Worship candle debugging system and method

Abstract

A worship candle debugging system which includes a host and one or more worship candle controllers daisy-chained in series with the host. The host is configured to send a signal packet to the worship candle controller at a target address, when the worship candle controller matching the target address receives the signal packet, a control unit on a control circuit board executes a control instruction in the signal packet and sends out a confirmation packet along the daisy chain and transmits it to the host, so that the host can determine whether the status of the worship candle controller connected in series on the daisy chain is normal or not depending on whether the confirmation packet is received within a period of time after sending out the signal packet. As a result, the host can timely obtain a reminder to repair or replace a failed worship candle controller, which is convenient for the management and maintenance of a worship candle system.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a system and operation mode of a light lamp; more particularly to a system and method for detecting errors in a light lamp. [Previous Technology]

[0002] The existing lighting system is a series connection of multiple control circuit boards. When a specific control unit among the multiple control units receives a signal packet sent by the host, it will execute the control command contained in the signal packet with its control unit to control the lanterns or electronic display boards of the lighting system to perform corresponding actions such as searching for the light, displaying, or flashing.

[0003] However, the control circuit board of the existing lighting system lacks error detection functionality. Therefore, when the host sends signal packets to locate the light or control the lighting to perform specific actions, it cannot confirm whether the contacted control circuit board and the lighting at its location have actually received the control command and executed the corresponding action. Therefore, improvements are needed to enable the host to determine whether the lighting system is operating normally. [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a system setting and method for error detection, so that when the lighting system fails to execute control commands normally, it can immediately obtain a report of the abnormal status, and thereby carry out the corresponding maintenance and replacement of the lighting controller.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a lamp detection system, comprising a host and one or more lamp controllers daisy-chained to the host. The host sends a signal packet, the signal packet including at least a target address and a control command. The host determines whether the status is normal or abnormal by whether it receives an acknowledgment packet within a predetermined time after sending the signal packet. The lamp controller on the daisy chain has a control circuit board with a control unit. The control unit receives the signal packet, determines whether the lamp controller matches the target address. If it does not match, the signal packet continues to be passed along the daisy chain. If it matches, the control unit receives the signal packet and stops passing it. The control unit executes the control command according to the content of the signal packet and sends the aforementioned acknowledgment packet, which is then passed along the daisy chain to the host for reception.

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a method for detecting faults in a light bulb, the steps of which include: connecting one or more light bulb controllers in a daisy chain to a host; the host sending a signal packet with a control command to a light bulb controller at a target address; when the light bulb controller at the target address receives the signal packet, it executes the control command of the signal packet and sends an acknowledgment packet, so that the acknowledgment packet is passed backward along the daisy chain to the host for reception; and the host determining whether the status is normal or abnormal by whether it receives the acknowledgment packet within a predetermined time after sending the signal packet.

[0007] The effect of the present invention is that, by means of the lamp fault detection system and method, the host can determine whether the status is normal or abnormal by whether the confirmation packet is received within a predetermined time. In this way, when the lamp system fails to execute control commands normally, the abnormal status can be reported in time, thereby enabling the corresponding lamp controller to be repaired and replaced, which facilitates the management and maintenance of the lamp system.

Implementation Method

[0009] To more clearly illustrate the present invention, preferred embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a lamp detection system 100, includes a host 10 and a plurality of lamp controllers 20 daisy-chained to the host 10. In other preferred embodiments, only one lamp controller 20 may be connected in series to the host 10, or two or more other lamp controllers 20 may be connected in series to the lamp controller 20; the operation is the same as in this preferred embodiment.

[0010] The host 10 has a wireless module 11, which can receive external operations wirelessly or wiredly to send a signal packet A. The signal packet A includes a start address A1, a target address A2 and a control command A3. The control command A3 can be an instruction for the light controller 20 to control the electronic display board 30, lamps or speakers and other electronic devices electrically connected to it to perform corresponding actions such as finding lights, displaying text signs or flashing. After sending the signal packet A, the host 10 checks whether it receives an acknowledgment packet B within a predetermined time. If the acknowledgment packet B is received within the predetermined time, the status is judged to be normal. If the acknowledgment packet B is not received within the predetermined time, the status is judged to be abnormal. Since the delay of electronic signal transmission is on the order of milliseconds, the aforementioned predetermined time can be set to several milliseconds, tens of milliseconds or hundreds of milliseconds according to actual needs.

