[Technical Field]
[0001] This invention relates to a disaster prevention system such as fire alarm systems,
gas leakage alarm systems,anti-theft systems and others, and more particularly to
a disaster prevention system arranged so as to be capable of effectively managing
and knowing the connection status of terminal units by a higher rank unit.
[Background Technics]
[0002] In disaster prevention systems in which a plurality of terminal units such as fire
sensors, repeaters or the like are connected to a receiver for managing and controlling
the terminal units, the receiver must know connection information or classifying information
as well as status information of the individual terminal units.
[0003] In particular, in disaster prevention systems in which a plurality of receivers are
disposed hierarchically with the terminal units being connected to the lowest-rank
receivers, it is necessary that the classification information concerning the terminal
units as connected be grasped at the side of the higher-rank receiver.
[0004] A disaster prevention system in which the classification information of the individual
terminal units is transmitted to the receiver together with the supervisory information
representative of the operating status of the sensors is disclosed in Japanese Patent
Application Laid-Open No.127292/1983.
[0005] Further, with a view to providing a fire alarm system capable of transmitting the
classification information of detectors to a receiver without affecting the signal
bit number of detected information, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.65398/1985
teaches a fire alarm system whose operation is based on temporally separated transmissions
of the classification information and the detected information, and in which the terminal
unit responds to a call requesting the classification information as issued by the
receiver by sending back the information of a prescribed level which differs from
one to another detector in dependence on the classification of the detectors, to thereby
allow the receiver to identify the classification of that detector, wherein the call
for the detected information is issued in succession to the termining the classification.
The receiver then decides whether a fire has broken out from the detected information
as received on the basis of the result of the decision concerning the classification
made previously.
[0006] However, both of -the systems disclosed in -the publications mentioned above suffer
from the disadvantage that the transmission rate is low, giving rise to problems in
respect to operation efficiency, because the classification information must be transmitted
upon every polling. Inherently, the classification information is insusceptible to
any dynamic variation, which in turn means that the classification information once
transmitted needs not be transmitted again. In the systems disclosed in the abovementioned
publications, however, the classification information is transmitted upon every polling.
Thus, the systems disclosed in the abovementioned publications are disadvantageous
in that the information becomes redundant, resulting in reduction in the transmission
rate and hence in remarkable delays even in the transmission of urgent information
such as fire information or the like.
[0007] Moreover, in EP-A-0 004 909 a fire alarm system is described in which fire sensors
are delivering a status information such as an alarm or a no-alarm signal to receivers
which are disposed hierarchically, and wherein, at an initialization of the system,
the connection of the sensors to the receivers is determined by checking if any alarm
or no-alarm signal is received, or if no signal at all is transmitted, but no other
disaster prevention units are connected and no classification information indicating
the type of the unit is transmitted. Therefore, connection of a false unit may not
be detected in this system.
[0008] In EP-A-0 005 842 surveillance of telephone subscribers by polling via telephone
lines is described in which collected information is compared, in a central computer,
with stored standard information relating to the individual customers including the
type of an alarm, but there is no regular polling of classification information from
the customers connected to the system.
[Disclosure of the Invention]
[0009] Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a disaster prevention system
such as a fire, gas-leakage, or theft prevention system which has an increased transmission
rate of status information of terminals units to receivers and in which terminal units
the inherent information of which is not in coincidence with a predetermined information
are disregarded during the polling operation.
[0010] For accomplishing the above object, there is provided according to this invention
a disaster prevention system including at least one receiver having a plurality of
terminal units of certain types connected thereto by at least one transmission trunk,
said receiver being adapted to collect an information from said terminal units by
polling, and said terminal units being adapted to send an information to a receiver
to which they are connected in response to predetermined request calls from the receiver,
said information comprising as well an inherent classification information identifying
the classification or type of the terminal unit, as a status information indicating
the status of the terminal unit at the time of polling the same, wherein said receiver
comprises means to collect and to store the requested classification information from
terminal units only at the time of an initialization operation of the system, and
further means to collect and to determine a status information from those terminal
units the previously stored classification information of which coincided with a predetermined
information, during the ordinary monitoring operation after initialization of the
system, when no more any transfer of inherent classification information is performed.
[0011] Therein, the classification information sent from the terminal unit to the receiver
on request may include, in addition to the type of the terminal unit, an information
as to the number, the address, the presence of testing means, or other specific information
on the terminal unit, and the terminal units may comprise sensors, specifically those
delivering a fire, a gas-leakage, or a theft information, repeaters, smoke prevention
or discharge devices, or the like.
[0012] According to a further improvement, a plurality of receivers are disposed hierarchically,
wherein each of the lowest rank receivers has terminal units connected thereto and
is arranged as to collect and to store information from said terminal units by polling
and to transfer the collected information to the next higher rank receiver, sequentially
up to the highest rank receiver. Therein, it is a special advantage to transfer the
status information to the higher rank receivers only for such terminal units the collected
classification information of which coincided with a predetermined classification
information.
