JPH0793604B2 - Optically coupled LAN - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an optically coupled LAN, and in particular, information communication distributed and arranged in a highly OA (office automation) building such as an intelligent building. The present invention relates to an optical coupling LAN (local area network) that transmits signals of equipment.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, intelligent buildings have been proposed for the purpose of realizing advanced OA. This intelligent building is equipped with information communication equipment such as telephones, telephones, fax machines, general-purpose computers, office computers, personal computers, copiers, word processors, etc., and between information communication equipment on the same floor and information communication equipment on different floors. LAN is connected between them. In order to configure this LAN, it is necessary to lay wiring such as power supply lines and information signal lines, but in the past, low floor type free access floor, 3-way floor duct system, under-cappet wiring system, over-head wiring The system is adopted. As shown in FIG. 2, the low floor type free access floor forms a space 14 between a floor slab 10 and a floor board 12, and arranges wiring 16 such as a power line and a signal line in this space 14. Is. Further, in the 3-way floor duct system, as shown in FIG. 3, a pipe 15 is embedded in the floor slab 10 and wiring is arranged in this pipe. In addition, the under-capet wiring system is a flat-type flattened telephone line, power line, information data line, etc., below the tile carpet 20 attached to the floor slab as shown in FIG. A cable (22) is arranged and an outlet (24) attached to one end of the flat cable (22) is projected from a hole formed in the tile carpet (20). Then, after wiring as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, furniture equipped with an information communication device is arranged on the floor, and the information communication device and the above wiring are connected. Further, in the overhead wiring system, as shown in FIG. 5, the furniture 30 including the information communication device 28 is placed on the floor 26, and the wiring arranged in the ceiling 32 by the energy tube 34 or the energy pole 36. The information communication device 28 is connected.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the low floor type free access floor, the three-way floor duct system, and the under-cappet wiring system, it is necessary to process the floor and bury the wiring in the floor, which increases the cost. There is. In particular, in the undercapet wiring system, there is no space between the floor slab and the tile carpet,
There is a problem that the capacity of the space for accommodating the wiring is limited. Also, when rearranging furniture equipped with information and communication equipment, the wiring is buried and fixed in the floor, so it is necessary to rewire or relocate on the floor when the furniture is rearranged. Occurs. For this reason, the floor needs to be modified when the wiring is redone, resulting in a high cost, and when wiring on the floor, there is a problem that the aesthetic appearance is impaired. On the other hand, in the over-head wiring system, it is not necessary to process the floor when rearranging furniture equipped with information and communication equipment, but since the wiring in the ceiling and the information and communication equipment are connected, the ceiling mounting pitch is In the case of a large size, the arrangement position of the furniture equipped with the information communication device is limited, and in order to solve this problem, it is necessary to re-wire the ceiling. Further, since the energy tube and the energy pole are exposed in the indoor space, there is a problem that the appearance is impaired.

In order to solve the above problems, a spatial signal transmission method in which a LAN wired in the ceiling and an information communication device are optically coupled by infrared rays has also been proposed, but the cost is high and the signal transmission capability is not sufficient, There is a problem that when infrared rays are momentarily cut off by an obstacle, signal transmission may become impossible. This problem becomes more noticeable as the signal transmission speed increases, because the signal density increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to manufacture at low cost and there is no need to refurbish the ceiling or floor due to the rearrangement of furniture equipped with information and communication equipment, and instantaneous interruption due to obstacles. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optically coupled LAN that does not cause

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to an in-ceiling LAN arranged in a ceiling, and an inter-furniture which is housed in furniture equipped with an information communication device and placed on a floor and which connects the information communication devices. The same signal can be transmitted through the space in the LAN and the first transmission direction from the LAN in the ceiling to the LAN between the furniture and the second transmission direction from the LAN in the furniture to the LAN in the ceiling And an optical coupling means capable of optically coupling the second transmission direction and adjusting the second transmission direction.

[Action]

According to the present invention, the intra-ceiling LAN is arranged in the ceiling, and the inter-furniture LAN connecting the information communication devices is housed in the furniture equipped with the information communication devices and placed on the floor. The LAN in the ceiling and the LAN between the furniture are the LAN from the ceiling to the LAN between the furniture.
Are optically coupled by the optical coupling means so that the same signal can be transmitted at a plurality of locations in the first transmission direction toward the LAN and the second transmission direction from the furniture LAN to the LAN in the ceiling. Since the in-ceiling LAN and the furniture-to-furniture LAN are optically coupled at multiple locations in this way, signal transmission is possible even if any one of the optically coupled sections is cut off, thus preventing the occurrence of instantaneous interruptions. To be done. Further, since the LAN connecting the information communication devices is housed in the furniture, it is not necessary to renovate the floor by rearranging the furniture, and the LAN is housed in the furniture so that the aesthetic appearance is not deteriorated. Furthermore, even if the furniture is rearranged, the LA between the furniture can be
By adjusting the second transmission direction from N to the LAN in the ceiling, it is possible to form a good transmission line for the LAN in the ceiling, so you can freely layout without rewiring. Can be dealt with.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the LAN for connecting the information communication device is housed in the furniture, so that the aesthetic appearance is good, and the LAN in the ceiling and the LAN between the furniture are optically coupled at a plurality of places, so that one place is provided. Even if signal transmission becomes impossible with, signal transmission can be continued at other places, which can prevent momentary interruption and increase the signal transmission speed, and relocate furniture. Even in the case where the optical coupling means is used, by adjusting the second transmission direction from the furniture LAN to the LAN in the ceiling, it is possible to form a good transmission path for the LAN in the ceiling. can get.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-building LAN system to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an in-floor LAN system in one floor of a building. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, an in-ceiling LAN 38 is housed in the ceiling 32. This in-ceiling LAN38 has multiple signal converters 4
0 and a packet node 52 are connected to each other, and one of the signal converters 40 is optically coupled to an information communication device via a spatial signal transmission device 62 using infrared rays.
Each of the signal converters 40 arranged at an arbitrary distance,
Ceiling light transceivers 42 and 44 are connected. The ceiling optical transmitters / receivers 42, 44 are fixedly arranged on the ceiling at a predetermined distance so as to face the same direction and are interlocked with each other. The packet node 52 in the ceiling LAN 38 is connected to the remote terminal 54 that constitutes the host LAN 56. Host LA
A host computer 58 is connected to one of the remote terminals 54 constituting the N56, and a gateway 60 is connected to the other one.

