JPH09297191A - Automatic correcting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically make a time difference correction, a change of specification environment, and the like corresponding to an area. SOLUTION: Radio wave transmitted from a satellite by a GPS is demodulated in a receiving part 2, and the coordinates of a position measuring spot are obtained in a position measuring part 3. In a CPU 4, a time zone of the position measuring spot is computed on the basis of the coordinates. Time difference is obtained on the basis of the reference time generated in a built-in timepiece 5, for instance, Greenwich standard time, and the obtained time zone, and the corrected time at this position measuring spot is obtained from the time difference and the reference time in the built-in timepiece 5. This corrected time is displayed by a clock display device 6. Since time is obtained using position measuring function through the GPS, time difference can be automatically corrected also in case of moving across time zones, and area dependent specifications of a device can be automatically changed using this function.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to GPS (Global
The present invention relates to an automatic correction device that automatically corrects the time of a positioning point based on the time information and the position information acquired by using the positioning function of the Positioning System).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic equipment typified by personal computers and video tape recorders has a built-in clock function, and various controls can be performed based on time information obtained by the clock function. For example, a time stamp function when creating a file in a personal computer, an actual clock display function, a reserved recording function in a video tape recorder, and the like are realized based on this time information.

Conventionally, this clock function only displays the time in the field, that is, in the home zone, or
In addition to the display of the time of the home zone, the time information of each place is set in advance in another mode, for example, the world time mode, and these functions are selected and displayed.

It is well known that the world time is 0 longitude.
With respect to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in Greenwich, England, which is 0 °, a time difference is given to GMT by a predetermined zone divided in the longitudinal direction. That is, the time obtained by adding this time difference to GMT is set as the local time (home time). A zone to which this time difference is given is called a time zone. FIG. 3 shows an example of this time zone. Lines a to h drawn on the basis of the meridian indicate the boundaries of the time zones. Numerical values such as (-10) and (-9) written in the lower part of the figure represent the time difference with respect to GMT in the time zone in units of one hour.

For example, in Canada in the same North American continent and the United States excluding Alaska, the country is divided into five time zones. For example, if you are traveling from Los Angeles to Washington, you will pass through two time zones, and you can see that the time difference is 3 hours.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned clock function according to the prior art, when moving to such a different time zone, the local home time is confirmed at the destination, and a personal computer or the like brought in is built in. There was a problem that the time difference had to be corrected by manually changing the clock time. Also, depending on the destination,
For example, a special time system such as a summer time system in which the time is changed depending on the season may be introduced. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to check the information such as whether or not such a system has been introduced in advance and when it has been introduced by using a calendar etc. as a clue, and manually perform the time difference correction. It was

In some areas, this time difference correction is F
Systems have been realized that use M waves. However, since the reception distance is limited due to the nature of FM waves, there is a problem in that the transmitting stations must be arranged in fixed distance units, which increases costs. Further, in some countries, this method may not be easily developed due to radio wave laws, which was not realistic. That is, there is a problem in that the time difference correction using the FM wave is limited to regions, not worldwide, and there is little merit.

On the other hand, also in electronic equipment, there are many examples in which the specification environment changes depending on the region. Conventionally, for an electronic device having such a region-dependent specification, for example, at the time of factory shipment of the device, it is necessary to change the specification environment so that each device corresponds to the shipping destination region.

[0009] For example, in a broadcast receiving device, since the broadcasting system and the broadcasting frequency band are different depending on the country or region, there is a problem that it is necessary to separately prepare a device and a setting suitable for the country or region. . This is because, for example, in Japan and the United States, television broadcasting is performed by the NTSC system, whereas in Europe and the like, PA is used.
The L method and the SECAM method are mixed. Therefore, even if the receiving device is shipped in the same format, there is a problem that the decoder of the receiving device needs to be individually changed to correspond to each broadcasting system depending on the shipping destination. Also, even in Japan, etc., the broadcast channel differs depending on the region.For example, in order to use the function to skip the channel that is not broadcast when selecting a channel, the owner individually sets this channel. There was a problem that it was necessary to do.

