JP3531796B2 - Portable information terminal and wireless communication function switching method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information terminal having a wireless communication function and capable of wireless communication using a mobile communication network, and more particularly to a portable information terminal capable of reducing power consumption and the same. The present invention relates to a wireless communication function switching method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a portable information terminal capable of performing wireless communication using a mobile communication network to send and receive electronic mail and browse Internet homepages. Some of such portable information terminals have various functions that an electronic notebook has, such as a world clock, a schedule book, and an address book. Further, there is a terminal in which the terminal itself has a wireless communication function and can perform wireless communication by transmitting and receiving a wireless signal to and from a base station of a mobile communication network like the mobile telephone device.

[0003] Generally, a device that transmits and receives a radio signal to and from a base station of a mobile communication network to perform radio communication is outside the communication service area of the mobile communication network while the power is on. In addition, a check operation of the radio wave condition for returning to the area called a perch scan is performed.

[0004]

In the above portable information terminal, the perch scan is executed even when it is clear that the terminal is out of the communication service area of the mobile communication network. That is, for example, when the user uses the PDC (Personal)
GSM (Global System for Mobile communi
cations) mobile communication network is brought into the area (for example, from Japan to Europe), perch scan is executed, even though it is clear that it is out of the communication service area. And wasted power.

In this regard, as a method of reducing power consumption when the communication service is out of the service area, a method of decreasing the frequency of perch scanning can be considered, but the perch scanning cannot be stopped completely, There was no choice but to waste some power.

Further, when it is clear that the communication service is out of the service area, a method of manually turning off the wireless communication function by a key operation or the like can be considered, but it takes time and labor.
If the user forgets to turn off the wireless communication function, a perch scan will be performed, which will waste power.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a portable information terminal capable of easily switching on / off of a wireless communication function to reduce power consumption and a wireless communication function switching method thereof. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a portable information terminal according to a first aspect of the present invention performs wireless communication via a mobile communication network by transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Means and area designation hands that specify the area
The step, the time measuring means for measuring the time in the area designated by the area designating means, and the area for measuring the time by the time measuring means are used to perform the wireless communication by the wireless communication means. It is determined whether the mobile communication network is within the communication service area, and when it is determined that the mobile communication network is out of the communication service area, an operation switching unit that stops the operation of the wireless communication unit is provided, and the area designating unit includes the timekeeping unit. When means
As a schedule in advance with the date and time the area to measure the time
The operation switching hand is equipped with a schedule registration means for registering.
The steps are the registered contents of the schedule registration means and the timekeeping.
Based on the time measured by the means,
The area where the time is measured by means of time is a communication service
It is determined whether it is within the range, and if it is out of the communication service range
When the determination is made, the operation of the wireless communication means is stopped, and when outside the communication service area, the wireless communication function can be stopped while the data processing without transmission / reception of the wireless signal can be executed.

According to the present invention, the time measuring means measures the time in the area designated by the area designating means, and the operation switching means performs the wireless communication by the wireless communication means in the area where the time measuring means measures the time. It is determined whether or not the mobile communication network to be used is within the communication service area. When the operation switching unit determines that the wireless communication unit is out of the communication service area, the operation switching unit stops the operation of the wireless communication unit so that the wireless communication unit does not execute the perch scan. This allows
The wireless communication function can be switched on / off in conjunction with the change of the region where the time is measured, and the wireless communication function can be easily switched on / off to reduce power consumption. In addition, the wireless communication device is linked with the schedule function.
You can switch the Noh function on / off, and you can easily use the wireless communication.
You can switch the communication function on / off to reduce power consumption.
You can

[0010]

The operation switching means is based on the timekeeping means .
Area for measuring the time Te is, detects that it has been changed within the communication service by said area designation means, it is desirable to provide a means for activating the wireless communication means.

[0012] It is preferable that the operation switching means includes a power supply for supplying operating power, and stops the power supply from the power supply to the wireless communication means when the wireless communication means is in a stopped state. This makes it possible to completely stop the wireless communication function and reduce power consumption.

