JP2001177870A - Wireless communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wireless communication device that can quickly confirm the difference of reception levels with respect to a plurality of communication systems. SOLUTION: The wireless communication device consists of a PHS transmission/reception section 2 and a PDC transmission/reception section 7 that receive a radio wave sent from each base station, a radio wave strength measurement section 6 that measures the electric field strength of the received radio wave, and a display section 10 or the like that lists up a mode indication denoting the selection of a PDC mode, a PHS private mode or a PHS public mode and electric field strength marks GA-GC denoting a communication mode- dependent electric field strength.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wireless communication device capable of performing wireless communication in a plurality of communication systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a plurality of different communication systems, for example, a simplified telephone system called a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) and a PDC (Personal Digital
A cellular phone system called Cellular) has been put into practical use, and a dual-mode cellular phone that can support both communication systems with one wireless communication device has already been marketed.

As a related prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
No. 0350 describes a wireless channel monitor for connecting a personal computer to a wireless device having a built-in frequency synthesizer and displaying on a screen electric field intensity data for each wireless channel.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-4180 describes a method of individually displaying the electric field strength of each base station in a wireless device that combines and demodulates radio waves received from a plurality of base stations.

[0005]

In a conventional dual mode portable telephone, only the reception level of the radio wave relating to one of the communication systems set in advance during standby or dialing is displayed. When the user switches the communication system, an operation for switching the communication mode to be transmitted is separately required, and the communication system for displaying the reception level is switched according to this operation.

[0006] As a criterion for determining which communication system the user uses, 1) a communication system with good communication quality, 2) a communication system with a low communication fee, and 3) a high-speed movement of the user. Communication system, etc. are conceivable. Judging these parameters comprehensively and determining the communication system to be used for outgoing calls, the communication quality varies depending on the system, but it is necessary to check the reception level because it is affected by the distance from the base station and the terrain. is there. However, in the conventional dual mode receiver, when the user checks the reception level, it is necessary to temporarily enter the dial transmission mode and switch the communication mode, and the operation of checking the reception level is complicated. .

An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device capable of quickly confirming a difference in reception level between a plurality of communication systems.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a radio communication apparatus capable of performing radio communication with a base station of a communication system having different standards for receiving radio waves transmitted from each base station. Unit, an electric field intensity measuring unit for measuring the electric field intensity of a radio wave received by the receiving unit, and a mode display indicating a communication mode corresponding to each communication system and a list for displaying a field intensity of each communication mode. A wireless communication device comprising a display unit.

According to the present invention, a radio wave transmitted from a base station of a communication system having a different standard is received, the electric field strength of each radio wave is measured, and a list is displayed in association with the communication mode and the electric field strength. The user can quickly confirm the difference in the reception level for a plurality of communication systems.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a communication system standard identification unit for receiving broadcast information transmitted from each base station and identifying a communication system capable of wireless communication based on the broadcast information.

According to the present invention, a communication system usable in the current radio wave condition is received by receiving broadcast information transmitted from each base station and identifying a communication system capable of wireless communication based on the broadcast information. Can be recognized.

Further, the present invention is characterized by comprising a dial and an operation unit for performing an operation, and by a predetermined operation before dial transmission, a transition is made to an electric field measuring mode for measuring and displaying electric field intensity.

According to the present invention, by performing a predetermined operation prior to dialing, the user can immediately confirm the electric field strength of the entire communication system without performing a complicated operation as in the related art.

The present invention also provides an electric field measuring mode,
The operation is shifted to a communication mode selection mode for selecting a communication mode at the time of dialing by a predetermined operation.

According to the present invention, it is possible to select the communication mode at the time of dialing while confirming the magnitude relationship of the electric field strengths of all the communication modes displayed on the display unit, thereby preventing the user from making a selection error.

Further, according to the present invention, in the electric field measurement mode and the communication mode selection mode, the mode shifts to a dial mode in which a dial operation is performed by a predetermined operation, and the communication mode selected in the communication mode selection mode is made effective. Features.

