JP2000115732A - Portable video telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a personal computer to make read/write access to stored data by providing a serial interface section of a USB system that transmits image data stored in a storage section externally. SOLUTION: An image photographed by a photographing section 1 and an image received from a communication opposite party and stored in a hard disk 11 via a hard disk controller 10 in a form coded according to a request of a user. Furthermore, a USB port 13 connects to an external device corresponding to the USB via a cable or the like and the device makes read/write access to coded data stored in the hard disk 11 via a USB controller 14. Thus, the hard disk whose storage capacity is high is provided to increase a capacity assigned to one sheet of image data and the image with high image quality can be stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable videophone, and more particularly, to a portable videophone which can be connected to various external devices via a USB and further has a built-in hard disk to achieve high image quality. And a technique for storing a plurality of images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, the spread rate of mobile phones using wireless lines is increasing, and the uses of mobile phones are various. Since mobile phones can send and receive data from any location using a wireless line, they can also be used as a means to connect to a notebook personal computer using a dedicated modem card and send and receive data from the notebook personal computer. Used. In such a situation, data transmission and reception such as character transmission can be performed by the mobile phone itself, and the amount of data handled by the mobile phone is increasing. Recently, a portable videophone capable of performing image communication by providing an image pickup means such as a CCD camera to the mobile phone and using a wireless line by using a large amount of transmission data has been proposed.

[0003] The captured image data can be stored in a memory built in the telephone body, and can be used by linking it with data (name, telephone number, address, etc.) of a telephone directory. By associating the image data with the data in the telephone directory in this manner, it becomes possible to search for a telephone number and make a call based on the image data, and to display the image data together with the data in the telephone directory when receiving a call. . In addition, the image data stored in the memory can be transmitted or edited through an interface capable of transmitting and receiving the image data to and from an external device.

[0004]

However, since image data is transmitted and received and edited with various external devices more frequently than conventional character data, dedicated data communication such as that used in mobile phones is required. In the method, since connection can be made only to a device conforming to this method, a measure such as providing a conversion connector or a slot conforming to this method on the device side is required.

On the other hand, in recent years, in the field of personal computers, USB (Universal Serial Bus), which is one of the standards for interfaces of personal computer peripheral devices, has been proposed.

[0006] This USB is one in one system.
Up to 127 devices can be connected to up to 127 hosts, and their physical connection is in the form of a stepped star using HUB. Logically, the client software of the host and the device communicate one-to-one. In order to realize such a physical or logical connection mode, the lowest layer protocol communicates in a time-division manner, and the host performs each scheduling.

[0007] USB communication is controlled by the USB protocol stack software of the host. That is, even when data is transmitted from the device side, the device transmits the data after the host gives the right to use the bus to the device.

In the case where a plurality of image data are stored using a memory such as that used in a mobile phone, a memory such as a telephone directory only needs to store about 200 data such as telephone numbers and associated names. The capacity is full, and dozens of image data cannot be stored in this memory. Still, in order to store dozens of image data, the compression ratio in image encoding is increased to increase the number of stored images, and the size of the display unit is reduced, so that the encoding distortion is visually reduced. You have to use it as an image.

However, when an image is stored in such a manner, an external device such as a personal computer takes in the image data stored in the telephone directory memory, and enlarges and displays this image data on a monitor of the external device. In this case, the image becomes a mosaic-like coarse image, and there is a problem that image data captured by a portable videophone can be used only in a narrow area that can be exchanged between portable videophones and viewed.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable videophone, comprising: an image pickup unit which takes in an image and processes the image data into digital image data; In a portable videophone equipped with a storage unit for storing and a wireless unit for transmitting image data stored in the storage unit to a communication partner via a wireless line, the image data stored in the storage unit A serial interface unit for transmitting to the outside is provided, and the serial interface unit is configured by a USB system.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable videophone, comprising: a host mode in which the portable videophone performs host control of an external device connected through the serial interface; The portable videophone is provided with switching means for switching between the device mode in which the portable videophone performs device control and an external device connected through the host mode or the device mode.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable videophone, wherein: an image pickup unit for taking in an image and processing it into digital image data; a storage unit for storing the image data taken from the image pickup unit; And a wireless unit for transmitting image data to a communication partner via a wireless line, wherein the storage unit comprises a hard disk, and transmits the image data stored in the hard disk to the outside. The serial interface unit is configured by a USB system.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the location which shows the same structure. FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of a portable videophone of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an imaging unit such as a camera, 2 is an encoding unit that encodes image data based on a predetermined rule, 3 is a transmission buffer that temporarily stores data, and 4 is a transmission buffer. A data bus for transmitting data, 5 a wireless unit for transmitting and receiving data, 6 an antenna, 7 a receiving buffer, 8 a decoding unit for decoding encoded data, 9 a display unit for displaying images and characters, 10 Is a controller of a hard disk interface, 11 is a hard disk storing data such as image data and program data,
Reference numeral 12 denotes a CPU having both an arithmetic device and a control device; 13, a USB port indicating a data communication port for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external device;
4 shows a B controller.

