JP2007336229A - Electronic apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an electronic apparatus to utilize various applications. <P>SOLUTION: In a mobile communication terminal 1, a first OS is stored in a first OS storage region 52 of a memory part 50, and a second OS is stored in a second OS storage region 53. An application program is stored in an application storage region 51 of the memory part 50. When a user operates an operation part 30 to instruct execution of an application, a control unit 100 discriminates an OS that is used for the application. If the OS that has been identified is different from the currently running OS, the control unit 100 sets the information that indicates the OS to be triggered as well as the information that indicates the application whose execution is instructed, to restart the mobile communication terminal 1. When restarted, a start program of a start program storage region 54 is executed, and the OS which is set is triggered to replace a previous OS. The set application is automatically executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and a program, and more particularly, to an electronic device and a program suitable for executing various applications.

  In mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones, multi-functionalization is progressing, and many functions other than the communication function which is a basic function are installed.

  Conventional mobile communication terminals generally include only an OS (Operating System: basic software) for controlling operations related to communication functions. Thereby, the operation | movement concerning a voice call or data communication can be processed efficiently.

In addition, a method for reducing power consumption and improving the performance of the entire apparatus by switching between an OS that operates only the receiving unit and an OS that operates all hardware has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). .
JP 2005-236889 A

  Along with the increase in functionality as described above, it is desired that various applications can be executed on a mobile communication terminal. However, since each application has a suitable OS, mobile communication equipped only with a communication OS is required. When various applications are executed on the terminal, the operation of each application depends on the OS installed in the mobile communication terminal, and the original performance of the application cannot be exhibited. That is, the executable application is practically limited, which hinders the expandability of the mobile communication terminal.

  In addition, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 switches between an OS that operates only the receiving unit and an OS that operates the entire apparatus, the OS corresponding to the application can be used even if such a technique is used. Switching cannot be performed, and the above inconvenience cannot be solved.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an electronic device and a program that can use various applications.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic device according to the first aspect of the present invention provides:
OS storage means for storing a plurality of types of OSs;
Application storage means for storing application programs;
A used OS discriminating means for discriminating an OS used by a designated application;
An OS switching means for switching the OS when the OS determined by the used OS determining means is different from the OS being executed;
It is characterized by providing.

The electronic device
It is desirable to further include application execution means for executing the designated application after the OS switching by the OS switching means.

In the above electronic device,
The OS storage unit and the application storage unit may be configured in an external memory that can be attached to and detached from the electronic device.
Preferably, the OS switching means switches to the OS stored in the OS storage means of the external memory when the external memory is attached to the electronic device.

in this case,
The OS switching means determines whether the OS storage means and the application storage means, or the OS storage means or the application storage means is configured in the external memory attached to the electronic device, It is desirable to execute the OS switching operation when the OS storage unit and the application storage unit, or the OS storage unit or the application storage unit are configured.

The electronic device can be a mobile communication terminal, in this case,
Desirably, the mobile communication terminal further comprises a communication state determination means for determining whether or not the communication operation of the mobile communication terminal is being executed,
The OS switching unit preferably executes the OS switching operation when the communication state determining unit determines that the communication operation is not being executed.

The electronic device
The mobile communication terminal may further include a communicable state determining unit that determines whether or not the mobile communication terminal is out of a communicable area.
It is desirable that the OS switching unit executes the OS switching operation when it is determined by the communicable state determination unit that the communication is out of the communicable range.

In the above electronic device,
The OS switching means may perform switching from a first OS for performing communication operation of the mobile communication terminal to a second OS for using the application.

in this case,
The OS switching means preferably performs switching from the switched second OS to the first OS based on an operation by a user of the mobile communication terminal.

Also,
The OS switching means switches from the first OS to the second OS when a communication function of the mobile communication terminal is stopped by an operation by a user of the mobile communication terminal. You may do it.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the second aspect of the present invention is:
To the computer that controls the electronic equipment,
The ability to store multiple types of OS;
A function to store application programs;
A function to determine the OS to be used by the specified application;
A function for switching the OS when the OS determined by the used OS determination means is different from the OS being executed;
It is characterized by realizing.

