JP2007235279A - Mobile electronic apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile electronic apparatus capable of displaying an azimuth and a control method thereof that prevents an erroneous azimuth from being displayed when an external device for generating a magnetic field is connected to the mobile electronic apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In the mobile electronic apparatus provided with: a display section 107 for displaying information; an earth magnetism sensor 108 for sensing earth magnetism; a control section 150 for calculating the azimuth on the basis of the earth magnetism sensed by the earth magnetism sensor 108 and displaying the information of the calculated azimuth on a display section 107; and an audio signal supply section for supplying an audio signal to a speaker 201 provided to the external device, in the case of displaying the information of the azimuth on the display section 107, the control section 150 is characterized in that the control section 150 stops displaying the information of the azimuth on the display section 107 while the audio signal supply section outputs the audio signal to the speaker 201 provided at the external device connected to the mobile electronic apparatus or stops updating the information of the azimuth led to the display section 107. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device equipped with a geomagnetic sensor and capable of displaying a direction calculated based on a detection result thereof, and a control method thereof.

In recent years, portable electronic devices typified by cellular phones have become increasingly sophisticated. For example, as shown in the following patent document, a portable electronic device capable of calculating an azimuth based on geomagnetism detected by a geomagnetic sensor is known.
JP 2003-289366 A JP 2005-110031 A JP-A-2005-107324 JP 2005-107323 A JP 2005-3000896 A JP 2005-291936 A JP 2005-291935 A JP 2005-291934 A JP 2005-291933 A JP 2005-291932 A JP 2005-291931 A

  On the other hand, the functions of music players installed in mobile phones have been enhanced year by year, and higher-quality audio playback has been demanded. However, mobile phones are limited in housing size and large in size. There is a problem that the low frequency range cannot be reproduced satisfactorily because a speaker having a diameter cannot be mounted. Therefore, recently, an external device connected to a mobile phone has been developed in which a speaker is mounted on a charger. Thus, high-quality audio reproduction can be performed by a large-diameter speaker attached to the charger while charging the battery of the mobile phone with the charger. However, when such a new configuration is added to an external device, there is a conflict with the direction calculation function provided in the conventional mobile phone. Therefore, an error may occur in the direction calculated by the direction calculation function.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to display an incorrect orientation when an external device that generates a magnetic field is connected to the portable electronic device in the portable electronic device capable of displaying the orientation and its control method. The purpose is to prevent.

  The present invention provides a display unit that displays information, a geomagnetic sensor that detects geomagnetism, a control unit that calculates an azimuth based on the geomagnetism detected by the geomagnetic sensor, and displays information on the calculated azimuth on the display unit And an audio signal supply unit that supplies an audio signal to a speaker provided in the external device, wherein the control unit is connected when displaying the orientation information on the display unit. While the audio signal is output from the audio signal supply unit to the external device, the display of the direction information on the display unit is stopped or the direction information is updated on the display unit. It is characterized by stopping.

  Preferably, the portable electronic device of the present invention includes a detection unit that detects connection with the external device, and the control unit determines whether or not the external device is connected based on a detection result of the detection unit. It is characterized by doing.

  More preferably, the portable electronic device of the present invention is characterized in that the detection unit detects a connection with the external device by monitoring a voltage applied between terminals provided in the external device.

  More preferably, the portable electronic device of the present invention is characterized in that the external device is a charger with a coil speaker.

  The present invention is also a method for controlling a portable electronic device including a geomagnetic sensor, a display unit, and a control unit, wherein the display unit displays information including a direction based on geomagnetism, and an external device. A connection detection step for detecting the connection of the external device, and an external audio output step for outputting audio from a speaker included in the external device, and when the audio is output in the external audio output step, the orientation of the orientation display step The display is stopped or the direction display is not updated.

  In the portable electronic device and the control method thereof according to the present invention, when an external device that generates a magnetic field is connected to the portable electronic device, an incorrect orientation can be prevented from being displayed on the display unit.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a mobile phone as the mobile electronic device 100.
On the outer surface of the portable electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 are a key input unit 103 such as numeric keys and a display unit 107 for displaying information. Inside the portable electronic device 100, there are a geomagnetic sensor 108 for detecting geomagnetism and a control unit 150 whose main component is a central processing unit. Further, a pair of charging terminals Tc for charging the battery of the portable electronic device 100 is provided on the bottom surface of the portable electronic device 100. The side surface of the portable electronic device 100 has an external connector Tio, and the portable electronic device 100 is connected to a personal computer to input / output data. The external connector Tio has a second charging terminal Td for charging the battery.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the portable electronic device 100 having an appearance as illustrated in FIG.
2 includes a wireless communication unit 101, a GPS signal receiving unit 102, a key input unit 103, an audio processing unit 104, a speaker 105, a microphone 106, a display unit 107, and a geomagnetic sensor. 108, a storage unit 109, a charger detection unit 110, a battery unit 111, and a control unit 150.