[0013] With the above arrangement, maps of inherent information such as classification information
of the terminal units connected to the low rank receivers are transferred sequentially
from the hierarchically lowest rank receivers towards the hierarchically highest rank
receiver at the first initialization or at an intermediate initialization in the course
of operation, whereby inherent information maps are ultimately collected at the hierarchically
highest rank receiver automatically, while inherent information concerning the assigned
area is also held in the receiver in charge of that area in the course of the collection
of the information, as the result of which a procedure for preliminarily setting a
map concerning the relevant terminals at each of the associated receivers can be done
away with, while the transmission rate can be increased because no transfer of the
inherent information is performed during the ordinary monitoring operation of the
diaster prevention system.
[Brief Description of the Drawings]
[0014] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a general arrangement of a disaster prevention
system to which this invention can be applied, Fig. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing
an internal circuit configuration of a high-rank system (highest-rank receiver) 10
shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing an internal circuit configuration
of a main receiver 20 shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a circuit block diagram showing an
internal circuit configuration of a protocol conversion unit (lowest rank receiver)
30 shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a circuit block diagram showing an internal circuit
configuration of a terminal unit 40 shown in Fig. 1, Figs. 6A and 6B show flow charts
for illustrating the operation of the protocol conversion unit (lowest rank receiver),
Figs. 7A and 7B show flow charts for illustrating the operation of the main receiver,
Fig. 8 shows a flow chart for illustrating the operation of the host system (highest-rank
receiver), and Fig. 9 shows a flow chart for illustrating the operation of the terminal
unit.
(BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION)
[0015] In the following, an exemplary embodiment of this invention will be described by
reference to the drawings.
[0016] Fig. 1 shows a general system arrangement of a fire prevention system to which this
invention is applied. Referring to the figure, a main receiver 20 is connected to
a host system 10 such as a CRT console or the like, while a plurality of protocol
conversion units 30 are connected to the main receiver 20, wherein each of the protocol
conversion units 30 have a plurality of terminal units 40 such as sensors, repeaters
or the like connected thereto. The host system 10, the main receiver 20 and the protocol
conversion units 30 each include a respective CPU and they are essentially implemented
so as to serve as receivers. Accordingly, in the following description, the host system
10 is also referred to as the highest-rank receiver with the protocol conversion units
30 being referred to as the lowest-rank receivers.
[0017] Fig. 2 shows an internal circuit arrangement of the host system 10 or the highest-rank
receiver including CRT equipment. The highest-rank receiver 10 includes a central
processing unit CPU1, a read-only memory ROM11 for storing programs, a random access
memory RAM11 to serve as a work memory, a random access memory RAM12 for registration
of the terminal instruments and devices, a switch circuit SW11 for setting the (ID)
numbers of the low-rank instruments/devices as connected, a display unit DP1, an operating
(mainipulating) unit OP1, a sounder unit SP1 and transmission/reception units TR11
to TRln for realizing interconnection with the low-rank instruments/devices, and others.
[0018] An internal circuit arrangement of the main receiver 20 is shown in Fig.3. The main
receiver 20 includes a central processing unit CPU2, a read-only memory ROM21 for
storing programs, a random access memory RAM21 serving as the work area, a random
access memory RAM22 for registering the terminal units, a switch circuit SW21 for
setting presence/absence of interconnection with the higher-rank system, a switch
circuit SW22 for setting the (ID) number of the low-rank units as connected, display
units DP2, an operating (manipulating) unit OP2, a sounderunit SP2, a printer P2,
a transmission/reception unit TR20 for performing communication with the host system
10, transmission/reception units TR21 to TR2n for performing communication with the
protocol conversion units 30, and others.
[0019] Fig. 4 shows an internal circuit arrangement of the protocol conversion unit 30 serving
as the lowest-rank receiver. The protocol conversion unit 30 includes a central processing
unit CPU3, a read-only memory ROM31 for storing programs, a read-only memory ROM32
for registering addresses and classification (types) of the terminal units, a random
access memory RAM31 serving as the work memory, a random access memory RAM32 for registering
the terminal units, a display unit DP3, an operating (manipulating) unit OP3, a sounder
unit SP3, a printer P3, a transmission/reception unit TR30, a transmission/reception
unit TR31 and others.
[0020] Fig. 5 shows in detail an internal structure of one of the terminal units 40 connected
to the lowest-rank receiver, i.e. the protocol conversion unit 30 and can be exemplified
by a sensor repeater, smoke prevention/discharge repeater, analogue sensor and the
like. Although the internal configuration of the sensor repeater is shown in Fig.
