Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
- 1 - 1332~
1 This application is a division of application
serial number 532,484 filed ~arch 19, 1987. : ~
The present invention generally relates to :
an information transmission system for use in an
automated home information system and more
specifically to a gateway being provided in the
information transmission system , which uses a leased ~ .
line ~ em~loying, for example, a coaxial cable ) and a
power line as information transmission lines and ~ ;
exchanges information therebetween, and being used to
exchange a signal between the leased and power lines.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS :.
The foregoing objects and advantages and
other more specific objects will be apparent to those
skilled in the art when proceeding through the
following detailed description of illustrated
embodiments of the invention, particularly when
considered in connection with the accompanying
drawings in which~ -:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a load
control system which employs a conventional
information transmission system;
Fiq. 2 is a wiring diagram showing
connections of a prior art gateway to a leased and
power lines;
/~
- 2 - 1332~
1 Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a
structure of the prior art gateway;
Fig. 4 is a block diagram showinq a load
control system which employs a gateway of the present
invention;
Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a gateway
embodying the present invention;
Figs. 6 and 7 are schematic block diagrams
for illustrating procedures of communications
lo performed in the load control system of Fig. 4;
Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a frame used in
communications performed on a coaxial cable;
Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a frame used in
communications performed on a power line;
Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a
construction of a gateway of the present invention;
Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing a
construction of an illustrated control circuit in the
gateway of Fig. 10;
Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing a logical
hierarchical structure of a load control system which
employs the gateway of Fig. 10;
Fig. 13 is a chart for illustrating a
procedure of communication performed by an exchange
controlling ~eans provided in the gateway of Fig. 10;
1 3 3 2 ~ J 4 l :
l Fig. 14 is a chart for illustrating a
procedure of communication performed by a centralized-
control effecting means; ;~
Fig. 15 is a flowchart representing an
operation of an exchanging program employed in the
gateway of Fig. 10;
Fig. 16 is a flowchart representing an
operation of a centralized-control program employed in
the gateway of Fig. 10;
Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing another
gateway embodying the present invention;
Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing an ;~
example of a control circuit in the gateway of Fig.
1 0 ; . :
Fig. 19 is a flowchart representing an
operation of a load monitoring program employed in the ~
gateway of Fig. 10; ~--
Fig. 20 is a chart for illustrating a
procedure of communication performed by the load
monitoring program of Fig. 19;
; Figs. 21A and 21B are flowcharts
representing operations of a load control program
e~ployed in the gateway of Fig. 10;
Fig. 22 is a chart for illustrating a ,,
procedure of communication performed by the load
control program; ~`
-,', :,'
: :
.". ~"
` - 4 - 1332~4
Fig. 23 is a block diagram showing another
gateway employed in the load control system of Fig. 4;
Fig. 24 is a block diagram for illustrating
a procedure of communication performed by the system
of Fig. 4;
Fig. 25 is a block diagram showing another
information transmission system which employes a
gateway e~bodying the present invention; ~ -
Fig. 26 is a diagram showing a frame used
for a trans~ission of a signal from a terminal in the -~
system of Fig. 25;
Fig. 27 is a diagram showing a frame used
for a transmission of a signal to a terminal in the
system of Fig. 25;
Fig. 28 is a diagram for illustrating a
layered structure of a protocol in case of
communications without changing a representation of
control information; and
- Fig. 29 is a diagram for illustrating a
layered structure of a protocol in case of
communications with changing a representation of a
control information.
Incidentally, it is to b0 notod that like
reference numerals denote like portions in the above
drawings.
~ ' ~
- s - 1 3 3 2 ~ 7 ~
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a prior -
art load control system for use in a house disclosed
in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 149242/85
Official Gazette. As shown in this figure, this load
control system is provided with a leased and power
lines. Reference numerals 1 indicates a dwelling
house which being rebuilt or to which being made an
extention. Further, reference numerals 2 and 3
indicate : a coaxial cable used as a leased line ; and
a power line, respectively. Furthermore, reference
numeral 4 designates an additional room A which is
provided with a leased-line transmission system a
including : the coaxial cable 2 ; and a controller 5
for controlling other parts of the system ai. This
transmission system a controls loads 6 such as a door
phone and lighting fixtures. On the other hand,
reference numerals 7 and 8 indicate initially-
established-rooms B and C in which loads 10 , namely,
lighting fixtures and plug sockets and so forth are
20 controlled by a power-line transmission system b using ;;
a power line 3 and being provided with a controller 9
for rontrolling other portions of the transmission ~ ;
system _.
Reference numeral 11 indicates a gateway '
25 intervening between the coaxial cable 2 and the power ;~
- - 6 - 13324~
l line 3. This gateway 11 receives control signals from
one of the two systems a and b and converts the format
of the control signals into another format required by
the other system and transmits the converted signals
to the latter system when these control signals are
exchanged by the two systems _ and b. This permits
the controller 5 to remotely control the loads 10 such
as the lighting fixtures connected to the power line
3. Further, reference numeral 12 indicates a
branching portion.