  The wireless communication unit 101 performs wireless communication with a base station (not shown) connected to the communication network. For example, the communication unit 101 performs predetermined modulation processing on the transmission data supplied from the control unit 150, converts the transmission data into a radio signal, and transmits the radio signal from the antenna. In addition, a predetermined demodulation process is performed on the radio signal from the base station received by the antenna to convert the radio signal to reception data, which is output to the control unit 150.

  The GPS signal receiving unit 102 receives GPS signals transmitted from three or more GPS satellites orbiting a known orbit, and performs signal processing such as amplification, noise removal, and modulation on the GPS signals, and the mobile phone 100 Get the information needed to calculate the geographical location of

  The key input unit 103 has keys to which various functions such as a power key, a call key, a numeric key, a character key, a direction key, and an enter key are assigned, and these keys are operated by the user. Then, a signal corresponding to the operation content is generated and input to the control unit 150 as a user instruction.

  The audio processing unit 104 processes an audio signal output from the speaker 105 and an audio signal input from the microphone 106. That is, the audio signal input from the microphone 106 is subjected to signal processing such as amplification, analog-digital conversion, encoding, and the like, converted into digital audio data, and output to the control unit 150. Further, the audio data supplied from the control unit 150 is subjected to signal processing such as decoding, digital-analog conversion, amplification, etc., converted into an analog audio signal, and output to the speaker 105.

  The audio processing unit 104 supplies an audio signal to the charger 200 (see FIG. 3) on which the speaker 201 is mounted via the terminal T1. That is, the audio processing unit 104 is an audio signal supply unit that supplies an audio signal to the speaker 201 provided in the charger 200 as an external device via the terminal T1.

  The display unit 107 is configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL panel, for example, and displays an image corresponding to a video signal supplied from the control unit 150. For example, various information such as the telephone number of the callee at the time of outgoing call, the telephone number of the other party at the time of incoming call, the contents of the received mail and the outgoing mail, the date, time, the remaining battery level, and the standby screen are displayed.

  Further, the display unit 107 displays azimuth information based on the detection result of the geomagnetic sensor 108 when performing navigation using the GPS function or displaying a standby screen (see FIG. 4).

The geomagnetic sensor 108 detects the geomagnetism used for calculating the azimuth.
For example, the geomagnetic sensor 108 detects the geomagnetism in each axial direction with reference to a predetermined coordinate system (two axes or three axes) set on the circuit board in the housing of the portable electronic device 100. For detection of geomagnetism, various methods such as a method using excitation of a coil, a method using the Hall effect, and a method using a magnetoresistive element can be used.

  The storage unit 109 stores various data used for processing in the control unit 150. For example, a computer program provided in the control unit 150, an address book for managing personal information such as a telephone number or an email address of a communication partner, an audio file for playing a ringtone or an alarm sound, an image file for a standby screen, Various setting data, temporary data used in the program processing, etc. are stored.

  The storage unit 109 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device (non-volatile semiconductor memory, hard disk device, optical disk device, etc.), a randomly accessible storage device (eg, SRAM, DRAM), or the like.

  The battery unit 111 includes, for example, a secondary battery (battery) such as a lithium ion battery or a nickel metal hydride battery, and supplies a power supply voltage generated in the battery to each unit of the device.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an example of the speaker-equipped charger 200 that charges the battery unit 111, in which the portable electronic device 100 is attached to the charger 200 (FIG. 3A) and in a detached state (FIG. 3A). FIG. 3 (B)) is shown respectively. FIG. 3 shows a geomagnetic sensor 108 incorporated in the portable electronic device 100.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the secondary battery of the battery unit 111 is charged in a state where the portable electronic device 100 is attached to the charger 200. That is, the charging terminal Tc provided in the portable electronic device 100 and the external terminal Tcc provided in the charger 200 are brought into contact with each other, and a charging current from the charger 200 to the battery unit 111 flows through these terminals.
At this time, since the terminal T1 of the portable electronic device 100 and the input terminal (not shown) of the charger 200 are also electrically coupled, an audio signal can be supplied from the audio processing unit 104 to the speaker 201 of the charger 200. Become.