5, it should be understood that other repeaters can also be implemented in a similar
structure. The illustrated sensor repeater includes a central processing unit CPU4,
a read-only memory ROM41 for storing programs, a classification-setting read-only
memory ROM42, a random-access memory RAM41 to serve as the work memory, an address
setting switch circuit SW41, a classification setting switch circuit SW42, a transmission/reception
unit TR40 for performing communication with the protocol conversion unit 30 and others.
[0021] Now, description will be directed to the operation of thedisaster prevention system
implemented in the structure described above. In precedence thereto, those portions
with which this invention is concerned will be briefly described. The read-only memory
ROM32 incorporated in the lowest-rank receiver, i.e. the protocol conversion unit
30 is placed with inherent information concerning the addresses and classification
or types of the terminal devices connected to this protocol conversion unit 30. At
the time of initialization, request for the classification information is issued to
each terminal unit or device through first means (blocks 101 to 110 shown in Fig.6A).
The classification information sent from each terminal device is compared with the
corresponding classification information stored in the read-only memory ROM32. When
the comparison results in coincidence, this fact is registered in the terminal registering
random access memory RAM32. Subsequently, through second means (blocks 116 to 120
in Fig.6A), the contents registered in the random access memory RAM32 are transferred
to the terminal registering random access memory RAM22 incorporated in the main receiver
20. In the main receiver 20, the classification information of the terminal instrument/device
as transferred from the protocol conversion unit 30 is registered through second means
of the abovementioned main receiver 20 (blocks 201 to 207 and blocks 208 to 211 in
Fig. 7A) to the terminal registering random access memory RAM22 constituting a third
means, while this registered terminal classification information is further transferred
to an even higher receiver constituting the host system 10. In the host system, the
terminal classification information as transferred from the main receiver 20 is registered
in the terminal registering random access memory RAM12 which constitutes the third
means through second means of the host system 10 (blocks 301 to 307 in Fig.8). By
virtue of the operation performed at the time of initialization as described above,
the classification information inherent to each terminal device which is necessary
for the individual receiver to perform ordinary monitoring and control operations
can be derived from the contents of registaration in the terminal registering random
access memory of each receiver.
[0022] Figs. 6A and 6B show flow charts for illustrating operation of the protocol convension
unit 30 shown in Fig.4. At block 100, operation is started. At block 101, initial
values are set. At block 102, address is initialized to zero. Thereafter, polling
is started to the terminal units. At the end of the polling to the (n - 1)-th terminal,
the value of address is incremented by one (block 103), being followed by the polling
to the n-th terminal unit, where an address code added with the classification information
request command is sent out onto a transmission trunk line L (block 104) and at the
same time a timer is activated (block 105). When the terminal unit allocated with
the abovementioned address receives the signal from the protocol conversion unit,
that terminal unit sends back the terminal information added with the abovementioned
address code, by way of example. In the protocol conversion unit, decision is made
as to whether the return signal is received or not from the abovementioned terminal
unit within a predetermined time and whether the classification information is issued
or not (blocks 106, 107, and 108). When the classification information is not available
regardless of whether the return signal is received or not (YES at block 108), it
is decided that the terminal unit of concern makes no response, as the result of which
the printer P3 prints out that the n-th terminal unit is not present (block 109).
Subsequently, unless the final address to be polled is reached (NO at block 110),
the address value is incremented by one (block 103), whereupon the similar polling
operation takes place at the next address.
[0023] When the return signal is received together with the classification information within
the predetermined time (YES at block 107), the received classification information
A of the n-th terminal unit is stored in the random access memory RAM31 serving as
the work memory (block 111). Subsequently, the classification information B for the
n-th terminal is read out from the terminal registering read-only memory ROM32 (block
112), whereupon the classification information A is compared with the classification
information B (block 113). When coincidence is found between A and B (YES at block
113), the classifiction information B of the n-th terminal unit is stored in the terminal
registering random access memory RAM32 (block 114). If otherwise (NO at block 113),
the non-coincidence of the classification information for the n-th terminal is printed
out by the printer P3 (block 115). Subsequently, the similar polling operation is
repeated from the succeeding address unless the address value has not reached the
final address.
[0024] Upon completion of the polling for all the terminals units, the terminal registering
random access memory RAM32 is in the state of storing the precise classification information,
i.e. the inherent information of the terminals currently connected. In this case,
according to the illustrative embodiment, the terminal registering random access memory
RAM32 is provided with a maximum connectable terminal area in which the address code
and the classification information of the terminal for which A = B are stored, while
the area for the terminal unit which is not present or for which non-coincidence is
found is left blank. It should however be understood that only the (ID) number, the
address code and the classification information of the terminal unit for which A =
B is valid may be stored in the terminal registering random access memory RAM32 to
thereby save capacity in the random access memory.