Further, for example, even in a personal computer or the like, there is a problem that it is necessary to individually set a language to be used according to a shipping destination of a product shipped from a factory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic correction device for automatically correcting the time difference according to the region and changing the specification environment.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention receives a reference time generating means for generating a reference time and a radio wave transmitted by a positioning satellite, and performs positioning based on the received information. And a positioning means for finding a positioning point,
A method for determining a time zone in which the positioning point exists from the positioning point and obtaining a first time difference between the time in the time zone and the reference time, and a correction for calculating a correction time at the positioning point based on the reference time and the first time difference. An automatic correction device comprising a time calculation means.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention receives a radio wave transmitted by a positioning satellite, performs positioning based on the received information, and obtains a positioning point, and a region-dependent electronic device. An automatic correction device comprising: a local specification environment correction means for correcting a specification so as to correspond to a specification environment at the positioning point based on the positioning point.

As described above, according to the present invention, the time zone is calculated based on the positioning point obtained based on the information from the positioning satellite, and the correction time at the positioning point is calculated from the time difference in this time zone. For,
The time can be automatically adjusted even when the vehicle moves across time zones.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a timepiece device to which an automatic correction device according to the present invention is applied. In the present invention, the position where the device is placed is known by performing positioning using GPS, and based on this position, it is possible to automatically correct the time difference and the region-specific specification environment.

As is well known, the GPS is data (referred to as a navigation message) which is transmitted from a positioning satellite, which is an orbiting satellite, and which is composed of the transmission time of radio waves and the position (longitude, latitude, and altitude) of the satellite at that time. And the position of the receiver (longitude, latitude, and altitude) based on this received data.
And the time is measured. The navigation message is modulated by PSK (Phase Shift Keying), spread spectrum, and transmitted. The spread spectrum bandwidth at this time is set to 1.023 MHz, and the carrier wave having a frequency of 1.57542 GHz is modulated by this. One frame of the navigation message consists of 1.5 kbits, which is transmitted at a transmission rate of 50 bits / sec.

A signal including a navigation message transmitted from a satellite is received by the antenna 1 and supplied to the GPS receiver 2. In the GPS receiving unit 2, the supplied signal is converted into a signal whose frequency is lowered to, for example, several MHz, and for example, a voltage comparator determines "0" or "1" and spread spectrum data (navigation message). ) Is obtained. Demodulation is performed by multiplying this data by a pseudo noise code and despreading, and the original data is obtained. The obtained data is supplied to the positioning unit 3.

In the positioning unit 3, data based on the navigation message such as satellite position and transmission time is extracted from the supplied data. The required data is, as described above,
Receiver position consisting of longitude, latitude, and altitude,
Since there are 3 variables, signals transmitted from at least 3 satellites are received. In the positioning unit 3, the reception position (positioning point) is obtained from these data by a predetermined method. The obtained position information is supplied to the CPU 4.

Although not shown, the CPU 4 is
It includes necessary components such as AM and ROM.

The CPU 4 obtains the time zone of the positioning point from the supplied position information. This is because, for example, the time zone as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in advance in a ROM (not shown) as coordinate data,
It can be obtained by comparing the position information obtained by GPS with the stored coordinate data. Furthermore, this ROM also stores other information necessary for time calculation, such as the summer time system in which different time systems are used depending on the season.

On the other hand, with respect to the CPU 4, the built-in clock 5 together with the position information obtained based on the above-mentioned GPS signal.
Provides time information. The built-in clock 5 generates a reference time based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), for example.

As described above, in this device, G
The current time zone is known from PS. Therefore, the correct time at the positioning point can be calculated from the reference time generated by the built-in clock 5 and the time zone of the positioning point. The correct time at the positioning point obtained by the CPU 4 in this way is supplied and displayed on the clock display device 6. For details of this time calculation method,
It will be described later.

If the time is calculated regularly, for example, once a day, the time difference associated with the movement can be automatically corrected even when the vehicle moves across time zones.

The function of calculating the time in the area can be applied to an apparatus which needs to correct the time difference depending on the area moved. For example, recording devices such as table clocks, wrist watches, built-in clocks of portable personal computers, mobile phones and mobile radios, mobile communication devices, cameras or video cameras (recording auxiliary data such as shooting time of a moving area at the same time). Various application examples are possible.

