JPH0998131A - Channel scan control method and portable telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prolong the time of using a portable telephone set by saving power consumption by gradually extending standby time by gradually decreasing the number of times of retry within specified time when there is no channel having received electric field intensity stronger than a specified value at all. SOLUTION: A timer 14 counts time to turn off the power source of a reception part 2. When no channel having the received electric field intensity stronger than the specified value is extracted in channel scanning processing, a control part 10 previously sets a control cycle composed of the time to perform channel scan by turning on the power source of the reception part 2 and time to be on standby by turning off the power source of the reception part 2. The ratio of ON time and OFF time is changed within the control cycle and concretely, the ratio of OFF time is gradually increased. In this case, the ON time is set by the number of times of retry in channel scanning processing and the OFF time is set corresponding to how many multiples time of a timer fixed value specified in advance is waited.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile phone, and particularly when the mobile phone is out of service area,
The present invention relates to a channel scanning control method and a mobile phone that can save power consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a mobile phone is used as an initialization process immediately after the power is turned on, or as a process of updating information by moving at regular intervals (2 to 5 minutes depending on the manufacturer). The access channels (perch channels) specified in advance are scanned (scanned), channel scanning control is performed to list the channels in the order of strongest received electric field strength, and the channel is locked to the strongest received electric field strength and idle. become. Also,
At the time of calling, tuning is tried in the order of the channels having the highest received electric field strength listed by the channel scanning control.

First, the configuration of a part for performing channel scanning control in a conventional mobile phone will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a part that performs channel scanning control in a conventional mobile phone. As shown in FIG. 5, the part for controlling the channel scanning in the conventional mobile phone is basically composed of a channel scanning part 1'and a receiving part 2 ', and the inside of the receiving part 2'has a receiving circuit 21. And a synthesizer 22. In addition, the inside of the channel scanning unit 1 ', the control unit 10',
It is composed of a frequency table 11, an electric field strength table 12, and a sort table 13.

Next, each part of the conventional cell phone which performs channel scanning control will be described in detail. The receiving unit 2'as a whole receives a radio wave having a carrier frequency set from a channel scanning unit 1'described later, measures the received electric field strength, and outputs the measurement result to the channel scanning unit 1 '. Is. Therefore, the synthesizer 22 oscillates a signal of the frequency set by the channel scanning unit 1 ′ and outputs it to the receiving circuit 21. Then, the receiving circuit 21 receives the radio wave of the channel whose carrier frequency is the frequency of the signal output from the synthesizer 22, measures the received electric field strength, and outputs the measurement result to the channel scanning unit 1 '. That is, the receiving circuit 21 receives the carrier frequency tuned to the frequency output by the synthesizer 22, and measures the electric field strength of the received radio wave.

As a whole, the channel scanning unit 1'creates a list of perch channels unique to a mobile phone (specified in advance) and arranged in descending order of received electric field strength. The frequency table 11 is a table that stores carrier frequencies of a plurality of perch channels (hereinafter, referred to as Perch-CH) that are specified in advance, and FIG. 6 shows an example of the frequency table 11 of the conventional mobile phone. Indicates.

The electric field strength table 12 shows, for channels whose received electric field strength is higher than a specified value (cutting level),
In order of the channels stored in the frequency table 11,
FIG. 7 is a table that stores the frequency and the received electric field strength, and FIG.

The sort table 13 stores the channels and the received electric field strengths stored in the electric field strength table 12.
FIG. 8 is a table that stores the frequencies and the received electric field strengths sorted in the descending order of the received electric field strengths. FIG. 8 shows an example of the sort table 13 of the conventional mobile phone.

The control unit 10 'sequentially checks the reception electric field strengths of the Perch-CHs stored in the frequency table 11, and when the reception electric field strengths are stronger than a specified value (cutoff level), the channel frequency and the reception electric field strengths are increased. The strength is once stored in the electric field strength table 12, and then the electric field strength table 1
The channel scanning control process of rearranging the contents stored in No. 2 in the descending order of the received electric field strength and storing them in the sort table 13 is performed.

