Fire alarm system and communication method

Abstract

To raise a probability that a terminal such as a fire sensor can correctly receive data addressed to the own terminal.SOLUTION: A control device 1 includes: a storage section 13 for storing first unique data and address data different from the first unique data by association in association with a plurality of terminals 2; a detection data generation section 148 for generating error detection data based on transmission data and the first unique data; and a polling signal transmission section 141 for transmitting control data obtained by associating the transmission data with the error detection data to the terminals 2 together with the address data. Each one of the terminals 2 includes: a storage section 24 for storing second unique data and terminal address data which are assigned to the own terminal; and an error detection section 243 for detecting whether an error occurs in the received control data based on the second unique data and the error detection data included in the control data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fire alarm system and a communication method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a fire alarm system in which a fire receiver polls multiple fire detectors to obtain status information indicating the status detected by the fire detectors (e.g., the occurrence of a fire or the occurrence of smoke) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-035780 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Depending on the environment in which the communication line for transmitting and receiving data between the fire receiver and the fire detector is installed, there may be a lot of noise superimposed on the communication line, which may cause errors in the address in the transmitted data. It is also possible that a malfunction occurs in the fire detector, causing the address stored in the fire detector to change. In such a state, the fire detector corresponding to the destination address of the data may not be able to receive the data sent to the fire detector. It is also possible that the fire detector may receive data sent to another fire detector, causing it to malfunction.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of these points, and has an object to increase the probability that a terminal such as a fire detector can correctly receive data addressed to itself. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A fire alarm system of a first aspect of the present invention comprises a plurality of terminals and a control device communicating with the plurality of terminals via a communication line. The control device has a device memory unit that associates and stores first unique data specific to each of the plurality of terminals with address data different from the first unique data, a transmission data creation unit that creates transmission data to be sent to the terminal, a detection data creation unit that creates error detection data based on the transmission data and the first unique data, and a data transmission unit that transmits control data that associates the transmission data and the error detection data to the terminal together with the address data. The terminal has a terminal memory unit that stores second unique data and terminal address data assigned to the terminal, a data receiving unit that receives the control data transmitted together with the address data that matches the terminal address data, and an error detection unit that detects whether an error has occurred in the control data received by the data receiving unit based on the second unique data and the error detection data included in the control data.

[0007] The control device may further have a unique data receiving unit that receives the second unique data transmitted from the terminal before the data transmitting unit transmits the control data, and stores the received second unique data in the device memory unit as the first unique data.

[0008] The unique data receiving unit may request the terminal to transmit the second unique data when data is received from the terminal while the first unique data is not stored in the device storage unit.

[0009] The detection data creation unit may create the error detection data by performing a predetermined calculation on a checksum created based on the transmission data and the first unique data.

[0010] A communication method of a second aspect of the present invention is a communication method executed by a terminal and a control device that communicates with the terminal via a communication line, and includes the following steps executed by the control device: creating transmission data to be sent to the terminal; creating error detection data based on the transmission data and first unique data unique to the terminal; sending control data that associates the transmission data and the error detection data to the terminal together with address data different from the first unique data; receiving the control data sent together with the address data that matches terminal address data assigned to the terminal, executed by the terminal; and detecting whether an error has occurred in the received control data based on the second unique data assigned to the terminal and the error detection data included in the control data. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, there is an effect that the probability that a terminal such as a fire detector can correctly receive data addressed to itself is increased. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm system S. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a communication method between a control device 1 and a plurality of terminals 2. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configurations of a control device 1 and a terminal 2. [Figure 4] 11 is a diagram showing a communication method between the control device 1 and a plurality of terminals 2 in a polling period after the representative terminal has been switched. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an address management table. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating another example of the address management table. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a communication method between a control device 1 and a plurality of terminals 2 when a proxy response is performed. [Figure 8]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of a communication method between the control device 1 and a plurality of terminals 2 when a proxy response is performed. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a communication method in which the control device 1 transmits a response signal as a proxy. [Figure 10] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control device 1a capable of changing a communication speed based on the quality of a communication line L. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process for changing a communication speed. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device 1b having a function of displaying trend data. [Figure 13] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of trend data displayed on the output unit 12. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control device 1c that transmits and receives unique data. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a terminal 2a that transmits and receives unique data. [Figure 16] 2 is a diagram showing an example of a communication format of data transmitted between a control device 1 and a terminal 2. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] [Fire Alarm System S Overview] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm system S. The fire alarm system S includes a control device 1 and multiple terminals 2. The control device 1 is included in a fire receiver and functions as a control panel. The control device 1 is connected to multiple communication lines L, and is connected to multiple terminals 2 via the communication lines L.

[0014] The multiple terminals 2 are condition detection terminals, such as smoke detectors 2A or heat detectors 2B, for detecting abnormal conditions such as fire, smoke, or strange odors in a facility in which a fire alarm system S is installed. As shown in Fig. 1, the multiple terminals 2 may include a repeater 2C connected to multiple smoke exhaust terminals ER.

[0015] The control device 1 collects state information indicating the state of the surroundings of the terminal 2 sensed by each of the multiple terminals 2 by sequentially polling at least some of the multiple terminals 2 via the communication line L. First, an overview of the communication method using polling in the fire alarm system S will be described.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a communication method between the control device 1 and a plurality of terminals 2. In the example shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the control device 1 is connected to 256 terminals 2. Unique identification information is assigned to each of the plurality of terminals 2. For example, a unique address 00 to FF is assigned to each of the plurality of terminals 2. Although the addresses are shown in hexadecimal numbers in FIG. 2, the addresses may be expressed in decimal numbers, binary numbers, or other formats. The terminal 2 has a setting processing unit (not shown) for setting the addresses, and for example, when the terminal 2 is installed, the address of the terminal 2 is set by an installer.

