JP4323278B2 - Mobile phone with broadcast reception function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile phone having an application program execution environment, a display unit that displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen, and a broadcast receiving function, and in particular, user operation of the broadcast receiving function is realized by executing the application program. About what to do.

  Mobile phones that are currently popular include an application program execution environment such as Java (registered trademark) or BREW (registered trademark), and various application programs can be executed on the mobile phones. Examples of application programs include a game application program, a map application program, a stock real-time information display application program, a standby screen application program, and the like.

When any one of the application programs is executed, a game screen, an animation screen, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen, and the like are displayed on an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided in the mobile phone.
The application program is stored in the memory before the user purchases the mobile phone, that is, when the mobile phone is manufactured in the memory stage, and after the user purchases the mobile phone, In some cases, it is downloaded from the device and stored in the memory. As a memory for storing an application program, a flash memory that can freely rewrite and erase data is generally used.

The download is performed for the purpose of updating (version upgrading) an application program already stored in the memory in addition to acquiring a new application program. The version upgrade is performed mainly for the purpose of adding new functions or correcting bugs.
By the way, there is a radio application program (hereinafter simply referred to as a radio application) that displays on a LCD a GUI screen that allows a user to operate a radio tuner provided in a mobile phone.

The radio application has a channel selection function, a volume control function, etc. as basic functions, displays a GUI screen on the LCD, and receives a channel (frequency) and volume from the user via various operation buttons such as a numeric keypad provided on the mobile phone. Etc. are accepted.
The radio application sets the frequency and volume by controlling the radio tuner and amplifier based on an instruction received from the user.

  Some radio applications have additional functions in addition to the basic functions described above. For example, when the radio application is activated, the screen image of the GUI screen displayed on the LCD (hereinafter referred to as “skin”) can be changed to the user's preferred skin, or the currently received radio In the case of music, there is a music information acquisition function for acquiring information such as the artist name and composer of the music from an external device by communication and displaying it on the display unit.

In addition, a mobile phone having a radio broadcast receiving function is disclosed in the following patent document.
JP 2002-101164 A

By the way, the above-mentioned radio application is stored in the flash memory like other application programs, and can be updated and deleted according to a user instruction.
For this reason, the radio application may be deleted due to securing a free space for downloading a new application program or a user's erroneous operation. If the radio application is deleted, it is impossible to select a radio broadcast and control the volume, which causes a problem that the user cannot listen to the radio even though the mobile phone has a radio broadcast reception function.

This is a mobile phone having a function of receiving other broadcasts such as AM broadcast and TV broadcast, and if the channel selection and volume control can be performed by the GUI screen displayed by the application program, the same problem will occur. Can happen.
The present invention relates to a mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function that solves the problem that channel selection and volume control operations cannot be performed by deleting the application program while using an application program for broadcast reception that can be upgraded and deleted. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to the present invention is a mobile phone having an application program execution environment and a display unit for displaying a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen. Broadcast reception means for receiving the first application program for displaying on the display section a GUI screen that allows the user to perform broadcast wave channel selection and volume control, and rewritable storage means, And a second storage means for storing a second application program corresponding to the first application program so as not to be rewritten.

Here, rewritable means that data can be updated and deleted according to a user instruction.
The second application program corresponding to the first application program is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen that realizes basic user operations for the user to view broadcast contents such as broadcast wave tuning and volume control. An application program that displays.

With the above configuration, even if the first application program is deleted, there is a second application program that is not deleted, so that there is no problem that user operation for viewing broadcast content becomes impossible.
In addition, when the first application program is stored in the first storage unit when an operation unit that receives an instruction from the user and an instruction to start an application program for broadcast reception from the user are received, And a control unit that activates one application program and activates the second application program when the first application program is deleted from the first storage unit based on the deletion instruction received from the user. Good.

This configuration has an effect that the first application program that can be upgraded can be used unless deleted.
The first application program may have more functions than the second application program.
With this configuration, unless the first application program is deleted, functions added to the first application program that are not in the second application program can be used.