Although the time calculation according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this example. That is, according to the present invention, since the current position can be known by GPS, not only the time can be calculated but also the specifications of the device to which the present invention is applied can be automatically changed for each country or region. . This can be done, for example, by storing position (boundary) information of each country or region as coordinate data in a ROM or the like.

In this case, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the time display device 6 is used as a controlled circuit or the like. As an example, a case where this device is a television receiver will be described.

For example, in Japan, the broadcast channel structure of television differs depending on the region.
Therefore, it is possible to change the channel configuration each time the position of the television receiver changes by storing the channel configuration in association with the position information of the region in the ROM. If the receiver has a function of skipping an unused channel, the setting can be automatically performed. As a result, for example, the setting for each product destination at the time of factory shipment, the re-setting when moving to an area with a different channel configuration due to moving, etc., and the channel setting while moving in the in-vehicle television receiver are automatically performed. It becomes possible to do it.

In each country, television broadcasting systems are roughly classified into three systems of NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. In these systems, the signal transmission modes are different but the handling of video signals is common. be able to. Therefore, for example, a single television receiver is provided with a plurality of decoders that demodulate a transmission signal into a video signal so as to correspond to these broadcasting systems, and the decoders based on the position information obtained by the above configuration are used. By switching the decoders, it is possible to set destinations in all the countries of the world for television receivers having common specifications.

The example of the television receiver can be applied to, for example, a video tape recorder. In this case, it is possible to automatically determine or change the recording / reproducing system of the moved area.

As another example, it may be considered to apply the automatic changing function for each country and region of the device specifications to a personal computer. The language specifications such as Japanese, English, and French used in the personal computer are set at the destination. By applying the configuration described above to this personal computer, it is possible to automatically set the language used for each destination. This may be applied in parallel with the time calibration function described above. However,
It is preferable that the automatic change function for each country or region is fixed once set so that it is not changed by the movement of the user who owns it.

FIG. 2 shows in detail the configuration of an example of time calculation in the CPU 4 described above. This configuration includes a time difference related module 20 and a regional specification environment related module 21. Further, the time difference related module 20
The time zone determination unit 22, the summer time determination unit 23, and the final time determination unit 24, and the regional specification environment related module 21 includes a regional specification environment correction unit 25.

The GPS positioning mechanism 11 is instructed by the positioning instructing section 10 having a timer function to perform the positioning of the current position on the basis of a predesignated time interval cycle (for example, once per day). . This GPS positioning mechanism 11
It includes the antenna 1, the GPS receiving unit 2, and the positioning unit 3 in FIG. 1 described above. Based on this instruction, GP
Positioning is performed in the S positioning mechanism 11, and the positioning point is output as a coordinate value including, for example, longitude and latitude. The coordinate value indicating the positioning point is used as the time zone determination unit 22, the summer time determination unit 23, and the local specification environment correction unit 25.
Supplied together.

In this example, the time difference related module 2
The process at 0 is performed first. First, the processing in the time zone determination unit 22 will be described. The coordinate values representing the positioning point, which are output from the GPS positioning mechanism 11, are supplied to the time zone calculation unit 26. The time zone calculation unit 26 determines the current position, that is, the time zone of the positioning point. This determination is made, for example, as described above, by comparing the coordinate value of the time zone previously stored in the ROM or the like with the coordinate value of this positioning point. Then, based on the time zone of the determined positioning point, the time difference 01 between the time at the positioning point and GMT is calculated. Although not shown, this GMT is supplied from, for example, a reference time generation unit 36 described later.

The time difference 01 is supplied to the correction time calculation unit 27 and is also used as the next reference data 28, for example, RA.
Stored in M. Similarly, the time difference calculated last time is stored in this RAM as the previously calculated data 29. The previously calculated data 29 is read out from the RAM as the time difference 01 ′ and supplied to the correction time calculation unit 27.

In the correction time calculation unit 27, the supplied time difference 01 and time difference 01 'are compared. If the time difference 01 and the time difference 01 'are equivalent, the determination flag is turned off, and if not, the determination flag is turned on. This determination flag is stored as determination 01. Further, the time difference 01 is adopted as the correction time difference, and the adopted time difference 01 is supplied to the final correction time section 35 as the correction time difference 01.

Next, the processing in the summer time determination section 23 will be described. Output from the GPS positioning mechanism 11,
The coordinate value indicating the positioning point is supplied to the summer time calculation unit 30. Then, the summer time calculation unit 30 determines whether or not the current position, that is, the positioning point, is a summer time system introduction area in which different time systems are used depending on the season. This determination is made by comparing the coordinate value of the summer time system introduction area previously stored in the ROM or the like with the coordinate value of this positioning point, similarly to the determination of the above-mentioned time zone, for example.

If it is determined that this positioning point is in the summer time system introduction area, it is judged based on the built-in calendar 31 whether the present time is the summer time period. The built-in calendar 31 includes information such as the difference between the summer time period and the normal time in each area where the summer time system is introduced. Then, if the present time is the summer time period, the correction time difference from the normal time period is obtained.
The calculated correction time is supplied to the correction time calculation unit 32 as the time difference 02.

The time difference 02 is supplied to the correction time calculating section 32, and the next reference data 33 is, for example, RA.
Stored in M. Similarly, the time difference calculated last time is stored in this RAM as the previously calculated data 34. The previously calculated data 34 is read out from the RAM as the time difference 02 'and supplied to the correction time calculation unit 32.

The correction time calculator 32 compares the supplied time difference 02 and time difference 02 '. If the time difference 02 and the time difference 02 'are equivalent, the determination flag is turned off, and if not, the determination flag is turned on. This determination flag is stored as determination 02. Further, the time difference 02 is adopted as the correction time difference, and the adopted time difference 02 is supplied to the final correction time section 35 as the correction time difference 02.

Next, the final time determination unit 24 will be described. As described above, the correction time difference 01 and the correction time difference 02 are supplied from the time zone determination unit 22 and the summer time determination unit 23 to the final correction time unit 35 of the final time determination unit 24, respectively. In the final correction time section 35, the judgment flags 01 and 02, which are the judgment flags respectively obtained by the time zone judgment unit 22 and the summer time judgment unit 23, are read out from, for example, the RAM in which they are stored. The judgment 01 and the judgment 02 are compared with each other.

If either of the judgment 01 and the judgment 02 is ON, it is judged that the time difference correction is necessary. For example, the correction time difference with respect to the reference time by the GMT generated by the reference time generation unit 36. 01 and the correction time difference 02 are added, and the added time is supplied to the correction time display unit 37 as the time at the positioning point. The correction time display unit 37 drives a clock display device, for example, a liquid crystal display element, and displays the time at which the time difference is corrected at the positioning point.

On the other hand, when the judgment 01 and the judgment 02 are not in the above-mentioned states, that is, when both are OFF, the time difference correction is not necessary. In this case, the processing moves to the regional specification environment-related module 21, and the processing in the regional specification environment correction unit 25 is performed. GPS positioning mechanism 1
The coordinate value representing the positioning point, which is output from No. 1, is supplied to the local environment determination unit 38. And this local environment determination unit 3
At 8, the basic environment information at the current position, that is, the positioning point is determined. This judgment is made in advance in the same manner as the judgment of the above-mentioned time zone and daylight saving time, for example.
This is done by comparing the coordinate value representing the area of the basic environment information stored in M or the like with the coordinate value of this positioning point.

This basic environment information is region-dependent and, for example, when this device is built into a television receiver, it consists of a channel configuration for each region, and this device is personal, for example. When incorporated in a computer, it consists of language information of each country.

The basic environment information thus determined is supplied as the environment 01 to the regional specification environment correction section 39, and is also stored as next reference data 40 in the RAM, for example. In this RAM, similarly, basic environment information determined last time is stored as last time determination data 41. The previous determination data 41 is read out from the RAM as the environment 01 ', and is supplied to the regional specification environment correction section 39.

In the regional specification environment correction section 39, the supplied environment 01 and environment 01 'are compared. If the environment 01 and the environment 01 'are equivalent, the determination flag is turned off, and if not, the determination flag is turned on. This determination flag is stored as determination 03. Further, the environment 01 is adopted as the correction environment, and the regional specification environment correction unit 39 changes the basic environment information of the device based on the environment 01.

