JP2003274333A - Digital camera for mobile telephone - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera for a mobile telephone having a protection function of discriminating ID information of the mobile telephone and allowing an image file saved in the digital camera to be deleted only from the specified mobile telephone. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera is initialized when powered ON and detects whether it is connected to a mobile telephone to send ACK when it is connected. Once ID information and a command are sent from the mobile telephone, the command is analyzed. When the command is a file deletion command, whether a registered ID is matched is detected and when matched, a file is deleted. When not, it is returned to a main routine. Consequently, image data are prevented from being erased carelessly by others. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is capable of shooting independently, and stores shot images in a built-in memory, and when playing back shot images, connects to a mobile phone to connect to a liquid crystal monitor of the mobile phone. Digital camera that can display on
More specifically, it relates to protection of image data stored in the digital camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones with built-in cameras have been put on the market, and it has become possible to easily transfer images. In the future, it is expected that products will be introduced that are differentiated to improve the image quality by improving the liquid crystal display capability of mobile phones and video transmission means as videophones. Under such circumstances, a product that differentiates itself can be shot with a digital camera alone, and a camera that can confirm images by connecting to a mobile phone can be used for remote locations using a mobile phone. In addition to image transfer, it is also possible to use a camera as a memory medium and connect a mobile phone of another person with a connector to view the mobile phone if the mobile phone has the same function.

[0003]

However, since it can be used for a mobile phone having a similar function, if a file can be deleted, an important image may be accidentally deleted by another person. The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone having a protect function of determining ID information of a mobile phone and deleting an image file stored in a digital camera only from a specific mobile phone. It is to provide a digital camera for a telephone.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the digital camera for a mobile phone according to the present invention is capable of taking a picture independently, storing the taken image in a memory unit, and connecting to the mobile phone. A digital camera capable of transferring the captured image data to the mobile phone and displaying it on the image display unit of the mobile phone by means of connection detection means for detecting that the digital camera has been connected to the mobile phone, The ID information stored in the memory unit, the communication unit that returns the communicable information to the mobile phone by the connection detection unit, and starts communication with the mobile phone; and the digital information together with the ID information from the mobile phone. When a command to delete some or all of the image data stored in the memory of the camera is received, it is stored in advance in the memory. Except the ID information is composed of protection measures for disabling commands. The present invention comprises means for changing the ID information by receiving an ID re-registration command to which new ID information is added together with the ID information from the mobile phone in the above configuration.
Further, in the present invention, the memory unit is a built-in flash memory, and when ID information is not stored in the memory unit, ID information such as a telephone number is first connected to the mobile phone when the digital camera is first connected. Is stored in the built-in flash memory of the digital camera.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing the external appearance of a mobile phone digital camera according to the present invention. The digital camera 1 does not have an image display section such as a liquid crystal display section. On the front surface of the digital camera 1, a taking lens 2 and a strobe light emitting section 3 are arranged. Further, a release button 4 is arranged on the upper surface, and a power source SW8 which doubles as a flash light emission / non-light emission changeover switch is arranged on the rear surface. A connector male 5 is provided on the right side surface. It is possible to communicate with the mobile phone by connecting the connector female 5 of the mobile phone to the connector male 5.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining signal transmission / reception between a digital camera and a mobile phone. The MPU 10 is a microprocessor unit built in the digital camera 1, and this circuit unit and the mobile phone 11 communicate with each other via a connector and a communication circuit. Serial data input signal RxD
Is a mobile phone side open drain output and is a signal sent from the mobile phone 11 to the digital camera 1. The serial data output signal is a CMOS output and is a signal sent from the digital camera 1 to the mobile phone 11. When the digital camera 1 is connected to the mobile phone 11, a signal for automatically transitioning to the image display mode is generated at the connector, and the signal is sent to the MPU 10 as a mobile phone detection signal. The MPU 10 controls to prohibit the strobe charging when the strobe light emission / non-emission changeover switch is in the strobe light emission mode.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a character format at the time of transmission used in a digital camera and a mobile phone. The interface between the digital camera and the mobile phone is a half-duplex UART communication, and the character format has a total of 11 bits including start 1, data length 8, even parity 1, and stop 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a frame format used in a digital camera and a mobile phone.
1 byte for heading start (SOH), header (He)
(1 byte) to specify a command frame or a data frame in (ader), and a length indicating the length (Leng)
2 bytes for th), 1 byte for text start (STX), 1 byte for indicating the middle data block end or the last data block end (ETB / ETX), and 2 bytes for error check (BCC). ing. The data (Data) has a variable length. ENQ
In addition to the exchange of 1-byte communication control characters such as ACK and ACK, commands and data are communicated according to the frame format as shown in FIG. An image data file transfer command and ID information are sent from the mobile phone to the digital camera according to the frame format.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a digital camera for a mobile phone according to the present invention.
The reflected light of the subject 20 passes through the taking lens 2 and the iris 22 to form an image on the CCD 23. The CCD 23 is driven by the driver IC 25 to convert an optical signal into an electric signal and send an image signal to the process IC 24. Process IC 24
The image data (8 bits) processed by is sent to the MPU 10. The MPU 10 is a circuit that controls the entire digital camera, and image data is temporarily stored in the SRAM 27. The temporarily stored image data is read by the MPU 10, converted into a predetermined file format (PNG) by the MPU 10, and then stored in the F memory 26. F memory 2
6 can store ID information.

