JP5224644B2 - Wireless communication terminal, power saving control method and power saving control program used for the wireless communication terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio communication terminal, a power saving control method and a power saving control control program used for the radio communication terminal, and in particular, a short-range radio using a short-range radio data communication technology “Bluetooth” (Bluetooth, registered trademark) specification. The present invention relates to a radio communication terminal suitable for reducing power consumption in a mobile phone or the like having a communication means, a power saving control method and a power saving control control program used for the radio communication terminal.

  In a wireless communication terminal represented by a mobile phone based on the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) system, when the wireless base station is in a standby state, incoming call information transmitted from the wireless base station is transmitted to the wireless base station. As a result of intermittent reception at a reception interval determined by the above, the operation frequency of the internal device is reduced and the power consumption is reduced. In recent years, wireless communication terminals having a function (Bluetooth device) for wireless connection with a Bluetooth headset or the like have also been manufactured. When this wireless communication terminal is wirelessly connected to the Bluetooth Headset by a Bluetooth device, intermittent communication is performed at predetermined time intervals.

5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining the conventional operation of this type of wireless communication terminal, in which the horizontal axis represents elapsed time, and the vertical axis represents the current consumption value of the Bluetooth device.
In this type of wireless communication terminal, incoming call information transmitted from a wireless base station is intermittently received at a reception interval determined by the wireless base station. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a time interval T (for example, 1200 ms) The received call information is received at the timings [1], [2], [3], and [4]. In addition, communication is performed with the Bluetooth Headset at a communication time Tb (for example, 625 μs) every intermittent communication interval Ta (for example, 700 ms). In this case, the time T during which no communication with the Bluetooth Headset is performed is 699.375 ms. When an incoming call is confirmed at timing [4], an incoming call notification is sent to the Bluetooth Headset at timing [5] when the next intermittent communication is performed. In this case, since the intermittent communication interval Ta is relatively short and the Bluetooth device operates frequently, the battery consumption of the wireless communication terminal tends to increase, but the interval between the timing [4] and the timing [5] is relatively long. Because it is short, there is a tendency for the delay in call notification to the Bluetooth Headset to be small.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, similarly to FIG. 5, the incoming call information is received at timings [1], [2], [3], [4], but the intermittent communication interval Ta is 2400 ms. Yes, since it is relatively long, the operation frequency of the Bluetooth device decreases, and the battery consumption of the wireless communication terminal tends to decrease. In this case, the time T during which no communication is performed with the Bluetooth Headset is 2399.375 ms. In addition, since the interval between the timing [4] and the timing [5] is relatively long, the delay of the incoming call notification to the Bluetooth Headset tends to be large.

In addition to the above-described mobile phone, conventionally, this type of technology includes, for example, those described in the following documents.
A cellular phone device described in Patent Document 1 includes a first wireless unit that functions as a mobile phone capable of wireless communication with a mobile antenna, a second wireless unit capable of short-range wireless data communication with a Bluetooth antenna, And a control unit that performs communication operation control during communication and short-range wireless data communication. The control unit performs power supply control for supplying power to the first wireless unit during wireless communication, so that the power supply to the second wireless unit is intermittently performed only when the wireless communication is in an intermittent standby state. Power supply intermittent control is performed, and power supply continuous control for continuously supplying power to the second wireless unit when wireless communication is in a call is performed.

  The mobile communication terminal described in Patent Literature 2 includes a first wireless communication unit for mobile communication and a second wireless communication unit for short-range wireless data communication. The first wireless communication means waits for the arrival of a signal from the wireless base station, performs a reception operation in a second period set shorter than the first period for each first period, No receiving operation is performed during the period. The second wireless communication means is set to be shorter than the third period for each third period and to overlap at least a part of the second period in a state of waiting for a signal from the external device. The reception operation is performed in the fourth period, and the reception operation is not performed in other periods. Thus, by devising the timing of the intermittent reception operation for mobile communication and the intermittent reception operation for short-range wireless data communication, the power consumption during standby is reduced and the battery life is extended.

