JP2001069545A - Massage receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct required protection settings for a user, without hindrances by allowing the user to understand to what extent the protection setting is possible. SOLUTION: In a message receiver storing a plurality of messages transmitted as a radio signal to a memory 3, upon the receipt of a protection setting entry from a protection button 10, a protection setting means 7 sets protection over a corresponding message stored in the memory 3. Stored messages, whose protection is set cannot be deleted by a delete means 6, resulting in causing there will be no idle capacity in the memory. However protection managing means 8 manages whether or not the amount of stored messages with protection setting made to them reaches a prescribed threshold. A warning means 13 outputs a warning to a user, when the amount of stored messages with protection setting made to them reaches the threshold, so as to inform the user about the presence of considerable amounts of the stored messages whose protection is set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message receiver capable of storing a radio-received message in a memory and displaying it arbitrarily, and more particularly to management of a memory for storing many messages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pager as an example of a message receiver has a display screen composed of a liquid crystal panel (LCD) or the like, and receives and displays not only a call notification but also a message addressed to an individual transmitted by a caller. Can be displayed on the screen. And more recently, pagers have been using "news"
Information messages automatically delivered, such as "weather forecast" and "stock price information", can also be received and displayed on the display screen. A mobile phone (including a PHS) as another example of a message receiver also has a display screen, and can receive not only voice communication but also a message addressed to an individual transmitted by a caller similarly to a pager. It can be displayed on a liquid crystal display screen. In addition, future mobile phones will receive distribution information messages such as "news" as well as pagers,
It is also possible to display on a display screen.

[0003] Since such a message receiver receives many messages and stores them in a memory (when receiving a distribution information message, the number of stored messages becomes much larger), the stored messages are not stored. How to manage is an important issue. In particular, there is a limit to increasing the memory capacity of a portable wireless communication device that is required to be small, such as a mobile phone or a pager, but a message is automatically received and stored without the user's intention. As a result, the free space of the memory is steadily reduced. Therefore, it is an important issue how to automatically delete unnecessary storage messages and secure a memory capacity for storing new messages.

On the other hand, in such a message receiver,
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-3340,
Protection can be set for messages stored in memory. That is, for example, by setting protection on important messages, even if the deletion process is performed to store a new received message as described above, the message is excluded from deletion targets and stored in memory. Is available.

[0005] Here, the protection setting and the erasing process are contradictory. If the protection setting is performed for too many stored messages, the number of stored messages that can be deleted is reduced. This makes it impossible to secure a memory capacity for storing a newly received message. Therefore, in the past, there was an upper limit on the number of stored messages that can be protected as described above,
A memory capacity for storing a certain number or more of new received messages can be secured by the erasing process.

[0006]

As described above, in the related art, when the number of cases for which the protection can be set has been reached,
Unless the protection of a message already protected is released, protection cannot be set for other stored messages. However, some users of such message receivers frequently use the protection setting of stored messages, and some users do not use them so much. The number of cases that would generally suffice was set as the upper limit for protection.

[0007] The latter user will not cause much problem, but the former user will no longer have to de-protect other stored messages as soon as the upper limit is reached. The fact that the above protection settings cannot be performed is extremely inconvenient. In other words, since the user cannot know in advance how many protection settings can be made, a situation in which the protection setting input is unacceptable may occur suddenly, and I was confused.

Furthermore, in order to avoid such a situation, the user always keeps track of the number of stored messages that are set to be protected, and protects other stored messages that have already been set when the number approaches the upper limit. Should be canceled. However, such a complicated operation is imposed on the user, and especially when a large amount of distribution information messages are stored in the memory as described above, the user determines whether or not the protection setting for these messages is necessary. It was extremely difficult to judge and operate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and allows a user to know how much protection setting is possible, thereby enabling a user to perform necessary protection setting without having to perform complicated operations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a message receiver which can perform the message reception without any trouble. In addition,
Further objects of the present invention are evident in the following description.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is implemented in a message receiver capable of receiving a wirelessly transmitted message and storing the plurality of received messages in a memory, and identifying the message from a protection switch. When the protection setting input by the user is accepted, the protection setting means sets the protection for the corresponding message stored in the memory according to the protection setting input, and the erasing means automatically or in response to the user input. Delete messages stored in memory, except for messages for which protection is set. This erasing process can be performed, for example, in response to an instruction input from the user, but is automatically performed when the memory becomes full due to a stored message as described later. The memory capacity for storing the newly received message can be secured.

