JP2000244531A - User's terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a user's terminal equipment from suddenly becoming impossible to communicate by allowing a communication intensity warning means to warn an effect that the terminal equipment is nearly deviated from a communicable area before it is deviated. SOLUTION: When a control part writes a receiving power level in a common memory, a personal computer reads it to compare with each threshold level to judge whether the receiving power level is 3, 2, 1 or 0 and when the level is 3, 2 or 1, warning is displayed by sound, vibration, etc. announcing the effect and displays on a display that the terminal equipment is close to the outside of a communicable circle. At the time of displaying by a graphic by each receiving power level detected by the personal computer, the present state of the receiving power level is known at a glance and at the time of moving, it is easily known that the terminal equipment moves in a direction lowering the receiving power level or in the opposite direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a user terminal receiving a service of a wireless LAN system, and more particularly to a personal computer having a user module inserted therein to prevent a communication failure that may occur. The present invention relates to a user terminal device which can be detected or prevented.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A user terminal device in a conventional wireless LAN system has a high possibility that a communication failure will occur due to the reason of the user terminal device, and even if a communication failure has occurred. There is an item that does not indicate the cause of the communication failure on the side, and various inconveniences have occurred. For example, when the user terminal device moves out of the communicable area to the outside of the communicable area, a warning to the effect that the user terminal device is out of the communicable area is issued without a warning in advance, and the communication is interrupted. In the user terminal device, the wireless LA
If the terminal of N system is not inserted securely,
Communication failure or sudden interruption of communication occurred, but no indication was given.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned conventional wireless LA
In the N system, the user terminal device receives a warning that it is out of the communicable area without a warning in advance, and it is easy to take measures to prevent the communication from being interrupted and moving out of the communicable area. Was not. In addition, since it is not displayed on the user terminal device whether or not the terminal of the wireless LAN system is securely inserted, it is difficult to find the cause of communication failure or sudden communication interruption due to uncertain insertion. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and displays the communication strength of a serviceable communication area and the insertion state of a wireless LAN system terminal so that communication is disabled or sudden. It is an object of the present invention to prevent communication interruption and to provide a smooth communication function.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a user terminal device which receives a service of a wireless LAN system via a terminal of a mounted wireless LAN system. When the terminal device comes out of the communicable area, the terminal device has a communication strength warning unit that warns that the terminal device is out of the communicable area.

[0006] The present invention also relates to an attached wireless LAN.
The user terminal device receiving the service of the wireless LAN system via the terminal of the system has a mounting warning means for warning when the mounting of the terminal of the wireless LAN system to the user terminal device is not reliable.

[0007] In the embodiment of the present invention, a user terminal device which is composed of a personal computer PC and a user module UM and receives a service of a wireless LAN system is a personal computer PC.
Reads out the data of the communication strength obtained by the user module UM and stored in the common memory, and when it is determined that the data is likely to deviate from the communicable area from the data, before deviating from the communicable area, A warning is given by a display or a sound on the display of the personal computer PC, which is a communication strength warning means.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a user terminal constituted by a personal computer PC receiving a service of a wireless LAN system via a terminal of a wireless LAN system which is a mounted user module UM. In the device, when the attachment of the terminal of the wireless LAN system to the personal computer is not reliable, the personal computer PC serving as the attachment warning means is provided.
Displays a warning to that effect on the display of the personal computer PC or the display of the user module UM, or warns by sound generation, vibration by a mounted vibrator, or the like.