  The charger detector 110 detects whether or not the portable electronic device 100 is attached to the charger 200. For example, the presence / absence of power supply from the charger 200 to the battery unit 111, the presence / absence of electrical connection between the portable electronic device 100 and the battery unit 111, the presence / absence of physical contact, and the like are detected.

  As a specific example to detect, the charger detection unit 110 detects a voltage applied between the charging terminal Tc (see FIG. 3) of the portable electronic device 100 electrically connected to the external terminal Tcc provided in the charger 200. It can be assumed that the portable electronic device 100 is connected to the charger 200 in a state where voltage is applied between the external terminals monitored. In the state where no voltage is applied between the external terminals, it can be detected that the portable electronic device 100 is not connected to the charger.

Returning to the description of FIG.
The control unit 150 comprehensively controls the overall operation of the portable electronic device 100.
That is, various processes of the portable electronic device 100 (voice calls performed via a circuit switching network, creation and transmission / reception of e-mails, browsing of Internet websites, navigation using a map, etc.) Operation of each unit described above (transmission / reception of signals in the wireless communication unit 101, reception of GPS signals in the GPS signal receiving unit 102, input / output of audio in the audio processing unit 104, Acquisition of geomagnetic data from the geomagnetic sensor 108, display of an image on the display unit 107, and the like).

  For example, the control unit 150 includes a computer that executes processing based on a program (operating system, application, etc.) stored in the storage unit 109, and executes the above-described processing according to a procedure instructed in this program. That is, instruction codes are sequentially read from programs such as an operating system and application programs stored in the storage unit 109 to execute processing.

  When an instruction is input to the key input unit 103 to start navigation, the control unit 150 grasps the geographical position of the current location based on the GPS signal and displays it on the display unit 107 using a map.

  For example, the control unit 150 receives the GPS signal by the GPS signal receiving unit 102 and transmits the information to the server device on the communication network by the wireless communication unit 101. The server device calculates the geographical position (for example, latitude, longitude, etc.) of the portable electronic device 100 based on the information of the GPS signal, and communicates the information regarding the position of the calculation result and the map around the position. To the portable electronic device 100 via The control unit 150 displays a map image representing the geographical position of the current location on the display unit 107 based on the information sent from the server device.

  The control unit 150 displays azimuth information on the display unit 107 when the navigation processing as described above is performed or when a normal standby screen is displayed. That is, the geomagnetic data detected by the geomagnetic sensor 108 is acquired, the direction is calculated based on the data, and this is displayed on the display unit 107 as direction information. For example, the control unit 150 calculates the azimuth at a constant cycle, and periodically updates the azimuth information displayed on the display unit 107 according to the calculation result.

  In addition, the control unit 150 stores an application program that decodes audio data that is compressed and stored in the storage unit 109 and converts the audio data into an analog audio signal in response to an input of a music playback instruction or the like from the key input unit 103. 109 can be read and executed. When this application program is activated, the application program displays a screen related to music playback on the display unit 107 so as to accept an instruction related to playback of audio data stored in the storage unit 109, or is played back based on an instruction from the key input unit 103. It accepts operations such as changing music, changing volume, interrupting playback, and ending. The accepted request is transmitted from the control unit 150 to the voice processing unit 104 and the display unit 107 for processing.

The direction information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 107 as an icon shaped like a compass, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the example of FIG. 4, the arrow indicated by the compass icon P <b> 1 represents a specific orientation (for example, north). When the orientation calculation result (azimuth data) changes according to the change in the orientation of the mobile electronic device 200, The direction of this arrow also changes according to.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 3A, a case where the portable electronic device 100 is mounted on a charger 200 with a speaker as an external device is considered. The charger 200 has a speaker 201, and the speaker is a voice coil type speaker using a magnet. Here, the charger 200 is assumed to have a speaker 201. In this state, as described above, the charger detection unit 110 detects that the charging terminal Tc provided in the portable electronic device 100 and the external terminal Tcc provided in the charger 200 are in contact with each other, It detects that portable electronic device 100 is connected to the charger.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, in the state where the portable electronic device 100 is attached to the charger 200 with the speaker, the orientation information based on the detection result of the geomagnetic sensor 108 is displayed on the display unit 107 of the portable electronic device 100. Consider the case.

  In order to display the azimuth information on the display unit 107 of the portable electronic device 100, the control unit 150 includes an azimuth calculation unit 151 and a display control unit 152 as components related to the calculation and display of the azimuth.