Here, if the memory capacity becomes full with only the storage messages set to be protected, a new received message cannot be stored unless the user performs the erasing process by one operation. But
In the message receiver according to the present invention, a warning is issued to the user before the memory capacity becomes full with the stored message protected by the threshold. That is, the protection management means manages whether or not the protection-set stored message amount has reached a predetermined threshold, and the warning means is activated in response to the protection-set storage message amount reaching the predetermined threshold. A warning to the user is output to inform the user that there are quite a few stored messages that have been protected, and let them know that there is a high possibility that the memory capacity will be full.

Further, in the message receiver according to the present invention, as described above, the memory management means determines whether or not the capacity for storing the received message at the time of receiving the message is in the memory, and determines whether the memory capacity is insufficient. In response to the deletion, the erasing means automatically erases the messages stored in the memory except for the messages for which protection is set, in order from the oldest reception time. Here, there may be cases where the user wants to save even a stored message that has not been set for protection.However, when the stored message is simply deleted from the oldest stored message at the time of reception, Such unprotected stored messages may be erased without the user's knowledge. On the other hand, in the message receiver according to the present invention, it is warned that there is a considerable number of stored messages protected as described above (that is, there is a high possibility that unprotected stored messages will be deleted). Since the user can understand, such a situation can be avoided.

Further, in the message receiver according to the present invention, in response to the protection setting input from the protection switch, the protection management means determines whether or not the amount of the protected message has reached a predetermined threshold value, and issues a warning. The means alerts the user that the protected message volume has reached a predetermined threshold. That is, the above-mentioned warning is issued at the time of the protection setting operation by the user, and this warning allows the user to determine whether the protection is appropriate in consideration of the remaining memory capacity, and within the limited memory capacity. , An appropriate message volume protection setting is realized.

Further, in the message receiver according to the present invention, independent memory management is realized according to the needs of the user, and the protection setting means receives the protection setting input again after the above warning is issued. At this time, protection is set for the corresponding message stored in the memory accordingly. That is, the above warning does not prohibit further protection settings, but has the effect of letting the user know that there are quite a few stored messages that have been protected, and when the user dares to further protect settings According to this, the protection setting is performed to realize the usage mode according to the needs of the user.

Further, in the message receiver according to the present invention, at least two thresholds, which are criteria for warning, are set,
The protection setting processing according to these thresholds is performed. That is, the protection management means sets two thresholds of a low value and a high value, and manages whether or not any of these thresholds has reached the amount of stored messages protected and set. It outputs a warning to the user when the amount has reached these thresholds. Then, the protection setting means sets protection for the corresponding message stored in the memory in response to the protection setting input again after the warning corresponding to the low value threshold, while setting the protection according to the high value threshold. Refuse to enter protection setting again. Therefore, a pre-warning and a final warning are performed depending on the situation. In the pre-warning, the further protection setting is performed as described above, and the final warning is used to store a new received message without further setting the protection. The memory capacity can be secured.

The threshold value may be a simple number of stored messages, such as 30 or 50, or a memory capacity of 50.
%, 70%, etc., but it is preferable to set the ratio between the number of messages already stored in the memory and the number of messages that can be stored in the memory and the protection. It is set as a ratio between the memory capacity spent storing the set message and the memory capacity capable of storing the message. Further, the message receiver according to the present invention is not limited to a pager or a mobile phone (including a PHS), but can be applied to various electronic devices having a function of receiving a message and storing the received message in a memory. Can be implemented.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A specific description will be given of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a pager. As shown in FIG.
The pager of the present embodiment has a wireless receiving means 2 for wirelessly receiving a call signal or a message signal via an antenna 1, and the wireless receiving means 2 has its own ID stored in an ID-ROM (not shown). Is compared with the ID added to the received signal, and a signal having a matching ID is received. Here, the calling signal among the signals subjected to the reception processing is notified to the user carrying the pager by sounding a buzzer, vibrating a vibrator, or the like.
Processing of a received message signal according to the gist of the present invention will be described.