  According to the present invention, since a plurality of OSs are switched, various applications can be used in an electronic device such as a mobile communication terminal.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the case where the electronic device concerning this invention is implement | achieved with the mobile communication terminal is illustrated. The mobile communication terminal 1 according to the present embodiment is a mobile communication terminal device (telephone) such as a mobile phone or a PHS (Personal Handyphone System).

  The configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a mobile communication terminal 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the mobile communication terminal 1 according to the present embodiment includes a wireless communication unit 10, a voice processing unit 20, an operation unit 30, a display unit 40, a storage unit 50, a control unit 100, and the like.

  The wireless communication unit 10 performs an operation related to a communication function that is a basic function of the mobile communication terminal 1. For example, communication using a communication method such as a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) method is used. A wireless communication is performed with a nearby base station by performing wireless transmission / reception by the communication antenna 11 configured by a device or the like and corresponding to the communication method.

  The voice processing unit 20 includes, for example, a codec circuit that performs voice processing, and performs voice processing related to voice calls. That is, the received voice data is converted into an analog signal and output from the speaker 21, and the transmission voice input from the microphone 22 is converted into digital data for transmission.

  The operation unit 30 includes, for example, a cross cursor key, an alphanumeric key for inputting numbers and characters, a key for specifying a function, and the like, and is operated by a user of the mobile communication terminal 1. . The operation unit 30 generates an input signal corresponding to the operation of these keys and inputs the input signal to the control unit 100.

  The display unit 40 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device, and displays and outputs various images.

  The storage unit 50 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, and the like, and stores data necessary for processing performed by the control unit 100 and processing results thereof. The storage unit 50 stores a program executed by the control unit 100. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, storage areas such as an application storage area 51, a first OS storage area 52, a second OS storage area 53, a boot program storage area 54, and a data storage area 55 are prepared. Is done.

  The application storage area 51 is an area for storing various application programs to be executed by the mobile communication terminal 1. In the present embodiment, the application stored in the application storage area 51 is assumed to store an application program related to a function other than the communication function.

  The first OS storage area 52 stores an OS (for example, REX (trademark), etc., hereinafter referred to as “first OS”) for controlling the operation related to the communication function of the mobile communication terminal 1. It is.

  The second OS storage area 53 stores an OS (for example, Linux (trademark), etc., hereinafter referred to as “second OS”) necessary for executing the application program stored in the application storage area 51. It is an area.

  The activation program storage area 54 is an area for storing an activation program that is executed first when the mobile communication terminal 1 is turned on. The OS to be executed is selected by this startup program, and the selected OS is executed by the control unit 100. In the present embodiment, a flag indicating the OS to be executed at startup (hereinafter referred to as “start OS flag”) and information indicating an application to be executed after startup are stored in the startup program storage area 54 by each process described later. Shall be.

  The data storage area 55 stores information necessary for executing the application and the OS and various data generated by the execution. For example, information indicating a communication history is stored under execution of the first OS.

  In the present embodiment, the application program stored in the application storage area 51, the first OS stored in the first OS storage area 52, the second OS stored in the second OS storage area 53, and the boot program Any of the activation programs stored in the storage area 54 is executed by the control unit 100 of the mobile communication terminal 1.

  The control unit 100 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and controls the operation of each unit of the mobile communication terminal 1. In the present embodiment, the control unit 100 executes each program stored in the storage unit 50, thereby realizing each process described below. The RAM configured in the control unit 100 is used as a work memory when the CPU executes a program.

  The control part 100 implement | achieves a function structure as shown in FIG. 2 by running each program stored in the memory | storage part 50. FIG. That is, the control unit 100 functions as the application execution unit 110, the used OS determination unit 120, the OS switching unit 130, and the like.

  The application execution unit 110 cooperates with the operation unit 30 and the storage unit 50 to execute an application instructed to be executed by the user.

  When the execution of the application is instructed, the used OS determination unit 120 determines which OS is used to execute the application. In this case, for example, it is assumed that the application stored in the application storage area 51 is associated with information indicating the OS used in each application, and the used OS is determined based on the information. Alternatively, the OS used may be determined based on the extension of the designated application.