[0025] When the inherent information concerning the terminal units actually connected is
collected in the terminal registering random access memory RAM32 upon completion of
the polling operation for all the terminal units (YES at block 110), an operation
takes place for transferring the collected contents to the main receiver 20 serving
as the higher rank unit. At first, it is determined at block 116 whether or not a
main receiver 20 is present. If not, ordinary monitoring operation is initiated, starting
from the block 121 shown in Fig. 6B. The presence or absence of the main receiver
may also be established by a switch or the like. In this case, the decision block
116 may also be omitted.
[0026] When a main receiver 20 is connected (YES at block 116), a message is issued to the
main receiver 20 that the classification data is ready to be transferred to the main
receiver 20 (block 117), whereupon a relevant interrupt flag is set on the side of
the main receiver 20. When the interrupt flag is set at the main receiver 20 in this
manner, a transfer request is sent back. Accordingly, it is determined whether the
transfer request was sent back or not (block 118). If the transfer request is detected,
the stored content of the terminal registering random access memory RAM32 is read
out to be subsequently sent to the main receiver 20 (block 119). Subsequently, the
transfer request interrupt flag set at the main receiver 20 is cleared, whereby the
transfer request message is also cleared (block 120).
[0027] Now, the protocol conversion unit enters the ordinary monitoring state with the contents
of the terminal registering random access memory RAM32, starting from a block 121
shown in Fig. 6B. In Fig. 6B, the operation for monitoring the outbreak of fire is
explained, by way of example.
[0028] Referring to Fig. 6B, the address n is initialized to zero at the block 121, being
followed by a block 122 where the address value is incremented by one. Thereafter,
the polling for the ordinary monitoring operation is started.
[0029] Prior to the polling, it is determined by checking the contents of the terminal registering
random access memory RAM32 whether the terminal unit of the address to which the polling
operation is to be performed is connected or not (block 123). Unless the terminal
unit of concern is connected (NO at block 123), the polling operation to that terminal
unit is not performed. When the allocated address
n is not the final address N for the polling (NO at block 124), the address value is
further incremented by one at the block 122, whereupon the polling operation is changed
over to the succeeding address. In this manner, unnecessary polling operations are
avoided.
[0030] In the polling operation for the terminal unit of the address
n, it is first determined whether a control instruction has issued to the n-th terminal
unit by checking the content of the work random access memory RAM31 (block 125). If
a control instruction has issued, the address code is added with the control instruction
before being sent out (block 126). Unless the control instruction is required (No
at block 125), the address code added with status information request command is sent
out (block 127). In this connection, the control instruction is, for example, an on/off
command or the like to a control circuit or a test circuit of the terminal unit.
[0031] Upon reception of the signal from the terminal unit (YES at block 128), the received
information is stored in the work random access memory RAM31 (block 129), being followed
by termining whether it is fire information or not (block 130). If not, the address
value is incremented at block 122 by way of block 124, whereupon the next polling
cycle is initiated. If the information is fire information, it is determined whether
a fire has occured or not. If this shows an outbreak of fire (YES at block 131), the
region where the fire is taking place is displayed at the display unit DP3. If there
is no fire, the succeeding polling operation is performed.
[0032] When information of all the terminals units has been collected through the polling
operation performed up to the final terminal unit, operation for transferring this
information to the main receiver 20 serving as the higher-rank unit is conducted.
At first, at block 133, it is determined whether the main receiver 20 is present or
not. Thereafter, a message is issued to the main receiver 20 that the transfer of
information thereto is ready (block 134), whereupon a transfer-ready flag is set at
the main receiver. Upon reception of a return signal indicating that the transfer
admission flag is set at the main receiver 20 (YES at block 135), the received information
in the work random access memory RAM31 is sent out to the main receiver 20 (block
136). On the basis of the information as received, the main receiver issues a request
for transfer of the control instruction to the terminal unit, if necessary. Accordingly,
if the transfer request is issued by the main receiver after the information has been
sent out to the latter, a transfer request flag is set (YES at block 137). The control
instruction to the terminal unit from the main receiver is received to be stored in
the work random access memory RAM31 (block 138). This control instruction is sent
out to the terminal unit upon next polling operation in the fire monitoring cycle
(block 126). After the block 138, the ordinary fire monitoring mode is activated,
starting from the block 121.
[0033] Operation of the main receiver 20 shown in Fig. 3 will be described by reference
to flow charts shown in Figs. 7A and 7B.
[0034] Referring to Fig. 7A, in succession to a start block 200 and an initialization block
201, the (ID) numbers of the low-rank units, i.e. the protocol conversion units 30
connected to the main receiver 20 are read out from the switch circuit SW22 for setting
the (ID) numbers of the low-rank units as connected (block 202). In this conjunction,
it is to be noted that the presence or absence of connections of the protocol conversion
units are previously set in the switch circuit SW22 by an operator or other.