A portable information terminal according to a second aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication means for performing wireless communication via a mobile communication network by transmitting and receiving wireless signals, a power supply including a battery, and a location. With a date and time as a schedule in advance, and a mobile communication network used to identify the current location based on the location registered in the schedule registration means and to perform wireless communication by the wireless communication means. If it is determined that it is outside the communication service range,
Power supply switching means for stopping the supply of power from the power source to the wireless communication means.

Further, a wireless communication function switching method for a portable information terminal according to a third aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication of a portable information terminal capable of wireless communication via a mobile communication network by transmitting and receiving wireless signals. a function switching method, finger regional
In the area designation step to set and the area designation step
When the time measuring step of measuring the time of the designated area and the area of which the time is measured in the time measuring step are determined to be within the communication service area of the mobile communication network, and when it is determined to be out of the communication service area, and a operation switch step of stopping the executable and the remained radio communication function data processing without transmitting and receiving radio signals, the region designation step
Indicates the area where the time is measured in the timekeeping step as the date and time.
Schedule registration to register as a schedule together
And the operation switching step includes the step of
Registration details in the tool registration step and the timekeeping
Based on the time measured at
The area where the time is measured at the step is connected to the mobile communication network.
The communication service area is determined by determining whether or not the
If it is determined to be outside, the data that does not
Data processing can be executed and the wireless communication function is stopped.
That, characterized in that.

According to the present invention, the time measuring step measures the time of the area designated in the area specifying step, and the operation switching step the communication service of the mobile communication network is the area whose time is measured in the time measuring step. Determine whether it is within the range. Then, in the operation switching step, when it is determined that the communication service is out of the service area, the wireless communication function is stopped while the data processing without transmission / reception of the wireless signal is executable.
As a result, the wireless communication function can be switched on / off in conjunction with the change of the region where the time is measured, and the wireless communication function can be easily switched on / off to reduce power consumption. Also, in conjunction with the schedule function
You can switch the wireless communication function on / off with
Power consumption by easily turning on / off the wireless communication function
Can be reduced.

[0016]

It is preferable that the operation switching step includes a step of activating the wireless communication function by detecting that the area where the time is measured is changed into the communication service area in the time counting step.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A portable information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a portable information terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The mobile information terminal 100 has a function of performing wireless communication using a mobile communication network, and as shown in FIG.
0, power supply 11, power supply switching unit 12, key input unit 13, display unit 14, processing control unit 15, and antenna 1
6 and.

The radio communication processing unit 10 is for transmitting and receiving radio signals to and from the base station of the mobile communication network to perform radio communication.

The power supply 11 is composed of a lithium ion secondary battery or the like, and is for supplying electric power to each part of the portable information terminal 100.

The power supply switching unit 12 is composed of a semiconductor switch or the like, and is for switching between supplying and stopping the power supply from the power source 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10.

The key input unit 13 is composed of a keypad, a touch panel sheet, etc., and this portable information terminal 100.
Is an instruction input section for.

The display unit 14 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal D
isplay) and the like for displaying an image according to the processing result of the processing control unit 15.

The processing control unit 15 is a RAM (Random Acces
s Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory)
It is configured by a PU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and is for controlling the operation of the entire portable information terminal 100, and includes a transmission / reception processing unit 20, a switching control unit 21, and a data processing unit 22.

The transmission / reception processing unit 20 is a radio communication processing unit 10.
The signal received from the data processing unit 22 is subjected to processing such as decoding to be converted into a form that can be processed by the data processing unit 22, or the data received from the data processing unit 22 is processed such as encoding to be processed by the wireless communication processing unit 10. It is for executing signal processing such as conversion into a processable form.

The switching control unit 21 controls the operation of the power supply switching unit 12 in accordance with the processing result of the data processing unit 22 to switch between the power supply from the power source 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10 and the stop. belongs to.

The data processing section 22 is for executing various kinds of data processing, for example, by executing application software on an OS (operating system), and has a logical configuration of a schedule processing section. 30 and a world clock processing unit 31.