[0011] The signal packet A sent by the host 10 is transmitted from the first light controller 20 on the daisy chain to the next. The light controller 20 on the daisy chain has a control circuit board 22, and the control circuit board 22 has a control unit 24. The control unit 24 receives the signal packet A and determines whether the light controller 20 matches the target address A2. If it does not match, the signal packet A continues to be transmitted to the next on the daisy chain. If it matches, the control unit 24 receives the signal packet A and stops transmitting it to the next. The control unit 24 executes the control command A3 according to the content of the signal packet A and sends the above-mentioned confirmation packet B, so that the confirmation packet B is transmitted to the host 10 to be received along the daisy chain.

[0012] When all the light controllers 20 are in normal condition, the acknowledgment packet B will be sent by the light controller 20 matching the target address A2 and passed along the daisy chain to the host 10 for reception. However, if the control unit 24 of the light controller 20 matching the target address A2 malfunctions, or if the control unit 24 of at least one light controller 20 before the target address A2 malfunctions, the signal packet A will be delivered but the acknowledgment packet B will not be sent, or the signal packet A will be unable to be delivered to the light controller 20 matching the target address A2. Both of these abnormal states will prevent the host 10 from receiving the acknowledgment packet B. Therefore, if the host 10 does not receive the acknowledgment packet B within the predetermined time, it can be determined that at least some of the light controllers 20 on the daisy chain are in an abnormal state.

[0013] The method for determining whether the light controller 20 meets the target address A2, as described in this preferred embodiment, is to set the starting address A1 to 1 and the target address A2 to 3. After the host 10 transmits the signal packet A to the first light controller 20, the control unit 24 of the first light controller 20 compares the target address A2 (target value) with the starting address A1, which is the current value, and determines that they do not meet the requirements. Therefore, the starting address A1 is added to the set count value (in this preferred embodiment, the count value is 1; in other embodiments, it can be set to different values ​​as needed) to become 2, and then the signal packet A is passed along the daisy chain to the second light controller 20.

[0014] Next, the control unit 24 of the second light controller 20 compares the target address A2 with the current value of the count value accumulated once from the starting address A1. At this time, the target address A2 and the current value are 3 and 2 respectively. Since they do not match, the current value is added to the count value again to become 3. Then, the signal packet A is passed along the daisy chain to the third light controller 20. The control unit 24 of the third light controller 20 determines that the target address A2 is 3, and the current value obtained by accumulating the count value twice from the starting address A1 is also 3. The light controller 20 there matches the target address A2. Therefore, the signal packet A is received and stored, and the signal packet A is no longer passed along the daisy chain. The control command A3 is executed and the confirmation packet B is sent along the daisy chain. This third light controller 20 is the light controller 20 that matches the target address A2.

[0015] To further illustrate other structures of the above preferred embodiments, please refer to Figures 1 to 3. The host 10 has an output interface 12 and an input interface 14. The output interface 12 has two first power pins 121 (positive and negative), a first signal pin 122, and a first confirmation signal pin 123, which are respectively positive and negative. The input interface 14 has two second power pins 141 (positive and negative), a second signal pin 142, and a second confirmation signal pin 143, which are respectively positive and negative. The control circuit board 22 of the light controller 20 has an input port 221 and an output port 222. The input port 221 has two power input pins 2211 (positive and negative), a signal input pin 2212, and a confirmation signal input pin 2213. The output port 222 has two power output pins 2221 (positive and negative), a signal output pin 2222, and a confirmation signal output pin 2223.

[0016] The input port 221 is used to electrically connect to the output port 222 of the host 10 or another lighting controller 20. For example, the two power input pins 2211 and the two first power pins 121, the signal input pin 2212 and the first signal pin 122, the confirmation signal input pin 2213 and the first confirmation signal pin 123 between the first lighting controller 20 and the host 10 are respectively electrically connected through wires; the two power input pins 2211 and the two power output pins 2221, the signal input pin 2212 and the signal output pin 2222, the confirmation signal input pin 2213 and the confirmation signal output pin 2223 between each lighting controller 20 and the previous lighting controller 20 are respectively electrically connected through wires.