Fig. 2 shows the conventional manner of
connecting the gateway 11 to directional couplers 13
and 14 as described in the above cited Japanese Patent
Public Disclosure Official Gazette. As shown in this
figure, the gateway 11 is connected to both the
coaxial cable 2 and the power line 3 by way of the
directional couplers 13 and 14. Fig. 3 is a block
diagram showing the inner construction of the prior
art gateway 11. In this figure, reference numerals 15
and 16 indicate signal detecting and receiving
circuits respective which detect and receive signals
from the coaxial cable 2 and those from the power line
3. Further, reference nu~erals 17 and 18 indicate
data converting circuits which convert the format of
the signals received by the circuits 15 and 16 to
133~
, 7
1 another format applicable to the coaxial~.~cable 2 and -~
the power line 3, respectively. Referena~-.~umerals i9
and 20 designate data signal transmittin~-circuits
which are used to transmit the converted~.~gnals to
the coaxial cable 2 and the power line 3,
respectively. That is, this gateway 11~etects only '~ ~'
data signals in the signal detecting an~ r.eceiving
circuit 15 and then convert, in the data.,signal
converting circuit 17, the received d~t~,-s~gnal into ,,~
o another data signal having format appl~cab~e,to the '.
transmission on the power line 3. -Furthermors, the
gateway 11 sends out the conv;erted data~signal to the ,'~
power line 3 through the data transmitti~g,~circuit 19. ~"'.; ,.
Similarly, the gate way 11 converts t.he~.-~ata signal '~ '
15 received from the power line 3 in the ~.gnal ';''',
detecting and receiving circuit 16 and~-al~o converts .,',."'; "
the data signal into another data signal~-having format ".:.~ "'
applicable to the transmission through the leased line
in the data signal converting circuit~l ~.and further .. ''.
issues the converted signal to the leasé',~ line or ,'.,;',~
.coaxial cable 2. ,.
An operation of the above desc~,~bed
conventional gateway in case of remotely2cQntrolling
loads 10 by the controller 5 of the lease-d.~Line ~:
transmission system will be explained.her`.~inbelow by
way of example.
- 8 - 1332~4
First, the controllar 5 issues a "load-on"
control request signal to the coaxial ~able 2. In the
gateway 11, the signal detecting and r0ceiving signal
15 receives this signal and the data signal converting
s circuit 17 converts this signal into a signal having
another format applicable to the power line
transmission system b. Further, the data signal
transmittlng circuit 19 sends out the converted signal
to the power line 3~ Next, a response signal from the
load 10 indicating that the load 10 has been into an
"on-state" is issued to the power line 3, that is, to
the controller. This response signal is received at
the signal detecting and receiving circuit 16 of the
gateway 11 and is converted in the data signal
converting circuit 18 into a signal having another
format applicable to the leased-line transmission
system a. Further, the data signal transmitting
circuit 20 trans~its this converted signal to the
coaxial cable 2.
The above-mentioned conventional system for
exchanging signals between the coaxial cable 2 and the ¦
power line 3 through the gateway 11 permits any user
in each roo~ of the dwelling house 1 to remotely
control the loads such as the lighting fixtures.
The prior art gateway is constructed as
above stated. Thus, a transmission of a signal from
9 1 3 3 ~
1 the coaxial cable 2 to the power line 3 and another
transmission of a signal effected in the opposite
direction are independent each other because these
transmissions are effected by using two independent
circuit systems as above-mentioned. Therefore, when a
,, ,
communication between the transmission systems a and b
- , .
fails, it is impossible to localize a defective
portion o~ the prior art gateway. This degrades
reliability of the prior art gateway considerably. -~
lo Further, as described above, the prior art
gateway provides functions of transmitting and
receiving signals and performs only transitions of
signals between the leased and power lines but does ;-
not control the transmission systems. Therefore, in
case of performing a centralized control of the power
line transmission system, the load control system
needs further providing a controller for controlling
the power-line transmission system. This results in
that the load control system bacomes much expensive,
that much complicated communications are necessary to
control the system and that an efficiency in signal
processing is considerably reduced.
- Furthermore, the prior art gateway
constructed as above described has encountered a
serious proble~ that officiency in ~xchanging signals
lo- 1332~5~
1 between the leased and power lines is low. This low
efficiency is owing to a large difference in
transmission rate between the leased and power lines.
The leased line or coaxial cable can transmit signals
at a high rate such as 9600 bps, while the power line
ought to transmit signals at a low rate such as 100
bps in order to ameliorate its reliability because the
power line has a relatively large noise in comparison
with the leased line. For instance, the prior art
lo gateway converts the control request signal received
from the leased line and transmits the converted
signal to a load through the power line having such a
low transmission rate even when the load is not
currently being used and disconnected to the power
line. Consequently, there ought to occur many extra
retransmissions of signals and very long wait for a
response in the prior art system.
Moreover, the conventional information
communication system constructed as above described
has a defect that when signals received fro~ the
coaxial cable are uni.formly converted and then
transmitted to the power line, an overload is to be
carried through the power line and the response from
the load is harmed. This is partly because that as
25 above~mentioned, there is a large differ~nce in ~-~
, ;~ .
3 2 ~
1 transmission rate between the leased and power lines
and partly because that the information is not always
transmitted in a way reasonable enough for the purpose
of increasing the efficiency in the transmission.
Hereinafter, the latter reason will be more
detailedly explained. First, the information to be
transmitted in the automated home system is roughly
classified into the following two kinds of the
information:
lo i ) control information to be used to
control domestic operations in the automated home
system; and
ii~ text to be used in, for example, a `
personal computer in the automated home system.
lS As to the control information, it does not
matter how to represent or code the information as
long as the load, for example, the light can be
controlled by a certain control command and turned on.