The schedule processing unit 30 realizes a so-called schedule book function, registers the user's schedule input from the key input unit 13 by designating the date and time, and displays the schedule in response to a request from the key input unit 13. It is for displaying on 14.

The world clock processing unit 31 realizes a clock function that can be used all over the world, and measures the time in a predetermined region designated by the key input unit 13 or a region registered in the schedule processing unit 30, This is for displaying on the display unit 14.

The operation of the portable information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. This portable information terminal is a terminal that can easily switch on / off the wireless communication function and reduce power consumption by inputting a place name for setting the world clock.

This mobile information terminal 100, when executing processing using the wireless communication function within the communication service area,
The data processing unit 22 executes a process according to the instruction received from the key input unit 13 and displays the execution result on the display unit 14 to notify the user.

For example, when transmitting an electronic mail, the data processing unit 22 sends the transmission data (data for electronic mail) to the transmission / reception processing unit 20 according to the instruction received from the key input unit 13. The transmission / reception processing unit 20 performs processing such as encoding on the transmission data received from the data processing unit 22 and sends it to the wireless communication processing unit 10, and causes the antenna 16 to transmit a wireless signal to a base station of the mobile communication network.

On the other hand, when receiving an electronic mail, the radio communication processing unit 10 extracts predetermined information data from the radio signal received by the antenna 16, and the transmission / reception processing unit 20.
Performs processing such as decoding on the information data extracted by the wireless communication processing unit 10 and sends the information data to the data processing unit 22. The data processing unit 22 executes processing according to the data received from the transmission / reception processing unit 20 and displays the execution result on the display unit 14 to notify the user.

The portable information terminal 100 can use the world clock function to determine whether or not the current location is within the communication service area and automatically switch the wireless communication function on / off. . That is, when the user operates the key input unit 13 and specifies the region where the time is to be measured, such as the country name of the business trip destination, in the world clock processing unit 31, the world clock processing unit 31 displays the time being measured. Key input section 13
Adjust the time by changing to the time in the area designated by.

At this time, the switching control unit 21 determines that the area where the world clock processing unit 31 measures the time is the wireless communication processing unit 1.
It is determined whether or not the area where the wireless communication by 0 is possible, that is, the area within the communication service area of the mobile communication network. When the switching control unit 21 determines that the area where the world clock processing unit 31 is measuring the time is out of the communication service area, the switching control unit 21 controls the power supply switching unit 12 to control the power supply 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10. To stop the power supply to. As a result, it is possible to automatically turn off the wireless communication function so as not to execute the perch scan when outside the communication service area, and it is possible to reduce power consumption with a simple setting.

If the destination of the user is known in advance, the user can operate the key input unit 13 to register the destination in the schedule processing unit 30 by designating the date and time. The schedule processing unit 30 periodically confirms the destination schedule registered by the user, and the world clock processing unit 3
The current location is specified according to the time measured by 1, and it is determined whether the world clock processing unit 31 changes the area where the time is measured.

When the schedule processing section 30 determines that the world clock processing section 31 changes the area for measuring the time,
The world clock processing unit 31 is notified of the destination of the registered user and is instructed to change the time. World clock processing unit 3
When the schedule processing unit 30 gives an instruction to change the time, the No. 1 adjusts the time by changing the time being measured to the time of the region according to the destination of the user notified from the schedule processing unit 30.

At this time, in the switching control unit 21, the area where the world clock processing unit 31 measures time is the wireless communication processing unit 1
It is determined whether or not the area where the wireless communication by 0 is possible, that is, the area within the communication service area of the mobile communication network. When the switching control unit 21 determines that the area where the world clock processing unit 31 is measuring the time is out of the communication service area, the switching control unit 21 controls the power supply switching unit 12 to control the power supply 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10. To stop the power supply to. This allows the user to register the schedule of the destination so that the time can be changed according to the schedule and if the current location is out of the communication service range, the wireless communication function is automatically turned off to reduce power consumption. can do.