[0017] The multiple terminals 2 are divided into multiple groups. In the example shown in Fig. 2, 256 terminals 2 are divided into 32 groups, each of which includes 8 terminals 2. The first group includes terminals 2 with addresses 00 to 07, the second group includes terminals 2 with addresses 08 to 0F, and the 32nd group includes terminals 2 with addresses F8 to FF.

[0018] The control device 1 polls by transmitting a polling signal to the representative terminal of each of the multiple groups. The representative terminal is one terminal 2 selected from the multiple terminals 2 belonging to each group. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the representative terminal of the first group is the terminal 2 with address 00, the representative terminal of the second group is the terminal 2 with address 08, and the representative terminal of the 32nd group is the terminal 2 with address F8. The control device 1 transmits the polling signal to the representative addresses of all the groups in sequence, and after transmitting the polling signal to the representative terminal of the 32nd group, returns to the first group and repeats the transmission of the polling signal to the representative terminal of each group. When the representative terminal of each group receives the polling signal, it transmits the status information of its own terminal to the control device 1.

[0019] After the period during which the representative terminal transmits status information, an interrupt acceptance period T 1 occurs during which terminals 2 other than the representative terminal belonging to each group can transmit status information to the control device 1. int In the interrupt acceptance period, time slots are provided in the number equal to the number of terminals 2 other than the representative terminal that belong to the group. Each of the terminals 2 other than the representative terminal is assigned to one of the time slots.

[0020] In the example shown in FIG. 2, seven time slots are provided for the first group, and each time slot is assigned to seven terminals 2 with addresses 01 to 07. After the period in which the representative terminal of the second group transmits status information, an interrupt acceptance period T int When the terminal 2 has status information to notify the control device 1, the terminal 2 can transmit the status information at the timing of the time slot assigned to the terminal. The terminal 2 may always transmit the status information at the time slot assigned to the terminal.

[0021] As described above, in the fire alarm system S, a plurality of terminals 2 are divided into a plurality of groups, and after a representative terminal of each group transmits status information in response to a polling signal, an interrupt acceptance period T during which other terminals 2 in each group can transmit status information is set. int With this configuration, the cycle for transmitting the polling signal can be made shorter than when the control device 1 transmits the polling signal to all of the terminals 2 in sequence.

[0022] Furthermore, if a terminal 2 other than the representative terminal detects an abnormality, the interrupt acceptance period T int In addition, since terminals 2 other than the representative terminal transmit status information in the time slots assigned to them, collisions do not occur when multiple terminals 2 transmit status information. As a result, the control device 1 is able to quickly obtain status information even if the number of communicating terminals 2 increases. The configurations and operations of the control device 1 and terminals 2 will be described in detail below.

[0023] [Configuration of control device 1 and terminal 2] 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control device 1 and the terminal 2. The control device 1 has a communication unit 11, an output unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a control unit 14. The control unit 14 has a polling signal transmission unit 141, a status information reception unit 142, and an information output unit 143.

[0024] The terminal 2 includes a communication unit 21, an input unit 22, an output unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a control unit 25. The control unit 25 includes a polling signal receiving unit 251, a status information transmitting unit 252, and an information output unit 253.

[0025] The communication unit 11 has a communication interface for communicating with the terminal 2 via the communication line L. The communication unit 11 transmits a polling signal generated by the polling signal transmitting unit 141 to the terminal 2 via the communication line L, receives status information transmitted by the terminal 2, and inputs the received status information to the status information receiving unit 142.

[0026] The output unit 12 is a device that outputs various types of information, and includes, for example, at least one of a display that functions as a display device, a light-emitting diode, and a speaker.

[0027] The storage unit 13 has storage media such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), and a Solid State Drive (SSD). The storage unit 13 stores a program executed by the control unit 14. The storage unit 13 also stores information regarding the multiple terminals 2. For example, the storage unit 13 stores the addresses of the multiple terminals 2, and stores status information transmitted from the multiple terminals 2. Furthermore, the storage unit 13 stores the address of the terminal 2 operating as the representative terminal.

[0028] The control unit 14 has, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and executes various processes. The control unit 14 executes a program stored in the storage unit 13, thereby functioning as a polling signal transmission unit 141, a status information reception unit 142, and an information output unit 143.

[0029] The polling signal transmitting unit 141 transmits a polling signal to a representative terminal of a plurality of terminals 2 belonging to a plurality of groups. After transmitting a polling signal to a representative terminal of a first group of the plurality of groups and a transmission period for a response signal corresponding to the first group has elapsed, the polling signal transmitting unit 141 transmits a polling signal to a representative terminal of a second group different from the first group.

[0030] The polling signal transmitting unit 141 uses a timer to manage the timing of transmitting a polling signal, and when the time to transmit a polling signal arrives, it transmits the polling signal to the address of the terminal 2 stored as the representative terminal in the storage unit 13. The polling signal includes start data, address data, command data, parameters, check data, and stop data. The check data is provided so that the terminal 2 can check whether the address data, command data, and parameter values ​​have been correctly received, and is, for example, checksum or CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) data.

[0031] The status information receiving unit 142 receives status information indicating the status of the terminals 2 from the terminals 2 via the communication unit 11. The status information receiving unit 142 receives status information contained in a response signal transmitted in response to transmitting a polling signal from the terminal 2 operating as the representative terminal. The response signal contains start data, address data, parameters, check data, and stop data.

[0032] Furthermore, the status information receiving unit 142 receives status information transmitted during the interrupt acceptance period from a terminal 2 that does not operate as a representative terminal. The status information receiving unit 142 identifies the terminal 2 that transmitted the status information, for example, based on the position of the time slot in which the status information was received. The status information transmitted by the terminal 2 may include the address of the terminal 2, and the status information receiving unit 142 may identify the terminal 2 that transmitted the status information based on the address. The status information receiving unit 142 stores the received status information in the storage unit 13 in association with the address of the terminal 2. The status information receiving unit 142 notifies the information output unit 143 of the reception of the status information or of the status information.