According to the present invention, it is possible to select the communication mode at the time of dial transmission while confirming the magnitude relationship of the electric field strengths of all the communication modes displayed on the display unit, and then shift to the dial mode by a predetermined operation. Thus, a series of operations from the confirmation of the electric field strength to the dial transmission can be smoothly performed.

According to the present invention, in the electric field measurement mode and the communication mode selection mode, if a predetermined operation is not performed within a predetermined time, the process exits the electric field measurement mode and invalidates the result operation in the communication mode selection mode. It is characterized by the following.

According to the present invention, when a non-operation state continues for a predetermined time during the electric field measurement mode and the communication mode selection mode, the mode automatically shifts to the standby mode.
The return operation by the user can be omitted, and the operability is improved. At that time, by invalidating the selection result in the communication mode selection mode, it is possible to easily return to the communication mode before entering the electric field measurement mode.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the predetermined operation for shifting to the electric field measurement mode and the predetermined operation for shifting to the communication mode selection mode are the same button press.

According to the present invention, the operability is improved because the mode can be shifted stepwise to the electric field measurement mode and the communication mode selection mode only by repeating the same button operation.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the electric field strength measurement in the electric field measurement mode is started at the time of shifting to the electric field measurement mode.

According to the present invention, the electric field strength measurement is started at the time of shifting to the electric field measurement mode, so that the button operation for starting the measurement can be omitted, and the operability is improved.

The present invention further comprises a storage unit for storing a measurement result obtained by measuring the electric field strength in each communication mode, and the display unit comprises:
The measurement result stored in the storage unit is displayed.

According to the present invention, by storing the measurement result of the electric field strength in the storage unit, the electric field strength is measured when the contents of the display unit are rewritten according to the mode switching operation, or at the time of intermittent reception in the standby mode. Even in this case, the measurement result can be displayed at any time by reading the stored contents of the storage unit.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that each communication system standard is one of communication systems including at least PHS and PDC.

According to the present invention, it is possible to cope with a communication system currently in practical use.

As a wireless communication device to which the present invention can be applied, a portable telephone, a portable information terminal, and the like can be exemplified.

[0029]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication device
An antenna unit 1 for transmitting or receiving radio waves and a PHS (Pe
A PHS transmission / reception unit 2 for modulating or demodulating according to a communication system standard, a baseband unit 3 for separating a voice signal and a data signal, a voice input unit 4 including a microphone and an amplifier, and a speaker and an amplifier. An audio output unit 5 and an electric field intensity measuring unit 6 for measuring the electric field intensity of a radio wave input by the antenna unit 1
And a PDC transmission / reception unit 7 for modulating or demodulating according to a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) communication system standard
A main control unit 8 including a CPU for controlling the operation of each block; an operation input unit 9 including dial buttons and operation buttons; an LED (light emitting diode) and an LCD
(A liquid crystal display panel) or the like, and a RAM or ROM
And the like.

The antenna unit 1 is composed of an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves to and from a base station, a switch and a filter for selectively transmitting and receiving signals, and receives radio waves for each carrier frequency band. It is distributed to the PDC transmission / reception unit 7.

The PHS transmitting / receiving unit 2 includes a receiving unit 2a and a transmitting unit 2
b etc. The receiving unit 2 a selects a desired radio wave from the radio waves received by the antenna unit 1, down-converts (frequency converts) to a low frequency, demodulates the digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the baseband unit 3. . The transmission unit 2b performs π / 4 shift QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation on the carrier digital signal supplied from the baseband unit 3 with respect to the carrier signal from the transmitter, and generates a carrier frequency band corresponding to the PHS standard. Generates a burst-shaped transmission signal, amplifies it at a high frequency, and supplies it to the antenna unit 1.

