JPS6367378B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to data relaying between various local control devices or data terminal devices arranged in a distributed manner and host devices such as computers. The present invention relates to an improvement of a data relay device used for carrying out such operations.

[Prior art]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a hierarchical system including a large number of data relay devices (hereinafter referred to as relay devices), each of which has relay devices REP _Y1 and REP _Y2 that accommodate a control device or a data terminal device, etc. (not shown in the figure).
are connected in series by transmission lines l _b1 to l _b3 that make up the branch line, and
_HRE and _{relay devices} REP _{X1 and REP}
The relay devices REP _Y1 and REP _Y2 are configured to send and receive data to and from the host device HRE.

Note that a branch line similar to the transmission lines l _b1 to l _b3 is also connected to the relay device REP _X1 , and data transmission and reception between this branch line and the host device HRE is performed via the relay device REP _X1 . At the same time, data transmission and reception with the transmission lines l _n3 and l _b3 sides are performed in the same way.

FIG _{. 2 is a block diagram of the repeating devices REP X1 and} REP _X2 , taking the repeating device _REP
O _X and an input/output circuit I/O _Y accommodating one transmission line l _b1 are provided, as well as for controlling data transmission by the main line and for controlling data transmission by the branch line.
_{Control units CNT _ _} , accepts data from I/O _Y , and controls the control unit _CNT
Data is exchanged between CNT _Y via the input/output circuit I/O _Y , data is relayed between transmission lines l _n2 and l _n3 , and data is transferred between transmission lines l _n2 and l _b1 . It is intended to be used as a relay.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the relay devices REP _Y1 and REP _Y2 , taking the relay device REP _Y1 as an example, and shows the input/output circuit I/O _YB accommodating two transmission lines l _b1 and l _b2 .
In addition, in order to control data transmission by the branch line, a control unit CNT _YB consisting of a microprocessor, memory, etc. is provided.
This transmits and receives data between the input/output circuit I/O _YB , relays data between the transmission lines l _b1 and l _b2 , and also connects the control device or data terminal device (not shown in the figure) and the transmission circuit l It is designed to relay data between _b1 and l _b2 .

However, if the system is initially configured with the host device HRE and the relay devices REP _Y1 , REP _Y2 , etc., and if the system is expanded to the configuration shown in Figure 1, or if the configuration shown in Figure 1 is adopted from the beginning, the second As is clear from the figures and Fig. ₃ , the main line side relay devices REP _{X1 and REP} Significant additional modifications have to be made to REP _Y1 and REP _Y2 , which has disadvantages such as hindering the ability to lower prices through mass production, or increasing the required cost due to increased repair man-hours.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention has an object of fundamentally eliminating such drawbacks of the conventional art, and in FIGS. 2 and 3, the input/output circuits I/O _X and I/O _YB and the control section
Focusing on the fact that CNT _Y and CNT _YB are each equivalent, by adding the second unit to the first unit based on the configuration shown in Figure 3, the second
The present invention provides an extremely effective data relay device that realizes the configuration shown in the figure and allows the first unit to be shared.

[Example] The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 4 showing an example.

In the figure, a first unit _U1 and a second unit _U2 constitute the same unit as in Figure 2, and the unit _U1 has a first control unit that controls data transmission by the branch line. Department
CNT ₁ is provided, whose output T _O1 and input R _i1
The first and second terminals t ₁ provided for external connection,
A first input/output circuit I/O ₁ is provided which is individually led out to T ₂ and accommodates two transmission lines L ₁ and L ₂ , and its input T _i1 and output R _O1 are connected to the third input/output circuit I/O 1. and the fourth terminals t ₃ and t ₄ respectively, and the input T _i1 of the input/output circuit I/O ₁ and the control unit CNT ₁
between the output T _O1 and the input of the control unit CNT ₁
First and second switches S ₁ and S ₂ are respectively inserted between R _i1 and the output R _O1 of the input/output circuit I/O ₁ , and these control terminals C are connected to each other through a resistor r. When the power supply V _cc is applied to the fifth terminal t ₅ from which these control circuits are drawn out, the switches S ₁ and S ₂ are always kept on.