In the method for reducing power consumption described in US Pat. No. 6,099,059, a time for the next scheduled CDMA wake-up process to be performed by the CDMA module is set. After this, if the next CDMA wake-up process is scheduled to be executed before the next Bluetooth wake-up process is scheduled to be performed, the Bluetooth wake-up process will be performed simultaneously with the next CDMA wake-up process. Synchronized as implemented by the Bluetooth module. After this, if the time arrives when the CDMA module performs the next CDMA wake-up process, the Bluetooth module also performs the Bluetooth wake-up process.
JP 2001-298780 (abstract, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-318807 (page 7, FIG. 1) JP 2005-500733 gazette (abstract, figure 3)

However, the conventional wireless communication terminal has the following problems.
In other words, the intermittent communication interval between the wireless communication terminal and the Bluetooth Headset is set as a trade-off between battery consumption and the delay of the incoming call notification to the Bluetooth Headset, so the intermittent communication interval with the Bluetooth Headset is set longer. In the case where the wireless communication terminal is set, the notification from the wireless communication terminal to the Bluetooth Headset is delayed, and when the intermittent communication interval is set short, there is a problem that the battery consumption increases. Also, if there is a transition of the cell such as deterioration of the communication environment with the radio base station and a transition to an out-of-service state, the reception interval before these transitions remains set, and battery consumption is high There is a problem.

  Further, since the power supply is controlled according to the state of wireless communication in the mobile phone device described in Patent Document 1, the operation is similar to the present invention, but the above problem is not improved.

  In the mobile communication terminal described in Patent Document 2, the timing of the intermittent reception operation for mobile communication and the intermittent reception operation for short-range wireless data communication is devised, but the communication environment with the radio base station Since the operation is similar to that of the present invention, the above problem is not improved.

  In the method of reducing power consumption described in Patent Document 3, since the Bluetooth wake-up process is performed by the Bluetooth module at the same time as the next CDMA wake-up process, the operation is similar to the present invention. The above problem is not improved because the communication environment during the period is not considered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the transition of cells such as deterioration of the communication environment with a wireless base station when using a short-range wireless communication means such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth) specification. It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication terminal capable of suppressing battery consumption without impairing convenience according to the transition to an out-of-service state.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention, both the intermittent reception by the reception intervals of the incoming call information wireless base station defining transmitted from the radio base station, communication based on short-range wireless data communication specifications In a wireless communication terminal that performs intermittent communication at a predetermined time interval with a short-distance communication terminal capable of receiving information and notifies the short-range communication terminal that a call has been received, when the wireless base station is in a standby state , The time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal is optimized corresponding to the reception interval determined by the radio base station, and when the radio base station is not in a standby state, While the time interval of the intermittent communication with the communication terminal is set to be extended to a predetermined value, after that, when returning to the standby state, the time interval of the intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal is Radio base It is characterized in that is provided a communication interval control means for optimizing in response to the reception interval is determined.

  A second aspect of the present invention relates to the wireless communication terminal according to the first aspect, wherein a long-range wireless unit for wireless connection with the wireless base station, and wireless connection within a predetermined distance with the short-range communication terminal The communication interval control means is configured to receive the call information transmitted from the radio base station to the long-distance radio unit by the radio base station. And the short-range radio unit is configured to optimize the time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal corresponding to the reception interval determined by the radio base station. It is characterized by having.

  A third aspect of the present invention relates to the wireless communication terminal according to the first or second aspect, wherein the communication interval control means performs an intermittent communication operation with the short-range communication terminal from the wireless base station. It is characterized by being configured to be synchronized with the intermittent reception operation of call information.

The invention according to claim 4 relates to the wireless communication terminal according to claim 2, wherein the short-range communication terminal and the short-range wireless unit are configured based on a wireless communication specification of a short-range wireless data communication technology Bluetooth (Bluetooth). It is characterized by having.

Invention of claim 5, wherein both the intermittently received by the receiving interval the incoming call information wireless base station defining transmitted from the radio base station, the short-range communication terminal and a predetermined time based on the specifications of short-distance wireless data communication In accordance with a power saving control method used for a wireless communication terminal that performs intermittent communication at intervals and notifies that the short-range communication terminal has received a call, when the wireless base station is in a standby state, the short-range The time interval of intermittent communication with a communication terminal is optimized corresponding to the reception interval determined by the radio base station, and when the radio base station is not in a standby state, When the intermittent communication time interval is extended to a predetermined value and then returned to the standby state, the wireless base station determines the intermittent communication time interval with the short-range communication terminal. Reception interval It is characterized in that to optimize correspondingly.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention relates to a power saving control method according to claim 5, wherein the intermittent communication operation with the near field communication terminal, synchronized to the intermittent receiving operation of the called information transmitted from the radio base station It is characterized by letting.