  The direction calculation unit 151 periodically acquires the detection result of the geomagnetic sensor 108, and calculates the direction based on the detection result. Then, the calculation result is output to the display control unit 152 as direction data. The display control unit 152 periodically acquires azimuth data from the azimuth calculation unit 151 and performs control so that azimuth information corresponding to the azimuth data is displayed on the display unit 107.

  By doing so, the orientation information is displayed on the screen of the display unit 107 as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3A, the orientation information is displayed on the display unit 107 of the portable electronic device 100 in a state where the portable electronic device 100 is attached to the charger 200 with the speaker.

  Here, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the portable electronic device 100 is attached to the charger 200 with the speaker, and the direction of the orientation information is displayed on the display unit 107 of the portable electronic device 100. Think about playing audio. For this purpose, the audio data supplied from the control unit 150 is subjected to signal processing such as decoding, digital-analog conversion, and amplification, and converted to an analog audio signal. And the audio | voice processing part 104 as an audio signal supply part supplies an audio signal via the terminal T1 to the speaker 201 provided in the charger 200 as an external apparatus.

  When the speaker 201 provided in the charger 200 is supplied with an audio signal, the audio signal flows through the voice coil. When an audio signal flows, the voice coil receives a Lorentz force by a magnetic field from a magnet of the speaker and vibrates, and voice output is started. When an audio signal flows through the voice coil, a fluctuating magnetic field is generated, and the magnetic field is also applied to the geomagnetic sensor 108 in the portable electronic device 100. In addition, the components in the portable electronic device 100 may be magnetized by the varying magnetic field.

  In such a state, even if the azimuth calculation unit 151 subsequently acquires the detection result of the geomagnetic sensor 108 and calculates the azimuth based on the detection result, the wrong azimuth is continuously calculated. Then, even if the display control unit 152 displays the direction information on the display unit 107 based on the wrong direction data calculated by the direction calculation unit 151, the user is misidentified.

  Note that even if offset calibration is performed by magnetization of components in the portable electronic device 100, offset is always generated under a situation in which the direction of magnetization of the components in the portable electronic device 100 constantly fluctuates due to a varying magnetic field. . For this reason, the orientation displayed on the display unit 107 after calibration is not correct.

  Therefore, the display control unit 152 stops displaying the azimuth on the display unit 107 when the speaker 201 performs audio output. Alternatively, the azimuth display unit 152 stops updating the azimuth information on the display unit 107, that is, fixes the azimuth information at a value before the update.

  When the speaker 201 outputs sound, the control unit 150 performs signal processing such as decoding, digital-analog conversion, and amplification on the sound data to convert the sound data into an analog sound signal, or an application for sound output. Since the process to be activated occurs, the control unit 150 can detect that audio output is being performed. Therefore, the display control unit 152 can stop the display and update of the orientation on the display unit 107 in accordance with the start of the sound output of the speaker 201 or the input of an operation that supports the sound output.

  In order to stop the display of the azimuth on the display unit 107, for example, it can be considered that the display of the icon P1 is erased from the state where the icon P1 indicating the azimuth is displayed on the display unit 107 in FIG.

  In order to stop the update of the direction information on the display unit 107, even if the direction data changes in the state where the direction icon P1 is displayed in FIG. 4A, the data is incorrect. It can be considered that the icon P1 is not displayed in FIG. That is, the display control unit 152 performs control so that the display of the icon P1 shown in FIG. In the meantime, if the color of the icon P1 is changed or blinked, it is easy to understand that it is hold, and it is understood that the display is not necessarily correct.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of operations related to the calculation and display of the azimuth described above.
The bearing calculation unit 151 requests geomagnetic data from the geomagnetic sensor 108 at a predetermined cycle (step ST301). In response to this request, the geomagnetic sensor 108 periodically outputs geomagnetic data to the bearing calculation unit 151 (step ST302). The direction calculation unit 151 periodically calculates the direction based on the geomagnetic data acquired from the geomagnetic sensor 108 (step ST303).

Display control unit 152 requests azimuth data from azimuth calculation unit 151 at a cycle longer than the azimuth calculation cycle (step ST401).
When the display control unit 152 requests azimuth data in step ST401, the audio signal output unit (104) is not outputting an audio signal to the speaker 201 provided in the charger 200. Therefore, the direction calculation unit 151 outputs the direction data calculated in step ST303 to the display control unit 152 (step ST402), and the display control unit 152 requests the display unit 107 to display the direction according to the direction data. (Step ST403). In this case, the orientation information displayed on the display unit 107 is information representing the actual orientation based on the detection result of the geomagnetic sensor 108.

