Communication system and communication terminal

• US 9,509,530 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2010
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Tadashi, Koise, Shoji
• Primary Examiner(s): Barnie, Rexford
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ortiz, Elim
• Application Number:
  US13/387,548
• Publication Number:
  US 20120228927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,316 Days
• Field of Search: 307/362, 307/250, 327/103, 327/268
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/547 via DC power distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/548 the power on the line being DC arrangements for feeding power H04L12/10; extracting feeding power from signals H04L25/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0278 Arrangements for impedance matching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0294 Provision for current-mode coupling

Abstract

A transmitting circuit is connected to a communication line and configured to transmit a primary signal, being a current signal, to the communication line by changing a current flowing from a transmission unit via the communication line. A receiving circuit is configured to receive a secondary signal which is generated by converting the primary signal transmitted from the transmitting circuit to a voltage signal by a current/voltage converter provided between the transmission unit and the communication line. Specifically, the primary signal, being a current signal transmitted from a communication terminal, is converted to the secondary signal being a voltage signal by the current/voltage converter. As a result, communication can be performed even when the impedance of the communication line is reduced, facilitating introduction of a communication system.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a plurality of communication terminals connected to a two-wire communication line;

a power supply that applies a voltage between two wires of the communication line; and

a current/voltage converter that converts a current change on the communication line to a voltage change on the communication line by voltage drop by two resistance components,

each of the plurality of communication terminals comprising;

a transmitting circuit that is connected to the communication line and generates a primary current signal on the communication line, by changing a current flowing from the communication line; and

a receiving circuit that receives a secondary signal, which is generated by converting the primary current signal to a voltage signal by the current/voltage converter,

wherein the current/voltage converter comprises the two resistance components, each being positioned along one of the two wires, and connected in parallel.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein a characteristic impedance of the communication line is utilized as each of the resistance components by the current/voltage converter.

3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein each of the resistance components comprises a resistance element connected between the power supply and the communication line.

4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein each of the resistance components comprises an inductance element connected between the power supply and the communication line.

5. The communication system according claim 1, wherein the receiving circuit receives, as the secondary signal, the voltage change which is generated on the communication line due to the voltage drop when the current flowing from the communication line is changed by the transmitting circuit.

6. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the power supply comprises a signal transmitter that transmits a first protocol voltage signal to the communication line by changing a magnitude of a voltage applied to the communication line, and

the receiving circuit receives, as the secondary signal, a secondary protocol signal having a higher frequency than a frequency of the first protocol voltage signal and superimposed on the first protocol voltage signal.

7. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the receiving circuit comprises a comparator circuit that extracts a signal component of the secondary signal, by binarizing the secondary signal by comparing the magnitude of the secondary signal with a predetermined threshold value, and

when transmitting the primary signal from the transmitting circuit, the communication terminal reduces an input impedance viewed from the communication line to suppress an amplitude of the secondary signal such that a component other than the signal component of the secondary signal does not exceed the threshold value.

8. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving circuit comprises:

an amplifier circuit that converts the secondary signal to the voltage change from a first reference voltage, by amplifying the secondary signal; and

a comparator circuit that binarizes the secondary signal, by comparing an output of the amplifier circuit with a secondary reference voltage, the first reference voltage being different from the second reference voltage.

9. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving circuit comprises:

a comparator circuit that binarizes the secondary signal, by comparing a magnitude of the secondary signal with a predetermined threshold value; and

a correction circuit that detects rising or falling of the secondary signal as a trigger, and corrects the secondary signal to a square wave having a predetermined pulse width from a detection point of the trigger.

10. The communication system according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting circuit includes an encoder that encodes transmission data such that a value that does not generate the trigger does not continue in the secondary signal, and

the receiving circuit includes a decoder that decodes the encoded data obtained from the secondary signal to acquire the transmission data.

11. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of communication terminals comprise a transmission side communication terminal and a receiving side communication terminal to communicate each other via the current/voltage converter,

the current/voltage converter converts the current change based on the primary current signal generated by the transmitting circuit of the transmission side communication terminal, to the voltage change to generate the secondary signal, and

the receiving circuit of the receiving side communication terminal receives the secondary signal generated by the current/voltage converter.

12. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the current/voltage converter is configured to convert the primary current signal generated in the transmitting circuit into the secondary signal by voltage drop by the two resistance components, and transmit the secondary signal to the communication line.