[0017] The output port 222 is used to electrically connect to the input port 221 of the host 10 or another light controller 20. For example, the two power output pins 2221 and the two second power pins 141, the signal output pin 2222 and the second signal pin 142, the confirmation signal output pin 2223 and the second confirmation signal pin 143 between the last light controller 20 and the host 10 are respectively electrically connected through wires; the two power output pins 2221 and the two power input pins 2211, the signal output pin 2222 and the signal input pin 2212, the confirmation signal output pin 2223 and the confirmation signal input pin 2213 between each light controller 20 and the next light controller 20 are respectively electrically connected through wires. Furthermore, the confirmation signal input pin 2213 and the confirmation signal output pin 2223 are electrically connected in a bypass manner, so that the confirmation packet B will not pass through the control unit 24. This is used to bypass the transmission of the confirmation packet B on the daisy chain, so that the transmission of the confirmation packet B is not affected by the failure of the control unit 24.

[0018] The control circuit board 22 has a light control port 26, which is electrically connected to the control unit 24, controlled by the control unit 24 and powered by the two power input pins 2211, for connecting electronic devices such as the light's electronic display board, lamps or speakers. In this preferred embodiment, the light control port 26 is electrically connected to an external electronic display board 30 via a ribbon cable. The electronic display board 30 is a horizontal strip-shaped LED display.

[0019] Referring to Figure 5, to avoid insufficient voltage for the daisy-chained lamp controller 20 to drive the electronic display panel 30, in other preferred embodiments, the input port 221 of one or more lamp controllers 20 may further include two power supply pins 2214, one positive and one negative, to input power and increase the voltage output from the two power output pins 2221 of the same lamp controller 20, so that the lamp controllers 20 at the daisy-chained end can operate well and drive the electronic display panel 30. In addition, when all lamp controllers 20 adopt the configuration of the input port 221 including two power supply pins 2214, there will be a significant difference between the input port 221 and the output port 222 having six pins and four pins, which can serve as an indication for users when installing the lamp controllers 20 in series. This further has a foolproof effect when the lamp controllers 20 are installed in series on the host 10 in a daisy-chain manner, preventing the electrical connection direction of the lamp controllers 20 from being reversed.

[0020] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3. When the host 10 needs to further determine whether the light controller 20 causing the abnormal state is the light controller 20 at target address A2, please refer to Figure 4. When the host 10 determines that the state is abnormal, it sends a test signal AA to the previous light controller 20 at target address A2, for example, the second light controller 20 in this preferred embodiment. The test signal AA includes the aforementioned acknowledgment packet A. The host 10 determines whether the faulty light controller 20 is the light controller 20 at target address A2 by whether it receives another acknowledgment packet B within a predetermined time after sending the test signal AA.

[0021] The aforementioned light controller 20 executes a light fault detection method, as shown in the flowchart of the method steps in Figure 6, and please refer to Figures 1 to 3. The steps include:

[0022] (S01) Setting up a lighting system: connecting one or more lighting controllers 20 in a daisy chain manner.

[0023] (S02) The host sends a signal packet: The host 10 sends a signal packet A containing a control command A3 to the light controller 20 at the target address A2.

[0024] (S03) Target address sends back confirmation packet: When the light controller 20 of the target address A2 receives the signal packet A, it will execute the control command A3 of the signal packet A and send a confirmation packet B, so that the confirmation packet B is passed back to the host 10 for reception along the daisy chain.

[0025] (S04) The host determines whether the status is abnormal: After sending the signal packet A, the host 10 determines whether the status is normal or abnormal by whether it receives the acknowledgment packet B within a predetermined time. If the acknowledgment packet B is received within the predetermined time, the status is normal. If the acknowledgment packet B is not received within the predetermined time, the status is abnormal.