A seventh aspect of the invention relates to a power saving control program, which causes a computer to function as the wireless communication terminal according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, the communication interval control means for changing the time interval of the intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal corresponding to the reception interval determined by the radio base station is provided. It is possible to avoid a delay in the incoming call notification to the terminal. Also, since the intermittent reception operation of incoming call information from the radio base station and the intermittent communication operation with the near field communication terminal are synchronized, it is possible to avoid delays in the notification of the incoming call to the near field communication terminal. it can. In addition, since the time interval of intermittent communication operation with a short-range communication terminal is set to a time width that does not cause a delay in incoming call notification to the short-range communication terminal, the convenience when using the short-range communication terminal is improved. Power consumption can be suppressed without loss. In addition, the communication interval control means sets the time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal to a predetermined value when the incoming call information is not received, and sets the same interval when the incoming call information is received again. Since it is configured to change the time interval of intermittent communication with the distance communication terminal corresponding to the reception interval instructed by the radio base station, without impairing convenience when using the near field communication terminal , Can reduce power consumption.

  Holds Bluetooth specification short-range wireless communication means, and changes the processing interval of intermittent communication with a short-range communication terminal such as Bluetooth Headset to an optimum value according to the standby state. Provided is a wireless communication terminal that synchronizes intermittent reception operation of incoming call information from a station and intermittent communication operation with a short-range communication terminal.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a main part of a wireless communication terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The wireless communication terminal 10 in this example is a mobile phone, and as shown in the figure, a wireless unit 11, an antenna 11a, a baseband unit 12, a control unit 13, a display / operation unit 14, and a storage unit. 15, a Bluetooth device 16, an antenna 16 a, and a battery 17. The radio unit 11 is wirelessly connected to the radio base station 20 via the antenna 11a, and transmits a signal input from the baseband unit 12 to the radio base station 20 by the radio wave W based on the control of the control unit 13. Then, the signal transmitted from the radio base station 20 is retrieved and received and transmitted to the baseband unit 12. In particular, in this embodiment, the radio unit 11 intermittently receives incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20 at a reception interval determined by the radio base station 20. The radio base station 20 is connected to a general telephone network through a mobile communication switching center and a gateway mobile communication switching center (not shown).

  The baseband unit 12 performs baseband processing of data specified by the control unit 13 and then outputs the data to the radio unit 11 and performs baseband processing of a signal input from the radio unit 11. The control unit 13 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 13a that controls the entire wireless communication terminal 10, and the storage unit 15 includes a ROM (read only control program) that stores a power saving control program for operating the CPU 132a. Memory) 15a. The display / operation unit 14 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display device and a key switch. The display / operation unit 14 displays each data for the user based on the control of the control unit 13 and signals corresponding to the operation content input by the user. Is sent to the control unit 13.

  The Bluetooth device 16 is configured to be able to communicate based on the wireless communication specification of the short-range wireless data communication technology “Bluetooth” (Bluetooth), and within a predetermined distance range, a Bluetooth Headset (hereinafter referred to as “headset”) 30 and Wireless connection is possible. The headset 30 is also configured based on Bluetooth wireless communication specifications. Then, the Bluetooth device 16 performs intermittent communication via the headset 30 and the antenna 16a at a time interval set to a predetermined value based on the control of the control unit 13, and notifies that the headset 30 has been called. In particular, in this embodiment, the time interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 is optimized according to the reception interval determined by the radio base station 20, and the intermittent communication operation with the headset 30 is performed. Is synchronized with the intermittent reception operation of the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20. The battery 17 is composed of a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery, for example, and supplies necessary power to each part of the wireless communication terminal 10.