The second application program may have a smaller data amount than the first application program.
With this configuration, since the second application program has a smaller data amount than the first application program, there is an advantage that it is difficult to burden the memory.
In addition, a communication unit that communicates with the external device, and an instruction to update a part or all of the first application program from the user is received via the operation unit, thereby communicating with the external device using the communication unit. And updating means for updating part or all of the first application program.

With this configuration, it is possible to upgrade the version such as adding an additional function of the first application program and correcting a bug.
The first application program may have a function of communicating with an external device using the communication unit and acquiring information related to the currently received broadcast content.

The broadcast receiving means includes an antenna and an FM tuner that receive and demodulate FM broadcast waves, and the first application program and the second application program display a GUI screen that allows a user to select an FM broadcast. It is good also as displaying on a display part.
With this configuration, even if the first application program is deleted, the problem that the FM broadcast cannot be selected does not occur.

  The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function includes detection means for detecting an incoming call, while an application selection screen to be displayed for receiving an instruction to start an application program from the user is displayed on the display unit. When an incoming call is detected, the control means may switch the application selection screen to an incoming call notification screen that is displayed to notify the user of the incoming call.

With this configuration, it is possible to notify the user of an incoming call notification even when the application selection screen is being displayed.
The display unit may include a backlight, and the control unit may perform control to turn on the backlight when an incoming call is detected.
With this configuration, the incoming call notification screen can be easily viewed.

In addition, the mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function includes a call disconnection detecting unit that detects a call disconnection, and the control unit is configured to detect the call disconnection after switching from the application selection screen to the incoming call notification screen. The application selection screen may be displayed again.
With this configuration, the application program can be selected immediately after the call is finished.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Overview>
A mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a BREW application execution environment and an FM radio tuner. Such FM radio tuner functions under execution control of a radio application corresponding to BREW.

A mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function includes a flash memory that can be rewritten and deleted based on a user's instruction, and a ROM that cannot be deleted according to a user's instruction. Stores the second radio application.
The control unit provided in the mobile phone with the broadcast receiving function is instructed by the user to start the radio application while the first radio application stored in the flash memory exists, that is, unless the first radio application is deleted by the user's instruction. On the other hand, if the first radio application is activated and the first radio application does not exist in the flash memory, that is, if the first radio application has been deleted according to the user's instruction, the ROM is responded to the user's radio application activation instruction. The second radio application stored in is controlled to be activated.

<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function.
A mobile phone 1 with a broadcast reception function includes an antenna 2, a communication unit 3, a broadcast reception unit 4, a control unit 5, a flash memory 6, a ROM 7, an operation unit 8, a display unit 9, an input / output unit 10, a microphone 11, a speaker 12, An earphone jack 13 and an earphone antenna 14 are provided. Note that the mobile phone 1 with a broadcast receiving function includes various functional units included in a general mobile phone, and illustration and description of functional units that are not particularly necessary for explaining the invention are omitted.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the mobile phone 1 with a broadcast receiving function, and each reference numeral on the drawing corresponds to each functional unit described above.
The antenna 2 is similar to an antenna provided in a general mobile phone, and transmits and receives a carrier wave that carries voice, data, and the like. The received carrier signal is sent to the communication unit 3.
The communication unit 3 relates to transmission / reception such as modulation / demodulation processing, amplification processing, A / D and D / A conversion processing on a carrier signal received by the antenna 2 and a compressed signal such as voice transmitted from the control unit 5. It is a functional unit that performs a series of processing, and is similar to the function provided in a general mobile phone. The reception signal processed in the communication unit 3 is transmitted to the control unit 5, and the compressed signal transmitted from the control unit 5 is subjected to the above processes in the communication unit 3 and is output from the antenna 2 as a carrier wave.