[0035] After the (ID) numbers of the protocol conversion units 30 as connected have been
read out, decisions are sequentially made as to whether the transfer-ready messages
has been issued or not by the protocol conversion units of the (ID) numbers as read
out (block 203). This decision process can be accomplished by checking sequentially
whether the classification information transfer-ready interrupt flags corresponding
to the individual protocol conversion units are set or not. If the transfer-ready
message has not issued (NO at block 203), it is then decided by way of block 207 whether
the similar transfer-ready message to the protocol conversion unit of the succeeding
number has issued or not. When the transfer-ready message is detected at the k-th
protocol conversion unit (YES at block 203), the transfer request is sent to the k-th
protocol conversion unit (block 204). This can be accomplished by first identifying
discriminatively the protocol conversion unit which has set the interrupt flag and
by setting the classification information transfer interrupt flag for that protocol
conversion unit. The classification information of terminal units sent back from the
k-th protocol conversion unit in response to the message of the transfer request at
the block 204 is stored at a k-th area of the terminal registering random access memory
RAM22 (block 205). Subsequently, by clearing the interrupt flag set by the protocol
conversion unit for which the transfer or sending-back has been completed, the transfer-ready
message from the k-th protocol conversion unit is erased (block 206). Next, the block
203 is regained by way of the block 207 to decide whether the transfer-ready message
to the protocol conversion unit of the succeeding number has been performed.
[0036] When all the classification information has been collected at the protocol conversion
units (YES at block 207), procedure proceeds to the transfer to the higher-rank unit,
starting from block 208. In this case, decision as to whether or not all the information
has been collected is made by comparing the (ID) numbers of the lower-rank units read
out at block 202 with the contents stored in the terminal registering random access
memory RAM22.
[0037] At the block 208, it is first decided whether a unit higher in rank than the main
receiver 20, i.e. the host system 10 is connected or not. Although this information
is previously set at the DIP switch circuit SW21 for discriminating whether or not
there is a connection of a host system, the decision mentioned is carried out by checking
the contents of the setting. Next, by setting an interrupt flag for the completion
of classification information transfer preparations of the host system 10, the host
system is informed of the transfer-ready message (block 209). Next, it is decided
whether there is a transfer request from the host system by checking whether a classification
information transfer request interrupt flag is set or not at the host system (block
210). In response to the transfer request from the host system, if present, the contents
stored in the terminal registering random access memory RAM22 are read out to be sent
to the host system (block 211).
[0038] Referring to the flow chart shown in Fig. 7B and beginning with the block 212, description
will be made of the ordinary operation of the main receiver performed on the basis
of the information concerning connection of the terminal, which information has been
transferred from the protocol conversion units and stored in the terminal registering
random access memory RAM22.
[0039] In the first place, decision is made at the block 212 as to whether the terminal
information transfer-ready interrupt flag set by the protocol conversion unit is present
or not. If present (YES at block 212), the protocol conversion unit which has set
that transfer-ready interrupt flag is identified and an interrupt flag indicating
the admission of the transfer from the identified protocol conversion unit is set,
to thereby allow a transfer admission signal to be sent out to the k-th protocol conversion
unit (block 213). Thereafter, the information of the terminals received from the k-th
protocol conversion unit is stored in the work random access memory RAM21 (block 214).
At block 215, decision is made as to whether or not there is control instruction to
the terminal units connected to the k-th protocol conversion unit. If there is, the
control instruction is sent out to the k-th protocol conversion unit (block 216),
being followed by block 217, which however jumps over from the block 215 when the
control instruction is not detected. At the block 217, the transfer-ready signal from
the k-th protocol conversion unit is erased, whereupon the sequence for deciding the
presence or absence of the transfer-ready signal, starting from the block 212, is
regained.
[0040] When the result of decision at the block 212 is negative (NO), the terminal information
stored in the random access memory RAM21 serving as the work memory is subjected to
analysis/decision procedure (block 218) by making reference to the classification
information stored in the terminal registering random access memory RAM22 through
operations indicated at the blocks 203 to 206, whereupon decision is made as to the
necessity of display on the basis of the result of the decision/analysis procedure
(block 219). In case display is necessary, the result of decision is presented on
the display unit (block 220). If otherwise or in succession to the display, decision
is then made as to the necessity of control at block 221. If so, the control instruction
is stored in the random access memory RAM21 serving as the work memory (block 222),
and the transfer request is issued to the relevant protocol conversion unit (block
223). If otherwise or in succession thereto, transfer of information to the higher-rank
system, i.e. the host system 10 is activated, starting from a block 224.