[0033] The information output unit 143 outputs notification information based on the status information received by the status information receiving unit 142. For example, when the status information indicates an abnormal state, the information output unit 143 causes the output unit 12 functioning as a display unit to display notification information indicating the occurrence of an abnormality in association with information identifying the terminal 2 that transmitted the status information. The information output unit 143 may cause the output unit 12 to display text information or image information, or may cause a light-emitting device included in the output unit 12 to emit light. The information output unit 143 may also cause a speaker included in the output unit 12 to output sound as the notification information.

[0034] Next, the terminal 2 will be described. The communication unit 21 has a communication interface for communicating with the control device 1 via the communication line L. The communication unit 21 receives a polling signal transmitted by the control device 1, and inputs the received polling signal to a polling signal receiving unit 251. The communication unit 21 also transmits status information input from a status information transmitting unit 252 to the control device 1.

[0035] The input unit 22 detects the state of the surroundings of the terminal 2 and receives input of information for operating the terminal 2. The input unit 22 is, for example, a heat detection sensor, a smoke detection sensor, a flame sensor, or an illuminance sensor. The input unit 22 may receive input of information for operating a smoke exhaust terminal device.

[0036] The output unit 23 includes a display device (for example, a light emitting diode) that displays information. The output unit 23 changes the display mode based on the information input from the information output unit 253.

[0037] The storage unit 24 has a storage medium such as a ROM and a RAM. The storage unit 24 stores a program executed by the control unit 25. The storage unit 24 stores a preset address of the terminal 2. The storage unit 24 also stores data for identifying whether the terminal 2 is a representative terminal or not, and a time slot number during which status information can be transmitted when the terminal 2 is not a representative terminal. Furthermore, the storage unit 24 stores status information indicating the status of the surroundings of the terminal 2 detected by the input unit 22 in association with time.

[0038] The control unit 25 includes, for example, a CPU. The control unit 25 executes a program stored in the storage unit 24 to function as a polling signal receiving unit 251 and a status information transmitting unit 252.

[0039] The polling signal receiving unit 251 receives a polling signal transmitted by the control device 1 via the communication unit 21. The polling signal receiving unit 251 notifies the status information transmitting unit 252 that the polling signal has been received. The polling signal receiving unit 251 receives a polling signal transmitted together with a destination address that matches an address stored in the storage unit 24. The polling signal receiving unit 251 may determine whether the polling signal is addressed to the terminal by comparing the address of the terminal stored in the storage unit 24 with the destination address included in the polling signal. In this case, when the polling signal receiving unit 251 determines that the polling signal addressed to the terminal has been received, it notifies the status information transmitting unit 252 that the polling signal has been received.

[0040] When operating as a representative terminal, the status information transmission unit 252 transmits a response signal including status information in response to a polling signal. When the data stored in the storage unit 24 indicates that the terminal itself is a representative terminal, the status information transmission unit 252 reads out the status information stored in the storage unit 24 and transmits a response signal including the status information.

[0041] When the state information transmitting unit 252 does not operate as a representative terminal and when it is necessary to transmit state information to the control device 1, the state information transmitting unit 252 transmits state information after the representative terminal transmits a response signal. When the state information transmitting unit 252 does not operate as a representative terminal, the state information transmitting unit 252 transmits state information in a time slot assigned to the terminal among a plurality of time slots after the representative terminal transmits a response signal. Specifically, when the data stored in the storage unit 24 indicates that the terminal is not a representative terminal, the state information transmitting unit 252 transmits state information at the timing of the time slot assigned to the terminal by referring to the time slot number of the terminal stored in the storage unit 24. The state information transmitting unit 252 may transmit state information on the condition that state information updated from previously transmitted state information is stored in the storage unit 24.

[0042] However, if the representative terminal is fixed, the control device 1 cannot check whether the terminal 2 that does not transmit status information during the interruption acceptance period is operating normally. Therefore, in the fire alarm system S, the representative terminal may be switched for each polling cycle in which polling signals are transmitted from the 1st group to the 32nd group.

[0043] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a communication method between the control device 1 and multiple terminals 2 in a polling period after the representative terminal has been switched. In the example shown in Fig. 4, the representative terminal of the first group is terminal 2 with address 01, and the representative terminal of the second group is terminal 2 with address 09, and the addresses have been changed from the representative terminals shown in Fig. 2. In this way, the polling signal transmitting unit 141 transmits polling signals to multiple first-period representative terminals that are multiple representative terminals in the first period (i.e., the first polling period), and then transmits polling signals to multiple second-period representative terminals that are multiple representative terminals in the second period (i.e., the second polling period) following the first period.

[0044] The first period representative terminals are, for example, terminals 2 with addresses 00, 08, . . . , F8 shown in FIG. 2, and the second period representative terminals are, for example, terminals 2 with addresses 01, 09, . . . , F9 shown in FIG. 3. The polling signal transmission unit 141 transmits a polling signal to a second period representative terminal to which a second address having a predetermined relationship with the first address of the first period representative terminal is assigned during the second period. The predetermined relationship is, for example, a relationship in which the difference between the first address and the second address is a predetermined value. Alternatively, in addition to the predetermined relationship, the terminals 2 may be grouped and registered in a management table based on the installation locations of the terminals, and the addresses to which the polling signal is transmitted during each period may be managed in the management table.

