JP2000307690A - Equipment and method for mobile station - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to recognize moving from the inside of a communication zone to the outside of the zone and vice versa by a means other than visual recognition by recognizing switching from/to the inside or the outside of the communication zone with a base station equipment and informing the user of switching to the inside or outside of the communication zone with a sound or vibrations. SOLUTION: Mobile station equipment 100 is provided with an inside/outside zone recognizing part 101 and an inside/outside zone information giving part 102. The part 101 recognizes moving of the equipment 100 from inside of a zone communication with base station equipment to the outside of the zone and vice versa by detecting the radio wave level, etc., transmitted from the base station equipment. Namely, switching to the inside or outside of the zone for communication with the base station equipment is recognized. In addition, when the part 101 recognizes moving from inside of the zone to outside of the zone and vice versa the part 102 informs the user of the moving with a sound or vibrations.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile station device such as a portable telephone, a portable videophone, and an information terminal with a portable telephone function used in a mobile communication system. The present invention relates to a mobile station device and a method for surely notifying a user that the user has moved from outside the service area to the service area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as a method of notifying a user of a mobile station apparatus whether the mobile station apparatus is in or out of communication with a base station apparatus, it is known to display an antenna mark on a display screen of the mobile station apparatus. . In addition, it is known that when the power is turned on, it is determined whether the service area is within the service area and the user is notified by voice, vibration, or blinking display.

[0003] For example, there is one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-210549. According to the invention of this publication, when the power is turned on, it is determined that the vehicle is in or out of the service area, and if it is in the service area, a notification signal for notifying the display is displayed. Thereafter, the power is turned off, and when the timer expires, the power is turned on again.

[0004]

However, in the conventional apparatus, only the service area is displayed on the display screen of the mobile station apparatus, and the display screen is not seen by the user.
Since it is not possible to recognize whether the mobile station device is within or outside the service area, there is a problem that a user carrying the mobile station apparatus cannot be reliably notified of the service area / out of service area.

[0005] In addition, only when the power is turned on, notification of the inside / outside of the service area is made by voice, vibration, and blinking display. Therefore, when the power is turned on, the user is in the service area. For example, there is a problem that it is not possible to reliably notify the user that the user has gone out of the service area.

In addition, since there is no function for later confirming the history of the time when the mobile station apparatus was in or out of the service area, for example, the caller made a call at a predetermined time but the call was not received. In this case, there is a problem that the user who receives the incoming call lacks convenience such as checking later.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and enables a user to recognize that the user has moved from an area where communication with the base station apparatus is possible to an area outside or from an area outside the area without visual inspection. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile station device and a method capable of confirming a history of times existing outside the service area later.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention recognizes a switch to a communication area / out of service area with a base station apparatus and notifies the user of the switch to the communication area / out of service area at the time of this recognition. Also, at the time of switching to the communication range / out of service area, history information to which information indicating the switching to the communication range / out of service area is added at this time is stored, and the stored history information is stored by the user. Display according to the operation.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first aspect of the present invention is a recognition means for recognizing a switch to a communication area / out of service area with a base station apparatus, and a switch to the communication area / out of service area at the time of the recognition. Notification means for notifying the user of the fact by sound or vibration.

[0010] A second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, employs a configuration in which the notifying means notifies the user by sound or vibration that the switching has been made to either the communication area or outside the communication area.

According to this configuration, the user can recognize that the user has moved from the service area to the outside of the service area or from the outside of the service area to the service area without visual inspection.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a timekeeping operation is performed at the time of switching to either the communication area or outside the communication area. A timer which stops when returning to the initial state, and a setting means in which the set time is arbitrarily set;
Determining means for determining whether or not the time has reached the set time; and when the determining means determines that the time has reached, the notifying means switches to either the communication range or outside the range. Configuration that notifies the user of the fact.