  The OS switching unit 130 performs an operation of switching to the corresponding OS when the OS determined by the used OS determination unit 120 is different from the OS activated at that time. In the present embodiment, an activation OS flag indicating an OS to be activated is set in the activation program storage area 54, and the mobile communication terminal 1 is reset (reactivated). Further, when switching the OS according to the activation of the application, the OS switching unit 130 sets information indicating the application to be executed after the OS switching in the activation program storage area 54.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration for realizing the above functions is realized by the control unit 100 executing a program. However, the configuration is not limited to this. For example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is integrated. The processing may be performed by hardware such as a circuit.

  Each of the above-described configurations is a configuration necessary for realizing the present invention, and other configurations necessary for a basic function and an additional function as a mobile communication terminal are provided as necessary.

  The operation of the mobile communication terminal 1 having the above configuration will be described below. Here, “OS switching processing” for switching the OS in accordance with an application execution instruction will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This OS switching process is started when the user of the mobile communication terminal 1 operates the operation unit 30 and is instructed to execute the application stored in the application storage area 51. That is, the application execution unit 110 determines whether or not an application execution instruction has been input based on an input signal from the operation unit 30, and executes the OS switching process when it is determined that the execution instruction has been input. . In this case, it is assumed that the first OS is activated in the mobile communication terminal 1.

  When the process is started, the application execution unit 110 notifies the used OS determination unit 120 of which application is instructed to be executed. In response to the notification from the application execution unit 110, the used OS determination unit 120 accesses the application storage area 51 to determine which OS corresponds to the instructed application (step S101).

  The used OS determining unit 120 determines whether the used OS of the instructed application is an OS (that is, the second OS) that is different from the OS that is currently activated (that is, the first OS). (Step S102).

  When the OS is different from the current OS (step S102: Yes), the OS switching unit 130 is notified of the operating OS associated with the instructed application, and the OS switching is instructed.

  In response to an instruction from the used OS determination unit 120, the OS switching unit 130 first stores data related to the operation currently being executed in the data storage area 55 (step S103).

  Next, the OS switching unit 130 sets a startup OS flag (step S104). Here, a boot OS flag indicating the second OS is set in the boot program storage area 54. The boot OS flag is assumed to be binary data of 0 and 1, for example. In this embodiment, 0 indicates the first OS and 1 indicates the second OS. Therefore, here, “1” indicating the second OS is set as the boot OS flag.

  Next, the OS switching unit 130 sets information indicating an application to be executed after OS switching (hereinafter referred to as “starting application information”) in the starting program storage area 54 (step S105). The activated application information is information indicating an application designated at the time of executing this process.

  When the boot OS flag and the boot application information are set in this way, the OS switching unit 130 requests the first OS that is currently booted to perform an operation reset (reboot), so that the mobile communication terminal 1 Is restarted (step S106).

  When the mobile communication terminal 1 is restarted, first, the startup program stored in the startup program storage area 54 is executed (step S107). The activation program selects an OS corresponding to the activation flag OS set in the activation program storage area 54 (step S108). Here, since the second OS is set, the boot program loads and boots the second OS stored in the second OS storage area 53. That is, the second OS selected in step S108 is activated (step S109).

  When the second OS is activated and the OS is switched, the application execution unit 110 accesses the activation program storage area 54 and refers to the activation application information that has been set. Then, the application storage area 51 is accessed, the application indicated by the startup application information is executed (step S110), and the process ends.

  If the OS used by the application for which execution has been instructed is the same as the OS that is being activated at that time (step S102: No), it is not necessary to switch the OS, so the processing is terminated and the current OS is used. Execute the specified application.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the OS can be switched to the OS suitable for the execution environment of the application according to the execution instruction of the application, so that various applications can be transferred to the mobile communication terminal without impairing the performance of the application. Can be run on.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, the application program, the OS, and the like are stored in the storage unit 50 in the mobile communication terminal 1, but these may be stored in an external storage medium such as a memory card, for example. . This case will be described below as a second embodiment. An example of the mobile communication terminal according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile communication terminal 2 according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated, the mobile communication terminal 2 according to the present embodiment includes a wireless communication unit 10, a voice processing unit 20, an operation unit 30, and a display unit 40 in the same manner as the mobile communication terminal 1 according to the first embodiment. These configurations are the same as those shown in the first embodiment.

