric field strength measurement block 22 of the receiver 20, and
The measured value is stored in the measured value storage block 33 of the converter 30 as data. The received electric field intensity serving as a reference for adjustment is stored in advance in the reference value storage block 32 of the converter 30 as data, and the correction value calculation block 34 of the converter 30 includes a reference value storage block 32 and a measured value storage block 33. Is compared with each other to calculate a correction value of the transmission output level. The data conversion output block 35 changes the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10 based on the calculated correction value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for adjusting a transmission output level of a transmitter so that an electric field intensity at an arbitrary position of a radio wave output from the transmitter does not exceed a specified value.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a so-called wireless door lock system which eliminates the need to insert a key directly into a door for locking / unlocking an automobile door. In this system, for example, a transmitter is built in a key of an automobile, and a receiver built in the vehicle receives a radio wave from the transmitter to enable locking and unlocking.

When such a system is provided, no matter where the electric field strength of the radio wave transmitted from the transmitter is measured, the electric field strength exceeds the specified value specified by the Radio Law. It is necessary to adjust the transmission power level so that it does not occur.

[0004]

Conventionally, the transmission output level is adjusted by using a reception electric field intensity measuring device and changing the transmission output level of the transmitter while looking at the level meter of the reception electric field intensity measuring device. It was common to manually adjust these variable resistors. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, in the conventional transmitter 100, the voltage variable block 17 for adjusting the transmission output level is provided with an adjuster 17a such as a volume and a trimmer capacitor. When the transmission output level of the transmitter 100 is adjusted, the transmission output level is manually adjusted by the adjuster 17a while using the reception electric field intensity measurement device and looking at the level meter of the reception electric field intensity measurement device. Met. Therefore,
The time required for the adjustment work of the transmission output level has increased, and as a result, the cost required for the adjustment work has also increased, for example, in consideration of the labor cost required for the adjustment work.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to reduce the time required for adjusting the transmission output level of a transmitter.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for automatically adjusting a power output of a transmitter, wherein the electric field at an arbitrary position of a radio wave output from the transmitter is provided. This system adjusts the transmission output level of the transmitter via a receiver so that the intensity does not exceed a specified value. The specified value based on the distance from the transmitter is defined as the electric field strength, and "the electric field strength at an arbitrary position does not exceed the specified value" means that the electric field strength of the radio wave from the transmitter is measured at any position. It does not exceed the specified value.

In this automatic output adjustment system, the transmitter whose radio wave transmission output level is to be adjusted includes at least three of transmission means, transmission output level storage means, and transmission control means.
There are two means. Here, the transmission output level storage unit stores the transmission output level of the radio wave to be transmitted, and the transmission control unit transmits the transmission power level stored in the transmission output level storage unit via the transmission unit for transmitting the radio wave. Transmit radio waves.

[0008] The receiver has at least a receiving means, and the receiving means receives the radio wave transmitted from the transmitting means. Further, the present system has three units: a received electric field intensity measuring unit, a correction value calculating unit, and a data changing unit. Here, the receiving electric field strength measuring means measures the receiving electric field strength of the radio wave received by the receiving means of the receiver. For example, the reception electric field strength measuring means calculates the reception electric field strength as a voltage. The correction value calculation means calculates a correction value of the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage means of the transmitter based on the measured reception electric field strength so that the electric field strength at an arbitrary position does not exceed a specified value. Based on the correction value, the data changing unit rewrites the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage unit of the transmitter.

As described above, a series of adjustment processing from transmission of a radio wave at the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage means of the transmitter until rewriting of the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage means is performed. By repeating, the transmission power level is automatically and rapidly adjusted within a proper value range. As a result, the time required for adjusting the transmission output level can be reduced.

Here, it is assumed that the transmitter has at least three units of a transmission unit, a transmission output level storage unit and a transmission control unit, and the receiver has at least the reception unit. And the above 3
It is conceivable that the transmitter has some of the two means, namely, the received electric field strength measuring means, the correction value calculating means, and the data changing means, and the receiver may have some of them. This is because the transmitter may have one part and the receiver may have another part. In other words, a transmitter, a transmission unit, which is a unit having a basic configuration of a receiver, a transmission output level storage unit, a unit other than the transmission control unit and the reception unit,
The three means of the received electric field strength measuring means, the correction value calculating means and the data changing means may be located anywhere in the automatic adjustment system.