According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the user from frequently being notified of the switching between the communication area and the outside of the service area when the radio wave condition indicating the service area or the outside of the service area is unstable, thereby eliminating the discomfort felt by the user. be able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect or the second aspect, a detecting means for detecting a time when switching to a communication area or outside the communication area;
At this time, a configuration is adopted that includes storage means for storing history information to which information indicating the switching to the communication range or outside the range is added, and a display means for displaying the history information.

According to this configuration, it is possible to recognize the time at which the user later moved from the service area to the outside of the service area or from the outside of the service area to the service area, and to which service area the user has moved at this time.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the notifying means changes the type of sound or vibration in accordance with switching to a communication area or outside the communication area. take.

According to this configuration, it is possible to easily recognize whether the user has entered the service area or has left the service area.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a mobile communication system is provided with the mobile station device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

According to this configuration, in the mobile communication system, the same operation and effect as any one of the first to fourth aspects can be obtained.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the switching to the communication area / out of the communication area with the base station apparatus is recognized, and at the time of this recognition, the user's five senses are switched to the communication area / out of the communication area. Is adopted so as to be recognized by any of the above.

According to this configuration, the user can easily recognize that the user has moved from the service area to the outside or from the service area to the service area.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the time is measured at the time of switching to either the communication area or the outside of the communication area, and the time is measured before the time reaches an arbitrarily set time. When returning to the original service area again, the timekeeping operation is stopped and the timekeeping time is initialized, and when the timekeeping time reaches the set time, it is determined that the user has switched to the communication area / out of service area. Is adopted.

According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the user from frequently being notified of switching between the communication area and the outside of the service area when the radio wave state indicating the service area and the outside of the service area is unstable, thereby eliminating discomfort felt by the user. be able to.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect, at the time of switching to either the communication range or outside the communication range, the information indicating whether the switching has been made to the communication range or outside the communication range at this time. Is stored, and the stored history information is displayed according to the operation of the user.

According to this configuration, it is possible to recognize the time at which the user later moved from the service area to the service area or from the service area to the service area, and to which service area the user has moved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG.1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

The mobile station apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes an in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 and an in-range / out-of-range information notification unit 102.

The in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 is a mobile station device 1
00 is out of range where communication with a base station device (not shown) is possible,
Alternatively, it is recognized that the user has moved from outside the service area to the service area by detecting the level of a radio wave transmitted from the base station apparatus. In other words, it recognizes a switch to either the communication range or outside the communication range with the base station device.

The in-service / out-of-service information notification unit 102 notifies the user by sound or vibration when the in-service / out-of-service recognition unit 101 recognizes that the user has moved from the service area to the outside service area or from the outside service area to the service area. Things.

The operation of the mobile station apparatus 100 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step ST201, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 recognizes whether the mobile station device 100 is currently located in the in-range or out-of-range region where the mobile station device 100 can communicate with the base station device.

As a result, when it is recognized that the vehicle is within the service area, in step ST202, the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 1 is determined.
01 determines whether or not the mobile station device 100 has moved out of the service area. As a result of this determination, if the mobile station apparatus 100 has not moved out of the service area in step ST203, the determination is continued if the mobile station apparatus 100 has moved out of the service area. Is notified to the user by sound or vibration.

On the other hand, when it is recognized in step ST201 that the mobile station apparatus 100 is out of the service area, in step ST204, the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 101 determines whether or not the mobile station apparatus 100 has moved into the service area. If it has not moved, the determination is continued as it is, and if it is recognized that the mobile station apparatus 100 has moved into the service area, in step ST203, the service area / out-of-service information notification unit 102 notifies the mobile station apparatus 100 that the mobile station apparatus 100 has moved into the service area by sound or vibration. Notify the user. After this notification,
Returning to step ST201, the same processing as described above is continued.

In addition, other than the sound or the vibration, the notification may be made so that the user can recognize any of the five senses.