  Further, the configuration of the storage unit 50 is the same as that of the storage unit 50 shown in the first embodiment, but the storage area defined in the storage unit 50 is different from that of the first embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, only the first OS storage area 52, the boot program storage area 54, and the data storage area 55 are prepared in the storage unit 50 according to the present embodiment. Information stored in these storage areas is the same as in the first embodiment.

  The mobile communication terminal 2 according to the present embodiment includes a card interface (I / F) 60 in addition to the configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1 shown in the first embodiment. The card interface 60 is an interface of a memory card MC that is attached to and detached from the mobile communication terminal 2. That is, the card interface 60 is composed of, for example, a standardized memory card slot, etc., and electrically connects the loaded memory card MC and the control unit 200. In this case, the card interface 60 inputs an electrical signal corresponding to the insertion / extraction of the memory card MC to the control unit 200 to notify the control unit 200 of the insertion / extraction of the memory card MC.

  In the present embodiment, the application storage area 51, the second OS storage area 53, the data storage area 55, and the like shown in the first embodiment are prepared in the memory card MC mounted on the card interface 60. Shall. The information stored in these storage areas is the same as that shown in the first embodiment, but the OS when executing the application stored in the application storage area 51 of the memory card MC is the memory card MC. Are stored in the second OS storage area 53.

  The configuration of the control unit 200 is the same as that of the control unit 100 shown in the first embodiment, but the functional configuration realized is different from that of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 shows a functional configuration realized by the control unit 200 according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated, the control unit 200 functions as a card attachment determination unit 210, a communication state determination unit 220, an application execution unit 240, an OS switching unit 230, and the like.

  The card attachment determination unit 210 determines whether or not a memory card MC is attached to the card interface 60 based on an input from the card interface 60.

  When the memory card MC is inserted in the card interface 60, the communication state determination unit 220 determines whether or not a communication operation by the wireless communication unit 10 is being performed.

  The OS switching unit 230 has the same function as the OS switching unit 130 described in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, the OS switching unit 230 is stored in the second OS storage area 53 of the memory card MC mounted on the card interface 60. The switching operation to the second OS is performed. Here, the OS switching unit 230 switches the OS when the communication state determination unit 220 determines that a communication operation is not performed.

  The application execution unit 240 has the same function as the application execution unit 110 shown in the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the application stored in the application storage area 51 of the memory card MC mounted on the card interface 60 is used. Execute.

  Each of these functional configurations may be realized by a hardware configuration such as an ASIC.

  The operation of the mobile communication terminal 2 having such a configuration will be described below. Here, “external memory activation processing” for activating an application stored in a memory card MC (external memory) attached to the card interface 60 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This external memory activation process is started when a memory card MC is inserted into the card interface 60. That is, when an electric signal from the card interface 60 indicating the mounting of the memory card MC is input to the control unit 200, the process is started when the card mounting determining unit 210 determines the mounting of the memory card MC. .

  When the card attachment determination unit 210 determines the attachment of the memory card MC, the communication state determination unit 220 is instructed to determine the communication state. In response to an instruction from the card attachment determination unit 210, the communication state determination unit 220 checks the operation state of the wireless communication unit 10, and is a communication operation (for example, an operation related to voice call or data communication) being executed? It is determined whether or not (step S201).

  When the communication operation is not being executed (step S201: No), the communication state determination unit 220 notifies the OS switching unit 230 to that effect.

  In response to the notification from the communication state determination unit 220, the OS switching unit 230 sets the startup OS flag in the startup program storage area 54 (step S202). In the first embodiment, the first OS is 0 and the second OS is 1. However, in this embodiment, the OS stored in the first OS storage area 52 of the mobile communication terminal 2 is activated. In this case, 0 is set, and 1 is set when the OS stored in the second OS storage area 53 of the memory card MC is activated.

  Here, the boot OS flag is set to 1 in order to boot the OS stored in the second OS storage area 53 of the memory card MC.

  When the startup OS flag is set, the OS switching unit 230 restarts the mobile communication terminal 2 (step S203).