In this way, data processing without wireless communication can be executed even after the wireless communication function is automatically turned off. For example, the user uses the key input unit 1
It is possible to request to display the telephone number registered in the data processing unit 22 by inputting a predetermined instruction from 3 to activate the telephone directory function. The data processing unit 22 receives an instruction from the key input unit 13 and executes a process according to the telephone directory function to display the telephone directory recorded in the memory (not shown) on the display unit 14. it can.

After that, the world clock processing section 31 receives an instruction from the key input section 13 or the schedule processing section 30.
When the instruction to change the time is given again by the instruction from, the time being measured is changed to the time of the instructed area and the time is adjusted. Then, at this time, the switching control unit 21 determines whether or not the area where the world clock processing unit 31 measures the time is within the communication service area of the mobile communication network, and determines that the area is within the communication service area. Then, the power supply switching unit 12 is controlled to start supplying power from the power supply 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10. As a result, the wireless communication function can be automatically turned on when the current location is within the communication service area.

For example, a communication method for the wireless communication processing unit 10 to perform wireless communication is PDC (Personal Digital Cel).
The current location is Tokyo and the current time is 19
It is assumed that it is 10:30 am (Japan time) on August 15, 1999. In this case, since the PDC system is used as the mobile communication system in Tokyo, the wireless communication processing unit 10 is being supplied with power from the power supply 11.

The location of the portable information terminal 100 is changed to London from 2:00 pm (Japan time) on August 17, 1999, and further changed to August 2, 1999.
We shall return to Tokyo from 8:00 am (Greenwich Mean Time) on the 2nd. The user operates the key input unit 13 to register these schedules in the schedule processing unit 30.

The schedule processing unit 30 monitors the world clock processing unit 31, and when it is 2:00 pm on August 17, 1999 in Japan time, the world clock processing unit 31 changes the region for measuring the time to London. Notify me to do so.

When the world clock processing unit 31 receives the notification from the schedule processing unit 30 that the time of London is to be measured, the time of the current time of Tokyo is changed to the time of London. Delay by time. In London, GSM is used as a mobile communication system.
(Global System for Mobile communications) system is used and PDC system cannot be used.

Since the area where the world clock processing section 31 measures time is changed from Tokyo to London, the switching control section 21 determines that the area is outside the PDC communication service area, and the power supply switching section 12 Is controlled to stop the supply of electric power from the power supply 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10.

After that, the schedule processing unit 30 monitors the world clock processing unit 31 to display 199 GMT.
At 8 am on August 22, 9th, the world clock processing unit 3
Notify 1 to change the time measurement area to Tokyo.

When the world clock processing unit 31 receives a notification from the schedule processing unit 30 that the time in Tokyo will be measured,
In order to change the time currently measured in London from the time in London, the current time is advanced by 9 hours.

Since the area where the world clock processing section 31 measures the time is changed from London to Tokyo, the switching control section 21 determines that it is within the PDC communication service area, and the power supply switching section 12 Is controlled to start supplying power from the power supply 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10. As described above, during the stay in London, which is outside the PDC communication service area, the wireless communication processing unit 10 automatically operates from the power supply 11
It is possible to stop the power supply to the device, and it is possible to reduce the power consumption with a simple setting.

As described above, according to the present invention,
When it is determined whether or not the area where the time is measured is within the communication service area, and it is determined that the area is outside the communication service area, the wireless communication function can be automatically turned off. As a result, the wireless communication function can be switched on / off in conjunction with the world clock function, so that the user does not forget to switch the wireless communication function, and the power consumption can be reduced with simple settings.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications and applications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the world clock processing unit 31 changes the time, the switching control unit 21 determines whether or not it is within the communication service range, but the present invention is not limited to this.
That is, for example, even when the destination of the user registered in the schedule processing unit 30 does not need to change the time measured by the world clock processing unit 31,
The switching control unit 21 may determine whether or not the destination of the user is within the communication service area.