Contrarily, in case of the transmission of a text, a
representation or code used to represent the
information or text is very important. This is
because all characters of the text are on an equal
footing in constituting the information or text to be
transmitted.
Therefore, in case of a transmission of data
signals fro~ the coaxial cable to the power line by
- 12- 1332~
way of the gateway, it is reasonabls and preferable
that the gateway can operate as follows:
(1) First, the gateway discriminates the
control information from the text.
(2) Subsequently, the gateway compresses
the discriminated control information before
transmitting it to the power line. In that event, the
control information is to be compressed to the extent
sufficient to cause the power line transmission system ~ -
to operate as it directs. On the other hand, with
reference to the data identified as a text, the
gateway transmits it to the power line without
compres~ing it.
The prese.nt invention is accomplished to5 solve the above described problems in the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present
invention to provide an improved gateway which can
supervise and control simultaneously both a ~;~
20 transmission of a signal from the leased line to the .
power line and another transmission of a signal in the ;
opposite direction.
Another object of the present inve.ntion is .~:
to pro~ide an improved load control system in which
2s functions of the system can be easily expanded at a
low cost.
- 13 ~ ~ 3 3 2 ~
l A furth~r object of the present invention is
to provide an improved load control system which has a -
simple procedure of communication and a high
performance.
A still further object of the present
invention is to provide an improved gateway being
capable of efficiently performing transmissions of ~-
control signals between a leased and power lines in
spite of large difference in their transmission rates.
lo Yet another object of the present invention
is to provide an improved gateway which can reduce a
load on a power line.
To achieve the foregoing objects, an
improved gateway embodying the present invention is
provided which includes independent first control
means for controlling a communication on a leased
line, independent second control means for controlling
a power-line carrier communication on a power line and
general control means for controlling both the first
and second control means.
Here, the first and second control means
; perform their functions independently of and in
parallel with each other.
Thereby, the reliablity of the gateway can
be remarkably increased.
- 14 - 1332~
1 Further, another improved gateway embodying
the present invention is provided which includes
exchange control means for exchanging control signals
between the leased and power lines and centralized
S control means for effecting a centralized control of
the power-line transmission system.
Thereby, an input of the information, which
is necessary for remote control of loads connected to
the power line, can be provided by a switch. Further,
o an output indicating states of the loads can be
displayed.
Moreover, a further improved gateway
embodying the present invention is provided which
includes a control circuit having load monitoring
15 means for monitoring states of a plurality of loads
connected to the power line and for storing the states
of the loads into the gateway and load control means
for referring to the states stored upon receiving a
load control signal and for issuing another control
20 signal to the power line in case that a current state
,~ i of a load is to be changed into another one. l ;~
Thereby, the control signals can be
efficiently exchanged between the leased and power ~;
;''' . ''
- 15 - 1 3 3 ~
1 lines. Further, a burden which the power line has to
perform can be much reduced. :
Furthermore, a still further improved .
gateway embodying the present invention is provided
5 which includes: first exchanging means for
transmitting other kinds of information without
changing the representation of the information between
the leased and power lines; second exchanging means
for changing the representaion of the control
information in order to compress or expand control
information data and for transmitting the compressed
or expanded data to the leased or power line ; and
swicthing circuit means for discriminating the control
information from other kinds of information and for
selecting what means being to be connected to a
received information signal from the first and second
exchanging means.
Namely, the first exchanging means is
operative to transfer the text information for use in
a personal computer or the like between the leased and
power lines without changing the representation of the :
text to prevent an occurence of a transmission error.
Further, the second exchanging means is operative to
compress or expand the control information transmitted
from the leased line and to issue the compressed
information to the power line to reduce a
communication load on the power line. Moreover, the
:`
- 15a - 1332~
l switching circuit means identifies the kind of the
information and select the first or second circuit
means in accordance with the identified kind of the
information. Thereby, the information can be
efficiently transmitted between personal computers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Fig. 4 shows a load control system or home
control system which employs a gateway of the present
lO invention. In this figure, reference numerals 2, 3,
11, 21 22, 23, 24 and 25 designate a leased line or ;-
coaxial cable, a power line, a gateway, a master
monitor controller (MMC), a set of consent adapters `~
for controlling turn-on and turn-off of a load such as `;~
15 a lighting fixture, a room monitor controller (RMC), a ;~
''''"'~ ''
' ` ' ~
, 1 , , ~, :. ,.
,''" ~`~
,. -~,
-16- 13~2~3~
telephone and a controller for a telephone system,
respectively.
Fig. 5 schematically shows a configuration
of the gateway 11. In this figure, reference numerals
26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 indicate a transceiver
for use in a communication system using coaxial cables
2, leased-line communication control means for
controlling a communication system using coaxial
cables 2, power-line carrier communication control
lO means for controlling a carrier communication using
power lines, a general control means for controlling
both the control means 27 and 28, a power line carrier -
communication connecting circuit, a light emitting
diode ( LED ) and a key switch, respectively.
15 Further, reference numerals 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93
and 94 denote an address switch, a parallel interface,
an address switch, a modem, a detection circuit for
detecting a signal carrier, a power synchronyizing
circuit and a LED driver, respectively.
