JPS5949044A - Data communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with Request No. 1J, it relates to a data communication method for transmitting data such as out-of-stock data of vending machines, and in particular reduces the number of signal lines required for data communication to achieve 4RI compatibility of data communication. This is intended to improve noise resistance, etc.

The data collector, which collects data such as sales data from devices such as vending machines distributed in various locations, is made small and lightweight to be portable, and is resistant to vibration and can be used outdoors. of. Rainwater resistance is also η11
In addition to basic performance such as data collection, which is the main function, the following various tl:□ abilities are required.

(1) Collect data without errors, maintain it accurately, and output it to the aggregation center.

(2) Accurately retain the collected data for a long period of time, from one week to one month. (3) Reduce the number of times the built-in battery is replaced, for example, once a year.

(4) Shorten the time required for data collection as much as possible and perform high-speed data exchange.

(5) Simplify the operation sounds for data collection processing as much as possible.

(6) Easily check normal operation.

(7) Amount of data collected by service personnel 7 [Df] Required amount of data can be collected and stored.

(8) It is possible to perform history processing such as addition of collected data, M4 edict, correction, etc., such as adding data indicating the state of the vending machine at the time of data collection to the sales data.

A magnetic recording device W using a cassette tape has conventionally been used as a data acquisition device requiring such performance, but this type of conventional data acquisition device has the following drawbacks.

(1) For example, a 196-hour tape machine is required, making it heavy and large. One piece suitable for obi.

(2) Tape drive! (5) Stretching, cutting, etc. of film-based magnetic tape, data R + 2 f: Long-term use of Q media This results in performance degradation such as increased failure or drop-out, and increased access time.

(4) The reliability of the collected data has decreased due to the damage caused by the tax increase on the magnetic tape exposed from the case.

(5) Periodic maintenance of recording means, such as maintenance of magnetic heads for magnetic tapes, is required.

(6) Replace the cartridge with a new one, replace the motor, battery, etc. as described in 1. Inspection and maintenance of equipment must be carried out at relatively short intervals.

(7) The storage device is prone to failures due to falling or twisting due to its shape, etc., and the reliability of collected data may be affected by uneven table rows, misalignment of the magnetic head, etc. It will cause a decline.

As mentioned above, the operation and use of conventional data collectors using magnetic tape, etc., which are inexpensive and easy to use, are as follows.
The drawback was that it took a lot of effort to maintain credibility.

On the other hand, when collecting necessary data such as sales data, supplying it to the device, and outputting data from vending machines, etc., the machine is used for data output, each method is different.
Between nγ determination 1 and hegi b 1, the practices have changed.

(1) A method in which the data collection and output function is externally attached with a digital adapter. Although it has the advantage of being able to connect to various vending machines and unify the configuration and format of the output data, it has the disadvantage of having 451 functions of data collection and output. , it is expensive because it is used for mounting TVs, etc.

(2) Apparatus I'11. Either the configuration of the system in which the data tZl is sent to 11 controllers and outputted is simple and inexpensive, or the memory capacity in the controller is limited, and the data output is complicatedly restricted. First, it is difficult to standardize the output data format and rendering.

(5) The above-mentioned intermediate method Both have their strengths and weaknesses at the same time.

In other words, regarding data output equipment, it is required to unify the data format, unify the data communication method, and reduce the number of connection lines with the data collector. Same as above, there is a demand for faster data collection, smaller size and lighter weight, and storage of large amounts of collected data at lower cost.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is desirable to use a conductor memory for data storage, use a device 1t-Y with an intelligent memory for data communication, and store the data in the data output device itself.

However, there are the following five problems in developing the type of data communication method mentioned at the beginning.

(1) How to output data such as automatic i1f
Since most of the memory in the control g+ is used exclusively for controlling the device itself, there is little memory capacity that can be used for data collection. Therefore, as a data communication method for data collection, it is necessary to check the memory capacity of data output.

(2) Data output device for vending machine example:
The format of the output data differs depending on l1'+'li,
Its unity is 144 Mla. Therefore, as a data communication method for data collection, it is necessary that the data output devices can commonly handle differences in the formants of the blade data.