  When the mobile communication terminal 2 is restarted, the startup program stored in the startup program storage area 54 is started, and the startup OS flag set in the startup program storage area 54 is referred to. Here, since the OS stored in the second OS storage area 53 of the memory card MC is designated, the control unit 200 executing the boot program accesses the memory card MC via the card interface 60. Then, the OS stored in the second OS storage area 53 is activated (step S204).

  Here, it is assumed that the OS stored in the memory card MC is defined in advance to execute an application stored in the same memory card MC after startup. As a result, the control unit 200 executing the OS stored in the memory card MC accesses the application storage area 51 of the memory card MC via the card interface 60 and executes the stored application program ( Step S205).

  With the operation as described above, when the memory card MC is attached to the mobile communication terminal 2, the application stored in the memory card MC is automatically executed unless the communication operation is being performed. At this time, by storing the OS as an execution environment of the application in the same memory card, the OS is automatically switched when the application is executed.

  If the communication operation by the wireless communication unit 10 is performed when the memory card MC is inserted (step S201: Yes), the mobile communication terminal 2 is being restarted for OS switching. Since the communication is interrupted, the process is terminated. In this case, for example, the external memory activation process is executed again after a predetermined time, and the application is automatically activated when the communication operation is not performed. Thus, the application can be automatically executed by automatically switching to the OS stored in the attached memory card without interrupting the communication operation.

  In the second embodiment, the application and the OS are stored in the memory card MC. However, it is determined whether or not the application and the OS are stored in the memory card MC to which the application is installed. If not, it may operate so as not to perform the above-described processing. In this case, according to the attachment notification from the card interface 60, for example, the card attachment determination unit 210 may access the memory card MC and determine whether or not an application program or OS is stored. Thereby, for example, when a subscriber identification card (so-called SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) or UIM (User Identity Module)) used by the wireless communication unit 10 or an external memory for storing data is mounted, Since the OS switching and automatic application execution are not performed, the operation being executed at that time can be continued even if a memory card is inserted.

(Embodiment 3)
In the first embodiment described above, an example in which the OS is switched when the user instructs the execution of the application is shown. In the second embodiment, an example in which the OS is switched when the memory card is installed is shown. The timing for switching the OS is not limited to such manual operation, and may be automatically performed. An example in which OS switching is performed automatically will be described below as a third embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, a case where the OS is automatically switched in accordance with the operation status related to communication under the execution of the first OS is illustrated. The configuration of the mobile communication terminal 3 according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The mobile communication terminal 3 according to the present embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the mobile communication terminal 1 shown in the first embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the mobile communication terminal 3 includes a wireless communication unit 10, a voice processing unit 20, an operation unit 30, a display unit 40, and a storage unit 50, and these are the mobile communication terminal 1. It is the same composition as. The storage area configured in the storage unit 50 is the same as that of the mobile communication terminal 1, and the application storage area 51, the first OS storage area 52, the second OS storage area 53, and the startup program storage area 54. A data storage area 55 is prepared. The information stored in these is the same as in the first embodiment.

  The configuration of the control unit 300 is the same as that of the control unit 100 of the first embodiment, but the realized function is different. An example of functions realized by the control unit 300 according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG.

  As illustrated, the control unit 300 according to the present embodiment functions as an automatic switching setting unit 310, a communicable state determination unit 320, a timer unit 330, an OS switching unit 340, and the like.

  The automatic switching setting unit 310 determines whether or not the automatic switching mode has been selected by the user based on an input signal from the operation unit 30. This automatic switching mode is a mode that is arbitrarily set by the user, and automatically switches from the first OS to the second OS when a predetermined condition is satisfied. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the OS is automatically switched on condition that a predetermined time has elapsed when the mobile communication terminal 3 is out of the communicable range.

  The communicable state determination unit 320 determines whether or not the mobile communication terminal 3 is within a communicable range based on the operation status of the wireless communication unit 10. Here, for example, if the wireless communication unit 10 can communicate with a nearby base station, it is determined that it is within a communicable range, and if it is not communicable with a nearby base station, it is determined that it is out of communicable range.

  The timer unit 330 measures the time during which the mobile communication terminal 3 is out of the communicable range.