Next, the operation of the channel scanning control portion of the conventional mobile phone will be described with reference to FIG. In the conventional mobile phone, the control unit 10 ′ sequentially reads the Perch-CH frequencies stored in advance in the frequency table 11 when the power is turned on and when the information is updated by periodical movement, and the frequency is synthesized by the synthesizer 22. , The synthesizer 22 outputs a signal of the set frequency to the receiving circuit 21, and the receiving circuit 21 outputs the signal to the synthesizer 2.
A radio wave of a channel having the frequency of the signal from 2 as a carrier frequency is received, the received electric field strength is measured and output to the channel scanning unit 1 '.

Then, in the channel scanning unit 1 ', the received electric field intensity from the receiving circuit 21 is a specified value (cutting level).
Only when it is stronger, the frequency and the received electric field strength are output to the electric field strength table 12 and stored therein, and the above operation is sequentially performed for all the Perch-CH frequencies stored in the frequency table 11.

When no data is stored in the electric field strength table 12, the above process is repeated. On the other hand, when one or more data is stored in the electric field strength table 12, the stored data is rearranged in the order of the received electric field strength and output to the sort table 13 for storage.

Next, a conventional channel scanning control method in a mobile phone will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of a channel scanning control process in the control unit 10 'of the conventional mobile phone. Note that FIG. 9 shows an example in which the number of Perch-CHs stored in the frequency table 11 is 20.

In the conventional channel scanning control process of the control unit 10 'of the portable telephone, first, the cutoff level (Lth1) of the received electric field strength is set (100), and the pointer n of the frequency table 11 and the pointer of the electric field strength table 12 are set. m
Is set to 0, and the number N of Perch-CHs is set to 20 (10
2).

Then, the pointer n of the frequency table 11
The frequency (f) is read from the position pointed to by and the frequency is set in the synthesizer 22 (104), and the receiving circuit 21
The received electric field strength (RSSI) is received from (106), and it is judged whether the RSSI is larger (stronger) than the cutoff level (Lth1) (108).
If RSSI is larger than Lth1, the frequency (f) is set at the position pointed to by the pointer m in the electric field strength table 12.
The received field strength (RSSI) is stored (110), and the pointer m of the field strength table 12 is incremented (112).

Next, the pointer n of the frequency table 11 is
It is determined whether the number is equal to the number N of Perch-CHs (114), if not the pointer n is incremented (116), the process returns to the process 104, and the received electric field strength of the next Perch-CH is checked.

On the other hand, in process 114, the pointer n is Pe.
If the number of rch-CHs is the same as N, it means that the received electric field strengths have been checked for all the Perch-CHs stored in the frequency table 11, so whether the value of the pointer m of the electric field strength table 12 is 0 or not. Judge (120), m is 0
If so, it is displayed that the mobile phone is out of the service area (122), the process returns to step 102, and the channel scanning is repeated for the channels stored in the frequency table 11 again.

On the other hand, in the process 120, if the value of the pointer m is not 0, the contents of the electric field strength table 12 are rearranged in the descending order of the received electric field strength (RSSI), and the frequency and the received electric field strength are stored in the sort table 13. (12
4) The channel scanning control process is ended.

When the above channel scanning control method is performed, as shown in FIG. 10, the receiver 2'operates continuously immediately after the power of the portable telephone is turned on, and the synthesizer 22 is operated.
Is the frequency f0 set by the channel scanning unit 1 ',
This is repeated with f1, ..., fN as one cycle. The process from the setting of the frequency f0 to the setting of the next frequency f0 (t1) is the channel scanning process for the Perch-CH stored in the frequency table 11.
FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the operating state of the receiving section 2'in the conventional channel scanning control method.

[0019]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional channel scanning control method and mobile phone, when the mobile phone is out of the service area, for example, the channel having the received electric field strength higher than the cutoff level is the electric field strength. If it is not stored in the table 12, the channel scanning for Perch-CH stored in the frequency table 11 is continuously retried meaninglessly, and during that time, the receiving unit 2 ′ also constantly operates to consume power and waste battery. There was a problem that it did.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and channel scanning control that can save power consumption and extend the continuous use time of a mobile phone when the mobile phone is out of the service area or the like. A method and a mobile phone are provided.

