Optical wireless communication system

• US 7,187,867 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2003
• Issued: 03/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company), Stanley Electric Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company), Stanley Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Uchida, Daisuke, Kawabe, Koji, Oka, Hiroyuki, Yokoyama, Hiroki, Hibiya, Kazuyoshi, Furukawa, Yoshiki, Hirosawa, Kazunori
• Primary Examiner(s): Payne; David C.
• Application Number:
  US10/385,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20030170031A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,457 Days
• Field of Search: 398/118, 398/128, 398/70, 398/71, 398/79, 398/99, 398/59, 398/58, 398/91, 398/126, 398/97, 398/62, 359/172, 359/173, 370/312
• US Class Current: 398/126
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1149 Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4604 LAN interconnection over a backbone network, e.g. Internet, Frame Relay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

The present invention provides a bilateral communication network system, particularly, a optical wireless communication system communicating information frames via an optical node mounted on a mobile object and a plurality of optical repeaters connected to a wired network, which can prevent transfer performance from deteriorating without increasing frames to be transferred. The optical wireless communication system is constituted as follows. A plurality of the optical repeaters having functions to switch information frames are attached to a ceiling. The optical node bilaterally communicating with the optical repeaters are mounted on a moving object such as a robot, a vehicle or the like. Information frames including address information of the optical node are periodically transmitted from an information processor connected to the optical node via optical wireless communication. The address information is continuously transmitted from the optical repeaters to a trunk network, and a filter function is arranged in the trunk network so as to make only one frame effective among frames with the same content.

Claims

1. An optical wireless communication system equipped with a mobile object and a wired network for constituting a bilaterally communicating network comprising:

a transit post having a function to switch information frames;

a plurality of optical repeaters each having a communication area and connected to said transit post; and

a mobile optical node bilaterally communicating with said optical repeaters, wherein;

a communication area from each of said optical repeaters to said optical node is set wider than a communication area from said optical node to each of said optical repeaters such that the latter communication area is included in the former communication area; and

each communication area of said optical repeaters is arranged so as to overlap the other communication areas in a predetermined zone.

2. The optical wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein:

information frames including address information of said optical node are periodically transmitted from an information processor connected with said optical node to said optical repeaters via wireless optical transmission.

3. An optical wireless communication system equipped with a mobile object and a wired network for constituting a bilaterally communicating network comprising:

a transit post having a function to switch information frames containing error check sequences therein;

a plurality of optical repeaters each having a communication area and connected with said transit post, and

a mobile optical node bilaterally communicating with said optical repeaters, wherein;

the communication area of each said optical repeaters is arranged so as to overlap the other communication areas in a predetermined zone; and

information frames including address information of said optical node are periodically transmitted from an information processor connected with said optical node to said optical repeaters via wireless optical transmission;

said transit post has a filter function for comparing present to prior frames in successive error check sequences so as to make only one information frame effective among frames with the same content from said optical repeaters to a trunk communication network, if the same content is repeated in said error check sequences when said error check sequences are compared.

4. The optical wireless communication system according to claim 3, wherein:

each communication area from said optical repeaters to said optical node is set wider than a communication area from said optical node to each of said optical repeaters such that the latter communication area is included in the former communication area.

5. An optical wireless communication system equipped with a mobile object and a wired network for constituting a bilaterally communicating network comprising:

a mobile optical node;

a plurality of optical repeaters bilaterally communicating with said mobile optical node; and

a transit post having a function to switch information frames and exchanging information between said plurality of repeaters and a trunk communication network;

wherein;

a photo-emitting area of each said optical repeaters is set outwardly wider than a photo-detecting area of each said optical repeaters;

said transit post comprises a filter unit for passing one frame with the same content from each said repeaters among information frames;

an administration table for registering and administrating addresses of the information frames on each said optical repeaters and said optical node; and

a frame sorting unit for refusing the passed frame when an FCS (frame check sequence) data of the frame is the same as a receiving refusal FCS data.

6. The optical wireless communication system according to claim 5, wherein:

each communication area of said optical repeaters is arranged so as to overlap to other communication areas in a predetermined zone.