To start with, referring now to Figs. 6 and
7, an operation of the load control system of Fig. 4
will be explained hereinbelow. Fig. 6 shows a part
1, .
of the control system associated with a procedure of
communication in case of controlling the consent
25 adapters 22 by the MMC 21. Further, Fig. 7 shows the
procedure of communication including the following
steps or stages (1) to (6).
-17- 1332~
(1) First, when an operating switch of the MMC
. .
21 is pushed, a control signal representing a control -~
command is issued by the MMC 21 to the gateway 11.
This control signal is transmitted through the coaxial
5 cable 2 to the gateway 11.
(2) When the control signal reaches the gateway
11, the transceiver transforms the voltage level of
the control signal and sends the converted signal to
the leased-line communication control means 27 wherein ~
':; '~ ' " ";
l0 the control data of the command is processed.
Thereafter, the general control means 29 receives the ~ ,
processed data from the control means 27 and further
transmits the data through the parallel interface 89
to the power-line communication control means 28 after
15 converting the data format and buffering the data.
Then, the control means 28 sends out a signal
representing the control command to the connecting ;
circuit 30 to the power line 3. Thus, the gateway 11
interprets the control command to identify one of the
consent adapters 22 as a destination of the command
and determine how the directed adapter is to act.
Thereafter, the gateway transmits to the identified
adaptor a signal representing a very brief control
data required for causing the identified adapter to
operate as desired by the MMC 21.
(3) On receiving the control command, a consent
adapter 22 corresponding to the control command
.
:
:.
~ 18- - 1332~.~4
returns an ACK signal through the power line 3 to the
gateway 11.
(4) In response to the received control command,
the adapter sends back a monitor response data signal
5 representing "on-state" and "off-state" of the loads 6
such as a lighting fixture and other electric home
appliances to the gateway 11 after controlling the
loads 6. Thus, the gateway can acknowledge that the
predetermined consent adapter 22 operates in ~
10 accordance with the control command. : : :
(5) When receiving the response data signal, the
gateway 11 sends back an ACK signal to the consent
adapter 22 which transmitted the response data signal
to the gateway 11.
(6) When receiving the response data signal,the
general control means 29 accepts the received signal
by way of the control means 28 and sends back a
control response signal to the MMC 21 through the .
control means 27 and the transceiver 26 upon ~:
20 completion of processings of converting the data
format and of buffering the data and so forth.
, Thus, the gateway 11 receives the monitor
response data signal and adds to the reciaved data
other data ( for example, a code indicating that the
25 received data is a monitor data, another code :
indicating that the received data is sent from one of
the consent adapters, the number of the consent
1 3 3 2 ~
- -19- '
adapter sending the monitor data and so forth ) :~
required to change the synthesized data into that
having another form which can be decoded by the MMC ~:~
21. The data synthesized by adding such required data
s to the monitor data is then transmitted from the ~ ~'
gateway 11 to the MMC 21 by way of the coaxial cable :
2. When this data is received by the MMC 21, a display :
of the data is updated therein.
Next, turning back to Fig. 5, operations of
the respective portions of the gateway 11 will be
described hereinafter.
The transceiver 26 performs transformations
of the voltage levels between the signal on the
coaxial cable 2 and the leased-line communication
15 control means 27. Further, the power-line carrier ~;~
communication connecting circuit 30 is used to
modulate the data transmitted from ths power-line
carrier communication control means 28 and then send ~:
out the modulated data to the power line 3, or
conversely used to receive data from the control means
28 and modulate the received data. The general
control means 29 is positioned between the leased-line . :
communication control ~eans 27 and the power-line ;~ .
carrier communication control means 28 and used to
effect conversions of formats and buffering of data
exchanged between the control means 27 and 28 . j:
Further, the koy ~witch 32 is used to give the general~,
``` -20- ~33~
control means 29 some control information. On the
other hand, the light emitting diode 31 plays a role
of a display device for displaying an operating state
of the general control means 29 and the state of the
consent adaptors 22 connected to the power line 3.
Fig. 8 shows a structure of a frame for use
in communication on the coaxial cable 2. In this
figure, reference numerals 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38
designate an address of a transmitting station, an
l0 address of a receiving station, a control word, a
number of data words, data and a frame check sequence,
respectively.
On the other hand, Fig. 9 shows a structure
of a frame for use in a communication on the leased
lS line 3. In this figure, reference numerals 39, 40,
41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 indicate a preamble, an address
of a transmitting station, an address of a receiving
station, a control word, a number of data words, data
and a frame check sequence, respectively.
These frames shown in Figs. 8 and 9 are
respectively provided by the communication control
means 27 and 28 and are used for control of the
communications performed by using the lines 2 and 3.
The general control means 29 changes and modifies the
25 structures of the frames and buffers the frames.
As above described, this gateway embodying
the present invention is provided with the leased-line ;~
-21- 1332~34 ~ ::
communication control means for independently
controlling communication effected by using the leased
line, the power-line carrier communication control
means for independently controlling communication ~
5 effected by using the power line and the general `
control means for generally controlling these two
control means. Thus, the leased and power line
control means control the corresponding communication
lines independently with each other. Thereby, the
lO gateway according to the present invention can
remarkably increase the reliability. Further, the
gateway of the present invention is advantageous in
that the communication control means of the gateway
can be easily developed and modified independently
15 with each other and in that the cost can be reduced by ~ ;~
fabricating each of the communication control means
with a single chip microcomputer.
