JP2000341442A - Portable telephone set and call time announcing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable only the user of a portable telephone set to surely listen to an announcing tone, without generating trouble sounds by comparing the counted value of a timer with an announcement interval set to an interval setting means during a call, outputting an announce signal when the counted value is greater than or equal to the announced time interval, resetting the timer and performing control so as to restart the timer. SOLUTION: A user of a portable telephone set previously sets and inputs time interval for outputting announcing tone to a RAM 4 by operating a key input part 10. Additionally, it is decided from a line connecting state whether a call originates from a portable telephone set of the user or based on calling from a communicating party corresponding to call origination and incoming, and the announcing tone is set. When the announcing tone is finished, the timer is reset and restarted, and while the call is continued, it is investigated whether the counted value of the timer corresponds to the time interval of the announced tone set to the RAM 4. When the counted value of the timer is greater than or equal to the time interval, the announcing tone is controlled so as to be outputted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable telephone and a method for informing the user of a call time, and more particularly to a function of setting a notification sound according to a talk time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Mobile phones, PHS (Personal Handy-p)
Digital mobile phones such as a hone system and a simplified mobile phone system) are provided with a call charge notification function. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional mobile phone having such a function. An antenna 1 for capturing and radiating radio waves transmits and receives a radio signal to and from the antenna 1, and transmits and receives a radio signal. A radio unit 2 for performing modulation / demodulation processing; a CPU for controlling transmission / reception of the radio unit 2; signal conversion processing for audio processing; and outputting various control signals to corresponding circuit parts
(Central Processing Unit, microprocessor, not particularly shown) and the like, and a temporary storage for processing in the controller 3, or a telephone directory of control data and names and telephone numbers of contact persons (Random Access Memory) 4 for storing personal information data such as personal data, and ROM for storing software for operating the mobile phone
(Read Only Memory) 5, an audio processing unit 6 for converting a reception signal output from the radio unit 2 at the time of reception into an audio signal,
When a call is made by radio waves, the LED 7 notifies the owner of the mobile phone by flashing the display, the ringer 14 generates an alarm or a notification sound, the telephone number, the strength of the radio waves, the usage status, etc. A display section 8 for displaying various information for confirming a message, setting of a message memo, an on-hook key,
An off-hook key, a setting key for inputting a caller's name in kanji, an input setting for schedule management, a selection key 9 for selecting a memory dial setting, etc., and a key input section for inputting numeric keys and alphabets of telephone numbers. 10 and
A speaker (= receiver) 11 for outputting the voice of the other party, a microphone (= transmitter) 12 for converting the voice from the user into an electric signal, a standby reception of the mobile phone itself and a telephone line are connected to connect a telephone. And a battery (= power supply) 13 for supplying electric power necessary for the electronic circuit to perform the operation.

One of the methods for notifying a user of a call charge in the above-mentioned portable telephone is to disconnect a communication line at the end of the call, transmit charge call information to a service control station via a radio base station, The information is received and displayed on the display unit 8. As another call method, the call time is counted by a timer (not shown in FIG. 3) built in the control unit 3 in the mobile phone, and the call charge is calculated from the time counted at the end of the call. Displayed on the display unit 8.

[0004] In any of the above charge notification methods, the charge is notified to the user of the mobile phone after the call is terminated. However, if the user can recognize how long the call has been made during the call, the user will be informed of the charge. This makes it easier to determine whether to continue or terminate the call. A technique for this purpose is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-168864. The main unit of a key telephone counts the charges for each key telephone and issues an alarm each time it becomes equal to the set fee. Output. Also, JP-A-63-244
In the technique of No. 963, there is also a technique in which a telephone call limit time is set in advance in a telephone, and an alarm is output when the call limit time is exceeded.

[0005]

In order to know how long a call is being made during a call, an alarm is issued when a set time is exceeded by using a timer in the mobile phone as described above. The method of repeating an alarm every two minutes, for example, can be achieved simply by responding to the mobile phone itself, and may be simple. Since the display unit is not visible during a call, the notification is usually made by sound. For this purpose, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a ringer or the like attached to the opening of the housing of the mobile phone is used. Is used. However, signal sounds in the audible sound range of about 2 kHz are used as notification sounds of the ringer and the like, which is unpleasant for people around them, and the transmitter catches the notification sounds and sounds to the other party. If this happens, the other party will perceive this notification sound as a noise of incomprehensible noise, which is also annoying.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to ensure that only a user of a portable telephone can notify a call time without having to look at a display unit during a call and without making annoying sounds to surrounding people or the other party. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile phone capable of listening to a sound and a method of notifying the call time.

[0007]

A portable telephone according to the present invention comprises:
An interval setting means for setting a notification time interval, a timer,
Notification sound generating means for outputting the output notification sound signal from the speaker after being synthesized with the reception voice signal; and comparing the count value of the timer with the notification interval set in the interval setting means during a call to compare the count value. The comparison means for outputting a notification signal when the notification time interval is equal to or greater than the notification time interval, and the notification sound signal is output from the notification sound generation means when the notification signal is output from this means, and the timer is reset. And control means for controlling to restart.

Further, the portable telephone according to the present invention further comprises a calling / call determining means for determining whether the call is a call from a user or a call from a call partner at the start of the call, The generation unit is configured to output a different notification sound according to the determination result of the calling / call determination unit.

Further, the present invention relates to a method of notifying a call time of a portable telephone, wherein a call time of the portable telephone is measured by a timer, and a notification sound is output each time the call time elapses a preset notification interval. The notification sound is combined with a received voice signal and output from a speaker.