Since the measured received electric field strength varies depending on the directivity of the transmitter to be adjusted and the measurement environment, it has been conventionally guaranteed that the electric field strength at an arbitrary position does not exceed a specified value. It is common practice to use a master transmitter, receive radio waves from the master transmitter, measure the received electric field strength, and adjust the transmission output level of the transmitter to be adjusted based on the measured value.

Therefore, as described in claim 2,
Reference value storage means for storing a received electric field strength of a radio wave transmitted from the master transmitter, which is guaranteed that the electric field strength at an arbitrary position does not exceed a specified value, as a reference value, wherein the correction value calculating means includes It is desirable that the transmission power level correction value is calculated based on the reference value stored in the value storage means.

In this case, first, instead of the transmitter to be adjusted, the received electric field strength of the radio wave from the master transmitter is measured. The master transmitter is a transmitter whose electric field strength at an arbitrary position of a radio wave to be transmitted does not exceed a specified value. The reference value storage means stores a received electric field strength of a radio wave from the master transmitter as a reference value. The correction value calculation means compares the measured value of the received electric field strength of the radio wave from the transmitter to be adjusted measured by the received electric field strength measurement means with the reference value stored in the reference value storage means. Is calculated.

By using the master transmitter in this way, adjustment can be performed using the same system even for another transmitter having different directivity. That is, there is no need to construct a system according to the type of the transmitter. Further, the transmitter can be adjusted without being affected by the measurement environment.

At this time, it is conceivable that the reference value storage means is provided in the transmitter to be adjusted, but in that case, it is necessary to store the reference value every time one transmitter is adjusted. Therefore, it is preferable that the reference value storage unit is provided in a unit other than the transmitter to be adjusted. As a result, for example, once the reception electric field strength of the radio wave from the master transmitter is measured and stored in the reference value storage means, the transmitter to be adjusted can be replaced one after another to adjust the transmission output. it can.

Note that the transmitter to be adjusted does not always transmit radio waves in terms of transmission of radio waves when the transmission output level is adjusted. For example, the user presses a transmission switch attached to the transmitter. In general, the system is configured to transmit radio waves. Therefore, when adjusting the transmitter to repeat a series of adjustment processing from transmitting a radio wave at the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage means to rewriting the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage means, For example, it is conceivable that a human presses the transmission switch. In consideration of this point, the configuration described in claim 3 may be adopted. That is, the transmission control means is configured to transmit the radio wave when a transmission instruction for transmitting the radio wave is issued,
Further, it is preferable to provide a transmission instruction output means for outputting a transmission instruction when adjusting the transmitter.

In this case, the transmission control means transmits a radio wave when an external radio wave transmission instruction is given. The transmission instruction output means outputs the transmission instruction during the above-described series of adjustment processing. As a result, when adjusting the transmitter, for example, there is no need for a person to press the transmission switch as described above, and the time required for the output adjustment operation can be further reduced.

By the way, the transmitter to be adjusted in the automatic output adjustment system is used in a wireless door lock system for locking / unlocking an automobile door without using a key. Can be considered. Here, the transmitter in the wireless door lock system modulates and transmits the above-described radio wave carrier with a code signal for locking and unlocking. For this reason, it is common to provide a code storage means for storing this code. Therefore, when the transmitter is configured to modulate and transmit a carrier wave of a radio wave with a code signal for locking and unlocking, the code storage for storing the code is provided. The means may be configured to be used also as transmission output level storage means.

In this case, the transmitter to be adjusted is provided with a code storage means for storing a code for modulating and transmitting a carrier wave of a radio wave with a code signal for locking and unlocking. Therefore, this code storage means is used as transmission output level storage means for storing the transmission output level. As a result, when the production of the transmitter is considered, it is not necessary to newly provide a transmission output level storage means in the transmitter.

Since the automatic output adjustment system can be applied to any transmitter using radio waves, it is not limited to the adjustment of the transmitter in the wireless door lock system described above. Adjusting the output level is also conceivable.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an output adjustment system 1 according to the present embodiment.

The output adjustment system 1 includes a transmitter 10, a receiver 20, and an adjuster 30. The output adjustment system 1 automatically adjusts the transmission output level of the transmitter 10 via the receiver 20 and the adjuster 30 so that the electric field intensity at an arbitrary position of the radio wave transmitted from the transmitter 10 does not exceed a specified value. Things. The transmitter 10 to be adjusted is connected to the adjuster 30 and automatically adjusted. The output adjustment system 1 of the present embodiment adjusts the transmitter 10 in a so-called wireless door lock system. Note that the transmitter 10 may be configured as a key-integrated type, or may be configured separately from the key.