Incidentally, the gateway provided between
the co-axial cable and the power line is above
20 described as a preferred embodiment of the present
invention. It is, however, to be noted that the ~ ;
, network connections of the above embodiment may be ,;
replaced with any other appropriate network.
Further, in the abovs embodiment, each of
25 the control means is made up of a single chip
microcomputer. Here, it is to be noted that one
microcomputer or two may be shared with these control
:. ' ~ ' '
-..: .: .
:'
- -22- ~332~3~ `
means. However, it should be also noted that the
configuration of the above embodiment provides the
improved gateway which can prevents the occurence of
substantially evil effects on the whole system due to
5 malfunction of part of the gateway.
Turning now to Fig. 10, another embodiment
of the present invention will be described
hereinbelow. Fig. 10 is a block diagram schematically
showing internal structure of the gateway according to
10 the present invention provided in the load control
system using both the power and leased lines.
Reference numerals 2, 3, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 46, 47
and 48 indicate a leased line, a power line, a gateway
provided between the leased and power lines, a
15 receving circuit for receiving a si~nal on the leased
line 2, a receiving circuit for reciving a signal on
the power line 3, a transmitting circuit for
transmitting a signal to the power line 3, a
transmitting circuit for transmitting a signal to the
20 leased line 2, a control rircuit for controlling the ~ -~
circuits 15, 16, 19 and 20, an exchange control means
provided in the control circuit 46 and a centralized
control means also provided in the circuit 46.
Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an
example of the above control circuit 46. Reference
numerals 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54 designate a memory
which stores a program for controlling the
-23- 1332~4
transmitting and receiving circuit 15 and 20 for the
leased line 2 therein, a memory which stores a program
for controlling the transmitting and receiving circuit
16 and 19 for the power line 3 therein, a memory which
5 stores a program for effecting an operation of transit
of signals in communications using the leased and
power lines therein, a memory which stores a program
for an operation of the master monitor controller
controlling loads connected to the power line 3, a set
10 of input switches each corresponding to each of the
loads and a light emitting diodes each corresponding
to each of the loads for displaying states of the
loads.
Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing logical
15 hierarchic structure of the load control system having ;
both the leased and power lines. Reference characters ;~
5, 6, 10, 12, (a) and (b) de~ignate a controller for the leased-
l m e transmlssion system, a load in the leased- line ;-
transmission systen, a load in the pcwer-line transmission
system, a branch m g portion, the leased-line transmission system
and the power-line transmission ~ystem, respectively. As shown in :~
this figure, a load 6 is positioned at a lower layer ~ ;
branching from the controller 5 for the leased-line
transmission system. This means that the load 6 is
25 under centralized control of the controller 5.
Similarly, th~ load 10 is positioned at a lower layer
branching from the gateway 11 as viewd in this figura
A
-24- 1 3 3 2 ~
and thus is under centralized control of the gateway
11. That is, the gateway 11 serves as a controller
for the power-line transmissin system.
Fig. 13 and 14 are charts showing procedures
5 of communications effected by the controllers 47 and
48, respectively. Figs. 15 and 16 are flowcharts of
the operations of the programs stored in the memories
51 and 52~ respectively.
Hereinafter, referring first to Fig. 13, an
lO operation of the gateway 11 will be described as to a
case that the loads connected to the power line 3 are
controlled by way of the leased line 2. Further,
referring to Fig. 14, an operation of the gateway 11
.
will be described in relation to a case that the loads
15 connected to the power line 3 are controlled by the
input means provided in the gateway 11. Load i
indicates an arbitrary load connected to the power
line 3. In this embodiment, reference character i
denotes the number of the loads and may be 1, 2 or 3.
Referring back to Fig. 13, first of all, in
stage or step (i) of the procedure shown therein,
when the gateway 11 receivas a signal indicating a
request for controlling the load i from the controller
5 for the leased line transmission system, the control
25 program stored in the memory 51 outputs the
information of the reguest for the control of the load
i at step A3 through steps A1 and A2 shown in Fig. 15.
~ -25- 1332~
Then, in st~p (ii), the control program stored in the
memory 52 receives the information of the request fo~ -
controlling the load i in step B1 in Fig. 16 and
further transmits a control request signal in step B2.
In step (iii), after receiving a response from the
load i in step B2, the control progra~ stored in ths
memory 52 outputs the response information to the LED
for displaying the information in step B5. Further,
in step (iv), the control program stored in the memory ; :
lO 51 sends out the response from the load i to the
controller 5 in steps A4 and A5 in Fig. 15.
Furthermore, when the information of the
request for the control of the load i is input by the
input switch 53 provided in the gateway 11 in step -
(vi) shown in Fig. 14, that is, in step B1 in Fig. 16,
the control program stored in the memory 52 transmits
. ~ ,
the information of the request for the control to the
load i in step (ni), that is, in corresponding step
B2. Further, in case of receiving the response from
20 the load i at Step B3, the control progra~ 52 outputs
the response information to the LED in step B5. In
step (ix), the control program stored in the me~ory 51
converts the re~ponse fro~ the lo~d i and transmlt~
the converted information to the controller S in steps
A4 and A5.
In Figs. 13 and 14, the parts (v ) and (x )
of the procedure to ~e effected after the information
r~
1332~4
-26-
of the request for the control to the load i being
input by the control programs are ths same with each
other. Thereby, the present invention can achieve
remarkable simplification of the communication
5 procedure and high perfomance in the communication in
the load control system. Thus, the whole system can
be economically constructed.