The pager has a readable / writable memory 3 such as a RAM, and the contents of the message signal received by the wireless receiving means 2 are stored in the memory 3 via the memory management means 4. Here, the message signal includes message content data M such as text code data in addition to the ID described above, and the message content M in the received message signal is stored in the memory 3 by being identified by the memory number N. You.

In storing the received message M,
The reception time information T of the received message M is added by the timer function of the memory management means 4, and a protection attribute R for preventing the received message from being erased according to a user's setting input described later is assigned by the memory management means 4. Will be added. In this example, the reception time information T and the protection attribute R
The additional information such as the message content M is collected as an index separate from the message content M, and the index and the message content M are stored in the memory 3 in association with the same message number N. The data may be stored in the memory 3 in a grouped unit.
In any case, the memory 3 stores several or several tens of received messages M in association with the additional information.

The memory management means 4 is a function means for controlling the entire processing related to reading and writing of a message to and from the memory 3 as described above. In addition to the functions described below, the memory management means 4 receives a message signal, for example. At this time, a process for determining whether or not the capacity for storing the received message remains in the memory 3 is also performed. The memory management means 4
Reading / writing means 5 for reading and writing messages to and from the memory 3, erasing means 6 for erasing messages stored in the memory 3 except for messages for which protection has been set, and protection setting input from the user Protection setting means 7 for setting protection by adding an attribute R to a message stored in the memory 3 in accordance with
And protection management means 8 for managing whether or not the amount of stored messages in the memory 3 for which protection settings have been made has reached a preset threshold value.

The pager is provided with a read button 9, a protection button 10, an erase button 11 and the like as switches operated by the user, and an LCD as means for presenting message contents and warnings to the user. And the like. The read / write means 5 automatically stores the received message in the memory 32 when the capacity is left in the memory 3, and outputs the corresponding message M according to a user instruction from the read button 9. The message is read from the memory 3 and the message is displayed on the screen by the display unit 122.

Further, the protection setting means 7 performs a process of adding the attribute R to the corresponding message stored in the memory 3 in response to the user inputting the protection setting from the protection button 10 as described above. . In the actual process, the protection attribute for the message is set by operating the protection button 10 while a certain message is displayed on the screen of the display unit 12.

The erasing means 6 performs an erasing process on the corresponding message stored in the memory 3 as described above in response to the user inputting an erasing instruction from the erasing button 11, and also executes the memory management means 4. Also, an automatic erasing process based on the determination of the remaining memory capacity is performed. That is, when a new message signal is received, the memory management means 4 determines whether or not the capacity for storing the received message is left in the memory 3, and if the memory capacity for storing the received message is insufficient. When it is determined, the erasing means 6 erases a required number of messages stored in the memory 3 in chronological order based on the reception time information T, except for the messages for which protection is set. In the erasing process based on the user's operation, the user operates the erasing button 11 while a certain message is displayed on the screen of the display unit 12 to erase the message from the memory 3.

The pager has a warning means 13 for displaying and outputting a warning message concerning protection on the display means 12, and the protection management means 8 stores the data in the memory 32 when a protection setting is inputted from the protection button 10. It manages whether or not the protected message that has been set reaches the threshold, and when the threshold is reached, causes the warning means 13 to output a warning message. In this example, a warning message as shown in FIG.
By the warning, the user is made aware that the protected message has reached the threshold value. In the present invention, the warning means 13 may drive a buzzer or a vibrator to warn that the threshold has been reached by sound or vibration.

Here, as a first example of this embodiment, one threshold is set in the protection management means 8, and as a second example, two thresholds of a low value and a high value are set in the protection management means 8. The protection setting means 7 is set according to any one of the modes.
Processing functions are slightly different.