The transmitter 10 has a storage block 11 serving as a "transmission output level storage means" for storing a transmission output level.
And a voltage variable block 12 that changes the voltage based on the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11, and the amplitude of the radio wave is changed by the voltage from the voltage variable block 12,
An oscillation transmission block 14 for transmitting a radio wave via a transmission antenna 15 as a "transmission means"; a switch 16 for a user or the like to instruct transmission of a radio wave;
The digital control block 13 transmits radio waves via the oscillation transmission block 14 when the button 6 is pressed. Here, the voltage variable block 12, the digital control block 13, and the oscillation transmission block 14 correspond to “transmission control means”. The storage block 11 stores, for example, E
It may be embodied as an electrically rewritable storage medium such as an EPROM.

The receiver 20 includes a receiving antenna 21 as “receiving means” for receiving a radio wave transmitted from the transmitting antenna 15 of the transmitter 10, and a reception electric field intensity of the radio wave received by the receiving antenna 21. And a reception electric field strength measurement block 22 as “reception electric field strength measurement means” for converting into a voltage value.

The adjuster 30 converts an analog voltage value from the received electric field measurement block 22 of the receiver 20 into a digital value. The analog / digital conversion block (hereinafter, referred to as an “A / D conversion block”) 31 will be described later. A reference value storage block 32 as “reference value storage means” for storing a voltage value based on a received electric field strength of a radio wave from the master transmitter as a reference value, and based on a received electric field strength of a radio wave from the transmitter 10 to be adjusted. Measurement value storage block 3 for storing a voltage value
3, reference value storage block 32 and measured value storage block 3
The correction value calculation block 34 as a “correction value calculation unit” that calculates the correction value of the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10 by comparing the voltage values stored in the storage device 3.
And a "data changing unit" for converting the correction value calculated by the correction value calculation block 34 into data for rewriting the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10 and changing the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11. When the data conversion output block 35 and the transmitter 10 are connected, the switch 1
And a transmission instruction output block 36 for automatically outputting a transmission instruction of the same radio wave as that of the transmission instruction output block 36.

Next, the operation of the output adjustment system 1 of this embodiment will be described by describing the flow of data between the above-described blocks. First, before setting the transmitter 10 to be adjusted, a master transmitter, whose electric field intensity at an arbitrary position of a radio wave to be transmitted does not exceed a specified value, is set in the same manner as the transmitter 10 shown in FIG. . Then, the radio wave is transmitted to the master transmitter, received by the receiving antenna 21 of the receiver 20, converted into a voltage value by the received electric field strength measuring block 22, and further transmitted to the A /
The data is digitized by the D conversion block 31 and stored in the reference value storage block 32. Here, the master transmitter is of the same type as the transmitter 10 to be adjusted, and the directivity of the transmitted radio wave is also the same.

Subsequently, the transmitter 10 to be adjusted is set. When the transmitter 10 is connected to the coordinator 30, the transmission command output block 36 continues to output a radio wave transmission command. The transmission instruction of this radio wave is input to the digital control block 13 via the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10. As a result, the digital control block 13 sets the oscillation transmission block 1
4 to transmit radio waves. At this time, the transmission output level of the transmitted radio wave is based on the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10. That is, the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11 is converted into a voltage value by the voltage variable block 12, and the oscillation transmission block 14 transmits a radio wave based on this voltage value.

The transmitted radio wave is received by the receiving antenna 21 of the receiver 20. Received electric field strength measurement block 2
2 converts the received electric field intensity of the radio wave received by the receiving antenna 21 into a voltage value and outputs the voltage value to the A / D conversion block 31 of the adjuster 30. A / D conversion block 31 of adjuster 30
Converts the voltage value output from the receiver 20 into digital data. This voltage value is stored in the measured value storage block 33 of the regulator 30. Subsequently, the correction value calculation block 34
Calculates a correction value by comparing the voltage value stored in the reference value storage block 32 with the voltage value stored in the measured value storage block 33. Then, the data conversion output block 35
Stores the calculated correction value in the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10.
The data is converted into data to be stored in the memory and output. as a result,
The transmission output level of the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10 is changed. The internal clock of the transmitter 10 and the adjuster 30
It is considered that the internal clocks are not synchronized. Therefore, the clock signal from the transmitter 10 is input to the data conversion output block 35 of the adjuster 30. Data is output to the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10 in accordance with the clock signal.