(6) Self! Example of a machine and a data output device; 1 [The power output terminal of a machine is often dedicated to the control of the device itself;
The number of input/output terminals that can be allocated to data collection is limited.

Therefore, the data communication method for data collection needs to be able to reduce the number of signal lines required for data communication as much as possible.

Therefore, the data exchange method conventionally used for data collection includes the following hVA. In other words, as mentioned above, the necessary conditions for this type of data communication are that the number of connection signal lines between the data collector and the data output device should be reduced as much as possible, and that the data communication should be as short as possible. As a data communication method that satisfies this condition km, a conventional start-stop synchronization data communication method is known, but such a conventional method has the following drawbacks in the structure of communication data. In data communication using the start-stop synchronization method, a data signal of a predetermined number of focuses is constructed using l pairs of signal lines. For example, for the data of 1 data cycle and t focus, 1 start focus χ is placed before it, 2 variations are placed after 1 bit, and 1 stone is placed after 1 to create a %12 focus configuration, and 72 pins are obtained from the low logic level start focus. A high logic level strike of the eye is detected and the l-dake cycle is terminated. However, if the number of points in the data pinto is insufficient, a delimiter code and an end code are required, and it becomes difficult to distinguish between the code and the data pinto. - It is expressed as a t focus configuration, and f6 types of data are added, but in actual communication data, only 16 types are used (・, the remaining 2 and 0).
Since the focus area is used for other control codes, there is a problem in that the focusing efficiency is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the program required to code each output data focus for start-stop synchronization data communication becomes complicated, which increases the number of signals used per watt, and the program becomes more complicated due to the incorporation of control i++ code. There was a problem of becoming Note that for parallel data output, the control program becomes only f'Jif, which facilitates short-time processing, but the number of input/output ports increases due to the number of usable units, which reduces cost and reliability. In terms of output, it is inferior to serial output.

On the other hand, in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem of standardization of the data transmitted in the bi data cycle, and to be able to transmit data of arbitrary length, it is necessary to separate each data cycle. It is necessary to indicate the data end code 7, or because it imposes constraints on the data code, the encoding is internal, and the end of data is notified by not responding to the data sending request clock. However, if the data sending request clock is not temporarily stopped, the next data cycle will be 4' +
, Also, the data code with consecutive low logic levels and the error, 1
．． There was a problem of being d.

In addition, by using separate signal lines for data transmission and G, it is easier to transmit control signals such as data end r codes, and although the number of signal lines increases, the control program becomes simpler. . However, as the number of signal lines increases, the contact 1d Note decreases, leading to cost increase.
Noise resistance may also deteriorate and there may be problems such as interfering with fabrication.Furthermore, it may be possible to signal the end of data by changing the pulse width of the final focus of the response data to the data transmission request clock. However, since it is necessary to provide a pulse width control circuit in the data output device and a pulse width discrimination circuit in the data collector, there is a problem that communication time tends to be increased.

The purpose of the present invention is to completely eliminate the problems of the conventional 1ig system described above, and to collect data in a small and light manner in a short time by controlling a simple program through a small number of signal lines.
The present invention provides a data communication method that enables data communication to be carried out between a computer and a data output device.

In other words, in the data exchange method of the present invention (4) in which data is transmitted in response to a data transmission request from a data collector, when the data transmission is completed, the data transmission signal line N is connected to the data transmission request. The main feature is that the end of data transmission is set to 01- by continuously holding the 16th control level, which is the opposite of that during standby.

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the figures.

In addition, regarding the example of collecting vending machine sales data using G's data collector in the following section,
Could you please explain the data communication method?