[0041] In the transfer sequence for the host system 10, it is first decided whether there
is a higher-rank system (i.e. host system 10) or not (block 224), being followed by
the decision as to whether there is a need to the transfer the information to the
higher-rank system (block 225). If there is a necessity for the transfer, a flag indicating
an information transfer ready-state is set to thereby inform the transfer-ready state
to the higher-rank system (block 226). If not or after the transfer, decision is made
at a succeeding block 227 as to whether the transfer request has been issued or not.
This decision can be realized by detecting if the information transfer request interrupt
flag is set at the higher-rank system. When the transfer request is detected (YES
at block 227), the terminal information or the result of analysis stored in the random
access memory RAM21 is sent out to the higher-rank system (block 228), whereupon the
transfer request therefrom is cleared (block 229). If otherwise (NO at block 227)
or subsequently, the initial block 212 is regained, whereupon a similar sequence is
repeated.
[0042] Fig. 8 is a flow chart for illustrating operation of the host system 10. In this
conjunction, it should be mentioned that operation of the part of the host system
with which this invention is concerned is similar to that of the main receiver 20.
More specifically, through blocks 300 to 307 shown in Fig. 8, the classification information
is collected from the lower-rank unit, i.e. the main receiver 20 in the case of the
illustrated embodiment. The operation to this end corresponds to the sequence of operation
performed through blocks 200 to 207 shown in Fig. 7A for collecting the classification
information from the protocol conversion units by the main receiver 20. Similarly,
the processing executed through blocks 308 to 319 shown in Fig. 8 corresponds to the
processing executed through the blocks 212 to 223 in the flow chart shown in Fig.
7B for the main receiver. Accordingly, no further description will be necessary. Further,
since the host system 10 is the highest-rank unit having no higher-rank unit in the
case of the illustrated embodiment, the sequence corresponding to the series of blocks
224 to 229 shown in Fig.7B is omitted from illustration in Fig.8.
[0043] Fig.9 is a flow chart for illustrating, by way of example, operation of terminal
unit shown in Fig.5. After the start at a block 400 and setting of initial values
at a block 401, decision is made as to the signal reception (block 402). If the received
signal is present, it is then decided whether the received signal coincides with the
address of the terminal unit of concern set at the DIP (Dip) switch circuit SW41 (block
403). Upon coincidence, the incoming instruction signal is stored in the random access
memory RAM41 serving as the work memory (block 404). Additionally, the status information
issued by the receiver circuit or control circuit, i.e. the status information indicating
whether the receiver circuit is receiving a fire signal from a fire sensor or whether
control circuit is controlling the device under control is fetched to be subsequently
stored in the random access memory RAM41 serving as the work memory (block 405). Subsequently,
the instruction signal stored in the memory RAM41 is decoded (block 406), to thereby
make decision as to whether it is the requests for the classification information
(block 407), whether it is the requests for the information obtained from the monitoring
(block 408), whether it is a control instruction (block 409) or whether it is a test
command (block 410). In case the classification information is required (YES at block
407), the classification information set at the classification setting switch SW42
or the classification information stored in the classification storing read-only memory
ROM42 is read out to be sent out (block 411). When the command requests for the information
obtained from monitoring (YES at block 408), the status information stored in the
random access memory RAM41 serving as the work memory is read out to be sent out (block
412). In the case of the control command (YES at block 409), the control circuit is
turned on or off (block 413). Subsequently, the status information is read out from
the random access memory RAM41 serving as the work memory to be sent out (block 412).
Finally, in the case of the test command (YES at block 410), a test circuit is turned
on or off (block 414), being followed by the read-out of the status information from
the random access memory RAM41 serving as the work memory to be sent out subsequently
(block 412). After the classification information or the status information has been
sent out, the block 402 is regained to wait for reception of the next signal.
[0044] The lowest-rank receiver (protocol conversion unit) may be so arranged as to store
therein the inherent information collected from the terminal units connected thereto
and at the same time transfer the inherent information to the higher-rank receiver.
Further, it may also be so arranged that the inherent information concerning terminal
units previously registered in the terminal registering read only memory, such as
during manufacture, is transfered to the higher-rank receiver.
[0045] The inherent information transferred from the lowest-rank receiver to the highest-rank
receiver may include in addition to the classification information such information
as the (ID) number, the address, the presence or absence of the test circuit and other
information specific to the terminal unit.
[0046] In the case of the embodiment described above, verification as to whether the terminal
units are connected correctly or not is performed at the stage of the protocol conversion
unit constituting the lowest-rank receiver. It should however be appreciated that
the verification may be performed by the higher-rank receiver or system such as the
main receiver serving for discriminative decision of occurrence of fire and preparation
of associated control instructions, rather than the lowest-rank receivers.