As above described, this gateway of the
present invention in the load control system having
lO the lea$ed and power lines serves as not only an
exchange control means but also a centralsized control
means. Thus, the present invention can provide an
economical load control system having high efficiency.
Incidentally, the switch provided with the
lS gateway as the means for inputting the request for
controlling the load in this embodiment may be
replaced with an infrared and wireless remote-control
device which can obtain the same effacts as the above
embodiment does. Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing a
20 construction of the gateway which employs such a
infrared wireless remote-control device as means for
the request information. In this figure, reference
numerals 55, 56, 57 and 58 designate an infrared and
wireless remote-controller, a portion for receiving
25 infrared rays, a portion for emitting infrared rays
and the input switches corresponding to the respective
:
1~32~
loads, respectively.
Next, a third embodiment of the present
invention will be described hereinbelow. This
embodiment or gateway has the same internal
5 construction as shown in Fig. 10. Therefore, the
descriptions of like portions of the gateway will be
omitted here.
Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing
construction of another example of the control circuit -
10 46. Reference numerals 49, 50 and 59 designate a
memory used to store a program for controllin~ the
transmitting and receiving circuits 15 and 20 for
communication effected by using the leased line 2,
another memory used to store a program for controlling
15 the control circuits 16 and 19 for communication
effected by using the power line 3 and a further
different memory used to store a program for ~-
exchanging signals between the leased and power
transmission systems for control of the loads.
20 Further, reference numerals 60, 61 and 62 indicate a `
memory used to store a load monitoring program for
requesting each of the loads at a predetermined
interval to transmit a reponse signal representing its
current state and for storing the responses sent from
25 the loads, a RAM for storing not only the responses --
from tha loads but also flags to be referred by the
program for controlling the loads, a timer for
-28- 1 3 3 2 ~
outputting a trigger signal to the load moinitoring
program.
However, construction of the load control
system in which the leased and power lines coexist and
5 to which the gateway according to the present
invention is the same with that of the conventional
load control system show in Fig. 1 and thus detailed
descriptions of parts of the load control system shown
in Fig. 18 will be omitted here.
lOFigs. t9, 20, 21 and 22 are a flowchart for
illustrating an operation of the load monitoring
program, a chart for illustrating a procedure of
communication under control of the load control
program, a flowchart for illustrating an operation of
15 the load control program and a chart for illustrating
a procedure of communication under control of the load
control program, respectivrely.
Hereinafter, referring to these Figs. 19 -
22, an operaion of the gateway in case of controlling
20 the loads connected to the power line by the
controller 5 for the leased-line transmission system ~ ~`
will be described by way of example.
First, an operation of the load monitoring ;
means will be described~ referring to Figs. 19 and 20.
For simplicity of description, as shown in Figs. 20,
the total number of the loads shown in Fig. 19 is
assumed to be three. When an internal trigger signal
~ 29- 1 3 3 2 '~
is generated from the timer 62 in step C2 in Fig. 19,
the gateway 11 issues to the load i a signal -
representing a request for transmitting a signal
indicating its current state in step C3 and waits for
s a response from the load i a predetermined period of
time in st~p 4. In Fig. 20, this number "i" of the
loads is assumed to be "1". If the gateway 11
receives a response from the load i during this
period, a connection flag corresponding to the load i
lO is on ,that is, is set to be "1" in step C5.
Further, a status flag is set in accordance with the
response signal from the load i in step C6. For
instance, if the rssponse signal indicates that the
state of the load i is "on-state" as the load 1 shown
15 in step (xi) in Fig. 20, the status flag of the load
i is set to be "1" in step C7 in Fig. 19. To the
contrary, if the response signal indicates that the
state of the load i is "off-state" as the load 2 shown
in st~p (~i) in Fig. 20, the status flag of the load i
20 is set to be "0" in step C8.
Further, in case that the the load i does
not issue a response signal as the load 3 shown in
step (xiii) in Fig. 20 does and thus no response is
made within a predetermined time-out period in step
2s C9, the connection flag of the load i is set to be "0"
in step C10. Moreover, in step C11, 1 is added to the
number "i" of the load. If the result of the addition
--~ ~30- 1332~
is less than the total number of the loads in step
C12, the procedure returns to step C2 whereat the
gateway waits for a new trigger signal from the timer.
In the similar way, the gateway repeats the above
5 operation with reference to the loads 1-3 in steps C12
and C13. Thus, the gateway can hold the information
on the states of the loads by updating the information
at predetermined regular interval.
