Bidirectional communication apparatus for transmitting/receiving information by wireless communication or through a power line
First Claim
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1. A bidirectional communication apparatus powered from a power line, comprising:
- first means for transmitting and receiving information by wireless communication;
second means connected to the power line for receiving and transmitting information through the power line; and
switching means for switching said apparatus between a first state in which transmission to another communication apparatus is effected by wireless communication using said first means and reception from the other communication apparatus is effected through the power line using said second means, and a second state in which transmission to the other communication apparatus is effected through the power line using said second means and reception from the other communication apparatus is effected by wireless communication using said first means.
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Abstract
Full duplex communication is attained by using only one communication channel in wireless communication between a host computer 1 and a printer 6. The communication from the host computer 1 to the printer 6 is effected by wireless, and the communication from the printer 6 to the host computer 1 which includes a small amount of information is effected through a power line 9.
126 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A bidirectional communication apparatus powered from a power line, comprising:
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first means for transmitting and receiving information by wireless communication; second means connected to the power line for receiving and transmitting information through the power line; and switching means for switching said apparatus between a first state in which transmission to another communication apparatus is effected by wireless communication using said first means and reception from the other communication apparatus is effected through the power line using said second means, and a second state in which transmission to the other communication apparatus is effected through the power line using said second means and reception from the other communication apparatus is effected by wireless communication using said first means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system comprising a plurality of bidirectional communication apparatuses, each apparatus comprising:
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first means for transmitting and receiving information by wireless communication; second means connected to the power line for receiving and transmitting information through the power line; and switching means for switching said apparatus between a first state in which transmission to another one of said communication apparatuses is effected by wireless communication using said first means and reception from the other apparatus is effected through the power line using said second means, and a second state in which transmission to the other apparatus is effected through the power line using said second means and reception from the other apparatus is effected by wireless communication using said first means, wherein said system performs communication between each pair of said apparatuses by performing transmission and reception between said communication apparatus and any other one of the plurality of communication apparatuses. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A bidirectional communication method comprising the steps of:
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providing a first amount of information and a second, lesser amount of information; and switching between a first state in which transmission is effected by wireless communication and reception is effected through a power line, and a second state in which transmission is effected through the power line and reception is effected by wireless communication, said switching being performed to effect transmission and reception of the first amount of data by wireless communication and the second amount of data through the power line.
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Specification