The broadcast receiving unit 4 is an FM radio tuner and has a function of demodulating a radio wave in the designated frequency band based on an instruction from the control unit 5. The demodulated audio signal is transmitted to the input / output unit 10 via the control unit 5.
The control unit 5 includes a microprocessor, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and the like, and performs various controls such as communication control and application program execution control according to various programs stored in the ROM 7 or the flash memory 6. , Audio decompression / compression processing and the like are performed.

  In particular, when a radio application activation instruction is received from the user via the operation unit 8, if the first radio application is recorded in the flash memory 6, the control unit 5 activates the first radio application and first If no radio application is recorded, control is performed to activate the second radio application recorded in the ROM 7. Detailed control operations related to the radio application activation will be described later.

Further, the control unit 5 decompresses the compressed audio signal transmitted from the communication unit 3 and transmits it to the input / output unit 10, and stores the application program data and the like downloaded wirelessly in the flash memory 6.
The flash memory 6 is a memory in which data can be rewritten and deleted, and various application programs are preinstalled in addition to the first radio application.

In addition, an application program downloaded from an external device based on a user instruction can be stored in the flash memory 6.
Furthermore, an application management table for managing various application programs stored in the flash memory 6 or the ROM 7 is stored.
The ROM 7 is a memory in which data cannot be rewritten and deleted, and stores a basic control program for a mobile phone, a BREW platform for realizing an application program execution environment, main application programs, and the like in addition to the second radio application. .

The operation unit 8 includes various function buttons such as numeric keypad buttons 0 to 9 provided in a general mobile phone, an on-hook button, and an off-hook button, and receives various instructions from the user when the user presses the button. The instruction received from the user is, for example, a telephone number input instruction or various application program activation instructions.
The display unit 9 is an LCD and has a function of displaying a standby screen, an application selection screen, an application execution screen, an incoming call notification screen, and the like. The display unit 9 also has a backlight function that brightens the screen when a button press or opening / closing of the housing is detected or when a call is received. Switching of the display screen and lighting of the backlight are performed based on the control of the control unit 5.

  The input / output unit 10 receives the voice collected by the microphone 11 as an electrical signal and transmits it to the control unit 5, and sends the voice signal transmitted from the control unit 5 to the speaker 12 for output as a voice. When the earphone antenna 14 is connected to the earphone jack 13, the sound signal transmitted from the control unit 5 is transmitted to the earphone jack, and the sound is output from the earphone antenna 14.

The earphone antenna 14 plays a role as an antenna that receives FM radio waves in addition to a function as a general earphone.
The earphone jack 13 serves as a switch for switching the output destination from which the input / output unit 10 outputs sound depending on whether the earphone antenna 14 is connected. When the earphone antenna 14 is connected, the earphone antenna 14 is connected. The FM radio wave received by is transmitted to the broadcast receiver 4.

<Operation>
Next, characteristic operations of the present invention will be described.
Since the basic operation is the same as that of a general mobile phone, description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation from the display of the application selection screen to the start of the radio application, which is a characteristic operation of the present invention.

When the user wants to activate the radio application, first, the user instructs the mobile phone 1 with a broadcast reception function to display an application selection screen on the display unit 9. When receiving the broadcast reception function mobile phone 1, the application selection screen is displayed on the display unit 9 (step S1).
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the application selection screen.
On the application selection screen shown in FIG. 4, a mail application icon 41, a WEB browser application icon 42, a computer application icon 43, a notepad application icon 44, a game application icon 45, and a radio application icon 46 are displayed. By selecting these icons, application programs corresponding to these icons can be started.

  Strictly speaking, the user designates an application ID assigned to each application program by selecting one of the icons, and the control unit 5 uses an application in which the application ID is associated with the application program. With reference to the management table, the application program associated with the designated application ID is activated.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the application management table.
The application management table 701 includes items of application ID, status bit, and application name.
The status bit indicates whether or not the application program can be rewritten and deleted, and it can be said that the application program is stored in the flash memory 6 or stored in the ROM 7.