  The OS switching unit 340 has the same function as the OS switching unit 130 in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the OS switching unit 340 executes an OS switching operation when a predetermined time has passed since the communication was out of serviceable range. .

  Each of these functional configurations may be realized by a hardware configuration such as an ASIC.

  The operation of the mobile communication terminal 3 having such a configuration will be described below. Here, the “automatic OS switching process” executed for automatically switching the OS will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This automatic OS switching process is started when the user operates the operation unit 30 to select the automatic switching mode. That is, an input signal indicating selection of the automatic switching mode is input from the operation unit 30 to the control unit 300, and the automatic switching setting unit 310 starts processing when the automatic switching mode is set.

  When the process is started, the automatic switching setting unit 310 instructs the communicable state determining unit 320 to start the operation for determining the communicable state. In response to an instruction from the automatic switching setting unit 310, the communicable state determination unit 320 determines whether the mobile communication terminal 3 is out of the communicable range by monitoring the operation of the wireless communication unit 10 ( Step S301).

  When it is determined that the communication area is out of serviceable range (step S301: Yes), the communicable state determination unit 320 notifies the timer unit 330 to that effect and instructs to start timing. In response to an instruction from the communicable state determination unit 320, the timer unit 330 starts measuring time (step S302). That is, timing starts when the mobile communication terminal 3 is out of the communicable range.

  Then, the timer unit 330 determines whether or not the time measured in step S302 has exceeded a predetermined time T (step S303). The predetermined time T is arbitrarily set when the user selects the automatic switching mode, for example.

  When the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S303: No), the timer unit 330 continues counting, but when the communicable state determination unit 320 determines that the mobile communication terminal 3 is within the communicable range, End timing.

  On the other hand, when the measured time exceeds the predetermined time T (step S303: Yes), the timer unit 330 notifies the OS switching unit 340 to that effect.

  In response to the notification from the timer unit 330, the OS switching unit 340 executes an OS switching operation. That is, the OS switching unit 340 sets a startup OS flag indicating that the OS to be started is the second OS in the startup program storage area 54 (step S304), and restarts the mobile communication terminal 3 (step S305). ).

  When the mobile communication terminal 3 is restarted, the activation program stored in the activation program storage area 54 is activated, and an OS to be activated is selected based on the activation OS flag set in the activation program storage area 54 (step) S306). Here, since the boot OS flag indicating the second OS is set, the boot program selects the second OS. In this case, when the second OS stored in the second OS storage area 53 is loaded, the second OS is activated (step S307), and the process is terminated.

  According to the third embodiment, when the state in which the mobile communication terminal 3 cannot communicate is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, the first OS related to the communication operation is automatically changed to the second OS serving as an execution environment for other applications. Switch. As a result, in a situation where communication is not possible, the OS can be switched to an OS that does not perform a communication operation, so that power consumption can be reduced.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the first OS is switched to the second OS has been described, but the switching from the second OS to the first OS is triggered by the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user. be able to. In this case, it is assumed that the OS switching operation is performed in response to a key operation related to the communication operation (for example, pressing of a call button or pressing of a mail transmission / reception button). In this case, the boot program selects and boots the first OS by setting the boot OS flag indicating the first OS and rebooting. Thereby, it is possible to switch from the second OS to the first OS.

  As described above, by applying the present invention as in the above embodiment, the OS can be switched at the mobile communication terminal, and various applications can be used.

  The said embodiment is an example and the application range of this invention is not restricted to this. That is, various applications are possible, and all embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiments, two OSs are switched. However, the number of OSs that can be switched is arbitrary, and three or more OSs may be switched.

  In the third embodiment, the OS is automatically switched when it is out of the communicable range. For example, when the user stops the communication function by operating the operation unit 30, for example. An operation of switching from the first OS to the second OS may be executed. That is, when the mobile communication terminal is not used for communication, by switching to an OS suitable for execution of an application, an application that cannot be used by the first OS for communication processing can be used, and communication processing is not performed. The power consumption can be reduced.