[0010] Further, the method of notifying of a call time according to the present invention is characterized in that the notification sound has a different sound depending on whether the call is a call from a user or a call from a call partner. I do.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile phone according to the present invention. The configuration is the same as the conventional block diagram configuration shown in FIG. Although a ringer is not shown in FIG. 2, it may be provided separately as in FIG. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a part related to the present invention of the control unit 100 and the voice processing unit 200 which is a feature of the present invention. The control unit 100 performs control of each part of the entire mobile phone, signal processing, and the like. CPU10
1, a timer 102, a notification sound generating unit 103, and a sound processing unit 200 provided with a CODEC unit 201 and a sound decoder unit 202. Here, the notification sound for the call time notification is generated as an electric signal by the notification sound generation unit 103, combined with the signal output from the audio decoder unit 202, and output from the speaker 11. is there.

In this configuration, operations such as ordinary calling, receiving, and talking are the same as the conventional configuration of FIG. The user of the mobile phone when using the call time notification function of the present invention inputs a time interval for outputting the notification sound by operating the key input unit 10 in advance and sets the time interval in the RAM 4. CPU 101
A description will be given of the operation processing of the communication time notification in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the call time notification method. First, it is determined from the line connection state whether the call is a call originating from a user's mobile phone or a call from a communication partner (FIG. 5). Step 501), the notification sound V is set to V1 or V2 in response to a call or an incoming call (Step 502,
503). This is to make it possible to discriminate whether the call charge for the current call is the burden of the caller or the user, and if it is not necessary to discriminate this, the same sound may be used. Also, as a specific form of the sounds V1 and V2,
Any signal that can be easily distinguished by the user, such as a tone signal having a different frequency or an intermittent tone having a different length, may be used.

When the setting of the notification sound is completed, the timer 102
Is reset (step 504), and while the call is continuing (No in step 505), it is checked whether the count value of the timer has reached the time interval of the notification sound set in the RAM 4 (step 506). If the count value of the timer is greater than or equal to the time interval (Yes in step 506), the CPU 101 causes the notification sound generation unit 1
03 so that the notification sound V is output. Then, the demodulated signal from the radio unit 2 is input to the channel CODEC unit 201 to perform audio reception processing, extract encoded audio data, and output the encoded audio data to the audio decoder 202. The audio decoder unit 202 converts the input encoded audio data into an analog signal by an audio decoding process.
An analog audio signal and a notification sound generation unit 103
Are combined with the notification sound V output from the speaker 11 and output from the speaker 11.

As described above, when the notification sound is combined with the audio signal and output from the speaker, the speaker 11 and the microphone 12 are provided corresponding to the ear and the mouth in the portable telephone, and the speaker output is output from the microphone. Will not be picked up, so the notification sound will not be heard by the other party, nor will anyone be heard. In addition, since the notification sound is generated by an electronic circuit and output from a speaker, this electronic circuit can be easily realized as a part of an LSI, and the notification sound is not limited to a tone signal or an intermittent sound, and a melody or the like is used. It also has the advantage of being easier.

When the call is terminated (Yes in step 505 in FIG. 5), after the CPU disconnects the communication line, the call charge may be calculated and displayed on the display unit 8 (step 508). ). This method may use a timer of a conventional mobile phone, and the details thereof are omitted here. If this charge calculation / display function is added, for example, when a call is made from a current digital type mobile phone to a subscribing telephone (wired telephone), it is 14 seconds / 10 yen in the prefecture, and vice versa. 8 seconds / 1 for incoming calls from public phones to mobile phones seen in town
0 yen, 6.54 sec / if calling from mobile phone to PHS
By storing data such as 10 yen in the ROM, the user of the mobile phone not only announces the time during a call,
An accurate fee can be known after the end of the call, and interest in the call time and the fee can be further increased.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the user of the portable telephone can hear the sound output as the notification sound via the speaker together with the voice of the other party, so that the user of the other party and surrounding people can hear the sound. The user can confirm the duration of the call without knowing that the notification sound is being emitted. In addition, if the notification sound is output separately according to whether the call is received from the other party or the call originated from the user, the user who bears the call charge can be notified separately, and the call can be made in consideration of the charge.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration example of a sound converter for outputting a notification sound in a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view near a speaker of a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a call time advertisement method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 8 display unit 10 key input unit 11 speaker 100 control unit 101 CPU 102 timer 103 notification sound generation unit 200 audio processing unit 202 audio decoder unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5K025 AA08 AA09 BB02 CC01 DD06 JJ02 JJ03 JJ07 JJ13 5K067 AA29 BB04 DD13 DD23 EE02 FF04 FF05 FF25 FF27

Claims (4)

[Claims] An interval setting means for setting a notification time interval; a timer; a notification sound generation means for synthesizing an output notification sound signal with a reception voice signal and outputting the notification sound signal from a speaker;
Comparing means for comparing a count value of the timer with a notification interval set in the interval setting means during a call and outputting a notification signal when the count value is equal to or greater than the notification time interval; Control means for outputting a notification sound signal from the notification sound generation means when the signal is output, and controlling the timer to reset and restart the timer. 2. A calling / call judging means for judging whether a call is a call from a user or a call from a communication partner at the start of a call is added. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a different notification sound is output according to a determination result of the call determination unit. 3. A communication time notification method for a mobile phone, wherein a communication time of the mobile phone is measured by a timer and a notification sound is output each time the communication time elapses a predetermined notification interval. A call time notification method for a mobile phone, wherein the method is combined with a received voice signal and output from a speaker. 4. The mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein the notification sound is a different sound depending on whether the call is a call from a user or a call from a communication partner. Notification method of telephone talk time.