[0045] As shown in Fig. 4, the terminal 2 assigned to the multiple time slots of the interrupt acceptance period is also switched for each polling cycle. That is, the state information transmission unit 252 transmits a response signal in the first time slot assigned to the terminal in the first period, and transmits a response signal in the second time slot different from the first time slot in the second period. In the example shown in Fig. 4, in the interrupt acceptance period of the first group, the time slots are assigned in the order of address 02, address 03, ..., address 00.

[0046] 5 is a diagram showing an example of an address management table showing the address of the representative terminal and the addresses of terminals 2 assigned to each time slot for each polling period. It can be seen that the address of the representative terminal and the addresses of terminals 2 assigned to each time slot increase by 1 every time the polling period changes. The rule for changing the addresses for each polling period is arbitrary.

[0047] The control device 1 and terminal 2 store address management data in which the polling period, the address of the representative terminal, and the address of terminal 2 assigned to each time slot are associated with each other, as shown in Fig. 5. The polling signal transmitting unit 141 of the control device 1 refers to the address management data and transmits a polling signal to the representative terminal corresponding to the polling period.

[0048] When the polling signal receiving unit 251 of the terminal 2 receives a polling signal addressed to the terminal, it recognizes that the terminal is the representative terminal and transmits a response signal. The status information transmitting unit 252 of the terminal 2 that is not the representative terminal identifies the destination address included in the polling signal addressed to the other terminals received by the polling signal receiving unit 251, and by referring to the address management data, identifies the polling cycle number in which the destination address is the representative terminal. Then, by referring to the address management data, the status information transmitting unit 252 identifies the time slot assigned to the terminal in the identified polling cycle number, and transmits the status information in the identified time slot.

[0049] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the address management table. In the address management table shown in Fig. 6, the interrupt acceptance period includes the same number of time slots as the number of terminals 2 in the group. Furthermore, the addresses of terminals 2 assigned to each time slot are fixed regardless of the polling cycle. The time slot corresponding to the terminal 2 that is the representative terminal in each polling cycle is shown as "free" and is not used. When the fire alarm system S operates based on such an address management table, the terminal 2 does not need to change the time slot for each polling cycle, and the processing load is reduced.

[0050] In the above explanation, a communication method has been exemplified in which a representative terminal that has received a polling signal transmits a response signal, and then a terminal 2 other than the representative terminal transmits status information, but there are cases in which the representative terminal cannot transmit a response signal because it has been removed or broken. In such cases, after the period in which the representative terminal should transmit a response signal has elapsed, another terminal 2 may transmit a response signal on behalf of the representative terminal. When the status information transmitting unit 252 of the terminal 2 that transmits the response signal on behalf of the representative terminal does not operate as a representative terminal, it transmits a proxy response signal to the control device 1 when it detects that the representative terminal does not transmit a response signal during the period in which the response signal should be transmitted.

[0051] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a communication method between the control device 1 and multiple terminals 2 when a proxy response is performed. In Fig. 7(a), the terminal 2 with address 00, which is the representative terminal, did not send a response signal, so the terminal 2 with address 01 sends a response signal on its behalf.

[0052] 7(b), a proxy response acceptance period is provided in which a terminal 2 other than the representative terminal can transmit a response signal on its behalf, and multiple time slots may be provided in the proxy response acceptance period in which multiple terminals 2 in the group can transmit response signals on its behalf. In this case, for example, a terminal 2 having status information to be notified to the control device 1 may transmit a response signal including the status information using the time slot assigned to itself.

[0053] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing another example of a communication method between the control device 1 and multiple terminals 2 when a proxy response is performed. In Fig. 8, the representative terminal is the terminal 2 with address 01, and the terminal 2 with address 02 transmits a response signal on behalf of the representative terminal. In this way, multiple terminals 2 may operate based on the rule that the terminal 2 with the next address after the representative terminal transmits a response signal on behalf of the representative terminal.

[0054] Instead of the terminal 2 making a proxy response, the control device 1 may make a proxy response. Specifically, the control device 1 may further have a proxy response signal transmission unit (not shown) that transmits a proxy response signal that can be received by the status information receiving unit 142 when it detects that the representative terminal does not transmit a response signal during the period for transmitting a response signal, or when it is registered in advance that the representative terminal does not transmit a response signal during the period for transmitting a response signal (i.e., there is no terminal 2 assigned to the time slot for transmitting a response signal). The fact that the representative terminal does not transmit a response signal is stored in the storage unit 13 in response to, for example, an operation by an administrator of the control device 1. When the control device 1 responds on behalf of the terminal 2, the terminal 2 that needs to transmit status information does not need to wait until the next polling period, so that the control device 1 can acquire status information quickly, and the reliability of the fire alarm system S is improved.

[0055] 9 is a diagram showing a communication method in which the control device 1 transmits a response signal on behalf of the representative terminal. In this case, when the period during which the representative terminal should transmit a response signal has elapsed, the proxy response signal transmitting unit transmits a proxy response signal including the address of the representative terminal as a source address to the communication line L. By transmitting the proxy response signal by the control device 1, even if the terminals 2 other than the representative terminal do not transmit a proxy response signal, the terminals 2 other than the representative terminal can assume that the representative terminal has transmitted a response signal and transmit state information in their own time slots.

[0056] [Quality check of communication line L] When the quality of the communication line L is degraded due to a decrease in the insulation of the communication line L, the installation of other devices that become noise sources, or anomalies in electromagnetic waves due to solar storms, errors may occur in the data transmitted and received between the control device 1 and the terminal 2. If errors occur frequently, the status information transmitted by the terminal 2 is not transmitted correctly to the control device 1, resulting in a problem that the control device 1 cannot report the occurrence of an abnormality such as a fire. Therefore, the control device 1 may have a configuration for changing (e.g., decreasing) the communication speed between the control device 1 and the terminal 2 when the quality of the communication line L is poor.

