WO2018169211A1 - Duplicate address determination method for terminal device, address update method, and duplicate address determination and address update system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to: a method for allocating an address to an electronic shelf label performing I2C communication with a terminal device; an electronic shelf label; and a terminal device, and to: a method, which recognizes when an address of a newly coupled electronic shelf label is the same as the address of an already coupled electronic shelf label in the process of newly coupling, to an I2C bus, the electronic shelf label performing I2C communication with a terminal device, thereby allocating a new address to any one electronic shelf label having the same address; an electronic shelf label; and a terminal device. One purpose of the present invention is to allow only a terminal device, which is one electronic shelf label in charge of one section in a store, to wirelessly communicate with a gateway so as to receive information related to products, and allow electronic shelf labels, which are multiple electronic shelf labels connected to the terminal device, to receive information related to products from the terminal device through wired communication, thereby reducing costs for construction of an electronic shelf label system.

Description

Duplicate address determination method, address update method, duplicate address determination and address update system of terminal equipment

The present invention relates to a duplicate address determination method, an address update method, a duplicate address determination, and an address update system of a terminal device. The present invention relates to a method and system for recognizing a case where an address of an indicator is the same as that of another electronic price indicator that is already combined, and assigning a new address to any one of the electronic price indicators.

In a place such as a retail store that displays and sells a large number of items in a certain space, an electronic price indicator that displays information and price of the goods may be used.

In this case, when all the electronic price indicators communicate with the gateway, the power consumption of the electronic price indicator increases, and the communication state may become unstable due to radio interference while the electronic price indicator communicates. In addition, since all electronic price indicators must be equipped with a wireless communication module, the price of the electronic price indicator also increases.

In order to overcome this problem, only one terminal price, which is one electronic price indicator in one unit or one section, wirelessly communicates with the gateway to receive product related information, and the plurality of electronic price indicators located in the unit or section connected to the terminal unit. The electronic price indicator needs to receive product related information from a terminal device through wired communication.

When the terminal device and the electronic price indicator performs wired communication, there may be a problem in that the address of the new electronic price indicator and the existing electronic price indicator are the same while the new electronic price indicator for wired communication is added.

Using a dip switch to overcome this problem may cause mechanical limitations of the dip switch itself. That is, only the number of addresses that can be changed in the dip switch can be added to the electronic price indicator, and the cost of using the dip switch and the size of the hardware configuration for implementing the electronic price indicator system become large. In addition, since the dip switch is a human operation, it may cause an error due to a malfunction.

One problem to be solved by the present invention is a plurality of electronic price indicator which is connected to the terminal device, the terminal device which is only one electronic price indicator in charge of one section in the store wirelessly communicates with the gateway and receives the product related information. The electronic price indicator allows the product related information to be received from the terminal through wired communication, thereby reducing the cost of building the electronic price indicator system.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the mechanical constraints of using a dip switch by the I2C communication between the terminal device and the electronic price indicator.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is a case where the address of the newly combined electronic price indicator is the same as the address of the already combined electronic price indicator in the process of newly combining the electronic price indicator for the I2C communication with the terminal device to the I2C bus. It recognizes and assigns a new address to any one electronic price indicator having the same address.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is the terminal device compares the cyclic redundancy check value according to the unique ID of the electronic price indicator and the cyclic redundancy check value received from the electronic price indicator and assigns two or more electronic price indicators to one address. It is to determine if it is.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is that when a plurality of electronic price indicators having the same address transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, when the data line of the plurality of electronic price indicators is 0, 1 is transmitted. Through the process of stopping transmission, the electronic price indicator only transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the terminal device. Will be assigned.

On the other hand, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned problems, various technical problems may be further included within the scope apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.

A method for determining a duplicate address of a terminal device in I2C communication with a plurality of electronic price indicators, the method comprising: transmitting a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command; Receiving a signal comprising a unique ID and an error detection code; Determining an error of a received signal using the error detection code; And determining the first address as a duplicate address when the received signal is an error.

The method of determining a duplicate address of a terminal device may include: transmitting a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command, operating in a master mode; Changing from the master mode to a slave mode; Receiving a signal including the unique ID and an address request command; Changing from the slave mode to the master mode; The method may further include transmitting a signal including the unique ID and the second address, wherein the second address includes a value different from the first address.

An address updating method of an electronic price indicator in a slave mode including a first address and a unique ID, the address updating method comprising: receiving a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command; Changing from the slave mode to a master mode; Transmitting a signal including the unique ID and an address request command; Changing from the master mode to the slave mode; And receiving the signal including the unique ID and the second address and changing the first address to the second address.

The transmitting of the signal including the unique ID and the address request command may include detecting an SDA line; Transmitting a high signal while a low signal is detected from the serial data (SDA) line; and stopping transmission of a signal including the unique ID and an address request command.

The duplicate address determination and address update system includes a terminal device; And an electronic price indicator in I2C communication with the terminal device, wherein the terminal device transmits a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command, and receives a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code, An error of the received signal is determined using the error detection code, and if the received signal is an error, the first address is determined as a duplicate address.

The terminal device operates in a master mode to transmit a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, and changes from the master mode to a slave mode to receive a signal including the unique ID and an address request command. Change from the slave mode to the master mode to transmit a signal including the unique ID and the second address, and transmit a signal including the unique ID and the second address, wherein the second address is the It contains a value different from the first address.

The electronic price indicator includes the first address and a unique ID, operates in a slave mode, receives a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, changes from the slave mode to a master mode, and then the unique ID. And a signal including an address request command and changing from the master mode to the slave mode, receiving a signal including the unique ID and the second address and changing the first address to the second address.

The electronic price indicator detects a serial data (SDA) line, and transmits a signal including the unique ID and an address request command when transmitting a high signal while a low signal is detected from the serial data (SDA) line. Stop.

According to the present invention, only an electronic device, which is an electronic price indicator in charge of one section in a store, receives wireless communication with the gateway to receive product related information, and the electronic price indicator, which is a plurality of electronic price indicators connected to the terminal device, is wired. By receiving the goods-related information from the terminal device, the cost of building the electronic price indicator system is reduced.

The present invention overcomes the mechanical constraints of the use of the dip switch by the I2C communication between the terminal and the electronic price indicator.

The present invention recognizes the case where the address of the newly combined electronic price indicator is the same as the address of the already combined electronic price indicator in the process of newly combining the electronic price indicator having I2C communication with the terminal device on the I2C bus, and has the same address. Assign a new address to either electronic price indicator.

In the present invention, the terminal device compares the cyclic redundancy check value according to the unique ID of the electronic price indicator with the cyclic redundancy check value received from the electronic price indicator, and determines whether two or more electronic price indicators are allocated to one address.

According to the present invention, when a plurality of electronic price indicators having the same address transmit a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, the electronic price indicator transmitting one when the data line is zero among the plurality of electronic price indicators transmits the signal. Through the interruption process, only one electronic price indicator transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the terminal device. As a result, the single electronic price indicator is first assigned a new address.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and various effects may be further included within the scope apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 shows signal states on an SDA line and an SCL line in the case of a start condition and a stop condition in I2C communication.

2 shows signal states on the SDA line and the SCL line when data is transmitted in I2C communication.

3 illustrates signal states on SDA lines and SCL lines according to start conditions, data transmission and stop conditions in I2C communication.

