JPH03245621A - Radio communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent unconfirmed reception messages from being deleted and to make it unnecessary to pay attention to the storage state of a message memory at all in a normal state by informing the information representing it when the quantity of an idle area of a memory or number of sets of reception message information capable of storing in an idle area is decreased to a prescribed value or below in operation. CONSTITUTION:A message memory 10 storing reception message information and a control circuit 40 are provided on this radio communication equipment. The control circuit 40 is provided with a detection means 41 to detect the storage state of the reception message information in the memory 10, a deciding means 42 and an informing means 43. Then the deciding means 42 based on the result of detection of the detection means 41 decides whether or not the quantity of the idle area or the number of reception message information capable of storing in the idle area is a prescribed value or below, and when the deciding means 42 decides whether or not the quantity of the idle area or the number of reception message information capable of be storing in the idle area is a prescribed value or below, the informing means 43 informs the memory information representing it.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention, such as a selective call receiver, receives message information sent from a transmitting side and stores the received message information in a memory. The present invention relates to a wireless communication device that has a function of storing information in a file.

(Prior Art) In recent years, as a new type of selective calling system, a system has been proposed in which a call notification is made and a message can be transmitted from a base station and displayed on a receiver.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of a selective calling receiver to which this type of system is applied. In the figure, a selective calling signal transmitted from a base station (not shown) is first received by a radio circuit 2 via an antenna 1, then demodulated by a demodulation circuit 3, and introduced into a control circuit 4. In the control circuit 4, the individual number code (hereinafter abbreviated as ID code) included in the reception selection call signal is stored in an individual number code memory (ID-ROM).
) 5 is compared with the individual number code of the own aircraft, which is stored in advance. As a result of this comparison, if the two codes match, it is determined that a call has occurred to the own machine, and a sound signal is supplied from the control circuit 4 to the speaker 7 via the drive circuit 6.

Therefore, a sound is generated from the speaker 7, and this sound notifies the holder of the occurrence of a call. Also,
When the above ID codes match, the control circuit 4 uses the above I
The message code included in the reception selection paging signal together with the D code is decoded. The decoded message is then displayed on a display (LCD) 9 made of, for example, a liquid crystal via a display drive circuit 8.

Furthermore, this type of selective call receiver is generally provided with a message memory (M-RAM) 10. and,
The above received message code is stored in this message memory (M-
RAM) 10.

Therefore, even after the display of the received message is finished, the received message code can be read out from the message memory 10 and redisplayed on the display 9 if necessary.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, the number of received message codes that can be stored in the message memory 10 is generally limited.

For this reason, conventional systems are configured such that, for example, when a new message code is received while the memory is full, the oldest message code is erased and the newly received message code is stored in its place. . That is,
The old message code will be automatically rewritten with the new message code.

For this reason, even if a message is received, the owner may leave the device for a while without checking the received message due to being busy etc. (If the owner later attempts to check the received message, the new message has already been received.) There was a problem that the message had been rewritten and could no longer be confirmed.

In order to prevent such unconfirmed deletion of received messages, for example, each time a message is received, the received message must be checked at that time, or the presence or absence of free space in the message memory 10 can be checked. must be checked periodically by actually sequentially reading and displaying the information. However, in this case, the operation to check the free space is troublesome, and the user must always be aware of the storage status of the message memory, which places a heavy burden on the owner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device that can prevent unconfirmed deletion of received messages without worrying about the storage status of the message memory.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device that can clearly notify a decrease in free space in a message memory, distinguishing it from other notifications.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device in which the storage status of received message codes in a message memory can be easily checked at any time.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention receives message information sent from a transmitting side via a wireless line, and stores this received message information in a memory. The wireless communication apparatus includes a detection means for detecting the storage status of received message information in the memory, a determination means, and a notification means. Based on the detection result of the detection means, the determination means determines whether the amount of free space in the memory or the number of received message information that can be stored in this free space has decreased to a predetermined value or less. , when the determination means determines that the amount of free space or the number of received message information that can be stored in the free space has decreased to a predetermined value or less, the notification means notifies memory information indicating this fact. This is what I did.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned other objects, the present invention is configured such that the notification means sets a notification format of memory information to a format different from a notification format for notifying that message information has been received. It is.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned other object, another present invention provides a wireless communication device comprising means for receiving message information sent from a transmitting side via a wireless line and storing the received message information in a memory. , a storage status detection means, and a display means. Then, by the detection means,
The storage status of the received message information in the memory is detected, and the detection result of the detection means is displayed on the display means.