[0057] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device 1a capable of changing the communication speed based on the quality of the communication line L. The control device 1a shown in Fig. 10 differs from the control device 1 shown in Fig. 3 in that it further includes a filter 15, a switching unit 16, a state detection unit 17, and an instruction signal transmission unit 144, but is the same in other respects.

[0058] The filter 15 removes noise contained in the signal transmitted by the terminal 2. The filter 15 is, for example, a low-pass filter that passes the main frequency components contained in the signal transmitted by the control device 1 and the terminal 2 and removes high-frequency noise superimposed on the communication line L. The filter 15 may be a band-pass filter that passes the main frequency components contained in the signal transmitted by the control device 1 and the terminal 2.

[0059] The switching unit 16 switches between inputting a signal on the opposite side of the filter 15 to the communication line L (e.g., the signal after passing through the filter 15) to the state detection unit 17, and inputting a signal on the communication line L side of the filter 15 (e.g., the signal before passing through the filter 15) to the state detection unit 17. The switching unit 16 switches the connection state based on the control of the instruction signal transmission unit 144, for example.

[0060] The state detection unit 17 detects the state of the communication line L based on both the response signal input to the filter 15, the signal output from the filter 15, and the signal not input to the filter 15. The state detection unit 17 detects the state of the communication line L and notifies the instruction signal transmission unit 144 of the detected state. The state detection unit 17 receives a signal on the communication line L side with respect to the filter 15 or a signal on the opposite side of the communication line L with respect to the filter 15 via the switching unit 16, and detects the state of the received signal. For example, the state detection unit 17 converts the input signal into a frequency domain signal by Fourier transform and performs frequency analysis to detect the magnitude of high-frequency noise superimposed on the communication line L as the state of the communication line L. The control device 1 may have a specific plurality of different types of filters as the filter 15, and may switch between them for use. The control device 1 may not use the switching unit 16, but may provide the state detection unit 17 with two input ports, and the state detection unit 17 may take in the signal that has passed through the filter 15 and the signal that has not been passed through the filter 15 into each input port to determine the state.

[0061] When the status detection unit 17 detects that the status of the communication line L has deteriorated, the instruction signal transmission unit 144 transmits an instruction signal having a pulse width indicating that the communication speed of the response signal should be reduced to the multiple terminals 2 connected to the communication line L in which the deterioration of the status has been detected. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the process for changing the communication speed. In FIG. 11, after the instruction signal CMD is transmitted, the time length of the polling signal transmitted by the control device 1 and the time length of the response signal transmitted by the terminal 2 are longer than before the instruction signal CMD was transmitted. This reduces the probability of an error occurring during transmission, improving the reliability of the fire alarm system S.

[0062] As an example, the instruction signal transmitting unit 144 switches the connection state of the switching unit 16, compares the state of the signal on the opposite side of the filter 15 from the communication line L with the state of the signal on the side of the filter 15 from the communication line L, and detects that the state of the communication line L has deteriorated when the difference between these signal states is greater than or equal to a reference level. When detecting that the state of the communication line L has deteriorated, the instruction signal transmitting unit 144 may transmit an instruction signal having a pulse width indicating the changed communication speed. For example, the instruction signal transmitting unit 144 transmits instruction signals having a longer pulse width to the multiple terminals 2 as the changed communication speed becomes slower. By transmitting such an instruction signal, the instruction signal transmitting unit 144 can easily reduce the communication speed when the state of the communication line L has deteriorated, making it less likely that a transmission error will occur.

[0063] When the status detection unit 17 detects that the status of the communication line L has improved, the instruction signal transmission unit 144 may transmit an instruction signal having a pulse width indicating that the communication speed of the response signal should be increased to the multiple terminals 2 connected to the communication line L for which the improvement in status has been detected. By transmitting such an instruction signal from the instruction signal transmission unit 144, the communication speed increases when the status of the communication line L is good, and it becomes possible for the terminals 2 to quickly notify the control device 1 of status information.

[0064] In the above description, the control device 1 has the filter 15 and detects the communication state of the communication line L, but the terminal 20 may have a filter equivalent to the filter 15 and a state detection unit equivalent to the state detection unit 17. In this case, the state detection unit detects the state of the communication line L based on both the polling signal input to the filter and the signal output from the filter, and the polling signal not input to the filter. When the state of the communication line L deteriorates, the terminal 20 changes the communication speed of the response signal to be transmitted, or notifies the control device 1 of the detected state of the communication line L, causing the control device 1 to change the communication speed.

[0065] When the condition of the communication line L is deteriorated, the terminal 20 may not be able to notify the control device 1 that the condition of the communication line L is deteriorated. Therefore, when the terminal 20 detects that the condition of the communication line L is deteriorated, the terminal 20 may drive a display device (e.g., a light-emitting diode) to change the blinking cycle, blinking pattern, lighting color, or the like, thereby notifying the user of the fire alarm system S that the condition of the communication line L is deteriorated. By configuring the terminal 20 in this way, repair work by a maintenance worker can be performed quickly and the efficiency of the repair work can be improved.

[0066] [View Trend Data] The control device 1 has a trend data display function that enables the administrator of the control device 1 to know the tendency of changes in the conditions around the terminal 2 by arranging the conditions in chronological order and graphing them detected by the terminal 2. Conventionally, the control device 1 stores the status information acquired every time it polls in the storage unit 13, and reads out multiple pieces of status information stored in the storage unit 13 when it is necessary to display trend data.