On the other hand, the unit U ₂ is provided with a second input/output circuit I/O ₂ that accommodates one transmission line L ₃ .
Its input T _i2 and output R _O2 are drawn out to the sixth and seventh terminals t ₆ and t ₇ respectively, and the terminals of the unit U ₁
t ₁ and t ₂ , and a second control unit CNT ₂ that controls data transmission through the main line and exchanges data with the input/output circuit I/O ₂ . provided, the output of this T _O2
and _the input R _i2 are respectively drawn out to the eighth and ninth terminals t ₈ and t ₉ and are respectively connected to the terminals t ₃ and t ₄ of the unit U _{1 .}
A common potential is applied to the tenth terminal t ₁₀ connected to _the terminal t ₅ of the switch S ₁ and the switch S ₂ as a switching signal. , switches S ₁ and S ₂ are turned off.

Therefore, when the switches S ₁ and S ₂ are off, the control unit CNT ₁ operates as the control unit CNT _Y in FIG. 2, and the transmission line L ₃ corresponding to the transmission line l _b1 in FIG.
In addition to transmitting and receiving data, the control unit
_{CNT 2} operates _{as the control unit CNT}
Data is exchanged between the CNTs ₂ via the input/output circuit I/O ₂ .

In contrast to the above, if unit U ₂ is removed, terminal t ₁
~ _t5 becomes open and the switch is activated accordingly.
Since S ₁ and S ₂ are turned on and the configuration changes to the one shown in Fig. 3, by replacing the transmission lines L ₁ and L ₂ with the transmission lines l _b1 and l _b2 shown in Fig. 3, the same structure as shown in Fig. 3 is created. An action is taken.

Note that _the control units CNT ₁ and CNT ₂ may be the same as _the control units CNT _{Y and} CNT The same input/output circuits as I/O _X and I/O _Y may be used.

Furthermore, it is preferable to use CMOS switch circuits as the switches S ₁ and S ₂ .

Therefore, the control units CNT ₁ and CNT ₂ and the input/output circuits I/O ₁ and I/O ₂ are each mounted on a printed circuit board, etc. to form a unit, and then connected to each other via connectors. Then, depending on whether or not the unit U ₂ is added, the unit U ₁ becomes the repeating device REP _X1 , REP _X2 or REP _Y1 , REP _Y2 in FIG. 1, and the sharing of the unit U ₁ is realized.

However, relays or various semiconductor switching circuits may be used as the switches S ₁ and S ₂ , and the terminal t ₁₀ of the unit U ₂ may be connected depending on these conditions.
Various modifications are possible, such as selecting the signal to be sent from the unidirectional data transmission direction, and making the data transmission direction unidirectional.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the same unit can be used for branch lines and main lines, making it easy to reduce costs through mass production, and adding separately prepared units. By simply doing this, it can be immediately converted from branch line use to main line use, reducing the man-hours and costs required for expansion work, and exhibiting remarkable effects as a data relay device for various uses.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the system configuration, FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of a relay device, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. U ₁ , U ₂ ... unit, L ₁ to L ₃ ... transmission line,
CNT ₁ , CNT ₂ ... control section, I/O ₁ , I/O ₂ ...
Input/output circuit, S ₁ , S ₂ ... switch, t ₁ to t ₁₀ ... terminal, T _O1 , T _O2 , R _O1 , R _O2 ... output, T _i1 , T _i2 , R _i
1 , R _i2 ...input.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A first control unit that controls data transmission by a branch line and has an output and an input individually drawn out to a first and a second terminal; a first input/output circuit led out to terminals 3 and 4 respectively; and between the input of the input/output circuit and the output of the control section, and between the input of the control section and the output of the input/output circuit. accommodating a first unit comprising first and second switches which are inserted between each unit and are always kept in an on state, and whose control circuit is led out to a fifth terminal; and one transmission line. and the input and the output are the first
and a second input/output circuit led out to the sixth and seventh terminals respectively connected to the second terminal, and a second input/output circuit which controls data transmission by the main line, and whose output and input are connected to the third and seventh terminals respectively. a second control section that is individually connected to an eighth and a ninth terminal that are connected to the fourth terminal, and that transmits and receives data to and from the second input/output circuit; A data relay device comprising a second unit comprising a circuit that sends a switching signal to turn off the first and second switches to a tenth terminal connected to the first switch.