Wireless Device Time Correction via Reference Signals
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Solution Overview
Problem
In factory automation, time division multiple access wireless communication systems face interference and reliability issues due to obstacles and timing synchronization challenges, particularly when robots or transport devices intervene, leading to deviations in internal time counts among wireless devices, which hinder high-speed and reliable data collection.
Innovation Solution
A wireless communication device acquires and uses reference transmission time information from another wireless slave device to correct its internal time, ensuring synchronization without direct synchronization processes, thus minimizing interference and maintaining high-speed performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If time division multiple access wireless communication is used to collect information from multiple wireless devices, then information collection capability is improved, but interference occurs when robots or transport devices intervene as obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary time slot allocation and synchronization before actual wireless communication begins. Each wireless device is pre-assigned specific time slots for transmission, and synchronization is established in advance to prevent interference. This preliminary organization allows the system to maintain reliable communication even when obstacles intervene during operation.
2Measurement precision
If direct synchronization processes are implemented between wireless slave devices, then timing synchronization is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a master device as an intermediary that centralizes the synchronization function. Instead of requiring direct synchronization processes between slave devices, the master device coordinates timing for all slave devices. This intermediary approach achieves precise timing synchronization while keeping individual slave device complexity low.
3Measurement precision
If internal time correction is performed at high frequency, then synchronization accuracy is improved, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic time correction where the master device sends synchronization information at regular intervals rather than continuously. This periodic approach maintains high synchronization accuracy by correcting internal times frequently enough to account for drift, while avoiding the overhead of continuous correction transmissions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A wireless communication device, a wireless information collection system, and a wireless communication method are provided. The wireless communication device is configured to wirelessly transmit predetermined information provided therein to its master device in a predetermined transmission cycle and executes the wireless transmission in a time slot of itself according to a predetermined time division multiple access scheme together with one or more wireless slave devices including at least a reference wireless slave device. First unrelated transmission information including reference transmission time information wirelessly transmitted from the reference wireless slave device to its master device in the predetermined time division multiple access scheme is acquired during the wireless transmission and a time counted by an internal timer unit is corrected based on an amount of correction calculated from an acquisition time of the first unrelated transmission information and the reference transmission time information included in the first unrelated transmission information.