[0067] However, in the fire alarm system S according to this embodiment, a plurality of terminals 2 are divided into groups, and some terminals 2 do not transmit status information to the control device 1 in response to the control device 1 transmitting a polling signal. Therefore, it is difficult for the control device 1 to store the status information of the terminals 2 in chronological order. Therefore, the terminals 2 may store the status information in chronological order at a predetermined time interval, and when trend data needs to be displayed, the terminals 2 may transmit the status information stored in chronological order to the control device 1. The predetermined time interval is determined based on the target detected by the terminals 2, and is, for example, 5 seconds.

[0068] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device 1b having a function of displaying trend data. The control device 1b shown in Fig. 12 differs from the control device 1 shown in Fig. 3 in that it further includes an operation unit 18 and a request signal transmission unit 145, but is the same in other respects.

[0069] The operation unit 18 is a device for accepting operations by an administrator of the control device 1, and is, for example, a touch panel provided over a display of the output unit 12. The request signal transmission unit 145 transmits a request signal requesting multiple pieces of state information associated with multiple times to a selected terminal selected from the multiple terminals 2. The request signal transmission unit 145 selects the terminal 2 specified on the operation unit 18, for example.

[0070] Upon receiving the request signal, the terminal 2 sequentially transmits a plurality of pieces of status information stored in chronological order at a predetermined time interval in the storage unit 24 to the control device 1. For example, the terminal 2 associates the time when the status information was acquired with the status information, and transmits the plurality of pieces of status information in chronological order.

[0071] The information output unit 143 causes the output unit 12 to display a graph showing changes in the state of the selected terminal based on a plurality of pieces of state information transmitted by the selected terminal in response to the request signal transmitted by the request signal transmission unit 145. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of trend data displayed on the output unit 12. The horizontal axis of FIG. 13 indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates a value indicating the state detected by the terminal 2 (e.g., smoke concentration). By configuring the control device 1 and the terminal 2 in this way, it becomes possible for the control device 1 to output trend data even if all of the terminals 2 do not transmit state information every time the control device 1 transmits a polling signal.

[0072] [Suppressing the impact of incorrect addresses] Depending on the environment in which the communication line L is installed, there may be a lot of noise superimposed on the communication line L, which may cause an error in the address in the transmission data. It is also possible that a malfunction occurs in the terminal 2, causing the address stored in the terminal 2 to change. In such a state, the terminal 2 corresponding to the destination address of the data may not be able to receive data sent to the terminal 2. It is also possible that the terminal 2 with the malfunction receives data sent to another terminal 2, causing the terminal 2 to malfunction. If the terminal 2 is a terminal that drives a fire shutter or a fire extinguisher, there may be a problem in that the fire shutter or the fire extinguisher is erroneously activated.

[0073] Since terminal 2 has unique data (such as a serial number or MAC address) set at the time of manufacture in addition to the address of terminal 2, it is possible to include this unique data in the transmission data. However, transmitting unique data in addition to the address increases the length of the transmission data, which causes a problem of longer communication times.

[0074] Therefore, in the fire alarm system S, an error detection code may be generated by calculating a checksum, parity check code, CRC code, or the like used to detect errors in transmitted data using the unique data of the terminal 2 acquired in advance. If such an error detection code is included in the transmitted data, even if the terminal 2 receives data addressed to another terminal 2, the unique data used in the error detection code cannot be used. Then, the terminal 2 performs a process to detect errors using its own unique data, and processes the transmitted data as if an error has occurred. Therefore, even if the address stored in the terminal 2 changes due to a failure of the terminal 2, it is possible to prevent the terminal 2 from erroneously receiving data and malfunctioning.

[0075] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device 1c that transmits and receives unique data. The control device 1c shown in Fig. 14 differs from the control device 1 shown in Fig. 3 in that it has a unique data receiving unit 146, a transmission data creating unit 147, and a detection data creating unit 148, but is the same in other respects.

[0076] Fig. 15 is a diagram showing the configuration of a terminal 2a that transmits and receives unique data. The terminal 2a shown in Fig. 15 differs from the terminal 2 shown in Fig. 3 in that it further includes an error detection unit 254, but is the same in other respects.

[0077] Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a communication format of data transmitted between the control device 1 and the terminal 2. In Fig. 16, ST indicates start data, ADD indicates a destination address, DATA indicates the data body, CHK indicates an error detection code, and SP indicates stop data.

[0078] First, the configuration of the control device 1c will be described with reference to Fig. 14. The storage unit 13 functions as a device storage unit that associates the multiple terminals 2 with each other and stores first unique data specific to each of the multiple terminals 2. The storage unit 13 associates and stores the address data of each of the multiple terminals 2 with the first unique data. The first unique data is unique data of the terminal 2 stored by the control device 1.

[0079] The unique data receiving unit 146 receives the second unique data transmitted from terminal 2 before the polling signal transmitting unit 141 transmits control data (e.g., data for polling) to terminal 2, and stores the received second unique data in the storage unit 13 as first unique data. The second unique data is unique data of terminal 2 stored by terminal 2. For example, the unique data receiving unit 146 receives the second unique data immediately after terminal 2 is started up. The unique data receiving unit 146 stores the second unique data in the storage unit 13 in association with the address of terminal 2 transmitted together with the second unique data.

[0080] When the unique data receiving unit 146 receives data from terminal 2 in a state in which the first unique data is not stored in the storage unit 13, the unique data receiving unit 146 may request terminal 2 to transmit the second unique data. For example, when the unique data receiving unit 146 receives data from terminal 2, the unique data receiving unit 146 refers to the storage unit 13 and checks whether the first unique data is stored in the storage unit 13 in association with the address of terminal 2 included in the received data. When the first unique data is not stored in the storage unit 13, the unique data receiving unit 146 requests the second unique data in the next polling signal to be transmitted to terminal 2.

[0081] The transmission data creation unit 147 creates transmission data to be transmitted to the terminal 2. The transmission data creation unit 147 creates transmission data including, for example, a destination address and a data body. The data body includes, for example, data for polling. The transmission data creation unit 147 inputs the created transmission data to the polling signal transmission unit 141 and the detection data creation unit 148.

