JPH0698224B2 - Video game communication system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is suitable for playing games and the like using at least two Nintendo Nintendo Co., Ltd. and other video games connected via a communication line. It also relates to a video game communication system.

[Prior Art] As shown in FIG. 5, a video game 1 connected to a TV 3
Connect two keypads (controllers) 8 and 9 to
A game may be played by multiple people. By using a communication line, such games can be played by people in remote areas. A modem device is required to play the game through the communication line, and the signal from the video game is supplied to the communication line through the modem device.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In this conventional video game communication system, there is a shift in the timing of key scan signals in two video games connected via a communication line, a signal delay in the communication line, etc., so that high-speed responsiveness of the game is ensured. Difficult to do. Therefore, in a real-time action game or the like, the reaction becomes slow and the fun of the game is reduced. On the other hand, when the game speed is increased in such a system, the two video games cannot be synchronized with each other, and the game is practically impossible.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems in the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a video game communication system that is not affected by communication delay.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The video game communication system of the present invention is a communication system including means for correcting a time lag of key input between at least two video games connected via a communication line, and a number code repeatedly generated. Is transmitted to the partner device in synchronization with the key scan pulse, and the partner device uses the number code to correct the time lag.

[Action]

The signal input from the keypad is buffered, and the delay time is calculated based on the data included in the signal from the other party to correct the deviation between the two data, and the signal is sent to the video game. The error due to the difference in the phase or frequency of the key scan pulse between the two video games is
The number code that is repeatedly generated is synchronized with the key scan pulse and sent to the partner device for correction.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the communication adapters 5 and 6 according to the present invention are connected to the joy ports of the two video games 1 and 2 connected to the TVs 3 and 4. Also, the communication adapters 5 and 6
Are connected via the communication line 7, and the joy-cons 8 and 9 are connected to the communication adapters 5 and 6, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the inside of the communication adapter 5 (the communication adapter 6 has the same configuration). Communication adapter 5
Includes a modem unit 13, a calculation control unit 10, an input unit 14, and output units 11 and 12 that form an output to a video game. In addition,
The input unit 14 may be included in the arithmetic control unit 10.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the arithmetic control unit 10 in detail. As shown in the figure, the arithmetic control unit 10 includes a delay detection unit.
A key buffer 14, a shift register variable unit 17, and a communication control unit 18 are included.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the timing of data. Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, (a) and (b) show key scan pulses generated from the respective video games 5 and 6. By the key scan pulses (a) and (b), the state of the keypad is captured as data in the main bodies of the video games 5 and 6. With a communication adapter, (c),
As shown in (d), a delay corresponding to the time between time t1 to t2 and time t3 to t4 occurs when sending data to the modem on the other side. In order to play two video games at the same time, it is necessary that the order of a pair of data indicated by m and n in the figure be correctly sent to the video game. That is, the data of one player captured during the pulse of m and the data of the opponent player captured during the pulse of n are paired in the correct order in the respective video games 1, 2
Need to be entered as data. However, due to communication delay, in FIG. 4, data is input from one side to the other video game at the time of n + 3 pulse, and data is further input from the other side to one video game at the time of m + 3 pulse. For example, if the data fetched at the timings of m and n is delayed until the timings of m + 3 and n + 3, the data transmitted to both video games becomes a pair delayed by 3 pulses.

However, since the powers of both video games are not turned on at the same time, the time difference between m and n changes by up to 1 pulse. Therefore, assuming that the number of pulses is N, as shown in FIG. 4, the data when m is sent to the other party when N + 2. However, the data at N does not reach until m + 4. If you send the data to the video game in this state, the necessary data cannot be received when you need it, and the two video games operate separately. As is clear from the above description, the delay that occurs between video games is the sum of the data communication delay and the key scan pulse delay. Here, the delay of data communication is relatively constant because it depends on the hardware and the communication speed. However, the delay of the key scan pulse changes depending on the timing of operating the device, and gradually changes due to the phase difference between the key scan pulses of the two devices. In order to correct this, in the present invention, the number code repeatedly generated in synchronization with the key scan pulse is sent to the other party. The side receiving the number code synchronizes its data with the contents of this number code and sends it out. In order to detect the delay and send the data in synchronization with each other, the number code of the other party and the own number code are stored and the timer is operated. Next, when the timer is stopped by one's own scan pulse, the delay from the data input of the other party to the occurrence of one's scan pulse is measured. This operation is repeated several times to obtain the average value. By comparing this average value with a preset numerical value, the delay is correctly detected.

The variable shift register is necessary to delay the key data captured by itself by several pulses. For example, when sending m pulse data to a video game at m + 3, a three-stage shift register is required. The number of delayed pulses needs to be variable in order to follow the fluctuating key scan pulse.

Also, the communication adapters 5 and 6 have a detection function on the call or origination side and answer mode side, modem data set, auto dial, answer tone detection, automatic correction of data error, line disconnection check, and data There is a function to control transmission / reception or permission.

Next, the operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

First, after turning on the power of the game device, the communication partner is called to determine the calling side and the answering side. Then, the phone is switched to the model side to start the game. If you want to call during the game, the game is interrupted by switching the changeover switch. Then, by switching the switch again, the game can be restarted.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the video game communication system that is not affected by the communication delay.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication adapter, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an arithmetic control unit, and FIG. Is a timing chart showing data timing, and FIG. 5 is a connection diagram of a conventional example. Explanation of reference numerals 1 and 2 ... Video game 3, 4 ... TV 5, 6 ... Communication adapter 7 ... Communication line 8, 9 ... Joypad

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. At least two connected through a communication line.
A communication system including means for correcting a time lag of key input between two video games, wherein a repeatedly generated number code is transmitted to a partner device in synchronization with a key scan pulse. A communication system for video games, characterized in that a time shift is corrected using the number code.