The transmission instruction output block 36 keeps outputting the transmission instruction of the radio wave.
From the transmission of the radio wave based on the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11 of “0”, a series of adjustment processing of changing the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11 is repeated. By repeating such a series of adjustment processes, the transmission output level of the transmitter 10 automatically converges within a certain range that does not exceed the specified value.

Next, the effects exhibited by the output adjustment system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. As described above, the conventional transmitter 100 shown in FIG. 3 is provided with the adjuster 17a for adjusting the transmission output level, and generally adjusts the transmission output level manually by the adjuster 17a. there were.
Therefore, it takes a lot of time to adjust the transmission output level.

On the other hand, in the transmitter 10 of the output adjustment system 1 of the present embodiment, radio waves are output at the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11. Therefore, the transmission output level of the transmitter 10 can be adjusted by changing the transmission output level stored in the storage block 11. This storage block 11
Is automatically changed by the adjuster 30 calculating a correction value of the transmission output level based on the reception electric field intensity at the receiver 20. Thereby, the operation of adjusting the transmission output level of the transmitter 10 can be performed automatically and at high speed. As a result, for example, when labor costs are taken into consideration, it is also possible to reduce costs for adjustment work.

Further, in the output adjustment system 1 of the present embodiment, a radio wave from the master transmitter is received in advance, the received electric field strength of the radio wave is converted into a voltage value, and stored in the reference value storage block 32 of the adjuster 30. In addition, the transmitter 10 to be adjusted
Converts the received electric field strength of the radio wave transmitted from to a voltage value,
The correction value calculation block 34 calculates the correction value by comparing with the voltage value stored in the reference value storage block 32. For this reason, even if the transmitters 10 have different directivities, the transmission output level can be easily adjusted by using the master transmitter having the same directivity.

Here, the directivity of radio waves will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram of FIG. FIG. 2 shows a transmitter 10 according to the present embodiment.
2 shows the planar directivity of a radio wave transmitted from the receiver 20 and the transmitter 10. The ellipse in FIG. 2 indicating the planar directivity connects points at which a predetermined electric field intensity is obtained. At this time, it is assumed that the transmitter 10 is set in a predetermined direction.

In FIG. 2A, a transmitter 10 transmits a signal to a receiver 2.
The radio wave in the direction toward 0 is strong, while in FIG.
The figure shows that radio waves in the direction perpendicular to the direction from the transmitter 10 to the receiver 20 are stronger. When the electric field strength at an arbitrary position of the radio wave from the transmitter 10 does not exceed the specified value, a position in the direction in which the radio wave becomes strongest, for example, a position A in FIG. 2A and a position A in FIG. It is sufficient that the electric field strength at the position B does not exceed the specified value. At this time, the transmission output level of the transmitter 10 is adjusted based on the reception electric field strength of the radio wave received by the receiver 20. If the directivity of the transmitter 10 changes, the reception electric field strength serving as a reference for the adjustment is adjusted. Will also change. That is, the received electric field intensity of the receiver 20 in FIG. 2A and the electric field intensity at the position B in FIG. 2B such that the electric field intensity at the position A in FIG. The reception electric field strength of the receiver 20 in FIG. 2B that does not exceed the specified value becomes a completely different value. Therefore, a master transmitter having the same directivity as the transmitter 10 to be adjusted is used, and the received electric field strength at the receiver 20 is measured in advance and stored as a reference value. Can be adjusted without any problems.

Even when the distance from the transmitter 10 is constant and radio waves are transmitted from the transmitter 10 at a constant transmission output level, the reception electric field strength of the receiver 20 depends on the environment such as temperature and humidity. Will change. For this reason, it is effective in this sense to first store the reference value using the master transmitter.

Furthermore, in the output adjustment system 1 of the present embodiment, the transmission instruction output block 36 of the adjuster 30 determines that the transmitter 10 has been connected to the adjuster 30, and automatically issues an instruction to transmit a radio wave. It is configured to output.
This eliminates the need for a human to depress the switch 16 of the transmitter 10 to instruct transmission of a radio wave at the time of adjusting the transmission output level, so that the time required for adjusting the transmission output level can be further reduced.