The method of the present invention is applicable to any data output device in general, without being limited to this example.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when collecting sales data of vending machine T, sales data is stored in controller λ in vending machine l, and data collector 3 There are cases in which data exchange is carried out directly, and cases in which data exchange is carried out through an adapter having a data collection and storage output function as shown in Fig. 2. The data exchange method is applied in the same way in both cases, and the data transmission request signal from the data collector 3, the data transmission signal line from the vending machine 1, and the three key signals KlA, which are the common ground line, are applied in the same way. This applies to data communication performed via

Data communication according to the method of the present invention is shown in FIG.
This is done using the signal waveforms shown in A) and (B). -Third
Figure LA) shows a data transmission request clock signal waveform from the data collector, and following the data transmission request mark l snoring, the data transmission request clock RC is continuously transmitted at a predetermined period. On the other hand, Figure 3 (B and l are the data signal waveforms sent from the vending machine, and when the sending request counter RC falls from high L/bell LH) to low level (L), the data signal line becomes high. By setting 7 bells () (), the high logic level of the data pulse TD "/" 4 table O] is also depressed (transmission request counter ItC goes from high level (, H) to low level (, L). When the data signal falls to low level (LJ
and 1-, the low logic level 1 of the data pulse TD
0", and when the predetermined number of focused data pulses have finished unwinding, the data signal is held at a high V level (HJ,
A data sending end signal DF is sent out.

The data exchange for collecting sales data in the above manner is as follows.
This is done according to the flowchart shown in the figure.

First, for each data cycle that requests data transmission from the data collector, first, in step 1, during the sales process by the main program, the data transmission request mark ILM from the data collector is reduced. Then, the process immediately moves to the data output processing process, and in step 8.2, a timer count is set to measure the time of 1 data cycle, and then, in step S3, the data transmission request counter ltc is set.
Every time I receive Y, I send l focus data, but l
When the counter enters the data cycle, it is determined in step S whether or not the transmission of data for the number of focus points scheduled for transmission in that data cycle has been completed, and if it has not been completed, data transmission for one focus is performed in step SS. , Then, in step S6, the data for the next l focus is prepared, and in step S6
! The H1 value of the timer counter is incremented at r, and the force that reaches the cent value at step S9)? ! : Judge whether it is I or not.
If the cent value has not been reached, the counter responds to the next entry in step S3. After transmitting the data for each l focus 7 times and returning, if it is determined in step SII that the data transmission for the planned focus number has been completed, the process proceeds to step S7.
Then, the data sending signal line is held at a high level "■" as the data sending signal mentioned above. After that, the timer counter is incremented at a predetermined counter period in step Sr, and the counted value is determined in step S9 and PJ+
When it determines that the data cycle period length of the bar has been reached at 1fLL, it moves to Sten 71310, returns the data sending signal line to the low level "L" during standby, and returns to the sales process using the normal main program. do. In addition, in step S3, as soon as the data sending request counter I (C) from the data collector is no longer received, the status IS is immediately
To.

The process shifts to S, waits until a predetermined data cycle period is reached, and then returns to the standby state.

Next, the data transmission request signal sent from the data collector is sent out from the data output bag of the vending machine, etc.
1" Signal waveform strategy for data signals such as sales data etc.
6'H5 waveform l and wave) 1ji! are shown respectively,
Details lol? As shown in waveform/waveform 2 of the Jt diagram, when a series of data collection is completed by repeating multiple data cycles, it is sent from the data collector and stored in the data output device (γ1). Clear the previous data, wait for the next data collection, and start accumulating new data.--JFA: The waveform of the 1 δ waveform shown in Figure 1 is waveform 3.

Therefore, the data sending signal sent from the data collector is followed by the data sending request mark ItM, and the PIF constant f1
．． 'a number, for example, q data exit request counter ttc
'v After sending, a pause period RP of a legitimate length of time ``2
After that, the data sending request signal is sent out again.

D7:C That is, in data collection B7, the data of the appropriate 11 sentences are once accepted into the expansion memory and then organized and stored in the random access memory, so the transfer period is considered as a pause period for data acceptance.

On the other hand, when the data output device receives a data exit request signal in the main program process R1P, such as the normal product sales process in a vending machine, the data output process starts the data output process DP with the data cycle period length set by the timer counter. Once the data transmission of the %l data cycle is completed, the program returns to the main program process MP, and thereafter one or more processes are repeated until the series of data transmission is completed.