Next, referring to Figs. 21A, 21B and 22, an
l0 operation of the load control system will be described
hereinbelow. When the gateway 11 receives a signal
representing a request for control of turning the load
i on from the controller 5 through the leased line at
the receiving circuit thereof in step D1, a connection ~-
15 flag corresponding to the load i is referred to by the ;
load control program in step D2. If the connection ;
flag corresponding to the load i is "0" as that ;~
corresponding to the load 3 as viewed in Fig. 20 is, `
that is, the load i is not connected to the power
20 line, the transmitting circuit 20 sends out to the
leased line a signal representing that the load i is
not connected to the power line in step D3. On the
other hand, in case that the connection of the flag
corresponding to the load i is "1", that is, the load ~
2s i is connected to the power line, the control program ~ ;
then refers to a status flag corresponding to the load ;~
i in step D4. If the status flag corresponding to the
.,~,;,
:~
`~ -31- 1332~4
load i is "1" as that corresponding to the load 1 as
viewed in Fig. 20, that is, the load i is in the "on- :
state", the transmitting circuit 20 transmits to the
leased line a response signal indicating that the load
5 i is in the "on-state" in steps D4 and D5. To the -
contrary, if the status flag corresponding to the load :~
i is "0" as that corresponding to the load 2, that is,
the load i is in the "off-state", the transmitting
circuit 19 issues to the power line a signal .
lO representing a request for control of turning the load
i off in step D6. Further, when the receiving circuit
16 receives the response signal from the load i in
step E1, the control circuit in the gatewa~ converts
the received signal and then the transmitting circuit
15 20 transmits the converted signal to the leased line 2
in step E2.
As above stated, the gateway of the present
invention converts a signal which being received from ;
the controller through the leased line and transmits
20 to the power line the converted signal representing a
request for control of turning a load into a certain
state only when the contents o~ the request is to
change a currant state of the requested load into the
certain state. In the other cases that the certain
25 state requested is the same with the current state of : .
the load and that the load is not connected to the
power line, the gateway does not convert the received
~- -32- ~ ~32~54
signal frP~ ~hQ ~Q~trQller ~t t~aP~mat a re~P.~e
signal to the leased line.
In this embodiment, at a constant interval
of time, the gateway transmits onto the power line
5 signals each representing a request for transmitting a
signal indicating the current state of the load. If --
the gateway transmits the signal representing such a
request when there is a low traffic of signals on the
power line, the gateway can provide the similar
lO effects as this embodiment does.
Fu~thermore, the foregoing descriptlon has
been given only to the control operation in case of -
changing the state of the load i from the "off-state"
to the "on-state". It is, however, to be noted that
15 the control operation in case of changing the state of ~;
the load i in the opposite direction is effected in
the similar manner.
As above-mentioned, in the load control
system having the leased and power lines, the third
embodiment or gateway of the present invention is
proYided with a control circuit which further ;
includes: load monitoring means for monitoringjthe ~
states of all the loads and for storing the monitored -
states of the loads in memory means; and load control
2s means for referring to the state of the load stored in
the memory means when receiving the load control
signal and for transmitting the control signal to the
f~ 1 3 3 ~
-33-
power line only when the current state of tho load is
to be changed. Thereby, exchange of control signais
can be efficiently made between the leased ahd power
lines and thus a burden of the leased line of which
5 transmission rate being relatively low can be much
reduced.
Moreover, a fourth embodiment of the present
invention will be described hereinbelow with
referring to the Figs. 23 to 29.
Fig. 23 shows an example of construction of
the fourth embodiment or gateway according to the ;
present invention. In this figure, reference numerals
2, 3, 63, and 64 denote a coaxial cable used to be a
leased line, a power line, a circuit for transmitting
lS data represented by a signal to be exchanged between
the leased and power lines without compression and
expansion of data in a frame of communication, a
circuit for converting the format of the data
represented by the signal with compression or
expansion of the data in the frame of the
communication, respectively. Further, reference
numerals 65 and 66 denote switching circuits and
!~ ` , .
reference numeral 67 rspresent a switch control
circuit. As shown in this figure, these circuits 65,
2s 66 and 67 compose a change-over circuit 68.
Hereinafter, a procedure to be effected in ~-
the gateway 11 constructed above on an exchange of a
/ - '
_34_ 133~
signal between the leased and power lines will be
described.
First, the procedure in case that a frame is
transmitted from the leased line or coaxial cable 2
5 through the gateway 11 to the power line 3 will be
described below. When the frame is recelved at a -
switching circuit 65 in the gateway 11, the received
frame is then sent to the switch control circuit 67
which selécts one of the circuits 63 and 64 in
l0 accordance with a code included in the received frame. ;
For instance, ~he circuit 63 is selected, the received ;;
data is sent to this circuit 63 by way of the circuit
65 wherein the format of the data is converted from
that required for transmission on the coaxial cable 2
15 to another format required for transmission on the
power line 3.
On the other hand, in case that a frame is
transmitted in the opposite direction, the received
data is sent to the switch control circuit 67 by way
20 of the circuit 66. Thereafter, one of the circuits 63 ~;
and 64 is selected and further, the data is sent to
the circuit 65 through the selected circuit 63lor 64
to the coaxial cable 2.
As above described, the circuit 63 is used
25 to exchange the data in the frame between the leased
and power lines, so to speak, "transparently". In
contrast wit~ this, the circuit 64 sends the data to
_35_ 1 332~ 5~ -
the switch circuit after compresses or expands the
data included within the frame.
The home control system employing such a
gateway 11 of the present invention is constructed in
5 the .same manner as shown in Fig. 4. Therefore, -
descriptions of parts of the home control system will
be omitted hereon.
Further, in this home control system,
procedures of communication in case of controlling the
lO consent adaptors 22 by the controller 21 are the same
with those shown ln FIg. 7.