First, when one threshold value is set, if the threshold value is set to protect stored messages, the number of unprotected stored messages becomes too small. Is set as a value (for example, 70% of the total memory capacity) which is considered to cause a situation in which the unprotected stored message is deleted, and the protection setting unit 7 issues a warning that the threshold value is reached. In this case, if the user inputs the protection setting again from the protection button 9 after the warning, the user responds according to the input (that is, the screen is displayed in this example).
The protection attribute R is added to the stored message. Therefore, if the user desires, the protection setting exceeding the threshold can be performed.

On the other hand, if two thresholds, a low value and a high value, are set, the low value threshold sets protection on the stored message beyond this threshold in the same manner as the above threshold. Is set as a value (for example, 70% of the total memory capacity) which is considered to be a problem that the number of unprotected stored messages will be too small to cause a problem. In order to store the message, it is considered that a erasable storage message must be absolutely reserved (for example, 90% of the total memory capacity).
%).

When the two thresholds are set, the protection setting means 7 outputs the protection setting input by the user from the protection button 9 again after the warning, even if a warning is issued that the threshold has reached the low value. If there is, while the protection attribute R is added to the corresponding stored message in response to the input, if a warning that has reached the high value threshold is issued, after the warning, the protection button 9 is again pressed by the user from the protection button 9. Even if there is a setting input, this is rejected and the process of adding the protection attribute R is not performed. Therefore, if the user wants, the protection setting exceeding the low value threshold is possible, but the protection setting exceeding the high value threshold is impossible.

The above threshold value is set as the number of protected stored messages or the memory capacity used to hold the protected stored messages. As a more specific example, the threshold value is set. The ratio between the memory capacity used to store the stored message and the total memory capacity capable of storing the message, and protection is set and already stored in the memory as in the examples shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is set as a ratio between the number of messages and the total number of messages that can be stored in memory.

When the two thresholds are set as described above, the mode of the warning performed by the warning means 13 is changed according to the thresholds (the content of the warning message is changed, and the ringing sound is changed). It is preferable to make it easy for the user to know which threshold value has been reached, such as making the vibration intensity and the cycle different). In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the main functional units such as the memory management unit 4 are configured by the functional units configured by the processor executing the predetermined processing program. You may make it comprise by an element.

Next, as described above, 1
A specific protection setting process when two thresholds A1 are set will be described with reference to FIG. 3, and a specific case where two thresholds A1 and A2 of a low value and a high value are set in the protection management unit 8 will be described. A typical protection setting process will be described with reference to FIG. First, in the first example shown in FIG.
It is constantly monitored whether or not a protection setting input has been made from 0 (step S1). When the protection setting input is made, the protection management means 8 makes a protection setting for the total number of messages that can be stored in the memory 3. (X) of the number of messages stored in the memory (step S2), and
Is determined to exceed the ratio A1 set as the threshold (step S3).

As a result, when the threshold value A1 has not yet been reached, the protection setting means 7 adds the protection attribute R to the corresponding stored message in accordance with the protection setting input and sets protection (step S4), and executes the protection setting process. finish. On the other hand, when the threshold value A1 is reached, the warning unit 13 outputs a warning message on the screen of the display unit 12 to alert the user (step S5).
The protection setting means 7 monitors whether a protection setting is input from the protection button 10 (step S6).

When the protection setting is input again after the warning, the protection setting means 7 adds the protection attribute R to the corresponding stored message in accordance with the protection setting input and sets the protection (step S4). The process ends. On the other hand, if a cancel button (not shown) is operated after the warning (step S7), the process ends without performing protection setting.

Next, in the second example shown in FIG. 4, the protection management means 8 constantly monitors whether a protection setting input has been made from the protection button 10 (step S10). The protection management unit 8 calculates the ratio X in the same manner as described above (step S11), and determines whether or not the ratio X exceeds the ratio A1 set as a low value threshold (step S12). As a result, when the threshold value A1 has not yet been reached, the protection setting means 7 sets protection in the corresponding stored message according to the protection setting input (step S13), and ends the protection setting process.