(Function) As a result, according to the present invention, when the amount of free space in the memory or the number of received message information that can be stored in this free space falls below a predetermined value during use, information to that effect is notified. That will happen. Therefore, the owner can know from this notification that the remaining memory capacity is low, and if he or she receives this notification and confirms the received messages stored in the memory, unconfirmed messages will be deleted. It is possible to confirm this in advance. Therefore, the problem of the received message information being deleted without being confirmed is reduced. In addition, the owner does not need to be especially concerned about the remaining amount of memory while using the device, and there is no need to periodically check the storage status of the message memory. therefore,
The handling of the selective call receiver can be simplified.

Further, according to the present invention, notification that the remaining amount of memory is low is provided in a different form from notification indicating that message information has been received. Therefore, the holder can clearly know that the remaining amount of memory is low, distinguishing it from other notifications, thereby further reducing the problem of a received message being deleted without being confirmed.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, during use, the storage status of received messages in the message memory is displayed. Therefore, the holder can check the status of the memory from this display at any time, and can check the received messages stored in the memory before the free space runs out. Therefore, unconfirmed deletion of received messages can be reduced. Furthermore, when checking the storage status in the memory, it is not necessary to actually sequentially read and display the received messages from the memory, so it is possible to check the storage status in the memory extremely easily.

(Embodiment) Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a selective call receiver will be described. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a selective calling receiver in this embodiment. In this figure, the same parts as in FIG. 6 are given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

The control circuit 40 is equipped with, for example, a microcomputer as a main control section, and in addition to normal control procedures such as a reception control means and a message display control means, a storage status detection means 41, a determination means 42, and a notification control means 43. First of all, the storage status detecting means 41 detects the number K of received messages stored in the message memory 10 every time a call to its own device occurs and its received message code is stored in the message memory 10. be. The determining means 42 compares the number K of received messages in storage detected by the detecting means 41 with the total number of received messages that can be stored in the message memory 10, and determines whether K-L has been reached. Notification control means 4
3 controls the generation of a ringing sound for calling notification based on the result of the above determination, and when K<L, a normal ringing sound is generated. On the other hand, if it is -L, a sound is generated that has a different timbre or intermittent cycle from the normal sound.

Next, the operation of the selective call receiver configured as described above will be explained according to the control procedure of the control circuit 40.

In the call standby state, the control circuit 40 monitors whether or not the receiving period of the own device has started in step 2a as shown in FIG. That is, for each frame of the selective calling signal, the radio circuit and the demodulation circuit are activated only during the receiving period of the group to which the device belongs, and the selective calling signal is received.
This is called battery saving. At the same time, it is monitored in step 2b whether or not the display switch 12 is pressed (step 2b).

In this state, assume that the holder presses the display switch 11 in order to display the received message stored in the message memory 10. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit 40 first selects the initial successive address of the message memory 10 in step 3a. As this initial read address, for example, an address corresponding to a storage area in which a received message code having the latest reception timing is stored is selected. Next, the control circuit 40 reads the received message code from the message memory 10 in step 3b according to the successive addresses, decodes the received message code in step 3C, and then displays the display data of the decoded message in step 3d to the display drive circuit 8. Output to. Therefore, the above-mentioned received message is displayed on the LCD 9.

In this state, the control circuit 40 repeatedly monitors the progress of the display time and monitors the operation of the display switch 11 in steps 3e and 3f, respectively.

When a certain period of time has elapsed since the start of displaying the message, the process moves to step 3h, where the display of the received message on the LCD 9 is ended. In contrast,
Until the above-mentioned certain period of time has passed, the display switch 11
When is pressed again, the control circuit 40 changes (for example, increments) the read address in step 3g, and then returns to step 3b. Then, similarly to the above case, display control of the received message is executed in steps 3b to 3d. Therefore, another received message code corresponding to the changed subsequent address is read out from the message memory 10 and displayed on the LCD 9.

Thereafter, similarly, each time the display switch 11 is pressed during the display period of one received message, another received message code is read out from the message memory 10 and displayed on the LCD 9.