As described above, the mobile station device 1 according to the first embodiment
According to 00, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 recognizes that the mobile station device 100 has moved from the range in which the mobile station device 100 can communicate with the base station device or from the outside to the range. The in-range / out-of-range information notifying unit 102 notifies the user that the vehicle has moved out of the service area or out of the service area by sound or vibration, so that the user can visually check that the user has moved from the service area to the outside service area or from the outside service area to the service area. Other than that can be recognized.

Further, the function of notifying by sound or vibration of the in-range / out-of-range information notifying unit 102 can be realized without changing the size of the mobile station device because a function mounted on a known mobile station device can be used. can do.

(Embodiment 2) FIG.3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. However, in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, portions corresponding to the respective portions of the first embodiment in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

Mobile station apparatus 300 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 includes a timer section 30 in addition to the components of the first embodiment.
1, a clock time setting unit 302, and a set time reaching determination unit 3
03 is provided.

The timekeeping unit 301 includes an in-service / out-of-service recognition unit 101.
When it is recognized that the mobile station apparatus 300 has moved from the service area to the outside or from the service area to the service area, the mobile station apparatus 300 starts a timekeeping operation from 0. During this operation, the time set in the timekeeping time setting unit 302 does not reach the set time. In either case, when the mobile station device 300 returns to the service area before the movement, or when the set time arrival determination unit 303 determines that the time has reached the set time, the timer operation is stopped and the time is counted. The operation of returning to the reset state of 0 is performed.

The clock time setting section 302 is for setting an arbitrary clock time by the user.

The set time arrival determination unit 303 includes a timer 30
It is to determine whether or not the counted time of 1 has reached the set time of the counted time setting unit 302.

The operation of the mobile station apparatus 300 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, it is assumed that one minute is set in the clocking time setting unit 302.

In step ST401, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 recognizes whether the mobile station device 100 is present in the in-range or out-of-range region where the mobile station device 100 can communicate with the base station device.

As a result, when it is recognized that the mobile station apparatus 300 is within the service area, in step ST402, the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 101 determines whether or not the mobile station device 300 has moved out of the service area. If recognized, in step ST403, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101
However, it is determined whether or not the mobile station device 300 has moved into the service area.

As a result of these determinations, if there is no movement of the mobile station device 300, the determination is continued as it is, and if the movement is recognized, the timer 301 starts the timekeeping operation in step ST404.

During this time counting operation, in step ST405, the set time reaching determination section 303 determines whether or not the time has reached one minute of the set time. Before reaching 1 minute,
It is determined whether out of service has been switched. As a result of this judgment,
If it is switched, in step ST406, the timer 3
In the case of 01, the timer operation is stopped and the reset state is set. Then, the process returns to step ST401.

On the other hand, when the time count reaches one minute of the set time without switching, in step ST407, the in-range / out-of-range information notifying section 102 notifies the user that the mobile station device 100 has moved into the range by sound or vibration. Notify. After this notification, the process returns to step ST401 to continue the same processing as described above. When the time count reaches the set time of one minute, the timer 301 stops the timekeeping operation and returns to the reset state.

As described above, the mobile station device 3 according to the second embodiment
According to 00, the timing unit 301 performs a timing operation when switching to either the communication range or outside the communication range, and returns to the original service area again before the time count reaches the time set by the clock time setting unit 302. When the time has reached the set time, the set time arrival determination unit 303 determines whether or not the time has reached the set time. Since the unit 102 notifies the user that the switching to the communication area / out of service area is performed, when the radio wave condition indicating the service area / out of service area is unstable, the switching of the communication area / out of service area is frequently notified. Can be prevented, and thereby the discomfort felt by the user can be eliminated. Further, even if such an operation is performed, it is possible to prevent the battery life from being shortened.

(Embodiment 3) FIG.5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. However, in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5, portions corresponding to the respective portions of the first embodiment in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The mobile station apparatus 500 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 includes a time detection unit 501, a history information storage unit 502, and a display unit 503 in addition to the components of the first embodiment. Have been.