On the other hand, when the threshold value A1 is reached, the protection management means 8 determines whether or not the ratio X exceeds the ratio A2 set as a high value threshold value (step S14). If not reached, the warning means 13 displays and outputs the first warning message on the screen of the display means 12 (step S15). After this warning, the protection setting means 7 monitors again whether a protection setting input is made from the protection button 10. (Step S16). Then, when there is another protection setting input after the first warning, the protection setting means 7 sets protection to the corresponding stored message according to the protection setting input (step S13), and ends the protection setting processing, while after the warning. When a cancel button (not shown) is operated (step S17), the process ends without performing protection setting.

When the threshold value A2 is reached as a result of the above determination (step S14), the warning means 13 outputs a warning message again on the screen of the display means 12 (step S18), and the protection setting is not performed. The process ends. Therefore, even if there is the first warning, the user can set the protection if necessary, but cannot set the protection after the second warning, and the deletion processing for storing a new received message can be performed. A sufficient memory capacity is secured.

In the above example, if protection is set for a stored message in accordance with the protection setting input, it is determined whether or not the number of protected cases exceeds a threshold value. A warning may be issued by determining at the time of protection setting input whether or not the number of cases already protected without setting exceeds the threshold.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By giving a warning based on the threshold, it is possible to let the user know how much protection setting is possible,
It is possible to avoid a situation where suddenly, the protection setting cannot be performed any longer, and it is possible to make the necessary protection setting without any troublesome operation for the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of a pager according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displaying a warning message.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a protection setting process according to a first example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a protection setting process according to a second example.

[Explanation of symbols]

2: message storage memory, 4: memory management means,
5: read / write means, 6: erase means, 7: protection setting means, 8: protection management means, 9: read button, 10: protection button, 11: erase button, 12: display means, 1
3: Warning means,

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiro Ogawa 3--14-20 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Kokusai Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazumi 3--14-20 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Kokusai Electric (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Miyajima 3-14-20 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Kokusai Electric F-term (reference) 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB23 DD53 EE02 FF02 FF13 FF23 FF27 FF28 HH23 KK15 5K101 LL12 LL13 NN22

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A message receiver for receiving a message transmitted wirelessly and storing the message in a memory, a memory for storing a plurality of messages, and a protection switch for receiving a protection setting input specifying the message from a user. And protection setting means for setting protection for a corresponding message stored in the memory in response to an input from the protection switch, and erasing for erasing messages stored in the memory except for messages for which protection is set. Means, protection management means for managing whether or not the amount of protected messages has reached a predetermined threshold, and outputting a warning to the user in response to the amount of protected messages reaching a predetermined threshold. A message receiver, comprising: a warning unit. 2. The message receiver according to claim 1, further comprising: a memory management unit configured to determine whether or not a capacity for storing the received message is present in a memory when the message is received; A message receiver that deletes messages stored in a memory in the order from the oldest reception time, except for messages for which protection is set according to the determination. 3. The message receiver according to claim 1, wherein, in response to a protection setting input from a protection switch, the protection management means determines whether the amount of the protection-set message has reached a predetermined threshold. A message receiver that warns the user that the amount of protected messages has reached a predetermined threshold. 4. The message receiver according to claim 3, wherein the protection setting means sets protection for the corresponding message stored in the memory in response to the input of the protection setting again after the warning. Message receiver. 5. The message receiver according to claim 4, wherein the protection management means sets two thresholds, a low value and a high value, and determines whether any of the thresholds reaches the amount of the protected message. The warning means outputs a warning to the user when the protected message amount reaches these thresholds, and the protection setting means inputs the protection setting again after the warning according to the low threshold value. A message receiver, which sets protection for a corresponding message stored in a memory according to the above, while rejecting another protection setting input after a warning according to a high threshold value. 6. The message receiver according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is set to be a protection value and the number of messages already stored in the memory is equal to the number of messages that can be stored in the memory. A message receiver set as a percentage. 7. The message receiver according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is a memory capacity used for storing the protected message and a memory capacity for storing the message. A message receiver, wherein the message receiver is set as a percentage.