Communications device and communications method

• US 20070160172A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kurobe, Akio, Igata, Yuji, Koga, Hisao, Kuroda, Go, Ikeda, Koji, Sugita, Takehiro, Mizugai, Yoshinori, Okamoto, Hiromu, Takasu, Shigeru, Yamada, Hirotoshi, Ohshima, Junichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,660,365 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/354
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5408 using protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/542 using zero crossing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5466 using three phases conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form

Abstract

A communications device 100, which performs data communication, includes an AC cycle sensor 30 which is connected to a power line 106 supplied with an a.c. voltage and generates a synchronous signal SS at timing of an a.c. voltage waveform AC of the power line 106; a data communicator 10 for performing data communication; and a communications controller 20 which performs communication of a control signal including information showing at least one of a communications device and a communications standard and controls the data communicator 101. When the a.c. voltage supplied to the power line 106 is an N-phase and when the cycle of the a.c. voltage waveform is T, data communication to be performed in a communication period subsequent to the period is controlled on the basis of the control signal included in the period of T/2M on condition that M is a natural multiple of N.

Claims

1. A communications device that is connected to a power line transmitting a waveform having characteristics of N-phase and T-cycle and performs communication by way of the power line, the communications device comprising:

a synchronous generator that generates a synchronous signal based on the waveform; and

a controller that outputs a control signal to the power line during a period of T/2M based on the synchronous signal generated by the synchronous generator, the control signal including information for allowing a plurality of communications devices to co-exist on the power line, the M being the N multiplied by a natural number.

2. The communications device according to claim 1, wherein the M is three.

3. The communications device according to claim 1, wherein the control signal includes a request for starting communication or communication end information.

4. The communications device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a data communications section that performs data communication by way of the power line, wherein

the controller controls data communication performed by the data communications section in accordance with the control signal.

5. The communications device according to claim 4, wherein the controller controls data communication during a communication period subsequent to the period in accordance with the control signal.

6. The communications device according to claim 4, wherein the controller controls data communication in a communication period subsequent to the period in accordance with a control signal received from another communications device.

7. The communications device according to claim 6, wherein the communication period has a length of the period multiplied by an integer.

8. The communications device according to claim 5, wherein the control signal further includes information showing a length of the communication period.

9. The communications device according to claim 5, wherein the data communications section performs data communication in each communication period.

10. The communications device according to claim 1, wherein the control signal has a plurality of divided time segments, and specifics of control method are shown by a combination of signals of respective time segments.

11. The communications device according to claim 1, wherein the controller outputs a control signal including the same information in each of the plurality of periods which are adjacent to each other in terms of time.

12. The communications device according to claim 1, wherein the controller outputs the control signal when the data communications section does not performs data communication.

13. A communications method for a communications device is connected to a power line transmitting a waveform having characteristics of N-phase and T-cycle and performs communication by way of the power line, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a synchronous signal based on the wave form; and

outputting a control signal to the power line during a period of T/2M based on the synchronous signal generated by the synchronous generator, the control signal including information for allowing a plurality of communications devices to co-exist on the power line, the M being the N multiplied by a natural number.