2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the wireless communication terminal 10 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the Bluetooth device 16 in FIG.
With reference to these drawings, processing contents of the power saving control method used in the wireless communication terminal of this example will be described.
In this wireless communication terminal 10, the time interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 by the Bluetooth device 16 is optimized corresponding to the reception interval determined by the wireless base station 20, and intermittent communication operation with the headset 30 is performed. In synchronization with the intermittent reception operation of the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the wireless communication terminal 10 is in a standby state with respect to the wireless base station 20 and is wirelessly connected to the headset 30 by a user operation (step A1), the control unit 13 The setting of the intermittent reception interval of the incoming call information transmitted from the station 20 is confirmed, and the value of the intermittent reception interval acquired here is set to A (sec) (step A2). Here, the interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 is set to A (sec), and the intermittent reception operation of incoming call information is synchronized with the intermittent communication operation of the headset 31 (step A3). The operation continues in this set state (step A4).

  If the intermittent reception interval of incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20 changes due to the transition of the standby status (step A5, Yes), the process returns to step A2 and is transmitted from the radio base station 20 again. The setting of the intermittent reception interval of the incoming call information is confirmed, and the value of the intermittent reception interval newly acquired here is set as the interval of the intermittent communication with the headset 30, so that the same reception as the intermittent reception operation of the incoming call information is performed. 30 intermittent communication operations are synchronized (step A3). When the intermittent reception interval of the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20 changes (No at Step A5), the process returns to Step A4 and the operation continues. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the call information reception operation is performed at timings [1], [2], [3], [4] of a time interval T (eg, 1200 ms), and the headset Communication is performed with the communication time Tb (for example, 625 μs) at intervals of the intermittent communication interval Ta (for example, 1200 ms). In this case, the time T during which no communication is performed with the headset 30 is 1199.375 ms. Then, the headset 30 is notified of the incoming call at the timing [5] synchronized with the timing [4]. For this reason, there is no delay in the notification of an incoming call to the headset 30, and the battery consumption is not particularly large (medium).

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the intermittent reception operation of incoming call information from the radio base station 20 and the intermittent communication operation with the headset 30 are synchronized. No delay in incoming call notification. In addition, since the time interval of the intermittent communication operation with the headset 30 is set to a time width that does not cause a delay in the notification of incoming calls to the headset 30, the convenience when using the headset 30 is not impaired. , Battery consumption is reduced.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the processing contents of the power saving control method used in the wireless communication terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In the power saving control method of this example, when the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20 is not received, the time interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 is extended to a predetermined value (a sufficiently long time interval). After that, when the same incoming call information is received, the time interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 is optimized corresponding to the reception interval determined by the radio base station 20.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the wireless communication terminal 10 is in a standby state with respect to the wireless base station 20 by the control unit 13 when wirelessly connected to the headset 30 by a user operation (step B1). If the communication environment with the radio base station 20 is deteriorated and the communication is not maintained and is not in a standby state (step B2, No), the interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 is sufficiently long. The interval B (sec) is set (step B8). The operation continues in this set state (step B9). Thereafter, when the control unit 13 determines that the wireless communication terminal 10 has returned to the standby state for the wireless base station 20 (step B10, Yes), the process proceeds to step B3, which is the same as step A2 in FIG. Is performed. When it is determined that the wireless communication terminal 10 is not in a standby state with respect to the wireless base station 20 (step B10, No), the process returns to step B9.

  Further, after step B5 similar to step A4 in FIG. 2, the control unit 13 determines whether or not the radio communication terminal 10 is in a standby state with respect to the radio base station 20, and when not in the standby state ( Step B6, No), the process proceeds to Step B8. When the wireless communication terminal 10 is in a standby state with respect to the wireless base station 20 (step B6, Yes), the process proceeds to step B7 similar to step A5 in FIG.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, when the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station 20 is not received, the time interval of intermittent communication with the headset 30 is set to be extended to a sufficiently long time interval. Therefore, the battery consumption can be suppressed without impairing the convenience when using the headset 30.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiment, and even if there is a design change without departing from the gist of the present invention, Included in the invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the Bluetooth device 16 and the headset 30 configured based on the Bluetooth wireless communication specification are used. For example, as in the case of a wireless LAN, the incoming call information of the wireless communication terminal is stored in the standby state. Any power can be used as long as it is based on a communication method in which power is saved by performing intermittent communication and an intermittent communication interval can be set and changed by an instruction from a wireless communication terminal. In the above embodiment, the wireless communication terminal 10 is a mobile phone. However, for example, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) or a fixed wireless terminal may be used, and the short-range communication terminal is not limited to the headset 30 and is not limited to Bluetooth. For example, notebook computers, digital cameras, electronic dictionaries, electronic notebooks, and the like configured based on the wireless communication specifications can obtain substantially the same operations and effects as the above-described embodiment.