1. A disaster prevention system including at least one receiver (10, 20, 30) having a
plurality of terminal units (40) of certain types connected thereto by at least one
transmission trunk (L), said receiver (30) being adapted to collect information from
said terminal units (40) by polling, and said terminal units (40) being adapted to
send an information to a receiver (30) to which they are connected in response to
predetermined request calls from the receiver (30), said information comprising as
well an inherent classification information identifying the classification or type
of the terminal unit (40), as a status information indicating the status of the terminal
unit (40) at the time of polling the same, wherein said receiver (30) comprises means
(RAM32) to collect and to store the requested classification information from terminal
units (40) only at the time of an initialization operation of the system, and further
means (RAM31) to collect and to determine a status information from those terminal
units (40) the previously stored classification information (A) of which coincided
with a predetermined information (B), during the ordinary monitoring operation after
initialization of the system, when no more any transfer of inherent classification
information is performed.
2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the classification information sent from the
terminal unit (40) to the receiver (30) on request includes, in addition to the type
of the terminal unit, an information as to the number, the address, the presence of
testing means, or other specific information on the terminal unit.
3. A system according to claim 1 or 2, in which the terminal units (40) comprise sensors,
specificaly those delivering a fire, a gas-leakage, or a theft information, sensor
repeaters, smoke prevention or discharge devices, or the like.
4. A system according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which a plurality of receivers (10,
20, 30) are disposed hierarchically, wherein each of the lowest rank receivers (30)
has terminal units (40) connected thereto and is arranged as to collect and to store
an information from said terminal units by polling and to transfer the collected information
to the next higher rank receiver (20), sequentially up to the highest rank receiver
(10).
5. A system according to claim 4, in which the lowest rank receivers (30) are disposed
to collect, at the time of an initialization of the system, a classification information
from the terminal units (40) connected thereto, and to collect a status information
from the terminal units during ordinary monitoring operation, and to transfer this
status information to the higher rank receivers (20) only for such terminal units
the collected classification information of which coincided with a predetermined classification
information.
6. A system according to claim 5, in which the receivers are disposed to sequentially
transfer the status information of the terminal units (40) to the highest rank receiver
(10) where inherent classification information maps of the terminal units (40) connected
to the receivers at the time of initialization of the system are collected.
1. Anlage zum Vorbeugen gegen Katastrophen, welches wenigstens einen Empfänger einschliesst,
an den eine Mehrzahl von Abschlusseinheiten (10, 20, 30) gewisser Typen mittels wenigstens
einer Übertragungsleitung (L) angeschlossen ist, wobei dieser Empfänger (30) eingerichtet
ist, von den besagten Abschlusseinheiten (40) mittels Abfrage Informationen zu sammeln,
und besagte Abschlusseinheiten (40) eingerichtet sind, eine Information an den Empfänger,
an den sie angeschlossen sind, in Beantwortung eines Abfragerufs vom Empfänger (30)
zu senden, wobei diese Information sowohl eine inhärente Klassifikationsinformation,
die die Klassifikation oder den Typ der Abschlusseinheit (40) identifiziert, als auch
eine Zustandsinformation der Abschlusseinheit (40) zur Zeit der Abfrage derselben
einschliesst, mit dem Merkmal, dass der besagte Empfänger (30) Mittel (RAM32) zum
Sammeln und Speichern der von den Abschlusseinheiten (40) angeforderten Klassifikationsinformation
nur zur Zeit des Initialisierungsvorganges des Systems einschliesst, und weiterhin
Mittel (RAM31) zum Sammeln und zur Bestimmung von Zustandsinformation von denjenigen
Abschlusseinheiten (40), deren vorher gespeicherte Klassifikationsinformation (A)
mit einer vorbestimmten Information (B) während des gewöhnlichen Überwachungsbetriebes
nach der Initialisierung des Systems, wenn keine Übertragung von inhärenter Klassifikationsinformation
mehr stattfindet, übereinstimmt.
2. Anlage nach Anspruch 1, mit dem Merkmal, dass die von der Abschlusseinheit (40) auf
Anfrage zum Empfänger (30) gesandte Klassifikationsinformation zusätzlich zum Typ
der Abschlusseinheit eine Information bezüglich der Nummer, der Adresse, des Vorhandenseins
von Testmitteln oder andere spezifische Informationen über die Abschlusseinheit einschliesst.
3. Anlage nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, mit dem Merkmal, dass die Abschlusseinheiten (40) Sensoren
einschliessen, insbesondere derartige, die eine Feuer-, Gasleck- oder Diebstahls-Information,
Sensor-Verstärker, Rauch-Abschluss- oder Abzugs-Vorrichtungen oder dergleichen umfasst.