[0026] In the above-described lamp fault detection method, in the step of sending back the confirmation packet from the target address (S03), the confirmation packet B is transmitted backward along the daisy chain in a bypass manner. Thus, when multiple lamp controllers 20 are connected in series with the host 10, the step of confirming whether the target address is abnormal (S05) can be executed.

[0027] The step of confirming whether the target address is abnormal (S05) is as follows: when the host 10 determines that the state is abnormal in the step of host determining whether the state is abnormal (S04), as shown in FIG4, a test signal AA containing the signal packet A is sent to the previous light controller 20 of the target address A2. When the previous light controller 20 receives the test signal AA, it will send another acknowledgment packet B to be passed to the host 10 along the daisy chain. The host 10 determines whether it receives the other acknowledgment packet B within a predetermined time after sending the test signal AA. If it does, the host 10 determines that the faulty light controller 20 is the light controller 20 of the target address A2.

[0028] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Any equivalent changes made by applying the present invention specification and the claims should be included within the patent scope of the present invention. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0008] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram of a portion of the preferred embodiment described above. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the detection process of the preferred embodiment described above. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the detection process for confirming whether a target address is faulty in the preferred embodiment described above. Figure 5 is a block diagram of a portion of another preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention. Figure 6 is a flowchart of the steps of a preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention.

Claims

1. A lamp error detection system, comprising: A host computer is configured to send a signal packet, which includes at least a target address and a control command. The host computer determines whether the status is normal or abnormal by whether it receives an acknowledgment packet within a predetermined time after sending the signal packet. The host computer also includes one or more light controllers connected in a daisy chain to the host computer. Each light controller in the daisy chain has a control circuit board with a control unit. The control unit receives the signal packet, determines whether the light controller it is connected to matches the target address, and if not, causes the signal packet to continue forward along the daisy chain. If it matches, it receives the signal packet and stops forwarding it. The control unit executes the control command according to the content of the signal packet and sends the aforementioned acknowledgment packet, which is then forwarded along the daisy chain to the host computer for reception.

2. The lamp fault detection system as described in claim 1, wherein the control circuit board of the lamp controller has an input port and an output port, the input port having two power input pins, one signal input pin and one confirmation signal input pin, and the output port having two power output pins, one signal output pin and one confirmation signal output pin, the input port being used for electrical connection with the output port of the host or another lamp controller.

3. The light alarm detection system as described in claim 2, wherein the acknowledgment signal input pin and the acknowledgment signal output pin are electrically connected in a bypass manner to bypass the transmission of the acknowledgment packet.

4. The lamp fault detection system as described in claim 3, wherein the control circuit board has a lamp control port, the lamp control port is electrically connected to the control unit and is powered by the two power input pins; the input port also includes two power supply pins for inputting power to increase the voltage of the power output by the same lamp controller from the two power output pins.

5. The lamp fault detection system as described in claim 3 or 4, wherein multiple lamp controllers are connected in series with the host, and when the host determines that the status is abnormal, it sends a test signal to the lamp controller preceding the target address, the test signal containing the acknowledgment packet, and the host determines whether the faulty lamp controller is the lamp controller at the target address by whether it receives another acknowledgment packet within a predetermined time after sending the test signal.

6. A method for detecting errors in a light bulb, comprising the following steps: One or more light controllers are connected in a daisy chain from a single host unit. The host sends a signal packet containing control commands to the light controller at the target address; When the light controller at the target address receives the signal packet, it will execute the control command of the signal packet and send an acknowledgment packet, which will be passed down the daisy chain to the host for reception; and the host will determine whether the status is normal or abnormal by whether it receives the acknowledgment packet within a predetermined time after sending the signal packet.

7. The lamp detection method as described in claim 6, wherein the confirmation packet is passed backward along the daisy chain in a bypass manner.

8. The lamp fault detection method as described in claim 7, wherein multiple lamp controllers are connected in series in the host; when the host determines that the state is abnormal, it sends a test signal containing the signal packet to the previous lamp controller at the target address; when the previous lamp controller receives the test signal, it sends another acknowledgment packet to the host along the daisy chain; the host determines whether the faulty lamp controller is the lamp controller at the target address by whether it receives the other acknowledgment packet within a predetermined time after sending the test signal.

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