The PDC transmitting / receiving section 7 includes a receiving section 7a and a transmitting section 7
b etc. The receiving unit 7 a selects a desired radio wave from the radio waves received by the antenna unit 1, down-converts (frequency converts) to a low frequency, demodulates the digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the baseband unit 3. . The transmitting unit 7b performs π / 4 shift QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation on the carrier digital signal supplied from the baseband unit 3 with respect to the carrier signal from the transmitter, and generates a carrier frequency band corresponding to the PDC standard. Generates a burst-shaped transmission signal, amplifies it at a high frequency, and supplies it to the antenna unit 1.

At the time of the receiving operation, the baseband unit 3 identifies the digital signals from the receiving units 2a and 7a as data corresponding to the respective channels and slots, demodulates the audio digital signal, and converts the audio digital signal into an analog audio signal. The data signal is output to the audio output unit 5 and the data signal is output to the main control unit 8. Further, during the transmission operation, the baseband unit 3 receives an audio digital signal obtained by A / D converting the audio signal from the audio input unit 4 and encoding the audio signal, or receives a data signal from the main control unit 8. Then, TDMA (Time Division Multiple
After the digital signal is converted into a burst digital signal by being loaded on a predetermined slot of an Access) system, the digital signal is output to the transmission units 2b and 7b.

The electric field strength measuring section 6 receives the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) from the receiving sections 2a and 7a.
The electric field intensity of the PHS radio wave and the PDC radio wave are measured based on the signal, and the measurement data is output to the main control unit 8. The main control unit 8 stores the measurement data from the electric field strength measurement unit 6 in the memory unit 11.

As described above, the wireless communication apparatus is configured as a dual mode portable telephone in the PHS mode and the PDC mode. The PHS mode operates in accordance with the digital cordless telephone system standard, and the PDC mode operates in the digital car telephone system standard. Operates in compliance with

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of the appearance of the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention. On a front panel of the wireless communication device, various operation buttons such as a mode key BA, a redial button BB, an off-hook button BC, a telephone directory button BD, an on-hook button BE, and dial buttons B0 to B9 are mounted. LCD panel 10a on top
The microphone opening 4a is formed at the lower end, and the speaker opening 5a is formed at the upper end. When each operation button is pressed, the operation input unit 9 informs the main control unit 8 which button has been pressed. The function of each operation button will be described later together with the operation description.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of a display screen of the LCD panel 10a. FIG.
(D) respectively show the electric field measurement mode.

The initial state of the wireless communication apparatus is a standby mode in which various inputs are performed while executing a predetermined task. As shown in FIG. 4A, the operation state of the apparatus is displayed in the first row from the top of the screen. The display area of the pictogram group shown is secured. In the second column of the screen, the characters “mobile” indicating the PDC mode are displayed.
In the PHS mode, the character "office" indicating the self-employed mode via the corporate PBX and in the PHS mode the character "PHS" indicating the public mode via the public base station
And other display areas are secured. In the third column of the screen, a display area for a pictogram display group that is switched for each mode is secured.
A clock display area is secured in the fourth column of the screen. FIG.
The reverse display of “mobile” in (a) means that a call is made in the PDC mode when the mode is shifted to the transmission mode at the present time, and also in FIGS. 4B to 4D, the transmission corresponding to the reverse display Indicates that the mode has been set.

In the standby mode, when a predetermined operation button is pressed, the mode shifts to various modes corresponding to the button operation.

First, in step F1 of FIG.
Monitors the pressing of the mode key BA, and when the user presses the mode key BA, the process shifts to step F2 to shift to the electric field measuring mode for measuring and displaying the electric field intensity. Here, an example will be described in which an operation button for shifting from the standby mode to the electric field measurement mode is assigned to the mode key BA, but may be assigned to another operation button.