  On the other hand, after the display control unit 152 requests orientation display in step ST403, the audio signal output unit (104) notifies the speaker 201 provided in the charger 200 to output an audio signal as in step ST501. Sometimes. In such a case, the display control unit 152 does not request the azimuth display as in step ST403 and requests to stop the display on the display unit 107 as in step ST404.

  As described above, the present invention includes an audio signal supply unit that supplies an audio signal to a speaker provided in an external device, and outputs the audio signal to the speaker in a portable electronic device capable of displaying a direction. The purpose is to stop the display of the azimuth or to stop the update of the azimuth information. Therefore, even when the portable electronic device outputs an audio signal to the speaker, it is possible to avoid as much as possible the display of an incorrect orientation on the portable electronic device.

In addition, the portable electronic device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 can be charged without using the charger 200 illustrated in FIG. 3.
The external connector Tio of the portable electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the above-described battery charging circuit in addition to the purpose of inputting / outputting data by connecting the portable electronic device 100 to a personal computer. It also has a second charging terminal Td (the first charging terminal is Tc). The charging current from the AC charger connected to the commercial power source connected to the second charging terminal Td can be received and supplied to the charging circuit for charging.
The AC charger is also mounted with a coil for AC / DC conversion, and some magnetic field fluctuations occur. Therefore, as in the case of using the charger 200, when the state of the AC charger is changed from being connected to being not connected to the portable electronic device 100, the direction display is similarly stopped or the direction information is updated. May be stopped.

  However, in the case where the speaker 201 like the charger 200 is not provided and a large magnetic field fluctuation does not occur depending on the presence / absence of connection, in addition to the determination of power supply to the charging circuit of the portable electronic device 100, the portable electronic device 100 The controller 150 determines that the charger 200 is connected to the portable electronic device 100 by detecting whether the charger 200 is in physical contact with the battery or not detecting that the external connector Tio is being used. The display of the direction may be stopped only when the update of the direction information may be stopped. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the number of stops in the display of the orientation on the display unit 107 of the mobile electronic device 100.

Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrated the portable electronic device 100 as an example of the portable electronic device of this invention, this invention is not limited to this, For example, PHS (Personal Handyphone System), a portable game machine, a portable navigation apparatus, etc. The present invention can be applied to a portable electronic device that has a geomagnetic sensor and detects an orientation.
The communication terminal of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone. For example, the present invention can be widely applied to portable terminals having a communication function, such as PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) and portable game machines.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a portable electronic device. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the portable electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the charger with a speaker which charges the battery part of a portable electronic device. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the direction at the time of standby. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement regarding calculation and display of an azimuth | direction.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Portable electronic device, 101 ... Wireless communication part, 102 ... GPS signal receiving part, 103 ... Key input part, 104 ... Voice processing part, 105 ... Speaker, 106 ... Microphone, 107 ... Display part, 108 ... Geomagnetic sensor, 109 ... Storage unit, 110 ... Charger detection unit, 111 ... Battery unit, 150 ... Control unit, 151 ... Direction calculation unit, 152 ... Display control unit, 200 ... Charger, 201 ... Speaker

Claims (5)

A display for displaying information;
A geomagnetic sensor for detecting geomagnetism;
Calculate the direction based on the geomagnetism detected by the geomagnetic sensor,
A control unit for displaying the calculated orientation information on the display unit;
An audio signal supply unit for supplying an audio signal to a speaker provided in an external device, and a portable electronic device comprising:
The controller is
When displaying the direction information on the display unit, the display of the direction information on the display unit is stopped while the audio signal is being output to the speaker by the audio signal supply unit to the connected external device. Or the update of the direction information to the display unit is stopped. The portable electronic device is
A detection unit for detecting connection with the external device;
The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines whether or not the external device is connected based on a detection result of the detection unit. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects a connection with the external device by monitoring a voltage applied between terminals provided in the external device.   The portable electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the external device is a charger with a coil speaker. A method for controlling a portable electronic device including a geomagnetic sensor, a display unit, and a control unit,
An azimuth display step for displaying information including an azimuth based on geomagnetism on the display unit;
A connection detection step for detecting connection of an external device;
An external audio output step for outputting audio from a speaker included in the external device;
Have
A method for controlling a portable electronic device, comprising: stopping an azimuth display in the azimuth display step or not updating an azimuth display when audio is output in the external audio output step.

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