[0021]

According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example, in the channel scanning control method, the reception electric field strengths of a plurality of access channels unique to the mobile phone are sequentially set. A channel scan is performed to measure and extract a channel in which the measured received electric field strength is stronger than a specified value. If there is one or more channels stronger than the specified value, the channels are sorted and stored in the order of the received electric field strength. If no channel is stronger than the specified value, the channel scan is retried a certain number of times, then the channel scan is stopped, and a waiting time is provided to turn off the power of the part for measuring the received electric field strength. The number of retries in the above is gradually decreased and the waiting time is gradually increased. And pressure, during which saves power consumption by turning off some of the power supply, it is possible to lengthen the continuous operation time of the mobile phone.

According to a second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example, in a portable telephone, a receiving section for measuring and outputting the received electric field strengths of a plurality of access channels unique to the portable telephone, A storage unit that stores frequencies of the plurality of access channels, and a frequency read from the storage unit are sequentially set in the reception unit, and reception electric field strengths are sequentially received from the reception unit and have a reception electric field strength that is higher than a specified value. Channel scanning is performed to extract channels. If there is at least one channel stronger than the specified value, the channels are rearranged in the order of strongest received electric field strength. If no channel is stronger than the specified value, the channel scanning is performed by a specific number. After retrying a number of times, a waiting time is provided to stop the channel scanning and turn off the power of the receiving unit, and wait for a certain time. And a control unit for gradually decreasing the number of retries and gradually increasing the standby time, and the ratio of the standby time gradually increases, during which the power of the reception unit is turned off and consumption is performed. Power can be saved and the continuous use time of the mobile phone can be extended.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the claimed invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The channel scanning control method and the mobile phone according to the present invention retry the channel scanning a certain number of times when a channel having a received electric field strength higher than the cutoff level is not extracted, such as when the mobile phone is out of the service area. After that, a waiting time for stopping the channel scanning and turning off the power of the receiving unit is provided, and the ratio between the number of retries (hours) and the waiting time at a specific time is further changed to gradually increase the waiting time, thereby making the mobile phone When the mobile phone is out of the service area, the power consumption can be saved and the continuous use time of the mobile phone can be lengthened.

First, the configuration of the portion for performing the channel scanning control of the mobile phone according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a part for performing channel scanning control of a mobile phone according to the present invention. It should be noted that parts having the same configuration as in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the portion for performing channel scanning control in the mobile phone of the present invention is basically composed of a channel scanning section 1 and a receiving section 2 as in the conventional case, and the inside of the receiving section 2 is basically the same. Is a receiving circuit 21 similar to the conventional one,
It is composed of a synthesizer 22. However, the receiving unit 2 of the mobile phone of the present invention is different from the conventional receiving unit 2'in that the channel scanning unit 1 controls ON / OFF of the power supply of the receiving unit 2.

The inside of the channel scanning unit 1 of the present invention is basically composed of a control unit 10, a frequency table 11, an electric field intensity table 12, and a sort table 13 which are basically the same as the conventional ones. A timer 14 is newly provided as a characteristic part of the invention.

Next, each part of the mobile phone of the present invention will be specifically described, but the description of the same configuration as the conventional one will be omitted. The timer 14 counts the time (standby time) when the power of the receiving unit 2 is turned off. Specifically, the control unit 10 described later controls the timer value and the start of the operation, and reaches the timer value. Nara control unit 10
Is to interrupt the.

The control unit 10 performs the channel scanning process and its control as in the conventional case. However, the channel scanning process does not extract the channel having the received electric field intensity higher than the specified value (the cutoff level). The control method in this case is different from the conventional one.

The outline of the channel scanning control method of the present invention is as follows: time for turning on the power supply of the receiving section 2 to perform channel scanning (ON time) and time for turning off the power supply of the receiving section 2 and waiting (OFF time). Control cycle (T
(total time) is set in advance, and within the control cycle,
The ratio of ON time and OFF time is changed. Specifically, the ratio of the OFF time is gradually increased.

Here, the ON time is set by the number of retries of the channel scanning process, and the OFF time is set by how many times the preset timer fixed value is waited. Since the channel scanning process itself is exactly the same as the conventional channel scanning process, its explanation is omitted here.