That is, each time the display switch 11 is pressed, the LC
At D9, the received messages stored in the message memory 10 are read out one by one and displayed. Therefore, the holder can check all received messages stored in the message memory 10 by looking at the LCD 9.

On the other hand, assume that the reception period of the own device has arrived in the call standby state. Then, the radio circuit 2 and the demodulation circuit 3
are respectively activated, and a selective call signal is thereby received. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the control circuit 40 first takes in the received ID code and the received message code from the demodulation circuit 3 in step 4a. and,
In step 4b, the ID code of the own device is read from the ID-ROM 5, and in step 4C, the ID code of the own device is compared with the received ID code. As a result of this verification, both I
If the D codes do not match, the control circuit 40 determines that there is no call to its own machine and returns to the call standby state.

On the other hand, if the two ID codes match, the control circuit 40 proceeds to step 4e, where it first decodes the received message code, and outputs the display data to the display drive circuit 8 in step 4f. Therefore, the above-mentioned received message is displayed on the LCD 9. Next, the control circuit 40
Then, the process moves to step 4g, where the received message code is stored in a free area of the message memory 10.

After storing the newly received message code, the control circuit 40 then detects the number K of received messages stored in the message memory 10 in step 4h, as shown in FIG. 4(b). In step 41, the detected number of received messages is compared with the total number of received messages that can be stored in the message memory 10. If the result of this comparison is K<L, message memory 1
0 still has room to store the received message, the process moves to step 4J, where the first
outputs a sound signal to the drive circuit 6. Therefore, the speaker 7 generates a normal ringing tone indicating only that a ringing has occurred. Therefore, the holder can know that a call has occurred from this ring tone. Also, if you look at the LCD 9 at the same time, you can check the message that has just been received.

On the other hand, if the result of the above comparison is determined to be -L, the control circuit 40 determines that there is no free space in the message memory 10 and proceeds to step 4k, where the first
A second sound signal having a different intermittent cycle and tone color from the sound signal is output to the drive circuit 6. Therefore, the speaker 7 generates a ring tone indicating that a call has occurred and that there is no free space in the message memory 10. At the same time, in step 41, a message indicating that the message memory 10 is full is displayed using the LCD 9 or a light emitting diode. Therefore, the holder can know not only that a call has been made but also that the message memory 10 is full from the ring tone and the display indicating that there is no space left.

When the call notification is performed in this way, the control circuit 4
0 first repeatedly monitors the operation of the stop switch 12 and the generation time of the ringing tone in steps 4m and 4n, respectively. When the stop switch 12 is pressed after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since generation of the ring tone started, or before that, the generation of the ring tone is stopped in step 40. After the generation of the ring tone is completed, the control circuit 40 further repeatedly monitors the operation of the stop switch 12 and the display time of the message in steps 4p and 4q, respectively. When the stop switch 12 is pressed after a certain period of time has elapsed since the start of displaying the message or before that, the process moves to step 4r, where the display of the received message on the LCD 9 is turned off, and a call standby state is entered. to return to.

In this way, in this embodiment, it is determined whether or not there is free space in the message memory 10 each time a call to the own device occurs, and if it is determined that there is no free space, the free space is Since a different ringing tone is generated than when it is determined that there is still space, the holder can know from this ringing tone that the message memory 10 has run out of free space as well as the occurrence of a ringing. Therefore, in response to this, the holder can confirm the contents of each received message stored in the message memory 10. This prevents the problem of an unconfirmed received message being rewritten with a newly received message before confirmation. In addition, there is no need to constantly worry about the storage status of the message memory 10 during use, and there is no need to perform operations to check whether there is space, so the burden on the owner is reduced and the handling of the receiver is no longer necessary. becomes easier.

Further, in this embodiment, as described above, the message memory 10 is notified that there is no more free space, using a ring tone different from the normal ring tone, and is further visually displayed on the LCD 9 or a light emitting diode to notify the user. This makes it possible to clearly notify the fact that there is no free space, distinguishing it from a normal call.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, it is detected that the free space in the message memory 10 becomes zero, and a notification is made to that effect. It may also be possible to detect that the number has decreased and notify that fact. In this way, it is possible to give a warning to the holder well in advance of the message memory 10 running out of free space.