4. Anlage nach einem der Ansprüche 1 - 3, mit dem Merkmal, dass eine Mehrzahl von Empfängern
(10, 20, 30) hierarchisch angeordnet ist, wobei jeder der Empfänger des niedrigsten
Ranges (30) mit Abschlusseinheiten (40) verbunden und eingerichtet ist, eine Information
von den besagten Abschlusseinheiten durch Abfrage zu sammeln und die gesammelten Informationen
zu dem Empfänger des nächst höheren Ranges (20) zu übertragen, in der Folge bis zum
Empfänger des höchsten Ranges (10).
5. Anlage nach Anspruch 4, mit dem Merkmal, dass die Empfänger des niedrigesten Ranges
(30) eingerichtet sind, zu der Zeit einer Initialisierung des Systems eine Klassifikationsinformation
von den daran angeschlossenen Abschlusseinheiten (40), und während des gewöhnlichen
Überwachungsbetriebes von den Abschlusseinheiten eine Zustandsinformation zu sammeln
und diese Zustandsinformation an Empfänger höheren Ranges (20) nur für die Abschlusseinheiten
zu übertragen, deren gesammelte Klassifikationsinformation mit einer vorgängig gespeicherten
Klassifikationsinformation übereinstimmt.
6. Anlage nach Anspruch 5, mit dem Merkmal, dass die Empfänger eingerichtet sind, nacheinander
die Zustandsinformationen der Abschlusseinheiten (40) zum Empfänger höchsten Ranges
(10), wo Übersichtstafeln der inhärenten Klassifikationsinformation der zur Zeit der
Initialisierung des Systems mit den Empfängern verbundenen Abschlusseinheiten geasammelt
sind, zu übertragen.
1. Système de prévention des catastrophes comportant au moins un premier récepteur (10,
20, 30) ayant plusieurs unités terminales (40) de certains types connectées à celui-ci
par l'intermédiaire d'au moins une artère de transmission (L), ledit récepteur (30)
étant adapté pour collecter par interrogation des informations auprès desdites unités
terminales (40), et lesdites unités terminales (40) étant adaptées pour envoyer des
informations vers un récepteur (30) auquel celles-ci sont connectées, en réponse à
des appels de demande prédéterminés provenant du récepteur (30), lesdites informations
comportant aussi, des informations de classification inhérentes, identifiant la classification
ou le type de l'unité terminale (40), et des informations d'état indiquant l'état
de l'unité terminale (40) à l'instant où celle-ci est interrogée, dans lequel ledit
récepteur (30) comporte des moyens (RAM 32) pour collecter et mémoriser les informations
de classification demandées auprès des unités terminales (40) uniquement au moment
d'une opération d'initialisation du système, et, d'autres moyens (RAM 31) pour collecter
et déterminer des informations d'état auprès des unités terminales (40) dont les informations
de classification précédemment mémorisées (A) coïncident avec des informations prédéterminées
(B), pendant l'opération de surveillance habituelle après initialisation du système,
lorsqu'on n'effectue plus aucun transfert d'informations de classification inhérentes.
2. Système selon la revendication 1, dans lequel 1 les informations de classification
envoyées par l'unité terminale (40) vers le récepteur (30), à la demande, comportent,
en plus du type de l'unité terminale, des informations concernant le numéro, l'adresse,
la présence de moyens de vérification, ou autres informations spécifiques relatives
à l'unité terminale.
3. Système selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans lequel les unités terminales (40) comportent
des détecteurs, de manière spécifique des détecteurs fournissant des informations
d'incendie, de fuites de gaz, ou de cambriolage, des répéteurs de détecteur, des dispositifs
de protection contre les fumées ou d'évacuation des fumées, ou analogue.
4. Système selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 3, dans lequel plusieurs récepteurs
(10, 20, 30) sont disposés de manière hiérarchique, chacun des récepteurs de rang
le plus faible (30) ayant des unités terminales (40) reliées à celui-ci et étant agencé
de manière à collecter et mémoriser des informations en provenance desdites unités
terminales par interrogation et à transférer les informations collectées vers le récepteur
de rang supérieur suivant (20), de manière séquentielle, jusqu'au récepteur de rang
le plus élevé (10).
5. Système selon la revendication 4, dans lequel 1 les récepteurs de rang le plus faible
(30) sont disposés pour collecter, au moment d'une initialisation du système, des
informations de classification auprès des unités terminales (40) connectées à celui-ci,
et pour collecter des informations d'état auprès des unités terminales pendant une
opération de surveillance ordinaire, et transférer ces informations d'état vers les
récepteurs de rang supérieur (20) uniquement pour les unités terminales dont les informations
de classification collectées coïncident avec des informations de classification prédéterminées.
6. Système selon la revendication 5, dans lequel les récepteurs sont disposés pour transférer
de manière séquentielle les informations d'état des unités terminales (40) vers le
récepteur de rang le plus élevé (10), au niveau duquel sont collectées des cartes
d'informations de classification inhérentes des unités terminales (40), connectées
aux récepteurs, à l'instant de l'initialisation du système.