[0082] The detection data creation unit 148 creates error detection data based on the transmission data and the first unique data. The detection data creation unit 148 creates error detection data by performing a predetermined calculation, such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing the first unique data to a checksum created based on the transmission data.

[0083] The detection data creation unit 148 identifies the first unique data stored in the storage unit 13 in association with the destination address included in the transmission data, for example, and creates error detection data based on the transmission data and the identified first unique data. As an example, the detection data creation unit 148 adds the transmission data and the first unique data, and sets a predetermined number of lower-order data of the addition result as error detection data. The detection data creation unit 148 adds the transmission data and the first unique data in word (16-bit) units, for example, and sets the lowest word of the sum obtained by the addition as error detection data.

[0084] The detection data creating unit 148 may create error detection data using a predetermined CRC polynomial. In this case, the detection data creating unit 148 creates, for example, data based on a remainder obtained by dividing a data string consisting of the transmission data and the first unique word by the CRC polynomial as error detection data. The detection data creating unit 148 inputs the created error detection data to the polling signal transmitting unit 141.

[0085] The polling signal transmitting unit 141 functions as a data transmitting unit that transmits control data (e.g., data for polling) in which the transmission data input from the transmission data creating unit 147 and the error detection data input from the detection data creating unit 148 are associated with each other, together with address data different from the first unique data, to the terminal 2. Specifically, the polling signal transmitting unit 141 assembles the control data in the communication format shown in FIG.

[0086] Next, the configuration of the terminal 2a will be described with reference to Fig. 15. The storage unit 24 stores second unique data assigned to the terminal itself. The storage unit 24 stores, for example, data input via an external device interface (not shown) during manufacturing as the second unique data.

[0087] As described above, the polling signal receiving unit 251 receives control data (e.g., data for polling) transmitted by the control device 1. The polling signal receiving unit 251 inputs the received control data to the error detecting unit 254. The error detecting unit 254 detects whether or not an error has occurred in the control data received by the polling signal receiving unit 251, based on the second unique data and the error detection data included in the input control data.

[0088] For example, the error detection unit 254 adds up the data included in the transmission data included in the control data on a word-by-word basis and compares the lowest word of the sum obtained by the addition with the error detection data included in the control data. If the sum obtained by the addition matches the error detection data as a result of the comparison, the error detection unit 254 determines that the control data has been received normally, and if they do not match, determines that the control data has not been received normally. If the error detection unit 254 determines that the control data has not been received normally, it may transmit a retransmission request to the control device 1 via the status information transmission unit 252.

[0089] When the status information receiving unit 142 of the control device 1 receives a retransmission request from the terminal 2 that transmitted the control data, it causes the polling signal transmitting unit 141 to retransmit the control data. On the other hand, when the status information receiving unit 142 receives a retransmission request from the terminal 2 that has not transmitted the control data, it does not cause the polling signal transmitting unit 141 to retransmit the control data, but causes the information output unit 143 to output error information. At this time, the information output unit 143 outputs the error information to the output unit 12 in association with information (e.g., an address) for identifying the terminal 2 that transmitted the retransmission request. By the information output unit 143 outputting such error information, the manager of the fire alarm system S can identify the malfunctioning terminal 2.

[0090] In the above description, the control device 1 transmits control data including error detection data created based on unique data, but the terminal 2 may transmit data (e.g., status information or a response signal) including error detection data created based on unique data. In this case, the terminal 2 generates the error detection data based on the second unique data stored in the storage unit 24.

[0091] Furthermore, when the control device 1 receives data from the terminal 2, it checks whether an error has occurred by using the first unique data stored in the storage unit 13 in association with the source address included in the received data. By the control device 1 and the terminal 2 operating in this manner, it is possible to prevent the control device 1 from erroneously recognizing that it has received data from another terminal 2 when the terminal 2 breaks down and transmits data containing an incorrect address.

[0092] In addition, the method of including error detection data created using unique data in the transmission data is not limited to the communication method using polling used by this fire alarm system S, but can be applied to any communication method.

[0093] [Dispersion of operation timing of terminal 20] A terminal 20 such as a fire detector or a repeater connected to the communication line L obtains the power and communication information it requires from the communication line L. The fire detector or repeater detects the state of the environment around it (for example, temperature, the presence or absence of smoke) and transmits state information indicating the detected state to the control device 1. Types of fire detectors include scattered light type smoke detectors, dimming type heat detectors, and heat detectors. A scattered light type smoke detector causes a light emitting element in a smoke detection section in the detector to emit light, and detects the amount of smoke as a signal that indicates the smoke concentration in the smoke detection section and is input to a light receiving element. A dimming type smoke detector detects the amount of smoke as the difference between the amount of light emitted by the light transmitting section and the amount of light received by the light receiving section. A heat detector detects the temperature by measuring the resistance value of a heat sensitive element (mainly a thermistor). In addition, an input repeater is a repeater connected to the communication line L, and the input repeater detects the input signal state of an input port.

[0094] When such a terminal 20 operates, it consumes power. In particular, a scattered light type smoke detector activates a light emitting element, and current consumption increases when the light is emitted. When there are many such smoke detectors, depending on the timing of the light emission, the light emission of multiple detectors may overlap, causing the current transmitted through the communication line L to become excessive, disrupting the waveform of the communication signal and causing an abnormality in communication between the control device 1 and the terminal 20. Therefore, it was necessary to determine the capacity of the communication driver of the control device 1 by estimating the number of light emitting elements that can emit light simultaneously.