An inter-furniture LAN 46 is housed in the furniture 30 that is equipped with the information communication device 28 and placed on the floor 26. A furniture light transceiver 48 is connected to the inter-furniture LAN 46 so as to face the ceiling light transceiver 42, and a furniture light transceiver 50 is connected so as to face the ceiling light transceiver 44.

Furniture 30 including the information communication device 28 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), a plurality of hooks 64 for guiding the wires 16 are attached to the back surface, and the wires 16 and the hooks 64 are covered with a cover 68. Also furniture
Furniture optical transceivers 48 and 50 are attached to the upper surface of the end of 30. The furniture optical transceivers 48 and 50 are configured such that the tubular portions 48A and 50A are movable, and the transmitting and receiving directions can be changed by moving the tubular portions 48A and 50A. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Furniture optical transceiver 50 even when is moved in the direction of the arrow
By moving the cylindrical portion 50A, the transmitting / receiving direction can be directed toward the ceiling optical transmitter / receiver 44, so that good light transmission can be achieved even when the furniture is rearranged.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. L between ceiling LAN38 and furniture L
AN46 is a signal transmission by either an optical coupling means composed of a ceiling optical transceiver 42 and a furniture optical transceiver 48 or an optical coupling means constituted by a ceiling optical transceiver 44 and a furniture optical transceiver 50. Do. That is, these optical coupling means transmit the same signal at a plurality of locations in the first transmission direction from the LAN in the ceiling to the LAN between the furniture and the second transmission direction from the LAN between the furniture to the LAN in the ceiling. They are interlocked with each other, and are configured to be able to transmit signals if either one of the optical coupling means forms a transmission path by OR logic. Here, since the optical coupling means are arranged at positions separated by a predetermined distance, the probability that both the optical coupling means and the light are blocked by the obstacle at the same time is extremely low, which significantly improves the reliability of signal transmission. .
Further, since many information communication devices are connected to the pair of optical coupling means via LAN, cost reduction can be achieved unlike the conventional method in which an infrared space transmission device is provided for each information communication device. . Since the cost can be reduced in this way, a high-speed transmission device can be used, which further improves the performance. Further, as described with reference to FIG. 8, even when the furniture is rearranged, it is possible to form a good transmission path for the ceiling optical transceiver by changing the direction of the tubular portion of the furniture optical transceiver. Therefore, it is possible to deal with a free layout without requiring rewiring or the like.

In addition, although the example which attached the cover which covers wiring etc. to furniture etc. was demonstrated above, this cover may approach a wall etc. and furniture may be arrange | positioned. For this reason, it may be necessary to move the furniture to remove the cover when performing the wiring repair of the LAN between the furniture.Therefore, the furniture should be equipped with an electric hook that moves in the vertical direction and in the direction to move toward and away from the wiring. The necessary wiring may be pulled out from the electric hook for repair. Further, although an example in which a pair of optical coupling means is provided has been described above, three or more optical coupling means may be provided. Furthermore,
An example in which the optical coupling means are interlocked with each other has been described above, but an OR circuit is provided, and a plurality of furniture optical transceivers are connected to the input end of this OR circuit, and the output end of the OR circuit is connected to the LAN in the ceiling. It may be connected to a signal converter.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an in-floor LAN system of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are schematic diagrams showing a conventional wiring system, and FIG. Is a schematic view showing the in-building LAN system of the above embodiment, FIG. 7 (1) is a perspective view showing a state in which furniture equipped with information communication equipment is covered, and FIG. 7 (2) is FIG. 7 (1). Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the cover is removed, and Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the direction of the tubular portion of the furniture optical transceiver when the furniture is moved. 28 …… Information and communication equipment, 30 …… Furniture, 42,44 …… Ceiling light transceiver, 48,50 …… Furniture light transceiver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An in-ceiling LAN arranged in the ceiling, an inter-furniture LAN which is housed in furniture equipped with an information communication device and placed on a floor and which connects the information communication devices, and the in-ceiling space L
In the first transmission direction from the AN to the inter-furniture LAN and in the second transmission direction from the inter-furniture LAN to the in-ceiling LAN, the same signal is optically coupled at a plurality of locations so that the same signal can be transmitted through space, and An optical coupling LAN including an optical coupling means capable of adjusting a second transmission direction.