In step F2, the main control section 8 starts a timer for measuring the elapsed time from the start of the electric field measurement mode. Next, in step F3, the main control unit 8
Is transmitted via the baseband unit 3 to the PHS transmitting / receiving unit 2 and P
It instructs the DC transceiver 7 to receive radio waves from each base station and measure the electric field strength of the radio waves. Then, PHS transmitting / receiving section 2 and PDC transmitting / receiving section 7 receive a radio wave from a base station existing in the area according to a predetermined protocol, and output RSSI signals of receiving sections 2a and 7a to electric field strength measuring section 6. The electric field strength measuring unit 6 performs level discrimination of the RSSI signal with a plurality of thresholds, divides the electric field strength into four stages, for example, and outputs electric field levels V0 to V3 to the main control unit 8. The main control unit 8 controls the LCD panel 10a based on the electric field levels V0 to V3 from the electric field strength measurement unit 6.
Is displayed in a bar graph together with the antenna mark.

Further, the radio wave received from each base station is PH
When processed by the S transmission / reception unit 2 and the PDC transmission / reception unit 7, the signal is transmitted to the baseband unit 3, and the baseband unit 3 converts broadcast information transmitted by a base station corresponding to a predetermined slot into a digital signal, and performs main control. Output to the unit 8. Main control unit 8
Identifies the communication system standard corresponding to the received radio wave by examining the broadcast information digital signal,
The electric field level for each communication system is stored in the memory unit 11.

When shifting to the electric field measurement mode, FIG.
As shown in (d), the clock display disappears, and in the third column of the screen, the antenna marks and the electric field strength marks GA to GC composed of three bar graphs are associated with “mobile”, “office” and “PHS”. The number of displayed vertical bars of the electric field strength mark GA corresponds to the electric field level in the PDC mode, and the number of displayed vertical bars of the electric field strength mark GB corresponds to the electric field level in the PHS independent mode. The number of displayed vertical bars corresponds to the electric field level in the PHS public mode.

In the above description, an example in which the electric field intensity measurement of the radio wave is started together with the start of the electric field measurement mode has been described.
The electric field strength of the radio wave is measured together with the intermittent reception in the standby mode, the electric field level of each communication system is stored in the memory unit 11, and the mode of each communication system stored in the memory unit 11 when the mode key BA is pressed is pressed. LCD field level
It is also possible to display on the panel 10a. in this case,
The former method has the advantage that the latest electric field level can always be displayed, and the latter method has the advantage that the time required to display the electric field level can be shortened by omitting the measurement time. Can be left to the user's manual setting.

After displaying the electric field level in step F3 in FIG. 3, the main controller 8 monitors whether or not the mode key BA has been pressed in step F4. When the user presses the mode key BA, the process proceeds to step F5. The transmission mode is switched according to a predetermined order. For example, when shifting to the electric field measurement mode, as shown in FIG.
When the mode is set to the DC mode and “mobile” is highlighted, when the mode key BA is pressed once, “office” indicating the PHS self-employed mode is highlighted as shown in FIG. When key BA is pressed, FIG.
"PHS" indicating PHS public mode as shown in (d)
Is highlighted, and when the mode key BA is further pressed, the state returns to the state shown in FIG. Note that the type of transmission mode and the switching order can be appropriately changed according to the specifications of the mobile phone.

After the user selects the desired reverse display, in step F6, the main controller 8 monitors whether or not a dial key has been pressed. Here, the dial key is a general term for the redial button BB, off-hook button BC, telephone directory button BD, dial buttons B0 to B9 shown in FIG. When a dial key is pressed, the selection of the transmission mode is determined, and the mode shifts to each dial mode according to the pressed key. For example, when the redial button BB is pressed, the mode goes to the redial mode, when the off-hook button BC is pressed, the mode goes to the off-hook dial mode, when the phonebook button BD is pressed, the phonebook search dial mode is pressed, and the dial buttons B0 to B9 are pressed. Then, the mode shifts to the preset dial mode. When any of the dial buttons B0 to B9 is pressed in the "PHS" reverse display of FIG. 4D, the main control unit 8 determines the transmission mode to be the PHS public mode, and then shifts to the preset dial mode.