Between the process IC 24 and the MPU 10, I
² C bus communication is performed, and the MPU 10 can send a standby signal to the process IC for image capture. In addition, the horizontal synchronization signal HREF from the process IC 24 side
And the vertical synchronizing signal VREF is transmitted. A crystal oscillator 30 that generates a system clock is connected to the MPU 10. The MPU 10 supplies a pixel clock and a system clock to the process IC 24. The connector male 5 for communicating with the mobile phone is connected to the MPU 10 via the communication circuit 28.

FIG. 6 shows a communication circuit system in which portions related to the transmission / reception circuit of the digital camera and the mobile phone are extracted. The mobile phone 11 also has a communication circuit 43 for communication similar to the digital camera 1, and as described above, communication is possible by connecting the connector male 5 of the digital camera 1 and the female 6 of the mobile phone 11. Become. The MPU 44 controls the entire mobile phone, and transmits / receives commands such as file transmission / reception, file list transmission, ID re-registration, file deletion, and image data via the communication circuit 43. When accessing the image data stored in the F memory 26 of the digital camera 1 from the mobile phone side, a command is sent to instruct deletion of ID information and image data to be accessed.

In FIG. 5, the release SW 29 is turned on by pressing the release button 4 in FIG. 1, and a release on signal is sent to the MPU 10. The MPU 10 carries out I ² C bus communication with the process IC 24 and takes in an image from the CCD 23. When the strobe light emission mode is selected by the switch SW that also serves as the power supply SW8, a strobe light emission mode signal is sent to the MPU 10. MPU10
When receiving this signal, sends a strobe charge start signal to the strobe circuit 34. The strobe circuit 34 has a booster circuit for strobe light emission and a charging capacitor 34a, and starts charging by a strobe charging start signal. The voltage of the battery 36 is supplied to the strobe circuit 34 via the power supply SW8, and the booster circuit of the strobe circuit 34 causes the charging capacitor 34a to have a predetermined voltage (for example, 300V).
Boosted to. The MPU 10 monitors the strobe voltage monitor signal from the strobe circuit 34, and when the predetermined voltage is reached, it sends a signal to stop strobe charging.
This completes the charging of the charging capacitor 34a.

When the release button 4 is pressed and a release signal is sent from the release SW 29 in the state in which the flash can be emitted, the MPU 1
0 sends a signal for shooting an image by performing I ² C bus communication to the process IC 24 and sends a strobe light emission trigger signal to the strobe circuit 34 at a predetermined timing in order to synchronize with the image shooting. A semiconductor element (SCR or the like) (not shown) of the strobe circuit 34 is turned on, the charge of the charging capacitor 34a starts discharging, and the strobe light emitting section 3 emits light. This operation is when the mobile phone is not connected. When the power SW8 is turned on, the DC / DC converter 32 is activated, the battery voltage 1.5V is boosted to DC 3.0V, and power is supplied to each circuit. This power supply voltage is supplied to the reset circuit 33 to reset the MPU 10.

The photographed image data is stored in the built-in flash memory 26, and the image data is transmitted from the digital camera to the mobile phone by UART communication through the communication connector with the mobile phone. Images can be displayed on the liquid crystal display of the telephone.