The time detecting section 501 keeps the clock time of 24 hours at a regular time, and detects the time when the in-range / out-of-range information notifying section 102 notifies the mobile station apparatus 500 of the movement to the range / out of range. It is output to the history information storage unit 502.

The history information storage unit 502 includes the time detection unit 50
At the time input from 1, service area / out-of-service switching information indicating whether the mobile station device 500 has moved from the service area to the service area or from the service area to the service area recognized by the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 101 is added. It is stored as history information. That is, at the time of switching to the inside or outside of the area, information indicating the switching is added and stored as history information.

The display unit 503 displays the history information stored in the history information storage unit 502 according to the display operation of the user.

The operation of mobile station apparatus 500 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step ST501, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 recognizes whether the mobile station device 500 is currently located in the range or outside the range where communication with the base station device is possible.

As a result, when it is recognized that the vehicle is within the service area, in step ST502, the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 1 is determined.
01 determines whether or not the mobile station device 500 has moved out of the service area. As a result of this determination, if the mobile station device 500 is out of the service area, in step ST503, the mobile station device 500 notifies the mobile station apparatus 500 that the mobile station device 500 is out of the service area. Is notified to the user by sound or vibration.

On the other hand, when it is recognized in step ST501 that the mobile station apparatus 500 is out of the service area, in step ST504, the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 101 determines whether or not the mobile station device 500 has moved into the service area. If it has not moved, the determination is continued as it is, and if it is recognized that the mobile station apparatus 500 has moved into the service area, in step ST503, the in-service / out-of-service information notification unit 102 notifies the mobile station apparatus 500 that the mobile station apparatus 500 has moved into the service area by sound or vibration. Notify the user.

Next, in step ST 505, time detection section 501 detects the time at which mobile station apparatus 500 moves to or outside the service area, that is, the time at which switching is notified, and outputs this time to history information storage section 502. .

Next, in step ST506, the history information storage section 502 attaches information indicating the switch to the time of switching to the inside or outside of the area and stores this as history information.

Then, in step ST507, the user performs an operation of reading and displaying the history information from the history information storage unit 502 as necessary, and the history information is displayed on the display unit 503.

In the above description, in addition to the components of the first embodiment, a time detection unit 501 and a history information storage unit 502
And the display unit 503, the configuration may include a time detection unit 501, a history information storage unit 502, and a display unit 503 in addition to the components of the second embodiment.

As described above, the mobile station device 5 according to the third embodiment
According to 00, the time detection unit 501 detects the time at which the communication mode is switched to the communication range or outside the communication range, and the history information storage unit 50
At 2, the history information is added to the detected time at which the information indicating the switching to the communication area / out of service area is stored, and the history information is displayed on the display unit 503. It is possible to recognize the time when the user later moves from the service area to the service area or from the service area to the service area, and to which service area the user has moved at this time. Further, since the display unit 503 can use a display means such as a liquid crystal display mounted on a known mobile station apparatus as it is, it can be realized without changing the size of the mobile station apparatus.

(Embodiment 4) FIG.7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. However, in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 7, portions corresponding to the respective portions of the first embodiment in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The mobile station apparatus 700 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 includes a notification method switching unit 701 in addition to the components of the first embodiment.

The notification method switching unit 701 is a mobile station device 70
The sound / vibration that the in-service / out-of-service information notifying unit 102 notifies the user changes according to the case where 0 moves from the service area to the service area and from the service area to the service area.

The operation of mobile station apparatus 700 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step ST801, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101 recognizes whether the mobile station device 700 is currently located in the range or outside the range in which the mobile station device 700 can communicate with the base station device.

As a result, when it is recognized that the mobile station device 700 is within the service area, in step ST802, the service area / out-of-service recognition unit 101 determines whether or not the mobile station device 700 has moved out of the service area. If recognized, in step ST803, the in-range / out-of-range recognition unit 101
Determines whether or not the mobile station device 700 has moved into the service area.