4 illustrates signal states on an SDA line and an SCL line for explaining data received by a slave when a plurality of masters simultaneously transmit data.

5 illustrates data received by a slave when a plurality of masters transmit data at the same time.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process in which a master in I2C communication writes data to a slave having the same address.

7 illustrates a process of reading data from a master having I2C communication to a slave having the same address.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a duplicate address of a terminal device.

9 is a flowchart of an address update method.

10 is a detailed flowchart of a step of transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command in the address update method.

11 shows an overall configuration of a duplicate address determination and address update system.

12 shows the overall configuration of a duplicate address determination and address update system.

13 illustrates an electronic price indicator system including a server, a gateway, a terminal device, and an electronic price indicator.

14 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a terminal device.

15 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic price indicator.

16 illustrates an address table generated by a terminal device.

Duplicate address determination method and system of the terminal device according to the present invention is embodied through embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the components of the embodiments may be variously combined within the embodiments as long as there are no other mentions or contradictions. Furthermore, the proposed invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

In addition, when a component is "contained," it means that the component must be included regardless of other components, not to exclude the possibility of inclusion of other components.

In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, it is not only "directly connected", but also "electrically connected" between other elements in between. Include. Furthermore, in the specification, a signal means an electric quantity such as a voltage or a current.

1 shows signal states on an SDA line and an SCL line in the case of a start condition and a stop condition in I2C communication.

The start condition is defined to allow the current I2C bus 132 master to transmit data. The start condition occurs when the SDA line transitions from high to low while the SCL line is high.

Data is transmitted after the start condition is met, and data transmission is completed when the stop condition is met. A stop condition occurs when the SDA line transitions low to high while the SCL line is high.

That is, the start condition and stop condition require that the transition of the SDA line occur when the SCL line is low. However, exceptional situations may be treated as start conditions or stop conditions.

2 shows signal states on the SDA line and the SCL line when data is transmitted in I2C communication.

If the SCL line is high during data transmission, the signal state on the SDA line does not change. That is, when the SCL line is in the high state, the signal state on the SDA line remains high or low as shown in FIG.

The state on the SDA line can only change when the SCL line is in the low state.

3 illustrates signal states on SDA lines and SCL lines according to start conditions, data transmission and stop conditions in I2C communication.

As shown in Figure 3, the I2C protocol provides for the transmission of 8-bit data and 7-bit addresses.

The I2C master sends the 7-bit address of the I2C slave device to exchange (send or receive) data after the start condition. The master transmits the seven bits of address followed by a single bit in which the master indicates a write or read operation.

The addressed I2C slave device responds with an ACK bit if it can respond to the operation of the master. The addressed I2C slave device responds with a NACK bit if it cannot cope with the operation of the master.

4 illustrates signal states on an SDA line and an SCL line for explaining data received by a slave when a plurality of masters simultaneously transmit data. 5 illustrates data received by a slave when a plurality of masters transmit data at the same time.

In I2C communication, there may be a plurality of masters, in which case a plurality of data may be transmitted simultaneously. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an arbitration scheme is applied, and the slave receives only data transmitted by any one of the plurality of masters.

According to Figure 4 there are two masters that satisfy the starting condition. After the start condition is satisfied, master 1 transmitting data 1 and master 2 transmitting data 2 output the same signal.

However, after the same signal is output, there is a period in which the master 2 transmitting the data 2 outputs the low signal while the master 1 transmitting the data 1 outputs the high signal.

After the portion indicated as "master 1 loses arbitration" in FIG. 4, the master 1 loses arbitration and stops transmission.

That is, if one master transmits a high signal and the SDA signal line is low, the one master gives up its function as a master and stops transmitting. If one master sent a high signal and the SDA signal line is low, it means that one or more masters sent a low signal.

According to FIG. 5, the data transmission is abandoned in the order of master 1 and master 3, and 1001, which is data of master 2, is transmitted.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process in which a master in I2C communication writes data to a slave having the same address.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the master writes data 1010, all slaves having the same address receive the same data 1010.

7 illustrates a process of reading data from a master having I2C communication to a slave having the same address.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when three electronic price indicators 310 simultaneously transmit 1101, 1001, and 1010, the terminal device 300 receives 1000. That is, the terminal device 300 receives 1000 in which 1101, 1001, and 1010 are And calculated.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a duplicate address of the terminal device 300.

Duplicate address determination method according to the invention relates to a duplicate address determination and update method for all devices having a different address by repeating the process of allocating a new address to any one of a plurality of devices assigned the same address will be.

The device described above is an electronic price indicator 310, and one or more are present. One or more electronic price indicators 310 communicate with the terminal device 300, specifically, via an I2C protocol.

An integrated circuit serial bus, which may be referred to as I2C bus 132, is a serial single-ended bus. I2C bus 132 is a multi-master bus where each device can act as a master and slave for different messages sent on I2C bus 132.

The I2C bus 132 may transmit data using only two bidirectional open drain connectors, including an SDA line that is a serial data line and an SCL line that is a serial clock line. Connectors typically include lines terminated by pullup resistors. Another description of I2C communication has been provided above.

The method for determining a duplicate address according to FIG. 8 is a method in which the terminal device 300 is performed as a subject, transmitting a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command (S100); Receiving a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code (S105); Determining an error of a received signal by using the error detection code (S106); And determining the first address as a duplicate address when the received signal is an error.

In step S100 of transmitting a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command, the terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the first address and a unique ID request command to the electronic price indicator 310.

The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the first address and the unique ID request command to all the electronic price indicators 310 by broadcasting. That is, the terminal device 300 writes a signal including the first address and the unique ID request command to all the electronic price indicators 310 by broadcasting. All electronic price indicators 310 are electronic price indicators 310 which perform I2C communication with the terminal device 300.

The transmitting of the signal including the first address and the unique ID request command (S100) is a first step of determining whether two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated to one address.

The terminal device 300 generates and transmits a signal including a specific address and a unique ID request command as many as the addresses included in the address table. The electronic price indicator 310 receives a signal including a first address generated by the number of addresses and a unique ID request command. Here, the first address is an address of one of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310.

Receiving a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code (S105), the terminal device 300 includes a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code from the electronic price indicator 310 assigned to the first address. Receiving.

The error detection code is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value. The cyclic redundancy check is a method of determining a check value for checking whether there is an error in the transmitted data when transmitting the cyclic redundancy check.

Determining an error of the received signal using the error detection code (S106) is a step in which the terminal device 300 determines an error of the signal received from the electronic price display 310.

The cyclic redundancy check value calculated based on the same unique ID is the same. That is, the cyclic redundancy check value calculated by the electronic price indicator 310 based on the unique ID is the same as the cyclic redundancy check value calculated by the terminal device 300 based on the same unique ID.

If two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address, the two or more electronic price indicators 310 receiving the unique ID request command including the one address may include a unique ID and an error detection code. The signal will be sent at the same time.

Determining an error of the received signal by using the error detection code (S106), the error detection code for the unique ID calculated by the terminal device 300 and received from the electronic price display 310 having the unique ID In this step, the error detection codes are compared to determine whether they match. If it does not match, it is determined to be an error.

The determining of the first address as a duplicate address when the received signal is an error may include determining an error detection code for the unique ID calculated by the terminal device 300 and an electronic price indicator 310 having the unique ID. Since the received error detection code does not match and is an error, it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated to the first address.