As a specific example, when Osaka is within the communication service area and Tokyo is outside the communication service area, the user:
By operating the key input unit 13, the schedule processing unit 30
Register the schedule for moving from Osaka to Tokyo. Then, even if the time of the world clock processing unit 31 is not changed, the switching control unit 21 reads the registered content of the schedule processing unit 30 and changes the current location from Osaka (within the communication service area) to Tokyo (outside the communication service area). At a certain time, the power supply switching unit 12 may be controlled to stop the power supply from the power supply 11 to the wireless communication processing unit 10.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the power consumption can be efficiently reduced by switching the wireless communication function ON / OFF with a simple setting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Wireless communication processing unit 11 power supply 12 Power supply switching unit 13 Key input section 14 Display 15 Processing controller 16 antenna 20 Transmission / reception processing unit 21 Switching control unit 22 Data processing unit 30 Schedule processing unit 31 World Clock Processing Department 100 Personal Digital Assistant

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] Measurement and wireless communication means for performing wireless communication via a mobile communication network, and area designation means for designating an area, the time in the area designated by said area designating means by sending and receiving 1. A radio signal The time measuring means and the area where the time is measured by the time measuring means determines whether or not the communication service area of the mobile communication network used for performing wireless communication by the wireless communication means is outside the communication service area. When it is determined that there is an operation switching means for stopping the operation of the wireless communication means, the area designating means preliminarily scans the area where the time measuring means measures the time together with the date and time.
Equipped with schedule registration means to register as a schedule
The operation switching means is registered by the schedule registration means.
Based on the content and the time measured by the timekeeping means
The location where the time is currently being measured by the timekeeping means
Determine whether the area is within the communication service area, and
When it is determined that the service area is out of the service area, the operation of the wireless communication means
The mobile information terminal is capable of stopping the wireless communication function while being able to execute data processing that does not involve transmission and reception of wireless signals when the user is out of the communication service area. 2. The operation switching means is constituted by the timing means .
Area for measuring the time Te is, detects that it has been changed within the communication service by said area designation means, the portable information according to claim 1, wherein comprises means for activating the wireless communication means, it is characterized by Terminal. 3. A power supply for supplying operating power, wherein the operation switching means stops supplying power from the power supply to the wireless communication means when the wireless communication means is in a stopped state. The portable information terminal according to claim 1 or 2 . 4. A wireless communication means for performing wireless communication via a mobile communication network by transmitting and receiving a wireless signal, a power source including a battery, and a schedule registration means for registering a location together with a date and time as a schedule in advance. The current location is specified based on the location registered in the schedule registration means, and it is determined whether or not the current location is within the communication service range of the mobile communication network used for performing wireless communication by the wireless communication means, and communication is performed. A mobile information terminal, comprising: a power supply switching unit that stops power supply from the power source to the wireless communication unit when it is determined to be out of the service area. 5. A wireless communication function switching method of a portable information terminal capable of wireless communication via a mobile communication network by transmitting and receiving a wireless signal , which comprises an area specifying step for specifying an area and the area specifying step. The time measuring step for measuring the time in the area designated by the above, and the area measuring the time in the time measuring step is determined whether or not the area is within the communication service range of the mobile communication network, and is determined to be out of the communication service area. then, a behavior switching stopping the executable and the remained radio communication function data processing without transmitting and receiving radio signals, the area designation step, an area for measuring the time in the time counter step with time
Schedule registration step to register as a schedule in advance
And the operation switching step includes the schedule registration step.
And the registration contents in-flops, was measured by the meter at the time step
Based on the time and
The area being measured is within the range of the mobile communication network communication service.
It is determined whether or not there is, and it is determined that it is out of the communication service area.
Then, data processing can be executed without transmitting and receiving wireless signals.
A wireless communication function switching method for a portable information terminal, wherein the wireless communication function is stopped while the wireless communication function remains active . 6. The operation switching step includes a step of activating a wireless communication function by detecting that the area where the time is measured has been changed into a communication service area in the clocking step. The wireless communication function switching method according to claim 5 .