Further, in the embodiment described above, only when the free space in the message memory 10 becomes zero is detected and notified to that effect, but the number of received messages stored in the message memory 10 is constantly detected. The detected value may be displayed. FIG. 5 shows an example of the control procedure in this case. In this figure, the same parts as in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals. That is, when the control circuit is in the call standby state, when it is determined in step 2a that the reception period of the own device is not reached, and it is determined that the display switch 11 is not pressed in step 2b, the control circuit performs step 5.
Shifting to step a, the number of received messages stored in the message memory 10 is detected. Then, this detected pressure value is displayed on the LCD 9 in step 5b. In this way, the holder can know the storage status of the message memory 10 at any time, from a state in which no received messages are stored in the message memory 10 to a state in which the message memory 10 is full.

Furthermore, the detection result of the storage status of the message memory 10 is not always displayed in the call standby state, but is displayed together with the received message only when a call occurs to the own machine or when the display switch 11 is pressed. You can also do this.

In this way, power consumption can be suppressed and battery life can be extended.

In addition to the means for constantly detecting and displaying the storage status of the message memory 10, there is also a means for detecting when the free space of the message memory 10 becomes zero and notifying the user as described in the above embodiment. may also be performed at the same time. In this way, the owner will have message memory 1.
0 storage status can be known at all times, and when the free space becomes zero, a notification to that effect can also be received.

Further, the storage status of the message memory 10 may be notified by, in addition to sound, lighting or blinking of a light emitting diode, vibration of a vibrator, or a voice message by a voice synthesis circuit.

Further, although the above embodiments have been explained using a selective call receiver as an example, the present invention may be implemented in other car telephone devices, mobile telephone devices, cordless telephones, and the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention includes a detection means for detecting the storage status of received message information in a memory, a determination means, and a notification means.

Based on the detection result of the detection means, the determination means determines whether the amount of free space in the memory or the number of received message information that can be stored in this free space has decreased to a predetermined value or less. , when the determination means determines that the amount of free space or the number of received message information that can be stored in the free space has decreased to a predetermined value or less, the notification means notifies memory information indicating this fact. This is what I did.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a wireless communication device that can prevent unconfirmed deletion of received messages without worrying about the storage status of the message memory.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a wireless communication device comprising means for receiving message information sent from a transmitting side via a wireless line and storing the received message information in a memory.
It includes a storage status detection means and a display means. and,
The detection means detects the storage status of the received message information in the memory, and the detection result of the detection means is displayed on the display means.

Therefore, according to this other aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a wireless communication device in which the storage status of the received message code in the message memory can be easily checked at any time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a selective call receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 4 are flowcharts showing the control procedure of the control circuit of the receiver, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of a control circuit of a selective call receiver in another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional selective call receiver. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Antenna, 2... Radio circuit, 3... Demodulation circuit, 5... Individual number code memory (ID-ROM) 6.
...Drive circuit, 7-...Speaker, 8...Display drive circuit, 9...LCD, 10...Message memory (
M-RAM), 11...Display switch, 12...Stop switch, 40...Control circuit, 41...Storage status detection means, 42...Judgment means, 43...Notification control means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) In a wireless communication device equipped with means for receiving message information sent from a transmitting side via a wireless line and storing the received message information in a memory, detecting the storage status of the received message information in the memory. and a detection means for determining whether the amount of free space in the memory or the number of received message information that can be stored in the free space has decreased to a predetermined value or less, based on the detection result of the detection means. and, when the determining means determines that the amount of free space or the number of received message information that can be stored in the free space has decreased to a predetermined value or less, remaining memory amount information indicating that fact is provided. 1. A wireless communication device comprising a notification means for notification. (2) Claim (1) characterized in that the notification means sets the notification format of the remaining memory amount information to a format different from the notification format for notifying that the message information has been received.
) wireless communication device. (3) In a wireless communication device equipped with means for receiving message information sent from a transmitting side via a wireless line and storing the received message information in a memory, detecting the storage status of the received message information in the memory. What is claimed is: 1. A wireless communication device comprising: a detection means for detecting the detection means; and a display means for displaying the detection result of the detection means. (4) The wireless communication device according to claim 3, wherein the detection means detects the amount of free space in the memory or the number of received message information that can be stored in this free space. (5) The wireless communication according to claim (3), wherein the detection means detects the number of received message information stored in the memory or the amount of storage area in which the received message information is stored. Device.