Further, the output adjustment system 1 of the present embodiment
Described above, adjusts the transmitter 10 used in the wireless door lock system, as described above. Such a transmitter 10 is generally configured to transmit a dedicated code signal in order to lock and unlock a door of the vehicle as a pair with a receiver on the vehicle side. Therefore, the conventional transmitter 100 shown in FIG. 3 uses the storage block 1 as “code storage means” for storing this code.
1 was provided. Therefore, the transmitter 10 of the present embodiment
The storage block 11 for storing the code is also used for storing the transmission output level. Thus, there is no need to newly provide a storage block 11 for storing the transmission output level in the transmitter 10, which is advantageous in that the production cost of the transmitter 10 can be reduced.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. In the above embodiment, the transmitter 10 is provided with the receiver 20 and the adjuster 30. However, the transmission output stored in the storage block 11 of the transmitter 10 after receiving the radio wave from the transmitter 10 is described. Any configuration that changes the level to an appropriate value may be used. For example, the receiver 20 may be configured to include each block of the adjuster 30, or the transmitter 10 may be configured to
May be provided. However, it is desirable that the transmitter 10 to be adjusted be as simple as possible and be manufactured at low cost. In addition, from the viewpoint of reducing the time required for adjusting the transmission output level, the reference value storage block 32 of the adjuster 30 is used.
Is preferably configured separately from the transmitter 10. In this case, for example, once the received electric field strength of the radio wave from the master transmitter is measured and stored in the reference value storage block 32, the transmitters 10 to be adjusted are replaced one after another to adjust the transmission output level. It is because it can perform.

Further, in the above embodiment, the transmitter 10 in the wireless door lock system is premised. However, if the transmitter 10 transmits radio waves, it can be adjusted by the same configuration. For example, the transmission output of a mobile phone or a transceiver can be adjusted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an output adjustment system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between the directivity of radio waves from a transmitter and the received electric field strength at a receiver.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional transmitter.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Output adjustment system 10 ... Transmitter 11 ... Storage block 12 ... Voltage variable block 13 ... Digital control block 14 ... Oscillation transmission block 15 ... Transmission antenna 16 ... Switch 20 ... Receiver 21 ... Reception antenna 22 ... Reception electric field strength Measurement block 30 ... Adjuster 31 ... A / D conversion block 32 ... Reference value storage block 33 ... Measured value storage block 34 ... Correction value calculation block 35 ... Data conversion output block 36 ... Transmission instruction output block

Claims (5)

[Claims] An automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter for adjusting a transmission output level of a transmitter via a receiver so that an electric field intensity at an arbitrary position of a radio wave output from the transmitter does not exceed a specified value. A transmitting unit for transmitting the radio wave,
A transmission output level storage unit that stores a transmission output level when transmitting the radio wave, and a transmission control unit that transmits a radio wave at the transmission output level stored in the transmission output level storage unit via the transmission unit. At least, the receiver has at least receiving means for receiving a radio wave from the transmitting means, and a receiving electric field strength for measuring a receiving electric field strength of the radio wave received by the receiving means in a system. Measuring means, a correction value calculating means for calculating a correction value of the transmission output level based on the received electric field strength measured by the received electric field strength measuring means, and a correction value calculating means for calculating a correction value of the transmission output level based on the correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means. Data changing means for changing the transmission power level stored in said transmission power level storage means. Settling system. 2. The automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter according to claim 1, further comprising: a receiving electric field of a radio wave received from a master transmitter, the electric field intensity at an arbitrary position being guaranteed not to exceed a specified value. Reference value storage means for storing intensity as a reference value, wherein the correction value calculation means is configured to calculate a correction value of the transmission output level based on the reference value stored in the reference value storage means. An automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter. 3. The automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter according to claim 1, wherein said transmission control means is configured to transmit said radio wave when there is a transmission instruction instructing transmission of said radio wave. An automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter, further comprising transmission instruction output means for outputting the transmission instruction when adjusting the transmitter. 4. The automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter locks and unlocks a door of an automobile without using a key. An automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter, which is used for: 5. The automatic output adjustment system for a transmitter according to claim 4, wherein the transmitter is configured to modulate and transmit a carrier wave of the radio wave with a code signal for performing the locking / unlocking. Wherein the code storage means for storing the code is also used as the transmission output level storage means.