According to such a configuration, when the user terminal device receiving the service of the wireless LAN system is moved and is likely to be out of the communicable area, the user terminal device is not moved out of the communicable area. In addition, it is possible to warn that the communication strength warning means is about to be out of the communicable area. Further, when the mounting of the terminal of the wireless LAN system to the user terminal device is not reliable, the mounting warning means can warn that the mounting is not reliable.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a wireless LAN system to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a wireless circuit portion of a user module which is a terminal of the wireless LAN system. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation for each communication intensity of a user terminal device composed of a personal computer in which the user module is inserted. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display of the communication intensity in the user terminal device, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an arrangement of a communicable area warning ON / OFF setting switch arranged in the user module, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display position of another display of the communication intensity on the personal computer of the apparatus, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display corresponding to each communication intensity shown in the display position of FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 9 shows a display on the display of the personal computer when the display is securely inserted in FIG.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display on the display unit of the user module when the user module is securely inserted into the personal computer. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state where the user module is securely inserted into the personal computer. It is a figure showing the LED arranged in the module.

As shown in FIG. 1, a control module CM (Control Module) includes an Ethernet (Eth).
ernet). Personal computer pc
Has a user module UM (UserModule) for receiving a service of the wireless LAN system. In the case of this example, the user module UM is a PC card type having high mobility, is inserted into a personal computer PC, and enables wireless communication between the control module CM and the user module UM.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the radio circuit portion of the user module UM, the antenna section 11
Transmits / receives data to / from the control module CM wirelessly, and the wireless unit 12 having the RF unit 12a and the IF unit 12b performs power conversion and frequency conversion of the transmission / reception signal, and performs communication between the CPU 13a and the terminal communication unit 13b. The control unit 13 having the memory 13c controls each unit and transmits / receives data to / from the personal computer P by the PCMCIA bus interface 14.
It is connected to C.

The control unit 13 includes a terminal communication unit 13b.
Is written to the common memory 13c. The personal computer PC accesses the common memory via the PCMCIA bus interface 14 to read the written reception power level, and determines the power level of the reception signal according to Table 1 below.

[0014]

[Table 1]

Therefore, when the reception power Xt is equal to or higher than the threshold value X3, the reception power level is the strongest, and thereafter the reception power levels are 2, 1, and 0. In these cases, transmission and reception are possible. The reception power Xt is equal to the threshold X
If it is less than 0, it is out of the reception area and transmission / reception becomes impossible.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when the control unit 13 writes the reception power level in the common memory 13c, the personal computer PC reads it out,
It is compared with each of the thresholds X0, X1, X2, and X3 to determine whether the received power level is 3, 2, 1, or 0 (step S11). If the received power level is 3, 2, 1
In the case of (1), the fact is displayed on the display unit of the personal computer PC (step S12). If the reception power level is 0, a warning is given by voice or vibration notifying the fact (step S13). , Step S1
In step 2, the display unit of the personal computer PC indicates that it is out of the communicable area.

If it is determined in step S11 that the received power level is less than the threshold value X0, a warning is issued by voice or vibration notifying that the user has left the communicable area (step S14), and the process proceeds to step S12. Then, the display of the personal computer PC indicates that it is out of the communicable area and the communication is cut off.

When the personal computer PC performs the display in the above step S12, there is a display method as shown in FIG. In this example, on the display of the personal computer PC, it is indicated that it is out of the communicable area,
The direction in which the vehicle should proceed, that is, the direction in which the reception power level is high, is indicated by an arrow. In this case, the wireless unit 12
Can detect a direction in which the reception power level is high via the antenna unit 11.

Further, there is a display method as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. That is, in the user terminal device 10, the personal computer PC
In the position shown in FIG. 6 on the display of FIG.
As shown in (e), a personal computer PC
If a graphic is displayed for each detected power level, the current status of the received power level can be understood at a glance, and when moving, whether the received power level is moving in the direction of decreasing the received power level It is easy to understand whether the level is moving in the direction of higher levels.

In the above-mentioned display, for example, the display of the reception power level 0 can be more effectively warned by blinking or changing the color. Therefore, these displays can easily prevent the user terminal device 10 from suddenly becoming unable to communicate in cooperation with a warning such as a voice. In order to cancel these warnings, it is only necessary to move to a place where the reception power level is equal to or higher than the threshold value X1. Alternatively, as shown in FIG.
A warning may be forcibly released by providing a communicable area warning ON / OFF setting switch in M.