  Further, as shown in each of the above embodiments, not only can a mobile communication terminal provided with the functions according to the present invention be provided in advance, but also an existing mobile communication terminal or the like according to the present invention can be applied by applying a program. It can function as a communication terminal. That is, each functional configuration described above is performed by applying a program executed by the control unit described above to an existing mobile communication terminal and executing it by a computer (such as a CPU) that controls the mobile communication terminal. And processing is realized.

  The application of the present invention to a mobile communication terminal having a communication function is suitable, but the application of the present invention is not limited to a mobile communication terminal. In other words, the present invention can be applied to various electronic devices that operate under the control of the OS. For example, the present invention may be applied to electronic devices such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants).

  Such a program distribution method is arbitrary. For example, the program can be distributed by being stored in a recording medium such as a memory card, or can be distributed through a communication network such as the Internet. And the function similar to the mobile communication terminals 1-3 mentioned above is realizable by installing and applying the program distributed in this way to electronic devices, such as a mobile communication terminal.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile communication terminal concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure implement | achieved by the control part shown in FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the "OS switching process" concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile communication terminal concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure implement | achieved by the control part shown in FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the "external memory starting process" concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile communication terminal concerning Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure implement | achieved by the control part shown in FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the "automatic OS switching process" concerning Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mobile communication terminal, 2 ... Mobile communication terminal, 3 ... Mobile communication terminal, 10 ... Wireless communication part, 11 ... Communication antenna, 20 ... Voice processing part, 21 ... Speaker, 22 ... Microphone, 30 ... Operation part , 40 ... display section, 50 ... storage section, 51 ... application storage area, 52 ... first OS storage area, 53 ... second OS storage area, 54 ... startup program storage area, 55 ... data storage area, 60 ... Card interface, MC ... memory card, 100 ... control unit, 110 ... application execution unit, 120 ... used OS discrimination unit, 130 ... OS switching unit, 200 ... control unit, 210 ... card mounting discrimination unit, 220 ... communication state discrimination unit , 230 ... OS switching unit, 240 ... application execution unit, 300 ... control unit, 310 ... automatic switching setting unit, 320 ... communicable state determination unit, 330 ... Timer unit, 340 ... OS switching unit

Claims (10)

OS storage means for storing a plurality of types of OSs;
Application storage means for storing application programs;
A used OS discriminating means for discriminating an OS used by a designated application;
An OS switching means for switching the OS when the OS determined by the used OS determining means is different from the OS being executed;
An electronic device comprising: And further comprising application execution means for executing the designated application after OS switching by the OS switching means.
The electronic device according to claim 1. The OS storage means and the application storage means are configured in an external memory that can be attached to and detached from the electronic device,
The OS switching means switches to the OS stored in the OS storage means of the external memory when the external memory is attached to the electronic device.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an electronic device. The OS switching unit determines whether the OS storage unit and the application storage unit, or the OS storage unit or the application storage unit is configured in the external memory attached to the electronic device. Determining and executing the OS switching operation when the OS storage unit and the application storage unit, or the OS storage unit or the application storage unit are configured as a result of the determination.
The electronic device according to claim 3. The electronic device is a mobile communication terminal;
A communication state determining means for determining whether or not a communication operation of the mobile communication terminal is being executed;
The OS switching unit executes the OS switching operation when the communication state determining unit determines that the communication operation is not being executed.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an electronic device. Further comprising a communicable state determining means for determining whether or not the mobile communication terminal is out of a communicable area;
The OS switching means executes the OS switching operation when it is determined that the communicable state determining means is out of a communicable range,
The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein: The OS switching means performs switching from a first OS for performing the communication operation of the mobile communication terminal to a second OS for using the application.
The electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the electronic apparatus is an electronic device. The OS switching means performs switching from the switched second OS to the first OS based on an operation by a user of the mobile communication terminal.
The electronic apparatus according to claim 7. The OS switching means switches from the first OS to the second OS when a communication function of the mobile communication terminal is stopped by an operation by a user of the mobile communication terminal. Do it,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein To the computer that controls the electronic equipment,
The ability to store multiple types of OS;
A function to store application programs;
A function to determine the OS to be used by the specified application;
A function for switching the OS when the OS determined by the used OS determination means is different from the OS being executed;
A program characterized by realizing.

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