Therefore, when sending data for l data cycles,
In response to the reception of the data transmission request mark RM, the data transmission mark DM Y is transmitted, and then, as described above with reference to FIG. However, since the amount of data sent in one data cycle is variable within a predetermined number of focuses, such as the aforementioned davit, it is necessary to notify the end of data sending for each data cycle. As the data transmission end signal, as described above with reference to FIG.
It continues to maintain the high level "H" for a period of multiple counter cycles, and returns to the low level @L" waiting state after waiting for one data cycle period length of PJr constant.
,・As shown in FIG. 6, the data transmission request Cronk RC
Corresponding to the pause period RP in between, a pause period Dr Y is also provided in the sending data collector, and when a series of data sending is completed, the data sending end signal DF Y is generated by continuing the high level described above.
Send.

FIG. 7 shows a time chart for data transmission of the method of the present invention based on the construction principle as described above. In the figure approval time chart, following the start focus SB corresponding to the data transmission mark DM, the above-mentioned pause period 'r', [
After sending out data TDY such as sales data, and further sending out parity pin PR'7, after sending out a predetermined number of data sending request counters from the data 117 Q device, the data sending signal line is turned off during the aborted counter inactive period. It is held at a high level "H" and is 1- with the final focus FB. Therefore, the data transmission signal is equipped with a special data transmission end hood that indicates the end of data transmission without having to enter the data transmission signal, which simplifies the control of the data output device and improves the focus transmission effect. It also has the advantage of improving performance.

The end of data transmission by the data communication method of the present invention can be detected by monitoring the length of time from when the data transmission request counter is sent from the data collector until it is set to a low level "L". It is also possible to perform this by adjusting the signal level of the data output signal line each time. f, the data sending request counter ttC in the data sending request signal shown in waveform 1 in FIG. If the signal level of the data transmission signal edge is low level FJ, the data transmission signal line (counter ttc y z < is output), and the (L4 level of the data transmission signal line in JT continues to be high level FF) during that judgment period. If so, it is determined that it is the data transmission end signal described above with reference to FIG.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, during data communication, the data sending device T' (data sending device T') sends out a data sending end message in a high-level continuation, and the data collector receiving this sends a data sending request. Since the data output signal line is at a high level before the counter is output, it is possible to determine the end of data output.
Communication for data collection can be achieved by adding a special transmission termination coden for any data format and data length.

In the data collector, in data communication in which collected data is transferred from the pan 7 memory to the random access memory and stored at regular intervals of 75r, the memory address 11 at 15 o'clock where the data is stored is abbreviated as f4. At the same time, it also has the advantage of making it easier to judge problems such as address abnormalities.

T, (Oh, the data exchange method 6 of the present invention is not limited to the example of sales data of i's own vending machine for adults, but can be used for a large number of times.
This method of data collection is as easy and inexpensive as possible and can be widely applied to the industry.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are Bronk's gland diagrams showing examples of device connection during data communication using the inventive method, and FIGS. (The waveform diagrams for each case of the aromatic form are shown in FIG. 70.
Charts 6 and 6 are waveform diagrams showing the outline and details of an example of the 1d waveform during data communication according to the Kinoe 1jiJ method, and Figures 7 and 7 similarly show the 4y+1 mode of data transmission. FIG. g of the time chart is a signal wave shadow diagram showing the mode of data transmission end discrimination. 2... Seisen j Pan 1X. 3...Data collector, D...Adapter, RM...Data sending request mark, RC...Data sending request clock, TD...Sending data. DF...data sending end signal, DM...data sending mark, ItP...data sending request long idle period, DP...
...Data transmission pause period, SB...Start focus, FL'l...End focus, PB...Parity focus. Patent applicant Fuji Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3/A

Claims (1)

[Claims] In the data exchange δ that sends out data in response to a data sending request from the data collector, at the end of data sending,
By continuously holding the data sending signal NY at the M level, which is the opposite of that when waiting for a data sending request, it is possible to indicate the end of data sending.Characteristics 1- Data communication method .