This determination is made for all addresses. When it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address, the terminal device 300 updates the state of the address to 2 in the address table. An status of an address of 2 means that more than one electronic price indicator 310 has been assigned to the address.

If it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address, the terminal apparatus transmits a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command to be described later (S120); Changing from the master mode to the slave mode (S130); Receiving a signal including the unique ID and an address request command (S140); And changing from the slave mode to the master mode (S150).

For all addresses, if only one electronic price indicator 310 is assigned to one address, the duplicate address determination method is terminated.

When two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmit a signal to the terminal device 300 including a unique ID and an error detection code generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 through the same SDA line, the two or more electronics A signal including a unique ID and an error detection code generated by each of the price indicators 310 becomes a bit operation and is transmitted to the terminal device 300.

An AND operation is performed among bit operations. The AND operation compares two digits of a signal including two or more unique IDs and an error detection code, and calculates 1 when all the digits have 1 and 0 otherwise.

The ANDed result is transmitted to the terminal device 300. When the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a bit-operated unique ID and an error detection code, the terminal device 300 determines that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to the address because the terminal device 300 is different from the error detection code calculated by the terminal device 300. do.

A process of the terminal device 300 receiving bit-operated data from the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 is described with reference to FIG. 7.

The terminal device 300 receives a signal including a bit-operated unique ID and an error detection code, and compares the bit-operated error detection code with an error detection code calculated based on the unique ID.

When the two error detection codes are different as a result of the comparison, it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to the address.

Duplicate address determination method of the present invention, the terminal device 300 operates in the master mode, and transmitting a signal including the first address and the address allocation start command (S120); Changing from the master mode to the slave mode (S130); Receiving a signal including the unique ID and an address request command (S140); Changing from the slave mode to the master mode (S150); And transmitting a signal including the unique ID and the second address.

The second address may include a value different from the first address.

The terminal device 300 operates in a master mode, and in step S120 of transmitting a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command, a plurality of electronic price indicators 310 allocated to one address are provided. On the premise of the case, if the above-mentioned received signal is an error, it is performed after the step (S110) of determining the first address as a duplicate address.

The step S120 of transmitting the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command is based on the premise that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated to one address. Based on this premise, the terminal device 300 outputs a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command to all electronic price indicators 310 so that only one electronic price indicator 310 can be assigned to one address. To the network.

The address included in the signal including the first address transmitted by the terminal device 300 and the address allocation start command is an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned. The terminal device 300 manages an address table, which includes an address, a state of an address, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310 having the address. The status of an address shows how many electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to that address. The terminal device 300 extracts an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated through the address table, and includes a signal including a first address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated and an address allocation start command. Generate and transmit to all electronic price indicators 310.

  The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and an address allocation start command to all the electronic price indicators 310, but only the electronic price indicator 310 having the first address has a unique ID and address which will be described later. Create a signal containing a request command.

In the changing from the master mode to the slave mode (S130), after the step (S120) of transmitting a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command, the terminal device 300 changes from the master mode to the slave mode. It's a step.

Receiving the signal including the unique ID and the address request command (S140), the terminal device 300 changed to the slave mode receives a signal including the unique ID and the address request command from the electronic price display 310 Step.

The terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from any one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to the first address.

Although all the electronic price indicators 310 receive a signal from the terminal device 300 including the above-described first address and address allocation start command, only the electronic price indicators 310 having the first address are unique ID and address request commands. Generate a signal comprising a.

The electronic price indicators 310 having the first address and the first address included in the signal including the address allocation start command are switched to the master mode after receiving the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command. . When the electronic price indicator 310 is switched to the master mode, it means that specific information may be requested to another device, such as the terminal device 300.

That is, the electronic price indicator 310 switched to the master mode sends a request command, such as a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, to any device, for example, the terminal device 300 or another electronic price indicator 310. I can send it.

The two or more electronic price indicators 310 are electronic price indicators 310 having a first address and a first address included in a signal including an address allocation start command.

The two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmit a signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 to the terminal device 300 through the same data line. A signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is a bit operation and is transmitted to the terminal device 300. An AND operation is performed among bit operations. The AND operation compares two digits of a signal including two or more unique IDs and an address request command, and calculates 1 when all the digits have 1 and 0 otherwise. The ANDed result is transmitted to the terminal device 300.

In this case, when any one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits 1, when the data line is 0, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting. The data line being zero when one electronic price indicator 310 transmits 1 means that another electronic price indicator 310 has transmitted 0 to the data line.

When one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, for example, n bits, the other one or more electronic price indicators 310 may also be used. Sends a signal containing a unique ID with n bits and an address request command.

In the process of the two or more electronic price indicator 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID of n bits and an address request command sequentially through the same data line for each bit, any one electronic price indicator 310 is 1 If the data line is 0 when transmitting, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting without transmitting the first next bit.

The signal including the unique ID and the address request command includes an address of the terminal device 300, information indicating a reading or writing, information indicating a command, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310. The two or more electronic price indicators 310 request a new address while transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the same terminal device 300.

As a result, the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is the same as the address of the terminal device 300, information indicating writing, and information indicating command. The unique ID information is different because each electronic price indicator includes its own unique ID.

Since the signals including the unique ID and the address request command generated by the two or more electronic price indicators 310 differ only in the unique IDs, the electronic price indicator 310 outputting 1 later based on the unique IDs of the electronic price indicators 310 may be used. The transmission will not be interrupted. Since the electronic price indicator 310 sequentially transmits each bit of the unique ID from the first digit to the last digit, the electronic price indicator 310 including one more in the lower digit does not stop transmission.

On the contrary, when the electronic price indicator 310 having a unique ID including 1 in the higher order digits transmits 1, since the data line is 0 as another electronic price indicator 310 transmits 0, the transmission stops. .

As a result, only one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 having the same address is transmitted to the terminal device 300 from the beginning to the end of each bit included in a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. Will be sent.

Referring to the terminal device 300, the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from a single electronic price indicator 310.

In the step S150 of changing from the slave mode to the master mode, the terminal device 300 changes from the slave mode to the master mode after receiving a signal including a unique ID and an address request command (S140). It's a step.

The transmitting of the signal including the unique ID and the second address is a step in which the terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address to the electronic price display 310.

The electronic price indicator 310 that receives the signal including the unique ID and the second address is all electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300. The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address through broadcasting, and all the electronic price indicators 310 receive the signal including the unique ID and the second address.

The unique ID is a unique ID of the electronic price indicator 310 that transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command without stopping transmission of the two or more electronic price indicators 310. That is, the electronic price indicator 310 in the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated from the electronic price indicator 310 having the address included in the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command described above. It is an electronic price indicator 310 that includes one more in the rank of the subordinated order.

The signal including the unique ID and the second address generated by the terminal device 300 may be updated by the single electronic price indicator 310 as well as the address and unique ID of the single electronic price indicator 310. It also includes a second address, which is an address. The second address is one of the addresses included in the above-described address table, and is an address to which no electronic price indicator 310 is assigned.

That is, the second address includes a value different from the first address.

When there are a plurality of addresses to which the electronic price indicator 310 is not assigned, the terminal device 300 may determine an address having the smallest bit value as a new address. Specifically, I2C communication, which communicates with the terminal device 300, is performed. All electronic price indicators 310 receive a 'signal containing a unique ID and a second address', but only one electronic price indicator 310 having the same unique ID as the received unique ID receives its address. The second address included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address' is updated.