  The present invention can be applied to all wireless communication terminals such as mobile phones having short-range wireless communication means such as the Bluetooth specification, and is particularly effective when used in a place where deterioration of the communication environment with the wireless base station occurs. It is.

It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the principal part of the radio | wireless communication terminal which is 1st Example of this invention. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the wireless communication terminal 10 of FIG. 1. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the Bluetooth device 16 in FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the processing content of the power-saving control method used for the radio | wireless communication terminal which is 2nd Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the consumption current value of a Bluetooth device when the intermittent communication space | interval of a headset is short in the conventional wireless communication terminal. It is explanatory drawing which shows the power consumption value of a Bluetooth device in case the intermittent communication space | interval of Bluetooth Headset is short in the conventional wireless communication terminal.

Explanation of symbols

10 wireless communication terminal 11 wireless unit (long-distance wireless unit, part of wireless communication terminal)
11a Antenna (part of wireless communication terminal)
12 Baseband part (part of wireless communication terminal)
13 Control unit (part of communication interval control means)
13a CPU (central processing unit) (part of communication interval control means)
14 Display / operation unit (part of wireless communication terminal)
15 Storage unit (part of communication interval control means)
15a ROM (read only memory) (part of communication interval control means)
16 Bluetooth device (part of short-range radio)
16a antenna (part of short-range radio section)
17 Battery (part of wireless communication terminal)
20 wireless base station 30 headset (Bluetooth Headset, near field communication terminal)

Claims (7)

Both the intermittent reception by the reception intervals of the incoming call information wireless base station defining transmitted from the radio base station, the intermittent communication with the communication capable short-range communication terminal with a predetermined time interval based on the short-distance wireless data communication specifications A wireless communication terminal that notifies the short-range communication terminal that an incoming call has been made,
When the wireless base station is in a standby state, the time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal is optimized corresponding to the reception interval determined by the wireless base station,
When the wireless base station is not in the standby state, the time interval of the intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal is set to be extended to a predetermined value, and thereafter, when the standby state is restored, A wireless communication terminal, comprising: communication interval control means for optimizing the time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal corresponding to a reception interval determined by the wireless base station. A long-distance wireless unit for wireless connection with the wireless base station;
A short-range wireless unit for wirelessly connecting to the short-range communication terminal within a predetermined distance;
The communication interval control means includes
For the long-distance radio unit, the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station is intermittently received at a reception interval determined by the radio base station, and
The short-range wireless unit is configured to optimize the time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal corresponding to the reception interval determined by the wireless base station. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1. The communication interval control means includes
The wireless communication according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the intermittent communication operation with the near field communication terminal is configured to synchronize with the intermittent reception operation of the incoming call information transmitted from the wireless base station. Terminal. The short-range communication terminal and the short-range wireless unit are:
3. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communication terminal is configured based on a wireless communication specification of a short-range wireless data communication technology Bluetooth. Both the intermittent reception by the reception intervals of the incoming call information wireless base station defining transmitted from the radio base station performs intermittent communication with short-range communication terminal with a predetermined time interval based on the specifications of short-distance wireless data communication, said A power saving control method used for a wireless communication terminal that notifies a short-range communication terminal that a call has been received,
When the wireless base station is in a standby state, the time interval of intermittent communication with the short-range communication terminal is optimized corresponding to the reception interval determined by the wireless base station,
When the wireless base station is not in a standby state, the time interval of the intermittent communication with a short-range communication terminal is set to be extended to a predetermined value, and after that, when returning to the standby state, A power saving control method, wherein the time interval of intermittent communication with a short-range communication terminal is optimized corresponding to a reception interval determined by the radio base station.   6. The power saving control method according to claim 5, wherein an intermittent communication operation with the near field communication terminal is synchronized with an intermittent reception operation of the incoming call information transmitted from the radio base station.   A power saving control program for causing a computer to function as the wireless communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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