[0095] It is possible to distribute the timing of current consumption by providing a clock in the terminal 20 and having each terminal 20 slightly shift its light emission timing based on the clock's measurements, but this requires a highly accurate clock in each terminal 20, resulting in increased costs.

[0096] To solve such problems, the terminal 20 may detect the state of the surrounding environment at the position where the terminal 20 is installed at a predetermined timing and store the detected state. Specifically, each terminal 20 belonging to the polled group detects the state of the surrounding environment at the timing when the representative terminal receives the polling and stores the detected state. In response to the polling signal receiving unit 251 receiving a polling signal addressed to the representative terminal belonging to the same group, the multiple terminals 20 detect their own surrounding state and store the detected state in the storage unit 24. The state information transmitting unit 252 creates state information based on the state stored in the storage unit 24 and transmits it to the control device 1.

[0097] If terminal 20 is a scattered light type smoke detector, it causes the light emitting element of the smoke detector in the detector to emit light, and detects the smoke concentration in the smoke detector based on the signal input to the light receiving element. If terminal 20 is a heat detector, it detects the temperature by measuring the resistance value of a heat sensitive element (mainly a thermistor). If terminal 20 is an input repeater, it detects the input signal of the input port.

[0098] If the terminal 20 is a representative terminal, it transmits status information indicating the stored status when responding to polling. If the terminal 20 is not a representative terminal, after the representative terminal transmits its status information, it transmits its status information within the interrupt acceptance period only if the stored status is an urgent status. By configuring the terminal 20 in this way, the capacity of the communication driver of the control device 1 can be set to a capacity determined in accordance with the current consumption when the maximum number of terminals 20 belonging to one group are operating simultaneously. As a result, the cost of the control device 1 is reduced, and stable communication is always possible.

[0099] [Effects of Fire Alarm System S] As described above, in the fire alarm system S, the control device 1 associates the control device 1 with the terminals 2 and stores the first unique data specific to each of the terminals 2, and the detection data creation unit 148 creates error detection data based on the transmission data and the first unique data. Then, the polling signal transmission unit 141 transmits to the terminal 2 control data in which the transmission data input from the transmission data creation unit 147 and the error detection data input from the detection data creation unit 148 are associated with each other, together with address data different from the first unique data. The terminal 2 stores the second unique data assigned to itself, and detects whether or not an error has occurred in the received control data based on the second unique data and the error detection data included in the control data. By configuring the fire alarm system S in this way, it is possible to increase the probability that a terminal such as a fire detector can correctly receive data addressed to itself.

[0100] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, all or part of the device can be configured by distributing or integrating functionally or physically in any unit. In addition, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment resulting from the combination combines the effect of the original embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0101] 1 Control device 2. Terminal 11 Communications Department 12 Output section 13 Storage section 14 Control section 15 Filters 16 Switching section 17 Status detection section 18 Control section 21 Communications Department 22 Input section 23 Output section 24 Memory section 25 Control Unit 141 Polling signal transmitter 142 Status information receiver 143 Information Output Section 144 Indication signal transmitter 145 Request signal transmitter 146 Unique Data Reception Unit 147 Transmission Data Creation Unit 148 Detection Data Creation Department 251 Polling signal receiver 252 Status information transmission unit 253 Information Output Section 254 Error detection unit

Claims

1. A control device that communicates with a plurality of terminals via a communication line, The control device includes: a device storage unit that associates and stores first unique data specific to each of the plurality of terminals with address data different from the first unique data, in association with the plurality of terminals; a transmission data creation unit that creates transmission data to be transmitted to the terminal; a detection data creation unit that creates first error detection data based on the transmission data and the first unique data; a data transmission unit that transmits control data, in which the transmission data and the first error detection data are associated with each other, together with the address data to the terminal; a status information receiving unit for receiving status information indicating a status of the terminal from the terminal; having The terminal includes: a terminal storage unit that stores second unique data and terminal address data assigned to the terminal; a data receiving unit for receiving the control data transmitted together with the address data that matches the terminal address data; an error detection unit that detects whether or not an error has occurred in the control data received by the data receiving unit based on the second unique data and the first error detection data included in the control data; a status information transmitting unit configured to transmit, to the control device, the status information including second error detection data created based on the second unique data and the terminal address data; having the control device detects whether or not an error has occurred in the status information based on the first unique data stored in the device storage unit in association with the terminal address data included in the received status information. Fire alarm system.

2. The control device further includes a unique data receiving unit that receives the second unique data transmitted from the terminal before the data transmitting unit transmits the control data, and stores the received second unique data in the device storage unit as the first unique data. The fire alarm system according to claim 1 .

3. the unique data receiving unit requests the terminal to transmit the second unique data when data is received from the terminal in a state in which the first unique data is not stored in the device storage unit; The fire alarm system according to claim 2.

4. the detection data creation unit creates the first error detection data by performing a predetermined calculation on the checksum created based on the transmission data and the first unique data; A fire alarm system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. A communication method executed by a terminal and a control device that communicates with the terminal via a communication line, comprising: The control device executes: creating transmission data to be transmitted to the terminal; creating first error detection data based on the transmission data and first unique data specific to the terminal; transmitting control data in which the transmission data and the first error detection data are associated with each other, together with address data different from the first unique data, to the terminal; receiving status information from the terminal, the status information indicating a status of the terminal; The terminal executes: receiving the control data transmitted together with the address data that matches the terminal address data assigned to the terminal; detecting whether an error has occurred in the received control data based on second unique data assigned to the terminal itself and the first error detection data included in the control data; transmitting the status information, which includes second error detection data created based on the second unique data and the terminal address data, to the control device; a step of detecting whether an error has occurred in the status information based on the first unique data stored in a device storage unit in association with the terminal address data included in the received status information, the step being executed by the control device after the terminal transmits the status information to the control device; A communication method comprising:

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