Each electronic price indicator 310 ignores the signal when the unique ID included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address' is not its own unique ID. One of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to one address through the step of transmitting the signal containing the signal (S120) to transmitting the signal including the unique ID and the second address, the own address of the new address; To solve the problem of address duplication.

9 is a flowchart of an address update method. The method of updating an address according to FIG. 9 mainly uses the electronic price indicator 310.

An address updating method of an electronic price indicator in a slave mode including a first address and a unique ID includes: receiving a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command (S200); Changing from the slave mode to the master mode (S205); Transmitting a signal including the unique ID and an address request command (S210); Changing from the master mode to the slave mode (S220); And receiving the signal including the unique ID and the second address and changing the first address to the second address.

Receiving a signal including the first address and the address allocation start command (S200) is based on the premise that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated to one address. Based on this premise, the terminal device 300 outputs a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command to all electronic price indicators 310 so that only one electronic price indicator 310 can be assigned to one address. To the network.

The address included in the signal that each electronic price indicator 310 receives, including the first address and the address assignment start command, is an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned. The terminal device 300 manages an address table, which includes an address, a state of an address, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310 having the address. The status of an address shows how many electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to that address. The terminal device 300 extracts an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated through the address table, and includes a signal including a first address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated and an address allocation start command. Generate and transmit to all electronic price indicators 310.

  The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and an address allocation start command to all the electronic price indicators 310, but only the electronic price indicators 310 having the first address and the unique ID to be described later. Generates a signal containing an address request command.

In the step S205 of changing from the slave mode to the master mode, the electronic price indicator 310 changes from the slave mode to the master mode after receiving a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command (S200). It's a step.

The electronic price indicator 310 changed to the master mode then transmits a signal including the unique ID and the address request command to the terminal device 300 in step S210 of transmitting a signal including the unique ID and the address request command. .

The electronic price indicators 310 assigned to the first address transmit a signal including a unique ID and an address request command.

Although all the electronic price indicators 310 receive a signal from the terminal device 300 including the above-described first address and address assignment start command, only the electronic price indicators 310 having the first address request a unique ID and address. Generate and send a signal containing the command.

The electronic price indicators 310 having the first address and the first address included in the signal including the address allocation start command are switched to the master mode after receiving the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command. When the electronic price indicator 310 is switched to the master mode, it means that specific information may be requested to another device, such as the terminal device 300.

That is, the electronic price indicator 310 switched to the master mode sends a request command, such as a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, to any device, for example, the terminal device 300 or another electronic price indicator 310. I can send it.

The two or more electronic price indicators 310 are electronic price indicators 310 having a first address and a first address included in a signal including an address allocation start command.

The two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmit a signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 to the terminal device 300 through the same data line. A signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is a bit operation and is transmitted to the terminal device 300. An AND operation is performed among bit operations. The AND operation compares two digits of a signal including two or more unique IDs and an address request command, and calculates 1 when all the digits have 1 and 0 otherwise. The ANDed result is transmitted to the terminal device 300.

In this case, when any one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits 1, when the data line is 0, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting. The data line being zero when one electronic price indicator 310 transmits 1 means that the other electronic price indicator 310 has transmitted 0 to the data line.

When one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, for example, n bits, the other one or more electronic price indicators 310 may also be used. Sends a signal containing a unique ID with n bits and an address request command.

In the process of the two or more electronic price indicator 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID of n bits and an address request command sequentially through the same data line for each bit, any one electronic price indicator 310 is 1 If the data line is 0 when transmitting, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting without transmitting the first next bit.

The signal including the unique ID and the address request command includes an address of the terminal device 300, information indicating a reading or writing, information indicating a command, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310. The two or more electronic price indicators 310 request a new address while transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the same terminal device 300.

As a result, the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is the same as the address of the terminal device 300, information indicating writing, and information indicating command. The unique ID information is different because each electronic price indicator includes its own unique ID.

Since the 'signal including the unique ID and the address request command' generated by the two or more electronic price indicators 310 differ only in the unique ID, the electronic price indicator 310 outputs 1 later based on its unique ID. ) Does not interrupt transmission. Since the electronic price indicator 310 sequentially transmits each bit of the unique ID from the first digit to the last digit, the electronic price indicator 310 including one more in the lower digit does not stop transmission.

On the contrary, when the electronic price indicator 310 having a unique ID including 1 in the higher order digits transmits 1, since the data line is 0 as another electronic price indicator 310 transmits 0, the transmission stops. .

As a result, only one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 having the same address is transmitted to the terminal device 300 from the beginning to the end of each bit included in a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. Will be sent.

Referring to the terminal device 300, the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from a single electronic price indicator 310.

In the changing from the master mode to the slave mode (S220), the electronic price indicator 310 changes from the master mode to the slave mode after the step (S210) of transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. It's a step.

Receiving a signal including a unique ID and a second address and changing the first address to the second address, the electronic price indicator 310 having the same unique ID as the received unique ID to the first address; Step 2 changes to the address.

All electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300 receive a signal including the unique ID and the second address. The terminal device 300 transmits a 'signal including a unique ID and a second address' by broadcasting, and all the electronic price indicators 310 receive a 'signal including a unique ID and a second address'.

At this time, the unique ID is a unique ID of the electronic price indicator 310 that transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the end without interrupting transmission among the two or more electronic price indicators 310. That is, the electronic price indicator 310 is a 'unique ID and address request generated by them among the electronic price indicators 310 having an address included in the' signal including the first address and the address allocation start command '. There is only one electronic price indicator 310 that includes one more in the order of precedence in the signal containing the command.

The signal including the unique ID and the second address generated by the terminal device 300 is updated by the single electronic price indicator 310 as well as the address and the unique ID of the single electronic price indicator 310. It also includes the second address, which is the new address. The second address is one of the addresses included in the above-described address table, and is an address to which no electronic price indicator 310 is assigned.

That is, the second address includes a value different from the first address.

The terminal device 300 may determine an address having the smallest bit value as a new address when there are a plurality of addresses to which the electronic price indicator 310 is not assigned.

Although all the electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300, specifically in I2C communication, receive a 'signal with a unique ID and a second address', but have a unique ID equal to the received unique ID. Only one electronic price indicator 310 updates its address to a second address included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address'.

Each electronic price indicator 310 ignores the signal when the unique ID included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address' is not its own unique ID.

Receiving a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command (S200) to receiving a signal including a unique ID and a second address and changing the first address to the second address; One of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to one address through to update their address to a new address to solve the problem of address duplication.

10 is a detailed flowchart of a step (S210) of transmitting a 'signal including a unique ID and an address request command' in the address update method.

The transmitting of the signal including the unique ID and the address request command (S210) may include: detecting an SDA line (S211); Transmitting a high signal (S212) while a low signal is detected from the SDA line; And stopping transmission of a signal including the unique ID and an address request command.

In step S211 of detecting the SDA line, the electronic price indicator 310 detects whether a high signal or a low signal is applied to the SDA line.

In the step S212 of transmitting the high signal while the low signal is detected from the SDA line, the electronic price indicator 310 detects the low signal from the SDA line and outputs a high signal.

In the step of stopping transmission of the signal including the unique ID and the address request command, the electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting the signal including the unique ID and the address request command.

That is, when one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits 1, when the data line is 0, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting. The data line being zero when one electronic price indicator 310 transmits 1 means that the other electronic price indicator 310 has transmitted 0 to the data line.

Since the 'signal including the unique ID and the address request command' generated by the two or more electronic price indicators 310 are different from each other only with the unique IDs, the electronic price indicator 310 outputs 1 later based on its unique ID. ) Does not interrupt transmission.

Since the electronic price indicator 310 sequentially transmits each bit of the unique ID from the first digit to the last digit, the electronic price indicator 310 including one more in the lower digit does not stop transmission.

On the contrary, when the electronic price indicator 310 having a unique ID including 1 in the higher order digits transmits 1, since the data line is 0 as another electronic price indicator 310 transmits 0, the transmission stops. .

As a result, only one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 having the same address is assigned to each of the bits included in the signal including the unique ID and the address request command from the beginning to the terminal device 300. Will be sent to the end.

11 shows an overall configuration of a duplicate address determination and address update system.

In the step S100 of transmitting a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command, the terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the first address and a unique ID request command to the electronic price indicator 310. do. In the step S105 of receiving a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code, the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code.

Determining an error of the received signal by using an error detection code, and determining the first address as a duplicate address when the received signal is an error, the terminal device 300 each electronic price indicator 310 Receive a unique ID and error detection code, and compares the error detection code calculated by the terminal device itself with the received error detection code with respect to the received unique ID does not match the two or more electronic price at the first address It is determined that the indicator 310 is allocated.

In the step of determining an error of the received signal using an error detection code, and in the step of determining that the first address as a duplicate address when the received signal is an error, it is terminated.

The step S120 of transmitting a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command is based on the premise that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address. Based on this premise, the terminal device 300 outputs a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command to all electronic price indicators 310 so that only one electronic price indicator 310 can be assigned to one address. To the network.

In step S140 of receiving a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, the terminal device 300 changed to a slave mode receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from the electronic price display 310.

In the step of changing the first address to the second address, the electronic price indicator 310 having the corresponding unique ID changes the first address to the second address.

After changing the first address to the second address, a step (S100) of transmitting a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command is performed again.

12 shows the overall configuration of a duplicate address determination and address update system.

The terminal device 300 wirelessly communicates with the gateway 430, which will be described later, to receive product related information transmitted by the server 410. The terminal device 300 and the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 communicate via the I2C bus 132. I2C bus 132 includes a serial data line SDA and a serial clock line SCL as shown in FIG. The plurality of electronic price indicators 310 are located at a stand in the store. There is a connector in each stand, and each electronic price indicator 310 may be connected to or separated from the connector. When the electronic price indicator 310 is connected to the connector, power is supplied to the electronic price indicator 310 and is also connected to the data line SDA and the serial clock line SCL.

Arrows 510 and 520 shown in FIG. 12 show that the electronic price indicator 310 can be separated or coupled to the connector. When the electronic price indicator 310 is newly coupled to the connector, a random random address is assigned. If the random random address is already assigned to another electronic price indicator 310, a problem arises in that the address is duplicated. As described above, the terminal device 300 according to the present invention, when the cyclic redundancy check value calculated based on the unique ID and the received cyclic redundancy check value are different from each other, two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to the address. I judge it.

When it is determined that there is a duplicate, new addresses are sequentially assigned to one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 which are duplicately assigned to one address.

FIG. 13 illustrates an electronic price indicator 310 system including a server 410, a gateway and a terminal device 300.

The server 410 provides product related information to be displayed on the electronic price indicator 310, for example, a product name, a product price, an expiration date, and the like. The gateway 430 may be installed on a ceiling in a store as a wired / wireless converter.

In one example, the electronic price indicator 310 is managed in at least one group and the product information is updated. The terminal device 300 maintains a sleep state to save battery, and wakes up only when product information is updated. That is, the terminal device 300 receives the product information to be displayed by the electronic price display 310 from the server 410, and transmits the product information to the electronic price display 310 via I2C communication.

The server 410 and the gateway 430 communicate with each other via an internal wired network, and the gateway 430 communicates with the terminal device 300 in short-range wireless communication, for example, on a PHY / MAC layer according to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Communicate according to the defined protocol. The server 410 transmits product information to the terminal device 300 through the gateway 430.

The terminal device 300 accesses the designated data channel from the gateway 430 that has registered itself, randomly wakes up, and then sequentially requests update information.

The terminal device 300 or 300 receives the goods related information from the server 410 through the gateway 430 and transmits the product related information to the electronic price display 310 in I2C communication with the terminal device 300 or 300. The electronic price indicator 310 that receives the product related information, for example, the product information image from the terminal device 300 or 300, displays 240 the product information image.

The duplicate address determination and address update system includes a terminal device 300; And an electronic price indicator 310 in I2C communication with the terminal device 300, wherein the terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command, and detects a unique ID and an error. A signal including a code is received, an error of the received signal is determined using the error detection code, and if the received signal is an error, the first address is determined as a duplicate address.

The terminal device 300 operates in a master mode, transmits a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, changes from the master mode to a slave mode, and includes the unique ID and the address request command. Receive a signal, change from the slave mode to the master mode, transmit a signal including the unique ID and the second address, and the second address includes a value different from the first address.

The electronic price indicator 310 includes a first address and a unique ID, is in slave mode, receives a signal including the first address and address assignment start command, changes from the slave mode to the master mode, and Transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, changes from the master mode to the slave mode, receives a signal including the unique ID and the second address, and changes the first address to the second address; .

The electronic price indicator 310 further includes a command for detecting a serial data (SDA) line, transmits a high signal while a low signal is detected from the serial data (SDA) line, and transmits the unique ID and address request command. Stop transmission of a signal comprising a.

The features of the tactic exchange electronic price display 310 and the terminal device 300 correspond to the duplicate address determination method and the address update method of the terminal device 300.

14 is a block diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the terminal device 300.

The terminal device 300 includes a first I2C interface 130; A first processor 110; First memory 120; And at least one program stored in the first memory 120 and configured to be executed by the first processor 110, wherein the at least one program includes a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command. And transmit a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code, determine an error of the received signal using the error detection code, and if the received signal is an error, replace the first address with a duplicate address. Contains commands to determine.

The first I2C interface 130 is an interface for communicating with the electronic price indicator 310 in an I2C manner. The first I2C interface 130 is a line interface configurable to communicate over an I2C bus 132 that includes a plurality of connectors or wires.

The first processor 110 collectively controls the terminal device 300. That is, the first processor 110 drives or executes various software programs and / or sets of instructions stored in the first memory 120 to perform various functions for the terminal device 300 and to process data. Let's do it.

The instructions may be coded and configured to implement the functionality described herein.

The first memory 120 consumes less power and is a flash memory that maintains data even when a battery is not supplied. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other suitable semiconductor memories may be adopted. The first memory 120 may store product related information, an address table, and the like.

The terminal device 300 may further include a wireless interface 140. The air interface 140 communicates with the gateway 430 in a Zigbee manner. Zigbee communication is one of the communication methods that define PHY / MAC based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. However, the proposed invention is not limited thereto, and various short-range communication schemes may be applied, such as a communication scheme employing only some of Bluetooth or Zigbee communication standards.

The terminal device 300 may further include a timer 150. The timer 150 is activated even when the first processor 110 is in the sleep mode, and wakes up the first processor 110 by generating an interrupt at a predetermined period set by the first processor 110. The wake-up time slot may be determined by the server 410 so that the terminal device 300 does not collide with each other.

The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command. The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the first address and the unique ID request command to all the electronic price indicators 310 by broadcasting. That is, the terminal device 300 writes a signal including the first address and the unique ID request command to all the electronic price indicators 310 by broadcasting. All electronic price indicators 310 are electronic price indicators 310 which perform I2C communication with the terminal device 300.

The terminal device 300 determines whether two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address by transmitting a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command.

The terminal device 300 generates and transmits a signal including a specific address and a unique ID request command as many as the addresses included in the address table. The electronic price indicator 310 receives a signal including a first address generated by the number of addresses and a unique ID request command. Herein, the first address is an address of any one of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310.

The terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code. The terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an error detection code from the electronic price indicator 310 assigned to the first address.

The error detection code is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value. The cyclic redundancy check is a method of determining a check value for checking whether there is an error in the transmitted data when transmitting the cyclic redundancy check.

The terminal device 300 determines an error of the received signal by using the error detection code.

The cyclic redundancy check value calculated based on the same unique ID is the same. That is, the cyclic redundancy check value calculated by the electronic price indicator 310 based on the unique ID is the same as the cyclic redundancy check value calculated by the terminal device 300 based on the same unique ID.

If two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address, the two or more electronic price indicators 310 receiving the unique ID request command including the one address may include a unique ID and an error detection code. Each signal will be sent simultaneously.

The terminal device 300 compares the error detection code calculated by the user with respect to a unique ID and the error detection code received from the electronic price display 310 having the unique ID, and determines that the error is not an error.

If the received signal is an error, the terminal device 300 determines the first address as a duplicate address. That is, it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to the first address.

This determination is made for all addresses. When determining that two or more electronic price indicators 310 exist in one address, the terminal device 300 updates the state of the address to 2 in the above-described address table. An status of 2 is that more than one electronic price indicator 310 has been assigned to the address.

If it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated to one address, a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command to be described later is transmitted, the signal is changed from the master mode to the slave mode, and the Receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, and changes from the slave mode to the master mode.

The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address to all addresses, and performs the above-described process until only one electronic price indicator 310 is assigned to one address.

When two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmit a signal to the terminal device 300 including a unique ID and an error detection code generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 through the same SDA line, the two or more electronics A signal including a unique ID and an error detection code generated by each of the price indicators 310 becomes a bit operation and is transmitted to the terminal device 300.

An AND operation is performed among bit operations. The AND operation compares two digits of a signal including two or more unique IDs and an error detection code, and calculates 1 when all the digits have 1 and 0 otherwise.

The ANDed result is transmitted to the terminal device 300. When the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a bit-operated unique ID and an error detection code, the terminal device 300 determines that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to the address because the error detection code calculated by the terminal device 300 is different.

A process of the terminal device 300 receiving bit-operated data from the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 is described with reference to FIG. 7.

The terminal device 300 receives a signal including a bit-operated unique ID and an error detection code, and compares the signal with an error detection code calculated by the terminal device 300 based on the unique ID.

As a result of the comparison, if two error detection codes are different from each other, it is determined that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to the address.

The terminal device 300 operates in a master mode, and the one or more programs transmit a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, change from the master mode to a slave mode, and the unique ID. And receiving a signal including an address request command, changing from the slave mode to the master mode, and transmitting a signal including the unique ID and the second address, wherein the second address includes: It includes a value different from the first address.

On the premise that there are a plurality of electronic price indicators 310 assigned to one address, when the received signal is an error, the terminal device 300 is in a master mode after determining that the first address is a duplicate address. And a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command.

The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and an address allocation start command on the assumption that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address. Based on this premise, the terminal device 300 outputs a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command to all electronic price indicators 310 so that only one electronic price indicator 310 can be assigned to one address. Send to

The address included in the signal including the first address transmitted by the terminal device 300 and the address allocation start command is an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned. The terminal device 300 manages an address table, which includes an address, a state of an address, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310 having the address. The status of an address shows how many electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to that address. The terminal device 300 extracts an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated through the address table, and includes a signal including a first address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated and an address allocation start command. Generate and transmit to all electronic price indicators 310.

  The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and an address allocation start command to all the electronic price indicators 310, but only the electronic price indicator 310 having the first address requests a unique ID and address to be described later. Generate a signal containing the command.

The terminal device 300 changes from the master mode to the slave mode after transmitting a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command.

When the terminal device 300 receives the signal including the unique ID and the address request command, the terminal device 300 changed to the slave mode receives the signal including the unique ID and the address request command from the electronic price display 310. It is.

The terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to the first address.

Two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to the first address generate a signal comprising a unique ID and an address request command. Although all the electronic price indicators 310 receive a signal from the terminal device 300 including the above-described first address and address assignment start command, only the electronic price indicators 310 having the first address have a unique ID and an address request command. Generate a signal comprising a.

The electronic price indicators 310 having the first address and the first address included in the signal including the address allocation start command are switched to the master mode after receiving the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command. . When the electronic price indicator 310 is switched to the master mode, it means that specific information may be requested to another device, such as the terminal device 300.

That is, the electronic price indicator 310 switched to the master mode sends a request command, such as a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, to any device, for example, the terminal device 300 or another electronic price indicator 310. I can send it.

The at least two electronic price indicators 310 are electronic price indicators 310 having a first address and a first address included in a signal including an address allocation start command.

The two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmit a signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 to the terminal device 300 through the same data line. A signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is a bit operation and is transmitted to the terminal device 300. An AND operation is performed among bit operations. The AND operation compares two digits of a signal including two or more unique IDs and an address request command, and calculates 1 when all the digits have 1 and 0 otherwise. The ANDed result is transmitted to the terminal device 300.

In this case, when any one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits 1, when the data line is 0, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting. The data line being zero when one electronic price indicator 310 transmits 1 means that the other electronic price indicator 310 has transmitted 0 to the data line.

When one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, for example, n bits, the other one or more electronic price indicators 310 may also be used. Sends a signal containing a unique ID with n bits and an address request command.

In the process of the two or more electronic price indicator 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID of n bits and an address request command sequentially through the same data line for each bit, any one electronic price indicator 310 is 1 If the data line is 0 when transmitting, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting without transmitting the first next bit.

The signal including the unique ID and the address request command includes an address of the terminal device 300, information indicating a reading or writing, information indicating a command, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310. The two or more electronic price indicators 310 request a new address while transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the same terminal device 300.

As a result, the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is the same as the address of the terminal device 300, information indicating writing, and information indicating command. The unique ID information is different because each electronic price indicator includes its own unique ID.

Since the signals including the unique ID and the address request command generated by the two or more electronic price indicators 310 differ only in the unique IDs, the electronic price indicator 310 outputting 1 later based on the unique IDs of the electronic price indicators 310 may be used. The transmission will not be interrupted. Since the electronic price indicator 310 sequentially transmits each bit of the unique ID from the first digit to the last digit, the electronic price indicator 310 including one more in the lower digit does not stop transmission.

On the contrary, when the electronic price indicator 310 having a unique ID including 1 in the higher order digits transmits 1, since the data line is 0 as another electronic price indicator 310 transmits 0, the transmission stops. .

As a result, only one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 having the same address is transmitted to the terminal device 300 from the beginning to the end of each bit included in a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. Will be sent.

Referring to the terminal device 300, the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from a single electronic price indicator 310.

The terminal device 300 changes from the slave mode to the master mode after receiving a signal including a unique ID and an address request command.

When the terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address, the terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address to the electronic price display 310.

The electronic price indicator 310 that receives the signal including the unique ID and the second address is all electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300. The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address by broadcasting, and all the electronic price indicators 310 receive the signal including the unique ID and the second address.

The unique ID is a unique ID of the electronic price indicator 310 that transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command without stopping transmission of the two or more electronic price indicators 310. That is, the electronic price indicator 310 in the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated from the electronic price indicator 310 having the address included in the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command described above. It is an electronic price indicator 310 that includes one more in the rank of the subordinated order.

The signal including the unique ID and the second address generated by the terminal device 300 may be updated by the single electronic price indicator 310 as well as the address and unique ID of the single electronic price indicator 310. It also includes a second address, which is an address. The second address is one of the addresses included in the above-described address table, and is an address to which no electronic price indicator 310 is assigned.

That is, the second address includes a value different from the first address.

The terminal device 300 may determine an address having the smallest bit value as a new address when there are a plurality of addresses to which the electronic price indicator 310 is not assigned.

Although all the electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300, specifically in I2C communication, receive a 'signal with a unique ID and a second address', but have a unique ID equal to the received unique ID. Only one electronic price indicator 310 updates its address to a second address included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address'.

Each electronic price indicator 310 ignores the signal when the unique ID included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address' is not its own unique ID.

The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the first address and an address allocation start command, changes from the master mode to a slave mode, and receives a signal including the unique ID and the address request command. As the slave mode changes from the slave mode to the master mode and transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address, one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to the one address changes its own address. Updating to addresses solves the problem of address duplication.

15 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the electronic price indicator 310.

An electronic price indicator 310 operating in slave mode, the electronic price indicator 310 comprising: a second I2C interface 230; A second processor 210; Second memory 220; And one or more programs stored in the second memory 220 and configured to be executed by the second processor 210, wherein the second memory stores a first address and a unique ID. Receives a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, changes from the slave mode to the master mode, transmits a signal including the unique ID and the address request command, and transmits the signal from the master mode to the slave mode. And a command for receiving a signal including the unique ID and the second address and changing the first address to the second address.

The second I2C interface 230 is an interface for communicating with the electronic price indicator 310 in an I2C manner. The second I2C interface 230 is a line interface configurable to communicate over an I2C bus 132 that includes a plurality of connectors or wires.

The second processor 210 collectively controls the terminal device 300. That is, the second processor 210 drives or executes various software programs and / or sets of instructions stored in the second memory 220 to perform various functions for the terminal device 300 and to process data. Let's do it.

The second memory 220 consumes less power and is a flash memory that maintains data even when a battery is not supplied. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other suitable semiconductor memories may be adopted. The second memory 220 may store product related information, an address table, and the like.

It is driven by the voltage of the phase and consumes minimal power to maintain the display state.

The electronic price indicator 310 receives a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command on the assumption that two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to one address. Based on this premise, the terminal device 300 outputs a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command to all electronic price indicators 310 so that only one electronic price indicator 310 can be assigned to one address. Send to

The address included in the signal including the first address received by the electronic price indicator 310 and the address assignment start command is an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are assigned. The terminal device 300 manages an address table, which includes an address, a state of an address, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310 having the address. The status of an address shows how many electronic price indicators 310 are assigned to that address. The terminal device 300 extracts an address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated through the address table, and includes a signal including a first address to which two or more electronic price indicators 310 are allocated and an address allocation start command. Generate and transmit to all electronic price indicators 310.

  The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including a first address and an address allocation start command to all the electronic price indicators 310, but only the electronic price indicator 310 having the first address requests a unique ID and address to be described later. Generate a signal containing the command.

In the step S205 of changing from the slave mode to the master mode, the electronic price indicator 310 changes from the slave mode to the master mode after receiving a signal including a first address and an address assignment start command (S200). It's a step.

The electronic price indicator 310 transmits a signal including the unique ID and an address request command so that the electronic price indicator 310 changed to a master mode sends a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the terminal device 300. To transmit.

The electronic price indicator 310 assigned to the first address transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command.

Although all the electronic price indicators 310 receive a signal from the terminal device 300 including the above-described first address and address assignment start command, only the electronic price indicators 310 having the first address have a unique ID and an address request command. Generate and transmit a signal comprising a.

The electronic price indicators 310 having the first address and the first address included in the signal including the address allocation start command are switched to the master mode after receiving the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command. . When the electronic price indicator 310 is switched to the master mode, it means that specific information may be requested to another device, such as the terminal device 300.

That is, the electronic price indicator 310 switched to the master mode sends a request command, such as a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, to any device, for example, the terminal device 300 or another electronic price indicator 310. I can send it.

The at least two electronic price indicators 310 are electronic price indicators 310 having a first address and a first address included in a signal including an address allocation start command.

The two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmit a signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 to the terminal device 300 through the same data line. A signal including a unique ID and an address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is a bit operation and is transmitted to the terminal device 300. An AND operation is performed among bit operations. The AND operation compares two digits of a signal including two or more unique IDs and an address request command, and calculates 1 when all the digits have 1 and 0 otherwise. The ANDed result is transmitted to the terminal device 300.

In this case, when any one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits 1, when the data line is 0, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting. The data line being zero when one electronic price indicator 310 transmits 1 means that the other electronic price indicator 310 has transmitted 0 to the data line.

When one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command, for example, n bits, the other one or more electronic price indicators 310 may also be used. Sends a signal containing a unique ID with n bits and an address request command.

In the process of the two or more electronic price indicator 310 transmits a signal including a unique ID of n bits and an address request command sequentially through the same data line for each bit, any one electronic price indicator 310 is 1 If the data line is 0 when transmitting, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting without transmitting the first next bit.

The signal including the unique ID and the address request command includes an address of the terminal device 300, information indicating a reading or writing, information indicating a command, and a unique ID of the electronic price display 310. The two or more electronic price indicators 310 request a new address while transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command to the same terminal device 300.

As a result, the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated by each of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 is the same as the address of the terminal device 300, information indicating writing, and information indicating command. The unique ID information is different because each electronic price indicator includes its own unique ID.

Since the signals including the unique ID and the address request command generated by the two or more electronic price indicators 310 differ only in the unique IDs, the electronic price indicator 310 outputting 1 later based on the unique IDs of the electronic price indicators 310 may be used. The transmission will not be interrupted. Since the electronic price indicator 310 sequentially transmits each bit of the unique ID from the first digit to the last digit, the electronic price indicator 310 including one more in the lower digit does not stop transmission.

On the contrary, when the electronic price indicator 310 having a unique ID including 1 in the higher order digits transmits 1, since the data line is 0 as another electronic price indicator 310 transmits 0, the transmission stops. .

As a result, only one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 having the same address is transmitted to the terminal device 300 from the beginning to the end of each bit included in a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. Will be sent.

Referring to the terminal device 300, the terminal device 300 receives a signal including a unique ID and an address request command from a single electronic price indicator 310.