Basically, one application ID is assigned to one application program, but the same application ID is assigned to the first radio application and the second radio application as shown in FIG.
By the way, if there is an incoming call while displaying this application selection screen (step S2: YES), the control unit 5 performs control to switch from the currently displayed application selection screen to the incoming call notification screen (step S7). At this time, the backlight may be turned on together with the switching of the incoming notification screen.

If there is no incoming call in step S2 (step S2: NO) and the user operates the cross button and the enter button included in the operation unit 8 to specify the radio application icon 46 (step S3), that is, as shown in FIG. When the application ID 4 is designated, the control unit 5 first tries to start the first radio application whose status bit is dynamic.
At this time, if the first radio application is stored in the flash memory 6 (step S4: YES), the first radio application is activated (step S5). If the first radio application is not stored in the flash memory 6 (step S4: NO), the control unit 5 activates the second radio application whose status bit is static (step S6).

If a call disconnection is detected after switching to the incoming call notification screen in step S7 (step S8: YES), the screen is switched to the application selection screen again and displayed (step S1).
FIG. 5 is an example of a GUI screen displayed on the display unit 9 when the first radio application is activated.
The window 51 shows the frequency band of the currently selected FM radio wave.

In selecting the frequency band of the FM radio wave, the frequency selection buttons 52 and 53 can be used, and the frequency band can be easily selected by registering the frequency band in the preset buttons 56 of 1 to 6 in advance. You can also choose.
Volume adjustment buttons 54 and 55 are used to adjust the volume of the FM radio output from the earphone antenna 14.

  In addition, the first radio application has a function for acquiring various information and data using a communication function. As shown in FIG. 5, a music information acquisition button 57 that can acquire the information of the currently on-air music using the communication function, and the latest popular music ranking information can be acquired using the communication function. Ranking information acquisition button 58 that can be used, version update button 59 that can update the version of the first radio application using the communication function, skin data acquisition button 60 that can acquire the skin data using the communication function, etc. There is.

On the other hand, FIG. 6 is an example of a GUI screen displayed on the display unit 9 when the second radio application is activated.
As shown in FIG. 6, a window 61 for displaying the frequency band of the currently selected FM radio wave, and frequency selection buttons 62 and 63 used for selecting the frequency band include a volume adjustment button for adjusting the volume. Only 64 and 65 have basic functions as a radio application.

Therefore, the second radio application has a smaller program data amount than the first radio application.
<Supplement>
Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The following cases are also included in the present invention.
(1) The memory storing the first radio application is not limited to the flash memory, and may be any storage device that can delete and write data any number of times, such as EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory).

(2) Although the radio application that operates on the BREW platform has been described in the embodiment, it may be a radio application that operates on a Java (registered trademark) VM, or any environment that can execute an application program. Such a platform may be used.
(3) Although the above embodiment is a mobile phone including an FM radio tuner, an AM radio tuner, a TV tuner, or the like may be used.

  (4) In FIG. 3 of the above embodiment, if there is an incoming call while the application selection screen is displayed, the process is switched to the incoming call notification screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the GUI screen displayed when the radio application is activated If there is an incoming call during the display of the GUI screen displayed when other application programs are activated, a process of switching to the incoming call notification screen may be performed.

(5) The first radio application and the second radio application may be the same application or different applications, but they have both basic functions such as a radio channel selection function and a volume control function. .
(6) A program for causing a mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function having the program execution function to execute the processing steps described in the above embodiment (steps shown in FIG. 3) is recorded on a recording medium or various communication channels Etc., and can be distributed and distributed.

  Such recording media include IC cards, optical disks, flexible disks, ROMs, and the like. The distributed and distributed program is used by being installed in a mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function having a program execution function, and the mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function executes the program to execute the above-described embodiment. The functions shown in are realized.