Fig. 24 shows a sequence of procedures in
case that the gateway 11 directly issues a control
command. As shown in this figure, a monitor response
15 is transmitted by the gateway 11 to the MMC. The
format of the frame to be transmitted on the coaxial
cable 2 of this home control system is the same with
that shown in Fig. 8. Further, the format of the
frame to be transmitted on the power line 3 is the
20 same with that shown in Fig. 9. Thes~ two formats of
the fram~ are substantially the same with each other
except that the length of the data included in the
frame transmitted on the coaxial cable 2 is 5 bytes or
more while that of the data in the frame on the power
25 line 3 is equal to or less than 1 byte. This is
because that many and various terminals are connected
to the coaxial cable 2 and require many kinds of -
36- 1332~
control information. Thus, transmission of data on
the coaxial cable necessarily reqires expandable
representation of data and, as a consequence, a
relatively long length of data is used therein. To
5 the contrary, in case of transmission on the power
line, equipments connected to the power line are
relatively simple loads each of which needs control
information only for turning it on and turning it off.
Moreover, transmission rate is relatively low and data
10 of short length is preferable.
Therefore, the gateway 11 compresses data in
case of transmitting the information for home control
from the coaxial cable 2 to the power line but
contrarily adds additional necessary data to the
15 information in case of transmission of the
information in the opposite direction.
Next, a procecdure of communuicating text
information among personal computers and so on will be ;~
described hereinbelow.
In Fig. 25, reference numerals 69 and 70 ~
denote a set of terminals such as personal computers ~-
connected to the coaxial cable 2 and another set of
terminals such as personal computers connected to the
power line 3, respectively. ;
Differently from the case of transmission of
information in the home control system as above
described, in case of transmission of information such
,
1 3 3 2 d~ r~ a~
-37-
as text among personal computers, data is transmitted
and received in the same representaion without
compression and expansion thereof among the personal
computers. The gateway 11 is not required to
5 interpret and convert detail portions of data but to
transmit the data as it is.
Both Figs. 26 and 27 show frames transmitted
on the coaxial cable 2. That is, Fig. 26 shows the
frame transmitted from the terminal 69 and on the
lO other hand Fig. 27 is the frame transmitted to the
terminal 69.
In Fig. 26, reference numeral 751
designates a headder portion which indicates that the
information is text data and is to be exchanged
15 without compression and expansion. Reference numeral
752 denotes a destination network address indicating
that the information is to be transmitted to the power
line. Further, reference nunmerals 753 and 754
designate an address of a terminal connected to the
20 power line 3 and data to be transmitted to the
terminal, respectively. By usuing the formats shown
in Figs. 26 and 27 above, transmission of data is
perfomed among the personal computers.
Moreover, the headder portion 751 is used to
25 discriminate whether or not the information is to be
compressed or expanded on transmission thereof. Thus,
the headder portion 751 is first filled with control
~ - : ~ ~ ~ - .~ .: . .: .......................... - '
::: i . . ~ . . . ~ . ~ , . . `
~ -38- l 332~
data indicating whether or not the data division of
the information is to be compressed or expanded. -
Thereafter, the information including the headder
portion 751 is transmitted to the gateway 11. On ~;
5 receiving the information, the gaterway 11 effects
decides whether or not to perform the compression or
expansion of the received data in accordance with the
contents of the headder portion and then effects the
transmission of the information to the personal
l0 computer and so on.
Figs. 28 and 29 show the communications
protocol by using hierarchical representation. In
these drawings, reference numerals 80, 81, 82, 83, 84,
85 and 86 denote a physical layer, data link layer,
lS network layer, transport layer, a session layer, a
representation layer and an application layer,
respectively.
Fig. 28 shows connections between the layers
in which data from equipments connect to each other
20 when the gateway 11 exchanges the information without
compression or expansion of the data. As shown in
this figurel the data from the terminal equipments 69
connect to each other in the gateway 11 at the network
layer 82.
Fig. 29 shows connections between the layers
relating to data from equipments when the gateway 11 `
transmits thé information after compression or
',''',''',''',''
,;;
~39- 1332~
expansion of the data division. The data from the
controller 21 is once interpreted in the gateway 11
and further converted by the compression or expansion
of the data division thereof. The converted data is
5 transmitted to and received by the consent controller
9. . .
As above described, the fourth embodiment or
gateway of the present invention is provided with a
converting and transmitting circuit for converting
lO representation of control information to be exchanged
between the leased line capable of transmitting
digital signals thereon at a high transmission rate
and the power line transmitting digital signals
thereon at a relatively low transmission rate and for
15 transmitting the converted control information to the
gateway provided between the leased and power lines, a
"simple" transmission circuit for transmitting the
data such as text information without compression or
expansion of the data and a switching circuit for
selecting one of the converting and transmitting
circuit and the "simple" transmission circuit.
Thereby, communication load on the power line can be
reduced to a minimum and transmission of text between
the leased and power lines can be realized. ;
The foregoing descriptions of the preferred
embodiments are given only to the exchange of the
information and data between the leased and power
~ 40_ 1 3 3 2 4 ~ 4
lines. However, it is apparent to those skilled in
the art that the present invention can be applied to
any networks and that the protocol layer ~t which data
from the controller and terminals connected to each
5 other can be arbitrarily selected. :~
It is further to be understood by those :
skilled in the art that the foregoing descriptions
rclate only to preferred embodiments of the invention
and that various changes and modifications may be made ~
10 in the invention without departing from the sprit and ;~ ~:
scope thereof. -
~,-,,'`'.'.'''
.".- ..
. ~' ' ~ ' ' .
.. ...