When the connector male 5 of the digital camera is connected to the connector female 6 of the mobile phone, the connector male 5 sends a connection detection signal of the mobile phone to the MPU 10, and at the switching timing of this signal, the digital camera standbys to the mobile phone. A signal indicating that it is OK is returned by UART communication. Then, the mobile phone automatically shifts to a mode for displaying an image. When the mobile phone reproduces or erases the image in the F memory of the digital camera, the mobile phone sends ID information and a command to that effect to the digital camera.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the file erasing operation of the digital camera for mobile phones according to the present invention. When the power SW 8 is turned on (step (hereinafter referred to as “S”) 701), the MPU 10 sets the mobile phone 1
In addition to the initial setting of UART communication with 1 and the initial setting of the sensor, initialization processing for setting various registers is performed (S702). Then, the signal is checked whether or not the mobile phone 11 is connected (S703). When not connected, the state of the release SW is detected (S710), and when the release is ON, the photographing process is started (S711).

When it is determined that the mobile phone 11 is connected, an ACK signal is returned to the mobile phone 11 (S70).
4). After this, the MPU 10 waits for an instruction from the mobile phone as well as detection of the release SW, detection of no connection of the mobile phone (S
705). When a command such as a file transfer is sent together with the ID information of the mobile phone in a state where the mobile phone 11 is not busy such as during a call and can communicate with the digital camera, it is determined whether the ID is registered (S706). ). A mobile phone number or a number unique to the connected mobile phone is used as the mobile phone number ID. At this time, if the ID information is not registered in the F memory 26 on the digital camera side and the ID data is empty, the mobile phone is regarded as the owner's mobile phone for the digital camera and registered (S712).

The MPU 10 analyzes the command sent (S707), and if the command from the mobile phone is file transmission, file reception, or file list transmission, the communication processing is performed as it is (S713), and the process proceeds to S703 and the mobile phone Check the connection. If the command from the mobile phone 11 is a file delete command, the registered mobile phone ID information is checked (S708), and if they match, the file is deleted (S709), the process proceeds to S703, and the mobile phone connection is established. To check. If they do not match, the file is not erased, the process proceeds to S703, and the mobile phone connection is checked. This is a protection function of the MPU 10 in erasing a file. Regarding re-registration of mobile phone ID, I want to change the ID number currently registered in the digital camera 1.
By adding the D number to the ID re-registration command, S7
The ID is re-registered in 13 and the ID can be changed. I of MPU10 to change owner mobile phone
This is a D change function.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a command for deleting a part or all of the image data stored in the memory unit of the digital camera is received from the mobile phone together with the ID information, the command is stored in the memory unit in advance. The command is invalidated except for the ID information. Conventionally, when an image stored in a digital camera is reproduced on various mobile phones, it is possible to erroneously delete files if the mobile phone has the same function, but according to the present invention, the owner mobile phone for the digital camera By setting, it is possible to protect an important image, and it is possible to prevent the image data from being accidentally deleted by another person.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a mobile phone digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining signal transmission / reception between a digital camera and a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a character format at the time of transmission used in a digital camera and a mobile phone.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a frame format used in a digital camera and a mobile phone.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a mobile phone digital camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a communication circuit system in which a part related to a transmission / reception circuit of a digital camera and a mobile phone is extracted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a file erasing operation of the mobile phone digital camera according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Digital camera 2 Shooting lens 3 Strobe emission part 4 Release button 5 connector male 6 connector female 8 power switch 10,44 MPU (microprocessor unit) 11 mobile phones 20 subject 22 Iris 23 CCD 24 Process IC 28,43 Communication circuit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5C052 AA17 AB09 DD02 GA02 GA08                       GB01 GB09 GE06                 5C053 FA08 FA27 GB21 JA21 KA04                       LA02 LA14                 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB21 DD52 EE02                       FF02 FF23 HH22 HH24 KK13                       KK15

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A single image can be captured, the captured image is stored in a memory unit, and the captured image data is transferred to the mobile phone by connecting to the mobile phone to display on the image display unit of the mobile phone. A digital camera capable of displaying, wherein the digital camera communicates with the mobile phone by connection detection means for detecting connection to the mobile phone, ID information stored in the memory section, and the connection detection means. Communication means for returning possible information and starting communication with the mobile phone, and a command for deleting a part or all of the image data stored in the memory section of the digital camera together with the ID information from the mobile phone. When the mobile phone is received, it has a protect means for invalidating the command other than the ID information stored in advance in the memory section. Phone digital camera. 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein an ID re-registration command to which new ID information is added together with the ID information is received from the mobile phone,
A digital camera for a mobile phone, comprising a means for changing the ID information. 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the memory unit is a built-in flash memory, and when ID information is not stored in the memory unit, when the digital camera is first connected to the mobile phone. ,
A digital camera for a mobile phone, comprising means for storing ID information such as a telephone number in the built-in flash memory of the digital camera.