The operation will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1. Image data picked up by the image pickup unit 1 is coded by the coding unit 2 and stored in the transmission buffer 3 as coded data. The encoded data stored in the transmission buffer 3 is sent to the radio unit 5 via the data bus 4 and transmitted to the communication partner via the antenna 6. The encoded data transmitted from the communication partner is received by the radio unit 5, passes through the data bus 4, and is stored in the reception buffer 7. The encoded data stored in the reception buffer 7 is decoded into image data by a decoding unit 8 and is displayed on an image using a display unit 9. At this time, the image captured by the image capturing unit 1 and the image received from the communication partner are controlled by the CPU 12 so as to be stored in the hard disk 11 via the hard disk controller 10 in an encoded form according to the request of the user. .
In addition, the USB port 13 is used
It can be connected to a B-compatible external device, and can perform read / write access to encoded data and the like stored in the hard disk 11 via the USB controller 14. As described above, by having a hard disk with a large storage capacity, the capacity allocated to one image data can be increased, and a high-quality image can be stored.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the use of the portable videophone according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 101 is a portable videophone, 102 is a display of a personal computer,
103 is a personal computer main body, 104 is a USB indicating a relay device
A hub (USB can connect devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a modem in a data bus type), 105 denotes a USB cable, and 106 denotes a keyboard which is an input unit of a personal computer.

The personal computer body 103 is connected to a display 102, a keyboard 106, and a portable videophone 101 via a USB hub 104.

As shown in FIG. 2, the portable videophone 10
When using 1 as the device of the personal computer 103, the CPU of the portable videophone 101 is set to the device mode. Under the host control of the personal computer 103, the image encoded data and other data stored in the hard disk of the portable videophone 101 are normally input through the USB hub 104 through the USB hub 104. Read / write access is possible as with the hard disk. At this time, operating program data for a display unit, an operation unit, a camera unit, a microphone, a speaker, and the like can be downloaded to a hard disk of the portable videophone 101, and an OS for managing the operation of the portable videophone 101 can be downloaded. In addition, since the downloaded program can be selected and executed, it is not necessary to store the program data in advance, and unnecessary program data can be deleted, so that the storage capacity can be made more efficient.

By using the USB hub 104 and the USB port as the data communication port of the portable videophone in this manner, a cable dedicated to the portable videophone can be used.
Since no software is required, data can be easily exchanged at a USB-compatible personal computer. In addition, since data can be transmitted, even if the image data obtained by shooting and receiving data becomes full on the hard disk of the portable videophone, the data can be easily stored in another storage medium. Becomes

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the use of the portable videophone according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, since the data communication port of the portable videophone 101 is constituted by a USB port, the keyboard 106 used for a personal computer or the like is directly connected to the USB of the portable videophone 101.
The port can be connected to the portable videophone 101
Can be used as an operation unit. However, when the connection is made in this manner, the CPU of the portable videophone 101 is set to the host mode in advance because the portable videophone 101 performs host control. As a result, upon receiving a signal from the keyboard 106, the CPU incorporated in the portable videophone 101 performs a corresponding process. Therefore,
It is possible to create an e-mail in the portable videophone 101 using a normal keyboard 106 used in a personal computer or the like. Further, if the data communication port is U
Since it is configured with an SB port, a keyboard 106 other than a dedicated keyboard (not shown) can be used, and there is no need to carry a keyboard dedicated to the portable videophone 101. Similarly, by connecting a display monitor (not shown) to the USB port of the portable videophone 101, images stored in the hard disk can be viewed on a large screen.

Further, by connecting two portable videophones, each of which has a data communication port constituted by a USB port, with a USB cable, data between the two portable videophones, for example, data such as image data and telephone directory can be transferred. It can be easily replaced. Also, since the USB cable has different connection terminals depending on the host side and the device side, if only one type of port is provided, the conversion connector 10
7 is required.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, an interface for communicating with an external device in a portable videophone is constituted by a USB, so that connection to a USB-compatible personal computer, a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor and the like is easy. become.
In addition, by providing a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk, even a small device such as a portable videophone can sufficiently store data such as images that require a large storage capacity, and can store other external devices. It is possible to store a high-quality image that can be used even in a device. Further, since the hard disk has a large storage capacity, various programs can be stored. Further, by providing both a USB and a hard disk, it becomes possible to easily read out an image stored in the hard disk from a personal computer or edit the image using a keyboard.

As described above, the portable videophone of the present invention has two aspects, that is, a usage as an original portable videophone and a usage as a large-capacity external hard disk which can be controlled by a personal computer or the like. It is possible to read / write access to data stored in the portable videophone such as captured and received image data from a personal computer. Data can be edited, and the data can be edited directly without the need for time to transfer data to a personal computer for editing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of a portable videophone of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a usage state of an embodiment of the portable videophone of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a usage diagram showing an embodiment of the portable videophone of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: imaging unit 2: encoding unit 3: transmission buffer 4: data bus 5: wireless unit 6: antenna unit 7: reception buffer 8: decoder 9: display unit 10: hard disk controller 11: hard disk 12: CPU 13: USB port 14: USB controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] An image pickup unit for taking in an image and processing the image data into digital image data, a storage unit for storing image data taken from the image pickup unit, and an image data stored in the storage unit via a wireless line. A portable videophone having a wireless unit for transmitting to a communication partner, comprising a serial interface unit for transmitting image data stored in the storage unit to the outside, and the serial interface unit is configured by a USB system. A portable videophone, comprising: 2. A host mode in which the portable videophone performs host control on an external device connected via the serial interface unit; and a host mode on the external device connected via the serial interface unit. The portable videophone according to claim 1, further comprising a device mode in which the portable videophone performs device control, and switching means for switching between the host mode and the device mode. 3. An image pickup unit for taking in an image and processing it into digital image data, a storage unit for storing the image data taken from the image pickup unit, and an image data stored in the storage unit via a wireless line. A portable videophone having a wireless unit for transmitting to a communication partner, wherein the storage unit comprises a hard disk; and a serial interface unit for transmitting image data stored in the hard disk to the outside. A portable videophone, characterized in that the part is constituted by a USB system.