Next, the channel scanning control method in the mobile phone of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of channel scanning control processing in the control unit 10 of the mobile phone of the present invention. Note that FIG. 2 shows an example in which the total time is 5, and the variables indicating the total time are Total and O.
ON for the variable that indicates N hours and OF for the variable that indicates OFF time
F.

In the channel scanning control processing in the control unit 10 of the mobile phone of the present invention, first, the cutoff level (Lth1) of the received electric field strength is set (200), and then the variable Total is set as the initial processing for control. 5 is set, Total-1 is set to ON, and Total-ON is set to OFF (202).

Then, it is judged whether ON is 0 (zero) (204), and if it is not 0 (Yes), the received electric field strength of the Perch-CH stored in the frequency table 11 is checked to determine the cutoff level. Channel scanning processing is performed to store a channel having a larger received electric field strength in the electric field strength table 12 (210). Here, the channel scanning process is exactly the same as the processes 102 to 116 shown in FIG. 9, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

Then, as in the conventional case, the electric field strength table 1
It is judged whether the pointer m of 2 is not 0 (212),
If the value of m is not 0 (in the case of Yes), the contents of the electric field strength table 12 are rearranged in order from the strongest received electric field strength (RSSI), and the frequency and the received electric field strength are sorted in the table 1.
3 (214), and the channel scanning control process ends.

In step 212, if m is 0 (No), it is displayed that the mobile phone is out of the service area (216), and ON is decremented (2
18) and returns to the process 204.

On the other hand, in the process 204, when ON is 0 (No), a value obtained by multiplying the OFF fixed value by the pre-specified timer fixed value is set as the timer value, and the standby process is performed. (220). Here, the standby process is a process in which the timer 14 is operated, the power of the receiving unit 2 is turned off, the timer 14 waits for an interrupt, and the power of the receiving unit 2 is turned on when there is an interrupt.

Then, 1 is added to the OFF value (22
4), determine whether OFF is the same as Total (22
6) If they are the same (No), set 1 to ON,
The value of Total-1 is set to OFF (228), and the process returns to the process 204.
If it is not the same as total (Yes), turn it ON.
Set the value of total-OFF (230), and process 20
It is supposed to return to 4.

Next, changes in the variables ON and OFF and the operating state of the receiver 2 when the above channel scanning control method is used will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 in a concrete example. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of changes in variables ON and OFF in the channel scanning control method of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing an operation state of the receiving unit 2 in the channel scanning control method of the present invention. It is a figure. Note that FIG. 3 shows an example in which Total is 5.

In the channel scanning control method of the present invention, T
If total is 5, ON = 4 in the process 202 of FIG.
OFF = 1 is set (state of FIG. 3A). Then, after the channel scanning processing, if there is no channel having a received electric field strength higher than the cutoff level, it is turned on in processing 218.
Is set to 3 (state in FIG. 3B), and similarly, ON is decremented in process 218 and ON becomes 0 (state in FIG. 3E).

Then, the process proceeds from the process 204 to the process 220, and the standby state is maintained for the timer fixed value × OFF (the value is 1), and the power supply of the receiver 2 is turned off. Then, the process 224
OFF is incremented to 2 and becomes OFF
(Since (value is 2) and Total (value is 5) are not the same, the routine proceeds to step 230, where ON is set to 5-2 = 3 (state of FIG. 3 (f)).

Similarly, every time the channel scanning process is performed after the OFF state is 2, the ON state is decremented from 3 to 2, 1, 0, and in the process 220 to the process 222, the timer fixed value × OFF (the value is 2). Waiting for a while, the receiver 2
Is turned off.

Similarly, while incrementing OFF in the processing 224, the channel scanning processing is repeated while decrementing and decrementing ON by Total-OFF until OFF reaches the total value of 5, and OFF is 5.
When it becomes, the process proceeds to step 228 and ON is set to 1 and OFF is set to 4 (state of FIG. 3 (j)).
Will repeat the state of 1 and 0.

As described above, when the ON / OFF is changed and the channel scanning control process proceeds, the operation state of the receiving section 2 during that period is, for example, as shown in FIG. When the power is turned on and operation starts, 1
Assuming that the number of times of channel scanning processing is t1, the oscillation frequency of the synthesizer 22 changes from f0 to fN during that time. Then, this channel scanning process turns ON from 4 to 0.
Continuously during the change to (t1 × 5 = t2; ON time), and then OFF time (t3) during the timer specified value × 1.
As a result, the power supply of the receiving unit 2 is turned off to enter the standby state.