On the other hand, if the dial key is not depressed in step F6, it is determined whether or not the timer started in step F2 has passed a predetermined time (here, 10 seconds), and the process returns to step F3 until a timeout occurs. The measurement and display of the electric field strength are repeated. If a timeout has occurred, the electric field measurement mode is ended, the inverted display switching in step F5 is returned to the initial state, and then the mode returns to the standby mode. Note that when the on-hook button BE or the clear button (not shown) for canceling the operation is pressed during the electric field measurement mode, the same processing as the time-out is performed.

As described above, by shifting from the standby mode to the electric field measurement mode and simultaneously displaying all electric field levels for each transmission mode, the user can quickly confirm the radio wave condition in each transmission mode.

In the above description, as a plurality of base stations having different communication system standards, a public base station conforming to the PDC standard, an in-house PBX base station conforming to the PHS standard, and a public base station conforming to the PHS standard However, the present invention is also applicable to base stations conforming to other communication system standards.

[0050]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, radio waves transmitted from base stations of a communication system having different standards are received, the electric field strength of each radio wave is measured, and the communication mode and the electric field strength are associated. By displaying the list as a list, the user can quickly confirm the difference in the reception levels of a plurality of communication systems.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of an external appearance of a wireless communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of a display screen of the LCD panel 10a. FIG. 4 (a) shows a standby mode, and FIG.
(D) shows the electric field measurement mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna part 2 PHS transmission / reception part 3 Baseband part 4 Audio input part 5 Audio output part 6 Electric field strength measurement part 7 PDC transmission / reception part 8 Main control part 9 Operation input part 10 Display part 11 Memory part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hiroki Ishii 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Matsumura 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Incorporated F term (reference) 5K011 BA00 BA10 DA00 DA26 HA00 HA03 JA01 KA12 5K067 AA34 BB04 DD13 EE04 EE10 EE24 FF16 FF23 FF31 GG01 GG11 HH05 JJ78

Claims (10)

[Claims] A wireless communication device capable of performing wireless communication with a base station of a communication system having different standards, a receiving unit for receiving a radio wave transmitted from each base station, and a receiving unit for receiving a radio wave transmitted from each base station. An electric field intensity measuring unit for measuring the electric field intensity of the transmitted radio wave, a mode display indicating a communication mode corresponding to each communication system, and a display unit for displaying a list of electric field intensity of each communication mode. Wireless communication device. 2. Receiving broadcast information transmitted by each base station,
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a communication system standard identification unit that identifies a communication system capable of wireless communication based on the broadcast information. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a dial and an operation unit for performing an operation, wherein a predetermined operation before the dial transmission causes a transition to an electric field measurement mode for measuring and displaying an electric field intensity. Wireless communication device. 4. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein in the electric field measurement mode, a transition is made to a communication mode selection mode for selecting a communication mode at the time of dial transmission by a predetermined operation. 5. In the electric field measurement mode and the communication mode selection mode, a transition is made to a dial mode in which processing relating to a dial is performed by a predetermined operation, and the communication mode selected in the communication mode selection mode is made effective. The wireless communication device according to claim 4. 6. In the electric field measurement mode and the communication mode selection mode, if a predetermined operation is not performed within a predetermined time, the process exits the electric field measurement mode and invalidates the result operation in the communication mode selection mode. The wireless communication device according to claim 4, wherein 7. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined operation for shifting to the electric field measurement mode and the predetermined operation for shifting to the communication mode selection mode are the same button press. 8. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the electric field strength measurement in the electric field measurement mode is started when the mode shifts to the electric field measurement mode. 9. The wireless device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit for storing a measurement result obtained by measuring the electric field strength in each communication mode, wherein the display unit displays the measurement result stored in the storage unit. Communication device. 10. Each communication system standard has at least P
The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is any one of a communication system including an HS and a PDC.