Further, as will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10, when communication is impossible or suddenly interrupted, the user module U
M is a personal computer (or a printer, etc.)
May not be inserted securely. Therefore, when the user module UM is securely inserted, a mark indicating the user module as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display of the personal computer PC so that the user module UM can be visually recognized. It is effective to display on the display unit of the user module UM as shown in FIG. 9 or to turn on an LED arranged on the surface of the user module as shown in FIG.

The detection of whether or not the user module UM is securely inserted is performed by, for example, a method of detecting whether or not the user module is inserted at a predetermined position by a position sensor (not shown), or the method of detecting whether or not the user module UM is inserted. A method of detecting insertion of a user module by detecting the presence or absence of the electrical connection by using a mechanism that enables electrical connection when the user module is inserted into a predetermined position can be adopted.

In the above case, the user terminal device 10
In the case where the user module UM is not securely inserted, the user is warned by not displaying the mark or turning on the LED, so that the user can determine whether the user module is securely inserted. You can know immediately. The user module UM
The mark or the LED may be blinked as a warning when the is not securely inserted.

Further, in order to warn that the user module UM is not securely inserted, the method of visually informing as described above, or sounding alone or vibration of a vibrator or the like provided in the user terminal may be performed. May be. The above-mentioned cancellation of the warning regarding the insertion of the user module UM is solved by securely reinserting the user module UM. However, if the warning still cannot be released, the user module UM is pulled out so as not to be used, or the switch of FIG.
By setting F ”, the user module UM can be released by separating the user module UM from the user terminal.

In the above description of the embodiment, the display of the communication strength and the display of the inserted state of the user module are described separately. However, this is for easy understanding, and the user module UM is inserted. It is preferable that both functions can be executed simultaneously in the same user terminal composed of a personal computer PC. Of course, depending on the request, it is needless to say that it is useful to incorporate only one of those functions.

[0026]

As described above in detail, the user terminal device according to the present invention, when receiving the service of the wireless LAN system, is likely to be out of the communicable area when the user terminal device is out of the communicable area. By having a communication strength warning means to warn the user before leaving the available area,
It is possible to know that the user is likely to depart from the communicable area before deviating from the communicable area, take necessary measures, and prevent a sudden loss of communication.

Further, the user terminal device according to the present invention mounts the wireless LAN system terminal on the user terminal device while receiving the service of the wireless LAN system via the mounted wireless LAN system terminal. In the case where is not certain, there is an effect that the problem of the mounting state can be solved immediately and good service can be received by providing the mounting warning means for warning that effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a wireless LAN system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a wireless circuit portion of a user module which is a terminal of the wireless LAN system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation for each communication intensity of a user terminal constituted by a personal computer in which a user module is inserted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display of communication strength in a user terminal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an arrangement of communicable area warning ON / OFF setting switches arranged in a user module;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display position of another display of the communication intensity on the personal computer of the user terminal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display corresponding to each communication intensity shown at the display position in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display on the display of the personal computer when the user module is securely inserted into the personal computer.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display on the display unit of the user module when the user module is securely inserted into the personal computer.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing LEDs placed on the user module to show that the user module is securely inserted into the personal computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 User terminal device 11 Antenna unit 12 Radio unit 12a RF unit 12b IF unit 13 Control unit 13a CPU 13b Terminal communication means 13c Common memory 14 PCMCIA bus interface PC Personal computer UM User module S11 to S14 Step

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a user terminal device receiving a service of a wireless LAN system via a terminal of a mounted wireless LAN system, if the user terminal device is about to depart from a communicable area, the user terminal device deviates from the communicable area. A user terminal device having a communication strength warning unit for warning the user of the fact. 2. In a user terminal device receiving a service of the wireless LAN system via a terminal of the mounted wireless LAN system, if the mounting of the terminal of the wireless LAN system to the user terminal device is not reliable, A user terminal device comprising a mounting warning unit for warning that the user terminal device is in effect.