When the electronic price indicator 310 changes from the master mode to the slave mode, the electronic price indicator 310 changes from the master mode to the slave mode after transmitting a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. .

When the electronic price indicator 310 receives a signal including a unique ID and a second address and changes the first address to the second address, the electronic price indicator 310 having the unique ID may change the first address. To the second address.

The electronic price indicator 310 that receives the signal including the unique ID and the second address is all electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300. The terminal device 300 transmits a signal including the unique ID and the second address by broadcasting, and all the electronic price indicators 310 receive the signal including the unique ID and the second address.

The unique ID is a unique ID of the electronic price indicator 310 that transmits a signal including a unique ID and an address request command without stopping transmission of the two or more electronic price indicators 310. That is, the electronic price indicator 310 in the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated from the electronic price indicator 310 having the address included in the signal including the first address and the address allocation start command described above. It is an electronic price indicator 310 that includes one more in the rank of the subordinated order.

The signal including the unique ID and the second address generated by the terminal device 300 may be updated by the single electronic price indicator 310 as well as the address and unique ID of the single electronic price indicator 310. It also includes a second address, which is an address. The second address is one of the addresses included in the above-described address table, and is an address to which no electronic price indicator 310 is assigned.

That is, the second address includes a value different from the first address.

The terminal device 300 may determine an address having the smallest bit value as a new address when there are a plurality of addresses to which the electronic price indicator 310 is not assigned.

Although all the electronic price indicators 310 communicating with the terminal device 300, specifically in I2C communication, receive a 'signal with a unique ID and a second address', but have a unique ID equal to the received unique ID. Only one electronic price indicator 310 updates its address to a second address included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address'.

Each electronic price indicator 310 ignores the signal when the unique ID included in the 'signal including the unique ID and the second address' is not its own unique ID.

Receives the signal including the first address and the address assignment start command described above, changes from the slave mode to the master mode, transmits a signal including the unique ID and the address request command, and transmits the signal in the master mode. One of two or more electronic price indicators 310 assigned to one address through a process of changing to a mode and receiving a signal including the unique ID and the second address and changing the first address to the second address. Resolves the problem of address duplication by updating its address with a new address.

The at least one program detects a serial data (SDA) line, transmits a high signal while a low signal is detected from the serial data (SDA) line, and transmits a signal including the unique ID and an address request command. Contains the command to abort.

Detecting the SDA line is the electronic price indicator 310 detects whether a high signal or a low signal is applied to the SDA line.

Transmitting a high signal while a low signal is detected from the SDA line is that the electronic price indicator 310 detects a low signal from the SDA line and simultaneously outputs a high signal.

Stopping transmission of the signal including the unique ID and the address request command means that the electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting the signal including the unique ID and the address request command.

That is, when one of the two or more electronic price indicators 310 transmits 1, when the data line is 0, the one electronic price indicator 310 stops transmitting. The data line being zero when one electronic price indicator 310 transmits 1 means that the other electronic price indicator 310 has transmitted 0 to the data line.

Since the signal including the unique ID and the address request command generated by the two or more electronic price indicators 310 differ only in the unique ID, the electronic price indicator 310 outputting 1 later based on its unique ID is transmitted. Will not interrupt.

Since the electronic price indicator 310 sequentially transmits each bit of the unique ID from the first digit to the last digit, the electronic price indicator 310 including one more in the lower digit does not stop transmission.

On the contrary, when the electronic price indicator 310 having a unique ID including 1 in the higher order digits transmits 1, since the data line is 0 as another electronic price indicator 310 transmits 0, the transmission stops. .

As a result, only one electronic price indicator 310 of the plurality of electronic price indicators 310 having the same address is transmitted to the terminal device 300 from the beginning to the end of each bit included in a signal including a unique ID and an address request command. Will be sent.

16 illustrates an address table generated by the terminal device 300.

The address table generated by the terminal device 300 includes 20 addresses, for example. st is a state and is information indicating how many electronic price indicators 310 are allocated to each address. The information next to the status is the unique ID of the electronic price indicator 310. The unique ID when the state value is 2 is not a unique ID of any electronic price indicator 310 since the unique ID of the two electronic price indicators 310 is calculated by and.

If the status value is 0, since there is no electronic price indicator 310 assigned, it is set to a default value.

Although the present invention has been described as described above, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be implemented in other forms while maintaining the technical idea and essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to the above embodiments. In addition, the flowcharts shown in the drawings are merely exemplary in order to obtain the most desirable results in practicing the present invention, and other steps may be added or some steps may be deleted.

While the scope of the invention will be defined by the claims, any modifications or variations derived from a configuration directly derived from the claims description as well as equivalents thereof are also to be included within the scope of the invention. Should be.

[Description of the code]

110: first processor

120: first memory

130: first I2C interface

132: I2C bus

140: wireless interface

150: timer

210: second processor

220: second memory

230: second I2C interface

240: display

300: terminal device

310: electronic price indicator

410: server

430: gateway

510: arrow

520: arrow

Claims (8)

In the duplicate address determination method of the terminal device I2C communication with a plurality of electronic price indicators, Transmitting a signal comprising a first address and a unique ID request command; Receiving a signal comprising a unique ID and an error detection code; Determining an error of a received signal using the error detection code; And And determining the first address as a duplicate address when the received signal is an error. The method of claim 1, The terminal device operating in a master mode and transmitting a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command; Changing from the master mode to a slave mode; Receiving a signal including the unique ID and an address request command; And Changing from the slave mode to the master mode; Transmitting a signal including the unique ID and the second address; And the second address comprises a different value from the first address. In the address updating method of the electronic price indicator in slave mode including a first address and a unique ID, Receiving a signal comprising the first address and an address assignment start command; Changing from the slave mode to a master mode; Transmitting a signal including the unique ID and an address request command; And Changing from the master mode to the slave mode; And receiving the signal including the unique ID and the second address, and changing the first address to the second address. The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitting of the signal including the unique ID and the address request command is performed. Detecting a serial data (SDA) line; If a high signal is transmitted while a low signal is detected from the SDA line, The address update method of stopping the transmission of the signal including the unique ID and the address request command.  Terminal device; And An electronic price indicator in I2C communication with the terminal device; The terminal device Transmit a signal including a first address and a unique ID request command, Receives a signal containing a unique ID and an error detection code, Determining an error of the received signal using the error detection code, And determining the first address as a duplicate address if the received signal is an error. The method of claim 5, wherein The terminal device, In master mode Transmit a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, Change from slave mode to master mode Receiving a signal including the unique ID and an address request command, From the slave mode to the master mode Transmit a signal including the unique ID and the second address, The second address is,  And a duplicate address determination and address update system comprising a value different from the first address. The method of claim 5, wherein The electronic price indicator Including the first address and a unique ID, In slave mode Receiving a signal including the first address and an address assignment start command, By changing from the slave mode to the master mode Transmit a signal including the unique ID and an address request command From the master mode to the slave mode And a duplicate address determination and address update system for receiving a signal including the unique ID and the second address and changing the first address to the second address. The method of claim 7, wherein The electronic price indicator Detects SDA (Serial data) lines, When a high signal is transmitted while a low signal is detected from the serial data (SDA) line, Duplicate address determination and address updating system for stopping transmission of a signal including the unique ID and an address request command.

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