  The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to the present invention allows the user to view broadcast contents by deleting the broadcast reception application program in order to ensure a free space for downloading a new application program by mistake. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the user operation for performing the operation cannot be performed. Therefore, the present invention is very useful in a mobile phone with a broadcast reception function that realizes a user operation of the broadcast reception function by executing an application program.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the mobile telephone with a broadcast receiving function. It is an external view of a mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the characteristic operation | movement part of this invention. It is an example of an application selection screen. It is an example of the starting screen of a 1st radio application. It is an example of the starting screen of a 2nd radio application. It is a figure which shows a specific example of an application management table.

Explanation of symbols

1 Cellular phone with broadcast receiving function 2 Antenna 3 Communication unit 4 Broadcast receiving unit 5 Control unit 6 Flash memory 7 ROM
8 Operation unit 9 Display unit 10 Input / output unit 11 Microphone 12 Speaker 13 Earphone jack 14 Earphone antenna

Claims (9)

A mobile phone comprising an application program execution environment and a display unit for displaying a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen,
Broadcast receiving means for receiving broadcast waves;
An operation unit for receiving instructions from the user;
First storage means for storing a first application program for displaying on the display unit a GUI screen that allows a user to perform broadcast wave tuning and volume control;
Second storage means for storing a second application program for displaying on the display unit a GUI screen that allows the user to perform channel selection of the broadcast wave and volume control ;
Third information storing each information indicating the first application program and the second application program as information indicating a program candidate to be actually started when an instruction to start a broadcast receiving application program is received from a user. Storage means;
Whether or not the first storage program is stored in the first storage unit based on the information stored in the third storage unit when an instruction to start the broadcast reception application program is received from the user Control means for starting up the first application program when it is stored and starting up the second application program when the first application program is deleted from the first storage means. A mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function. A mobile phone comprising an application program execution environment and a display unit for displaying a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen,
Broadcast receiving means for receiving broadcast waves;
An operation unit for receiving instructions from the user;
A first storage means for storing a first application program for displaying a GUI screen enabling a user operation for viewing broadcast content on the display unit in a rewritable manner;
Second storage means for storing a second application program for displaying on the display unit a GUI screen enabling a user operation for viewing the broadcast content so as not to be rewritten;
Third information storing each information indicating the first application program and the second application program as information indicating a program candidate to be actually started when an instruction to start a broadcast receiving application program is received from a user. Storage means;
Whether the first application program is stored in the first storage unit based on the information stored in the third storage unit when an instruction to start the broadcast reception application program is received from the user determines whether, when being stored, activates the first application program, sometimes those first application program is deleted from the first storage means, control means for activating the second application program equipped mobile phone to that release transceiver function, comprising and. The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first application program has more functions than the second application program. The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second application program has a data amount smaller than that of the first application program. A communication means for communicating with an external device;
By receiving an instruction to update part or all of the first application program from the user via the operation unit, the communication unit is used to communicate with an external device, and part or all of the first application program is received. The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: an updating means for updating The broadcast receiving means is an antenna and FM tuner for receiving and demodulating FM broadcast waves,
The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to claim 1 , wherein the first application program and the second application program display on the display unit a GUI screen that allows a user to select an FM broadcast. . The mobile phone with the broadcast receiving function is:
Equipped with detection means for detecting incoming calls,
When an incoming call is detected while an application selection screen that is displayed to receive an instruction to start an application program from the user is displayed on the display unit, the control unit displays the application selection screen as a user The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the mobile phone is switched to an incoming call notification screen to be displayed to notify the incoming call. The display unit has a backlight,
The mobile telephone with a broadcast receiving function according to claim 7, wherein the control means performs control to turn on the backlight when an incoming call is detected. The mobile phone with a broadcast receiving function includes a call disconnection detecting means for detecting a call disconnection,
9. The broadcast receiving function according to claim 7, wherein, when a call disconnection is detected after switching from the application selection screen to the incoming call notification screen, the control unit displays the application selection screen again. Mobile phone.

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