As a result of these determinations, if there is no movement of mobile station apparatus 700, the determination is continued as it is. If the movement is recognized, in step ST804, notification method switching section 7
01, a sound or a vibration corresponding to each case where the mobile station device 700 moves from the service area to the outside service area or from the outside service area to the service area,
An instruction is given to the out-of-service information notification unit 102.

[0071] Then, in step ST805, the in-range / out-of-range information notifying section 102 notifies the user that the mobile station device 700 has moved into or out of range with the instructed sound or vibration. After this notification, step ST80
Returning to step 1, the same processing as above is continued.

In the above description, the configuration is such that the notification method switching unit 701 is provided in addition to the components of the first embodiment.
The configuration may include a notification method switching unit 701 in addition to the components of the second or third embodiment.

As described above, the mobile station device 7 according to the fourth embodiment
According to 00, the in-service / out-of-service information notifying unit 10 changes the type of sound or vibration in the notification method switching unit 701 according to the case of moving from the service area to the outside or from the service area to the service area.
2, the user can easily recognize whether the user has entered the service area or has left the service area.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The user can recognize that the user has moved out of the service area where the base station apparatus can communicate with the base station apparatus or from the outside of the service area to the outside of the service area by visual observation, and can later confirm the history of the time when the user was in the service area or outside the service area.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of an in-range / out-of-range notification process of a mobile station device according to Embodiment 1

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the in-range / out-of-range notification process of the mobile station device according to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a mobile station device according to Embodiment 3 for in-range / out-of-range notification and time history notification processing.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile station apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the in-range / out-of-range notification process of the mobile station device according to Embodiment 4.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100, 300, 500, 700 Mobile station device 101 Near / out-of-service recognition unit 102 In-service / out-of-service information notification unit 301 Clock unit 302 Clock time setting unit 303 Set time arrival determination unit 501 Time detection unit 502 History information storage unit 503 Display unit 701 Notification method switching unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A recognizing means for recognizing a switch to a communication area / out of communication area with a base station apparatus, and using the sound or vibration to notify a user of switching to the communication area / out of communication area at the time of the recognition. And a notifying means for notifying a user. 2. A timekeeping operation is performed at the time of switching to a communication area or outside the communication area, and when the time returns to the original area before the time reaches the set time, the time is stopped and the timer is set to an initial state. Means, a setting means for arbitrarily setting the set time, and a judgment means for judging whether or not the clock time has reached the set time, and the judgment means judges that the arrival has been reached. 2. The mobile station device according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies the user that the switching has been made to either the communication range or outside the communication range. 3. A detecting means for detecting a time at which the switching to the communication range / out of service area is performed, and history information obtained by adding information indicating whether the switching to the communication range / out of service area at this time is performed to the detected time. The mobile station device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store the history information, and a display unit configured to display the history information. 4. The mobile station apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit changes the type of sound or vibration according to switching to a communication area or outside the communication area. 5. A mobile communication system comprising the mobile station device according to claim 1. 6. Recognition of a switch to a communication area / out of communication area with a base station apparatus,
A method for notifying the switching of a mobile station apparatus between a communication area and an out-of-service area, wherein the switching is performed so that any one of the five senses of the user can recognize the switch to an out-of-service area. 7. A time is measured at a time of switching to a communication area or outside the communication area, and a time measurement operation is performed when the time is returned to an original area again before the time reaches an arbitrarily set time. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the timer is stopped to initialize the time, and when the time reaches the set time, the user is notified of switching to the communication area or outside the communication area. Communication area in mobile station equipment /
Out-of-service switching notification method. 8. At the time of switching to communication range / out of service area, history information to which information indicating switching to communication range / out of service area is added at this time is stored, and the stored history information is used by the user. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the display is performed in response to the operation of (1) or (2).