Then, after the waiting time ends, the receiving unit 2 again
Then, the channel scanning process is continuously performed while ON changes from 3 to 0 (t1 × 4 = t2; ON time), and then OFF time (t3 × t3) for the timer specified value × 2. ), The power of the receiving unit 2 is turned off to enter the standby state.

Similarly, while ON and OFF are changed, the ON time is gradually shortened and the OFF time is lengthened, and finally, while the ON is changed from 1 to 0 ( (t1 × 2 = t2; ON time), and then a cycle for turning off the power supply of the receiving unit 2 continues as an OFF time (t3) for a timer specified value × 4.

According to the channel scanning control method and the portable telephone of the present invention, when the portable telephone is out of the service area, the Perc stored in the frequency table 11 is used.
Since a waiting time for turning off the power supply of the receiving unit 2 is provided during the channel scanning process of the h-CH, the number of continuous retries of the channel scanning process is gradually reduced, and the standby time is gradually increased. During the waiting time, the power of the receiving unit 2 is not consumed, the waste of the battery is reduced, and as a result, the continuous use time of the mobile phone can be lengthened.

[0047]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as a result of performing channel scanning, when there is no channel having a received electric field strength higher than a specified value, the number of retries within a specific time is gradually reduced and reception is performed. Since the channel scanning control method is to gradually increase the standby time for turning off the power of the electric field strength measurement part, the ratio of the standby time gradually increases, during which part of the power supply can be turned off to save power consumption. This is effective in extending the continuous use time of the mobile phone.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the control section comprises:
If channel scanning is performed and there is no channel having a received electric field strength higher than the specified value, after retrying the channel scanning a certain number of times, a waiting time for stopping the channel scanning and turning off the power of the receiving unit is provided, Since the mobile phone is controlled to gradually reduce the number of retries within a specific time and gradually increase the standby time, the ratio of the standby time gradually increases, during which the power of the receiver can be turned off to save power consumption. The effect is that the continuous use time of the mobile phone can be lengthened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a part that performs channel scanning control of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of channel scanning control processing in the control unit of the mobile phone of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of changes in variables ON and OFF in the channel scanning control method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing an operation state of a receiving section in the channel scanning control method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a part that performs channel scanning control in a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a frequency table of a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a field strength table of a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional mobile phone sort table.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of channel scanning control processing in a control unit of a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing an operation state of a receiving section in the conventional channel scanning control method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1 '... Channel scanning unit, 2, 2' ... Receiving unit,
10, 10 '... Control unit, 11 ... Frequency table, 1
2 ... electric field strength table, 13 ... sort table, 1
4 ... Timer, 21 ... Receiving circuit, 22 ... Synthesizer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A mobile phone uniquely measures reception electric field strengths of a plurality of access channels uniquely possessed by the mobile phone, performs channel scanning to extract a channel whose measured reception electric field strength is stronger than a specified value, and performs channel scanning which is stronger than the specified value. If there is more than one, they are sorted and stored in the order of the received electric field strength, and if there is no channel stronger than the specified value, the channel scanning is stopped after retrying the channel scanning a certain number of times. A channel scanning control method, characterized in that a waiting time for turning off the power of a portion for measuring the received electric field strength is provided, and the number of retries within a specific time is gradually decreased and the waiting time is gradually increased. 2. A receiving unit that measures and outputs received electric field strengths of a plurality of access channels unique to a mobile phone, a storage unit that stores frequencies of the plurality of access channels, and a frequency read from the storage unit. Are sequentially set in the receiving unit, the received field strength is sequentially received from the receiving unit, and channel scanning is performed to extract a channel having a received field strength higher than a specified value, and there is one or more channels stronger than the specified value. Is arranged in the order of strongest received electric field strength, and if there is no channel stronger than the specified value, the channel scanning is retried a certain number of times, then the channel scanning is stopped, and the power of the receiving unit is turned off. A control unit that controls the time period and gradually reduces the number of retries within a specific time period and gradually increases the standby time period. A mobile phone having: