Network having a control device and a plurality of slave devices and communication method using the same network

摘要

A control device and a plurality of slave devices are connected to a common transmission channel. The control device sets an assigned communication mode by sending a receiving inhibit command to all of the slave devices except one assigned and executes an assigned communication with the assigned slave device based on a unique communication protocol free from restrictions in relation to the remaining slave devices. In this case, the control device and the assigned slave device communicate with each other under a condition that maximum rest time period of communication data is within a constant time. The cancelling of the assigned communication mode and the receiving inhibit mode and the returning to the usual communication mode are automatically executed according to a time management using timers contained in the control device and the remaining slave devices.