In this example, the basic environment information is changed only when both the correction time difference 01 and the correction time difference 02 are turned off. Therefore, the change of the basic environment information does not affect the time difference correction. For example, it is delayed by one cycle from the cycle of the positioning instruction from the positioning instruction unit 10 to the GPS positioning mechanism 11. This is not limited to this example. For example, the process in the time difference related module 20 and the process in the regional specification environment related module 21 may be performed in parallel, or these processes may be performed independently. It is also possible to give the positioning instruction by the positioning instruction unit 10 to the GPS positioning mechanism 11 by operating the user, for example, without depending on the timer function. In this case, the time difference can be corrected or the basic environmental specifications can be changed as required by the user.

In the above description, the time difference 01 is calculated,
Further, the reference time added to the correction time difference 01 and the correction time difference 02 in the final correction time portion 35 is GMT, but this is not limited to this example.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, the time zone is calculated and the time is calculated by utilizing the positioning function of GPS. Therefore, devices that need to correct the time difference depending on the area moved, such as watches and clocks,
By applying the present invention to a portable personal computer, a mobile communication device such as a mobile phone or a mobile radio, or a recording device such as a camera or a video camera, the time difference can be reliably ensured without bothering the user. There is an effect that can be corrected.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to know the positioning point by GPS and correct the specification environment information of the device based on the information of this positioning point. Therefore, when the present invention is applied to, for example, a television receiver or a radio receiver, there is an effect that it is possible to automatically correspond to a broadcasting system or a channel configuration in a destination of a product or a moved area. .

Further, when the present invention is applied to a video tape recorder, there is an effect that it is possible to automatically adapt to the recording / reproducing system in the destination of the product or the area where the product has moved.

Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to a portable personal computer, it is possible to automatically adapt the basic specification environment such as the language used to the destination of the product.

Further, according to the present invention, since the radio waves transmitted from the satellites covering the world are used,
This has the effect that the area where the service is received is not limited.

Further, according to the present invention, the positioning interval by GPS is not limited. Therefore, for example, for a device which mainly intends to move, the positioning interval by GPS is shortened so that the device is not moved so much. For such devices,
By setting such that the positioning interval is lengthened, there is an effect that it can be applied regardless of the product or model.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a timepiece device to which an automatic correction device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing in detail the configuration of an example of time calculation in a CPU.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a time zone.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... GPS receiver, 3 ... Positioning unit, 4 ... CP
U, 5 ... Built-in clock, 11 ... GPS positioning mechanism, 2
0 ... Time difference related module, 21 ... Regional specification environment related module, 22 ... Time zone determination unit, 23
... Daylight saving time determination unit, 24 ... Last time determination unit, 25 ... Local specification environment correction unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic correction device using a system for receiving a radio wave from a positioning satellite and performing positioning, wherein a reference time generating means for generating a reference time and a radio wave transmitted by the positioning satellite are received and received. Positioning means for performing positioning based on information to determine a positioning point; means for determining a time zone in which the positioning point exists from the positioning point and determining a first time difference between the time in the time zone and the reference time; An automatic correction device, comprising: a correction time calculation means for calculating a correction time at the positioning point based on the reference time and the first time difference. 2. The automatic correction device according to claim 1, wherein whether the positioning point adopts a time system that switches an original time system and a time system different from the original time system depending on the season. Along with the determination, means for determining whether the different time system is adopted at the time of performing the positioning, and when the different time system is adopted, the original time system and the different time system are used. And a correction time calculating means for calculating a correction time at the positioning point based on the first time difference and the second time difference. Correction device. 3. An automatic correction device that uses a system that receives radio waves from a positioning satellite to perform positioning, receives a radio wave transmitted by a positioning satellite, performs positioning based on the received information, and determines a positioning point. An automatic correction device comprising: means for correcting a region-dependent specification of an electronic device based on the positioning point so as to correspond to a specification environment at the positioning point. 4. The automatic correction device according to claim 1 or 3, further comprising a timer that periodically operates at an arbitrarily settable time interval, and the positioning is performed by operating the timer. An automatic correction device characterized by being made based on.